196 Egypt
ing his power behind the scenes. The Khedive had be-
come a hidden hand—a hand that pulled wires and
tightened bowstrings in the dark. Abroad the Khedive
machinated with the enemies of England ; at home he
manipulated Ministries. For example, he pushed his
nominee, Mohamed Said, into the important Ministry
of the Interior, while the more independent Saad Zaglul
was put off with the perilous Ministry of Justice. Until
at last this growing power of the Khedive reacted on the
old divisions of the Nationalists. The line between
extremists and co-operators faded, and soon most of the
leaders were mainly concerned with opposing the power
of the Khedive. While Abbas, having accumulated a
considerable fortune, having control of the Charitable
Trusts, and being able to confer decorations, managed
by methods much like those of George III., to make
and maintain a "Khedive's Party/' The British before
long felt called to put a curb on Abbas, and it would seem
that the new Constitution was granted quite as much to
counteract the Khedive as to conciliate the Nationalists.
The establishment of a representative Assembly, to which
the Khedive was notoriously hostile, was the first serious
blow Abbas suffered. The second was the election of his
enemy, Saad Zaglul, as first Vice-President, just after
Khedival displeasure had driven him from office. Then
the sale by Abbas of the Mariout railway through the
Khedival estates to the Banco di Roma, acting in Ger-
man interest, was stopped by Kitchener. At last the
very taproot of his financial resources was cut by the law
reforming the Charitable Trusts (Wakf), until then under
Khedival administration. In vain did Abbas retaliate
with intrigues among the Ministers which forced the
Premier to resign. Kitchener merely replaced him with
Hussein Rushdi Pasha, and Abbas lost, rather than