Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/552

128 After a short interval the new ruler of Egypt, Said Pasha, in 1866, entrusted Nubar with the negotiations going on between London and Cairo, relative to the Overland Route and the consequent construction of the Cairo-Suez Railway. French influence being at that time dominant at Cairo and hostile to the Overland Route, Nubar was dismissed in disgrace.

In 1863 Ismail Pasha succeeded to the government of Egypt, and Nubar was promptly recalled, and in 1866 was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, and for the greater part of his master's reign exercised a distinct influence upon the history and destinies of Egypt. He obtained for Ismail the title of Khedive, procured permission to alter the law of succession, settled the difficulties between Turkey and Egypt on the subject of the Suez Canal, and carried on the negotiations which ended with the award of Napoleon III. In 1868 he induced Ismail to make an effort to get rid of the capitulations which hampered the administrative action of the local Government, and proposed the erection of international tribunals to administer a code drawn up under Nubar's directions, and suitable to the conditions of the country.

During the years which immediately preceded Ismail's financial collapse, Nubar Pasha did not play a very prominent part in politics. In alternation with Sherif Pasha he was either Prime Minister or in disgrace if not in exile; but if he was not directly responsible for the disasters of Ismail's rule, he did not take a prominent part in averting the inevitable ruin. In 1874 Nubar was dismissed from office and obliged to leave Egypt, and resided mainly in London and Paris. In 1876 Ismail thought that he might recover the confidence of his creditors by giving to Egypt the form of a Constitutional Government under international control. Nubar was appointed President of the Council, and Sir C. Rivers Wilson and M. de Blignières represented England and France respectively. When the new ministers showed an intention to act seriously, and to remodel the administration, Ismail at once intrigued against them and dismissed Nubar, and made the position of the French and English agents untenable. The unforeseen intervention of Germany, brought about indirectly by Nubar, upset all Ismail's plans, and ended in his deposition and the accession of his son Tewfik. Nubar then returned to Cairo, but took no active part in Egyptian affairs during the Arabi insurrection, the bombardment of Alexandria, and Tel-el-Kebir campaign. On the order of the British Government after the defeat of Hicks Pasha's army, Egypt was compelled to abandon the Soudan. Sherif Pasha, then Premier, resigned, and Nubar, although equally disapproving, consented to accept office on the ground that it was better for Egypt to evacuate the Soudan than to incur the withdrawal of the British occupation of Egypt. He held office until 1888, when he was dismissed and retired to Paris, where he spent his time in writing his reminiscences, which he refrained from publishing. In 1892, Abbas Pasha succeeded his father Tewfik, and after getting into trouble with the British Agent, summoned Nubar to become his Prime Minister in 1894. After eighteen months, during which matters were placed on a more friendly footing, Nubar Pasha finally retired in November, 1895, having been Prime Minister to six Khedives. He retired to Paris, where he died on January 14 at his house in the Rue Boissiere, having undergone a few months previously a serious operation from which he never completely rallied.

On the 1st, at London, aged 60, Edward Righton, a popular comedian. First appeared as Fleance in Miss Glyn's reproduction of "Macbeth," 1850; was manager of the Court Theatre and one of the three actors in Mr. W. S. Gilbert's "Happy Land" (1874) whose caricatures of Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Lowe and Mr. Ayrton incurred the censure of the Lord Chamberlain. On the 2nd, at the Vice-regal Lodge, Dublin, aged 28, Hon. Mrs. Vincent Corbett, Hon. Mabel Beatrice Sturt, daughter of Lord Alington. Married, 1895, Vincent Corbett, of H.M. Diplomatic Service. On the 2nd, at Ealing, aged 67, Surgeon-General Lewis Stanhope Brace, son of Colonel Lewis Bruce. Educated at Edinburgh University; joined Bombay Medical Service, 1854; served in the Indian Army, 1856-7, in Persia; in the Indian Mutiny, 1857-8; and Afghan War, 1880-1. On the 3rd, at Rome, aged 81, Surgeon-General James Macbeth. Educated at Aberdeen University; entered the Army Medical Service, 1841; served with 10th Foot in the Sutlej Campaign, 1845-6; with 74th Highlanders in the Punjab Campaign, 1848-9, and afterwards with 10th Hussars and 16th Lancers. On the 3rd, at Wateringbury, Kent, aged 73, General Frederick Schneider. Entered the Bombay Army, 1841; appointed to 10th Bombay Native Infantry; served in the South