482 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

declared 'to be valid. In consequence, the Egyptian Government was ordered by the court to repay the ;500,ooo with interest to the Caisse de la Dette.

In the interval between March and June a very large amount of the grant had been already expended on the campaign, and a still larger amount was pledged for the payment of contracts entered into by the War Office. The Khedivial Government was therefore placed in a position of extreme difficulty, as there were no funds immediately available for the repayment of the grant, while, on the other hand, the order of an International tribunal could not be disregarded on the part of the State without giving rise to serious International complications. At the instance, however, of Lord Cromer, the British Government offered to provide Egypt with the sum required. This wise act of liberality, performed in order to facilitate the prosecution of the campaign, which Egypt had instituted on English advice, for the re-conquest of her lost territory in the Soudan, had a great effect in reconciling official circles in Egypt to the virtual Protectorate exercised by England. At the same time our action showed the Commission of the Public Debt that resistance to British supremacy was not only impolitic, but useless. Thus once more France, while intending to weaken our authority in Egypt, contributed to its consolidation.