The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-04-21 00:00:00

EGYPT.

IT is nearly twelve months since the position
of affairs in Egypt began to attrac`, the prouiin-
ent attention of the British Parliauterit; eul
people. Who Arabi Pasha was very few ol the
newspaper-reading public knew. But it soon
came to be seen that he was a persouage of very
considerable influence and resolution, nod he .
speedily showed that lie was deteralined to give
us a great deal of trouble. The way in which
he-lind his followers threw up earthworks
aryaoti the historic city of Alexandria, right in
view of the British fleet lying in the harbour.
proved the energetic and pushing nature of the
man. When the earthworks were destroyed, he
fortified himself at Tel-el-Kebir. Admiral ir
Beauchamp Seymour had done his duty upon
the sea, and the services of General Sir Garnet
Wolseley were then called into requisition upon
the land. The sucess of the Egyptian causpair
elicited the thanks of Parliament at the autumn
sitting, and has now come before the Legisla-
ture again in the shape of a pension to the. naval
and cc ii ary commanders who tilt* sus:a.inA the
prestige and repr, mutation of Great Britain.
Modern precedents were strictly followed in
the cases of the two new peers ; and looking ot
the vast wealth of some of our herediary nobleS_,
X 2,000 a year to sustain the dignity of on
hereditary peerage seems but a trifling sum. A
time may come when the principle of life peer-
ages, which has already been applied in a small
degree to the case of law lords, may be X.
tended. The Lords of Appeal in Ordinary now
sit for life only ; but the law is at present the
only profession associated with life peerages.
The titles of Lopd Waseley and Alcester were
granted on the usual terms, namely, with re-
mainder to heirs male; and under thcso cir-
cumstances the customary precedents have been
followed.

Within the last two or three years there has
been noticed in the foreign rolicy of France a
tendency towards that spirit of annexation
which in times past has brought our nearest
neighbours into so much trouble. Tunis, Ton-
quill, Madagascar,—all these manes suggest the
development of a restless desire for adiliional
territory. It is not invidious to contrast this
with the way in which Great Braain acted in
recent instances in which we have been com-
pelled to chastise barbarous nations as a thel:ns
indirectly of maintaining our name and pciwe
in the East, where our rule extends over a ty p-
nlation of two hundred and forty millions of re-
ligious enthusiasts who would have no hesitaii( n
in rising against our supremacy if they thenght
they could do so successfully. The attemi t
was made in 1856, ard in was dealt with by a

high hand and an outsl.etched arm. But. 01-iiy
let the naives of Irndostan get an idea that we
week and decaying Power, and the (ndeavocr
of 9. quarter of a century ago, which involved
such a sacrafica of life, might speedily be re-
newed. Ten years atter the suppression of the
Indian mutiny we had a great deal of trouble
with the barbarian ruler of Abyssinia. He had
a grievance against our Foreign Office ; and 11
way of avenging himself upon his adversary
seized several Englishmen then in his dominion
and cast them into prison. Remonstrances
having proved unavailing, it was decided to re:-
cue the captives by force of arms, and an ex-
pedition from India was fitted out for. that pur-
pose. That was wise, inasmuch as it duly im-
pressed the klindoos with a sense of our far-
reaching power. Under the present L .rd
Napier of Magdala the expedition was succesful
in every way. King Theodore lost his life, the
the prison doors were thrown open, and the
captives brought home. But England on that
occasion set a good example, for wanting noth-
ing of the country every soldier cleared out
from Abyssian, and left the place) to itself.
There was a similar experience with the King
of the Ashantees in 1873, when the presery
Lord Woseley penetrated to Coomassie and in-
flicted severe punishment upon the sable Icor-
arch and his capital. Again we wanted nothing
of the country, and left it when the work or
chastisement was done. some might argue
that such countries V 3 Abyssinia and Ashantee
are not worth having; but they cannot be more
worthless than the vast arid territories in
Central Asia, which in preceding reigns Russia
was continually adding to her dominions. In
like manner when Egypt is supplied with a
settled Government, and a working constitu-
tion possessing the confidence of the British
Executive, every English soldier wid he witi -
drawn from Egyptian soil. We want no more
of Egypt. than of Abyssinia or Ashaetee; in fact,
our territories ore sufficiently wideqreading
ready to meet the wishes of the most enthusi
tic annexationist. But these lessoLe, and other
which might be quoted, sufficiently prove tn,t
so long as the sun continues to shine upon the
lands and seas of England, so lcrg will the
people ungrudgingly pay for the maiLtenance of
England's immemorial strength.