Between its people and the bachelors of the Egyptian province, and the religious and commercial relations between the two parties. Therefore, the agitation of minds in Egypt was comprehensive and very attentive. But the people of Egypt showed such fortitude and self-control that they deserve the greatest praise, despite the bad incitement of some national newspapers that do not love or appreciate the consequences. The Egyptians committed themselves to doing what they had a right to do, so they made the efforts of the noble to alleviate the distress and hardships resulting from the war and to prepare hospitals for the Red Crescent and send them to assist the wounded. Egypt was keen to remain neutral in this war, and the Egyptians maintained this neutrality with utmost care, thus showing a wonderful zeal in fulfilling their duty and respecting law and order, despite the intensity of their religious hopes and the compassion and tenderness stirred by the length of this conflict near their borders.

I am pleased to say that, apart from that, political hopes have recently become more settled, and most of the people, it seems, are more interested in considering the reforms that will benefit their country than in discussing complex political issues that lead to no useful result.

When I returned to Egypt after a long absence, it greatly affected me to see that those I had left behind, who were a distinguished group of intelligent and influential people, had established a society based on firm social traditions, and had been divided into political factions and parties. For, whatever the system of party existence may be in the political body, it is not permissible to apply this system to a group so strongly imbued with the democratic spirit upon which it built its social system of brotherhood among people, with respect for knowledge and the selection of elders. Such an application would be contrary to the requirements of the situation and would inevitably lead to division and weakness.

The moral improvement of the people and the elevation of their status depend largely on the growth of their self-control and their ability to master their impulses, so that they do not obey the first impulse from themselves, and on their habit of self-reliance without pretense or curiosity, and on their practice of deliberation, steadfastness, and fortitude. The existence of parties in their debates with each other does not help in acquiring any of these qualities by which progress is achieved. Furthermore, a calm and contemplative interest in political matters is beneficial to the government and the ruling body. However, a false interest, which is usually based on distorting words from their context and misrepresenting matters, and which is sustained by the party's funds, measures, and tricks, is of no benefit to the expansion of the mind and the cultivation of morals in any of the Eastern peoples.