86 The New National Party [1892-3 



than was the case under Tewfik. For the present the Khedive is young 

 and Cromer plays with him as with a young bear, humouring him in 

 small matters and excluding him from all real power, and the young 

 man amuses himself after the manner of his age, but he is certainly 

 strongly anti-English.' 



' I understand that the Khedive is in accord with the Constitutional 

 party here. If so there will be less difficulty than last year in carrying 

 out Lord Dufferin's programme. I really cannot understand how the 

 Liberal party in England can with any face refuse to do this. It is the 

 only possible chance of setting the Egyptians on their own legs, 



" 2,ist Dec. — I have been taken up for the last forty-eight hours with 

 reading Milner's book about Egypt which is just out. It is by far the 

 ablest defence I have seen of Cromer's policy, and may be considered as 

 his own apologia, for most of it must have been taken down from his 

 dictation or at any rate in concert with him ; even in form and arrange- 

 ment of subjects. It is identical with Cromer's report of 1891. There 

 is a great deal of truth in it and also a great deal of the suppression of 

 truth. 



" 16th Jan. 1893. — Went to Cairo, the first time this winter, on 

 business with Scott (then at the Ministry of Justice). I found every- 

 body there in a great turmoil, as the Khedive has just dismissed Mus- 

 tapha Pasha Fehmi and other Ministers from their posts, and has 

 appointed new ones, with Fakhri Pasha as President of the Council, 

 without Baring's cognizance. Scott said it was a coup d'etat, and so it 

 seems to be. 



" i&th Jan. — Baring has refused to recognize the new Ministry until 

 he has communicated with the English Government. He has given 

 the Khedive time to reflect, and the Khedive, finding himself insuffic- 

 iently backed up by the French, has already given in and a compromise 

 has been come to, Fakhri being replaced by Riaz. 



" 20th Jan. — Ismail Jowdat 1 has been here and has told me the 

 whole story of the intrigue of the last few days, thought it dates in its 

 beginning from much earlier. It is one of those complicated episodes 

 which make up Egyptian history. 



" Abbas, Jowdat says, arriving from Europe a year ago with Euro- 

 pean notions, readily fell in at first with Baring's plans. He took up 

 the quarrel with Constantinople Baring led him into, about his firman 

 of appointment, and for a while was on bad terms with the Sultan. 

 Mukhtar Pasha, however, and de Reverseaux, the French Consul- 

 General, have managed latterly to bring him round into opposition, 

 and he has made up with the Sultan and is strongly anti-English. 

 They have managed this with the help of the young Sheykh el Bekri, 



1 Ismail Bey Jowdat, director of the Cairo police under the Nationalist Govern- 

 ment in 1882. See my volumes, " Secret History " and " Gordon at Khartoum." 



