Page:The Next Naval War - Eardley-Wilmot - 1894.djvu/9



the announcement in the morning papers of March the 1st, 1895, that the French Ambassador had presented to our Minister of Foreign Affairs the afternoon previously a demand for an early evacuation of Egypt by our troops, came upon the country like a clap of thunder, it was soon evident that for some years France had been secretly but energetically preparing for war. The great irritation against England of recent years, due to our prolonged stay in Egypt, had been much increased by the Congo treaty and the gradual extension of our influence north of Uganda. There was no doubt a footing in Khartoum from the south would soon follow, and we should thus obtain a hold upon Egypt, compared with which our present position in its northern portion is unimportant.

The bitter animosity against Germany now was diverted to ourselves. Such questions—openly 2