xxii LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL 283 



leaders of the men should be invited to the 

 Mansion House, and that the Committee should 

 adjourn till they came. 



Sir John thereupon returned to the Bank and 

 heard no more till a quarter to four, when the 

 Lord Mayor came in hurriedly and begged him 

 to go with him to the Dock House. Sir John 

 was surprised, and said that they had not yet 

 seen the men. It appeared, however, that the 

 Lord Mayor, Mr. Buxton, and Cardinal Manning 

 had seen them, without summoning either him 

 or the Bishop. They claimed to have laid Sir 

 John's suggestion, which they themselves did not 

 favour, impartially before the men, by whom it 

 had been declined. That being so, the Lord 

 Mayor, Cardinal Manning, and Mr. Buxton deter- 

 mined to go to the Docks and urge the Directors 

 to concede the demands of the men at once. 



Sir John said that under the terms of their 

 resolution in the morning he considered that he 

 ought to have had the opportunity of conferring 

 with the men and of laying his views before them ; 

 that the traders in their meeting of the day 

 before very wisely suggested that they should 

 confer with the Dock Directors before coming 

 to any decision, and, moreover, that they had 

 not heard the views of the Governor of the 

 Bank. 



He told the Lord Mayor that he thought they 

 were bound to hear the Dock Directors before 

 coming to any decision. 



The Lord Mayor, however, intimated that he, 

 Cardinal Manning, and Mr. Buxton had made up 

 their minds. 



