Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-09-16
The Collapse of the Egyptian
Rebellion.

Rebellion.
The collapse of Arabi's rebellion is
complete. The British are masters of |
Egypt, and the rebel leader is in their |
hands to be dealt with as the Khedive
may decree. Whatever may be said of
Sir Garnet Wolseley's operations or the
conduct of the British War Office is
entirely superfuous There is moth
ing so successful as success. WolseleV
has achieved success, and there's the
end of it. Whether he might have
achieved it sooner may be left to COM
petent military critics to determine. but
he certainly has restored the Khedive
to power, and that was his sole mission.
What might have occurred had the Porte
been permitted to take hand in the fight
on its own terms, it is also needless to
conjecture. The Sultan dallied as usual
till it was too late, and his solitary dis
play of backbone came when the British
were at the gates of Cairo. The whole
affair has been in the nature of diver
sion for the British such as they have
not enjoyed, since the Indian mu-
tiny. England's title of Empress
of the Seas has been fully indicated, and
her readiness to maintain the rights of
her subjects fully demonstrated. Fur
thermOre, she has shown the world that
English, Scotch and Irish Drawn is no.
her sole dependence. The Indian con-
tingent was but sample of the legions
she can muster under her meteor flag"
when the need comes, and that they are
ready to uphold her Christian sway
proves that the power of Islam is forever
spent.
How far her resources mi ght have been
taxed had Arab had the cordial support
of the Egyptian people and time to form
and discipline his troops, one can esti-
mate for himself, but that the rebel lead
er was doomed to defeat was as clear as
crumble before the fire of the British
guns. The Suez canal, the gateway to
India, is safe, the Khedive is secure in
his functions, and the Egyp-
tians, having had their frolic, can
now count the cost. That they
must pay for it is certain. They stoned
Arab when he came solitary fugitive
from Tel eli Kebir to Cairo, without his
foeman's head, but they should either
have stoned him when he first defied his
sovereign, or have received him with SYM
pathy as brave but unfortunate de-
fender of their rights. This proves that
they were not worthy of freedom, and
they must henceforth yield to the supe-
rior civilization of the Occident.
There are those who think that the
land of the pyramids must perforce be
added to the vast domain of England
1t is doubtful if she would be burdened
with it, though as against a rival pow.
er, she would undoubtedly pit her
strength to secure it. The status quo
will be restored with possibly some
notifications of the methods of control
ling the Egyptian finances, and the Khe-
dive will govern under the suzerainty of
the Sultan. But England will, afterAl,
be the power behind the throne, aud will
hold heavy lien on the revenues of
Egypt. She will see to it that her debt
is discharged in full, and she will virtu-
ally maintain sovereignty over the cOun-
try as long as to do so is her pleasure.
In this contest too, England has
struck Islam a blow that will long be
felt. That the Egyptians had griev-
ances cannot be disguised, but the time
to rebel was when Ismail began his ca
reer of extravaganza. The debts he in
CURED they sanctioned. A protest
against their creation might have
received support, but their reputation
could command the appreciation of no
Christian power, and though its fol-
lowers are numbered by the hundreds of
millions. Islamism must henceforth bow
down before Christianity.
Sir Garnet Wolseley has once more
proven himself to be master in the art
of war. He seemed when he started
from England, and before he had ever
set foot upon Egyptian soil, to have
taken in the whole situation at glance,
and was able to declare beforehand the
very date when he would crush the rebel
lion. He is an English Napoleon, combin-
ing within himself the wonderful military
genius of the Frenchman, sobered down
by the cool, calculating phlegmatism of
the Anglo Saxon. AS General Sherman
truly said, he was also encouraged by the
knowledge that his country would ''pay
him well, and we may soon expect to
hear of his being honored and promoted.
In this lies the secret of England's great
strength and power. She makes the
rights of the humblest of her subjects a
matter of national interest, and when
these rights are indicated she literally
rewards her heroes for maintaining the
honor of their country.
Soon now the Egyptian question will
be thing of the past Arab, who hoped
for an uprising of Islam in his behalf,
will doubtless be speedily disposed of;
order in Egypt will be restored; Sir
Garnet Wolseley and his victorious
legions will be the lions of the hour for
few days, perhaps weeks; and the
civilized world will await with interest
the next sensation.
The Portland Argus, the leading Dem