As Freycinet, however, showed few symptoms of being willing to retire from the position he had taken up with regard to the eventual British evacuation of Egypt, and to the resumption by France of an influence equal with our own, his professions of friendship did not appear to be of much value. Some apprehension too was caused by the ostentatious announcements in the French press, that the numerous military forces in the Far East released in consequence of the conclusion of peace with China would return by the Suez Canal and would therefore be 'available for other purposes in the Mediterranean.' What was perhaps more encouraging, was the increasing distaste for Spirited Colonial Policy combined with renewed distrust of Bismarck's intentions.
Lord Lyons to Lord Salisbury.
Paris, July 14, 1885.
I have been rejoiced by your telegram announcing that Germany, Austria, and Italy agree to the issue of the Egyptian Loan Decree. It looks as if you were on the eve of settling the question most pressing in point of time (that of the money for Egypt), and I hope it augurs well for the disposition generally of the German Chancellor. The National Fête here puts a stop to all business for to-day, but I shall see Freycinet about the issue of the Decree to-morrow.
The debate on the Budget for 1886 elicited some curious speeches in the Chamber of Deputies three days ago on the 'Expéditions lointaines.' There was no difficulty in showing that they had all cost more than they were worth. They were plainly held by the Deputies to be unpopular in the country, and condemnation of them is likely to be one of the election cries of the extreme Left. But hardly any one seemed to see the way to bring them to an end. In fact, it looked as if France had got into the groove which by a fatality leads to annexation and conquest by strong and civilized nations when they once begin to establish themselves amongst weak and barbarous peoples. All this may delight Prince Bismarck, whose avowed object is to find an outlet for what he calls French vanity and restlessness, and a gulf to swallow up French troops and treasures at a distance from Europe. From a certain point of view this may not be without its advantages to other nations; but it is not without danger to the good relations between France and England—between whom awkward questions may arise all over the world. In the present I am uneasy about Siam and more so about Burmah. It is not a pleasant speculation to consider the change which may be produced in no very remote future, in the condition of our Indian Empire, if it be in contact with a great European Power both on the north and on the east.
In August, 1885, a prodigious outburst of Anglophobia occurred in Paris in consequence of mendacious statements published by Rochefort in his newspaper, charging the British military authorities in the Soudan with the assassination of a certain Olivier Pain. Olivier Pain was an ex-Communist and French journalist who had accompanied the Turks in the campaign of 1877, and who was reputed to be occasionally employed by the Turkish Government as a secret agent. In the spring of 1884, he had set off to join the Mahdi, and having completely disappeared from view, and being presumably dead, Rochefort took the opportunity to announce that Lord Wolseley had procured his death by offering a reward of fifty pounds for his head. The enterprise had been allotted to Major Kitchener[43]: 'un sinistre gredin nourri de psaumes et abreuvé de whisky qui a eu le premier, l'idée de mettre à prix la tête de celui qu'il appelait "l'espion français."'
As, however, it was impossible to reach Lord Wolseley and the 'sinistre gredin,' Rochefort urged that vengeance should be taken upon 'l'Ambassadeur Lyons.' 'A partir d'aujourd'hui il est notre ôtage! Sa vieille peau est le gage de la satisfaction qui nous est due.' 'L'Ambassadeur Lyons' was, however, also beyond reach, as he happened to be on leave, and it was, therefore, suggested that the few secretaries (of whom I was one), who were then in Paris, should be forthwith strung up to the lamp-posts in the Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré. The astonishing thing was that these ravings were actually taken more or less seriously, and that for some time the French authorities found it necessary to protect the Embassy with numerous police detachments.
It has always been one of the inscrutable mysteries that Rochefort, ever since the Commune, was allowed a toleration accorded to no one else, on the ground of his alleged exceptional wit and humour, whereas his effusions consisted almost entirely of gross personal abuse of the lowest type, levelled indiscriminately at prominent individuals of any description, and largely directed against England, whose hospitality he enjoyed during many years of exile.