The French expedition has always been stigmatised as a fruitless crime. But by the French the power of the Mamelukes was broken; by the French was displayed on Egyptian soil the superior genius of Europe, and thence may be derived a movement similar to that which in the days of the Pharaohs was produced by the Phil-Hellenes, or kings who were “lovers of the Greeks.” Mehemet Ali organised an army in the European manner, and crossing the Nubian Desert, conquered the lowlands of Ethiopia or Soudan. At the same time he commenced the civilisation of Cairo. These two great projects, culture in the capital, and conquest in Soudan, have been carried out of late years with marvellous intelligence and energy by the reigning Khedive. To understand what has been accomplished, let us compare the Egypt and Ethiopia of the present with the past. In the past, a European traveller who visited Egypt incurred contumely and considerable risk. He was not allowed to ride on a horse; he was called “dog” by the pious who passed him in the streets, and pelted by the playful gamin; the dogs barked at him; the women turned their eyes away as if they had seen an unclean thing. But now Cairo, like Rome and Florence, lives upon tourists, who, if they are not beloved, are welcome; the city is lighted by gas: it has public gardens in which a native military band performs every afternoon; an excellent theatre, for which Verdi composed Aïda; new houses in the Parisian style are springing up by streets, and are let out at high rents as soon as they are finished. No gentleman wears a turban; and few any longer affect to despise the blessings of a good education. Let us now pass on to the south. In the olden time the Nubian Desert was infested by roving bandit-tribes. Since the days of Mehemet Ali they have earned an honest livelihood by letting out their camels: and soon they will become navvies, railway porters, &c. Already there is telegraphic communication between Cairo and Khartoom, and a railway is about to be commenced. As for the Soudan, it was formerly divided among a number of barbarous chiefs almost incessantly at war. It is now conquered and at peace, and trade is seldom disturbed. Civilised opinion, all-powerful at Cairo, penetrates into the remotest recesses of this new African empire; the traffic in slaves is abolished, and those who perpetrated their crimes in the dark depths of the continent have lately been reached by the arm of the law.