["He (the late ISMAIL PASHA) did not conceal his opinion that Egypt should be left to the Egyptians, but admitted that a strong Government was indispensable. He thought that in any circumstances a great deal would depend upon the character of the Khedive. ISMAIL believed that if the Khedive were a competent and energetic ruler, a satisfactory state of affairs might be established in Egypt within a very short time."--_"Times" Vienna Correspondent._] Could PENTAOUR, the Copt poet-laureate, scribe, bard and friend of the King, Sing now, as aforetime to RAMESES, how, and of what should he sing? Of Nile given up to the Giaour, its increase made o'er to the Jew Modern PHARAOH would gladly let go with his bonds and his power of screw? Of RA superseded by APIS, of RAMESES bluffed by JOHN BULL, Of the pride of the pashas o'erthrown, of the cup of the fellaheen full? Should he sing of the anger of ABBAS, the fretful and furious boy, Who with tantrums, and toys, and intrigues, would the counsels of CROMER destroy? Nay, for he sang of heroes and men, of the might of victorious gods, And not of a petulant child with the charge of his champions at odds, Or of journalists juggling with words, or financiers jobbing with bonds. Young ABBAS fares forth to the Sphinx, to the secular Sphinx, that responds To none save the fate-ordered questioner. Look at that stony set face, Which the passing of many an empire, the waning of many a race Hath seen in its stare o'er the sand-wastes! It PENTAOUR beheld in its pride; And now the boy ABBAS, in eager-eyed question, creeps close to the side Of the age-battered Oracle! Hist! All the desert is still as the sky. _Do_ the voices of forty fled centuries sound on the breeze that breathes by? Bear they meanings the Frank would acclaim, or the latter-day Hebrew approve? Those Voices are hard to interpret, that Sphinx is not easy to move. It would speak with the music of MEMNON, in ABBAS's ears, did it say The Frank shall return whence he came, and the Briton betake him away. Yet ISMAIL the shrewd, the unscrupulous, knew what young ABBAS must learn, That a Government strong to subsist, which no blast of intrigue can o'erturn, Is not shapen of shifting Nile sands, broken reeds, which, like Egypt of old, But pierce through the hand that shall rest on them. ABBAS the boy may be bold, With a thoughtless boy-boldness, but is he the Khedive keen ISMAIL foresaw, Of character 'stablished on justice, of force firmly founded on law? Poor boy, eager-eyed, half exultant, he lifts, half inquiry half plaint, His Voice of Appeal to the Sphinx. On the air of the desert how faint Sound his words, "_Is_ it Egypt, O Sphinx, for Egyptians?" There