The Khedive arrived at Constantinople at the beginning of the
week, and has been treated with great distinction by the Sultan. It appears, however, that though the Sultan is much pleased to see his feudatory doing homage in person, he is somewhat embarrassed by the wild schemes which Abbas Pasha is inclined to propose for the eviction of England from Egypt, or, at any rate, for her embarrassment. The Sultan's ruling motto is " Let sleeping dogs lie," and he therefore is horrified at proposals for making the visit the starting-point of a great diplomatic coup against British influence on the Nile, for sending a Turkish con- tingent to Cairo, or, at any rate, for the grant of a Turkish bodyguard, to guard Abbas against deposition. The Turkish ,diplomatists can, however, be trusted to keep things from coming to a head. They are adepts in the art of dawdling out of difficulties. Meantime, Abbas's visit to his grandfather 'Ismael, who lives in a palace-prison on the Bosphorus, with a bodyguard of Albanians, whose duties are indistinguishable from those of gaolers, is as dramatic as anything in history. Did Ismael, we wonder, descant to his grandson upon the excellencies and advantages of Turkish household troops ?
