In 1889 the question of reforming the native courts of justice had been considered. Sir Evelyn Baring's proposal was to strengthen them by increasing the number of European judges. Riaz, on the contrary, was not too favourable to the appointment of foreigners, but he had to give way, and in November, 1889, two additional Englishmen had been nominated to the Court of Appeal, making in all three English and three Belgian judges. This, however, did not effect all that was required, and in the spring of 1890 Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Scott, a judge of the High Court of Bombay, with extensive Indian as well as Egyptian experience, was appointed temporary "judicial adviser" to the Government. Scott drew up a report, pointing out the defects of the existing system, and, above all, the necessity for a further improvement in the personnel of the courts. Riaz Pasha strenuously opposed this, and his nominee Fakri Pasha, Minister of Justice, wrote a counter-report, condemning all the changes which Scott had recommended. Sir Evelyn Baring promptly recognized which side was in the right, and that the question was whether there was to be a reform or not. Scott's proposals were accepted, and his appointment was made permanent, so as to enable him to superintend the carrying of them into execution. Riaz Pasha had to accept the inevitable, which he did with a bad grace, and in May, 1891, he resigned.
Riaz was succeeded by Mustapha Pasha Fehmi, the present Prime Minister, the first Egyptian Premier really in sympathy with the English, with whom he from the first has cordially co-operated. So effectual had been the changes made in the administration of the finances, that, notwithstanding a considerable remission of the land tax, the revenue of the country had risen from £E.9,574,000 in 1886, the first year in which the benefit of "The London Convention" had been felt, to £E.10,539,460[152] in 1891, with a large surplus over expenditure, and besides this reserve funds amounting to £E.2,811,000 had been created.
Progress was also made in the work of putting down the slave trade, and in 1891 Sir Evelyn Baring was able to write that the traffic was practically extinguished. As a commentary upon this it may be mentioned that a few months later no less a personage than Ali Pasha Cherif, a large landed proprietor and the President of the National Assembly, was convicted in the native courts of law of, and sentenced to imprisonment for, being personally concerned in the purchase of slaves for his household.
Whilst events in Egypt were thus progressing the country sustained a severe loss in the death of the Khedive, Tewfik Pasha, which took place after a short illness at Helouan, on the 7th January, 1892. His Highness' eldest son, Prince Abbas Pasha Hilmy, the present Khedive, then seventeen years of age, succeeded to the throne of Egypt in virtue of the Imperial Firman of the 8th June, 1873.
Upon the new Khedive's arrival from Vienna, where he was completing his studies, he received a warm welcome, and by his subsequent acts created an excellent impression on all classes of society.
He at once confirmed the former Ministers in power and lent his aid to the work of reform.
Although on the death of Tewfik the new Khedive was de jure as well as de facto the ruler of Egypt, his recognition by an Imperial Firman from the Porte was a formality which nevertheless had to be observed. The preparation of this important document was known to have been completed at Constantinople, and an envoy was told off to bring it to Egypt. Still for some time it did not come. To do honour to the occasion a division of the British Mediterranean fleet was despatched to Alexandria. It did not, however, please the Sultan that his envoy should be thus received, and the official's departure from time to time was postponed. Then began a little game of "hide and seek." It was given out that the Firman would not be sent until after the approaching fast of "Ramadan," and the British Admiral, as if tired of waiting, withdrew his ships and put to sea. No sooner was this known to the Sultan than the Imperial yacht conveying the envoy was despatched in hot haste to Egypt. The Admiral, however, was not to be baffled. He had only steamed a hundred miles or so from land, and, with his ships in extended order, awaited the return of a fast vessel which he sent to Suda Bay for news. On her return with intelligence that the envoy had started, the fleet steamed slowly back to the coast of Egypt, where, on the arrival of the Turkish yacht, the stately ironclads, after saluting, formed in two lines dressed in colours, and escorted her into the harbour of Alexandria.
When the Firman reached Cairo it somehow leaked out that it differed in important particulars from what it ought to have been, and before the precious document, for which £E.6,000 was paid, was read on 14th April, the mistake had to be put right by telegraphic communication with the Porte.
In June, 1892, the great services rendered by Sir Evelyn Baring in connection with Egypt received their recognition in the shape of a peerage which was conferred on the distinguished Minister Plenipotentiary and diplomatic agent for Great Britain in Cairo. Honours were never better deserved. Writing of Lord Cromer, as the new peer must henceforth be called, an eminent author (Sir Alfred Milner), more than once quoted in this book, says:—
"It would be difficult to overestimate what the work of England in Egypt owes to the sagacity, fortitude, and patience of the British Minister. His mental and moral equipment, very remarkable in any case, was peculiarly suited to the very peculiar circumstances in which he found himself placed. Perhaps the most striking feature about him has been a singular combination of strength and forbearance. And he needed both these qualities in an exceptional degree. On one side of him were the English officials, zealous about their work, fretting at the obstruction which met them at every turn; on the other side were the native authorities, new to our methods, hating to be driven, and keen to resent the appearance of English diplomatic pressure. The former were often inclined to grumble with him for interfering too little; the latter were no less prone to complain of his interfering too much. What a task was his to steer an even keel between meddlesomeness and inactivity! Yet how seldom has he failed to hit the right mean. Slowly but surely he has carried his main points, and he has carried them without needlessly overriding native authority or pushing his own personality into the foreground. He has realized that the essence of our policy is to help the Egyptians to work out as far as possible their own salvation.... The contrast between Egypt of to-day and Egypt as he found it, the enhanced reputation of England in matters Egyptian, are the measure of the signal services he has rendered alike to his own country and to the country where he has laid the foundations of a lasting fame."