The papers of. Friday are full of long telegrams from
Cairo describing the procession of the Holy Carpet, which article of fur- niture is yearly presented by the Sultan to the Kaaba at Mecca, and blessed, admired, and almost adored, on its passage through Egypt. The ceremonial in Cairo, as described, suggests at once a religious rite, a chapter from "The Arabian Nights," and a scene in a pantomime, but it was made splendid by the presence of Sir Garnet Wolseley and the whole British garrison. That was, we think, a mistake. Experience has taught the Indian Government to disconnect itself totally from native forms of worship, the people regarding the presence of the Infidels not as an honour to their creed, but as proof that they are Infidels, and as devoid of religious sentiment as the beasts. Even at Cairo, where the turning.out of the soldiers might have been interpreted as an honour to the Khedive, and not to the Holy Carpet, the Mussulmans felt a i sense of intrusion, and exhibited it by suddenly altering the order of the procession, so as to avoid the escort of the Europeans. it is quite j te possible to protect the ceremonials of a creed without appearing to join in them, and in the East the populace respect rigidity in religious difference. Napoleon got nothing by calling himself a Mussulman, except contempt.
