Reviews.

REVIEWS .

All Books intended for Review should be addressed to the Editor of The Freemason ' s Chronicle , Belvidere "Works , Hermes Hill , Pentonville , London , N " . How we defended Arabi and his Friends . A Story of Egypt and the Egyptians . By A . M . Broadley , Barrister-at-Law ? Author of "Tunis Past and Present . " Illustrated by Frederick Villiers , Special Correspondent of " Tho Graphic" in Egypt . London Chapman and Hall ( Limited ) . 1884 .

As a rule , the British public is not given to concerning itself foi any length of time about matters of foreign policy , and this is especially the case now , when events move so rapidly that what happened as it were but yesterday , to-day appears to have established a place for itself on the records of ancient history . But many circumstances have combined to make the Egyptian question an exception to this

rule . Our shortest and most direct route to India lies through Egyptian territory . Very nearly one-half the shares of the Suez Canal Company aro the property of the British nation . It is principally British shipping which provides tho revenue of the Canal . For many years past we have taken a leading part in controlling the affairs of Egypt and tho Khedive . Towfik Pasha is our most obedient ,

humble servant . Eecently , too , the disturbances brought about by the Mehdi in the Soudan and his defeat of the Egyptian forces under Hicks Pasha have again brought our connection with and interests in this country to the front . Hence Bro . Broadley ' s contribution to the history of the recent—we may almost say the present—Egyptian crisis is likely to prove unusually attractive , if , indeed , it does not exorcise

some influence in directing public opinion towards a clearer insight into the events of the past few months . We have , of course , no intention of offering any opinion on the politics of the Egyptian question—thafc is a matter which is altogether outside the province of a Masonio journal . But this need not prevent us from carefull y laying them before our readers , as seen through Bro . Broadley ' s spectacles .

We may , or may not , sympathise with his views , bnt we are under no compulsion to keep them hidden from the Masonic public . There ia , indeed , one sufficient reason why , even at the risk of being thonght sympathetic , we should go somewhat outof our way to give them some prominence . Much has been said and written about Egypt from the point of view opposed to Arabi and the movement of which ho was

the leader , but very little has been heard from that of Arabi himself . Therefore , in that spirit of fair play which induces Englishmen to hear both sides of a question before passing judgment on its merits , we feel it is only just thafc Bro . Broadley ' s advocacy of Arabi , albeit that of a client by his counsel , should be set forth , at all events as fully as the limited space at our command will permit . Nor do we

think our readers will be dissatisfied with us for doing so . What Brother Broadley has to say is said in such agreeable fashion that , in placing it before our friends , even a slight , if unintentional , expression of sympathy with him and his client—should any such chance expression escape us—will stand a fair chance of being condoned . Very early in his brief preface Bro . Broadley explains the purpose

of his book . "The author , " he writes , " who sees Egyptian things through Financial spectacles has had his say ; a similar boon has been accorded to the wearers of the tinted glasses I will venture to describe as representing Politics , Diplomacy , French Influences , Vested Interests , Anglo-Egyptian ideas , and the various echoes of the historical verandah . of Shepheard ' s Hotel at Cairo . All these

gentlemen have had a patient hearing and a fair and open market for their wares . The tribune being for the moment vacant , I have , perhaps somewhat audaciously , stepped into the empty place , put on my Egyptian spectacles , and now invite the great and generous British Public to witness the panorama of Egyptian Nationalism , in which the principal characters will be sustained by my late clients . "

As far as we can , we purpose following the author in his very intelligent exposition . Passing over the earlier chapters , in which the author tells us how he came to be retained as counsel for Arabi , what course of action had been followed by his brother-counsel , the Hon . Mark Napier , at the outset of his task , in a like capacity , and the state of public

feeling , so far as the habitue ' s of Shepheard s Hotel at Cairo may be taken to represent it , we come to what he describes as the " Preliminary Skirmishes , " in which he makes the acquaintance of M . Borelli , the legal adviser of the Egyptian Minister of the Interior , with whom he sets about preparing the necessary understanding as to the mode of procedure to be followed at the trial . As will be seen from the book ,

the course of these negotiations did not always run very smoothly , especially at the later stages of the proceedings . But it was clearly to the advantage of the English counsel that they should have been invited to enter into them so early . It made it clear even to the fraternity of unbelievers , and those who thonght that a " happy dispatch " was the best and shortest way of getting rid of Arabi and

his fellow prisoners , that the British Government had no intention of permitting the latter to be tried without having the benefit of English counsel to defend them . Still the task was by no means an easy one . Egyptian Ministers had a knack of throwing obstacles in the way of settling the procedure and other matters , and ifc was only by repeated applications to British officials that Bros . Broadley and Napier were

able to prosecute their work to an end . One thing thoy very soon learnt , namely , the charges on which Arabi and his associates were to be tried , and which were as follow : — " 1 st . Of having hoisted the white flag at Alexandria on the morning of the 12 th July , in violation of the laws of war and jus gentium , and

at the same time of having withdrawn his troops and caused the burning and pillage of the said town . " 2 nd . Of having excited the Egyptians to arm against the Khedive ( a crime provided for by Article 5 of the Military Penal Code and Article 55 of the Ottoman Penal Code ) . " 3 rd . Of having continued the war notwithstanding the news of

peace ( a crime provided for by Article 111 of the Ottoman Penal Code ) .

' tth . Of having excited civil war , and carried devastation , massacre , and pillage into Egyptian territory ( a crime provided for by Articles 56 aud 57 of the Ottoman Peual Code ) . " Having learnt the charges , and settled and signed with M . Borelli the mode of procedure , their next task was to obtain access

to Arabi , who was imprisoned in a house known as the Daira Saniga , ancl tho necessary permit having been obtained from the Minister of the Interior , tho party , consisting of Bros . Broadley , Napier , and Coe ( the solicitor ) , with the interpreter , set oat for the prison , and , meeting Sir Charles Wilson on the staircase , were by him ushered into the prisoner ' s cell , of which aud its occupant we read as follows . *—

" The only furniture of the room , when we arrived , was a handsome Shiraz rng , a mosquito curtain , a mattress aud some pillows , an embroidered prayer-carpet , a Koran , and some brass and earthenware vessels . I must not be understood as complaining , for an Oriental rarely wants moro than this . " Of Arabi , we are told that " he wore a pair of undress military

trowsers , with white shirt and jacket . He sometimes changed the latter for a black Stambouli or Turkish frock coat . " As to his appearance , we read : — " In repose , an almost fixed , frown and knitting of the brows can hardly fail to excite an impression of forbidding sullenness , but I soon found ont that this was the effect of deep and candid thought rather than of moroseness or bad temper . Arabi ' s

habit of perpetually thinking has gained him many enemies amongst those who judge by first appearances . When his countenance lights up with animation the change wrought in his expression is so wonderful thafc yon would hardly recognise him as the same man . His eyes are full of intelligence , and his smile is peculiarly attractive . His complexion is lighter than that of his son , " —with whom they had

previously had an interview , — " but his nose is too flat and his lips are too thick to ali ow me to describe him as a handsome man . He is considerably over B jx feet in height and broad in proportion . During his imprison ( . n is appearance was materially changed by the growth of a „ rety be ard . After the manner of the Felaheen , a bine band was t j . > ^ ound his wrist , and he rarely , if ever , loosed his h his

grasp on a s ma' - * k rosary he perpetually ran throug fingers when talkin „ ' < ji cloud of anxiety which seemed to overshadow him at first ^ . ' raaun , Hy lifted , and before his imprisonment was ended he became ^ -mogfc c heerful . " And again , when Colonel Wilson had retired , Br ' uroadle y presented to Arabi a letter from Mr . Blunt , which the latter asked permission to read , _ and during the reading of forehead

which he ( Arabi ) sm ^ ed , aud , raised his hand to his m token of gratitude and acquiescence . This habit of Arabi s , when perusing his correspondence , always struck me as singularly graceful . His peculiar courtesy of maimer has rarely failed to impress those with whom he has come in contact . " Subsequently , Bro . Broadley pressed him to eive his full confidence and to speak unreservedly

of his defence , on which we are told that , m reply : - "He first observed that , at the end of the campaign ( like many other unsuccessful generals had done before him ) he had delivered his sword and his hononr to General Lowe , ancl had done so in full confidence that his former opponents in the field , and nofc his political enemies , would be the judges of his deserts . He had maintained

order , observed the usages of war in civilised countries , and acted towards his prisoners with humanity and kindness . Surely he could claim some better treatment from England than that which he had received at our hands P Was not our presence there to-day , in spite of his enemies , a sign that he was not altogether wrong ? He had led fche Egyptians in a struggle for freedom , and had achieved

partial success , when our arms stopped his progress , and the very aspirations of which he was , by the will of the whole nation the exponent , were wrecked in the defeat at Tel-el-Kebir , and then hopelessly crushed out by the Turkish and Circassian cruelty which followed it . ¦ If yon enquire , ' said Arabi , ' you will discover and be able to prove that all Egypt was with me—the Khedivial

familythe old men of Mehemet Ali ' s time , the Ulemas , the army , and the peasants , but in the presence of prison , arrest , torture and threats , who will own me now ? Why , I should not be surprised if my very children denied me to my face before the Commission of Inquiry . ' Arabi then gave a circumstantial account of his own troubles when in prison , and observed that if he was treated thus what could his more

humble followers expect or hope for ? ' Then , as to his own conduct , he said he divided ifc into two parts : —what was done before the 11 th July , and what happened afterwards . At no time could I be fairly called a rebel . The Khedive shared our opinion that we should return the British fire , and the Sultan expressed his satisfaction at my proceedings . Afterwards the Khedive became your prisoner , and I

continued to follow the orders of the Council of Ministers , sane tioned and supported by the whole country , and still approved by the Sultan . If the Khedive and the Sultan are my superiors I may have been your enemy , but I was not a rebel towards them . All thafc I tell you I hope to be able to prove . I fear nothing , as I had no concern with the outbreak at Alexandria lasfc June , or the

incendiarism which followed the bombardment . The next thing to be done was to recover Arabi ' s papers , and these at length were obtained and , for the sake of security , lodged afc the British Consulate , where , at Bro . Broadley's request , they were translated by Mr . Ardern Beaman , a student interpreter doing duty with Sir Charles Wilson . Passing over Chapter X ., which is entitled " A

Digression from the Blue Books , ' ancl Chapter XI ., in which the author makes acquaintance with more of his future clients , we enter upon a long account of the rise ancl progress of the National movement in Egypt , as set forth by Arabi himself in his instructions to his counsel . This account is extremely interesting , the following , in which

ho sketches his relations wifch the Sultan shortly before aud after tho outbreak of hostilities , being especially so : — " Talafc Pacha , the Circassian , was sent , in November 1881 , on a mission to Constantinople on the part of the Khedive . Ho was instructed to represent to the Turkish Ministers and to the Sultan thafc Egypt