In January, 1893, an incident occurred in Cairo which attracted an amount of attention somewhat out of proportion to its real importance. The Prime Minister, Mustapha Pasha Fehmi, became so ill that his life was despaired of. The Khedive thereupon informed Lord Cromer of his desire to appoint another Egyptian statesman, Tigrane Pasha, in Mustapha's place. This was discouraged by the British representative on the ground that Tigrane was a Christian. The next thing was that the Khedive summarily dismissed Mustapha and three of his colleagues, and nominated Fakri Pasha, the late Minister of Justice, as Premier. Fakri had been dismissed shortly before, on Lord Cromer's suggestion, on account of his opposition to judicial reform. At the same time Lord Cromer was informed that what was taking place was to be followed by a wholesale dismissal of English officials, a report, however, which the Khedive has always denied. On the matter being telegraphed to Lord Rosebery, then British Foreign Secretary, his Lordship took the matter seriously and directed Lord Cromer to protest, and to inform the Khedive that Her Majesty's Government expected to be consulted in such matters as a change of ministry, and that the appointment of Fakri could not be sanctioned. The Khedive, on this being pointed out to him, consented to cancel the appointment objected to, and to nominate Riaz Pasha as the substitute to Mustapha, which was accepted. The Khedive's nominations to the other vacant posts were not found fault with, and there the matter would have ended had not symptoms of an apparent anti-English feeling shown themselves in the capital, and in the tone of the native press generally. In consequence of this, it was determined to strengthen the Army of Occupation, then numbering only 3,000 men, by two additional battalions, which were promptly despatched to Egypt.
The amusing part of the incident was the interview which took place between Lord Rosebery and the French Ambassador on the 18th January, when the latter stated that he had called to protest against what he termed a high-handed proceeding which had occurred in Egypt. Lord Rosebery replied that he quite recognized that there was some high-handedness. It then turned out that they were not talking about the same thing, one referring to the action of Lord Cromer, and the other to that of the Khedive. On matters being explained, Lord Rosebery scored off the Ambassador by saying that he was at a loss to understand the latter's meaning, as he could hardly call Lord Cromer's making a protest a "high-handed proceeding," seeing that that was the express object for which the Ambassador had sought the present interview.
The serious part of the incident was the view which the British Government took of it. Lord Rosebery, in a despatch dated the 16th February, declared that 'if the Prime Minister and the heads of other important departments were to be summarily dismissed in disregard of British advice, there was nothing to prevent the dismissal of any other functionaries, European or native, who might not have the good fortune to fall in with the tendencies of the moment, or whose prominence might afford a favourable opportunity for the display of autocratic power. It was not too much to say that, under these circumstances, the whole fabric so laboriously built up during the last ten years would have been at the mercy of caprice or intrigue, and would rapidly and necessarily have crumbled away.'
Riaz Pasha on his return to power showed himself anything but disposed to work well with the Khedive's English advisers. His policy took the form of stubborn opposition rather than active resistance, and it required all the firmness and tact of Lord Cromer to keep things in the right path. With the promotion of Maher Pasha to the post of Under-Secretary at War, attempts were made to interfere with the authority of the Sirdar in matters relating to the army, and hardly were these defeated than the further difficulty known as the "frontier incident" occurred.
The Khedive on his visit to Wady Halfa in January, 1894, made some observations on the army which were taken by the British officers as a slight upon them, and the Sirdar, General Kitchener, in consequence, resigned. He, however, withdrew his resignation almost immediately after, at the request of the Khedive. The matter was regarded by the British Government as an attempt to discredit the English officers, and to undermine their authority with the troops, and Lord Cromer was instructed to ask that a general order should be issued expressing the Khedive's satisfaction with the army, and the officers generally, and also that Maher Pasha should be removed. Both these requirements were complied with and the incident was closed.
Riaz Pasha shortly after resigned, and Nubar again returned to power. Under his advice the relations of the Khedive with the British Government became more cordial, and no further "incidents" such as those above recorded took place.
CHAPTER LX.
THE DONGOLA EXPEDITION.
In a previous chapter, the history of events on the Nile frontier was brought down to the month of August, 1889, when Wad-en-Nejumi's forces, after the crushing defeat they encountered in the engagement at Toski, were retreating southwards, and the projected invasion of Egypt was suspended. The incidents which marked the next few years may be related in a few words.
The years 1890 and 1891 passed almost undisturbed on the frontier. The chief military command in the province of Dongola was vested in one of the Khalifa's emirs, called Mohammed Khalil Zogal, with a force and detachments at Sunnah, and at Suarda, fifty miles south of Akasheh. From this last point patrols occasionally went north to Akasheh itself, but the Nile frontier generally remained quite undisturbed.