ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND EGYPT. I03 



arrested, tried by a secret Court Martial, and sentenced to degrada- 

 tion and exile for life, which was afterwards commuted by the 

 Khedive into striking their names off the roll of the Army, and 

 reducing their pay one half 



The struggle between the Khedive and his Ministers now assumed 

 an acute character, and in this crisis, England and France resolved 

 to support the authority of the Khedive, and to protect the Europeans 

 from a threatened massacre ; and with this object they ordered two 

 Ironclads to proceed to Alexandria. This changed for a time the 

 aspect of affairs, for the Egyptian Ministers lost no time in presenting 

 themselves at the Palace of the Khedive, and making an abject 

 submission. 



At Alexandria, however, the presence of the Allied Fleet caused 

 anxiety rather than confidence, and the hostility to the Europeans in 

 the city increased day by day; consequently, the British Consul- 

 General addressed to Lord Granville a warning, " that Alexandria 

 was in danger of being stormed by the Army, and that there was great 

 danger to the Europeans, who would soon be at the mercy of the 

 exasperated soldiery.^' 



In a fortnight this warning proved to be too true, for on June nth 

 a serious riot broke out in Alexandria, under the guns of the Allied 

 Fleet; the British Consul-General was dragged out of his carriage 

 and severely injured; the Greek Consul was attacked, and many 

 English and French subjects killed. 



To quell the outbreak, the Khedive, and the various representatives 

 of the European Powers, appealed to Arabi Pasha to guarantee the 

 security of the Europeans throughout Egypt, and accordingly, he at 

 once exerted himself to maintain order and prevent bloodshed, and, 

 assisted by the Sultan's representative. Dervish Pasha, he succeeded, 

 which was to his great credit, as he was accused at the time of being the 

 "Instigator, or the cause of the subsequent Alexandrian massacres.'' 



In the meantime Arabi, whilst doing his utmost to maintain order 

 in Alexandria, was no less active as the Minister of War, in pushing 

 on preparations to defend Alexandria from attack by the Allied Fleet, 

 and by his orders, the Forts were put in a condition of defence, and 

 long lines of earthworks erected, which were defended by the finest 

 regiments in the Egyptian Army. 



Against these preparations of defence the Khedive, and the English 

 Admiral in command, protested, but this only induced Arabi to push 

 on the fortifications with all speed, and this refusal to obey the British 

 Admiral, formed the pretext of the latter's active interference. 



