New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-08-24

woud suit her purposes better than any o'"o
nortion of Africa. Accordingly, she has ADOPT.
cd her customary tactics Tor the purpose oi
hrin,,ng both of them within the sphere of her
,o,icious influence, and in natural consequence
w;tbin the range ultimately of her political
nover In Egypt she has taken advantage OF
an appearance of affinity between the Orthodox
and the Coptic churches to constitute the Gar
nc the protector OF the Copts in the same man
nor in which the French claim the right to pro-
+oct the Roman Catholics throughout tho Oflcnt'
Tho Cents form the moneyed and therefore the
most influential class of the Egyptian popula-
ton For centuries they have monopolized the
nositons Of accountants, cashiers, bankers and
money lenders, banking and usury being for
hidden to MahOmetans by the Prophet. foI
four wears a solemn mass has been celebrated
on each of the Cars birthdays in the grand
I'D CortIc Cathedral at Cairo by the Patriarch,
docl,ed ont in all the glory of his Muscoylta
orders. The Russian Legation attends in iull
uniform. and at the close of the service the
divine blessing is invoked for the Gar, the
protector of the Copts"
With regard to Abyssina the same sort oil
strategy has been adopted An affinity has been
inpeniously discovered between the RUSSIAN
Church and that OF Abyssinia, and the former
has avaled itself of the pretext to establish
intercourse between the ecclesiastical authorities
If the two nations This ecclesiastical inter
course is about to develop into something OF a
moro temporal character within the next fe"
weeks For Captain MaschkOf, who had al
ready visited AbysSinia several times previously
on his own account, has now arrived at the
French Red Sea port of Obock, bearing the
Cars commission "to talk about sundry mat
ters" with the Negus or Emperor OF AbySsInla'
The captain is accompanied by a large expcdl-
ton of priests and soldiers, and bears numerous
presents from the Russian to the AbySSlnlan
monarch
With regard to the subjects of conversation
between the envoy and the Negus, they must
necessarily remain for some time to come a
matter of mere conjecture on the part OF ali
except those directly interested, for the RUSSIAN
authorities are hardly likely to take any out
slider into their confidence. 1t is, however,
probable that the topics will include schemes
for the substitution Of Russian spiritual SUI
premacy over the Abyssinian Church in lieu OF
that now exercised by the Catholics OF Alex
andria, which, in view of the latterS sublec-
ton to the Egyptian Government, is very gall
ing to the Abyssinians. Another question like
ly to be touched upon is the pet project on the
part of the Negus to free himself once and fol-
all time from the detesed Italian interference
by placing his Empire under the nominal pro-
tectorate of Russia in so far as the direction Of
his relations with foreign countries is concerned
Any step of this kind would effectually drive
the last nail into the coffin of ltalys colonial
enterprise, in which such colossal sums have
been invested and sunk. Italy, however, can
hardly afford to stand quietly by while Russia
devours the chestnuts, to the roasting of which
King Humbert and his Government have sacri-
foed so many lives and so much treasure, and
it is not altogether improbable that the next
great European war may originate in the Dark
Continent.