National Republican., 1885-07-16


more than ever"
Here the tears welled up in the eyes Of
the speaker, as he went on:
"l would not speak in this way Il | sup
posed that Arab was patriot. But he was
nothing of the kind, I myself am an Egyp-
tian, and, | hope, q true lover Of my ycountry,
q patriot, but ! could not, as Arab did,
when the people asked for bread, give them
stone. ! have endeavored In certain Ways
TO show that | was friend OF the people,
ond that was not afraid to show my love
for them, even In times OF danger. In 1888,
when there were seven hundred day dying
in Cairo OF cholera, though the official re-
ports made IL only five hundred, visited the
different hospitals and shook hands with
the patients. What khedive ever did that
beforef Not one. And yet they were brave
menu
This was said without the slightest touch
Of vanity, but rs II lie felt that, having been
accused Of weakness and want of sympathy
with his people, he had right to say this
In his justification. After o pause he CON
tinued, still with animation, but with tone
Of sadness.
"But what can do, perplexed as / am
by so many conflicting inteTests2 This
nation asks this, and that nation asks that,
and IL is hard to satisfy all. live modestly
on my civil list Of 100000, when the khe-
dives before me had e300,000, and gave
had property and palaces without end,
which have all been given up. / am accused
Of being a friend of the English. But what
could | dor They came to my relief, and
they placed strong government behind
me. The French refused TO come. Was
that my faultp have but one wife, though
II has been the custom Of my ancestors to
have more, and have four children, which
! think 10 enough endeavori In all respects
TO economize, to live modestly, quietly, and
within my income, and favor no one whom
do not think friendly to Egypt and de-
voted to her interests.n
SIS IL your opinion that the change In the
ministry in England will make any serious
change in the affairs Of EgyptW
VI cannot tell, but think not. A year
or two ago conservative came here and
accused me of favoring the liberals told
him as tell you now that / do not favor
one party as a party more than | favor
another. have every reason to remember
the conservative party kindly, for Lord
Benconsfleld was In power when became
khedive. Either party when II comes into
power does what IL thinks best for the In
torests Of Egypt, and with that | am nee
essarily satisfied. The party politics OF
England is something with which l neither
can nor have any desire TO interferen
"What is the foreign population OF
EgyptFn
II believe the Greeks are the most nu-
merous then the Italians, then the French,
Of whom there are said to be about $4,000.
OF English subjects, including the Maltese,
who are more properly Italians, there are
about 11,000. or pureblooded English
men there arc not probably more than two
or three thousand In all Egypt, the army OF
occupation excepted"
"Do you consider II probable that the
Mahdi will attempt to invade EgyptPn
IL. L.. A.. -
q task for him, for between Assouarp and
Wady Halfa there are several hundred mics
of almost impossible country.n
At this point / could not help commend
ing the khedive's English.
ayes" he said; 'but what else have 1 to
do? go home nights, l have my time to
myself and find l can employ it no better
than in reading and studying English"
From this point the conversation touched
casually on various topics with reference to
the Americans and other matters Of which
he had previously spoken. lie seemed
greatly hurt because he was blamed for so
many things when there were so many in
terests to satisfy, and especially as he had
no army since the rebellion. 81 had," he
said, ga well disciplined army of 10000
men. 1t was destroyed by Arabi Now
have not more than five or six thousand not
so well disciplined. What can do with
that numberY Nothing, absolutely nothing,
and yet am blamed for not supporting
this or that party, or this or that govern
ment, or taking some independent
course and depending on Egypt for sup
| port"
About the proposed loan and its effect on
Egypt the khedive spoke most hopefully.
He saw init the dawn Of n better day, the
beginning Of an era Of reform and pros
| perity; Increased value OF land, reduced
taxes, the national bonds again at par, and
happiness among the people. "For,n said
he, "the country is very rich, and 1t has
boundless resources, and only needs repose
and the restoration Of public confidence to
| develop them to the utmost.n
1t is not etiquette for q person talking
with the khedive Of Egypt to rise first;
neither can the visitor say, ~ am boring
your highness, and beg leave to take my de-
parture.n The khediye is expected to
know when conversation has continued
long enough, and to indicate that fact by
rising himself Three-quarters of an hour
| passed and the khedive was still talking In
iluent and impressive English when, per-
| haps thinking that even IL 1t was not i'm
portant to himself, the guest might feel
delicate about keeping an ante-room full of
officials and the public business OF Egypt
waiting, he rose and extended his hand
| rose at the same moment. He cordially
said, ''Bon voyage,n at the same time eX-
pressing wish that might at some future
day revisit Egypt. / turned and walked
toward the door, and when l reached 1t
turned, as etiquette required, and touched
my forehead In Arab fashion. The khedive
had advanced to the middle Of the room.
He returned the salutation, and the inter-
| view was at an end. - Alexandria Core
spOndeRce NelO York Tribune.