The other blunder of the Admiralty arose out of an inquiry into the loss of two ironclads off the Wicklow coast. On the night of the 1st of September the _Iron Duke_ rammed and sank the _Vanguard_. There was a fog at the time, and the captain of the _Vanguard_ left the deck at the moment of greatest peril, and was stupid enough to reduce speed for no discernible reason without warning the _Iron Duke_, which was coming behind him. The captain of the _Iron Duke_ was stupid enough to increase her speed in the fog, and she was not only badly steered, but her fog-signal was not blown. Had they been employed in the merchant service these two officers would have been subjected to the severest punishment. As it was, the captain of the _Vanguard_ was dismissed the service. The captain of the _Iron Duke_, who had been condemned by the court-martial for ramming the _Vanguard_, was acquitted, on a review of his sentence by the Admiralty. The Admiralty then, by way of compensation, cashiered his subordinate, Lieutenant Evans, without a trial, and without giving him leave to make a defence. As for the Admiral, who, from lack of skill or from negligence permitted the ships of his squadron to sail close to each other in a fog, he was freed from blame. Fortunately for Mr. Disraeli, an opportunity for a great stroke of policy occurred, which diverted public attention from these blunders, and re-established the waning popularity of his Ministry. On the 26th of November it was announced that the Government had bought for £4,000,000 the Khedive’s shares in the Suez Canal, and what a French writer described as “a conquest by mortgage” was hailed by the English people, with a shout of gratification. The impecunious ruler of Egypt had been literally hawking [Illustration: VIEW ON THE SUEZ CANAL.]