ntial defect was
what might be called insecurity of tenure. Without any efficient means
of self-protection and coercion at its disposal, it had to interfere
with the power, privileges and perquisites of a class which had long
misgoverned the country. This class, so far as its civilian members were
concerned, was not very formidable, because these were not likely to go
beyond the bounds of intrigue and passive resistance; but it contained a
military element who had more courage, and who had learned their power
when Ismail employed them for overturning his constitutional ministry.
Among the mutinous soldiers on that occasion was a fellah officer
calling himself Ahmed Arabi the Egyptian. He was not a man of
exceptional intelligence or remarkable powers of organization, but he
was a fluent speaker, and could exercise some influence over the masses
by a rude kind of native eloquence. Behind him were a group of men, much
abler than himself, who put him forward as the figurehead of a party
professing to aim at protecting the Egyptians from the grasping tyranny
of their Turkish and European oppressors. The movement began among the
Arab officers, who complained of the preference shown to the officers of
Turkish origin; it then expanded into an attack on the privileged
position and predominant influence of foreigners, many of whom, it must
be confessed, were of a by no means respectable type; finally, it was
directed against all Christians, foreign and native.[26] The government,
being too weak to suppress the agitation and disorder, had to make
concessions, and each concession produced fresh demands. Arabi was first
promoted, then made under-secretary for war, and ultimately a member of
the cabinet. The danger of a serious rising brought the British and
French fleets in May 1882 to Alexandria, and after a massacre (11th of
June) had been perpetrated by the Arab mob in that city, the British
admiral bombarded the forts (11th of July 1882). The leaders of the
national movement prepared to resist further aggression by force. A
conference of ambassadors was held in Constantinople, and the sultan was
invited to quell the revolt; but he hesitated to employ his troops
against Mussulmans who were professing merely to oppose Christian
aggression.

(3) _Egypt occupied by the British._--At last the British government
determined to employ armed force, and invited France to co-operate. The
French government declined, and a similar invitation