Lord Beaconsfield. on Tuesday received a deputation from the Worshipful
Company of Grocers, to take his declaration as a freeman of the Company, and to present him with the emblazoned certificate of membership, in a golden casket. In reply, of course he said what was necessary on the subject of his gratitude, and expressed his regret that his medical advisers would not let him attend public dinners, except on the most urgent occasions. But the one opportunity he still never neglected of addressing the public on occasion of such fes- tivities was the one offered him in the City of London, with regard to which he mentioned that he hoped he should have that oppor- tunity again. From this it has been inferred that the Dissolution is to precede the next Lord Mayor's Day, or the hope need not have been so modestly expressed, and Lord Beaconsfield need not have added that, if it were otherwise, he should still continue to advo- cate the same policy. That is plausible, but it adds very little to the strong general grounds for expecting a dissolution in the autumn. Few human beings weigh their words in scales quite- so delicate as these, least of all does .Lord Beaconsfield.
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