58 George Curzon and Oscar Wilde [^cji 



her, a propos of the bondage of social observances : ' My dear you will 

 some day be in my position (of Prime Minister's wife), and when you 

 are I advise you to pay no visits at all.' ' So I never pay any,' she said, 

 ' except to the Foreign Ambassadresses. Of course,' she added, ' I 

 don't include those of the South American Republics or any others of 

 the people who live up trees.' " 



The question of the evacuation of Egypt was being a good deal dis- 

 cussed at that time in Paris, as the French Government, suspecting Lord 

 Salisbury of the intention, he in fact had, of making the Occupation 

 there more permanent, was beginning to give trouble, and I found both 

 Lytton and Egerton, first Secretary of the Embassy, an old friend of 

 mine, who did much of the work of the Embassy, and had been acting 

 as Charge d'Affaires during Lytton's absence on leave during the sum- 

 mer, anxious to hear what I had to say on the subject, and I discussed 

 it thoroughly with both. I had learned from my Egyptian friend, 

 Sanua, who had just been at Constantinople and had had an interview 

 with Sultan Abdul Hamid, that the Sultan had declared positively to 

 him that he would take action to enforce the evacuation. There was 

 a perfect understanding now between the Turkish Government and the 

 French, probably also the Russian Government, who had repented the 

 pressure they had put upon Abdul Hamid to prevent his ratifying the 

 Wolff Convention, and were pressing the Sultan to re-open the ques- 

 tion. Lytton, poor fellow, had returned to Paris from a cure he had 

 been taking in England, very seriously ill, and the doctors had enjoined 

 upon him complete idleness, a remedy which would involve his giving 

 up his Embassy, but he was interested in what I told him, and asked 

 me to write him a memorandum on the whole subject of Egypt, and 

 especially that I should discuss it with Egerton. This I did and found 

 Egerton strongly in favour of my views. " To my surprise he told 

 me that he was in favour of evacuating Egypt seeing the pledges that 

 had been given. ' We have managed,' he said, ' to set everybody there 

 against us except that stupid fool the Khedive who counts for nothing,' 

 and urged me strongly not only to write but to publish my memorandum, 

 if only anonymously in the ' Times.' ' Later (the same day, 2/tl 

 October) I saw George Curzon who is staying in Paris with Condy 

 Stephens. He, Curzon, of course, talks all the other way, and says 

 the whole Conservative party will oppose evacuation tooth and nail. 

 I breakfasted with him, Oscar Wilde, and Willy Peel, on which oc- 

 casion Oscar told us he was writing a play in French to be acted in 

 the Francais. He is ambitious of being a French Academician. We 

 promised to go to the first representation. George Curzon as Prime 

 Minister. A day or two later, with Lytton's approval and Egerton's. 

 I gave my memorandum to Blowitz (the " Times " correspondent), and 

 it appeared in due course in the " Times " without my name, and ac- 



