The Egyptian Viceroy has demurred to the Sultan's order to
submit the annual budget to Constantinople and to contract no more loans. In a very submissive but very untrustworthy note he has objected to the demand as inconsistent with treaty stipula- tions. The Sultan is exceedingly enraged, and has, it is said, determined, if submission is not made in ten days, to recall the firman which made the Pasha a Khedive, to dismiss Ismail from his post, and to acknowledge Mustapha, who would under the old law of succession be the next Viceroy, as ruler of Egypt. In all this the Sultan is within his right, but the Powers are afraid of war in the East, and strong pressure will be put upon him to soften his ultimatum, pressure to which it is believed he will yield. It is possible, however, that he may not, for his dignity is menaced ; and if he does not, we trust the Powers will form a ring, and let him and his vassal fight it out. We should then see whether Turkey is really as weak as it is believed to be, and which of its many semi-dependencies is entitled to be recognized as a power. Roumania, Servia, and probably Greece would all strike in, and somebody might show a capacity for getting to the top.
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