L his instigators infamous criminals. This man dared to say that it is necessary to put at the base of all durable institutions honesty. He said that to make real progress it is necessary, sometimes painfully and with perseverance, to advance slowly. Mr. Roosevelt dared to speak to the Egyptians as to his own countrymen. His address was so full of good sense and justice that it created an outburst of protests which have no real meaning because Egyptians love nothing better than oratorical expressions. Meanwhile the orator went his way as serenely as if he had been indulging in empty rhetoric, and at the day's end left Cairo for Alexandria in a chorus of demonstrations and God-speeds, some of the cries being "Long live Mr. Roosevelt." "Long live the truth!” “Don't forget Egypt!" In the afternoon of the following day he boarded the steamer Prinz Heinrich at Alexandria and left Egypt for Italy, the splendid weather of the day promising him a delightful trip. CHAPTER XXXV Our Ex-President in the Land of the Cæsars TH HE twentieth century, young as it is, has not been lacking in remarkable events. And far the most remarkable of these, one astounding in its proportions and significance, has been the spectacle of a procession of European monarchs, the haughty lords of civilization, waiting in eager attitude to meet and greet as an equal a simple American citizen, one no higher in rank than any other of the ninety million of his fellow-countrymen. Who could have foreseen such an event. Truly it was one to make the world sit up and take notice. Never has there been anything more significant. It was not alone Theodore Roosevelt as a person that royalty stood ready to honor, but Theodore Roosevelt as a world force, the embodiment of a great principle, the vigorous representative of integrity in office, energy in thought and action, and unyielding advocacy of that principle of "a square deal for all men" which the world is now strenuously demanding and for which Roosevelt stands. He had proved himself a man among men, an American of the highest type, and the position he had won in world politics was to be strikingly indicated by the events of the next few weeks. The era of royal admiration had begun with the Khedive, the half-king of Egypt, and now the Italian monarch stood ready to take up the strain. Landing in Naples on the morning of April 2d, the returning traveler found a mass of letters and telegrams awaiting him, which he disposed of in his usual urgent fashion. In the afternoon he visited the famous Aquarium, the abundant treasures of which he found of deep interest. Thence he went to Pompeii and plunged into a nest of antiquities of a far more modern type than those he had just left in Egypt. In the evening he and his wife were guests of the Prefect at the Theatre San Carlos, and here Naples rose to greet him. The Americans present set the ball rolling with a chorus of cheers, which were taken up by a great body of students in the third gallery. The ovation was a tremendous one and the theatre rang with tumultuous applause. During an intermission in the play a large number of students marched to the rear of the Roosevelt box and were presented by Professor Boggiano of the Naples University, who gracefully recalled a Roosevelt saying, that the greatest problem of the United States was the maintenance of the moral well-being and strength of the people. "This is also the greatest problem for all countries," continued the professor. In his brief reply Roosevelt appealed to the students to set before them the highest ideals, but said to them: "Life is a struggle. You must not keep in the clouds. Your ideals must be such as can be realized." But all was not to be rose-colored in the Italian visit. There loomed before the traveler a problem of deep annoyance, one that was to excite more interest than the occurrence in Egypt and which called for immediate and discreet deception. It had naturally been his desire to call on the Pope and the Italian King, but an event had recently occurred in Rome that was to interfere with the former. A proselyting Methodist congregation in Rome had given deep offence to the Papacy by its methods, and when the former Vice-President Fairbanks, in his late visit to Rome, had agreed to speak before this congregation, an audience arranged for him at the Vatican was canceled. Colonel Roosevelt had included a reception by the Pope as among the coming events of his career, but Cardinal Merry del Val, the Papal Secretary, put a snag in his path. While at Cairo he received the following communciation from Ambassador Leishman: "Rome, March 25th.-The rector of the American College, in reply to an inquiry I caused to be made, requests that the following communciation be transmitted to you: ""The Holy Father will be delighted to grant an audience to Mr. Roosevelt on April 5, and he hopes nothing will arise to prevent it, such as the much-regretted incident which made the reception to Mr. Fairbanks impossible." |