Note 209 — Chapter IV · GOVERNMENT.

The government of Egypt, from the period of the conquest of this country by the Arabs, has been nearly the same as it is at present in its influence upon the manners and customs and character of the inhabitants; and I therefore do not deem an historical retrospect necessary to the illustration of this work. It should, however, be mentioned that the people of Egypt are not now allowed to indulge in that excessive fanatical rudeness with which they formerly treated unbelievers; and hence European travellers have one great cause for gratitude to Mohammad ’Alee. Restraint may, at first, increase, but will probably, in the course of time, materially diminish the feeling of fanatical intolerance.