448 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

somewhat by the sense of responsibilities to which he hardly felt himself equal, anxious to do his duty, amiable by disposition, and, though imbued with the belief that he was the servant of Allah, ready to acknowledge that men not belonging to his creed might be, nevertheless, honest in their beliefs. I remember calling on him about the time when there had been a series of personal attacks upon him in Parliament, as being disloyal to British interests and indifferent to the welfare of Egypt. In answer to his question as to what was the cause of these attacks.

I told him that I attributed them to a desire, on the part of his assailants, to gain notoriety, and remarked in French, the language he always preferred speaking, " Oest une Philippique contre votre Altesse*' I had great doubts in my mind whether the Khedive had ever heard of Philip of Macedon, or of the diatribes directed against him by Demosthenes. But he caught the allusion at once, to my surprise, and replied, " Votes avez raisotiy cest le mot quilfaut and went on to tell me how glad he was to learn that the attacks in question were not the expression of popular sentiment in England. I recollect, too, about the same time, his telling me he had recently taken the opportunity of referring to the records of the French sojourn in Cairo under Marshal Kleber, and saying how much he was struck by the contrast between the French and the English occupations.

" When the French held the citadel, not a day passed without there being some charge brought of