M. Ribot on Monday delivered a long and exceedingly cautious
speech on foreign affairs. Having been questioned by M. Deloncle, he denied the existence of any strained rela- tions with Italy, affirming that the Italian Government regretted the intrusion of any feeling hostile to France into that " local incident," the quarrel between the Roman popu- lace and the French pilgrims, and that his own Government had imposed moderation on French Bishops, as, under the Concordat, they were entitled to do. As to England, it was a great country with which France desired cordial relations ; but the English people should remember their obligations. France would not change her attitude in Egypt, even if asked to share with all Europe in new negotiations. As for the rest of the world, peace was never better assured, and the recent approach between France and Russia had added a fresh guarantee to the equilibrium of forces. There was very little that is novel in the speech, but it is said that M. Ribot, who originally hoped great things from Gladstonian utterances about Egypt, is now convinced that they meant but little, and in consequence omitted some hopeful sentences from his speech.
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