The Lord Mayor gave a banquet at the Mansion House
to her Majesty's Ministers on Wednesday, at which Mr. Gladstone spoke. The newest Ministerial statement made had reference to the proceedings of the French Admiral at Tamatave, hitherto reported by telegraph only. "My Lord Mayor," he said, " her Majesty's Government have now received some further intelli- gence by the ordinary methods of communication. When the telegraphic news came from Madagascar, we felt satisfied that it contained nothing that need present to us any difficulties, except such as would be solved by frank communications between the Governments concerned, and by those generous and honourable dispositions which I trust will always prevail amongst friendly nations, and especially, if I may say so, be- tween ourselves and our great neighbour across the Channel. I will only now say that that further knowledge which we claim at this moment to possess, which has hardly come to our eyes, though it has partially reached them,—I have not yet been minutely acquainted with all the particulars,—justifies me in saying that those cheerful hopes which we entertained are con- firmed by the better and larger means of judgment which we now possess ; and I feel confident,—reasonably and even sanguinely con fident,—that nothing will arise out of these transactions that can disturb the long accord between. England and France, which has now survived an anxious_and interesting struggle."
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