power to investigate the financial position of the State both as regards expenditure and revenue. The Khedive stood out doggedly against interference with his expenditure, and an appeal had to be made to the controlling Powers, on the ground that public order was in grave danger – as undoubtedly it was. The Treasury chest had been seized by a foreign official under a judgment of the court for arrears of salary. The army, the civil service, and even the Khedive's domestic servants, had got no pay for months. And all the blame of the fearful misery which the country suffered was being laid by the Khedive and his creatures on the Comptrollers, whose anxiety was to demise a remedy for it. At length the Consul-General had to submit to the Foreign Office the alternative of crossing the shadowy line of "unofficial" assistance, and applying direct pressure to the Khedive, or of allowing a catastrophe to precipitate itself on Egypt. For once Lord Derby not only saw clearly, but made up his mind and struck home.
The Khedive was given to understand that there must be a thorough and independent inquiry into his expenditure. He yielded, and Mr Rivers Wilson returned to Cairo to preside over the Commission. Its proceedings were a series of hand-to-hand contests with the Khedive. The first resulted in the dismissal of Cherif Pasha, the most powerful bulwark of the old system. The next raged round the question of the Crown lands, which had been retained by the Khedive. This issued in a compromise – the Khedive surrendering about 288,000 acres, with a revenue of nearly £400,000 per annum, and being allowed to keep about half that quantity. The next and stiffest fight was over the limitation of the Khedive's absolute power. The Commission insisted that he should submit himself to the condition of a constitutional monarch, with responsible ministers. Preparatory to that, he was required to surrender all other Crown property in the hands of himself and his family, and to accept a civil list. All this he had to yield, though much against the grain; and in August 1878 he signed a document – the Magna Charta of Egypt – affirming the doctrine of ministerial responsibility. This "Rescript," as it was called, of August 1878, was in effect a solemn engagement with the two Powers at whose instance it was adopted. It gave them a clear moral right to take the extreme measure which forced itself on them in the following year. Mr Rivers Wilson and the French Comptroller became members of the first Egyptian Cabinet, and in that capacity carried on the triangular duel with the Khedive, which was now coming to very close quarters. Ismail Pasha fought his losing battle skilfully to the bitter end. He was full of resource, and had a powerful weapon in his hand in the National movement, which was now assuming serious proportions. His final stroke was delivered through the Assembly of Notables, whom he instigated to all kinds of interference with the executive and even with the provincial administration. This culminated in a popular tumult, headed by dismissed officers of the army, and at one time threatening personal violence to Mr Rivers Wilson. In April 1879 the Khedive declared his sympathy with the mob by summarily dismissing his two European Ministers. The Powers, who could regard this in no other light than as a defiance, replied with the famous measure which ended in Ismail Pasha's deposition.
In June 1879 the new régime
