116 Egypt
alists except Mustapha Fehmy at Foreign Affairs. The
new Constitution was then introduced (for text see
Bhint's Secret History}.
The throwing over of Sherif by the radical Nationalists
was a grave blunder. It was in no way compensated by
a stroke of luck when Gambetta left office and was re-
placed by de Freycinet, a non-interventionist. For any
advantage in this for Egypt was counterbalanced by an
even more startling change in British policy. Thereafter
we find the British Liberals fighting a losing battle
against the growing pressure for British intervention.
They opened negotiations as to the new Constitution,
but now no longer got any encouragement from their
representatives in Egypt. Colvin wrote: ''Until civil
authority is restored and the military despotism destroyed,
discussion of the organic law seems useless/' Cookson
reported : '' The pretended aspirations for legality and
constitutional liberty have ended in substituting the
indisputable will of the army for all legal authority/'
Malet considered that the control existed only in name.
It was the same chorus in a new note as when the Pal-
merstonian Foreign Office had decided on intervening
against Mehemet AH. Granville told Blunt (March 10)
that as the Chamber would not give up their claim to vote
the Budget c * it must end by their being put down by
force/' Mediating proposals that Granville subsequently
made, under Liberal pressure, for the despatch of dual
commissioners were ridiculed by his subordinates, A
section of the Cabinet, the Foreign Office, and the local
officials henceforth worked energetically for a British
intervention. The London Press began a regular
hetze against Arabi, whom it painted as a blood-
thirsty mutineer and a treacherous fanatic.
The main accusation against Arabi was that he was