194 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

events, it is worth noting that before he started for Egypt, he made a journey to Kissingen, where he had an interview with Prince Bismarck. It is not my wish to represent Nubar Pasha as a statesman, actuated simply and solely by a desire to serve the interests of the country under his charge. As far as my experience goes, statesmen of this kind are black swans in every part of the world. As the event proved, he was honestly anxious to protect the native population of Egypt from oppression and misgovernment, but he was also anxious that this should be accomplished by his own agency, and after his own fashion. After all, he was an Oriental, bred and trained in a world where every man has to fight for his own hand. He may have felt assured that the Khedive would intrigue against himself and his colleagues as soon as they endeavoured to administer public affairs for the benefit of Egypt, not for the personal advantage of her Sovereign. But he believed, that if it came to a conflict, he could hold his own. In all judgments upon the personages whoplayed their parts in the curious chapter of history,, which has ended in the British occupation of Egypt, we must bear in mind that they, if not Orientals themselves, were dealing with Oriental affairs ; and that their action must fairly be judged by the standards of the East, not of the West.

Moreover, I am convinced, that though he was by no means sanguine of success, he firmly believed that the personal rule of the Khedive, if controlled