Nationalist Renascence 185
spector or engineer of early Cromerism, riding on his
donkey or his pony through the fields, camping in the
villages and chatting to sheikhs and fellaheen, had be-
come an official or officer hurrying out in a motor and
back again for his tennis, and seldom setting foot in the
country except to shoot quails. There were still strenuous
souls in a hurry to cure the plagues of Egypt, but there
were many more that merely hankered after its flesh-pots.
The departure of Lord Cromer was rightly interpreted
by the Nationalists as the deposition of Cromerism.
They were further greatly encouraged by the success of
Japanese nationalism against Russian imperialism, and
by the substitution of a Liberal for a Conservative
Government in Great Britain (1906). Under these con-
ditions the new Agent-General, Sir Eldon Gorst, under-
took the very difficult task of establishing a new relation-
ship between the Empire and Egypt. The new regime
that he introduced has been so confidently represented
as a complete failure that it is well to point out here how
very near it came to complete success. It is not clear,
however, even to-day how far the large measure of
success achieved by Gorst was due to a considered
diplomacy and how far it was due to a policy of general
conciliation. We can, for example, question whether
the new ruler of Egypt was consulting his personal taste
or creating a new political tradition in renouncing all the
outward and visible symbols of power usually considered
indispensable in the East, and by restoring the old sans
jagon and informalities of the early occupation. Riding
his pony into the country or driving his two-seater un-
attended about Cairo, exchanging repartees in the
vernacular with the crowd, often hatless and collarless,
he seemed to invite the contempt of the Egyptians, and
certainly incurred the criticism of his fellow-Englishmen.