standing menace to the security of the trade route to the
East."

Such proposals could not be entertained by Great Britain; and as the
sultan remained obstinate the British ambassador on the 3rd of May
presented a note to the Porte requiring compliance with the British
proposals within ten days. The Turkish ambassador in London was informed
by Sir Edward Grey, foreign secretary, that if it were found that
Turkish suzerainty in Egypt were incompatible with the rights of the
British government to interfere in Egyptian affairs, and with the
British occupation, the British position in Egypt would be upheld by the
whole force of the empire. Thereupon the sultan gave way and agreed (on
the 14th of May) that the line of demarcation should start at Rafa and
run towards the south-east "in an approximately straight line as far as
a point on the gulf of Akaba at least 3 m. distant from Akaba."[30] The
Turkish troops were withdrawn from Taba, and the delimitation of the
frontier was undertaken by a joint Turco-Egyptian commission. An
agreement was signed on the 1st of October finally settling the frontier
line.

With the ending of this dispute and the strengthening of the British
garrison in Egypt a demonstration was given of the ability of the
protecting power to maintain its position. At the same time
encouragement was given to that section of Egyptian society which sought
the reform of various Moslem institutions without injury to the
principles underlying the faith of Islam: a more truly national movement
than that of the agitators who clamoured for parliamentary government.

Resignation of Lord Cromer.

In April 1907, a few days after the appearance of his report for 1906,
in which the "Nationalist" and pan-Islamic movements were shown to be
detrimental to the welfare of Egypt, Lord Cromer resigned his post of
British agent and consul-general. His resignation, dictated by reasons
of health, was described by Sir Edward Grey as "the greatest personal
loss which the public service of this country (Britain) could suffer."
Lord Cromer's work was in a sense complete. He left the country in a
state of unexampled material prosperity, free from the majority of the
international fetters with which it was bound when he took up his task
in 1883, and with the legitimate expectation that the work he had done
would endure. The magnitude of the task he had accomplished is shown by
the preceding pages, and it need only be added that