The Lord Mayor's dinner on Thursday was a little stupid.
Of the Cabinet Ministers, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Goschen, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Ripon, and Mr. Bruce attended ; Mr. Glad- stone dwelt on foreign affairs, and was consequently gelatinous ; Mr. Gosehen only said the Megmra calamity should be inquired into by a Royal Commission, with Lord Lawrence at its head, and that the personnel of the Navy,—the men and officers,—were always good, whatever may happen to the ships. The Lord Chancellor said that it was easier to answer to the toast of the House of Lords than to the toast of his own individual health, —in short, that he was too shy to know what to say on such an occasion, and that he has great satisfaction in being connected with the present Government because it holds war to be a crime, in which case, we should suppose, the duty of breaking up the Army and Navy would be paramount. Lord Ripon merely reported that the members of Congress overwhelmed Sir Stafford North- cote and himself with inquiries as to the forms of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and then went through the usual congratulation on the Treaty of Washington. Mr. Bruce simply apologized for the muddles of the House of Commons. All this was not very lively, nor did the formal joy of the Foreign ministers, the Minister for Honduras, and the Minister of the United States, over the peace of the world,—" that no sword is flashed against sword throughout the whole civilized globe," as General Schenck oratorically put it,—and over the mutual bene- factions of different peoples, make it much more lively. It was a flat banquet.
