Page:The Egyptian Difficulty and the First Step out of it.djvu/43

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THE EGYPTIAN DIFFICULTY.
39

Hassan is of the bon enfant type, resembling his brother Tewfik, quite as weak as he is, but without the petty cunning which the present Khedive calls to his aid in awkward moments. It is difficult to discover in either of these scions of the Ismail branch of the House of Mehemet Ali, any special qualifications that would recommend them for the Khediviate.

Our list is exhausted. If the settlement of 1841 is to hold good. Prince Halim appears to be indicated as the successor of Prince Tewfik.


VII.

We have now only to resume, as briefly as we may, the substance of our argument and the conclusions to which it points.

For the last five years the affairs of Egypt have sped on a broken wing.

England, involved in them by the force of circumstances, has had to bear all the moral blunt, and much of the material cost, of all that has gone amiss.

The origin of the chequered tale of the last five years lay in a false solution in 1879—the appointment of an incapable ruler, and the institution of the dual control.

The dual control has disappeared; the incapable ruler remains.

It is now necessary to create a strong government in Egypt.