The Enquirer

LONDON, July 18.

ELFI BEY.

The fate of this personage, whose late appearance among us excited so many animadversions at the period, being, at present, an object of some interest, from the reverse of fortune which he appears to have experienced since his return to Egypt; and the object of his visit to this country, being blended with mystery, the following particulars, as given to us by a correspondent, may not be unacceptable to our readers.

On the arrival of the orders for the recall of the British army from Egypt, the Mameluke Beys, alarmed at the withdrawal of that influence, under which they had hoped their re-establishment in their privileges might have been negotiated, and which left them now exposed entirely to the policy of the Porte, requested General Stuart to allow one of their Chiefs to accompany the army to England, to represent to our government their attachment to the British Nation, and to intreat the intervention of his Majesty with their Sovereign, to obtain for them those equitable concessions which had been so solemnly promised them, as the reward of their services against the common enemy. The British commander availed himself of the request, to give a temporary peace to the country, which was then suffering in every quarter (except that immediately within the limits of the British command) under all the miseries of civil warfare; he established a truce between the contending parties, and he enjoined the immediate retreat of the Mamelukes to Upper Egypt, where they promised peacefully to wait the result of the mission which they meditated. Elfi Bey, one of the most powerful of their chieftains, was chosen and accredited for this deputation.

On the arrival of the army at Malta, General Stuart having set out for Italy, to travel from thence to England by land, and a quarantine of six weeks having transpired, with other obstacles, to delay the Bey longer at that Island than he expected, his own anxiety, which was artfully irritated by emissaries of the French party, (and it was believed, of the French minister himself, there at the moment) betrayed him into some signs of impatience as well as mistrust, which created, certainly a dissatisfaction among the British authorities there, particularly in a step, which he improperly adopted, of hiring a neutral vessel, without the usual official communications, for the purpose of carrying him home to Egypt again, but the condescending attention of Lord Nelson, and the conciliatory explanations of Sir Alexander Ball, soon removed the misconceptions, in which his conduct had originated.

His hospitable and respectful reception in this country, notwithstanding the delicacies attendant on his appearance here, are well known. What effect his representations had on the minds of ministers, or to what specific extent his requisitions were made, we cannot presume to judge; to himself, the issue of his embassy seems to have been fatal: how far a conviction has been established, of his attempts to negotiate with the French, has not as yet appeared, but if the preservation of his own interests were at stake, (and they appear now to have been deeply so) and his applications to us proved ineffectual, we can readily admit the probability of his endeavouring to draw succour and support from other sources, and such an endeavour surely could neither be termed crime nor ingratitude.

Mean time the treacherous conduct that has been exhibited towards this chief, by his own party, certainly does not tend to throw a favorable light upon the Mameluke principle, or to inspire any particular partialities towards that body, beyond the dictates of justice, and the recollection of our obligation to their services. They undoubtedly have weakened, too, the extent of their claims upon our friendship, by joining immediately after the departure of the army, the revolt troops of the Porte, and thus violating their promise to the British commander, to wait, peacefully, the result of the mission, which he condescended to sanction. To his government, and it must tend to convince us, that should circumstances render expedient our interference hereafter in Egypt, the re-establishment and confirmation of the authority of the Porte, could be the only political, as well as justifiable object.

We have no interest in Egypt, but as its deliverers; we have no views, no attractions there, but to exclude from thence the French, and to enable the Porte to defend herself from a second invasion: we should first enable her, in whatever channel we afford our assistance, to appease the intestine tumults that weaken her government.

Under the shade, however, of these tumults, and of all the unhappy divisions which exist in that devoted country, our information states the unremitting assiduity of the French to recover their footing, and open the way for their own speedy reinstatement; it was there that Bonaparte was disgraced, was humbled by the splendor of British triumphs, and there he will endeavour to try the glare of some new enterprise, to obliterate the remembrance of his mortification.-Lon. pap.