You
ask me about the affair of the riot against Nuwbar Pasha
in the time of Isma`iyl and whether I had a hand in it. I
had none, for the reason that I was away at Rashiyd (Rosetta)
with my regiment. But the day before the thing happened I was telegraphed
for by the War office with my fellow Qa'im Maqam
Muhammad Bey Nadiy, to deal with the case of a number
of soldiers that had been disbanded by the new Ministers without their
arrears of pay or even bread to eat, and who were at al-`Abbasiyah
But
I knew nothing of what was being arranged against Nuwbar.
That
was done by order of the Khedive, Isma`iyl Pasha, through
a servant of his, Shahiyn Pasha, and his brother-in-law,
Latiyf 'affandiy Saliym, director of the military
college. These got up a demonstration of the students of the college, who
went in a body to the Ministry of Finance. They were joined on the way
by some of the disbanded soldiers and officers, not many, but some. At
the Ministry they found Nuwbar getting into his carriage,
and they assaulted him, pulled his moustache, and boxed his ears. Then
Isma`iyl
Pasha was sent for to quell the riot and he came with `Abd al-Qadir
Pasha and `Aliy Bey Fahmiy, the
colonel of his guard,
whom he ordered to fire on the students, but
`Aliy Fahmiy,
his men to fire over their heads and nobody was hurt. He was
not with us at that time. Having married a lady of the palace; he was devoted
to Isma`iyl, but he did not like to shed the blood of these
young men. Isma`iyl Pasha, to conceal his part in
it, and that of those who got up the affair, accused
Nadiy Bey
and me and `Aliy Bey Ruwbiy of being their leaders and we were brought
before a Majlis on which were Stone Pasha and Hasan
Pasha Aflatuwn with
`Uthman Rifqiy
afterwards Under-Secretary of War, and others. I showed, however,
that its was impossible we could be concerned in it as we had only that
very night arrived from Rosetta.
Quelling student unrest
under Isma`iyl Pasha
Nevertheless
we were blamed and separated from our regiments, Nadiy being
sent to Mansuwrah, Ruwbiy to the Fayuwm, and
I to Alexandria where I was given a nominal duty of acting as agent
for the Shaykhs of Upper Egypt, whose arrears
of taxes in the shape of beans and other produce were to be collected and
sent to Alexandria in security for money advanced to Isma`iyl
by certain Jews of that place. But before we separated we had a meeting
at which I proposed that we should join together and depose Isma`iylPasha.
It would have been the best solution of the case, as the
Consuls
would have been glad to get rid of Isma`iyl in any way, and
it would have saved after complications as well as the fifteen millions
Isma`iyl
took away with him when he was deposed. But there was nobody as yet to
take the lead, and my proposal, though approved, was not executed.
The deposition
of Isma`iyl lifted a heavy load from our shoulders and all
the world rejoiced, but it would have been better if we had done it ourselves
as we could then have got rid of the whole family of Muhammad
`Aliy, who were none of them, except Sa`iyd, fit to rule, and
we could have proclaimed a republic. Shaykh Gamal
al-Diyn proposed to Muhammad `Abduh to kill Isma`iyll
at Qasr al-Niyl Bridge and Muhammad `Abduh
approved.
(To be continued)
Excerpt
from "The Wind and the Whirlwind"
Poem
by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt.
"And in the brotherhood
of man reposing,
joined to their
hopes and nursed in their new day,
The anguish of the
years shall be forgotten
And Allah, with
these, shall wipe your tears away."
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