i82 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

were ordered to furnish the Commissioners, without delay, with any information that they might demand."

Cherif Pasha, who was then Minister for Foreign Affairs, and who, in virtue of his position, was regarded as Chief Minister of State, absolutely declined to submit himself to examination before the Commission, though he expressed his willingness to answer any questions which might be communicated to him by letter. This refusal created great irritation, as Cherif Pasha had the reputation of being the most favourably disposed towards Europeans of all the leading men in Egypt. His mother had been of French extraction. He had been educated in France, spoke French habitually, and greatly affected the society of foreigners of distinction who happened to visit Cairo. He had many intimate friends amongst the small British community of that period.

He was a keen sportsman, a pleasant companion, a man of the world, and used to be described by his British associates as "a thorough gentleman." Nor do I think this description, so characteristic of our national habit of judging everybody and everything abroad by our own social standards, was altogether unjust. Nobody could help liking Cherif. But if you got at all below the surface, you could not fail to discover that he was a genuine Turk, \vith all the failings and virtues of a master race: a devout Mahometan in theory, though very lax in practice ; an enemy at heart to all progress which interfered with his own interests, and imbued with all a Turk s