Secret History of the English Occupation of Egypt /.lstOry of the English Occupation of Egypt BEING A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF EVENTS BY WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT SECOND EDITION WITH SPECIAL APPENDiCeS LONDON· T. FISHER UNWIN ADELPHI TERRACE MCMVII ... tlstory of the English Occupation of Egypt BEING A PERSONAL NARRATIVE 0] EVENTS BY WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT SECOND EDITION WITH SPECIAL AFPENDICIiS LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN ADELPHI TERRACE MCMVII ])7 ! CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND co. TooKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION SECOND Edition of this work having become A necessary, a few words correcting mistakes in the text and in answer to criticism ~ay not be out of .place. ... I t was of course hardly to be expected that, in the present state of public opinion, truths so little palat­ able to our English imperial pride and condemn­ atory of financial ways should find much welcome in the capitalist press, or that a narrative sparing the public action of neither Political Party should escape Party reproof. Party feeling is ingrained in all our conceptions of recent history, and a chronicler whose avowed position is that of recording facts as they occurred, not as they ought in Whig or Tory in­ terests to have occurred, was sure to find himself isolated and without strong support. Nevertheless, though reserved in its approval, the London press has, as a rule, treated the work fairly, and, except in the II Times," comment has been offered without un­ reasoning heat. It is a satisfaction to the author to note that hardly any serious attempt has been made to controvert his facts, little as they agree with of­ ficial pseudo-history, and that the blame dealt him has been ratherfor his having told too much than too little of the reality. He has been" indiscreet," it has been said" culpably indiscreet," not in an] serious fashion inaccurate. careless, or untrue. Of the actors themselves in the tragedy of 1882 one only of those still living. Sir Charles Dilke, has come forwaid in open correction of any important . statement made regarding him in the text. As to this, the author would draw attention to an interesting Note to tlte Secolld Edition correspondence, now printed in a separate Appendix, between Sir Charles and himself, in which the question of the responsibility for the fatal "J oint < Note" of January, 1882, will be found discussed with , knowledge and authority. At the author's instance Sir Charles has consented that his letters should find a place at the end of the present Edition, where' they must be taken as correcting the text of pages 182 and 183, and to a certain extent of page 160, though this does not imply a change in the author's recollection of the conversation ther~ recorded. Other rectifications made in the Appendices are (1) in regard to a misstatement on page 19, where the late N ubar Pasha has been represented as having been the Khedive IsmaIl's financial agent for the raising of his loans in Europe. As to this, his son, Boghos Pasha N ubar, has been good enough to write a long letter to the author, clearing his father of that responsibility, and adding a detailed account ·of the fortune left by him at his death, showing that the vast wealth generally attributed to Nubar Pasha has been much exaggerated; (2) in regard to the account given, at page 35, of the Berlin Congress, a confusion having been made between the Cyprus Convention with Turkey and the secret agreement with Russia. This confusion was pointed out by Mr. Lucy in the " Westminster Gazette"; (3) the discovery of a mis-reading of the text of one of Mr. Gladstone's letters, that printed at page 559, to which special attention is directed, as a false impression of Mr. Gladstone's meaning has thereby been given. The correct reading was suggested by a critic in the " Illustrated London News"; and (4) in regard to a complaint raised in the "Times" by Sir Edward Malet that the circumstances of his going on board ship at Alexandria in June, J 882, had been mis- Note to the Second Edition represented. The complaint seems to the author a trIvial one, due mainly to a misconception of the meaning of the text at page 337. But, as it formed the pretext of a public attack on the author in the "Times," it has been given a place in the Appendices. The author regrets that mistakes of any kind should have occurred in his work, and here thanks those who have enabled him to correct them, offering apology where apology is due. He thinks, however, that he may congratulate himself that, in a history of such extreme complexity as he had undertaken, so few corrections have had to be made. It is significant of the general accuracy of his narrative that, where so many important statements have been published contradicting the official version of events, so little of it should as yet have met with official denial. Interesting new matter in support of and supple­ menting the narrative will be found in a letter written by General Sir William Butler, who served in Egypt on Lord W olseley's staff, confirmatory of the account given; in an unpublished letter of J ul y, 1904, from the late Sheykh Mohammed Abdu, which may be regarded as embodying his latest views of Con­ stitutional Reform, a letter which the author com­ mends to the notice of those actually responsible for English policy at Cairo; and in an additional account recently communicated to the author by Sir Rivers Wilson of his missions to Egypt in 1878 and 1879. The author has thought it right to add to the volume a correspondence initiated with him by Mr.. Frederic Harrison, in which the delicate question of ,the publication by historians of letters and conversa­ tions on public affairs, considered at the time they occurred to be .. confidential," is treated, and with it the growing tendency to insincerity in Parliament and the Press. The author believes t}:lat. its being Note to tlte Sec01td Edition included here, as authorized by Mr. Harrison, may have the effect of drawing attention to a defect in our public life greatly needing reform. Lastly, it will perhaps not be without interest to readers of these Memoirs that two other volumes have within the present year been completed, carry­ ing on the narrative of the English occupation of Egypt through its more recent developments. These will doubtless in due course be published, though probably not for some considerable time. NEWBUILDINGS PLACE, SUSSEX. November, 1907. PREFACE OF 1895 DESIRE to place on record in a succinct and . tangible form the events which have come within myI knowledge relating to the origin of the English occupation of Egypt-not necessarily for publication now, but as an available document for the history of our times. At one moment I played in these events a somewhat prominent part, and for nearly twenty years I have been a close and interested spectator of the drama which was being acted at Cairo. It may well be, also, that the Egyptian question. though now quiescent, will reassert itself unex­ pectedly in some urgent form hereafter. requiring of Englishmen a new examination of their position there, political and moral; and I wish to have at hand and ready for their enlightenment the whole of the materials I possess. I will give these as clearly as I can, with such documents in the shape of letters and journals as I can bring together in corroboration of my evidence. disguising nothing and telling the whole truth as I know it. It is not always in official documents that the truest facts of history are to be read, and certainly in the case of Egypt. where in­ trigue of all kinds has been so rife, the sincere student needs help to understand the published par­ liamentary papers. Lastly, for the Egyptians, if ever they succeed in re-establishing themselves as an autonomous nation, it will be of value that they should have recorded the evidence of one whom they know to be their sincere friend in regard to matters of diplomatic obscurity which to this day they fail to realize. My relations v Preface with Downing Street in 1882 need to be related in detail if Egyptians are ever to appreciate the exact causes which led to the bombardment of Alexandria and the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, while justice to the patriot leader of their" rebellion" requires that I should give a no less detailed account of Arabi's trial, which still presents itself to some Egyptian as to all French minds, in the light of a pre-arranged comedy devised to screen a traitor. I t does not do to leave truth to its own power of prevailing over lies, and history is full of calumnies which have re­ mained unrefuted, and of ingratitudes which nations have persisted in towards .their worthiest sons. SHEYKH OBEYD, EGYPT. 1895. VI PREFACE ON PUBLICATION INCE the first brief preface to my manuscript work was written twelve years ago. events have happenedS which seem to indicate that the moment foreseen in it has at last arrived when to the public advantage and without risk of serious indiscretion as far as individuals are concerned. the whole truth may be given to the world. Already in 1904 the original manuscript had been thoroughly revised. and in its purely Egyptian part remodel1ed under circumstances which add greatly to its historic value. MyoId Egyptian friend.