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32101 O7331 4120
PRI N C ETO N
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
WAGHORN (Thomas)

Egypt as it is in 1837

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EGYPT IN 1837.

T. WAGHORN.
 E G Y PT

AS IT IS

IN 1837.

BY

THOMAS WAGHORN,
GENERAL AGENT IN EGYPT FOR STEAM INTERCOURSE, VIA THE RED SEA,
BETWEEN ENGLAND, INDIA, CEYLON, CHINA, &c. &c.

LONDON:
SMITH, ELDER, AND CO., J. M. RICHARDSON, A. H. BAILY, AND
G. MANN, CoRNHILL ; W. H. ALLEN AND CO., PARBURY
AND Co., LEADENHALL STREET; AND RIDGWAY AND SON,
PICCADILLY.

1837.
 7 -

£ 3 & 233

LON do N. :

J. UN WIN, ST. PETER’s ALLEY, CORN HILL.

 DEDICATION.

s This Pamphlet is dedicated to the Members

of the British Parliament, both Lords and

Commons, in the hope that it will induce in

them some sort of sympathy for Egypt; instead
of that indifference to her interests which permits
her o be sacrificed to the bolstering up of

Turkey.

º
*
 PREFACE.

The object of this Pamphlet is to draw the

attention of the British Parliament to the present
state of Egypt, and, from facts, to shew that it is
both our interest and duty, as a nation, to aid in
the civilization of that fine country, instead of
adhering to a line of policy which, by encouraging
the extortionate demands of Turkey upon Egypt,
tends to paralyze the efforts of the latter towards
the attainment of her political and moral freedom.
-
 EGYPT IN 1837.

EGYPT, although, at the present time, possessing

the elements of becoming an independent nation,
in a greater degree than has been enjoyed by any
other, except the United States of America, is
still tributary to a power which she has fought
and conquered.
In order to explain this anomaly, I will proceed
to adduce facts, which I would fain hope may
weigh with the British government, to their recog
nition of Egypt as an independent kingdom.
The following table, drawn from its army and
navy at the beginning of 1836, will show its pre
ponderance as a nation:—
STRENGTH, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE EGYPTIAN
ARMY
• . . ** - - il tº -, -2 d:
###| # 3 || || a # |##| # | g : #| 3
STATIONs|}}}|† :##### # ă ă§:ă à Qº) C qo

#&##|### 3 |5; ; R 35
In
#. • - - - - - 1300,3200 210002200 27700|| 300 600 700 1600
ennaar and
Koordufan } 200 5900 200 6300 650, 500
ia . . . . . . . . 5200,6000 330003000. 47200|| 800|50002000
1150
7800

#. iš
e S, an 6100 200. 6300 1000 1000
}
Yeman. .. 500 12000 400 12900|| 900 800 200 1900

Total . . . . . . ºw * 2000|7050,3200 1200.13450

The above are Regulars. The above are Irregulars.
B
 10

STRENGTH OF THE EGYPTIAN NAVY.

LINE OF BATTLE SHIPS.

Cairo, Acre, Homs, and Koniah . . . . 4 of 110 Guns.

Mellec el Kebire, and Mansora. . . . . . 2 102
Alexandria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 90
Abouker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l 84

FRIGATEs.

Bahira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 60 Guns.
Reschid .. . . .. . . . . .. .. .. . . .. .. .. 1 58

Shuringhat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 56
Damietta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 50
Nile . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. .. . . Steam Frigate.

CORVETTES. BRIGS.

1 . . . . . . . . . . 24 Guns. 2 .. . . . . . . . . 20 Guns.
1 . . . . . . . . . . 22 1 . . . . . . .. .. 22
3 . . . . . . . . . . 20 2 •- 18
2 .. . . .. .. .. 16
2 . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Cutters. . . . 10

Besides, there are three Ships of the Line on the stocks, a

Frigate, and a Steamer.

These were the materials with which, in 1832,

the Egyptians fought, and practically established
their independence of Turkey. The victory at
Komiah confirmed it : and surely no man will
maintain that Constantinople was not then open
to the march of the Egyptian forces, under Ibrahim
Pacha. And did not, I would ask, the results of
that battle awaken the European Powers most
sensibly to the fallen state of the Turkish Empire?
 1|

Nothing saved it from being overrun by the

Egyptian forces, but the powerful influence of
England, France, and Russia, who then thrust
themselves forward, and, by threats, compelled
Egypt to pause in her career of victory. Egypt
complied ; but her doing so, could not hide the
fact that she had virtually redeemed her freedom
from Turkey. Yet, from that period till now,
the same fetters are kept upon her by the consent
of England, and Egypt is consequently still doomed
to continue as a tributary state to the power she
has conquered. The plea of expediency, probably,
will be put forth to justify this; a plea which
is too often adopted elsewhere, to cover unjust
measures towards a particular country, for the
bolstering up of another.
Proceeding to the main points of this pamphlet,
I would inquire—for what does Egypt continue
to pay tribute to Turkey? Is it for aid?—Egypt
wants none. Is it for the soil 2—Mahomed Ali
redeemed it from anarchy and bloodshed, establish
ing in their stead order and tranquillity. Is he
to pay tribute for that?
Tribute I take to be a right only when imposed
by a government on a particular province of its
own, which is bound to the mother country for
aid, protection, influence, or some other advan
tage: but as Egypt neither wants, nor receives,
any of these, and moreover has, most wonder
fully, become strong, while Turkey, on the other
hand, has become weak, I maintain that there
B 2
 12

remains no justifiable reason for the exaction

of tribute money.
If, however, tribute money only was required by
Turkey, I should not have troubled my country
men with my opinions on the matter; but I can
not refrain from making those opinions public,
when I behold such sweeping sums, as below.
stated, taken from Egypt by Turkey, and all, too,
during the last year, 1836; because I consider
our national character ought not to be lent to
such eactortions. If it be asked, What has England
to do with it? I answer, England justifies it, by
always interfering in the Porte's favour, no matter
in what, and thus upholds the double absurdity,
that the strongest, (Egypt,) must yield to the
weakest, (Turkey.) But to the proof:—
The first of these items was exacted in the true

oriental style; namely, as presents for the Sultan's

daughter, on her marriage. Mahomed Ali, on
his part, sent 100,000 dollars. The second item,
his part or portion of the Porte's debt to Russia,
as the Sultan called it. What had Mahomed Ali
to do with the Turkish debt? However, he sent
600,000 dollars. The third item was a trumped up
affair in December last, for ten years' possession
of Candia. Mahomed Ali sent 750,000 dollars.
What the next item will be, we shall presently see;
but mark, that all these sums are over and above
the tribute money in one year, and they amount to
1,450,000 dollars. Thus is Mahomed Ali obliged
to portion the daughters of the Sultan, to pay his
 13

debts, &c. &c. Is not this opposed to common

sense, and therefore intolerable 2 Nay, it is
monstrous, that the very sap of Egypt should be
applied to objects so foreign to the benefit of that
country.
Now I would ask, why Turkey should be tole
rated in such extortions? Will not our Reforming
Government feel some sort of sympathy for Egypt,
whose peasant, or fellah, I feel a pride in stating,
is delighted at the sight of our countrymen, above
all others who visit their land 2
Is Egypt, I ask, to be the only nation of the world
that is not to be permitted by England to work out
her own independence, through her own means,
when England allows that right to all other
countries 2 Am I to be told, that she must remain
a province of the Porte, now she is its superior in
every thing that constitutes power 2
How much longer is Egypt to be thus treated,
with the consent of England, where, to its honour,
the principle is admitted, that each nation of the
earth shall be encouraged in maturing its own
greatness?
I will now endeavour to shew, that knowledge
has gone on progressing in Egypt, on a most won
derful and rapid scale, during the last thirty years,
and solely from the master mind of its present
chief. I take up my position from the period of the
evacuation of Egypt by the forces of England and
France. From that time, Egypt, under the Pacha's
rule, began to regenerate herself; and so astound
 14

ing, even to its own population, has been the

progress of the great work of regeneration, that
they infer that a superior power is assisting them
to its early attainment.
The most intelligent of our countrymen are,
probably, not sufficiently informed of the present
improved state of Egypt. It is quite different to
what many of them suppose it to be, who fancy
that Mahomed Ali is little better than one of its
former tyrannical Beys;—that all he has done has
no stability, and that it will die with him. This I
deny in toto. The dawn of civilization emanated
from him, but it will not die with him. And now
I venture to the proof of this assertion.
When Mahomed Ali became Pacha of Egypt, that
country had become a waste. It was partially ren
dered so by its having been made the field of war,
where France and England fought for its conquest.
Overrun by foreign mercenaries and Bedouin chiefs,
cultivation was at a stand-still,—famine in its
provinces, with all the other miseries attendant
upon war. How is it now? I find it improved
in a degree unparalleled in any other uncivilized
country in the same space of time. The land
yields more and more luxuriantly, thus supplying
to Mahomed Ali the means of working its civiliza
tion. Having restored the productiveness of its
soil, he next turned his attention to teach his
people to protect their own land, without the aid of
foreign and profligate mercenaries. He then en
dowed schools, which accommodate, with comfort,
 15

upwards of 20,000 youths, most of whom are

taken from the mud huts of the Nile; and, as age
and education fit them, they are placed in offices
of trust and emolument; whilst the most intelli
gent of them are sent to England and France, in
pursuit of knowledge, which they even now begin
to impart to others. That they do so, is best
shewn by the fact, that, on their return to their
native land, they supersede the European mecha
nics, in those branches of which the latter were
before the head; and this equally applies to the
steam engine, the coinage at the mint, to the
cotton manufactories, and, indeed, to all the schools
of improvement in Egypt.
From such sources, and with such means,
Egypt's regenerators are now springing up by
hundreds, encouraged by the example of their
more than father. Who, then, on weighing this
matter properly, will maintain that all this will
pass away at the death of Mahomed Ali? His
son, Ibrahim, the conqueror of Syria, may survive;
and even were death to call him, many parent
male branches remain ; not, perhaps, equal to
their original stem, but quite able to uphold and
carry on Egypt's regeneration, and to work out
her deliverance from Turkish misrule and oppres
sion. -

It has been insisted that Mahomed Ali has

done nothing to better the condition of the Fellah.
I reply, he has done every thing he can do;
not, perhaps, for them, but for their sons. The
 16

Fellahs, before his time, were doomed by their

taskmasters, the Turks, to be slaves to the soil.
Often have I witnessed the delight with which
those Fellahs visit their children, while under a
course of education at the schools and colleges of
Egypt. The fondness with which they regard
them is equalled only by their surprise, at hearing
them discuss matters so foreign to the habits of
their fathers; nor is it easy to describe their feel
ings, on finding those sons commanding, instead
of being made to endure the burdens imposed by
their former masters. That Mahomed Ali has
been obliged to take some of this class of his people
for soldiers, I seek not to deny. Necessity de
manded it. It did the same in England's wars,
in the shape of impressment, because the service
of the state required it. The system has, however,
been discontinued in Egypt, as well as in England,
never, I trust, to be revived in either. As far as
Egypt is concerned, recruits are now supplied from
Nubia and Sennaar; the Fellahs of Egypt are
no longer required for the purpose.
With regard to Turkey, I would ask,+has not
the bolstering up of that country been, for the last
forty years, a constant subject of perplexity in our
state policy 2 Is it consistent with the present
improved situation of Egypt that she should be
sacrificed to that object 2 Our government may
go on supporting the impotent and fallen state of
Turkey; but my opinion is, that the better policy
would have been to let her take her own course,
 17

from the time that she fell so low as to make a

secret treaty with Russia, for the exclusion of our
men-of-war from the Black Sea ; and that at a
period when we deemed her incapable of such un
worthy conduct. The fact is, that Turkey is now
too much under Russian influence, to be saved
from becoming one of its provinces. But if
England wishes to prevent this, she has only
one course to pursue, namely—giving power to
Mahomed Ali and his heirs, who will in turn even
regenerate the Turks. Perhaps many will not
believe that Mahomed Ali has more secret power
in Turkey than the present Sultan. I know that
he has. Even the Turks look upon their country
as lost as a nation. Many of the more intelli
gent of them, both there and in Arabia, Syria,
&c., &c., inquire ſhow the Mussulman faith is
to be re-organized, since Turkey has fallen so
low. The private opinions of these several coun
tries point at Mahomed Ali and his heirs for its
re-establishment. Their religious writings lead
them to expect a regenerator about this period,
and many of them fancy that they behold him in
Mahomed Ali.
Egypt is continually receiving checks from the
hands of Turkey, that impede or stagnate the great
work of civilization, which would otherwise roll on
in its own course. I have before mentioned those
checks, in the shape of extortionate demands of
tribute money; besides these, the large force, both
on land and sea, which Egypt is obliged to maintain
 18

in self defence against Turkish Tyranny, natu

rally impoverishes her. This last evil, however,
must and will be submitted to so long as Turkey,
backed by England, France, or Russia, has the
power to menace her. Indeed, this armed position
is absolutely necessary, to secure to Egypt even
the produce of her own soil, which would otherwise
be taken by Turkey; but the greatest evil of all
is, that the men composing this large naval and
military force, are wanted in a two-fold manner in
Egpyt:—1st. to increase its fertility, and, 2ndly.
to assist in populating it.
The Turkish government, by its successive
depreciation of the coin of that country has in
volved herself, past redemption, in all the ruinous
consequences of such a suicidal policy. To give
an idea of the extent to which this barbarous
mode of meeting a financial emergency has been
carried on in Turkey, I need only refer to the
reign of the present Sultan, who has been, I know
not upon what grounds, eulogized as the reformer
of Turkey. I find the rate of exchange at Con
stantinople upon London in 1818, thirty-one
piasters the pound sterling; at the present time,
(1837) I find it is at 106 piasters; thus, in the
interval of less than twenty years, the rate of
exchange has advanced more than 350 per cent. ;
and as this has taken place in a country from
which the exports are invariably more than
the imports, it must be referred to some other
cause than the natural course of commercial
 19

events; in fact, it has arisen from the succes

sive depreciation of its currency, which has,
during the last twenty years, been nine times
debased by the Turkish government, to the mani
fest impoverishment of the country, the ruin of the
foreign merchants, and the destruction of its own
hope of future prosperity; that government only
thinking of what they might gain at the moment,
in robbing their own subjects and creditors by
such acts of oppression,--a policy which is sure
to unhinge, in the end, any nation. It must be
evident, that bound as Egypt has been, by the
heartless state policy of England, to the fatal
destinies of the Turkish empire, the government
of Mahomed Ali,-enlightened though it be by the
councils of as eminent Christian merchants and
financiers as any in Europe, and fully aware of
the ruinous effects of any violent alteration of the
standard of value—has been the innocent victim
of the barbarous monetary policy of Turkey.
The government of Egypt has, at times, thus seen
its people impoverished ; its foreign merchants
embarrassed in their legitimate commercial opera
tions, and the best interests of all classes sacrificed;
but the cause of all this has originated in an empire
virtually separated from the country upon which
it inflicts so much evil; over which it neither has
the power, nor can pretend again to have, in
herself, even the hope, of enforcing homage or
obedience.
How long, then, will it be deemed necessary by
 20

England, for the bolstering up of Turkey, to per

petuate the views of that government over a
country actually in itself an independent empire?
Who can pretend to maintain that it is for the
real interest of Egypt, that it should remain, and
be forced by England to remain, in alliance with
all that is ignorant, brutal, and destructive? Now
Egypt yearns for European civilization, and gives
pledges for its future prosperity, by basing all its
hopes of wealth, power, and greatness, upon the
produce of its own soil. Such being the facts,
then, what member of the British parliament is
there that will not execrate the present policy of
England towards Egypt? What a field is there
open to some aspiring and intelligent member of
the British parliament to take the lead in the great
work of Egypt's independence —at any rate, of
her freedom from the misery that attends Turkey.
Why should Egypt be involved in the ruin of the
Turkish government? Not only is that fall certain
in the eyes of all reasonable lookers-on, but even
the Turks themselves look upon it in the same
light. In a word, there is nothing on earth—no
policy to be pursued—to save Turkey from decay,
except it be reorganized by Mahomed Ali, or his
heirs. But why is Egypt, with the connivance of
the European cabinets, thus impeded in her work
of civilization, by the Satanic system of Turkish
misrule? So clear, so justifiable, a path would any
member have in advocating justice for Egypt in
the English parliament, that it is inconceivable
 21

to me that it has not been taken in hand ere

this. And now to the disarming system.
The disarming of Egypt would give such an
additional stimulus to that country, that it would
then go on progressing in every thing twenty-fold.
All that is necessary to effect it is, that France
and England acknowledge Mahomed Ali and his
heirs as the sovereigns of the soil of which they
now enjoy the Pachalics, and intimate to Turkey
that such is the will of those powers. In return
for which, I believe that he will ever be found
our ally in war, and friend in peace; an object I
deem to be of much greater importance now than
it heretofore has been, when I know that on the
future stability of the Egyptian power, our rapid
steam operations between England and India will
have wholly to depend; but most particularly I
look to the advancement of the English interest in
Egypt, instead of the French. There are means
for this, quite novel to those who have not dwelt
and reflected on them so deeply as I have; and
here, I may remark, that I distinctly and definitely
deny that any inducement beyond my own con
viction has caused me thus to make my opinions
public; for I consider a firm alliance with Egypt
will not only be the means of virtually bringing
India and England nearer, by two thirds, than they
have hitherto been, but would powerfully assist us
in repelling Russian aggression on India, should
it ever be attempted, Egypt being exactly half-way
 -

22

between us and that valuable gem of the British

CI'OWI).

The co-operation of Egypt, situated, as she is,

half-way between us and India, is only wanting
to fix our eastern empire firmer than it ever can
be by any other means. Our troops from Malta,
Corfu, and Gibraltar, with those of our Egyptian
ally, might, by the Steam Wessels in the Red Sea,
be towed to India in twenty-five days; we have,
therefore, only to make our compact with Egypt,
and secure as it were 50 or 60,000 men as an
army of reserve for India; the Egyptian troops
being always ready to aid us in India, and thus
that bugbear, Russian invasion of our eastern ter
ritory will eacist no longer. I know of no sounder
policy than this. Our governments have assisted
and upheld the interests of Turkey till she is fallen
so low that it is impossible to re-establish her in
power as a nation; let us, therefore, study our
true welfare, and take the lead in permitting
Egypt to establish herself as an independent state.
I have stated my thorough conviction, that
Egypt requires only the fostering protection of the
court of London to complete her own freedom from
Turkey, a work already half achieved, in despite
of the unjust policy I have before alluded to, and,
I trust, have proved to have been grinding Egypt
to the dust. I will now venture to assert, that,
at no period of the present generation, did the
English name and character stand so high in
 23

Egypt as it does now ; while, on the contrary,

at no period has there ever been so little English
interest in Egypt, when compared with the in
terests of other nations in that country. To what
is this owing 2 I attribute it to our by-gone
governments, who have never thought it worth
while to maintain English interests there; while,
on the other hand, the French have been secretly,
and by degrees, stealing on to the second offices
of trust in Egypt; and what, as a matter of
course, will be the probable result or consequence
of all this 2 and why comes it that we treat
Egypt with contempt, and France courts her
favour? Depend on it that if ever another French
force gets into Egypt, no matter under what special
plea, contract, or promise, they will leave it again
about the same time that they will quit Algiers,
where they were permitted to go by England with
an armament, for what they called the vindication
of the honour of France. Did not the French
government specially promise the Duke of Wel
lington, the prime minister of the day, that
they had no wish to colonize the place? Yet
how well their promise was kept, we may per
ceive by a reference to the speech of the King of
the French, three years ago, to the Deputies, in
which Algiers is referred to as a colony of France.
I repeat, that the French are intent upon colo
nizing Egypt, if they can, in the same manner as
they did Algiers.
How fatally true is it that England is never
 24

roused to the sense of a dilemma till too late |

and then she goes to war by chance, meddling
where she ought not in the matters of other
countries, which these days of intelligence tell
us she has no more right to do than those
countries have to meddle with us. What have
we been doing in Spain what have we been
doing in Portugal? and lastly, what have we
been doing in Egypt? The answer is plain; we
are teaching each of these to despise us for our
meddling; in fact, we are going directly in the
teeth of our own interest: and time will shew it
if we do not awake right early, and alter our
present policy.
I maintain that every thing in Egypt is growing
French; I find this from the following facts, all
falling under my own observation in Egypt:-
1. With respect to the Egyptian army, Sulieman
Pacha, a Frenchman, is second in command of it.
2. With respect to the Egyptian navy, Besson
Bey, a Frenchman also, is its second in command.
3. With respect to its medical department,
Clot Bey, a Frenchman, is Physician General in
chief, with nearly a hundred medical French practi
tioners under him, in Egypt, Syria, and Arabia.
Lastly. With respect to the engineering depart
ment, that is under Monsieur Linant, a Frenchman
also.
The whole of these are worthy of the master
they so earnestly serve ; and by that master their
services are appreciated. I merely make these state
 25

ments to shew that England, who always takes

the lead in every other country, takes none in
Egypt. How is this? Why, it is wholly and
solely attributable to the fact that Englishmen, who
have gone to Egypt, have found no fostering pro
tection from their consulate; for whenever any of
them have applied to that department, they are
told they cannot be recommended by or through
that representation of the English nation; while, on
the contrary, the French consul general assumes
the lead in receiving his countrymen, and, more
over, takes the most heartfelt pleasure in seeing
them in useful occupations throughout Egypt.
The question will, doubtless, be put—are they
useful?—Yes. What do these French do?—They
teach the Arab and the Syrian the arts of war
and peace; and although I deprecate war in any
country, I hold that it is as much the duty of
Mahomed Ali to teach that, as it is his duty to
teach any other art; because he knows, from expe
rience, that the greatest enemies of Egypt have
been found in the hundreds and thousands of
profligate mercenaries who have come to protect
that country: moreover, in the knowledge of the
art of war, they have the better security in peace;
being always prepared to resist oppression, and
thus enabled, as every nation of the earth ought
to be, to fight its own battles, and preserve its
own national tranquillity. -

How much more commanding even is the posi

tion of Egypt, than that of Portugal or Spain,
C
 26

neither of which can protect themselves, and yet

they are classed as nations, while Egypt, who can,
is not / - - -

Let, then, the British parliament, which has

heretofore interested itself for the poor black slave
of Africa, now turn its eyes to the more than slaves
of Egypt. That they are slaves, and have been
so, to the Turks, till the Turks have left them
nothing, is too true. The miserable and fallen
state of the Egyptian people excites the sympathy
of all Englishmen who visit their country.
The press of England, which now is the greatest
engine of the earth, (the steam engine is as nothing
to it,) has advocated heretofore the mistaken policy
of our bygone governments, for the last thirty
years, towards Egypt.
The press praises, continually praises, Turkey,
and vilifies and stigmatizes Mahomed Ali, sometimes
as a tyrant, and sometimes as the veriest wretch
on earth. How comes this?—Because the press
maintains that Turkey must be upheld at any
price, though Egypt be the sacrifice.
I doubt not that, by some, my opinions may be
called enthusiastic; and, as such, subject me to
attack; however, they led me to Egypt eight years
ago. I felt convinced that that country ought to
be the road to India; and I maintained my prin
ciple in three quarters of the globe. I have travelled,
since then, some hundreds of thousands of miles
to disseminate my opinion, and I will never con
tent myself till I find it the high road to India.
 27

I am as firmly convinced that Egypt is regenerat

ing herself, and will resume her former station
amongst the nations of the earth, and become as
fruitful as she was in the time of the Pharaohs ;
and that, too, in ten years after English interests
are fairly introduced.
I think Turkey is fast verging to its downfall,
and that Egypt, in twenty years more, will assume
her place.
Why should Egypt be made by England to
render her monies to Turkey, and thus pay for
the thraldom that impoverishes her?
This pamphlet asks justice for Egypt at the
hands of the British parliament, which has it in its
power to command for ever, Egypt as our ally in
war, and our friend in peace.
I would also draw the attention of the religious
world to the blessings likely to result from a
system of social intercourse with Europe, which,
in after years, will, in all probability, be the means
of spreading the benefits of Christianity to the
distant nations of the earth. For my own part,
I have come to the conviction that the steam
engine will work mighty changes. I fancy that
I can see the fanatic population of Egypt and
India coming, by small numbers, to continental
Europe, and to happy England. I fancy I can
see them return, delighted and partially changed;
they send others to see also; and thus will go on
the work of civilization.
Believing, as I do, that the powers of the steam
 28

engine, will, under Providence, be one of the means

of bringing the unlettered and darkened millions
of the East to Christianity, I hail with delight
the forthcoming plan of steam intercourse with
India, at the joint expense of H. M. Government,
and the E. I. Company. -

The benefits of the application of steam naviga

tion to India is incalculable. It has already done
more for England than any other art or science
except letters.
With these facts before us, it is impossible not
to feel regret that every thing that is not Egyptian
in Egypt, is French. I would have it English.
They love us more than they do the French ;
therefore, why cannot we have it so? The Pacha
honours and respects England more than all the
world beside. Let us be “up and be doing” then,
and open the doors of British industry, talent, and
perseverance, in Egypt; the first step towards
which is the repeal of the obnoxious order given
by the late Mr. Canning, to the Consulate of
Egypt, by which Englishmen are discouraged
from settling in that country. While this order has
been operating to our prejudice, the French have
been cultivating and improving their connections,
My conviction that Egypt would, in twenty years
hence, be more fertile than in the time of the
Pharoahs, is founded on the known powers of
the steam engine; for wherever, and as often
as, the waters of the Nile can be passed over the
soil, there is luxuriant produce, and this might
 29

be repeated, in some places near its bank, to

four and five crops a year, instead of two and three,
as at present.
At any rate, it is quite clear, that if Mahomed
Ali, and his heirs are not to be permitted to make
Egypt an independent kingdom, it should become
an English colony, and not a French one; which
last it now bids fair to be, and which I am sure the
French are secretly wishing it to be. All that we
have to do to prevent it, is to cultivate a firm
alliance with Egypt, opening the doors, as much
as we can, for English interests in that country.
Having been bred to the sea from my youth, I
cannot enforce my argument by the flowers of rhe
toric; but I know that I have stated nothing but
the truth, and on that I rest my appeal. I pray
England's Legislators to attend to the important
point of permitting Egypt to raise herself, through
her own means, to good government and liberty;
and thus to attain a greatness as a nation, and
establish, as it were, a new kingdom, and one that
would gladly be our ally and friend for ever, if we
will only permit it to be so.
THOS, WAGHORN.

London,
Cornhill, May 15th, 1836.

* * *

J. Unwin, Printer, St. Peter's Alley, Cornhill.

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