The Birth of Modem Egypt 49
pardoned a poor half-starved wretch who tried to assas-
sinate him when he found that his appeals had not been
duly answered. He spent his days in the saddle or on
the council divan, and he slept on a carpet beside his
French four-poster bed.
But the effect of this Egyptian revolution upon Europe
was not confined to the interest it aroused. It had a
definite influence upon the course of European events,
and very nearly caused a European war. But as we are
concerned less with European history than with the story
of Egypt, this aspect of Mehemet Ali's activities will
find less space here than usual. For his invasions of
Arabia, of Anatolia, and of the ^Egean, his victories over
Arab fanatics and Greek insurgents, and his defeats by
British admirals and aristocrats, did not in the end
materially affect the history of Egypt.
The principle of Mehemet Ali's foreign policy was to
bribe or bully the Sultan into recognising his own
hereditary authority over an autonomous Egypt, and to
secure Egyptian independence of the Powers by playing
them off against one another and against the Porte. The
best way to get what he wanted from Constantinople was
to make himself both invincible and indispensable. His
fellow-reformer, Mahmoud, the Khalif Sultan, was hav-
ing even greater difficulties to overcome, and was always
in want of such military and monetary help as Egypt
could now give. While Mehemet Ali, who was a faithful
upholder of the unity of Islam, was ready to help so far
as this could be reconciled with his own interests.
The first foreign campaign of the Egyptian army was
accordingly undertaken against the Arabs who had be-
come a menace to the Empire and to Egypt. The re-
vival of primitive Islamic doctrine and ritual, preached
by Mahomed-ibn-Abd-el-Wahab (1695-1791), had uni-
4