454 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

that he should have no more to do with the matter.

How far he had any solid ground for his assertion that the scheme in question was likely to meet with financial and political support in Germany, I have no means of saying. But it seems to me probable enough, from the anxiety Germany displayed about this period to get a footing in Africa, that such a proposal would have been given, to say the least, a favourable hearing. Only a few years later we were saved by good luck from France succeeding in an even wilder scheme, which, if successful, would have located a French State in the heart of the Soudan, and in command of the White Nile.

This much, however, must be allowed, that, if our hesitation to undertake the reconquest of the Soudan exposed both England and Egypt to serious risks, the avoidance of the expenditure, which would have been rendered necessary by active militar}* operations, enabled Egypt, under Tewfik's reign, to recover her credit and to develop the extraordinary resources of her soil. In the five years preceding his death, the revenue of Egypt rose to close upon eleven millions sterling, in spite of the enormous reductions that had been made in taxation. Never had the country been so prosperous as it had proved under British supervision ; and the credit of this prosperity told in favour of the reigning Sovereign. Shortly before his death, he made a tour through the chief towns of Lower Egypt, and was received with an enthusiasm which, with his usual