EGYPT. 



durbar, which all the leading functionaries of 

 the district attended. Ho began with Shib- 

 been, went on to Damanhour, thence returned 

 south to Ttuita, nnd from Tanta ho passed on 

 to Zagazig and Mansoorah. Thus he traversed 

 Hourly tho whole of Lower Egypt. Crowds 

 came to the stations as he went from place to 

 place, and the people filled tho streets to soo 

 the English " Monfettish." At each town he 

 inquired into the fiscal administration, and at 

 Tunta he made a short address to the sheiks 

 and officials as follows : 



A now era has begun for Egypt. Reforms are al- 

 ready initiated, and it' you will only have patience you 

 can count on their completion. If you have a rie vances, 

 make them known to us and you shall be rufhted. We 

 wish to establish equality and legality in the country, 

 and tho law shall no longer be For the rich alone ; it 

 shall work for rich and poor alike. 



Hundreds of petitions were presented to the 

 Minister on his circuit, and he received them 

 all personally. The courage to present com- 

 plaints was quite a novelty in Egypt. Their 

 presentation was regarded as a sign that a 

 belief was growing in the permanence of the 

 changes. In the last days of 1878 the Council 

 of Ministers also adopted a beneficial step to- 

 ward simplifying the provincial administration. 

 It abolished the office of governors of large 

 cities, and transferred their duties to the pre- 

 fects of the provinces. The Minister of Finance 

 ordered the appointment of inspectors of finance 

 in the provinces, whose business it should be to 

 watch over the payment of the duties and their 

 rightful application. Three inspectors-in-chief, 

 two for Lower Egypt and one for Upper Egypt, 

 were to be at the head of this important branch 

 of the administration. Mr. Fitzgerald, the new 

 Accountant - General, who had accompanied 

 Mr. Wilson on his tour, and had shown great 

 energy in the adjustment of the questions of 

 taxation, in one of his reports described the 

 confusion existing in this branch of the finan- 

 cial administration as beyond all conception, 

 making the execution of the orders of the Min- 

 ister of Finance an impossibility; and to do 

 away with these evils the financial inspectors 

 were to be appointed. In February, 1879, the 

 Commissioners of the Public Debt published 

 their report of the financial results of the year 

 1878. The Commissioners said that they could 

 not admit that one class of creditors should be 

 paid to the prejudice of others, and that, if the 

 resources of the Egyptian Government were 

 not sufficient to enable it to meet all its obli- 

 gations, the sacrifices to be made should be 

 borne equally by all. It seemed that since 

 1876 the total indebtedness of the country had 

 only been reduced 655,000, notwithstanding 

 the operations of the sinking fund. 



A serious demonstration was made at Cairo 

 on February 18th. After an ordinary Coun- 

 cil of Ministers, Nnbar Pasha and Mr. Rivers 

 Wilson on leaving in a carriage were stopped 

 by a large throng of armed officers, estimated 

 at 400, clamoring for payment of long arrears 



of salary. Both wore grossly insulted and 

 forced back, the coachman being wounded. 

 Tho crowd penetrated into the courtyard, up 

 the staircase, and into tho corridor, invading 

 even the Ministers' private room. The pas- 

 sages, however, were eventually cleared, but 

 tho crowd remained outside the staircase and 

 completely surrounded the building, prevent- 

 ing all exit. The Khedive ultimately arrived 

 on the scene with a mere handful of soldiers. 

 The crowd thereupon cheered, but called out, 

 u Go back ! we must get money from the Min- 

 isters." The Khedive, however, though with 

 great difficulty, succeeded in forcing his way 

 into the place, and a regiment of soldiers short- 

 ly followed. The Khedive then addressed the 

 mob from the window, promising that justice 

 would be observed toward them. After two 

 hours the Khedive tried to leave the building, 

 but met such resistance that he ordered the 

 soldiers to charge. The Master of Ceremonies 

 and five of the mob were wounded. Many 

 were arrested and the rest dispersed. On the 

 following day Nubar Pasha offered his resig- 

 nation, which was accepted. This event cre- 

 ated considerable excitement in London and 

 Paris, and was regarded in those capitals as 

 an attempt to get rid of Nubar ; and it was 

 considered as certain that the Khedive either 

 instigated the attack, or was at least only too 

 ready to profit by it. Ismail Pasha called in 

 Nubar Pasha at a moment when the Govern- 

 ments and public of Europe required to be 

 assured, and when Nubar Pasha's ability and 

 special relations were indispensable to him in 

 promptly forming a Cabinet which should 

 stand as a guarantee to Europe in regard to 

 the Khedive's policy. But it was easy to see 

 that the Khedive would find it difficult to put 

 up with Nubar Pasha's authority ; for, well as 

 he knew Nubar' s intelligence and ability, the 

 Khedive had a profound aversion for him per- 

 sonally. As soon as the Cabinet was formed, 

 mainly through the efforts of Nubar Pasha, 

 who was supported by England and France, 

 the Khedive's only further thought was to 

 get rid of Nubar, whom he fancied h e could 

 henceforth do without. Nubar Pasha knew 

 this himself, and on January 20th wrote to a 

 friend: "The everlasting political comedy or 

 tragedy is being played on the little stage here, 

 just as it is everywhere else: a lost power 

 sought to be regained, persons interested in 

 not letting it be regained, who yet aid it for 

 personal motives or to give themselves impor- 

 tance and not a sou in the Treasury withal. 

 What a situation for the country, for the in- 

 terested countries, and for your friend ! " 



On February 26th Prince Hassan, son of 

 the Khedive, and commander-in-chit-f of the 

 Egyptian army, paid an official visit to Mr. 

 Vivian, the English Consul-General, and in 

 the presence of tho leading English residents 

 apologized, on behalf of the Khedive, the 

 army, and the country, f.>r tho <rro<s insult 

 offered to Mr. Rivers Wilson by officers of the 



