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advice and relying upon our support." necessity for action was, indeed, so apparent that Lord Granville, without waiting to consult the French Government, telegraphed both to Lord Dufferin at Constantinople and to the Ambassadors at the other courts of Europe that "Her Majesty's Government considered it most desirable that no time should be lost by the Sultan, who should send an order to support the Khedive, to reject the accusation of the fallen Ministry with regard to His Highness, and to order the three military chiefs, and perhaps also the ex-President of the Council, to come and explain their conduct at Constantinople." M. de Freycinet, when he was informed of what had been done, sent similar instructions to the French representatives abroad, but he evidently did so with reluctance.

On

In the meanwhile, Cairo and Egypt generally remained in the hands of the military party. On May 29, Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour (afterwards Lord Alcester), who commanded the British fleet, which had by this time arrived at Alexandria, telegraphed: "Alexandria is apparently controlled this morning by the military party." It was clear that, in the absence of any effective help from without, the Khedive would be obliged to yield to the wishes of the mutinous army. May 28, Sir Edward Malet telegraphed to Lord Granville in the following terms: "This afternoon, the Chiefs of religion, including the Patriarch, and the Chief Rabbi, all the deputies, Ulema and others, waited on the Khedive, and asked him to reinstate Arábi as Minister of War. He refused; but they besought him, saying that, though he might be ready to sacrifice his own life, he ought not to sacrifice theirs, and that Arábi had threatened them all with death if they did not obtain his consent. The Colonel of the Khedive's Guard stated that

the guard of the Palace had been doubled, that orders had been given to them to prevent his leaving the Palace for his usual drive, and to fire if he attempted to force his way. Under these circumstances, the Khedive yielded, not to save himself, but to preserve the town from bloodshed. At the same time, the Khedive made a formal demand to the Sultan that a Commissioner should be sent to Egypt.

The situation at the end of May was, therefore, as follows: An attempt had been made to free the Khedive from the dictatorship of the military party. In spite of the support accorded by the British and French Governments, the attempt had completely failed. Arábi and his associates had again triumphed. British diplomacy, although somewhat more free in action than previous to the accession to power of M. de Freycinet, was still hampered by its association with France. No frank appeal

could be made to the Sultan that he should exercise his authority, although both Lord Granville and Sir Edward Malet saw that in such an appeal lay the only chance of avoiding military intervention of some sort. M. de Freycinet was almost as much opposed as his predecessor to Turkish intervention. The result of all this vacillation was that the policy of England and France was suspected on all sides, -by the Sultan, who was greatly irritated; by the other Powers; and by the Egyptians. The Khedive, in the meanwhile, had so far found that AngloFrench support was a weak reed on which to lean in time of necessity.

The end, however, was not far off. It was daily becoming more clear that Arábi could be suppressed by nothing but force. If no one else would use the requisite force, the task would necessarily devolve on England.

APPENDIX

Note on the relations between Mr. Gladstone and
Mr. Wilfrid Blunt.

THE overestimate of Mr. Wilfrid Blunt's influence was in no small degree due to the fact that he was known to be in communication with Mr. Gladstone. As Mr. Blunt in his Secret History has narrated at length his dealings with Mr. Gladstone, who, he says (p. 369), was, in his opinion, "capable of any treachery and any crime," I think that, in justice to the memory of that distinguished statesman, I should furnish whatever evidence is in my possession as to the manner in which he regarded the question of his relations with Mr. Blunt. At a later period of Egyptian history (October 23, 1883), Lord Granville wrote to me privately, forwarding a letter addressed by Mr. Blunt to Sir Edward Hamilton, Mr. Gladstone's Private Secretary, with the following remarks:

Gladstone sent me this letter, condemning Blunt, but suggesting that I might send it on to you.

I declined, and expressed a hope that Hamilton would not answer him at all; that there was no knowing what use he might make of the fact of his being in correspondence with any one in Downing Street.

But as Gladstone returns to the charge, I forward it to you privately.

He writes:

"There are certain parts of Blunt's letter which, indifferently as I think of him, I certainly should have wished Baring to see. My rule has always been to look in the declarations of even the extremest opponents for anything which either may have some small percentage of truth in it, or ought not to be let pass without contradiction (private in this case). I know not how it is that he writes to Hamilton, but you see it is personal and tutoyant, not official."

Gladstone's principle is plausible, but I fancy it often gets him into unnecessary difficulties.

You have seen Blunt, and heard all he had to say.

I replied on November 5, in the following terms:

I would just as soon that Mr. Blunt was not in correspondence with any one connected with the Government; if it were known, it might be misinterpreted.

The principle of not neglecting criticisms which come from an opponent is a very sound one, and I always endeavour to follow it. But, in this case, we may have the advantage of knowing what Blunt has to say without corresponding with him. He will not hide his light under a bushel. You may feel sure that before long it will burn brightly in the pages of some magazine.

I also, for Mr. Gladstone's information, replied at some length to Mr. Blunt's criticisms, but neither his letter, nor my reply, are of sufficient importance or interest to warrant their reproduction.

CHAPTER XVI

THE BOMBARDMENT OF ALEXANDRIA

MAY-JULY 1882

State of the country-Vacillation of the Porte-A Conference proposed-Dervish Pasha and Essad Effendi sent to Egypt-The Alexandria massacres-Failure of Dervish Pasha's Mission-Panic in Egypt-The Conference meets-The Ragheb Ministry-The British Admiral demands that the construction of batteries at Alexandria shall cease-The French decline to co-operate-The bombardment of Alexandria-The town abandoned and burnt.

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ARABI'S reinstatement was "looked upon by the natives as a sign that the Christians were going to be expelled from Egypt, that they were to recover the land bought by Europeans or mortgaged to them, and that the National Debt would be cancelled." Great numbers of Christians left the interior. The British residents at Alexandria called upon their Government to provide means for the protection of their lives. Every day's delay," Sir Charles Cookson telegraphed on May 30, "increases the dangerous temper of the soldiery, and their growing defiance of discipline." The officers of the army were "obtaining by threats signatures to a petition praying for the deposition of the Khedive," The President of the Chamber requested the deputies to go to their homes "in order to save them from being compelled to sign the petition." Official business, except at the Ministry of War, was at a standstill. The whole country was in a state of panic. Sir Edward Malet warned the

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