THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI 
 AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
AHMED ARABI PASHA. 
 
HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI 
 
 AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 A STORY OF EGYPT AND THE EGYPTIANS. 
 
 BY 
 
 A. M. BROADLEY, 
 
 'i 
 
 BARRISTER-AT-LAW. 
 
 AUTHOR OF " TUNIS PAST AND PRESENT." 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 FREDERICK VILLIERS, 
 
 SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF " THE GRAPHIC " IN EGYPT. 
 
 " God grant you victory, O Arabi ! " 
 
 Cairo Street-cry, July, 1882. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON : CHAPMAN AND HALL, LIMITED. 
 
 1884. 
 
 [All Rights Reserved.] 
 
i 
 
 Ardbi Pacha to the Author. 
 
 To MY DEAR FRIEND MR. BROADDEY. 
 
 Please keep all the documents connected with my 
 case, to be delivered only to him who writes these 
 lines. I give you leave to publish whatever papers 
 you may think proper. 
 
 Cairo, December 15th, 1882. ' 
 
 [Ahmed Arabi the Egyptian.] 
 
TO 
 
 WILFRED SCAWEN BLUNT AND LADY ANNE BLUNT, 
 
 I'S BEST FRIENDS HIS FRIENDS IN NEED, 
 THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED, 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 NEARLY two months have now elapsed since I first 
 told the story of Arabi's defence in this volume. I 
 have certainly much reason to be grateful for the 
 kind indulgence which the majority of my numerous 
 critics have shown me. The past sixty days have 
 been unusually eventful ones in the history of Egypt, 
 but I must frankly confess that I see nothing in the 
 recent development of events which would cause me 
 to alter or even to modify the general conclusions I 
 arrived at. Since this book was published Cherif 
 Pacha has resigned office as President of the Egyptian 
 Council of Ministers, and Nubar Pacha now reigns in 
 his stead. General Gordon is, as I write, on his road 
 to Khartoum to prevent, if possible, any further 
 disasters in the Soudan. The aims and objects of his 
 mission are somewhat confused, but I take it he has 
 been sent to Equatorial Egypt to bring about some 
 settlement the best settlement possible under the 
 circumstances. To the uniniated observer his under- 
 taking would certainly seem to involve several very 
 patent contradictions of purpose. It is difficult to see 
 
ii PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 how he can act simultaneously as British Commissioner 
 and Egyptian Governor-General ; it is still more 
 puzzling to understand how he can at once evacuate 
 the Soudan, uphold the somewhat faded Khedivial 
 prestige in those remote regions, and set up a trust- 
 worthy and respectable native government in the 
 place of Egyptian and Turkish misrule. Up to the 
 present time it would almost seem that we have 
 accepted a maximum of responsibility and acquired 
 only a minimum of power. The last state of Egypt 
 must be even worse than the first if the intelligent 
 Egyptian statesmen at Cairo can with impunity add 
 to General Gordon's perplexities by requesting him 
 to place on the throne of Darfiir (I presume as a first 
 instalment of the trustworthy and respectable native 
 sovereignty) a youth of eighteen, with forty-two 
 wives, and addicted to chronic alcoholism, whereas 
 the rightful claimant is a person of mature age, 
 exemplary temperate habits, and comparative con- 
 nubial respectability. If General Gordon's forlorn 
 hope is to succeed, he must at once be made inde- 
 pendent of Cairo. 
 
 In these recent occurrences I claim to find a 
 forcible and practical confirmation of the views I have 
 had the temerity to lay before my readers. Nobody 
 has ever accused Nubar Pacha of a want of shrewd- 
 ness, and I think I am entitled to assume that he has 
 
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. in 
 
 selected as his colleagues the men he considered 
 most suited for the different posts he assigned to 
 them. It has been said it is true that Nubar 
 has himself frankly described his Council of Ministers 
 as a Cabinet of Nonentities. However this may be, 
 he has undeniably appointed to high office Mustapha 
 Fehmy, Mahmoud el Felaki, and Abderrahman Bey 
 Ruchdi, and he has nominated Ahmed Pacha Nachat 
 as Mr Clifford Lloyd's assistant in the Home Depart- 
 ment. The reader of the following pages will see that 
 these four men were intimately associated with Arabi in - 
 the Nationalist administrations presided over by Mah- 
 moud Sami and Ragheb. Nachat was one of the most 
 prominent and energetic members of the Defence 
 Committee at Cairo. I have now before me copies of \ 
 several long and fervently patriotic telegrams to the 
 Sultan which bear his signature and seal. Nubar \ 
 Pacha, therefore, has unwittingly furnished us with the 
 most eloquent and convincing proof that he, too, thinks 
 with me that the best available stuff out of which 
 Egyptian Ministers can be made to-day is still to be 
 found in the broken ranks of the much-abused Nation- 
 alists. 
 
 The acclamation which greeted the announcement 
 of General Gordon's departure on his arduous mission 
 to the Soudan has been absolutely unanimous. He has 
 been with good reason hailed throughout the length and 
 
iv PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 breadth of England as the one man endowed with the 
 knowledge, energy, and honesty, requisite to save the 
 situation. General Gordon, it is true, believes the 
 removal of Ismail Pacha, " one of the ablest and 
 most ill-used men in Europe,* " to have been the fons 
 et origo malornm. He tells us that Ismail was the 
 most capable ruler Egypt ever had, and that his with- 
 drawal from power was a misfortune and an ever-to- 
 be-lamented blunder. At the same time, while doing 
 ample justice to his former chief, he sympathises 
 deeply with Arabi and his cause. During the trial 
 at Cairo he gave practical proof of the earnestness of 
 his opinions by subscribing to the Defence Fund, and 
 addressing a remarkable and characteristic letter of 
 encouragement to Mr. Blunt. The deliberate opinion 
 of General Gordon affords, if possible, more important 
 evidence in favour of my late clients than the deli- 
 berate acts of the new Premier. Four days before 
 leaving England General Gordon spoke thus of Arabi : 
 " I think Arabi will eventually come back to Egypt. 
 I knew him well, for he was during eighteen months 
 my subordinate in command of the garrison at Masso- 
 wah. He is a man of fair ability, and Arabi is un- 
 
 * See the Pall Mall Gazette. There can be little doubt that the 
 despatch of General Gordon at the eleventh hour to Egypt was in a 
 great measure owing to the energy and enterprise of this paper, which 
 has made the Soudan question its own. 
 
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. v 
 
 questionably honest. He would make a good and 
 popular Egyptian Minister, and he had, and has, a 
 majority of the Egyptian people with him. England 
 might well utilise his services and count on his good 
 faith. To have killed him would have been both an 
 injustice and a political blunder. We must not in- 
 dulge in exaggeration about Arabi. He must be 
 judged by an Egyptian and not by a European 
 standard." 
 
 It would appear, moreover, that there is even a 
 strong element of Nationalism in General Gordon's 
 present work. Is he not to assure the Soudanese that 
 he is come "to restore to them their liberty, and to 
 remove the swarms of unpaid adventurers of various 
 kinds who have been the curse of the country ? " 
 Does not this savour somewhat of Ar&bi's programme ? 
 It is not surprising that Mr. Lloyd detects an affinity 
 between Arabi's charter and the instructions given to 
 his subordinate Nachat to " do equal justice to rich 
 and poor alike." Arabi and his cause must bide their 
 time, and I do not think they will wait in vain. The 
 present chaos will inevitably bring into existence a 
 really strong National Government, or end in a de- 
 clared and vigorous British Protectorate. In either 
 case there will be no further reason for detaining 
 Arabi and his friends in exile. The remedy I have 
 proposed for the manifest sickness of Egypt is I am 
 
vi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 aware generally described as impossible. I trust that 
 the opinion of Gordon and the action of Nubar will 
 be duly weighed by my readers during the present 
 crisis. As Mr. Frederic Harrison very truly observes, 
 when arguing from the text " let us withdraw from 
 Egypt," " great national crimes and disasters often 
 arise because there are so many things which practical 
 politicians are pleased to call impossible." 
 
 A. M. BROADLEY. 
 
 The Temple, February 1st, 1884. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ON the 3rd December, 1882, Ahmed Arbi returned 
 to his cell in the Daira Saniya Prison at Cairo, 
 having pleaded guilty to a formal charge of re- 
 bellion and received a sentence of perpetual exile 
 from Egypt. A year has passed away since then, 
 and on the 3rd December, 1883, these pages, which 
 tell in detail the story of his defence, and in part 
 the story of his cause, will be submitted to the im- 
 partial judgment of Englishmen. They might well 
 have been published earlier, but I preferred delay. I 
 was anxious when writing them to exchange as much 
 as possible the role of the advocate for that of the 
 historian ; I desired to see if the conduct of the 
 seven exiles in Ceylon justified my belief in their 
 loyalty and good faith ; and it was necessary that 
 the Egyptian Restoration should complete its first 
 twelvemonths' work before it could be fairly criticised 
 or weighed according to its fruits. It has thus 
 
ii PREFACE. 
 
 happened that my tale of Arabi and his friends 
 will be told a year after they have quitted for a time 
 at least the arena of practical politics. 
 
 The pledges which England has voluntarily en- 
 tered into as regards Egypt are as yet wholly unre- 
 deemed. Any final solution of the Egyptian question 
 seems to be still as far off as ever, while our projected 
 " fair start" has not advanced a single step beyond 
 the preliminary stage of speculative official corre- 
 spondence. I fail to see how any satisfactory conclu- 
 sion can be possibly arrived at without a searching 
 inquiry into the latest phases of Egyptian history, 
 and an impartial hearing of all the parties to the 
 recent quarrel. Ardbi and his friends do not shrink 
 from such an ordeal. 
 
 Before England and Englishmen pronounce a 
 final verdict as to the destiny of the country to 
 which we have promised all the advantages of a new 
 departure, it may be hoped that those with whom the 
 responsibility of action chiefly rests will not altogether 
 neglect the lessons they may learn from a careful 
 study of the chronicles of Egyptian Nationalism. 
 
 Gentle reader ! you have lately heard so much 
 about Egypt that you are probably already tired of 
 the theme. All I can promise you is, that, if you 
 will make one more sacrifice and read my book, I 
 
PREFACE. iii 
 
 will try and show you something of the Egyptians 
 as seen through Egyptian spectacles. The formula 
 of " Egypt for the Egyptians " as we are accustomed 
 to hear it used signifies very little ; " Egypt for the 
 Egyptians " as the device on the banner of Ardbi 
 and his friends meant a great deal. This is pre- 
 cisely what I hope to be allowed to explain to 
 you. The author, who sees Egyptian things through 
 Financial spectacles, has had his say ; a similar boon 
 has been accorded to the wearers of the tinted glasses 
 1 will venture to describe as representing Politics, 
 Diplomacy, Erench Influence, Vested Interests, 
 Anglo-Egyptian ideas, and the various echoes of the 
 historical verandah of Shepheard's Hotel at Cairo. 
 All these gentlemen have had a patient hearing 
 and a fair and open market for their wares. The 
 tribune being for the moment vacant I have, perhaps 
 somewhat audaciously, stepped into the empty place, 
 put on my Egyptian spectacles, and now invite the 
 great and generous British Public to witness the 
 panorama of Egyptian Nationalism, in which the 
 principal characters will be sustained by my late 
 clients. I can even promise more than this. Prom 
 time to time I shall allow my audience to look behind 
 the deceptive scenery of Egyptian state- craft. 
 
 I shall do mv best not to weary those who 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 come to my Egyptian raree-show. I can even 
 fancy some of my audience complaining that I give 
 them too much comedy and not enough tragedy, but 
 let me at once tell such candid critics as these that a 
 deep vein of humour underlies the whole fabric of 
 Eastern society and meets you at every turn. If I 
 were to blot out all that is laugh-producing in my 
 story, it would fail both to amuse and instruct my 
 readers. Truth and life would equally be wanting, 
 and I might just as well take off my Egyptian 
 spectacles at the outset. We live in an age of 
 special-correspondence and quick-history- making. I 
 very much doubt if people now-a-days have time to 
 master matter-of-fact political and statistical disser- 
 tations as our ancestors did in the old times before 
 us. There is a tacit revolution against all that is 
 dry. I have deviated somewhat from the " gravity 
 suitable to the occasion," because the very nature of 
 my panorama requires it ; and in order that I may 
 secure those readers who really wish to see Egypt and 
 the Egyptians from an Egyptian point of view, but 
 are not prepared to undergo a severe course of his- 
 torical study to do so. In this I have to some extent 
 followed the example of the doctor who doses an 
 
 V 
 
 unsuspecting patient through the medium of medi- 
 cated gingerbread nuts. 
 
PREFACE. v 
 
 I am perfectly aware the solution of the Egyptian 
 question I hint at will partake very much of the 
 nature of a political showerbath. A shout of derision 
 will come from the wearers of the tinted glasses, who 
 have already shown their wares and essayed to con- 
 vince the public of the sagacity of their different 
 theories, and I can almost count those who will agree 
 with me on the fingers of my hands. Strong, 
 however, in my own personal convictions, I do not 
 seek to apologise for or even extenuate the course 
 which, I believe, both prudence and justice dictate 
 to us as regards our dealing with Egypt. Few will 
 refuse to recognise the failure of the Egyptian Resto- 
 ration carried out under our auspices, and the hope- 
 lessness of "a fair start" under existing circumstances. 
 The Restoration of Egyptian Nationalism would be 
 a work worthy of England. It would, I believe, 
 give prosperity, peace, and self-government to the 
 Egyptians, and contribute materially to stay the flood 
 of aggression in North Africa. Nothing could more 
 enhance the prestige and influence of England in the 
 councils of Europe than her spontaneously carrying 
 out in the hour of success and victory the pledges 
 she voluntarily entered into as to the aim and object 
 of our expedition to Egypt. 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 While this volume has been passing through the 
 press all England has been startled by the intelligence 
 of Hicks Pacha's defeat in the Soudan. One of our 
 most valued assistants at Cairo, whose name will 
 more than once occur in the course of my narrative, 
 has found an untimely grave in the fatal battle before 
 Obeid. There appears to be no doubt that Edward 
 Baldwin Evans, our faithful and zealous interpreter, 
 has been one of the victims of this great disaster. 
 The annihilation of the Egyptian forces by the Mehdi 
 will certainly delay the evacuation of Cairo by our 
 troops. At the same time it makes the beginning of 
 the promised " fair start " a matter of increasing 
 urgency. In another place I shall show my readers 
 to what extent the ill-treatment and ignominy which 
 were the lot of the rank and file of Arabi's army after 
 Tel-el-Kebir has contributed to the destruction of 
 Colonel Hicks's forlorn hope. Unless we are pre- 
 pared to really give the country " a fair start," with- 
 out delay, our quitting it at all will soon become 
 an impossibility. 
 
 Last year it was my lot to write the story of the 
 Prench Invasion of Tunis.* I now place before my 
 
 * Tunis Past and Present the Last Punic War. 2 vols. Wil- 
 liam Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, 1882., 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 readers a narrative of the defence of Arabi and his 
 friends, which, as a matter of course, necessitates an 
 account of the Egyptian National movement, of which 
 he became the leader by the tacit suffrages of all 
 Egypt. 
 
 The ninth decade of the nineteenth century has 
 been an all-important epoch in the history of North 
 Africa. It has seen the conquest and permanent 
 occupation of Tunis by Erance ; it has witnessed the 
 English expedition to Egypt. Much will, of course, 
 depend on the resolution which is come to as to the 
 nature of our stay in that country. If it is only to 
 be temporary and always with a view to "a fair 
 start/' as Mr. Gladstone assures us, I may probably 
 be spared from chronicling the last days of Tripoli 
 in 1884, and the fall of the Empire of Morocco 
 in 1885. Nothing else can save North Africa from 
 becoming the 'vantage ground of European aggres- 
 sion. 
 
 Arabi and his friends are still waiting patiently in 
 Ceylon for the justice which they, sooner or later, 
 confidently expect. They believe in the good faith of 
 England, both as regards their own fate and the ulti- 
 mate destiny of Egypt. They are content to " abide 
 the time fixed by the decrees of Providence," and 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 steadily refrain both from useless complaints or vexa- 
 tious agitation. Arabi wrote to me thus shortly after 
 his arrival in Ceylon : 
 
 To my faithful and honourable friend and defender Mr. Broadley 
 (may God preserve him in his Holy keeping !). 
 
 After presenting you with my most heart-felt salutations, I 
 inform you that we all arrived in good health at Colombo, in the 
 island of Ceylon, on the 10th of January, 1883, after a sea 
 voyage of 14 days. 
 
 We were very cordially received by the authorities of the 
 island, who had secured houses for our accommodation, and who 
 furnished us with nourishing food sufficient for the wants of our 
 families during several days. 
 
 We join in offering our warmest thanks to the English autho- 
 rities for the respect and kindness with which they have treated 
 us, as indeed we always hoped from them. The town, the 
 climate, and the face of the country itself, suit us perfectly. 
 We purpose sending our children to the local schools and learn- 
 ing the English language ourselves. Once the question of the 
 confiscation of our property is settled (as we trust it will be by 
 your good offices) we shall lead a happy life. 
 
 All my brethren and their children send you their kind 
 regards. 
 
 Please remember us to my brother Ahmed Bey Rifat if he 
 is with you, and also to your beloved mother, who is the object 
 of all our respect. 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 (Signed) AHMED ARABI the Egyptian. 
 24th Jan. 1883. 
 
 His letters have breathed the same contentment 
 and resignation ever since. The seven exiles have 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 
 applied themselves diligently to the learning of the 
 English language, and with excellent results. The 
 intelligence of these "rough mutineers" must be of 
 no mean order. A few days ago 1 received in 
 English the following letter from the ex-Nationalist 
 Premier, Mahmoud Sami, who never opened a 
 grammar before settling down in Colombo : 
 
 Mutwal, 28th September, 1883. 
 MY DEAR MR. BROADLEY, 
 
 Although I have promised to write you a letter in English 
 within six months, that time has not yet finished ; but I saw 
 your letter to my friend Arabi telling him to ask me to write 
 you a letter as you asked me. I write these few lines for you to 
 see. Now I am doing well, hoping the same from you also, 
 and glad to see that you have not forgotten me. 
 
 I 'am always, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 MAHMOUD SAMI. 
 
 While Yacoub Sami, Arabi's Under- Secretary, 
 writes: 
 
 Wavertree House, 
 Slave Island, 
 
 Colombo, 20th September, 1883. 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 I beg to inform you in these few lines that for a long time 
 I have not got any letter from you. Now I am learning English 
 a little. My teacher's name is Abu Sali, but he is employed at 
 the Government offices, and attends only two hours in the 
 
 b 
 
x PREFACE. 
 
 morning. I am always glad to know of your health ; therefore 
 you will be good enough to send me always a letter informing 
 me of your health in English. I cannot speak very good 
 English, but I speak a little. This is my handwriting. I send 
 to show it you, and I enclose a letter from my daughter, written 
 also in English and in her own handwriting. I am in good 
 health, and my family too. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 YACOUB SAMI. 
 A. M. Broadley, Esq. 
 
 During my stay in Cairo, Mr. Frederic Villiers 
 executed a series of sketches from life, which now 
 illustrate this volume. Their merits speak for them- 
 selves, and the Photo-Mechanical Printing Company 
 has succeeded in reproducing them in fac-simile. It 
 is true that no other artist had Mr. Villiers' oppor- 
 tunities, but I doubt if any one else could have 
 better taken advantage of them. 
 
 A. M. BROADLEY. 
 
 Lincoln's Inn Library, London. 
 December 1st, 1883. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 CHAPTEB 
 
 Preface 
 
 I. My Retainer - 
 II. An Interview at Asnieres on the Seine 
 
 III. From Tunis to Alexandria 
 
 IV. Cairo 
 
 OA 
 
 V. Our First Consultation - 
 VI. The Balcony at Shepherd's Hotel 
 VII. Preliminary Skirmishes 
 VIII. Arabi in Prison 
 
 IX. The Recovery of Arabi's Papers - 71 
 
 X. A Digression from the Blue-Books - 78 
 
 XI. The Two Colonels 
 XII. Arabi's Written Instructions 
 
 XIII. Some other Clients 
 
 XIV. What Arabi's Papers contained 
 
 XV. The Battle of the Procedure Rules - 179 
 
 XVI. Lord Dufferin's Arrival 
 XVII. Ahmed Rifat's Story 
 XVIII. The Narrative of Arabi'a Under-Secretary - 
 
Xll 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XIX. Sheikh Muhamed Abdu Ulema and Journalist 227 
 XX. How the Commission of Inquiry examined Rifat 
 
 Bey - - 238 
 
 XXI. Suleiman Sami the Approver 255 
 
 XXII. How we came to defend Mahmond Pacha Sami 279 
 
 XXIII. Projects of Compromise - 290 
 
 XXIV. The Eve of the Trial - - 310 
 
 XXV. Three Short State Trials - - - 329 
 
 XXVI. After the Verdict - - 34G 
 
 XXVII. A Palace Intrigue - - 359 
 
 XXVIII. Egyptian Ladies and Egyptian Nationalism - 373 
 
 XXIX. Into Exile - = - 383 
 
 XXX. The Fate of the Rank and File - 418 
 
 XXXI. Personal Impressions of Arab! and his friends - 434 
 
 XXXII. Sovereignty or Suzerainty 452 
 
 XXXIII. Egypt present and to come 476 
 
 Appendix - 501 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTEATIOJSTS. 
 
 1. Arabi Pacha ..... 
 
 2. Arabi's House Lady Strangford's Hospital . 
 
 3. All Fehmy Pacha . . . 
 
 4. Abd-el-Al Pacha . . . 
 
 5. Outside of the Daira Saniya Prison . . 
 G. Toulba Pacha . . . . 
 
 7. Bombardment of Alexandria as seen from Cairo 
 
 8. Mahmoud Sami Pacha 
 
 9. Mahmoud Fehmy Pacha . . 
 
 10. Trial of Arabi Pacha . . . 
 
 11. Sheikh Hasan el Edwi before the Commission 
 
 of Inquiry . . . 
 
 12. " You are to go to Ceylon "Arabi in his cell 
 
 13. Preparing for exile A council in Arabi 
 
 Pacha's room . . . 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 Pages 104105 
 
 106107 
 
 108109 
 
 112113 
 
 144145 
 
 ,, 186187 
 
 282283 
 
 318319 
 
 340341 
 
 370371 
 
 384385 
 
 392393 
 
HOW WE DEFENDED AKABI. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MY RETAINER. 
 
 ON the 19th September, 1882, the British victory at 
 Tel-el-Kebir was only a week old, and the first flush 
 of national enthusiasm it had evoked had as vet 
 
 m 
 
 shown no symptoms of dying away. In the midst of 
 the prevailing new-fashioned martial ardour, and the 
 exultant singing of songs of triumph, there was 
 hardly any leisure for reflection, or time to think of 
 the fate of our fallen foes. On the morning of that 
 day, however, the Times published a lengthy letter 
 from Sir Samuel Baker under the heading of " The 
 Khedive and the Rebels," which advocated in un- 
 mistakeable language a very short shrift for the latter, 
 as a suitable and necessary sacrifice to the future 
 prestige of the former. " Europe and the world in 
 general,'' wrote Sir Samuel, " join in well-deserved 
 applause at the skilful and unhesitating strategy 
 of Sir Grarnet Wolseley. The question now arises 
 
2 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 'What is to become of Arabi and the ringleaders 
 of the rebels ? ' Those who defy the law must 
 suffer the punishment determined by the law, and no 
 exception should be made to this stern exigence of 
 necessity. ... Nothing could be more fatal to the 
 true interests of Egypt than our advising modera- 
 tion towards the vanquished. In the oriental mind 
 clemency is a token of weakness. The Egyptians 
 must learn, by a stern and unmitigated example, 
 that the Khedive is the constituted head, and that he 
 represents the Government of Egypt ; that rebellion 
 against his authority is high treason ; and that the 
 penalty of high treason will be inflicted without a 
 chance of reprieve or pardon. If Arabi and the ring- 
 leaders of the late rebellion are tried by Court 
 Martial and punished, there will be no question of 
 the authority of the Khedive, provided that he is 
 supported for at least twelve months by a sufficient 
 British army of occupation." 
 
 I had hardly finished reading this Draconian view 
 of the case of Arabi and his friends when a note 
 was brought me. I put down the paper to open it. 
 The letter I had received was from Mr. Algernon 
 Bourke, and it contained the wholly unexpected pro- 
 posal that I should immediately go to Cairo at the 
 expense and under the instructions of Mr. Wilfred 
 Scawen Blunt, to defend the " rebels," already tried, 
 
MY RETAINER. 3 
 
 condemned, and executed, theoretically, by the un- 
 bending code of Sir Samuel Baker. 
 
 Arabi was at this time a prisoner of war in the 
 custody of our victorious troops, having given up 
 his sword and' " trusted his honour " to General 
 Lowe on our bloodless entry into the Egyptian 
 capital. His friend and companion, Toulba Pacha, 
 had done the same, and they were now both carefully 
 guarded by British soldiers in one of the lower rooms 
 of the Abdin Palace. The prompt surrender of Arabi 
 had certainly taken the British public by surprise : 
 a final attempt at resistance before Cairo was, at one 
 time, confidently expected; and, even when all was 
 lost at Tel-el-Kebir, he might easily have destroyed 
 telegraphic communications, and prolonged the " war- 
 like operations " in Upper Egypt, or, with almost 
 equal facility, he could have disappeared (as some of 
 his followers seem to have done) across the wastes of 
 the Libyan deserts, and sought hospitality and a 
 refuge with the powerful chief Muhamed Senousi on 
 the frontiers of Southern Tripoli. When the first 
 tidings of his capture reached London, hardly any- 
 body believed them, and even the compilers of the 
 attractive contents-bills of the evening newspapers 
 conscientiously preceded the intelligence with the 
 words " rumoured" or " reported,'' although the less 
 scrupulous vendors (then in the midst of an unprece- 
 
 B 2 
 
4 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 dently fruitful harvest) carefully turned down that 
 portion of the notice, when offering their wares to the 
 eager and war -loving crowd. It was, however, 
 perfectly true that Arabi was a prisoner, and our 
 faithful ally, the Khedive, and his now complaisant 
 courtiers were busy at Alexandria, organising, as fast 
 as the repaired telegraph-wire could help them, a 
 wide-spread descent on his most prominent friends 
 and sympathisers, as an appropriate prelude to a 
 triumphal entry into Cairo "the City of Victory." 
 
 Arabi was not only a prisoner, but he was in danger 
 of his life. The first expression of public opinion as 
 to his fate in England pronounced, it is true, amidst 
 the sudden excitement of success was hardly worthy 
 of us. We heard for a moment only of the supreme 
 necessity for signal vengeance, and of the undoubted 
 propriety of exemplary punishment. These words, 
 strange to say, too often came from the mouths 
 of men professing the political creed called Libe- 
 ral.* Telegrams in a similar strain came thick 
 
 * ' If we have handed over the leaders of the revolt to the Khedive," 
 wrote Sir Julian Goldsmid on the 26th September, "it is clear that 
 he ought to be allowed to punish them for their offence according to 
 Egyptian law. Consequently we ought not to interfere with the 
 sentence which assuredly would be passed on Arabi and the other 
 principal leaders in any European country as well as in Egypt, viz. 
 
 the sentence of death In the East clemency is looked on 
 
 as weakness, and invites others to similar desperate ventures. I there- 
 fore urge that no maudlin sentimentality should be allowed to step in 
 and stop the execution of the capital sentence." 
 
MY RETAINER. 5 
 
 and fast from Egypt. Zealous correspondents had 
 interviewed Tewfik, Cherif, and Riaz concerning 
 their views as to the treatment of the vanquished. 
 They had all been unanimous Arabi' s life must 
 pay the penalty of his failure, Arabi and his friends 
 must die. 
 
 For an instant, and for an instant only, it 
 seemed as if the sanguinary "doctrine of expediency 
 would prevail. The reaction, however, soon came, 
 and it was mainly the work of one man. Mr. Blunt 
 had never been ashamed to call the " rebel" Arabi his 
 friend, and, during the earlier stages of the national 
 movement in Egypt, had often given him counsel and 
 advice ; but this was at the time when Mr. Gladstone 
 still believed in the legitimate aspirations of the 
 Egyptians. Mr. Blunt and his wife, during their 
 wanderings amidst the tents of Syria and Arabia, had 
 learned to love and appreciate the Arab race; and 
 they sympathised with Arabi because they regarded 
 him as the honest leader of an oppressed people 
 striving for freedom. The imminent peril in which 
 Arabi was now placed called forth an eloquent and 
 indignant protest from Mr. Blunt, and his appeal soon 
 found an echo. Mr. Blunt only asked that Arabi 
 should have a fair trial. English public opinion is 
 nearly always generous, and in this case it supported 
 Mr. Blunt's demand Arabi may be guilty, but he 
 
6 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB!. 
 
 must be heard in his defence before his doom can be 
 pronounced. The advocates of expediency soon found 
 themselves in a minority, and nearly the whole press 
 began to clamour energetically for impartial justice 
 and searching enquiry. 
 
 Mr. Blunt did not confine his efforts to words 
 alone. He resolved not only to defray, if need be, 
 the whole costs of the defence of his Egyptian 
 friends, but to place no limit whatever on the ex- 
 penses he proposed to incur. It was at this juncture, 
 and before he appealed to the Government and the 
 public with the object of securing a fair trial, that he 
 offered me, through our mutual friend Mr. Bourke, a 
 brief on behalf of Arabi. There was perhaps a strong 
 bond of union between us which may to some extent 
 account for this unexpected and flattering offer. We 
 had both more or less identified ourselves with the 
 cause of the North African Arabs, and we certainly 
 both believed that their cause was a righteous one. I 
 had, ever since the month of February 1881, devoted 
 myself to the task of chronicling the march of French 
 aggression in Tunis, and had acted professionally both 
 on behalf of Mr. Levy, in the now almost forgotten 
 Enfida case, and for the late Bey of Tunis, Muhamed- 
 es-Sadek, during the acute stage of the French inva- 
 sion, which preceded his acceptance of the Protectorate 
 of the Republic. During the summer of last year I 
 
MY DETAINER. 1 
 
 published a detailed account of the French conquest 
 of the Tunisian Regency (the " taking of Carthage" 
 according to the diplomatic phraseology of the Berlin 
 Congress), under the name of the "Last Punic War.'' 
 The connection which exists between recent events in 
 Tunis, and still more recent occurrences in Egypt, 
 is a close one. The National movement in Egypt 
 followed rapidly on the progress of aggression in 
 Tunis, and only one short twelvemonth intervened 
 between the shelling of Sfax and the bombardment 
 of Alexandria. The hopes, aspirations, wrongs, and 
 grievances of the North African Arabs in Tunis and 
 Egypt are almost identical ; and I must confess I now 
 feel it difficult to answer the criticism of my French 
 friends when they maliciously ask me if I still think 
 their raid in Tunisia was really the last Punic War, 
 and suggest that I should add the words u but one." 
 
 I was on the point of returning once more to 
 Tunis when I received Mr. Blunt's proposal, and I 
 lost no time in going to see him on the subject. 
 My work in Tunis had prevented me from following 
 very closely the earlier stages of events in Egypt, 
 and I can assure my readers I had at this time no 
 preconceived ideas or strong sympathy in favour of 
 my future client ; I had no great belief either in the 
 ability or patriotic motives of Arabi, and had not 
 wholly escaped the unfavourable impression concern- 
 
8 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 ing him which was an almost inevitable consequence 
 of the daily consumption of large doses of inimical 
 special correspondence. When we met on the after- 
 noon of the 19th September, Mr. Blunt, with his 
 characteristic energy, urged my going out to Egypt 
 at once on the mission he desired me to undertake. 
 I, on the contrary, thought that it would be more 
 advantageous to the case, and more in accordance 
 with professional etiquette, to endeavour to obtain a 
 retainer direct from Arabi before proceeding to Cairo. 
 The vials of British wrath (which, during the pro- 
 gress of the military operations in Egypt, were 
 generally at a white heat) had been so unmercifully, 
 and I now think so unjustly, poured out on Mr. 
 Blunt, (who had figured in the literature of newspaper 
 contents-bills as " Arabi's English ally," and had 
 been eloquently described by a noble Lord in the 
 course of a solemn debate in the Upper House, as 
 " only another Arabi in a frock coat,") that I felt my 
 acceptance of a retainer from Arabi himself would 
 improve and strengthen my position in Egypt, and 
 give me at the same time a better claim to the all- 
 powerful sympathy of public opinion in his favour. 
 After a prolonged consultation Mr. Blunt agreed to 
 adopt the course I proposed, and it was arranged that 
 I should at once go to Tunis, and there, half way on 
 my road to Egypt, await the retainer I sought to 
 
MY RETAINER. 9 
 
 obtain. Mr. Blunt meanwhile wrote to Arabi the 
 following letter in explanation of our plans : 
 
 September 22, 1882. 
 To ARABI PACHA. 
 
 May God preserve you in adversity as in good fortune. 
 As a soldier and a patriot, you will have understood the reasons 
 which have prevented me from writing to you or sending you 
 any message during the late unhappy war. Now, however, 
 that the war is over, I hope to show you that our friendship has 
 not been one of words only. It seems probable that you will be 
 brought to trial either for rebellion or on some other charge, the 
 nature of which I yet hardly know, and that unless you are 
 strongly and skilfully defended you run much risk of being 
 precipitately condemned. I have, therefore, resolved, with your 
 approval, to come to Cairo to help you with such evidence as I 
 can give, and to bring with me an honest and learned English 
 advocate to conduct your defence ; and I have informed the 
 English Government of my intention. I beg you, therefore, 
 without delay, to authorise me to act for you in this matter, for 
 your formal assent is necessary ; and it would be well if you 
 would at once send me a telegram and also a written letter to 
 authorise me to engage counsel in your name. Several liberal- 
 minded Englishmen of high position will join me in defraying 
 all the expenses of your ease. You may also count upon me 
 personally to see, during your captivity, that your family is not 
 left in want. And so may God give you courage to endure the 
 evil with the good. W. S. JB. 
 
 This communication never reached Arabi. It 
 appears to have gone diplomatically astray. 
 
10 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 AN INTERVIEW AT ASNIERES ON THE SEINE. 
 
 Two days later I left London for Tunis. My interest 
 in Egyptian affairs was naturally somewhat inten- 
 sified by the probability (for as yet it was only a 
 probability) of my defending Arabi, and during a 
 brief stay in Paris I called on the ex-Khedive of 
 Egypt, who was then staying in the neighbourhood, 
 and presented a letter of introduction from his son 
 Prince Ibrahim. My conversation with Ismail Pacha 
 interested me very greatly, although it did not much 
 encourage me as to my future mission in the country 
 over which he was once the most autocratic of rulers. 
 At the time of my visit he inhabited a white-walled 
 villa overlooking the Seine at Asnieres. The house 
 in question has little to distinguish it from its fellows 
 in the Rue St. Denis, among which it ranks as No. 
 118, but it is just pretentious enough to enjoy the 
 distinction of being known as the Chateau de la 
 Terrasse. Its owner, Mr. Arthur, the house agent, 
 had furnished it in the most florid style of modern 
 
AN INTERVIEW AT ASNIERES ON THE SEINE. 11 
 
 French upholstery, and it has on more than one 
 occasion served as a temporary refuge for royalty 
 under a cloud. The innumerable clocks, the buhl, 
 the artificial flowers, and the many-coloured curtains 
 and portieres, remind one simultaneously of Con- 
 stantinople palaces and Wardour-street ; but they are 
 in a measure atoned for by the shady garden and the 
 view of the winding river -below. Ismail Pacha 
 received me in one of the salons of the first floor, a 
 replica of the gaily-decorated apartments below. He 
 bears his 52 years well ; his light hair is scarcely 
 streaked with gray, and he still wears the Turkish 
 fez as of old. His auburn beard was cut close and 
 carefully trimmed. He has grown somewhat stouter 
 since his misfortunes, and this change is more notice- 
 able on account of his stature not much exceeding 
 five feet. He still dresses carefully in the inevitable 
 frock coat, and wears jewelled pins and studs. Ismail 
 speaks rapidly in the French language and with 
 much French gesture. He generally closes one eye 
 when he becomes animated. His calm and dignified 
 manner could hardly fail to excite both interest and 
 sympathy; he seemed anxious to talk at length on 
 the Egyptian crisis, and expressed his opinion on all 
 points discussed frankly and without the smallest 
 hesitation or reserve. He began by observing that 
 he was surprised to see that he was now accused in 
 
12 HOW WE DEFENDED AKABI. 
 
 England of exclusively furthering French interests 
 during his reign in Egypt. " Everything," he said, 
 "was once English in Egypt. An Englishman was 
 at the head of nearly every department, and this con- 
 tinued till the arrival of Mr. Cave. England and Mr. 
 Cave desired French co-operation and participation, 
 and England eventually got more of both than she 
 wanted; but in was her own fault, not mine." 
 
 Speaking generally of a joint Control, he next 
 remarked : " The original idea was excellent, and I 
 readily agreed to it. The Control would have worked 
 well and pleasantly enough if the Controllers had con- 
 fined their zeal and attention to their financial attribu- 
 tions, but they were in a greater or less degree political 
 agents from the first, and wished to rule the country 
 as well as manage its revenues. French function- 
 aries have always meddled with our internal affairs 
 far more than their English colleagues, and to such an 
 extent that I once said to Napoleon III. i Your Eepre- 
 sentative interferes so much in Egypt that he leaves 
 his English confrere no room to interfere at all, how- 
 ever much he may wish to do so.' When Controllers 
 came to influence the appointment and removal of the 
 Consuls-General, they obtained a power fraught with 
 dangerous consequences in the future.'' Ismail Pacha 
 thinks the supposed effect produced on the minds of 
 the Egyptians by the appointment of numerous Euro- 
 
AN INTERVIEW AT ASNIERES ON THE SEINE. 13 
 
 pean officials to Government posts has been overrated. 
 It was chiefly the way this patronage was distributed 
 which did the harm. " I placed," he said, " Europeans 
 of all nations in various branches of the Egyptian 
 Administrative service, but always on account of the 
 individual superior fitness of the nominees. No one 
 complained of this, but when the time came that 
 Europeans were appointed wholesale, merely because 
 they were Europeans and ' protected ' as such, and 
 without any regard to their personal qualifications or 
 their capability of discharging the duties they under- 
 took, then the matter justly enough became looked 
 on in the light of a very serious grievance indeed." 
 
 Ismail thus described the National movememt : 
 u I do not for a moment believe either in the genuine- 
 ness, extent, or patriotism of the so-called National 
 feeling as it now exists, although real Egyptian 
 nationalism is as old as my time. The present race 
 of Egyptian nationalists have run wild from want of a 
 strong leader, and the failure of their cause is the natural 
 result of the weakness of the Egyptian Government 
 on the one hand, and the success of Turkish intrigues 
 on the other. Pan-Islamism is no new invention, 
 but I would never hear of it. Different counsels 
 have since prevailed; and we are now face to 
 face with the consequences. I always managed by 
 some means or other to control and direct the religious 
 
14 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 fervour of my subjects in Egypt, but when the word 
 of command came from Constantinople and not from 
 Cairo, religious fervour became religious fanaticism, 
 and the existence, influence, and temporary success of 
 a man of the position of Arabi became a possibility. I 
 remember Arabi well. My impression of him is un- 
 favourable. Arabi can be painted in a word he is 
 what the French call a blagueur. He can talk, and do 
 little else. The bravest men in his party are Ali 
 Fehmy and Abd-el-Al; they are soldiers, but I doubt if 
 Arabi himself or any of them could intelligently define 
 either i patriotism ' or i national feeling.' I am asto- 
 nished that half Europe seems inclined to regard him as 
 the would-be saviour of his country. The truth is that 
 the Egyptian people must lean on something and fol- 
 low some one. The Egyptian Government was hope- 
 lessly weak, and Arabi and his friends knew it. He 
 and his partizans achieved three visible and striking 
 successes, and the Egyptians saw this, and saw, more- 
 over, the representatives of great Powers practically 
 in treaty with him. Arabi pointed triumphantly to 
 these facts, and told the Egyptians he could and 
 would restore Egypt to the Egyptians ; and it is not 
 surprising in the circumstances that the Egyptians 
 clung to him as the stronger vessel. The movement 
 he headed was from the first actively encouraged at 
 Constantinople, but it is very improbable that either 
 
AN INTERVIEW AT ASNIERES ON THE SEINE, 15 
 
 the Sultan himself or any of his responsible Ministers 
 were ever in direct communication either with him or 
 his associates. Direct communication is not a feature 
 of Turkish intrigue, as the desired effect can be pro- 
 duced without it. 1 ' 
 
 As regards the new departure in Egypt, Ismail 
 was sufficiently explicit. Egypt will be independent, 
 of the Porte. He believes a British Protectorate not 
 
 - 
 
 only to be inevitable but to be the best thing for the 
 welfare of the country. The success of the Protec- 
 torate, he thinks, will depend chiefly on the strength 
 of the local subordinate Government. The deadlock 
 and chaos at Tunis are the natural consequences of 
 protecting a phantom. The Khedives of the future 
 must rule with a strong arm and. accept personal 
 responsibility, as responsible Ministers are as yet 
 rare to find in Egypt. A Chamber of Notables 
 should be consulted in matters of internal arrange- 
 ment only. To give it power to control or even 
 interfere with foreign politics would be suicidal. 
 Ismail Pacha has little doubt that a really strong 
 Government in Egypt would to-day have a far 
 better chance of success with a real British Pro- 
 tectorate than under a fictitious Turkish suzerainty. 
 The ex-Khedive spoke bitterly enough of two sub- 
 jects his son Tewfik and the future of the Otto- 
 man Empire. "For Tewfik's sake," he said, "I 
 
16 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 i kissed the carpet ' and humbled myself for seven- 
 teen years before His Majesty the Sultan. I ob- 
 tained for him the much-desired firman of direct 
 succession, but he has shown himself to have ni 
 tete, ni cceur, ni courage ' ; and all these are wanted 
 to rule in Egypt. He is my son, and I will say 
 no more. The days of the Turkish Empire are 
 numbered ; the Caliphate has now practically suc- 
 cumbed to the untoward consequences of Panis- 
 lamic intrigue; the Sultanate must soon follow it. 
 The downfall of both has been hastened by the 
 feeble diplomacy which has only irritated France 
 in Tripoli, but has caused blood to flow in Egypt." 
 
 I left the next day for Tunis. My subsequent 
 visit to Egypt verified many things I learned in my 
 brief interview with its once successful ruler, but I 
 soon came to a widely different conclusion than his 
 concerning the nature, extent, and power of that 
 phase of Egyptian national aspirations which made 
 Ahmed Arabi a leader of the people. 
 
FROM TUNIS TO ALEXANDRIA. 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FROM TUNIS TO ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 I ARRIVED at Tunis early on the morning of the 27th 
 September. The political situation there had under- 
 gone little or no change since I left it three months 
 before. Monsieur Roustan's successor Monsieur 
 Cambon had deemed it expedient to adopt a policy 
 which could hardly be considered an improvement on 
 the militant energy of his predecessor. He sought by 
 a kind of obstructive and chaos-producing apathy to 
 starve the Powers into a speedy compliance with his 
 own desire and that of his government for the aboli- 
 tion of the Capitulations the last remaining visible 
 sign of their interest in the country. Meanwhile 
 Europeans and Tunisians were alike left to face as 
 best they might the consequences of the prevalent 
 confusion, and wait patiently for the better times 
 which Monsieur Cambon promised them whenever the 
 French Republic should alone reign supreme in the 
 land. The Turkish newspapers (till the very eve of 
 Tel-el-Kebir patriotic and devoutly Panislamic) had 
 
18 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 carried the name and fame of Ahmed Arabi the 
 Egyptian into every part of the recently conquered 
 regency of Tunis. His success was prayed for in 
 the mosques and shrines of holy Kairwan, and the 
 lame old chieftain AH Ben Hlifa, still despairingly 
 holding out on the faith of the specious promises of the 
 Sultan Caliph just over the Tripolitan frontier, once 
 more began to take courage. " Can it be," whispered 
 one Arab to another, " that at last a Saviour has 
 arisen in Islam ? " 
 
 When the Tunisian Arabs learned that the man of 
 whom they hoped so much was defeated and a 
 prisoner, they felt almost as keenly as their Egyptian 
 brethren the bitterness of despair. There is no doubt 
 whatever that our victory in Egypt saved France a 
 third expedition to Tunis, and crushed in the bud an 
 Arab rising which would have extended from Cairo to 
 Algiers. Tel-el-Kebir (however much our neighbours 
 may disparage our success) has, as a matter of fact, 
 alone made the withdrawal of a great portion of the 
 French army of occupation in Tunis either prudent 
 or possible. 
 
 During the few days I remained in Tunis Mr. 
 Blunt and I exchanged frequent telegraphic messages 
 as to the varying chances of a real defence of Arabi 
 being allowed, and my anxiety was not a little 
 increased by the Havas Agency periodically announc- 
 
FROM TUNIS TO ALEXANDRIA. 19 
 
 ing either the speedy commencement of the trial, the 
 expected execution of my client, or the certainty of 
 foreign counsel being excluded from appearing on his 
 behalf. Meanwhile my future junior Mark Napier 
 had reached Cairo, and, with the assistance of Mr. 
 Eve, was doing his utmost to open up communication 
 with the prisoner himself. The period of suspense, 
 however, came to an end at last. On the 9th October 
 two short telegrams reached me. The first was from 
 my colleague at Cairo, u Access promised, come 
 directly :" the other from Mr. Blunt, "Counsel 
 allowed, start at once." 
 
 Most unfortunately there was no steamer leaving 
 for Malta, and it was not till the following Thursday 
 (September 12th) that I finally commenced my journey. 
 One of my few fellow-passengers was a French consul 
 returning malgre lui to his post at Malta. During his 
 stay there it appears he had undergone the indignity 
 of being summoned before a native magistrate for 
 contempt of court, and consequently, in the intervals of 
 sea-sickness he never ceased to vituperate the Maltese, 
 (he persistently described them as les negres), the 
 Eepublic which so cruelly sent him back amongst 
 them, and the British Government which had so 
 unjustly refused to avenge his wrongs. He next 
 transferred his abuse to Arabi because he had not 
 been fortunate enough to beat the English, and 
 
 c2 
 
20 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 assured me I was going on a fooPs errand, as the 
 prisoners would certainly be shot before I arrived; 
 "that is," he added, " if you act as we should do 
 under similar circumstances." In the dusk of the fol- 
 lowing evening we steamed into the harbour of 
 Valetta. I at once traversed the well-known " streets 
 of stairs " to the Grand Hotel, where I expected to 
 receive my final instructions from Mr. Blunt. Salvo, 
 the head waiter, an old acquaintance, saluted me with 
 a broad grin. I saw the news of my mission had 
 already reached Malta. 
 
 "Maltese very glad, sir/' said Salvo, "you go 
 defend Arabi, but English general surely hang him 
 before you get there." Salvo was hardly more en- 
 couraging than my friend the French consul, but he 
 gave me two telegrams, one from London and the 
 other from Cairo, urging me to hasten as quickly as 
 possible to my destination. Next morning I rose 
 early to ascertain when the boat for Alexandria would 
 leave Malta, and to my amazement learned there was 
 no fixed service at all, and that I was one day late 
 for the weekly boat from Sicily. Returning much 
 disheartened down the Strada Reale the Regent 
 Street of Malta I was greeted from his shop-door by 
 one of the local celebrities, my friend Mr. Pietro 
 Paolo Borg, a thriving tobacco merchant and dealer 
 in lace, coral, and filagree silver. Mr. Borg, far from 
 
FROM TUNIS TO ALEXANDRIA. 21 
 
 answering the French consul's description of the 
 Maltese citizen, may be considered a fair likeness of 
 our own Henry VIII., and entertains the most profound 
 respect for the British lion the "invitta Britannia," 
 which has figured for a century in the verbose inscrip- 
 tion over the guard-house opposite the Governor's 
 palace, and which will always find a place in every 
 Maltese petition for redress of grievances, as long as 
 Malta forms part of the empire. I explained my 
 difficulty to Mr. P. P. Borg. He told me that H.M.S. 
 " Hecla " would leave at noon, and that if I applied to 
 Admiral Graham he had no doubt I should get a pas- 
 sage. In justice to Mr. Borg I must say he did not 
 give vent to the usual bloodthirstiness as regards 
 Arabi, but on the contrary contented himself with 
 expressing a devout wish that the rebels had pro- 
 longed matters a little, and so enabled him to sell more 
 tobacco to the British soldiers going out, and more 
 coral, lace, and filagree-work to the victorious army on 
 its return. This is hardly to be wondered at, for Mr. 
 Borg remembers the good old times in which he laid 
 the foundation of his fortune as a camp-follower in 
 the Crimea. 
 
 I at once descended the nix mangiare steps of 
 happy memory, and, hailing a boat bearing the sign 
 of the Black Cat (why every third boat in Malta is 
 so named I am unable to say), soon reached the 
 
22 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 " Hecla." I sent in my card to her commander, Cap- 
 tain Wilson, and preferred my request for a passage 
 to Alexandria. He at once told me that if the admi- 
 ral gave me leave he would willingly comply with 
 my wishes. The " Black Cat'' quickly conveyed me 
 up the Dockyard Creek to Admiral Graham's office. 
 I explained my errand to one of his subordinates, 
 who came back in a few minutes with the much- 
 desired permission. I sent for my luggage and 
 returned to the u Hecla,'' which sailed half an hour 
 after I joined her. During the voyage I was the 
 guest of the ward-room officers, and I am glad to 
 have this opportunity of acknowledging their kind- 
 ness and hospitality. The " Hecla," a torpedo depot 
 ship of 6,200 tons burden, had done excellent work 
 of a varied character during the earlier days of the 
 Egyptian expedition, which never seems to have been 
 adequately recognised or understood, as she was, for 
 obvious reasons, kept out of range. Captain Wat- 
 son's unobtrusive services in helping to bridge the 
 canal at Alexandria, as well as in organizing and 
 working the Ironclad Train, and Commander Nor- 
 cock's share in destroying, at great risk, the stores of 
 ammunition in the forts, are, I think, worthy of 
 record. During the passage I spent many hours in 
 her laboratory looking at the models of every known 
 engine of torpedo warfare, and it was certainly a 
 
FROM TUNIS TO ALEXANDRIA, 23 
 
 curious sensation to reflect that we were travelling 
 placidly over a cargo of combustibles sufficient to 
 destroy a city or reduce us in a second to unrecog- 
 nisable atoms. 
 
 On the 18th October, at day-break, we entered 
 the outer harbour of Alexandria. In the calm and 
 peaceful scene around us it was difficult to realize the 
 events then only three month's old. We were, how- 
 ever, face to face with the ruined forts, the unre- 
 paired light-house, and the shattered faqade of the 
 Ras-el-Tin palace. Before eight o'clock I landed at 
 the wharf near the custom-house, and, hiring a car- 
 riage, was driven rapidly in the direction of the 
 Cairo railway. 
 
24 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CAIRO. 
 
 EMERGING from a narrow and crowded street, I 
 came suddenly on the scene of desolation which was 
 once the Grand Square. Many of the ruined houses 
 had been demolished, and the stones neatly piled up 
 by the road-side. Now and again a solitary gable, 
 a scorched sign, or battered brass plate marked the 
 site of some particular shop or office, and I noticed 
 more than one damaged escutcheon of a destroyed con- 
 sulate still hanging to the calcined walls. The extent of 
 the disaster hardly came up to what I imagined. What 
 remains of Alexandria still entitles it to rank as the 
 first city of Egypt. The centre of the square was 
 filled by wooden shops and shanties, the greater part 
 of which seemed to be devoted to the sale of spirituous 
 liquors. There, amidst the ruins, untramelled by 
 licensing justices and excise officers, flourished the 
 Prince of Wales Grog Shop, the American Bar, the 
 British Tar, the Tel-el-Kebir and the Wolseley Arms. 
 A fair Parisian had erected a grand cafe right across 
 
CAIRO. 25 
 
 the pavement, and obstinately refused to move except 
 on the payment of a substantial indemnity. 
 
 I soon reached the railway station, where all was 
 confusion, but I managed to register my luggage and 
 secure a seat in a special train which would reach 
 Cairo in the afternoon. Whilst waiting on the plat- 
 form one or two things struck me particularly. I 
 noticed in the first place the unobtrusiveness (if I 
 may so call it) of our occupation. I only saw 
 two English soldiers in Alexandria, one on duty in 
 the town and the other at the terminus. In Tunis we 
 had become accustomed to the continual sound and 
 sight of the conquerors, the clanking of spurs on the 
 pavement, the calling for absinthe at the much-fre- 
 quented cafe's, the music, and the never-ceasing march- 
 ing and counter-marching. I cannot help thinking our 
 plan caused less heart-burning. The contrast between 
 an Egyptian crowd and a Tunisian one is very 
 remarkable. In the one the main feature is dusky 
 garments of dark blue or black ; in the other gaudy 
 colours and dazzling white. As to physique, my 
 Tunisian friends have certainly the best of it. Before 
 starting I secured a couple of Egyptian newspapers. 
 The refugees (as they were called), who left Egypt in 
 shoals in June, were now coming back in full force, 
 and the carriage I travelled in was crowded to excess. 
 
 A few minutes after leaving Alexandria we passed 
 
26 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 through Arabi's lines and earthworks at Kafr-el-Dowar, 
 still apparently intact. My fellow-travellers were 
 friendly and communicative. A French lawyer from 
 Cairo was now returning thither with all his family. 
 He admitted much could be said for Arabi, hinted 
 that many persons in high places would be compro- 
 mised, and frankly admitted that I had un beau proces 
 in hand. My left-hand neighbour an Italian profes- 
 sor of chemistry went a good deal further. In his 
 opinion Arabi was not altogether in the wrong, and 
 he even went so far as to offer me some mysterious 
 suggestions and wish me success. I next turned to 
 my newspapers. They were certainly less encourag- 
 ing than my fellow-passengers. In the Egyptian 
 Gazette, the organ of English public opinion in 
 Egypt, I found a long letter signed E. T. Rogers Bey, 
 from which I cannot forbear making a few extracts. 
 It began thus: 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I cannot refrain from writing a few lines to you as the 
 editor of the only English newspaper in Egypt, to express my 
 firm opinion that there will be a miscarriage of justice if Eng- 
 lish counsel and lawyers be allowed to defend the arch-rebel 
 Arabi. The forensic astuteness of the members of the English 
 bar is such that they can logically make black appear white and 
 vice versa, and require other lawyers equally versed in the 
 quibbles of the law to convince the judge and jury of the reality 
 of the colour in dispute. I say there will be a miscarriage of 
 justice because, after the English counsel has expressed his legal 
 
CAIRO. 27 
 
 opinion, there will be no man on the side of the prosecution 
 capable of combating his arguments. 
 
 This at any rate was flattering, but the writer next 
 turns from the lawyers to the clients: 
 
 Bis dat qui citb dat is an old maxim which applies with 
 tenfold force in the present case, and even the delay of justice 
 amounts to a miscarriage, because the people of the country are 
 in a state of rebellious ferment which would be crushed out by 
 the immediate execution of the orightal leaders of the rebellion. 
 
 Surely it must be admitted that the absolutely disinterested 
 and loyal ministers now in the Khedive's Cabinet know the 
 character of the people of this country better than Englishmen 
 who have never been in Egypt, or who have been here only a 
 few weeks or even months. The former declare that the country 
 can never be quiet until the rebels have expiated their crimes. 
 The latter wish to give the rebels a trial upon English princi- 
 ples, which may last not for months but for years. The unfor- 
 tunate nobleman languishing at Dartmoor, whose offence was 
 mild in the extreme compared with that of the leaders of the 
 recent rebellion, underwent two trials, each of which lasted for 
 many months. If a similar procedure be allowed for Ahmed 
 Arabi, Mahmoud Sami, and the other rebels, it will certainly 
 last for years. But this must not be allowed. The English 
 who have resided in Egypt for years, and who are worthy of 
 the title of Anglo -Egyptians, know the characters of the Egyp- 
 tians as well as do the ministers, and thoroughly agree with 
 them in the necessity of a condign punishment. 
 
 The natives in the villages, where agitators still deliver 
 seditious harangues, and where Europeans are still insulted 
 when they pass through, do not believe that Arabi is a prisoner, 
 do not believe that they have done wrong in murdering 
 Christians and in pillaging their property, nor will they be con- 
 
28 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 vinced of the error of their ways until the arch-rebels be tried 
 and receive their deserts. 
 
 Through the French contemporary of the Egyp- 
 tian Gazette I learned that many people were 
 preparing to go to Cairo to witness the coming trial ; 
 that the Minister of Justice intended to issue personal 
 invitations, 3,000 of which he had already caused to 
 be printed, and which were more in demand than the 
 tickets for the first performance of "Aida" at the 
 Khedivial Opera House. 
 
 The heat was very great and the dust intolerable. 
 We had fairly exhausted the local newspapers and 
 every phase of Egyptian politics when the green 
 trees of the Shoubra avenues, the minarets of the 
 citadel, and the distant Pyramids came in sight, 
 and we soon found ourselves in Cairo. The con- 
 fusion here even exceeded that which I encoun- 
 tered at Alexandria, but I at length escaped in 
 an omnibus with my scanty luggage (the chief 
 part of which consisted of a few imposing-looking 
 law-books) to the New Hotel, where I determined to 
 stay till I could see Messrs. Eve and Napier. The 
 New Hotel (once, I think, called the Hotel Khedivial) 
 is one of the many memorials of the palmier days of 
 the Khedive Ismail's reign. To all intents and 
 purposes a palace, it overlooks the Esbekieh gardens 
 and the finest quarter of Cairo ; but as a speculation 
 
CAIRO. 29 
 
 it has signally failed. It has never been able to rival 
 the shady comfort and old-world associations of 
 Shepheard's, the hotel par excellence of the East. I 
 had hardly finished unpacking, when my colleagues 
 were announced (I had telegraphed to them from 
 Alexandria), and we agreed to repair to the adjoining 
 gardens to hold our first consultation as to the defence 
 of Arabi. 
 
30 HO W WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 OUR FIRST CONSULTATION. 
 
 PREVIOUS to our meeting on the 18th October I had 
 never seen Mr. Napier, but I knew Mr. Eve slightly, 
 and our forner acquaintance in the genial atmosphere 
 of Great Queen Street helped not a little to that 
 union of plans and ideas so essential to success. My 
 first question, as might be expected, was What has 
 been done ? Mr. Napier in reply at once gave me a 
 clear account of his stewardship. " On the morning 
 of the 29th September," said Mr. Napier, " I chanced 
 to be in my chambers at 6, Fig-tree Court, Temple. 
 The purest accident brought me back from a long- 
 vacation tour in the north of France before I 
 intended, and on the day in question I certainly 
 expected no visitors. About eleven o'clock Captain 
 Laprimadie (Mr. Blunt' s agent) called, and asked me 
 if I would start for Cairo that very evening and do 
 my best to obtain access to Ardbi, preparatory to 
 your joining me, when we should, if permitted to do 
 so, jointly represent him as senior and junior counsel 
 on his trial. After a brief conference with Mr. Blunt 
 and his wife I consented, and prepared to leave London 
 
OUR FIRST CONSULTATION. 31 
 
 by the weekly mail train. On reaching Calais I found 
 that every place was engaged in the sleeping-cars for 
 Brindisi, but a private arrangement with the guard 
 settled everything, and six days later I landed in 
 Alexandria. Here I met my old friend Richard Eve 
 of Aldershot, and I arranged that he should accompany 
 me to Cairo as solicitor in the case. You doubtless 
 found a good deal of confusipn about the railway 
 service, but it was far worse then. Next morning we 
 both called on Sir Edward Malet. He told us he had 
 already forwarded a telegram from Arabi, through the 
 Foreign Office, directed to Mr. Blunt and Sir W. 
 Gregory, asking for the assistance of English counsel.* 
 He added that he imagined the British Government 
 had no objection to our acting in that capacity, re- 
 ferred us for further information to Sir Charles Wilson, 
 the recently -appointed British delegate at the Court of 
 Preliminary Inquiry, and said the proceedings were 
 being conducted in accordance with French military 
 law. We then went to Sir Charles Wilson, who 
 said that Arabi had been two days previously 
 handed over to the custody of the ^Egyptian Govern- 
 ment (gently tempered by the presence of a British 
 corporal's guard outside the prison), and that per- 
 
 * The fate of this message was almost as unfortunate as that of 
 Mr. Blunt's letter to Arabi. It was sent to Sir W. Gregory, who was 
 abroad, and only reached him some time afterwards. 
 
32 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 mission to see Arabi must consequently be sought for 
 from Riaz Pacha, Minister of the Interior. Returning 
 once more to the British Agency we obtained a formal 
 letter of introduction from Sir Edward Malet to that 
 functionary." 
 
 "Next day," continued Mr. Napier, u we attended 
 on Riaz Pacha, accompanied by Colonel Stewart, at 
 the request of Sir Charles Wilson, who introduced 
 us to the Egyptian Minister. I told Riaz in French 
 the object of our visit. He curtly declined to allow us 
 access to the prisoner, as contrary to Egyptian law, but 
 he promised he would write to Sir Edward Malet on 
 the subject. Mr. Eve then telegraphed to you c Access 
 denied, if obtained promptly will send retainer.' On 
 the 9th of October we once more called on Sir Ed- 
 ward Malet. He said he had heard nothing from 
 Riaz, but admitted that the surrender of Arabi was 
 conditional on counsel being allowed him for his 
 defence. He added that the English Government 
 would not interfere with the sentence if it turned out 
 that he were guilty of the massacres of the llth June, 
 the burning and pillage of Alexandria, or the abuse 
 of the white flag. Mr. Eve then drew up a notice, 
 which we duly served on Riaz Pacha that afternoon." 
 
 Mr. Eve, with the gravity becoming Arabi' s solici- 
 tor, put in my hand the following document which 
 was probably a novel feature in Egyptian procedure, 
 
OUR FIRST CONSULTATION. 33 
 
 and must certainly have startled not a little its 
 recipient : 
 
 To His Excellence Riaz Pacha, Minister of the Interior 
 
 to His Highness the Khedive. 
 
 I, Richard Eve, of Aldershot, England, as Solicitor for and 
 on behalf of Ahmed Arabi Pacha, do hereby give you notice, 
 that it is necessary that I, as such Solicitor, should have access 
 to the said Arabi Pacha, and I hereby require that such access 
 be afforded to me forthwith, in order that I may receive instruc- 
 tions from him to retain and instruct counsel for his defence on 
 certain charges preferred against him, and under which charges 
 the said Arabi Pacha is now in custody. And I further require 
 that you should immediately on the receipt of this notice inform 
 the said Arabi Pacha that I and the Honourable Mark Napier, 
 an English barrister-at-law, Counsel for the said Arabi Pacha, 
 are now in Cairo waiting to see the said Arabi Pacha, to take 
 his instructions for his defence on his trial on the charges afore- 
 said, pursuant to and in accordance with the conditions under 
 which the said Arabi Pacha was surrended by Sir Garnet 
 Wolseley, commanding Her Britannic Majesty's Army in 
 Egypt, to His Highness the Khedive. 
 
 Dated this ninth day of October, 1882, at Shepheard's 
 Hotel, Cairo. 
 
 EICHABD EVE. 
 Countersigned, 
 
 MARK F. NAPIER, 
 
 Barrister-at-law, 
 
 Temple, London 
 
 " Notwithstanding the notice," continued Mr. 
 Napier, " Eiaz Pacha made no sign. We gave him 
 a respite on Tuesday, but the next day we returned 
 
 D 
 
34 HOW WE DEFENDED AUABI. 
 
 to the charge. Sir Edward Malet now informed us 
 that Kiaz had contended that the counsel to be em- 
 ployed must be native Egyptians, and not foreigners, 
 and that he had telegraphed to the Foreign Office for 
 further instructions. It was somewhat cheering, 
 however, to learn from Sir Charles Wilson that Arabi 
 had heard of my arrival, and was satisfied with me as 
 his counsel. In the evening I drew up a short protest 
 and sent it to Sir Edward Malet, as I thought it 
 best to be on the safe side. 
 
 Shepheard's Hotel, Cairo, 
 SIR, October 11, 1882. 
 
 I consider it my imperative duty, as Counsel for Arabi 
 Pacha, to lodge with you the following protest against the con- 
 duct of the prosecution. 
 
 The following are the most serious causes of complaint : 
 
 1. That Arabi Pacha has, since he was handed over by 
 the British to the Egyptian authorities (the date was, I believe, 
 the 4th of October), been subjected to strict confinement and 
 to a course of rigorous interrogation. He has been denied per- 
 mission to communicate freely, or at all, with his friends and 
 legal assistants. 
 
 2. That notwithstanding the fact that Riaz Pacha was per- 
 sonally informed by me on October 7 that I was present in 
 Cairo as counsel for the defence, and that I required immediate 
 admission to the prisoner, he refused such admission, and has 
 since persisted in such refusal . 
 
 3. That, having reference to the publication in the Pall 
 Mall Gazette of the 3rd October of a statement that Lord 
 Granville had written to say, " That every reasonable facility 
 
OUR FIRST CONSULTATION. 35 
 
 would be afforded the prisoners in Egypt and their friends for 
 obtaining counsel for their defence," no such facility has been 
 afforded, but, on the contrary, every obstruction has been 
 placed in the way of the prisoners' Counsel and Solicitor. 
 
 4. That no acknowledgment has been given of a formal 
 notice served upon Riaz Pacha (of which I annex a copy), and 
 that, so far as I know, the prisoner has not even been informed 
 by the Egyptian Government of the fact that I am ready and 
 anxious to assist him in his defence. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 MAKE F. NAPIER, 
 
 Counsel for Arabi Pacha. 
 Sir Edward Malet, K.C.B., &c. &c. 
 
 "Next day our anxiety was increased by preva- 
 lent rumours in Cairo that Arabi had been ill-treated 
 in prison. On the 14th October Sir Charles Wilson 
 called on me, and brought us the good news that 
 English counsel were to be admitted, and that Arabi 
 could be seen. We accordingly drew up one more 
 formal application for admission, and took it to Riaz 
 Pacha. In the evening Sir Charles Wilson again 
 came to see us, but it was only to say that the 
 Khedivial Government had repented itself and that 
 access was once more denied. Next day we learned 
 that the Cabinet was sitting < on us ' for several hours, 
 and preferred resignation to our assistance. In de- 
 spair we once more had recourse to Sir Edward Malet, 
 
 D2 
 
36 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 who assured us that the trial would certainly not take 
 place till we saw the accused, and that a fair delay 
 would be granted us to prepare his defence. It is 
 thus that matters now stand.' 5 
 
 I at once expressed the heartiest approval of the 
 good work thus done by Messrs. Napier and Eve. 
 The British pluck they had shown had certainly 
 effectually alarmed the Egyptian Government, and 
 the inimical glances of the European residents and 
 local disciples of Sir Samuel Baker and Sir Julian 
 Goldsmid, showed their influence was already felt in 
 Cairo. They had both been very outspoken as to 
 the Egyptian National cause, and in Egypt it is not 
 fashionable to call a spade a spade. We agreed to 
 wait without delay on Sir Edward Malet, and that 
 I should next day transfer myself and my belongings 
 to Shepheard's Hotel. 
 
 While waiting for our carriage we strolled into the 
 building which, six months before, served as the 
 Egyptian House of Commons. By a strange irony 
 of fate it was now prepared for the gala trial of the 
 rebel leader. There was a brilliant array of velvet- 
 covered chairs for the judges, comfortable seats and 
 green baize boxes for the 3000 spectators, an imposing 
 tribune for the Public Prosecutor, and a conspicuous 
 platform on which to set Arabi on high before the 
 
OUR FIRST CONSULTATION. 37 
 
 people. There was no kind of provision for the 
 accommodation of any counsel for the defence. 
 Money had been spent lavishly in providing Cairo 
 with a novel spectacle, but destiny decreed it other- 
 wise : the Egyptian Senate House was never to 
 witness the trial of Arabi ; it was a year later to see 
 the assembling of another Egyptian Parliament, but 
 this time under the auspices -of England and Lord 
 Dufferin. 
 
38 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BALCONY AT SHEPHEARD ? S HOTEL. 
 
 AFTER dusk on the evening of the 18th October we 
 all three called on Sir Edward Malet, who lived in 
 a handsome villa in the Isma'ilia suburb of Cairo. 
 After the fashion of the East, his door was guarded by 
 Turkish or Albanian janissaries in gorgeous costumes 
 of blue and gold, who talked English with consider- 
 able fluency. After a few minutes conversation, I 
 saw that Sir Edward was heartily tired of the vexata 
 qucestio concerning the fate of Arabi. I pleaded at 
 some length, and as eloquently as I could, our 
 benevolent intentions towards the Egyptian Govern- 
 ment, and expressed our earnest desire to assist the 
 course of justice as far as was compatible with the 
 duty we owed to our clients. I urged at the same 
 time, very strongly, the example set us by the French 
 in Tunis. " Had not the invaders of the Regency/' 
 I asked, " invariably assigned European counsel to 
 those natives of the country whom they chose to call 
 insurgents, and try by court-martial for opposing, as 
 
THE BALCONY AT SHEPHEARD'S HOTEL. 39 
 
 far as gun-barrels made out of old gas-pipe enabled 
 them to do so, 'the mission of civilisation' which 
 invaded their fatherland? Were not even the 
 prisoners involved in the Oued Zerga massacre of last 
 year defended by French avocats?" " Could," I 
 added, " either England or Egypt do less for a man 
 who had met us face to face on the battle-field ? " I 
 hoped we left Sir Edward Malet half convinced, and 
 at least somewhat persuaded, that English counsel 
 were not quite as dangerous as they were supposed 
 to be by Rogers Bey. ^ 
 
 From Sir Edward Malet's we returned to Shep- / 
 beard's Hotel, in the Esbekieh quarter of the city. I 
 It is nearly the only building in Cairo I am able to 
 accurately describe, and it played an important part 
 in the story I am going to tell, as I am sure it has 
 done in every event connected with the political his- 
 tory of Egypt any time during the last thirty years. 
 Shepheard's Hotel consists of a rambling and some- 
 what ruinous two-storied mansion on the left-hand 
 side of the street leading from the railway station to 
 the centre of the city. Its spacious rooms surround 
 a quadrangle, and the garden in which it stands is 
 shaded by luxuriant palm-trees and refreshing green 
 creepers. A short flight of steps leads you from the 
 street into a broad and cool roofed verandah, paved 
 with marble, into which the principal entrance lead- 
 
40 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 ing to the refreshment-bar and dining-rooms opens. 
 Shepheard's saw its brightest days when Cairo 
 was the half-way house for open-handed Anglo-Indian 
 travellers, who were ever crossing to and fro between 
 Alexandria and Suez, and Suez and Alexandria. It 
 was burned down some seventeen years since, but soon 
 rose again from its ashes. The original founders of 
 Shepheard's are almost forgotten now ; its actual pro- 
 prietor, Herr Zech, resides in Europe; but his agents, 
 Mr. Grrosse and Signor Luigi, minister most efficiently 
 to the wants of its guests. The verandah of Shep- 
 heard's Hotel is something more than an ordinary 
 lounge or pleasant site of oriental dolce far niente, 
 it is an Egyptian institution. When we hear in 
 London that " European opinion in Cairo is deeply 
 moved,'' that " European interests are threatened to 
 their foundation," that " European public opinion 
 approves,'' or that " Anglo-Egyptian sensitiveness is 
 outraged,'' we should know that the inmates of the 
 balcony at Shepheard's have spoken. The varied 
 forms of easy chair which fill that coolest of cool 
 verandahs are intimately connected with the past, 
 present, and future of Egypt. Its steps form a rubi- 
 con which the clamorous donkey-boys and pedlars in 
 the street below hardly dare to cross. Never, I think, 
 in the whole history of Shepheard's, was its balcony 
 fuller or more animated than on the night of the 18th 
 
THE BALCONY AT SHEPHEAR&S HOTEL. 41 
 
 October. The bar within was crowded with junior 
 officers of the army of occupation, while outside, 
 in the short autumn twilight, sat Baker Pacha, who 
 had just arrived from Constantinople to control, for 
 a time, the bran-new Egyptian army ; Dr. W. H. 
 Eussell, the past-master of special correspondence ; 
 Mr. Cameron, representative of the Standard; 
 Colonel Synge, the victim oL Albanian brigandage, 
 and many other men of note and mark. 
 
 There was but one subject of discussion that even- 
 ing was Arabi to have European counsel? An 
 enormous majority answered loudly in the negative, 
 for Arabi had few friends. The balcony of Shepheard's 
 Hotel almost unanimously vetoed the proposal, and, as 
 a matter of course, the telegraphic echo in London 
 declared that " European public opinion in Egypt 
 was strongly adverse to any inconvenient innovation 
 of the kind." One of Arabi's most prominent foes 
 in the nightly senate at Shepheard's was, I remem- 
 ber, a German military officer attached to the English 
 staff, who was particularly conspicuous on account of 
 the number of decorations he usually wore. He 
 never ceased to dwell on the absolute necessity of a 
 short shrift for our prisoners of war, and more than all 
 for Arabi. I am not sure that his advice on the sub- 
 ject was altogether disinterested, but I am rejoiced to 
 
42 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 say he bet Mr. Eve a sovereign that he would never 
 see his client, and lost it. 
 
 I was glad to make the acquaintance of Mr. 
 Cameron of the Standard, who had managed to see 
 Egyptian things through purely English spectacles, 
 and was almost the first to dissent from the general 
 cry for blood and vengeance. He left Cairo next day 
 for Europe, and has since distinguished himself in 
 Madagascar and China. I cannot forget that it was 
 Mr. Cameron who spoke to me the only words of en- 
 couragement I heard that evening amongst the vari- 
 
 / 
 ous exponents of the haute politique Egyptienne 
 
 in the crowded verandah of Shepheard's Hotel. 
 
PRELIMINARY SKIRMISHES. 43 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PRELIMINARY SKIRMISHES. 
 
 EARLY next morning (October 19th) I prepared to re- 
 move from the New Hotel to Shepheard's. Before 
 leaving I had some interesting talk with the under- 
 manager, a Swiss, who, while admitting the wonderful 
 order maintained at Cairo during the Sixty Days 
 War, was particularly bitter against Ardbi, He 
 was kind enough to caution me, in case of my client's 
 acquittal, to avoid Alexandria on the return journey, 
 as I might otherwise pay the penalty for his misdeeds 
 in person. After taking possession of my new 
 quarters at Shepheard's I paid a visit to Mr. 
 Moberley Bell, the correspondent of the Times, who 
 was also residing there, while Mr. Napier went to the 
 Abdin Palace to ascertain the exact circumstances 
 attending Ardbi's arrest or surrender. 
 
 After lunch I was quietly sitting in the famous 
 verandah, when a card was brought me. The name 
 it bore was that of a stranger " Monsieur Octave 
 Borelli " ; beneath was pencilled in Sir Edward Malet's 
 
44 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 handwriting, "to introduce M. Borelli, legal adviser 
 at the Ministry of the Interior/' Before any of my 
 new friends, the correspondents, had noticed my 
 absence, I was in conference with the " counsel on 
 the other side." Monsieur Borelli was one of the 
 most charming and agreeable men I ever met. 
 He had held high office in the French executive, 
 disagreed with the Republican order of ideas, turned 
 to Egypt in sheer disgust, and, in four years, attained 
 the first legal position in the country. He was 
 delighted to make my acquaintance, knew all about 
 my Tunisian differences with M. Eoustan, and was 
 sure we should manage everything delightfully en 
 famille. I very soon realized two most important facts ; 
 the first was, that the Egyptian Government had 
 agreed to allow one or more of the political prisoners 
 to give us their retainers ; the other, that our Egyptian 
 colleague cared very little what terms he agreed to, if 
 a public washing of political dirty linen could be 
 either entirely avoided or perceptibly curtailed. He 
 proposed that we should by mutual consent draw up a 
 sort of code of procedure. I replied that nothing 
 could suit us better. He next suggested that the 
 cross-examination of the witnesses should be confined 
 to the preliminary examination or instruction, and that 
 the evidence should be merely read before the court- 
 martial. For strategic reasons I affected to demur. 
 
PRELIMINARY SKIRMISHES. 45 
 
 "But, mon cher ami" said M. Borelli, "you are not 
 to be allowed to speak or even allude to politics. 
 This, I admit, will greatly destroy the interest of the 
 case, but if you will forego your cross-examination in 
 public, I think I might allow a little, very little, 
 speech, and permit some faint, very faint, allusion to 
 contemporary politics." I at once closed with the pro- 
 posal. We thus gained three considerable advantages, 
 viz., admission to the preliminary enquiry or instruc- 
 tion^ which is forbidden by French law ; a right to 
 address the court, and, what was more important, to 
 argue from a political point of view. Without know- 
 ing it, I had secured terms far in advance of the ideas 
 of our own Foreign Office. I afterwards learned that 
 by a despatch dated the 13th October, which must 
 have arrived in Cairo the day after my conference 
 with M. Borelli, Her Majesty's Government expressed 
 an opinion that "no arguments or evidence as to 
 political motives or reasons in justification of the 
 offence charged should be admitted, but only such as 
 go to establish or disprove the charges made." After 
 some further discussion as to the details of our pro- 
 posed arrangement, M. Borelli took his leave, pro- 
 mising to return later in the evening after seeing the 
 Egyptian ministers. 
 
 I returned to the verandah. " Gentlemen," I said 
 to the correspondents patiently sitting there in search 
 
46 HOW WE DEFENDED ABABI. 
 
 of the latest intelligence, "I have some news for 
 you. The verdict pronounced here last night has 
 been reversed Mr. Napier and I are to be allowed to 
 defend Arabi." There was at once a stampede for 
 the telegraph office. Even Dr. E/ussell scampered 
 briskly off on a famous donkey in that direction, 
 closely pursued by the zealous representative of the 
 Central News. I. need not say that Messrs Napier 
 and Eve on their arrival shared my satisfaction at 
 the first-fruits of our joint labours. 
 
 M. Borelli did not return, but I received from him 
 a polite letter which was the commencement of an 
 agreeable correspondence on his part, which I should 
 recommend as a model of forensic inter-communica- 
 tion. As we agreed I gradually rose in the scale from 
 Monsieur to Cher Monsieur, from Cher Monsieur to 
 Cher Monsieur et Confrere, from Cher Monsieur et 
 Confrere to Bien Cher Ami, and finally from Bien 
 Cher Ami to Tres Cher Ami et Confrere; and when we 
 disagreed I fell in the scale proportionately to the 
 extent of our divergence until I reached the lowest 
 depths of M. Borelli present e ses compliments, &c. 
 Here is my first letter, but it loses its fragrance in 
 translation : 
 
 DEAR SIR, Cairo, October 19th. 
 
 I must beg you to excuse me if, in spite of my efforts to 
 keep it, I missed our appointment of last evening. I believe 
 that all the difficulties will be surmounted to-day, and as soon as 
 
PRELIMINARY SKIRMISHES. 47 
 
 this is accomplished you will see me at your door. I am per- 
 suaded that an agreement between us will be an easier matter 
 than it is with diplomats. Kindly induce Mr. Napier to accept 
 my apologies. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 0. BORELLI. 
 
 At the same time I received a note from Sir 
 Edward Malet : 
 
 DEAR MR. BROADLEY, Cairo, October 19th, 1882. 
 
 A considerable step in advance has been made since 
 I had the pleasure of seeing you yesterday. I have asked M. 
 Borelli to call upon you and talk over the procedure of the court. 
 He is legal adviser of the Ministry of the Interior and has been 
 engaged in the preliminary investigation. 
 
 Believe me to be, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 EDWARD B. MALET. 
 
 I now realized the fact that we were really on the 
 eve of the serious defence of the case, and I saw it 
 would be a long and very costly business. I was 
 convinced that we must take a house, as no native 
 would be likely to run the gauntlet of the verandah 
 at Shepheard's, and engage a small army of clerks 
 and translators to assist us with the accused, and 
 copy the enormous record or dossier which we 
 learned that the ingenuity of Borelli Bey and his 
 assistants had constructed. I accordingly telegraphed 
 to Mr. Blunt for instructions, and this is his charac- 
 teristic answer : 
 
48 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 Broadley, 
 
 Shepheard's, 
 
 Cairo. 
 
 Home Government pledged to allow your pleading. Accept 
 no compromise. Expenses your discretion. BLUNT. 
 
 We dined together in much better spirits at an 
 excellent cafe* in the Esbekieh Gardens. Later in 
 the evening I made the acquaintance of some of our 
 most notable opponents. It was difficult to recognise 
 in such an eminently mild and amiable man as Rogers 
 Bey (once British Consul at Cairo), the executioner of 
 Arabi in the pages of the Egyptian Gazette. We also 
 met Mr. Goodall, -who advocated the most extreme 
 measures with the greatest complacency, and who, I 
 since hear, has done good service during the cholera 
 epidemic ; and finally, Mr. Philip, the editor and 
 proprietor of the Egyptian Gazette -, who fought us 
 manfully to the very last, declared consistently that 
 the punishment was more important than the trial, 
 and soon became the inspired exponent of the political 
 creed emanating from the verandah of Shepheard's 
 Hotel. Now the fight is over I am the first to wish 
 the " leading local organ '' and Mr. Philip every 
 possible success. Our talk lasted long into the night, 
 but no one seemed inclined to surrender his opinion. 
 
 Next morning I again called on Sir Edward Malet. 
 He seemed heartily tired of the whole business, and 
 said his own attitude in the matter had been 
 
PRELIMINARY SKIRMISHES. 49 
 
 thoroughly misunderstood. Some well intentioned 
 ladies in England had even written him anonymous 
 letters as to the dangers of bloodguiltiness in the 
 matter of Arabi. At his suggestion we drove together 
 to see Cherif Pacha the Egyptian Premier. As the 
 Government offices were closed on account of its 
 being Friday, we went to his private house. Cherif 
 lives in a magnificent palace which once belonged to 
 Ismail Sadyk the Mufettich. The effect of its white 
 stone and still whiter marble is perfectly dazzling. 
 Cherif received us in a room furnished with sofas 
 and hangings after the manner of the East. There is 
 a curious resemblance between the shabby old stucco 
 palaces in Tunis and the smarter mansions of Cairo. 
 In the latter case the gingerbread is gilded still ; in 
 the former it has been long since rubbed off. 
 Cherif Pacha received me very courteously, listened 
 patiently to my reassuring protestations, gave me 
 coffee and cigarettes, and promised to facilitate mat- 
 ters if possible. Sir Edward Malet saw him alone, but 
 I know he energetically supported my pressing request 
 to be allowed access to our clients forthwith. Cherif 
 Pacha might easily be mistaken for an European. 
 He smokes cigars instead of cigarettes, plays billiards 
 admirably, wears a sapphire ring of extraordinary 
 beauty, and claims to be the real head of the Egyp- 
 tian National party. In our first interview I avoided 
 
 E 
 
50 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 all discussion, keeping steadily to the objects of my 
 visit a settlement of the defence question and admit- 
 tance to Arabi's cell. In the result Cherif Pacha 
 promised to communicate with Borelli Bey. 
 
 Towards noon Mr. Bell kindly accompanied me to 
 visit our most formidable antagonist, Riaz Pacha, 
 Minister of the Interior, who was still smarting under 
 the effects of Mr. Eve's notices and protests. Eiaz 
 lives in a modest house almost under the shadow of 
 the citadel, and in the very centre of the native town. 
 He received me courteously, but spoke in a peculiarly 
 spasmodic manner. I could not discover whether 
 this was the result of choleric emotion or asthma. 
 He tried vainly to talk about Tunis instead of Egypt. 
 He seemed much struck with my account of the man- 
 ner the French had managed their trials in Tunis, 
 and at last very reluctantly said he should oppose our 
 plans no longer, adding that "he hoped good would 
 come of it, which he very much doubted." When I 
 next saw Riaz he was no longer a Minister, and 
 Arabi was on his way to Ceylon. 
 
 In the afternoon I received a note from M. Borelli 
 asking Mr. Napier and myself to call on him at his 
 house, to confer further on the proposed procedure- 
 rules. Borelli Bey lives in a villa nearly opposite the 
 British Agency, furnished in the most florid style of 
 oriental luxury. With the aid of coffee and cigarettes 
 
PRELIMINARY SKIRMISHES. 51 
 
 we got through a somewhat dry discussion as to the 
 details, which ended in another reference to Cherif 
 Pacha. The matter was one of very vital conse- 
 quences, as some alterations now proposed would 
 have prevented our acquiring the unassailable posi- 
 tion I hoped to obtain from a stringent arrangement 
 as to our future proceedings. 
 
 M. Borelli was good enough," later in the evening, 
 to send us a note as to the charges against our client 
 we should have to meet. This document is one of 
 great importance. It runs as follows : 
 
 Ahmed Arabi and others are accused, 
 
 1st. Of having hoisted the white flag at Alexandria on the 
 morning of the 12th July, in violation of the laws of war and 
 jus gentium^ and at the same time of having withdrawn his troops, 
 and caused the burning and pillage of the said town. 
 
 2nd. Of having excited the Egyptians to arm against the 
 Khedive (a crime provided for by Article 5 of the Military 
 Penal Code and Article 55 of the Ottoman Penal Code). 
 
 3rd. Of having continued the war notwithstanding the news 
 of peace (a crime provided for by Article 111 of the Ottoman 
 Penal Code). 
 
 4th. Of having excited civil war, and carried devastation, 
 massacre, and pillage into Egyptian territory (a crime provided 
 for by Articles 56 and 57 of the Ottoman Penal Code). 
 
 In the evening we were introduced by Mr. Schnitz- 
 ler, the agent of Reuter's Telegram Company, to the 
 Khedivial Club, the favourite resort of the higher 
 Egyptian officials. I here first met Sir Charles Wilson, 
 who was to take so important a part in the expected trial. 
 
 E2 
 
52 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 Two days had now passed since my arrival, and 
 somehow or other our access to Arabi appeared as far 
 off as ever. I had concentrated all my efforts on 
 an attempt to score a first success over the procedure 
 question, but we never seemed to pass the goal. 
 
 Very early next morning (21st October) Borelli 
 Bey's clerk brought me a letter, together with a 
 neatly-copied document carefully stitched with green 
 silk. I first read the letter : 
 
 Cairo, October 20th, 1882. 
 MY DEAR MR. BROADLEY, 
 
 Here is the draft of procedure I am going to submit for 
 the acceptance of the Government of His Highness. I beg you 
 to inform me if it is in accordance with our verbal agreement. 
 As to the delay of ten days, don't be frightened, and I beg you 
 to accept it. In the first place, they will find it very much too 
 long on my side, and in the second, I am sure it is sufficient. 
 As a matter of fact the instruction against Arabi has not ter- 
 minated, and I will delay its completion for some days to enable 
 you to catch us up. A word in reply at once, if you please, to, 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 0. BORELLI. 
 
 I glanced at the carefully- copied draft stitched 
 with silk. It contained the very stipulations I had 
 contended against, and would have ensured the con- 
 viction of the prisoners. I told M. Borelli's mes- 
 senger that Mr. Napier and I would be with him in 
 a few minutes. When we arrived there, during two 
 weary hours we fought over again the battle of the 
 
PRELIMINARY SKIRMISHES. 53 
 
 procedure. I called once more on Sir Edward Malet, 
 who undertook to point out anew to Cherif Pacha the 
 justice of my contention with M. Borelli. A third 
 day was lost thus. The following morning M. Borelli's 
 messenger came again. This time he brought another 
 letter. I cannot forbear quoting it : 
 
 Cairo, October 21st, 1882. 
 MY DEAR COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND, 
 
 At last the draft we prepared this morning by common 
 consent has been completely ratified by the Government of His 
 Highness. I also think we can include Abd-el-Al, Ali Fehmy, 
 and Sheikh Abdii in the first batch ; then we will obtain the 
 admission of a new element, understanding English and French, 
 into the constitution of the Court. 
 
 You see I have kept my word as to our arrangements this 
 morning. I am confident that, as far as you are concerned, 
 you will do the same. We must meet at eight o'clock. 
 
 Very faithfully yours, 
 
 0. BORELLI. 
 
 An hour afterwards all was finished. Borelli Bey 
 
 ~x^ 
 
 on the one side, Mr. Napier and myself on the other, 
 signed the following agreement as to the procedure 
 we consented to adopt : 
 
 RULES. 
 
 Article 1. As soon as the preliminary investigation shall 
 have resulted in the accusation of one or more persons, notice 
 shall be given them by the President of the Commission, inform- 
 ing them that their case will be sent before the Court Martial. 
 - Article 2. Every accused has the right to choose as his 
 legal adviser a native or foreign lawyer residing in Egypt, at 
 the time when the proceedings of the Court Martial commence. 
 
54 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB1. 
 
 In the latter case and before all communication with the 
 accused, the advocate must be approved of by the Egyptian 
 Government. 
 
 Each advocate may have the assistance of a second advocate, 
 who shall not also address the Court. 
 
 Article 3. All the records of the proceedings of the pre- 
 liminary enquiry shall be open to the inspection of the advocates 
 in the offices of the Commission. 
 
 Article 4. The advocates shall have the right to produce 
 witnesses and cause them to be heard on all questions relating to 
 the case in the preliminary investigation, and may call all such 
 witnesses as they deem necessary, and this in their presence 
 and in that of the accused, and whether or not the said 
 witnesses have been already heard or not. 
 
 Article 5. The prosecution and defence may produce as 
 valid evidence received before the Commission depositions 
 recorded abroad before competent authorities. 
 
 Article 6. The advocates are obliged to use all reasonable 
 diligence in the proceedings and if their desire to uselesslv 
 prolong them be manifest, the President of the Commission 
 may declare the investigation at an end. 
 
 Article 7. The proceedings of the defence shall form an 
 integral part of the preliminary enquiry, which shall be defi- 
 nitely closed either by the agreement of both sides or by order 
 of the President, as mentioned in the preceding article. 
 
 Article 8. The Court Martial may assemble seven days 
 after the termination of the preliminary enquiry, and no further 
 delay shall be sought for on any pretext. The Court has the 
 right to grant fresh delay if urgent necessity arises. 
 
 Article 9. No witness shall appear before the Court Martial 
 either for the prosecution or the defence or by order of the 
 Court. 
 
 Article 10. The eighth day after the preliminary enquiry 
 has terminated, the proceedings of the Court Martial may be 
 
PRELIMINARY SKIRMISHES. 55 
 
 opened. The President shall order that the indictment, examin- 
 ation, and all documents produced in the case shall be read. 
 This completed, the President shall invite the accused or their 
 counsel to address the Court. After the defence the delegate of 
 the preliminary enquiry may answer if he desires it, and in this 
 case the accused or their counsel shall have a right to the last 
 word. Before the termination of the proceedings both parties 
 may deposit written statements of their case. 
 
 Article 11. The judgment of the Court shall be pro- 
 nounced in open Court. 
 
 Article 12. The defence shall be free, but the President may 
 stop any counsel introducing irrelevant matter or using 
 insulting or offensive expressions against the constituted 
 authorities of the country. 
 
 As soon as the formality of signing was completed 
 Borelli Bey very good-naturedly set off in search of 
 the order which was to admit us, a few hours later, to 
 the presence of Ahmed Arabi. 
 
56 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ARABI IN PKISON. 
 
 IT now became necessary to obtain with as little 
 delay as possible the services of clerks, interpreters, 
 and servants, and prepare for a prolonged stay in 
 Egypt. The task was a difficult one, as the employ- 
 ment we offered entailed a sort of social excommuni- 
 cation from the court faction now in power against 
 those who accepted it. Hasan, one of the Egyptian 
 donkey -owners, cared for none of these things. He 
 loved Arabi and his friends, had a hearty and open 
 contempt for the Khedivial party, and respected the 
 English as victorious invaders and a sure source of 
 income. Ever since he began life as a guide his chief 
 care was to collect certificates from his European 
 patrons. He possesses ons from the Prince of Wales, 
 whose liberal backshish elevated him at once from 
 the lower order of donkey-boys to the higher caste of 
 donkey-proprietors, and after whom he gratefully 
 named the first member of his stud. Nevertheless 
 Hasan had been a Nationalist, and cried Allah yansu- 
 
AllABI IN PRISON. 57 
 
 rak yd ArdU (" God give you victory, oh Arabi") as 
 loudly as his fellows. Hasan at once changed his 
 dark blue shirt for a silk garment and yellow turban, 
 appointed a deputy donkey-man to look after his 
 business, and installed himself as our courier and 
 factotum. His English is hardly classical, but he 
 is a capital interpreter, is as nearly honest as 
 possible, and can show a stranger Cairo and the 
 Pyramids better than any of his rivals. He enjoyed 
 our entire confidence and that of our clients, who had 
 a wholesome dread of Syrians and Copts. I often 
 used to talk of the crisis through which his country 
 had passed to the faithful Hasan, who thus once 
 expressed his own political views : " Arabi very good 
 man ; he tried do good for Egypt, but Arabi not 
 like Hasan. When Hasan takes donkey to Pyramid 
 Hasan thinks how he bring donkey back. Arabi 
 brought we all to Kafr-el-Dowar and Tel-el-Kebir, 
 but Arabi never thought what was to come next." 
 
 We engaged as our chief interpreter a straight- 
 forward young Welshman, Edward Baldwin Evans, 
 who had recognised Mr. Stanley as a fellow-country- 
 man in the deserts of the Soudan, spent a time in 
 exploring the Red Sea coast, and returned to Egypt 
 with the Indian Contingent. He did us good service, 
 and remained with us to the last. Mr. Evans is now 
 with Hicks Pacha in search of the Mehdi. We also 
 
58 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 managed to engage two Armenian clerks, Najib 
 Abcarius and Joseph Kanawaty, both fairly good 
 translators and copyists. 
 
 We also decided to-day to leave the comforts of 
 Shepheard's Hotel, and hire a large flat in a house 
 nearly opposite, known as the maison du Mufti, 
 and rented by Mr. Grrosse, Herr Zech's agent. The 
 manager of the hotel undertook to cater for our 
 wants and find us domestic servants. It is only just 
 to them to say that they carried out their agreement 
 to the end in the most liberal and satisfactory 
 manner. 
 
 I now thought that our preliminary arrangements 
 were sufficiently advanced to justify my calling on 
 Sir Charles Wilson, who, with his assistants, Lieut.- 
 Colonel Stewart and Captain Chermside, R.E., were 
 living in the handsome mansion of Mr. Alexander Baird, 
 and constituted what may be fairly described as the 
 Egyptian Tyranny and Vexation Detective Depart- 
 ment. Sir Charles Wilson had already won respect 
 and fame as a Consul-General in Asia Minor, and no 
 man could have been chosen more fit for the delicate 
 functions he now had to discharge. Firm, intelligent, 
 courteous, just, and a hater of all intrigue and 
 oppression, he never swerved from the path of strict 
 impartiality or shrunk from what he felt to be his 
 duty. He quickly understood the position of the 
 
ARABI IN PRISON. 59 
 
 Egyptian prisoners, the power of their enemies, and 
 the true nature of the evidence gradually piled up 
 against them. The name of Sir Charles Wilson will 
 not easily be forgotten in Egypt, and his return 
 thither would materially aid the fair start we have 
 promised to give her. Colonel Stewart and Captain 
 (now Major) Chermside steadily followed the example 
 set them by Sir Charles Wilson,- and many a wretched 
 prisoner in the remoter provinces of Egypt owes his 
 liberation and life to their painstaking and careful 
 investigation. In my first interview I explained to 
 Sir Charles Wilson the negociations which had 
 resulted in the adoption of the Procedure Rules, and 
 he promised, in case Borelli Bey's promised order 
 duly arrived, to introduce us to Arabi in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 An hour or two later I received at Shepheard's a 
 brief note from Sir Charles Wilson : 
 
 Cairo 21. 10. 82. 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 Allow me to introduce to you Arabi Pacha's son. 
 
 Truly yours, 
 
 C. W. WILSON. 
 
 A few minutes afterwards, a thin and awkwardly, 
 built young man of two or three and twenty entered 
 my room. His complexion was darker perhaps than 
 that of the ordinary Egyptian, and all intelligence of 
 expression was hopelessly marred by the total destruc- 
 
60 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 tion of one eye and a cast in the other. I can never 
 forget his timid, hunted look, and for a moment he 
 seemed hardly able to speak. I did my best to set 
 him at his ease, and, as neither of our interpreters 
 was at hand, I felt much relieved when I saw he 
 understood the Arabic dialect of Tunis. He told me 
 a sad story of the ill-treatment his mother and all his 
 father's family had been subjected to, since the Eng- 
 lish had entered Cairo, but more than ever after 
 Arabi's surrender to the Khedive, an arrangement 
 which seems to have acted as a signal for the inau- 
 guration of a veritable reign of terror. 
 
 Messrs. Eve and Napier had hardly joined us, 
 when a messenger from Borelli Bey brought the 
 following order. 
 
 To OSMAN SHAREEF BIMBASHI, KEEPER OF THE PRISON AT THE 
 
 DAIRA SANIYA. 
 
 Admit Messrs. Broadley, Eve, and Napier, with their inter- 
 preter to see Ahmed Arabi whenever they come to the prison. 
 
 (Signed) RIAZ, 
 
 Minister of the Interior. 
 
 I at once showed this to Muhamed Ibn Ahmed 
 Arabi, who, even amidst his tears, hailed its arrival as 
 an excellent omen. Without any delay, we all three 
 started for the building known as the Daira Saniya. 
 
 In a shady street leading from the square surround- 
 ing the Khedivial Opera House to the Ismailia quar- 
 ter, is to be found a vast two-storied mansion, which 
 
AEABI IN PRISON. Cl 
 
 might conveniently serve for a workhouse, a hospital, 
 or even an hotel. A great gateway in the centre 
 admits you at once to the paved quadrangle round 
 which it is built, to the passages which lead to the 
 apartments on the ground floor, and the broad deal 
 staircase by which you reach the rooms and corridors 
 of the upper story. The chambers on one side of the 
 house look into the street with its avenue of plane 
 trees ; the windows of all the other rooms open either 
 on the quadrangle or on some back yards. This place 
 is called the Daira Saniya because that department 
 once utilized it for offices ; it has also served in turn 
 for a giant hotel, a printing establishment, and a 
 depot for theatrical properties and lumber. Its 
 many rooms, vast extent of white-washed walls, 
 and long corridors certainly fitted it admirably for a 
 prison. The Egyptian Government entertained the 
 same opinion, took possession of it without the con- 
 sent of the owner, gave it a fresh coat of drab paint 
 throughout, grated and nailed up the windows, put 
 strong bars and locks on the doors, and caused Arabi 
 and about a hundred of his friends to be brought there 
 the day before Mr. Napier arrived in Cairo. Opposite 
 the entrance, a large hall on the ground floor paved 
 with marble, filled one entire side of the quadrangle. 
 A corporal's guard of British soldiers occupied the 
 great gateway and the room immediately adjoining it. 
 
G2 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 On the staircase we met Sir Charles Wilson. The 
 corridors were watched by Egyptian soldiers all, I 
 believe, Turks and Circassians armed with rifles. 
 It was warm weather still, and they wore their white 
 summer uniform. Opposite the head of the stairs, a 
 door from the passage (which ran the whole length of 
 the building) led into a large room used for the meet- 
 ings of the Commission of Inquiry. The adjacent 
 apartment on the right was used as an office ; next to 
 it was the cell of Mahmoud Sami Pasha, and next 
 again that of Ardbi. The corresponding room on the 
 other side of the Court was afterwards assigned to 
 us to accommodate our translators. On the doors 
 were rough labels bearing the inscriptions in Arabic, 
 Ahmed Arabi No. 1, Mahmoud Sdmi No. 2, &c. As 
 the windows were hermetically closed, the prisoners 
 had been almost stifled by the heat. To remedy this 
 an iron grating was being fixed for the purposes of 
 ventilation over the door of each cell. Arabi's was 
 in course of erection when we arrived, and we were 
 obliged to creep under a ladder amidst a cloud of dust 
 an'd whitewash to enter his room. The apartment in 
 which he was confined was about twelve or fourteen 
 feet square, and sufficiently lofty. It was lighted by 
 two narrow windows looking into the street, but 
 partially darkened by the grating and half-closed 
 Venetian shutters. Directly Colonel Wilson became 
 
ARABI IN PRISON. 63 
 
 visible, a tall strongly-built man rose from a carpet in 
 the corner of the room nearest the window to greet 
 him. We were then formally presented to our client. 
 At the request of Sir Charles Wilson, Osman Effendi, 
 the chief gaoler, ordered the guards to bring us a 
 small table and some chairs. The sole furniture of 
 the room when we arrived was a handsome Shiraz 
 rug, a mosquito curtain, a mattress, and some pillows, 
 an embroidered prayer-carpet, a kordn, and some 
 brass and earthenware vessels. I must not be under- 
 stood as complaining, for an oriental rarely wants 
 more than this. Arabi wore a pair of undress military 
 trowsers, with white -shirt and jacket. He sometimes 
 changed the latter for a black Stambouli or Turkish 
 frock coat. In his hand he held nervously a small 
 rosary, and he did his best to welcome us with as 
 good grace as possible. After Sir Charles Wilson had 
 left us, I presented him a letter from Mr. Blunt which 
 Mr. Napier had brought out. He asked as to allow 
 him to read it.* 
 
 While doing so I had an excellent opportunity of 
 studying the face of one about whom all Europe had 
 heard so much. In repose, an almost fixed frown and 
 knitting of the brows can hardly fail to excite an 
 impression of forbidding sullenness, but I soon found 
 
 * The letter was, I think, almost a duplicate of that sent to him 
 by Mr. Blunt exactly a month before (vide p. 9). 
 
64 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 out that this was the effect of deep and constant thought 
 rather than of moroseness or bad temper. Arabi's habit 
 of perpetually thinking has gained him many enemies 
 amongst those who judge by first appearances. When 
 his countenance lights up with animation, the change 
 wrought in his expression is so wonderful that you 
 would hardly recognize him as the same man. His eyes 
 are full of intelligence, and his smile is peculiarly 
 attractive. His complexion is lighter than that of his 
 son, but his nose is too flat and his lips too thick to 
 allow me to describe him as a handsome man. He is 
 considerably over six feet in height, and broad in 
 proportion. During his imprisonment his appearance 
 was materially changed by the growth of a grey 
 beard. After the manner of the Felaheen, a blue 
 band was tattooed round his wrist, and he rarely, if 
 ever, loosened his grasp on a small black rosary he per- 
 petually ran through his fingers when talking. The 
 cloud of anxiety which seemed to overshadow him at 
 first gradually lifted, and before his imprisonment 
 was ended he became almost cheerful. 
 
 During the reading of Mr. Blunt's letter he fre- 
 quently smiled and raised his hand to his forehead in 
 token of gratitude and acquiescence. This habit of 
 Arabi's when perusing his correspondence always struck 
 me as singularly graceful. His peculiar courtesy of 
 manner has rarely failed to impress those with whom 
 
ARAB I IN PRISON. 65 
 
 he has come in contact. After he had finished 
 reading the letter he asked me to allow him to use a 
 pen and ink we had brought with us, to write first of 
 all a few lines of thanks to Mr. Blunt and his wife. 
 This completed, Mr. Eve suggested to him that it 
 would be advisable that he should give him a written 
 authority to retain Mr. Napier and myself as his 
 counsel. He complied with the- request at once, and 
 affixed his seal to the document. My friend Mr. 
 Villiers, the correspondent of the Graphic, took a 
 tracing of it afterwards, but the translator at home 
 fell into some unaccountable errors, and the following 
 extraordinary version must have amused and puzzled 
 the British public when it appeared three weeks 
 
 later : 
 
 EGYPTIAN COURT OF JUSTICE, 
 
 22nd October, 1882. 
 
 Verily, I have appointed Mr. Richard Eve, of Aldershot, 
 London Officer Kdtiydli and Officer Sanddchand to take for my 
 defence Mr. Broadley, of Long Street, and Hon. Mark Napier, 
 son of Officer Campbell both the aforesaid. 
 
 I AHMED ARABI. 
 
 I need hardly say it should read : 
 
 I have appointed Mr. Richard Eve, of Aldershot, Solicitor of 
 the High Court of Justice, England, to retain for my defence 
 Mr. Broadley, of Lincoln's Inn, and the Honourable Mark 
 Napier, of the Inner Temple, &c. 
 
 This formality duly complied with, I asked Arabi 
 to give us his full confidence and speak unreservedly 
 
66 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 of his defence. He first observed that at the end of 
 the campaign (like many other unsuccessful generals 
 had done before him) he had delivered his sword and 
 his honour to General Lowe, and had done so in full 
 confidence that his former opponents in the field and 
 not his political enemies would be the judges of his 
 deserts. He had maintained order, observed the usages 
 of wars in civilized countries, and acted toward his 
 prisoners with humanity and kindness. Surely he 
 could claim some better treatment from England than 
 that which he had received at our hands ? Was not 
 our presence there to-day in spite of his enemies a sign 
 that he was not altogether wrong ? He had led the 
 Egyptians in a struggle for freedom, and had achieved 
 partial success, when our arms stopped his progress, 
 and the very aspirations of which he was by the will 
 of the whole nation the exponent, were wrecked in 
 the defeat of Tel-el-Kebir and then hopelessly crushed 
 out by the Turkish and Circassian cruelty which had 
 followed it. "If you inquire," said Ardbi, "you will 
 discover and be able to prove that all Egypt was with 
 me the Khedivial family the old men of Mehemet 
 Ali's time, the Ulemas, the army, and the peasants, but 
 in the presence of prison, arrest, torture, and threats, 
 who will own me now ? Why, I should not be sur- 
 prised if my very children denied me to my face 
 before the Commission of Inquiry." Arabi then 
 
ARABI IN PRISON. 67 
 
 gave a circumstantial account of his own troubles 
 when in prison,* and observed that, if he was treated 
 thus, what could his more humble followers expect or 
 hope for ? He said that the Egyptians were timid by 
 
 * He subsequently delivered to me the following written state- 
 ment on the subject: 
 
 " To my dear friend and defender, Mr. Broadley. 
 " God give him protection. 
 
 " In reliance on the good intentions of England towards Egypt, I 
 myself gave up my sword and my person to the good faith and honour 
 of England in surrendering to General Lowe, representative of the 
 Commander-in-Chief of the Britannic Army, while there were still in 
 Cairo itself 35,000 soldiers, and an equal number in the various 
 districts; and I remained with the English soldiers in all honour for 
 twenty days i. e., from the night of the 15th of September to the 4th 
 of October and on the 5th of October I was put into the Egyptian 
 prison, where I was insulted in a way which cries out against the honour 
 of England and every Englishman ; for I was searched by the servants 
 and aghas of the Khedive's palace, and this was repeated four times, 
 even to the length of taking off my boots from my feet ; and on the 
 night of the 9th of October, at half-past eight o'clock, after I had 
 fallen asleep, my door was opened, and about ten or more persons 
 entered my room, and one of them said, 'Arabi, do you know me? ' 
 I said l No ; who are you, and what do you want from me at such a 
 time?' He said, 'I am Ibrahim Agha, whom you were searching for. 
 You dog ! You pig ! ' and he spat upon me three times, and he 
 insulted and abused me in such a manner that I believed he had been 
 ordered to kill me that night, and he went on in this fashion for 
 about eight minutes, and then went out of my cell. 
 
 " Conduct such as this could never please the faith and honour of 
 England, especially towards me, who gave up myself in trust and 
 confidence on the honour of the English nation. 
 
 " AHMED AR^BI. 
 
 " October 29, 1882." 
 
 F 2 
 
68 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 nature and weak in physique; they had nerved them- 
 selves for the struggle in which they had been so com- 
 pletely worsted, and they now felt the bitter reaction 
 of despair. Throughout the length and breadth of 
 Egypt his adherents had been thrown into prison, and 
 anybody who knew the country would understand 
 the effect of this upon the minds of the people. He 
 had himself been interrogated by the Commission, 
 but he had little or no control over the evidence 
 they recorded. Prom what he saw he feared the 
 stoutest-hearted of his followers such men even as 
 Mahmoud Sami and Yacoub Sami would quail under 
 the moral and physical torture they endured and the 
 abject helplessness of their present position. As 
 regards his own conduct, he thought he had a good 
 defence. "I divide it," he said, "into two parts 
 what was done before the llth July and what hap- 
 pened afterwards. At no time could I be fairly 
 called a rebel. The Khedive shared our opinion that 
 we should return the British fire and the Sultan 
 repeatedly expressed his satisfaction at my proceed- 
 ings. Afterwards the Khedive became your prisoner, 
 and I continued to follow the orders of the Council of 
 Ministers sanctioned and supported by the whole 
 country, and still approved by the Sultan. If the 
 Khedive and the Sultan are my superiors, I may have 
 been your enemy, but I was not a rebel towards them. 
 
ARABI IN PRISON. 69 
 
 All that I tell you I hope to be able to prove. I 
 fear nothing, as I had no concern with the outbreak 
 at Alexandria last June, or the incendiarism which 
 followed the bombardment." 
 
 Arabi promised that as soon as he could see his son 
 he would arrange to give us the papers necessary to 
 make good his case. He said that he was anxious to 
 place in our hands full instructions for his defence if 
 we could obtain him a supply of writing materials, but 
 he hoped we should not at the same time forget his 
 fellow-prisoners, even if they had been induced to 
 incriminate him. All he wanted in prison was a light 
 to work by at night, and leave for his servant to 
 bring his food direct to him. With a grim smile he 
 explained to us the dangers of its passage through the 
 hands of the Circassian sentries, and told us how 
 nearly his friend Abd-el-Al had been poisoned at an 
 early stage of the National movement. It is hardly to 
 be wondered at that Arabi under these circumstances 
 implored us to use every exertion to obtain the 
 placing of an English guard within as well as 
 without the prison. After an interview which lasted 
 nearly three hours we left the prison very favour- 
 ably impressed with the conversation and demeanour 
 of our celebrated client. In passing down the cor- 
 ridor between a file of the Turkish and Circassian 
 soldiers on duty we heard a violent kicking at the 
 
70 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 door of an adjacent cell. I afterwards learned it was 
 Toulba Pacha endeavouring vainly to attract our atten- 
 tion. He had joined his friend Arabi in telegraphing 
 to Mr. Blunt, and, having seen us through the key- 
 hole, wished to claim a vested interest in the English 
 counsel. 
 
THE RECOVERY OF ARABPS PAPERS. 71 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE RECOVERY OF ARA^l's PAPERS. 
 
 NEXT day (Monday, 23rd October) was the great 
 Moslem festival of the Kourban Bairam. Everybody 
 put on their holiday best, all Pachadom seemed fairly 
 ablaze with decorations and ribbons, and the streets 
 at an early hour were almost impassable by reason of 
 the crowd of carriages and passengers. All the Cairene 
 world and his wife rushed impetuously to do homage 
 to the rising sun, after the manner of the ordinary 
 Egyptian, and Tewfik Pacha was well nigh wearied 
 with flattery and congratulations. Only the British 
 guards marching up and down monotonously outside 
 the palace served to remind him of the cost at which 
 he had propped up his throne, and of the real senti- 
 ments of his outraged subjects. The private recep- 
 tion which he held the same day for the benefit of his 
 male and female relatives who had espoused the 
 National cause was hardly calculated to fill his mind 
 with similar satisfaction ; and it was somewhat 
 embarrassing at the public leve*e when Ibrahim Agha 
 
72 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 tutunji, who was accused of maltreating Arabi in 
 prison, proceeded to hand round the amber-mouthed 
 chibuks to the Foreign Kepresentatives. 
 
 As soon as possible Mr. Napier and I went to the 
 prison to wish Arabi the usual compliments of the day. 
 We brought with us a leather despatch-case for his use 
 and an abundant supply of writing materials. Arabi 
 was more cheerful than on the occasion of our previous 
 visit, and asked us to convey his compliments to Sir 
 Edward Malet, with an expression of regret that he 
 could not offer them personally, as he had done the 
 previous year. I explained to him the great importance 
 of any documentary evidence he might have to offer 
 in his defence, and entreated him to give us a proof of 
 his confidence by trusting us implicitly. I dwelt at 
 some length on the relations of legal adviser and 
 client as we understand them in England, and 
 pointed out the imminent danger of any reservations 
 on his part. Arabi seemed convinced by what we 
 said. He merely answered, " To secure what you 
 want I must see my son or my servant Muhamed Ibn 
 Ahmed. I have still many papers safe, but a quantity 
 have been taken from my house in Cairo and my tent 
 at Tel-el-Kebir." 
 
 On leaving him I applied to the chief -gaoler Osman 
 Shareef bimbashi, but he sternly refused to allow 
 either the son or the servant to enter the cell. This 
 
THE RECOVERY OF ARABPS PAPERS. 73 
 
 worthy man had himself taken a share in the national 
 defence, but his indiscretion was overlooked along with 
 the misdoings of most of the Turks and Circassians, 
 for it was hardly possible for Tewfik Pacha, even 
 with the assistance of an army of occupation, to put 
 all Egypt in arrest. Osman Effendi was a sort of 
 political thermometer. When the restored Khedive 
 seemed omnipotent he was conveniently absent at the 
 very hour when the valets and pipe-bearers came to 
 work their wicked will ; he treated the prisoners with 
 decent civility after our admission as counsel ; he felt 
 an active and not altogether disinterested anxiety for 
 their welfare when the more serious charges were 
 abandoned ; and after the formal trial became abso- 
 lutely benevolent and almost patriotic. The very next 
 morning I saw him busily engaged in adding the word 
 Pacha in very large letters to the labels on the doors 
 of their respective cells. Nothing in Egypt is so 
 powerful as power. On the whole Osman Effendi did 
 his duty well, and I was very glad when Sir Charles 
 Wilson interfered to prevent his premature promotion 
 to the Soudan force as an official recognition of too 
 great leniency towards those in his custody. 
 
 In our dilemma we appealed to Sir Edward Malet 
 and Sir Charles Wilson, and we did not do this in 
 vain. The same evening Arabi's faithful servant, the 
 negro half-caste Muhamed Ibn Ahmed, accompanied 
 
74 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 Sir Charles Wilson and myself to his master's cell. 
 Muhamed respectfully kissed the Pacha's sleeve, and 
 showed him a paper he had brought with him. I did 
 not know what it was then, but I do now. An 
 Egyptian princess who had supported warmly the 
 now hopeless cause wrote him a letter sealed with her 
 signet in which she advised him to place complete 
 confidence in Mr. Napier and myself, and give us all 
 the documents he still retained. Arabi theft described 
 to his servant the different places in which he would 
 find the papers, and directed him to tell his son to give 
 them to us " without fear or diffidence." No man I 
 met in Egypt deserved more respect than poor 
 Muhamed Ibn Ahmed, who has since accompanied 
 Arabi into exile. He had probably no other property 
 in the world than a blue shirt and a ragged cloth coat 
 to cover it, but neither threats nor bribes could shake 
 his allegiance to his fallen master. It was dark when 
 we left the prison, and I asked him with some anxiety 
 when he thought he could bring me the papers. He 
 said it would take him all night to carry out the 
 Pacha's orders, but that he had no doubt he could 
 give them to me in the morning. I impressed on him 
 the importance of the mission entrusted to him, and 
 rejoined Mr. Napier at Shepheard's. Meanwhile my 
 colleagues had been fully occupied. Mr. Eve prepared 
 after the fashion of English solicitors formal briefs to 
 
THE RECOVERY OF ARABPS PAPERS. 75 
 
 deliver to us on behalf of Arabi before leaving Cairo 
 for England the next day, and Mr. Napier drew up 
 from the Blue Books a clear and succinct narrative of 
 events in Egypt during the past two years. I now 
 felt the absolute need of a more than ordinarily 
 able interpreter to assist us in the case, and one 
 who could translate with facility into Arabic as well 
 as from it. Such a man must be* found if we were to 
 present written statements in Arabic to the Court as I 
 proposed to do. I at once thought of Mr. David 
 Santillana, one of the most accomplished living Arabic 
 scholars, who had lost his post of Secretary to the 
 Tunisian Government for a too zealous opposition to 
 the earlier stages of French aggression. That very 
 evening I telegraphed to him at Rome to come to 
 Cairo without delay. 
 
 The festival of the Kourban Bairdm was almost 
 an eventful day at Cairo. A telegram arrived which 
 brought the news of a serious rising in the Soudan 
 under the auspices of the Mehdi. I met Dr. Schwein- 
 fiirth, the celebrated traveller, who took the gloomiest 
 view of the new misfortune, and much anxiety pre- 
 vailed in the verandah of Shepheard's Hotel. It was 
 extremely fortunate that no pardonable confusion was 
 ever created in the public mind between the cause of 
 the Mehdi and that of Arabi (as happened to the 
 unfortunate Bey of Tunis, who was somehow or other 
 
76 
 
 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 connected telegraphically with the massacre of the 
 mission Flatters), or it might have been fatal to him 
 at this critical juncture. 
 
 Next morning early Arabi's son and the youth 
 Muhamed Ibn Ahmed came to my room. 
 
 Arabi's wife, they said, had got the papers, and 
 some of the neighbours had frightened her with a 
 report that her husband was to be surrendered to the 
 tender mercies of the Sultan. Neither of them knew 
 where she had gone. If I ever spoke sternly I did then. 
 I conjured them both once more to perform at all risks 
 what Arabi had told them to do. They seemed alarmed, 
 and promised to make another trial. Two hours later 
 they returned in a close carriage. I went across the 
 verandah to meet them. Arabi's son put a large 
 bundle into my hands. We retired to our common 
 sitting-room. From a cloth, the chief feature of 
 which was a yellow ace of clubs on a white ground (1 
 retain it still), we extracted a large number of Arabic 
 documents of all sorts and sizes. Having dismissed, 
 with very hearty thanks, our visitors, Mr. Napier and 
 I decided that it would be most prudent to deposit 
 those papers in the British Consulate. I took them 
 to Sir Edward Malet at once, and he agreed to what 
 I proposed, and at my request allowed Mr. Ardern 
 Beaman, a student-interpreter attached to the agency, 
 and then doing duty with Sir Charles Wilson, to translate 
 
THE RECOVERY OF ARABFS PAPERS. 77 
 
 them. Later in the day Sir Charles and myself attended 
 at the British Consulate and placed our initials and a 
 number on each separate document, finally leaving 
 the whole of them in Mr. Beaman's custody. The 
 recovery of these papers caused much excitement at 
 Cairo, and, I have since heard, not a little heart- 
 burning at Constantinople. 
 
78 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 
 
 I MUST ask my reader's pardon if I leave Arabi for a 
 moment busy with his written instructions at the 
 Daira Saniya prison, in order to sketch as briefly as 
 possible the course of events which brought him 
 there. Rightly or wrongly, I think some recapitula- 
 tion of this sort necessary to convey an accurate idea 
 of the circumstances which immediately surrounded 
 the disappearance of the national leaders for a time at 
 least from the stage of Egyptian politics. History is 
 made quickly now-a-days ; and, as facts crowd upon 
 each other with astounding and confusing rapidity, 
 the memory needs a good deal of assistance to enable 
 us to keep up with the pace we were moving at. To 
 really understand Arabi's position at the time I am 
 now describing we must first take a glance at the past. 
 To do this a reference to the Blue-Books is amply 
 sufficient ; for, strange to say, a very excellent 
 defence for my client could have been compiled from 
 their pages alone. The manufacture of Blue-Books is 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 79 
 
 a department of literature which is an essential 
 feature of the age of special correspondence and 
 quick history-making in which we live. Their aim is 
 to disclose as little as possible, to make the rough 
 smooth, the crooked straight, and to create pleasant 
 impressions of a more or less ambiguous and indis- 
 tinct nature. If they could appear at stated times in 
 neat yearly volumes they would tell us almost 
 nothing at all ; but the stern necessity which compels 
 their uncertain publication at intervals allows of 
 much truth escaping between the joints. Mr. Sey- 
 mour Keay * in his masterly pamphlet, aided only by 
 the light of the Blue-Books, has very effectually told 
 the truth about Egyptian finance. If he had spoken 
 earlier I am inclined to think that the war in Egypt 
 would have been averted, and that I should never 
 have defended Arabi. Strange to say, although no 
 single contributor to these same Blue-Books regarded 
 even with tolerance the aspirations of Egyptian 
 Nationalism, a not unfavourable history of its later 
 phases (for the cause itself dates back to a time 
 before the accession of Tewfik Pacha) can be con- 
 structed from them. I have unfortunately no space 
 to apply again in detail the crucial tests invented by 
 Mr. Keay, but I shall endeavour by the help of these 
 
 * Spoiling the Egyptians. London : C. Kegan Paul and Co. 
 
 1882. 
 
80 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 records to write the brief narrative which I believe to 
 be essential to the story I have undertaken to tell. 
 
 The curtain of the official and orthodox version of 
 the Egyptian drama draws up somewhat abruptly. 
 We hear nothing of the circumstances which attended 
 an attempt to seize the persons of Arabi and his two 
 fellow colonels in February 1881, or the civil and 
 military grievances which fostered the growing dis- 
 content and gave an increasingly practical shape 
 to the National cause. Upon this scene of vacilla- 
 tion, double-dealing, tortuous intrigue, and wanton 
 tyranny, the Blue-Books are silent. Their history 
 begins with the military pronunciamento of the 9th 
 September following. It really seems to have 
 amounted to little more than a military review, and 
 there is nothing to show the soldiers who participated 
 in it were even supplied with ammunition. Their 
 bearing was certainly neither tumultuous nor dis- 
 orderly. Colonel Arabi presented the popular 
 demands, which were three in number : 1st. The 
 resignation or dismissal of the Biaz ministry ; 2nd. 
 The convocation of a national parliament ; 3rd. The 
 raising of the numerical strength of the army to 
 18,000, the limit prescribed by law. Arabi had in 
 anticipation of his action written letters to the French 
 and English agents at Cairo setting forth the causes 
 of the demonstrations. The Khedive yielded every- 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 81 
 
 thing with a somewhat suspicious alacrity, and three 
 days later Cherif Pacha (the avowed champion of 
 Egyptian Nationalism in the last days of Ismail's 
 reign) held his first Cabinet Council with Mahmoud 
 Sami (Arabi's future chief) as Minister of War and 
 Ismail Pacha Eyoub (Ardbi's future judge) as head 
 of the Department of Public Works. 
 
 The convocation of the old -Chamber of Notables 
 of 150 members, and the increase of the army, are 
 successively decreed. Everything now seemed to be 
 going smoothly, but appearances were singularly 
 fallacious. Tewfik Pacha, while outwardly supporting 
 the Egyptian Nationalists, had really turned his eyes 
 expectantly towards his suzerain at Stamboul. The 
 Porte successively proposed military intervention and 
 the sending of an Imperial Commission. England 
 and France strongly opposed both. Sir Edward 
 Malet sees the Sultan, who deprecates the existence 
 of representative institutions in Egypt. On his 
 return to Cairo (October 2nd, 1881), Sir Edward 
 writes a remarkable despatch showing that he was at 
 this time perfectly aware of the existence of Turkish 
 intrigues, and detailing the causes of the pronuncia- 
 mento of the previous month. He admits the actuality 
 of the plot to arrest the three Colonels, the crying 
 and continued neglect to carry out promised reforms^ 
 and the treachery of Riaz in his relations to the 
 
82 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 officers. Four days later "the trusty All Nizami 
 Pacha and Fuad Bey, sent to the Khedive by the 
 Sultan as assistants and advisers," land at Alexandria.* 
 Great Britain and France now determine to send 
 ships of war as an antidote. Sir Edward Malet writes 
 (October 10th) that the " rumour causes great agita- 
 tion among the natives," arid Cherif tells him clearly 
 that such a step will inevitably " create disturbance 
 among the whole Arab population, and lead to a 
 general revolution" A compromise is, however, 
 arrived at. The Turkish envoys are to return to 
 Constantinople, Arabi is to join his regiment in the 
 interior, and the ships are to quit Egyptian waters. 
 Before leaving Cairo, Arabi visits the English Comp- 
 troller, Mr. (now Sir Auckland) Colvin, on whom his 
 " bearing and language produced a most favourable 
 impression." Since the llth September, Arabi seems 
 to have become by the tacit vote of his fellow-country- 
 men the recognized leader of the " national cause," 
 an expression now frequently used on all hands in the 
 despatches, although its very existence has since been 
 denounced as an impudent fabrication. 
 
 Once more Egyptian affairs wear a deceptive 
 appearance of peace. The new year (1882) opens 
 with three important events, viz., the opening of the 
 Chambers by the Khedive in a speech replete with a 
 
 * The story of their proceedings is told in a later chapter. 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 83 
 
 colourless kind of patriotism, the appointment of 
 Arabi (still only Colonel Arabi Bey) as Under-Secre- 
 tary of State for War, and the presentation of the 
 Joint and Identic Note on the part of England and 
 France. Lord Grranville had unfortunately and 
 apparently with much reluctance fallen into a trap 
 insidiously laid for him by M. Gambetta, who had 
 invented the project in question as a convenient 
 instrument for the furtherance of French ambition on 
 the banks of the Nile, but who, by a cruel decree of 
 fate, only lived long enough to see it bear the bitterest 
 of bitter fruit both for him and for France.* In this 
 dual note France and England declared emphatically 
 that they were determined to maintain the order of 
 things in Egypt and support the Khedive. 
 
 Now comes a long, intricate, and acrimonious 
 discussion as to the new rules for the organisation of 
 the Chamber. On the llth January, Lord Granville 
 
 * We must always bear in mind that according to the hereditary 
 foreign policy of France, which never undergoes any perceptible 
 change, Egypt is a part of the great empire of the future Carthage 
 Gauloise. Napoleon III. wrote hopefully of the time when " the 
 French supremacy, established at the foot of Mount Atlas," should 
 " appear to the Arabs an intervention of Providence, and the glory 
 of France resound from Tunis to the Euphrates." The popular 
 pamphlet, La Regeneration Militaire Frangaise, asserts boldly that 
 " Africa belongs to-day to France, and, by the aid of her camels and 
 dromedaries. France is to go to the Soudan, and from Tunis to the 
 Euphrates"; while even M. de Freycinet plainly told Colonel Flatters 
 that a French party must be formed in the Soudan. 
 
 G2 
 
84 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 writes or telegraphs that (i Her Majesty's Government 
 do not wish to commit themselves to a total and per- 
 manent exclusion of the Chamber from handling the 
 Budget/' but adds that caution must be observed, 
 " regard being had to the pecuniary interests for which 
 Her Majesty's Government have been acting." He 
 asks in conclusion what would be the result if the 
 Chamber were to be allowed to deal with the revenues 
 not appropriated to the payment of the public debt. 
 Sir Edward Malet answers promptly (January 16th), 
 by letter or telegraph, that the official salaries not 
 regulated by contract would be under the control of 
 the Chamber, which might abolish the Land Survey 
 and " dismiss many Europeans from the Administra- 
 tion" A despatch written three days later shows 
 that Sultan Pacha, President of the Chamber (a timid 
 patriot of whom I shall often have occasion to speak), 
 at this time emphatically and repeatedly declared 
 that he was in no way acting under the pressure of 
 the military party, but that the course he proposed 
 and advocated, i.e., the voting by the Chamber of the 
 " unappropriated " portion of the Budget, was sanc- 
 tioned by the unanimous wish of the country, of 
 which he was the true representative and spokesman. 
 The situation becomes more and more strained. 
 Cherif Pacha seems to feebly hesitate between both 
 sides, and on the 3rd February, after receiving a 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 85 
 
 petition from a deputation of the Chamber of Notables, 
 the Khedive dismisses the Cabinet over which he pre- 
 sided, and called to office a purely National Ministry 
 under Mahmoud Pacha Sami. The different portfolios 
 were distributed thus : Ali Sadik, Finance ; Ahmed 
 Arabi, War; Mustapha Fehmy, Foreign Affairs ; Hasan 
 Sherai, Eeligious Trusts; Mahmoud Fehmy, Public 
 Works ; and Abdullah Fikri, Public Instruction. Not- 
 withstanding the opposition of the French and English 
 agents " in support of the pecuniary interests for 
 which they were acting," the Khedive on the 8th 
 February approved the new organic law for the 
 Chamber, including the Budget Articles, and on the 
 same day Mustapha Fehmy presented a very logical 
 and convincing memorandum protesting against the 
 interference of the foreign Consuls - General in a 
 matter of pure internal administration. Almost 
 simultaneously the Sultan telegraphs to the Khedive 
 that he should " leave this discussion of the Budget 
 to the Chambers." The new premier addresses to the 
 Khedive a moderate and intelligent programme, and 
 received the next day the following letter in reply ; 
 the original of which is now in my possession : 
 
 4th February, 1882. 
 MY DEAR MAHMOUD SAMI PACHA, 
 
 In accepting the task of forming a new Cabinet, with a full 
 knowledge of the importance of that mission, you give a fresh 
 proof of your devotion and patriotism. If I have entrusted you 
 
86 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 with this duty, it is because 1 am acquainted with the noble 
 sentiments of which you have given so many proofs in the 
 various services you have rendered in the different posts you 
 have occupied. I approve your programme and the principles 
 which you elaborate in it. They are the very basis of justice, 
 and are calculated to maintain and secure order in the country, 
 as well as the safety of all those who inhabit it. 
 
 I agree with you that my Government should take the neces- 
 sary steps for carrying out judicial and administrative reforms, 
 and that it should also promulgate for the Chamber of Deputies 
 Organic Laws in accordance with the ideas expressed in your 
 programme. 
 
 My Government must also undertake the duty of developing 
 as much as possible Public Instruction, Agriculture, Commerce, 
 and Industry. In the carrying out of your plans you may 
 always count on my sincere and loyal co-operation. 
 
 I pray God to crown with success our common efforts for the 
 good of the country, and prosperity of the people ! 
 
 MEHEMET TEWFIK. 
 
 Poor Mahmoud Sami's scheme is almost a prophetic 
 synopsis of Lord Dufferin's report, and the two may 
 be read instructively side by side. 
 
 Sir Edward Malet now takes leave (March 17th), and 
 things once again assume a peaceful appearance. Mr. 
 Cookson is in charge, and on the 20th March he speaks 
 of Arabi as likely to resist Turkish intrigues for the 
 restoration of Halim. In April Sir Edward Malet 
 returns, and the serenity of the situation is disturbed 
 by the Circassian Plot against the life of Arabi, which 
 is treated as genuine, and the existence of which is 
 fully admitted by the Khedive, Tewfik who sees great 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 87 
 
 danger to himself from the same source. In his despatch 
 of the 23rd April, Sir Edward describes this " young 
 and amiable prince" as a sort of model constitutional 
 sovereign, but observes that u he had been urged to 
 place himself at the head of the National movement, a 
 course which would have obliged him to get rid of the 
 European officials.'' The Circassians are tried, and 
 in the result simply exiled/ the -Khedive commuting 
 the sentence originally passed upon them. 
 
 On the 14th May, in consequence of some alarming 
 rumours, Sir Edward Malet was instructed to see 
 Arabi and inform him that if any violation of the 
 peace occurred the whole of Europe, as well as Eng- 
 land and France, would hold him personally respon- 
 sible, but that if he remained loyal, &c., "his acts 
 and person would be favourably regarded." Arabi 
 answers that he will guarantee public safety, so long 
 as the fleets do not come to Alexandria, as it had 
 been reported they would. Sir Edward Malet 
 accepted Arabi' s pledge, but he wrote to Lord 
 Granville that the "political advantage of the arrival 
 of the fleet is so great as to override the danger it 
 might possibly cause to Europeans at Cairo.' 19 It 
 was resolved both in Downing Street and the Quai 
 D'Orsay (where most fortunately for the peace of 
 Europe M. de Freycinet had replaced M. Gambetta), 
 to send the fleets to Alexandria, and to give the follow- 
 
88 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 ing identic instructions to the Consuls- General at 
 Cairo. 
 
 1st. To declare that England and France only interfered to 
 re-establish the Khedive's authority and maintain the status quo 
 (but the Khedive himself professed the most perfect accord with 
 the programme of mon cher Mahmoud Sdmi, and that the 
 principles of the National cause were the very foundation of 
 justice itself). 2nd. To advise the Khedive to dismiss the 
 Ministry on the first favourable opportunity. 3rd. To make it 
 understood that if all went well (the first two courses of action 
 being calculated in a very high degree to produce a precisely 
 contrary effect) indulgence would be shown to Arabi and his 
 friends. 
 
 Sir Edward Malet acted as he was directed. The 
 second joint-note was presented, but Arabi declined 
 self-imposed banishment, and the Ministry at first 
 refused to resign. Some days later (May 25th) they 
 surrendered their portfolios on the ground that Tewfik 
 Pacha had accepted the identic-note contrary to their 
 unanimous advice. The under-secretaries are directed 
 to carry on the current business of their departments. 
 Public meetings, however, supported Arabi, and he 
 > was reinstated as Minister of War. The fleet arrives 
 at Alexandria to accord a moral support to the dual 
 note. The Khedive, now apparently without any 
 opposition on our part, takes refuge once more in an 
 Imperial Ottoman Commission. On the 3rd of June 
 Dervesh Pacha and Ahmed Essad, with their suite, 
 set out from Constantinople. The English Admiral 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 89 
 
 now complains that new fortifications are being con- 
 structed at Alexandria, and a representation is made 
 to the Sultan, who receives an assurance by telegraph 
 from the Khedive that nothing of the kind would be 
 done. Arabi now strongly denies that he used any 
 undue influence to promote agitation for his restoration 
 to office, and, although Sir Edward Malet contradicts 
 this, no kind of evidence to prove it is placed on record. 
 Dervesh arrives * (June 7th) and proceeds to Cairo. 
 
 At this time England seems to have placed some 
 faith in the efficacy of Turkish intervention, for, on 
 the 8th of June, the sovereignty of the Sultan over 
 Egypt is very explicitly acknowledged, and we hear 
 Musurus Pacha had been assured that " England was 
 desirous of maintaining his Majesty's rights as such." 
 Dervesh Pacha appears to have begun his mission by 
 coquetting first with the Khedive, and then with the 
 Nationalists, and to have done little or nothing else. 
 We now see, from the despatches, that Omar Pacha 
 Loutfi, Ardbi's ultimate successor and actual Egyptian 
 War Minister, was now at Cairo. It is no where 
 apparent when he rejoined his post. 
 
 He was certainly in Alexandria on the llth June 
 when a serious riot (since known as the Alexandria 
 massacre) broke out. Several Europeans and natives 
 
 * For some account of the proceedings of the Turkish mission, see 
 post. 
 
90 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 were killed before the soldiers quelled the tumult. 
 The Blue-Books unmistakeably convey the impression 
 that Omar Loutfi was almost a passive spectator of the 
 scene,* and they establish clearly enough that the 
 disturbance was planned and not accidental, that there 
 was hardly any difference between the conduct of the 
 mustaphazin or police and that of the mob, and that 
 the troops alone exerted themselves to restore order 
 and prevent further outrage. 
 
 Next day a meeting was held at the Palace in 
 Cairo. In the presence of the Foreign Representatives 
 and the Khedive, Dervesh Pacha and Arabi enter into 
 a solemn joint compact " on their own responsibility 
 to preserve order in Egypt and obey the Khedive, who 
 is ' instructed by our august Sovereign the Prince of 
 the FaithfuV " 
 
 The crisis is now approaching. Arabi never ceases 
 to complain of the " perpetual menace" of the fleet; 
 while Sir Beauchamp Seymour writes despatch after 
 despatch as to the " perpetual menace " of the forts. 
 Dervesh cynically tells Sir Edward Malet that the 
 army is to be concentrated at Alexandria in order, 
 that " its resistance, if needed, may be crushed at one 
 blow," and Sir Edward Malet believes him. The 
 
 * " Two clerks, the brothers Onofrio, testify that they saw Omar 
 Loutfi a few yards from Mr. Cookson, when that gentleman was felled 
 by a blow from a club, and that, though surrounded either by soldiers 
 or police (it is not clear which), he never did anything to assist him. 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 91 
 
 Khedive and Dervesh (June 13th) now go to Alex- 
 andria. It is clear something must be done, and 
 done quickly. Lord Granville proposes that the 
 Porte should be invited to join the Powers in landing 
 troops in Egypt, but Sir Edward Malet (June 17th) 
 at the eleventh hour counsels an appeal to the much 
 abused National Party, the very existence of which 
 is now denied. The Notables were to be summoned, 
 an expression of the wishes of the country was to be 
 sought for, and a constitution was to be promised. 
 The whole was to " produce a union between Notables 
 and the Military Party, whose watch- words are 
 patriotism and law." After much political marching 
 and countermarching the Khedive decided (June 17th) 
 to form a sort of coalition ministry under Ragheb, an 
 old official of his father's time. The new Cabinet 
 comprised Arabi and one or two other members of 
 the defunct. Sami cabinet. This step was brought 
 about by the influence of Germany and Austria ; 
 but England and France declined to recognise the 
 ministers, and Mr. Cartwright (who acted for Sir 
 Edward Malet during an attack of fever) was 
 instructed only to communicate with the President, 
 and then exclusively concerning the preservation of 
 the lives of British subjects. In the midst of the 
 confusion Khedive Tewfik now appears as the object 
 of a diplomatical tug of war. Dervesh and the 
 
92 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Sultan ordered him back to Cairo, Sir Archibald 
 Colvin forbade him to quit Alexandria. 
 
 Nothing daunted, the octogenarian President of 
 the Council issued (June 20th) a fair and liberal 
 programme. All political offences, except partici- 
 pation in the events of June llth, were to be 
 amnestied, the Khedive was to rule constitutionally, 
 in accordance with Ismail Pacha's rescript of 
 August 28th, 1878 (in other words with the counsel 
 and advice of his ministers) ; nobody was to be 
 punished except in virtue of a legal enactment, and the 
 Minister of Foreign Affairs should henceforth exclu- 
 sively communicate officially with the foreign political 
 agents. A week later (&& 26th) the Sultan thinks 
 he will send troops. At this time, it must be remem- 
 bered, neither the Khedive nor any of his friends 
 even breathed a suspicion of Arabi's complicity in the 
 June riots, none of the evidence then adduced tended 
 in any way to prove it, and he now finally received the 
 Grand Cordon of the Mejidieh by the Sultan. Even 
 Lord Dufferin, when he went for an explanation to 
 the Yildiz Kiosk, was forced to content himself with 
 the oracular assurance that u the time would come 
 when he would entirely applaud the act." Tewfik 
 next addresses to " mon cher Edgheb Pacha" as 
 entire an approval of his programme as he had 
 accorded four months before to "mon cher Mahmoud 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 98 
 
 Sdmi," and on the 10th July Dervesh presents to Mr. 
 Cartwright a really able protest against the threat- 
 ening attitude assumed by the British fleet, in which 
 he stated that the Khedive would stand or fall with 
 his ministry. Three days before (doubtless under the 
 influence of Dervesh) Tewnk had himself declared to 
 Mr. Colvin that he could not abandon Egypt when 
 attacked by a foreign power, and telegraphed to the ' 
 Porte that there was no truth whatever in the reports 
 of the forts at Alexandria being further strengthened 
 after the receipt of orders to the contrary from Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
 The councils held under the presidency of the 
 Khedive and Dervesh are not even mentioned, but a 
 full account is given of the bombardment. Much 
 horror is expressed at the use of futile negociations 
 and the white flag " to gain time." The British 
 representatives both at Constantinople and Alexandria 
 (where the Khedive has now placed himself under our 
 protection) are instructed to insist on the official pro- 
 clamation of Arabi as a rebel. The Sultan " turns the 
 conversation," while the inspired Turkish press boldly 
 asserts, without fear of contradiction, that '' Turkish 
 troops are going to Egypt to protect the native popu- 
 lation from the unjust aggression of the stranger," 
 and loudly extols the piety and patriotism of Arabi. 
 The Khedive hesitates, but at lasts dismisses Arabi, 
 
94 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 appoints Omer Loutfi in his stead, promises pardon to 
 those who return to their allegiance, and finally 
 declares Arabi a rebel in a document of an ambiguous 
 and unsatisfactory character, which was published 
 nearly a fortnight after the bombardment (July 24th). 
 Its opening sentences ran thus : 
 
 Let all who read this Order know the reasons for which 
 Arabi Pacha has been dismissed, and for the edification of 
 everybody this is the truth : 
 
 After a bombardment of six hours our fortifications were 
 destroyed, 400 cannons rendered useless, and most of our 
 gunners killed or wounded. Ahmed Arabi Pacha then came to 
 the palace of Ramleh to give me the mournful news of the 
 destruction of our forts. On his part the English Admiral 
 demanded that I should evacuate the forts of El Adjemi, &c., 
 in order that he might occupy them with his troops. The 
 Council of Ministers, assisted by H.E. Dervesh Pacha, then 
 met, and it was decided that the forts could not be given up 
 without the sanction of H.I.M., the Sultan, but that, on the 
 contrary, that their garrisons should be reinforced in order to 
 oppose the disembarkation of foreign troops. At the same time 
 a telegram was addressed to the Sublime Porte. Arabi Pacha 
 then went to the Eosetta Gate at Alexandria without causing the 
 execution of any military operation. I had him followed by an 
 aide-de-camp to remind him to send the reinforcements to the 
 place fixed upon. Arabi Pacha answered him that he would 
 not send him a single soldier, and went towards Kafr-el-Dowar, 
 leaving the town deprived of its defenders. The following day 
 the English troops disembarked at Alexandria, the most important 
 point of our country, and took possession of the town without a 
 single shot being fired, a fact which would dishonour the 
 Egyptian army if the indelible shame of it did not fall on its 
 author on Arabi Pacha. 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE SLUE-BOOKS. 95 
 
 And so on to the end. In a word, Arabi was declared 
 a rebel because he did not beat the English at 
 Alexandria. 
 
 A humorous element pervades to a very great 
 extent every phase of oriental affairs. The Blue- 
 Books have by no means escaped the infection, and I 
 am reluctantly obliged to give up following the Con- 
 stantinople despatches of Lord Dufferin. His highly 
 diverting description of the eccentricities of the Con- 
 ference, of his endeavours to obtain a proclamation 
 against Arabi, and of the negociations which success- 
 fully prevented a Turkish army going to Egypt, 
 deserve a more popular form than a mere official record. 
 Their gentle sarcasm and playful irony is, however, 
 almost rivalled by the somewhat broader merriment 
 of a sort of post-dated Court Journal composed by a 
 talented junior member of the diplomatic corps Mr. 
 Gerald H. Portal which tells us the details of the 
 Khedive Tewfik's mauvais quart d'heure at Ramleh 
 on the llth and 12th July, and which appears with 
 due solemnity as In closure 471 in Blue-Book No. 11 
 of 1882. The following extracts will give a faint idea 
 of its merits : 
 
 It was afterwards discovered that the chief baker of the 
 Palace went to Arabi Pacha and informed him that the Khedive 
 and his party, thinking that the Egyptian army was suffering 
 severely, was highly delighted {en dtait rayonnant), and he 
 asked that the troops be told off to attack the palace 
 
 Shortly after Toulba's departure the Ramleh Palace had been 
 
96 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB!. 
 
 suddenly surrounded by cavalry and infantry, about 400 men in 
 all, in the roughest dress, many being without even trousers, 
 others without coats. The first thought of those in the Palace 
 was of the Bedouins who had declared their fidelity in the 
 morning; but it was soon discovered that nearly 2,OOOZ. sterling 
 had been distributed among these and other loyalists by Arabi's 
 agents, in order to insure their absence, and that the Khedive 
 was consequently left helpless, with his handful of attendants. 
 Panic spread in the Palace; the servants became completely 
 beside themselves with fear. The Khedive himself showed the 
 most complete self-possession and calmness ; he exchanged his 
 slippers for boots and then ordered a rifle to be brought to him. 
 Dervesh Pacha followed his example (as to the substitution of 
 slippers for boots ?), declaring, with tears in his eyes, his inten- 
 tion of dying at the feet of His Highness. 
 
 A General Council was called in the Palace to consider the 
 dangers of the situation. 
 
 Dervesh Pacha advised that they should escape to Benha, 
 and go from thence to Suez. 
 
 Others were in favour of going to Cairo. But the Khedive 
 would not listen to this advice. 
 
 It was finally determined that the most important point was 
 to inform the Admiral of the situation, and, if possible, to get 
 within reach of the fleet. This state of uncertainty and anxiety 
 continued till the next morning, when (July 13) the Bimbochi 
 (Commander) of the troops, Munib Eflendi, declared himself to 
 be loyal to the Khedive. He was summoned to the presence, 
 and His Highness made him a firm and impressive speech, 
 which brought tears into his eyes. The other officers of his 
 company were called up, and they all swore their devotion to 
 the Khedive, and kissed His Highness's hand, and that of 
 Dervesh Pacha. 
 
 A distribution of decorations by the Khedive followed, and 
 confidence was greatly restored. 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 97 
 
 Zohrab Bey was then sent to the Admiral, to inform his 
 Excellency that His Highness wished to go on board the 
 " Mahroussa," or, better still, to the Ras-el-Tin Palace, should 
 the latter not be destroyed. 
 
 At 1 o'clock Zohrab returned with the news that the Admiral 
 had set a guard at Gabari and the arsenal. Whereupon, at 2 
 o'clock, Tigrane Bey was sent to announce to the Admiral that 
 the Khedive would start for the arsenal in an hour. 
 
 At about 4 o'clock His Highness arrived at the Ras-el-Tin 
 Palace, having been met on the road "by Sir A. Colvin and Mr. 
 Cartwright, while at the foot of the staircase he was received by 
 Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour. 
 
 At length (August 9th) Lord Dufferin obtains 
 from the Sultan the draft of a proclamation setting 
 forth that "the Ottoman Government considered 
 Ardbi a rebel," but it does not appear to have been 
 officially published till the end of the war. Two days 
 before the Khedive (now entirely docile) was pleased 
 to pronounce an amended anathema on Ardbi, which 
 began as follows: 
 
 To all Egyptians. 
 
 WE, the Khedive of Egypt, bring to the knowledge of the 
 public that Ahmed Arabi Pacha has committed odious deeds, 
 whose consequences to Egypt and its inhabitants are such that 
 the Powers are not favourably disposed to Egyptians, and look 
 upon them as an uncivilized people. 
 
 These deeds consist in the disobedience of Arabi, and his 
 incitations to revolt, and to the intrigues which led to the first 
 massacre in Alexandria and the latter events in Tantah and other 
 towns, which put a stop to commerce and agriculture, and 
 especially in his disobedience to the orders of His Imperial 
 
 H 
 
98 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Majesty the Sultan,* which were given with a view of causing 
 the cessation of the demonstrations which he very wrongly con- 
 tinued to make on the fortifications of Alexandria, which have 
 resulted in the ruin of those forts and the death of the men in 
 them. 
 
 The record of the Blue-Books published prior to the 
 trial of Arabi now almost terminates. Cherif and Eiaz 
 (who has returned from his sojourn at Geneva) succeed 
 Ragheb (August 27th), while Omar Loutfi remains 
 their colleague at the War Office, as a reward for 
 his devotion to the Khedive ; Sir Garnet Wolseley's 
 orders are declared (August 22nd) to have the same 
 force as those of His Highness, and a little later 
 (August 28th) the Egyptian Government are required 
 by Lord Granville to agree not to execute any 
 prisoner-of-war surrendered to them in the course of 
 the " military operations" without the consent, of 
 England. The series concludes with an account of 
 the negociations which led to our being allowed to 
 defend Arabi and several of his colleagues who had 
 been thus given up to the local authorities. Here 
 the story of the Blue-Books ends. 
 
 The result of their perusal is scarcely edifying, 
 when one reflects that they make a page of English 
 history. There is no mention of our road to the East 
 being menaced-, and for a long time nothing is said of 
 
 * This is in direct contradiction to the Khedive's own telegram to 
 the Sultan on the eve of the bombardment. See p. 93. 
 
A DIGRESSION FROM THE BLUE-BOOKS. 99 
 
 that obligation u to restore order," which seems to be 
 the English equivalent for the mission de civilisation 
 of French opportunism. Mr. Justin McCarthy * very 
 truly observes that " not often in history is the real 
 and inspiring motive of a war proclaimed in so many 
 words by those who carry it on. Not often, indeed, 
 is it seen, naked and avowed, even in the minds of its 
 promoters themselves." If anything at all transpires 
 from the Blue-Books as to the reasons for our " military 
 operations'* in Egypt, they will be seen to exist only 
 in the necessity of the defence of British pecuniary 
 interests in that country. These same unwilling wit- 
 nesses, I think, make it sufficiently clear to the mind 
 of any impartial person that the movement headed by 
 Arabi was the genuine outcome of the national aspira- 
 tions of the Egyptians, that complete unison existed 
 between public opinion and his proceedings as a 
 popular leader, and that, in view of the action of the 
 Sultan and the Khedive, no charge of rebellion or 
 high treason could be fairly sustained either against 
 Arabi or his friends. 
 
 * A History of Our Own Times. London, 1882. Vol. i. p. 119. 
 
100 ' HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE TWO COLONELS. 
 
 EXACTLY a week after my arrival in Cairo, we moved 
 into our new quarters in the maison du mufti. Two 
 entrances, opening into different streets, admitted of 
 a considerable amount of free visiting, and gave much 
 trouble to the police agents who were told off to 
 watch us. The arcade over which the house was par- 
 tially built served as the dormitory of the corps of 
 Cairo lamplighters, and late in the evening we could 
 only reach our door by walking over their bodies in 
 the dark. Before the arrangement was explained to 
 me, I innocently imagined it to be a part of the system 
 of espionage, to which we were naturally subjected 
 according to the customs of the country, and which 
 cost one or two of our clients very dearly. A great 
 room in the centre of the house served as a general 
 office for ourselves and our clerks. I once jokingly 
 called it the Bureau de la defense nationale, and this 
 was telegraphed to Paris, with the addition that 
 50,000. had been subscribed for its support. 
 
THE TWO COLONELS. 101 
 
 The chamber in question was in form an irregular 
 pentagon, and had once done duty as a fashionable 
 gambling-saloon. During the nine weeks we inhabited 
 it, it witnessed several curious incidents connected 
 with our work, and not a few very agreeable meetings. 
 We had not been there a day before the wisdom .of 
 our change of residence became evident. The passage 
 of the verandah had presented "a formidable difficulty 
 while we were at Shepheard's Hotel, but now the 
 friends and relatives of the nationalist prisoners began 
 to come to us. At first they showed a preference for 
 inconveniently early hours in the morning, or the 
 gloom of an Egyptian twilight; but they soon 
 found out that the presence of our English troops 
 removed all real cause of fear. Ardbi's son and ser- 
 vant for many days told us sad tales of the persecu- 
 tion the family was subjected to in their hiding-place 
 in some obscure part of the city. Beshir, a Nubian 
 slave of Toulba Pacha's, came to ask us to defend his 
 master, and affixed his seal with becoming gravity to 
 a power of attorney. Muhamed Fehmy, a nephew of 
 Ali Fehmy Pacha, preferred a similar request on behalf 
 of his uncle, as also did a diminutive black-eyed boy of 
 fourteen, named Said, whose intelligent face betrayed 
 the negro blood which flowed in his veins, on the part 
 of his father, Abd-el-Al, whose side he had never left 
 during the war, till he surrendered at Damietta, only 
 to be sent to a prison in Cairo. At this time, a Cir- 
 
102 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 cassian miscreant, named Abderrahman Effendi, was 
 systematically ill-treating the unfortunate relatives of 
 the fallen "rebels," and the complaints of our visitors 
 were, in consequence, almost endless. After a time, 
 however, this wanton tyranny died out, for its authors 
 commenced to doubt whether the prisoners were, after 
 all, quite rfs defenceless as they imagined. 
 
 We visited Aralbi in prison during the following 
 morning (October 25th), and found him busy at work 
 with his instructions. He wrote with great rapidity, 
 but he frankly said his memory sometimes failed him, 
 owing, he supposed, to the excitement he had lately 
 gone through. Ardbi was anxious to have a light in 
 order to work after dark, but our application was 
 refused, owing to an alleged attempt having been 
 made to introduce petroleum into the prison. For the 
 same reason, the jail authorities prevented the pri- 
 soners' servants from giving them their food. The 
 matter of light was always a vexed question, and 
 till almost the end of our stay in Egypt it was a 
 monopoly of the guards, who sold matches to those 
 in their custody at a profit of some thousands per 
 cent. 
 
 Ar&bi was very indignant at the petroleum story 
 and wrote the following note to Mr. Bell, the corre- 
 spondent of the Times, as he imagined it to be 
 directed against him, and he desired to publicly con- 
 tradict it. 
 
THE TWO COLONELS. 103 
 
 You have perhaps heard that my servant entered my 
 rooms in the prison and left with me a bottle of petroleum in 
 order that I might burn the prison. In due justice to me you 
 ought to deny this report, for I never have been allowed to 
 see my servant from the date when I was first brought here 
 (October 5th). And, besides, why should I burn myself and 
 die against the law ? Had I wanted to do such a thing, I could 
 have done so when guarded by English soldiers. At the same 
 time I must point out to you that had I despaired of my 
 innocence being proved, I had plenty of time to have left this 
 country and have reached a neigbouring one, or even England, 
 the shelter of most fugitives. But I threw myself on the 
 honour of the English in Egypt, thinking that I was as safe 
 as in entering London. 
 
 Arabi was greatly pleased at the prospects of our 
 also defending Ali Fehmy and Abd-el-Al as they had 
 all three stood in the foremost rank of the National 
 movement ever since they had been imprisoned and 
 rescued together as far back as February 1881. He 
 wrote a short letter of introduction to each, begging 
 his friends to give us their full confidence as he had 
 done. 
 
 Later in the day we received a visit from Borelli 
 Bey. He hardly seemed in his usual good spirits, and 
 spoke despondently of his overwork and the diffi- 
 culties of the trial. Our conversation ended in a 
 joint project of compromise, which I subsequently 
 communicated to Sir Edward Malet, but which fell 
 through for some unknown reason. Things were not 
 yet ripe for a settlement of this kind. 
 
104 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 In the afternoon we called at the English hospital, 
 which had been established by Lady Strangford at 
 the large house once rented by Arabi, and in which 
 she was now working indefatigably to alleviate the 
 prevalent suffering of our troops. The sight of sol- 
 diers' funerals saddened us day after day ; and a well- 
 known French artist made one of them the subject of 
 his picture for the coming salon. The reaction of 
 fatigue and privation is often fatal when the excite- 
 ment of an advance ceases, and at Cairo disease 
 seems to have been actually engendered by the 
 poisonous liquors sold in the Maltese and Greek 
 canteens which sprang up round each camp. 
 
 On our entering Cairo Arabi's furniture had been 
 almost all destroyed in search of treasonable papers ; 
 the divans and cushions were ripped up, the floors 
 were opened, and the ceilings pierced. Lady Strang- 
 ford asked for the house, and the Khedive gave it 
 her. I never heard how he acquired it himself. 
 The airy, lofty rooms (three months before crowded 
 with admiring visitors) were suited admirably to 
 their present use, and their careful arrangement left 
 little to desire. It was difficult to conjure up now 
 the homely scenes of Arabi's domestic life, so well 
 described by Lady Gregory. 
 
 Lady Strangford had, I fear, heard everything 
 unfavourable to Arabi, and nothing to his credit. 
 

THE TWO COLONELS. 105 
 
 A large black cat with a white tail which still 
 haunted the rooms in search of their former occupants 
 was generally believed to be possessed with a 
 malignant spirit. Even the Khedive's sister had 
 told a friend of Lady Strangford that it would be 
 providential if Arabi fell ill and was brought to the 
 hospital, so that he might have a cup of coffee 
 given him, after the manner of the East. I tried to 
 interest Lady Strangford in my client, who next 
 day sent her his portrait and a message that nothing 
 pleased him better than the present use his old house 
 was put to. I did not tell him the anecdote of 
 the Khedive's sister, but he begged me to reassure 
 her ladyship as to the excellent qualities of the 
 much-abused cat. 
 
 Poor Arabi had soon to put Lady Strangford's 
 kindness to the proof. A young son fell ill ; no loyal 
 native doctor would attend the rebel's child. Muha- 
 med Ibn Arabi came to us in his tribulation. The 
 matter seemed urgent. Our faithful Hassan ran off in 
 search of Dr. Grant Bey. Mr. Napier applied to 
 Lady Strangford's physician, Dr. Sieveking. Both 
 went at once on their errand of mercy. The special 
 correspondents favourable to the Palace immediately 
 telegraphed the circumstance as a proof of Arabi's 
 unpopularity; those inclined to be lenient towards 
 Arabi cited it as an example of the cruelty of his 
 
106 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 enemies. To crown the whole, both doctors com- 
 menced a fierce polemical discussion in the British 
 Medical Journal as to who should have the honour of 
 attending Arabi's child, and as to what Arabi's child 
 was suffering from. The following paragraph in the 
 Times at last settled the question, but entirely 
 destroyed any little romance it could claim to 
 possess : 
 
 ARABI'S CHILD. The British Medical Journal understands 
 that Arabi's child, who was recently reported to be dangerously 
 ill, and to whom the Egyptian doctors, for political reasons, 
 refused their assistance, was found, when brought for treatment 
 to the British doctors, to be suffering from a severe attack of 
 itch. 
 
 I trust Lady Strangford's hospital may long 
 flourish in Cairo as a memorial of the brighter side of 
 the English occupation. 
 
 Next morning we obtained permission to see our 
 three new clients, Ali Fehmy, Abd-el-Al, and Sheikh 
 Abdii, although a formal recognition as their advo- 
 cates was not as yet forthcoming. The two former 
 occupied adjoining cells in the corridor at right 
 angles to Arabi's room. Ali Fehmy is a spare, intel- 
 ligent looking, dark-complexioned man of about 
 forty. His expression is pleasing, and he welcomed 
 us very heartily. Arabi's letter gave him evident 
 pleasure, and he raised it several times to his lips and 
 

 ALI FEHMT PASHA. 
 
THE TWO COLONELS. 107 
 
 i 
 
 forehead. He was dressed in a dark grey dressing- 
 gown or overcoat with brass military buttons. One 
 leg was covered with bandages, and he limped some- 
 what painfully from a wound received at Kassassin. 
 The cell in which he was confined exactly resembled 
 Arabi's, only its window looked into the courtyard. 
 He readily signed an authority for us to act on his 
 behalf; and, as he was, as he confessed, "no penman, 
 like Arabi," he suggested our allowing him the ser- 
 vices of one of our clerks to write his instructions 
 from dictation. Ali Fehmy was one of the staunchest 
 of Arabi's friends. He had married from the harim 
 of the Khedive Ismail, was once in high favour with 
 Tewfik, and commanded the bodyguard. His wife 
 was almost affluent, and they lived in one of the most 
 beautiful houses in Cairo. He had everything to lose 
 and nothing to gain by following in the footsteps of 
 Ar&bi. Ali Fehmy said once, " I have only one 
 word to say in my defence I am an Egyptian." 
 Before the Commission of Inquiry he neither fawned 
 nor quailed. He answered every question firmly, and 
 never sought to excuse himself by heaping blame on 
 others. When all was over he went into exile 
 without a murmur. In our first interview he said 
 more about his brother than himself ; for the former, 
 on the simple accusation of being " the kinsman of a 
 rebel," had been cast into a dungeon in Upper 
 
108 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 Egypt. I mentioned the circumstance to Sir Edward 
 Malet, and through his good offices the man was 
 at once liberated. 
 
 Abd-el-Al Pacha presented a striking contrast to 
 Ali Fehmy. Stout, almost ruddy, and loud of speech, 
 he was the personification of a bluff soldier. He 
 greeted us almost boisterously, and declared he feared 
 nothing now. But when the first excitement of our 
 meeting was over he complained bitterly enough 
 of what had happened in the earlier days of his 
 imprisonment.* I may mention that, although the 
 
 * This declaration was afterwards given me by Abd-el-Al: 
 " To Mr. Broadley, the lawyer, my defender in the case to make 
 
 clear my rights. 
 
 " Since I am going to tell you what I have had to suffer from 
 the tyranny, falseness, and servitude I have had to serve under the 
 Khedive for two years past, I will declare all these things to you later 
 on, when you examine me. Now, I will declare the blows and insults 
 I have suffered in the prison I am now in. 
 
 " First of all, two aides-de-camps and cavasses of the Khedive 
 came to me, and searched me in an outrageous fashion, and took from 
 me papers and the keys of my safe-cupboard, which belongs to me, in 
 which is money of my own, and money deposited by ladies in my 
 hands. And in this cupboard are papers of the highest importance to 
 me in this case. The above-mentioned key is now in the possession 
 of the prefect of police, and I beg of you to ask it from him, and to 
 give it to me, that I may get out the necessary papers. 
 
 " Again, I would tell you that on the night of the 27th of last 
 month, at half-past five o'clock (Arabic time) about, there came to 
 me Ibrahim Agha, the tutunji of the Khedive, and with him three 
 other persons, and he is the only intermediary for spreading intrigues 
 and sedition. And, after he had entered my room, he came close up 
 
ABD EL AL PASHA. 
 
THE TWO COLONELS. 109 
 
 whole story of Ibrahim Agha tutunji was indignantly 
 denied at the Palace, Abd-el-AFs keys were subse- 
 quently restored to me on my earnest application. 
 Abd-el-Al in a white cassock, with a broad gold 
 waist-band and a black robe or baaracan, presented 
 an almost imposing appearance. 
 
 As the prison authorities declined to lend us 
 any more furniture, we were obliged to furnish all 
 our clients with small deal tables and rush-bottomed 
 chairs. We were now in daily expectation of 
 hearing something definitely from JBorelli Bey, but 
 to our surprise he made no sign. The papers of the 
 case were to us, as yet, only a sealed book. 
 
 Next morning (October 27th) Osman Effendi 
 peremptorily declined to admit us to our new clients, 
 on the ground that our order was signed by Ismail 
 Eyoub Pacha, and not by the Minister of the Interior. 
 
 to me, and said to me, ' Abd-el-Al, do you know who I am ? ' I said, 
 * I do not.' He answered, ' I am Ibrahim Agha, the tutunji of the 
 Khediye,' Then he approached me, and spat in my face, and hit me 
 in the face twice with a pen, and said, * Wait ! you have fallen, you 
 sons of dogs ; I will show you ! ' and then he and those who were 
 with him went out from my room. This is what I experienced at the 
 hands of Ibrahim Agha, and I declare it to you ; and, first, I beg you 
 to seek for the key and give it to me, that I may get out the papers 
 necessary for my case ; and, secondly, to examine into what I have 
 suffered from Ibrahim Agha, for a prisoner awaiting his trial ought 
 not to be struck and insulted till after the trial is over. 
 
 " October 29, 1882." ABD-EL-AL. 
 
110 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Everything bore the appearance of storms a-head, and 
 I went once more to Sir Edward Malet. After what 
 I heard from Abd-el-Al (he told me a long story, which 
 turned out to be quite true, of an attempt to poison 
 him some months before) I felt justified in urging 
 very strongly the removal of the Circassian guards 
 and the direct delivery of the prisoners' food. 
 
 On my return to the prison I was greeted by an 
 Egyptian (he said he was a Russian subject), and who 
 introduced himself to me a titre de confrere, as the 
 counsel of Mahmoud Sami. I omitted to mention 
 that a few days before my arrival each prisoner had 
 received a notice that he would be tried on a certain 
 fixed day the 15th October and a request to at 
 once select a counsel from a neatly ruled list of 80 
 persons. Arabi merely remarked that " he had heard 
 too much of the trial of Midhat Pacha to fall into a 
 similar trap," but Mahmoud Sami, a weaker vessel, 
 had yielded, and the (l Eussian subject/' a youth of 
 18, was his choice. My confrere suggested an imme- 
 diate communication of my plan of defence, but I 
 thought it best, like the Sultan, " to turn the conver- 
 sation." Subsequent events showed I had acted 
 prudently. 
 
 Somewhat later in the day the proper order arrived 
 for our admission, and I paid a first visit to Mr. Blunt's 
 personal acquaintance Sheikh Muhamed Abdii. The 
 
THE TWO COLONELS. Ill 
 
 label on his cell door described him as "journalji" 
 or journalist. At first sight I was a little dis- 
 appointed. The ex-editor of the Egyptian official 
 journal was a small spare dark-complexioned man 
 entirely dressed in white and wearing a white skull 
 cap. His eyes were intensely black and piercing, 
 and he wore a carefully clipped black beard. The 
 only thing in his cell was a brags ewer, a very humble 
 mattress, and a koran. The enthusiasm of the " three 
 Colonels" seemed to be almost wholly wanting in 
 Sheikh Abdu, and even after reading Mr. Blunt's letter 
 to him which we brought with us he seemed to hesitate. 
 He was evidently under the influence of the fear of 
 despair, which had entered into his soul. It was 
 difficult for a moment to recognise in him the patriotic 
 writer and the most militant speaker at the meetings 
 of the council which ruled in Cairo during the sixty 
 days' war. Sheikh Abdu reflected long, but he at 
 last determined to throw in his lot with the rest. 
 The truth soon came out. Sheikh Abdii had not 
 escaped the nocturnal visit of the Circassian guards, 
 but his account of the incident was couched in 
 timorous, half-hearted language.* It took some time 
 
 * " With my highest respects to the Khedive, may God preserve 
 him! 
 
 " I declare that Ibrahim Agha, the tutunji, came to me on the 5th 
 of this month and abused me, and with him were many of the cavasses 
 of the Khedive's household. They came to search me, and after 
 
112 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 to gain the confidence of Sheikh Abdii, but when we 
 at last succeeded no one spoke more boldly or gave 
 us more trustworthy information. Before leaving his 
 cell he begged us to defend also his old chief Ahmed 
 Bifat Bey, who was a good French scholar, and 
 could give us very valuable assistance. 
 
 On the following morning I found Arabi busy 
 with his defence. He suddenly exclaimed, " Do you 
 wish to have a proof that the people of Egypt were 
 with me look here." He drew me to the window. 
 Through the nailed-up Venetian blinds I saw a 
 number of women and children weeping on the 
 opposite side of the road. The crowd became daily 
 larger and larger till the guard was obliged to disperse 
 it. I never saw Arabi so vexed as he was at this. 
 
 I had obtained permission for Abd-el-Al's son to pay 
 a visit to his father, and their meeting in prison was 
 a touching sight. Abd-el-Al was much reassured to see 
 
 searching me in the most careful manner, they took from me three 
 volumes two volumes of the book Ikd-el-Ferid on moral science, 
 and the first volume of a History of the Middle Ages, translated from 
 French into Arabic at the Egyptian Press. And when I asked them 
 who took away the books where are you taking them to ? and surely 
 you are going to take them and deliver them to my house ; lie 
 answered, ' Have you got a house ? ' Then I was quiet, and for 
 eighteen days I saw neither a book nor a man, till a person belonging 
 to the English Government came and asked how I was getting on, 
 and I asked leave for a Koran to be brought to me, and he gave leave, 
 and I was as pleased as if I had been let out of prison. 
 
 " MUHAMED ABDU." 
 
SYMPATHIZERS OUTSIDE ABABI S CELL. 
 
THE TWO COLONELS. 113 
 
 his keys again, and he directed the boy to unlock his 
 safe and give me a small box of papers. Accompanied 
 by Mr. Macdonald, the Correspondent of the Daily 
 News, I drove to the house of Abd-el-Al, a handsome 
 stone building on the outskirts of the city. Evident 
 signs of the desolation which had befallen its inmates 
 were not wanting; the small garden of palms and 
 myrtle before it was neglected; and we heard the 
 sounds of weeping within. We took coffee in a 
 deserted arbour of brick and stucco in the garden, 
 and little Sa'id brought out the papers. 
 
 A week has now passed since I saw Ardbi. When 
 I entered his cell on the following day he was almost 
 in good spirits. I asked if he had finished his work. 
 He replied by another query, " Do you take me for a 
 steam engine ? " but he opened his despatch-case, and 
 showed me the completed papers, as well as one or 
 two letters he had promised to write. He asked 
 earnestly for some Arabic newspapers. I hesitated, 
 because I knew the nature of their contents. As he 
 still pressed me on the subject, I promised compliance. 
 He had yet to learn through them a bitter lesson as 
 to the instability of human friendship, and the differ- 
 ence between failure and success. 
 
114 HOW WE DEFENDED AltABL 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ARABl's WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS.* 
 
 UNAIDED by any written memoranda or means of 
 reference, and in accordance with his own sugges- 
 tion, Arabi, in six days, composed a voluminous state- 
 ment of his -case. He supplemented it afterwards by 
 additional notes as they became necessary, and made 
 one or two corrections before the time for his trial 
 arrived. Considering all the circumstances under 
 which these instructions were composed, and the 
 effect which the excitement he had gone through had 
 unquestionably produced on his memory, Arabi's 
 brief forms an excellent answer to those who insist 
 on treating him as a wholly illiterate military adven- 
 turer. 
 
 He begins with an account of the grievances 
 which weighed heavily on the Egyptians, and united 
 both the civil and military populations in a general 
 league for the common safety. He shows how this 
 
 * The greater portion of this chapter appeared in the Nineteenth 
 Century (December 1882). It has been reprinted by the kind per- 
 mission of the editor, Mr. James Knowles. 
 
ARABFS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 115 
 
 unhappy state of things was intensified and made 
 worse by a system of vexatious tyranny and intrigue 
 which appears to have characterised the Egyptian 
 administration prior to the pronunciamento of the 9th 
 September. As an example of the events which 
 appear to have been only too common at that time, 
 he tells the story of the lady Aisha Hanem, who, on 
 an allegation of undue interference by supernatural 
 means in the affairs of the Khedivial family, was 
 banished either over or under the Red Sea without 
 a hearing or a trial. 
 
 Arabi thus describes the beginning of the acute 
 stage of the National movement : 
 
 Immediately the better class and educated Egyptians became 
 aware of these matters they all assembled in Cairo and held a 
 meeting, at which it was decided that, to improve the then exist- 
 ing state of affairs, a council (Chamber of Deputies) should be 
 appointed to watch over and preserve the lives, property, and 
 rights of the Egyptian people, and to create' just laws, according 
 equal treatment and rights to every one. Petitions were signed 
 on all sides praying that Cher if Pacha might be appointed Prime 
 Minister, on the proposal of Sultan Pacha, acting in the name of 
 the nation, and I, being favourably known to the people, was 
 asked to represent them and pray for reforms. 
 
 On the 9th of September, 1881, I wrote to the Minister of 
 War informing him that the troops intended presenting them- 
 selves at the Abdin Palace to demand justice for themselves and 
 their families, and on that afternoon (Friday), at three o'clock, 
 the troops assembled there in perfect order. Previous to the 
 meeting I wrote to the representatives of the Foreign Powers, 
 
 i2 
 
116 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 assuring them that their subjects had nothing whatever to fear 
 on account of the demonstration being held, and that everything 
 would be conducted in a perfectly orderly way. I further in- 
 formed them that it was our intention to ask His Highness to 
 grant constitutional rights to the country. 
 
 Mr. Cookson, Her Majesty's Consul at Alexandria, was then 
 in Cairo, and intervened for us with the Khedive, who heard 
 our complaints and granted all our demands, declaring that 
 they were just and legal, and afterwards gave orders for the 
 appointment of Cherif Pacha as Prime Minister. The troops 
 hereupon retired crying, " Long live the Khedive ! " 
 
 When Cherif Pacha hesitated about accepting the post 
 offered to him, petitions supported by 4,000 seals w r ere pre- 
 sented to him, begging him to save the country from tyranny 
 and slavery, and to rid it of the existing Ministry, which had 
 squandered seventeen millions of the public money instead of 
 using it to pay the just debts of the country. Amongst other 
 things they had discharged almost every native from the ser- 
 vice, though their pay was small, and had given all responsible 
 posts to Europeans, indifferent to the laws of right or wrong. 
 
 He next sketches briefly the events which led to 
 the accession to power of the Mahmoud Sami Ministry 
 on the Budget question four months later, concern- 
 ing which he only makes the following trite observa- 
 tion : 
 
 I will not here enter on the question of the Budget, for it is 
 too well known. The Egyptians never sought to interfere with 
 that portion pledged for Egypt's debts : they only asked to control 
 the remainder. The whole nation demanded this. Could such 
 a desire be condemned if it concerned any other nation than Egypt ? 
 It was only one of the great grievances under which the Egyptian 
 people groaned, and was felt alike by the army and the whole 
 population. 
 
ARABFS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 117 
 
 He then comes to the time of the Circassian 
 Plot : 
 
 The Circassians were sentenced to exile in the Soudan. 
 Knowing that the climate there would be most trying to men 
 born in a cold country, and would possibly be fatal to them,* I 
 asked my friends to assist me in pleading with the Khedive, to 
 send the condemned men back to their own country, for I have 
 always made every effort to save the lives of people who have 
 even threatened my own. 
 
 All my friends agreed with me, and we wrote a petition to 
 His Highness, which must still exist, asking him to accept our 
 intervention, and to treat these people mercifully. 
 
 Arabi thus describes the cause which, in his 
 opinion, led directly to the events which ended in 
 the war : 
 
 On the night just before alluded to, the Prime Minister and 
 myself were invited to a party at the house of Omar Bey Eahmi, 
 when a messenger arrived to say that the English and French 
 Consuls- General were at the house of the Prime Minister, wait- 
 ing for an interview with him. On arriving at his house, he 
 was informed by the Consuls that the life of the Khedive, and 
 the lives of Europeans, were in danger. He hastened to reassure 
 them, and to state that he was responsible for public order, but 
 at the same time inquired their reason for supposing any danger. 
 They replied that His Highness was their authority, and he 
 had been threatened by Mahmoud Pacha Sami, and that his life 
 
 * An extraordinary mistake in punctuation made this sentence, as 
 originally published, read very differently. The transposition of the 
 full stop and comma caused Arabi to appear as saying, "The Circas- 
 sians were sentenced to exile in the Soudan, knowing that the climate 
 there would be most trying to men born in a cold country, and would 
 possibly be fatal to them ! " 
 
118 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 and the lives of Europeans, were in danger. The truth of this 
 assertion by the Khedive was denied by Mahmoud Pacha Sdmi ; 
 and he stated that his conversation with the Khedive had reference 
 only to the Circassian exiles. 
 
 I say truly that this invention of the Khedive's is the 
 immediate cause of the evils which have befallen Egypt. 
 
 He thus continues : 
 
 It was now that the English and French Consuls demanded 
 the dismissal of Mahmoud Sami Pacha's Ministry, and also that 
 I should be banished from the country, whilst AH Fehmy and 
 Abd-el-Al Pachas were to be sent into the provinces. The 
 Home Office, to whom the request was made, rejected the pro- 
 posal as interfering with the liberty of the people. 
 
 A meeting having been called at Cairo to decide upon the 
 question, it was at once determined to urge the rejection of every 
 proposal of the kind ; and when this news reached the provinces 
 all the Notables and rich men came to Cairo at once and con- 
 firmed this decision. They also gave to me documents signed by 
 them, and bearing the seals of all the Members of the Courts, 
 Ulemas, merchants, Notables, &c., in support of our action. In 
 addition to this, a declaration was made by the Ulemas, that, in 
 accordance with principles of the religious law, the Khedive, if 
 he thus acted, could no longer be rightfully regarded as the ruler 
 of the country. Some of these papers are in my possession and 
 some in that of Mahmoud Sami Pacha. The Khedive, however, 
 accepted the proposals, contrary to the decision of the Council, 
 upon which the Ministry resigned (May 26). 
 
 On the morning after the resignation of the Ministry I was 
 visited at my house by the Consuls of Eussia, Germany, and 
 Italy, who asked me if Europeans were safe, and begged me to 
 give my word of honeur to this effect. I replied that, having 
 resigned office, I was no longer responsible for the safety of the 
 public, and consequently could not comply with their request. 
 
ARABPS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 119 
 
 On being pressed by them, however, and knowing that the 
 army would do nothing to disgrace their profession and that 
 civilians would follow their example in keeping the peace, I 
 gave my word that I would watch over Europeans in Egypt, 
 and would guard their interests as my own. 
 
 The same night the Members of the Chamber of Notables 
 assembled at the house of Sultan Pacha, and I was invited to 
 attend (May 27). All requested me to maintain order, and there 
 were present many of the Ulemas and judges of Egypt. 
 
 I gave them to understand that I had resigned office, and 
 could no longer be responsible for the public safety. Sultan 
 Pacha and Suleiman Pacha Abaza, replying for the members, 
 said that they had appointed me, and would not accept my 
 resignation, adding that they would go to the Khedive and 
 request him to reinstate me in my former position. The same 
 night a discussion took place as to the past and present state of 
 the country, &c., and all agreed that the Khedive ought to be 
 dethroned if he persisted in the course of action he had adopted. 
 Next morning the President of the Chamber of Notables and 
 Suleiman Pacha Abaza came to my house, and the latter 
 delivered to me an order from the Khedive to assume office 
 again. I thanked His Highness, who received me very 
 cordially. 
 
 I immediately resumed my duties, and no disturbance what- 
 ever took place during the tw r enty days after the collapse of the 
 Ministry, though Cairo was full of Bedouins. 
 
 It was now (June 8) that Dervesh Pacha arrived from 
 Constantinople, and, having made an inquiry into the conduct of 
 the army, declared that it had always been obedient, and had 
 maintained public order, and that there was no blame attached 
 to it. Thereupon he asked the Sultan for about two hundred 
 decorations for officers and civilians, and for myself he 
 demanded the " Medjidieh " of the first class. 
 
 Everything went well until the unfortunate massacre in 
 Alexandria took place on the llth of June. 
 
120 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Yacoub Pacha Sami was at once sent down to Alexandria to 
 inquire into the matter, and he was followed by two regiments 
 of infantry and some artillery, in order to secure public safety 
 both in and out of the town. The Khedive himself told me 
 afterwards that the affair originated between a Maltese and a 
 donkey-boy, and that the crowd which assembled was fired upon 
 from the windows of the houses in the neigbourhood. I then 
 wrote to Ydcoub Pacha, and instructed him to examine closely 
 into the case, and to use all his energy to find the man who had 
 been the cause of the dire event. 
 
 Ragheb Pacha now becomes Prime Minister. 
 Arabi continues: 
 
 Before the Eagheb Ministry had come into office, the fortifi- 
 cations of the country were attended to as usual, but at this time 
 orders were given by the Khedive, under instructions from 
 Constantinople, to cease working at them, stating that the 
 secretary of the English Embassy had informed the Sultan that 
 he considered the fortifications threatening to the British fleet, 
 and unless we abstained from further work the fleet would 
 bombard the town. 
 
 We wondered that it did not strike them as being threaten - 
 ing to this country that a foreign fleet should be menacing 
 Egypt, but the works were stopped, and the Khedive reported 
 accordingly to Constantinople. 
 
 After the formation of the new Ministry, and on the 4th of 
 July, my decoration, with a firman by His Majesty the Sultan, 
 arrived from Constantinople, and with his own hands the 
 Khedive presented them to me, and expressed his satisfaction 
 and gratitude for my faithful services and attention to my duties. 
 I warmly thanked His Highness, and also telegraphed to Con- 
 stantinople, thanking the Sultan for his high consideration. I 
 was favoured with a telegraphic reply expressing His Majesty's 
 satisfaction with my good conduct and fidelity to the service. 
 
ARABPS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 121 
 
 After I received my decoration Deivesh Pacha invited me to 
 go to Constantinople to live with His Majesty the Sultan and 
 with other friends. I gave the same reply as given to the 
 French Consul namely, that the people would not permit me 
 to go ; and, as they were warmly attached to me, I could not 
 desert them. Dervesh Pacha also spoke to Ragheb Pacha, the 
 Prime Minister, on the same subject, and in reply he informed 
 him that it was absolutely impossible for me to leave the country, 
 seeing that I had taken up the cause of the natives, and had 
 their rights, liberty, and prosperity atTieart ; also, how that my 
 sole object was to procure just laws, for natives and Europeans 
 alike, and to gain for my countrymen a reformed and just 
 government. 
 
 I now feel it a duty to Egypt and myself to clearly state at 
 this point my relations with His Majesty the Sultan, during the 
 recent events in this country. They began in this wise. 
 
 Tahit Pacha, the Circassian, was sent in November, 1881, 
 on a mission to Constantinople on the part of the Khedive. He 
 was instructed to represent to the Turkish Ministers and to the 
 Sultan that Egypt was in a state of rebellion, that it was proposed 
 to form an Arabian Empire, and that Ahmed Arabi and the 
 British Government had come to an agreement upon that point. 
 These rumours, spread by Talat Pacha, began to gain ground 
 at Constantinople we had no special agent there to contradict 
 these falsehoods. I was therefore obliged to have recourse to 
 the learned and pious Sheikh Muhamed Zaffer, the Sultan's 
 confidant and spiritual adviser, whom I knew by fame, although 
 I had never met him personally. I wrote to him, through Ali 
 Rdgheb, contradicting all the projects which had been attributed 
 to us, and requesting him to explain to His Majesty the loyalty 
 of my feelings, and my strong attachment to the fundamental 
 principles of our sacred law, which make it a duty to obey the 
 Ameer El Moumeneen (Commander of the Faithful). 
 
122 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 The Sheikh was pleased to answer through All Ragheb 
 aforementioned; his letter, written in the Turkish language, 
 stated that he had laid before His Majesty the contents of my 
 communication, that the Sultan was satisfied with my loyalty, 
 and commanded me to persevere in my obedience ; but added 
 that His Majesty desired me to defend the country at all costs 
 from invasion, lest it should share the fate of Tunis, and that he 
 cared neither for Ismail, Halim, or Tewfik, but for the man who 
 should carry out his instructions. So, also, wrote Ahmed Ratib 
 Pacha, with whom I had a long personal conference when he 
 was in Egypt, and whose letter came along with that of 
 Muhamed ZafFer. 
 
 Shereef Ahmed Essad, who came to Cairo with Dervesh 
 Pacha, also concurred in these injunctions, and took charge of a 
 petition to the Sultan on our behalf. He also wrote me, later 
 on, a letter in a similar strain. 
 
 During the early part of the hostilities I telegraphed several 
 times to Constantinople. About the beginning of August, I 
 telegraphed to Bessim Bey, one of the Sultan's chamberlains, 
 stating what had taken place during the hostilities, and sub- 
 mitting that the war was a legitimate and a legal one, that the 
 Khedive had gone to the enemy, and was therefore in exactly 
 the same position as the Bey of Tunis. 
 
 On the 12th of Ramadan, 1299 (August 6, 1882), I 
 telegraphed to Bessim Bey, stating that Dervesh Pacha, instead 
 of advising the Khedive to remain with his people, had allowed 
 him to join the enemy, and that the town of Alexandria had 
 been delivered to the British Admiral. 
 
 When the news reached me that the Porte proposed sending 
 troops to Egypt, knowing that this would be injurious to the 
 Egyptians, I telegraphed on the 8th of Ramadan (August 2, 
 1882), to Bessim Bey, stating that Egypt was sufficiently pro- 
 vided with men, arms, and ammunition, to defend the country, 
 and protect the Sultan's rights ; and that we were unanimous in 
 our decision to stand by those rights. 
 
ARABI'S WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 123 
 
 Never, during those negotiations or afterwards, up to the 
 present time, has the Porte disapproved of our doings. The 
 Sultan has, both by act and letter, often approved them. How 
 can I then be a rebel ? Is not the Sultan admitted by English- 
 men to be sovereign of Egypt ? 
 
 Aj-abi now gives a short account of the War : 
 The famous nation, the friend of humanity, the nation which 
 emancipates the slave, and respects the laws of right and wrong, 
 declares war against a poor country, the sole offence of which was 
 to resist their ruler when he ceased to respect the rights and laws 
 of his people ! In this war her sons have shed their blood use- 
 lessly in fighting that very country which was Egypt's sole hope, 
 and to which she looked for the redress of the wrongs and injustice 
 inflicted upon her children. This treatment we are unable to 
 understand, for the English people are known to be just and 
 merciful. 
 
 On the 10th of July Sir Beauchamp Seymour wrote to the 
 commandant stating that guns were being mounted in two of 
 the forts, and that unless the arming of the forts were discon- 
 tinued at once he would bombard the forts next morning and 
 would raze them to the ground. 
 
 Upon this a Cabinet Council was held at the Ras-el-Tin Palace. 
 It met about 11 a.m. on the 10th of July. It was presided over 
 by the Khedive in person, and the following personages were 
 presenfc, viz., Dervesh Pacha and Kadri Bey, the Sultan's envoys, 
 Rdgheb Pacha, Ahmed Reshid Pacha, Abderrahman Bey Ruchdi, 
 Suleiman Pacha Abaza, Hasan Pacha Sherai, Mahmoud Pacha 
 Fehmy, Ismail Pacha Hakki, Marashli Pacha, Reouf Pacha,* 
 Muhamed Pacha Said, Kassim Pacha, Ibrahim Pacha Ferik. I 
 was also there as Minister of War. The Khedive took notes of 
 
 * Afterwards President of the Court Martial which tried Arubi 
 for rebellion. 
 
124 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABT. 
 
 the opinions of the members in his own handwriting. It was 
 first of all decided to send a deputation to the Admiral, consisting 
 of the Ministers of Finance and the Interior, a naval officer, and 
 one Dekran Bey, to inform the Admiral that no new guns were 
 being mounted in the forts, and to tell him that he was at liberty 
 to send one of his officers, if he desired it, to test the truth of this 
 statement. 
 
 The deputation came back with the intelligence that the 
 Admiral insisted on the disarmament of the fort. 
 
 The Council again met at 3 p.m. and sat for an hour and a 
 half. After a long discussion on the subject of the Admiral's 
 demand, it was agreed that it would be altogether shameful and 
 dishonourable to remove the guns. We had been always par- 
 ticularly careful to avoid fighting with any power, and especially 
 with England, but in this case we decided to do it in defence, but 
 not before the English fleet had first thrown five or six shells at 
 us.* The Khedive now shewed apparently great energy and 
 
 * I obtained from one of my clients an authentic copy of the 
 Khedive's resolution to declare war against England. It runs as 
 follows : 
 
 " The communications and letters of the Admiral of the British 
 squadron state substantially that eight guns have been placed in the 
 El-Silsileh, Caid Bey, and Saleh forts subsequent to the cessation of 
 the works of defence ; that this act is considered as a threat to the 
 British fleet; that, in consequence, the Admiral requests the Egyptian 
 Government to authorise him to dismount the guns in Kas-el-Tin 
 fort and on the southern side of the Eastern harbour, and that in the 
 event of refusal on the part of the Government he would bombard the 
 forts at sunrise on Tuesday the llth of July. 
 
 " The Council, after due deliberation, decides that the El-Silsileh 
 and Cai'd Bey forts and the guns placed in the eastern harbour cannot 
 constitute any threat for the vessels which are in the western harbour; 
 that, after the order of His Majesty the Sultan, and contrary to what 
 is alleged, no new guns have been placed in position, neither have any 
 
ARABPS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 125 
 
 courage, and repeatedly said that should the war take place he 
 would himself carry a rifle and be to the front with the troops. 
 The Khedive and Dervesh Pacha both telegraphed to the 
 Porte that resistance had been decided on. After dusk the 
 Khedive, with Dervesh Pacha and all his family, went to 
 Ramleh. 
 
 Next morning at the appointed hour a shot was fired from 
 the fleet, which was followed by fifteen others. Then we decided 
 to reply, and so the war began. The bombardment lasted with- 
 out interruption for ten hours and a half, and until most of the 
 forts were wholly or partially destroyed. A portion of the 
 Bas-el-Tin Palace was demolished, besides several other houses 
 in the town, and particularly those near the railway station, 
 which lies in a line with Fort Demas, where my staff and I 
 were. The shells came over the fort and into the station. 
 
 During the bombardment, messages were continually sent to 
 us by the Khedive and Dervesh Pacha, through Miiheddin 
 Effendi, encouraging us to defend the place, offering us many 
 congratulations, and exhorting the gunners at the forts to do 
 their best, which they did, with guns which were, as it turned 
 out, no match for those of the English. 
 
 warlike preparations been made, and the requirements of the Admiral 
 are contrary to the laws of public international right. 
 
 " Nevertheless, in order to preserve the good relations which exist 
 between the Khedive and the great British Empire, and to give a 
 manifest proof of the good intentions of the Egyptian Government 
 towards it, the Council decides on dismounting three guns in the forts 
 in which work may have been undertaken. The Admiral can have 
 these three guns dismounted in one fort or one gun in three different 
 forts. 
 
 " The President of the Council of the Ministers is requested to 
 write to the Admiral in this sense. If he refuses and persists in his 
 intention to bombard the forts, these must not answer till after the 
 fifth shot has been fired; they will then reply to the fire, and God, the 
 best of judges, will decide between them and us." 
 
12G HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 We were much astonished afterwards to see the Khedive 
 at the Ramleh Palace, where he remained as if no war was 
 taking place between his Government and the English. After 
 the bombardment was over, I went myself to Ramleh about sun- 
 set, taking with me the Council, and informed the Khedive of 
 what had taken place on that day, and he cordially thanked the 
 soldiers for their steady and energetic behaviour. I also asked 
 His Highness for instructions relating to the forts which were 
 still standing. A Council was held, attended by His Highness, 
 Dervesh Pacha, Toulba Pacha, some of the other Ministers, and 
 Ismail Hakki Pacha, to decide what course to take after all the 
 forts were destroyed, and whether the war should be carried on 
 or not. It was agreed that, should the English again fire, a flag 
 of truce should be hoisted to prevent further damage, and to open 
 communications for peace. Toulba Pacha was to be sent next 
 morning to Admiral Seymour to imform him that the Egyptian 
 Government had nothing against England and did not wish for 
 war, even supposing that we were strong enough to oppose her. 
 I gave instructions for the forts to hoist flags of truce, and then 
 went to Bab-el-Sherki for the night. 
 
 Next morning (the 12th July), about two hours after sunrise, 
 the ships resumed bombardment on the town. The white flags 
 were immediately hoisted on the forts, but the firing continued 
 until they had thrown twenty-five to thirty shells. Toulba Pacha 
 then went in a boat to see the Admiral, and was received by one 
 of the officers. He informed the Admiral of the Khedive's 
 submission, &c., and was told that the Admiral required three 
 forts to be occupied by British troops, viz., Adgemi, Fort Meks, 
 and Fort Arab, and requested that the Khedive should give 
 orders to this effect by three o'clock p.m , failing which the 
 firing would recommence and the forts would be taken by force. 
 Toulba hurried to Ramleh, and I followed him with the Prime 
 Minister. We had only an hour and a half in which to decide, 
 therefore a Council was held at half-past two p.m. under the 
 presidency of the Khedive and Dervesh Pacha, there being also 
 
ARAM'S WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 127 
 
 present Kadri Bey, Ragheb Pacha, Reshid, Ismail Hakki, Abu 
 Gebal, Toulba Pacha, and myself. The decision arrived at was 
 that, as the Khedive had no right to cede Ottoman territory to 
 a foreign power, it was necessary to communicate with Constan- 
 tinople. In the meantime Toulba was sent again to the admiral, 
 but did not arrive at "the beach until the time was up, and was 
 told that an officer had waited until the appointed hour, and, 
 not receiving the Khedive's reply, had returned on board. At 
 the Council the Khedive gave orders for our troops to occupy Fort 
 Adgemi, and resist the landing of British troops. I explained to 
 His Highness that the infantry could not go, as the place was 
 too exposed to the fire of the ships, and besides that it was liable 
 to be cut off from Alexandria. The Khedive was in appearance 
 very angry, and said, " Why do you call yourselves soldiers if 
 you cannot prevent the landing of an enemy in our country ? " 
 
 Arabi, after going to the house of Ragheb Pacha, 
 returned to Rarnleh. He thus describes what 
 follows : 
 
 After remaining at Ragheb's house for about an hour we 
 were summoned by the Khedive, and went together to Ramleh 
 Palace, and His Highness asked me why four regiments of 
 infantry had come to Ramleh. Being ignorant of the cause, I 
 replied I thought it must be for the purpose of strengthening 
 the guards at the Palace. He replied that 1 the guards were 
 quite sufficient, and ordered the infantry to attend to other more 
 important duties. I went out and inquired of the officer in 
 charge how they had come there and by whose order, and he 
 replied that the commander of his regiment, Suleiman Bey Sami, 
 had given the order I then gave instructions for them to join 
 the troops, and left myself for Alexandria. 
 
 On approaching the waterworks I met with a large crowd of 
 people, including some soldiers, ali marching towards the 
 Mahmoudieh Canal, in a pitiful state women and children 
 crying, abandoned by their protectors. I got out of my carriage 
 
128 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 and walked with them as far as Bab-el-Sherki, where I found 
 Aid Bey, who informed me that the flight was caused by the 
 fear of another bombardment. The few people who were left in 
 the town now commenced to fly, together with many of the 
 soldiers, with their wives and families, all in great disorder. 
 Aid Bey told me he had sent for his men to prevent the exodus, 
 and I myself stood in the gateway and stopped the passage of 
 troops retreating. They told me that Suleiman Bey Sami with a 
 body of troops had become wild with rage and intended to burn 
 the town. I immediately sent for him, and he came accompanied 
 by a body of irregulars. I asked him if it was true that he had 
 threatened to burn the town. He replied " No " ; and stated 
 that he had stationed troops at the ends of the streets leading 
 down to the harbour to stop the landing from the ships. Some 
 silk was found in the possession of his men, which I ordered to 
 be handed in to the zaptieh. I went among the troops, and 
 exhorted them to behave like men, and to preserve the town. 
 While I was doing this, I saw some Bedouins leaving with the 
 people, and carrying pieces of Manchester goods, &c. ; also 
 other Bedouins were entering the town fully armed, having 
 come from the Palace at Kamleh, where they had been waiting 
 for the right time to plunder the town. These people, ignorant 
 of the consequences, looted and set fire indiscriminately. I kept 
 encouraging the soldiers not to leave the town, when Hasan 
 Pacha Sherai, Suleiman Pacha Abaza, Hussein Bey-el-Turk, 
 guard to His Highness, and Miiheddin Effendi, guard to 
 Dervesh Pacha, came and informed me that the soldiers had 
 surrounded the Palace at Ramleh. I was much surprised to 
 hear this, and sent Toulba Pacha at once to disperse them, and 
 discover the reason of it. I also inquired why infantry had 
 been sent there at all, and was informed that, some ships having 
 been seen in that direction, they had been despatched in case of 
 an attempt being made to land. The Khedive expressed to me 
 his thanks, by sending Hussein Bey-el-Turk with Toulba Pacha 
 to give me his best wishes. 
 
ARABFS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 129 
 
 The confusion among the troops was so great that it was an 
 utter impossibility to collect them together, but it was absolutely 
 necessary to put them in camp in a suitable place, and try and 
 make them forget what they had suffered. I ordered their 
 commanders to proceed with their troops to the Mahmoudieh 
 Canal, and Riigheb Pacha and myself got into a carriage and 
 went as far as the Ramleh railway station he going one way 
 to see the Khedive, and I in the direction of the troops to try 
 and stop those that were flying with the crowd. 
 
 At sur,set I reached the railway Abridge that crosses the 
 Mahmoudieh Canal, and there, just beyond the bridge, I chose 
 the camping-ground. The soldiers came from Alexandria and 
 Ramleh during the night, it being at 2 a.m. when the officers and 
 soldiers I had left in Alexandria arrived, they having been delayed 
 by the immense crowd of people, animals, and carriages on the road. 
 
 Toulba Pacha came to me and said that there was no truth 
 in the story about the troops surrounding the Ramleh Palace, 
 and he told me that the Khedive was much pleased with me, 
 and had sent Hussein Bey-el-Turk with him to express this 
 pleasure, but, in consequence of the crowded roads and the dark- 
 ness coming on, the former had been obliged to return to the 
 Palace. On the morning of the 13th of July the troops in the 
 camp amounted to only one-third of the army at Alexandria, 
 the remaining portion having gone with the populace. We 
 discovered that our camp was exposed to the fire from the ships, 
 so we removed our troops some distance further to a place 
 called Esbet Horshid, some 5,000 metres to the south of Melaha 
 station. The troops remained here for a day, and we collected 
 together about half the army. On that day special train were 
 sent to Ramleh to bring the Khedive and his family, but they 
 returned empty bringing the news that His Highness had gone 
 into Alexandria with his family, and was under British pro- 
 tection.* 
 
 * Arabi afterwards wrote a more detailed account of his own move- 
 
 K 
 
130 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 On Friday, the 14th of July, I went with the troops to. Ezbet 
 Kengi Osman, where we settled down and commenced to fortify 
 our position. On the day of the bombardment the Prime 
 Minister telegraphed to various places in the country announcing 
 the state of war, and that the country was under military law, 
 by which all offenders would be tried and punished. 
 
 Alexandria having been abandoned both by the army and 
 the people, the Khedive entered the town and surrendered himself 
 up ; it was not, according to our law, either permissible or fitting 
 for the ruler of a country to act thus, and side with a nation that 
 was fighting against us, and which he himself had in solemn 
 council decided to resist. The laws of man and the word of 
 God forbid such dishonourable acts ; and such a man cannot be 
 a Moslem, therefore he ought not to rule over Moslems. 
 
 This matter was telegraphed to Yacoub Sami Pacha, telling 
 him to consult with the Council, and a telegram was sent to 
 Constantinople with regard to the same subject. On the 17th 
 of July I received a telegram from the Khedive holding me 
 responsible, and stating that I was the cause of the war in con- 
 tinuing to make fortifications ; he also requested me to come 
 and have a personal interview with him. I concluded from this 
 that he was a prisoner, and that he had been induced to send for 
 me in order that I should be arrested. To save himself he wished 
 to put all the blame upon my shoulders. I replied to him by 
 telegraph to the effect that the fact of his having sided with the 
 opposing forces had affected the people very much ; and I asked 
 him to submit terms of peace, and I would come to Alexandria. 
 He never replied to this, so I telegraphed to the Sub-Minister of 
 War, asking him to discuss the peace question with the Khedive 
 and Prime Minister. Information was sent all over the country 
 to say peace would be secured, and to stop all fortification, &c. 
 
 ments during the bombardment at my request. He also addressed a 
 letter to Lord Charles Beresford, giving further information on the 
 subject (see post). 
 
ARABPS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 131 
 
 In the meantime we had daily skirmishes with the enemy, from 
 which I concluded that no peace would be arranged. I wrote 
 to the Sub-Minister of War, informing him of what was taking 
 place, and also to all the governors of provinces, demanding an 
 immediate supply of fresh troops, and that no orders but mine 
 were to be obeyed. 
 
 A meeting was called at the Home Office in Cairo to consider 
 the state of affairs, and it. was attended by all the ministers, 
 heads of departments, governors of provinces, Ulemas and 
 Notables of the country, and it was resolved to send a messenger 
 to Alexandria to learn the real state of affairs, and to request 
 the Khedive and his ministers to come to Cairo, his capital. 
 These emissaries were to report to the Council in case he showed 
 an inclination to remain in Alexandria in the hands of the 
 English. Those selected to form this deputation were, Ali 
 Pacha Moubarek, Reouf Pacha, and* two Ulemas, viz., the 
 Sheikh of Riwa-el-Safaidi and the Sheikh of Ali Niel ; and two 
 merchants Ahmed Bey Sioufi and Said Bey-el-Shenak, the 
 agent for Southern Tripoli. At Kafr-el-Dowar they informed us 
 that a Moslem had deceived Moslems, therefore he was no longer 
 one of them. They also told me that they were instructed to 
 say that a proclamation, signed by the Khedive, bearing date 
 the 20th of July, had been issued to the public dismissing me 
 for disobeying orders. These orders were to defend Fort Agemi 
 against an attack of an English landing-party. He accused me 
 also of having abandoned Alexandria much too soon, and without 
 any cause, and blamed me for retreating on Kafr-el-Dowar, &c. 
 This question was debated in council, and the Khedive telegraphed 
 to Yacoub Pacha Sami, instructing him to cease all war pre- 
 parations. A Council was then held, and it was attended at 
 Cairo by over five hundred persons of note, viz., three princes 
 the Sheikh-el- Islam, the Kadi of Egypt, the Mufti Sayed- el- 
 Sadat, Sayed-el-Bakri, priests and Ulemas, the Chief Rabbi of 
 the Jews, the Coptic Patriarch, agents of the Ministries, heads 
 
 K2 
 
132 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 of departments, governors and judges of all the provinces, the 
 principal men of the country, Notables, merchants, private em- 
 ployds of the Khedive, and also several of the oldest people in 
 the country. 
 
 The Council made a minute examination into the Khedivial 
 orders and communications, also into my own letters and tele- 
 grams to His Highness, and after a short debate it was agreed 
 unanimously to disregard the Khedivial orders, and to prevent 
 him from interfering in public affairs. At this Council a reso- 
 lution was carried appointing me to the command of the army, 
 and to defend the country. This was signed by all those present 
 at the Council, and a telegram to this effect was sent to His 
 Majesty the Sultan, with the names of the most distinguished 
 men who had assisted at the Council. 
 
 Having been officially appointed, a provisional Government 
 was formed. The members of it were, Boutros Pacha, Hussein 
 Pacha Dramanli, Yacoub Pacha, Ahmed Pacha Nachat, and 
 several others. It was a Government somewhat resembling a 
 republic, or rather a committee of national defence, until such 
 time as we could arrange for a permanent government. I took 
 no part in any of these Councils, neither did I vote on any 
 particular subject, and all I know of its proceedings is contained 
 in a letter addressed to me calling me " the preserver and 
 defender of the country," and in which I was authorised to 
 carry on the war, begun by the Council presided over by the 
 Khedive in person. 
 
 The Egyptian people made heavy sacrifices for the sake of 
 securing to their country liberty, justice, and independence ; 
 some gave all they possessed, others the half, but all gave some 
 mite to the national cause, as can be proved by numberless 
 letters and telegrams. The war was supported both morally 
 and materially, and nothing was wanting on the part of the 
 Egyptians to defend their native land. They voluntarily offered 
 themselves for enlistment en masse in the army ; some indi- 
 
ARABl'S WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 133 
 
 viduals supplied as much as thirty horses and three thousand 
 sirdebs of grain. The telegrams and the communications 
 received at the Ministry of War from those benevolent patriots 
 and from the governors of the various provinces fully testify to 
 the truth of these statements ; so much so, that within the space 
 of thirty days an army of volunteers numbering a hundred 
 thousand men, with eight thousand horses and four thousand 
 mules, was supplied, the war stores filled with provisions, and 
 considerable sums of money flowed into the War Treasury. 
 Such spirit of patriotism and display ef zeal on the part of the 
 Egyptians has had no precedent in the history of Islam. More- 
 over the Ulemas and Notables of Cairo never ceased for a 
 moment to give us their moral support and advice on all 
 occasions. 
 
 From these facts it is quite evident that the Egyptian nation 
 cannot be treated as insurrectionists acting from a spirit of 
 fanaticism, but, on the contrary, as a nation seeking their liberty 
 by justifiable means. I may add that a considerable quantity 
 of cattle and fruits were supplied gratis to the various camps at 
 Rosetta, Kafr-el-Dowar, and Tel-el-Kebir. These supplies came 
 principally from the chief Dairas at Cairo, from Kiaz Pacha, 
 and Khiari Pacha (notwithstanding their absence from Egypt), 
 also from the vairous Dairas of the Khedive's family. The 
 communication in cipher telegrams never ceased between Kafr- 
 el-Dowar, Cairo, and Constantinople, until the telegraph wires 
 were destroyed at the former place. 
 
 Arabi now proceeds to enumerate all the measures 
 he took for the maintenance of order and the pre- 
 servation of the lives and property of Europeans : 
 
 The Government promptly took the necessary steps to arrest 
 all the looters they could, and sent them to the Council with 
 letters stating the nature of their crimes and the quantity of 
 
134 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 loot in their possession, in order that they might be punished 
 according to the laws of the country ; and this is well-known 
 to one of the departments connected with the Ministry of War 
 at Kafr-el-Dowar. 
 
 On the occasion of the massacres at Tantah, in which several 
 Europeans were killed by some people from Alexandria, I 
 immediately changed the Mudir, Ibrahim Pacha Adham, who 
 was sent before the Council to be tried for no't having kept his 
 province in a peaceful state ; and I at once sent a division of 
 infantry and cavalry to Tantah, Ziftah, and other places, to 
 maintain order. 
 
 A short time before this incident I issued a circular to all 
 the provinces, governors, and administrations, giving strict 
 orders for the safety of all Europeans then remaining in the 
 different localities, in conformity with the Moslem law, which 
 enjoins us to shelter all those who live with us as brethren, even 
 Englishmen, when not carrying arms in the field against us; 
 and thus gave help and protected all those desirous of leaving 
 the country. 
 
 At this time many expressed that wish, and never did we 
 fail to send them under escort to Ismailia, as can testify M. de 
 Lesseps, the acting Italian Vice-Consul at Zagazig, and M. 
 Dupont, acting French Consul at the same place. The various 
 despatches sent by me to the Ministry of War and to the 
 Prefects of Police at Mansoorah, Zagazig, and other places, 
 fully confirm these statements. The result of these instructions 
 was a re-establishment of friendly feeling between most of the 
 Europeans and natives ; so much so, that many European 
 merchants from Port Said and Ismailia returned to Cairo. 
 Despatches were also sent to the Prefect of Police at Cairo and 
 to the various Mudiriehs in Lower Egypt, to see that fugitives 
 from Alexandria were so distributed as to be charitably sup- 
 ported and have some means of livelihood. 
 
 Towards the beginning of August a certain Mr. De Chair, 
 
ARABPS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 135 
 
 an Englishman, was taken prisoner by us. We received him 
 well -and treated him kindly, and sent him to Cairo with a letter 
 to the Ministry, giving instructions that he should be properly 
 housed, and to appoint an officer knowing English to keep him 
 company, also to forward all letters and telegrams which he might 
 wish to despatch to his family or his commander, and provide 
 for their safe delivery at their destination. He was so well 
 treated that I even received a telegram of thanks from his 
 mother. 
 
 On another occasion we captured .two officers, one doctor, 
 and nine privates, Germans, who landed near Abourkir by 
 mistake. On application being made by their Consul at 
 Alexandria, they were at once set at liberty, having been well 
 treated. Two other officers were also taken prisoners near 
 Salheih, and on them was found the sum of three hundred 
 pounds ; they were kindly treated and sent to Cairo with all 
 care. 
 
 Such is our method of dealing with our prisoners, though 
 we have been called barbarians. I would ask, why should not 
 we, at the present moment, be treated equally well ? especially 
 by a power like England ! And again, why should we have 
 been imprisoned by our enemy the Khedive, who first told us 
 to fight, and then desired to see us in this miserable plight, 
 thereby hoping to show that he had not been with us in our 
 war with England. 
 
 My efforts for the public welfare can be known on reference 
 to my various communications with M. de Lesseps ; and his 
 instructions to me were to respect the neutrality of the Canal, 
 as the ships of war would not touch it ; and, until the vessels 
 entered the Canal and bombarded Nefish, I strictly adhered to 
 these instructions. I then wrote to M. de Lesseps, stating that, 
 as the ships of war had entered the Canal, I wished to know if 
 the laws of war still demanded of me to regard it as neutral. 
 This gentleman's reply was, that I must act according to the 
 
136 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 laws of war. I then telegraphed to Rasheed Pacha, and to the 
 chief engineer, Mahmoud Fehmy Pacha, to make a dam across 
 the Sweetwater Canal, provided the circumstances of the war 
 permitted them to do so. The perusal of the letters of M. de 
 Lesseps to his wife, and to his son in Paris, will testify how 
 strictly I respected the neutrality of the Canal. In proof of 
 this, the mail steamers were passing regularly; and when the 
 troops attempted to stop the postal arrangements, I telegraphed 
 to the director of the Suez boats to retain everything in its 
 former working order, it being for the public welfare; and thus 
 the postal arrangements were carried on without interruption 
 until the landing of the British troops at Suez. 
 
 We did not attempt to place any of our troops to protect the 
 Canal ; for, after what had been said regarding its neutrality, 
 we never imagined we should have been attacked from there, 
 and so we neglected to make trenches and fortifications for a 
 chain of defence. When the English occupied Ismailia and 
 fought with us near Mahsamah on the 25th of August, our 
 troops retreated before the cavalry, and cur chief engineer, 
 Mahmoud Fehmy Pacha, was taken prisoner. On the same day 
 I went to Tel-el-Kebir, leaving Toulba Pacha at Kafr-el-Dowar ; 
 and AH Pacha Fehmy came down from Cairo with the 1st 
 regiment of infantry to reinforce me there, and to assist in 
 making trenches and fortifications, so that we might have com- 
 munication between Salhieh, Tel-el-Kebir, Dar-el-Brydah, and 
 Jebel Itaka. 
 
 We had two skirmishes near the Kassassin Bridge, on both 
 of which occasions each side fought bravely ; in the latter 
 engagement Rasheed Pacha and Ali Fehmy Pacha were both 
 wounded, and were sent to Cairo, Ali Pacha-el- Ruby joining 
 me in their stead. 
 
 Before our trenches, &c. were completed, the British forces 
 attacked us suddenly at sunrise, the firing lasting for some time, 
 when suddenly in our rear appeared a division of cavalry and 
 
S WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 137 
 
 artillery, which caused the flight of the Egyptian troops on 
 "Wednesday, the 29th of Shawal. 1299, which day corresponds 
 with the 13th of September, 1882. 
 
 After the flight of the troops I left for Belbeis, the English 
 artillery following close behind me. When I arrived there I 
 met Ali Pacha-el-Ruby, with whom I went by train to Cairo. 
 
 In Cairo we found a Council at the Ministry of War, all the 
 princes being present. After a long discussion, all being con- 
 fident that England had no intention of annexing Egypt, it was 
 decided to offer no more resistance, more especially as England 
 was renowned for dealing always towards others with equity 
 and humanity, and we were confident that if the necessary 
 inquiries were instituted and the feeling of the people generally 
 understood England would do her utmost to put a stop to all 
 injustice and give back freedom to them. I accordingly sent a 
 telegram on the 1 1 th of September to the Commander of the 
 Abassieh troops, which numbered about 35,000 men, ordering 
 him to hoist a flag of truce and in person to proceed and meet the 
 commander of the British troops, informing him at the same 
 time that the war was altogether at an end, it being understood 
 that the intention of the British Government was to preserve 
 the country from ruin. 
 
 The English troops arrived in Cairo at sunset, and were met 
 by Riaz Pacha and Ibrahim Bey Fouzi, the Prefect of Police, 
 a deputation from Benha having been previously sent from there 
 to meet General Wolseley. 
 
 At 1*30 a.m., Ibrahim Bey Fouzi came and informed me 
 that General Lowe desired to have an interview with me at 
 Abassieh. The same day the officer in charge at Kafr-el-Dowar 
 came up to Cairo, and was summoned with myself to this inter- 
 view. We thereupon went to General Lowe, iu accordance 
 with his request, and I sent also for Colonel Ali Bey Yusef, 
 who was then at the Citadel. 
 
 When Toulba Pacha and myself met General Lowe, he asked 
 
138 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 us whether we were willing to give ourselves up as prisoners to 
 the English Government. We replied in the affirmative, on 
 the condition that we should be delivered into the hands of the 
 English Government. We thereupon took off our swords, and 
 delivered them to General Lowe, who was acting on behalf of 
 the Commander-in- Chief, telling him, at the same time, that 
 we only gave ourselves up to the English Government because 
 we were confident England would deal with us justly, it being 
 the prayer of humanity and that of our children that England 
 would see us restored to our rights and privileges ; and we 
 appealed to him as the representative of the English Govern- 
 ment and of all Englishmen. 
 
 At the same time we informed the General that we had at 
 Abassieh 35,000 men, and a similar number at Kafr-el-Dowar, 
 Basheed, Damietta, and other places, but for the safety and 
 peace of our country we had abandoned all idea of resistance, 
 and had surrendered ourselves, being confident that England 
 had no wish whatever to annex the country. The General 
 agreed to this statement, and we remained with him three days, 
 and then were sent to Abdin, where we were under the sur- 
 veillance of Colonel Thynne up to the 4th of October, and were 
 treated kindly and well. After this we were handed over to 
 the Egyptian authorities, and lodged in the Egyptian prison on 
 Thursday, the 5th of October. This was a sad and memorable 
 day for me, for I was separated from my friend Toulba Pacha, 
 and placed in a room, where there was not even a chair, and I 
 was locked in ! My servant came, but the guard refused to 
 allow anything to be brought to me, except a carpet and a 
 blanket. 
 
 Directly after this, a party, evidently " told off " to insult and 
 menace the prisoners, appeared, and searched me, taking away 
 all my private papers, which were wanted by the Commission 
 of Inquiry. Following this, a second party, mostly the 
 Khedive's employes, and among whom were Osman Bey, the 
 
ARABPS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 139 
 
 manager of the Khedive's stables, and Hussein Effendi Fouzi, 
 attached to the Khedive's household, arrived, and with them 
 the Turkish Agha, who rides in front of His Highness, being one 
 of his body-guard. On their arrival they searched me all over, 
 even taking off my shirt, but found nothing, except a charm or 
 talisman which I wore, but this was taken by force from me. 
 When I said that I would myself take it off, some one cried out 
 in a loud voice, u No, I was ordered to do this, and even to take 
 off your boots and to search them ! " 
 
 About an hour later, the editor of the Arab paper El Ahram, 
 Beshara Takla, came to visit me, and, as I thought, to console 
 and sympathise with me, he having adopted our cause pre- 
 vious to the war, and having sworn on his honour and religion 
 that he was one of us, speaking in favour of the liberty of our 
 country. In fact we esteemed him a patriot ! But when he 
 entered, he was most insulting, and said, " Oh, Arabi, what 
 have you been doing, and what has happened to you?" I was 
 then certain that the man was a traitor, and without honour. 
 As I did not answer him, he left me. 
 
 Following closely on this, another party, almost entirely 
 composed of the Khedive's attendants, Turks and soldiers who 
 guard His Highness, came in. My carpet and blanket were 
 searched, after which they left the room, remaining outside all 
 the night as guard over the prisoners. 
 
 On the night of the 9th of October, at about 9 '30 p.m., 
 having undressed myself and lain down to sleep, I heard the 
 door opened, and a group of about ten or twelve persons came 
 into my room ; but, being in total darkness, I was unable to 
 distinguish them. Suddenly one of them cried out in a loud 
 voice, " Eh ! Arabi ; don't you know me ? " Thinking that I 
 was about to be murdered, I got up, and replied, " No, I do 
 not ; " when I heard shouted, " I am Ibrahim Agha ; " and he 
 swore at me, calling me a dog and a pig, and spat at me three 
 times. I stood quite quiet, and gradually perceived that it 
 
140 HO W WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 really was Ibrahim Agha, tutunji to the Khedive, and whose 
 accomplice had been sent to Syria some time ago for having 
 stolen some diamonds from the Abdin Palace. 
 
 Ever since I was surrendered to the Egyptian authorities, 
 when my meals arrive, one of the guards, a Turk, takes them 
 from my servant, opens the door for a minute, deposits the food, 
 and promptly closes the door, treating me like a wild beast in 
 a cage. 
 
 The native Government has taken measures to arrest nearly 
 all officers, from the rank of major upwards, including colonels 
 and lieutenant-colonels, and they are now imprisoned. Many 
 Ulemas, Members of the Chamber, Notables, and others have 
 shared the same fate, in Cairo, Alexandria, and the provinces. 
 
 This war has no precedent in history. The present Khedive 
 was the cause of a foreign fleet coming to Egypt; he then 
 himself encouraged us ; finally withdrawing from us altogether 
 to side with foreign troops. The Sultan, the real Sovereign of 
 this country, also sided with us, and loaded us with marks of 
 his approbation. His representative concurred in our resistance, 
 and his trusted officer exhorted us to defend the country from 
 what they termed the rapacity of England. The opening acts of 
 the war were carried on in his name- Then we suddenly found 
 the English troops fighting for the Khedive, the Egyptian troops 
 being styled " rebels." 
 
 If the Egyptian troops were really the only " rebels," and our 
 defence a mutiny how is it that so many of the Civil Notables, 
 Ulemas, and Members of the Chamber, as well as others, were 
 incarcerated and shared the same fate ? On the other hand, I 
 contend that if the army, and indeed the whole Egyptian 
 nation, had participated in what the Egyptians believed and 
 declared to be a righteous and just cause, England, one of the 
 first nations of Europe, noted for her justice and equity, should 
 not consent to crush our hopes in order to please one single man 
 the more so, as by the religious laws of this country this man 
 has no right to rule as a prince over the people. 
 
ARABPS WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. 141 
 
 England having always respected the laws and religious 
 views of other countries, we cannot understand why she should 
 have followed a course which must appear as a mystery in the 
 annals of nations. Egypt declared no war with England, but 
 defended herself, and now that we trust England will ascertain 
 the real truth we hope all friendly relations, which have existed 
 for years, will be renewed, she having always hitherto respected 
 the rights and privileges of Egypt. 
 
 The cultivation of the country, the preparations against a 
 " high Nile," and the general tranquillity then existing, prove 
 that there was no intention of going to war with any one. The 
 provisional Government spared no pains to protect the property 
 of Europeans all over the country. If I were a rebel, with a 
 standing army of 70,000 men, fully equipped, storehouses full of 
 provisions, plenty of ammunition, and canals intersecting the land 
 everywhere, why should I have surrendered ? 
 
 If I had anything to fear or to be ashamed of, why should I 
 not have escaped, as I easily might have done, to a neighbouring 
 country, or even to England, the refuge of many political 
 unfortunates in past times ? 
 
 But the truth is, I am no ^ rebel." I led the nation in seeking 
 the liberty of our country, and employed all honourable means to 
 this end, respecting the laws, not thinking of self, as others say, 
 but for the welfare of Egypt. I became commander of the troops 
 appointed to defend the country in a lawful manner, and by 
 order of the Sultan, the Khedive, the Chamber, and with the 
 sanction of the nation. As regards accusations of massacre and 
 incendiarism, I laugh them to scorn. With powerful adver- 
 saries such as mine, some miserable persons may be induced to 
 speak against me ; but would, I ask, my then subordinates, or 
 any one else, have run the risk of doing these grave things, 
 without a written order from me ? 
 
 There is no proof nor evidence to contradict the facts I have 
 stated, and I therefore beseech you, my defenders, and my 
 esteemed friend, Mr. Blunt, not forgetting those other Englishmen 
 
142 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI 
 
 who are lovers of humanity and defenders of the truth, to read 
 this my personal statement carefully and correctly, written in my 
 own handwriting, giving to you all detail from beginning to end 
 of the late events ; and this is the truth, the whole truth, and 
 nothing but the truth. 
 
 Written in my prison, at the Daira Saniya in Cairo, this 29th 
 of October, 1882. 
 
 AHMED AEABI the Egyptian. 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 143 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 
 
 THE vekil or agent of Shepheard's Hotel was at this 
 time amongst the unfortunate inmates of the Daira 
 Saniya, and there was much lamentation amongst 
 the ladies of the Khedivial family, with whom Osman 
 Pacha Fouzi was a general favourite. Osman in his 
 youth had been a memlouk of the great Mehemet Ali, 
 and in his old age was still the faithful agent and 
 factotum of his daughter the Princess Zeineb (the 
 owner of Shepheard's Hotel), and his only surviving 
 son Prince Halim. A Circassian by birth, a Turk by 
 education and ideas, a Halimist in politics, a wag, a 
 French scholar on a limited scale, and a bon-vivant 
 of established reputation, old Dely Osman, (or 
 cracked-brain Osman,) was singularly out of place 
 amongst the Egyptian Nationalists. He had sup- 
 ported Arabi, it was true, but only because he hoped 
 against hope, that Arabi J s movement might end in 
 the realisation of his life's dream the accession to 
 power of his master's son. Sympathy with Egyptian 
 
144 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 aspirations he had none, but he thought they could 
 be utilized and turned to good account by a judicious 
 application of Turkish intrigues. He represented 
 the great harim influence of Cairo, which declared 
 itself strongly against the present regime. During 
 the war Osman used to repair to the tomb of Mehemet 
 AH, and, shaking vigorously the wooden sarcophagus 
 which covered his grave, call loudly on the founder 
 of the race to send some more worthy descendant to 
 oust the feeble Tewfik from his throne. At the 
 request of Mr. Grosse, the chief agent of the hotel, 
 we consented to do what we could for Osman Pacha 
 Fouzi. For reasons I have before explained, we had 
 already accepted the retainers of Toulba Pacha and 
 Ahmed Bey Rifat. We, therefore, formally applied 
 for an authorisation to defend eight of the political 
 prisoners who were now awaiting their trial, including 
 amongst the number Yacoub Sami Pacha, of whose 
 extraordinary ability as Ardbi's Under-Secretary for 
 War we had heard a great deal. 
 
 In the course of the morning of the 30th October 
 we received an autograph letter in French from 
 Ismail Pacha Eyoub, President of the Commission of 
 Inquiry, authorising us to defend the eight persons in 
 question. We repaired to the prison at once, and Mr. 
 Beaman, (then acting as Colonel Sir Charles Wilson's 
 interpreter,) introduced us to Toulba, who seemed 
 
TOULBA PASHA. 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 145 
 
 hardly able to express the satisfaction he felt at our 
 arrival. Toulba Pacha is emphatically one of those 
 persons who, to borrow a French phrase, ne paye pas 
 de mine. He was at best a timorous mortal, short of 
 stature, pallid from anxiety and chronic asthma, and 
 possessing a countenance singularly void of expres- 
 sion. It was difficult to imagine him commanding the 
 artillery at Kafr-el-Dowar or bearding the Khedive 
 in the presence of his Council. All through their 
 troubles at Cairo he clung to Arabi like a weak 
 child to a strong father, and exhibited an almost 
 touching affection for his chief. He at once gave us 
 his procuration, and set to work dictating his defence. 
 Our reception from i( deli " Osrnan was by no 
 means so satisfactory. At our entrance a tall, haggard 
 old man, with a fair complexion, a well-shaped Roman 
 nose, and an unkempt gray beard, slowly rose from 
 a carpet in the corner of the room. We explained 
 our errand. " Arabi !" he exclaimed; " I don't 
 know the man I Don't you understand that as a 
 Turk, and the son of a Turk, I can have no com- 
 munity of ideas or interests with the Egyptians ? 
 Have you not heard, I worship the very ground on 
 which any descendant of Mehemet Ali treads ? I 
 am Tewfik's devoted slave, and cannot imagine for 
 an instant why I am here. I utterly repudiate both 
 Arabi and his cause. 5 ' We proposed to retire. To 
 
 L 
 
146 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 this he demurred ; his friend Mr. Grosse had sent us, 
 and he supposed we could defend both Arabi and 
 himself without any inconvenience. For obvious 
 reasons we saw nothing more of Osman Pacha till 
 Arabi's trial was over. He used to kick his cell door 
 very vigorously whenever we passed, and often, I 
 think, wished he had not been so hard on his Egyptian 
 fellow-prisoners. 
 
 Yacoub Sami (to whom Sir Charles Wilson intro- 
 duced us) had been the very heart and soul of the 
 resistance at Cairo. Although a Turk by birth, he 
 had thrown in his lot with the nationalists, and had 
 organized in a masterly manner the vast supplies and 
 large reinforcements from every part of Egypt which 
 had been sent to Arabi first at Kafr-el-Dowar and then 
 at Tel-el-Kebir. He was at the same time one of the 
 moving spirits of the Cairo National Council, and, when 
 all was over, he had arranged for the surrender of the 
 troops all over the country. Strange to say from the 
 moment he was thrown into prison he became utterly 
 and hopelessly demoralised. Like the rest he had 
 been ill-used in his cell beaten, insulted, and spat 
 upon ; before the Commission he had been treated 
 with studied indignity. His mind had become almost 
 unhinged from fear, and he had shamelessly denied his 
 leader and his cause. He told us the story of his 
 sufferings with many bitter tears, and when he read 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 147 
 
 Arabics letter he fairly gave way altogether. At last 
 he plucked up courage, signed eagerly enough an 
 appointment for us to act in his behalf, and asked us 
 to tell Arabi that he hardly deserved the kind words 
 he had written him. Yacoub Sami is a short, some- 
 what thick-set man, with a fair complexion, very 
 marked and expressive features, and accustomed to 
 wear glasses. I formed the highest opinion of his 
 ability and talents. I afterwards discovered that his 
 cell window looked into a yard filled with large 
 wooden chests of a very solid appearance. I ignore 
 still their use or why they were placed there. The 
 prisoners who saw them believed they indicated a 
 means for a summary jail delivery. I shall never 
 forget poor Toulba's face when he was moved into a 
 room on that side of the building, in consequence of an 
 allegation that he had been talking on his fingers to 
 the clerks of a bank next door. 
 
 Our eighth client was Ahmed Rifat Bey. His cell 
 showed signs of superior comfort and even elegance. 
 Books, embroidered cushions, a Persian carpet, a 
 looking-glass, and elaborate mosquito-curtains, indi- 
 cated a certain amount of culture in its tenant. A 
 slightly-built pale young man of about thirty years of 
 age, and entirely European appearance, came forward 
 to receive us on our entrance with all the signs of consi- 
 derable satisfaction. Rifat spoke French like a French- 
 
 L2 
 
148 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 man, and said the moment he heard of our arrival (he 
 occupied a cell above the street at the extreme end of 
 the prison, corresponding precisely with that of Arabi 
 at the opposite corner, and had often seen us go in 
 and out of the prison) he had resolved to speak out 
 boldly, although he had also received domiciliary 
 visits of a minatory character since his arrest. All he 
 wanted was pen, ink, and paper, to present us with 
 a written defence. He told us at our first interview 
 something of his history. " My father/' he said, " is 
 Kani Pacha, who lives at Constantinople. He has been 
 more than once Minister of Finances, and they call 
 him ' the only honest Turk.' I was educated at Paris, 
 and went through the training necessary for the legal 
 profession, but before I took my degree I returned 
 home to marry a daughter of Kamil Pacha, the 
 Imperial Master of Ceremonies. I was next sent back 
 to Paris as attach^ at the Embassy, but I lost my post 
 for visiting the exiles of the jeune Turquie party. 
 Shortly afterwards I was appointed Director of 
 European Correspondence at the Foreign Office of the 
 Porte, but I resolved to seek my fortunes in Egypt. 
 Ismail Pacha first employed me, and I gradually rose, 
 till on the accession to office of Mahmoud Sami in 
 February last I became Secretary of the Council of 
 Ministers, and Director of the Press Department. I 
 am a Turk, and have certainly no motive to tell you 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 149 
 
 what is not true. Arabi had on his side the sympathy 
 of the whole of Egypt. He also gained mine. Arabi 
 was the leader and spokesman of an enslaved and 
 deeply-wronged people striving for freedom, and all 
 Egypt was with him in his struggle. He was betrayed 
 by the Khedive, and deceived by the Sultan. The 
 National cause is hopelessly broken now, and the 
 Egyptians, like all oppressed people, are cowards, 
 and cannot withstand the moral demoralization of 
 their complete defeat. Who can dare bear witness in 
 our favour now? Even I trembled and faltered 
 before the Commission of Inquiry, which only sought 
 to force me to compromise my chiefs. In spite of 
 all this, if we have a fair trial in the light of day, 
 Europe will learn the true nature of Ardbi's conduct, 
 and the universality of his cause will, in spite of the 
 power of our enemies, become apparent. Arabi need 
 fear nothing then." Our interview with Ahmed Bey 
 Eifat was certainly encouraging, and I returned to 
 Arabi to report the progress we had made. 
 
 I found Arabi's usual placid temper much dis- 
 turbed. He had insisted on reading the Jowdib (an 
 Arab paper published at Constantinople under semi- 
 official auspices), which had extolled him as a hero up 
 to the eve of Tel-el-Kebir, and, as might be expected, 
 denounced him as a rebel the moment he fell. The 
 number which had last arrived was more than usually 
 
150 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 virulent, and he begged me to allow him to answer it. 
 I saw no valid objection to his doing so, and he 
 addressed the following letter to the Editor of the 
 Times : 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I have seen in No. 1105 of the Jowaib, under the heading of 
 the arrest of the seditious in Egypt, an article saying that so 
 many rebel officers, and so many Bedouin Sheikhs, and such a 
 one of the Ulema, and such a Mudir, and such an interpreter, 
 or merchant, or clerk, have been arrested and sent to prison. 
 Now, all ye champions of liberty, if it is the soldiers who are 
 rebels, why have so many Notables and Ulemas, and Kadis of 
 such different condition, been imprisoned and ill-treated ? And 
 if the whole of the nation of every class was of one mind in one 
 work, and that the liberation of their country and its defence, 
 why then are they to be stigmatised by the name of rebel ? 
 
 In truth's name this is evident tyranny that they should be 
 treated as such. The war was in accordance with the laws of 
 God and man, consonant to a solemn decree of a Council under 
 the presidency of the Khedive and Dervesh Pacha, the envoy 
 of the Sultan. And after the soldiers and inhabitants had left 
 Alexandria, the Khedive returned and went over to those who 
 were fighting against his country, a thing prohibited by every 
 law. 
 
 The entire Egyptian nation was unanimous as to the necessity 
 of suspending Tewfik Pacha for having transgressed the pre- 
 scription of the divine and highest law, and demanded the con- 
 tinuation of the defence of the country by a decree which was 
 made known to His Majesty the Sultan. After that are we 
 rebels ? 1 say that we were defending our country in a way 
 approved by the laws of God and man, and whoever says the 
 contrary is a slave to passion and money. I add that the 
 Ulema of Islam and the Moslems of every country of the world, 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 151 
 
 allow that we never exceeded the limit laid down in God's book, 
 and deprecate the ill-treatment we receive, which is contrary to 
 all justice. 
 
 Oh, ye just men ! Is it fair that the sons of the country 
 should be deprived of every office, and that foreigners should 
 take their places, together with those who have come to Egypt, 
 like Circassians, Albanians, and Bulgarians, so that even down 
 to lowest ranks, such as the ousbashis of the army, the places 
 are given to others than the sons of Egypt? Are not the 
 Egyptians as good as the Bulgarians and other foreigners? 
 But we shall find amongst the champions of humanity some 
 to defend the right against the tyranny of the time which 
 blackens the face of man. 
 
 (Signed) AHMED ARABI, the Egyptian. 
 
 On the last day of October we presented ourselves 
 for the first time before the Court of Preliminary 
 Inquiry, which sat in a long room, occupying the 
 centre of the first floor of the building, and separated 
 only by one or two small apartments used as offices 
 from the cells of Mahmoud Sami and Arabi on the 
 one side and Ahmed Bey Rifat on the other. The 
 walls were bare and white-washed. Three narrow 
 windows led to a balcony overlooking the entrance 
 and the street. In the middle of the apartment was 
 a large oval table covered with a green baize cloth. 
 Around this table were grouped, seated on very 
 homely chairs, the President, the subordinate mem- 
 bers of the Commission, Sir Charles Wilson, Mr. 
 Beaman, and one or two secretaries. Coffee arid 
 
152 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 cigarettes freely circulated, and such time as could 
 be spared from them was passed in reading almost 
 interminable papers, and in the indiscriminate 
 questioning of prisoners and witnesses by the Pre- 
 sident and his colleagues, very often all speaking at 
 once, while the secretary was supposed to keep a 
 record of the answers thus obtained. 
 
 The President, Ismail Pacha Eyoub, received us 
 with marked courtesy, and invited us to be seated 
 near him. Ismail Eyoub is really a remarkable 
 man. His own career has been a chequered one. 
 While undergoing banishment in the Soudan he some- 
 how or other contrived to acquire a fair knowledge of 
 English, French, and German. By one of the turns 
 of fortune so common in oriental history he next 
 became governor of the very province which had 
 been the scene of his exile, and succeeded in sending 
 a satisfactory balance of revenue to Cairo. His 
 enemies pretend he was not unfriendly to the Slave 
 Trade, which contributed not a little to his financial 
 success, but I never heard any proof advanced in 
 support of the assertion. Since his return to Cairo 
 he has held several posts in a creditable manner, 
 including the titular presidency of the International 
 Tribunals, and the portfolio of Public Works in the 
 Cherif Cabinet of 188182. 
 
 Ismail Eyoub had joined the National cause like 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 153 
 
 everybody else, was even a member of the Council 
 of Defence at Cairo, and took part in a famous con- 
 gratulatory picnic held under the shade of Arabi's tent 
 at Kafr-el-Dowar. Like a prudent man he had not 
 burned his ships and contrived to come to terms with 
 the successful Palace faction in the early days of 
 the Restoration. As a sign of his complete sub- 
 mission, he had accepted the invidious task of helping 
 to judge his fellow-rebels. His character presented 
 a curious combination of uncommon intelligence and 
 great weakness, and his endeavours to please every- 
 body in the discharge of his duties were highly 
 diverting. Between Riaz Pacha, Lord Dufferin, the 
 Khedive, and the counsel on both sides, he had a 
 very difficult task to perform. His really sound 
 judgment and good feeling generally pointed out. the 
 course he should take, but at the critical moment his 
 moral courage failed him, and he often went hope- 
 lessly wrong. An ordinary spectator would have 
 thought him prejudiced and arbitrary, while his 
 experiments at speaking diplomatically certainly 
 savoured strongly of deliberate prevarication. 
 
 I need say very little of the other members of 
 the Commission. They had been selected almost 
 entirely from the Turkish and Circassian parties, and 
 their whole future evidently depended on the suc- 
 cessful result of their inquisitional labours. AH 
 
154 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Ghaleb Pacha and Yusef Choudy Pacha were both 
 Circassian memlouks. They had left the army with 
 Osman Pacha Rifki, and the latter had been twice 
 degraded and once exiled to the Soudan. Muhamed 
 Zeki Pacha was the creature of the Minister of the 
 Interior Riaz. On the promotion of Ismail Eyoub he 
 became President of the Commission, and did his 
 utmost to harass the prisoner and ourselves. Although 
 a near relative of the lady Aisha Hanem, he had 
 endeavoured to gain favour by loudly applauding her 
 deportation, and the escape of Arabi drove him nearly 
 to frenzy. Every one of his decisions were reversed 
 by the Ministry, and I am glad to say he did not 
 even get a decoration when he went with his col- 
 leagues to give the Khedive an account of their 
 stewardship. Saad-ed-Dine Bey had been Governor 
 of the Behereh, and had gained credit by ill-treating 
 some peculiarly obnoxious prisoners on their road to 
 the Soudan. Muhamed Hamdy Bey, a Turk, was 
 the brother-in-law of the prisoner Ahmed Rifat, 
 against whom he entertained a strong personal 
 animosity. He has adroitly managed never to fur- 
 nish the details of his administration of the late 
 Mustapha Fazil Pacha's estate, notwithstanding the 
 repeated and energetic reclamations of the Sublime 
 Porte. Muhamed Hamdy was told off to give out 
 papers to our copyists. Till Arabics case was disposed 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 155 
 
 of he was impertinent and disobliging. He even 
 went so far as to smudge a quantity of telegrams with 
 ink, and, throwing them on the table before the indig- 
 nant Commissioners, accuse our employe's of defacing 
 them with some sinister object. Unfortunately I dis- 
 covered the ink was still wet, and none of our clerks 
 had been at work since the previous day. After 
 Arabi's escape from the death flamdy regarded as a 
 certainty, he became friendly and even servile, made 
 friends with poor Kifat, and thanked me with tears in 
 his eyes for having saved the honour of his family, 
 and generally protected the Egyptians. Mustapha 
 Ragheb Bey, Suleiman Yousry Bey, Mustapha Khou- 
 broussy Bey, and Muhamed Moukhtar Effendi, were 
 nonentities of the genus sea-lawyer. They all showed 
 themselves adepts at brow-beating the prisoners and 
 witnesses, and none more than Suleiman Yousry. 
 When the star of the Nationalists seemed to rise once 
 more Yousry used to haunt our steps to obtain a 
 special certificate and recommendation, which he said 
 would materially help him with his superiors. 
 
 To these gentlemen Ismail Pacha Eyoub (a tall, 
 thin Egyptian, with an intelligent and expressive 
 face) solemnly introduced us, on the morning of 
 the 31st October. " Your presence," he said (for he 
 had prepared a set speech for the occasion), u forms 
 an epoch in our history, and must be considered as a 
 
156 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 land-mark in our progress. It is the first time these 
 several thousand years that foreign lawyers have 
 appeared before an Egyptian Court. We hail their 
 arrival as a sign that England has determined to give 
 us judicial reform and better tribunals.'' (He appa- 
 rently forgot that this was one of the revolutionary 
 demands of the prisoners next door.) " As an Egyp- 
 tian," he continued, " I rejoice at their being allowed 
 to plead. We have all heard of Mr. Broadley in 
 Tunis. We hope that he will understand us and help 
 us here." Coffee, cigarettes, and mutual admiration 
 terminated the interview. 
 
 We found Rifat Bey busily employed in writing 
 his defence. Our visit seemed to have rekindled his 
 old enthusiasm, and he had that morning managed 
 to see his young son, a clever boy of nine in a 
 picturesque uniform, who had been, with his little 
 brothers aged eight and seven, expelled from the 
 Khedivial school for the unpardonable fault of being 
 the children of a " rebel." The eldest had offered a 
 rude shock to restored Egyptian loyalty by offering in 
 person, to Tewfik Pacha's son Abbas, a boy of his 
 own age, a petition written by himself for the release 
 of his father. Rifat gave us at this interview an 
 interesting account of the proceedings of Dervesh 
 Pacha during the eventful month which preceded 
 the bombardment. "If you want a proof of the 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 157 
 
 Sultan's ideas regarding us," he said, "I can give you 
 one. A day or two before the 12th of July Dervesh 
 Pacha gave to me as a mark of His Imperial Majesty's 
 approval of my conduct as a member of the nationalist 
 party, bfirmdn raising me to a Pacha's rank. I was 
 requested to keep this a secret at the time, but if you 
 go to my house with a letter from me my wife will 
 give it you." 
 
 Later in the day I drove to Rifat's house, a large 
 airy building near the Abdin Palace. He had 
 lived almost entirely as a European, and I saw 
 there a French governess, who had brought up all 
 his children. Rifat could boast a good library, 
 arranged in a spacious room, looking out on a 
 shady garden. It had been since his imprisonment 
 turned topsy-turvy in search of written treason. 
 After a long talk with the governess on Egypt and 
 the Egyptians, I succeeded in obtaining the paper in 
 question, which amply bore out all Rifat had said, 
 and formed one more link in the " rebels " plea of 
 justification. 
 
 Ismail Eyoub having promised us in our brief 
 interview speedy communication of all the evidence 
 till then recorded by the Commission and the docu- 
 ments on which the prosecution proposed to rely, we 
 engaged fifteen additional clerks to copy them both 
 in Arabic and French. The Commission placed a 
 
158 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 small room at our disposal adjoining Bifat's cell, and 
 we purchased more deal tables and large supply of 
 stationery and office requisites. Our new copyists 
 were chiefly Copts, Syrians, or Frenchmen, and, as 
 no question of confidence was involved, we left the 
 patronage to M. Borrelli's assistant, a very intelligent 
 young Egyptian licencie-en-droit, named Hechmat. 
 
 The records of the Commission were given up very 
 slowly at first, and I hardly wonder at it. Borelli 
 Bey had evidently not thought it worth his while to 
 devote those talents, which had more than once evolved 
 an Egyptian Constitution in a single night, to such 
 a task as this. Overwhelmed with weightier labours 
 of importance, mere mechanical work could well be 
 left to subordinates. Arabi was condemned d'avance; 
 the success of his enemies was the most cogent proof 
 of his rebellion, and the elastic consciences of the 
 judges who were to play a part in the gala show of a 
 nominal trial were not expected to be inconveniently 
 over-scrupulous on the question of evidence. A neat 
 and presentable dossier was all that was wanted ; 
 clear handwriting, superfine paper, and much green- 
 silk stitching would cover a multitude of internal 
 defects and save appearances. It thus came about 
 that the testimony collected was worse than useless in 
 a legal point of view. To procure a complete copy 
 of it, Mr. Blunt spent nearly 500Z. It will remain 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 159 
 
 in his hands as a convincing proof of the absence in 
 Egypt of that justice for which Arabi asked in vain ; 
 the most complete exemplification of everything that 
 is deplorable in the hopeless confusion of ideas per- 
 vading the judicial systems of the East. Hearsay 
 had been piled upon hearsay, opinion had been 
 recorded upon opinion, impression had been asked 
 for after impression, but direct, ^reliable, trustworthy 
 evidence there was none. The accused had never 
 been present at a single hearing of the witnesses 
 against them ; no sort of cross-examination had taken 
 place, nearly half the testimony consisted of letters 
 written in absentia at the request of the Commission, 
 and the administration of an oath had been con- 
 sistently dispensed with. Some of these declarations, 
 taken in different parts of Egypt as far apart as Dan 
 from Beersheba, agreed even to the most trivial word 
 and minute punctuation, and afforded a convincing 
 proof of the circulation of a (( model " deposition. 
 
 I will not weary my readers even with an attempt 
 to describe at length this ponderous record of judicial 
 absurdities, through which I was compelled for many 
 dreary days to plod. After such men as Lord Dufferin 
 and Sir Charles Wilson have weighed it and found it 
 wanting, I may dismiss it from the story of Arabi's 
 defence. Its gist was simple enough : u Everybody 
 now thought Arabi a rebel and Tewfik a model sove- 
 reign ; the whole Egyptian nation had acted from a 
 
160 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 terror of Arabi and the army; some persons had 
 heard Arabi had burned Alexandria, and considered 
 it probable that he had something to do with the 
 massacres of June ; nobody had any doubt now that 
 Arabi deserved ill of his country, he had not suc- 
 ceeded, and should certainly be punished." Hardly a 
 question had been asked which was not of the kind 
 technically described as leading, and internal evi- 
 dence of undue influence was afforded almost by 
 every page. Whole days had been consumed in those 
 humorous trivialities so congenial to the oriental 
 mind ; twenty witnesses had been examined to prove 
 that the accused Mahmoud Sami had said that "the 
 Khedive should pack up his portmanteau, and go to 
 Shepheard's Hotel, while one of the gravest items 
 of accusation against some of the Notables of the Shar- 
 kiya province was that of having u shot at some dogs 
 and cats dressed up to represent Sir Garnet Wolseley 
 and Sir Beauchamp Seymour!" I need say little 
 more of the ex-parte record of facts put together 
 by the Egyptian Government against Arabi and his 
 friends. 
 
 At the beginning of November our two offices 
 were in full working order. The clerks and trans- 
 lators at home were engaged on the statements made 
 to us by our clients ; those in the prison were mecha- 
 nically copying the brief for the prosecution (which 
 when completed was nearly two feet in height), and 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 161 
 
 was now being gradually doled out to us day by day 
 by Muhamed Hamdy Bey on behalf of the Com- 
 mission. Mr. Blunt and his wife were doing their 
 utmost to help us at home. Collections of newspaper 
 extracts (carefully compiled by Lady Anne Blunt) 
 reached us by every mail in order that we might 
 intelligently follow the treatment of the case at the 
 all-powerful bar of public opinion at home ; we were 
 promptly furnished with a sufficient supply of French 
 and English law-books bearing on the subject of 
 the coming trial ; each Parliamentary Paper reached 
 us as it appeared, and I was fairly overwhelmed by 
 suggestions from all quarters as to the course I 
 should pursue, some of which were of a very 
 extraordinary character. 
 
 American ladies seemed to vie with each other in 
 asking for Arabi's autograph and wishing him " a 
 safe deliverance from his enemies," for the strongest 
 sympathy he enlisted abroad at that time certainly 
 came from across the Atlantic. As to the advice 
 preferred me I need only refer to two instances. 
 An English barrister wrote from the Temple to 
 suggest that, " as Arabi's surrender had been illegal, 
 he was still technically in British custody, and con- 
 sequently a writ of habeas corpus should be obtained 
 from the High Court of Justice against either Sir 
 Garnet Wolseley or Sir Edward Malet." From 
 
 M 
 
162 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Monsieur Henri Duveyrier, the celebrated traveller, 
 I received the following letter: 
 
 Paris, 18, Rue Pigalle, 
 
 1st November, 1882. 
 SIB, 
 
 I respectfully inform you that my experience as a traveller 
 in the desert of Sahara twenty-two years ago lets me think that 
 Arabi Pacha must have had some relation with the Mussulman 
 religious confraternity (trika) of Sidi Muhamed-es-Senoiisi, 
 which is a most deadly fiend of Christians (sic). 
 
 If my supposition be correct, Arabi Pacha's culpability 
 would be in some way lessened, he being then an agent of a 
 committee overpowering his own feelings and dispositions. 
 
 I do not know if this hint may be of some use to you, but I 
 should be very thankful if you had the kindness of informing 
 me if Arabi Pacha is or is not a member of the religious con- 
 fraternity of Sidi Muhamed-es-Senousi and has or has not been 
 upheld by the association. 
 
 I am, Sir 5 
 
 Yours most respectfully, 
 
 HENKI DUVEYEIER. 
 
 Our great office in the maison du moufti had now 
 become a favourite place of resort, and I made there 
 several pleasant and not easily to be forgotten 
 acquaintances. Mr. Chirol, a writer possessing an 
 exceptionally accurate knowledge of the politics of 
 the East, and who was then discharging the duties 
 of Special Correspondent of the Standard, was one 
 of our frequent visitors, as also was Mr. John Mac- 
 donald, his able colleague of the Daily News. Many 
 
SOME OTHER CLIENTS. 163 
 
 of the Egyptians also now began to see us with 
 increasing freedom, and amongst them a very intel- 
 ligent man, Selamah Bey, an excellent English 
 scholar, who had been at the head of the Posts and 
 Telegraphs during the troubles, and had, notwith- 
 standing his nationalistic proclivities, managed to 
 escape with simple dismissal and social excom- 
 munication. 
 
 We saw a good deal of Mr. Bernard, Special 
 Correspondent of the New York Herald, who claimed 
 a monopoly in what he called " picturesque " tele- 
 grams. One he showed me announcing my arrival 
 was certainly very picturesque indeed; it ran thus : 
 " Mr. B., Arabi's counsel, has arrived. He is 
 tall and stout, talks much of his client's innocence, 
 and wears coloured silk shirts with cords and 
 tassels, instead of white shirts and neckties," &c. 
 He went on to say that the cords were looked on as 
 emblematic of Arabi's inevitable doom, continuing in 
 the same strain through several lines, and all this at 
 the cost of four shillings a word. As an honest repub- 
 lican Mr. Bernard became very well disposed towards 
 Ardbi, and at last conceived a plan of purchasing him 
 by a happy combination of the resources of Messrs. 
 Gordon Bennett and Barnum. " Nothing,'' he said, 
 could be easier; " Bennett's yacht will take him off 
 quietly. For the first twelvemonth Arabi shall write 
 
 M 2 
 
164 HOW WE ^DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 three-quarters of a column every week for the 
 Herald on Egyptian politics, and then Barnum will 
 run him on the platform in the States. We will 
 give 250,000^. down and allow Arabi 1,000?. a-year." 
 I of course regarded the proposal as a joke ; but 
 when, later on, the question of exile was being 
 considered, Mr. Bernard made it in sober seriousness 
 both to Lord Dufferin and his secretary. Strange 
 to say, he was not singular in his idea. I heard 
 from Sir Edward Malet that a Count Zizinia (if I 
 remember the name rightly) offered a precisely 
 similar sum for the u exclusive privilege of exhibiting 
 Arabi in all the principal cities of Europe during one 
 year." 
 
 Neither were the French correspondents alto- 
 gether strangers to our bureau. Even M. Gabriel 
 Charmes, of the Journal des Debats, with whom I 
 had ' already crossed swords polemically over the 
 Tunisian question, and of whom I shall have occasion 
 to speak farther on, called occasionally. The special 
 artiste of the Illustration took his little revenge for 
 my too well-known dislike to the French annexa- 
 tion of Tunis. He depicted me in his paper as a 
 dotard of eighty, holding a huge quill-pen, after the 
 manner of the old masters, and wearing an enormous 
 wig of the time of Louis XIV. 
 
 
WHAT ARABPS PAPERS CONTAINED. 165 
 
 CHAPTER XIV, 
 
 WHAT ARABl'S PAPERS CONTAINED. 
 
 ON the 1st November Mr. Beaman handed to me 
 fair copies of his translations of Ara'bi's papers, 69 in 
 number. By dint of sheer hard work he had com- 
 pleted his difficult task in nine days, and notwith- 
 standing the pressure of his official duties. If the 
 great case had been fought out to the bitter end, many 
 of the documents entrusted to us by Arabi would have 
 been of the highest importance to his plea of "not 
 guilty'' on the charge of rebellion, while others at any 
 rate could have been urged with almost equal force 
 in support of an allegation of what the French call 
 (< extenuating circumstances." I only purpose giving 
 in this chapter a few examples for the purpose of 
 illustrating what I now assert, and it is useless to do 
 more, for the purport of many of them is identical, 
 and their accumulation only serves to prove the extent 
 and intensity of the movement he headed, the very 
 existence of which has been since so gratuitously 
 called in question. 
 
1(56 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 Arabi was never able to find the more explicit 
 letters of the Turkish envoy Ahmed Essad, but other 
 communications from the same person, found in Arabi's 
 house, plainly refer to those which are missing. His 
 wife had fortunately preserved, in their original sealed 
 envelope, the following missives from the Yildiz 
 Kiosk : 
 
 From Muhamed Zaffer, Chaplain to the Sultan. 
 
 To his Excellency the Egyptian Minister of War. 
 
 Excellency, I have presented your two faithful letters to 
 His Majesty the Sultan, and from their contents he has learnt 
 all your sentiments of patriotism and watchfulness, and especially 
 have the promises you make of your efforts to guard faithfully 
 and truly His Majesty's interests been a cause of lively satisfac- 
 tion to His Majesty, so much so that His Majesty ordered me 
 to express his pleasure and his favour to you, and further bade 
 me write to you as follows : viz. 
 
 " As the maintenance of the integrity of the Caliphate is a 
 duty which touches the honour of every one of us, it is incumbent 
 on every Egyptian to strive earnestly after the consolidation of my 
 power to prevent Egypt from passing out of my hands into the 
 rapacious grasp of foreigners, as the vilayet of Tunis has passed, 
 and I repose all my confidence in you, my son, to exert all your 
 influence and to put forfch every effort to prevent such a thing 
 happening. You are to beware never for one moment to lose 
 sight of this important point, and to omit none of the pre- 
 cautionary measures which are called for by the age in which 
 we live ; keeping always before you as a perpetual goal the 
 defence of your faith and of your country, and especially you 
 must persist in maintaining your confidence and the ties which 
 bind you." 
 
 " That country Egypt is of the highest importance to 
 
WHAT ARABFS PAPERS CONTAINED. 167 
 
 England and France, and most of all to England ; and certain 
 seditious intriguers in Constantinople, following in the path of 
 these Governments, have for some time past been busy with 
 their treacherous and accursed projects. Since they have found 
 it to their profit jealously to promote these intrigues and seditions 
 in Egypt, it is the especial desire of His Majesty that you should 
 keep a very careful eye on these persons and things. According 
 to the telegrams and news sent by the Khedive Tewfik, one of 
 this party, we see that he is weak and capricious, and also it is 
 to be remarked that one of his telegrams does not corroborate 
 another, but they are all in contradiction. In addition to this 
 I may tell you that AH Nizami Pacha and AH Fuad Bey have 
 spoken to His Majesty most highly in your favour, and Ahmed 
 Ratib has repeated to His Majesty the substance of the con- 
 versation he had with you in the railway carriage between the 
 stations of Zagazig and Mahsa, and, as His Majesty places the 
 greatest confidence in Ahmed Pacha, he desires me again for 
 this reason to express his trust in you, and to say that, as he 
 considers you a man of the highest integrity and trustworthiness, 
 he requires you above all things to prevent Egypt from passing 
 into the hands of strangers, and to be careful to allow them no 
 pretext for intervention there. The orders which Ahmed Pacha 
 Ratib will receive on this head will be separately communicated 
 to you. Both my letter and that of Ahmed Pacha Ratib, by 
 order of His Majesty, have been written by one of His Majesty's 
 own private secretaries, and, after we have affixed our seals to 
 the letters, we also put an extra special seal on the envelopes. 
 In a special and secret manner I tell you that the Sultan has no 
 confidence in Ismail, Halim, or Tewfik; but the man who thinks 
 of the future of Egypt and consolidates the ties which bind him 
 to the Caliphate, who pays due respect to His Majesty and gives 
 free course to His Majesty's firmans, who assures his independent 
 authority in Constantinople and elsewhere, who does not give 
 bribes to a swarm of treacherous sub-officials, who does not 
 
168 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 deviate one hair's breadth from his line of duty, who is versed 
 in the intrigues and machinations of our European enemies, 
 who will watch against them, and ever preserve his country 
 and his faith intact a man who does this will be pleasing, 
 agreeable to, and accepted by our great lord, the Sultan. If I 
 have not entered into any further details in this letter of mine 
 I beg you to excuse me, because Ahmed Pacha Ratib only arrived 
 three days ago, and yet in that time, owing to his declarations 
 of your fidelity and true intentions, His Majesty has expressed 
 his full confidence in you. I only received the message I have 
 just given you yesterday, and I hope to be able to send you by 
 next week's post a more detailed letter. In every case be careful 
 not to let any letters you send fall into strange hands, but try to 
 get a special messenger, and as for this time it would be better 
 if you were to send your answer by the hand of the man who 
 brings this letter. 
 
 Your servant, 
 
 . MUHAMED ZAFFER, 
 (February 22, 1882). 4 Kebi-al-Akhir, 1299. 
 
 Another of the same date, from Ahmed Pacha 
 Ratib, aide-de-camp and Secretary to the Sultan, is 
 as follows : 
 
 I related to His Majesty the Sultan the conversation we had 
 on the railway between the stations of Zagazig and Mahsa on 
 my return to Stamboul, and it caused great pleasure to His 
 Majesty, and he ordered me to communicate to you his Imperial 
 compliments. I related to His Majesty all the kind treatment 
 I received at your hands, and the courtesy my eyes witnessed 
 while I was in Cairo, and His Majesty was extremely gratified 
 thereat, so that the satisfaction he felt in your devotion and' 
 fidelity was increased manyfold. People had made him think 
 that you were acting, I know not how, contrary to right, and 
 
WHAT ARABPS PAPERS CONTAINED. 169 
 
 had succeeded in perverting His Majesty's ideas about you ; 
 but now that I have exposed the true statement of the case to 
 him I swear to you that His Majesty deeply regrets ever 
 having paid any attention to these false and lying statements 
 about you, and, as a good proof of this, His Majesty has com- 
 manded me to write this letter, and to express to you the senti- 
 ments which follow. It matters nothing who is Khedive of 
 Egypt. The thoughts of the ruler of Egypt, his intentions and 
 his conduct, must be governed with the greatest care, and all his 
 actions must tend to secure the future" of Egypt, and to uphold 
 intact the sovereignty of the Caliph, while he must show the 
 most perfect zeal in upholding the faith and the country's rights. 
 This will be required of him. Of the persons who have been 
 on tho Khedivial throne, Ismail Pacha and his predecessors 
 gave bribes to AH Pacha, Fuad Pacha, Midhat Pacha, and other 
 representatives of the Sublime Porte, traitors, and, after shutting 
 the eyes of the officials, dared to overtax and oppress the Egyp- 
 tians, and in addition to this they made heavy debts and brought 
 the Egyptians under a grievous yoke, and to-day in the eyes of 
 the world their state has specially appealed to our pity ; but the 
 whole position is an extremely delicate one, which calls for the 
 necessity of finding a speedy and sure remedy. Therefore, it 
 behoves you above all things to prevent anything that might 
 lead to foreign intervention, and never to stray from the just 
 and true path, nor to listen to any treacherous falsehoods, but 
 in every way with watchful care to hinder the seditious projects 
 of foreigners. This is the great hope of the Sultan, and, since 
 we two shall correspond in the future, you must take the neces- 
 sary precautions to prevent our letters from falling into strange 
 hands. For this, the easiest way at present and there is no 
 safer channel you can find is to trust your correspondence to 
 the true and trusty man who carries this letter and that of 
 Sheikh Muhamed Zaffer. I would also add that it is indis- 
 pensable that you should send secretly some officer who knows 
 
170 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 well what is going on in Egypt, and who is a trusted friend of 
 yours, to present at the footstool of His Majesty reports on the 
 state of the country in true detail. I beg you to send the 
 answer by the man who brings this letter. 
 AHMED RATIB, 
 
 Aide-de-Camp of the Sultan, 
 
 4 Rebi-al-Akhir, 
 (February 22, 1882.) 
 
 It is important to bear in mind the date at which 
 those letters were written and the position of the 
 persons who wrote them. Ahmed Essad had been 
 sent by the Sultan on several secret missions to Egypt 
 since the beginning of the year 1882. To facilitate 
 this correspondence he had been appointed to an 
 ecclesiastical post in Arabia, and Mr. Redhouse 
 describes him as " substitute for the Sultan in the 
 Prophet's Mosque at Medina, Chief Preacher and 
 Chief Precentor therein." Muhamed Zaffer was the 
 Sultan's confidential spiritual adviser, who alone has 
 a right to sit in his presence, and who occupied 
 a suite of rooms in immediate vicinity to the im- 
 perial apartments. He had also been charged with 
 the delicate negociations as to the movements of 
 the Tunisian Arabs on the Tripolitan frontier. 
 Ahmed Rdtib was one of the Sultan's most trusted 
 aides-de-camp, and had already taken an important 
 (although secret) part in the first Turkish Mission to 
 Egypt. 
 
WHAT ARABFS PAPERS CONTAINED. 171 
 
 The following are Arabi' s firmans of rank issued 
 on the 14th March and 24th June, 1882 : 
 
 We, the Prince of generous princes, and chief amongst the 
 great and noble, endowed with honour and grace and with the 
 special gift of God's favour, on the representation of the Khedive 
 of Egypt that one of the princes of our imperial army in Egypt, 
 as a man of reputation and dignity, merited the rank of Pacha, 
 have advanced Arabi Pacha to this rapk, and, having granted it 
 to you and because you are worthy of it, the decree for that 
 object has been issued from my Imperial Divan. 
 
 You then, because you have merited this favour and honour, 
 and because you are invested with the rank of Mir-Liwa, must 
 always show the greatest zeal and energy in carrying out all 
 our orders, and display all constancy, caution, and fidelity, and 
 you must ever beware of acting in any way prejudicial to the 
 authority of the Caliph or contrary to law and justice. 
 
 (The Sultan's seal.) 
 
 Again : 
 
 Seeing the honesty, zeal, talent, and perfect intelligence 
 which adorn the honourable and pure character of Arabi Pacha, 
 the great amongst the noble, the prince of generous princes, the 
 Minister of War over our imperial Egyptian army, we feel it 
 incumbent on us to double our favours and honours upon him ; 
 and therefore, according to this imperial decree, which I have 
 issued, the first grade of the order of the Medjidieh has been 
 graciously conferred on the before-mentioned Arabi Pacha, and 
 this Berat confirming it is issued accordingly. 
 
 (The Sultan's seal.) 
 
 These documents, coupled with others of a similar 
 character, included amongst them letters and tele- 
 
172 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABT. 
 
 grams addressed from the Porte and Yildiz Kiosk to 
 Rdgheb Pacha and Mahmoud Sami, which we hoped 
 eventually to obtain, would have conclusively proved 
 the authority of the Sultan for Ardbi's action, and its 
 continuity up to the very eve of his defeat. Nor, I 
 contend, does this defence in any way detract from 
 Arabi's claim to be ranked amongst true patriots. He 
 always acknowledged the suzerainty and religious 
 supremacy of the Porte as entirely consonant with 
 the movement he headed. Thus wrote Mr. Blunt 
 when publishing by authority six months before the 
 war the programme of the Egyptian Nationalists : 
 
 They acknowledge the Sultan Abd-el-Hamid Khan as their 
 Suzerain and Lord, and as actual Caliph or Head of the Mussul- 
 man religion ; nor do they propose, while his empire stands, to 
 alter this relationship. They admit the right of the Porte to 
 the tribute fixed by law, and to military assistance in case of 
 foreign war. At the same time, they are firmly determined to 
 defend their national rights and privileges, and to oppose, by 
 every means in their power, the attempts of those who would 
 reduce Egypt again to the condition of a Turkish Pachalik. 
 They trust in the protecting Powers of Europe, and especially 
 in England, to continue their guarantee of Egypt's administra- 
 tive independence. 
 
 From this profession of faith Arabi never deviated. 
 
 The remaining papers given to us by Arabi 
 showed quite as conclusively (to borrow his own 
 words) that " all Egypt was with him." Petitions 
 and addresses bearing hundreds (sometimes thou- 
 
WHAT ARABPS PAPERS CONTAINED. 173 
 
 sands) of signatures and seals, from the chief men of 
 every part of the country between Assiout and the 
 mouth of the Nile, testified to the public approval of 
 the National Cabinet, the existing universal faith in 
 Arabi, the intense unpopularity of the Joint Note and 
 " of him who accepted it," and the ardent wish of the 
 Egyptians to follow the banner which had been raised. 
 Other petitions and addresses eouched in a similar 
 strain poured in on the Imperial Commissioners to be 
 placed at the feet of the Commander of the Faithful. 
 Arabi possessed authentic copies of many of these. 
 The Ulema of El Azhar had weighed Tewfik in the 
 balance and found him wanting. They, too, joined 
 in the general cry which echoed from one end of 
 Egypt to the other, "Allah yansuraJc yd Arabi" 
 (" God grant you victory, oh Arabi ! ") 
 
 The following address came from the chief in- 
 habitants of the wealthy district of Sharkiya : 
 
 The Ministry which was formed with the consent of the 
 Chamber under the presidency of Mahmoud Sami Pacha, from 
 the day it assumed the reins of government, has sought to better 
 the condition of the country and has striven to lay down principles 
 of justice, to support the rules of order, and blot out the defects 
 of the times preceding its formation. 
 
 It adopted the most efficacious measures for rooting out the 
 tyranny which has ruined the country and defaced its beauty. 
 It commenced, with all possible zeal and intelligence, to give 
 justice to those who sought it. We, therefore, chief men of the 
 
174 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 province of Sharkiya, and having the most important interest in 
 the same, do demand the maintenance of this Cabinet, that it 
 may complete its good measures, which, if God so wills it, are 
 for our profit and welfare. We pledge ourselves to support this 
 Ministry as we would defend our honour, our property, and all 
 that is cherished by us. 
 
 The principal inhabitants of Alexandria spoke 
 thus : 
 
 In the name of God the Clement and Merciful, praise be to 
 Him and blessings on the Prophet of God. 
 
 We verily believe that the presence of the fleet off our city 
 can be for no other purpose than to carry out the Note pre- 
 sented by the two Consuls- General of England and France to 
 the Egyptian Government. 
 
 In the demands set forth in this Note, an attempt is made to 
 strike at the rights of the people and their country, to annul the 
 firmans of the Porte, and openly and plainly to intervene in 
 affairs of purely internal administration. It asks also the 
 banishment of Egyptians and the dismissal of those who are our 
 Ministers. This can mean nothing else than taking possession 
 of our country. We have heard that His Highness the Khedive 
 has accepted the note in question without finding fault with a 
 word of it. He has done this although Egypt is a dependency 
 of the Porte, who has granted to its ruler the full direction of 
 all its internal affairs, and the submission to the Note destroys at 
 once our privileges and those of the Porte. We of Alexandria 
 reject the Note of the Powers, and he who accepts it must abso- 
 lutely and for ever sever his cause from ours. 
 
 We refuse to separate ourselves from the Porte, to attach 
 ourselves to any foreign power, even should we die for it, for 
 better is it to die for the life of the country than to live while 
 the country is dying. 
 
WHAT AKABPS PAPERS CONTAINED. 175 
 
 Addresses of this kind seem to have poured in 
 from all parts of the country, from Rosetta, from the 
 Dakhalia, from Mansoorah, from Gharbieh, and the 
 Fayoom. Their language is different, but their object 
 is one to support Arabi in his opposition to the 
 Joint Note, to protest against the arrival of the fleet, 
 and to solicit the favourable intervention of the 
 Sultan. The Bedouin Sheikhs follow the example of 
 their brethren of the cities, and their petitions are 
 perhaps the most curious of all. In a score of them 
 the fate of Tunis is pointed out as a warning and 
 example. To reproduce these documents would fill 
 a volume. 
 
 For my present purpose one other example of them 
 will suffice ; the judgment of the great theological 
 doctors of the El Azhar (a Moslem university almost 
 as old as Islam itself) upon the Khedive Tewfik. 
 
 Here is the istifta, or question : 
 
 Oh ye Notables and most learned Ulemas, who give wise 
 counsel to the Moslems, who keep the Mussulman law spotless 
 and pure, and who watch over the execution of its precepts, 
 incline your ear and answer to the questions put by the Egyptian 
 Nation in the following lines. Give sound advice, and may 
 you be guided aright, and may God work well through you and 
 point out the straight path ! 
 
 What say you of a Sovereign who, being named by the 
 Prince of the Faithful to govern his subjects with justice, and to 
 act according to the rules of God, has violated the compact and 
 sown dissensions among the Moslems, and has broken their staff 
 
176 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 of unity ? This so-called sovereign has even gone so far as to 
 prefer the government of the Infidels to that of the Faithful, 
 and has asked nations who are straying from the path of the 
 true religion to establish their power in the Mussulman country 
 over which he rules. 
 
 He has been the cause of making his subjects bend before 
 the force of the stranger, and has even gone so far as to use 
 every effort to defend that force. 
 
 And when the Faithful counselled him to change his conduct, 
 he refused, and stubbornly continued in disobedience to the 
 Sultan, and the Holy Law. Knowing this, can this sovereign 
 legally continue to reign, to enable strangers to strengthen 
 themselves in the country of Islam, or must he not be deposed, 
 and another appointed in his place, who will watch over and keep 
 the law ? 
 
 Fetwa or Opinion. 
 
 Thanks to God, and prayers and peace to our Lord Muhamed, 
 the Messenger of God, and to his relations, friends, and those 
 who love him ! 
 
 In this case he shall be cast out, and in his place shall be 
 named one who will watch over the law and defend it, and 
 respect the rights of the Prince of the Faithful, our Lord the 
 Caliph, Successor of the Messenger of the Master of all men. 
 
 The Most High has said u Ye who believe, take not the 
 Jews and the Christians as Masters one over the other, and he 
 among you who makes one of these his master shall be considered 
 like to them." He hath also said (Praise and honour to him !) 
 1 ; Do not this, for then will there be troubles on the earth, and 
 great disorders." Again He hath said (may He be praised and 
 exalted !) " He who does not govern in accordance with that 
 which God has shown by revelation he is truly an infidel." 
 Also He hath said (praise and glory to Him !) " He who does 
 not govern according to the revealed will of God, is a sinner." 
 
WHAT ARABPS PAPERS CONTAINED. 177 
 
 And again, " He who does not govern according to the 
 revealed will of God, that man is an oppressor/' Again, " Tell 
 the deceitful that they shall have a terrible punishment, those 
 who take to themselves friends among the unbelievers instead of 
 from among the faithful. Do they seek after power ? Know 
 that all power belongs to God alone ! " 
 
 He hath said (praise and glory be to Him !) " Ye who have 
 believed, take not my enemy and yours to show kindness to 
 him." And again, " He who doeth this, shall be considered as 
 erring from the right way." And again, " Ye have a fair 
 example before you in Abraham and those who^were with him. 
 They said in truth to those among whom they lived, ' We retire 
 from you, and purify ourselves from you, and from all that you 
 worship in the place of God. We will know you no more, and 
 henceforth enmity and hatred shall reign between us for ever, 
 until you shall worship the One God.' " He hath said (praise 
 and glory be to Him !), " In Abraham and his companions you 
 have a good example, for those who trust in God and believe in 
 the last day. He who rules is God, the Almighty to whom 
 praise is due. He who makes friends of the Infidels is a tyrant." 
 
 The Prophet of God hath said (God's blessing and peace be 
 on him !), " He who honours the power of God on earth, God 
 will honour him on the day of the Eesurrection, and he who 
 despises the sovereignty of the Lord upon earth, God shall 
 despise him upon the last day." 
 
 God, praise be to His name, is Omnipotent and Omniscient. 
 May God bless our Lord the Prophet Muhamed, the most Noble, 
 and his family and friends, great and powerful ! 
 
 Here follow the signatures of the eight great 
 religious chiefs of the El Azhar. The senior Mu- 
 hamed Eleish died in the early days of his tribula- 
 tions, but his legitimate successor Hasan El Edwi 
 was one of the most remarkable of the prisoners I 
 met in the Daira Saniya. 
 
 N 
 
178 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Arabi's papers, I believe, are more than sufficient 
 to rebut any charge of rebellion in the ordinary sense 
 of the word. They show at any rate that if he 
 rebelled at all he did so as the leader of five millions 
 of people, and at the head of the whole Egyptian 
 people. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE PROCEDURE RULES. 179 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE PROCEDUEE RULES. 
 
 NOVEMBER opened with the strongest indications, both 
 on the part of M. Borelli and the Commission of 
 Inquiry, that they were both anxious to escape, if 
 possible, from the Procedure Rules, which they had 
 agreed to on the part of the Government, and I 
 had accepted on behalf of our clients. We, on the 
 contrary, saw in them our sheet-anchor, and deter- 
 mined to cling closely to them accordingly. On going 
 to the prison as usual (November 2nd) we were sur- 
 prised to find the Commission in solemn session, 
 although, in virtue of our agreement, we were now 
 entitled to be present at the further examination of 
 witnesses. Mahmoud Fehmy, Arabi's Minister of 
 Public Works and Chief Engineer, was entering the 
 room between a file of soldiers just as we arrived. I 
 sent in a note to M. Borelli, asking him to tell me what 
 all this meant. He begged us to be patient, assuring 
 us with becoming gravity that he did not think the 
 
 N2 
 
180 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 treasonable language of Mahmoud Fehmy in regards 
 to the Khedive ? s portmanteau very material to the 
 merits of the case. 
 
 As I insisted on presenting a formal protest to the 
 Commission, he was again sent out to set matters 
 straight if possible. The incident ended in a written 
 compromise, by which we agreed that "the Com- 
 mission might, during four days, to count from 
 the 3rd November, hear in camerd the witnesses 
 already summoned, and no others. After this, the 
 Commission should give notice to the legal represen- 
 tatives of the accused if there were sufficient grounds 
 for continuing the inquiry. (Instruction.) From 
 that day, and after such a time as was necessary for the 
 examination of the record of the case, the inquiry could 
 only be resumed in the presence of the accused and 
 their advocates ; and in conformity with the arrange- 
 ment of the 21st October." 
 
 While the negotiations were in progress, the 
 sitting of the Commission was suspended ; M. Borelli 
 went backwards and forwards to confer with the 
 president, and the compromise was finally signed by 
 both of us in an adjoining office communicating 
 with the court-room by an open door. When all 
 was over Ismail Eyoub offered me his congratulations 
 in the presence of his colleagues. The importance of 
 what took place will soon be seen. Ten days later 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE PROCEDURE RULES. 181 
 
 the Commission was instructed by Riaz Pacha to deny 
 that they had cognizance either of this arrangement, 
 or the first agreement entered into by Borelli Bey on 
 behalf of the Khedivial Government. 
 
 While waiting in the corridor I was suddenly 
 addressed in good English by a short, thickset, and 
 very much.bronzed Egyptian, wearing an old tattered 
 naval uniform, and carefully guarded on either side by 
 a soldier. To avoid suspicion he hardly moved his lips. 
 With many interruptions he told me the following 
 story: "My name is Ali Ragheb. I was a second 
 officer in the service of the administration of the Khe- 
 divial steamers. On several occasions I was ordered 
 to bring letters to Arabi from the Yildiz Kiosk. I 
 once or twice took back his replies. After the 
 bombardment I was arrested on reaching Alexandria. 
 I had some cypher letters with me not for Arabi but 
 for other people, the contents of which I did not know. 
 The Alexandria Court Martial condemned me to ten 
 years' hard labour in the Soudan. This means death. 
 I beg you to call me as a witness for Ardbi. I will 
 testify in his favour. He was the chosen leader of all 
 of us Egyptians, though he is deserted now. Can 
 you present an appeal against the sentence passed 
 upon me ? " Later on I asked to call Ali Ragheb as 
 a witness. The Commission immediately ordered him 
 to the Soudan. Sir Charles Wilson prevented this, and 
 
182 HO W WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 I tried in vain to move the authorities in his favour. 
 It was, however, hopeless. The sentence was fifteen 
 years and not ten as he imagined. What has become 
 of him since ? 
 
 The following days were passed in reading the 
 various statements given us by the prisoners, and in 
 examining such depositions as we managed to obtain 
 from the Commission. The materials for a really 
 tenable defence now seemed almost within our grasp. 
 It became increasingly difficult for the Egyptian 
 Government to conceal the true state of the case, unless, 
 as Arabi himself very aptly remarked, it could invent 
 " a chain capable of binding five millions of people." 
 In the course of a tedious search after a complete copy 
 of the Moniteur Egyptien (almost as inconvenient a 
 record as our own Blue-Books), I made the acquaint- 
 ance of Monsieur Le'on Jablin, who had formerly 
 been its publisher. I not only obtained from him 
 what I required, but he gave me unasked much new 
 and valuable information in favour of my clients and 
 their cause. M. Jablin had published in the spring a 
 well-written pamphlet explaining the ideas and aims of 
 the Nationalists, entitled VEgypte Nouvelle, which is 
 well worth reading still. When I saw him he was 
 selling off his possessions preparatory to returning 
 home. " Riaz Pacha and I," he said, " cannot live in 
 the same country now." 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE PROCEDURE RULES. 183 
 
 I also had the good fortune to meet Mr. M'Cul- 
 logh, an excellent Arabic scholar and one of the most 
 intelligent employes of the Egyptian Post Office. 
 He had been "in at the death'' when Arabi's tent 
 was sacked, and was profoundly impressed by the 
 thousands of telegrams which were found there, and 
 which eloquently testified to the universality of his 
 cause. Mr. M'Cullogh never believed in Arabi till 
 then. He was now not only convinced but even 
 enthusiastic in his defence. Apart from the Khedive 
 and his mother, hardly a single male or female mem- 
 ber of the reigning family had failed to send his or 
 her offering of money or provisions to the camps, or 
 his or her laudatory telegram or letter to the leader 
 of the people. Mr. M'Cullogh had seen all these, and * 
 he had even copied some of them. Here is a single 
 specimen : 
 
 Prince Ibrahim, to Arabi Pacha, 
 
 Cairo, Kafr-el-Dowar. 
 
 To H.E. the protector of the rights of Egypt, Ahmed 
 Pacha Arabi. I offer to your Excellency my most sincere and 
 ardent compliments and my public salutations, begging you to 
 present the same to the chiefs of the army and to all the officers 
 and soldiers, those possessors of genius and zeal. I tender you 
 my hearty and continued thanks for your solicitude on behalf of 
 our dear country, so precious to all Egyptians. I am delighted 
 that the men of our country have offered themselves with the 
 object of defending it against the enemy. I ascribe this to your 
 good endeavours, which have been confirmed by victory. I pray 
 God that he may perpetuate your happiness, crowned by triumph 
 
184 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 and safety, and that I may receive a continued report of your 
 health and security, of the continuation of victory, and of the 
 rout of the iniquitous enemy. God can give us triumph 
 through the intercession of the Prophet, for He is Almighty. 
 
 IBRAHIM 
 
 Through the good offices of Mr. Eobert Oliphant, 
 one of our clerks, we frequently saw Mr. Garwood, 
 who had been till lately traffic-manager of the Cairo 
 and Alexandria Railway. From him we obtained 
 many details as to the singularly efficient manner in 
 which Arabi had maintained order and peace at Cairo 
 down to the day of his defeat. Even during the war 
 the accounts of the Railway Company had been kept 
 up to date with scrupulous exactness, not a piastre 
 had been wrongfully appropriated from the receipts. 
 These very books could have shown conclusively 
 that " all Egypt was with Arabi" in deed as well 
 as in word. Mr. Garwood gave us many instances 
 in support of his assertions, and told us a very 
 curious story of an adventure which happened to him 
 just before the commencement of hostilities. 
 
 " The evening before Arabi left for Alexandria," he 
 said, "I was sitting with Mr. Oliphant in the balcony 
 of Shepheard's Hotel, when we were accosted by a 
 Turk, who spoke French, and was familiar to us as an 
 hanger-on at the Government offices. Some refresh- 
 ment was ordered, and the man joined our party. 
 After a few remarks on the subject of what had recently 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE PROCEDURE RULES. 185 
 
 taken place, he said to me somewhat abruptly, ' Could 
 you not manage for a great reward to leave the rail- 
 way bridge at Kafr Zayat open when Arabi goes 
 down to Alexandria to-night ? " Seeing the horror 
 his proposal excited, he affected to laugh, and said he 
 was only jesting ; besides, how could he seriously 
 make such an offer to Englishmen ? He almost forced 
 us to drink some wine he ordered as a sign of our 
 belief in his protestations. After he left, Mr. Oliphant 
 fell into a state of coma and I became violently ill, 
 and I think the terrible sickness which supervened 
 saved my life. Late at night we both went to the 
 police-station, where our depositions were taken. 
 Then came the exodus of Europeans and so the 
 matter dropped." Mr. Oliphant fully confirmed this 
 strange story. 
 
 Another of our visitors was Signor Gr. B. Messi- 
 daglia, who had, in the days of Gressi Pacha, been one 
 of the three subordinate governors of the Soudan. 
 He had remained in Cairo during all the anxious time 
 before Tel-el-Kebir, and, although personally opposed 
 to Aralbi, was loud in his praise of the order main- 
 tained by his subordinates. " Never," he said, " was 
 there so much real security at Cairo as during the 
 so-called reign of terror. 7 ' He showed me a paper 
 signed by all the Italian colonists attesting the praise- 
 worthy conduct of Ibrahim Bey Fouzy, Arabi's 
 Prefect of Police. Before leaving once more for the 
 
186 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Soudan (where he again did good service) Signor 
 Messidaglia gave me a rough print of the bombard- 
 ment, which had attained great popularity in Cairo 
 during the operations at Kafr-el-Dowar. It was 
 coloured green, red, and yellow, all attempt at per- 
 spective being entirely dispensed with. Arabi was 
 waving his sword triumphantly, while one ship at 
 least was on fire and another sinking. M. Gabriel 
 Charmes* sees an unpardonable crime in the favourable 
 and one-sided versions of the " warlike operations" 
 published and telegraphed by the Nationalists to 
 encourage the Egyptians. If the trial had gone on I 
 should have produced a collection of French official 
 papers, which would have shown conclusively that 
 M. Gambetta in 1870 sinned in this respect far more 
 unblushingly than Arabi. 
 
 It was now decided to fit up, regardless of expense, 
 a new court in the great hall of the Daira Saniya prison. 
 Workmen now began to toil at it day and night 
 with almost feverish impatience. In order I suppose 
 to protect its occupants from cold a splendid floor of 
 marble slabs was ruthlessly ripped up, and wooden 
 planks laid down in its place. I well remember poor 
 Ali Fehmy taking me to his cell- window, which looked 
 into the central quadrangle, and saying, "Do you 
 wish to know what kind of people govern us ? Look 
 
 * L 'Insurrection Militaire en Egypte. Revue des Deux Mondes, 
 August and September, 1883. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE PROCEDURE RULES. 187 
 
 there ! Do you want to learn how Egyptian money 
 is spent ? Look there ! " 
 
 The day after these preparations commenced 
 (November 5th) I again met in the corridor of the 
 prison Mahmoud Sami's lawyer, Yusef Kamil. He 
 asked me to see his client, and I accordingly accom- 
 panied him to the cell in which he was confined. The 
 ex-Prime Minister is a little below the usual height, 
 with a pale and almost refined face of the Turkish 
 type (although he claims an admixture of Egyptian 
 blood, and his family has been domiciled in Egypt 
 for three generations at least), and he seemed to feel 
 his present position very acutely. His full name is 
 Mahmoud Sami Baroudi, or the " Powder-manu- 
 facturer," an affix which now has lost its significa- 
 tion. Looking at the frail figure before me it was 
 difficult to realize the dark tale of vengeance for a 
 marital wrong which is always urged against him 
 by his enemies. His second wife a princess of the 
 house of Yeghen, connected in some way with the 
 Khedivial family has shown the deepest affection for 
 her husband in the midst of his tribulations. In his 
 present position prudence dictated the most formal 
 interchange of compliments on both sides, but before 
 many weeks had passed I was destined to know more 
 of Mahmoud Sami. 
 
 I now often saw Ismail Eyoub, who used many 
 
188 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABT. 
 
 blandishments to persuade me to change the procedure, 
 and who entirely failed to understand the meaning of 
 cross-examination. According to his honest conviction, 
 a man of mean condition or a disgraced Nationalist 
 might be treated with undisguised contumely, while 
 it was rank treason to approach in anything but the 
 most servile language a il loyal '' Pacha or Bey. It 
 also began slowly to dawn upon him that in virtue of 
 our rules of procedure we were now entitled to cross- 
 examine many people in high places, including the 
 Khedive himself, who, with Ridz and Cherif, had 
 tendered written ex-parte diatribes against the rebels. 
 Ismail Eyoub was evidently uncomfortable. If Arabi 
 was to have a fair trial he really could not understand 
 why the English had come to Egypt at all. 
 
 As the Commission persisted in making no sign, 
 we were forced to commence a correspondence, for 
 if we did nothing we were sure to be accused 
 of delay. We asked to be allowed to see others 
 amongst the prisoners whom we proposed to call 
 as witnesses. Our request was met by an abrupt 
 refusal. We prayed with becoming humility for 
 information as to the code by which our clients 
 were to be tried. The answer was contained in 
 two words " military law." We applied for the 
 summons of witnesses, but no reply of any sort was 
 obtainable. 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE PROCEDURE RULES. 189 
 
 On the 7th November we were invited to a con- 
 ference of the Commission. Even the coffee and ci- 
 garettes which as usual formed a prelude to discus- 
 sion were powerless to infuse any cordiality into the 
 proceedings. We soon found ourselves undergoing a 
 process of cross-examination with a view to destroy 
 our procedure rules. How long would our examina- 
 tion of witnesses last ? Who was actually to put the 
 questions ? Whose interpretation was to be binding ? 
 Were the accused ever to be allowed to speak? 
 Would we object to furnish the Commission with 
 "Arabi's papers" at once? Were not prisoners in 
 England condemned after simple interrogation ? 
 Supposing we confounded the witnesses in cross- 
 examination, and Borelli Bey made them contradict 
 themselves in re-examination, which version was the 
 Court to believe? The next day we forwarded to 
 Ismail Pacha Eyoub a discreet reply in writing, 
 couched in the most conciliatory language and in 
 strict accordance with the convention entered into 
 by Borelli Bey on behalf of the Egyptian Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Our interpreter, Mr. Santillana, now arrived, and 
 his great ability, coupled with a complete mastery of 
 the Arabic language, gained him at once the confidence 
 of the prisoners and even excited the admiration of 
 
190 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 the Commission. He at once became^ zealous sharer 
 in our increasingly arduous labours. 
 
 A very disagreeable incident now occurred. The 
 mudir or governor of Zagazig was a near relative of 
 Eiaz Pacha. He had once previously been removed 
 from his post, and he suspected two of the chief inha- 
 bitants of the province to have been in some degree 
 instrumental in procuring his discomfiture. Their 
 positions were now by a turn of fortune reversed ; 
 Ferid Pacha was once more governor of Zagazig, and 
 his opponents, Emin Bey Shemsi and Ahmed Bey 
 Abaza (two strong adherents of Arabi), were in 
 prison at Cairo. Could such a rare opportunity for 
 a little seasonable vengeance be possibly missed? 
 Shemsi and Abaza were removed to Zagazig, and 
 given up to the tender mercies of their former enemy. 
 That they were thrust chained into a dark and 
 bedless cell nobody denies, but a story became current 
 that they were compelled to clean the prison, and 
 otherwise treated with inhumanity and indignity. 
 Amongst Shemsi's many employes was a young 
 Syrian clerk named Nicola Karmi, who claimed the 
 rights of a British subject as the grandson of one 
 Curmi, a native of Malta. Karmi had been at his 
 home in Beyrout during the recent troubles, and only 
 returned to Zagazig to find his master in jail, and his 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE PROCEDURE RULES. 191 
 
 family overwhelmed with grief and fairly beside 
 themselves with consternation. 
 
 Karmi had heard of our defending Arabi, and he 
 determined to see if we could do anything to alleviate 
 the condition of his master. By the desire of the 
 Shemsi family he came to Cairo, and on the afternoon 
 of the 8th November called on us to know if we could 
 undertake Sheinsi's defence. He was tracked from 
 our door by spies, arrested on a charge of sedition, 
 and, although a Christian, a British subject, and an 
 absentee during the war, sent at once by train to 
 Alexandria and deported as a dangerous political 
 firebrand to Beyrout. Next morning we received two 
 despairing telegrams from poor Karmi now on his 
 involuntary journey southwards. We could do 
 nothing. Sir Edward Malet was (I think, to his 
 regret) unable to interfere with the Khedivial pre- 
 rogative of expelling suspected persons from his 
 dominions. 
 
 Our prospects now seemed gloomy enough. The 
 Commission of Inquiry had become openly hostile, 
 and was apparently determined to force upon us a 
 procedure of its own making. Borelli Bey, with whom 
 we had originally come to terms, showed a manifest 
 inclination to have as little as possible to do with the 
 business ; we could only obtain the records of the 
 prosecution in such small instalments as to prevent 
 
192 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 any general examination of the case; our position 
 was greatly damaged by the designedly open intimi- 
 dation committed in the matter of Karmi, and the 
 public at home seemed disposed to chafe at a delay 
 which was attributed to our desire to indulge in 
 speeches of Tichbornian dimensions. Almost in 
 despair we wrote the following letter to the Times : 
 
 To the Editor of the Times. 
 
 SIR, In order to prevent serious misconception in England, 
 we venture to ask you to allow us to say a few words on the 
 subject of the coming trial. A feeling seems to have somehow 
 or other arisen in England that the rebellion itself admits of no 
 denial, and that the only difficulty is the ultimate disposal of 
 the persons of its leaders. We regret that our duty does not 
 allow us to hasten the very necessary settlement of Egypt by 
 accepting this conclusion. 
 
 The prisoners deny there has been any rebellion in its legal 
 sense. They say, and will prove if time is allowed them, that 
 the Sublime Porte from first to last approved their action. 
 Certain letters in the possession of Arabi Pacha have been 
 already published, and their contents are corroborated strongly 
 by the striking narrative of the tortuous diplomacy of the Yildiz 
 Kiosk unfolded in the last published Blue-Books. We also 
 hope to prove that His Highness the Khedive, for a long period 
 prior to the commencement of hostilities, wavered systematically 
 between the retrograde party and the Nationalists ; but that 
 after the arrival of Dervesh Pacha he acquiesced at three 
 Cabinet Councils, as also did Dervesh Pacha himself, in the 
 early phases of resistance an assertion to a great measure 
 borne out by the ambiguous terms of the subsequent proclama- 
 tions issued both at Constantinople and in Egypt. Other points 
 
THE BATTLE OF THE PROCEDURE RULES. 193 
 
 of law, we believe, can be raised in opposition to the charge of 
 rebellion between the 20th of July and the 13th of September, 
 especially as under the Ottoman code the rebels must wage 
 war against the Sultan, who, we respectfully contend, incited 
 them by word and deed to wage the war they waged against a 
 common foe : 
 
 We should ill serve our client if we relied on mere legal 
 technicalities. Of course, we must insist on a definition of the 
 substantive law to be applied to the case, and we have settled 
 the procedure by a code of our ow% ad hoc. But we chiefly 
 rely on our proofs that Arabi, rightly or wrongly, really headed 
 a National movement, that he received the moral and material 
 support of nearly the whole of Egypt, and that he was only 
 deserted when he failed to secure success. These facts we feel 
 sure of establishing. More than this, we shall prove that the 
 recent contest was the most humanitarian war known in the 
 history of nations, that it was characterised by a total absence 
 of the horror of ordinary warfare, and that the efforts of its 
 leaders were uniformly directed to preserve order and secure 
 the safety alike of person and property. As regards the crimes 
 of Alexandria, we have, as far as any information is given by 
 the papers already communicated to us, yet to know our 
 accusers. All we can say at present is that all the subsequent 
 conduct of Arabi Pacha is in itself the most striking evidence 
 in his favour. Abd-el-Kader was only sent into exile at 
 Damascus, yet his raids in Algeria far exceeded in gravity 
 and cruelty any allegations made against Arabi even by his 
 bitterest foe. 
 
 We only obtained access to Arabi on the 22nd of October, 
 and to our other clients some days later. Since then no one 
 can accuse us of want of diligence. We have worked inces- 
 santly, with the assistance of a staff of twenty translators and 
 clerks, at the examination of the documents on both sides. The 
 prosecution commenced communicating their proceedings on 
 
 O 
 
194 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 the 1st of November, and this work is to-day very far from 
 completion. Till this is done we are wholly unable to begin the 
 most necessary cross-examination of witnesses. 
 
 We have no desire to " air our eloquence " before the 
 Egyptian tribunals, and are quite willing to present only written 
 defences in Arabic to be read in open court. But what we do 
 ask is the material time to examine the existing documents and 
 evidence, in order to prove the defence we have indicated above. 
 Without this concession the deliverance of Arabi Pacha can 
 neither be good nor just, and we submit it is quite as important 
 for those with whom the responsibility for the future of Egypt 
 mainly rests to know the whole truth as to recent events as to 
 hurry over a merely formal trial simply because Arabi Pacha 
 blocks the way. 
 
 We are, Sir, your humble servants, 
 
 A. M. BROADLEY, ) 
 
 ^f TT, XT > Barnsters-at-Law. 
 
 MARK F. NAPIER,) 
 
 Cairo, Nov. 8. 
 
 That same evening Lord Dufferin arrived in 
 Cairo. 
 
LORD BUFFERINGS ARRIVAL. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LORD DUFFERIN'S ARRIVAL. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the difficulties related in the pre- 
 vious chapter, a rent in the clouds now and again 
 served to cheer us in the midst of our troubles. More 
 and more testimony in favour of Arabi was forth- 
 coming. Mr. Napier had procured some valuable 
 evidence as to the circumstances which followed the 
 bombardment at Alexandria ; even Wilson Bey, a 
 Government engineer, confessed to us that the manner 
 in which Arabi had caused his house to be guarded 
 was beyond all praise ; while the Superiors of one or 
 two religious orders were prepared to attest the 
 exemplary good treatment they had received during 
 the war. 
 
 Even the intense interest felt in the trial waned 
 perceptibly in presence of the excitement occasioned by 
 LordDufferin's mission. The Khedive and his Ministers 
 knew full well that he had baffled the tortuous diplo- 
 macy of the Yildiz Kiosk, and his advent in Egypt 
 was awaited with fear and trembling. In the midst 
 
 o2 
 
196 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABL 
 
 of the prevailing nervous expectancy, I fancy even 
 Ismail Eyoub did his best to give his hard-worked 
 Commissioners a little breathing-time to see what turn 
 things would now take. This wholly unlooked-for 
 sending of Lord Dufferin to Egypt seemed to operate 
 as a political shower-bath on the various rival factions, 
 each of which hoped for some advantage from the 
 new and improved order of things, which was about 
 to be inaugurated under the segis of England. The 
 Khedive was above all anxious and ill at ease, for he 
 felt that Lord Dufferin must know a great deal too 
 much of the Constantinople end of the tangled skein 
 of Turkish intrigue in Egypt. Nubar Pacha resolved 
 to hasten back to the land of his adoption to charm 
 his Lordship with well-worn platitudes about systems 
 of finance and judicial reforms ; Kiaz and Cherif 
 (ministerial irreconcileables.) were both anxious to see 
 on whom his choice would definitely fall ; while the 
 vanquished Nationalists in their cells fervently trusted 
 that some justice and relief to them would be a 
 consequence of his coming. 
 
 In the midst of this clamour of speculation Lord 
 Dufferin quietly took up his temporary residence in the 
 gilded Kasr-el-Nousa Palace, at the end of the shady 
 Shoubra Avenue, and dwelt in the same apartments 
 which had beentenanted by two generations of Turkish 
 Commissioners within the past twelve months. 
 
LORD BUFFERINGS ARRIVAL. 197 
 
 In one of these rooms Lord Dufferin received Mr. 
 Napier and myself on the morning of the llth Novem- 
 ber. He gave me at once the very fullest opportunity 
 of stating my case, and I carefully narrated every 
 incident which had occurred since our arrival down to 
 the time of our interview. He listened most patiently 
 to all I had to say, and, as an expert diplomatist, 
 said very little himself. I felt, however, perfectly 
 convinced that the Nationalists need no longer 
 despair of justice. 
 
 On the following afternoon we received (in answer 
 to one of our numerous applications) three packets, 
 which we were assured contained all the papers 
 belonging to Arabi, Yacoub Sami, and Ahmed Eifat. 
 I immediately asked Arabi to point out any document 
 he considered of importance to his defence. There 
 were none : letters, telegrams, &c., as described by 
 Mr. M'Cullogh, had somehow or other miscarried m 
 transitu, and all that remained were worse than use- 
 less. Arabi had always maintained a very chivalric 
 silence about his French sympathizers, but amongst the 
 papers handed me by the Commissioners I by chance 
 found one very curious letter, dated some time early in 
 June. It was written by Voisin Bey, who is or was 
 in the Khedivial service, and describes himself as an 
 " ancien officier de marine." He tells Arabi that he 
 has been on board the French ironclads and inter- 
 
198 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 viewed the Admiral. He is now in a position to 
 assure the " loyal and patriotic defender of his 
 country " that the French fleet has come merely to 
 watch the movements of the English, and in no way 
 to attack the Egyptians. Voisin Bey says he has not 
 failed to impress on the French officers the true state 
 of the case, and cf the valorous conduct of the leader 
 of the Egyptian people." In Voisin Bey's remarkable 
 letter we have a fair example of the first-fruits of 
 Anglo-French alliance. 
 
 The following day saw the commencement of a 
 new Moslem year, and the beginning of the fourteenth 
 century of the Hegira. Islam had expected great things 
 of the first of Mohurrum, 1300, but even the voice of 
 prophecy could now awaken no enthusiasm in Cairo. 
 The Commission of Inquiry thought it proper to 
 mark the date by a manifesto. A species of decree 
 was sent to us substituting an entirely new and 
 original procedure for that agreed upon between our- 
 selves and Borelli Bey. The following is a short 
 summary of its provisions : The inquiry will in any 
 case, be resumed on the 25th Nov., and the whole 
 case comprising cross-examination and the production 
 of evidence, must, under all circumstances and with- 
 out any possible excuse, be completed in thirty days. 
 Counsel can only examine witnesses through the Pre- 
 sident, who may stop any question he thinks fit. The 
 
LORD BUFFERINGS ARRIVAL. 199 
 
 accused can only appoint counsel after the completion 
 of the preliminary examination. The counsel for the 
 defence must surrender their documentary evidence 
 to the Commission of Inquiry before it completes its 
 labours. 
 
 There was no possibility of mistaking the meaning 
 of such a radical change of front. The work of 
 nearly a whole month was rendered useless, for the 
 very idea of a fair trial was now out of the question. 
 We could do nothing but present a respectful answer* 
 
 Cairo, 
 
 12th November, 1882. 
 To His Excellency Ismail Pacha Eyoub, President of the Commission 
 
 of Preliminary Enquiry. 
 EXCELLENCY, 
 
 We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of 
 this day's date. 
 
 We hasten to inform you that on behalf of our clients we respect- 
 fully decline to accept the conditions therein set forth as totally at 
 variance with the arrangement arrived at with us by H.E. Borelli 
 Bey on your behalf, and on behalf of the Government of His Highness 
 the Khedive, as we shall be able to prove when called on so to do. 
 
 We regret extremely that a stern sense of duty to our clients 
 compels us to thus place on record our total disagreement with the 
 terms of your letter, from which we confidently appeal to the high 
 sense of justice of H.H. The Khedive and his Ministers, whose sanc- 
 tion (combined with your approval and adoption) gave legal force to 
 the agreement signed on your behalf by H.E. Borelli Bey. 
 We are, Excellency, 
 
 Your obedient humble servants, 
 (Signed) A. M. BROADLEY, - Barristers- 
 MARK NAPIER, / at-Law. 
 
200 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 to Ismail Eyoub, and bring the matter to the notice 
 of Lord Dufferin. Our letter to the President was fol- 
 lowed by other communications calling his attention 
 to the various queries which he had left unanswered, 
 and our reasons for considering as obligatory and 
 official the Procedure Rules which we could only 
 frankly confess we owed to " the great experience, 
 the spirit of conciliation, and the well-known legal 
 acumen of H.E. Borelli Bey." 
 
 Our clients meanwhile continued working at their 
 defences and wholly unconscious of the storm which 
 was raging around us. Sheikh Abdii compiled for our 
 use an intelligent analysis of his Official Journal, and 
 gave us a great deal of information about the earlier 
 days of the National movement. He vividly described 
 how Arabi became the popular hero of Egypt, and how 
 thousands of Egyptian fathers called their children 
 after him, while the name of Tewfik was obliterated 
 from the land. 
 
 For reasons I shall presently relate Eiaz Pacha 
 grew bolder and more obstructive, till at last, on the 
 14th November, we were refused admittance to all 
 our clients except Arabi on the ground that an anony- 
 mous letter had been received stating that some of 
 our clerks, without our knowledge, had been carrying 
 on communications between some of the prisoners and 
 their friends, with a view of exciting a popular rising. 
 
LORD BUFFERINGS ARRIVAL. 201 
 
 Sir Charles Wilson, however, promptly interfered on 
 our behalf, and the proposed restriction was removed. 
 Many noteworthy events occurred on that day in 
 the prison. Arabi told us of a curious dream he had 
 had during the night, which had somewhat startled 
 him. There is nothing ludicrous in such a confidence 
 on his part. Arabi is an Egyptian, a well-read, 
 able, and gifted Egyptian, it is true, but still an 
 Egyptian and nothing more. Orientals have always 
 more or less believed in visions since the days of Saul 
 and David, who were great men in their times, and 
 there is nothing astonishing in Arabi talking about 
 his dream. Arabi had dreamed that in the night an 
 enormous serpent attacked him in his cell ; its head was 
 as Abd-el-Hamid and its tail as the Khedive Tewfik. 
 At last he killed it with his sword. The dream had 
 somewhat disturbed Arabi's usual composure. 
 
 A curious scene was going on in Abd-el-AFs cell, 
 nothing less than a grave criminal trial. Many 
 months ago his ward, a young Circassian named 
 Muhamed Husny (who used actually to accompany 
 his guardian's little son Said on his visits to our 
 office), had been detected in the act of attempting 
 to poison the Pacha in his evening bowl of tea. 
 The case somehow or other had hung fire, and 
 it was now being suddenly completed. Many long 
 rolls of evidence were read, and at last a sentence 
 
202 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 of eleven years imprisonment in the neighbour- 
 hood of the White Nile was formally pronounced 
 seance . tenante. Next day a very great man, one 
 Hussein Pacha (a member of the Court Martial), called 
 on me and said that he had been appointed guardian 
 of this interesting young poisoner, in the place of 
 Abd-el-Al. By my client's direction I afterwards 
 went to his house, opened his safe, and counted 
 out 3,000 Egyptian guineas, which I consigned to 
 Hussein Pacha's agent. The ward, still at liberty, 
 made vain appeals to me to give him ten pounds 
 for himself, as, he said with apparent sincerity, it was 
 all he was ever likely to see of his property. 
 
 In the corridor of the jail that afternoon I met 
 Ismail Eyoub. He made me understand he did not 
 bear malice, and fervently prayed that all our dif- 
 ferences would somehow or other be settled by 
 diplomacy. Just then two prisoners strongly guarded 
 ascended the staircase. They were Suleiman Bey 
 Sami and Hasan Moosa-el-Akad, who had that day 
 arrived from Crete. The great crisis of Ardbi's fate 
 had now arrived, but his dream proved a good omen 
 after all. 
 
AHMED RIFATS STORY. 203 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 AHMED RIFAT'S STORY. 
 
 Two days before Lord Dufferin reached Cairo, Ahmed 
 Rifat Bey, who had been, as I have before explained, 
 Secretary of the Nationalist Council of Ministers, gave 
 me a general statement of his defence, as well as a 
 variety of notes and memoranda to assist me in pre- 
 paring for the coming trial. Rifat Bey compiled his 
 narrative in French, which he writes correctly and 
 fluently, and I intend him to tell his story as nearly 
 as possible in his own words. 
 
 " Is it a dream," writes Rifat, "that I have seen 
 all Egypt carry on, during two entire months, a war 
 regularly declared by her Khedive against a great 
 power like England, and uphold in his functions 
 Arabi, who had been entrusted by the Khedive him- 
 self with the conduct of that war ? If all this is only 
 a vision ; if I must continue in ignorance as to why a 
 civilian like myself should remain a long time in 
 prison awating my trial by court-martial, while the 
 very civil and religious authorities who are responsible 
 
204 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAJ3L 
 
 for the war are still in liberty, and if I am still to 
 remain in constant dread of ill-treatment in my cell 
 by a band of janissaries and valets as happened on the 
 day I was thrust into it, then indeed I have little to 
 say in my defence. No words of mine could help to 
 solve the enigma offered during nearly two years by 
 the sphinx of the Egyptian question. 
 
 " But it is not so. A bright ray of justice has 
 even reached my cell. The very Englishmen who 
 have defeated us in battle now demand for us an 
 impartial trial. We can entertain no possible illusion 
 on the subject, England and the English people are 
 our real judges. I do not fear to speak plainly now. 
 
 " Europeans are grievously mistaken when they 
 try to understand the East by the light of the pre- 
 conceived ideas created by another kind of education, 
 and a widely-different social condition. Hence it is 
 that the East generally remains a mystery a sealed 
 book. Some writers even imagine that such political 
 distinctions as those of Conservative, Liberal, and 
 Radical exist in Egypt. There is but one political 
 party either in this country or in the East I will call 
 it le parti des affames de justice, ' the eager seekers 
 for justice.' Honest men of all classes belong to it 
 even down to the smallest peasant-farmers, and the 
 very fellahs themselves. According to their varying 
 intelligence they all desire to share in the benefits 
 
AHMED RIFATS STORY. 205 
 
 conferred by such political institutions as Europe 
 possesses ; to be governed with justice and equity, to 
 see an honest and uncorrupt administration put an 
 end to abuses of power, and to feel as little as possible 
 the caress of the courbache. ' The eager seekers for 
 justice ' ask, in a word, security for life, honour, and 
 property. 
 
 " This craving for justice is the great idea which 
 has taken possession of the heart of orientals since 
 the old landmarks destroyed by time have become 
 insufficient to protect them from vexation and tyranny. 
 But the want of any real popular institutions, coupled 
 with the absence of fair-dealing tribunals and just laws, 
 have enfeebled the political idea I have tried to de- 
 scribe, and have reduced it to a sentiment tres timide. 
 
 " It seemed almost like a star in winter. As soon 
 as it appeared it was quickly hidden by clouds. The 
 first tangible proof of its existence was the promulga- 
 tion by the Sultan Abdul Medjid of the Hatt Humayun 
 of Grulhane* which guaranteed to the subjects of the 
 empire security of life, honour, and property. When 
 in spite of the opposition of Abbas Pacha its operation 
 was extended to Egypt the sentiment timide became 
 bolder. The increased contact with Europe and 
 Europeans began to create for the Egyptians a 
 patriotism of their own. 
 
 " Tewfik Pacha came to the throne with many 
 
206 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 professions of his intention to inaugurate a new era 
 of things as a strictly constitutional sovereign. The 
 fallacious appearance of harmony and prosperity was 
 soon overshadowed by two great errors, the unjust 
 solution of the Mukabala question, * and the excessive 
 employment of Europeans. The Egyptian is neither 
 malicious or fanatical. He does not detest the 
 European, in whom he even recognizes some sort of 
 superiority, but if he is contemptuously pushed out of 
 the way, and a European twice, thrice, or even four 
 times more highly paid than he is, to do, or rather to 
 make the Egyptian do, some Egyptian task for which 
 the European will be credited and the Egyptian not 
 even thanked, he will not rebel (for an Egyptian 
 never rebels), but he will pour into some friendly ear 
 his complaint, quelle injustice I 
 
 " Then came the tyranny and mismanagement of 
 
 * " The repeal of the law of Mukabala," says Mr. Keay, " had 
 the result of practically confiscating both the 17,000,000/. which the 
 cultivators had paid, and the valuable right which they had thereby 
 purchased to a reduction in perpetuity of 50 per cent, in the rental of 
 their lands from the year 1885. Consequently, not only have the 
 landholders lost their 17,000,000/., but a confiscatory tax on land, 
 amounting to 1,700,OOOZ. sterling every year, is raised from 1,000,000 
 cultivators, and paid over to the bondholders. And yet people wonder 
 that there is discontent in Egypt, which hapless country, they protest, 
 has been raised from misery to unalloyed happiness by the Deus ex 
 machind of the European Control ! " Spoiling the Egyptians (London, 
 1882), p. 49. 
 
AHMED RIFATS STORY. 207 
 
 Osman Pacha Rifki, the Minister of War, who man- 
 aged to give the name of ' Circassian ' to a faction he 
 involuntarily created. Riaz Pacha would have fain 
 stayed the tide of discontent if he could, but it was 
 now too late. The deep current of military grievances 
 soon joined the equally strong flood of civil ill-humour. 
 Together they formed the last phase of Egyptian 
 Nationalism. The pronunciamento of February, 
 which resulted only in the change of a Minister, 
 was followed by that of September, which entailed 
 the fall of the entire Cabinet. In the interval the 
 prevalent feeling of dissatisfaction in the army had 
 been greatly aggravated by the discovery of certain 
 intrigues on the part of Yusef Kamil Pacha, Director 
 of the Private Daira (estate administration) of the 
 Khedive, to induce the officers of his regiment to 
 get rid of their colonel, Abd-el-AL* 
 
 u During the demonstration at Abdin, I was in the 
 company of Haider Pacha Yeghen, a relative of the 
 Khedive, who told me he had repeatedly advised 
 Tewfik to dismiss the Riaz Cabinet as opposed to the 
 legitimate aspirations of the country. The sequel to 
 these events is now a matter of history ; Cherif Pacha 
 accepted office, and apparently adopted the National 
 programme. A few days later Sultan Pacha, at the 
 
 * The papers given me by Abd-el-Al prove conclusively the 
 existence of this plot. 
 
208 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 head of a numerous deputation, waited on him, and 
 demanded in the name of the whole country the 
 fulfilment of his promises. The Parliament of Egypt 
 was duly summoned. 
 
 " Then came the Turkish mission of Ali Nizami 
 Pacha to Egypt, of which I prefer to give you a 
 separate account.* After the departure of the envoys 
 the elections were proceeded with, and at length the 
 Chamber was duly opened under the presidency of 
 Sultan Pacha. Both he and Cherif Pacha delivered 
 speeches breathing the most liberal and exalted 
 patriotism, although the force of the last-named 
 oration was purposely somewhat attenuated in the 
 version of it which appeared in the French edition 
 of the Official Journal. The effect of these parlia- 
 mentary discourses was to raise the strongest hopes 
 all over Egypt, and fan into a blaze the now fully 
 kindled flame of Egyptian Nationalism. A fresh era 
 had commenced, and a new historical epoch had been 
 inaugurated. ' Egypt for the Egyptians ' was no longer 
 to be an empty phrase. Four months later Cherif 
 fell under the reaction of disappointed expectations 
 and unfulfilled promises. He declined to follow the 
 inclination of the Chamber in the matter of the 
 Budget, and he dared not touch the compact battalions 
 of the European employe's. He succumbed to the 
 
 * See post. 
 
AHMED RIFATS STORY. 209 
 
 National aspirations he had so greatly helped to 
 foster, and resigned his post to be succeeded by 
 Mahmoud Sanai Pacha. This was in February, 1882, 
 and I became Secretary of the Council of Ministers. 
 
 "The prevailing popular enthusiasm found other 
 vents than in mere parliamentary discussion. Two 
 clubs, or societes de bienfaisance, afforded the now 
 fully recognized National Movement (of which Arabi 
 had by his own merits and force of character become 
 the chief) a congenial arena. They had been founded 
 in the most regular and legal manner, and the highest 
 Egyptian functionaries vied with each other in enrol- 
 ling themselves as members. The first, called ' El 
 Makaqid-el-Hairi^/ had, as honorary president, Prince 
 Abbas, the elder son of the Khedive, and, as vice- 
 president, Sultan Pacha himself, while the same offices 
 in the second (El Tewfik el Hairi) were filled by the 
 Khedive's younger son and the new Premier, Mah- 
 moud Pacha Sarni. Although political discussion was 
 forbidden by the rules, these places of resort now 
 became (with the full knowledge of the authorities) 
 the scene of a series of brilliant fetes, in which orator 
 after orator pictured in vivid colours the coming 
 regeneration of Egypt, the free admission of Egyp- 
 tians to every species of State employment, and the 
 approaching end of foreign interference and social 
 superiority. Egyptians were intoxicated at the 
 
 p 
 
210 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 prospect held out to them. . The sentiment timide 
 gave place to the most confident anticipation. It was 
 then the walls echoed again and again with shouts of 
 ' Long live the Khedive ! ' 
 
 " The new Ministry, with Arabi himself as head 
 of the War Department, seemed to be the most fitting 
 solution of existing difficulties. He had already been 
 depicted by those who did not know him as a suc- 
 cessful mutineer who hated the Turkish and Circassian 
 races, but those who did, saw in him the defender of 
 the very idea of justice. His name had in a few 
 months become a banner around which both the army 
 and the chief men of the country were ready to rally. 
 Few people have had more intimate relations with 
 Arabi than I have, and I unhesitatingly declare that 
 I have always found him an honest and upright man, 
 entirely devoted to his country and his creed. Arabi 
 was neither a great diplomatist nor skilled politician ; 
 nor was he capable as a military chief of resisting 
 the superior prowess of England, but as a really 
 honest and unambitious Egyptian he was well able to 
 lead his countrymen in their crusade for justice. 
 
 " I remember very well the first evening after the 
 formation of the new Cabinet, when we all met at 
 Mahmoud Sdmi's house. Borelli Bey submitted a 
 project he had drawn up for a ministerial programme, 
 in which he had dexterously avoided the crucial diffi- 
 
AHMED RIFAT'S STORY. 211 
 
 culty of the Budget. Arabi Pacha took a seat opposite 
 him, and demonstrated so clearly the vital importance 
 of this question from the Egyptian standpoint that 
 the draft was amended in accordance with his wishes 
 and thus approved by the Khedive. 
 
 " The Ministry worked well until the Circassian 
 Plot happened, which seemed to suddenly disorganise 
 everything. The flagrant attempt to poison Abd-el- 
 Al, through the agency of his young Circassian ward 
 Husni, was undoubtedly followed by a plot on a larger 
 scale against Arabi. I was absent from the Councils 
 in which the matter was discussed, but I prepared a 
 draft petition later on, in which the Ministers them- 
 selves asked for a commutation of the sentence. 
 
 " The relations between the Khedive and his 
 Ministers now cooled, and an open rupture was with 
 difficulty avoided. In my official capacity I drew up 
 the record of several very acrimonious discussions. 
 A reconciliation had somehow or other been arranged, 
 when to our consternation (25th May) the French and 
 English Consuls presented an identical note demanding 
 the withdrawal of Arabi from Egypt arid the dismissal 
 of the Ministry. By order of my superiors I prepared 
 a suitable answer at their dictation, which Mahmoud 
 Sand and Mustapha Pehmy took to the Khedive. For 
 a long time it had been evident that Tewfik was 
 determined to trust to Europe, to break definitely 
 
212 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 with the cause he had almost ostentatiously affected 
 to support, and crush the very aspirations and hopes 
 he had himself so much contributed to excite. The 
 Ministry resolved to reject the Note, while the 
 Khedive decided to accept it. Only one solution was 
 possible, the Cabinet resigned. Popular opinion, how- 
 ever, so strongly supported Arabi that he was re- 
 appointed Minister of War two days later, and on the 
 demand of the Consuls-General guaranteed the public 
 peace. 
 
 " Dervesh Pacha* arrived a fortnight afterwards. 
 
 " On the 10th June I was sent for to the Palace, 
 where I found His Highness with M. Sinadino, the 
 banker, and Sala Pacha, the director of the Slave 
 Trade Suppression Department. He told me these 
 gentlemen were his witnesses, and asked me to give 
 a proof of my fidelity by giving up to him the official 
 minutes of the late Cabinet, which I have previously 
 alluded to. On leaving the Palace I began to think 
 compliance with such a request would constitute some- 
 thing very like a breach of faith towards my former 
 chiefs. I went to see Arabi, the only one of them who 
 was still in office, and informed him of the order I 
 had received. At that moment the documents in 
 question were in my possession. Arabi told me I 
 might give the Khedive a certified copy, but that he 
 
 * See post. 
 
AHMED RIFAT'S STORY. 213 
 
 would hold me personally responsible if I parted with 
 the originals, which formed the only record of the 
 conduct of the Ministry. In consequence of these 
 instructions, I wrote to the Khedive's Secretary, ex- 
 plaining my position, and offering to send him the 
 copies I was authorised to give him. 
 
 "In the Eagheb Ministry, formed on the 20th 
 June, I was re-appointed Secretary of the Council, but 
 the bombardment of Alexandria three days later pre- 
 vented my joining my post. Next day official tele- 
 grams from Rdgheb Pacha announced that war (el 
 JiarV) had been declared between Egypt and England, 
 and that consequently the whole country was placed 
 under martial law. 
 
 " Yacoub Pacha Sami, the Under-Secretary for War, 
 invited all his colleagues, as well as the heads of the 
 different departments, to attend at the War Office, 
 where he informed them that every section of the 
 administration, including the press, must obey orders 
 transmitted to him through the Minister of War, 
 and that any one who failed in his duty would be 
 punished in accordance with the provisions of martial 
 
 law. 
 
 " Two or three days later we heard Alexandria 
 had been burned. Crowds of its unfortunate inhabi- 
 tants inundated Cairo, which now almost resembled a 
 
214 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 city taken by assa.ult. The want of reliable news 
 occasioned general anxiety. Any certainty of informa- 
 tion now seemed impossible. On going to the War 
 Office, I found that Ydcoub Pacha and the Prefect of 
 Police had taken all necessary measures for the pre- 
 servation of order, and that the refugees from Alex- 
 andria were to be distributed in the different 
 provinces. 
 
 " At this juncture, or shortly afterwards, Hussein 
 Pacha Dramanli (Under- Secretary for the Interior), 
 received an intimation from the Minister of his 
 department at Alexandria that peace had been con- 
 cluded, and that, consequently, all war preparations 
 should cease, and the Alexandrian refugees should be 
 sent back to their native place. Ardbi's despatches, 
 however, were couched in very different language. 
 We heard on good authority that the Khedive was 
 completely in the power of the English Admiral, and 
 that miliary operations still continued at Kafr-el- 
 Dowar. 
 
 " The country was really without a government 
 when I received a note from Hussein Pacha, my im- 
 mediate superior, informing me that I was appointed 
 a member of the Executive Committee \Medjlis-el- 
 Orfi], which was to meet at the War Office. At the 
 same time a general assembly composed of all the heads 
 of departments, many Ulemas (divines) and employes, 
 
AHMED RIFATS STORY. 215 
 
 was held at the Home Office. The latter resolved to 
 send a national deputation to Alexandria to ascertain 
 the truth, and in case the Khedive and his Ministers 
 were not really prisoners to request them to resume 
 their functions at Cairo. A copy of this decision was 
 forwarded by telegraph to Constantinople. 
 
 u Before anything could be definitely ascertained, 
 telegrams and despatches from Ardbi Pacha announced 
 that the Khedive (who was at that moment either a 
 prisoner or fugitive) had dismissed him and counter- 
 manded the war, which, as a matter of fact, continued. 
 Arabi asked to know the wishes of the country respect- 
 ing the course he should pursue. 
 
 " A more numerously attended meeting than the 
 first (at which even the Princes of the Khedivial 
 family, the patriarchs, and heads of the different 
 religious communities, together with all the chief 
 men of the country, were present) decided to support 
 Arabi Pacha against the will of the Khedive, who had 
 acted in opposition to the Civil and Eeligious Codes 
 of Moslem law, and to continue preparations for war 
 until an answer was received from the Sultan, to 
 whom a proces-verbal of the proceedings was tele- 
 graphically addressed. 
 
 u After this meeting all divergence of opinion 
 completely disappeared. In the eyes of the Egyptians 
 Arabi was now nothing less than the servant and 
 
216 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 defender of his country the representative of five 
 millions of people who were resisting the invasion of 
 their fatherland by a foreign army. Even persons 
 once opposed to his views shared completely the 
 general opinion. I even remember Yacoub Pacha 
 Sabri, once a memlouk of Abbas Pacha, and a warm 
 partisan of Tewfik, saying openly that 'up to the 
 time of the bombardment he had always sided with 
 the Khedive against Arabi, but that now the Khedive 
 had gone over to the English he was too good a 
 Moslem to uphold him any longer.' In company with 
 Hussein Dramanli I once questioned the Chief Judge 
 of Cairo (Mollah Effendi) on the same point, and he 
 answered us with considerable emphasis that ' not 
 only the Khedive, but even the Sultan himself, owed 
 his position both as Sovereign and Caliph to the will 
 of the empire.' 
 
 " The energy displayed by all classes of the popu- 
 lation from the Princes and Princesses down to the 
 youngest children speaks for itself. The Government 
 Registers will afford an unanswerable testimony upon 
 this head. Two actual employe's of the Government 
 will also be able to say much. Khalil Bey Iffet is 
 still governor of the province of MinieTi. He was the 
 first to send down reinforcements and supplies of grain, 
 and he did so with so much energy and zeal that a 
 circular of Ar&bi's holding him up as the example and 
 
AHMED RIFATS STORY. 217 
 
 model of a true patriot was published in the Official 
 Gazette. Osman Pacha Grhaleb is to-day Perfect of 
 Police at Cairo, yet barely three months ago as Mudir 
 of Siout he sent 10,000 ardebs of wheat to Arabics 
 camp. In every mosque and in every house in Egypt 
 prayers were daily offered up for the success of our 
 arms. Even Ismail Pacha Eyoub accompanied me 
 to Kafr-el-Dowar to wish Arabi'a 'happy Bairam and 
 a speedy victory.* ' While doing my duty towards 
 the country of my adoption, and acting in precisely 
 the same way as thousands of more important persons 
 who are free and even in high office to-day, I did all 
 I could for the preservation of good order, and with 
 that object I suppressed in the native press many 
 articles tending to excite fanaticism and discord, and 
 increase the prevalent dislike of foreigners. 
 
 " I leave my fate with confidence wholly in the 
 hands of England, for sooner or later she will assuredly 
 do justice to the now broken cause of Egyptian 
 Nationalism. What trust can I place in the judges 
 who are to try me to-day for acts in which they shared 
 themselves six weeks since? Unless England will 
 help us, solace for the seekers after justice in Egypt is 
 now further off than ever." 
 
 * See post, Chapter XX. page 240. 
 
218 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE NARRATIVE OF ARABIA UNDER-SECRETARY.* 
 
 " MY name is Ydcoub Sami. I am a Turk by birth, 
 and from my youth up have been employed in the 
 army and the War Office. I have seen much service 
 in the field, and gained many medals and decorations. 
 Three years ago, like many of my comrades, I married 
 a lady from the Khedivial harim. In the earlier days 
 of Ardbi's movement I had little sympathy for him, 
 and, indeed, received a bayonet thrust in my thigh 
 during the disturbance which followed the release of 
 c the three Colonels,' when Osman Pacha Rifki fled to 
 an upper room and locked himself in, leaving me to face 
 the infuriated soldiers. But a time arrived when the 
 aspirations I once thought to be only Ardbi's became 
 those of all Egypt. Then I joined him with my whole 
 heart. I am ashamed to say I have disowned the 
 cause we have fought for, and spoken against Arabi 
 before the Commissioners appointed by the Khedive 
 to examine into our case. I did this because I had 
 
 * The translation follows the Arabic text as closely as possible. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF YACOUB SAMI. 219 
 
 undergone treatment which deprived me of my senses 
 for a time, and I have resolved to repudiate what I 
 have been forced to state. Indeed my own acts are 
 the best contradiction of. the words wrung from me. 
 No man can organize through fear a commissariat for 
 100,000 men. Before I relate my conduct as late 
 Egyptian Under-Secretary for War at Cairo, I will 
 explain to you all that has happened to me since our 
 surrender. If I do not do this I can never gain your 
 respect. 
 
 " When Arabi returned to Cairo after his defeat 
 we all determined to persist no longer in a resistance 
 which it was now felt to be hopeless. I went to meet 
 the English Generals, and carried out the surrender 
 of the 35,000 troops near the city to their complete 
 satisfaction. So well had I discharged this duty that 
 official recommendations were obtained for me from 
 the Khedive, and I proceeded to Kafr- el-Do war, where 
 I addressed the Egyptian officers and pointed out the 
 impossibility of continuing the war. On my earnest 
 advice they followed the example already set by the 
 Cairo troops. The English officers expressed great 
 satisfaction at all I did, and after remaining in the 
 camp some days I was ordered to proceed to Alexandria, 
 and accompanied the British colonel in command ( in 
 all honour' to the Grabari Station. 
 
 "When the train arrived, Hasan Effendi Fouzi, 
 
220 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 assistant master of ceremonies to the Khedive, 
 descended from it. When he saw me he called out, 
 ' Get out of your carriage and go with that officer, 5 
 pointing to a Circassian named Muhamed Lama, who 
 had formerly been convicted and exiled for the plot 
 to assassinate Arabi. This man had many policemen 
 with him, and I was dragged by them with every 
 circumstance of degradation through the streets of the 
 town. After being imprisoned at the Rds-el-Tin 
 school I was reconducted on foot to the railway 
 station, and placed in a truck used to convey grease 
 and oil, where it was impossible to sit down. I was 
 then transferred to a break- van, and so brought to 
 Cairo with Ali Pacha Roubi, Mahmoud Pacha Fehmy, 
 and others. We were led through the crowded streets, 
 having a file of soldiers under a Circassian officer on 
 each side, to the common prison, where we were 
 thrust into a small room. Fifteen of us underwent 
 much ill-treatment there for five days. Then English 
 officers came to see us, and we were brought here to 
 the Daira Saniya. The afternoon after our arrival 
 four messengers of the Khedive, wearing swords, 
 rushed into my room and violently assaulted me. 
 Their acts were watched from the door by that same 
 Hasan Effendi Fouzi. At length they went away, 
 but the guards outside my door used to knock at 
 intervals during the whole night, so as to prevent my 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF YACOUB SAM I. 221 
 
 ever sleeping more than a few minutes together. In 
 the meantime my house was entered twice by the 
 police, and all my papers removed. My family were 
 also insulted in every possible way. Suddenly one 
 day the door of my cell was opened and I was 
 brought before the Commissioners sitting in a neigh- 
 bouring room. They often all spoke at once and 
 always in a menacing mannerr In answer to their 
 questions I believe I said I had acted in fear of Arabi. 
 It is not true, and I desire to rectify my answers, 
 being no longer in fear for my children's life, which 
 affected me more than my own personal danger.* 
 
 " Others have doubtless related to you in detail the 
 different events which led to the bombardment of 
 Alexandria by the fleet and the resistance of the forts 
 in reply. As I am a soldier, and not a politician or 
 historian, I will only speak of the way the defence of 
 Egypt was organised in Cairo and the share I took in 
 the same. In the first place the Prime Minister told 
 us war was declared, then the Khedive informed us 
 peace was made, and finally Arabi telegraphed to us 
 that the Khedive was really a prisoner and that 
 hostilities were still going on. It was decided to hold 
 
 * Yacoub Sami then goes on to show the active part taken by 
 Ismail Pacha Eyoub and the other members of the Court in the 
 organization of the National Defence. 
 
222 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 a National Council, composed of all classes of the 
 inhabitants, to discuss what course should be adopted. 
 It was in this manner resolved to send a deputation 
 to Alexandria for the purpose of inviting the ministers 
 to return to Cairo, when the National Council should 
 once more assemble for deliberation, but that mean- 
 while the war preparations should not be suspended. 
 
 u A special train was immediately brought to 
 Kasr-el-Nil, and the envoys proceeded in it to Alex- 
 andria, and Arabi Pacha was informed of the decree 
 the Council had given, and requested to facilitate the 
 passage of the Commissioners to Alexandria, in order 
 that they might get information as to the true state 
 of affairs. After their departure the Under-Secretaries 
 decided that a Council composed only of ourselves 
 was insufficient, that the presence of Notables advanced 
 in age, who had taken part in other administra- 
 tions, and who were better informed than we were, 
 was necessary, and that young men of capability 
 should also attend. In consequence the National 
 Council passed a decree choosing H.E. Jiaffer Pacha, 
 president of the law court, and upon the arrival of 
 H.E. Ismail Pacha Abu Grebel from Alexandria he 
 was also appointed with H.E. Marashli Pacha and 
 H.E. Ibrahim Pacha Khalil. Besides these were 
 selected Ibrahim Pacha Sami, Ahmed Pacha Nachat, 
 the Minister of the Daira Saniya, Eiaz Pacha, the 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF YACOUB SAMI. 223 
 
 commander of the Cairo division, Hasan Pacha 
 Muzhar, the commander of the artillery, Ismail 
 Pacha Eyoub, Rashid Pacha Husni, general of 
 division, Khalil Pacha, Ali Bey Yusef, colonel 
 of the 3rd regiment of infantry, Ahmed Bey Neer, 
 colonel of the 2nd regiment of cavalry, Ahmed 
 Bey Rifat, secretary to the Council of Ministers, 
 and Muhamed Bey Ramadan, the chief clerk of the 
 Daira Saniya. This council (called the Medjlis- 
 el-Orfi), composed of the above-mentioned members, 
 assembled nightly at the Ministry of War during the 
 month of Ramadan, in order to investigate the papers 
 of each administration, and by common agreement 
 to issue the requisite answers to the same. 
 
 " During the existence of this Council public 
 safety was secure, nor was it ever said that a single 
 person was plundered of anything. Some time after 
 the commencement of hostilities the Russian and 
 Italian consuls came to me at the Ministry of War, 
 and stated that they had about 2,000 subjects who 
 desired to leave for Ismailia, but were afraid of their 
 being murdered on the road by desperate men from 
 Alexandria and other marauders. I immediately 
 arranged for the necessary trains at Kasr-el-Nil and the 
 Cairo station, and gave them an escort of officers and 
 soldiers to protect them on the road to Ismailia, and 
 on inquiry from these consuls you will be convinced 
 
224 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 of the steps I took for the preservation of life and 
 public security. After a time (I forget the date) a 
 despatch arrived stating that Arabi Pacha had been 
 dismissed from his post of Minister of War, and 
 another letter came from Omar Pacha Loutfi, stating 
 that he had been appointed Minister of War in place 
 of Arabi, and accompanying the same was a copy 
 of the Khedive's commands nominating him to that 
 post. I laid these papers before the Council, composed 
 of the persons of rank already mentioned, who decreed 
 that as this was a most important matter, and 
 as the Envoys gone to Alexandria to summon the 
 Ministers had not returned, a General Council should 
 be called, composed of the Princes in Cairo, all the 
 nobles, the judges and wise men, the chief merchants 
 of the city, the local governors, and four or five persons 
 of distinction from each province, including the 
 judge and chief merchants, besides the grandees, 
 learned men, and judges of Suez, Damietta, and else- 
 where, in order to consult regarding the dismissal of 
 Arabi Pacha. 
 
 " They were all written to, and met at the Ministry 
 of the Interior, and upon the Council being complete, 
 Ali Pacha-el-Roubi, the Under-Secretary for the 
 Soudan, rose and spoke, but I could not hear his speech 
 as I was sitting at a distance at the end of the hall, 
 which was composed of more than 400 persons. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF YACOUB SAML 225 
 
 After he sat down, I, in my position of President, 
 took my station in the centre of the assembly, and 
 stated that a notice had been received from the 
 Khedive's Divan stating that His Highness had 
 issued a decree dismissing Arabi Pacha. I also read 
 aloud the contents of Arabi Pacha's before-mentioned 
 communication, and explained what he had written 
 to the provinces and administrations concerning the 
 matter, I said, ' What is your opinion regarding 
 this dismissal ? } 'If other orders are issued by the 
 Khedive, are they to be executed or not ? State 
 your opinions.' The entire assembly with one voice 
 declared that Arabi Pacha should not be dismissed, 
 and added, AvS the Khedive has gone over to the 
 invaders, his orders are to be cancelled.' 
 
 " This decree was then reduced into writing in the 
 presence of the assembly by a clerk of the Ministry 
 of the Interior, nominated by Hussein Pacha, the 
 Under-Secretary of that department, and duly sealed 
 by the members, under the supervision of this Pacha 
 himself. I then went to the War Office in order to 
 carry on its business, and two or three days after 
 H.E. Hussein Pacha brought me the decree, with 
 the former one also, in order that they might be 
 preserved in the archives. 
 
 " In accordance with the spirit of these decrees 
 the governors and the Egyptians generally were 
 
 Q 
 
226 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 requested to make preparations and furnish the sup- 
 plies for the soldiers with the greatest rapidity ; the 
 Governor of Siout, H.E. Osman Pacha Ghaleb (now 
 the Chief of the Police), telegraphed stating that 
 higher orders of the people under his jurisdiction 
 gave a voluntary contribution for the war to the 
 extent of ten thousand ardebs of corn and a number 
 of horses and camels; and another telegram from 
 H.E. Danish Pacha, the Governor of the province of 
 Gharbia, informed us that all the people of his pro- 
 vince gave as a voluntary contribution the entire 
 amount of corn and cattle which the province had 
 been assessed to send, i.e., they refused to accept 
 payment. In this manner messages were constantly 
 received from the governors, sheikhs, and inhabitants 
 of all the provinces, setting forth the zeal of the 
 people in giving voluntary contributions, and the 
 assistance they rendered in sending in the reserves 
 and new recruits, whereas at the time of the 
 Abyssinian war, in the reign of the late Khedive, 
 not one-tenth part of the men could be possibly 
 collected. From this it can be seen that the movement 
 was a perfectly united one on the part of the 
 Egyptian nation in the defence of their country and 
 their lives." 
 
SHEIKH MUHAMED ABDU. 227 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SHEIKH MUHAMED ABDU ULEMA AND JOURNALIST. 
 
 SHEIKH Abdii was perhaps the most gifted man in the 
 ranks of the Egyptian Nationalists. An elegant 
 writer, a profound Arabic scholar, and an eloquent 
 and impressive speaker, he exercised an appreciable 
 influence amongst the more educated classes of his 
 fellow-countrymen. He had unquestionably greatly 
 [ helped to make public opinion a real factor in 
 L Egyptian progress. Sheikh Abdii was no dangerous 
 fanatic or religious enthusiast, for he belonged to the 
 broadest school of Moslem thought, held a political 
 creed akin to pure republicanism, and was the zealous 
 Master of a Masonic Lodge. His unselfish patriotism 
 alone prevented some of his more fervent associates 
 from openly resenting his more than suspected unor- 
 thodoxy. Even his friend Arabi had said once upon 
 a time that u Sheikh Abdii's head was better fitted for 
 a hat than a turban." 
 
 The whole character of Sheikh Abdii was an 
 example of great intellectual strength overclouded for 
 a time by moral and physical weakness. His mind 
 
 Q2 
 
228 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 and body alike seemed crushed out beyond hope of 
 recovery by the cruel reaction bom of shipwrecked 
 hopes and the agony of despair. Like his fellows, he 
 had been insulted and ill-treated in prison, but even 
 his own account of his sufferings is weak and equivocal 
 compared with theirs. It was only towards the latter 
 days of his imprisonment that he seemed to recover 
 from the shock of his first arrest, and began to treat 
 us with that confidence which we endeavoured to 
 deserve. At times it was almost difficult for us to 
 realize that Sheikh Abdu was the author of the bold 
 and picturesque expositions of the aims and objects 
 of the Egyptian Nationalists, forwarded by him barely 
 six months before to Mr. Blunt. It will be 
 equally difficult for Englishmen at home to under- 
 stand the complete demoralization which disappoint- 
 ment, coupled with menace and bodily torture, can 
 work even on the strongest and bravest of Egyptian 
 minds. The organizer of the nocturnal domiciliary 
 visits to the political prisoners after their transfer 
 to Egyptian custody was doubtless aware of their 
 great importance in an oriental point of view 
 to the success of the coming trial. As a matter of 
 fact they contributed most materially to defeat the 
 very object which they were intended to effect. 
 
 Sheikh Abdii composed a memorandum of his 
 defence in scholarly Arabic, which, as a literary feat, 
 
 
SHEIKH MUHAMED ABDU. 229 
 
 greatly delighted our interpreter, Mr. Santillana, but 
 which I am inclined to regard as too much akin to an 
 apology. The position he very astutely assumes is 
 legally and technically almost unassailable. All 
 through the drama of the Egyptian Revolution his 
 role had been purely that of an obedient and faithful 
 subordinate. Before the curtain rose he had become 
 the editor of the Egyptian Official Gazette, and in 
 this capacity had from first to last obeyed the orders 
 of his lawful superiors as they succeeded one another 
 on the stage. His narrative only becomes interesting 
 when he comes to the question of his own personal 
 opinions and experiences. As to the discharge of his 
 public duties, the text of his justification is passive 
 obedience to competent authority ; his defence of his 
 behaviour as a private citizen revolves itself into an 
 ingenious and convincing syllogism : 
 
 My patriotism and that of Sultan Pacha are identical ; we 
 acted and thought as one man ; Sultan Pacha has been made 
 "Sir" Sultan Pacha, and got a present of 10,000/. besides, 
 therefore hi's patriotism must be good and commendable : ergo 
 our conduct is equally worthy of praise. Why then should 
 I be in prison awaiting my trial for my patriotism, while 
 Sultan Pacha becomes an English knight, and obtains a reward 
 of 10,OOOZ. for his? 
 
 Sheikh Abdii's account of the intimate connection 
 between Sultan Pacha and Arabi is an important 
 element in the history of the National movement. 
 
230 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Up to the time of the Abdin pronunciamento Sheikh 
 Abdu's views were wholly in opposition to those of 
 Arabi, whom he regarded as the successful exponent 
 of purely military ideas. He says that the various 
 popular meetings held with the aim of obtaining a 
 constitution under the presidency of Sultan Pacha, 
 which immediately followed it, at once changed the 
 position of Arabi from that of the leader of the 
 army to that of the leader of Egypt. Sheikh Abdii 
 writes : 
 
 Then and then only, along with Sultan Pacha and all Egypt, 
 I became a follower of Ahmed Arabi. From that time I saw 
 day by day the Notables of Cairo, the most learned sheikhs, the 
 most eminent men in Egypt, waiting constantly upon Sultan 
 Pacha and Arabi Bey. I saw Sultan Pacha entertaining at his 
 house, time after time, Arabi Bey and his colleagues, and sheikhs 
 celebrated for their piety and learning taking advantage of the 
 new era which had then begun by petitioning for the dismissal 
 of the Sheikh El Islam at the El Azhar university. The 
 newspapers were unanimous in their praises, and assured 
 the country that its liberties were now beginning to be an 
 accomplished fact; all classes of men were loud in their 
 eulogies upon Arabi, and called the movement a regeneration of 
 the country. Even Cherif Pacha recalled by telegraph Adeeb 
 Effendi Ishak, the learned and able manager of an Arabic paper 
 called Misr el Kahira^ which was printed in Paris, and had always 
 opposed Riaz Pacha, as a man who was betraying the country to 
 the English. I met this gentleman the first night of his arrival, 
 and I heard him say, in a very full meeting, u Arabi Bey has 
 indeed accomplished a glorious feat." This learned man was 
 appointed Chief of the Bureau of Translation in the Department 
 
SHEIKH MUHAMED ABDtf. 231 
 
 of Public Instruction, and was afterwards promoted to be a 
 second clerk to the Egyptian Assembly on the request of Sultan 
 Pacha himself. 
 
 Sultan Pacha was now called the father of his country, and 
 the one theme of his discourses was the undue predominance of 
 the foreigner in our midst. While he was shouting " Egypt 
 for the Egyptians/' I preached peace and conciliation. I held 
 aloof while Sultan Pacha and his friends seemed never tired of 
 courting Arabi. While I stayed at home the " father of his 
 country " was now organising a banquet to the officers, now 
 seeing off Arabi to Ras-el-Wadi, and now assisting at Abd-el- 
 Al's departure for Damietta. Arabi became Minister of War 
 amidst the loud applause of Sultan Pacha and his friends, who 
 collected a special committee of Notables to congratulate Arabi 
 on his fresh honours. Twice it was rumoured that Sultan 
 Pacha had only yielded to undue military pressure ; twice 
 Sultan Pacha begged me to emphatically deny the assertion as an 
 infamous calumny on his character as a good citizen in the Official 
 Journal. 
 
 Sheikh Abdii thus writes of the events of the 
 war: 
 
 Can anybody doubt that our struggle was a national one 
 when men of all races and creeds Mussulmans, Copts, and 
 Jews rushed to join it with enthusiasm, rendering all the 
 assistance in their power, believing it to be a war between the 
 Egyptians and England ? I never heard it said that the Khedive 
 was fighting against his own army, for it was generally known 
 that the war had been commenced with his consent and order. 
 This impression was confirmed when it became known that the 
 Khedive had removed Arabi from office for not having obeyed 
 his order to continue the resistance, and to fortify some positions 
 in order to prevent a landing. 
 
 About this time the Ulemas began reading Bokhary at the 
 
232 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 university of El Azhar and at Sidy Hussein, and public prayers 
 were offered up for the success of Arabi's troops and the defeat 
 of the English. The Khedive's Imam (chaplain), the pious and 
 learned Sheikh El Abiary,'was prominent in the vivacity of his 
 patriotic zeal. This man published the soul-stirring poem written 
 by Ibrahim Doraid when the Tartars took Bagdad, in the time of 
 Molasem, the Abassid Khalifa, which is a prayer to God 
 Almighty. The sheikh added to it some stanzas of his own 
 composition, and requested the people to read it and recite it 
 publicly, after the reading of Bokhary. He also asked me to in- 
 sert it in the paper, so that the army might read it too. This 
 was perfectly justifiable, as the war was believed by all to be a 
 Moslem war against Infidels ; and the same sheikh I have men- 
 tioned was the man who preached the sermon on the return of the 
 Khedive to Cairo after the war, exhorting all men to obey him. 
 The Princes, all the Notables, the Ulemas, the attendants of 
 the Khedive, and even women, contributed horses, grain, money, 
 and stores for the army. The governors, officials of every rank, 
 and clerks, all displayed the utmost zeal in procuring the needful 
 supplies, in collecting recruits for the army, and for the military 
 works that were being carried on. Osman Pacha Ghaleb, who 
 is now Chief of the Police of the capital, and who was at the 
 time I speak of Governor of Siout, forwarded several thousand 
 ardebs of grain from his province, besides many horses and 
 other animals, and pushed forward so zealously the enlistment of 
 men for the army that he received the thanks of the War Depart- 
 ment. He is now, I repeat, by the Khedive's appointment, 
 Chief of the Cairo Police. It is the same with Khalil Bey Iffat, 
 who was named a Mudir by the Minister of War, and displayed 
 so much ardour and zeal that a long telegram of thanks was 
 sent to him, and was also published in the Official Gazette. He 
 is now Governor of Minieh, the Khedive having appointed 
 him to that post. 
 
 The sister of the Khedive, the Princess Jamila, the wife of 
 
SHEIKH MUHAMED ABDU. 233 
 
 the late Sa'id Pacha, Khairi Pacha, the Khedive's Chamberlain, 
 Aly Moubarek, now Minister of Public Works, Yusef Pacha 
 Choudy, one of the members of the Commission of Inquiry, 
 Mahmoud Bey, the Khedive's Secretary, Ali Haidar Pacha, the 
 actual Minister of Finance, all presented, either personally or 
 through their Dairas, the most generous offerings to support the 
 war, and their names are to be found in the numbers of the 
 Official Gazette, and the registers of the different provinces will, 
 if still extant, show what offerings came from them. 
 
 I saw the people going to the war" quite willingly, whether 
 peasants or Bedouins, and showing the utmost eagerness to fight 
 the English : even the Copts shared the general enthusiasm, and 
 were encouraged by their chiefs. The youths of Cairo used to 
 parade the town at night, singing songs in praise of Arabi, and 
 whenever the subject of war was mentioned at any meeting a 
 general prayer was offered for the success of our arms. 
 
 Some time later Sheikh Abdii drew up a note as 
 to the occurrences at Alexandria on the llth June, 
 which, along with two or three other statements of a 
 similar nature, has since given rise to much heart- 
 burning. It is, perhaps, improbable that the exact 
 truth will be ever ascertained, but one fact stands 
 out prominently in the discussion, viz., that such a 
 catastrophe was distinctly contrary to the best 
 interests of Arabi, that for him it meant little short of 
 absolute social and political ruin, and if brought about 
 by his suggestion involved a deliberate moral suicide, 
 while on the other hand the results of the same event 
 to his enemies would be eminently advantageous. The 
 whole matter assumes a wholly different aspect when 
 
234 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 viewed by the widely-different lights of Western and 
 Eastern state- craft. The former would hold such a 
 proceeding as the stirring-up of a massacre or even a 
 riot as an unpardonable crime, while the other would 
 regard it as a justifiable and perhaps masterly move on 
 the diplomatic chess-board. Sheikh Abdii clearly saw 
 it was a matter of life and death with the Khedive 
 and the Palace party to discredit Arabi, now, no longer 
 by the will of Egypt alone, but by the consent of all 
 Europe, responsible guardian of the public peace, and 
 he believed that they had not hesitated to adopt this 
 very questionable means of check-mating their too 
 successful and now also too powerful adversary. Other 
 people in Egypt both think and assert the same. 
 This is what Sheikh Abdii wrote : 
 
 When the disagreement arose between the Khedive and the 
 Mahmoud Sami Ministry, it was rumoured in Cairo that the 
 Khedive would endeavour, through some of his followers, to 
 cause a riot in Cairo itself, so much so that special precautions 
 were taken to prevent disturbance, and as long as they were in 
 office the Ministry especially watched this matter. 
 
 And the Khedive sent for Ibrahim Bey Tewfik, Mudir of 
 Beherah, and required of him that he should assemble the 
 sheikhs of the Bedouin tribes, and bring them to him. And 
 when he saw them he received the sheikhs with great cordiality 
 and made them promises, and directed the Mudir to order them 
 to collect 3,000 Bedouin Arabs, and bring them into the capital 
 from the side of Grhizeh, hoping thus that, there being no disci- 
 pline among them, disturbance would result in the town. But 
 the sheikhs found it difficult to collect so many men owing to 
 the fear the tribes had of the soldiers. 
 
SHEIKH MUHAMED ABDU. 235 
 
 And having failed in this, the Khedive wrote to Omar Loutfi, 
 then Governor of Alexandria, a cyphered telegram, and told him, 
 " Arabi has guaranteed public safety, and published it in the news- 
 papers, and has made himself responsible to the Consuls, and if 
 he succeeds in his guarantee the Powers will trust him, and our 
 consideration will be lost. Also the fleets of the Powers are 
 in Alexandrian waters, and men's minds are excited, and 
 quarrels are not far off between Europeans and others. Now 
 therefore choose for yourself whether you will serve Arabi in his 
 guarantee, or whether you will serve us." 
 
 And on the day of the event I went to the office of the Court, 
 and saw that the Court officials were in great joy and merriment 
 on account of what had happened, and were exaggerating the 
 news of it, and they scoffed at Arabi's pledge to keep the peace. 
 Now it has always been the custom that the men of the Court 
 say nothing but what is agreeable to the Khedive. Every day 
 indeed as news reaches them they talk and laugh if it is 
 agreeable to him, and if otherwise they feign all the sorrow they 
 can. 
 
 And twelve days after, when I was in Alexandria, I heard * 
 all the people saying with one voice that it was the Governor 
 (Omar Loutfi) who made it go so far, for he was there, and did 
 not give any order to prevent it, or go to the place except after 
 some time, or ask for the regular soldiers in spite of their being 
 so near the scene of action, and all the people said this was at 
 the instigation of the Khedive. And I heard from them that - 
 near the end of the massacre the Governor was pacing from 
 point to point, and there was an European at a window holding 
 in his hand a revolver, and one of the Bedouins said, " Shall I 
 shoot that one, Pacha?" and he said to him, " Shoot him," 
 and the Arab fired a bullet at him and killed him. And much 
 of the stolen goods entered his house, and the houses of his 
 relations on that black day. 35 
 
236 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 I heard also from them that he incited some of the people 
 during the massacre with encouragement, and made signs to the 
 police (mustaphezin) not to take any notice, saying, " Let them 
 die, the sons of dogs." 
 
 When the Commission was formed to inquire into the causes 
 of the event, Omar Loutfi was not questioned about anything at 
 all. On the contrary, the Khedive directed him to resign under 
 pretext of illness. 
 
 4 * 
 
 Omar Loutfi was Governor of Alexandria during the riot. 
 He was the person legally responsible for security, and he 
 neglected it completely, even if we do not say that he helped to 
 increase the disorder. Now, if that was in obedience to Arabi 
 as he (Loutfi) pretended, although his office was now in 
 immediate dependence on the Khedive, since the Khedive had 
 issued a special decree declaring that after Sami's resignation all 
 matters relating to the interior devolved upon the Court how 
 came he (Loutfi) to be appointed Minister of War as a recom- 
 pense of his obedience to Arabi, and his disobedience to his 
 Lord the Khedive ? But if it was negligence of his own, how is 
 it that with that negligence and incapacity he was appointed 
 Minister of War ? How is it that he was not asked a single 
 question, although he was the first person who should have been 
 questioned ? Truly the march of events proclaims aloud the 
 cause of the riot to be the Khedive in concert with Omar Loutfi. 
 
 The caution and timidity uniformly displayed 
 by Sheikh Abdii give a weight to his declaration 
 which I could hardly attach to that made by any 
 other man in his position. Till some radical change 
 takes place in the social condition of the Egyptian 
 we can never solve the riddle of the llth June, and 
 the various surmises concerning it must always be a 
 
SHEIKH MUHAMED ABDTJ. 237 
 
 matter of opinion and probability. It is difficult, 
 however, to believe that a man like Abdii, who even 
 preceded his complaint of being spat upon in prison 
 with a respectful dedicatory preface to His Highness 
 the Khedive, would have put forward such a theory, 
 unless he had really some deep insight into the mazes 
 of an Egyptian palace intrigue. One thing I can 
 personally attest, and that is the" corroboration of his 
 story by others, with whom he had no possible means 
 of communication. 
 
 On the evening of the 1st January, 1883, 1 bid 
 farewell in the dark to Muhamed Abdii, who escaped 
 at last with three years' banishment from Egypt. I 
 have since heard he is living in poverty and misery 
 at Beyrouth. If Egypt is ever to walk alone or ever 
 have a fair start, it cannot easily spare such men as 
 Sheikh Muhamed Abdii Ulema and Journalist. 
 
238 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 HOW THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY EXAMINED KIFAT BEY. 
 
 THE arrival of the two prisoners from Crete (to whom 
 I have already referred) seemed at once to endow 
 the Commission of Inquiry with unwonted vigour and 
 zeal. They suddenly determined to make progress 
 with something, and I think very unfortunately for 
 their peace of mind, that something happened to 
 be the continued examination of Ahmed Bey Rifat, 
 ex-Secretary of the Council of Ministers, and once 
 correspondent of the Temps newspaper. Early on 
 the morning of the 16th November, I received an 
 Arabic note addressed by the Commission to " our 
 beloved friend Mr. Broadley," requesting my attend- 
 ance at 10 o'clock. 
 
 After the usual prologue of compliments, coffee, 
 and cigarettes, poor Rifat, looking very nervous, was 
 introduced and accommodated with a seat by my 
 side. I believed I greatly scandalised the loyal pro- 
 priety of the members by shaking hands with my 
 client. I shall never forget the unmistakeably mali- 
 
EXAMINATION OF EIFAT BEY. 239 
 
 cious twinkle of Ismail Eyoub's eye as he very deli- 
 berately produced an ancient and very dirty copy of 
 the Temps, containing a decidedly unflattering com- 
 parison between French civilisation and English 
 bullets from Rifat's patriotic pen. u Mon cher ami" 
 said the President, " after this you must, I think, 
 retire from the defence of such a man/' and he tossed 
 the ancient and very dirty newspaper across the sea 
 of green baize which separated us. I read the article 
 and wrote a few words on a slip of paper: " If I 
 had been in his place I should have said the same." 
 The following dialogue then ensued : 
 
 President : You see the number of the Temps 
 dated 16th August. It contains a telegram signed 
 by Ahmed Rifat, addressed to the Governors of the 
 Interior, directing them to contradict rumours of 
 massacres at Cairo, and the report that Arabi had 
 received money from Halim Pacha. Did you send this ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt: Yes, by order of the National 
 Council, of which you were a member yourself. 
 
 President : I entirely deny being present when 
 the matter was discussed. 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : Telegrams were often transmitted 
 in this form. False news having been sent to 
 Europe it was decided to contradict it, and the tele- 
 gram was submitted to the President of the Council. 
 The message was an expression of general feeling, 
 
240 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 the war haying then become a national one. I cannot 
 recollect whether your Excellency signed the minutes 
 of the Council's proceedings, but I do recollect that 
 on Friday, 18th August, you went with me to 
 Kafr-el-Dowar by special train, in company with 
 Reouf Pacha, Osman Pacha Fouzy, and Hussein 
 Pacha Dramanli, in order to wish Arabi Pacha suc- 
 cess and a good Bairam. 
 
 President: I might stop you, but as you are 
 speaking of me you can go on. 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : Your Excellency will remember 
 we all dined with Arabi in his tent, and were after- 
 wards shown over the fortifications by Toulba Pacha. 
 We only went away when the English ironclad train 
 approached and our guns were being got ready for 
 action, and even then your Excellency complained as 
 an old soldier of not being allowed to take part in the 
 fighting. 
 
 President : Every one knows I went there, includ- 
 ing the Khedive. It was a picnic from motives of 
 curiosity. Tell me, are the thoughts expressed in 
 the telegram your own ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : Yes, my own and everybody else's 
 as well. 
 
 President : You were director of the press. The 
 Tdif published articles abusing the Khedive. How 
 came you to let them appear ? 
 
EXAMINATION OF RIFAT BEY. 241 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : Show them to me. 
 
 Two numbers of the paper without date were then 
 put in, and containing articles uncomplimentary to 
 both the Khedive and the English. 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : I will answer both as to those par- 
 ticular articles and as to the way in which I carried 
 out my duties generally. What the Taif and other 
 papers have said was the result of the excitement of 
 the popular feeling against the Khedive, after the two 
 Councils held at the Ministry of the Interior. The 
 Taif only expressed what little boys in the street used 
 to say. Such ideas were not confined to any paper. 
 As to the general discharge of my official functions, I 
 say that after the Prime Minister, Rdgheb Pacha, tele- 
 graphed from Alexandria that hostilities had broken 
 out between Egypt and England, and gave notice 
 that the country was to be under martial law, the 
 Minister of War issued a proclamation that no papers 
 were to, be issued without its approval. I continued 
 to discharge my duties, and submitted all important 
 matters to the National Council. The great object 
 in view was to prevent the publishing of articles 
 which might excite fanaticism. One day Hasan 
 Effendi Shemsi published an article containing an 
 incitement to fanaticism and personal attacks. I 
 blamed him for it, and he left the staff of the Mufid. 
 The paper El Fostdt published a very fanatical 
 
 R 
 
242 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 article. In the presence of H.E. Butros Pacha, and 
 other members of the Council, it was resolved to 
 suppress the paper. 
 
 President : You suppressed the Fostdt and the 
 Mufid because they were exaggerated, but is not 
 your saying that the Taif expressed the popular 
 feeling (particularly in the two numbers now pro- 
 duced) a proof that you concurred in those sentiments 
 and approved those expressions ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : In the General Assembly which 
 met at the Ministry of the Interior, at which 
 Ulemas, Generals, and Notables were present, it was 
 decided that the Khedive had violated the Divine 
 law. As an Egyptian, I could not dissent from the 
 whole people and punish the Taif in contradiction 
 with my own thoughts. 
 
 President : Then was what the Taif said ap- 
 proved by you ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : I do not understand what your 
 Excellency means by approval, and I therefore refrain 
 from replying to the question. 
 
 President : You said before that the Khedive had 
 ordered you to give up some minutes, and you pre- 
 ferred to follow Arabi's orders. How do you explain 
 this? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : I trust I may be allowed to express 
 some reflections which occur to me in reading the 
 
EXAMINATION OF RIFAT BEY. 243 
 
 proces-verbaux. I have remarked some mistakes 
 which are attributable either to myself or the copyist. 
 I first said 
 
 President : You must now answer questions. You 
 will have your interrogatories read to you and may 
 then make any remarks you please afterwards. Now 
 you must only answer questions. 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : I am doing go. In my interro- 
 gatory of the 7th and 9th ult. this question is re- 
 ported incorrectly. M. Borelli asked me then the 
 same question, and I answered that, the Khedive 
 having ordered me to give to Muhamed Bey Khalil 
 the minutes of the Councils in the presence of M. 
 Sinadino and Sala Pacha, I at once promised com- 
 pliance, but being Clerk of the Council I could do 
 nothing without the knowledge of one at least of the 
 Ministers. As Arabi was the Minister of War and 
 Marine to His Highness, and the minutes in question 
 were connected with his department, I took them 
 with me, intending to inform him of the circum- 
 stance, and then give them to the Khedive. Arabi 
 Pacha, however, ordered me not to give them up, 
 saying that I would be held personally responsible 
 if I did so. I at once wrote to Muhamed Bey 
 Khalil, informing him of what had happened, but 
 I only got a verbal answer. 
 
 President : You were one day at Hussein Dra- 
 
 R2 
 
244 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 manli's house when a telegram was read, stating that 
 an English ship full of bloodhounds had arrived ; that 
 the Sultan had received a telegram from Prince Bis- 
 marck congratulating him on the alliance between 
 Turkey and Germany, that the English would always 
 be beaten and the Egyptians always victorious, and 
 that the Khedive had repented and felt sorry. You 
 answered, " God forbid ! How could the Khedive 
 show his face in Egypt, even allowing that this im- 
 possible fact should take place. Could he find a 
 house or room wherein to sit ? " 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : I remember nothing about it. 
 
 President : As Director of the Press, do you 
 know anything of the pamphlet entitled " Paradise 
 is under the Shadow of the Swords " ? 
 
 Ahmed Hifdt : I know nothing of it as Director 
 of the Press. I think I was told the War Department 
 had given orders for the seizure of this pamphlet at 
 the Post Office. Yacoub Sami Pacha could answer the 
 question much better. 
 
 President : At a preceding meeting you said the 
 threats of the military were heard by one or two 
 persons. Give me the names. 
 
 Ahmed Hifdt : I cannot remember them. 
 
 President : We will now adjourn. 
 
 Two days later these proceedings were once more 
 resumed. I took, as before, almost verbatim notes of 
 
EXAMINATION OF RIFAT BEY. 245 
 
 everything that passed. On the appearance of Rifat 
 (no longer quite so nervous) he was again interro- 
 gated as follows : 
 
 President : This paper (producing one) was found 
 at the War Office. It is the Turkish draft of a 
 telegram to Bessim Bey, Imperial Chamberlain, at 
 the Yildiz Kiosk, without date. Did you draw it up 
 or write it ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : It is a copy of a telegram I com- 
 posed with the approbation of the Medjlis-el-Orfi, or 
 National Council. It was approved by Reouf Pacha,* 
 Ahmed Pacha Nachat, Butros Pacha, Ismail Pacha 
 Abii Grebel, and others, and given to the telegraphist 
 after certain corrections. I have an impression it was 
 not transmitted owing to the cutting of the wires. 
 
 President : What is this ? (Second document 
 produced.) Is this your writing ? 
 
 Ahmed Hifdt : No. It is a copy of the former 
 telegram addressed to the Grand Vizier. All our 
 communications with Constantinople during the war 
 were sent in this manner in duplicate. 
 
 President (producing a second telegram to Bessim 
 Bey) : Did you draw this up ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : Yes, but by order always of the 
 National Council. I remember Jiaffer Pacha, Mareschli 
 
 * President of the Court Martial. 
 
246 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 Pacha, Ahmed Pacha Nachat, Ahmed Pacha Hassanin, 
 and Ismail Pacha Abu Gebel were those who con- 
 sidered it most necessary to keep Constantinople 
 informed of all that passed. You will observe that 
 most of these personages have affixed their seals to 
 the telegrams. 
 
 President : And this ? 
 
 Ahmed Eifdt : It is the usual duplicate for the 
 Porte. 
 
 President : And these two documents ? 
 
 Ahmed Eifdt : My answer is the same as in the 
 last case. 
 
 President : And these also ? 
 
 Ahmed Eifdt : These are in my handwriting. 1 
 see by the note of the telegraphist they are dated 
 August 2nd. The first is signed and sealed by nearly 
 all the members of the National Council, and strongly 
 insists on the necessity of an answer being given as 
 to the two assemblies held at the Ministry of the 
 Interior, the decision of which had been telegraphed 
 to Constantinople. The second is a translation of a 
 despatch giving an account of the taking of Suez. 
 They are both addressed to Bessim Bey afc the Yildiz 
 Kiosk. 
 
 President : Are the contents of these papers in 
 conformity with your own convictions, or were you 
 obliged or forced to send them by others ? 
 
EXAMINATION OF RIFAT BEY. 247 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : I have already said the telegrams 
 were sent to Constantinople by a decision of the 
 National Council, in which the feeling of the country 
 was represented by several members whose fame dates 
 from the time of Mehemet Ali, and of the other 
 assemblies previously held at the Ministry of the 
 Interior. At the first meeting it was the Armenian 
 Patriarch and Latif Pacha who put forward this idea. 
 I was appointed to the National Council by the Under- 
 secretary of State for the Interior. I was never 
 forced, and the contents were never contrary to my 
 own ideas. 
 
 President : According to one message I see the 
 Canal was to be blocked up. Surely this was not 
 your opinion ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : It was a necessity of war. I 
 regretted it being so. 
 
 President : In one telegram it is said that the 
 burning of Alexandria was really caused by the 
 English bombardment, and imputed falsely to the 
 Egyptian soldiers. How about this assertion ? 
 
 Ahmed Eifdt : I could not know the truth about 
 this. I have since heard Alexandria was not burned 
 by the English fire, but I do not think it was burned 
 by the Egyptian soldiers. 
 
 President : By whom, in your opinion, was 
 Alexandria burned ? 
 
248 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Mr. Broadley : I respectfully object to this 
 question. 
 
 President : We think it quite regular, but I will 
 ask something first. If you were not sure why did 
 you telegraph ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : I have already answered. It was 
 the decision of the Medjlis (Council), and based on 
 the information we had. 
 
 President : Was the information founded on 
 rumours or on letters to the Council ? 
 
 Ahmed JRifdt : I cannot say. The President of 
 the Council may perhaps be able to answer you. 
 
 President : As the burning of Alexandria is now 
 a well-known fact, and you say you think neither the 
 English soldiers or the Egyptian soldiers did it, who 
 then in your opinion was it who set fire to the town ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : The Council being at Cairo, and 
 all communication with Alexandria being cut off, I 
 only learned that the English had not burned the 
 town after the occupation of Cairo. I heard a eunuch 
 in my employ had said so after I was in custody at 
 the Prefecture of Police. 
 
 President : Did your servant say who it was ? 
 
 Ahmed Hifdt : I did not ask him, and he did not 
 say. 
 
 President: In one of the Constantinople de- 
 spatches it is said the National Council ordered the 
 
EXAMINATION OF RIFAT BEY. 249 
 
 Governor of Suez to tell the English Admiral that 
 the Council at Cairo was the sole legal government 
 in Egypt. Is this your conviction ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt: I said the day before yesterday 
 the power of H.H. the Khedive was suspended by 
 the decision of the General Assembly held at Cairo, 
 which was formed of all the great men of Egypt in 
 the capital as well as in the country. In consequence 
 of that the real de facto government of Egypt was 
 the National Council, accepted and supported by all 
 the nation, and which undertook the defence of the 
 country. Hence the telegram to Constantinople, and 
 hence the telegram sent to Suez to which you allude. 
 
 President : Did you affix your seal to this deci- 
 sion, and, if you did so, did you do it voluntarily ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : I sealed it. I did so of my own 
 free will. Neither I nor any one else was constrained 
 to do it. 
 
 President : The case is adjourned till to-morrow. 
 
 Things reached a climax at the adjourned sitting. 
 Such was the solemnity which now prevailed that 
 even the coffee and cigarettes were dispensed with. 
 The President began by reading a question of the 
 dimensions of a small brochure : 
 
 President : In your first statement you said that 
 the menaces you heard, and the events which had 
 taken place, e. g. } the burning of Alexandria, had a 
 
250 HO W WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 certain effect on your mind, and you added that you 
 heard something would take place at Cairo of the 
 kind which happened at Alexandria, and that con- 
 sequently you had agreed with Ali Pacha Shereef to 
 take refuge with your family through a small door, 
 and you also admitted you were in terror of the mili- 
 tary force, and you said all this was confirmed by 
 what you had heard from and in the presence of certain 
 persons, e. #., that Yacoub Sarni Pacha threatened to 
 take the police force and go to the battle, and so leave 
 the town without a guard if the civilians were not of 
 one mind with the soldiers, and, moreover, that if the 
 civilians were enemies from within he would attack 
 them sooner than the enemies from without. Lately, 
 however, you have said that the articles in the Tctif, 
 containing criticisms against the Khedive and exciting 
 the ideas of the populace, were in conformity with 
 your opinions ; and, moreover, that you signed volun- 
 tarily the minutes of the meetings of the National 
 Council, and have even qualified this Committee, 
 said to be notoriously an instrument in the hands 
 of the military party, as the de facto government of 
 the country. Explain this contradiction. Were the 
 military proceedings calculated to cause you fear at 
 one time and not at another ? 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : When you questioned me as to 
 the minutes demanded from me by the Khedive 
 
EXAMINATION OF EIFAT BEY. 251 
 
 (a subject concerning which I had been already ex- 
 amined), I said I had many rectifications to make as 
 to my interrogatory of the 7th and 9th October, con- 
 ducted in the absence of my legal adviser, and you 
 answered me I could only make observations on a 
 specific point and not generally as to the whole inter- 
 rogatory. As the question now proposed amounts to 
 a resume of my answers on the "different occasions of 
 my private examination both in the absence and 
 presence of my advocate, I now ask your Excellency 
 to be allowed to make observations on all the inter- 
 rogatory, and such as I shall support by proof and 
 evidence. Otherwise I beg your Excellency to ques- 
 tion me on any fact point by point, and I will answer 
 readily and frankly. 
 
 President : You may do this in writing. 
 Mr. Broadley : Will it form part of the proces- 
 verbal ? 
 
 'President : Yes. 
 
 Several Members of the Commission objecting to 
 this the President withdrew his permission. 
 
 President : Explain your contradiction as to the 
 two interrogatories on the subject of the fear of the 
 military. 
 
 Ahmed Jlifdt : If you will allow me to speak 
 frankly I can explain these contradictions. This is a 
 
252 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABT. 
 
 right allowed even to the most common criminal , and 
 I claim it. 
 
 President : You may do so if you confine yourself 
 to the point at issue. 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : I have been grossly ill-treated in 
 prison. Ibrahim Agha, tutunji, the Khedive's pipe- 
 bearer 
 
 President : Stop ; this is not the question. We 
 all know nobody ever complained of the tutunji but 
 Ardbi and Abdul Graff&r. 
 
 Sir Charles Wilson : This is riot so. I feel it 
 my duty to say that when I made my weekly visit 
 all or nearly all the prisoners complained of this man's 
 visit and conduct. 
 
 President : We must send for M. Borelli ; he is 
 the ministere publique. 
 
 Mr. Broadley : I venture to ask you to note this. 
 As M. Borelli's agreements, as such, are repudiated, I 
 trust the Court will now uphold M. Borelli's official 
 engagements. 
 
 President : Send for M. Borelli. 
 [M. Borelli arrives after one hour's delay.] 
 
 Mr. Broadley : I appeal to you, Sir, if the Court 
 is not bound to record the whole answer of an accused 
 person ? 
 
 M. Borelli : Yes, but he should be brief. 
 
EXAMINATION OF RIFAT BEY. 253 
 
 President : Then, as the ministere publique says 
 so, Eifat Bey may answer. 
 
 Ahmed Rifdt : Colonel Wilson knows something 
 of our treatment at the Prefecture. One after another 
 the guards used to come and mock us. Hasan Dra- 
 manli was treated like this. When I was brought 
 into the courtyard of the Prefecture I saw an officer, 
 named Ahmed Effendi Kainil. "He seized me by the 
 arm and said u Put this man between the ranks of 
 soldiers, who are to conduct him." I was much 
 alarmed because on the night of my arrest the Prefect 
 of Police had told Mahmoud Sdmi and myself that 
 death was inevitable, and that if an inquiry was made 
 it would only be for the form. The moment we 
 arrived at the new prison (October 4th) we were 
 confined in separate rooms. The next night the 
 door of my cell was opened with a great noise, and 
 in rushed a great number of Turkish cavas (guards), 
 aides-de-camp, and pipe-bearers, all servants of the 
 Khedive, and headed by Ahmed Kdmil and one of 
 the aides-de-camp. They shouted at me and made 
 me rise. Kamil seized me by the shoulders and felt 
 all over my body from head to foot. I was terrified 
 to death. They made me close the window-shutters 
 and said I should not have a bed. The next day the 
 windows and part of the door were nailed up. Two 
 days later I was brought up for examination. I ask 
 
2.54 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 your Excellency if an interrogatory made under these 
 circumstances has any legal or equitable value ? 
 
 President : You may go. 
 
 I need hardly say from the time he left the Court 
 till the day he quitted Egypt (in all probability for 
 ever) forty days later, under a sentence of five years' 
 exile, he was not further meddled with. Even Ismail 
 Eyoub had quite enough of interrogating so quick- 
 witted and malignant a Nationalist. 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 255 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 
 
 *. 
 
 THE adage that " truth is stranger than fiction" has 
 rarely received an apter illustration than in the story 
 of Suleiman Sami. No other incident connected with 
 the closing scenes of the drama in which Arabi played 
 the principal part can claim the dramatic interest 
 which attaches itself to the details of Suleiman's 
 capture in Crete, his subsequently turning approver 
 in Cairo, and the very short shrift he secured for 
 himself six months later on the gallows hastily 
 erected amidst the ruins of the Great Square in 
 Alexandria. I only saw Suleiman Sami once. He 
 was the son of Daoud Pacha, an old Egyptian 
 functionary, and was sometimes called Suleiman 
 Sami, sometimes Suleiman Daoud. His correct desig- 
 nation was, I believe, Suleiman Bey Sdmi-ibn-Daoud. 
 He had unquestionably taken a prominent part in the 
 military operations at Alexandria, and there can no 
 longer be any doubt that he personally superintended 
 the burning of a portion of the European quarter of 
 
256 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 the city. Like all other military officers of his 
 rank, he was well known to Arabi, with whom he had 
 been prior to the war on terms approaching to inti- 
 macy. After the defeat at Tel-el-Kebir he disap- 
 peared together with one Hasan Moosa el Akad, a 
 Cairene merchant and landowner, who was per- 
 sistently described as an incendiary and a fanatic, but 
 who was in reality only an active Egyptian politician 
 of doubtful honesty. By some unaccountable infatua- 
 tion they found their way to Crete, where they were 
 at once recognised and arrested. Their precipitate 
 flight seemed conclusive evidence of guilt, and the 
 Turkish governor sent them back to Egypt with 
 becoming promptitude. 
 
 I happened to be in the corridor of the Daira 
 Saniya, when the two prisoners arrived. Suleiman's 
 face seemed perfectly livid from fear. His counte- 
 nance was, I remember, singularly unprepossessing, 
 and he wore a drab military overcoat and patent 
 leather shoes. Hasan Moosa, clad in a snow-white 
 turban and a tight-fitting robe of chocolate-coloured 
 cloth (a costume which became admirably his slight 
 figure, olive complexion, and typical Egyptian face), 
 seemed perfectly unconcerned, giving a cheerful nod 
 of recognition to every one he met. He was perfectly 
 accustomed to this kind of thing, for his whole life 
 had been almost spent in arrest and exile. The new 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 257 
 
 comers were placed in adjoining cells next to that of 
 Abd-el-Al, and I left the prison wholly unconscious 
 of what was about to occur. 
 
 Just at this time our work was peculiarly arduous. 
 I was examining each deposition as it came to hand, and 
 devoting as much time as possible to the study of such 
 points of Moslem and international law as would be 
 useful at the approaching trial. .. Lord Henry Lennox 
 was now in Cairo, and Arabi expressed a desire to see 
 him. Riaz Pacha, however, returned a somewhat 
 decisive answer in the negative to a request for 
 admittance which Lord Henry preferred. This hap- 
 pened on the day following the arrival of the two 
 fugitives ; and some hours were consumed in the pur- 
 poseless interrogatory of Eifat Bey, which now 
 seemed to have all at once become a matter of import- 
 ance in the minds of the Commissioners. 
 
 It was late in the evening when I saw Arabi, who 
 told me something unusual had taken place. He said 
 that, as soon as Sir Charles Wilson had left the 
 prison, the members of the Commission, who had sepa- 
 rated, reassembled, and remained in the building till 
 late at night, and he could plainly hear that a sitting was 
 going on in the adjoining room, which seemed to last 
 without interruption during several hours. Through 
 the nailed-up Venetian blinds he had seen more than 
 one mounted messenger from the Palace come and go. 
 
 s 
 
258 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 Arabi was aware of the agreement we had ob- 
 tained, which was now to make our presence admis- 
 sible and essential at these examinations, and he at 
 once suspected that some foul play was on foot. 
 Bifat Bey and a grim old Major of infantry named 
 Kadr Kadr Bey, (who shared his cell, and was only 
 accused . of participation in the twice amnestied 
 pronunciamentos,} fully corroborated all Arabi had 
 said. Eifat had, moreover, . heard from the guards 
 that Suleiman Bey Sami had been interrogated during 
 six consecutive hours. I asked all three prisoners to 
 draw up a statement of what had passed, and re- 
 turned home much upset at the manifest unfairness 
 with which I conceived we had been treated. 
 
 In the evening I learned certain facts connected 
 with the arrival of Suleiman Sami at Cairo which 
 enabled me to confidently anticipate the next move 
 on the part of our adversaries, viz,, the admission 
 of Suleiman Bey to give evidence as an approver on 
 behalf of the prosecution. From the moment he 
 arrived at Alexandria till he reached the prison at 
 Cairo he had never been for an instant out of sight 
 of the zealous agents of the Khedive. The Governor 
 of Alexandria had taken him in a close carriage to a 
 wayside railway station some distance from the town, 
 where he was placed in a separate compartment, and 
 under the personal care of the Sub-Governor conveyed 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 259 
 
 to Cairo. We were not long kept in suspense. The 
 Egyptian Gazette on the following morning was in 
 unprecedented demand. It contained a full, true, and 
 particular account of the declaration of Suleiman Bey 
 Sami, the self-confessed burner of Alexandria. The 
 statement in question filled nearly three columns, and 
 was "to be continued"; next day a further instal- 
 ment covered two columns mofe, and was also " to 
 be continued," but for some reason or other the 
 remainder has never appeared from that time to the 
 present, and, in all probability, never will. 
 
 Party feeling once more ran high at Cairo. The 
 verdict of the verandah of Shepheard's Hotel was 
 almost unanimous : Suleiman Sami's story should, of 
 course, be treated as conclusive, and Arabi's doom 
 must be looked on as settled accordingly. A very 
 cursory perusal of the latest effort of Ismail Eyoub's 
 genius, however, speedily showed me the real value, 
 or, more correctly speaking, the real worthlessness, 
 of the almost endless statement of S&mi. He had 
 tried to prove too much, and I saw at once his alle- 
 gations were wholly incapable of corroboration. 
 Sami pretended that Arabi had verbally ordered him, 
 in the presence of several persons he was unable to 
 point out, to burn Alexandria. He also declared 
 Arabi had sent him to the Ramleh Palace to kill 
 the Khedive, but that on his road he met Sultan 
 
 s2 
 
260 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Pacha, (not yet K.C.M.G., but still the " Father of 
 his Country,") and Hasan Pacha Sherai. At the sight 
 of these personages he repented himself, confessed his 
 criminal intention, and, abandoning his impious 
 design, returned from whence he came. As regards 
 the incendiarism, it was manifest that no corrobora- 
 tion was possible, and the doubtful evidence of an 
 accomplice could not possibly carry conviction as to 
 the incitement to murder. I was already in possession 
 of the depositions of Sultan and Hasan Sherai, neither 
 of which contained the faintest allusion to such an 
 occurrence, which that of Sultan, at least, would 
 certainly have done, if there had been any ground 
 for the assertion. 
 
 It was necessary, however, to take some "steps for 
 protecting the right secured us by our convention 
 with Borelli Bey. We addressed a letter to Ismail 
 Pacha Eyoub in the following terms : 
 
 "We have learned from the public prints that two persons 
 named Suleiman Daoud and Hasan Moosa-el-Akad, have been 
 examined by the Commission as witnesses against our client, 
 Arabi Pacha, in our absence, and in the absence of the accused, 
 and contrary to the provisions of the agreement signed on the 
 2nd November by H.E. Borelli Bey on behalf of the Com- 
 mission. 
 
 We protest respectfully against these infractions of an 
 agreement binding on all parties, and, consequently, against 
 use being made at any stage of the trial of the evidence so 
 obtained, which we consider as entirely null and void. 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 261 
 
 The undisguised glee with which the Court party 
 contemplated the treachery of Suleiman was not 
 destined to be of long duration. Several persons 
 whom he indicated by description or otherwise as 
 witnesses were confronted with him on the very 
 next day, but they refused one and all to support 
 his story. Hasan Sherai in his prison and Sultan 
 Pacha in his palace flatly contradicted his romantic 
 account of the alleged rencontre on the Ramleh road. 
 A European of scrong anti-Nationalist opinions was 
 present when the delegate of the Commission came 
 to respectfully interrogate the Father of his Country 
 on the subject. Sultan met the question put to him 
 with an emphatic denial. " What a pity," exclaimed 
 his visitor, "a different answer would have settled 
 the whole business." Did some scruples of conscience 
 torment Sultan Pacha's mind even at the eleventh 
 hour ? I think so. 
 
 There is a vast difference between the principles 
 and practice of Freemasonry in England and on the 
 continent of Europe. Our own system embraces 
 nothing more exciting than charity and good-fellow- 
 ship ; foreign Masonry is almost avowedly an appro- 
 priate and convenient arena for political discussion, 
 and both political and religious agitation. The two 
 creeds have absolutely nothing in common but a few 
 outward and visible signs, which convey to the minds 
 
262 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 of those who use them very different significations. In 
 Egypt the tenets of continental Masonry, with its Re- 
 publican watchwords of Fraternite, Liberte, Egalite, 
 had evidently overshadowed for a time at least a 
 strong English element which once prevailed in her 
 numerous Lodges. Although none of the leaders of 
 the National party belonged to the brotherhood, a 
 large number of their subordinates were amongst its 
 most active and zealous members. Sheikh Abdii had 
 been made Master of his Lodge, and many of the 
 Deputies in the Egyptian Chamber had hastened to 
 join the craft. The " hungry after justice," as Rifat 
 (also a Mason) usually described the Egyptian patriots, 
 found a strange fascination in the mystic tie which 
 was to unite all men in the common bond of liberty, 
 and believed the same machinery which had helped 
 the Italians in their struggle for freedom and unity 
 would materially assist the Egyptian cause. 
 
 I must now explain the reason for this abrupt digres- 
 sion on Egyptian Masonry. At every period of my 
 stay in Egypt, and more particularly at every acute 
 crisis through which the fate of Arabi passed, I 
 received a series of anonymous letters giving me 
 many valuable hints, and informing me of all that 
 was going on in the enemy's camp. A great majority 
 of them bore unmistakeable signs of a masonic origin. 
 Some came through the post, others were left at my 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 2G3 
 
 house by an unknown hand. At the critical moment 
 I am now describing I received the following ad nee: 
 
 " Dear Brother, 
 
 " Victory for Justice ! I have the honour to inform you 
 that Sultan Pacha denies ever seeing Suleiman Sami on the road 
 to Ramleh. He has lately told several people that Arabi neither 
 burned Alexandria, nor gave any orders that it should be burned. 
 He said also he had ascertained this personally when he went to 
 speak to Arabi about the soldiers who surrounded the palace at 
 Ramleh on the 12th July. Sultan Pacha found Arabi outside 
 the gate Bdb-el-Sharki loudly lamenting over the looting and 
 burning and upbraiding the soldiers for what had happened. He 
 even caused plunder to be snatched from the soldiers and burned, 
 Sultdn asked who had done this thing. Arabi answered ' They 
 say it is Suleiman Sami.' Please pay a visit to Sultan. He 
 has much to say to you. Indeed he is waiting for you. He 
 will corroborate all I now say. Please burn this. 
 
 " From your Brother." 
 
 The brief triumph occasioned by the supposed 
 success of the secret examination of Suleiman Sami 
 seemed to have emboldened the Commission to set all 
 our agreements with Borelli Bey openly at defiance. 
 On going to the Daira Saniya prison on the morning 
 of the 19th November I found the Commissioners on 
 the point of examining a venerable Maltese renegade 
 who had suddenly, and after the lapse of five months, 
 recollected some phrases uttered by Arabi during the 
 
264 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 bombardment, whicli he now pretended had some 
 occult and mysterious meaning. Ismail Eyoub first 
 essayed a little persuasion, laying much stress on the 
 fact that His Excellence the witness was a Pacha, 
 " and a Pacha could not lie." The following dialogue 
 then took place between us : 
 
 President : We intend to-day to examine a fresh 
 witness against all the prisoners. 
 
 Mr. Broadley : I venture to submit this cannot 
 be done unless you allow the accused to be present, 
 as it is contrary to the amendment of the Procedure 
 Eules agreed on by Borelli Bey on the 2nd of 
 November in the name of the Commission and acted 
 on by it since. 
 
 President : The Commission repudiates this agree- 
 ment. The accused cannot be present. 
 
 Mr. Broadley : I trust I may point out that M. 
 Borelli left the sitting of the Commission to sign the 
 agreement, that it was signed in an adjoining apart- 
 ment in the presence of some members of the Court, 
 that the President congratulated me on terminating 
 the difficulty, and that for some days it was held to 
 be in force and acted on accordingly. I must also 
 observe M. Borelli was officially introduced to us as 
 the accredited legal adviser of the Ministry of the 
 Interior and the Commission. 
 
 President : I will write to M. Borelli. 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 265 
 
 [An hour's delay, after which a letter arrives.] 
 
 President : As M. Borelli says we can go on with 
 the evidence we shall do so. 
 
 Mr. Broadley : As I can consent to no deviation 
 from the rules agreed to, I beg leave to tender a 
 written protest and withdraw. 
 
 Accompanied by Mr. Santillana I paid a long visit 
 to Arabi, who did not seem much moved at Suleiman 
 Sami's accusation, beyond feeling deeply the treachery 
 of which he was the victim. I was soon convinced 
 of the truth of the assurances he gave me. As to the 
 story of Suleiman's mission to kill the Khedive he at 
 once pointed out its inherent improbability. " 1 have 
 never knowingly wronged or harmed a human being," 
 said Arabi; "for three months at Cairo the Khedive's 
 life was jealously guarded by me day after day. If 
 I had ever wanted to assassinate him I could have 
 have done so at any moment. Why, then, should I 
 suddenly conceive the idea of killing him in the midst 
 of what I then thought to be our common misfortunes ? " 
 " Have I then need" he added, " to solemnly swear to 
 you that what Suleiman Sdmi says is a lie?" At my 
 suggestion he promised to write a full account of his 
 movements on those eventful days, but he asked me 
 to send him his faithful servant Muhamed, who had 
 been all the time at his side. " When I think of the 
 
266 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 bombardment," he said, "the old stunned feeling 
 here (pointing to his head) seems to return and my 
 memory becomes confused. I want to question 
 Muhamed on one or two points." A day later he 
 completed the paper I required, and this is Mr. 
 Santillana's translation of Arabi's story of all he did 
 during Lord Alcester's " warlike operation :" 
 
 " During my stay at Alexandria with the Ministry, 
 from July 7th to the 10th, I used to go in the morn- 
 ing to the Ras- el-Tin Palace, and come back after 
 sunset, on account of the prolonged meetings the 
 Ministers then held. At night I used to be at the 
 Ministry of Marine. 
 
 " On the 10th of July a Council of Ministers and 
 others was held under the presidency of the Khedive; 
 the Ottoman delegates were present. It was decided 
 that we should reply to the fire of the English ships 
 after they had fired five or six shots. The Council 
 was dismissed at five o'clock that day. The Khedive 
 with his family left for Eamleh Palace. I proceeded 
 to the Ministry of Marine and gave the necessary 
 instructions to the commander of the forces ; the 
 infantry were to assist the artillerymen, as the latter 
 were under the full number necessary to man the guns. 
 
 "On the morning of July llth, 1882, at 7 o'clock 
 a.m. the ships opened fire ; the forts answered 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 267 
 
 according to orders. As the missiles fell very thick 
 on the Ministry of Marine, I proceeded with Toulba 
 Pacha to the Damas Fort, near the Bab-el-Jadid 
 (New Gate), which, being very high, allowed of our 
 seeing the other forts. Shells fell very thick on our 
 way, and one of them burst as we were near the Bab- 
 el-Jadid, and killed two officers, six men of the 
 police force, and the fc horse of a carriage that was 
 standing by. 
 
 " I remained in the said fort up to half -past ten, 
 Arabic time (four o'clock p.m.) During the bombard- 
 ment all the ministers came to us, as well as 
 messengers from the Khedive and from Dervesh 
 Pacha, with compliments from H.H. and Dervesh for 
 the splendid attitude of the troops, although the forti- 
 fications were in an unfinished state and the English 
 ships so powerfully armed. At three o'clock of that 
 same day there came from Cairo Omar Bey Rahmi 
 and Sheikh Muhamed Abdii. We had also with us 
 the Chief of the Alexandria Police, Mustafa Bey 
 Sobhi and Suleiman Bey Sami. The latter seemed 
 to have lost his head, and talked nonsense, which I 
 paid no attention to, as I was speaking with the Chief 
 of the Police about carrying away the dead and 
 wounded who were in the forts and the streets. I 
 heard Suleiman Sami saying, 'We must stop the 
 
268 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 Canal/ I interrupted for a moment my conversation 
 with the police officer to remark, i The Suez Canal is 
 neutral, and must not be touched.' 
 
 " After I had done talking with the Chief of the 
 Police I blamed Suleiman Sami for having left his 
 troops at such a moment and for coming to trouble us 
 with his nonsense, and ordered him to go back to his 
 post ; he left us then. There were present then 
 Toulba Pacha, Omar Bey Rahmi, and Sheikh 
 Muhamed Abdu. 
 
 " The fire having ceased, I left the fort. I found 
 that a very great crowd had assembled near the New 
 Gate ; the people surrounded me and prevented my 
 proceeding forward; they were terribly frightened; I 
 reassured them and calmed them. His Excellency 
 Ragheb Pacha came up and drew me away from the 
 crowd. He took me to his house, where there were 
 present Sherai Pacha, Suleiman Pacha Abaza, Zobeir 
 Pacha, Sultan Pacha, and Ismail Hakki Pacha. After 
 our afternoon prayer we all went to Ramleh Palace 
 to submit the state of affairs to the Khedive. This 
 was about sunset. We remained there till two o'clock. 
 A Council was held during this time under the 
 Khedive's presidency, at which Dervesh Pacha was 
 also present. It was decided to hoist the white flag 
 if fire was opened again from the ships, as a sign that 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 269 
 
 we wanted to negociate. Toulba Pacha was appointed 
 to go to the English Admiral and inform him of what 
 had been decided. 
 
 "I then proceeded to Bab-el-Sharki (the Eastern 
 Gate) and gave orders to the Commandant de Place at 
 Alexandria to hoist the white flag if the fire was 
 opened next day. I spent the night there in the 
 room reserved to the officer in command of the Bab- 
 el-Sharki post. After midnight Toulba Pacha came 
 and took from me the instructions which the Council 
 had decided upon. There were in the room with us 
 during most of that time, Omar Bey Eahmi and 
 Khalil Bey Kamil. 
 
 " Next morning at 6 o'clock, July 12th, Mahmoud 
 Pacha Sami arrived : I enquired about the time and rea- 
 son of his coming to Alexandria. He said he had come 
 during the night, and had gone to the Police Office, 
 and then to the house of the President of the Council, 
 Ragheb Pacha, and others, and had at last put up at a 
 private house in the town for the night. He had come, 
 he said, to see how matters stood, as a soldier, ready to 
 fight for his country. I thanked him. Soon after, Mah- 
 moud Pacha Fehmy, Aid Bey, and Suleiman Bey Sami 
 came, and a conversation ensued as to what was to 
 be done in case the British Admiral persisted in re- 
 opening fire, and as to what quarters the army might 
 take in case it was obliged to abandon the town. I 
 
270 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 gave permission to Mahmoud Pacha Fehmy and 
 Khalil Bey Kamil to proceed to Mahmoudieh and 
 make a reconnaissance from Hadjr Ennawatia to 
 Kafr-el-Dowar, and draw out a plan of any locality 
 they might think most suitable. They went on their 
 errand. The Chief of the Police took my directions 
 for giving assistance to the wounded who were in 
 the more distant forts, such as Fort Adgemi, El-Meks, 
 and to the inhabitants on the side of Grabari. After 
 this Toulba Pacha went to the Ministry of Marine to 
 carry out his mission. At half-past nine the ships 
 opened fire, and I went out of the room to see the 
 hoisting of the white flag, and the persons present 
 left me to go to their different posts. After twenty- 
 five or twenty shots had been fired the attack ceased : 
 half-an-hour afterwards a messenger came to me from 
 the Khedive. I proceeded to Ramleh Palace, and 
 submitted to the Khedive the result of the hoisting 
 of the white flag from the forts, and told him that 
 twenty or twenty-five shots had been fired. I remained 
 there until Toulba Pacha came at half -past one o'clock 
 p.m., and reported that the British Admiral wanted 
 the occupation of three forts, viz. the forts of Meks, 
 El Arab, and El Adgemi, and that he wanted an 
 order to that effect from the Khedive at half-past 
 one. 
 
 " A Council was held, under the presidency of the 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 271 
 
 Khedive, and in the presence of Dervesh Pacha and 
 Kadri Bey, the Ottoman Envoys, of Ismail Pacha 
 Hakki, of Toulba Pacha, and the Ministers. After 
 deliberation, it was decided to submit the matter to 
 the Sultan, as the Imperial firman did not give the 
 Khedive the right to cede any part of Egypt to any 
 foreign power, and to send back Toulba Pacha to the 
 Admiral to inform him of this decision. The Khedive 
 then ordered me to send soldiers to occupy Fort 
 Adgemi, in order to prevent a landing of the English. 
 I exposed to His Highness the difficulties that pre- 
 vented my doing so. He looked angry, and said, 
 " Why are you soldiers if you cannot prevent the 
 enemy from occupying y our country ? " The Council 
 was then dissolved. After a quarter of an hour the 
 Khedive sent for me, and in the presence of Dervesh 
 Pacha asked me what was the reason of the presence 
 of four companies of infantry at Ramleh. I had no 
 knowledge of this fact, and told him so, and said that 
 I supposed they had come to reinforce the guard of the 
 palace. He said that there was no necessity for their 
 presence, that the guard he had before was quite 
 enough, and it would be better to order them off to 
 some other part. I went out and inquired for the officer 
 in command of the detachment : I found it was Ali 
 Abu Hashim, of the 6th infantry. I asked why 
 the four battalions had come, and by whose orders. 
 
272 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 He replied that Suleiman Sami had ordered him to 
 reinforce the guard at Ramleh. I told him to return 
 to his post, as his services were not required there, 
 the guard at Ramleh being quite sufficient. 
 
 " At four o'clock I left in the direction of Alex- 
 andria; on my road I met a great many fugitives 
 from the town: on approaching Bab-el-Sharki 
 I saw a great crowd of people, a medley of 
 soldiers and citizens, going in the direction of Mah- 
 moudieh, with their wives and their children, all 
 crying. On my inquiring the reason of all this, I 
 was told by some that the English were going to fire 
 upon the town, and by others that the bombardment 
 had already begun. 
 
 u On my reaching Bab-el-Sharki, at five o'clock 
 p.m., I found Colonel Aid Bey, who informed me 
 that it was rumoured in the town that the English 
 would begin fire again, and that the inhabitants 
 and even the soldiers had left in disorder. He 
 said he was trying to assemble the soldiers 
 of his regiment. I urged him to do so, and to 
 prevent his men from disbanding. I stood myself 
 before the gate to stop the soldiers. I was told 
 by Mahmoud Pacha Sami and Omar Bey Hahmi 
 that Suleiman Sami was with a detachment of soldiers 
 in the Monshia, that he was in a state of frenzy, and 
 wanted to burn the town, and would listen to no 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 273 
 
 advice. I sent immediately for him. I think my 
 messengers were Ibrahim Bey Fouzi, and another 
 officer whose name I do not remember. I directed 
 Aid Bey to send four companies to prevent the 
 soldiers from pillaging the shops. At eleven o'clock 
 or thereabouts Suleiman Sami arrived with a couple of 
 battalions in complete disorder. I asked him whether 
 
 it was true that he wanted to burn the town ; he 
 i 
 
 denied having ever had any such intention, and said 
 his soldiers were only occupying the streets leading 
 to the Port in order to prevent the landing of English 
 troops. But as I observed that some of the men had 
 linen and other stuffs in their possession, I ordered 
 him to seize them and to identify those upon whom 
 they had been found. I did not cease encouraging 
 the soldiers, and reminding them of the honour of 
 their flag, and so sought to prevent their leaving the 
 town, and precipitately abandoning their resistance. 
 I even told them I had decided not to quit the town, 
 and that I would die there, and asked if they would 
 leave me alone ? While all this was going on, 
 there came up Hasan Pacha Sherai, Suleiman Pacha 
 Abaza, Hussein Bey-el-Turk, aide-de-camp to the 
 Khedive, together with Muheddin Effendi, aide-de- 
 camp to Dervesh Pacha, and found me there. They told 
 me that the soldiers who were at Ramleh, both the 
 infantry and cavalry, had surrounded the palace, and 
 
274 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 prevented any one from going in or out. They asked 
 me the reason of all this; but I was exceedingly sur- 
 prised at hearing it myself. Soon after I sent Toulba 
 Pacha, who had just come up, to order the soldiers 
 to leave the palace, and to enquire as to the causes 
 of their behaviour. I declared before all persons 
 present that I had nothing to do with what was going 
 on there. I then asked Suleiman Bey Sami why he 
 had sent infantry soldiers to Ramleh. He said that 
 having found some carriages that were going there, 
 he had sent four companies to reinforce the guard, of 
 his own accord, and without having any orders 
 for it. 
 
 " Toulba Pacha having reached Ramleh Palace, 
 the soldiers dispersed. He had the honour to see the 
 Khedive ; and it was ascertained, after inquiry, that 
 the soldiers, having been told that the inhabitants and 
 the military at Alexandria were leaving the town in 
 a disorderly manner, had conceived some fears for 
 the palace, and had surrounded it. The Khedive 
 thanked them for it, and sent Hussein-el-Turk, his 
 aide-de-camp, with Toulba Pacha, to present me his 
 compliments. The messenger did not find me, and 
 I know this from Toulba Pacha, who told it me when 
 he joined me later in the day. 
 
 " Seeing that it was impossible to take the troops 
 back to Alexandria, and that a few of them only 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 275 
 
 were at Bab-el-Sharki, and many officers, amongst 
 whom Nessim Bey, commander of the coast at Alex- 
 andria, having informed me that the ships had ap- 
 proached Fort Silsileh, in order to bombard the Bab- 
 el-Sharki barracks, and cut off the retreat, I thought 
 that it was necessary to choose some convenient spot 
 as a rendezvous for the soldiers. I therefore ordered 
 the officers of the different regiments to go, with all 
 the soldiers they could collect, to a convenient position 
 on the Mahmoudieh Canal. I went with Ragheb 
 Pacha, President of the Council, in his carriage, as 
 far as the place where the roads meet, in front of 
 the Christian cemetery. I alighted, as he was going 
 to the Khedive's, at Ramleh Palace, and went on to 
 the canal in great haste, in order to be the first 
 there, and to preserve order amongst the soldiers. 
 The troops continued to arrive there between sunset 
 and daybreak." 
 
 If the trial had gone on, Arabi's statement could, 
 I believe, have been substantiated. Ibrahim Bey 
 Fouzi would certainly have given evidence, and one 
 Hasan Effendi-el-Shemsi,* (the ex-editor of the 
 Arab newspaper Mufid,) stated openly, at a time 
 when all the prisoners were still at the Cairo Pre- 
 
 * Notes of Ahmed Bey Rifat 
 T 2 
 
276 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 fecture of Police, that he was standing near Arabi 
 and Mahmoud Sami when Suleiman Sami came up 
 to them almost beside himself, and said something 
 about burning the town. They both strongly dis- 
 suaded him from any act of the kind, but Suleiman 
 suddenly rose in manifest anger, and turned quickly 
 towards the town. Arabi asked El-Shemsi to over- 
 take him, " lest he should do some act of folly," and 
 bring him back. El-Shemsi did so, but the moment 
 he touched Suleiman's arm the latter gave him so 
 violent a push with his shoulder as to throw him 
 down. When he rose, Suleiman was already some 
 distance off. 
 
 A few days later the depositions recorded by the 
 Commission, coupled with what Lord Dufferin appro- 
 priately enough called the u tainted" evidence of 
 Suleiman Sdmi, were found wholly inadequate to 
 connect Arabi with the burning of Alexandria. They 
 were insufficient even to make out a primd facie 
 case against him. The attempt to implicate him 
 in the events of the llth June at Alexandria was, 
 if possible, a still more conspicuous failure.* A few 
 days later Suleiman Sami's cell was empty. He 
 had been suddenly hurried down to Alexandria 
 to await trial for his self-confessed crime. The 
 
 * It was at this time I received the statement of Sheikh Abdu 
 and others on the subject. 
 
SULEIMAN SAMI THE APPROVER. 277 
 
 morning before he left Cairo for ever he had seen 
 Arabi cross the quadrangle below, and return a few 
 minutes afterwards condemned only to simple exile 
 on a formal charge of rebellion. Suleiman Sami's 
 whilom friends now became his implacable foes. 
 Might he not tell inconvenient stories of his interview 
 with the Governor and Sub-Grovernor of Alexandria 
 on his road to Cairo, or reveal what really happened 
 at the secret sitting of the Commission of Inquiry ? 
 In the jail at Alexandria, it is true, Suleiman Sami 
 made several feeble attempts, first to attenuate and 
 then to deny his original declaration. He was now, 
 however, to be tried by that very Moslem law which 
 declares explicitly that u the confession of a man may 
 be well taken as conclusive against himself, but can- 
 not be held sufficient to condemn others he accuses 
 therein." The Alexandria Court Martial unhesita- 
 tingly condemned him, and while dawn was breaking 
 on the morning of the 9th of June Suleiman Bey 
 Sami Ibn Daoud was brought from his prison, half 
 dead with terror, and hanged by the neck till he was 
 dead, in the midst of the very ruins he had helped 
 almost a year before to create. Whether the burning 
 of Alexandria constituted a crime, when viewed as a 
 military expedient, is a very difficult question. Sulei- 
 man Sami admitted the incendiarism, but pleaded 
 in justification the orders of his lawful superior. 
 
278 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 Arabi consistently denied this assertion, and Sulei- 
 man Sami entirely failed to prove it. A strong pre- 
 sumption that it was false, arose from the fact that 
 Suleiman's statements were wholly discredited in 
 every particular where corroboration or contradiction 
 was possible. I consider his execution fully justified. 
 Of one thing there can be no doubt : no man ever 
 died in Egypt more despised or more unpitied. 
 
MAUMOUD PACHA SAML 279 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 HOW WE CAME TO DEFEND MAHMOUD PACHA SAM1. 
 
 ON the afternoon of the 19th November I received 
 a wholly unexpected visit from Mr. Broadway, who 
 for many years had held the almost fiduciary position 
 of dentist in ordinary to the Khedivial family. Mr. 
 Broadway had begun life as a soldier, but had many 
 years ago very prudently abandoned the pursuit of 
 arms, for the more profitable business of stopping and 
 extracting the teeth of Egyptian grandees. My 
 visitor was evidently a man of no little force of cha- 
 racter, and I afterwards learned he had long waged a 
 costly war of actions for slander against a rival 
 practitioner, who lived opposite him and described 
 himself on a still more imposing brass plate than Mr. 
 Broadway's as " Dentist Extraordinary to the Prin- 
 cesse Mere and all the members of the Khedivial 
 family." Mr. Broadway lost no time in coming to the 
 object of his visit; (C I want you," he said, " to 
 defend Mahmoud Pacha Sami. I bring you a letter 
 from his wife, but I assure you there are some much 
 
280 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 greater people behind her, and I have even had to tear 
 the crown of a Khedivial princess off the envelope. The 
 Pacha's wife is herself a princess of the Yeghen family, 
 and we have no notion of his being made a scape-goat 
 for the rest of the prisoners. Even the great Princesse 
 Mere* has made up her mind to this, and the whole of 
 the other princesses have determined to tell Lord 
 Dufferin their opinion of Tewfik Pacha. Please read 
 this," and he handed me a torn envelope containing a 
 short note duly sealed in Arabic. * 
 Mr. Santillana translated it : 
 
 I, the wife of Mahmoud Pacha Sami, do hereby appoint Mr. 
 Broadley, the English Advocate, to defend my husband before the 
 Commission of Inquiry and the Court Martial in case he should 
 be obliged to appear before one of those courts* or both. I give 
 him full powers with regard to the defence of my said husband, 
 accept personally full responsibility for all costs of the same, and 
 deliver him this mandate which shall at all times be a witness of 
 my act. (Seal.) ADEELA, wife of Mahmoud Pacha Sami. 
 
 " But," I asked Mr. Broadway, " has not Mahmoud 
 Sami retained a native lawyer to defend him ? " 
 4 * To hang him, you mean," promptly answered Mr. 
 Broadway. " Yusef Kamil was a beggar a month ago, 
 he is well to do even now, and when the Pacha is 
 hung he will be a very rich man indeed." I could 
 only express a hope that matters were not quite so 
 bad as he imagined, but he would accept no refusal. 
 
 * The venerable mother of Ismail Pacha. 
 
MAHMOUD PACHA SAMI. 281 
 
 " The Princess Adeela," he said, " has sworn to save 
 her husband, she will go to Lady Dufferin ; if neces- 
 sary, she will even throw herself at the feet of Lord 
 Dufferin himself; but you shall defend him as well 
 as Arabi." I promised to ask the requisite permission 
 of Ismail Eyoub. I afterwards learned that the same 
 evening Mahmoud Sami's wife forwarded a petition 
 in furtherance of her views to Lord Dufferin. Ismail 
 Eyoub would not hear of such an innovation as a 
 change of advocates, and the matter had, therefore, 
 to be treated diplomatically. Three days later 
 (November 23rd) I was sent for to the Daira Saniya. 
 I met Yusef Kamil in his usual state of health un- 
 suspectingly leaving his client's room. Mahmoud 
 Sami afterwards told me he had assiduously endea- 
 voured to persuade him to " propitiate the Com- 
 mission" by signing a declaration inculpating Arabi 
 in the " unlawful use of the white flag " at Alexandria. 
 Ismail Eyoub called me into his room, and, with an 
 undeniable twinkle in his eye, gave me a short letter, 
 which read as follows : 
 
 To our beloved friend, Mr. Broadley. 
 
 Whereas Yusef Kamil, the Counsel of Mahmoud Pacha Sami, 
 has been suddenly afflicted with such sickness as will prevent 
 his continuing the defence, you are hereby permitted to appear 
 for the said Mahmoud Pacha Sami in his place. 
 
 I then saw the efforts of his faithful wife had not 
 
282 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 been unavailing.* From the day of her husband's 
 arrest she had caused all her luxurious furniture to be 
 removed from her room, and sat almost literally in 
 sackcloth and ashes as a sign of her great grief. She 
 still only lives in the hope of his return. With a 
 refinement of cruelty the loyal native papers now and 
 again intensify her sorrow by romantic stories about 
 her absent husband having found fresh attractions 
 amongst the beauties of Ceylon. The object of so 
 much wholly disinterested affection can hardly be the 
 cruel heartless man his enemies describe him. 
 
 As soon as I received the necessary permission I 
 visited Mahmoud Pacha Sami in his cell, in which I now 
 placed the usual deal table and cane-bottomed chairs. 
 His first request, I am glad to say, was to be allowed 
 to write a letter of thanks to his wife. I need hardly 
 say I readily granted it. Then followed the old 
 story, ill-usage in prison, the reaction of despair, 
 and confessions of miserable weakness before the 
 Commission. Mahmoud Sami had profited more by 
 the " European contact" than Arabi, he was better 
 versed in modern politics and diplomacy, and he was, 
 perhaps, more able and intellectually powerful than 
 
 * During the proceedings at Cairo the Egyptian press stated at 
 intervals that Mahmoud Sami's wife had determined to repudiate him 
 and seek for a divorce. Nothing could be further from the fact. 
 
MAHMOUD SAMI PASHA. 
 
MAHMOUD PACHA SAML 283 
 
 his former War Minister, but he lacked the intense 
 feeling, the wholly unselfish patriotism, and the 
 heart-born qualities of Arabi, which begot a magnetic 
 influence of character it was difficult to resist. Arabi 
 thought only of Egypt, Mahmoud Sami also thought 
 of Egypt, it is true, but he thought a little of himself 
 and his ambition as well. But then it must be 
 remembered that the race of Egyptian Ministers 
 which preceded them thought exclusively of their 
 own personal interest and aggrandisement, and 
 nothing at all of the country they pretended to assist 
 in governing. 
 
 Our eight original clients (we had decided for the 
 time being to defend Major Kadr Kadr instead of 
 Osman Pacha Fouzy) had now completed their 
 defence, and time hung somewhat heavily on their 
 hands. The perusal of the productions of the emi- 
 nently loyal Egyptian press (in which Arabi was 
 now openly charged with selling his country to the 
 English at Tel-el-Kebir) caused so much distress, that 
 I discouraged it, and allowed some of our translators 
 to write out in Arabic extracts from such of our 
 English newspapers as had the courage to see the 
 Egyptian question in the simple light of right and 
 wrong. A picture had just appeared in the Illus- 
 trated News which encouraged the prisoners greatly. 
 It was described as " Preparing Evidence for Arabics 
 Trial," and nothing could have been more true to 
 
284 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 life. The villagers, the policemen, the soldiers, the 
 officers, the Pachas, and last but not least the sticks, 
 were all there, while a Coptic clerk seated on the 
 floor was busily engaged in recording a deposition. 
 " Ah ! " said Arabi, with a sigh, "if I could believe 
 people in England would understand that picture 
 how happy I should feel. They would see what I 
 meant when I cried out in vain for justice." 
 
 At this time we saw a great deal of two gentlemen 
 who were afterwards destined to write about Egypt 
 from two very different points of view. I allude to 
 Mr. Mackenzie Wallace, the well-known correspondent 
 of the Times at Constantinople, and M. Gabriel 
 Charmes,* who was then representing the once in- 
 fluential Journal des Debate in Egypt. Mr. Wallace 
 was an indefatigable seeker for facts, who con- 
 scientiously endeavoured to help if possible the future 
 of Egypt by his observations, and by suggestions 
 founded on experience. I placed at his disposal 
 Arabi' s papers, and all the information I had in my 
 power as to the history of the cause he had fought for. 
 He doubtless heard far more than I could tell him on 
 the other side. Mr. Wallace has apparently no hesi- 
 tation in coming to a decision. What was first called 
 "an insignificant military revolt," and then "a great 
 military rebellion,'' was, he soon saw, neither one 
 nor the other. Arabi had been chosen by the tacit 
 * See ante, p. 164. 
 
MAHMOUD PACHA SAMI. 285 
 
 suffrage of an entire country to lead a movement 
 wholly national in its conception, and distinguished 
 amongst other similar movements by its unanimity and 
 its universality.* In a word, Mr. Mackenzie Wallace 
 confesses with praiseworthy frankness that all Egypt 
 was with Ardbi, and Arabi at the head of all Egypt. 
 I hail this impartial testimony as to the pure 
 patriotism of Arabi and his friends, and I wish I 
 could agree with him as cordially in other conclusions 
 he has arrived at. Mr. Wallace does justice to the 
 fair fame of Arabi, who, after having the whole wealth 
 of the " Gar den of Paradise" at his command, had 
 nothing to give up to his victorious foes but the 
 "few paternal acres " which yielded him an income 
 of less than 200. a year. I am convinced if Mr. 
 Wallace had had the same opportunity of studying 
 Arabi's character which fell to my lot, he would have 
 recognized it in far higher and more practical qualities 
 than those belonging to a dreamer of dreams or talker 
 of platitudes. 
 
 M. Gabriel Charmes had a very different object 
 in view. Arabi had failed to beat the English, and it 
 consequently became expedient to treat the whole 
 question in such a manner as to render both Arabi and 
 the English as odious and ridiculous as possible in the 
 eyes of a sympathetic French audience. This task 
 
 * Egypt, and the Egyptian Question) by D. Mackenzie Wallace. 
 London, Macmillan & Co. 1883. 
 
286 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 was eminently congenial to M. Charmes' state of mind 
 at the time he wrote. He had just before championed 
 in his paper and in a book the militant policy of his 
 countrymen in Tunis. The very name of Tunis had, 
 however, in spite of M. Charmes' efforts, become hate- 
 ful from one end of France to the other. He had also 
 for long years, and with rare disinterestedness, toiled 
 hard to prop up with his pen the institution once known 
 in Egypt as the Dual Control, but, although its 
 sworn enemy Arabi had failed, the Dual Control itself 
 was also manifest edly tottering to its fall. In a spirit 
 of very natural irritation M. Charmes compiled for 
 the Revue des Deux Mondes* a narrative of what he 
 was pleased to call the " Military Insurrection in 
 Egypt." Unlike Mr. Wallace, M. Gabriel Charmes 
 neither cared nor sought for reliable facts ; to blacken 
 Arabi and the English it was far more effective to rely 
 solely on a ready pen and undeniably fertile imagina- 
 tion. 
 
 A single instance will suffice to show the real 
 nature of M. Charmes' romance. He asks the French 
 people in sober seriousness to believe the following 
 account of Sir Charles Wilson's relations with the 
 Egyptian Government on the subject of the ill-treat- 
 ment of the accused persons in prison. " One day," 
 he writes, " Sir Charles Wilson arrived at the Ministry 
 
 * August 15th and September 1st, 1883. 
 
MAIIMOUD PACHA SAMI. 287 
 
 in a fury of just indignation. i What,' he exclaimed, 
 ' you promised me not to subject the prisoners to 
 torture and yet one of a peculiarly atrocious character 
 has been inflicted upon them. You deprive them of 
 repose. During the whole night your soldiers march 
 up and down the corridors with thick shoes, and so 
 prevent everybody from sleeping. How do you think 
 that the accused under these circumstances can have 
 collected ideas and prepare a proper defence ? ' * 
 
 " The same evening the guards received a supply of 
 slippers, and were enjoined to move about slowly. 
 Next day Sir Charles Wilson returned. i It is always 
 the same thing,' he said. < Arabi cannot sleep, his 
 cell is low, damp, and cold, and his health is in 
 imminent danger.' The same night Arabi was moved 
 to a lofty, well-warmed, and spacious chamber, in 
 every way worthy of its inmate. The following 
 morning Sir Charles Wilson was again at the Home 
 Office. You pretend to carry out my suggestions,' 
 he exclaimed, ' but your behaviour remains un- 
 changed. Ar&bi's mattress is positively so hard that 
 he cannot sleep upon it.' The softest of woollen 
 mattresses was immediately placed on Arabi's 
 bed. Again Sir Charles Wilson comes back to the 
 charge. 'I admit, 5 says he, 'the mattress is gocd, 
 * Revue des Deux Mondes, September 1883, p. 111. 
 
288 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI 
 
 but he has no mosquito curtains. The mosquitos 
 which buzz all night around his head prevent all 
 concentration of thought, and hinder the preparation 
 of his defence. 7 A mosquito curtain was hung in 
 Arabi's room. Sir Charles Wilson is not even then 
 contented. Once more he arrives at the Ministry. 
 ' Now,' he exclaims, * I am convinced of your pre- 
 meditation. You are resolved not to let Arabi sleep 
 at any price. Your mosquito curtain is in holes, 
 through which the insects enter more easily than into 
 the room itself.' The mosquito curtain is changed. 
 Sir Charles Wilson even then is not appeased. He 
 comes back once again. ( You must understand,' he 
 exclaims, ' that Arabi is now alone. His wife must 
 see him from time to time. It is really a species of 
 torture to deprive him of les charmes de son interieur. 
 The visits of his wife will be both a solace and a con- 
 solation.' That night Ardbi's wife penetrated to her 
 husband's cell. Here my information stops, but I 
 believe this brave colonel felt it a manifest injustice 
 that Arabi was not permitted to transport all the women 
 of his harim to the prison. British cant alone prevented 
 him from making a request which would bring a blush 
 to the cheek of the many English ladies who were 
 now assembling in great numbers at Cairo, only a few 
 steps distant from Arabi's prison." 
 
MAHMOUD PACHA SAMI. 289 
 
 I need hardly say that no single word of this 
 amusing story has any foundation in fact, nor do I 
 think it necessary again to refer to M. Gabriel 
 Charmes except to rebut an equally groundless 
 aspersion which he has thought fit, with a want of 
 gallantry hardly to be expected in so eminent and 
 zealous a Frenchman, to cast on an English lady. 
 
 u 
 
290 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 
 
 THE week which followed my first professional inter- 
 view with Mahmoud Sami was fated to see both the 
 beginning and the end of Arabi's trial. No outward 
 indications of the approaching and unexpected solu- 
 tion were visible. Our habitual interchange of letters 
 and protests with the Commissioners of Inquiry 
 showed no signs of abatement ; fresh obstacles were 
 invented and practised with a view of hindering our 
 access to the prisoners ; and even Ismail Eyoub 
 gravely assured us he could not in any way admit 
 the binding force of the Borelli Conventions, although 
 I had, at the very time he said so, an official letter 
 in my pocket stating implicitly that he had been 
 directed to give them the most complete recognition. 
 Arabi was awaiting his "good delivery" with 
 confidence and much patience, passing his time 
 happily enough in reading or writing. Abd-el-Al 
 and Toulba were both somewhat seriously ill, the 
 former suffered from low fever contracted amongst 
 the marshes of Damietta, and the latter from long- 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 291 
 
 standing chronic asthma. I sometimes thought Toulba 
 would never live to leave Egypt. An English mili- 
 tary surgeon * watched their ailments with unremitting 
 attention, while the jail authorities sought some 
 small revenge for our suspicions of Turkish doctors 
 and Circassian guards by frequent and pressing 
 requests to taste our clients' medicine before they 
 took it, or by invitations to repair to the prison long 
 after dark to attest the absence of any foul play in 
 the bond fide application of a mustard plaster. Sheikh 
 Abdii and Ahmed Rifat were both now eagerly look- 
 ing forward to a public trial : the former had almost 
 recovered his normal strength of mind, and helped us 
 greatly by preparing an exhaustive memorandum of 
 the Moslem law on which we intended, in a measure, 
 to rely, as well as an analysis of his own Official 
 Journal. He, too, was much reassured by a com- 
 forting vision. Tewfik, he dreamed, had succeeded 
 in winding a long and heavy chain tightly around 
 his body, but by a sudden effort he burst his bonds 
 asunder and was free. 
 
 On our part we had used every exertion to pre- 
 pare for the coming struggle in a manner suitable to 
 
 * Surgeon-Major Warren. Dr. Jackson, of Lord Wolseley's Staff, 
 visited Arabi and Toulba several times at Abdin before they were 
 surrendered to the Egyptian authorities. 
 
 u 2 
 
292 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 the importance of the interests intrusted to our care. 
 Given the application of any known system of law 
 (which was impossible), and given also a fair hearing 
 before an impartial tribunal (which was still more 
 impossible), the issue raised between the Khedive 
 Tewfik and Arabi presented, in a legal and technical 
 point of view, almost unprecedented attractions. No- 
 body could reasonably find fault with the assertion of 
 the Egyptian lawyer (who was my travelling com- 
 panion, six weeks before, between Alexandria and 
 Cairo), that the indictment preferred by the Khedivial 
 Government against the " rebels" afforded all the 
 opportunities (to use his own words) of kC a beautiful 
 case." The conspicuous absence of even the most 
 elementary attempt to secure either the one or the 
 other of the desiderata I have indicated, as a matter 
 of course very materially affected the position in 
 which we found ourselves. 
 
 In the brief extract of the intended charges given 
 to us by Borelli Bey certain sections of the Ottoman 
 Military and Penal Codes are glibly cited with 
 apparent regularity, but it was an open secret that 
 these laws were inapplicable to the case in hand. The 
 old Egyptian Military Code of the time of Mehemet 
 Ali (now a dead letter) contained no adequate pro- 
 visions for a similar contingency, and the Imperial 
 Ottoman Military Code could only be brought into 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 293 
 
 operation after the going through of certain formali- 
 ties, not one of which, in the present instance, had 
 been complied with. The required authority of the 
 Sultan was absent ; the fiat of the Grand Sereskerat 
 (Ottoman War Office) had never been even de- 
 manded ; the rank of the various component members 
 of the Court was insufficient for its legal constitution, 
 and even some of them (including the President) had 
 actually been examined as witnesses against the 
 accused before Ismail Pacha Eyoub acting as " com- 
 mitting magistrate." 
 
 But this was not all the very basis of the Court 
 Martial was wanting. On the 1 7th September Mehemet 
 Tewfik had solemnly decreed the total disbandment 
 of the Egyptian Army Varmee Egyptienne est 
 dissoute. Ten days later, by a second edict, he 
 constitutes the Court Martial before which our clients 
 were to appear. The Ottoman Code declares clearly 
 enough that " active service" is a requisite quali- 
 fication for every person serving on a Court formed 
 in accordance with its requirements. A court-martial 
 and a disbanded army involve wholly irreconcileable 
 ideas. It is not to be wondered at that Ministers 
 at home were somewhat puzzled on the subject, 
 and this bewilderment must have reached a climax 
 when Sir Edward Malet (November 14th) tele- 
 graphed : 
 
294 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Tigrane Pacha tells me that the Court Martial for the trial 
 of Arabi and the other prisoners is not instituted under any 
 legal code, but simply by Khedivial decree and in virtue of his 
 Highness's prerogative, there being no provision in the codes 
 for the summoning of courts-martial, but only for calling 
 councils of war for the trial of military offenders. 
 
 We had, therefore, ample means of commencing our 
 defence by an elaborate plea against the jurisdiction 
 of the Court. 
 
 But there were other elements at hand to sustain 
 a defence on this same basis. Had England, having 
 once received Ardbi's surrender as a prisoner of war, 
 a right to give him up to any other authority than 
 her own, to be tried by that authority for acts com- 
 mitted in the field against her ? Could an Egyptian 
 court-martial, for example (even if legally consti- 
 tuted), convict Arabi or any one else of using the 
 white flag exclusively to the detriment and preju- 
 dice of the English forces ? England would not surely 
 plead she was acting with the Khedive at the very 
 time when the Alexandria forts, in obedience to his 
 orders, were answering as best they could the fire 
 of our ships ? 
 
 We were perhaps, if possible, even in a stronger 
 position as regards the merits of the four specific 
 charges upon which Borelli Bey originally intended 
 to rely. The first on the list was " the illegal use 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 295 
 
 of the white flag in contravention of the Law of 
 Nations." Borelli Bey was far too good a lawyer 
 not to have understood the humour the broad, 
 undisguised, self-evident humour of such an accu- 
 sation. 
 
 " It is a bad joke (une mauvaise plaisanterie)," he 
 said frankly, " which has been invented to please you 
 English." He confessed that he was wholly unable 
 to understand by what legal sanction the more than 
 doubtfully constituted court-martial was to judge 
 matters cognizable only by the comity of nations and 
 the jus gentium. But this was not all. " Had not," 
 we could have asked, "the hoisting of the white flag 
 at Alexandria (equally with the reply of the Egyptian 
 guns to the attack of our fleet) received the direct 
 sanction of the Khedive, who by force of circum- 
 stances now denounced the act as an accuser ? This 
 historical incident of the white flag had doubtless greatly 
 irritated Lord Alcester, who imagined he had been 
 deceived by it, but his very natural annoyance was 
 manifestly insufficient to place the act he complained of 
 in the category of crimes. Succeeding generations of 
 jurists have consistently found a valid justification for 
 " deceit in warfare," and declared that the exhibition 
 of a flag of truce is no just impediment to the doing 
 of such acts as may be lawfully done during the con- 
 tinuance of hostilities, e.g., the withdrawal of troops 
 
296 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 or the bringing up of reinforcements. By a parity 
 of reasoning the presence of such a flag entails no 
 obligation for the cessation of an attack on the part 
 of the belligerents in whose sight it is hoisted. I 
 forbear from quoting any of the many great autho- 
 rities on this well-established point, except the latest 
 and, perhaps, the most reliable. Sir Garnet Wolseley, 
 on the eve of setting out for Egypt, and exactly 
 three weeks to a day after the bombardment of 
 Alexandria, published a fourth edition of his Soldier's 
 Pocket ook.* He describes minutely the typical 
 behaviour of the bearer of a flag of truce with " a 
 mission to gain time," and dwells almost picturesquely 
 on the deliberate adjustment of trappings, the judi- 
 cious " dawdling over duty," and the " dismounting 
 to look for imaginary stones in his horse's feet," he 
 must practice to achieve success. " The Gr. 0. C.," 
 he says, " should not for a moment allow any absurd 
 and false ideas of humanity, or sentimental notions 
 about chivalry, to influence his decision. Never for 
 one moment suspend any movement or operation you 
 may be engaged in because the enemy has sent you 
 a flag of truce ; his object may be to gain time for the 
 arrival of reinforcements or for the execution of 
 some flank or turning movement.'' A very few days 
 
 * The Soldier's Pocket Book for Field Service. London, Mac- 
 millan and Co. (1882), pp. 285-6. 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 297 
 
 after the publication of the Soldier's Pocket Booh 
 Sir Garnet Wolseley in person gave the " gentlemen 
 of the press" at Alexandria a striking example of the 
 utility of " deceit in war." Surely what Grotius and 
 Vattel taught and Lord Wolseley of Cairo approved 
 was no crime merely because it was practised by the 
 Egyptians ? 
 
 So much for the incident of the white flag. With 
 it, however, was ingeniously blended the burning of 
 Alexandria. This accusation might be viewed in two 
 distinct lights, either as an act of necessary strategy 
 or the result of wanton incendiarism wholly inde- 
 pendent of any military consideration. On the first 
 point much might be said in its defence. Devasta- 
 tion in war is no less allowable than deceit. The 
 destruction of towns and the laying waste of fields 
 before an invading and close- approaching enemy 
 have alike received the high sanction of historical 
 precedents, thickly scattered over nearly every page 
 of the chronicles of modern warfare. Arabi was not 
 bound to say anything at all, but from the very first 
 he solemnly denied the accusation altogether. The 
 burden of proof was on his adversaries, and they 
 wholly failed to substantiate their charge. Arabi could 
 have produced strong evidence in his exculpation ; it 
 might have been unnecessary to do so, but it would 
 certainly have laid suspicion to rest for ever. On the 
 
298 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 question of the massacres of the llth June not one 
 tittle of proof was ever forthcoming. To discuss it 
 further is only to waste time, for it was formally 
 and explicitly abandoned. 
 
 Only one count of this curiously drawn indictment 
 really remained; the variously described charge of 
 " rebellion," now set out as " causing the Egyptians 
 to arm against the Khedive," now as u continuing the 
 war after the news of peace," and now as " exciting 
 to civil war and carrying devastation over Egyptian 
 territory." Our line of defence on this head was 
 clear and unambiguous : the Sultan was Arabi's 
 suzerain (or, as Mr. Gladstone said, his sovereign) , 
 the Khedive was his immediate superior, and the 
 representative of his suzerain or sovereign. The war 
 was deliberately begun with the joint concurrence of 
 the Khedive, his responsible ministers, and the Sultan's 
 envoy Dervesh Pacha. Three days later the Khedive, 
 then in our custody or under our protection, counter- 
 manded the war. His very position rendered all his 
 acts and orders ipso facto null and void.* He was 
 now a " chief of the state in captivity." There was, 
 however, an additional reason for not treating his 
 commands either as binding or effective. The joint 
 concurrence which authorised the commencement of 
 
 * Calvo, Le Droit International, vol. iv. p. 354. Paris, 1881. 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 299 
 
 hostilities was wanting to legalize " the news of 
 peace." Even if the Khedive was still a free agent, 
 his decrees required the confirmation of ministerial 
 sanction, but his Ministers still persisted in their 
 original decision, and proclaimed the continuance of 
 the war by telegraph throughout the length and 
 breadth of Egypt. Arabi's next acts were perfectly 
 constitutional. He fell back on the will of the whole 
 nation, as expressed by the great national councils 
 held at Cairo. His sovereign, the Sultan, made no sign 
 of dissent, and when the Khedive (in an Egyptian 
 point of view still a prisoner) dismissed Arabi and 
 proclaimed him a rebel, it was solely on the ground 
 of his ineffectual resistance to the invaders of the 
 country. The Sultan's tardy anathema only reached 
 Egypt in the very last few days of the struggle, and 
 there is reason to doubt whether it was ever pro- 
 mulgated officially at all.* In addition to these facts 
 we have the general injunctions sent to Arabi by the 
 order of the Sultan, in which he was enjoined to 
 save Egypt from the fate of Tunis, and protect 
 her to his utmost from every infringement of the 
 sacred rights of the Caliph. Legally Arabi was no 
 " rebel," morally his only title to the name was his 
 want of success. Englishmen very naturally called 
 
 * See ante, Chapter X. page 97. 
 
300 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 him so, just as the French, a twelvemonth before, 
 were accustomed to describe the Tunisians as " insur- 
 gents." 
 
 If the case had been tried out to the end we should 
 certainly have endeavoured (hoping against hope) to 
 base a broader defence of Arabi's conduct on the 
 general law of Islam, binding alike both on him and 
 his Moslem judges. I sometimes doubt if even their 
 bran-new loyalty could have been proof against such 
 an appeal as this. The plenary justification which 
 could be found for Arabi amongst the tenets of the 
 international law of Europe was capable of much 
 more effective treatment and a far greater variety of 
 illustration by the light of those old-world codes, the 
 sanctity of which was a primary article of faith both 
 with Arabi and his accusers. Arabi had from the 
 first acted in strict accord with the duties of a good 
 Moslem, while those now arrayed against him had 
 violated every precept of the Prophet's creed. 
 
 One of the characteristic features of European law is 
 the predominance of the military over the civil power in 
 time of war ; as soon as martial law is proclaimed, the 
 former, after the old Roman idea of imperium, absorbs 
 the latter. The Muhamedan conception of the state 
 of war is entirely different, and it places Arabi's 
 conduct during the campaign on the pedestal of 
 strict Moslem constitutionalism. In accordance with 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 301 
 
 the Islamic idea, the civil and military authorities are 
 never thought to be irreconcileable with each other : 
 both can subsist, and both can work, each of them in 
 its proper sphere, for the common weal and safety 
 of the land : the appointment to the command of 
 the army does carry along with it any supreme 
 and uncontrollable authority over the other depart- 
 ments of the State, and only invests its bearer wiih 
 the fullest action with regard to military operations. 
 This notion, peculiar as it is, seems to have been 
 literally followed by the Provisional Government 
 constituted at Cairo. Arabi was only invested with 
 the command of the forces ; but he was by no means 
 a dictator, in the legal and political acceptation of 
 the word : beside him, and above him, there was an 
 Assembly of Notables, from whom he derived his 
 power, to whom he was to account for his actions, and 
 who had reserved to themselves the control and 
 management of the civil business of the Egyptian 
 State. 
 
 The great strength of our defence, in a purely 
 legal aspect, was equalled by the variety of circum- 
 stances we should have been able to urge in extenua- 
 tion. We could have shown conclusively that Anibi's 
 brief struggle for Egyptian independence was perhaps 
 the most humanitarian war known to the history of 
 modern times ; that it compared favourably witli the 
 
302 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 warlike operations of more refined and civilised 
 races, and that it justly gave the fallen leader of 
 the Egyptian Nationalists a valid claim to the sym- 
 pathy of his successful adversaries. I have already 
 referred to the conduct of Arabi; Ali Fehmy, too, 
 had done his utmost to protect Mr. De Chair during 
 his imprisonment at Cairo. He was accustomed to 
 visit him daily, sent him meals prepared by his wife 
 from his town house, and even provided him clothes 
 suitable to the heat of an Egyptian summer. 
 
 Monsieur Ferdinand de Lesseps was good enough 
 to send me for my use, if necessary, a file of all 
 the telegrams he had received from Arabi while at 
 Ismailia, together with the copy of a letter he had 
 addressed to Mr. Blunt. This is what M. Lesseps 
 says of Arabi : - 
 
 When we were together in Egypt at the commencement 
 of the year, Arabi was Minister of War, and I called on him 
 once at his office. During my visit he was surrounded by the 
 principal inhabitants of Cairo ; the vast courtyard of the Kasr- 
 cl-Nil Palace was thronged with peasants (fellahs), and even 
 the anti-chambers were almost inconveniently crowded. He 
 seemed to hold the highest place in public estimation, and that 
 very evening I saw him at the theatre occupying a place in 
 the royal box at the side of the Khedive. 
 
 In the course oi the conversation I had with him he used 
 the following words : " I know, M. Lesseps, you have always 
 loved liberty and progress, and they are the only two things I 
 desire for my country." I also met him at the banquet given 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 303 
 
 at the New Hotel in honour of the fete of American Indepen- 
 dence, when he returned thanks for the Khedive. 
 
 I returned subsequently to France, and only arrived in 
 Egypt again after the bombardment of Alexandria. From that 
 time up to the occupation of Isma'ilia by the English troops, I 
 never saw Arabi, our relations being entirely confined to corre- 
 spondence. I have transmitted a copy of this correspondence 
 in Arabic to the President of the tribunal which is to try him at 
 Cairo. Its sole aim was the preservation of the neutrality of 
 the maritime canal (to which object -Arabi always remained 
 faithful), and the protection of the life and property of Euro- 
 peans in Egypt. 
 
 I send you a French translation of these documents, which 
 do honour to the man whose defence you have so generously 
 undertaken. It seems incredible to me that the Commander- 
 in-Chief of an army can incur the punishment of death after 
 surrendering his sword to a victorious English general. 
 
 (Signed) FERDINAND DE LESSEES. 
 
 Arabi's letters and telegrams fully bear out M. de 
 Lesseps' expressions of commendation. It is only at 
 the last moment when the English troops were actually 
 landing at Ismailia that he spoke of the necessity of 
 blocking the canal. Till then he relied on M. Lesseps' 
 repeated assurance that its neutrality would not be 
 invaded. The main feature of the correspondence is 
 a continued anxiety for the safety of the European 
 residents. I select one telegram at random: 
 
 To His Excellency my honoured friend M. Lesseps at Isma'ilia. 
 
 I have received your message in French, and in conformity 
 to your suggestion we have given orders to the head of the 
 Cairo police to look after the safety of the Europeans who are 
 
304 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 in the Abassiyali hospital at Cairo, and to allow them full liberty 
 to go away or remain there. I have also written to the Governor 
 of the province of Sharkiya to redouble his exertions for the 
 safety of the Europeans at Er Kakadiyeh, and assure their 
 
 complete immunity from molestation. 
 
 AR^BI. 
 
 Of the universality of the National Movement I 
 have spoken at length elsewhere. 
 
 Such, in a few words, was the defence we intended 
 to present on behalf of Arabi. I was at the same time 
 painfully conscious that our labours, as far as the 
 Cairo tribunal was concerned, were almost certain to be 
 fruitless. The Court of Inquiry and the Court Martial 
 were merely the expression of the triumphant minority ; 
 its chosen means for giving a quasi-legal and respect- 
 able form to the hitherto inevitable consequence of 
 an eastern faction-battle, the disappearance of the 
 weaker, the survival of the stronger. Reluctantly in 
 some cases, willingly enough in others, the various 
 members of these courts became the docile instru- 
 ments of the Egyptian triumvirate of the Restoration, 
 Tewfik, Cherif, and Riaz, all of whom had over and 
 over again pronounced in favour of condign and 
 exemplary punishment. It was all so natural to a 
 student of oriental politics : Arabi had hopelessly over- 
 thrown the two Ministers, and, but for our saving 
 arm, Tewfik's fall would have been in all human pro- 
 bability still more complete than their's. Arabi, the 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 305 
 
 common adversary of all three, was now lying low in 
 the dust, and who had a right to step in between the 
 avengers and their vengeance ? 
 
 Statesmen in the East are accustomed to the most 
 startling turns in the wheel of fortune ; beggars become 
 premiers, and premiers become beggars ; men leave 
 their prisons to fill high offices and enjoy royal 
 favours ; presidents of assemblies and ex-grand viziers 
 are tenanting dungeons in every part of the empire, 
 and nobody knows what may happen to-morrow. 
 Only one fixed principle pervades the whole, and 
 that provides for the weakest always going to the 
 wall. The bare notion of inquiry, fair trial, and 
 good justice in the case of Arabi was more sur- 
 prising to the victors than the very falls they had 
 previously suffered themselves. They looked on 
 the " disappearance" of the vanquished as a part 
 and parcel of the victory, and never for an instant 
 imagined that the free expression of this idea might 
 possibly interfere with its realization. Ismail Eyoub 
 arid Reouf, I feel sure, secretly detested the whole 
 proceedings over which they were called to preside, 
 but they had made up their minds to go through the 
 business as a part of their destiny, and thanked Pro- 
 vidence or kismet that they had prudently sailed 
 sufficiently close to the wind to avoid the possibility 
 of being in Arabi' s shoes themselves. They were 
 
 x 
 
306 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 both very much relieved when their functions were 
 at last limited to a formality, and Reouf almost 
 embraced me when we met by accident four months 
 later at the Cairo Railway Station. 
 
 Before such a tribunal as this our chances of success 
 were reduced to a very forlorn hope indeed. It was 
 under these circumstances that I honestly did my best 
 to practically transfer the venue of the case from Cairo 
 to the bar of the all-powerful court of public opinion 
 in Europe and in England, for I knew full well it was 
 the only means of obtaining the fair trial we asked 
 for. At a very early stage of our labours we 
 became convinced that the tainted atmosphere of 
 Egyptian justice, coupled with the prevailing ^re- 
 action of despair," would inevitably be fatal to Arabi 
 and his friends unless some strong antidote could be 
 discovered. When we knew how righteous their 
 cause was our anxiety for their safety was for a 
 moment increased, but the strong antidote soon came 
 to our assistance in the shape of a marked change in 
 intelligent public opinion at home. 
 
 About the 27th November all parties interested 
 in the business became in a greater or less degree 
 disposed to accept a reasonable compromise. The 
 English Government were keenly alive to the incon- 
 venience of the block in Egyptian affairs entailed by 
 the presence of the great mysterious trial still looming 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 307 
 
 in the distance. Both the Government and public 
 opinion were by this time convinced that no sentence 
 of death could under any circumstances be carried out, 
 and that the only real difficulty remaining was the 
 disposal of the prisoners. The position of the English 
 Government was a difficult one; several millions of 
 pounds had been spent in crushing out a movement 
 which was at different times described as " a military 
 rising" and " a great rebellion," and the task of solving 
 the conundrum of when is a war not a war had turned 
 out to be both vexatious and costly. After what had 
 passed it was hardly to be expected that Mr. Glad- 
 stone would sanction any course which would result 
 in a declaration that Arabi was not a rebel after all, 
 and that England had therefore been innocently levy- 
 ing war against the Sultan, the Khedive, and Arabi at 
 the same time. The Government were pledged to the 
 existence of a real rebellion, and if that was formally 
 admitted they cared for little else, but any thing like 
 an execution was entirely out of the question. I was 
 convinced Lord Granville would not hear of death, or 
 or even banishment to the Soudan (since Sir Edward 
 Malet stigmatised it as necessarily fatal), but I was 
 equally sure he would not interfere with any other 
 sentence passed -as, for instance, a lengthy term of 
 imprisonment in an Egyptian jail, which, in fact, 
 would be hardly preferable to capital punishment 
 
 x2 
 
308 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 or the White Nile. I doubted if public opinion 
 then (for the reaction in Arabi's favour was still quite 
 fresh) would press the Government for more than this. 
 The Foreign Office was, I feel sure, alive to the many 
 advantages of avoiding a trial, provided always that 
 the recognition of the rebellion could be obtained 
 without it. 
 
 Turkey was more disposed than any other inte- 
 rested party to let bygones be bygones, and to get 
 rid of the nightmare of Arabi's trial at any cost. I 
 have strong reason to believe she even induced Ger- 
 many to intervene in Downing Street with a view to 
 avoid the much- dreaded " washing of dirty political 
 linen " at Cairo. 
 
 The Egyptian Government had at this epoch also 
 come to be of the same opinion. After the almost 
 simultaneous failure of Sami's endeavour to com- 
 promise Arabi, and the attempt of the Commission to 
 violate the rules of procedure, Cherif had been plainly 
 told that no capital punishment would be tolerated for 
 an instant. Sir Charles Wilson had faithfully reported 
 to Lord Dufferin the. wholly inconclusive nature of 
 the evidence relied on by the prosecution to do more 
 than establish against the accused a charge of l ( suc- 
 cessful rebellion against the Khedive." The great 
 anxiety of the Egyptian Cabinet was now to get the 
 " rebels" out of the country "en Uoc" (as the 
 
PROJECTS OF COMPROMISE. 309 
 
 Khedive himself expressed it), with the greatest pos- 
 sible celerity. Riaz never recovered Lord Bufferings 
 self-denying ordinance in the matter of blood-shed- 
 ding ; he visibly drooped from the moment he 
 realised it, and, as we shall presently see, retired ten 
 days later into private life. 
 
 On behalf of the accused we were equally disposed 
 to concur in any reasonable project of compromise. 
 I was convinced that the fate of the prisoners de- 
 pended wholly on England, that England would not 
 interfere at all except in the manner I have just 
 indicated, and that a prolonged trial would entail 
 enormous expense, inevitably degenerate into a tire- 
 some wrangle, and probably end after all in a less 
 satisfactory manner for our clients than the solution 
 we might reasonably expect from a well-considered 
 arrangement u out of court. " 
 
 Monday, the 27th November, consequently found 
 all the interested parties in such a frame of mind 
 and state of opinion as to justify strong hopes of a 
 speedy solution by compromise. How the British, 
 Egyptian, and Turkish Governments, and the counsel 
 for the prisoners, all happened to be of this one way 
 of thinking, I have tried to point out. 
 
310 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE EVE OF THE TRIAL. 
 
 WHEN all the parties to a given dispute have come 
 to believe in a compromise as the most desirable 
 solution of the difficulties it presents, the details of 
 the arrangement by which it is to be formally effected 
 are really a matter of secondary importance. In the 
 present instance a somewhat peculiar combination was 
 certainly necessary. First of all the real penalty to 
 be inflicted on the " rebels " was not to exceed simple 
 exile ; in the second place the English theory of the 
 "rebellion" must in some manner be supported and 
 asserted; and thirdly it was considered desirable to 
 avoid unnecessarily wounding Egyptian amour propre 
 and doing more damage than possible to what was 
 euphoniously still called the "Khedivial prestige. 1 ' 
 We were of course mainly interested in the first article 
 of the compromise, the principle of which we were now 
 prepared to accept from a strong conviction that our 
 clients would inevitably fare worse if we rejected it, 
 as the English Government was evidently not prepared 
 to help them, except in the manner and to the extent 
 I have already mentioned. 
 
 Lord Dufferin had been just three weeks in Egypt, 
 
THE EVE OF THE TRIAL. 311 
 
 amd his influence was now very generally felt. The 
 Egyptian Government at last saw clearly enough 
 that neither wholesale vengeance nor petty tyranny 
 would be any longer permitted, and that they must 
 resign themselves to a novel policy, founded on 
 European ideas of justice and clemency. Bitter and 
 cruel was the disappointment of the Egyptian trium- 
 
 
 
 virate, but Cherif soon made up his mind to accept 
 the inevitable with the best possible grace. Tewfik 
 found for a time some consolation in a feeble dallying 
 with French journalists, while Eidz resolved to retire 
 awhile from the scene and plot in silence. Lord 
 Dufferin's only alternative was to choose between the 
 almost honest worship of the rising sun which Cherif 
 was prepared to offer, and the too obviously insincere 
 platitudes and false bonhommie of Nubar, now in search 
 of a portfolio. He wisely elected to cleave to the former. 
 Courteous, accessible, and soft of language, Lord 
 Dufferin managed to adroitly keep out of sight an 
 unbending will, and a strong determination to have 
 his own way. His manner of treating the Egyptian 
 Ministry resembled the pressure of an iron hand covered 
 with a velvet glove. The phrase, I know, is a some- 
 what hackneyed one, but no other expression I can 
 think of represents so exactly the idea which I wish to 
 convey. The Egyptians felt acutely the touch of the 
 iron hand, but the velvet glove deprived them of all 
 
312 HOW WE DEFENDED AH AS I. 
 
 power of complaint. Lord Dufferin with admirable 
 patience listened to my story of our battle with the 
 Commission of Inquiry, and allowed me to draw up 
 for his perusal short notes on the various aspects of 
 the Arabi case, and the defence we proposed to offer. 
 He laid great stress on the inability of public opinion 
 to influence in any way the action of the British 
 Foreign Office, and he made me realize very clearly, 
 by inference, the point up to which we might hope for 
 support. I remember one day his showing me casually 
 a despatch from Lord Granville, in which an opinion 
 was expressed that " the length of the defence " should 
 not be left to us. I also felt, almost unconsciously, 
 the iron hand in the velvet glove. 
 
 One of the peculiar gifts of Lord Dufferin' s mind 
 is a wonderful power of combination and conciliation. 
 How the question of compromise came finally to 
 the surface I am unable to say. I think it originated 
 from a passing allusion to the proposals of Borelli, in 
 the old cher ami et cher confrere days. Up to the 
 time of which I am writing not one word on the 
 subject had been said to Arabi, who was quietly and 
 confidently awaiting his trial. To Lord Dufferin and 
 Lord Dufferin alone must belong the credit of invent- 
 ing the nominal-plea-of-guilty part of the arrangement, 
 which gave all I could ask (under the circumstances 
 in which I was then placed) for Arabi, and saved, at 
 
THE EVE OF THE TRIAL. 313 
 
 any rate as far as the appearances were concerned, both 
 the policy of England and the prestige of her prote*ge*. 
 The talents of Lord Dufferin, so conspicuously dis- 
 played in the small matter of the Arabi compromise, 
 might have exercised a great and appreciable influence 
 on the weightier matter of Egypt's future. Time only 
 was necessary to allow the same power of combination 
 and conciliation full play. But it was not to be. The 
 ink of his famous Reorganization Scheme was hardly 
 dry when the " masterful hand," which might have 
 given it life, was abruptly withdrawn. Its author 
 probably knew that this was to happen when he 
 penned it, and perhaps this in a measure accounts for 
 certain features in it which sometimes irresistibly 
 remind the reader of a political testament or a 
 political satire. 
 
 The proposed compromise required long and 
 careful discussion, but when its conditions were 
 finally agreed upon, it presented an appearance of 
 great simplicity. Conflicting interests having been 
 reconciled as much as possible by the " masterful 
 hand," the Khedivial Government appeared on the 
 scene only to carry out mechanically what had been 
 already arranged for them. Truth forbids my 
 according even the faintest measure of praise to 
 the conduct of the Egyptian authorities ; they 
 followed with the worst possible grace the guiding of 
 
314 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABL 
 
 Lord Dufferin, and lost no opportunity of causing the 
 prisoners to feel as acutely as possible the bitterness 
 of their departure. Instead of making the best of the 
 situation, and so securing whatever good name and 
 fame might be obtainable from a seemingly generous 
 action, they spared no pains to induce everybody 
 to believe that their hand had been forced. French 
 journalists were almost openly encouraged to de- 
 scribe England as unjustly coercing the Khedive into 
 sparing the lives of his rebellious subjects, with whom 
 from the first she had been in secret league, with the 
 sinister object of occupying the country to the par- 
 ticular prejudice of the " natural preponderance of 
 France." It was perfectly clear that these articles 
 emanated from the Palace and from no other source ; 
 but I am unable to say whether Tewfik Pacha or 
 Riaz can claim the credit of so original a policy. No 
 sooner was the existence of a compromise suspected 
 than Borelli Bey was permitted to inspire a telegram 
 declaring that "he retired from the case rather than 
 participate in a legal farce," and the loyal Egyptian 
 press obsequiously followed a mot cPordre which was 
 so congenial to the feelings of the French in Egypt. 
 Nothing, I think, can better illustrate the hopeless 
 instability and falseness of the cause we went to 
 Egypt to support than this bootless palace intrigue 
 which was originated, organised, and carried on almost 
 
THE EVE OF THE TEIAL. 315 
 
 in Lord Bufferings presence, and which has since 
 culminated in the romantic chronicles of M. Gabriel 
 Charm es. 
 
 The details of the compromise were as follows: All 
 other charges against Arabi, Mahmoud Sami, Toulba, 
 Ali Fehmy, Abd-el-Al, Yacoub Sami, and Mahmoud 
 Fehmy Pachas, save and except that of simple rebellion, 
 were to be withdrawn. They were to be arraigned 
 before the Court Martial on a charge of simple rebellion, 
 to which they would plead guilty. A sentence of death 
 was to be recorded on this plea, but an Edict com- 
 muting the punishment to exile from Egypt was to 
 be immediately read. The prisoners were to lose 
 their rank and property * by subsequent decrees, but 
 none of the possessions of their wives were to be 
 forfeited. The prisoners would give their parole to 
 proceed to any British possession indicated, and 
 remain there till permitted to depart. 
 
 In consequence of the forfeiture of their property, 
 the Egyptian Government undertook to provide a 
 suitable allowance for the support of the seven 
 
 * When we consented to this clause we believed that such for- 
 feiture was in accordance with Moslem law. It now appears that it 
 is in direct violation of the Haiti Shereef, or Organic Law of the 
 Ottoman Empire, and contrary to every known precedent in Egypt. 
 It is doubtful whether, under these circumstances, it can have any 
 legal effect, but, as a matter of fact, our clients (with one exception) 
 had hardly any property at all 
 
316 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 prisoners and their families in exile. The Egyptian 
 Government was to convey, at its own expense, 
 the exiles to the country appointed for their resi- 
 dence. 
 
 Abdul Gaff ar Bey, Colonel of Cavalry, was 
 originally included in the list of prisoners to be dealt 
 with in pursuance of the arrangement, but, at the 
 last moment, to his great disappointment, he was told 
 he might go where he liked, and that his term of 
 banishment was only for eight years. 
 
 Before accepting the conditions of compromise 
 two things were necessary, viz., to consult Mr. Blunt 
 by telegraph, and to obtain the assent of our clients 
 themselves. To preserve anything secret in an 
 oriental country is almost an impossibility, but, for a 
 wonder, nothing more than a strong suspicion of 
 something unusual going on transpired at Cairo 
 between the 27th November and 1st December, when 
 the project, in the form I have explained it, received 
 on all sides a definite acceptance. 
 
 On the 29th November Mr. Blunt, after due 
 deliberation, accorded us complete discretion as to the 
 course we should pursue. He felt with us that no 
 better terms were at the time attainable, and he con- 
 fidently left the complete vindication of Arabi to 
 history, and the cooler judgment of the future. Up 
 to this advanced stage of the negociations we had 
 
THE EVE OF THE TRIAL. 317 
 
 never even hinted the bare possibility of a compromise 
 to Arabi. He was prepared for his trial, and seemed 
 to contemplate the ordeal without trepidation. His 
 principal anxiety was the fate of those whom he called 
 " his brethren in chains." 
 
 Meanwhile the Commission went on with its 
 routine work as if nothing at all unusual was in the 
 wind. The over-crowding of -the jails throughout 
 Egypt had now become a public scandal, and it was 
 absolutely necessary that something should be done. 
 A sub-commission was told off for the purpose of 
 going through the different cases, and releasing merely 
 suspected prisoners (they formed as a matter of fact 
 a large majority) on bail or recognizances. Major 
 Macdonald was deputed to watch their proceedings on 
 behalf of the British Government. 
 
 On the morning of the 28th November (while 
 anxiously waiting Mr. Blunt's reply to our telegrams) 
 I went to the jail, where I found both Commissions 
 hard at work. Ismail Eyoub was occupied in putting 
 the finishing touches to the dossiers of the first batch 
 of prisoners. Each of the accused in turn was 
 brought into the room and asked somewhat sar- 
 castically if he wanted " the English lawyers." Omar 
 Eahmi, Arabics Secretary, who had been induced to 
 shamefully betray his old master, assumed an ex- 
 pression of great Moslem sanctity, and modestly 
 declared his conviction that the perfect justice of his 
 
318 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 case rendered all infidel assistance quite superfluous in 
 the land of Islam. A thrill of subdued applause 
 seemed to run round the green baize table. The next 
 in turn was Mahmoud Fehmy, Ardbi's Minister of 
 Public Works the Engineer of the Egyptian lines at 
 Kafr-el-Dowar and Tel-el-Kebir. Mahmoud is a 
 short, plain, very swarthy, thick-set man of forty, with 
 with a pair of merry, twinkling eyes. He had been 
 captured while taking a view of our movements on 
 the Canal, when he persistently declared, in spite 
 of his very black face, and very broken French, that 
 he was only a French colon looking after his cotton- 
 fields. The same question was put still more taunt- 
 ingly to Mahmoud Fehmy, who, being built of very 
 different stuff than Omar Rdhmy, with a sly twinkle 
 of his merry black eyes, quickly answered, " I will 
 have no advocates but those of my brother Ardbi." 
 " But will you accept such a task ?" said Ismail Eyoub 
 in manifest alarm. " I must warn you before-hand 
 that we shall call English officers to prove Mahmoud 
 Fehmy to be an habitual liar, and it is certain^ from 
 the testimony of over a score "of witnesses, he has 
 dared to say that Effendina should pack up his 
 portmanteau and locate himself at Shepheard's 
 Hotel." A sympathetic chorus of suppressed indig- 
 nation now ran round the green baize table. " Well," 
 I answered, "with due deference to your Excellency, 
 I don't mind risking even such a deplorable combi- 
 
MAHMOUD FEHMY PASHA. 
 
THE EVE OF THE TRIAL. 319 
 
 nation of atrocities as the habitual liar and the 
 Khedive's portmanteau. I will gladly defend Mah- 
 moud Fehmy." An unsympathetic chorus of some- 
 thing like pious horror ran once more round the 
 green baize table. "But won't you take Suleiman 
 Sami as well ? " said Ismail Eyoub. " He may have 
 burned Alexandria, but at any rate has not spoken 
 with open disrespect of His Highness the Khedive." 
 "Certainly not/' I answered, and I left the room in 
 company with my client. 
 
 When we were alone in his cell Mahmoud Fehmy 
 looked at me for a moment, and said deliberately, 
 " Of course you know I surrendered quite volun- 
 tarily to the English." My own expression must 
 have shown such undisguised incredulity that he 
 fairly burst out laughing. " Please excuse me," he 
 said, " but I really wanted to see what sort of 
 Englishman you were." He then told me the whole 
 story of his belief in Ardbi, his becoming a member 
 of the National Cabinet, the famous Councils at 
 Alexandria, his earthworks at Kafr-el-Dowar and 
 Tel-el-Kebir, his visit in disguise to the English lines, 
 and his unfortunate capture. "Ah! " he said, with a 
 sigh, "poor Arabi could not do without me. If 1 
 had completed the works at Tel-el-Kebir your 
 countrymen would not have taken them so easily." 
 He related an anecdote of the first night he spent as 
 
320 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABL 
 
 an English prisoner of war. u They put me," he 
 said, " under an officer's guard, and a lieutenant who 
 was in command of it told me sternly that if I moved 
 I should be shot, < Sir,' I answered, in French, < I 
 am a general and know my duty. You have only to 
 do your's.' " Mahmoud Fehmy was one of the ablest 
 of Arabi's colleagues. He never once flinched in his 
 profession of political faith, and he went with all his 
 large family of sons and daughters into exile without 
 a complaint. He laughed both at the loss of rank 
 and property. Although he had been an Egyptian 
 Minister of Public Works his hands were clean, and 
 all his worldly goods were not even worth the selling. 
 His new income as a salaried exile was, in reality, a 
 great increase of fortune. The real loser was the 
 cause he loved, and the chances of Egyptian self- 
 government. Clever, honest, cheerful, Mahmoud 
 Fehmy is the very soul of the Egyptian colony at 
 Colombo. He is bringing up his sons to do their 
 duty as Egyptian citizens when the time comes. I 
 promised Mahmoud Fehmy to do what I could for 
 him, and strongly advised his acting in complete 
 accord with Arabi. 
 
 Next morning (29th November) I went to the 
 prison accompanied by Mr. Santillana, and at once 
 straight to Arabi's cell. In as few words as possible 
 I explained to him the turn affairs had taken, and 
 
THE EVE OF THE TRIAL. 321 
 
 stated minutely the conditions of the proposed com- 
 promise. He seemed a little startled at first, and cer- 
 tainly showed no over-eagerness to concur in any kind 
 of arrangement. He frankly confessed that he would 
 prefer a trial, he wanted to tell all Europe his story, 
 and see his accusers face to face in open court. " Might 
 not," he asked, " the light that would be thus thrown 
 on Egyptian affairs bring about -the reforms which his 
 arms had failed to effect?" I then explained my fears 
 as to the probable non-intervention of England if an 
 Egyptian tribunal condemned him to some long term 
 of captivity. " That is true," he said; "I fully 
 recognise that my fate solely depends on England." 
 His next thought was for his fellow-prisoners. " If I 
 accept these conditions you speak of," he asked, "what 
 will become of my brothers ? " I told him that I had 
 no doubt they would share in the leniency which 
 would be shown towards him. Again he hesitated. 
 " How can I say I am a rebel ? " he again asked me. 
 " Did I not act by the orders of the Sultan and the 
 Khedive ? When the Khedive went over to the 
 English, can I be called a rebel for obeying the will 
 of the Egyptian people?" A logical answer to this 
 question could hardly be forthcoming. I merely 
 observed that he had himself admitted that his fate 
 depended solely on England, and as England had 
 just spent some millions of money in putting down 
 
 Y 
 
322 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 what slie was pleased to call his rebellion, it was 
 improbable her Ministers would support any solution 
 which would involve a complete stultifying of their 
 own acts. I added that for my part I was convinced 
 his complete justification was only a question of 
 patience, time, and impartial inquiry. " But,' 7 he 
 rejoined, "has England ever treated a fallen foe in 
 such a manner before ?'' Mr. Gladstone now came 
 to the rescue, and I told him the story of Napoleon 
 just as it had been related in the House of Commons 
 some three weeks before.* Arabi seemed much struck 
 
 * Lord Randolph Churchill asked the First Lord of the Treasury 
 whether there was any precedent for the employment of British troops, 
 as had been the case in Egypt, for the repression of a military rebellion 
 against the Sovereign or Government of a foreign State ; and whether 
 such precedents established that British troops, having captured the 
 leaders of the insurgents and other similar political offenders, had 
 been instructed by the British Government to hand them over to be 
 dealt with by the Sovereign or Government maintained or reinstated 
 by British arms; and, if so, whether he could state the precedents. 
 
 Mr, Gladstone. In answer to the noble lord I would begin by 
 observing that 1 do not think the assistance afforded by precedent 
 would carry us beyond a certain point. I am not aware of any pre- 
 cedent in history for an arrangement similar to that which existed in 
 Egypt which led to the course of proceedings which has terminated in 
 the operations. The position which we held in Egypt was one which 
 I do not think exactly corresponds with any positions we have held in 
 any other country within my knowledge. There are two cases which 
 throw a certain amount of light on the subject, and those cases I will 
 mention to the noble lord. One of these is the case of the termination 
 of the great French war at Waterloo, At that time King Louis 
 
THE EVE OF THE TRIAL. 323 
 
 by the comparison (he had once carefully studied the 
 life of the great Corsican), but he expressed a doubt, 
 with much humility, as to whether he was not too 
 insignificant a man to be treated like Napoleon. I 
 reminded him that the maker of the comparison was 
 really the arbiter of his destinies. 
 
 Again he returned to the question of his com- 
 panions. How would they fare" on the basis of Mr. 
 Gladstone's historical parallel ? I could hardly resist 
 saying, " There will only be seven Napoleons in the 
 
 XVIII., having been before the Hundred Days established in France, 
 was regarded in the view of the Government of this country as the 
 legitimate Sovereign of the country, and the military movement under 
 Napoleon, and the whole operation of Napoleon, as being in legal 
 strictness resistance to lawful authority. I am not entering into the 
 question of its correctness, but there is 'a despatch written by Lord 
 Bathurst as then being Secretary for War on the 2nd of July, 1815, 
 to the Duke of Wellington. I will not read the whole passage, which 
 is not relevant. I will read a part of it, which, I think, is material to 
 the question of the noble lord. This despatch refers to a letter 
 received from the Duke of Wellington on the subject of the arrange- 
 ment that the military commander had made, and it contains this 
 passage : " It cannot be imagined that in a convention negociated 
 with these authorities "namely, the French " by your Grace you 
 would enter into any engagements whereby it would be presumed that 
 his most Christian Majesty was absolutely precluded from the just 
 exercise of his authority in bringing to condign punishment such of 
 his subjects as had by their treasonable machinations and unprovoked 
 rebellion forfeited all claim to His Majesty's clemency and forbearance." 
 That passage undoubtedly bears upon the question. The noble lord 
 is well aware of the circumstances relating to Marshal Ney. They 
 touch upon the province with which we are at this moment concerned, 
 
 3 
 
324 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 present case instead of one, and this is far better 
 than that any of you should complete the parallel by 
 representing Marshal Ney." I again assured him that 
 he need have no fear on this head. He thought a 
 long while, walking up and down his cell, and then, 
 turning towards me, said as follows: " When you 
 came here I entrusted my life and honour to your 
 keeping. What I did then I confirm to-day. I am, 
 consequently, ready to follow your advice. As for 
 the honours, I do not care to lose them, for I never 
 sought them ; as for the property, I have nothing but 
 what my father left me, and it is hardly enough to 
 give us bread.* I cannot expect England to reverse 
 her verdict concerning me at once ; but I feel sure 
 she will do so in the fujfcure. I will write you a letter 
 empowering you to agree to any terms you think just 
 and honourable ; but I call you to witness, I do this 
 more with the hope of saving my brethren from suf- 
 fering, and not merely for my own advantage." 
 Never did I see Arabi to greater advantage than in 
 this all-important interview. 
 
 Without a moment's hesitation, he sat down and 
 wrote the following letter : 
 
 To the Honourable, &c., Messrs. Broadley and Napier, the 
 
 Counsel for my defence. 
 Having surrendered to the honour and loyalty of the 
 
 * It turned out to be under 200Z. per annum. 
 
THE EVE OF THE TRIAL. 325 
 
 British people, having full confidence in your honesty and 
 integrity, and in the high honour and loyalty of His Excellency 
 the Earl of Dufferin, I do hereby give full powers to you as 
 to the question of my treatment (always remembering the cases 
 of my political brethren and the other citizens now in prison), 
 and trusting it will be such as behoves the honour of England, 
 we being altogether innocent of the savage facts imputed to us. 
 (Signed) AHMED ARiBi, the Egyptian. 
 
 The proof of trust Ardbi had now given me was 
 no common one. On my simple assurance that all 
 would be right he consented to plead guilty to a 
 charge the only penalty for which was death. As to 
 the commutation which was to follow, he had only 
 my bare word to rely on. Mr. Blunt's telegram and 
 Arabi's letter removed all further reason for hesitation, 
 and we accepted in our client's name the proposed 
 scheme of compromise. 
 
 Borelli Bey having now retired from the case, I 
 was directed to come to an agreement with Tigrane 
 Pacha* (one of the Egyptian Under-Secretaries) as 
 to the procedure by which the agreement between 
 all the parties could be conveniently carried out. 
 Tigrane did his best to conceal the mortification he 
 felt at such a task, and our work was soon completed. 
 
 * Tigrane is an Armenian, and a nephew and disciple of Nubar 
 Pacha. He has managed to please all parties up to the present time 
 (even including Riaz), and is an able man of his uncle's political 
 school. He will probably before long be Prime Minister of Egypt. 
 
326 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 The first thing to be done was to find some provisions 
 of the Ottoman Code applicable to the case of simple 
 rebellion. This was not difficult. Articles 96 of the 
 Imperial Ottoman Military Code and 59 of the 
 Ottoman Penal Code sufficiently suited our purpose. 
 They provide as follows : 
 
 Article 96. All persons who to the number of eight or 
 more revolt, using their arms and refuse to disperse, or do not 
 cease the revolt on receiving the orders of a superior authority, 
 may be punished with death. 
 
 Article 59. Whoever without an order from the Govern- 
 ment, or without a legal motive, shall assume the command of 
 a division, a fortified place, or city, &c., and any commander 
 who without a legitimate motive shall persist in keeping his 
 troops under arms after their disbandment has been ordered by 
 the Government, may be punished with death. 
 
 The Commission of Inquiry was to write : 
 
 To Messrs. Broadley and Napier, Counsel for Arabi Pacha, 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 The Commission of Inquiry is of opinion that grounds exist 
 for sending Arabi Pacha for trial before the Court Martial on a 
 charge of rebellion as provided for by Article 96 of the Ottoman 
 Military Code and Article 59 of the Ottoman Penal Code. 
 
 If you have no objection to offer, the Commission will send 
 the accused for trial forthwith before the Court Martial. 
 
 (Signed) ISMAIL ETOUB. 
 
 "We were to promptly answer that we had no such 
 objection, whereupon Ismail Eyoub (late member of 
 the National Council and Arabics guest at Kafr-el- 
 
THE EVE OF THE TRIAL. 327 
 
 Dowar) was to write to Reouf Pacha (also late member 
 of the National Council) as follows : 
 
 To His Excellency Reouf Pacha, President of the Court Martial. 
 Excellency, We have the honour to report that, having 
 heard and examined the evidence against Ahmed Arabi Pacha, 
 we deem such evidence sufficient for his trial before you for the 
 crime of rebellion, as contemplated by Article 96 of the Ottoman 
 Military Code and Article 59 of the Ottoman Penal Code, and 
 we, therefore, send the said Ahmed Arabi for trial before you 
 on such charges. We submit to you at the same time the 
 evidence in the case. 
 
 Nothing else then remained "to settle" but the 
 charge, the sentence, and the decree of commutation. 
 The above formalities were accomplished during the 
 next day (December 2nd), and the form of the last 
 three documents satisfactorily agreed upon. Tigrane 
 left us with a parting injunction against " embracing 
 or any undue demonstration of joy" on the morrow. 
 He, too, felt the unseen influence of the iron hand in 
 the velvet glove. During the afternoon Mr. Napier 
 was admitted for the first time to see several other 
 prisoners who had retained us, including Emm Bey 
 Shemsi, who had been brought up from Zagazig. 
 
 After a pleasant drive in the Shoobra Avenue with 
 Mr. Pomeroy, the American Consul-Greneral,* who 
 
 * General Wallace, the American Ambassador at Constantinople, 
 also visited Cairo at this time. He formed, after due investigation, a 
 very favourable opinion of the Egyptian Nationalists, in which most 
 of his liberal-minded fellow-countrymen seem to share, 
 
328 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 showed us much kindness during our stay in Cairo, 
 I took an opportunity of calling on Nubar Pacha, 
 whose acquaintance I had made in Paris. After a 
 little judicial reform and finance we came to the 
 question of the hour Arabi. Nubar greatly depre- 
 cated the fuss that was being made about him, and 
 suggested that Arabi should be released and relegated 
 to obscurity after receiving personal chastisement in 
 the presence of a representative assembly of Bedouin 
 Sheikhs. The proposal has certainly the merit of 
 originality, but Nubar did not say by what article of 
 his new code it could legally be carried out. 
 
THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 329 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 
 
 LATE on the evening of Saturday, the 2nd of 
 December, the various representatives of the Euro- 
 pean press still in Cairo were informed that the trial 
 of Arabi Pacha would take place next day at eight 
 o'clock precisely. The news had barely time to 
 spread amongst the general public, and it is almost 
 impossible to describe the feeling of surprise it occa- 
 sioned as it gradually became known. It is true that 
 the best informed of the English correspondents had 
 foreshadowed the probability of some kind of com- 
 promise in their telegrams of the previous day, but 
 the good people of Cairo seemed to be absolutely 
 unaware of what was about to take place. The 
 Khedivial Government had dealt somewhat unkindly 
 with its powerful friend, the Egyptian Gazette, which 
 for once missed its usual monopoly of exclusive news. 
 It appeared on the morning in question with a second 
 or third instalment of Suleiman Sami's confession, 
 but it gave no hint of the approaching denoument. 
 
330 HOW WE DEFENDED AIIABI. 
 
 The dawn of the eventful Sunday which was 
 to see the beginning and the end of Arabi's trial 
 broke with the clear and sunny beauty of all Egyptian 
 mornings. It was hardly yet broad daylight when we 
 reached the prison. The great courtyard had been 
 swept and garnished during the night ; the Turkish 
 and Circassian sentries had donned their gala attire, 
 and the English corporal's guard seemed fairly at a 
 loss to understand the reason for the unusual stir* 
 Mr. Napier and myself had brought with us in charge 
 of one of our clerks the traditional blue bag con- 
 taining the usual distinctive costume of our profession. 
 As we got out of our carriage a tall Scotch sentry 
 received us with a military salute, and anxiously 
 enquired if it was true that their duty at the prison 
 would soon come to an end, and whether there was 
 any chance of their speedy return to England. 
 
 Osrnan Shareef, the prison governor, received us 
 with every demonstration of respectful sympathy, 
 and conducted us triumphantly to the great Court- 
 room, the doors of which were already thrown wide 
 open as if indignantly inviting publicity. Every 
 speck of dirt had been carefully removed from the 
 well-carpeted dais and velvet-cushioned chairs of the 
 judges, and our old friend Ismail Eyoub was busy 
 in superintending the distribution of sheets of blotting 
 paper, and the dusting of the baize-covered desks 
 
THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 331 
 
 which were intended for the use of the counsel on 
 either side, the press, and the prisoners. Ismail was 
 now resplendent in a grand uniform, the very cloth 
 of which seemed hidden by gold embroidery, and his 
 breast was literally ablaze with a galaxy of decorations 
 and crosses, but he even condescended to assist per- 
 sonally in the necessary arrangements, and the echoes 
 of the clanking of his long Turkish sword filled the 
 empty hall. He was actively assisted in his present 
 duties by no less a personage than the little Turkish 
 officer Ragheb Bey, who (it was whispered) had 
 fought at Tel-el-Kebir, and had a week before 
 arranged with me the transfer of the fortune of the 
 precocious Muhamed Husni from Abd-el-Al to Hus- 
 sein Assim Pacha. Ismail Eyoub received us with 
 great show of cordiality, and assured us in a whisper 
 that all the necessary papers had been duly prepared 
 the night before. Ragheb Bey (also clad in a smart 
 uniform, with a fair sprinkling of orders) told us 
 with the greatest glee that he had been appointed to 
 act as Master of Ceremonies on the occasion. Two or 
 three servants were actively engaged in providing 
 accommodation for the expected audience by filling up 
 the " well" of the Court with comfortable cane-seated 
 chairs. A little later the correspondent of the Graphic^ 
 the Illustrated London News, the Monde Illustre> 
 and the Illustration dropped in one after the other, 
 
332 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 and began to draw as rapidly as possibly the details 
 of the Egyptian Hall of Justice. Poor Ismail Eyoub 
 said with a sigh that it was rather hard on him to 
 have done all the work in vain, and now the Pachas 
 of the Court Martial would sit for five minutes, and, 
 being sketched, would become immortal. 
 
 We next ascended to Arabi's cell. He was already 
 dressed in his military trousers and a light drab 
 overcoat, with a white silk scarf twisted round his 
 neck. The costume was certainly not effective, and 
 he looked worn and anxious. Our arrival seemed to 
 cheer him, and he was much interested in our forensic 
 robes, which puzzled him almost as much as Punch 
 predicted some weeks before they were likely to do. 
 He signed and sealed readily enough the two short 
 declarations Mr. Santillana had prepared. The first 
 ran as follows : 
 
 Of my own free will, and by the advice of my Counsel, I 
 plead guilty to the charges now read over to me. 
 
 The other contained the following words : 
 
 To His Excellency Lord Dufferin. 
 
 I engage and give my word as a military man that I will 
 stay in the place the English Government has appointed for me 
 on my departure from Egypt in accordanee with the sentence 
 passed upon me. / also offer my thanks to your Excellency. 
 
 AHMED ARABI, the Egyptian. 
 December 3rd, 1882. 
 
THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 333 
 
 By this time it was nearly seven o'clock, and I 
 was informed the members of the Court Martial would 
 like to see me in their room behind the Court, where 
 they were now assembled. Ismail Eyoub Pacha 
 introduced me to several of them, who were all, like 
 himself, en grand costume defite. Reouf Pacha, the 
 President, was a tall, thin, dark-complexioned man 
 of fifty, who looked quite as anxious and uncomfort- 
 able as the prisoner. He only wore the Star of a 
 Grand Officer of the Medjidieh. There is nothing 
 particular to record of his colleagues Ibrahim Pacha 
 el Ferik, Ismail Kamil Pacha, Hussein Assim Pacha, 
 (the guardian of the young poisoner Muhamed 
 Husny), Kurchid Pacha, Suleiman Niazy Pacha, 
 Osinan Latif Pacha, and Suleiman Nadjati Bey. 
 Reouf is a Berberine Egyptian ; the rest Turkish or 
 Circassian memlouks. The ninth member, Ahmed 
 Hassanin, is an Egyptian, and his merry face and 
 corpulent figure is familiar to every European visitor, 
 for he is Lord High Admiral of the Nile Fleet. All 
 Europe seems to have vied in decorating and redeco- 
 rating Ahmed Hassanin, and his broad chest bore at 
 least a score of crosses, including that of an officer of 
 the Legion of Honour. He very good-naturedly con- 
 gratulated me on the result of the trial, and con- 
 fessed it was a happy solution for all parties con- 
 cerned. During the time I had been talking to the 
 
334 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 Admiral, Ismail Eyoub had been busy writing. He 
 now approached me, and, holding out a paper, said he 
 hoped for the sake of appearances I would not object 
 to the reading of a little indictment of his own 
 composing. I answered firmly that he might exercise 
 his own judgment, but that if any other paper was used 
 except those he was already acquainted with, Ardbi 
 would plead not guilty. With perfect composure he 
 sighed deeply, put his draft under the blotting paper, 
 and it was never heard of afterwards. The judges then 
 pulled out the seals attached to their respective watch- 
 chains, and proceeded to attest the short formal charge 
 which had been prepared. Sir Charles Wilson, also in 
 uniform, now entered the room. 
 
 On rejoining Mr. Napier in Arabi's cell, my 
 clerk brought me a letter from by friend M. Gabriel 
 Charmes. He begged me to secure for him the most 
 eligible seat for taking notes of the proceedings, and 
 asked that I would " extend my favours to his friend 
 Beshara Bey Takhla,* the editor of the Watan, in 
 order that one Egyptian at least might have the 
 
 * A Syrian of great ability. He supported Arabi till the crisis 
 came, remained quietly in Syria while it lasted, and then returned to 
 champion the policy of the Khedive. He is the cleverest native 
 journalist I ever met, and perfectly candid as to his literary " oppor- 
 tunism." A few days after the trial he published an article to prove 
 Arabi's complicity with the English, to whom he is stated to have 
 "suld" the victory of Tel-el-Kebir, 
 
THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 335 
 
 privilege of witnessing the impartiality, fairness, and 
 regularity of justice as administered under English 
 auspices.'' The audience had now already assembled, 
 and I fear the suddenness of the whole proceeding 
 caused me to forget many promises I had made as 
 to places for would-be spectators. Lady Strangford 
 next morning wrote to remind me that I had assured 
 her " on my faith in Arabi that" she should have the 
 best place in the room, and as I had broken faith 
 with her she could no longer believe on my faith in 
 my client." Of course I could only follow Arabics 
 example and plead guilty. I arranged with Mr. 
 Napier that he should remain with Arabi till the time 
 came for the accused to appear in Court, while I 
 went there at once to see what I could do for Monsieur 
 Charmes. There was no need for any exercise of 
 influence on the question of seats. The whole 
 audience hardly exceeded forty persons. Sir A. 
 Allison, Major Hutton (his secretary), some officers 
 of the Staff, Blum Pacha of the Finance Department, 
 Dr. W. H. Russell, Mr. Mackenzie Wallace, and Lord 
 Charles Beresford occupied seats to the right of the 
 da'is. Immediately in front of the judges sat Mr. Bell of 
 the Times, Mr. Chirol of the Standard, Mr. Macdonald 
 of the Daily News, Mr. Groodall of the Daily Telegraph, 
 Mr. Bernard of the New York Herald, M. Charmes of 
 the Journal des Debats, and about fifteen other corre- 
 
336 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 spondents, including one lady gallantly doing duty for 
 a Swiss journal. Those who were not in the secret 
 made imposing arrangements of note-books, pencils, 
 &c., and expectation was fairly on tip-toe. All 
 this time the six correspondents of the illustrated 
 papers sketched with feverish rapidity. Precisely 
 at eight o'clock the nine judges filed into the room, 
 and took their places in nine armchairs of mahogany 
 and red velvet at the back of the dais. Sir Charles 
 Wilson occupied a seat at the right of the place 
 destined for the prisoner, and I sat behind a desk 
 just in front of it. The tribune of the Public Pro- 
 secutor was empty. 
 
 A few minutes later I saw through the open door 
 Arabi crossing the yard with Mr. Napier in his robes, 
 Osman Shareef and two Circassian guards. He passed 
 round the back of the room, and, having traversed 
 from end to end the long dock (which had been 
 originally planned to contain at least twenty persons), 
 sat down close to me. Mr. Napier at the same time 
 took his place at my side. A dead silence prevailed 
 for an instant. Arabi looked nervous at first, but he 
 rapidly recovered his composure. Reouf Pacha opened 
 a small portfolio, and, holding a paper before him, 
 read as follows : 
 
 Ahmed Arabi Pacha, you are charged before us on the 
 report of the Commission of Inquiry with the offence of rebellion 
 
THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 337 
 
 against His Highness the Khedive, and of thereby committing 
 offences against Article 96 of the Ottoman Military Code and 
 Article 59 of the Ottoman Penal Code. Are you guilty or not 
 guilty?" 
 
 As soon as Eeouf Pacha began to speak, Arabi stood 
 up. When he had finished, Arabi said "My counsel 
 will answer for me, 5 ' whereupon I rose and read a 
 French translation of the plea fc of guilty, tendering 
 at the same time the signed and sealed original in 
 Arabic, which was also read by a clerk seated at a 
 small table before the President. Eeouf Pacha looked 
 inquiringly at Arabi, who bowed his head in token 
 of assent. The President then declared the Court 
 adjourned till three o'clock in the afternoon. Within 
 five minutes Arabi was again in his cell, the few 
 spectators quietly dispersed, and the nine gorgeously 
 apparelled judges, some in broughams, some on mules, 
 and some on humble donkeys, returned to their own 
 dwellings in the labyrinth-like streets of Egyptian 
 Cairo. 
 
 As many of the cells looked into the central yard, 
 Ambi's going and coming had been seen by several 
 of the prisoners, and had very naturally occasioned 
 much excitement and surmise. In the interval between 
 the trial and the sentence I paid a visit to those of 
 our clients who were to share, if they desired it, the 
 advantages of the compromise, and without exception 
 
 z 
 
338 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 they approved the step Arabi had taken. Poor Mahmoud 
 Sami winced at the prospective forfeiture of property, 
 but he perhaps understood better than any of his 
 companions the real peril of their situation. 
 
 Just before the second sitting of the Court Lord 
 Dufferin's Secretary, Mr. Nicolson (for whose courtesy 
 towards us during our stay in Cairo it is impossible 
 to be sufficiently grateful), arrived with a verbal 
 request that an alteration should be made in the 
 written parole. In order to save the susceptibilities 
 of the Egyptian Government the word "English" 
 was struck out, as well as the expression " / also 
 offer my thanks to your Excellency" Neither Mr. 
 Napier or myself understood this modification as 
 introducing any material change in the spirit of the 
 promise which Arabi had voluntarily given.* 
 
 * A discussion afterwards arose on this point, which led Mr. 
 Napier to address an explanatory letter to Mr. Blunt, he having 
 actually asked Arabi's consent to the suggested alteration, and other- 
 wise managed the business of the parole. Mr. Napier writes as 
 follows from Cairo on the 16th April : 
 
 " I consented to the change to prevent dispute, as the Court was 
 then waiting my presence, and in no way intending to alter the 
 character of the promise which I did and do now regard as a promise 
 given to and solely at the request of Lord Dufferin as the repre- 
 sentative of England. I concluded that the word government in a 
 promise given to the British representative could only apply to the 
 government which he represented. 
 
 " The prisoners who were to be sent to perpetual exile were 
 
THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 339 
 
 The ordeal which Arabi now had before him 
 differed widely from the somewhat dull and formal 
 proceedings he had already witnessed. Every one 
 in Cairo now knew that Arabi had been tried that 
 morning before the greater part of its inhabitants had 
 left their beds, that he had pleaded guilty to a charge 
 of rebellion, and that he would receive judgment in 
 the afternoon. I even so far" forgave the honest 
 
 sentenced at intervals in the following week, and handed to Lord 
 Dufferin separate written paroles in the same words as that of Arabi. 
 
 " Finally, shortly before the prisoners left for Ceylon, Mr. 
 Nicolson informed me that Lord Dufferin required, for the sake of 
 convenience, a single document which should also contain a more 
 solemn assertion than a mere promise, and at the same time handed 
 me a draft in Arabic which had been prepared by Lord Dufferin's 
 interpreter. 
 
 " This with slight verbal modification the prisoners all sealed, and 
 it was handed back to his Lordship. It contained no allusion to the 
 Egyptian Government, and was regarded by the exiles as a personal 
 parole to Lord Dufferin. 
 
 " In none of these documents was the Egyptian Government ever 
 mentioned or contemplated by me or by the prisoners, nor was any 
 parole written or otherwise ever required of the prisoners by any one 
 on behalf of the Egyptian Government ; on the contrary, they were 
 informed merely that if they returned without permission to Egypt 
 the penalty of death would revive against them. 
 
 " If anything further was required to make the matter plain it 
 would be found in the fact that the original of the final document is 
 now in the possession of the Foreign Office. See Lord Dufferin's 
 Despatch No. 24. Egypt, No. 5, 1 883. A copy "only was left with 
 the Egyptian Government." 
 
 32 
 
340 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 hostility of my good friend Mr. Philip of the " leading 
 journal," as to send him a brief telegram from the 
 Court i i Arabi's trial j ust beginning. " In the interval 
 between the plea and the sentence an answer came 
 asking urgently for " evidence, documents, papers, 
 et cetera" It was too late. 
 
 An hour later all Pachadom had assembled to hear 
 the doom of .Ahmed Arabi. The street before the 
 Daira Saniya was almost impassable ; the Court itself 
 was closely packed with spectators, elegantly dressed 
 ladies occupied some of the best places, and Nubar 
 Pacha smiled benignly on the assembled crowd from 
 the vicinity of the dais. Mrs. Napier (who had arrived 
 a few days previously from England) was seated near 
 her husband. Since her arrival she had shown much 
 womanly sympathy with the weeping inmates of the 
 dark, lattice-windowed chambers in the " rebels'" 
 homes, and her kindly presence had greatly helped 
 to cheer the drooping spirits and allay the burning 
 anxiety of the wives and daughters of our clients. 
 The judges arrived as before, and so also came Arabi. 
 He stood quietly at the bar, calmly surveying the 
 scene before him. 
 
 Keouf Pacha nervously drew two documents from 
 his black portfolio. He could not trust himself to 
 speak in public now, and, having signified to the 
 

THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 341 
 
 accused that the Court would now proceed to pass 
 sentence, requested the clerk to read it aloud. His 
 order was complied with. It was as follows : 
 
 Whereas Ahmed Arabi Pacha has admitted having com- 
 mitted the crime of rebellion in contravention of Article 96 of 
 the Ottoman Military Code and Article 59 of the Ottoman 
 Penal Code : and whereas, in face of this admission, the Court 
 has only to apply the articles already cited, which punish the 
 crime of rebellion by the penalty of death ; for these motives 
 the Court unanimously condemns Ahmed Arabi Pacha to death 
 for the crime of rebellion against His Highness the Khedive by 
 application of the said articles and orders. That the said judgment 
 be submitted for the consideration of His Highness the Khedive. 
 
 A moment of silence followed. Eeouf quietly 
 extracted the second paper from his portfolio, and 
 said, addressing the accused : 
 
 Ahmed Arabi, you will receive notification of the decree 
 issued by His Highness the Khedive. 
 
 The Clerk then rose again, and read as follows : 
 
 We, Mehemet Tewfik, Khedive of Egypt : Whereas Ahmed 
 Arabi Pacha has been condemned to death by judgment of 
 Court Martial of this day's date, by application of Articles 96 of 
 the Military Code and 59 of the Penal Code, and whereas we 
 desire for reasons of our own to exercise in reference to the said 
 Ahmed Arabi Pacha the right of pardon which appertains to us 
 exclusively, we have decreed and do decree as follows : The 
 penalty of death pronounced against Ahmed Arabi is commuted 
 to perpetual exile from Egypt and its dependencies. This 
 pardon will be of no effect and the said Ahmed Arabi will be 
 
342 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 liable to the penalty of death if he enters Egypt or its depen- 
 dencies. Our Ministers of the Interior, War, and Marine are 
 charged with the execution of this decree. 
 
 (Signed) MAHOMED TEWFIK. 
 
 Then came a pause. The judges rose to retire, 
 and one or two of the newspaper correspondents, who 
 had all along felt an interest in his fate, and who took 
 a different view as to the merits of the National move- 
 ment than that which was popular in Egypt, shook 
 hands with Arabi. Mrs, Napier had placed a small 
 nosegay of roses on the desk before her. She 
 intended to send them to Arabi after the trial, but 
 a gentleman sitting next her, without any previous 
 intimation of his intention, somewhat thoughtlessly 
 placed them in the prisoner's hands. On this one or 
 two hisses were heard, but the great crowd gradually 
 dispersed. Arabi regained his cell, the lady- 
 correspondent of the Swiss newspaper (as a repre- 
 sentative lover of freedom) clamouring somewhat 
 loudly for a personal interview. I lost no time in 
 telegraphing to the " leading journal" the result of 
 the trial. Mr. Philip produced one or two special 
 editions, but the publication of Suleimdn Sdmi's con- 
 fession ceased for ever. All its interest was gone now. 
 
 As soon as he reached his cell, Arabi immediately 
 threw himself on his knees upon his small embroidered 
 camel's-hair prayer-carpet, and, as a good Moslem, 
 
THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 343 
 
 offered up to the Most Merciful a hearty thanksgiving 
 for his deliverance " out of the hands of his enemies." 
 This terminated, he thanked in very touching terms 
 Mr. Napier and myself for what he was pleased to 
 call our valuable services. We left him quietly writing 
 a long letter of gratitude to Mr. Blunt, who had been 
 the means of saving his life. 
 
 Mrs. Napier's unintentional public present of flowers 
 to Arabi brought down in a few hours a veritable 
 hornet's nest about our ears. All Cairo was pro- 
 foundly shocked. The Khedivial Club would willingly 
 have shewn its indignation by censuring or expelling 
 my excellent colleague, but, as it was found he did 
 not belong to it, their loyal demonstration fell to the 
 ground. M. Charmes, however, founded on the inci- 
 dent a legend which I cannot refrain from repro- 
 ducing.* "A new ovation," he writes, " awaited 
 Arabi. An English Miss presents a bouquet to Mr. 
 Napier, who in turn passes it to the hero. Arabi 
 blushes, and some murmurs of disapprobation are 
 heard. It was only some days afterwards that this 
 imprudent woman was punished for her ridiculous 
 and odious manifestation. A box arrives from Alex- 
 andria. She opens it with care. The inside was 
 
 * Revue des Deux Mondes, September 1st, 1883, p. 117. 
 
314: HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 white, spotted with black tears. It contained a large 
 funereal wreath, with the following inscription on the 
 ribbons which bound it : l With the respectful com- 
 pliments of the relations and friends of the unfortunate 
 victims assassinated at Alexandria on the llth June 
 and 12th July, 1882. The length of the list of names 
 which followed is terrible." I am able to state that 
 this dramatic incident never occurred. It is difficult 
 to know whether one should most admire M. Charmes' 
 fertile imagination or deplore his singular want of 
 that gallantry which his nation lays claim to. In 
 such an attack on England as M. Charmes thinks fit 
 to make in his Insurrection Militaire en Egypte, 
 historical accuracy and good taste are of course 
 matters of an entirely secondary consideration. 
 
 On the 7th December Mahmoud Sami, Ali Fehmy, 
 Abd-el-Al, and Toulba Pachas, appeared before the 
 same judges, offered the same plea, received the same 
 sentence, and were the subject of a similar decree of 
 commutation. Three days later Mahmoud Fehmy 
 and Yacoub Sdmi followed their example. They one 
 and all subscribed written paroles in the words used 
 by Arabi. The circumstances which surrounded these 
 proceedings precisely resembled those I have already 
 described at length. If the general interest felt in 
 them was somewhat diminished, it was only because 
 
THREE SHORT STATE TRIALS. 345 
 
 the great central figure was wanting. A few days 
 later workmen began dismantling the court which 
 had been fitted up with so much care and cost, and the 
 splendid uniforms of the nine Egyptian judges were 
 seen no more at the Daira Saniya. In this manner 
 ended the three great state trials of the Egyptian 
 Revolution of 1882. 
 
346 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 AFTER THE VERDICT, 
 
 NIGHTFALL on the 3rd December saw all Arab Cairo 
 celebrating in discreet silence the deliverance of Arabi. 
 From motives of self-evident prudence these spon- 
 taneous rejoicings were concealed as much as possible 
 under the cover of darkness and closed doors, but I 
 received ample proof at the time that the delight of 
 the people was both general and sincere. Genuine 
 Moslem joy begets little outward demonstration, and, 
 when one sees much visible commotion, real heartfelt 
 enthusiasm is often wholly wanting. In the present 
 instance the poor were clothed, alms were distributed, 
 prayers of thanksgiving were offered up, the fatted 
 calf was killed, and all Egyptian Egypt was glad at 
 the clemency of England. The Palace, the Turks and 
 the Circassians alone refused to be comforted, and 
 the bitterness of their fresh disappointment almost 
 caused them to forget the sweets of their recent 
 -victory. 
 
 I visited Arabi in his cell early on the following 
 morning. He said he had now only three things 
 
AFTER THE VERDICT. 347 
 
 which occupied his mind. He wished, in the first 
 place, to be sure that his fellow-prisoners were no 
 longer in danger; he then desired to find some means 
 of making the public in England and Europe fully 
 understand the motives which led him to adopt a 
 course which might at first sight seem inconsistent 
 with his former declarations on the question of " rebel- 
 lion," and he was anxious to offer his thanks to those 
 English officials who had taken a part in the recent 
 proceedings. Even before I had arrived, he had 
 already composed a long and eloquent letter of thanks 
 to his best friend Mr. Blunt. After some conversa- 
 tion as to his own position, and the probable future 
 of Egyptian politics, Arabi determined to address me 
 a memorandum on the subject of his " brethren in 
 captivity " (for whom I promised him to do every- 
 thing in my power) ; to send a letter to the Times 
 in explanation of the plea he had offered at his trial, 
 and to present some expression of thanks in writing 
 to Lord Dufferin, Sir Charles Wilson, and Sir Edward 
 Malet. Late in the afternoon Arabi sent me these 
 five letters.* I think all of them throw considerable 
 light on the best points of Arabi's character. 
 
 * M. Channes has accused me of inventing Arabi's correspondence. 
 (Revue des Deux Mondes, September 1883.) He is entirely mistaken. 
 Beyond some general discussion as to the form of one of them, I knew 
 nothing of their composition till they were completed. Their Arab 
 
348 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 The first speaks only of the fate of his compa- 
 nions in misfortune : 
 
 DEAR FEIEND MR. BROADLEY, 
 
 I should not like people to suppose that I have saved my life 
 without remembering my brothers, the officers, the Ulemas, and 
 the Omdahs (Notables), who are imprisoned here with me, or in 
 the different provinces of Egypt. Therefore, I pray you, request 
 the Commission of Inquiry to allow you to ' be present at their 
 interrogatories, because I declare to you there is nothing against 
 these men, for they are guiltless of any violation of the laws of 
 man. As to the accusation against Suleiman Bey Sami of the 
 burning of Alexandria, I cannot say it is false in the face of the 
 strong evidence against him, and his own declaration on the 
 subject, nor can I say it is true of my own personal knowledge. 
 This I say, however, neither he nor any of the military officers 
 are guilty of the savage facts which happened at Alexandria on 
 the llth June. Again I implore to you look after the fate of 
 all my fellow-prisoners. 
 
 (Signed) AHMED ARABI the Egyptian. 
 Cairo, December 4th, 1882. 
 
 Arabi wrote thus to the Times : 
 
 To the Editor of the Times. 
 SIR, 
 
 I have followed the advice of my counsel, Messrs. Broadley 
 and Napier, for whose devotion and zeal I can never sufficiently 
 express my acknowledgments, and have pleaded guilty to a 
 
 originals are now before me (Arabi wrote them in duplicate), and Mr. 
 Santillana, a most competent judge, informs me he considers Arabi's 
 power of writing elegant Arabic only surpassed by Kheir-ed-Din Pacha 
 amongst all the Arabic scholars he has ever met. M. Charmes speaks 
 of Arabi as if he could neither read, write, or think. 
 
AFTER THE VERDICT. 349 
 
 charge of rebellion against the Khedive. The English Ministers 
 have often proclaimed me to be a rebel, and I cannot expect 
 that they will suddenly change their opinion ; nor, indeed, is it 
 possible for them to do so at the present moment. I shall 
 cheerfully proceed to any place which England may be pleased 
 to appoint for my residence, and remain there until the day 
 comos when it will be possible for England to modify her opinion 
 concerning me. 
 
 I do not complain of my fate, nor of the sentence which has 
 been pronounced against me, and whfch, at any rate, establishes 
 my innocence of the charges of massacre and incendiarism 
 crimes in which I have never taken the slightest part, and 
 which were absolutely contrary to our political and religious 
 principles. I know that my future treatment will depend on 
 England and the generosity of the British people, I leave 
 Egypt with perfect tranquility and confidence in the future, 
 because I know that England cannot any longer delay the reforms 
 which we have struggled for. In a short time the Anglo-French 
 control will be abolished ; Egypt will be no more in the hands 
 of a myriad of foreign employes filling every available post, to 
 the exclusion of the Egyptians ; our native courts will be purified 
 of abuses ; codes of law will be enacted, and, which is more 
 important, carried out ; a Chamber of Notables will be instituted 
 with a voice and a right of interference in the affairs of the 
 Egyptian people ; the swarm of usurers in the village will be driven 
 out. The English people, when they see all these things, will 
 then be able to realize the fact that my rebellion had a very 
 strong justification. 
 
 The son of an Egyptian fellah, I tried, to the best of my 
 power, to secure all these good things for the dear country to 
 which I belong, and which I love. My ill-fortune did not allow 
 of my carrying out these objects. I hope the English people 
 will complete the work which I commenced. If England 
 accomplishes this task, and thus really gives Egypt to the 
 
350 HO W WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 Egyptians, she will then make clear to the world the real aim 
 and object of Arabi the rebel. 
 
 All the Egyptian people were with me, as I was with Egypt, 
 the country I shall love for ever. I hope Egypt will not forget 
 me when England completes what I tried to begin. I say it again, 
 I do not complain of my fate. I am even happy and contented 
 with it, because I know my misfortunes have been the means of 
 securing for Egypt the liberty and prosperity which it deserves 
 to enjoy. When England has carried out her good work she 
 will, I feel certain, in her humanity and high sense of justice, 
 permit me to return to my beloved country, and see with my 
 own eyes the result of her humane and civilizing work before I 
 ,die. 
 
 I am grateful to Mr. Gladstone and to Lord Granville for 
 their interposition on my behalf, and for having saved me from 
 so perilous a situation. They will soon learn that I was no rebel 
 when I set myself at the head of a people who wanted nothing 
 but justice. I also thank Lord Dufferin and Sir Edward Malet 
 for the kindness and generosity they have shown me. I also 
 owe a debt of gratitude, which I can never repay, to my dearest 
 friend Mr. Blunt, who spared neither his efforts nor his money 
 to assist me in the hour of distress and need; when my 
 Egyptian friends of happier days had one and all forsaken me. 
 I can never sufficiently acknowledge the noble and untiring 
 efforts, and the zeal, loyalty, and devotion of Mr. Broadley and 
 Mr. Napier on my behalf, and on behalf of my fellow-prisoners. 
 I thank the British people, as I thank you, Sir, and the great 
 English Press, which was unanimous in demanding that I 
 should have a fair trial. I thank those members of the British 
 Parliament who have often and nobly spoken on my behalf; and 
 I thank Sir Charles Wilson for the kind and vigilant care he 
 has bestowed on me in the days of my captivity. 
 
 I leave Egypt with the firm conviction that, as days pass by, 
 the justice of our cause will become more and more apparent, 
 
AFTER THE VERDICT. 351 
 
 and that England will never have cause to repent of the 
 generosity and humanity she has displayed towards a man 
 against whom she has fought. 
 
 AHMED AKABI, the Egyptian, 
 From the prison at Cairo, Dec. 4, 1882. 
 
 Arabi's letter to Lord Dufferin was as follows : 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Exalted Lord Duffer in: 
 I had set myself at the head of the Egyptian people, to secure 
 liberty and justice for this country. The decrees of Providence 
 not having crowned my efforts with success, I surrendered 
 myself to the generosity of the English people, having full confi- 
 dence in the loyalty and honour of England. My hopes have 
 been fulfilled. England has allowed me to have a fair trial, and 
 granted me the service of honest and able Counsel. I feel 
 bound to express my complete satisfaction and gratitude for this 
 kind treatment I have received. I ask you, my Lord, to accept 
 my heartfelt thanks for your efforts on my behalf, and on behalf 
 of my fellow-prisoners, and to be the interpreter of my gratitude 
 to Mr. Gladstone and Lord Granville. December 4th 1882. 
 
 (Signed). AHMED ARABI the Egyptian. 
 
 He wrote thus to Sir Charles Wilson : 
 
 To Colonel Sir Charles Wilson (May his virtues last for 
 ever !). 
 
 The leader of a people who wanted nothing but justice, fair 
 treatment, and the preservation of its rights, knowing full well 
 that I had never violated the laws of humanity during my 
 tenure of office, but had carefully protected the life and safety 
 of all ; I surrendered myself to the generosity and honour of the 
 British people, feeling convinced that T should be well treated 
 at the hands of England. This hope has not been in vain ; 
 you have been to us kinder than a father to his children in the 
 days of our captivity. Your visits to us, as well as the activity 
 and kindness you have always displayed in ensuring us just and 
 
352 HO W WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 fair treatment, have imposed upon all of us a debt of gratitude 
 which we can never sufficiently acknowledge. We hope. Sir, 
 you will accept the heartfelt expression of our gratitude and our 
 respect for you. 
 
 (Signed) AHMED ARABT the Egyptian. 
 4th December, 1882. 
 
 Arabi felt great difficulty in writing to Sir Edward 
 Malet, who lie said, and I think with truth, had mis- 
 understood him from the first. If Sir Edward Malet 
 had ever fairly tried to enter into the aspirations, 
 objects, and extent of the National Movement, or had 
 even lent a sympathetic ear to the many tribulations 
 and real grievances of the Egyptians, I doubt whether 
 Alexandria would have ever been bombarded or Tel- 
 el-Kebir fought. Sir Edward Malet erred from a com- 
 plete want of trustworthy information. People in 
 whom he placed implicit confidence told him " the 
 cause " which Arabi led was a myth, and he believed it. 
 Then a time came when he was obliged to continue 
 believing so malgre lui. The result is, that to-day 
 we are still face to face with the great question of 
 Egypt's future, and have little other light to guide 
 us than that afforded by those melancholy memo- 
 rials of mistakes the Egyptian Blue-Books. After 
 I reached Cairo I must certainly say that Sir Edward 
 Malet did his utmost to facilitate the various arrange- 
 ments connected with the trial of Arabi, but a 
 despatch he penned to Lord Granville the day before 
 
AFTER THE VERDICT. 353 
 
 I arrived* affords an example of the extraordinary 
 reports which always seemed to reach him, and the 
 not less remarkable opinions he was accustomed to 
 base upon them. Arabi, however, determined to let 
 by-gones be by-gones, and wrote his thanks to Sir 
 Edward Malet : 
 
 To Sir Edward Malet, British Political Agent in Egypt. 
 
 I feel bound to present to you my heartfelt thanks for the 
 noble efforts you have made in order to ensure my treatment 
 with fairness and justice, and for all that you have done to 
 
 * My Lord, Cairo, October 17, 1882. 
 
 The suppression of the rebellion through the victory of Tel-el- 
 Kebir was followed by complete tranquillity throughout the country, 
 and it is only by degrees that the population is beginning to recover 
 from the blow which made it senseless for a time. According to all 
 tradition, the victors would have made use of the opportunity to ride 
 rough-shod in every direction, and to stifle every voice that did not 
 raise itself in their p raise. 
 
 The reports now coming in from the country seem to show that the 
 people either did not believe in the capture of Arabi or are convinced 
 that he and the British forces have come to an agreement to his 
 advantage. They cannot understand that, though conquered, he is 
 treated with consideration, while awaiting sentence by a court-martial, 
 because such treatment is unlike anything they have ever seen or heard 
 of. Arabi contrived to inspire the people with the belief that he 
 possessed Divine power to restore the supremacy of Islam, and the 
 common saying among the people is that he cannot be put to death, 
 and that he will yet prove himself the " Mehdi " or Saviour. The 
 more ignorant have a story that he is at present making a forty-days' 
 journey through the heavens, and in general his hold on the sympathy 
 of the lower classes has made rapid and dangerous strides since the 
 time when he became the acknowledged leader of the people against 
 armed Christian invasion. 
 
 2 A 
 
354 HO W WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 rescue me from the dangers which surrounded me. I hope, 
 therefore, that you will accept the expression of my gratitude 
 and respect, as well as of the friendly and sincere feelings I 
 shall always entertain towards you. 
 
 (Signed) AHMED ARABI the Egyptian. 
 Cairo, December 4th 3 1882. 
 
 The following letter, addressed to his fellow- 
 prisoner Ahmed Bey Rifat, is a good specimen of 
 Arabi's style when corresponding with one of his own 
 countrymen. It was written in answer to a con- 
 gratulatory note from Ahmed Rifat : 
 
 To my very dear and respected brother Ahmed Bey Rifat. 
 (May God have you in his holy keeping !) May the blessing of 
 God rest on you, as well as on my dear friend Kadr Bey ! 
 
 The eloquent letter you have sent me filled me with feelings 
 in which pleasure was mixed with courage. I said to my soul, 
 " remain constant in faith and you will merit commendation, 
 and gain eternal repose." (Koran.) You have doubtless heard 
 of my trial and my sentence. The scene was one new to us 
 Egyptians, for persons of both sexes came to see what went on. 
 They first read a judgment putting an end to a life " the close of 
 which was not yet predestined." (Koran.) Then came a 
 second decree by which this death was changed into perpetual 
 banishment. My enemies had forgotten the words of our com- 
 mon law, "the life of a man is written for him in the book of 
 fate. What the Almighty decrees comes to pass ; what he desires 
 not, happens not. All power is with Him." (Koran.) The 
 hearts of those who fought against me seem softened, for I even 
 received a present of roses from a lady who was near me. May 
 God reward you for the courage and strength of soul you dis- 
 played when examined by the Commission of Inquiry. 
 
 I have declared to my friend Mr. Broadley that nothing 
 could induce me to accept any means of escape from death myself, 
 
AFTER THE VERDICT. 855 
 
 unless all my brethren, both at Cairo and in the Provinces, were 
 saved. I have charged him with their defence, and conjured 
 him to see the tribunal weighs their cases with justice and equity, 
 so that no one can say I have bought my own safety with the 
 blood of my innocent brethren. For these reasons I have fol- 
 lowed the course proposed to me. I felt in my heart our fate 
 was in the hands of England. Could I expect England suddenly 
 to say her war with the Egyptians was devoid of justice ? Time 
 and more knowledge will even bring this about, I verily believe. 
 All your lives are saved ! " We have right on our side, and our 
 enemies are in the wrong." (Koran). Providence has not for 
 saken us, for the free nation with whom we fought has even 
 allowed some of her children to come almost at one time from 
 Constantinople, London, Rome and Tunis, to see justice done 
 concerning us.* Even their writers no longer misunderstand 
 us as before. " These are signs of the work of the All Merciful, 
 be not of those who ever despair." 
 
 Your brother, 
 
 AHMED AR^BI the Egyptian. 
 24 Mohurrum, 1300. 
 
 (5 December, 1882.) 
 
 
 
 On the evening of the trial I was invited to a 
 
 dinner given at the Restaurant du Jardin de VEsbe- 
 Meh by Mr. Pomeroy, the American Agent and 
 Consul- General, in honour of General Wallace, the 
 Minister - Plenipotentiary of the United States at 
 Constantinople. Several of our host's compatriots 
 were present, and Sir Edward Malet was also a guest. 
 Arabi afforded, as might be expected) one of the 
 
 * I presume Arabi alludes to Lord Dufferin, Mr. Napier. Mr. 
 Santillana, and myself. 
 
 2A2 
 
356 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 principal themes of conversation. Mr. Bernard, of 
 the New York Herald, propounded, with perfect 
 gravity, his plan for the " acquisition " of our client 
 by Messrs. Barmim and Gordon Bennett,* and even 
 General Wallace seemed to regard the proposal as 
 worthy of careful consideration. The ideas expressed 
 about Arabi had so strong a taint of republicanism, 
 that I fear they must have been very distasteful to 
 Sir Edward Malet. A great deal was said about Fiji 
 as a place of banishment, the practicability of an 
 American rescue, the daring of American schooners, 
 and the reception which awaited Arabi in the States. 
 Prior to this Fiji had been hinted at in official 
 circles as a possible residence for the rebels, but after 
 Mr. Pomeroy's dinner it was never more alluded to. 
 Amidst much that was mere fun and banter, there 
 was a serious admixture of honest sympathy in the 
 feelings of my American friends in Egypt, for which I 
 shall ever be grateful. 
 
 The same evening (December 4th) Mr. Santillana, 
 who had done us such excellent service, left Cairo for 
 Rome. Next morning I called on Cherif Pacha to 
 talk over various arrangements connected with the 
 
 * This was not the only curious solution proposed to Lord Dufferin. 
 I am informed on the best possible authority that a Russian lady of 
 rank and wealth offered in writing to marry Arabi if permitted to do 
 so. Lord Dufferin did not, however, feel called on to transmit her 
 letter to the prisoner. 
 
AFTER THE VERDICT. 357 
 
 departure of the exiles. He protested his personal 
 satisfaction at the compromise which had been arrived 
 at, and explained to me at some length his own ideas 
 as to the true character of the National movement, of 
 which he assured me he was really the leader until 
 Arabi rudely jostled him from that position, and being 
 only & fellah could not possibly succeed. On my 
 timidly expressing regret that tne public prints gave 
 a somewhat different version of his sentiments, he 
 shook his head and declared the newspaper cor- 
 respondents would soon bring him to an untimely 
 grave. On going to the Daira Saniya late in the 
 afternoon I found Ismail Eyoub and his colleagues 
 occupied in interrogating Suleiman Sami's companion 
 in his flight to Crete, the Cairene merchant Hasan 
 Moosa el Akad. I no sooner sat down than the 
 accused rose and said deliberately, " Hear, oh Pachas! 
 I, too, like Ahmed Arabi, demand the services of the 
 English lawyer, and will speak no more if they are 
 refused me." Ismail Eyoub seemed fairly over- 
 whelmed at the hardihood of the request, while the 
 lesser members of the Court raised their hands to 
 their foreheads in mute token of their loyal depreca- 
 tion of such unprecedented audacity. " Do you 
 know that this man is an incendiary ? " gasped Ismail 
 Eyoub, as soon as he had recovered his breath. "He 
 also distributed the sticks wherewith to beat Europeans 
 
358 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 at Alexandria," shouted his colleagues in chorus, 
 "you will not surely defend him?" After some 
 discussion the case was finally adjourned in order 
 that I should have an opportunity of seeing the 
 prisoner, before deciding whether or not to accept the 
 retainer he desired to give me. This accidental 
 meeting with Hasan Moosa el Akad was only the pre- 
 lude to one of the most curious incidents of the Cairo 
 State Trials. 
 
A PALACE INTRIGUE. 359 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A PALACE INTRIGUE. 
 
 ALTHOUGH Mehemet All began" to reign in Egypt 
 almost at the commencement of the nineteenth 
 century, two of his children are still alive, and are 
 even younger than some of their relatives of the third 
 generation. Prince Halim and his sister, the Princess 
 Zeineb Hanem, left Egypt many years ago, and have 
 since resided at Stamboul. They have both sur- 
 rendered their existence and their fortunes to a 
 common dream, the accession of the prince to the 
 throne of his father. In accordance with the old 
 rule of Moslem succession, Prince Halim, as the 
 senior male member of his father's family, would 
 have become Pacha or Khedive of Egypt as a matter 
 of course, but a series of imperial firmans (which 
 have been tacitly acquiesced in by the whole of 
 Europe) have varied the ancient custom, and the 
 supreme power in Egypt now descends in a direct 
 line from father to son. In addition to these suffi- 
 ciently formidable obstacles, Prince Halim always 
 finds himself face to face with his own solemn obliga- 
 
360 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 tion, by which he formally relinquished his preten- 
 sions, and agreed to give no further trouble in the 
 prosecution of his claim. Both the prince and his 
 sister have always treated this promise as a dead 
 letter, and have consistently devoted their lives and 
 their fortunes to the hopeless pursuit of a phantom 
 crown. 
 
 Prince Halim has now spent well-nigh all his 
 substance amongst his adherents in Egypt, and in 
 the systematic subventioning of continental news- 
 papers ; but his sister is still rich and willing to 
 spend more money if occasion requires it. Halim is at 
 the present .time a persona grata at the Porte and the 
 Palace, and Turkey would, I think, gladly see him 
 supplant at any moment his unstable nephew. France 
 would not in all probability be now altogether 
 adverse to the change, for such of Halim's sympathies 
 as are not wholly Turkish are eminently French. 
 Halim and his sister have on more than one occasion 
 very nearly achieved success. I have heard his hopes 
 frequently ridiculed in Cairo, where he is called in 
 derision " The Perpetual Candidate," but, as a matter 
 of fact, in the spring of last year his firman of ap- 
 pointment was actually written, and the steamer for 
 his conveyance to Egypt chartered, when the project 
 was abandoned owing to the strong joint-opposition 
 of England and France. 
 
A PALACE INTRIGUE. 361 
 
 Prince Halim and his sister were not disposed to sit 
 down quietly under their most recent disappointment. 
 The almost indescribable unpopularity of their nephew 
 Tewfik strengthened their party in the Cairo serag- 
 lios, and they saw with satisfaction the rapid progress 
 and growing strength of the National party. It was 
 evident that a great political crisis was approaching 
 in Egypt, and anything might He hoped for from the 
 general scramble which it would undoubtedly occasion, 
 even the impossible itself. At this juncture Halim 
 and his sister conceived a project of appropriating 
 the ideas of Arabi, coalescing either with him or his 
 friends, and finally coming to power as a popular 
 ruler on the shoulders of the National party. It 
 became, consequently, a matter of great importance 
 to them to open up some sort of negotiations with the 
 Nationalist leaders. 
 
 Osman Pacha Fouzy* was the vekil, or general 
 agent, of the Princess Zeineb at Cairo. With him the 
 memory of Mehemet Ali was a fetish : he was willing 
 to imperil everything for the sake of his old master's 
 son. To him was confided the task of sounding 
 Arabi and his companions. To do this effectually, 
 Osman Pacha Fouzy, Turk pur sang, became for 
 the time being, to all appearances, an enthusiastic 
 Nationalist. This was not sufficient. It was abso- 
 
 * See ante, Chapter XIII. page 143. 
 
362 HO W WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 lutely necessary for Osman Pacha to find some poli- 
 tical broker who could act as a reliable go-between 
 in Halim's intended parleys with the chiefs of the 
 National party. 
 
 After mature reflection Osman Pacha Fouzy 
 decided to sound Hasan Moosa El Akdd, who had 
 some months previously returned from a second 
 period of exile in the Soudan, arid was now very 
 loudly professing his devotion to Arabi and the cause 
 of Egyptian liberty. Hasan Moosa was neither an 
 incendiary nor a fanatic ; he had never helped to 
 burn Alexandria, nor had he ever given clubs 
 to an infuriated mob. Hasan Moosa was nothing- 
 more or less than a very clever political adventurer, 
 with a keen eye to the main chance, and a strong 
 determination to turn the existing complications to the 
 best possible account. Although a man of considerable 
 means, he looked on politics only as a means of in- 
 creasing his riches, and he imagined he saw in the 
 friendship of Arabi a veritable El Dorado of intrigue. 
 There is an old story of a Persian king who asked 
 one of his favourites what was the greatest favour 
 he could bestow upon him. " Permit me, sir," an- 
 swered the courtier, " one minute's whispered con- 
 versation with you whenever you take your seat in 
 the Hall of Justice." Hasan Moosa's conduct was 
 but an illustration of the same idea. He frequented 
 
A PALACE INTRIGUE. 363 
 
 Arabi's society merely in order to pretend to the 
 possession of a certain influence over him which he 
 in reality did not possess. The Persian king under- 
 stood his favourite's object. Arabi did not fathom 
 the wily scheme of Hasan Moosa, and this made all 
 the difference. Hasan Moosa was, I fear, a weak 
 spot in Arabi's armour, but even here his honour 
 and good faith were most curiously vindicated. 
 
 Once and for all I am in a position to assert that 
 Arabi was not only entirely ignorant of the pro- 
 ceedings of Osman Pacha Fouzy and Hasan Moosa El 
 Akad which I am about to describe, but he had never 
 at any period of his career any direct or indirect 
 communication or connection with Prince Halim, or 
 any of the other persons interested in the palace 
 intrigue of which he became the central figure. The 
 Commissioners of Inquiry really managed to unravel 
 some of the details of this very tangled skein of 
 Egyptian high treason in a wonderful manner, for the 
 investigation suited their past personal experiences, 
 and helped to give them a little fresh importance 
 after the collapse of the great case. Of all the persons 
 who were brought before them in the course of their 
 labours Hasan Moosa was by far the most astute 
 and the less communicative. He assumed an attitude 
 of persistent ignorance or judicious non mi ricordo 
 from first to last. Hasan Moosa absolutely declined 
 
364 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 to answer inconvenient questions or implicate either 
 himself or anybody else. A few days before I left 
 Cairo, Ismail Eyoub said that nothing in the whole of 
 their inquiries had impressed him so much in favour 
 of Arabi as the outcome of their investigations into 
 the details of the Halimist plot. The proof of Arabi's 
 political honesty in the presence of great temptations 
 was not only negative but positive. It was even 
 sufficient to put his enemies to silence. 
 
 No sooner had Hasan Moosa reached Cairo than 
 his house was subjected to a rigorous search. Many 
 papers were found there, but no one was any the 
 wiser. All his letters were written in a picturesque 
 kind of cypher in which lions, eagles, flowers, night- 
 ingales, and historical personages were mixed up in 
 hopeless confusion. Amongst all the dross was a 
 single speck of gold. On a small slip of paper was 
 found a long list of bills of exchange for large 
 amounts received by him from Osman Pacha Fouzy. 
 This discovery I feel sure had induced Hasan Moosa 
 to secure my professional services, and the very same 
 afternoon message after message came from Osman 
 Pacha Fouzy entreating us to come and see him with 
 a view to resume his defence. 
 
 " Deli J? Osman and Hasan Moosa occupied cells 
 almost exactly opposite each other in the corridor, 
 which was afterwards partitioned off for the use of 
 
A PALACE INTRIGUE. 365 
 
 the seven exiles on parole. When I saw them later 
 in the day they were both very uncomfortable, and 
 each hoped to be able to make a scapegoat of the 
 other. " Please advise Osman Pacha," said Hasan 
 Mooza, "to declare he merely gave me those bills in 
 the course of the most innocent trade transactions, 
 and not under any circumstances to produce the 
 receipt I gave him." " Tell Hasan Moosa," rejoined 
 Osman Pacha, "his receipt is my only justification, 
 and I really know no more than a babe unborn what 
 the money was paid for. Is not Hasan Moosa a 
 merchant? May not Prince Halhn have had some 
 commercial dealings with him ? Cannot you manage 
 to suggest to him such a defence as this ? " 
 
 Another remarkable personage was destined also 
 to appear at the approaching confrontation of Hasan 
 Moosa and Osman Fouzy, which was fixed for the 
 following day (December 6th). In some of Hasan 
 Moosa's books or papers mention was made of the 
 venerable Sheikh Hasan El Edwi, who had now 
 become, owing to the recent death of his senior, the 
 chief of Egyptian ulemas, and the greatest divine 
 of the Azhar university. Hasan El Edwi was a 
 feeble, wizened old man, bent with the weight of his 
 fourscore years, barely five feet in height even in his 
 best days, and with a face so gnarled and wrinkled 
 
366 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 that his eyes had almost disappeared. He was gene- 
 rally swathed in a not particularly clean quilted and 
 fur-lined dressing-gown, wore a bright Cashmere shawl 
 twisted into a comely turban, and carried both a 
 rosary and a prayer-book. When in his cell (which 
 he shared with Abdul Gaffar Bey) he reclined 
 on a handsome Persian rug, and always seemed 
 half buried in Korans and illuminated MSS. For 
 a time he kept us at a distance, proved to Abdul 
 Gaffar conclusively that the employment of infidel 
 lawyers was a sin against the law, and seemed 
 inclined to read us a lecture on our intrusion into his 
 apartment. He afterwards changed his views entirely, 
 asked us to assist him if we were able to do so, and 
 discovered that various passages in the works of the 
 most learned commentators justified the Moslem in 
 having recourse to the unbeliever in cases of evident 
 danger and imminent peril. The spirit of old Hasan 
 El Edwi was still unquenched. Beneath his worn-out 
 frame I soon discovered a patriot, an ardent seeker 
 after justice, and a keen moralist. He was a stanch 
 and loyal supporter of Arabi, and it subsequently 
 turned out he had only received from Hasan Moosa 
 some small offering of alms on account of his mosque. 
 There is no souvenir of my stay in Egypt that I 
 value more than four beautifully emblazoned texts 
 
A PALACE INTltlGUE. 367 
 
 from the Koran which the old man sent me from the 
 Azhar the day after his release. It is just such a 
 present as Moslems rarely if ever make to Christians. 
 
 The proceedings began by the confrontation of 
 Osman Pacha Fouzy and Hasan Moosa El Akad. 
 Ismail Eyoub interrogated the former as to when 
 and why he had indorsed so many *bills of exchange 
 to Hasan Moosa. Osman Pacha Fouzy declared he 
 had some papers at home, for which he would cause 
 diligent search to be made, but that he could give no 
 information without them. Hasan Moosa said nothing, 
 but whispered significantly that " he hoped Osman 
 Pacha would manage not to find his papers^ at 
 all." The old Sheikh was then introduced and 
 sharply questioned as to whether he had received 
 any money from Hasan Moosa. Again and again 
 Ismail Eyoub declined to receive his answers. Tired 
 out at last, Hasan El Edwi rested his arms on the 
 table and spoke as follows : " Oh ye Pachas ! What 
 have I done that you should worry me thus ? If you 
 have many wives and concubines you owe it to me. 
 Did not Ismail Pacha seek to abolish polygamy and 
 enforce monogamy ? Was I not the Sheikh who 
 proved such an innovation contrary to Holy Writ ? 
 Is this then my reward ? " The sitting was hastily 
 adjourned. 
 
 Osman Pacha thought long and anxiously over the 
 
368 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 question of his papers. He resolved, I suspect, at last 
 to find some, and not to find others. His idea was 
 to prove he had only acted as an agent in paying 
 money or endorsing bills to Hasan Moosa, and at the 
 same time to throw as little light as possible on the 
 views of his employers. The Commission decided to 
 resume their inquiry three days later (December 9th) . 
 The evening before Osman produced a flimsy envelope 
 directed in French " to my father." Inside was the 
 following memorandum : 
 
 Bills on the Imperial Ottoman Bank for the sum of 10,000 
 to the order of H.E. Osman Pacha, Agent of Her Highness 
 the Princess Zeineb (widow of Kiamil Pacha), as follows : 
 
 
 No. 43,736 1,200 
 
 43,737 . . . . . 1,250 
 
 43,738 1,300 
 
 43,739 ...... 1,350 
 
 43,740 . . . . . 1,400 
 
 43,741 1,700 
 
 43,742 1,800 
 
 10,000 
 Constantinople, 13th June, 1882. 
 
 Below was Hasan Moosa's receipt : 
 
 I have received from H.E. Osman Pacha the firsts and 
 seconds of Exchange to the amount of 10,000. 
 
 (Signed) HASAN MOOSA. 
 
 The Court met at 10 o'clock on the day in question. 
 Mr. Villiers was present to gratify Ismail Eyoub's 
 
A PALACE INTKIGUE. 369 
 
 wish of seeing his Commission portrayed in a 
 sketch, for he still felt very jealous of the fame and 
 publicity which had suddenly fallen to the lot of the 
 Court Martial. In the centre of the baize-covered 
 table sat the President, with the Secretaries, Yusef 
 Effendi and Maker Effendi, nearly opposite him. The 
 five or six remaining members were grouped pretty 
 equally round it. I myself occupied a chair next to 
 one of the secretaries, and by the side of Osman 
 Pacha Fouzy. Hasan El Edwi sat next, almost 
 facing Sir Charles Wilson and his interpreter Mr. 
 McCullogh. Osman first tendered his paper, which was 
 duly read~ Some declarations of the Ottoman Bank 
 were also put in showing the total sum received by 
 Hasan Moosa from the Princess Zeineb to amount to 
 nearly thirty thousand pounds. Hasan El Edwi 
 was again questioned. " Had he received any money 
 from Osman Pacha Fouzy ? " Answer " Never." A 
 sudden inspiration now seemed to strike Ismail Eyoub. 
 He remembered that the picture which was to per- 
 petuate his labours was in progress, and he meditated 
 a sudden and imposing coup de thedtre. In a voice 
 of thunder he asked the feeble old sheikh " if he had 
 not dared to sign and seal a decree declaring His 
 Highness the Khedive Tewfik Pacha worthy of de- 
 position ? " Hasan El Edwi seemed all of a sudden 
 to recover the pristine vigour of his youth ; he leaned 
 
 2B 
 
370 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 forward, stretched out his hand, and, looking fixedly 
 at Ismail Eyoub, said : " Oh, Pacha! Without 
 seeing the document of which you speak I cannot 
 say whether I signed it or sealed it, but this I do say : 
 If you will bring me a decree drawn up in the sense 
 you indicate I will readily sign and seal it in your 
 presence even now. If you are Moslems can you deny 
 that Tewfik Pacha, having betrayed his country and 
 gone over to the English, is no longer worthy to rule 
 over us?" If a bomb-shell had suddenly fallen into 
 the midst of the room it could not have produced 
 much greater consternation. The blood visibly 
 mantled beneath Ismail Eyoub's swarthy 'cheek, and 
 for a moment no one spoke. Hasan El Edwi was 
 politely invited to retire, and no further attempt to 
 interrogate him was ever contemplated. A few days 
 later he was released on condition of quietly going 
 back to his native village, where the history of Egypt 
 should know him no more. 
 
 It soon became evident, from a further examination 
 which took place in the afternoon, that Hasan Moosa 
 had received a very large sum from Halim and his 
 sister, on the pretence of inducing by bribery the 
 National Party to proclaim the former as their 
 candidate for the Khedivial throne. It was also 
 equally clear that he placed the whole of the money 
 so obtained to the credit of his private banking 
 
'A PALACE INTRIGUE. 371 
 
 account, that he had never given a piastre of it to 
 anybody else, and that Arabi knew nothing of his 
 machinations. As a salve to his conscience he seems 
 to have sent Arabi a cheese, and Mahmoud Sami a 
 present of fruit. His interrogatory stopped short at 
 this point. As in duty bound I did my best to save 
 Hasam Moosa from the consequences of his acts. If 
 he had been tried a formidable case of conspiracy 
 could have been made out against him, but Prince 
 Halim and his sister must have been condemned as 
 his accomplices. Hasan Moosa was eventually exiled 
 for twenty years to Massowah, from which place he 
 will in all probability soon escape. Sympathy with 
 him I have none. His intrigues placed even Arabi's 
 sturdy honesty in jeopardy, and it was a mere chance 
 his reputation was so thoroughly vindicated. 
 
 Osman Pacha Fouzy was neither deprived of his 
 honours or rank. He was compelled to resign his 
 agency for the Princess Zeineb and one or two other 
 members of the Khedivial family, to deposit 4,000. 
 as a security for his good behaviour during four 
 years, and to retire to his country house. Prince 
 Halim and his sister cruelly abandoned him in his 
 distress. They would neither give security for him, 
 nor repay the expenses Mr. Grrosse, of Shepheard's 
 Hotel, had incurred on his behalf ; in a word, they 
 left their old and faithful servant to his fate. In 
 
372 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 the solitude of his retirement Osman Pacha Fouzy 
 will have ample time for reflection on the fallacy of 
 putting trust in the promises of princes, but as he is 
 a general favourite he may soon return to Cairo. 
 
 I here take leave of Ismail Eyoub and the Com- 
 mission of Inquiry. The latter died a natural death 
 a few days later, but the former was promoted to the 
 post of Minister of the Interior. A career of real 
 usefulness was opened to him, but his weakness and 
 feeble good-naturedness of character caused him to 
 miss the opportunity. Ismail Eyoub has now as 
 much disappeared from the sphere of practical 
 Egyptian politics as old Hasan El Edwi. His astute 
 predecessor Biaz had woven a strong web of personal 
 influence, which included not only the Home Office 
 in Cairo but its manifold ramifications in the interior. 
 His son was his private secretary ; his brother-in-law 
 his under-secretary ; his relations, debtors, and de- 
 pendents mudirs, governors, and provincial sheikhs. 
 This powerful organisation was transferred as it stood 
 to Ismail Eyoub, who was too feeble either to resist it 
 or reject it. An intrigue of these subordinates soon 
 brought him to grief, and Khairi Pacha, a palace 
 nominee, was made to replace him. Fortunately 
 perhaps for Egypt the real administration of the 
 Home Office has now passed almost entirely into 
 the hands of Mr. Clifford Lloyd. 
 
EGYPTIAN LADIES AND NATIONALISM. 
 
 373 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 EGYPTIAN LADIES AND EGYPTIAN NATIONALISM. 
 
 IN no part of the world do women contrive to exer- 
 cise so much real political power as in the East, and 
 there is probably no oriental country in which their 
 influence is so potent a factor in State affairs as in 
 Egypt. It was in Egyptian harims that Arabi found 
 some of his most patriotic and powerful adherents. 
 The National cause, even in its earlier stages, was 
 warmly espoused by the great majority of Egyptian 
 ladies, and they continued to support it till hope 
 was no longer possible. Princesses of the Khedivial 
 family (Tewfik's mother and wife always excepted) 
 made no secret of their strong sympathy with Arabi. 
 The Official Gazette, even on the day succeeding the 
 bombardment of Alexandria, mentions free gifts of 
 horses for the army offered by the aged mother of the 
 Khedive Ismail and his daughter the Princess Jamila 
 Hanem. Associations were also formed under their 
 auspices to succour and relieve the wounded at Kafr- 
 el-Dowar, and prepare supplies of lint and bandages 
 for the use of the surgeons at the front. This feature 
 
374 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 in the history of the war certainly affords one of the 
 most striking answers to those who deny either the 
 universality or spontaneity of Arabi's movement. 
 
 A few days after the conclusion of the trial I was 
 surprised to receive a visit from a confidential 
 servant of the Princess Injih, widow of the Viceroy 
 Said Pacha, and one of the most benevolent and 
 popular women in Egypt. He brought me a letter 
 from his mistress, and several valuable presents both 
 for Mr. Napier and myself. My only excuse for 
 publishing her far too flattering communication is the 
 important internal evidence it affords in favour of 
 Arabi : 
 
 To Mr. Broadley, the lawyer. 
 
 After offering you the compliments and thanks due to your 
 honourable person, I take this opportunity of declaring to you 
 that the country of Egypt has been honoured by your coming 
 to it, and I, along with all its inhabitants, rejoice in what you 
 have done, for you have defended the cause of humanity and 
 justice. We Egyptians shall pray for your happiness and success 
 all our days. May justice and mercy come to reign in this 
 land ! By defending the sons of Egypt (who sought her good) 
 you have now made England dear to us, because Englishmen 
 helped us in our grief and distress. I thank, most sincerely, 
 Mr. Blunt for his goodness towards us. With the news of what 
 has been done all Egypt is delighted, and none with truth dare 
 assert the contrary. I cannot, indeed, express my obligations. 
 
 (Signed) INJIH. 
 
 Cairo, December 15th, 1882. 
 
EGYPTIAN LADIES AND NATIONALISM. 375 
 
 Some days later I was accorded an audience by 
 
 the Princess , who desired to speak unreservedly 
 
 of the real sentiments of the Khedivial family as to 
 the causes and consequences of recent events in 
 Egypt. 
 
 (i Every one of us," said Princess , 
 
 (( secretly sympathised from the first with Arabi, 
 because we knew he sought only the good of the 
 Egyptians. At one time we believed Tewfik was 
 also on his side, but when we found out he meant to 
 betray Egypt we cordially hated him, and he has 
 done his best to make our lives miserable ever since. 
 The Princess Injih, whom we all greatly respect, 
 twice told him her mind clearly as to his conduct, but 
 it did no good whatever. Tewfik soon afterwards 
 went away to Alexandria, and we next heard he had 
 gone over entirely to the English. Then we all 
 resolved henceforward to look only to Arabi for the 
 defence of the country. Councils of all the great 
 men of Egypt were held at Cairo. They were attended 
 by Prince Ibrahim, Prince Kiamil,* and Prince 
 Ahmed. It was resolved unanimously to empower 
 Arabi to continue the war. We saw in Arabi a 
 
 * Prince Kiamil boldly declared before the Commission of Inquiry 
 that he went to the Council voluntarily, that no kind of pressure was 
 put upon him to influence his opinion, and that he voted deliberately 
 for the continuance of the war because he believed it was his duty to 
 do so. 
 
376 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 deliverer, and our enthusiasm for him knew no bounds. 
 We all wrote him letters and telegrams of congratula- 
 tion and encouragement. The Princess wrote 
 
 Aralbi a very foolish letter in which I believe she offered 
 to marry him as the saviour of Egypt. Arabi only 
 told her to mind her own business and stay at home. 
 Every one of us contributed to the war expenses 
 according to our means, and ,we Princesses were 
 always occupied making lint for the soldiers. One 
 day in September Arabi came back to Cairo. I first 
 heard he had brought with him the heads of General 
 Wolseley and Admiral Seymour, but it turned out 
 not to be true, and that he had suffered a great defeat. 
 We were all much grieved, but not so completely 
 dejected as when Tewfik returned in triumph, for we 
 fully expected some ill-treatment from him. Poor 
 
 Princess was sent for first and upbraided with 
 
 having written to Ardbi. Her mother, however, 
 boldly declared she had written the letter and sealed 
 it with her daughter's seal. They were then dis- 
 missed, but the mother loudly reproached a eunuch 
 who had accused them to the Khedive of carrying on 
 a correspondence with Arabi, and struck him over the 
 head with a chair, on which he ran all bleeding up 
 the staircase to Tewfik to make his complaint. 
 
 (i At last we were all ordered to go to the Palace. 
 Many of the ladies were crying from fear. Tewfik's 
 
EGYPTIAN LADIES AND NATIONALISM. 377 
 
 mother loudly reproached us, and- said our hero Arabi 
 would be given up to them by the English to be 
 killed slowly with bodkins. She also held up a list 
 in which several of us were marked down for execu- 
 tion.* As it has since turned out, they can do ' 
 nothing either to us or Arabi without the consent of 
 the English, aud now they hate the English far more 
 than they hate us. When it was known at the 
 Palace that Arabi's life was spared, the women gave 
 way to transports of grief, as if a death had just taken 
 place in the family. Our opinion about the future is 
 quite unanimous. After all that has happened, as 
 long as Tewfik reigns there will be no peace either 
 for you, for us, or for Egypt." 
 
 I had afterwards an opportunity of seeing Tewfik 
 Pacha on two occasions, when he condescended to 
 receive me in private audience at the Abdin Palace. 
 When I arrived there on the morning of the 12th 
 December, the doors were guarded by British 
 sentries. After taking coffee in the Master of the 
 Ceremonies' room below, I was conducted by Tonino 
 Bey up a broad marble staircase into a large drawing- 
 room adorned with French furniture, many clocks, 
 more candelabra, and the gaudiest of drapery, after 
 the manner of the East. Tewfik was seated on a 
 sofa at the extreme end of the apartment. Another 
 
 * I omit a great portion of this part of the story. 
 
378 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 person, very much muffled up, occupied a chair a little 
 distance off, to whom he formally introduced me, 
 telling me at the same time " not to mind, as his 
 other visitor could not speak or understand any 
 European language." I afterwards heard acciden- 
 tally that my companion was the Coptic archbishop. 
 Tewfik is short, stout, nervous, and by no means un- 
 intelligent, but both eyes and mouth clearly indicate 
 fatal weakness of character. Although he has been 
 educated entirely in Egypt, he knows French well, 
 and is already very fairly acquainted with English. 
 His thoughts, ideas, and mode of reasoning are, how- 
 ever, entirely oriental. A constant and uncontrol- 
 lable restlessness of manner affords an unmistakeable 
 indication of great inconstancy of purpose. This 
 deplorable want of decision perpetually leads him to 
 acts wholly contrary to his better nature. Tewfik is 
 simply an oriental constitutional monarch manque. 
 He has unsuccessfully endeavoured to please both 
 parties, and he has conspicuously failed to satisfy 
 either. At one time he might have easily headed 
 the Nationalists, and gained the confidence of the 
 Egyptian poople, but he deliberately threw his chance 
 away. From the moment he broke with Arabi, to 
 dally first with Turkey and then with the Powers, 
 he became the most unpopular man in all Egypt. 
 It is impossible to conceal the truth. His future 
 
EGYPTIAN LADIES AND NATIONALISM. 379 
 
 is almost hopeless : a fair start under his auspices is 
 I fear impossible. His name will be written in history 
 as that of the prince " who brought the English into 
 Egypt/' and as such it is already anathematized by 
 every Egyptian betwixt Keneh and Alexandria. Our 
 constant efforts to use him as a decorous and con- 
 venient medium for interference (and often beneficial 
 interference) in Egyptian affairs, only intensifies this 
 hatred, and gains for us the very questionable privi- 
 lege of sharing it. It is as the exhibition of a red 
 rag to an infuriated bull. His present melancholy 
 position recals a memory of our childhood : 
 
 " Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, 
 Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, 
 All the king's horses and all the king's men 
 Could not put Humpty Dumpty up again." 
 
 Tewfik Pacha was once firmly seated on the wall of 
 Egyptian Nationalism ; he not only deserted the 
 cause, but he betrayed it Then he fell, and not 
 " all the English horses and all the English men " can 
 ever restore to him either the affection or confidence 
 of his exasperated subjects. 
 
 After offering me a cigarette, the Khedive began 
 our conversation by assuring me that his ideas as to 
 the recent trials had been wholly misunderstood in 
 Europe, and he was generally the victim of malignant 
 misrepresentation. He had never wanted or advo- 
 
380 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 cated the death of the prisoners, and the commutation 
 of their sentence was a willing and cheerful exercise 
 of clemency. I observed with humility that it was to 
 to be regretted the talented and trustworthy corre- 
 spondents of the press had given to the world so very 
 different a version of his views,* and more particularly 
 that the local European and Arab journals had per- 
 sistently represented him as having his hand forced in 
 the matter of the decree of exile. He did not answer, 
 but asked me if I thought he should be obliged to see 
 many more journalists, as he found it so difficult to 
 receive them cordially and at the same time tell them 
 nothing. He now suddenly changed the conversation 
 to the question of the ingratitude of his own family 
 towards him. He had heaped benefits upon them, 
 but they only " turned and stung him." He knew 
 
 the Princess had told Lord Dufferin this, and 
 
 the Princess had corroborated what the Princess 
 
 * In his remarkable article on the " Eestoration in Egypt " in the 
 Fortnightly Review, Mr. Ardern Beaman, writing with a special know- 
 ledge of his subject, says: " Arabi bore Tewfik no ill-will until it 
 became evident that he was being employed as a stalking-horse for 
 Europe in the suppression of the National movement. His position 
 now appears to have become almost untenable. In the first place, 
 the unpardonable sin of bringing the English to Egypt must ever lie 
 at his door. Curiously enough the vulgar feeling is stronger against 
 the Khedive who called us than against ourselves for responding to 
 the call. We were unwelcome guests arriving at the bidding of an 
 unpopular host." (November 1883, p. 630.) 
 
EGYPTIAN LADIES AND NATIONALISM. 381 
 
 had said, but it was all untrue ; how happy he 
 
 might be if it were not for the tongues of the 
 princesses and the pens of the newspaper men. And 
 his father too : even he would not let him alone. He 
 constantly sent him the most dutiful letters, yet 
 Ismail Pacha had recently accused him to somebody, 
 who afterwards wrote about it in the Times, of 
 possessing ni tete, ni occur, ni (four age.* I next tried 
 to talk a little of Arabi. The Khedive said even now 
 he thought Arabi a good man. He never for a moment 
 believed Arabi ever wished to kill him. If he had 
 such an intention, he could have done it a hundred 
 times when they were together at Cairo. The rest of 
 the conversation was taken up in melancholy reflec- 
 tions on the part of Tewfik as to the impossibility of 
 pleasing anybody. He trusted at any rate I could 
 say he was not vindictive or crueL The impression 
 created by the Khedive on my mind was so painful 
 that I was not sorry once more to be led by Tonino 
 Bey past the great conservatory, down the broad, 
 carpeted stairs, r to the postern gate, where Thomas 
 Atkins marched slowly up and down watching over 
 the safety of the restored Egyptian Viceroy. 
 
 I next went to see him on the 30th December (in 
 company with Mr. Napier) to take leave prior to 
 quitting Egypt. This visit gave me an opportunity 
 * Chapter II, p. 16. 
 
382 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 of making a direct appeal to him on behalf of some of 
 the other prisoners, for Arabi was now on his way to 
 Ceylon. I was surprised to find he knew every detail 
 connected with their cases ; and it so happened that 
 the very persons on whose behalf I desired to interest 
 him were peculiarly obnoxious to him. On the occa- 
 sion of our first interview I heard much of the mis- 
 doings of the princesses in Egypt ; I was now 
 favoured with an account of the treasonable conduct 
 of his relations at Constantinople. We were, I 
 think, all relieved to bring the visit to an end. On 
 this occasion Talat Pacha filled the chair formerly 
 occupied by the Coptic archbishop. After expressing 
 our acknowledgments of the hospitality we had 
 received we left the palace. It is hard to say 
 whether the position of the " protectors " or the 
 " protected JJ in Egypt presented the greatest diffi- 
 culties or the most evident anomalies. 
 
INTO EXILE. 383 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 INTO EXILEv 
 
 FOUR days after the formal trial of Arabi, his 
 companions, Mahmoud Sami, Abd-el-Al, Toulba, and 
 Ali Fehmy went through a similiar ordeal. Their 
 appearance before the Court Martial both in the 
 morning and afternoon attracted a very large crowd 
 of spectators, but no incident occurred during the pro- 
 ceedings which in any way merits description. 
 
 The judges had hardly risen when it was whispered 
 abroad that Riaz Pacha had resigned his post as 
 Minister of the Interior. It is true he was said to be 
 ailing, and had even taken to his bed diplomatically, 
 but it was an open secret that he had at last come to 
 hopeless grief over one of the many political stumbling- 
 blocks called into existence by the unexpected ter- 
 mination of the State Trials. Riaz Pacha was pledged 
 to a policy of exemplary punishment, but he did 
 not throw up his portfolio, as his friends very 
 adroitly pretended, " in order to offer a dignified 
 protest against the practical acquittal of Arabi." He 
 
384 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 had already countersigned the decrees of commutation, 
 and was perfectly prepared to swallow his great dis- 
 appointment, but he was told to go. Riaz then made 
 a virtue of necessity, sent in a humble request to be 
 relieved of the cares of office, and became for a time 
 very seriously indisposed. The precise nature of the 
 ailment he suffered from never transpired. An able 
 special correspondent telegraphed that it was " sup- 
 pressed bloodthirstiness," but, when prudently edited, 
 people in London only read " suppressed indigna- 
 tion." 
 
 It was manifestly impossible for Lord Dufferin 
 to tolerate the brisk campaign of Franco -Egyptian 
 intrigue which immediately followed the trial of 
 Arabi. Riaz was known to be one of its chief in- 
 spirers, and the unseen but " masterful " hand patted 
 Cherif encouragingly on the back, while it firmly 
 withdrew Riaz from a post in which he was doing us 
 as much mischief as possible. Unfortunately for the 
 future of Egypt, Riaz was almost as powerful out of 
 office as in. 
 
 It was now decided that Arabi was to go to 
 Ceylon, so I procured a small atlas, and, accompanied 
 by Mr. Beaman, went to the prison (December 8th) 
 to impart this information to Arabi and his friends. 
 We found Arabi writing letters in his cell. As soon 
 as he heard the news of which I was the bearer he 
 
ittwmm 
 
INTO EXILE. 385 
 
 quietly smiled (I never saw Arabi laugh), and said, 
 
 " This is really too much honour; not content with 
 
 simply decreeing my exile, my adversaries seem 
 
 actually bent on sending me to Paradise as well. 
 
 Have you never heard that when our first parents 
 
 parted in the plains of Mesopotamia after being 
 
 driven out from Eden, our common father went to 
 
 Ceylon, since called ' the Paraclise of Adam,' while 
 
 our common mother reached Hedjaz, since known as 
 
 c the Paradise of Eve ' ? Nothing could be more just. 
 
 I am driven out of Egypt 'the garden of the world,' 
 
 I go to Ceylon, ' the Paradise of Adam '; I hail 
 
 it as a happy omen.'' Leaving Arabi's room to visit 
 
 the other prisoners, I met Ismail Eyoub in the 
 
 corridor, and told him Arabi's ideas about Ceylon. 
 
 He looked at me incredulously, and then said with 
 
 perfect sincerity, "My dear friend, nothing will induce 
 
 me to believe that a peasant like Arabi can be so well 
 
 versed in ancient history as to know such facts as 
 
 these ! " 
 
 Lord Charles Beresford was now in Cairo, where 
 he spared no pains to obtain accurate information as 
 to the real causes of the " warlike operations " in 
 which he had himself taken so conspicuous a part. 
 Few Englishmen ever became more popular in 
 Egypt than he did, and certainly none have had 
 
386 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 greater facilities for finding out the whole truth * 
 about the last chapters of her history. As Lord 
 Charles Beresford was anxious to hear Arabi's own 
 story of the bombardment, Mr. Napier mentioned 
 the matter to him. Next day (December 9.th) he 
 requested Mr. Napier to transmit the following letter 
 to Lord Charles : 
 
 To the most respected Lord Charles Beresford, &c. 
 
 I have the honour to assure your Excellency that no hatred 
 or animosity ever existed between the Egyptians and the 
 English people to cause what has happened ; and what is still 
 more astonishing is, that no Egyptian knows the causes of the 
 war which has taken place between England and Egypt; 
 and, up to the hour of the bombardment of Alexandria, the 
 Egyptian nation certainly guarded the rights of the English, 
 and not only of the English but those of all their brethren, 
 the Europeans. What I think also is, that the causes of the 
 war are not known to the English people as well. 
 
 When the war commenced we were obliged to fight for our 
 own country in obedience to what had been decided in the 
 Cabinet Council, which sat under the presidency of the Khedive 
 and Dervesh Pacha ; and so we did fight, and therefore our 
 fighting was not in violation of the law, because it was declared 
 by the Khedive, the legal governor, and by all the head men 
 of the Government. During the time the war was going on in 
 Alexandria we received many messages from the Khedive, 
 encouraging us to fight, and to be patient and active, though 
 the forts were not strong enough and the arms were bad. 
 
 * Seepost. 
 
INTO EXILE. 387 
 
 When the forts were rendered ruinous by the fire of the 
 ships, I withdrew the troops under my command, because I 
 considered my flank and rear threatened, but I always supposed 
 that the English would have landed a force to occupy the town 
 after they had rendered it untenable by bombardment. 
 
 I have also the honour to state that had English marines 
 landed on the llth July, 1882, a terrible engagement would 
 have taken place between both parties, because the English 
 force, at that time, was limited, and there was a comparatively 
 large number of Egyptian soldiers in Alexandria, and you are 
 aware of the difficulties which soldiers encounter when coming to 
 attack troops fortified in their town. But if they had landed on 
 the next day when we retreated they would have been able to 
 do so in the afternoon easily, and they would have preserved the 
 town from being burned and looted. 
 
 I have given your Excellency this information in compliance 
 with the request of Mr. Napier, my lawyer, begging you at the 
 same time to accept my best regards. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 My Lord, to be 
 
 Your friend, 
 (Signed) AHMED AKABI the Egyptian. 
 
 Arabi manifested during the latter part of his 
 tedious imprisonment (it must be always remembered 
 he was kept in strict solitary confinement broken only 
 by our daily visits) considerable anxiety to know 
 what was written about him in Europe and the East. 
 His bitter mortification at the altered tone of the Arab 
 press was almost painful to witness. He had not yet 
 sufficiently learned the difference between success and 
 failure. In order to cheer him a little one of our 
 interpreters used to translate into Arabic extracts from 
 
 2c2 
 
388 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 the Times, Standard, and Daily News, which he used 
 to read with great interest. This slight familiarity 
 with European newspapers gave Arabi the first idea 
 of writing himself, for publication in England, some 
 short statements in self-defence. Hence his two letters 
 to the Times. Nothing perhaps pleased him more 
 than some of the brief paragraphs about Egypt in 
 Truth. He took a great fancy to the name of the 
 paper, and was delighted to see that Mr. Labouchere 
 could always manage to see the Egyptian Question 
 through Egyptian spectacles. The very day before 
 his solitary confinement came to an end, he said he 
 was anxious to tell the truth (el hakti) in Truth, and 
 so wrote the following letter to Mr. Labouchere : 
 
 SIR, Cairo, Dec. 11, 1882. 
 
 I beg to offer you my sincere thanks for having often said the 
 truth about me and my brothers in misfortune. I am perfectly 
 convinced of your pure intentions, and that you have always 
 wanted us to have justice in accordance with truth and equity. 
 There is no doubt that just people help the unfortunate in the 
 time of distress. 
 
 Now, as nothing interests me more than the well-being and 
 progress of my native land, and the fortune of its inhabitants, 
 notwithstanding that I am now on the point of leaving it for 
 ever, I should like to mention to you some essential matters 
 which, if taken into account, would do the country much good, 
 and would greatly benefit its population. You cannot, I think 
 get better or more disinterested information than that which an 
 experienced man, and one who has lost all for the love of his 
 country, can give you : 
 
INTO EXILE. 389 
 
 1 . There should be a Chamber of Notables to the Egyptian 
 nation, in order that all laws, decrees, and orders, should not be 
 passed arbitrarily and without its sanction. The members of 
 the Chambers should be granted a perfect freedom in discussing 
 matters, and their election ought to be left entirely to the people, 
 just as it is in other civilized nations ; they should also have a 
 right to give their opinion on matters of state, and to give 
 decisions on public matters. The Government, however, should 
 not be compelled to carry out the decisions of the Chamber until 
 the lapse of such time as is necessary to ascertain the capacity 
 of the people for representative institutions. The discussions 
 should be made public by their being published in the Arabic 
 and English newspapers. The Ministers should be responsible 
 to the Chamjber of Notables, which should be convoked for a 
 fixed time, not less than five years. 
 
 2. There ought to be equality between all the inhabitants of 
 Egypt, and no difference should be made between a foreigner 
 and a native, either in treatment or in taxes. By this equality 
 the Government will be able to abolish the Verghi (or land tax), 
 which injures the poor exceedingly. 
 
 3. Justice should be done to the peasantry in such works as 
 cleaning the canals, building bridges, carrying out public works, 
 &c.; the workmen should be paid for their labour, and not be 
 forced to work for nothing, for this is the cause of ruin and 
 destruction to the poor, whose existence depends entirely on 
 their daily work. 
 
 4. The most essential thing is to put a limit to usury, and to 
 stop people from deceiving the fellaheen and taking their money 
 and property. 
 
 5. There should be the same laws in all Courts of Justice in 
 Egypt, and the laws should be carried out without exception and 
 without the interference of any one. 
 
 6. The natives should be eligible for all posts in the adminis- 
 tration, whether high or low, as long as they are capable of 
 
390 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 holding them ; and those who have been dismissed for having 
 been mixed up in recent events should have a right to re-employ- 
 ment if worthy of it. 
 
 7. It is better to employ as few Europeans as possible, taking 
 into consideration the financial state of the country. These 
 Europeans should be paid in fair proportion to their native 
 colleagues, and not more than they deserve, as is now the 
 rule. 
 
 These are my opinions. I ask you to put them before the 
 public, which will judge whether I have right and reason on my 
 side or not. If England will agree with me on these points, I 
 care nothing for exile or any other fate which may be awarded 
 to me. (Signed) AHMED ARABI the Egyptian. 
 
 The cases of Mahmoud Fehmy and Yacoub Sdmi 
 having been disposed of (December 10th), it now 
 became necessary for the seven exiles to prepare for 
 their departure. At my suggestion it was decided that 
 the corridor at right angles to Arabi's cell should be 
 partitioned off, in order to allow the seven prisoners to 
 circulate without restraint in the rooms it contained. 
 It was manifestly desirable that they should be per- 
 mitted to discuss freely the various arrangements for 
 their approaching voyage. We were terribly per- 
 plexed by the incessant visits we now received from 
 agents, servants, and eunuchs, in search of information 
 as to their masters' plans ; and it was plain that no 
 progress could be made till the exiles were allowed to 
 communicate with their families. Ismail Eyoub (now 
 Minister of the Interior) good-naturedly came down 
 
INTO EXILE. 391 
 
 to see the carpenters blocking up the end of the 
 corridor, and decided that when the inmates were 
 removed to the new quarters their families should no 
 longer be denied access to them. All this promised 
 well, and our clients were really grateful for the 
 manner in which they had been treated. 
 
 During the time which had elapsed between the 
 trial of Arabi (December 3rd) and that of Ydcoub 
 Sami (December 10th) Lord Dufferin had received 
 more than one striking proof of the satisfaction felt by 
 the Egyptians at the policy of clemency. Even 
 Sultdn Pacha had been good enough to express his 
 approval of the course which had been pursued,* 
 while Nubdr frankly admitted to everybody that in 
 presence of the " universality of incrimination,'' any 
 other conclusion would have been impossible. From 
 this moment, however, the Egyptian Government, for 
 some inexplicable reason, seems to have resolved to 
 do their utmost to vary the details of the com- 
 promise to the prejudice of our clients, and we again 
 
 * Lord Dufferin to Lord Granville. 
 
 MY LORD, Cairo, December 7, 1882. 
 
 I have the honour to acquaint your Lordship that Sultan Pacha 
 called on me to-day to express his great satisfaction at the way in 
 which the trial of Arabi and his fellow-prisoners had been broughj to 
 a close. As Sultan Pacha possesses considerable influence in the 
 country his expression of opinion is important, 
 
392 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 found ourselves unwillingly involved in a perpetual 
 contest, which only ended when they finally embarked 
 for Ceylon. 
 
 Before proceeding further with my description of 
 the going into exile of Arabi and his friends, it is well 
 that I should, even at the risk of being tedious, 
 clearly place once more before my readers the terms 
 upon which we accepted the arrangement which put 
 an end to the proceedings. They can hardly be 
 better stated than in the very language used by Lord 
 Dufferin himself : 
 
 Arabi and his associates will be charged simply with 
 rebellion before the Court Martial. To this charge they will 
 plead guilty. In the event of the Court pronouncing a capital 
 sentence, it will be submitted to the Khedive, who will commute 
 it into perpetual exile. The prisoners will give their parole that 
 they will proceed to any locality which may be indicated to 
 them, and that they will there remain, unless invited to remove. 
 Should they return surreptitiously to Egypt, the capital sen- 
 tence may be enforced against them, without a new trial. By 
 a subsequent Decree of the Khedive, their property will be 
 confiscated; but the property of their wives will not be touched. 
 The Egyptian Government undertakes to provide each prisoner 
 with an allowance sufficient for his maintenance. 
 
 By another Edict, the military prisoners will- be degraded 
 from their respective ranks. 
 
 These words will be found to furnish an appro- 
 priate text for the rest of my narrative. 
 
 By the morning of the 13th December the rough 
 wooden partition and door erected at the end of the 
 
-~. 
 
INTO EXILE. 393 
 
 corridor were completed, and the apartments within 
 swept out and prepared for their inmates. The ser- 
 vants of the prisoners had been informed of what was 
 to take place, and were now ready and waiting to 
 assist in the business of removal. In a very short 
 time carpets, mosquito curtains, beds, brass utensils, 
 and crockery were transferred to the new rooms, and 
 Arabi crossed the passage and stood inside the screen 
 to greet each of his " brethren in captivity " on their 
 arrival. The ten weeks' tribulation which had sepa- 
 rated them had apparently intensified their regard 
 for each other, and the first meeting of the seven 
 Nationalist leaders was as cordial as the manners of 
 the East could make it. There was much embracing, 
 touching of hands, and a few tears; Toulba alone 
 continued to suffer from his asthma and would not be 
 comforted. It was curious to see Arabi' s self-evident 
 leadership now assert itself ; he seemed to tower 
 above his fellows, and nothing was ever done or said 
 without his opinion being first sought for. They were 
 all accustomed to hang on his very words, and even 
 Toulba tried to forget his pain when Arabi told him 
 to be of good cheer and not vex them with his 
 down-cast looks. Arabi's apartment became, by tacit 
 consent, their common place of meeting, and at my 
 request they lost no time in preparing the lists of the 
 persons who they proposed taking with them to the 
 Paradise of Adam. 
 
394 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Next morning (December 14th), on arriving at the 
 Daira Saniya, I found these memoranda had been 
 already completed. As might be expected they 
 varied very greatly in extent, from that of Mahmoud 
 Sami, comprising only his body servant, down to All 
 Fehmy's, which included even eunuchs and poor 
 relations. The Egyptian household has many remote 
 ramifications, and in the first enthusiasm of the idea 
 some of our clients seem to have meditated a whole- 
 sale migration to Ceylon. 
 
 As soon as I obtained the lists I took them to 
 Ismail Eyoub in his new office. The DakhaliyeJi 
 (Ministry of the Interior) was once one of the pleasant 
 palaces of Ismail Sadyk the Mufettich. Its great airy 
 central hall and double staircases had served for the 
 National Councils of July and August, but nothing 
 had been either destroyed or disturbed. The delicate 
 silk draperies which still ornament the windows and 
 doors are now the only memorials of the time when 
 its original owner held high revel within its walls. 
 Patient antichambering is an essential feature of 
 the daily routine of all Eastern Governmental 
 Departments, and the peculiar construction of the 
 Egyptian Home Office is admirably adapted to 
 assist it. The upper and* lower halls afforded a cool 
 and pleasant lounge, where coffee, cigarettes, and 
 gossip helped kill the passing time ; while in a 
 cosy retreat beyond the Minister's own Master of 
 
INTO EXILE. 395 
 
 Ceremonies sat in state, and ushered the most favoured 
 guests, one after another, through a double line of 
 janissaries in scarlet and gold, into the august 
 presence* of his chief. I found Ismail Eyoub seated 
 on a velvet divan behind a small lacquered table, 
 busily engaged in applying the seal which was 
 attached to his watch-chain to numerous Arabic docu- 
 ments, obsequiously presented to him by his pre- 
 decessor's son-in-law. I gave him the lists I had 
 brought with me. He told me that they must be 
 shortened, and that no exile could be allowed to take 
 more than one male and one female servant. I 
 promised to see his wishes complied with. He then 
 said quietly, " We are thinking of sending four of 
 your clients to Ceylon, and three to Hong Kong ; I 
 suppose you will not make any difficulties?'' I at 
 once answered that such a change was a gross breach 
 of our original arrangement, and that I should 
 certainly offer it all the opposition in my power. 
 I told him at the same time that I was morally 
 responsible to my clients for the strict observance of 
 the terms of the compromise ; and that I had no 
 intention of losing their confidence.* I went back to 
 the Daira Saniya with my lists, feeling very un- 
 comfortable indeed. 
 
 * After much negotiation the idea was abandoned. The exiles 
 never even knew the danger which threatened them. 
 
396 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 The scene in the exiles' corridor was now entirely 
 changed. Stalwart eunuchs were guarding three of 
 the inner rooms, in which Arabi, Abd-el-Al and Ali 
 Fehmy were receiving visits for the first time since 
 their imprisonment from their wives and other female 
 relatives; vekils were making up accounts, fellah 
 brethen from the interior were discussing grievances 
 and the crops, tradesmen were importunately seeking 
 for the settlement of outstanding bills, vendors of red 
 caps were offering their wares, one of the prisoners 
 was executing a power of attorney in favour of Reouf 
 Pacha, the President of the Court Martial, while a 
 goodly band of " rebel " olive branches were alter- 
 nately embracing their parents and getting in every- 
 body's way. As soon as the ladies were gone I 
 called a council in Arabi's room. The news of the 
 proposed restriction caused some little lamentation: 
 there was no help, however, but to comply with it. 
 After much consultation fresh lists were prepared. The 
 following are specimens taken at random from amongst 
 my duplicate copies : 
 
 List presented by Abd-el-Al. 
 
 Abd-el-Al. 
 Said Hilmy (son). 
 Suleiman (brother). 
 Ali Elmas (servant). 
 Zakieb Hanem (sister). 
 Doulfara (female servant). 
 
INTO EXILE. 397 
 
 List presented by Ali Fehmy. 
 
 Ali Fehmy. 
 Aziz Fehmy (son). 
 Muhamed Ali Fehmy (son). 
 Lady Aideel (wife). 
 Hamideh Hanem (daughter). 
 Zeineb Hanem (daughter). 
 Eoujkoul Hanem (sister-in-law). 
 Fatmah (daughter). 
 Halimeh (female servant). 
 Moharam (eunuch). 
 
 In consequence of the limitation now imposed the 
 wives of two or three of the exiles declined quitting 
 Egypt. The Egyptian Government was well versed 
 in these refinements of annoyance which no ordinary 
 European could be expected to understand. To the 
 oriental mind there is little difference between the 
 dishonour of their women and the absence of eunuchs, 
 and so our clients pleaded energetically for the 
 company of their trusted Nubians. I went back to 
 Ismail Eyoub with my new lists, and extemporized a 
 touching appeal to his Moslem sympathies on the 
 subject of the eunuchs. For two whole hours the 
 business of the Home Office was suspended while I 
 discussed with the Secretary of State the momentous 
 question as to whether one eunuch was to be counted 
 as the equivalent of two female servants or vice versa. 
 In the result all the exiles who were accompanied 
 
398 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 by their wives, managed to take a eunuch in their 
 train. 
 
 The Egyptian Government knew better than 
 anybody else that the houses occupied by the families 
 of our seven clients were, without exception, either 
 rented from strangers or the private property of their 
 wives, and therefore exempt from seizure. Four out 
 of the seven exiles had married ladies from the 
 Khedivial harim, and every Egyptian was perfectly 
 well aware that the dwelling they lived in, the fur- 
 niture it contained, and the jewels which adorned their 
 persons, formed the dowry which they brought their 
 husbands. Common delicacy of feeling would in any 
 ordinary case have been sufficient to protect these un- 
 fortunate women from insult and outrage, to which I 
 fear they were not altogether unaccustomed, but it 
 soon became evident that no pity was to be shown 
 either to the " rebels " or their defenceless families.* 
 
 On the 15th December a decree was issued not 
 only forfeiting the property of the seven exiles, but 
 declaring them civilly dead, and incapable of inherit- 
 
 * Yacoub Sami solemnly declared, in a written statement, that on 
 returning home one night in the early summer of 1882, he found his 
 wife (who had been an ex-inmate of the vice-regal seraglio), lying in 
 the garden, almost insensible from a castigation she had received from 
 the Palace eunuchs for revealing secrets to her husband and Arabi. 
 From that moment Yacoub Sami (although a Turk) became a most 
 ardent Nationalist. 
 
INTO EXILE. 399 
 
 ance. Here was the first flagrant violation of the 
 terms of our compromise as noted by Lord Dufferin 
 himself. That very same evening Turkish and 
 Circassian guards were let loose on the houses occupied 
 by the prisoners' families. The next morning a select 
 committee from the DaJchaliyeh was sent to each of 
 them for the ostensible purpose of making an inventory 
 of the contents. To the eternal shame of the Egyptian 
 Government the sanctity of the harim was violated, 
 and the privacy of the women rudely intruded upon. 
 At a very early hour I received letters on the subject 
 from my clients. Arabi wrote : 
 
 To my friend and defender Mr. Broadley. 
 I am informed that guards have been put on the doors of our 
 houses to prevent people from going in and out, and to keep 
 guard over the furniture. My house is only hired, and all the 
 the goods in it are my wife's property. Nothing in it belongs 
 to me but my clothes. Please tell the Government this, that 
 they may remove the guards. (December 16th 1882.) 
 
 AHMED ARABI the Egyptian. 
 
 Ali Fehmy also wrote : 
 
 My servants tell me guards sent by the Prefect of Police 
 have entered my house and insist on remaining in it. The said 
 house, and all the furniture therein, is the property of my wife. 
 They were her dowry when I received her from the harim of 
 Ismail Pacha, my master. I pray you protect us from this 
 great injustice. (Signed) ALI FEHMY. 
 
 Mr. Napier immediately went to the Daira Saniya 
 to allay, if possible, the anxiety of the prisoners. I 
 
400 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 started in search of Ismail Eyoub, while Mrs. Napier 
 offered to undertake the task of consoling the ladies 
 in their different homes. Ismail Eyoub protested 
 complete ignorance of what had taken place, and 
 gave me a letter to the Prefect of Police. 
 
 I now called for the first time on Osman Pacha 
 Grhaleb, who had contrived to obliterate all recollec- 
 tion of " the hearty congratulations and 10,000 mea- 
 sures of wheat " he had offered to the defenders of 
 his country at Kafr-el-Dowar, by doing his utmost 
 to harass and vex the very same defenders of his 
 country when they had fallen into the hands of their 
 enemies. He has since managed to arrive at very 
 high rank indeed, and his loyalty is now entirely 
 beyond question. Osman Pacha received me civilly 
 enough, and even entered into a lengthy explanation 
 as to why he had supported Arabi up to a certain 
 point, and was then conscientiously unable to go 
 with him any further. Osman Pacha Grhaleb im- 
 pressed me unfavourably. He is essentially a 
 courtier, incapable of looking you straight in the 
 face, and perfectly ready to do anything which he 
 imagines would be agreeable to the party in power. 
 Osman Pacha is by no means devoid of ability, and, 
 if Arabi had succeeded, would doubtless have made 
 his mark as a patriot. He seemed anxious to talk of 
 everything except the immediate object of my visit. 
 
INTO EXILE. 401 
 
 While sitting on a sofa in his office, and dis- 
 cussing his coffee and cigarettes, he showed me a 
 drawer full of photographs of Arabi. He said that 
 a few days previously, " acting on superior orders," 
 he had destroyed over a dozen negatives in the 
 different photographers' shops in Cairo, and seized 
 some thousands of printed copies ; but in spite of all 
 this the portrait was still being reproduced all over 
 Egypt. He protested he was quite unable to under- 
 stand it: " Arabi had failed what could the people 
 want any more with Arabi ? " 
 
 The Cairo Prefecture of Police is in itself a great 
 curiosity. A squalid court-yard which leads to it is 
 surrounded by a two-storied prison of a rabbit- 
 warren-like character, wholly unventilated and un- 
 drained. Inside the main entrance is a hall crowded 
 always with clerks, policemen, witnesses, and people 
 " hungry after justice." Beyond is the Prefect's own 
 room, with a long low divan running round it, a fine ma- 
 hogany office-table behind which the great man sits, and 
 narrow windows looking into a little green garden full 
 of verdure and rustling palm-trees. At last, after much 
 discussion, I induced Osman Pacha to promise he would 
 withdraw all the guards from the prisoners' houses save 
 one, that no kind of intrusion into the building itself 
 would be permitted, and that persons going in and out 
 should be spared the indignity of a personal search. 
 
 2D 
 
402 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 On my road home I met Mr. Napier. It now 
 seemed things were really worse than I imagined. 
 He had just got a letter from his wife who informed 
 him that " two civilians and some soldiers had 
 entered Ali Fehmy's house, gone all over it, and 
 had even seen the ladies without their veils." Mrs. 
 Napier begged we would come there at once, as she 
 was not sure whether the guards at the door would 
 allow her to pass out. We lost no time in complying 
 with her request, but before we had arrived there a 
 fresh incident had occurred. The Khedive was 
 accustomed to pass Ali Fehmy's door each day at 
 noon on his way from his official residence at Abdin 
 to his palace in the Ismalia suburb. Maddened by 
 what had happened, Ali Fehmy's wife waited for 
 him, and when his carriage appearedj rushed unveiled 
 and bare-headed into the street, holding her youngest 
 child in her arms, and cried out, " Oh Tewfik! you 
 have insulted a woman of your father's harim. Have 
 you forgotten that before I became the wife of Ali 
 Fehmy I was of the harim of Ismail ? Dishonoured 
 and unveiled as I now am, the shame is as much 
 yours as mine ! '' The spectators gently led her back 
 through the garden of jasmine and orange-trees to 
 her house. Tewfik changed his route the next day, 
 and the wife of Ali Fehmy was never molested after- 
 wards. When we got there peace had been in a 
 
INTO EXILE. 403 
 
 measure restored, and the poor woman consoled her- 
 self by pouring out her griefs to us from behind a 
 screen in a voice often broken with sobs. As her 
 misfortunes had been by no means exceptional (some 
 ladies going to Mahmoud Sami's house had been 
 actually searched by the guards), we made the 
 strongest representations in the quarter from which 
 alone any satisfactory redress could be expected. 
 Once more " the iron hand in a velvet glove" made 
 itself felt ; Major Chermside was deputed to calm the 
 Prefect's loyal ardour, and the functions of his police- 
 men at the gates of the " rebels'' were henceforth 
 confined to the attributes of ordinary door-porters. 
 
 Preparations for departure now went slowly on. 
 The exiles decided to leave me a procuration to liqui- 
 date their affairs, which I transferred for the time being 
 to Mr. Beaman. Arrangements for a coming journey 
 seem hardly to enter into the usual ideas of Egyptian 
 domestic economy, and the outfit which the wives of 
 the exiles now set about providing themselves with 
 was certainly rather extraordinary. As far as I could 
 ascertain it chiefly consisted of warm coats and vast 
 supplies of sugar and coffee all somewhat superfluous 
 in Ceylon. Each successive visitor seemed to display 
 fresh ingenuity in retailing to the exiles the most 
 fantastic legends as to the climate and inhabitants of 
 their destined abode. Somebody sent Arabi by post 
 
 2D2 
 
404 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Punch's cartoon of "Araby the Blest," and it exer- 
 cised him greatly. He could not forgive (he who never 
 smoked or tasted wine) the cigar depicted in his hand 
 or the soda-water and brandy on the table beside him. 
 His fellow-prisoners gave our interpreters no peace 
 till the text was translated, and Mr. Punch's account 
 of the Sultan's imaginary reflections on the result of 
 the trial was highly appreciated in a quarter probably 
 little dreamt of by the writer. 
 
 A day or two later the Egyptian Government 
 lighted on a new difficulty. The exiles might go to 
 the same place, but not in the same ship. The 
 accommodation on board the vessel which had been 
 chartered was insufficient ; the passengers would be 
 cramped, and make all Europe ring with their com- 
 plaints. Such was the theory propounded to me 
 somewhat timidly by Ismail Eyoub, when I called on 
 him at the Dakhallyeh a few days later. 
 
 Now the Egyptian Government had hired a very 
 large steamer the "Mareotis" to convey our clients 
 and their families to Colombo, and it was actually 
 being fitted up for the voyage under the care of 
 Captain Bloomfield, the Port- Superintendent at Alex- 
 andria. I must do the Egyptian authorities the 
 justice to say that all these arrangements w r ere carried 
 out wholly regardless of expense, but this only made 
 the plea of want of room all the more ridiculous. It 
 
INTO EXILE. 405 
 
 afterwards turned out that the " Mareotis" could have 
 taken three times as many passengers. The bare idea 
 of a separation filled the minds of the prisoners with 
 suspicion and dismay. Nothing but sheer force could 
 induce them to go on board under these circumstances. 
 It was suggested that they should write to the 
 Egyptian Cabinet through me declaring their willing- 
 ness to put up cheerfully with even the most straitened 
 accommodation provided they could all go together. 
 One of their vekils (agents) accordingly drew up this 
 rather obsequious letter : 
 
 To Mr. Broadley the Lawyer, our Defender. 
 As we are going together, we do not think of any want of 
 accommodation there may be in the steamer, seeing that we can 
 only be happy together and accompanied by our wives and 
 children in the same boat. And we offer our best thanks to His 
 Highness the Khedive for his handsome treatment towards us, 
 which we shall not forget in all time, and shall pray for his 
 prosperity. 
 
 One or two of the exiles put their seals to it, when 
 it was brought to Arabi. " Have you, J> he asked, 
 turning to Yacoub Sami, "signed this? I would 
 rather be cut in pieces first. I have said, and say, that 
 Tewfik is unfit to reign over us. How then can I lie 
 and promise to pray for his prosperity? We have, 
 at any rate, not fallen so low as this." I never 
 remember seeing Arabi to greater advantage. He 
 then drafted himself the following note, which I 
 afterwards sent to Cherif Pacha : 
 
406 HO W WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 To our Counsel Mr. Broadley. 
 
 We beg to call the attention of the Egyptian Government to 
 our unanimous wish to make the voyage together to the place 
 appointed, and, since it is our own desire to go in company with 
 our families, we should never think of complaining of want of 
 accommodation in the steamer. At the same time we are anxious 
 to express our thanks to the Egyptian Government for its 
 treatment of us here, and the measures taken to arrange for our 
 departure from Egypt. Dec. 21st, 1882. 
 
 (Signed) MAHMOUD SAMI. 
 AHMED ARABI. 
 YACOUB SAMI. 
 MAHMOUD FEHMY. 
 ALI FEHMY. 
 
 TOULBA OSMAT. 
 
 ABD-EL-AL HILMY. 
 
 The last days of our clients' stay in Egypt were 
 approaching. Their lists of companions in exile were 
 now finally settled and approved, and the inmates of 
 their houses were busy in packing up their various 
 belongings. Mr. Beaman and Major Chermside 
 assisted Sir Charles Wilson in securing them freedom 
 from molestation while so doing ; but the Egyptian 
 Government once more illegally interfered, arid 
 declared none of the ladies must take with them a 
 larger sum than 200Z. By dint of unusual activity 
 on all sides, the morning of Christmas Day saw all 
 the baggage duly secured and approved by the 
 police in anticipation of the order to start which was 
 every moment expected. 
 
INTO EXILE. 407 
 
 My readers will remember* that it had been 
 agreed between all parties that at some time subse- 
 quent to the formal trial the exiles were to be de- 
 prived by decree of their rank and dignities. No man 
 ever eared less for outward pomp and glitter than 
 Arabi, and nothing affected him less than the prospect 
 of the loss of his title and decorations. Just a week 
 before the compromise was concluded, he wrote the 
 following very characteristic letter to Mr. Blunt : 
 
 To my friend, the preserver of my life, Mr. Wilfrid Blunt. 
 May God keep, &c. 
 
 After presenting to you my salutations, &c., 
 
 Now I have to tell you that I care nothing for the position I 
 am in for prison, for insults, or for what may happen after, 
 since I have offered myself a legacy (wakf) to the freedom of my 
 country, nor does anything interest me except the deliverance 
 of the people of my native land from the pit of those vipers, and 
 from the fangs of that great dragon (where they lie), this by 
 the wisdom of the enlightened men of the English nation, who 
 are zealous for their nation's honour. 
 
 And next, if there is time in the term of my life, I should 
 wish to live free at Damascus with my children, keeping aloof 
 from political affairs as long as I am out of Egypt ; and, if the 
 Sultan and the Moslems will not permit my dwelling among the 
 Moslems, then I should prefer to live in London among our 
 brethren the helpers of humanity, as a free man in the land of 
 freedom not under custody or supervision. Thus, also, my 
 comrades do, who laid down their souls in the path of their 
 country. They desire to live free. And I solemnly pledge my 
 
 * Vide page 315 and page 392. 
 
408 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 word not to interfere in political matters while I remain far from 
 my country and " until God shall have completed what he has 
 decreed." (Koran). 
 
 Then, as to how the enemy has attempted to cast suspicion 
 on me for the events of the llth of June and the 12th of July, 
 this is mere evil-speaking, nor can it be supported by the least 
 tittle of evidence or proof, since such acts are contrary to our 
 honourable performance. By this they endeavoured to excite 
 Europe to dissolve as atoms of the air the liberties we had 
 gained for our country. And yet, perhaps, some good may 
 come out of this to our people so that they may obtain the 
 completion of their freedom, and be delivered by the turning of 
 the hearts of the English to them, and in spite of the efforts of 
 their open enemy. 
 
 I care nothing for accidental titles of honour (his title of 
 Pacha, of which he had been deprived), for I never at all desired 
 them. I am satisfied with my own honour, for that will accom- 
 pany me through life and after death. I wish to be called only 
 by the name of 
 
 AHMED AR!BI the Egyptian. 
 
 Cairo, Nov. 23. 
 
 On the 24th of December I read with no surprise 
 the following Decree in the Official Journal : 
 
 NOUS, KHEDIVE D'EGYPTE, 
 
 Vu les Arrets de la Cour Martiale en date des 22, 26, et 29 
 Moharem 1300 (3, 7, et 10 Decembre 1882); 
 
 Vu nos Decrets en date des 22, 26, et 29 Moharem 1300 
 (3, 7, et 10 Decembre 1882); 
 
 Notre Conseil des Ministres entendu ; 
 
 DECRETONS: 
 
 ARTICLE PREMIER. 
 Ahmed Arabi, Toulba Osmat, Abd-el-Al Hilmy, Mahmoud 
 
INTO EXILE. 409 
 
 Sami, Ali Fehmy, Mahmoud Fehmy et Yacoub Sami sont 
 declares dechus de tous leurs titres, grades et dignites et rayes a 
 jamais des cadres de 1'armee Egyptienne. 
 
 ARTICLE 2. 
 
 Nos Ministres de 1'Interieur et de la Guerre et de la Marine 
 sont charges, chacun en ce qui le concerne, de 1'execution du 
 present Decret. 
 
 Fait au palais d'Abdine, le 10 Seffer 1300 (21 De'cembre 
 1882). 
 
 (Signe) MEHEMET TEWFIK. 
 
 Par le Khedive. 
 
 Le President du Conseil des Ministres, 
 
 (Signe) CHERIF. 
 
 Le Ministre de 1'Interieur, 
 
 (Signe) ISMAIL EYOUB. 
 
 Le Ministre de la Guerre et de la Marine, 
 
 (Signe) OMAR LOUTFI. 
 
 The deprivation of honours was fully expected, 
 but it was certainly a little anomalous to dismiss the 
 exiles from an army which had already been officially 
 declared non-existent. 
 
 On the morning of Christmas Day I had a long 
 last talk with my clients. Arabi gave me his little 
 black rosary and his carpet as a souvenir, and I ex- 
 changed photographs with all the exiles. They had 
 made up their minds to cheerfully accept the inevit- 
 able ; to put their firm trust in England ; to loyally 
 observe the parole given to Lord Dufferin, and to 
 show themselves in every way worthy of the cause 
 
410 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 for which they suffered. Their words were full of 
 hope for Egypt, and confidence in England. Their 
 expressions of gratitude to Mr. Blunt were both 
 heartfelt and touching. I left the Daira Saniya 
 delighted with the language and demeanour of the 
 friends I was so soon to see no more. 
 
 The Egyptian authorities could not resist aiming 
 one last blow at the prestige and amour propre of 
 their departing foes. Without our knowledge they 
 meditated celebrating Christmas Day with a ceremony 
 which constituted a direct violation of the terms we 
 had both agreed to. This unhandsome act on their 
 part was all the more wantonly malicious because the 
 spectacle they had improvised was so objectless and 
 meaningless that it only served to bring down on its 
 authors the ridicule of the whole European press. 
 Quite apart from our own assurances, the language of 
 Lord Dufferin's despatch * makes it sufficiently evident 
 that neither Mr. Napier or myself ever imagined that 
 the deprivation of our clients' " accidental honours," 
 by decree, would be made the occasion of a public 
 exhibition by the Cherif Cabinet. It deeply wounded 
 the feelings of the exiles at the time, but it gained no 
 advantage or glory for the persons who invented it. 
 Every impartial spectator regarded it in no other 
 
 * Vide p. 392. 
 
INTO EXILE. 411 
 
 light than that of a virtual confession of political 
 impotency. 
 
 This is what happened. Shortly after two o'clock 
 on the afternoon of Christmas Day two hired 
 carriages were suddenly driven up to the Daira 
 Saniya. The prisoners were directed to put on their 
 overcoats, and follow the jailer Osman Shareef. 
 They did so with trepidation fearing some really 
 serious treachery. On arriving at the gateway 
 they were ordered to enter the carriages in company 
 with a police-officer. Arabi and friends were dressed 
 in their private clothes, and one or two of them 
 had not even time given them to put on their boots. 
 They were then driven by the most unfrequented 
 streets to the Kasr-el-Nil barracks. Here a small 
 body of Egyptian troops was drawn up in square, 
 while the British soldiers sauntering about the 
 great quadrangle and occupying the galleries above 
 did duty as spectators, and cheered at intervals. 
 The prisoners were placed in the centre, and an 
 officer somewhat tremulously read out the Khedivial 
 Decree. An order was then given to the Egyptians 
 to shout " Long live the Khedive! " The exiles were 
 formally asked for their swords and orders, but it was 
 manifest from the first that they had been left at 
 home. The prisoners were then requested to re-enter 
 the carriages. Just as Arabi was about to do so, a 
 
412 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 " loyal" Kaimakan (Captain), named Elfi, cried out 
 " Oh Arabi, you have brought the English to Egypt! " 
 This ill-timed reproach may be well taken as a key- 
 note to Egyptian feeling concerning us. A crowd of 
 natives was now gathering, and there was hardly 
 one who did mutter " God save you! " as the seven 
 Egyptian Nationalists passed by on their way back to 
 prison. Under similar circumstances the Egyptians 
 were accustomed to see the epaulets torn from off the 
 shoulder, the decorations snatched from the breast, 
 and the sword broken on the knee; but all this was 
 missing here. Our faithful Hasan's commentary was 
 not singular: " God is great! You see even the 
 Khedive dare not touch Arabi." 
 
 As soon as we heard what had taken place Mr. 
 Napier and I went to the prison and endeavoured to 
 restore, as best we could, our clients' disturbed 
 equanimity. After what had happened I must confess 
 we were much relieved to hear that the "Mareotis" 
 had already passed through the Canal, with orders to 
 start for Ceylon on the following evening. An un- 
 comfortable dread of fresh surprises had taken posses- 
 sion of our mind, and our confidence in the fair 
 dealing of the Egyptian Government was hopelessly 
 shaken. In the best interests of our clients it was 
 advisable to hasten the end. 
 
 There was, however, yet another matter of extreme 
 
INTO EXILE. 413 
 
 urgency which we were compelled to arrange with the 
 Home Office on the very eve of the exiles' departure. 
 All of them wanted money; some of them were 
 absolutely penniless. We at last succeeded in obtain- 
 ing for each of them an advance of 30Z. on their 
 allowance in Ceylon.* 
 
 The great ladies of Cairo did not forget Arabi at 
 the moment of his going into banishment. Silently 
 and cautiously, for fear of Tewfik, they set about 
 providing him with a goodly outfit; one sent two 
 English portmanteaus ; a second contributed a large 
 
 * Mr. Beaman says most truthfully : 
 
 il It is a significant fact that whilst a subordinate post enables a 
 man at present to lay by sufficient riches in the course of a few months 
 to guarantee him against the future, the seven exiles now in Ceylon, 
 who for the space of a year may almost be said to have held Egypt 
 in fee simple, left their country in actual penury. Arabi, who might 
 easily have amassed over a million, was dependent on friends for a 
 portmanteau filled with clothing sent to him at the railway station, 
 and for some time past his family have been reduced to accept a 
 monthly charity of 101. which others, not wishing to make themselves 
 known, have transmitted through my hands. Yacoub Sami, Arabi's 
 alter ego, commandant of Cairo during the months of the war, and for 
 some time in a position to have accumulated enormous wealth, left 
 Egypt in debt for the furniture of his small house, and absolutely 
 penniless. And so with the others. It is in no spirit of hero-worship 
 of the exiles, or of inuendo against their successors, that this is 
 written. But it scarcely seems to be sufficiently known and appre- 
 ciated why the Egyptian people elected as one man to throw in their 
 lot with those who had risen from among their own ranks, who knew 
 their bitter wrongs, and who were ready to defend their new-found 
 rights rather than remain loyal to the hereditary sovereign." Fort- 
 nightly Review, November 1883, p. 636. 
 
414 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Koran ; another an embroidered prayer-carpet ; a 
 fourth a dressing-bag ; a fifth a picnic-basket, and so 
 on. It was originally planned that the special train 
 for Suez should start from the siding in the middle of 
 the Kasr-el-Nil barracks punctually at nine o'clock at 
 night on the 26th December. During the afternoon 
 all the baggage (including Arabi's trousseau) was con- 
 veyed thither, and the wives remaining in Egypt were 
 allowed to bid farewell to their husbands at the prison. 
 The hour and place of departure were kept a profound 
 secret. At the last moment an intimation was sent to 
 us that the voyage would be postponed owing to the 
 prevalence of bad weather at Suez. As a precaution 
 against possible surprises we had fortunately placed 
 Hasan on sentry duty at the prison. It was nearly 
 ten o'clock when he rushed breathlessly into our room 
 to say that Arabi and his friends had already left the 
 Daira Saniya. Mr. Napier (who was going as far as 
 Suez) went to fetch his luggage, while I drove as 
 rapidly as I could to Kasr-el-Nil. 
 
 The scene at the " Castle of the Nile" was a very 
 picturesque one. It was bright moonlight, and as I 
 entered the great square I saw the train had already 
 drawn up. Three sides of the quadrangle are made 
 up of the soldiers' barracks, lofty buildings with 
 fronts of arched verandahs, piled one above the other ; 
 the fourth comprises the gilded saloons of the Kasr- 
 
INTO EXILE. 415 
 
 el-Nil Palace and the Egyptian War Office. A line 
 of railway sharply bisects the square in its centre, 
 from right to left, just enough of the surrounding 
 structures being cut away on either side to leave 
 room for a train to pass. There is no kind of platform, 
 and the rails of the siding are on a level with the 
 pavement. The arcades of the barracks and the more 
 florid architecture of the Palace stood out distinctly in 
 the clear moonlight, which seemed to almost dim the 
 flames of the torches held by some of the soldiers of 
 the Egyptian guard. Immediately in front of the 
 carriages a small knot of interested spectators, includ- 
 ing Sir Charles Wilson, Mr. Mackenzie Wallace, and 
 Osman Pacha Grhaleb, had collected. The train was a 
 very long one, almost stretching across the square from 
 one side to the other. In front were the ladies with 
 their children and luggage ; behind, the servants, the 
 heavy baggage, and a guard of the King's Royal Rifle 
 Corps (60th regiment) under the command of Major 
 Fraser. Some Egyptian officers and a few soldiers 
 were also there to accompany the exiles to Suez. 
 A first-class carriage in the centre was reserved 
 for Arabi and his companions. When I reached Kasr- 
 el-Nil they had already taken their seats. Ardbi, 
 Mahmoud Fehmy, and Abd-el-Al were in one com- 
 partment ; Toulba, Ali Fehmy, Mahmoud Sdmi, and 
 Yacoub Sami in another. They seemed far more 
 
416 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 cheerful than any ordinary set of Englishmen would 
 be under similar circumstances. I clambered up to 
 the windows to wish them good-bye, and Arabi once 
 more said a few grateful words. 
 
 The order to start was on the point of being given 
 when Mr. Beaman brought the news that the policeman 
 at Arabi' s house would not allow his son's wife and her 
 sister to leave it. What was to be done ? It was becom- 
 ing late, the Cairo station-master deprecated any 
 further delay, and the quarter of the city in which 
 Ardbi's people lived was some distance off. Sir 
 Charles Wilson, however, clearly told Osman Pacha 
 G-haleb with some decision of tone that the train 
 could not leave till the missing ladies arrived, where- 
 upon the Prefect of Police made a virtue of necessity, 
 and sent his own carriage to fetch them. Then 
 followed a long and awkward pause. Some of the 
 servants came up to say good-bye to me. Mr. Napier 
 secured a place for himself and Arabi's portman- 
 teaus, one or two of the English officers on duty shook 
 hands with Ardbi, and Major Fraser himself (to our 
 clients' very evident satisfaction) took a seat by his 
 side. At last the two women, clad entirely in white, 
 arrived, and quickly disappeared in one of the car- 
 riages set apart for the ladies of the party. The door 
 was barely closed upon them when the signal to start 
 was given, and in an instant the train which bore 
 
INTO EXILE. 417 
 
 Arabi and his friends into exile vanished behind the 
 walls of Kasr-el-Nil. It was now nearly midnight, 
 but I remained behind for a time, at the invitation 
 of some of the officers of the second battalion of the 
 Highland Light Infantry, to see the splendidly- deco- 
 rated apartment which was now their mess-room, and 
 had served only four months previously for the sittings 
 of the Egyptian National Committee. 
 
 I can very appropriately bring my narrative of 
 Arabi's trial to a close with his departure from Kasr-el- 
 Nil. The same building which witnessed his earlier 
 successes and later triumphs saw him disappear, for 
 awhile at least, from the stage of Egyptian history. 
 It was here he was liberated from imprisonment by the 
 indignant soldiery ; from Kasr-el-Nil the regiment he 
 commanded marched to the pronunciamento of Abdin; 
 at Kasr-el-Nil he laboured as Egyptian Minister of 
 War, and it was here also sat the Medjlis-el-Orfi, 
 which confided to him the defence of his country. At 
 Kasr-el-Nil I may well let the curtain fall on that 
 portion of his story I have tried to tell. How strange 
 must have been Arabi's own reflections and thoughts 
 as he sat in the moonlit courtyard of Kasr-el-Nil 
 patiently waiting for the departure of the train which 
 was in a few minutes to take him away from the 
 scene of all the most striking episodes of his career 
 into exile ! 
 
 2E 
 
418 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 THE FATE OF THE RANK AND FILE. 
 
 No sooner had the formal sentence of the Court 
 Martial been passed on the last of the u accused of 
 the first category" than the Egyptian Government 
 began somewhat leisurely to concern itself about the 
 fate of the rank and file. Not only were the prisons 
 of the interior filled to overflowing, but nearly one 
 hundred persons were still confined on a general and 
 undefined charge of high treason in the Daira Saniya. 
 Some of the accused in the provinces had sent their 
 agents to the capital for the purpose of securing our 
 services, and we had also accepted retainers on be- 
 half of several of the prisoners detained in the 
 extemporized jail at Cairo, although we were only 
 allowed to see our clients after the final acceptance 
 of the compromise concerning Arabi and his most 
 prominent associates. Almost the last words spoken 
 by Arabi while waiting at Kasr-el-Nil were to remind 
 me of his oft*repeated request to watch over the fate 
 
THE FATE OF THE RANK AND FILE. 419 
 
 of his comrades, and we certainly spared no exertion 
 to follow his instructions, and secure for his adherents 
 as favourable conditions as it was possible to expect. 
 
 At this time (December 25th) Mr. Napier and I 
 were jointly charged with the interests of the fol- 
 lowing prisoners : -Sheikh Muhamed Abdu, Colonel 
 Abdul Gaffar Bey, Ahmed Bey liifat, Osman Pacha 
 Fouzy, Hasan Moosa El Akad, Colonel Kadr Kadr, 
 and Sheikh Hasan El Edwi (of whom I have already 
 spoken at length), besides Emin Bey Shemsi and 
 Ahmed Bey Abaza (the two principal merchants and 
 landowners of Zagazig), Ahmed Mahmoud and Ibra- 
 him Vekil (two members of the Egyptian Chamber), 
 Hasan Pacha Sherai (ex-Minister of Religious Endow- 
 ments), Mohana Effendi Omar (a notable of Assiout), 
 Hasan Pacha Dramanli (ex-Under-Secretary for the 
 Interior), Suleiman Gomor and the brothers Elfi. (also 
 of Zagazig-), Muhamed Sadr, a native lawyer, and 
 Colonel Ibrahim Fouzy : nineteen persons in all. 
 
 It was at first intended to perpetuate the system 
 of nominal trials, and pass sentences of imprison- 
 ment, exile, or fine on all the lesser offenders who 
 should be found guilty. With the exception of the 
 charge against Hasan Moosa and Osman Pacha Fouzy, 
 the other cases were almost identical. Our clients had, 
 along with the rest of the Egyptians, taken a more 
 
 2 E 2 
 
420 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 or less prominent part in the struggle for freedom, 
 and not being Turks or Circassians, or possessed of 
 powerful friends at Court, they had been selected to pay 
 the penalty of their patriotism. As the case of Arab! 
 had settled technically the plea of rebellion, it was clear 
 we had nothing to hope from the Egyptian tribunals. 
 While we were taking counsel with our clients as to 
 the most advantageous course to pursue, the Commis- 
 sion of Inquiry released unconditionally Hasan Pacha 
 Sherai, the brothers Elfi, and Colonel Ibrahim Fouzy. 
 
 In the best interests of the accused I made a pro- 
 posal to the Egyptian Government that the whole 
 matter, as far as the individuals we represented were 
 concerned, should be dealt with by an administrative 
 decree of exile. The idea was not only adopted but 
 extended to pending cases generally. A modification 
 favourable to the prisoners was subsequently intro- 
 duced providing for the immediate release of a great 
 number of persons either on giving security for good 
 behaviour or undertaking to reside on their estates. 
 
 The Minister of the Interior (with the concurrence 
 of the Commission of Inquiry and Sir Charles Wilson) 
 was charged with the preparation of a classified list of 
 the prisoners preparatory to the issue of the decrees, 
 and we were to be allowed every facility for the making 
 of any representations we might think fit as to the 
 
THE FATE OF THE RANK AND FILE. 421 
 
 merits of the different cases entrusted to us. Not only 
 did our clients approve the arrangement, but many of 
 them were delighted to escape the ordeal of a public 
 trial and the necessity of pleading guilty. 
 
 Hasan Dramanli and Hasan Pacha Sherai I saw 
 for too short a time to pronounce any opinion as to 
 their personal worth. Emin Bey Shemsi, Ibrahim 
 Vekil, Ahmed Mahmoud, and Muhamed Sadr, were 
 men of intelligence, perfectly capable of assisting in 
 the self-government of their country, and all four 
 zealous Freemasons. Ahmed Bey Abaza I never met. 
 He was released at Zagazig, and hundreds of his 
 tenants dragged the boat which bore him homewards 
 in triumph to his great country-house in the Sharkieh. 
 Old Suleiman Gromor and Colonel Ibrahim Fouzy had 
 fought during the war. 
 
 As nobody was able to specify the exact charge 
 against each individual " rebel," the task of the Com- 
 missioners of Preliminary Inquiry was a very difficult 
 one. Their perplexity was increased by a schism 
 which had broken out in their ranks between the new 
 President and another member, who thought he had 
 the best right to the place. When the list was at last 
 presented to Ismail Eyoub and Sir Charles Wilson it 
 was almost useless. Those prisoners who were not 
 charged with " going to the war " were gravely in- 
 dicted for " wonting to go to the war," " sympathizing 
 
422 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 with the war," distributing the ^{/"newspaper, " dress- 
 ing up animals as General Wolseley," " wishing Aiabi 
 success," " blaspheming the name of the Khedive," &c. 
 In fairness to Ismail Eyoub I must say he did his 
 best to do impartial justice at the eleventh hour, and 
 gave us every opportunity of urging all we could 
 on behalf of our clients.. These final negociations 
 were tedious in the extreme, and my remaining 
 days in Egypt were almost entirely spent in endless 
 and weary pilgrimages from the office of Ismail Eyoub 
 in the DaJchaliyeh to the Cabinet of Cherif Pacha in 
 the Kharajiyeh (Foreign Office). At last, when I had 
 almost come to be regarded as a permanent haunter 
 of these Egyptian antechambers, I had the extreme 
 satisfaction of seeing Cherif and Ismail Eyoub seal 
 the decrees which were to bring our mission in Egypt 
 to an end. Riaz's son, Mahmoud Bey, Cherif's son, 
 Ahmed Bey, and Tigrane Pacha, on many occasions 
 did their best to help me in hastening a solution. 
 
 At last all was settled. By the decrees now issued 
 (December 29th), Sheikh Abdii was exiled from 
 Egypt for three years, Abdul Gaffar Bey for eight, 
 Ahmed Rifat Bey and Colonel Kadr Kadr for five, 
 Hasan Moosa for twenty (at Massowah), and Muhamed 
 Sadr for twelve months. Osman Pacha Fouzy, Emm 
 Bay Shemsi, and the rest of our clients, were 
 released, with or without bail, on undertaking to live 
 
THE FATE OF THE RANK AND FILE. 423 
 
 for the time to come on their ctbddiehs, or country 
 estates. In several cases the amount of bail fixed was 
 large, and the persons who gave it were required to 
 deposit it in hard cash, but we took every possible 
 precaution to guard against an ultimate forfeiture, 
 and saw copies of the receipts for it deposited in the 
 British Consulate. 
 
 In this manner the end of the year 1882 saw the 
 close of our labours. I decided to leave Cairo on the 
 evening of the 1st January. Urgent business in 
 Tunis compelled me to postpone till a more convenient 
 season a visit to the Pyramids, the mosques rich in 
 tracery and fret-work, the Tombs of the Caliphs, and 
 the Citadel. Even honest Hasan's tempting offer to 
 show me Cairo in eight hours, according to a special 
 process he had invented for the benefit of Anglo- 
 Indian travellers, was powerless to wring from me 
 an extra day. I was in no mood for sight-seeing. 
 No other pilgrim to the Nile valley had, perhaps, 
 ever seen so little of Egypt, and at the same time so 
 much of the Egyptians. The knowledge I felt I had 
 acquired of the sentiments and ideas of the Egyptian 
 people, and of the innermost workings of Egyptian 
 hearts, more than compensated me for my imperfect 
 acquaintance with the beauties of material Egypt. 
 Nay, more I am not even ashamed to say that, 
 during the ten weeks we were engaged in the defence 
 
424 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABI. 
 
 of Arabi and his friends, all I saw of outward and 
 visible Cairo was strictly limited to two palaces, two 
 public offices, two streets, and one prison. 
 
 When I told those amongst our clients who had not 
 yet been released of my approaching return to Tunis, 
 Ahmed Rifat Bey prayed me most earnestly that I 
 would allow both him and his family to accompany 
 me. After the revelations he had made, Egypt was no 
 longer a possible place of residence, and he felt sure 
 my going would be the signal of some fresh indignity. 
 It was in vain Osman Pacha Grhaleb in person 
 endeavoured to persuade his wife that Tunis under 
 French rule was little better than dar-el-harb, or infidel 
 territory. Madame Rifat plainly told him that what 
 was good for her husband was good for her and her 
 children, and she would brave a much worse journey 
 for his sake. This brave little Turkish matron, who 
 had never travelled before, quietly packed up her 
 belongings, and sent to tell me ten thousand Prefects 
 of Police would not prevent her joining the Bey 
 before the night-train for Alexandria started. The 
 barest hint to Ismail Eyoub that I might possibly 
 postpone my departure was sufficient to get Rifat's 
 passports signed and sealed with the greatest possible 
 despatch. 
 
 This accomplished I paid farewell visits to Cherif 
 Pacha and Riaz. During my stay in Cairo I had many 
 
THE FATE OF THE RANK AND FILE. 425 
 
 opportunities of studying the character of the states- 
 man selected by Lord Dufferin to guide under his aegis 
 the destinies of Egypt. Cherif Pacha has been as a rule 
 either over-rated or under-rated by those who have 
 described him. He has no claim on the one hand to 
 many of the essential qualities of a European politician, 
 nor on the other does he in any way deserve to be 
 depicted as a mere frivolous and Frenchified Turk. 
 Cherif is intelligent, painstaking, and well-educated ; 
 he has, moreover, for better or for worse, thrown in 
 his lot with England. Lord Bufferings choice was a 
 good one. Cherif, as far as the new order of things is 
 concerned, is as superior to Eiaz as Biaz is to Nubar. 
 But with all his savoir fo.ire Cherif sadly wants 
 energy, stability, and the courage of his opinions. 
 He is wholly unable to stem the tide of Turkish 
 or European intrigue, and he takes refuge in a system 
 of placid inaction. He missed for a time the " master- 
 ful hand" which for awhile served him both as a 
 guide and a prop, but it is to be hoped that he may 
 have since found some such necessary support in Sir 
 Evelyn Baring. Policy of his own he has none : so 
 far as English moral assistance, French intrigues, 
 and Turkish machinations (all pulling different ways) 
 will permit him, he will discharge his duties as Lord 
 Dufferin's testamentary executor in a decorous and 
 respectable manner. His unvarying courtesy and 
 
426 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 kindness will ever soften the recollection of my official 
 intercourse with the Egyptian Government. 
 
 Having paid my respects to Cherif, I called with 
 the same object on Riaz. The very great assistance 
 given me by his son, Mahmoud Bey, in my weary 
 antichambering days at the Dakhaliyeh, made me 
 anxious to show him this small mark of attention 
 before quitting Cairo. I found the ex-Minister of the 
 Interior reclining on a sofa apparently deep in the 
 perusal of a large Koran. He seemed glad to see me, 
 and, after the preliminary clearing of the voice, began 
 a set speech in French which he speaks with a kind of 
 German accent. " Tunis," said Riaz, "is, I believe, 
 watered entirely by rain, whereas Egypt depends for 
 its irrigation wholly on the overflow of the Nile. I 
 should be extremely obliged by your telling me the 
 essential difference between the agriculture of the two 
 countries?" I replied that "I had lately written 
 a book about Tunis, where he would find all the 
 information he required, and of which I would 
 at once send a copy to his son ; " but I suggested for 
 the moment a little talk about Egypt as more to the 
 purpose. He looked steadily at me, I returned his 
 gaze, and then we both laughed. We now under- 
 stood each other perfectly. His Excellency had 
 probably forgotten he had experimented on the 
 Tunisian water-supply at our last meeting. Riaz 
 
THE FATE OF THE EANK AND FILE. 427 
 
 then began to speak of past events in Egypt, of the 
 hollowness of Egyptian Nationalism, of the stern 
 necessity for autocratic rule, of the hopelessness of 
 any other constitution than that of the stick and the 
 courbashj and of the ungrateful nature of the viper he 
 once thought safe under his heel. It was difficult to 
 imagine that this man of feeble body and mean presence 
 weilded a personal influence second to none in Egypt ; 
 an influence strong enough and powerful enough to 
 allow him to pose in his retirement as the head 
 and representative of that same National cause which, 
 in his heart, he loathed and despised. His favourite 
 theme was the weakness of others the vacillation 
 of the Khedive, the feebleness of Cherif, and the 
 incapacity of his former colleagues. Did he think it 
 was likely the Khedive openly or tacitly connived at 
 the September pronunciamento which led to his down- 
 fall ? C'est Men possible, was his ready answer. He 
 knew how Egypt must be ruled, but he must follow 
 his own devices and choose his own subordinates. 
 He must have a maximum of internal power, and a 
 minimum of external interference. Granted these 
 conditions, he, Mustapha Ridz, was as a strong man 
 armed. " Tell me honestly," he said, " which do 
 you think is best, despotism (if you like to call it so) 
 and order, or leniency and anarchy ? " His conversa- 
 tion was most interesting, but the possibility of such a 
 
428 HOW WE DEFENDED 
 
 plan as he fearlessly advocated had passed away. 
 Arabi had, during his brief hour of power, shown the 
 Egyptians the possibility of an administration founded 
 on the principles of liberty, justice, and honesty. 
 England was pledged to carry out in their entirety 
 the very reforms she would not allow Arabi to com- 
 plete. Biaz had consequently become an impossible 
 Minister, but he was far more dangerous in oppo- 
 sition than in office. As long as we seek to work 
 our improvements alone, unaided, and by half mea- 
 sures, he will ever be a thorn in our side. 
 
 By the time these farewell visits were completed 
 it was necessary to prepare for my journey. At the 
 Kourban Bairam Europeans pay complimentary visits 
 to the Egyptians, on New Year's Day the Egyptians 
 are expected to call on the Europeans. When I 
 reached the maison du mufti I found that Ismail Pasha 
 Eyoub, Osman Pacha GMleb, and others, had done 
 me the honour to leave their cards. Hasan performed 
 wonders in the way of packing up, and we gave him a 
 satisfactory certificate and a well-earned gratuity of 
 ten pounds. He wept profusely at our separation, but 
 has since consoled himself by adding two donkies to 
 his stud, which I hear he has been considerate enough 
 to name after Ardbi's counsel. Mr. Napier resolved 
 to remain behind a week longer to settle our bills, and 
 watch the interests of one or two remaining clients. 
 
THE FATE OF THE RANK AND FILE 429 
 
 After our farewell dinner, when all was ready for 
 a start, I drove for the last time through the familiar 
 street to the half-deserted Daira Saniya, now only 
 tenanted by some thirty prisoners. I woke up the 
 head- jailer and gave him the following order I had 
 obtained from the Dakhaliyeh : 
 
 To Osman Shareef Effendi, in charge of the prison at the 
 
 Daira Saniya. 
 
 Allow the prisoner Ahmed Bey Rifat freely to depart with 
 Mr. Broadley the English lawyer and the officer from the Pre- 
 fecture of Police who will accompany him. 
 
 (Signed) ISMAIL EYOUB, 
 
 Minister of the Interior. 
 
 At the gate I had met by appointment Ali, a tall, 
 awkward, and very forbidding-looking policeman, 
 who had been appointed by the authorities to see my 
 client on board, and prevent any conspiring on the 
 way. Ali had already put himself in communication 
 with his prisoner's friends, and was entrusted with 
 the carrying of a large padlocked tin case full of 
 cigarettes. Osman Effendi led us upstairs, and 
 before going to Eifat's room I took a last glance at 
 the empty cells of Arabi and his friend. Eifat had 
 been dressed and waiting these three hours. Poor 
 old Kadr Kadr wept bitter tears at parting, Sheikh 
 Abdii, Hasan Moosa, and one or two others, said good- 
 bye in the dark, Osman Shareef pleaded for some 
 recognition of his valuable services by way of a 
 
430 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 recommendation to the authorities, and the Highland 
 soldiers on guard gave me a parting salute. A minute 
 later Rifat and I were being rapidly driven through 
 the silent streets to the maison, du mufti. He could 
 hardly persuade himself his freedom was not a dream 
 after all. After pausing a few minutes to express my 
 acknowledgments for the attentions shown us by Mr. 
 Q-rosse and Signor Luigi at Shepheard's, we all 
 moved to the station, where Messrs. Cook and Co.'s 
 agent brought us our tickets for the French steamer 
 " Asie " bound for Malta. 
 
 The unexpected departure of Rifat's family had 
 been the signal for a great gathering of Cairene 
 ladies, who came to the terminus in their neat 
 broughams accompanied by their eunuchs. One 
 waiting-room was perfectly full, and the crying and 
 embracing was almost bewildering. Madame Sara, 
 a very beautiful woman, and Rafat's divorced wife, 
 had come to take leave of her children, and I rather 
 suspect meant to detain one of them if she could 
 manage to do so. Her cries and the lamentations of 
 her friends added materially to the prevailing con- 
 fusion. Madame Hamdy, Rifat's sister, the wife of my 
 old enemy of the blotted telegrams,* threw herself on 
 her brother's neck, and would not be comforted, while 
 Madame Sara wept over her eldest boy. The second 
 
 * See ante, Chapter XIII, p. 155. 
 
THE FATE OF THE RANK AND FILE. 431 
 
 Madame Rifat, however, managed to secure the three 
 children (in spite of some obstruction on the part of 
 her more attractive predecessor), and get them safely 
 into the train. Rifat took his seat opposite to me, 
 and did riot seem much moved at the tumult which 
 was raging around him. Hamdy sent me a message 
 by his wife, to say I should ever have a place in his 
 prayers for having saved the honour of his family, 
 but that for fear of Tewfik he could not come to 
 thank me in person. 
 
 Messrs. Napier, Chirol, Beaman, Villiers, Macdonald, 
 Evans, and many other friends came to the station 
 to see the last of us, and I much regret not being 
 able to reproduce here the graphic and picturesque 
 description of the scene afterwards published by Mrs. 
 Macdonald. We started some three-quarters of an hour 
 late, Madame Rifat with her children and servant in one 
 compartment; Rifat, Ali, and I in the next. Ali made 
 himself generally useful, put up his great sword in 
 the netting, lighted matches when they were required, 
 nursed the children at intermediate stations, and in the 
 grey light of early morning told us an agreeable story 
 of how he had murdered a man in his own country and 
 come to Egypt as a soldier of fortune. This honest 
 policeman gave us no trouble, and accepted a present 
 of three dollars at parting with every demonstration 
 
432 HO W WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 of delight. Day dawned just as we were passing 
 through Arabi's lines at Kafr-el-Dowar. To my great 
 relief we were met at Alexandria by the dragoman of 
 Messrs. Cook, who secured our luggage, put us into 
 carriages and drove us down to the wharf. All seemed 
 to be included in the price of the tickets, and our 
 conductor even refused a bakhshish. It is difficult to 
 exaggerate the convenience of such an arrangement. 
 Messrs. Cook's agency has become almost as important 
 an institution for the Egyptian traveller as the 
 balcony of Shepheard's Hotel is for the Egyptian 
 politician. 
 
 An hour later the " Asie " put to sea. The weather 
 was execrable and the rollings of the 6l Asie " indescrib- 
 able. Let future travellers avoid her if possible. 
 For five long days my only occupation consisted in 
 listening patiently and helplessly to political dis- 
 cussions and domestic wrangles of a very diverting 
 nature, and which went on incessantly between the 
 captain, the doctor, and the steward. The first said 
 he was by conviction a democratic Legitimist, and 
 declared his ship was generally known as Le Yacht de 
 Marseilles ; the second was a radical and free-thinker, 
 who practised what he called la medicine maritime, 
 as a diversion ; the third was often drunk, smelled 
 terribly of garlic, and sometimes agreed with the 
 doctor, and sometimes with the captain, both of 
 
THE FATE OF THE RANK AND FILE. 433 
 
 whom insisted on treating him as a sort of Court of 
 Appeal. Gentle reader, again let me advise you not 
 to travel by the Yacht de Marseilles ! 
 
 At last, late in the afternoon of the 7th January, 
 we saw the welcome light of St. Elmo. Before it was 
 quite dark we landed. Poor Rifat * went off in fear 
 and trembling to find the Turkish Consul who had 
 formerly been his subordinate. I once more mounted 
 the " streets of stairs" to the Grand Hotel. Salvo, 
 the head waiter, was there to meet me, as before : 
 " Maltese people," he said, "very glad see Signor 
 Avvocato safe back. Good thing English General 
 did not hang Arabi before Signor Avvocato arrived." 
 
 * The Sultan refused Rifat permission to come to Constantinople, 
 so he and his family journied to Tunis, where they were hospitably re- 
 ceived by General Hamida Ben Ayad, the head of a noble Arab family. 
 A short time after his father died, and through the good offices of 
 Dervesh Pacha he was allowed to return to Stamboul. If I am not 
 much mistaken Ahmed Bey Rifat will make his mark in oriental 
 politics yet. 
 
 2r 
 
434 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 ARABI and his cause can hardly be judged sepa- 
 rately; it follows, almost as a matter of course, that in 
 the long run they must either stand or fall together. 
 I fear it is difficult to say whether the character of 
 Arabi himself, or the nature of the movement which he 
 led, was for a time at least the subject of more mis- 
 conception and more misrepresentation. In order to 
 | avoid concluding with a political sermon, I have 
 throughout my narrative, and during the progress of 
 the story of Arabi' s defence, I cited fact after fact to 
 prove that Egyptian Nationalism was a genuine, spon- 
 taneous, and universal expression of the aspirations of 
 the whole Egyptian people ; that Arabi was elected 
 by the tacit and unanimous vote of five millions of bin 
 fellow-countrymen to be its recognised chief and ex- 
 ponent ; and that the aim and object of the cause truly 
 
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI. 435 
 
 called National was to satisfy a perfectly legitimate 
 craving for justice, administrative honesty, personal 
 security, and political equality. The reason for this- 
 misconception and misrepresentation is at once ap- 
 parent. All the parties to the Egyptian War are in a 
 high degree interested in proving Arabi and his 
 friends to be in fault, for the very simple reason 
 that if they do not succeed in doing so it is perfectly 
 clear that they must either be in the wrong or be 
 mistaken themselves. As one side is strong and 
 powerful, and the other weak and broken, it was 
 not difficult to disseminate a belief that Egyptian 
 Nationalism could have no possible defence. The 
 verdict of the moment has already been partly im- 
 peached ; in all probability history will reverse it 
 altogether. The feelings of a whole country cannot 
 possibly be hid under a bushel for ever. 
 
 Very shortly after the end of the brief struggle an 
 English officer,* who had gained both fame and dis- 
 tinction in the war itself, and who could have no 
 possible motive for proving the military operations in 
 which he had personally taken so conspicuous a part 
 to be without justification, set about discovering for 
 himself an answer to the question : " Were Ardbi's 
 
 * Lord Charles Beresford, Captain R.N. In The Times of 
 January 8. 
 
 2 F2 
 
436 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 demands legitimate ? " He thus sums up the result 
 of his labours : " Surely the movement might be 
 called National. Many Englishmen gave- it this title 
 in May, 1882, when matters began to look serious 
 among them being several well-known naval officers 
 belonging to the English squadron sent to Alexandria 
 
 at the time To look at the question from 
 
 an Egyptian, and not a European, point of view, 
 there can be no doubt that Arabi had the sympathies 
 of the Egyptian nation with him. The Europeans 
 were naturally unable to take an impartial view of 
 the agitation, as any alteration in the state of affairs 
 would have materially affected their position. Arabi 
 and his party can state they were fighting for reforms, 
 and the proof they can adduce as to the righteousness 
 of their cause is, as stated above, that England is now 
 going to commence these very reforms. They can 
 also point to the fact that, while they were in power, 
 not one shilling was taken from the public purse 
 whatever, except for what they regarded as necessary 
 for the public benefit a singularly uncommon cir- 
 cumstance in the East The method of 
 
 raising taxes in the country must appear very unfair 
 to the native Egyptian. The administration of justice 
 is another cause of discontent, as well as the fact 
 of Europeans holding all the responsible positions of 
 
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI. 437 
 
 trust." Mr. Mackenzie Wallace arrives substantially 
 at a similar conclusion.* 
 
 So much, then, for the cause Arabi suffered for. 
 I now advance a step farther. I not only contend 
 that (C all Egypt was with Arabi," but 1 assert, with- 
 out fear of contradiction, that in the execution of this 
 national mission Arabi and his friends displayed a 
 scrupulous honesty, a moderation, and a spirit of 
 humanity, which will be honourable to them for all 
 time. Shortly after the banishment of Arabi a meeting 
 of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders assembled 
 in London to discuss their affairs. Thus spake their 
 Chairman, Mr. Bouverie: "The question of Egyptian 
 stock had occupied the attention of the Council, and 
 until the political difficulties in Egypt arose they 
 were working satisfactorily, and he had always 
 believed that the difficulties came from the success of 
 Egyptian finances. A full exchequer held out great 
 temptation. All the talk about Egyptian nationality, 
 Arabi, and the long string of sentiment circulated, 
 really meant that Arabi and his followers desired to 
 get some of the money.'' Is it possible to conceive 
 any accusation more unfounded or more monstrous ? 
 I have already mentioned several facts in illustration 
 of what Lord Charles Beresford calls their " singularly 
 
 * Vide ante, Chapter XXII. pages 284-5. 
 
438 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 uncommon honesty."* Even Blum Pacha, no friendly 
 witness on their behalf, attests the extraordinary 
 regularity with which one of his employe's, the late 
 Seligman Bey, was enjoined to keep, and actually did 
 keep, the Treasury accounts during the administration 
 of the National Council at Cairo. The expenses of 
 the war were nearly entirely defrayed by voluntary 
 subscriptions. All Arabi and his friends did was 
 to draw their usual allowance of military pay. As 
 a matter of fact, when they surrendered on the 15th 
 September a whole fortnight's income was actually 
 due to them. Not satisfied with assuring the cor- 
 rectness of the Government registers, similar precau- 
 tions were adopted as regards the railway, telegraph, 
 and other kindred services. f Arabi and his chief 
 associates, after seeing for months the whole wealth 
 of Egypt literally at their feet, went into exile with 
 little more property than the clothes they stood in, 
 and the pittance grudgingly doled out to them by 
 the Khedivial Government. 
 
 I have not the slightest doubt in my own mind that 
 Arabi and his friends were perfectly able to assist in 
 the intelligent self-government of their country, and 
 carry out efficiently the changes and improvements 
 
 * See ante, Chapter XXIX. page 413. 
 j* Vide ante, Chapter XV. page 84, 
 
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI. 430 
 
 they have bequeathed to us as their heirs and suc- 
 cessors. Arabi was no mere dreamer or enthusiast. 
 He was, as seen from an Egyptian point of view, an 
 educated and naturally able man, well acquainted 
 with his country and his country's wants, endowed 
 with much energy and a thorough honesty of 
 purpose. Egypt needed nothing more than this. His 
 lack of political knowledge and ignorance of the 
 refinement of European politics would disqualify him 
 as a supreme ruler ; but with a patriotic and strong- 
 minded sovereign as his chief he could have helped 
 the Egyptians to walk alone, and given them the 
 justice, equality, and security they craved for. Egypt 
 required neither a Talleyrand nor even a Cavour ; 
 what she wanted was a chief from amongst her 
 own children who would do right as between man and 
 man, treat the rich and poor alike, and so carry out 
 her bloodless revolution of reform. All this Arabi 
 could do better than any one else, and might have 
 effected but for ? Let us say with Ardbi him- 
 self, " the decrees of Providence not seconding his 
 efforts." During their brief hour of power the 
 Nationalists tried undoubtedly to put their principles 
 in practice.* 
 
 * The article in the Fortnightly Review I have previously quoted 
 says : " In the time of the National party's supremacy the poor were 
 never turned away, and their cases were carefully examined. An extor- 
 
440 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Lord Duff erin came to Egypt confessedly to save 
 the situation. He spent some months in the careful 
 study of Egyptian requirements, and he devoted his 
 industry, his rare intelligence, and his mature expe- 
 rience to discover a remedy. The result of his labours 
 as presented to both Houses of Parliament is before 
 me ; beside it lies the translation of a sketch of 
 " necessary reforms for the well-being of Egypt," 
 written by Arabi in his cell a week before his trial. 
 Let us for a moment compare the two, and so judge 
 Arabi by the light of Lord Dufferin. 
 
 LORD DUFFERIN'S SCHEME for the AR^BI'S MEMORANDUM on 
 
 KEORGANISATION of EGYPT. EGYPTIAN REFORM. 
 
 February 6th, 1883. November 25th, 1882. 
 
 Although I am in a prison and 
 in the hands of my enemies, I am 
 comparatively little anxious about 
 my present state of humiliation, 
 
 tionate official met with no mercy, and the party in power cared for power 
 and not for money. It was the first struggle in the East against 
 bribery and its attendant evils ; and the cause of the unprecedented 
 popularity of Arabi undeniably lay in the personal attention he gave 
 to the poor equally with the rich, and in his invariable refusal to 
 accept money for acts of justice. I remember one lady who had been 
 deprived of some property worth about 4,OOOZ. She laid her case 
 before the Minister, and shortly afterwards he called her, and in- 
 formed her that in a day or two he would restore the land. Scarcely 
 able to believe her good fortune, she entreated him, as a matter of 
 course, to accept ten feddans, or acres, as a present. The suggestion 
 very nearly cost her the case," 
 
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI. 
 
 441 
 
 Lord Bufferings Scheme. 
 "It ought to be no difficult 
 task to endow the Egyptian people 
 with good government. On the 
 contrary, there are many circum- 
 stances which indicate the present 
 moment as propitious for the in- 
 auguration of a new era." 
 
 Arabics Memorandum. 
 and I do not think only of what 
 may happen to me in the future. 
 As I have from the very first 
 only sought to ensure the freedom 
 of my country, my constant con- 
 cern even now is about its happi- 
 ness, and its rescue from certain 
 venemous and powerful vipers with 
 which it is struggling. One of 
 the greatest of Egypt's difficulties 
 and dangers comes from the 
 usurers and money-lenders, who 
 have sucked the very blood of the 
 peasants, and illtreat the natives 
 whom they despoil, and whose 
 hardly acquired gains they carry 
 away by handfuls. Another of 
 the lamentations of Egypt is on 
 account of the foreigners, who 
 fill the highest posts, receive the 
 largest salaries, and leave no room 
 anywhere for the natives of the 
 country. The non-Egyptian Mos- 
 lems who surround the Govern- 
 ment on every side seek to keep 
 the Egyptian in the lowest state 
 of degradation and ignorance, in 
 order that they may always con- 
 tinue to oppress and tyrannise 
 over the free inhabitants of the 
 country, without themselves pos- 
 sessing any real superiority of 
 knowledge, natural talents, or 
 civilisation. These, then, are the 
 enemies of progress, always striv- 
 ing, even as serpents, to tear to 
 pieces the body of a defenceless 
 
442 
 
 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Lord Dufferiii's Scheme. 
 
 " As a consequence, responsi- 
 bilities have been imposed upon 
 us. Europe and the Egyptian 
 people, whom we have undertaken 
 to rescue from anarchy, have alike 
 a right to require that our inter- 
 vention should be beneficent and its 
 results enduring ; that it should 
 obviate all danger of future per- 
 turbations, and that it should 
 leave established on sure foun- 
 dations the principles of justice, 
 liberty, and public happiness." 
 
 Arabics Memorandum, 
 people, who tried in vain to escape 
 from their relentless grasp, and 
 who can now only hope for suc- 
 cour from the champions of truth 
 and liberty amongst the English 
 nation, which, in the past, set 
 herself before the world as the 
 constant defender of every worthy 
 cause. 
 
 I have thus tried to describe 
 in a few words some of the more 
 violent symptoms of the chronic 
 disease under which Egypt is suf- 
 fering, in order that a wise phy- 
 sician may find an appropriate 
 remedy for it. Now the English 
 nation has taken upon itself 
 spontaneously the special care of 
 Egyptian affairs, which is verily 
 a task of great responsibility 
 before the civilised world, and 
 before the history of this critical 
 age. It consequently behoves 
 the wise men amongst them to 
 devise carefully the means of 
 coping most effectually with the 
 disease. My knowledge of the 
 real state of affairs in my country, 
 and my ardent desire to promote 
 its happiness, have induced me 
 therefore, even in captivity and 
 surrounded with trouble, to make 
 a few remarks by way of appeal 
 to the calm reflection and impar- 
 tial judgment of the champions of 
 right in England. 
 
 1st, The ruler of Egypt must 
 
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI. 
 
 443 
 
 Lord Du/eriiis Scheme 
 
 " Her actual rulers are still 
 supplied, indeed, from a foreign 
 stock, but the progenitor of the 
 race was one of the most illustri- 
 ous men of the present century, 
 who proved his right to found a 
 dynasty by emancipating those he 
 ruled from the arbitrary thraldom 
 of an imperious suzerain. His 
 successors have carried the libera- 
 tion of their adopted country still 
 further, and the Prince now sitting 
 on the Khedivial throne represents, 
 at all events, the principle of au- 
 tonomous Government, of heredi- 
 tary succession, and commercial 
 independence." 
 
 " I would press upon Her Ma- 
 jesty's Government a more ge- 
 nerous policy such a policy as 
 is implied by the creation, within 
 certain prudent limits, of repre- 
 sentative institutions, of munici- 
 pal and communal self-govern- 
 ment, and of a political existence 
 untrammelled by external impor- 
 tunity, though aided, indeed, as it 
 must be for a time, by sympathe- 
 tic advice and assistance. Indeed, 
 no middle course is possible. The 
 
 Arabics Memorandum. 
 be an Egyptian, well acquainted / 
 with the country, popular amongst [ 
 the Egyptians, of sufficient in-/ 
 fluence to impose his authority by 
 moral force, and wholly uncon- 
 nected with the recent events. 
 The present Khedivial family could 
 give us, I believe, such a ruler, but 
 he must fulfil all the above condi- 
 tions. If England really desires 
 it she can find such a man. The 
 Sultan of the Osmanlis can never 
 hope to regain his ancient hold over 
 the minds of the Egyptians. He en- 
 couraged us in our search for free- 
 dom, approved our resistance to 
 invasion (all this, it now appears, 
 from selfish motives), and at last 
 deserted us in our misfortunes. 
 Turkey has never done good to 
 Egypt. The further interference 
 of the Sultan with her internal 
 affairs can only be for the evil of 
 that country. 
 
 2nd. The Government of Egypt 
 ought to be a Constitutional one. 
 There should be a council of 
 Ministers, each of whom must be 
 responsible for his acts towards 
 the whole Cabinet, and the Minis- 
 try, as a body, to be responsible 
 to the country. 
 
444 
 
 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Lord Duferin's Scheme. 
 Valley of the Nile could not be 
 administered with any prospect of 
 success from London. An attempt 
 upon our part to engage in such 
 an undertaking would at once ren- 
 der us objects of hatred and sus- 
 picion to its inhabitants. 
 
 " Though hitherto Eastern so- 
 ciety has only been held together 
 by the coercive forces of abso- 
 lutism, it must be remembered 
 that, on the one hand, the Ma- 
 homedan religion is essentially 
 democratic; and, on the other, 
 that the primitive idea of the 
 elders of the land assembling in 
 council round their chief has never 
 altogether faded out of the tradi- 
 tions of the people. Even the 
 elective principle has been to some 
 degree preserved amongst their 
 village communities. If, there- 
 fore, we found ourselves upon 
 what already exists, and endea- 
 vour to expand it to such propor- 
 tions as may seem commensurate 
 with the needs and aptitudes of 
 the country, we may succeed in 
 creating a vitalised and self-ex- 
 istent organism, instinct with 
 evolutionary force. In order to 
 obtain our ends, we must lay the 
 foundation broad and deep." 
 
 Arabics Memorandum. 
 
 3rd. There should be an Elec- 
 tive Chamber and a Council of 
 Notables (or "old men"). All 
 laws and legislative measures 
 should be submitted to them, and 
 they must be allowed full liberty 
 of discussion and criticism. Elec- 
 tions must be free, as in civilised 
 countries. For five years those 
 Chambers might only have a con- 
 sultative voice, and during that 
 time the Government might not 
 be bound to always act on their 
 advice. I fully believe by that 
 time the Egyptians would learn 
 to deserve more extended powers. 
 
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI. 445 
 
 Lord Duferirfs Scheme. Arabics Memorandum. 
 
 " SYNOPSIS OF PROPOSED EGYP- 
 TIAN INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 " 1. The Village Constituency. 
 Composed of representatives of 
 each circumscription, chosen by 
 manhood suffrage, who are the 
 depositaries of the village vote. 
 
 2. The Provincial Councils. 
 (Varying in number from four to 
 eight members.) Chosen by the 
 spokesmen of the villages. 
 
 3. The Legislative Council. 
 Consisting of twenty-six mem- 
 bers, of whom twelve are nomi- 
 nated by the Khedive on the 
 advice of his Ministers, and six- 
 teen are elected by the Provincial 
 Councils. 
 
 4. The General Assembly. Of 
 eighty members : eight ministers, 
 twenty- six members of the Legis- 
 lative Council, forty-six delegates 
 elected by the spokesmen of the 
 villages. 
 
 5. Eight Ministers. Respon- 
 sible to the Khedive. 
 
 6. His Highness the Khedive." 
 
 " It may be objected that the 
 foregoing machinery does not 
 really embody the Parliamentary 
 principle in the true acceptation 
 of the term, both the Council of 
 Legislation and the General As- 
 sembly being consultative rather 
 than law-making bodies ; but few 
 people would be prepared to main- 
 
446 
 
 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 Lord Du/enris Scheme. 
 tain that Egypt is yet ripe for 
 pure popular government." 
 
 " There is no doubt that the 
 fact of foreigners in Egypt being 
 exempt from taxation to which 
 its inhabitants are subject is ex- 
 tremely galling to the native 
 mind. The removal of so glaring 
 an injustice would do much to- 
 wards suppressing the very gene- 
 ral feeling that the philanthropy 
 
 Arabics Memorandum. 
 
 4th. The proceedings of the 
 two Assemblies to be public, and 
 inserted in Arabic and French 
 papers this would accustom the 
 natives to take part in their own 
 affairs, and prepare them for poli- 
 tical life. At the expiration of 
 five years, powers of Assembly to 
 be definitely fixed according to 
 what experience may suggest 
 and these Ministers would be 
 wholly responsible to the Cham- 
 ber. 
 
 5th. Political laws ought to 
 be made, determining the powers 
 and special privileges of the 
 ruler, the duties of Ministers no 
 act of the ruler to be valid unless 
 approved by the Cabinet, or by 
 the special Minister whom it 
 may concern. The ruler shall 
 have no direct communications 
 with Foreign Representatives 
 or their Governments except 
 through his Minister for Foreign 
 Affairs. 
 
 6th. Perfect equality between 
 all the inhabitants of Egypt ; no 
 difference to be made between 
 foreigners and natives with re- 
 gard to general treatment, to the 
 payment of taxes, and so on, 
 
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI. 
 
 447 
 
 Lord Du/erin's Scheme. 
 of foreign Governments towards 
 the Egyptians becomes paralysed 
 the moment the pecuniary in- 
 terests of their own subjects are 
 affected." 
 
 " The chief requirement of 
 Egypt is justice. A pure, cheap, 
 and simple system of justice will 
 prove more beneficial to the 
 country than the largest Consti- 
 tutional privileges. The structure 
 of society in the East is so simple 
 that, provided the taxes are 
 righteously assessed, it does not 
 require much law-making to make 
 the people happy ; but the most 
 elaborate legislation would fail to 
 do so if the laws invented for 
 them were not equitably en- 
 forced." 
 
 " At this moment there is no 
 real justice in this country. What 
 passes under that name is a 
 mockery, both as regards the 
 tribunals themselves, and the 
 corpus juris they pretend to ad- 
 minister." 
 
 " It is evident that all our 
 efforts to provide Egypt with 
 appropriate administrative ma- 
 chinery will be vain unless we can 
 depend upon the various parts of 
 which that machinery is com- 
 posed performing with efficiency 
 the duties allotted to them. Nor 
 have the Egyptian people a right 
 
 Arabics Memorandum. 
 
 7th. A thorough reform of ju- 
 dicial administration being accom- 
 plished, a uniform body of laws 
 should be applied in all the 
 Courts of Justice in Egypt ; 
 those laws ought to be in accord- 
 ance with the customs and nature 
 of the inhabitants ; the execution 
 and proper carrying out of the 
 law to be accurately watched over, 
 in order to leave no room for un- 
 due influence, and the old system 
 of observing the law apparently 
 and evading it in reality. 
 
 8th. Special care to be taken 
 of national education, and the 
 diffusion of knowledge to all parts 
 of the country and more particu- 
 larly the knowledge of the laws 
 and institutions of the land, in 
 order to increase the number of 
 those who are able to apply the 
 laws. 
 
448 
 
 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 Lord Duferin's Scheme. 
 to complain that the Departments 
 are unduly crowded with foreign 
 officials if it is impossible to find 
 native employes possessing the 
 necessary education and other 
 qualifications for occupying the 
 posts now, through the sheer ne- 
 cessities of the case, intrusted to 
 strangers. If this grievance, and 
 it is undoubtedly a legitimate 
 one, is to be got rid of, it can 
 only be by the Egyptian Govern- 
 ment taking in hand, in an ener- 
 getic and conscientious manner, 
 the education of the rising gene- 
 ration." 
 
 " But there are other radical re- 
 forms which will have to be inau- 
 gurated before the Civil Service 
 of Egypt can become either effi- 
 cient or economical. Unfortu- 
 nately, the introduction of these 
 will occasion much dissatisfaction, 
 and may inflict some individual 
 hardship." 
 
 " In his Report of the 18th Sep- 
 tember last, transmitted to your 
 Lordship by Sir Edward Malet, 
 Mr. Fitzgerald has shown that the 
 number of employes in the service 
 of the Egyptian Government is 
 ridiculously in excess of the public 
 needs." 
 
 " Nevertheless, it is very desira- 
 ble that the European staff should 
 be considerably reduced, especially 
 
 Arabics Memorandum. 
 
 9th. The unnecessary European 
 employes to be dismissed, and only 
 such of them to be kept as may 
 be really useful and necessary; 
 their salaries to be fixed in ac- 
 cordance with the resources of the 
 country, and a proportion to be 
 observed between their salaries and 
 those allowed to natives, in order 
 to avoid jealousy and discontent 
 by undue partiality. 
 
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI. 449 
 
 Arabics Memorandum. 
 
 Lord Du/erin's Scheme. 
 where it has been duplicated for 
 political reasons." 
 
 " There is no service in Egypt of 
 which the people have more just 
 reason to complain than that by 
 which the cadastral survey of the 
 country has been conducted, and 
 it is not surprising that it attracted 
 the attention of the Chamber of 
 Notables. 
 
 " The cost has been excessive, 
 the results small ; and the ser- 
 vice has been crowded with Euro- 
 pean employes, whose technical 
 knowledge has not always been of 
 a high order. 
 
 " I now proceed to call your Lord- 
 ship's attention to one of the most 
 distressing subjects connected with 
 the present social condition of this 
 country. It is a question of recent 
 growth, namely, the encumbered 
 condition of a considerable propor- 
 tion of the .fellaheen lands, espe- 
 cially in the Delta." 
 
 " Unfortunately, the 5,000,000/. 
 of mortgage debt above referred 
 to does not by any means repre- 
 sent the whole of the fellah's in- 
 debtedness. I am told, on good 
 authority, that he owes at least 
 another 3,000,0002. or 4,000,OOOZ. 
 to the village usurer, who holds 
 his bond, and is able to sell him 
 
 10th. Natives ought not to be 
 kept back from employment, and 
 from occupying any official post, 
 so long as they possess the neces- 
 sary qualities ; persons excluded 
 from Government functions on 
 account of their association with 
 the late events ought also to be 
 allowed to compete for employ- 
 ment, if they are capable enough 
 to do so. 
 
 llth. Special attention ought to 
 be paid to the question of usury, and 
 the means of preventing usurers 
 from employing the most unfair 
 means to despoil the nation. 
 
450 
 
 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Lord Dufferiris Scheme. 
 up with the same sinister expedi- 
 tion as the mortgagee." 
 
 " Having thus satisfied the mo- 
 ral requirements of Egypt by pro- 
 viding her with domestic security, 
 freedom, and justice, we may now 
 turn to consider her material needs. 
 The wealth of Egypt springs from 
 the soil, whose fertility is entirely 
 dependent upon irrigation. Year 
 after year the Nile conveys in its 
 affluent waters richer treasures than 
 did ever the fabled Pactolus." 
 
 "At the present moment we 
 are labouring in the interests of 
 the world at large. The deside- 
 ratum of every one is an Egypt 
 peaceful, prosperous and contented, 
 able to pay its debts, capable of 
 maintaining order along the Canal, 
 and offering no excuse in the 
 troubled condition of its affairs for 
 interference from outside. France, 
 Turkey, every European power 
 must be as anxious as ourselves 
 for the attainment of these results, 
 nor can they be jealous of the 
 means we take to secure them. 
 
 " The very fact of our having en- 
 dowed the country with represen- 
 tative institutions is a proof of our 
 disinterestedness." 
 
 Arabics Memorandum. 
 
 12th. Care must be taken of the 
 irrigation works and other means 
 of fertilising the soil. These have 
 been greatly neglected, and they 
 touch the very life of Egypt. 
 
 12th. All the foregoing measures 
 under existing circumstances must 
 be adopted and carried out under 
 the supervision and direction of 
 Directors specially appointed by 
 the British Government for a cer- 
 tain time, until those reforms have 
 produced their effect, and the 
 Egyptians become capable of con- 
 ducting their own affairs. 
 
 If these reforms are carefully 
 studied and carried out, the Egyp- 
 tian people will see the end of 
 the long and painful disease under 
 which it has been labouring, 
 through the wisdom of its medical 
 advisers, and England will have 
 accomplished her task in a manner 
 which will reflect great honour 
 upon her. 
 
 (Signed) AHMED AniBi the 
 Egyptian. 
 
PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF ARABI. 451 
 
 I leave my readers to draw their own conclusions. 
 Lord Dufferin may have improved on Arabics plan, or 
 even invented a more complete one, but in the result 
 he has been compelled to leave to restored Pachadom 
 the almost impossible task of working out a Nationalist 
 programme without the Nationalists. 
 
 Arabi was by no means the only Egyptian Nationalist 
 of character and capacity. He certainly possessed the 
 best qualifications to lead, but others showed more 
 than ordinary ability in giving practical effect to his 
 plans. Mahmoud Sami's letters and official documents 
 are evidence of no mean intellectual powers. Yacoub 
 Sami was unquestionably an excellent administrative 
 officer, with a great facility for arrangement and orga- 
 nisation. Ali Fehmy and Abd-el-Al were both good 
 soldiers, and Mahmoud Fehmy the best engineer Egypt 
 could boast of. I need not seek further instances 
 amongst the rank and file of their adherents. My own 
 personal impressions of Arabi and his friends leave little 
 doubt on my mind that if they had only received that 
 sincere and hearty co-operation of their immediate sove- 
 reign which they once expected, and had escaped the 
 misfortune of an armed foreign intervention, they 
 could have satisfactorily accomplished, in their own 
 way and according to their own lights, the mission 
 which all Egypt confided to them. 
 
 2 G2 
 
452 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY ? * 
 
 IN oriental politics it has almost become an axiom 
 that " the impossible is most likely to happen." I one 
 day heard an Egyptian personage say with every ap- 
 pearance of sincerity that there were two apparently 
 impossible things connected with our recent " warlike 
 operations " which he never had been able to under- 
 stand. The first was why we ever wanted the Turks 
 to go to Egypt; the second was, when we did ask 
 them to go, why they never went. When one reflects 
 for an instant on the incalculable harm Turkey has 
 wrought to Egypt, it certainly does seem strange that 
 we ever regarded Turkish intervention as a sort of 
 patent remedy for her misfortunes* It is also equally 
 extraordinary, when we recall the tortuous intrigues 
 which Turkey resorted to during two entire years to 
 provide an excuse for her interference, to comprehend 
 the reason why she failed at the last moment to 
 gather the fruit which was ripe for her plucking. 
 
 * A portion of this chapter has been reprinted from an article in 
 the Fortnightly Review (December 1883), entitled " Turkish Intrigues 
 in Egypt," by special permission of Mr. T. H. S. Escott, the Editor. 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 453 
 
 Sovereignty or Suzerainty ? Shall Turkish influ- 
 ence be a political reality or a diplomatic fiction ? 
 These are the questions with which we are face to 
 face to-day. The importance of this particular 
 problem has led me to detach it from the general 
 discussion as to Egypt's future. England will appa- 
 rently soon have to make up her mind on the 
 subject, for we learn that an envoy of the Sultan has 
 already found his way to the Soudan and that an 
 Imperial Commission may be shortly expected at 
 Cairo.* 
 
 If one would realize the baneful consequences of 
 Turkish misrule, the state of the adjacent vali of 
 Tripoli affords a convenient opportunity of doing so. 
 There we have as the result of half a century of pure 
 and unadulterated Turkish administration only misery, 
 desolation, and ruin. 
 
 The two most able members of the Egyptian 
 Khedivial family in Egypt very clearly realized the 
 meaning and the consequences of Turkish suzerainty 
 in that country. They saw in the all-absorbing, 
 nothing-yielding " protection " of the Sultan-Caliph, 
 the inevitable destruction of the land over which they 
 ruled. Ottoman supremacy has certainly never done, 
 
 * This was written prior to the news of Hicks Pacha's disaster. 
 We are now told that Turkey must undertake the reconquest of the 
 lost provinces, 
 
454 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 and in all human probability will never do, anything 
 for the good of Egypt ; it has paralysed her efforts 
 for freedom in the past, and, if still powerful and 
 unchecked, will undoubtedly exercise a still more fatal 
 influence in the future. 
 
 It is worse than useless to describe the hopeless 
 corruption and anarchy which day by day increas- 
 ingly pervades every department of the Turkish 
 executive, both at home and abroad. In 1877 ? Mr. 
 Gladstone admits,* " that the arts of falsehood have 
 received a portentous development in Turkey ; " and 
 he proceeds to speak of the " falsehood, chicane, 
 mockery, perversion of justice, and denial of re- 
 dress," which characterised the conduct of the Porte 
 in regard to certain important events which were 
 then occupying public attention. A change for the 
 worse has come since then. The Pan-islamic vagaries 
 of the Father of the Faithful have failed to set Europe 
 by the ears, but they have increased in a remarkable 
 manner the confusion, corruption, and " portentous 
 development of falsehood," of which Mr. Gladstone 
 six years ago complained. During the reigns of the 
 Sultan Abd-el-Aziz and his predecessors, the dual 
 administration of the Porte and the Palace worked 
 fairly well, at any rate as far as outward appearances 
 
 * "Aggression in Egypt," Nineteeth Century, August, 1877, 
 p. 165. 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 455 
 
 were concerned. It resembled, doubtless in many- 
 ways, a game of battledore and shuttlecock (the two 
 great departments being the battledores and the 
 business in hand the shuttlecock), but then the end 
 did come at last, and a solution was sooner or later 
 obtainable. The Palace has now almost entirely 
 absorbed the functions of the Porte, and the reins of 
 government are consequently, for all practical pur- 
 poses, in the hands of one man. It is true that his 
 friends assert mysteriously that Abdul Hamid is the 
 greatest diplomatist in Europe. Not only are the 
 proofs of his transcendent ability entirely wanting, 
 but the visible consequences of his acts lead to a very 
 different conclusion. It is almost impossible to deny 
 that under the auspices of the present Sultan-Caliph 
 misgovernment at Stamboul has reached a climax it 
 would be difficult to surpass. 
 
 The founder of the Egyptian vice-regal family 
 soon discovered the pernicious effects of active 
 Turkish interference in the affairs of his country. 
 In accordance with his own nature, and the ideas of 
 the times in which he lived, Mehemet Ali sought to 
 sever the connection between Egypt and Turkey at 
 the point of the sword. His son Ibrahim led a 
 victorious army to within almost a hundred miles of 
 Stamboul, his troops occupied the holy places of 
 Islam, and the very existence of the empire was 
 threatened. Mehemet Ali paused only at the com- 
 
456 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB1. 
 
 mand of Europe. The firman of the 13th February, 
 1841 (which finally defined his powers as Viceroy of 
 Egypt) was preceded by a Convention, in the 
 preamble of which it is stated that the Sultan had 
 appealed to the Powers for " their support and 
 assistance in the midst of the difficulties in which he 
 found himself involved, in consequence of the hostile 
 conduct of Mehemet Ali, Pacha of Egypt, which 
 menaces the integrity of the Ottoman Empire and the 
 independence of the throne of the Sultan." During 
 the rest of the reign of Mehemet Ali, the Sultan- 
 Caliphs prudently limited their u protection " of 
 Egypt to the receipt of a fixed annual tribute amount- 
 ing to about 325,OOOJ. 
 
 The succeeding administrations of Abbas and Said 
 witnessed repeated attempts on the part of Turkey to 
 renew her ancient policy of active internal interference 
 in Egypt. Ismail Pacha, however, was keenly alive 
 to the necessity of maintaining the semi-independence 
 striven for by Mehemet Ali. He did not attempt to 
 follow in the militant path of his grandfather, but 
 sought to keep his suzerain at a distance, and obtain 
 such further immunities and privileges as would 
 guarantee the practical autonomy of Egypt by a pro- 
 cess which he himself, euphoniously enough, describes 
 as " kissing the carpet."* By the firman of the 27th 
 
 * See Chapter II. page 16. 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 457 
 
 May, 1866, he secured the succession for his eldest 
 son, the transmission of the pachalik of Egypt in the 
 direct line for ever, together with complete freedom 
 of action as regards the internal administration of the 
 country; the firman of the 8th June, 1867, gave him 
 the title of Khedive and the power to conclude com- 
 mercial treaties, grant concessions, &c. ; other im- 
 portant rights were acquired by the firmans of the 
 25th September, 1872, and the 10th September, 1873, 
 and finally the whole of the privileges and immunities 
 thus granted were solemnly ratified and confirmed by 
 a general firman issued on the 8th June, 1873. So 
 far did Ismail Pacha succeed in attenuating the power 
 of the Sultan of Turkey in Egypt, that in the Kutba, 
 or Friday prayer, the officiating imam invoked the 
 blessing of Allah on " the arms of Islam,'' and not, as 
 formerly, on " the armies of the head of the Ottoman 
 Empire." The process of " kissing the carpet" was 
 unfortunately a most expensive one, and Ismail Pacha 
 was only the " dearly beloved son" of the Sultan- 
 Caliphs as long as he had something to give. In his 
 prosperous days Turkish envoys or commissioners 
 rarely appeared at Cairo, and then only as the bearers 
 of complimentary letters or decorations ; Ismail ren- 
 dered cheerfully the military assistance required of 
 him ; paid his yearly tribute, now increased to 
 750,000 Turkish pounds, and gave costly presents 
 
458 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 to the Sultan and his ministers whenever they desired 
 them. The " kissing the carpet " became more and 
 more onerous, but the system answered admirably while 
 it lasted. It helped most materially the financial ruin 
 of the Khedive Ismail, but he rightly or wrongly 
 thought the practical liberation he hoped to obtain for 
 himself and his people worth the great sacrifice he 
 made. 
 
 In the early days of last May I journeyed to Con- 
 stantinople. I do not propose to allude in detail 
 either to the indescribable political confusion which 
 reigns there, or to the equally indescribable social 
 misery which seems to result from it. Their indirect 
 connection with the subject of Turkish suzerainty in 
 Egypt would hardly justify my doing so. I may 
 mention, however, that while I was at Stamboul, the 
 Sultan's chief eunuch, his Highness Behrem Agha, 
 possessed supreme influence at the Yildiz Kiosk ; the 
 whole native population could be conveniently sub- 
 divided into those who were permitted to kiss the 
 palm of his hand, and those condemned to embrace 
 the sole of his foot ; while three days had been spent 
 in serious diplomatic deliberations as to whether the 
 Ambassador of the Emperor of Germany was to first 
 pay his respects to Behrem Agha, or whether Behrem 
 Agha must first call on the German Ambassador. I 
 believe Behrem ultimately triumphed. It is also 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 459 
 
 interesting to know that His Majesty the Sultan 
 employs three thousand spies in Constantinople alone, 
 and that the secret police service costs him 18,000. a 
 month, that he spends all his time in reading the 
 reports of this department, and that no kind of 
 business, however simple, can be transacted without 
 recourse to a well organised and thoroughly recognized 
 system of bakhshish. While I was in the Turkish 
 capital, people were congratulating themselves that 
 some firman connected with a tobacco monopoly had 
 at last been issued at the moderate cost of 3,000., 
 and this it seems was the first affair which had been 
 successfully carried through for a very long time. 
 The Sultan is personally most industrious, and insists 
 on every State paper passing through his hands. 
 During the acute stage of some recent political crisis, 
 an Ambassador found him before a table piled up 
 with documents, and busily engaged in reading them. 
 It transpired that His Majesty was correcting the 
 rules and regulations for the caf^-chantants in some 
 obscure town on the banks of the Bosphorus. 
 
 I took an early opportunity of calling on Kheir-ed- 
 Din Pacha, who left Tunis five years before in 
 disgrace, " kissed the carpet " effectually at Stamboul, 
 became Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, and 
 has now retired to a new and splendid palace in the 
 outskirts of Constantinople. He was only in power 
 
460 HOW WE DEFENDED 
 
 during a few months, as the Sultan declined, and still 
 declines, to accept an elaborate project for an Otto- 
 man Constitution, which Kheir-ed-Din had compiled 
 when winning his spurs as a Tunisian Statesman, and 
 which he has tenaciously clung to ever since. Our 
 conversation very naturally turned on Egypt. " You 
 English," said Kheir-ed-Din, "have a terrible difficulty 
 la bas, but we can settle it for you with the greatest 
 possible ease. You must come to us sooner or later 
 if you would avoid a squabble with your European 
 allies. All his Majesty the Sultan wants is for Eng- 
 land to recognize fully, unreservedly and effectually, 
 the position of Egypt as a Turkish province, and to be 
 allowed to assist in its re-organisation. This arrange- 
 ment would save you an infinity of trouble, and 
 would enable you to avoid all responsibility, and at 
 the same time to steer clear of international complica- 
 tions. Do not be deceived the name of Islam and 
 the prestige of the Caliph will have a magical effect 
 on the minds of the Egyptians. Ismail Pacha 
 endeavoured to lessen our hold on Egypt. We taught 
 him a lesson. He tried to walk alone, but when he 
 ceased to lean on Turkey he lost his throne." Seeing 
 I was hardly convinced, he continued, " What I pro- 
 pose is very easy to carry out. Mr. Gladstone, our 
 former foe, has now become a just man. He calls 
 His Majesty the Sultan the Sovereign of Egypt. All 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 461 
 
 he has to do is to submit his plans to us, and we shall 
 assist him in carrying them out. Once agreed on 
 the subject of Egypt, and the most important con- 
 sequences must of necessity flow from our fresh 
 alliance. We shall present a united front to our 
 common enemy, Russia, and we may even join in 
 compelling France to follow your example in the 
 matter of Tunis. If you persist, however, in dis- 
 regarding our rights you must not complain if we 
 enter into other combinations." 
 
 The ideas of Kheir-ed-Din Pacha on the subject 
 of the Egyptian question and its solution found favour 
 at Stamboul, and a few days after I saw him I learned 
 he was summoned to the .Yildiz Kiosk, but his ob- 
 stinacy in the matter of the Constitution once again 
 prevented the possibility of his return to power. 
 Comfortable solutions of diplomatic difficulties are 
 now-a-days so much in favour that I have but little 
 doubt some suggestion akin to the one made me by 
 Kheir-ed-Din Pacha has been or will be heard in 
 Downing Street. It is, therefore, all important at the 
 present juncture that England should understand the 
 true meaning of Turkish influence in Egypt, and 
 nothing can illustrate it better than to trace its action in 
 that country during the past four years. To completely 
 unravel the tangled skein of Turkisk intrigue would 
 be, I think, impossible ; but during the time I was 
 
462 HOW WE DEFENDED AEABL 
 
 engaged in the defence of Arabi and his friends I 
 had an exceptional opportunity of attempting the 
 task, being to some extent (and certainly as much 
 as any European ever can be) behind the scenes. 
 The fatal consequences which resulted from the 
 temporary ascendancy and success of Turkish in- 
 fluence and intrigue in Egypt are such as, I am 
 convinced, will cause England and Europe to hesitate 
 before allowing that unfortunate country, by a grave 
 political error, to become once more the prey of 
 Pachadom and the Vantage ground of the tortuous 
 diplomacy of the Yildiz Kiosk. Her present position 
 is an unenviable one, but, if possible, I think Egypt 
 is better off as a bone of European contention than 
 as the unprotected victim of Turkish and Circassian 
 rapacity. 
 
 I shall now resume the story of the relations 
 between Egypt and Turkey, which I have brought 
 down to the general firman obtained by Ismail Pacha 
 in 1873. Six years later England and France were 
 pleased to desire the removal of the Khedive Ismail. 
 As I have already pointed out, one of the principal 
 aims of his policy had been the gradual release of 
 Egypt from the ties which united -her to Turkey. He 
 used to say that he desired to make Egypt the point of 
 contact between the civilisation of the East and that 
 of the West. His shrewd common sense convinced 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 463 
 
 him very early in his career that the idea of progress 
 was wholly incompatible with that of an all-absorbing 
 Sultan- Caliph. To get rid of Ismail, England and 
 Prance most unfortunately made the fatal mistake of 
 appealing to Abdul Hamid. The Porte hastened 
 to comply with their request, for the fountains of 
 Ismail's lavish generosity were dried up. The Khedive 
 Ismail retired from the scene, and Turkey arbitrator 
 between him and the Powers regained her lost 
 ascendancy. Kheir-ed-Din was then in office as Grand 
 Vizier. In my interviews with him at Constantinople 
 he repeatedly alluded to the fate of Ismail as a signal 
 warning to everybody who would ignore the power 
 of the Sultan- Caliph, in what was described last year 
 as " the brightest jewel of the imperial crown." 
 
 The vizirial telegram of the 27th June, 1879, 
 which requested the Khedive Ismail to retire, nomi- 
 nated his eldest son, Mehemet Tewfik Pacha, in his 
 stead. Nothing could have suited better the views 
 of Abdul Hamid. The new Khedive young, inexpe- 
 rienced, educated entirely in Egypt, an honest lover of 
 intrigue for its own sake, and, as we have seen, wholly 
 wanting in any stability of character at once looked 
 to the Sultan for protection against that foreign 
 European influence which had proved fatal to his father 
 and at the same time sought to conceal the diminished 
 prestige involved in his acceptance of the Anglo- 
 
464 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 French condominium by ostentatiously parading his 
 liege lord the Sultan as a consenting party to the 
 transaction. The opportunity was too good to be lost, 
 A few words insidiously introduced into the new firman 
 of investiture, issued on the 30th July, 1879, almost 
 entirely destroyed the effects of Ismail Pacha's costly 
 efforts for practical autonomy. It is not surprising 
 that, under these circumstances, Abdul Hamid con- 
 ceived the idea of making Egypt a centre of the Pan- 
 islamic movement, then in its infancy. 
 
 The source of this latest phase of Moslem politics 
 is involved in mystery. It is generally supposed to 
 have originated in a common league against Russian 
 arid English interests in Central Asia ; to have next 
 assumed for its objective the separation of the Cali- 
 phate from the Ottoman Sultanate; and, finally, to 
 have been in self-defence adopted by the Sultan- 
 Caliph himself in the form of a general union under 
 his auspices for the defence of Islam. 
 
 After the conclusion of the Berlin Treaty, the Sultan 
 seems to have turned his attention to the outlying 
 provinces of the empire in Africa. He expressed 
 unreservedly to the Baron de Ring his hopes that 
 "Africa would compensate him for the loss of his 
 fairest European provinces," and declared he should 
 " do his best to regain in those parts the influence 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 465 
 
 and prestige of the past." The unexpected events of 
 1881 in Tunis gave a practical shape to the abstract 
 theory of Pan-islamism, and the energy of its mili- 
 tant propagandists found a congenial sphere of action 
 on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. I 
 have already told in Tunis Past and Present the 
 story of the hopeless struggle maintained by the Arabs 
 on the Tripolitan frontier.* 
 
 During the course of my present narrative I have 
 to some extent sought to reserve the proceedings of 
 the Turkish missions in Egypt for description in the 
 chapter I am now writing. My readers will doubt- 
 less remember that one of the earliest consequences of 
 the Abdin pronunciamento was the disembarkation of 
 Ali Fuad Bey and Ali Nizami Pacha at Alexandria. 
 They were accompanied by several other important 
 personages, such as Cadri Bey and Ahmed Ratib 
 Pacha, who were carefully kept in the background. 
 In order that their conduct might be efficiently con- 
 trolled, each member of the mission was furnished 
 with a separate code of telegraphic cypher, and 
 ordered to correspond directly with Stamboul. The 
 politicians of the Yildiz Kiosk, however, seem to 
 have forgotten the old French saying of i( qui excuse 
 s* accuse" for an article of the semi-official Vakit 
 heralded their arrival by the announcement that the 
 * See Chapter I., page 6. 
 2 H 
 
466 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 Commissioners were the bearers of nothing more 
 than the " innocent messages of simple courtesy." 
 
 Our old acquaintance Ahmed Rifat* is fortunately 
 able to give, as an eye-witness, an account of their 
 doings in Cairo : 
 
 "Ali Nizam i Pacha," writes Rifat, u is a Turkish 
 General of Division, about fifty years of age, and 
 had been, up to the time of his coming to Egypt, 
 exclusively employed on military service. Ali 
 Fuad Bey is the son of the late Ali Pacha, the 
 best known of Turkish Grand Viziers. He is still 
 a young man, and is, or was, one of the Sultan's 
 confidential secretaries. Their attach^ and clerk 
 was one Cadri Effendi (afterwards Cadri Bey). 
 Cadri was perhaps the ablest of the three, although 
 (like Ahmed Rahib, the Sultan's aide-de-camp) he 
 was not considered an official member of the mission. 
 He is a native of Aleppo, a writer of considerable 
 ability, and was, as second secretary of the Sultan, 
 in charge of the voluminous correspondence carried 
 on with the North African Sheikhs and the heads 
 of the different religious confraternities. Cadri was 
 rarely either seen or mentioned, but when the 
 mission was abruptly withdrawn he silently took 
 up his residence at Cairo as the secret agent of the 
 Sultan. A few days only before the Commissioners 
 See Chapter XIIL, page 147. 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 467 
 
 arrived, Cherif Pacha, who was then President of the 
 Council, told me that, as I was personally acquainted 
 with Ali Nizami and Ali Fuad, I should be allowed to 
 visit them, but that I must make good use of the 
 opportunity thus afforded me of finding out the exact 
 object of their presence in Egypt. The same evening 
 I received a message that the Khedive, Tewfik Pacha, 
 wished to see me immediately. Although it was past 
 midnight I repaired to the Ismailia Palace. He told me 
 that as I was going to see the Turkish Commissioners 
 he wished to tell me that I was to preserve the most 
 complete silence as to past events, but requested 
 I should use every argument I could think of to 
 demonstrate to them his own complete and un- 
 alterable devotion to the person and interests of 
 the Sultan. Next day I went to the Kasr-el-Nousa 
 Palace, where the Commission were lodged in a 
 sort of political quarantine, nobody being at first 
 allowed to visit them without special permission. 
 I had a very long private interview with them. 
 Our conversation turned on three points, viz., 
 the military demonstration, the person of the Khe- 
 dive, and the status and prestige of the Sultan in 
 Egypt. I noticed that the Commissioners were ex- 
 tremely anxious as to the first point. They wished 
 to know if they might consider what had happened 
 as the prelude of a general Arab movement, and 
 
 2 H2 
 
468 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 whether or not the fall of Riaz and the accession to office 
 of Cherif had really put an end to the pronunciamentos. 
 They expressed a great desire for an interview with 
 Arabi, but I pointed out that Arabi had gone with 
 his troops to Ras-el-Wadi (Tel-el-Kebir) , and Abd- 
 el-Al to Damietta, and observed that this was a sign 
 of the submission of the army. They then professed 
 to agree with me that the proposed interview might 
 excite suspicion, and apparently abandoned the idea. 
 They then spoke at length about the Khedive. I soon 
 saw they were far from convinced as to his sincerity, 
 and were uneasy on account of his weakness of cha- 
 racter. The evening before they left they presented 
 to him a somewhat lengthy document for his signa- 
 ture. I know he signed it, but I could obtain no clue 
 to its contents. Both Cherif and Haider Pachas ex- 
 pressed much anxiety about it. The Commissioners 
 told every one that nothing could save Egypt but the 
 most complete recognition of the sovereignty of the 
 Sultan. They expressed great resentment at the 
 efforts of the Powers to obtain their recall, but during 
 the last days of their stay assumed an attitude of 
 complete reserve. Ali Nizami haranged the soldiers 
 at the citadel. I afterwards learnt that they secretly 
 sent one of their suite, a naval officer, Ahmed Ratib 
 Pacha, the Sultan's aide-de-camp, to Zagazig to see 
 Arabi." 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 469 
 
 In No. 1233 of the Arabic Official Journal, I find 
 an account of All Nizami's address to the troops. It 
 is interlardod copiously with texts from the Koran, 
 and commences thus : " Know ye that the Khedive 
 is but the representative to whom the Sultan has 
 given a general power, and that the representative is 
 like unto him whom he represents. By obeying the 
 Khedive you are obeying the Sultan, and you will 
 carry out God's precept when he says, < Obey God 
 and his prophet, and those who have power amongst 
 you." It seems pretty clear that the Commissioners 
 quitted Egypt with the intention of advising the 
 Sultan to increase his influence by opening up com- 
 munications with the most prominent officers of the 
 Egyptian army, and especially with Arabi. 
 
 Another Turkish emissary now appears upon the 
 scene, Ahmed Essad.* He soon made the acquaint- 
 ance of Arabi, impressed on him the important lesson 
 to be learned from Tunis, and adroitly pointed out 
 the additional strength which the National cause 
 would derive from the prestige of the Sultan-Caliph. 
 
 During all this time Tewfik Pacha continued 
 to maintain his relations with the Sultan through 
 Cadri Bey and his own special agent at Constan- 
 tinople. Arabi is at length informed that in one of 
 his letters to the Sultan the Khedive has accused him 
 * See Chapter XIV. page 170. 
 
470 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 of " conspiring to sell the country to the English, and 
 acting against the interests of the Caliph." Four 
 months have passed since the departure of the Com- 
 mission, and Arabi is now Minister of War and all 
 powerful in Egypt. He still rejects firmly the idea of 
 Turkish troops coming to Egypt, but he recognised 
 the advantages to be gained for his cause by the 
 support and approval of the Caliph, a fact which had 
 already been hinted at by Ahmed Katib Pasha at the 
 time of the Ali Nizdmi mission. I fail to see that the 
 patriotism of Arabi is in any way tarnished when, as 
 a good Moslem, he sought to obtain the moral help, 
 sanction, and encouragement of the chief of his creed 
 in his spiritual capacity.* As late as the 8th July, 1882, 
 the Official Journal publishes a letter from Arabi on 
 the subject. " I have never said," he writes, " I would 
 fight the Turks more strenuously than I would the 
 English if they came to Egypt ; for it is not conceiv- 
 able that the Commander of the Faithful should send 
 soldiers to Egypt when there is no motive for it, and 
 simply to please a foreign Government." In order 
 to counteract the accusations brought against him by 
 the Khedive, Arabi appears to have written two 
 letters in his defence through Ahmed Essad to 
 Muhamed Zaffer, the Sultan's private chaplain, who 
 was then actively engaged in encouraging the 
 * See Chapter XIV. page 172. 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 471 
 
 Tunisian refugees to maintain their guerilla war- 
 fare on the Tripolitan frontier. The answers which 
 Arabi received have been already placed before my 
 readers.* 
 
 The form which the policy of the Yildiz Kiosk 
 assumed in Egypt during the spring of last year 
 can be easily understood. Arafoi was to be played 
 off against the Khedive, and the Khedive against 
 Arabi, until such a complication should be brought 
 about as would justify the Sultan in taking the initia- 
 tive in some decisive settlement of Egyptian affairs. 
 The accession of Ragheb Pacha, under German aus- 
 pices, to the post of Egyptian Premier, seemed calcu- 
 lated to further the plan.f The following telegram 
 was addressed by the Grand Vizier to the Khedive a 
 few days before Ragheb took office, and was found 
 amongst Arabi's papers: "Your telegram has been 
 submitted to the Imperial presence to the effect that 
 you await with great eagerness a special commission 
 from the Ottoman Government, and that the officers 
 there publicly declare in different places that they 
 will reject the command of the Ottoman Government 
 if it be not in accord with their ideas. Consultation 
 is going on here as to what it is necessary to do with 
 Egypt. Any command that may be issued on the part 
 of the Ottoman Government is not compatible with 
 * See Chapter XIV. pages 166-70. f See Chapter X. page 91. 
 
472 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 rejection and non-acceptation thereof in relation to 
 those who believe and assert the unity of the Godhead, 
 and who say, i There is no god save God, and 
 Muhamed is the apostle of God.' For verily religion 
 and community canonically among professors of Islam 
 are one sole thing, as is nationality among the nations 
 other than Islam. Therefore all believers are com- 
 manded by God to rally round the word of God.'' 
 
 Ten days later a second Imperial Commission 
 arrived in solemn state at Alexandria. It consisted of 
 Dervesh Pacha, an old Albanian field-marshal, and the 
 " sweeper-substitute," Ahmed Essad. Dervesh was a 
 past-master of oriental duplicity and cunning, which he 
 adroitly concealed by a certain brusqueness of manner 
 and venerable appearance. His particular duty was to 
 look after the Khedive and to endeavour to persuade 
 Arabi to go voluntarily to Constantinople. Ahmed 
 Essad, on the other hand, was instructed to conciliate 
 and encourage the National Party, and generally 
 check the proceedings of his senior. Each possessed 
 a separate telegraphic code, and each sought to turn 
 his position to the best possible personal profit. 
 Dervesh managed to sell an estate in Bulgaria to the 
 Khedive for a fortune; while the " sweeper- substi- 
 tute " contrived to turn an honest penny by the sale 
 of his cypher. Ahmed Rifat Bey's note on his visit to 
 Dervesh at Alexandria will illustrate fairly this extra- 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 473 
 
 ordinary phase of Turkish intrigue in Egypt. " On 
 the 6th July," he writes, "I went from Cairo to Alex- 
 andria to pay my respects to Dervesh Pacha, intending 
 to return on the following day. He requested me how- 
 ever to postpone my departure. The next day he 
 asked me to suggest in a friendly way to Arabi that 
 the latter should go to ' live with the Sultan ' at Con- 
 stantinople, and thus end the difficulty. I did as he 
 told me, but Arabi declined to take the hint. I called 
 on him again next day. On this occasion he put into 
 my hands a patent from the Sultan, raising me to the 
 civil rank equivalent to that of a general of brigade. 
 He said it would be prudent not to make my promo- 
 tion public for a time.* I afterwards found he had 
 secretly distributed similar favours to many." Bifat 
 also told me an anecdote to illustrate the unblushing 
 duplicity of Dervesh. One day he made a long 
 speech on the subject of the Khedivial family, in 
 which he asserted in the presence of Toulba Pacha 
 and others that it had become impossible to maintain 
 any of the descendants of Mehemet Ali on the throne. 
 Shortly afterwards he told the same persons in the 
 presence of the Khedive that no more worthy ruler 
 than he could possibly be found. A few hours before 
 Rifat visited him he had invested Arabi with the 
 Grand Cordon of the Medjidieh, and presented him 
 * See Chapter XIII. page 157. 
 
474 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 with his berat or letter of appointment.* Dervesh 
 Pacha's connection with the bombardment has been 
 already sufficiently explained. During those eventful 
 days he was in hourly telegraphic communication 
 with the Yildiz Kiosk. No sooner had the Khedive 
 returned to the Ras- el-Tin Palace than he went on 
 board his yacht, affected to misunderstand Lord 
 Alcester's signals to stop, and in due course arrived at 
 Constantinople. 
 
 During the war, in accordance with specific in- 
 structions, and as long as communication remained 
 open, every defensive movement was telegraphed 
 both to the Porte and the Yildiz Kiosk. The National 
 Council at Cairo (the Medjlis-el-Orfi) transmitted 
 daily minutes of their proceedings and resolutions 
 in a similar manner. His Imperial Majesty, however, 
 was now far too prudent to make any further sign 
 than that of asking very often for information. At 
 last, however, the telegraph wires across the desert 
 were cut, and the Yildiz Kiosk missed its daily budget 
 of news from the faithful at Cairo. 
 
 I have endeavoured to show the true meaning of 
 Turkish influence and Turkish intrigue in the land 
 concerning which we have so lightly incurred so 
 great a responsibility. Ever since the signing of the 
 Berlin Treaty, Turkey has been on her trial. She 
 * See Chapter XIV. page 171. 
 
SOVEREIGNTY OR SUZERAINTY? 475 
 
 has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. 
 Her corruption is greater than ever, the confusion of 
 her administration is more complete, and the venality 
 of her officials is more unblushing. No attempt has 
 been made to redeem her fair promises of reform. I 
 will not say it is the duty of England to rescue Egypt 
 from what a well-known EnglisK Minister has called 
 "the swindling government at Constantinople," but 
 I contend it behoves her to save the country if she 
 can from the baneful effects of a renewal of Turkish 
 intrigue, and the almost equally disastrous conse- 
 quences of any development of Turkish influence 
 beyond the receipt of a stipulated tribute and the 
 existence of a purely nominal sovereignty. The 
 future of Egypt must not depend on Turkey. 
 
476 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 
 
 WAS Ardbi, let me ask once more, the leader of a 
 National Party having its roots deep in the hearts of 
 the people throughout the length and breadth of the 
 land ? Was the movement he headed the spontaneous 
 and genuine outcome of the grievances, wants, and 
 aspirations of the Egyptians ? Were the various items 
 of Ardbi's Popular Charter (to borrow a wholly 
 Western idea) capable of actual application ; or, in 
 other words, was there any possibility of the inhabit- 
 ants of Egypt trying to walk alone with a fair chance 
 of success ? The latest European writers who have 
 undertaken to tell us all about the land of the Nile, and 
 to provide at the same time a solution for the Egyptian 
 difficulty, insist on examining these practical questions 
 just as they would some long-forgotten phase of Greek 
 or Roman thought. They seem to assume at the very 
 outset that Egyptian Nationalism, real or fictitious, 
 has once and for all passed away from the sphere 
 of the politics of actuality. The whole matter, they 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 477 
 
 admit, affords an interesting study for the historian, 
 but they declare with the same breath that the object 
 of the investigation is dead dead and put away for 
 ever out of sight as lacking in vitality as any of the 
 mummied potentates in the courts of the Boulak 
 Museum at Cairo. In the end we are presented only 
 with an ingenious post-mortem examination of the 
 politically defunct bodies of Arabi and his friends, 
 with the result of which the proposed panacea or 
 solution is seen at once to be wholly and hopelessly 
 at variance. 
 
 Mr. Mackenzie Wallace answers very satisfactorily 
 to my mind the three questions I have just put to my 
 readers, but he also starts (I think unfortunately) 
 with the assumption that his investigations are only 
 of a purely historical importance. u Never/' says Mr. 
 Wallace,* " since the days of Mehemet Ali, or perhaps 
 from a much earlier date was there a man in Egypt 
 who had such a firm hold of the country as Arabi, for 
 he had not only the army and police at his disposal, 
 and consequently was in position to terrorize to any 
 extent he chose, but he also enjoyed, as I have shown, 
 the sympathies of nearly every section of the native 
 population. . . . Ardbif did not acquire and 
 preserve his influence by terrorism, for at the 
 commencement he had no power to injure any one, 
 
 * Egypt and the Egyptian Question, p. 379. f Idem, p. 397. 
 
478 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 and during the whole time of his power he never 
 caused a single individual to be beheaded, hanged, or 
 shot. If he had gone to the poll with Tewfik, and all 
 corrupt practices had been excluded, he would have 
 obtained the votes of an overwhelming majority of 
 the free and independent electors. ... If we 
 did not mean * to create something like permanent 
 order in Egypt, why did we go to Egypt at all ? If 
 we did not mean to create really good government 
 why did we destroy the National Party, which had a 
 far better chance of preserving order of some kind 
 than the Khedive whom we reinstated ? " 
 
 Mr. Wallace does not stop here ; he proceeds to 
 discuss impartially the merits of the Khedive Tewfik. 
 I will again use Mr. Wallace's own words : " Tewfik," 
 he writes, " never possessed the faculty of inspiring 
 his subjects with affection or enthusiasm, and he 
 became decidedly unpopular when he sided with 
 the foreigners against Ardbi."f Once more he tells 
 us : " The Khedive (Tewfik), in so far as he awakens 
 any feelings in the population, is decidedly unpopular, 
 partly on account of certain personal characteristics, 
 and partly because in the recent struggle he sided 
 with the foreign invader. Tewfik has none of the 
 qualities of a farseeing, energetic ruler.' 7 \ 
 
 * Egypt and the Egyptian Question, p. 377. 
 f Idem, p. 397. J Idem, p. 383. 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 479 
 
 Mr. Wallace, therefore, agrees with me that Arabi 
 had "all Egypt with him," and might have succeeded 
 in establishing a good government if he had been let 
 alone, and there is no diversity of opinion between us 
 as to the apparent impracticability of the ruler we have 
 forced back on the Egyptians against their will. We 
 are, however, singularly at issue as to the remedy we 
 would each prescribe for the mortal sickness which 
 still hangs over Egypt, and seems every now and then 
 to threaten fatal consequences. A few words lately 
 spoken by Mr. Gladstone furnishes me with an appro- 
 priate text : " Having gone to Egypt," says the Prime 
 Minister of England, " we are bound to set the Khedive 
 on his legs, and to give him a fair start. To remain 
 one day longer, after our pledges to Europe, would be 
 acting in bad faith." 
 
 Mr. Wallace and I are quite unable to concur in a 
 definition of the nature and conditions of Mr. Glad- 
 stone's "fair start." He says (if I understand him 
 aright) that Arabics movement was, as nearly as 
 possible, universal, that Arabi had the whole of Egypt 
 at his back, that he was honest and just, that his 
 chances of setting up a good government were the 
 best, but that we helped to crush him. He admits 
 that the Khedive Tewfik is weak, inexperienced, 
 and unworthy, but that, nevertheless, we assisted 
 him to regain a hold over his rebellious subjects. 
 Our action in the matter was probably a mistake, 
 
480 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 but, according to Mr. Wallace, there can be no 
 " looking back." We must perforce go on putting 
 new wine into old bottles, new cloth into the most 
 tattered of garments, tinkering here and mending 
 there, till some turn in the wheel of fortune sets 
 the Egyptian machinery once more in motion, and 
 enables us to leave the country to take care of itself. 
 Yet Mr. Wallace confesses we have thrown away 
 the instruments best fitted for the work we profess 
 to have undertaken, and are to-day employing others 
 of a doubtful or useless character. Mr. Wallace 
 seems to thinks a change of material plans might 
 be possible, but that it must not be permitted to 
 involve a policy of retracing our footsteps. Here 
 is the radical difference in our lines of argument. I 
 say with Mr. Wallace (and perhaps feel it stronger 
 than Mr. Wallace does) that on the whole Arabi was 
 in the right and we were in the wrong, but I protest 
 against the perpetuation of the consequences of our 
 mistake by any system of tinkering and half -measures 
 however ingenious it may be. I boldly say we must 
 act on the information the valuable and impartial in- 
 formation Mr. Wallace has given us on the subject 
 of Egyptian Nationalism and mend the error of our 
 ways. We must now do just what Sir Edward Malet 
 wanted us to do in the crisis which began with the Dual 
 Note and ended in the bombardment,* WE MUST FALL 
 
 * Vide Chapter X., page 91. 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 481 
 
 BACK ON THE NATIONAL PARTY. Arabi and his friends 
 must be allowed to return from Ceylon, and assist us 
 in giving "a fair start'' to Egypt, an undertaking 
 which differs essentially from a mere personal "fair 
 start " for the Khedive. They would certainly give 
 us no cause to repent our generosity. The con- 
 spicuous loyalty they have shown in exile would, I 
 feel sure, be persisted in, nor would the experience 
 of adversity be altogether thrown away. A moral 
 protectorate, founded on the sympathies of the 
 Egyptian nation, would not, I believe, be less strong 
 than the physical predominance won by superior 
 might in battle, the very existence of which depends, 
 to a great extent, on the show of force we may 
 maintain in order to keep its memory green in the 
 minds of the vanquished. If English influence in 
 Egypt came thus to rest on a basis of affection and 
 gratitude it might defy at once both Turkish intrigue 
 and the militant animosity of rival powers. 
 
 My first suggestion for the happiness of Egypt to 
 come will be, I fear, received with a shout of dis- 
 approbation on all sides. If, however, my readers 
 will patiently examine the question for themselves, 
 they will see I have really only arrived at a logical 
 conclusion, quite as much justified by the premises Mr. 
 Wallace has furnished us with as by my own know- 
 ledge of the history of Egyptian Nationalism. I am 
 
 2i 
 
482 HOW WE DEFENDED ARAB I. 
 
 at the same time aware that logical conclusions in 
 politics are often inconvenient and generally disliked. 
 
 One of my late clients, Ahmed Rifat Bey, gave me 
 at parting a short statement of the nature and extent 
 of the Egyptian National movement, accompanied 
 by some practical illustrations of the administrative 
 capability he says it engendered. I publish it as 
 the sole appendix to this volume.* It will perhaps 
 assist my readers in forming an opinion as to the 
 probability of the recall of the Nationalists being as 
 great a success as the restoration of the Khedive 
 has proved a signal failure and mischief-producing 
 calamity. 
 
 If my reader has sufficiently recovered his breath 
 after the enunciation of so unwelcome a heresy as a pro- 
 posed falling back on the National Party by way of a 
 condition precedent to a " fair start " for Egypt, I will 
 explain the idea I have crudely stated at somewhat 
 greater length. In the first place let me observe that 
 the return of the Nationalists involves no sweeping revo- 
 lution/ It is perhaps unlikely that Tewfik Pacha and 
 Arabi could sail in the same boat, and it is consequently 
 probable that His Highness would find himself com- 
 pelled either to submit or resign. As the impossible 
 often happens in the East, a modus vivendi between 
 them might be established, but it would almost inevitably 
 
 * Post, Appendix, p. 501. 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 483 
 
 put an end to all real chance of a satisfactory result. 
 For my part I am content to leave the Khedive Tewfik 
 to the calm judgment of the reader of these pages. 
 Mr. Wallace's verdict as to his merits is more than 
 sufficient for my purpose. Tewfik being the sand on 
 which we have elected to build our house in Egypt, 
 we must not be surprised that it is already falling 
 about our ears. Whether we will it or not, Tewfik is 
 destined sooner or later to drop quietly out of any 
 rational programme for the future of his country. As 
 no party can trust him, all parties are more or less 
 interested in his downfall. If rumour is to be be- 
 lieved, he is already preparing for a comfortable and 
 honourable exile far away from the Nile Valley, where 
 he will be only remembered as the weakest descendant 
 of Mehemet Ali, the most unpopular sovereign of a 
 dynasty, and the nominee of a foreign invader. 
 
 The withdrawal of Tewfik by no means involves 
 any change in the reigning family. Amongst its 
 princes more than one might be found willing and 
 able to accept the principles which Arabi upheld in 
 deed as well as in word. In the restoration of 
 Egyptian Nationalism it will not be sufficient to write 
 effusive letters approving and adopting a policy, 
 but the Khedive of this phase of Egyptian history 
 must himself bear the standard, whose device is 
 " Egypt for the Egyptians,' 5 and share in the risks 
 
 2 i 2 
 
484: HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 and hardships of the battle. Arabi never sought to 
 overthrow the throne which Mehemet Ali had set up,* 
 or to become the ruler of Egypt himself. He laboured 
 long and vainly to work hand in hand with Tewfik. 
 It was not till he received proof after proof of 
 insincerity on the part of the Khedive that he realized 
 the futility of any further effort. Even then -he 
 loyally protected and guarded his sovereign's life and 
 person as his own, up to the very hour when Tewfik 
 left his palace at Eamleh to join the invading force 
 against which he had ordered the waging of war only 
 a few short hours before. Arabi having no personal 
 ambition would cheerfully work for the common good 
 of Egypt under the guidance of any political superior 
 who would be faithful to his trust. The coming of 
 such a sovereign to power must form part and parcel 
 of the restoration of Egyptian Nationalism. 
 
 Before entering into other details connected with 
 this second restoration which England must sooner or 
 later bring about in order to give Egypt the "fair 
 start " she has promised her, I cannot forbear alluding 
 to two other points in which I venture to dissent from 
 the conclusions arrived at by Mr. Wallace. I think 
 that his estimate of the relative characters of Nubar 
 Pacha and the Khedive Ismail is to a great extent 
 
 * See ante, Chapter XXXI. page 434. 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 485 
 
 erroneous. Nubar Pacha, I feel sure, can never 
 hope to be allowed to share in the coming restora- 
 tion. His whole existence has been one continued 
 opposition to the very essential idea of Egyptian 
 Nationalism. Nubar and Nationalism can no more 
 travel in the same boat than Arabi and Tewfik. 
 
 
 
 My own impression of Nubar would place him even 
 intellectually in a lower rank than either Cherif or 
 Riaz ; in every other respect he is immeasureably 
 their inferior. Nubar Pacha is the most expert 
 dealer in epigrammatic platitudes I ever met. He 
 knows the taste of those he has to cater for to 
 perfection; the material out of which he is made 
 is susceptible of a finer European polish than the 
 nature of his two rivals can admit of, and the casual 
 observer consequently fancies he finds in him con- 
 vincing signs of superiority. Nubar represents a dead 
 and gone influence, which has little or no concern with 
 Egypt to come. He was in the past little more than 
 the titular guardian of the traditional fleshpots. Once 
 upon a time Nubar told Lord Beaconsfield that nothing 
 was wanting to restore the pristine vigour of the 
 Turkish empire but Law Courts and Police, and nobody 
 laughed more heartily than he did when the English 
 Premier quoted his dictum as that of " a great Oriental 
 Statesman" either in Parliament or elsewhere. " Mon 
 clier ami" he said to a friend, " que voulez vous ? the 
 English only understand something short and pointed, 
 
486 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 so I always try to please them." Nubar now poses, 
 I believe, not only as an ardent patriot, but as a 
 financial purist of the most uncompromising type. 
 He is, however, at the present moment, richer than 
 the whole of the Khedivial family collectively, although 
 he began his career as a humble Syrian clerk, received 
 his first start in life from the Khedive Ismail's bounty, 
 and has never been known to engage in commercial 
 transactions. He now reviles his old master, and 
 fondly dreams of a Nubar- Tigrane Ministry in the 
 future, but he is mistaken. The veil has fallen from 
 the altar of Egyptian money-making. "Egypt for 
 the Egyptians" can no longer remain a mere idle 
 saying. It is perfectly clear at any rate that Nubar 
 Pacha has no part to play in its practical realisation. 
 
 It has been said that " the absent are always in the 
 wrong,'' and so it has happened with the Khedive Ismail, 
 who has lived long enough, not only to hear himself 
 spoken ill of by his former friends, but to witness 
 the unedifying spectacle of one whom he has 
 especially benefited unblushingly take credit for having 
 systematically undermined him with a view to his 
 overthrow. Ismail committed many mistakes, but he 
 will make a better figure in history than either Tewfik 
 or Nubar. He went too rapidly and too recklessly 
 ahead in his wild career of developing Egypt by what 
 he called European Contact ; his plan of concentrating 
 commercial enterprise in his own person was an 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 487 
 
 error of the first magnitude ; but the greatest blunder 
 of all was to entrust to foreigners like Nubar Pacha 
 the government of the country in the very teeth of a 
 growing national sentiment, in a great measure of his 
 own creating. Mr. Wallace holds Ismail to be mainly 
 answerable for the misfortunes of these latter days. 
 I am inclined to think he casts the blame upon the 
 wrong shoulders. He tells us that Ismail created the 
 national debt, but he forgets how much of the 
 borrowed money miscarried before it reached Egypt ; 
 and to what extent it was spent in public works, 
 including the Suez Canal, which pays Egypt nothing, 
 but is alone exclusively responsible for one-fifth of her 
 liabilities. Ismail it is true inherited great estates 
 and purchased others. The members of his family 
 also habitually acquired land in the same way, but the 
 public works upon which the money was so lavishly 
 spent were by no means confined to the localities in 
 which the Khedivial properties were situated, but 
 benefited more or less the whole of Egypt. Ismail 
 expropriated no one, nor did he take any man's land 
 without payment. The parallel of Naboth's vineyard 
 is hardly a just one. The reproach is a still harder 
 one for Ismail to bear now, when all his posses- 
 sions, along with those of his family, have been 
 surrendered as the guarantee for two public loans. If 
 the fellahs paid more taxes in his time, their interests 
 
488 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 were certainly more efficiently protected than at 
 present. Vigilant and constant care as to irrigation 
 made them better able to bear the greater burden 
 then, than the lesser burden now. The collection of 
 taxes after or at the time of the harvest was far more 
 suited to the character and circumstances of the fellah 
 than a monthly or quarterly cess. An Egyptian 
 peasant is proverbially improvident. He is fond of 
 spending freely the outcome of his toil, and, unless 
 the taxes are gathered when he is in funds, as of yore, 
 he will soon ruin himself with the village money- 
 lender now. 
 
 The best answer to the allegation is a reference to 
 the crying question of the fellahs 9 debts.* When 
 Ismail went into exile they amounted to two millions 
 sterling ; to-day, as I write, they probably exceed twelve. 
 They have thus increased and multiplied since Ismail 
 was replaced by his son, yet Mr. Wallace would even 
 hold him responsible for this misfortune as well. 
 
 Then as to the tyranny of Ismail. The courbash 
 existed before his time, and it has survived his 
 departure. There was, however, more banishment, 
 exile, and imprisonment during the two years of 
 Bidz's paternal administration than in all IsmaiPs 
 
 * Mr. Wallace speaks of Arabi's emissaries proclaiming the libera- 
 tion of the fellah from his just or unjust obligations to the usurer. No 
 kind of proof of any such proceeding was ever attempted at the trial. 
 If it was true nothing could have been more easily substantiated. 
 
EGYPT P HE SENT AND TO COME. 489 
 
 reign. If the soles of the peasants' feet can testify 
 against the father, the shores of the White Nile are 
 equally eloquent witnesses against the son. Ismail, like 
 many other rulers, only just missed achieving a great 
 success. When he realized his errors and the extent 
 to which he had been betrayed, he resolved to give 
 Egyptian Nationalism a fair trial. Europe refused to 
 allow him to complete the experiment, and he went into 
 exile. Darker days have overtaken Egypt since he 
 quitted it, and amidst the prevailing anarchy the once 
 strong ruler is now regretted. 
 
 " I have not been able," writes Mr. Wallace, almost 
 at the close of his book, " to discover in Egypt any 
 native element desirous and capable of spontaneously 
 undertaking, and sucessfully carrying through, the 
 reforms which are in my opinion absolutely essential 
 to the permanent preservation of order and the general 
 welfare of the country." But the reforms Mr. Wallace 
 speaks of are, as I said before, identical with the items 
 of Ardbi's Popular Charter, and he frankly admits that 
 Arabi was more capable than any one else of giving 
 them effect. I am therefore at a loss to understand 
 why Mr. Wallace ignores the inevitable consequences 
 of his own admissions, and fails to find the solution 
 of the difficulty he raises in the restoration of Egyptian 
 Nationalism, the extent and force of which he clearly 
 recognizes. 
 
490 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABL 
 
 There is increasing danger in delay. A twelve- 
 month's dearly purchased experience has taught us that 
 our last restoration was "a great political blunder. If 
 England had supported Arabi and the Nationalists she 
 might have won the sympathy of all Egypt, and become 
 by the most just of all titles her Protector. As it is we 
 share only the deep-rooted detestation of our unpopular 
 prote'ge', and are regarded in Africa as the enemy of the 
 very institutions we have helped give to half Europe. 
 Even the Egyptian bondholders themselves will 
 scarcely benefit by the manner in which we have 
 looked after their pecuniary interests, for the country is 
 drifting slowly but surely towards inevitable bank- 
 ruptcy. The record of the year's work in Egypt is 
 a melancholy story of failure, and the outlook for 
 the future is not a whit more cheering. The funda- 
 mental errors and fallacies which underlie all our plans 
 for reform and improvement are always as millstones 
 round about our necks. Our only chance of safety 
 lies in generous recantation and in the frank undoing 
 of much that has been done. The task is a difficult 
 one, but Mr. Gladstone does not seem to shrink 
 from it : 
 
 " Avernus' gates are open night and day, 
 Smooth the descent and easy is the way. 
 But to return to heaven's pure light again, 
 Such is a work of labour and of pain." 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 491 
 
 In coming back once more to the ideas about 
 Egypt which he entertained in 1877,* Mr. Gladstone 
 will only be true to the traditions of his youth and 
 the practice of his riper years. The restoration of the 
 Egyptian Nationalists will ever remain as a lasting 
 memorial of political consistency, and our promise of 
 giving Egypt a " fair start " will at last be intelli- 
 gently fulfilled. 
 
 A calm review of the events of the year 1883 (be 
 it ever so cursory) shows at once the difference 
 between a "fair start" for the Khedive, recently set 
 on his legs, and a "fair start" for Egypt, not set on 
 her legs at all. If we went to Egypt with the former 
 intention, we committed something akin to a political 
 crime; if we honestly wished to free Egypt from 
 anarchy we have a fair plea in extenuation. I am 
 afraid, if the truth must be told, the "fair start" for 
 Tewfik was the main feature of the first Egyptian 
 Restoration; the "fair start" for Egypt must be the 
 basis of the second if "to abdicated duty we would 
 not have to add a chapter of perpetrated wrong." Let 
 us glance at the past. 
 
 The era of the Khedivial restoration began with 
 the State Trials. These had no sooner come to an 
 end than the solemn session of the International 
 
 * Nineteenth Century, August, 1877. " Aggression in Egypt," by 
 the Right Honourable W. E. Gladstone. 
 
492 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI 
 
 Indemnity Commission at Alexandria began. Once 
 more is Egypt bade to prepare for the sacrifice. The 
 losses inflicted on certain inhabitants of Alexandria 
 were occasioned in a war formally declared by the 
 Khedive, in which both the Egyptians and the 
 English were belligerents. Such damage gives no 
 right of indemnity. The moral claim of the sufferers 
 is hardly stronger, for they contributed nothing by 
 way of taxation to the support of the Egyptian State. 
 When the French caused the Tunisians to grant a small 
 and inadequate compensation for the injury done to the 
 foreign colonists in the shelling of Sfax, they exacted 
 a declaration from each recipient that the money was 
 paid by favour and not under legal compulsion. The 
 Alexandria Commission in the course of its labours has 
 condemned the Egyptian Government to give compen- 
 sation to the amount of nearly four millions of pounds 
 sterling. The most preposterous claims were admitted 
 without even a pretence of resistance, and the 
 Egyptians have once more to pay for what Mr. 
 Wallace calls the " smashed crockery." Each member 
 of the Commission conceived it to be his duty to 
 energetically support the demands of his compatriots, 
 and no individual delegate could be guilty of so 
 unpardonable an act of impoliteness as to oppose the 
 wishes of a colleague. A system of reciprocity was 
 at once established, the Khedivial legal advisers put 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 493 
 
 forward a merely platonic non possumus, and Egypt 
 has to contract one loan more in consequence. If 
 Egypt is to have a " fair start," let us help her at 
 once to obtain a revision of the proceedings of this 
 most accommodating International Commission. 
 
 We have heard a great deal of the debts of the 
 
 *. 
 
 fellaheen.* The peasantry of Egypt have fallen 
 into the grip of the usurers, and their liabilities 
 are almost sufficient to bring about a crisis of the 
 most serious description. The Egyptian fellah seems 
 to need a sort of perpetual guardianship in order 
 to escape extinction. We hear now and anon 
 of this bank and that bank coming philanthropically 
 to the rescue of the fellah, and lending him money at 
 six or seven per cent, to pay off his creditor who has 
 made him an original loan at fifty or sixty, but 
 nothing seems to come of it. Banks and other 
 financial companies have no special liking for a busi- 
 ness which only brings them the bones from which 
 Dimetri and his friends have already picked the flesh 
 with tolerable completeness, and so matters never 
 advance beyond the stage of an undigested scheme. 
 The question must one day be settled by a close 
 local investigation, a sweeping reduction of the 
 usurious interest, and the creation of special courts to 
 determine the merits of individual cases. I regret 
 * See ante, page 488. 
 
494 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 to see that a subject of so much real importance has 
 been postponed for a season, but it will doubtless 
 receive due attention after the restoration of the 
 Nationalists. Arabi will greatly assist Mr, Edgar 
 Vincent in bringing his old friends the village 
 usurers the vipers as he used to call them to terms, 
 and Yacoub Sami's powers of organization could also 
 be advantageously utilized. 
 
 At present the events of last year seem to be 
 repeating themselves in a very wonderful manner. 
 The comedy of the first restoration seems well nigh 
 played out. M. Barrere, the recently appointed French 
 Consul-General, has brought new crosses from Paris 
 for Blum Pacha and my old friend Borelli Bey ; E. T. 
 Rogers Bey is investigating bastinado cases at 
 Tantah notwithstanding the official abolition of the 
 courbash ; the Burhan has been suppressed for abusing 
 the English; and " although Borelli Bey's relations 
 with a French journal bitterly hostile to England are 
 no secret, he is about to be made a Pacha by the 
 Khedive as a reward for the services he has rendered 
 the country." But there is yet balm in Gilead, the 
 Credit Foncier of Egypt offers to lend the peasants 
 money to pay off old scores at seven per cent, provided 
 the Government engages to collect their interest for 
 them at the same time as the taxes, while the twelve 
 Dutch jurists who have been recruited for the new 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 495 
 
 tribunals are expected to return shortly to Cairo to re- 
 commence their studies of the Arabic language with a 
 view to the ultimate discharge of their official functions ! 
 While this volume has been passing through the 
 press, England and Egypt have at last come face to face 
 with another difficulty of unprecedented magnitude 
 and gravity, which has been looming mysteriously in 
 the distance during the past year. I have already 
 described * how, on the eve of the Kourban Bairam 
 festival (October 23rd, 1882), the news reached 
 Cairo that a pretended Mehdi, t or Messiah, had gained 
 a decisive victory in the Soudan. The rising he 
 headed was only the natural result of the weakness 
 and disorganisation of the administration which 
 has replaced the autocratic and vigorous rule of 
 Ismail. The absence of the once " masterful hand " 
 was felt alike in Egypt and in her more remote 
 dependencies, and we are now beginning to realize 
 the consequences. The Mehdi has nothing in com- 
 mon with the Egyptians of the Nile Delta ; he aims 
 at the establishment of a new political and religious 
 supremacy, and he would sweep Tewfik and Arabi 
 alike into the sea. Any attempt to attribute a com- 
 munity of ideas to Arabi and the Mehdi must arise 
 either from a wilful intention to mislead or a pro- 
 
 * See Chapter IX. page 75. 
 
 | Generally written Mahdi. I think Mehdi the more correct 
 rendering of the Arabic. 
 
496 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 found ignorance of the subject. I remember talking 
 over the matter with Arabi at the time. He said 
 that the disbandment of the army laid all Egypt at 
 the mercy of the Mehdi, except so far as she could 
 rely for protection on the British troops. u The 
 Mehdi of the Soudan," said Arabi, " is the enemy of 
 the Arabs because we know him to be an impostor. 
 We are Sunnis, and believe that the Saviour of Islam 
 will come of the Arab tribe of Koreish, to which I 
 myself belong. The Egyptians must all resist the 
 Mehdi as a dangerous foe, but the disorder which 
 reigns throughout the country will give even this 
 African dervish a chance of success." 
 
 It at once became imperatively necessary to 
 send reinforcements to the disturbed districts. How 
 was this to be done? The whole Egyptian army 
 had been formally dissolved with the object of 
 crushing out beyond hope of revival every spark of 
 latent Nationalism. It was not deemed sufficient to 
 exile and degrade Ardbi. The shame and disgrace 
 of the chief, it was said, must be shared by every 
 subordinate officer, and even by every common soldier 
 who followed the standard he had raised : no measure 
 of amnesty must for a moment be allowed to temper 
 the fate of the vanquished Egyptian troops. This 
 suicidal policy of retaliation was in its first vigour 
 when it became necessary to think of the Soudan. 
 Colonel Hicks and his gallant comrades were hastily 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 497 
 
 commissioned; the process of disbanding and dis- 
 gracing was interrupted, and as many of the dis- 
 banded and disgraced soldiers as could be con- 
 veniently collected were ordered to follow the flag 
 of Colonel Hicks. I saw myself the nucleus of the 
 Soudan contingent leaving Cairjo for Suez. It was a 
 sorry and not easily-to-be-forgotten spectacle. The 
 Egyptian soldiers were placed in vans and cattle- 
 trucks like animals. They quitted the capital with- 
 out arms, as prisoners, and with all the circumstances 
 of dishonour. Their native officers were selected 
 from those who were most obnoxious to the new 
 regime, and their very appointment was an avowed 
 and undisguised measure of punishment and repres- 
 sion. On the 1st of January, 1883, two steamers 
 were moored alongside the wharf at Suez. The deck 
 of one was crowded by the disgraced and disbanded 
 soldiers of the First Regiment, of which Arabi had 
 been colonel ; upon the deck of the other stood Arabi 
 and his six companions. An hour or two later the 
 disarmed Egyptian soldiers were forced to witness in 
 sullen silence the Mareotis steaming down the Eed 
 Sea, bound for Ceylon. When subsequently it became 
 necessary to send further reinforcements to the 
 Soudan, they were provided after the same fashion. 
 Soldiers were again despatched to the front unarmed, 
 beaten, and in chains. Even Abd-el-APs black 
 regiment, once considered the flower of the Egyptian 
 
 2K 
 
498 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 army, were sent to fight against the Mehdi with 
 every aggravation of ignominy, and thereby pre- 
 disposed to desertion and mutiny. It is not surprising 
 that Colonel Hicks was unable to hold his own with 
 the aid of such unpromising material. The end soon 
 came. Exactly thirteen months after the news of the 
 MehdPs first success reached Cairo, all England 
 learned that the Egyptian army, with its European 
 officers, had been annihilated on its march to Obeid. 
 There can be no doubt that the inordinate thirst for 
 vengeance which characterised the earlier days of the 
 Egyptian Restoration has mainly contributed to this 
 untoward disaster. 
 
 It is difficult, if not impossible, to say what turn 
 things will next take. The victorious Mehdi may 
 advance on Khartoum, or he may be satisfied with 
 his recent success. Even the details of the fatal conflict 
 are as yet nearly wholly wanting. Little good can 
 result from conjecture. Sir Samuel Baker has placed 
 the whole situation clearly before our eyes.* He says 
 us it is useless to blame the wrong persons for what 
 has happened, and that the abandonment of the 
 Soudan is fraught with difficulty and danger. We 
 have been told that the present misfortunes are the 
 indirect result of Ismail Pacha's ambition. Sir Samuel 
 Baker, on the other hand, declares that Ismail resolved 
 
 * Pall Mall Gazette, November 27tli, 1883. 
 
EGYPT PRESENT AND TO COME. 499 
 
 to put down the slave trade u out of pure respect for 
 English sentiment." " His Highness Ismail Pacha," 
 he writes, " had a great idea : to suppress the slave- 
 trade, to establish legitimate commerce in its place, 
 and to lay the foundation for future civilisation by 
 bringing under his rule those- savage haunts which 
 had hitherto been unknown to history. No country 
 was ever annexed by Ismail Pacha which had not 
 been previously devastated by the slave -hunters." 
 The calamity which has happened demonstrates 
 sufficiently the absolute necessity of strong rule in 
 Egypt, and the desirability of placing the govern- 
 ment of the country as soon as possible on a national 
 basis. " Half measures will only increase the peril of 
 the situation. We cannot save Egypt by sending a 
 police force to Suakim, even if we could rely on the 
 loyalty of every individual member of it. When, 
 however, we hear that nearly half the first contingent 
 deserted between Cairo and Suez, we may form some 
 idea of the difficulties we must expect to encounter. 
 
 Sir Evelyn Baring, Sir Evelyn Wood, Baker Pacha, 
 Mr. Edgar Vincent, and Mr. Clifford Lloyd, may do 
 their utmost, but I fear as matters now stand their toil 
 will be in vain. The question of the possible restora- 
 tion of Egyptian Nationalism must sooner or later 
 imperatively claim our attention. England will I 
 think in the end declare that Egypt is to be for the 
 Egyptians. 
 
500 HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI. 
 
 The example of rare political honesty which 
 England will thus set can but strengthen her position 
 in the councils of Europe for all time. Let France 
 by all means remain the undisputed claimant to the 
 laurels of the Last Punic War. The fame which 
 English statesmen will gain by the Second Egyptian 
 Restoration would soon cause the misfortunes of the 
 first to be forgotten. When the story of Tel-el-Kebir 
 comes to be no longer remembered, the "fair start" 
 we voluntarily gave to the country we conquered, 
 will be assuredly the proudest memorial of our 
 success. I am putting forward no startling paradox. 
 I honestly believe that if England intends to persevere 
 in her plans for the reorganization of Egypt, and at 
 the same time observe the pledges she has given in 
 the face of all Europe, she can only do so by restoring 
 Egyptian Nationalism, in its widest sense, to the 
 pedestal from which it has been cast down. In order 
 to effect this she will recall from exile Arabi and his 
 friends, and will allow them, under the auspices of a 
 popular, vigorous, and capable Sovereign, to help 
 work out in their own manner, and according to 
 their own lights, the prototype of Lord Dufferin's 
 scheme, the constitutional programme of Egyptian 
 Nationalism. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 LETTEK FROM AHMED RIFAT BEY TO THE AUTHOR. 
 
 IN a few days you will return to Tunis and we shall go into 
 exile. People will doubtless ask you much about Egypt, for 
 any decision as to her ultimate destiny is as far off as ever. Our 
 National aspirations are for the moment crushed, but do not 
 believe they are dead. Our enemies are for the moment tri- 
 umphant, and their voice has all the strength and loudness of 
 success. They say Egyptian Nationalism (which I describe as 
 the banding together of the oppressed in search of justice) has 
 never existed at all ; even if they admit there was such a spirit 
 abroad they deny that Ahmed Arabi was its legitimate exponent, 
 and they maintain, moreover, that Egyptian aspirations are aim- 
 less, because the people of Egypt are incapable of self-govern- 
 ment, and must consequently be condemned to perpetual leading- 
 strings (tutelle). Others go even further than this, and say 
 Arabi frightened all Egypt into patriotism. Before we separate, 
 let me, I pray you, leave you a few notes, which will help you 
 to answer our critics from the testimony of an eye-witness. Do 
 not forget to tell them your authority is a Turk ; a man whose 
 whole interests should be on the other side, and who has 
 wrecked a promising career by his sympathy with his Egyptian 
 co-religionists. 
 
502 HOW TO DEFEND AARBL 
 
 I. As to the National Movement in general. 
 
 1. The Official Journal only contains a portion of the lists of 
 patriotic gifts in money and provisions sent voluntarily from all 
 parts of Egypt to Arabi. Volunteers enrolled themselves as 
 combatants .by thousands. No conceivable force or known 
 power of intimidation could create an army of one hundred 
 thousand men in a few days. This unprecedented result must 
 be solely attributable to unanimity of feeling. 
 
 2. If it had been otherwise, the resistance must have col- 
 lapsed at once in the face of the superior strength of England. 
 
 As it was, it lasted for two entire months. 
 
 3. Another noticeable feature was the spontaneous sympathy 
 shown for Arabi (as the representative of the National Move- 
 ment) by the highest personages in the country. The princes, 
 princesses, and others, all sent him telegrams, letters, and com- 
 plimentary presents of fruit, &c., always designating him as the 
 
 "defender of his country." The Princesses and , 
 
 widows of , sent their eunuchs to Kafr-el-Dowar with con- 
 tributions to the general defence funds. The gifts of horses 
 seemed never to come to an end. Prince Ibrahim, not content 
 with his first quota, insisted on sending four more animals of the 
 finest breed. He also used to visit in state the wounded in the 
 Abassieh hospital. Madame Ahmed Pacha Nachat was honorary 
 president of an association of princes and ladies who worked 
 indefatigably at the manufacture of lint for the wounded. 
 
 4. The enthusiasm of the religious bodies must not be for- 
 gotten. Prayers were offered up night and day in all the 
 mosques (and especially in those of Hasanein and El Azhar) 
 for the victory of Arabi and the Egyptian army. 
 
 5. The love of the whole Egyptian population for Arabi 
 knew no bounds. It extended to the very gamins of the street. 
 Little children and grown-up people shouted alike, Allah yan- 
 
APPENDIX. 5C3 
 
 surak yd Ardbi. The following popular refrain was on every- 
 body's lips : 
 
 Ya Tewfik ya wejh ennamla 
 
 Man kallek taamel hadh elamla ? 
 
 Oh, Tewfik, thou ant-faced one ! 
 
 Who on earth told you to do what you have done ? 
 
 (i. e. to bring the English to Egypt). 
 
 In a very few days the name of Tewfik was abandoned in 
 Egypt, and a whole generation of young Egyptians were called 
 Arabi. 
 
 II. As to the First National Assembly at Cairo. 
 
 You can safely assert it was spontaneous, free, and wholly 
 uninfluenced by intimidation of any kind, for the following 
 reasons : 
 
 1. The summons to attend it was issued by the Ministry 
 of the Interior. The letters of invitation were sealed and signed 
 by the Under-Secretary for the Home Deparment, and not by 
 his colleague of the War Office. Those invited, including a vast 
 number of private individuals, came of their own accord and 
 without any kind of pressure. 
 
 2. There was no word of command, no exhibition of 
 armed force, and the doors were left open during the delibera- 
 tions. After reading the letter in which Arabi asked for the 
 decision of the Nation, and the documents annexed to it, a great 
 number of those present, especially the Ulema and ecclesiastics, 
 were indignant at the conduct of the Khedive, and wished 
 immediately to depose him, in accordance with strict Moslem 
 law. The Armenian patriarch, Latif Pacha, an admiral of the 
 time of the great Mehemet Ali, and others, advocated an appeal 
 to the Sultan, to whom the conduct of the Khedive should, in 
 their opinion, be submitted. Akouche Pacha, a warm partisan 
 of the Khedive Tewfik, without attempting to attenuate the 
 gravity of the facts alleged against him, expressed an opinion 
 
504 HOW TO DEFEND ARABL 
 
 that further inquiry was advisable. Ali Moubarek Pacha (who 
 cannot, any more than the Armenian, Greek, and Coptic patri- 
 archs, pretend that he was in any way compelled to attend the 
 meeting) proposed that a Commission be sent to Alexandria to 
 ascertain if the Khedive and his Ministers w r ere really prisoners or 
 not, and, if not, to invite them to return to Cairo to assume the reins 
 of government. The assembly decided in accordance with this 
 suggestion, and resolved at the same time to send a full report 
 of the circumstances to the Porte and the Yildiz Kiosk. The 
 moderation of the conclusion arrived at, and the freedom of 
 discussion which characterised the proceedings, are a sufficient 
 proof in themselves of the entire absence of terrorism. 
 
 III. Of the Second National Assembly at Cairo. 
 
 1. The summons for this meeting also emanated from the 
 Under- Secretary for the Interior, and was only issued when the 
 measures decided on in the former assembly were seen to be 
 fruitless and the situation became radically changed. 
 
 2. It was composed of about 400 persons, including the 
 princes, the heads of the different religious communities, without 
 a single exception, and the pachas who had been memlouks of 
 Abbas Pacha, and were devoted to the interests of Tewfik Pacha, 
 who had married the grand-daughter of their old master. 
 
 3. The three Princes Ibrahim, Ahmed, and Kiamil, the Chiet 
 Judge of Cairo, the Mufti now in office and his predecessor, the 
 above-mentioned pachas-memlouk, and all the official and non- 
 official persons present, expressed spontaneously, and in the most 
 open manner, their indignation against the Khedive. In my 
 statement of defence I have alluded to my conversations with 
 Yacoub Pacha Sabri, memlouk of the Viceroy Abbas, and the 
 Chief Judge. I will here quote the exact words used by Prince 
 
APPENDIX. 505 
 
 Kiamil in the apartment of the Minister of the Interior, and in 
 the presence of a large number of persons. " For us," he said, 
 "the Khedive to-day no longer exists. We would recognise 
 him if he were here at the head of his Government and his 
 country, but where is he ? He is either the prisoner or the 
 ally of a foreign power which has invaded Egypt " His 
 hearers applauded these words as being in strict accordance 
 with their religious and civil duties*- 
 
 4. The resolution that, as the Khedive had transgressed both 
 the firmans and the principles of Moslem law, he was no longer 
 capable of giving orders, and that Arabi should be confirmed in 
 his post of Minister of War, and entrusted with the task of 
 national defence pending the receipt of orders from Constanti- 
 nople, was voted unanimously by show of hands. The proces- 
 verbal was sealed by everybody with perfect freedom and evident 
 enthusiasm. The decision arrived at was regarded as the termi- 
 nation of the palace intrigues, which had brought such incal- 
 culable mischief to Egypt during the past year. 
 
 5. Arabi was ,not present at either of those meetings. 
 Yacoub Sami, his under-secretary, had even enjoined the 
 Colonel Obeid Bey to absent himself, lest it should be alleged 
 or even imagined that military influence had anything to do 
 with the expression of the national will. I heard Yacoub Sami 
 himself give this order in the small room at the back of the 
 great saloon in the Kasr-el-Nil Palace. 
 
 IV. Of the Medjlis-el-Orfi, or Committee of National Defence. 
 
 1. Ismail Eyoub Pacha himself admits he resigned his 
 position as a member of it. If it were not entirely free and 
 under no sort of constraint, how was he able to do that? 
 
506 HOW TO DEFEND ARABI 
 
 Especially after his complimentary visit to Arabi by special 
 train at Kafr-el-Dowar. 
 
 2. You will also note the continual presence of Reouf Pacha, 
 (the President of the Court Martial) at its meetings. His sig- 
 nature and seal are appended to most of their minutes. If the 
 Committee had not perfect liberty of action why did Reouf come 
 back from Alexandria to join it ? If he disapproved its action 
 why did he not follow the example of Ismail Eyoub and resign ? 
 
 3. The Medjlis freely exercised constitutional control over 
 the actions of Arabi. When Ali Moubarek proposed to enter into 
 negociations with him, Ardbi submitted to the Medjlis the draft 
 of his reply, which underwent several modifications. 
 
 4. The question of the imprisonment of the Mudir of the 
 Garbieh was referred also to the Medjlis. 
 
 5 The Medjlis decided to maintain Osman Pacha Ghaleb in 
 his post of Mudir of Assiout, although Arabi was in favour of 
 his recall. 
 
 6. Arabi never was present at a sitting of the Medjlis. 
 Mahmoud Sami was not even a member.* The persons who 
 composed it were, for the most part, wholly independent of 
 party considerations. It is sufficient to cite Giaffer Pacha, 
 Ismail Pacha Abu Gebel, Sami Pacha of the Slave Trade Sup- 
 pression Department, who had received his education in England 
 and America, and whose son-in-law had been mixed up as an 
 enemy of Arabi in the Circassian Plot. 
 
 7. The day of the defeat at Tel-el-Kebir, and previous to the 
 arrival of Arabi at Cairo, the Medjlis-el-Orfi met at Kasr-el-Nil 
 and decided unanimously not to continue the war, which in 
 principle might be expected to last as long as the line of retreat 
 afforded by the country between Cairo and the Soudan remained 
 to the Egyptians. 
 
 8. Arabi at once expressed his willingness to accept this 
 resolution of the Medjlis, 
 
APPENDIX. 507 
 
 9. The Medjlis prepared the letter to be addressed to the 
 Khedive. The draft composed by Ibrahim Pacha Khalil and 
 Boutros Pacha was freely discussed in Committee. 
 
 10. Even the Princes Ibrahim and Kiamil took part in these 
 deliberations. 
 
 These notes may help you to make known the truth concern- 
 ing us when we see you no more. 
 
 * AHMED RIFAT BEY. 
 
 Cairo, December 21st, 1882. 
 
HOW WE DEFENDED ARABI AND 
 HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PKESS. 
 
 Mr. Broadley's book is a lively resume of the story of Ardbi's trial , 
 together with some documents not previously published, including 
 Arabi's scheme of reform for Egypt. Times (Leader), December 
 13th, 1884. 
 
 Mr. Broadley enjoyed exceptional opportunities for arriving at facts 
 as distinguished from fictions. Mornitig Post. 
 
 The object of this instructive and entertaining volume is at once to 
 relate a story and to plead a cause. The author groups around his 
 central figure and chief episodes a variety of personages and events, 
 arranged with consumate skill, and producing in their combinations a 
 series of picturesque and impressive effects. Mr. Broadley is as shrewd 
 an observer of character as he is an acute reasoner and vivacious de- 
 lineator of men, manners, and places. It is his keen sense of humour 
 which enables him to comprehend what may be called the true ethos of 
 Egyptian life. He has succeeded in producing a pleasant and a most 
 serviceable volume. Standard. 
 
 Mr. Broadley tells his story with humour, and makes an exceedingly 
 readable book. He contrives to leave on our minds a very strong sense 
 of the mistake which was made in treating Arabi as a rebel. He writes 
 in a lively and agreeable style with full knowledge of his subject. The 
 illustrations add to the interest of the record of a remarkable passage 
 in English as well as Egyptian history. Daily Ncivs. 
 
 The volume is graphic. It will be as popular with legal specialists 
 as the general public. Daily Telegraph. 
 
2 Opinions of the Press. 
 
 The book supplies a fair and temperate account of the trial of Ara"bi 
 and his friends, enlivened by many amusing anecdotes of its progress 
 and the persons connected with the proceedings, and written in the 
 same lively vein as the author's "Tunis Past and Present." Our 
 author is at his best when describing the examination of witnesses 
 before the Commission. Nothing could be happier than the manner 
 in which he tells Mr. Broadley has written an entertain- 
 ing and interesting book which cannot be passed over. Athenceum. 
 
 Mr. Broadley may be congratulated on having invested with a sur- 
 prising amount of novelty a subject where novelty might have almost 
 seemed impossible. He has written a book which is absolutely fresh on 
 Egyptian affairs. It is because he is a humourist that Mr. Broadley's 
 boo.k is at once so instructive and diverting. The World. 
 
 I advise all to read Mr. Broadley's book. The story is well and 
 clearly told, and Mr. Broadley has contrived to make his book amusing 
 as well as instructive. Truth. 
 
 Everybody who cares to look a little behind the scenes of the 
 Egyptian drama should study carefully "How we defended Arabi." 
 Mr. Broadley's well-written and well-printed volume will probably 
 attract many readers. The anecdotes he garnishes it with are both 
 novel and entertaining. Vanity Fair. 
 
 An entertaining and politically instructive book. Much truth is 
 told under the cover of anecdote and good humour. Cologne Gazette. 
 
 In this volume Mr. Broadley describes fully every phase of the 
 trial which resulted in Arabi's exile to Ceylon, enlivening his account 
 by many bright and vivid pictures of life in the Levant. Pall Mall 
 
 Gazette. 
 
 Everyone with the facility of enjoying a well-told tale, may read 
 with pleasure Mr. Broadley's story of how he defended Ardbi. The 
 clever narrator seems to be afraid that he has allowed himself to be a 
 little too amusing. Mr. Broadley has not given us this delightful 
 volume purely for our amusement. Saint James 1 Gazette. 
 
 Mr. Broadley's book loses little in interest because twelve months 
 have elapsed since Arabi pleaded guilty. Globe. 
 
 " How we defended Ardbi," may appropriately rank as a Christmas 
 gift-book, for it affords a rich and constant fund of humour and 
 
Opinions of the Press. 3 
 
 merriment. Mr. Broadley's satire is amusing, but not unkind, and he 
 has contrived to bring everybody he met and everything he saw 
 vividly and distinctly before his reader. Evening News. 
 
 The work is published opportunely. . . . Mr. Villiers' sketches, 
 taken on the spot, materially add to its interest and value. Ardbi was 
 singularly fortunate to obtain so able, so energetic, and so enthusiastic 
 a champion as Mr. Broadley. Graphic. 
 
 A most interesting work. . . . JVfr. Broadley possesses a lucid 
 style, his narratives run easily and are interspersed throughout with 
 humorous descriptions of men and things. Fair Play. 
 
 It is impossible to read Mr. Broadley's book without acquiring con- 
 siderable respect for Ardbi and his friends, or without being impressed 
 with the cleverness of their defenders. Mr. Broadley has achieved 
 a very remarkable feat and written a most interesting book. White- 
 hall Review. 
 
 Mr. Broadley's style is delightful and his sketches of Eastern life 
 and manners unsurpassed in their vivid reality. He is a clever hu- 
 morist, and his art is that of the accomplished diplomatist who knows 
 how to treat of the weightiest matters with the most charming ease, 
 grace, und wit. Its pages are full of freshness and interest. St. 
 Stephen's Review. 
 
 There is a charm about the writer's style which stamps his book as 
 one of the most readable that has come under our notice. Freemason. 
 
 It is difficult to decide whether the matter the book contains or the 
 manner in which the author has set it forth is the more worthy of 
 commendation. Freemason's Chronicle. 
 
 This volume appears at the most timely hour when the Nile Valley 
 threatens to be the burning question of 1884. Mr. Broadley speaks of 
 events quorum pars magna fuit and his able special pleading utters no 
 uncertain note. The tale is told in a chatty, readable style which con- 
 ceals a variety of sharpish stings. I must compliment Mr. Broadley 
 on his exceptional freedom from mistakes. The Academy. 
 
 Few can fail to read with pleasure this eminently instructive and 
 entertaining volume. Around Arabi are grouped with masterly skill 
 the various personages whose names are familiar to the student of 
 recent Egyptian history. Not less happy than his portraiture are the 
 other delightful sketches to be found in his pages. The result is a re- 
 markably readable book. Dorset County Chronicle. 
 
4 Opinions of the Press. 
 
 A most interesting book. Yorkshire Gazette. 
 
 If Mr. Broadley is reasonably right in his conclusions and facts, 
 English opinion has been unreasonably wrong about Egypt and Ardbi. 
 The author's style is full x>f charm. His narrative never flags. The 
 book is admirably illustrated by Mr. Yilliers and is excellently got 
 up by the publishers, Messrs. Chapman and Hall. Central Press 
 Association. 
 
 Certainly in Mr. Broadley Arabi found a devoted advocate and he 
 now finds in him a warm supporter and skilful interpreter to the 
 European mind. Christian Million. 
 
 We recognize in the author a power of marshalling his facts com- 
 bined with a dry humour which is irresistible. The book is a rare 
 specimen of the ars celare artem, and written so that it may be taken 
 up at any page and read with interest by all classes of readers. Arabi's 
 counsel maintained the independence of the English Bar. . . We 
 confidently recommend the book to our readers as one that \vill be 
 found interesting from every point of view. Pump Court. 
 
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