onstantinople;
but then, instead of pushing on and occupying the city, he delayed till
the Russians had reached the shores of the Bosphorus. He in consequence
thought it wiser to enter into a treaty by which he secured the Pachalic
of Syria and Adana as well as that of Egypt for himself and his father.
At first the tribes inhabiting Syria welcomed him as their deliverer,
but they soon found that they had not changed rulers for the better, and
that he fleeced them as much as had the pachas appointed by the Sultan.
They therefore entreated the Sultan to take them under his protection.
He accordingly sent an army to their relief. It was now that England
and Austria thought it time to interfere. Neither of them wished the
Egyptians to succeed, because the Russians would have had an excuse for
interfering. The Russians did not want anybody but themselves to
interfere, but when the English, Austrians, and Prussians came forward,
they were compelled to put a finger into the pie, to counteract the
efforts of the French. The French would gladly have aided the Egyptians
for the sake of gaining a footing in the country, but as they were not
ready for war they thought it wiser to refrain from all open acts of
hostility. The Turkish army advancing sustained a defeat from the
Egyptians, while their fleet, which had been sent to the Dardanelles,
sailed for Alexandria, and joined that of Mehemet Ali.

The four powers accordingly entered into an agreement to make him
withdraw his army from Syria, and offering him the ultimatum of the
hereditary sovereignty of Egypt and the possession during his life of
Saint Jean d'Acre. If he refused, he was to have only the government of
Egypt, and the four powers were to compel him by force to accept this
arrangement. The sturdy old pacha, however, backed by France, resolved
to hold out. A British squadron was therefore sent to blockade the
ports of Egypt and Syria, with a few Austrian and Turkish ships, Russia
undertaking not to take possession of Constantinople. The French had
not been consulted in the matter, and had they felt themselves
sufficiently strong, there is little doubt that they would have
supported Mehemet Ali, at the expense of a war with England. Thus much
was at the time known to Captain Lascelles. Much circumspection was
therefore required, for it was difficult to understand who were friends
and who foes. The French commanders might have received secret orders
to attac