nymous letter received by Lord Cromer
in May 1906. The writer, probably a member of the Ulema class,
addressing the British agent as the reformer of Egypt, said:--

" ... He must be blind who sees not what the English have wrought in
Egypt; the gates of justice stand open to the poor; the streams flow
through the land and are not stopped by order of the strong; the poor
man is lifted up and the rich man pulled down, the hand of the
oppressor and the briber is struck when outstretched to do evil. Our
eyes see these things and they know from whom they come.... While
peace is in the land the spirit of Islam sleeps.... But it is said,
'There is war between England and Abdul Hamid Khan.' If that be so a
change must come. The words of the Imam are echoed in every heart, and
every Moslem hears only the cry of the Faith.... Though the Khalif
were hapless as Bayezid, cruel as Murad, or mad as Ibrahim, he is the
shadow of God, and every Moslem must leap up at his call.... You will
say, 'The Egyptian is more ungrateful than a dog, which remembers the
hand that fed him. He is foolish as the madman who pulls down the
roof-tree of his house upon himself.' It may be so to worldly eyes,
but in the time of danger to Islam the Moslem turns away from the
things of this world and thirsts only for the service of his Faith,
even though he looks in the face of death...."

Denshawai.

To establish confidence in the minds of the Egyptian public that the
authorities could maintain order and tranquillity, it was determined to
increase permanently the strength of the British garrison. An incident
occurred in June 1906 which illustrated the danger which might arise if
anything happened to beget the idea that the protecting power had
weakened its hold. While mounted infantry of the British army were
marching from Cairo to Alexandria, five officers went (on the 13th of
June) to the village of Denshawai to shoot pigeons.[28] An attack was
made on the party by the villagers. The officers were told by their
guide that they might shoot, but the villagers had not given permission
and were incensed at the shooting of their pigeons by other officers in
the previous year. A premeditated attack was made on the officers; a gun
seized from one of them went off and slightly injured four natives--one
a woman. The attack had been preceded by a trifling fire at a threshing
floor, either accidentally caused (but not by the o