I20 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

grow Strong, the privileges accorded by Turkey to foreigners, out of contemptuous indolence, became a source of grievance to their authors. In Egypt, as I have shown, foreigners had always been favoured by the Government since the days of Mahomet Ali.

In consequence, the subjects of the great European Powers resident in the Delta attributed less value to the protection guaranteed by the Capitulations than was attached to these conventions by their fellowcountrymen residing in other provinces of the Ottoman Empire.

At the same time as the commercial relations between Europe and Egypt became more extensive and more complicated, the practical inconveniences caused by the Capitulations became more manifest. Under the system established by the Capitulations, no taxes of any kind could be imposed upon foreigners. No offence committed by foreigners could be tried before the Egyptian tribunals ; and a foreign offender could only be tried, if at all, before the Consular court of the country to which he belonged either by birth or by naturalization. Thus, if an English subject, commonly a Maltese, maltreated a native, he could only be tried, convicted, and punished, after he had been found guilty by the British Consular Court Again, if ji Greek committed fraud, or violated any local law, he could only be brought to justice by a trial held at the Greek Consulate. It is easy to understand how this system worked, or rather failed to work.

In respect of the Consular jurisdiction in criminal