24 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

The second incident to which I would allude, is the fact that in Said's lifetime Egypt commenced the system of borrowing from Europe, which led to her virtual bankruptcy. In 1862 Said Pasha, with the sanction of the Sublime Porte, contracted a loan of ;i, 200,000 with the Bank of Saxe-Meiningen, repayable in thirty years, and bearing interest at 7 per cent. The security was deemed excellent, and the loan, which was issued in London by the firm of Frlihling and Goschen, as the agents of the bank in question, was subscribed five times over. On the loan being issued, the representative of the bank at Cairo called to inform the Viceroy of the success with which the issue had been attended. Said's reported reply was eminently characteristic of an Oriental potentate: ** If fifteen millions have been subscribed, why not take them all ? It would be such a pity to disappoint anybody."

The third, and by far the most important, incident of Said's reign is that he granted to Ferdinand de Lesseps the concession for constructing a canal across the Isthmus of Suez. But this concession has had, and still has, such an immense influence on the fortunes of Egypt and the Khedivate, that I had better reserve the subject for another chapter.