M. 'Spuller, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, is clearly
an adroit man. He was asked to consent to the con- version of the Egyptian Debt in order that the money so
saved might be applied to the total abolition of the corvee. He did not, under those circumstances, quite see his way to refuse ; but as he was determined not to consent, and so acknowledge that England had raised the credit of Egypt, he has replied, it is said, in a note which concedes the required permission, provided that England will define more exactly the circumstances which will induce her to evacuate Egypt. That definition, as he knew, cannot be given, as it would seriously impair Egyptian credit; and he therefore obtains the credit of giving way while still immovably obstructive. The small tax necessary to compensate for the disappearance of forced labour has been already im- posed, and is known among the fellaheen as the " French tax." That, says the correspondent, will of itself destroy French influence among the Egyptian peasantry. Possibly ; but possibly also it may greatly increase the Egyptian notion of French irresistibleness. Ignorant Asiatics, as " Eothen " said, respect those who have done them violent wrong, and, when Pagans, worship the cholera and small-pox as deities.
