EGYPT. 



treaties with foreign powers and to maintain a 

 HtandiiiLC army. Tlio dispatch added that tho 

 Porto would exert its innuence to restore the 

 finances of Egypt and remove the abuses exist- 

 ing in that country. The change itself took 

 place without any disturbance. Ismail Pasha 

 in tlio morning received an order from the Sul- 

 tan requiring him to abdicate in favor of Prince 

 Tevlik, and he at once complied with the de- 

 mand. In the evening at six o'clock, Prince 

 Tuvtik was proclaimed Khedive as Tevfik I. 

 Ismail received an annual allowance of 50,- 

 000; his sons Hassan and Hussein, 20,000 

 eacli ; and his mother, 30,000. The new 

 Khedive was offered 150,000, but accepted 

 only 50,000. Ismail Pasha left Egypt on 

 June 80th for Naples. Tevfik's first official 

 acts created considerable dissatisfaction with 

 the Powers. He formed a new Ministry under 

 Sherif Pasha composed entirely of natives, and 

 in a decidedly offensive manner prohibited 

 Nubar Pasha from returning to Egypt. This 

 prohibition, however, was revoked in August, 

 through the influence of the Powers. In the 

 beginning of August the firman of investiture 

 was communicated to England and France. 

 Those Powers informed the Porte that some 

 phrases used in it, while giving force to the 

 prerogatives it had been sought to put in ques- 

 tion, did not seem explicit enough, appearing to 

 leave certain points in doubt, a state of things 

 they could not agree to. In consequence of 

 these observations, the Porte handed to the 

 Ambassadors of the two Powers an official and 

 identical declaration setting forth that all the 

 rights and prerogatives conferred upon Egypt, 

 and which were not expressly abolished by the 

 firman of investiture, remain in force. This 

 was tantamount to saying that no change had 

 occurred in the situation of Egypt toward the 

 Porte, and that the latter had promptly aban- 

 doned the idea of profiting by circumstances 

 to gain a greater sway over Egypt. All the 

 other Powers withdrew after the collective 

 step which led to Ismail's abdication, in order 

 in no way to encumber the joint influence of 

 England and France ; and even Germany, after 

 having shown by her decisive intervention that 

 she meant to be listened to even in Egypt, took 

 no further steps apart from the two more es- 

 pecially protective Powers, and hastened to 

 state that she entirely recognized their hegem- 

 ony, and had no intention of interfering with 

 their joint influence. On August 14th the fir- 

 man was presented to the Khedive. The Min- 

 istry of Sherif Pasha was dismissed on the 

 18th, and a new one was formed, in which the 

 Khedive holds the presidency. The other de- 

 partments were distributed as follows : Zulti- 

 car Pasha, Minister of Justice ; Mansour Pasha, 

 Interior ; Mustapha Fehmi Pasha, Foreign Af- 

 fairs; Hardar Pasha, Finance; Osman Reski 

 Pasha, War and Marine; Mehemed Menachli 

 Pasha, Public Works; All Ibrahim Pasha, Pub- 

 lic Instruction. In September Messrs. Baring 

 and De Blignieres were appointed English and 



French Comptrollers - General, upon the rec- 

 ommendation of their respective Governments. 

 The Khedive at first desired that their duties 

 should be clearly defined before their d -finito 

 appointment, but finally yielded to the de- 

 mands of England and France, and appoint. d 

 them without such understanding. Hie Min- 

 istry with the Khedive as President was re- 

 placed by a new one on September 21st, which 

 was composed as follows: Kiaz Pasha, Presi- 

 dent of the Council, Minister of the Interior, 

 and ad interim Minister of Finance ; Ali Mou- 

 barek Pasha, Minister of Public Works ; Mus- 

 tapha Fehmi Pasha, Foreign Affairs; Osman 

 Pefki Pasha, War and Marine ; Fakri Pasha, 

 Justice; and Ibrahim Pasha, Public Instruc- 

 tion. An important circular was issued by 

 the Ministry on October 15th to all governors, 

 tax-collectors, inspectors, and fiscal authori- 

 ties, which ordered that the pashas and other 

 high officials, who had formerly evaded pay- 

 ment of taxes, should be treated like all other 

 subjects of the Khedive ; and, if they did not 

 pay within a certain time, their rents were to 

 be seized or their produce sold. European 

 holders of land and houses were also to pay in 

 future their uncontested taxes, i. e., those sanc- 

 tioned by the Ministry of Finance. The for- 

 eign Consuls-General were informed of this 

 fact. 



The relations with Abyssinia were again dis- 

 turbed in 1879. In July it was stated that the 

 treaty of peace between the two countries had 

 never been signed, and that King John had 

 ordered 15,000 men to take possession of 

 various districts. The Egyptian garrisons at 

 the time consisted of 200 men at Massowah and 

 200 at Sennite ; but Colonel Gordon left Khar- 

 toom with 3,000 men and twelve cannons for 

 Sennite, as the bearer of a letter from the 

 Khedive to King John. Gordon Pasha was 

 empowered to offer the King the ports of Aitb, 

 Duroro, and Tchilioky on the Red Sea, pro- 

 vided he renounced all other claims and con- 

 cluded a lasting peace with Egypt. In case the 

 King refused, Gordon was to resume the offen- 

 sive. In September King John wrote to the 

 mercantile firm representing him in London, 

 stating that he had written to Queen Victoria 

 complaining that the outlets of his territory 

 were closed by the Egyptians. He also stated 

 that the English General Kirkham, in his ser- 

 vice, was poisoned at Massowah while on his 

 way to England with letters to the Queen. 



Colonel Gordon, on arriving in Abyssinian 

 territory at Ahba, was received by one of 

 King John's court officials, who gave several 

 entertainments in his honor and detained him 

 a whole week. At Adowah he was received 

 by the King with great pomp and ceremony, 

 and a villa was placed at his disposal, where 

 lie lodged at the King's expense. Four days 

 after his arrival he received notice that the 

 King had left for the province of Amhara, 

 where an insurrection had broken out, and 

 would be absent three weeks. The King not 



