I70 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

England might object to the idea of intervention, . she objected still more strongly to any intervention to which she was not herself a party ; and that, under the existing conditions of Europe, no intervention was possible unless England could be induced either to undertake it herself, or to take a leading part in its execution. Moreover, he was convinced that, in the interests of Egypt, the active intervention of England was attended with fewer disadvantages and with greater prospect of possible benefit than that of any other Power.

Nubar was habitually denounced in France as being an enemy to the French nation, and as having strong English proclivities. I am convinced the charge was unfounded. He had been brought up under French influences : he had studied in France ; he was a thorough master of the French language, a great admirer of French literature, and was more in harmony with French ideas and French tone of ' thought than he was with those of England. He could read English perfectly, and could, if necessary, carry on a conversation in it ; but he much preferred speaking French, even with his English friends, because, as he was in the habit of saying, his ideas expressed themselves more easily in French than in any other tongue except his own. Somehow he felt more at home in Paris, amidst French people, than he did in London, amongst English ; and I should say his natural bias was towards France rather than towards England. On the other hand, his personal experience