Freycinet and Egypt

Abstract

No sooner had the Gambetta Government gone than the absence of direction became acutely felt. The Republican Union, whose desertion of their chief had brought about the disaster, looked with jealous eyes at Ferry. But who else was there? In the Chamber were no personalities which could command a majority. Grévy called Freycinet, who in future would be the ever-ready stop-gap. Faced by the financial dislocation, Freycinet appealed to Say, and Say made his own terms — no forced purchase of any railway system.¹ The other ministers were secondary figures, the majority senators, without weight, except for Ferry who returned to the Ministry of Public Instruction. From the moment it took office, the Government was shaky.