By JUDGE G. M. BARBER.
“Egypt for the Egyptians!” was the motto of the national party in
their attempted revolution. What is Egypt, and who are the Egyptians?
Let history answer. Modern investigations and the translation of
hieroglyphics and inscriptions found in tombs carry back the evidences
of its existence as a nation at least a thousand years prior to the
period fixed by the translators of the Mosaic record for the creation
of man. During all these cycles of ages these wonderful people have
maintained their existence along the narrow region watered and enriched
by the Nile. Neither pestilence nor famine, invasion and subjugation
by other peoples, nor internal discord, has supplanted them by other
or different races; nor have they been allured to abandon the homes
of their ancestors for more fruitful lands or mineral wealth, or
commercial advantages. Although in turn they have been conquerors,
and held in subjection other lands and other peoples, and have been
themselves the conquered and compelled to bear the yoke of people
more powerful than themselves, they have remained the same simple
agricultural people, among whom have always existed types of squalid
poverty and luxurious wealth, self-sacrificing devotion to a religion,
and the most wanton lasciviousness: the most deplorable ignorance and
the most exalted scientific knowledge and mechanical skill.
Over this interesting country and people Mohammedanism has for several
centuries spread its baleful influence, keeping out the light of
Christianity and western civilization. During most of the time since
1517 it has been under the dominion of Turkey. In the early part of the
eighteenth century the Mamelukes, who constituted the military under
Ali Bey, threw off the Turkish yoke and maintained their independence
until the invasion by Napoleon in 1798, who conquered it for the French
and held it until 1801, when Mehemet Ali became Pasha. After restoring
tranquility by a treacherous assassination of five hundred Mamelukes,
and the expulsion of the remainder from the country, he turned his
arms against Turkey, conquered Syria and a great part of Asia Minor,
and was in a fair way to capture Constantinople when the European
powers, England, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria, interfered and
compelled him to make peace with the sultan. This was in 1833. In 1839
the sultan sent an army of 80,000 men and a large fleet to retake Ali’s
conquests. This army was defeated and the fleet surrendered to Ali and
was brought to Alexandria. The powers of Europe again interfered to
prevent the overthrow and destruction of the Turkish Empire, England,
Russia, Austria, and Prussia, taking sides with Turkey, while France,
under Thiers, favored Ali. England, however, sent a fleet, blockaded
Alexandria, bombarded and captured Beyrut and Acre, and compelled Ali
to accept peace, dictated by the allies, and to accept the pashalic of
Egypt, guaranteed to him and his descendants on condition of his paying
one-fourth of his clear revenues to the sultan.
This short history is necessary to understand the relation of Egypt
to Turkey, and how the European powers have come to take part in the
affairs of Egypt. Mehemet Ali became ruler of Egypt in 1805, under the
title of pasha. Finding his ambition to conquer Turkey frustrated by
the European powers, he attempted to introduce into the administration
of his government European systems and the institutions of western
civilization. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Ibrahim, who lived
but two months, and was followed by his nephew, Abbas, and after
six years reign of Abbas by Saïd, the fourth son of Ali, who had a
prosperous reign of nine years and was succeeded in January, 1863, by
Ismaïl Pasha, the son of Ibrahim. The policy of modernizing Egypt,
inaugurated by Mehemet Ali, was followed by Saïd, although wholly
neglected during the unsatisfactory rule of Abbas.
Ismaïl was educated in France, and had imbibed as thoroughly as
his grandfather, Mehemet, western ideas, and as fully appreciated
the superiority of European civilization over eastern opulence and
luxury. His ambition was to accomplish what Mehemet had been prevented
from accomplishing by the interference of the European powers—to be
independent of Turkey. He seems to have had the idea that he could
at once lift Egypt from its condition of semi-barbarism into the
civilization of the nineteenth century. The public works which he
constructed must have appeared to his simple agricultural people more
wonderful than a realization of the stories of the Arabian Nights.
He built railroads and telegraphs, constructed harbors and wharfs
for the largest vessels, and opened Alexandria to the commerce of
the world. He lighted his cities with gas, and supplied them with
water by means of aqueducts, constructed canals for irrigation, built
bridges, established military schools, and increased his army until
it excited the jealousy of Turkey. In addition to all these he paid
nearly one-half the cost of constructing the Suez Canal, from which
there is scarcely a maritime nation in the world that does not reap
greater benefit than Egypt. The expenditures for these improvements
not only absorbed his revenues, but involved him in enormous debts.
Soon he was unable to pay interest, and at once European capitalists
refused to make additional loans, and demanded payment. In his extreme
need of money he sold his shares of stock in the Suez Canal, 177,000
shares, to the English government for £4,000,000. Every dollar that
could be raised by taxation was taken from the property owners and
the poor fellahs; and when he could get no more he resorted to the
“Muskabala” policy, which consisted in giving immunity for all time
from land taxes on the payment by the owner of an agreed assessment;
one of the most short sighted pieces of statesmanship ever devised,
to sell immunity to the rich at the expense of the poor. The finances
fell into a state of inextricable confusion. Ismaïl had no definite
knowledge of his indebtedness or of his resources. In this dilemma
he applied to the English government, which sent him two eminent
financiers, who investigated his financial condition, and reported the
public debt to be £91,000,000, or nearly $500,000,000, and recommended
a consolidated loan on bonds at reduced interest. This project was
opposed by the other European powers, and it failed. An arrangement was
finally agreed upon which satisfied all parties. A comptroller-general
of the revenue and a comptroller-general of the debt and audit were to
be appointed, one by the English and one by the French governments, who
should have entire control of the public revenue, its collection and
application to the payment of the expenses of the government and the
interest and principal of the public debt. The personal creditors of
the khedive also demanded an investigation of his personal indebtedness
and resources, and the adoption of measures which should bring his
expenditures within his resources, and provide for the payment of
his debts. A commission was appointed, of which M. De Lesseps was
president, consisting of representatives of France, England, Germany,
Austria and Italy.
This commission reported the khedive’s personal indebtedness to be
£6,744,000, and that his resources were wholly insufficient to pay his
current expenses and the interest, and recommended that he surrender
all his private estates to the government, and that it assume his
liabilities, and pay him and the members of his family a fixed stipend
for their support. This proposition was accepted by Ismaïl in a
speech which shows that, with all his faults, he has noble traits of
character. As an evidence of his good faith he conveyed all his estates
to the government, and received in return an annual allowance for the
support of himself and his family. Although Ismaïl was controlled
by European influence his administration of public affairs was to
some extent influenced by native ministers, the principal and most
influential of whom were Nubar, Chérif, Riaz, and Ismaïl Sadyk, Pashas.
Messrs. Rivers Wilson, and De Bligniers, as representatives of the
English and French governments held portfolios in the ministry, having
virtually control of finances.
In the latter part of 1878 the crisis was approaching. All the debts
could not be paid in full, and the commissioners decided that the
sacrifices should be borne equally by all.
On February 18, 1879, a council of ministers was held at Cairo. As
Minister Nubar Pasha and Mr. Rivers Wilson were leaving in a carriage,
they were stopped by a crowd of army officers, clamoring for payment of
arrears of their salaries. The ministers were grossly insulted, their
coachman wounded, and they pursued to Nubar’s private apartments, where
they were held prisoners until the khedive came with a regiment of
soldiers and dispersed the mob. This affair created intense excitement
in London and Paris, where it was believed that the attack on Nubar
and Mr. Rivers Wilson was instigated by the khedive as a means to get
rid of Nubar as prime minister, for whom he entertained a profound
aversion. It will be remembered that he was a Christian, and had the
confidence of the European powers, and was appointed at the dictation
of the foreign bondholders. He immediately resigned and an apology
was made to Mr. Wilson, which he accepted. On the 7th of April, 1879,
the culmination of the crisis was precipitated by the khedive and the
Egyptians themselves. It seemed to be a last struggle of Egyptians
for independence, and was the first real effort to save Egypt for the
Egyptians. Ismaïl dismissed his ministry, which had been practically
forced upon him by the European powers, and appointed a new one,
composed wholly of Egyptians, with Chérif Pasha as prime minister.
Wilson and De Bligniers were dismissed, but they refused to surrender
their offices and appealed to their governments. It was a rebellion of
Egypt against the western powers, and the khedive was supported by all
the political and religious influences of the country.
The pashas, the harems, the ulemans, the priests, and the principal
land owners combined to support him in his effort to regain his lost
power. The last straw was laid on the camel’s back when the new
ministry issued a decree on April 22, 1879, virtually suspending
payment of all foreign debts. This was followed by a demand from the
English and French governments for the abdication of Ismaïl, and on the
25th of June, 1879, he received an order from the Porte to abdicate
in favor of his son, Mehemet Tewfik, which he obeyed, and Tewfik was
immediately proclaimed khedive, as Tewfik I. Liberal provision was made
for Ismaïl and his family in a style commensurate with the dignity of
an oriental viceroyalty.
Tewfik formed three successive ministries within four months, the last
on September 21, 1879, in which Osman Pasha was made Minister of War.
On demand of England Messrs. Baring and De Bligniers were appointed
comptrollers-general of finance with unrestricted authority, and an
order issued that all subjects of the khedive should be treated alike,
the pashas and other officials being required to pay taxes, and in
failure to do so their rents were to be seized and their produce sold.
The condition of Egypt was now most deplorable. It was at war with
Abyssinia and a most disastrous famine prevailed. It is authoritatively
reported that in September, October, November and December, 1879,
700,000 people in Egypt were in a starving condition, and that 10,000
actually died from that cause. When we consider that this state of
things was brought about by forced collections of taxes to pay interest
to European bondholders, and through methods forced upon them for
that purpose, we need not be surprised that antipathy should arise to
European interference, and that some efforts should be made to relieve
this people of those oppressive burdens.
For the purpose of consolidating the public debt, and to form a plan
for its liquidation, a commission was established of representatives
of the English, French, Italian, Austrian and Egyptian governments.
A plan was prepared by this commission and a law drafted to carry
it into effect, which was adopted by the ministry, and at once put
into operation. It consolidated all debts created before 1880, and
provided for the issuing of bonds for the principal, and coupons for
the interest, and that no suit could be brought on such debts except
as the coupons and bonds should mature, and for an equitable division
and appropriation of the income so that current expenses should be paid
and the surplus applied to the interest and principal of the debt, and
the collection of taxes was fixed to correspond with the ripening of
the crops. This was the first step toward bringing order out of chaos.
The result surpassed the most sanguine hopes of the government. The
fellahs were able to pay their taxes out of their crops and have a
surplus. Instead of forced collections the people came voluntarily to
the collectors, anxious and able to pay their taxes. Land rose in the
market, and the future looked prosperous for Egypt.
The very success which attended the efforts of the foreign
commissioners in extricating the country from the quicksands into which
it had fallen—creating confidence and bringing in capital from abroad,
only hastened the time when the religious national prejudices would be
aroused. It was irksome to them to see all the important public offices
in the hands of foreigners. The better the new system worked, the more
impatient they were to get rid of foreign domination. Add to this the
fact that the salaries paid these foreign officials were greater than
are paid for like services in any civilized country in the world,
and were unheard of in Egypt, and you can see the real cause of the
discontent of the people, out of which grew the National party. Their
motto became “Egypt for the Egyptians.”
On the 2d of February, 1881, a mutiny broke out in the army. Osman
Reski Pasha, minister of war, had become obnoxious to the officers of
the army, of whom a great number were unemployed. Osman was accused of
promoting Turkish subjects to positions in the army to the exclusion
of natives, and of treating the latter with contempt. The colonels
of the bodyguard and two other regiments drew up and presented to
the khedive a petition for his removal. It came into the hands of
Osman, who arrested and placed them in confinement in the citadel. The
soldiers of the guard stormed the citadel and released the colonels,
who marched with them to the palace and demanded an audience of the
khedive. He ordered the insubordinate colonels under arrest, but they
refused to obey him. On consultation with his ministers, he finally
yielded to their demands, and dismissed Osman. Ahmed Arabi Bey was the
leader of this movement, and the most popular of the three colonels.
Some years before he had been dismissed from his position by Ismaïl
without any good reason, and from that time he determined to devote
himself to the work of securing for army officers a fair trial, and of
protecting the fellaheen from the tyranny and oppression of government
officials. He and his fellow-officers at that time contemplated a
rising in favor of popular rights, but were deterred by the belief that
they would be overpowered. Arabi was chosen leader, and seven days
after the last occurrence he presented a demand for the dismissal of
the entire ministry, the formation of a constitution and an increase
of the army, and gave notice that the troops would appear before the
palace at four o’clock of that day, and wait until the demand was
complied with. At the hour appointed, four thousand troops and eighteen
pieces of artillery were drawn up before the palace under the command
of Arabi. The khedive again yielded, formed a new ministry, and ordered
an assembly of notables to be elected by the people to inaugurate a
representative system of government. The independence and enthusiasm
with which the fellaheen voted for these representatives revealed to
the world the fact that liberal political ideas and the nationalistic
principles of the popular party had taken deep root in the minds of
this ancient race, “which once bore the torch of civilization, but
since has tilled the fertile valley of the Nile under the whip of many
masters.”
The Chamber of Notables resolved that in the new organization they
would control the ministry and the financial affairs and every other
department of the government. This was a declaration of war on the
policy of foreign supervision, and created consternation among all who
were interested in Egyptian securities. Arabi come to the front as
Minister of War, and was made a pasha. When the session closed on March
24, 1882, he and his friends were masters of the situation. His next
step was to dispose of the Turkish and Circassian officers who stood
in the way of his plans. They were charged with conspiracy, tried by a
secret court, and sentenced to confinement for life. At this juncture
Admiral Seymour, with an English fleet, was sent to Alexandria with
the avowed purpose of supporting the khedive. England and France now
demanded that Arabi should be dismissed from the ministry and sent out
of Egypt, as he was thought to be the principal disturbing element. He
however refused to obey the khedive’s order to that effect, and became
practically the ruler of Egypt. The army was the willing instrument of
his ambition.
The next act in the drama came without warning, and startled the
world by its atrocity. On June 11, 1882, a bloody riot occurred in
Alexandria, in which about three hundred and eighty Europeans were
killed, with a species of brutality known only to the fanatical
followers of Mahomet in northern Egypt, and discounted the ferocity of
the North American Indians. Arabi was accused of complicity in it, and
the fact that he was in Alexandria, near the scene of the massacre,
at the head of 6,000 troops, and made no effort to stop the slaughter
of women and children which was going on, renders it probable that
the accusation is true. However, after five hours delay, he took
what appeared to be vigorous measures to stop the slaughter. It was
evidently the outburst of the race hatred of Moslem against Christian,
and Arabs against Europeans. It was the harvest of blood from the seed
sown broadcast by Arabi and the National party in carrying on their
plans to secure Egypt for the Egyptians. This massacre was followed
by the flight from Egypt of all Europeans and Americans who could get
away, as it was apparent it was the beginning of more serious trouble.
It was discovered that Arabi, anticipating interference by England and
France, was vigorously building and equipping fortifications about
Alexandria, and threatened the destruction of all foreigners, and of
the Suez Canal, if interference was attempted. Admiral Seymour ordered
him to cease operations on the fortifications. The work proceeded. He
thereupon demanded the surrender of the forts within twelve hours or he
would open fire.
This bombardment was the first step. The burning of the finest portions
of Alexandria, the horrible murders there, the concentration of
English forces in Egypt against Arabi, his final defeat and surrender,
constitute the story of a war remarkable principally for the great
perturbation it caused among the powers of Europe, for the small force
on the one side, and on the other for the power, pomp and parade, and
the vast stores of material and men. On the part of Arabi and his
army, for the justness of their cause in the ostensible purposes of
the National party, and on the part of England for the flimsy pretext
of acting under authority of the khedive, when the only real excuse
was the fact that the Suez Canal is of vital importance for connection
with its East Indian possessions, and control of Egypt is necessary
for the protection of the canal. Especially is it remarkable in view
of the show of force and preparation, for the weakness of the Egyptian
army and the feebleness and unskillfulness on the part of Arabi and
his generals. We can, however, account for the consternation it
created in Europe, when we consider that Mahommedanism covers a larger
extent of territory and includes more peoples than all the rest of
the world. The religious prejudices of the followers of the prophet
have only tolerated the presence of Christians when they could be kept
under subjection and in servility. Some point was given to the idea
that a religious war was imminent by the fact that the False Prophet
was advancing into Soudan toward Southern Egypt. What the outcome of
such a war would be was difficult to foresee. It would involve more
than three-fourths of the population of the world. And while Western
civilization would have the advantage of modern improvements in the art
of war, it was not certain it could compete with the Moslem hordes that
would swarm from Asia and Africa. It would not only check and greatly
set back civilization, but would threaten to overthrow and destroy it.
It is not surprising, then, that the powers of Europe hesitated. And
from the standpoint of Western civilization England can not be too
highly commended for her energy in crushing out in its inception what
might have ripened into a war involving such tremendous consequences.
The weakness and unskillfulness exhibited by the leaders of the
National party, and their indifference to the fate of their
subordinates, show that any sentimentality spent upon them is
unmerited, and the collapse of the rebellion upon the first serious
disaster, which, from the Egyptian standpoint, was a struggle for
life and liberty, shows to what state of servility the descendants of
the Pharaohs have been reduced, and how utterly incapable they are of
self-government.
The last act in the drama was performed at Cairo on the 25th of
December, 1882. The leaders were nominally turned over to the
government of the khedive for trial and punishment, charged with the
massacre and incendiarism of June 11th, and with rebellion. Nothing
awaited them but death by assassination or public execution. In reality
the turning them over to the khedive was only a form to keep up the
pretext of acting under his authority. In fact the trial was suppressed
because of the complications which would have arisen from making public
the evidences in the hands of Arabi of the complicity of Turkey in the
rebellion. Under the dictation of England a plea of guilty of rebellion
only was accepted, and sentence of death in form pronounced upon the
seven principal leaders, Arabi, Toulba, Abdelal, Mahmoud Sami, Ali
Fehni, Yacoob Sami, and Mahmoud Fehni. At the same time a commutation,
by the khedive, was announced to degradation and exile for life, and
the place of exile has been fixed in the English colony of Ceylon. The
ceremony of degradation was performed at Cairo on Christmas day, and
consisted in reading the decree of degradation to the prisoners in the
presence of the army, public officers, and a crowd of native Egyptians.
Immediately thereafter they were sent to Suez and thence to Ceylon
under guard. A liberal provision is made for their support in view of
the fact that they are state prisoners. About $10,000 each per year is
allowed for their support, so that life in exile is not altogether an
unmitigated hardship.
* * * * *
MEN show their character in nothing more clearly than by what they
think laughable.—_Goethe._