NEWS OF THE WEEK.
MHE new Lord Mayor, Mr. Alderman Whitehead, was in- stalled, as usual, on November 9th; but the dinner at the Guildhall was not this year an event. Lord Salisbury betrayed a despondency as to the prospects of peace which has created some sensation on the Continent; but he dwelt but little on domestic affairs, contenting himself with a strongly worded assurance that those who expected a Home-rule proposal from Tories utterly mistook their attitude of mind. He hinted that the Naval Estimates must be increased, as a measure of precaution indispensable while Europe was arming to the teeth, but disclaimed any present fear of danger to this country. The American people had not ratified the action of President Cleveland; and as to the petty wars on distant frontiers, on the Black Mountain, in Sikkim, and on the coast of Africa, "they are merely the surf that marks the edge of the advancing wave of civilisa- tion,"—a most felicitous phrase. More importance, though not much, attached to the siege of Suakim, which, at all events, showed that England could not yet abandon her task of enabling Egypt to stand alone. Order was restored in that country, and the financial equilibrium had been nearly secured; but the external frontiers were still unsafe. Mr. Balfour, who also spoke, after a warm eulogium on Mr. Smith, confined himself to an argument that the machinery of the House of Commons worked badly because power was wasted on internal friction ; and the remaining speakers were as conventional as usual.
