LONDON. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) 14th May, 1875.

Evening Post, Volume XII, Issue 8, 9 July 1875, Page 2

LONDON. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) 14th May, 1875.

You will no doubt read in the public prints the heartrending intelligence of the loss of the Schiller close to our shores, and upon a very dangerous group of islands. We received your letter — in which was the one from H — to myself, introducing Captain Sharp, or rather bespeaking my good offices on his behalf when he should present his letter of introduction — in a moist condition. It was thoroughly wet through, but being enclosed in a cloth-lined envelope, had held together, though the paper peeled off the cloth whole. All my letters were perfectly, legible. It would have been a greater satisfaction if the passengers could ! have been all rescued, but such was not to I be. Of course there have been many letters j in the newpapers, and many suggestions l for the prevention of such accidents in futnrc, but the main cause in this, as in some other wrecks, seems to have been a desire not to lose time. Hence in. a dense fog the captain does not appear to have put out to sea, but kept too close to the land, which proved fatal to passengers and crew, with some few exceptions. Since the date of my last letter, the South Wales masters have withdrawn the lockout and accompanied that step by a.fnrther reduction of 5 per cent, offering work at

15 per cent reduction on the prices that prevailed when the strike began. The proposal was received with considerable hesi- • tation and distrust ; but the ironworks colliers, most of whom are not in the Union, appear to have had no option but to submit. The Sale coal colliers still hold out, aud are backed up by the Union forces, the object of their resistance being not a matter of wages, but to enforce the prin- ; ciple of arbitration. There have beeu rumors of dissentiens among the employers, and of withdrawals from the Association, but there seems upon enquiry to be no foundation for positive assertions to that effect. *lt is evident, however, that the firmness of the Masters' Union has been shaken, and that there are influential employers who by no means approve of all that has been done. Concessions are promised in the direction sought by the men, and there is a strong probability that the whole business will finally end in a compromise, which might just as well have been arrived at before the strike commenced. The Committee on Foreign Loans, to which I referred in my last, has concluded its labors, so far as evidence is concerned, aud there have been some remarkable disclosures. Mr. Albert Grant, the Baron of Leicester Square fame, was examined, and . said his share of the profits of the Honduras loan was about £28,000, he would not be particular to a thousand or two, and the rest went to Messrs. Waring and Mr. Laing, the Messrs Waring getting the lion's share. Further evidence has been given affecting Captain Bedford Pirn, that ill-used British sailor, by the Honduras Minister at Paris, which leaves the question of the captain's evidence pretty much where it was. The exposure will no doubt do good, but so long as there are credulous investors, anxious tor 10 per cent; so long will there be rotten loans from bankrupt States placed upon the English market. We have not yet done with breach of privilege. Mr. Disraeli refused to make any proposal for altering the Standing Orders, and sheltered himself behind the sa ■ gacity of Lord Lyndhurst, who was, exceptnig in law, one of the least sagacious of politicians. The Marquis of Hartington therefore took up the matter, as leader of the Opposition, and moved the necessary alterations. After Mr. Mitchell- Henry and Mr. Newdegate had spoken, Mr. Disraeli rose, aud describing what the two last-named members wanted — an authorised report — as a Speech Preservation Bill, refused to do anything because there was no practical inconvenience. Subsequently, Mr. Gathorne Hardy rose, when Mr. Sullivan demonstrated the practical inconvenience by " spying strangers " behind the Speakers chair, whereupon the galleries were cleared, and the rest of the debate conducted in private. The result has been that Mr. Disraeli has been compelled to give way, and has given notice of a motion which practically carries out what the Marquis of Hartington wanted. It does not appear likely that the possession of that power for which he has so long been striving will add to Mr. Disraeli's reputation ; he had acted admirably as a Guerilla chief waging a desultory warfare, but he seems unequal to the task ot carrying out a distinct policy with a majority at his back. The measures of the Ministry are weak, its policy feeble, and his control of the House of Commons inefficient. He has now had the opportunity of proving what was in him, and has done much to destroy his reputation. If he had died before the new Parliament had assembled he would have left behind him a far greater reputation for statemaiiship than now seems possible. " Omne ignoturn pro magnifico," and Mr. Disraeli's reEutation for statesmanship appears to have een the most firmly established when ho had no opportunity of display ing his power. At length, Dr. Kenealey has brought forward his great motion on the Tichborne case, and was heard with patience aud attention during his long harangue, but his statements were thoroughly demolished by the Attorney-General, Disraeli, and Bright, the last of whom made a most telling and convincing speech, going through the most salient features of the case, aud completely demolishing the flimsy edifice which the Doctor had set up. The result was that Kenealey and Whalley had to act as tellers for one supporter, Major O 'Gorman, the largest man in the House, and an Irish joker, who would enjoy the fun of being the solitary member of the minority. The Doctor's paper, the Englishman, has become milder recently, and I am told the sale is falling off. In the last number, it gave several characteristics in which he resembles Cromwell, informed its readers that in some respects he reminded the Writer of Isaiah, declared that he would allow himself to be pounded in pieces in a mortar before ho would desert the cause of the people, that it was on these grounds that the Doctor was the most popular man in England, and that if there were an election to-morrow to till the throne, it would hot be that estimable Freemason, the Prince of Wales, that would be chosen. I presume we are intended to draw the inference that it would be Dr. Kenealey — another King Edward ! We are now having summer weather, after a long cold spring. Rain is much wanted, but there appears to be a prospect of dry weather. Tne death is aunounced this week of the Rev. J. W. King, parson and squire of Ashby-de-la-Lownde, in Lincolnshire, whose correspondence with the Bishop you will recollect. By this event Holy Friar, who was long first favorite for the Derby, is struck out, and Hypocrisy, another of his horses, is also struck out of its engagements. lam not sure of the gender, for I don't think that characteristic is confined to either sex.