THE ORIGIN OF THE KHEDIVIAL DYNASTY. 5

support given them through their alliance with England, the power which had defeated France on Egyptian soil. When the English armies had finally quitted \

Egypt, the Porte considered the time had come for extending and increasing its authority in Egypt, or to express the same idea in plainer words, for ex-

torting larger and more regular payments in the form

of tribute. For this purpose it was essential that the '

Pasha chosen for the purpose should be not only unscrupulous, but bold and energetic, and the choice of the Porte fell upon Mahomet Ali.

Very little is known of Mahomet Ali's career before his arrival in Egypt. According to a common report, he had originally been a slave in a Turkish household. But of this report there is no adequate confirmation. What seems more certain is that he was

an Albanian Mahometan, probably with no Turkish or

Semitic blood in his veins, at any rate, on his father's side. In all countries, however, where the harem

system prevails, questions of maternity are as difficult

of solution as those of paternity are in other and freer lands. A man of humble origin, with little or no fortune, he had made his way to the front by courage and force of character. In Turkey, even more than in other Oriental communities, la carriere est miverte

aux talents^ provided always those talents are backed by energy and not hampered by scruples. A strong man / was wanted in Egypt to carry out the restoration of

Turkish authority, and no fitter person could be found ' than the last of the pashas sent as rulers from the