There is not, so far as we can perceive, any
serious danger of European complications on account of the advance to Dongola. Germany, Austria, and Italy are, for reasons connected with the safety of the Italian Monarchy, heartily on our side ; and though France and Russia threaten diplomatic opposition, it is improbable that it will take any concrete form. A communique known to be official was, it is true, published in the French papers, stating that the Minister of Foreign Affairs had warned Lord Dafferin that the advance would entail grave consequences ; but the incident never occurred, and, as Mr. Curzon on Thursday in- formed the House, had been emphatically repudiated by
Berthelot. It would seem that the communiqué was actually sanctioned by M. Bourgeois, who wished to conciliate the Jingo party in the Chamber; and M. Berthelot, in his speech of Thursday to that body, betrayed the same disposi- tion, talking of the necessity for "explanations." It seems almost certain, however, that these " explanations " will be confined to the draft to be made upon Egyptian finance, and that the resistance will not be serious. We have dealt with the whole subject elsewhere.
