Kamil first came to widespread attention outside Egypt when he presented a petition to the French Chamber of Deputies in Paris in June 1895 asking the French government to pressure Britain to leave Egypt.[4] Kamil at the same time paid for a poster to be printed which shows him presenting a petition to Marianne in the "Temple of Reason" asking her to free Egypt with the miserable-looking Egyptian masses standing behind him while the British lion together with a British soldier holding a half-naked woman in chains symbolizing Egypt in the foreground of the poster.[5] To the right of Marianne stands Uncle Sam and other symbolic characters for the other nations of the world, who were all standing upright and look happy, showing what Kamil hopes that Marianne will make Egypt like.[5] Kamil's poster with its symbolic representation of Egypt's status was very popular, and was reprinted in many European and American newspapers in 1895.[5] In a speech delivered in French in Toulouse on 4 July 1895, Kamil accused Lord Cromer of "purposively appointing incapable, indifferent or traitorous men at the head of Egyptian government ministries and other administrative positions. In this manner he not only manipulates these men like an instrument under his control but he uses the incompetence of these men to attempt and prove to Europe that our country lacks a governing managerial class."[5] In the same speech, Kamil called for French help, saying: "Yes gentlemen, it is France's duty..to interfere and save us...France which has generously awakened Egypt from its profound sleep and has always treated us like its dearest offspring, earning in the process our eternal respect, emanating from the depths of our hearts and souls."[5]