/ / 304 THK STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

Two days after Tel-el-Kebir, Lord DuflFerin, in accordance with the instructions he had received from home, informed the Sultan that, the insurrection in Egypt being now suppressed, her Majesty's Government contemplated the early withdrawal of the British troops. I believe this assurance, however it has been belied by events, was given in perfect good faith.

Lord Dufferin, with his great experience of Eastern affairs, probably realized that it was much easier for England to get into Egypt than to get out of it. But this truth was not realized at the time by Mr. Gladstone or by his colleagues, or by the British public. I have little doubt that the Prime Minister seriously imagined it would be possible to follow the example of the Magdala and Coomassie campaigns, and to carry out the withdrawal of the British army from Egypt as soon as the immediate object of our expedition had been accomplished.

No delusion of this kind was entertained in Egypt. The authority of the Khedive had never recovered the blow given to the prestige of his office by the deposition of his father. The army, by whose force order had to be restored and upheld, had proved utterly untrustworthy. The introduction of Turkish troops into Egypt was regarded with dread on the part of Egypt, as being certain to result in the restoration of Turkish rule. The re-establishment of the Dual Control was manifestly futile, unless their rule was supported by an army in whom the Khedive could place confidence. An Anglo-French occupation was \