EGYPT. 



239 



tie which binds Egypt to the Porte" was 

 spoken of as a valuable safeguard against " for- 

 eign intervention" and "rival ambitions," the 

 first sign was given of an intention to abandon 

 the policy of constant co-operation with France 

 on which the dual Control rested, and to act in 

 conjunction with the Porte. Finally, an ac- 

 commodation was reached between the English 

 and French Cabinets, and a dual note, composed 

 by Gambetta, was dispatched. 



THE NATIONAL PARTY. The programme of 

 the National party embraced the following six 

 points : 



1. The National party accepted the existing rela- 

 tions of Egypt to the Porte, acknowledging Sultan 

 Abdul-Hamia Khan as suzerain and rightful Caliph, 

 but would resist to the uttermost any attempt to in- 

 vade national rights or to degrade Egypt to the state 

 of a Turkish pashalik, relying also upon the protec- 

 tion of the powers and particularly on England's guar- 

 antee of administrative independence. 2. They de- 

 clared their loyalty to the Khedive and pledged them- 

 selves to support Mphamed Tevtik as long as he 

 ruled in accordance with the laws and the principles 

 of justice and in fulfillment of the promises made to 

 the Egyptian people in September, 1881. 3. They ac- 

 knowledged the services of the Governments of Eng- 

 land and France to Egypt in furthering liberty and 

 justice, and considered the European Control a neces- 

 sity entailed by the financial situation, deeming its 

 continuance the best guarantee for the welfare and 

 of the land, and accepting the Egyptian 

 the national honor. 4. They 



debt as binding upon the 



renounced every connection with those who, in the in- 

 terest of the Powers, are jealous of the independence 

 of Egypt and seek to disturb the land ; aware, how- 

 ever, that it is impossible by a merely passive attitude 

 to preserve the liberties of a land which is governed 

 in part by a caste to whom liberty is odious, the Na- 

 tional party confided their interests for the present to 

 the protection of the army, which for that purpose 

 should be brought up to its full effective force of 18,000 

 men. 5. They declared the Egyptian National party 

 to be a political, not a religious, association, which. 

 would receive into its ranks men of all races and 

 creeds without distinction, Christians and Jews as 

 well as Mohammedans, assuring equal rights to all. 

 6. They announced as the general object of the Na- 

 tional party the moral and intellectual regeneration of 

 the people through the better observance of the laws, 

 the spread of intelligence and improved education, as 

 well as through political freedom, which they esteemed 

 the life-spring of the nation ; and in pursuing this aim 

 they relied not only on their own strength but upon 

 the sympathies of the European nations which enjoy 

 the blessings of self-government. 



The National party complained particularly 

 of the employment of strangers in the adminis- 

 tration when there were Egyptians who would 

 discharge the duties better at one fifth the cost. 

 The exemption of Europeans from taxation and 

 from obedience to the general law of the land 

 were injustices which they requested to have 

 abolished. The immunity of the fine residences 

 of European merchants from all taxation, while 

 the huts of their humble Egyptian neighbors 

 were taxed 12 per cent on their valuation, was 

 one of the international engagements estab- 

 lished by the capitulations of the Sultan. The 

 consuls-general possessed the power of con- 

 ferring foreign nationality on Egyptians, and 

 procuring thus their exemption from the tax 

 on real estate and the tax on professions. The 



effect of the conflicting attributes of the local 

 police and the consular authorities was that, 

 while the slightest injury practiced upon a 

 European by an Arab was severely punished, 

 Arabs could be defrauded, plundered, assaulted, 

 and even murdered with impunity. 



The classes which rallied around the national 

 cause were : 1. The army, with the exception 

 of the Circassian officers. 2. The learned Mus- 

 sulman class, consisting of the doctors and 

 scholars of the Azhar University. 3. The 

 Arab and Egyptian merchants of the towns. 

 4. The native artisans who read, or had read 

 to them, the Arabic journals. 5. The village 

 sheiks and their representatives, the members 

 of the Egyptian Parliament. 6. The Coptic 

 Christians, numbering about half a million. 7. 

 The small section of the fellaheen who lived 

 within the influence of the thought of the 

 towns. 8. The semi-nomadic Bedouins of the 

 Delta. 9. The native and Levantine Jewish 

 communities. 10. Most of the Syrian Chris- 

 tians, who are the most active, progressive, 

 and intellectual section of the Egyptian popu- 

 lation. 



Opposed to the National party were : 1. The 

 adherents of the vice-regal family, officials and 

 courtiers, mostly Turks and Circassians, in- 

 cluding the majority of the persons who speak 

 French and mingle with European society. 2. 

 The Circassians. The class called "Circas- 

 sians " in Egypt are the descendants of the Cir- 

 cassian beys and Mamelukes who ruled Egypt 

 in the last century. The Circassians and Turks 

 form a wealthy aristocracy, but number to- 

 gether scarcely 15,000. 3. The Greeks, who 

 are the financiers and money-lenders, and num- 

 ber some 34,000. 4. A portion of the Syrian 

 Christian community ; also money-lenders and 

 speculators. 5. The European community. 



THE CHAMBER OF NOTABLES. The outcome 

 of the military revolt of September 9, 1881, 

 was the convocation of a Chamber of Nota- 

 bles, upon the advice of the new Prime Minis- 

 ter, Sherif Pasha, in compliance with tbe de- 

 mands of the military party. The delegates to 

 the Parliament were elected ostensibly by popu- 

 lar suffrage, every Egyptian over twenty-five 

 years of age being entitled to a vote ; but out- 

 side the large towns the sheiks, or head men 

 of the villages in each district, chose the rep- 

 resentative at an electoral convention. Officials 

 were directed not to interfere with the free 

 choice of delegates. The objects of the con- 

 vocation of the Notables, as laid down by 

 Sberif Pasha in the project submitted to the 

 Khedive, and announced in the speech from 

 the throne at the opening of the Chamber, 

 December 26, 1881, were to consider generally 

 the requirements of the provinces, the needed 

 reforms in the various administrations and 

 more particularly the question of forced labor 

 on public works the collection of taxes, and 

 the establishment of provincial councils. The 

 tribute, the public debt, and all charges on the 

 country arising out of the law of liquidation or 



