OUR DUTY TO EGYPT.
L're THE EDITOR OF THE " SPBOTATOE."1
Sin,—Men are wisely using their breathing-time by asking what right have we in the Soudan P We have been deceived, and might have been deceived, for all we know, from the beginning, by treachery at Khartoum. This was no more than General Gordon himself was fully prepared for. Have we any right to interfere with the Mahal, backed by the entire population, in his effort to throw-off the tyranny of the Sultan and the -oppressive yoke of his successive Viceroys, the Khedives ? As a justification of our questionable massacre of thousands of his brave followers, it is contended that his success will not stop in Southern Egypt, but would eventually endanger the highway of the Red Sea. But this is a gratuitous assumption. We have no reason to suppose that the establishment of the Mandi's Government at Cairo, if ever it were a fait accompli, would present any greater obstacle to the internationalisation of the Red Sea than the Government of the Sultan. The traditional policy of England, at no time in her history more necessary to be observed, condemns all wanton interference with the self-government of other nations. If, however, a departure from such a policy has made it necessary to "smash the Mandi " for the recovery of a damaged prestige, let him be smashed, not in the Soudan, but in Egypt Proper. The very raison Vire of a British army in that country, in accordance with our traditions as a commercial, and not a military, Power, should be strictly determined by defensive, and not by offensive, considerations.
True to this principle and to the great mission entrusted by Divine Providence to this country, our present policy should lead our Government, not to expend our treasure upon revenge for past failure, but to benefit a brave people, as well as ourselves, by opening-out new markets for the encouragement of national industry. With this object in view, it is the duty of the Government to do now, what it should have done from the first, connect the sea-board of the Red Sea with the Nile by the construction of a railway from Suakim to Berber, and so tap the fertile districts of the Upper Nile. The aim should be to disarm the native population by the offers of commercial friendship, to supply motives of industry, and to bring a Mahommedan race into closer contact with European civilisation. The same traditional policy, yearning not for military glory, but for the unification of the human race, should use its opportunities for the crushing of the slave-trade. Osman Digna, who fattens upon its perpetuation, should either be got rid of as an enemy to humanity, or else indemnified by a compensation, as were the West Indian planters. The money would be better spent than upon the slaughter of our soldiers. The railway, at the same time, would serve military purposes of defence during its construction, and continue to do so until the native population had learned to regard it with friendly eyes. Then, and not till then, will be the time to retire. So long as we do not interfere with the government of other people, but restrict our future policy to the protection of the Red Sea, as the great highway to India and our Australian possessions, as integral parts of a consolidated Empire, we shall be true to our avowed traditions, to the mission divinely entrusted to us as a strong and peace-loving nation, and to the interests of a world-wide commerce, without incurring the jealousies of Europe or the distrust of Asiatic Mahom -medanism.—I am, Sir, &c., C. H. BROMBY, Bishop.
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