g6 ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND EGYPT. 



Whatever may have been the diverse opinions of the politicians 

 and statesmen of Europe on the merits of the Treaty of the 13th 

 July, 1 84 1, and whatever may have been the great issues of its inter- 

 pretation and application on subsequent events that have transpired 

 in the East, especially those great events which led up to, and pre- 

 cipitated the disastrous Crimean War, of one thing we may be 

 certain the historian, is bound to acknowledge, that the Treaty, if it 

 did not accomplish all that the sagacity of statesmen might have 

 desired for the future, the permanent tranquillity of the East, yet it 

 achieved much for Europe, and averted a great European war. 



It was, therefore, a Treaty not dictated by the Conqueror to the 

 conquered, and consequently a war Treaty, but it was a Treaty of 

 essentially a pacific character, agreed upon and concluded in the 

 interests of peace, and by the Great European Powers in alliance one 

 with the other, and deserves to be ranked as one of the most im- 

 portant international transactions, achieved by the wisdom and 

 Statesmanship of United Europe. 



Fifty years ago, as we have described in the preceding pages, 

 Mehemet AH sought to civilise Egypt, when he invaded Syria and 

 occupied the Holy Places, leading his victorious army to within one 

 hundred miles of Constantinople, and thus threatening the existence 

 of the Ottoman Empire, and, as we have shown, he failed in this 

 bold attempt through the intervention of England, for he was 

 defeated by English forces, compelled to retreat, and finally to submit 

 himself to his Suzerain, the Sultan of Turkey. 



During the remainder of his reign as Khedive, the Sultan received 

 his annual tribute of ;£3So,ooo, and during the successive adminis- 

 trations of the Khedives, Aba Pasha, and Said Pasha, the annual 

 tribute was regularly paid, and tranquillity prevailed in Egypt. 



EGYPT, FROM 1862 TO 1881. 



Up to the year 1862, Egypt never borrowed money. In that year 

 the reigning Khedive, Said Pasha, contracted the first debt for Egypt, 

 against the advice and entreaty of his Minister, who threw himself 

 at his feet, warning him that such a measure would be the first step 

 towards the ruin of his country. Truly, he was a great, prophet ! 



