246 Princess Nazli on the Sultan [1896 



agreed to AH Sherif's being interdicted as incapable of managing his 

 affairs. But Ali Sherif was not really mad, only extravagant and old. 

 " 2.2nd Dec. — Anne and I called on Princess Nazli yesterday. She 

 is looking an old woman now, but is still full of life and conversation. 

 She has thrown herself lately into the Young Turkey movement at 

 Constantinople and has written a letter to the Sultan which she asked 

 Anne to translate for her into English, though she speaks English 

 perfectly. She told us she considered Abdul Hamid very near his 

 end now, and she only hoped that he would be assassinated and not 

 simply deposed, as it would be a good lesson for his successor. Hith- 

 erto the Young Turks had been averse from this extreme measure, 

 but according to the latest news they are now determined on it. In 

 'this I should not be surprised if they were following a hint from 

 our Embassy. Murad, she said, is quite sane, and would be Abdul 

 Hamid's successor. About politics in Egypt she also talked, praising 

 Cromer and the English Occupation and in virulent abuse of the 

 Khedive. A good deal of this I know to be nonsense, but she is a 

 clever woman, and I fancy has done much towards converting travel- 

 ling Englishmen to a belief in their ' great and noble work ' in Egyp't. 

 Cromer intervened with the late Khedive to prevent his cutting off 

 her allowance as princess of the vice-regal family. 



" 30^/1 Dec. — Mohammed Abdu came yesterday and told me the 

 news. There has been a great row on account of 'the confirmation by 

 the native appeal court of Sheykh Ali Yusuf's acquittal. Ali Yusuf 

 had been prosecuted for publishing in his newspaper, the ' Moayyad,' 

 a telegram relating to military events during the Dongola campaign, 

 which it was asserted he had got from a telegraph clerk of the name 

 of Kirillos. The evidence against Ali Yusuf was of the slightest 

 kind ; that against Kirillos only presumptive. The latter had on one 

 occasion been seen copying a 'telegram, not the one in question, pre- 

 sumably for the press. Against Ali Yusuf there was no evidence at 

 all. Nevertheless Cromer seems to have determined on fighting a 

 battle with the native press, and when the case came before the Appeal 

 Court, Cameron, the English judge, informed his two na'tive colleagues 

 that they were expected to find the accused guilty, or they would in- 

 volve the Native Appeal Court in strong measures of ' reform ' which 

 would be taken against it. He also accused 'them of having been 

 tampered with by the Khedive, and when they indignantly refused to 

 find the accused guilty, Cameron refused at first to sit with them in 

 delivering judgment of acquittal. Now Cromer has announced that 

 a number of English councillors would be added to the court so as to 

 swamp the native members. Abdu assures me that as a matter of 

 fact the Khedive had nothing to do with the matter, and that the 

 judges could not have decided otherwise on the evidence before them. 



