In an article appearing in August 1844 it commented on the possibility of the Pasha's death and on the numerous services he had afforded the British Empire. It said, "Even when we were battering down his forts and beating his troops, the old Pacha escorted the mail-bags and passengers across the desert as if nothing had happened . . . We are glad that Mehmet Ali is . . . smoking his pipe, levying taxes, and abusing his councils in Alexandria."

XREF: Connects to the earlier claims about British opposition targeting Mehmed Ali's expansion rather than his reforms (loc 1686), suggesting British sentiment toward him was genuinely mixed.

Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed…, loc. 1689