THE NORTHBROOK MISSION. 395 measures required to carry this policy into effect. One instance will, I think, suffice to illustrate his position. When the Gladstone Ministry had at last made up their minds to abandon all further attempt to overthrow the supremacy of the Mahdi throughout the Soudan, Nubar sent the following message through the British Consul-General : — " Nubar Pasha, on behalf of the Egyptian Government, requests me to make a final and most earnest appeal to the Government of her Majesty, to postpone the departure of the British troops "from Dongola for, say, six months, in order that there may be at least a chance of establishing a Government there. Nubar Pasha fears that the retreat of the British from Dongola will react on Egypt, and especially on the southern provinces, to such an extent as will render it impossible for the Khedive's Government to maintain order, and that they will be forced to appeal to her Majesty's Government for help to preserve order in the country, and that thus the present system of government, which her Majesty's Government have been at so much trouble to maintain, will be found no longer possible."

This appeal may have been deemed worthy of consideration, but, in as far as I can ascertain, no answer was vouchsafed. It was always a sore point with Nubar Pasha that he had no power to communicate directly with the British Government, but had to submit his views, if at all, through the medium of the British Consul-General. Apart from considerations of official routine, there are obvious objections to any personal communication between the Minister of a foreign State and the home Government, otherwise than through the channel of their accredited