The correspondents of French and German papers have been telegraphing
all the week that the Sultan has reopened the Egyptian question, and has demanded that Great Britain shall " regularise " her occupation of the Nile Valley. It is even affirmed that Lord Salisbury has received a despatch to this effect, and has returned an evasive reply declaring that the requests made by the Sultan are too " vague " to be dealt with by negotiation. The statements arc denied by the British Foreign Office, and the Ottoman Embassy knows uothing of
them, from which it may be concluded that the Sultan's views have not taken any official form. He is, however, highly in- dignant at the asylum accorded to Murad Bey in Egypt, Murad Bey being devoted to " reform " and influential among the younger officers of the Army ; and it is pro- bable that, in his wrath, he has made threats which the hangers-on of the Palace interpret as promises to ask Great Britain when she will replace Egypt under his authority. It is clear that the reply to such a de- mand, if it is ever formulated, ought to be distinct, and to vary slightly from the formula now in use. Great Britain will stay in Egypt until Egypt is strong enough to govern herself, and until there is no chance that Turkish Pashas can resume their authority within her borders. The conduct of those Pashas in Armenia has proved them to be less fit to govern the Valley of the Nile uncontrolled than even the Khedive or the Mahdi.
