capacity prevailed. The future was bright with
the hope of further progress in this direction.
But it was too much to expect, when scarcely a
generation had elapsed since the close of the orgy
of corrupt and despotic misrule in which Ismail
Pasha and his predecessors had indulged, that
a whole staff should have been created capable
of piloting unaided the very complicated
machinery necessary for the government of
cosmopolitan Egypt. It may indeed be con-
fidently asserted, looking to Sir Eldon Gorst's
ability, his great moral courage, and his intimate
acquaintance with Egyptian affairs, that the
task which he was set to accomplish was im-
possible of achievement, and that in less skilful
hands than his the failure would have been even
more marked than was actually the case. My
belief is that had he lived he would himself have
initiated considerable changes in the policy with
which his name is associated, and I do not doubt
that he had the capacity to deal successfully
with the altered conditions which would neces-
sarily have supervened.

As events turned out, the general result of the
experiment was to put back the hands of the
political clock. Egyptian autonomy, far from
gaining, rather lost ground. The reaction, which
was anticipated by all who were really acquainted
with the condition of the country, ensued. It

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