The homely diary of a diplomat in (Egypt) the East, 1897-1899 PDF book with Illustrations (1917) by Thomas S. Harrison





princess naseli

Thomas S. Harrison

It was in the spring of 1915 that Colonel Thomas Skel- ton Harrison, whose long friendship it has been my privilege to enjoy while chatting with me about the old Cairo days, confided to me that he had kept a diary in which as he went along he had jotted down facts and impressions as to the men and events with which he had been connected in the course of his two years' residence in the old Khedivial capital. It so happened that in 1898 I had been sent by the American Exploration Society of Philadelphia, with strong letters from the State Department at Washington, to negotiate for a permit to work over the ruins of Tanis, in the Eastern Delta, and to obtain the right to remove to Philadelphia some of the large monuments still strewn over the site of the Hyksos City.Mr. Daniel Baugh was ready to charter a ship to bring over the results, and it was thought that if I went myself I might, with the assistance of Mr. Harrison, then our Consul-General and Diplomatic Agent in Cairo, overcome some of the obstacles expected to be raised against the project. Mr. Harrison, in his official capacity of Consul-General and Diplomatic Agent, had made himself persona grata to the Khedive and his Government, and we could count upon his heartiest cooperation as a Philadelphian as well as a personal friend. Through his gracious hospitality that winter I had met many of his Cairo circle of friends and colleagues, and his diary and reminiscences interested me greatly.After talking over many things, he suggested, in the most modest way, that I look it over, and, if I thought it of sufficient interest, that I select from it what I should think suitable for publication. Mrs. Harrison, when she was told about it, also took a lively interest in the idea; and before she and her husband went to their summer home at Pomfret for the season, Mr. Harrison left the volumes of typewritten manuscript at my house, and it was agreed that I should go over them at my leisure during the summer. Plans often go astray. Things happened, and it was only in August that I found time to take up the manuscript.Then, however, the simple narrative of those old days of pomp and glitter, when great personages who were making history seemed daily associates, and big international schemes took the place of small local interests, fascinated me, bringing back personal memories. For during the weeks I spent in Cairo at the very height of Mr. and Mrs. Harrison's brilliant career as representatives of the United States, the most generously shared with me many of their good things, and I could read between the lines of the diary much that the writer had not put down. Soon I became quite absorbed in the work. One night, late on the 6th of September, a strong feeling came over me that I should write next day to Mr. Harri- son to suggest certain additions in the elucidation of the identity of important personages possibly unfamiliar to an American public, but whose personality as factors in international affairs must be made to appear. The next day I received a telegram [from my broken-hearted friend, announcing the sudden death of his wife.As Mrs. Harrison was the one who most loved Cairo and the life and position which she had graced so well, for a while the entire plan was suspended. Mr. Harrison felt that there no longer was any meaning in the work. With time, however, he came to look upon it from another angle. There was no longer any joy in it, but was it not a pleasure if a sad one to re-live those happy days which Mrs. Harrison had so truly enjoyed? To rehearse those scenes of brilliant splendor in which she had played her part and had her share? The years she spent in Cairo was probably the pleasantest years of Mrs. Harrison's life. She may have had happier days, but I doubt whether her life ever was so crowded with interesting experiences. They were a great tax on her strength, as she was a most conscientious official hostess, and she never allowed her feelings to interfere with her official duties; but I cannot believe that Mrs. Harrison, in looking back upon those wonderful years, felt that the price had been too high for the pleasure which she had derived from the effort.Author: Thomas S. Harrison Publication Date:1917