The Press.
London, England, 1855-03-17 00:00:00

246

WILLIAM KEOGH, the new Attorney, goes to
mass; Mr. JOHN D. FITZGERALD is a consistent
Roman Catholic, ardently attached to his
Church, and, contrary to all former prece-
dents, Mr. FITZGERALD is nominated to the
Solicitor-Generalship, his colleague being
also a professed Catholic. The teunsel to
the Castle is Mr. ComfatAts, a Most staunch
supporter of the Pope, but a moderate poli-
tician. Sergeant HOWLBY is a Roman Catholias
and a legal pluralist, holding a sergeantcy
along with the valuable Chairmanship of the
County of Tipperary, and he is constantly put
into the commission as a judge of assize. Mr.
sergeant O'BRIEN, a zealous Roman Catholic,
is M.P. for Limerick, and a leading Crown
prosecutor on the Munster circuit. Mr.
Sergeant CHRISTIAN iS a Protestant and a
Whig.
It is further worthy of note that not one
Conservative is now found amongst the three
Sergeants-at-Law, and this occurs at a time
when the leading practitioners of the Irish
bar are by a proportion (at the least) of three
to one in the Conservative party. Mr. NAPIER,
Mr. WHITESIDE, Mr. FRANCIS FITZGERALD, Mr.
HENRY MARTLEY, Mr. BuTr, have all repeatedly
figured as " special" counsel in cases of great
importance. They have either pleaded before
the House of Lords, figured in State trials, or
gone on large retainers to different circuits,
where clients had vast interests at stake. A
similar statement could not possibly be made
on behalf of Messrs. KEOGH, FITZGERALD,
CORBALLIS, or Sergeants Howl.Ev and O'BRIEN.
Thus—to put the case strongly and with
brevity—while the intellectual ascendancy at
the Irish bar belongs to the Protestant and
Conservative connection, it would appear
that " old Whigs" are organising an official
superiority for the Roman Catholics in Dublin
Castle.
It is still more extraordinary that the
" Liberal Protestants " of the Irish bar have
been contemptuously passed over in the recent
promotions. Mr. Sergeant CHRISTIAN, a Pro-
testant " Liberal," has been overlooked ; Mr.
WALTER BERWICK (the grand-nephew of HENRY
GRATTAN), and other " Liberal Protestants "
whose professional position was infinitely
higher than that of Mr. KEOGH, or Mr. Con-
BALMS, or Sergeant HOWLEY, have all been
neglected. Nor is it less singular that the
Parliamentary Catholics should have such
offices showered on them, while their Catholic
brethren not in Parliament—like Sir COLMAN
O'LOOHLIN, Mr. HUGHES, and others—have
been passed by. What else is meant by such
conduct than to indicate that the " P.P.'s "
and " R C.C.'s" are to be courted, and are to
aid in the manufacture of the Queen's Judges?
These facts are significant. Lord PAL-
MERSTON was always supposed to be inimical
to the Romanists of Europe, but his first acts
in office are decidedly calculated to increase
the power of the Pope in Dublin Castle. Our
Premier has degenerated into the patron of
Mr. KEOGH and the ally of Pio Nowo.

THE INDIAN ARMY.
As the mismanagement which has been exhi-
bited in reference to the Crimea has given rise
to a good deal of discussion regarding the
alleged superior fitness of the Indian army
for the purposes of war, it may not be inoppor-
tune to give a brief sketch of the constitution
of the latter foroe, with such remarks upon the
question as the accurate information possessed
by us on the subject of Indian affairs generally
enables us to offer.
The army of the Company is composed of
the branches common to all armies: engineer,
artillery, infantry, and cavalry. The appoint-
ments to cadetships in all rests with t
Chairman
• appoint-
, while to
proportion
assigned.
tronage to
. are dealt
only that by
.active they are
connections; to

tors, in equal .roportions, saving the C
ant ) • - 'tote, who have two
. her Director's one,
.dia Board a pr
th: 'hairman is s
- t
:igned in pat]
• of office, and
- `t",141.. •: . leasure, only
iammitar-
In practice
fl
• •s, and connec