EGYPT. 



SSI 



especially Mr. Rivers Wilson, of wishing to 

 :i.-.li laws repugnant to the manners, cus- 

 and religion of tlio Egyptian population. 

 A striking fact in this rebellion of the Khedive 

 against the influence of the Western Powers 

 was, that the moat influential part of the pop- 

 ulation, and tin- chief religious and political 

 authorities, \\cro on his side, and resented the 

 intrusion of European influence into Egyptian 

 affairs. The leaders of the nation were with 

 him in the struggle he had commenced for 

 what he deemed independence. He had, in 

 the first place, the support of the ulemas or 



Eriests. In Egypt, as in Constantinople, their 

 atred of European intrusion is intense and un- 

 feigned. The predominance of Islam seems 

 necessary to their very existence, and they 

 abhor any approach to Christian rule. But it 

 was still more significant that the Chamber of 

 Delegates was also on the Khedive's side. This 

 institution in 1879 was thirteen years old, the 

 first meeting of Parliament in Egypt having 

 been held on November 25, 1866. There is 

 only one Chamber, and the number of dele- 



gates, which np to 1879 was seventy-five, was 



in this year increased to one hundred. Kvery 

 male inhabitant over twenty-five years of age, 

 who is not legally interdicted, has a right to 

 vote. Cairo names three members, Alexandria 

 two, and Damietta one; and the rest of the 

 country is divided into electoral districts, each 

 returning one member. It is very probable 

 that many of the members thus elected were 

 the creatures of the Khedive, but the Parlia- 

 ment nevertheless developed considerable inde- 

 pendence. Thus, when the Minister for For- 

 eign Affairs went to close the session, which 

 had come to an end by mere lapse of time, one 

 of the deputies, Abdul Salem Mouchli, declared, 

 on behalf of the Parliament, that they could 

 accept no such dismissal. The Chamber, he 

 said, had as yet done nothing; they had still 

 much to do in the supervision of the Ministry, 

 and they declined to separate. His colleagues 

 supported him, and the Chamber remained in 

 session, claiming that all ministries, whether 

 native or foreign, should be dependent on its 

 will and responsible to it for their conduct of 



affairs. Then there was the influence of the 

 harems, which is subtle and persistent. A 

 strict system of economy under European su- 

 pervision is fatal to feminine luxury and ex- 

 travagance. In short, the influential pashas, 

 the religious party, female influence, and the 

 principal land-owners of the provinces, all 

 combined to support the Khedive in a deter- 

 mined resistance to European predominance. 

 The latter, in the beginning of April, offered 

 Messrs. Baring and De Blignieres posts as 

 Comptrollers-General of receipts and expendi- 

 tures. Both gentlemen declined, giving as 

 reasons, first, that the Khedive's plan was 

 not realizable, was beyond the capabilities of 

 the country, and opposed to the interests of 

 Egypt and the creditors ; and, secondly, that 

 they could not concur in a regime which vio- 

 lated recent engagements with England and 

 Franco. The new Government took a step on 

 April 15th which met with the disapproval of 

 the Western Powers. It ordered the Post- 

 Office to open pamphlets and detain copies of 

 the second report of the Commission of In- 



quiry just published by the Caisse Publiqut. 

 The Postmaster protested against this order, 

 adding that he could no longer urge the Euro- 

 pean Governments to abolish their indepen- 

 dent post-offices in Egypt. The report recom- 

 mended a reduction of interest, and antedated 

 the Egyptian bankruptcy from April 6, 1876. 

 The Came Publique prefaced the report as 

 follows: "We were firmly resolved to advise 

 the acceptance of the project if the recent 

 exclusion of European Ministers had not de- 

 stroyed the only guarantees on which the suc- 

 cess of the reforms depended." Tiie first work 

 of the Khedive and the new Ministry was to 

 issue a decree on April 22d, which was virtu- 

 ally a suspension of payment. The decree 

 admitted that Egypt could not for the present 

 pay her way, and declared the necessity of a 

 general reduction. It declared that there 

 should be no further borrowing to pay arrears 

 of interest ; and this is what was particularly 

 vexatious to the creditors. The Khedive in 

 this decree, however, while recording the fail- 

 ure of Europeans, said that in the future the 



