THE KHEDIVE. T H A T the Khedive has returned from Constantinople sidering
the high hopes with which Abbas Pasha proceeded to do an act of ceremonial homage to the Sovereign who is at once the head of his faith and his temporal suzerain. It would be both foolish and unmannerly for Englishmen to rejoice over his disappointment. Though we may not It would be both foolish and unmannerly for Englishmen to rejoice over his disappointment. Though we may not be able to share them, we can respect the feelings which prompted the Khedive to try to establish his complete independence by the aid of the Sultan. Abbas Pasha is young, brilliant, ambitious, and patriotic. What, then, could be more natural than that his first desire should be to get rid of foreign influence in Egypt, and to stand alone or only assisted by the head of the Mahommedan religion P That is, per se, an ambition perfectly reason- able and perfectly legitimate. His visit to Stamboul has shown him, however, that the notion of establishing his independence through Turkey is an entire delusion. Though the Sultan was personally cordial and polite, he took care to mark two facts most strongly. First, he showed that he considered the Khedive not what the Khedive considers himself—the head of a semi-independent State, placed, no doubt, under the protection of Turkey, but rather in a position of alliance than of vassalage to the superior Power—but instead, as a mere feudatory, the hereditary Prefect of a great Province, and in no sense a Sovereign Prince. This view was marked by the fact that precedence was given to the Grand Vizier over the Khedive. In other words, the Khedive was treated as a subject, and not even as the greatest of subjects. It was as if the German Emperor had indicated his view of the dependent position of the King of Saxony by giving Count Caprivi precedence at a Court function. Next, the Sultan showed that he had no intention of risking anything to bring the Egyptian question to the front. He was plainly unwilling to make the slightest sacrifice to help the Khedive to obtain the departure of the English' garrison. He was willing, no doubt, to say plenty of smooth things, and to let still smoother things be hinted and whispered by his entourage ; but when it came to a question of acting, the blankest, solidest, dreariest wall of non possumus rose up before the ardent young Egyptian. The Sultan would clearly do nothing but play for his own hand and for safety. That was the net result of the negotiations, and the practical value of this result was not lost upon a man of the Khedive's clear-sightedness and intelligence.
The Khedive's first attempt to gain a position of power and independence has thus been frustrated, and he returns to Egypt in no better a position from his point of view than when he left it. Under these circumstances, we venture with all respect to place before his Highness certain sug- gestions which, even if he does not consider them worth acting on, will, we feel sure, be held by him to be at least worth considering. Put plainly and frankly, we believe that his best way of gaining that power and independence which he naturally, and from his point of view rightly, desires, is to accept thoroughly and unreservedly the pre- sent position at Cali& to throw in his lot with the English, and to work heartily with them in improving the moral and material position of his country. If the Khedive were to do this, in ten years' time he would possess an influence and importance equal to that of the foremost rulers and states- men in Europe. The English not only could not refuse his aid in carrying-out their reforms, but would accept it most gratefully. Yet, were he active in the work, his position as Khedive would enable him to absorb practically the whole credit of success. Whatever relief was gained by the fellabeen—and relief for the fellaheen, and the improvement of the finances, and the reform of the Administration, are synonymous terms—would be carried to his account, and he would gain a measure of respect, popularity, and devotion such as has belonged to few rulerson the Nile. Ten years' careful nursing of the Egyptian estate, under a regime of reform in which the Khedive took the lead with vigour and determination, would enable the chief encumbrances to be got rid of, and would place the Khedive in a financial position stronger than .that of many of the Sovereigns of Europe. By learning to work heartily with the English officials by gaining their confidence and by understanding their methods, the Khedive would, after a period such as we have indicated, be able to say, and to say without fear of contradiction, that a great deal, if not all, the foreign in- fluence at Cairo might be done away with. A Khedive with English notions of government could be trusted to stand alone, far sooner than a Khedive who refused to do any- thing to help his countrymen as long as a single red-coat remained at Cairo.
That the Khedive may have already looked at the matter in this light, and have decided that the prospect is one with no attractions for him is, of course, possible. A man of his intelligence who is, besides more keenly and deeply interested in this subject than any one else in the world, has probably already turned the matter over in every possible way. Still, even an old idea, when put in a new light, and from another side, is capable of yielding results. There is, also, an aspect of the case which it is improbable that the Khedive has canvassed, because it is not one which would have occurred to any person, however quick and able, who had not lived in England. It is this. The Khedive is now only a name in England ; and a name with rather a hostile ring in it. If, however, the Khedive were to throw in his lot generally with the English, and were to show that he is willing to work with them for a common object, he would very soon become an extremely popular and much-respected personage. But if once Abbas Pasha were to gain the confidence of English public opinion, he would find his position as Sovereign of Egypt enormously strengthened. To begin with, if he had any difference of opinion with the bureaucracy of Cairo, public opinion here would be more than likely to take his side, and to see that his will should prevail. The notion, too, that he was being bullied by the Foreign Office would at once evoke a strong feeling in his favour. As it is, no expression of English public opinion ever arises to help him, for it is nipped in the bud by the belief, whether erroneous or not is no matter, that he is hopelessly unfriendly to England. In yet another respect would the• Khedive find that being a popular personage in England would greatly strengthen his hands. Support from England would enable him successfully to defy any attempt on the part of the Sultan to treat him as a mere vassal. If the Khedive were the friend of England, pretensions of the kind which lately annoyed him at Constantinople would be met in such a way by our diplomatists as to secure their abandonment. If the Sultan were told that if he continued to treat the Khedive as a person of lower rank than the Grand Vizier, we should have to take steps to make our view of his inter- national position clearer, he might depend upon it that no more slights of this kind would be manufactured in Stamboul. Were the Khedive a person without a political understanding, it would be both useless and foolish to address him as we have ventured to address him in this article. A petit-maitre among Sovereigns would simply be annoyed at the notion of advice from a newspaper. The Khedive, however, in spite of his youth and high spirit, may be relied on to take a reasonable view of the matter. He may or may not think it worth while to consider seriously the line of conduct we have indicated, but his known ability and the keen political instinct which belongs to all his family will prevent him from treating our plain speaking as something irrelevant and imperti- nent. That the Khedive's readiest way to freedom is through throwing in his lot with the English, and that a specially favourable opportunity is now offered him for adopting this course, is our firm belief, and it is with all sincerity that we commend these suggestions to his Highness.
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