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Excerpt from Egypt of the Egyptians The queerest paradox in administration ended in December, 1914, when the British Empire simplified its duties by undertaking the protection of Egypt in due form, appointing H. H. Prince Hussein Pasha Kamel to be Sultan. This paradox had lasted some thirty odd years; fortunately, it did not end before it had been epitomised by Kipling - "A country which is not a country, but a longish strip of market garden, nominally in charge of a government which is not a government, but the disconnected Satrapy of an Oriental Empire; controlled Pecksniffingly by a power which is not a Power but an Agency, which Agency has been tied up by years, custom, and blackmail in all sorts of intimate relations with six or seven European powers, all with rights and perquisites, none of whose subjects seems directly amenable to any Power which at first, second, or third hand is supposed to be responsible. Among these conflicting interests and amusements sits and perspires the English official, whose job is irrigating or draining or reclaiming land on behalf of a trifle of 10,000,000 people, and he finds himself tripped up by skeins of intrigue and bafflement which may ramify through half-a-dozen harems and four consulates. All this makes for suavity, toleration, and the blessed habit of not being surprised at anything." Some of these delights have now departed, though many will remain, for Protected States elsewhere have taught us that even this particular form of regularised administrative machinery has its own eccentricities, not to mention those which are essential parts of Egypt. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections