168 Egypt
of the Finance Department, who became, in fact,
Minister of Finance. And this process was extended until
every important Egyptian Minister was in much the same
relation to his British Adviser as was the Khedive to
Lord Cromer. The system only began to fail in its results
when the campaign against corruption and coercion in
the lower stratum of the official pyramid, where it came
into direct contact with the population, led to British
subordinate officials being associated as inspectors in the
functions of the Mudir. Such responsibilities required a
local and a linguistic expertise quite beyond most of these
young Englishmen, whose well meant efforts only too
often resulted merely in causing resentment and ridicule*
The best work done by the British in those lower ranks
of the administration was in combating pests like the
cattle plague, the cotton worm, and brigandage.
At the head of this British hierarchy Lord Cromer
rapidly increased his personal authority until it was
accepted not only by successive British Governments,
but by a succession of local competitors. His first
collision was with the wily Armenian Nubar, who had
succeeded Sherif (1884). Nubar was something of a
statesman who saw that what Egypt required first was a
restoration of law and order. Order, he was prepared to
admit, depended on the retention of a British garrison.
But law, as he understood it, was incompatible with the
usurpation by British administrators of all real govern-
mental power. Against this he was prepared to fight with
the stubborn subtlety of an Armenian, with the state-
craft of an Oriental courtier, and with the chicane of a
Levantine lawyer. It is largely due to him that, during
the first ten years of the occupation, the tendency to
develop an Anglo-Indian bureaucracy was checked.
His principal struggle was over the attempt to transfer