NEWS OF THE WEEK.
JORD SALISBURY'S announcement of the intended visit J of the French fleet to Portsmouth after its return from Russia, makes it clear enough that there is no coldness at the present moment between the French and. British -Governments. If the Times' correspondent at Paris, how- ever, is well informed, there is a French intrigue brewing to get the Sultan to depose the Khedive of Egypt, Tewfik Pasha, to whose firmness, clearness, and foresight Lord Salisbury paid so emphatic, and evidently intentional, a compliment in his speech at the Mansion House, and so to throw Egypt into confusion. We believe that the Sultan will think, as Mr. Gladstone says, once, twice, and thrice before falling into the hands of such., intriguers. Of course he thoroughly dislikes our rule in Egypt, and would gladly put an end to it if he thought he safely could. But the chief note of the Sultan's character is timidity and unwillingness to promote dangerous crises. We suspect that his imagina- tion will play pleasantly with the French suggestion, but that he will never seriously think of acting on it.
