THE ANGLO-FRENCH MINISTRY. 193 office in a constitutional Ministry containing foreign as well as native Ministers, he had an interview with our Foreign Office to inquire how far he could rely on British support in the event of the Khedive's arbitrarily dismissing his Ministry. He always declared that he was given to understand that in such a contingency he could count upon the active support of the British Government I could never ascertain that any written assurance was given him to this effect, and I think it probable that he attached a greater value to general assurances of a friendly character than they intrinsically deserved. I cannot but think that *he was anxious to interpret any assurances he may have received in Downing Street in the sense most favourable to his acceptance of the post he had been offered. After all, the position of a Ministry, one or more of whose chief members / could not be got rid of without the consent of two \ great European Powers, was very different from { that of any Ministry which Egypt had ever known j before. If Nubar declined the offer, the Khedive would have had no difficulty in finding another native Premier, and if the experiment should by any chance prove successful, Nubar would, for the future, be left out in the cold. To any one who knows how all his interests, his hopes, and his ambitions centred in Egypt, it is not difficult to understand why, in opposition, perhaps, to his better judgment, he should have consented to become once more a Minister of Ismail Pasha. In view of subsequent o