Page:The Greek and Eastern churches.djvu/618

592 Coptic Christians in the eighth century by the Mohammedan historian Makrizi. Under the favour of the new line of caliphs and their emirs in Egypt, they now entered on a temporary era of prosperity, which was viewed with jealousy by their Mussulman fellow-subjects. According to Makrizi, they assumed a proud bearing and flaunting airs. "It came to this," he says, "that one of the Christian secretaries passed before the Mosque el Azher in el Kahira (Cairo) riding in boots with spurs, and white bands round his head after the fashion of Alexandria, with footmen going before him to drive away the people lest they should throng him, and behind him a number of slaves in costly apparel on prancing steeds. A lot of Mussulmans then present ill-brooked this; so they rose up against him," etc. The result was a disturbance in which the proud Copt was roughly handled. This passage is very significant. In the first place it indicates the prosperity of the Copts who had succeeded in making their way into official positions. Then, as in the present day, it would seem that their special aptitude for clerkships and secretaryships gave them an advantage over the Arabs in regard to these offices. The pride of a member of a persecuted community during a short interval of immunity may seem surprising. But such a man as we see here is lifted out of the common rut by his official rank. The reference to Alexandria is peculiarly interesting. Cairo was a Mohammedan city from its foundation; but Alexandria was the old Christian capital. Alexandrian manners would seem to have retained a flavour of the old Roman imperial temper. But anything of the kind was certainly out of place in Cairo under a Mussulman emir. We are not surprised to learn that Christians who made any assumption of self-importance were roughly treated by the Cairene mob. There were times when it was not safe for any Christians to show themselves in the streets, when they were compelled to stay indoors for their lives. Makrizi goes on to tell how after this the Christians were forbidden to enter the public service even if they embraced Islam,