'* Now, Sir, it is not with this incident alone that we have to deal in considering the insecurity of Egyptian territory; that state of insecurity has been chronic ever since the abandonment of the Soudan by Egypt at the instigation of England.
" The object which the late Mahdi had in view, which never left his mind, and which has been perpetuated s by his successor, the present so-called Khalifa, has been nothing less than the subjugation of Egypt. This has been proved by manifestos frequently issued by the late Mahdi inciting his followers to the capture of Cairo. These manifestos may have escaped the memory of some of your readers, but they are perfectly fresh in mine.
** As an earnest of these intentions, I will allude to the numerous raids and other acts of hostile aggression of a more serious nature which have been up to the present time directed against Egypt by the Dervishes. These instances are too numerous to be specified in detail, but I may call to mind the attacks made against Tokar, Sinkat, and Suakin itself, the assembly of a hostile force upon the Upper Nile at the end of 1885, the affair of Sarras in the spring of 1887, and the advance of a force as far as Toski. Since then the oasis of Kharghi was occupied by the Dervishes, who marched within measurable distance of Assiut.
" What appeals, however, most to our sympathies are the cruel raids which have been repeatedly made upon luckless villages upon the banks of the Nile, where the defenceless inhabitants have been slaughtered and plundered without mercy, notably in the very recent instance referred to by Lord Wantage, when a village was attacked at a distance of thirty miles north of Wady Haifa.
" In the face of these facts, how can anyone ignore the insecurity of Egyptian territory or the necessity of putting an end once and for all to this intolerable state of things? For until this truculent power is finally suppressed and the country it occupies restored to its former owners, there can never be that security and peace for Egypt which its well-wishers have at heart. — I have the honour to be. Sir, your obedient servant, " Frederick Stephenson, General.
'- 83 St. George's Square, April 7."
The letter attracted considerable attention, but no
LORD KITCHENER'S SUCCESS 51
steps were taken to remedy the evil complained of before they were rendered unnecessary by Lord Kitchener's successful operations and the decisive battle of Omdurman in August 1898.
Of those events Sir Frederick writes in a letter to me dated September 13, 1898: —
" You mention Kitchener's success upon the Upper Nile. It has been a glorious achievement, admirably conducted throughout, with first-rate ability, without fuss or bluster; bringing his army some 200 miles by water and desert, and placing it in line in a trying climate in perfect order in front of his enemy, manoeuvring it so ably on the battlefield, and finally annihilating the Dervishes, makes one feel proud of him as a General, and of the excellent behaviour of his forces, Egyptian as well as British. The whole campaign has given me intense pleasure, realising as it has done my hopes and longings for fourteen years. The problem arises as to the government of this vast territory'-, a task utterly beyond the capacity of such men as the Khedive and his Pashas. It must devolve upon England, and a Protectorate seems to me inevitable in the near future; there are no doubt difficulties in the way, but none that are insurmountable to a firm hand and a good cause."
And in a letter written to Lady Wantage at the same time he says: —
" I am in raptures at Kitchener's success. He has done what I have been longing for for fourteen years. He has done his work admirably, and has shown ability of the highest order; one cannot praise him too highly, and all who are interested in Egypt cannot be too grateful to him for what he has done. The massacre of the Dervishes has been frightful, but it could not be otherwise; their annihilation was the only thing possible, and now that has been eifectually done.... The future of this vast re-conquered territory is a question requiring grave consideration. Egypt now extends from north to south, as the crow flies, about iioo miles, and its expansion still farther south is incomplete. Such a vast territory is far beyond the capacity of such a man as the Khedive to govern, or of any native whose services he can command. This task can only be undertaken by England, so that we must without more ado assume a Protectorate and let the Khedive fall back to a position similar to that of a native prince in India; it must come to that eventually.