AFTER THE MUTINY. 309 Ministers. The whole of the European population of Egypt, with scarcely an exception, were of opinion that, in the interest of public order, an example must be made of Arabi and the other ringleaders. But the British public had come to an opposite conclusion, and, under Parliamentary government, the opinion of the public is a thing no Ministry can afford to resist.

Moreover, from my own point of view, as an advocate of the British occupation, I hold that in this matter the Ministry were in the right. Where I blame them is that they failed to realize that if they interfered to save the mutineers from punishment, they destroyeq any possibility of re-establishing the authority of th native Government, and thereby committed England to the task of taking the administration of Egypt intoi her own hands.

The Khedive was therefore informed that no steps must be taken as to the trial and punishment of the conspirators previous to the arrival of Lord Dufferin, who was about to pay a visit to Egypt on a special mission " to advise the Government of the Khedive in the arrangements which would have to be made for re-establishing his Highnesses authority.'* I should fancy our then Ambassador at Constantinople, with his great knowledge of the East, and his keen sense of humour, must have smiled to himself when he read these instructions, knowing, as he did, that the result of the advice he was instructed to tender would be to deprive the Khedive of his last chance of re-establishing his authority. The first act of our Envoy was to \