There is a little difficulty connected with the " reorganisation
" of Egypt which has not yet been fairly faced. What does the Porte say to it all? The responsible Ministry, with Nubar Pasha at its head, must practically be independent of the Sultan ; and the Porte will not like that, more especially as the new Premier is a Christian, and will have no fund out of which to forward enormous douceurs to Constantinople. The Khedive will not pay them out of his Civil List, he has no estates to take them from, and the Treasury is to be independent and honest. Constantinople will not like that state of affairs at all, and the Porte retains legal rights over Egypt of great importance—among them that of cancelling the order by which the succession has been settled contrary to Alahommedan law. The renunciation by the Khedive of his right to interfere in politics is wholly illegal, he, and not Nubar Pasha, being the Sultan's agent, and Abdul Hamid is not likely to approve such a precedent. Will the Khedive, who has obviously yielded most reluctantly and under compulsion, venture to resist an intimation from Constantinople that he has exceeded his rights, and that if he does not retrace his steps, Halim Pasha will again be recognised as heir ? Sir Austen Layard will prevent such an intimation ? Possibly ; but in that case, is not the British Government really responsible to foreign Powers for Egypt and Turkey too ?
