114 ENGLAND, FRANCE,' AND EGYPT. 



Marquis of Salisbury, was the Mission to Turkey and Egypt of Sir 

 Henry Drummond Wolff, and whatever may have been the result 

 of this diplomatic Mission, its spirit and its purpose, deserve the 

 highest praise. 



Sir Henry Drummond Wolff is no charlatan politician, but an able 

 and skilled diplomatist, who has served England well, in many 

 diplomatic Missions, and especially in that most important and 

 arduous one, after the Russo-Turkish War, in the reorganisation of 

 Eastern Roumelia. 



There is another reason why this Mission deserves more than a 

 passihg recognition, and it is this : That England, by the action of 

 its Government, at last recognised, what should have been recognised 

 in 1882, and if it had been recognised, the intervention of England 

 in Egypt would never have taken place ; namely, the Suzerainty of the 

 Sultan, and the Sovereignty of the Porte, over the Government and the 

 people of Egypt. ■ 



In the despatch of the Marquis of Salisbury, addressed to Sir 

 Henry Drummond Wolff, dated August 7th, 1885, appointing him 

 Envoy-Extraordinary, and Minister-Plenipotentiary to the Sultan of 

 Turkey on Egyptian affairs, this recognition is fully set forth. 



" It is the wish of Her Majesty's Government to recognise, in its full significance, 

 the position which is secured to the Sultan, as Sovereign of Egypt, by treaties under 

 instruments, having a force under international law. 



" Her Majesty's Government are of opinion, that the authority of the Sultan over 

 a large portion of the Mabommedan world, which largely exists under his rule, will 

 be much assured by a due recognition of his legitimate position in Egypt, and on the 

 other hand, they believe it is in the Sultan's power, to contribute materially to the 

 establishment of settled order, and good Government in portions of that country, 

 which have been recently subject to the calamity of armed rebellion. 



" The general object of your Mission will be. in the first instance, to secure for Eng- 

 land the amount of influence which is necessary for its own Imperial interests, and 

 subject to that condition, to provide a strong and efficient Government, as free as pos- 

 sible from foreign interference. 



When Sir Henry Drummond Wolff arrived at Constantinople on 

 August 22nd, 1885, the Sultan and his Ministers expressed in the 

 strongest manner their desire to maintain and strengthen the ancient 

 ties of friendship with England, and Sir Henry, in reply, personally 

 assured them that the object of his Mission, was to combine the 

 reorganisation of Egypt, with the recognition of the Sovereign rights 

 of the Sultan, and of the Government of Turkey. 



After a series of negotiations, extending, over two months, the 

 Anglo-Turkish Convention was signed, on the z6th October, 1885 



