154 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

Lord Derby, as usual, declined to accept any responsibility, and, at the request of the Khedive, Mr. Goschen suggested the appointment of Mr, Romaine, formerly Judge Advocate-General, as British Controller, and of General Marriott, who had previously held an important position in the administration of the State railways in India, as British member of the Egyptian Railway Board. No objection to these appointments was raised at the Foreign Office, The Goschen arrangement was accepted with enthusiasm at a meeting of the Egyptian bondholders in London, and for a short interval there seemed a prospect of a condition of financial equilibrium being restored in Egypt On the eve, however, of the so-called Goschen decree being promulgated, an incident occurred which must have raised doubts as to the stability of any composition between the Khedive and his creditors, so long as his Highness retained the power of abso-[lute personal government.

During the discussions between the envoys of the bondholders and the Khedive, Ismail Sadyk, the Mufettish, was the official mouthpiece of the Egyptian Government He remained the right hand of Ismail Pasha up to the date of his downfall. The whole story of his dismissal and his death was wrapt up in a mystery which has never et been cleared up. Let me first repeat the story as it was told me at the time of its occurrence.

As I have already mentioned, the Khedive, in