Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 8, DIA-England

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EGYPT.
505
. t. fully exerted, and almost invariably directed towards the
JJO accomplishment of some object calculated to promote im¬
provement and advance civilization ; nor has the general
policy of his government been less distinguished for abili¬
ty, address, and energy, than was the conduct of those
great measures by means of which he regenerated Egypt,
and laid the foundations of his own supremacy. His army-
alone is a wonderful achievement; his fleet scarcely less
so: and if the brilliant victories of the one have reward¬
ed that wisdom which knows how to amend a fault, and
that liberality which, when judiciously exercised, is all-
powerful in its influence on the human mind, the day is
probably not distant when the triumphs of the other will
cause the flag of Egypt to be alike respected in the Me¬
diterranean and the Indian Ocean. But it is not by the
splendour of his winged victories, nor the extent of his
rapid conquests, that the name of Mehemmed Ali will be
honoured and distinguished. His are much higher and
more difficult achievements than mere feats of arms;
his is a nobler and more enviable glory than that which
is reaped amidst the strife and carnage of the battle¬
field. It was the proud boast of Napoleon that he found
France in the kennel, and placed her in the van of Eu¬
rope. But with more truth and less ostentation might
Mehemmed Ali say the same thing concerning Egypt.
Napoleon, indeed, found confusion, but, as observed by
an able writer, still it was the confusion of brilliant ma¬
terials. Not so the Albanian, who out of a mere chaos
of ignorance, treachery, and ferocity, has formed a king¬
dom possessing a disciplined and victorious army of se¬
venty-five thousand regular troops, with a respectable
marine of twelve ships of the line and more than thrice
that number of frigates and other vessels of war. Nor
is this all. He has organized a vigilant police, by means
of which Egypt, formerly a land of violence and blood¬
shed, has been rendered as safe as any part of England
or France; he has established an active and vigilant ad¬
ministration of the laws, by which persons and property
enjoy security; he has constructed roads, formed canals,
and introduced manufactures; he has improved agricul¬
ture, extended commerce, and reared an industrious po¬
pulation ; and, notwithstanding all the cost of his vari¬
ous establishments, and the heavy expenditure incident
to a state of frequent warfare, he has forestalled none of
his ordinary revenues. During his reign the exports and
imports of Egypt have accordingly risen from a mere Egypt-
trifle to several millions annually. Eager to obtain useful
information himself, he has diffused a thirst of knowledge
amongst his subjects, by making the possession of it the
indispensable condition of advancement either in civil
or military employments; he has ministered to the men¬
tal wants of his people by the erection of schools and col¬
leges in various parts of his dominions; and he has, from
time to time, sent young men into Europe, not to ape its
fashions or copy its manners but to study the laws, insti¬
tutions, and practical working of modern civilization, and
to carry back the results of their observation for the im¬
provement of their own country. His government, it is
true, is a naked despotism, and, wi.th all its general wis¬
dom and beneficence, exhibits some of the worst features
of that species of government; whilst the unhappy Fellahs
are still ruled, if not oppressed, by a rough coercive hand,
and exposed to exactions indicating a short-sighted cupi¬
dity on the part of their rigorous taskmaster. But, on the
other side, it must be admitted that the strong arm of ab¬
solute power, guided by a stern and resistless will, could
alone have effected that renovation which has been pro¬
duced in Egypt; and as to his exactions and monopolies,
Mehemmed Ali may easily silence rebuke on this head by
pointing to many scarcely less odious or objectionable than
his own which are still selfishly upheld in some of the
most enlightened communities of Europe. And let it also
be remembered that, as establishments must be main¬
tained, the chief cause of the severity of his imposts has
been the extent of his improvements, by which in time
their rigour will be mitigated; and that monopoly is the
price which must in the first instance be paid for the in¬
troduction of new and more effective modes of industry.
Nor have the actual results belied the calculations on
which this enlightened and vigorous ruler has proceeded.
A country long devoted to misrule now teems with la¬
bour, and produces cotton and flax which may compete
with the best in our markets; it exports silk, sugar, to¬
bacco, and various other commodities, besides grain; and
as long as personal security is maintained by an impar¬
tial administration of the law, these will continue to mul¬
tiply in a land where an annual renewal of the soil, irriga¬
tion, and sunshine are certainties. Such are the triumphs
which have been effected by the Albanian peasant, who
has established an independent empire in Egypt.1 He is
1 Mphpmmed Ali is now in the sixty-third vear of his age ; he is rather short in stature, thick set, and inclined to embonpoint ;
his countenance is large, his forehead high, his nose aquiline, and his general expression indicative both of firmness and penetration ;
he bears himself with easy dignity, without the smallest approach to hauteur or reserve, and, for a Turk, is remarkably social and
communicative ; and hie dues? is dually plain, the only expense whieh he indulges in matters connected w.th pe™n,l dec„mt,„„
being lavished upon his arms, which are richly studded with diamonds. In a word, his appearance and demeanour immediately im¬
prest strangers with a conviction that he is no ordinary man ; whilst his eager and inquisitive curiosity, continually on the alert in
quest of information, shows that he has not only appreciated the importance of knowledge generally, bu^ le^rn®d ° q
solid basis of power. The following anecdotes of this remarkable person have been collected by Dr Russell, from the works ot recent
Onour mAvM being announced,’ savs Dr Richardson, ‘ we were immediately ushered into his presence, and found him sitting
on the corner of the divan, surrounded by his officers and men, who were standing at a respectful distance. He recei ved us sitting,
but in the most gracious manner, and placed the Earl of Belmore and Mr bait upon his left hand, and his lordship ^ ®
self at the top of the room on his right. The interpreter stood, as well as the officers and soldiers, who remamed m tlie room lur ng
the whole time of the visit. He began the conversation by welcoming us to Cairo, and prayed that God might
us prosperity. He then inquired of the noble traveller how long he had been from England, and what was the obJect his
to Egypt; to all which he received satisfactory answers. His highness next adverted to the prospect before him-theN
covered fields, the pyramids of Djizeh, the bright sun, and the cloudless sky—and remarked, with a certain triumphant humour on
his lip, that England offered no such prospect to the eye of the spectator.’ He was told that the scenery of England was yery fine
‘ “ How can that be,” he shortly rejoined, “ seeing you are steeped m rain and fog three quarters of the year ? Hemext turned the
conversation to Mr Leslie's elegant experiment of freezing water m the vacuum of an air-pump; which he hfd ad¬
mired prodigiously in description, and seemed to anticipate with great satisfaction a glass ot lemonade and lced ,
friends, as the happiest result of the discovery. Talking of his lonlship’s intended voyage up the Nile, he Pol^lj ^red to render
every possible facility ; cautioning him at the same time to keep a sharp look out when among the Arabs, who, he beiievedwouldnot
take any thine from'him or his party by violence, but would certainly steal it they found an opportunity of doing it without the risk
of detection. ° He then related^ number of anecdotes touching the petty larcenies of that most thievish race ; some ®
by no means without contrivance or dexterity. But the one which seemed to amuse both himself and his fnends he most, was that
of a traveller, who, when eating his dinner, laid down his spoon to reach for a piece of bread, and by the time he brought back his hand
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