Lord Dnfferin made not only an amusing, but a very
hopeful speech concerning Egypt, at the dinner of the Worshipful Com- pany of Grocers on Wednesday, where he declared that he should, have been very glad to enlarge on such subjects as Egyptian politics and the Suez Cana],—subjects especially calculated by- their uncontroversial character for after-dinner speeches,—if he did not indulge a wholesome fear of Lord Granville's taking him to task at breakfast on the following morning, and also a. just fear of the effect of the questions of the Fourth Party as to the prudence of his speech. Nevertheless, he wouldt say that "seldom have the people of England had greater- reason to be contented with the achievements of their Naval and Military forces than in connection with the late Egyptian cam- paign. I am not alluding to the destruction of the forts of Alexandria, to the capture of Tel-el-Kebir, and of Cairo. What I am referring to are the gratifying results which, I trust, are- destined to follow from these remarkable events. The only- justification for war is that the peace which it is undertaken to- insure should be prolific in benefits infinitely exceeding the risk and sacrifices it causes, and the amount of human misery it. never fails to entail. That the Egyptian campaign will triumphantly stand this test, I unhesitatingly assert. The- struggle was short and decisive, but it opened up to Egypt such prospects of peace and the dawn of such a day as was never dreamed of by themselves or their predecessors for centuries.' We earnestly hope that Lord Dufferin is not too sanguine. IF he is right, the English Parliament must desist from its fatal, attempt to manage Egypt from Westminster, and the British Resident in Cairo must imitate the British Residents in India,. and interfere with the Native Administration only when that. Administration is doing substantial injustice, not when it is- simply ignoring European methods of justice.
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