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succeeded by his son, Abbas Hilmi, a young man without political experience, who failed at first to understand the Accession unc Pecucr^ar situation in which a Khedive ruling of Abbas. ^ British protection is necessarily placed. Aspiring to liberate himself at once from foreign control, he summarily dismissed Mustafa Pasha Fehmi, whom he considered too amenable to English influence and appointed in his place Fakhri Pasha, who was not a persona grata at the British Agency. Such an incident, which might have constituted a precedent for more important acts of a similar kind, could hardly be overlooked by the British representative. He had always maintained that what Egypt most required, and would require for many years to come, was an order of things which would render practically impossible any return to that personal system of government which had well-nigh ruined the country. The young Khedive was made, therefore, to understand that he must not make such changes in the administration without a previous agreement with the representative of the protecting Power • and a compromise was effected by which Fakhri Pasha retired, and the post of Premier was confided once more to Kiaz. With this compromise the friction between the Khedive and Sir ' Evelyn Baring, who had now become Lord Cromer, did not end. For some time Abbas Hilmi clung to his idea of liberating himself from all control, and secretly encouraged a nationalist and anti-British agitation in the native press; but he gradually came to perceive the folly, as well as the danger to himself, of such a course, and accordingly refrained from giving any occasion for complaint or protest. In like manner the relations between the British officials and their Egyptian colleagues gradually became more cordial, so that it was found possible at last to reform the local administration in the provinces according to the recommendations of Mr J. L. Gorst, who had been appointed adviser to the Ministry of the Interior. Hubar Pasha, it is true, who succeeded Riaz as Prime Minister in April 1894, objected to some of Mr Gorst’s recommendations, and in November 1895 resigned. He was succeeded by Mustafa Fehmi, who had always shown a conciliatory spirit, and who had been on that account, as above stated, summarily dismissed by the Khedive in January 1893. After his reinstatement the Anglo-Egyptian condominium worked without serious friction, and there is reason to believe that it will continue so to work in the future as long as England remains true to her mission and shows no signs of hesitation in carrying it out. In the Report by His Majesty’s Agent and Consul-General on the finances, administration, and condition of Egypt presented to Parliament in 1901, Lord Cromer concluded by expressing his belief “that His Highness the Khedive’s recent visit to England (in 1900), coupled with the very remarkable and touching sympathy displayed by every class of society in this country (Egypt) on the occasion of the death of Queen Victoria, will serve to cement more closely the bonds of friendship and goodwill which, now perhaps more than at any previous period, unite my own countrymen and the Egyptians.” The success of the Anglo-Egyptian condominium, and the consequent economic and financial prosperity of Egypt Fashoda Proper, rendered it possible to recover from the Mahdists the Sudanese provinces (see below, Military Operations in the Sudan), and to delimit in that part of Africa, in accordance with Anglo-Egyptian interests, the respective spheres of influence of Great Britain and France. The arrangement was not effected without serious danger of a European conflict. Taking advantage of the temporary weakness of Egypt, the French Government formed the project of seizing the Upper Nile Valley and uniting her possessions in West Africa with those at the entrance to
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the Red Sea. With this object a small force under Major Marchand was sent from the French Congo into the Bahrel-Ghazal, with orders to occupy Fashoda on the Nile; whilst a Franco-Abyssinian Expedition was despatched from the eastward, to join hands with Major Marchand. The small force from the French Congo reached its destination, and a body of Abyssinian troops, accompanied by French officers, appeared for a short time a little higher up the river; but the grand political scheme was frustrated by the victorious advance of an Anglo-Egyptian force under General Kitchener and the resolute attitude of the British Government. Major Marchand had to retire from Fashoda, and as a concession to French susceptibilities he was allowed to retreat by the Abyssinian route. By an agreement signed by Lord Salisbury and the French Ambassador on 21st March 1899, and appended as Art. IV. to the Anglo-French Convention of 14th June 1898, which dealt with the British and French spheres of influence in the region of the Niger, France was excluded from the basin of the Nile, and a line marking the respective spheres of influence of the two countries was drawn on the map from the northern frontier of the Congo Free State to the southern frontier of the Turkish province of Tripoli (see Africa : History). The administration of the Sudan was organized on the basis of an agreement between the British and Egyptian Governments signed on 19th January 1899. Tbe According to that agreement the British and AngioBgyptian flags are used together, and the Egyptian supreme military and civil command is vested Su(ian. in a Governor-General, who is appointed by the Khedive on the recommendation of the British Government, and who cannot be removed without the British Government’s consent. So far the arrangement has worked well. The Governor-General, Sir Reginald Wingate, in his report dated Khartum, 30th January 1901, after giving an account of the progress made, says: “I cannot close this report without recording my appreciation of the manner in which officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, and officials— British, Egyptian, and Sudanese, without distinction— have laboured during the past year to push on the work of regenerating the country. Nor can I pass over without mention the loyal and valuable assistance I have received from many of the local Ulemas, Sheikhs, and Notables, who have displayed a most genuine desire to see their country once more advancing in the paths of progress and material and moral improvement.” (d. m. w.) British Military Operations of 1882-1885. In February 1879 a slight outbreak of discharged officers and soldiers occurred at Cairo, which led to the despatch of British and French ships to Alexandria. On 26th June of that year Ismail Pasha was removed from Egypt, and Tewfik assumed the Khediviate, becoming practically the protege of the two Western Powers. On 1st February 1881 a more serious disturbance arose at Cairo from the attempt to try three colonels, Ahmed Arabi, Ali Fehmy, and Abd-el-Al, who had been arrested as the ringleaders of the military party. The prisoners were released by force, and proceeded to dictate terms to the Khedive. Again British and French warships were despatched to Alexandria, and were quickly withdrawn, their presence having produced no apparent impression. It soon became clear that the Khedive was powerless, and that the military party, headed by Arabi, threatened to dominate the country. The “ dual note,” communicated to the Khedive on 6th January 1881, contained an intimation that Great Britain and France were prepared to afford material support if necessary; but the fall of Gambetta’s Ministry produced a reaction, and both Governments
