THE MARITIME CANAL OF SUEZ. 255 



Lord Derby and the Chargi d' Affaires, M. Gavard, the Khedive 

 informed the English Consul-General at Cairo, Major-General 

 Stanton, that he had fully determined to give Her Majesty's Govern- 

 ment the first refusal of his interest in the Suez Canal, amounting to 

 177,642 shares, which he fixed at the sum of 100,000,000 francs. 

 The British Consul-General lost no time in advising Lord Derby of 

 this definite proposal, and on the 25th, the following Despatch, 

 was sent, on behalf of the British Government, to Major-General 

 Stanton : — 



"Foreign Office, 



" November 2<„ 1875. 



"Sir, 



"I have received your telegram of the 23rd inst., stating that the Viceroy 

 of Egypt is willing to dispose of his shares to Her Majesty's Government in the 

 Suez Canal for 100,000,000 francs ; and I have to inform you that Her Majesty s 

 Government are ready to purchase these shares, 177,642* in number, for the 

 above-mentioned sum [i.e., ;^4,ooo,ooo), and they will be prepared to recom- 

 mend Parliament to sanction the contract. 



"In the meantime, Messrs. N. de Rothschild & Sons, will be the agents of 

 Her Majesty's Government in London to carry out the transaction. They will 

 be prepared to hold ;^l,ooo,ooo on the ist December at the disposal of the 

 Egyptian Government, upon the shares being handed to you on behalf of Her 

 Majesty's Government. 



" The remaining ;^3,ooo,ooo will be provided in December and January, as 

 may be arranged between the Egyptian Government and Messrs. Rothschild and 

 Sons. 



" Her Majesty's Government assume that the 5 per cent, on the sum paid, 

 which is to be paid to Her Majesty's Government, as pointed out in your tele- 

 gram of to-day, until the coupons are liberated, will be charged on the revenuss 



of Egypt. „^ „ 



"Derby." 



' These terms were accepted by the Khddive and his Ministers, and 

 on the 25th November an agreement was drawn up, signed by the 

 Khedive and the English Consul-General, embodying the terms of 

 the sale and purchase, and, on the same day Rothschild and Sons 

 forwarded to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Stafford 

 Northcote, the terms and conditions of the advance to be made by 

 them of the ;^4,ooo,ooo ; ;^i, 000,000 to be at the disposal of the 

 Egyptian Government on the ist December, and the remaining 

 _;^3,ooo,ooo during the months of December and January, for 

 which they were to charge Her Majesty's Government a commission 



* This number was subsequently converted to 176,602, the difference in 

 number of 1,040, having been sold in Paris two years previously. 



