THE EVACUATION OF THE. SOUDAN. 345 On my arrival in Cairo, shortly after, I had an interview with both the outgoing and the incoming Premiers. Cherif Pasha assured me that, though, personally, he disliked office, it had been very painful to him to desert the Sovereign, to whose family he owed so much, at a moment of such grave anxiety.

He went on to say there are "things that a man cannot do ; one of the things I could not do, as a born Egyptian, an old soldier, and a high official, was to sign a decree, involving, as I hold, the ruin of my country. I do not blame others who hold other opinions, but every man must be the judge of his own honour."

Nubar Pasha expressed almost as strongly his disapproval of compulsory evacuation, and declared that he would not have accepted the Premiership, but for two considerations. The first was that under the existing relations between Egypt and England, It was futile to resist the will of the Power which was in military occupation of the country. The second was that if the Soudan had to be evacuated, he could carry out the evacuation with more regard for Egyptian interests, and with less detriment to Egyptian independence, than any other Minister whose services were available. In the course of my life I have seen too much of public men to have any implicit confidence in official explanations, but in the present instance I am inclined to believe both of the above statements corresponded very closely with the truth.