money. It was natural that Ismail Pasha should have disbelieved in the existence of honesty or probity, for until nearly the end of his career he rarely had to do with any honest man. His general estimate of human character may be judged from the following incident. He once granted an interview to a representative of a leading English newspaper. When the account of the interview was published, he expressed annoyance that certain remarks which he had made and to which he attached a special degree of importance had been omitted. On enquiry it appeared that Ismail had himself told the reporter that these observations were of a strictly confidential nature and were on no account to be published. He subsequently explained that he made this condition as he thought it was the most certain method for ensuring their publication.

Now and again, in dealing with Eastern affairs, some event occurs, or some trait is revealed in the character of an Oriental who appears thoroughly to have imbibed the spirit of Western civilisation, which suddenly brings back to the mind that the East, though perhaps not so entirely 'unchanging' as is often supposed, still possesses much of its old leaven. Thirteen years ago, the Western world heard with a shock of the savage murder of King Alexander and Queen Draga at Belgrade. Europe then awoke to the fact that a revival of Byzantinism in its worst form was still possible in this enlightened 20th century. I remember that, when my very highly esteemed friend, Mustapha Pasha Fehmy, then Prime Minister of Egypt, was seriously ill, an offer was made to him that the Khedive's special astrologer should visit him and cast his horoscope. Without doubt, the Pasha thought that the feelings of the astrologer towards himself would be as hostile as those of his employer, but he did not reject his services on the ground that he disbelieved in astrology. He replied that two astrologers of his own choice had already told him of all that could be learnt from a study of the stars and that, therefore, no further astrological help was required. I need hardly add that belief in the 'Evil Eye' still flourishes in the East. The ex-Sultan, Abdul Hamid, is believed to have kept Mukhtar Pasha for a long time in Egypt because the latter was held to be a jettatore. Whilst on the

subject of Mustapha Pasha Fehmy, I may mention that during his illness he firmly believed that an attempt would be made to poison him. For some days, he refused to take any food unless it had been prepared by my French cook and sent to his house in sealed packets or bottles.

*

No incidents excite greater interest in the unregenerated East than those cases of patriarchal and capricious justice on the part of despots of which history records so many examples. There is no more characteristically Oriental episode related in the Bible than the story of the judgment of Solomon. Creasy tells us that a poor woman once complained to Bajazet I that a man in his employment had stolen some milk which belonged to her and had just drunk it. That dreaded Sultan had sworn a mighty oath that justice should be dealt out 'indiscriminately to every man or woman within his dominions.' He accordingly directed that the stomach of the accused man should be cut open to see if the milk was there. The woman's story turned out to be true. If this convincing proof of the presence of the milk had not been adduced she would herself have been killed. As it was the Sultan dismissed her with the words: 'Thou hadst just cause of complaint, now go thy way, for the injury done thee has been punished.' The curious part of these incidents is that, whether in the case of Bajazet or others, a large number of Easterns would probably be more struck by the acuteness of the method adopted for arriving at the truth than by its injustice and cruelty.

The stories about Abbas I are very numerous. On one occasion he told a European adventurer, named Bravet, upon whose career M. Alphonse Daudet's work entitled 'Le Nabob' is founded, to procure for him a service of solid silver plate which he wished to give to the Sherif of Mecca. The plate was purchased in Italy and paid for at the price of solid silver. Abbas, however, was so pleased with it that, instead of sending it to the Sherif, he kept it for himself. Shortly afterwards,

*The Ottoman Turks,' p. 42. A similar process was adopted by Defherdar Mohammed Bey, who, in Mehemet Ali's time, governed the Soudan, (Curzon's 'Monasteries in the Levant,' ch. vi.)

one of the branches of a chandelier was broken, and it then appeared that the plate was not solid silver but electro-plate. Abbas was furious, and sent for M. Bravet. The latter, having an inkling of what was about to happen, went straight up to the indignant Khedive and said: 'Eh bien! Votre Altesse m'a trompé.' How could this be? asked Abbas. M. Bravet then explained that, of course, if the Khedive had told him that he wanted a service of plate for himself he would have got solid silver, but that he thought electro-plate was good enough for the Sherif of Mecca. Abbas was so pleased with the ingenuity of the defence that he let the matter drop. M. Bravet himself, after amassing a fortune of about a million sterling, eventually died without leaving enough money to pay his funeral expenses.

The Oriental method of administering justice has this advantage, that it occasionally enables a matter to be settled summarily which would puzzle the most acute judicial authorities in the West. I once had to pay a matter of 107. for the hire of some tents which had been pitched in my garden on the occasion of my giving a ball. I gave the money to my butler, who was a Madrassi, and told him to hand it on to the Egyptian to whom it was due. Shortly afterwards, I noticed a man hanging about the door of my house and asked him what he wanted. He said he had come to receive his 107. I told him that I had already paid it. He denied ever having received it. I then confronted him with the Madrassi. The one said that the money had been paid; the other stoutly denied that it had been received. I had not the least idea which was telling the truth, so I asked the Egyptian Governor, who had a wider experience than myself in dealing with such matters, to enquire into the subject and let me know the result. Shortly afterwards he informed me that he had 'made a thorough enquiry' and that the Madrassi had really paid the money. I subsequently learned what was the nature of the proceedings at the thorough enquiry.' The Governor summoned the two men concerned. He asked the Madrassi whether he had paid the money, to which the reply was 'Yes.' He then asked the Egyptian whether he had received it, and the reply was 'No.' The Governor then said to the Egyptian: You're a liar; go away and get it,' an order Vol. 226.-No. 448.

D

which was at once obeyed. I am inclined to think that in this case what is generally called 'substantial justice,' which is often no justice at all, was done, but I am not at all sure.

In spite of the apparent advance of civilisation in Egypt, many dark deeds are sometimes performed, or at all events until recently were performed, in the recesses of the harem. I give one instance that came within my personal experience. In 1885, an English lady, whom I will call Mrs X., and who was an ardent politician and fervent humanitarian, invoked my aid on behalf of a Circassian slave girl who was in the harem of a near relative of the Khedive (Tewfik Pasha) and was said to be grossly maltreated. I was at the time rather unwilling to take up the slavery question seriously as the whole Egyptian administration was in a state of chaos. The Soudan crisis, which culminated in the death of General Gordon, was at its height. I was overwhelmed with work, and I should have been rather glad to postpone dealing with the slavery question until other and more pressing matters had been settled. However, I recognised that, if I did nothing, I should be told that my inaction was due to unwillingness to come into collision with a member of the Khedivial family, and that, therefore, it was clear that, in spite of the presence of the English in Egypt, there was one law for the rich and another for the poor. I accordingly called on the Khedive and requested that the slave girl who was alleged to have been illtreated should be sent to my house. This was accordingly done. She arrived between 9 and 10 o'clock one evening, accompanied by an eunuch and an older woman. The moment was rather inopportune, for a few hours previously the news had arrived of the fall of Khartoum and Gordon's death. I was giving a fancy ball that night, which, on purely political grounds, I did not think it desirable to put off by reason of the tragic event which had just happened, though I should have greatly preferred to do so. I saw the girl without the presence of those who had accompanied her and asked if she was illtreated. She replied with a decided negative. I strongly suspected that she was not telling the truth, and I told her that if she would speak out then I would see that no harm came to her, but that, if once she returned to the harem, I

would not be responsible for what happened. She replied that she fully understood, but that she wished to go back to the harem, and that she was quite unaware why she had been brought to my house.

Not content, however, with this enquiry, I sent her to the house of the Consul and at the same time sent a message to Mrs X. asking her to come and see me. On that lady's arrival I told her what had happened and I begged her to ascertain whether there were any marks of ill-usage upon the woman's body. She returned in a short time somewhat crestfallen and told me that she was convinced that the woman had undergone no illtreatment and that she had therefore allowed her to go back to the harem. She had not examined her body, and I expressed my regret that she had not done so. On the following day, I saw the Khedive, and he triumphantly remarked that I had been apparently misinformed. Shortly afterwards, I left Egypt for England. On my return a few months later, Mrs X. paid me a visit and burst into tears. I am responsible,' she said, 'for the death of that poor girl.' She then told me that nothing had been done until I had left the country, and that then the girl had been beaten to death. I believe this story was quite true. It appears that the girl had been promised 500l. if she would conceal the truth from me, and that what was most feared in the harem was that I should wish to ascertain whether her body showed any marks of violence. It was, however, thought that I should never dare to conduct the enquiry myself, and it appears not to have occurred to those concerned that I should adopt the simple expedient of asking some woman to act as my deputy.

Individual slavery cases often gave me a great deal of trouble when I was in Egypt. I give one amongst many other instances that remain in my memory. A Circassian girl escaped from the harem of the Minister of Justice and went to a Home which had been instituted for released slaves. Its functions were to keep them for a short time until they could obtain employment or be otherwise settled in life. The next day the matron of the institution took the girl to the Governor's office in order to get her manumission papers, to which, under a Convention with the British Government, she