14 THE WAR IN THE SOUDAN.

alone amounted to upwards of $240,000. The fellaheen were ground down. The insolence of their superiors was as intolerable as their taxes. A system

of forced labor existed, from which there was no relief. Under these circum¬ stances : with the bulk of the working-classes groaning under irremediable

wrongs, their spirits broken, their intelligence stunted, their self-respect nowhere, their industry fruitless, their property and even their lives (owing

to the detestable character of the Cadi courts) in jeopardy, what could be expected of poor Egypt if left to herself ? Only ruin more complete. With an indifferent and apathetic suzerain who never visited his tributary state,

who only proved his authority over it by drawing a yearly income and occa¬ sionally uttering a weak protest against the actions or demands of interested powers, and who openly connived at anarchy ; with a powerless Khedive, an extravagant ministry, and a merciless executive, no wonder that the poverty- stricken natives rallied round Arabi Pasha as their deliverer. No wonder that his fame spread ; that the ranks of his followers were joined by thou¬

sands. Loyalty there was none, and patriotism in such a country was a misnomer. No wonder then, again, that even from the so-called army his numbers were augmented.

But such a state of affairs could not be allowed to exist. If the Sultan would not, and the Khedive could not, interfere—even if—and there were such rumours—even if these both sided with the rebel, he must be put down ; and if France will not lend a helping hand, England will do it alone.

This it was that led to the bombardment of Alexandria, and, in process

of time, to all those events which it is the object of this narrative to record.