126 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

/scheme by which the jurisdiction of the Consular courts / of Egypt, in respect of all civil matters, should be / transferred to an International, or, as he preferred to I call it, a mixed tribunal, composed of judges nominated by the Great Powers of Europe, with the approval of the Egyptian Government, by whom their salaries were to be paid. The jurisdiction of these courts was in theory to extend only to foreigners resident in Egypt ; but in practice this limitation was evaded by a provision that all suits between natives to which an European ! was a party, either as plaintiff or defendant, should be heard and tried before the International courts. In the vast majority of important civil cases, it was the interest of one suitor or the other to have his case pleaded before the International courts in preference to the native courts ; and therefore in important cases care was taken, either by plaintiff or defendant, to interest an European in the issue of the litigation.

By the adoption of this scheme, the administration of justice in respect to civil matters rests almost exclusively with tribunals entirely independent of the Egyptian Government. The judges are appointed for five years, and cannot be removed during this period except with the consent of the Power by whom they were nominated. It was also agreed that in the event of the International tribunals becoming, from any cause, unable to exercise their authority, the jurisdiction of the Consular courts in civil matters should revive of itself. By these International courts justice has been administered to the general satisfaction of the