The Government of Egypt is anxious to minimise the appear-
ance of danger from the False Prophet in the Soudan, and to maximise the force to be sent against him. They give out therefore, that though he defeated the Egyptian army, he did not " annihilate" it, and that Khartoum is quite safe. At the Flame time, they are raising 6,000 troops, to reinforce the Governor, and have asked for British officers, if only to accom- pany their own. Two or three will accordingly be sent. The fate of the Soudan does not for the moment matter much, as no Pretender could govern worse than the Pashas do, and the point of real importance is the degree of credit accorded to the religious pretensions of the insurgent. If he is only re- belling, he is unimportant, for he cannot invade Egypt ; but if he is accepted as the Mehdi, he is more dangerous than Arabi ever was. We ought to know soon, for to-morrow (Sunday, Novem- ber 12th) completes the twelve centuries from the Hegira, and is the day on which all Western Mussulmans have been taught to expect the appearance of the Deliverer. If he does not appear, they will conceive themselves to have mistaken the date, and wait, quite calmly, it may be for another century. A belief of the same kind profoundly affected all Europe through the latter part of the tenth century, and, as the fated year 1000 ap- proached, lowered the value of all property, and even prevented betrothals.
