It is possible, apparently, that we shall invade Abyssinia in
the cold weather. The King refuses absolutely to surrender our messenger, Mr. Rassam, the Consul, the missionaries, and the Euglish workmen whom he has seized, and Lord Stanley is getting tired of his insolence. East of Suez the British subject must be either slave or Roman citizen, and Theodorus is to have but one more chance. If he will surrender his captives at once, well ; if not, he will be dethroned by an expedition from Bombay. One British regiment, two troops of horse artillery, five regiments of Bombay infantry, and the Scinde Horse ought to be sufficient to upset a crowned savage whom his own people have already learned to detest. The expense will be considerable, but most of it will fall fairly on India—for which alone we interfere in the Red Sea —and the Indian commissariat never leaves its soldiers to starve, or die of want of clothes. The only point is, if India pays, to leave Sir John Lawrence to choose his man without Horse Guards' interference.
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