Italy has made peace with the Negus of Abyssinia, the
former agreeing not to extend Erythrea and the latter to re- lease the Italian prisoners upon receiving the cost of their keep. The Emperor, moreover, is declared absolutely inde- pendent and entitled to send Ambassadors of his own, and Italy is forbidden to alienate any portion of her African territory. There is a strong suspicion that the terms were dictated by France and Russia, and that it is intended to use Menelek in resisting the British advance upon the Nile. It is alleged, on the other band, that Great Britain is trusted by the Negus, and that Lord Salisbury sanctioned, if he did not suggest, the arrangement made. We shall probably not know the exact truth until Parliament meets, if even then ; but we may point out that an Abyssinian army on the offensive and an Abyssinian army defending its own hills are two different things.
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