476 
EGYPT 
world Power ; and that as we were unwilling to abandon 
the claim, no American worth his salt ought to hesitate 
about performing the task. I feel just the same way 
about you in the Soudan. 
Now as to Egypt. It would not be worth my while 
to speak to you at all, nor would it be worth your while 
to listen, unless on condition that I say what I deeply 
feel ought to be said. I speak as an outsider, but in 
one way this is an advantage, for I speak without 
national prejudice. I would not talk to you about 
your own internal affairs here at home ; but you are so 
very busy at home that I am not sure whether you 
realize just how things are, in some places at least, 
abroad. At any rate, it can do you no harm to hear 
the view of one who has actually been on the ground, 
and has information at first hand ; of one, moreover, 
who, it is true, is a sincere well-wisher of the British 
Empire, but who is not British by blood, and who is 
impelled to speak mainly because of his deep concern 
for the welfare of mankind and for the future of civiliza¬ 
tion. Remember also that I who address you am not 
only an American, but a Radical, a real—not a mock— 
Democrat, and that what I have to say is spoken chiefly 
because I am a Democrat—a man who feels that his 
first thought is bound to be the welfare of the masses of 
mankind, and his first duty to war against violence and 
injustice and wrong-doing, wherever found; and I 
advise you only in accordance with the principles on 
which I myself acted when I was President of the 
United States in dealing with the Philippines. 
In Egypt you are not only the guardians of your 
own interests; you are also the guardians of the interests 
of civilization; and the present condition of affairs in 
Egypt is a grave menace both to your Empire and to 
