The Press.
London, England, 1855-05-19 00:00:00

478

of Lord Derby on Monday are of great im•
portance. Before the Reform Bill, by means
of the nomination boroughs, a large class of
young men were introduced into public life,
and they were specially trained for official
service. The prizes of public life were thrown
open to genius, and when Mirabeau demanded
in France /a carriere ouverte aux talens, the
great Tribune was thinking of what he had
beheld in England, with its aristocratic privi-
leges and popular influences. The Radical
Reformers reproached the system as giving
rewards to " adventurers," and the " old old
Whigs " (with their hatred to original intel-
lects) endorsed the accusation. In place of
such " adventurers " as Burke, Canning,
Sheridan, Sir Philip Francis, Tierney, Hus
kisson, Grattan, Horner, Henry Dundas, each
of whom was " a professional politician," we
have now adventurers of the platform, or-
ganisers of associations fur manufacturing dis-
content, and intriguers for baronetcies ;
sometimes even forcing their way into the
Privy Council, and while gluttonous of honours
for themselves showing a morbid liking for
attacking the reputations of their political
rivals. _ _

The contrast between the abilities of the
" rising young men " of the Manchester and
Marylebone schools and the intellect returned
by the rotten boroughs needs no further illus-
tration. But it may be asked, since the
boroughs are extinguished, where is the
talent to be got ? It is plain that there must
be official rewards given directly for men of
abilities, since parliamentary honours are n)w
withheld from brilliant " adventurers " of
narrow means. On this question we have the
advantage of knowing the sentiments of so ex-
perienced an administrator as Lord Metcalfe.
In his remarks on " the policy of Sir George
" Barlow," Lord Metcalfe writes :
In a service like this, which is pursued for an indepen-
dence, and to which the wealthy never have recourse, and
to which services cannot be rewarded with honours, merit
• must be rewarded by situations uniting credit with emolu-
ment. It is in the nature of the human character to look
to a reward. Without this hope there would be much less
of zeal and public spirit than there now is. Self-love plays
its part in our most disinterested acts. Every Government
of the world has instituted rewards as well as punishment
for the encouragement of public virtue among its citizens ;
and when a Government loses sight of this principle, it will
soon lose the power of rewarding any public virtue, for all
virtue will be extinguished. When a man's conscience
tells him that he has worked hard and merited well, he
expects reward.
The " honours" of parliamentary life being
now withheld from the class which produced
Huskissons and Tierneys, it would appear
only just that " situations uniting credit with
" emolument" should he given as prizes to
attract talent. What follows is still more true,
and should not be lost sight of in a plan of
Administrative Reform :
I look on the consideration of public service or public
ornament to be real and very justice ; and I ever held a
scanty and penurious justice to partake of the nature of a
wrong. I hold it to be in its consequences the worst
economy in the world. In saving money I soon can count
up all the good Ido ; but when, by a cold penury, I blast
the abilities of a nation, the ill I may do is beyond all
calculation.
Indeed, no man knows, when lie cuts off the incitements
to a virtuous ambition, and the just rewards of public ser.
vice, what infinite mischief he may do his country through
all generations. Such saving to the public may prove the
worst mode of robbing it.
These sentiments came from Metcalfe at an
early period of his life, but he continued to
act on them throughout his distinguished and
successful career. He was equally opposed
to profuseness as to penury, and how little of
a red-tapist he was can be seen in his remarks
on the "Lord Cornwallis school " of officials :
I am perhaps singular in thinking that reductions might
be made with success in all branches of our civil adminis-
tration. The axe should be laid to our judicial system.
Our revenues might be improved. Our civil expenses
reduced. But nothing of this kind will be done as long as
the caste of Bengal councillor shall remain unchanged—
so cautious, so devoted to precedent. so fearful of alteration.
At all events, Lord Cornwallis's school must first wear out,
who think that all perfection is in the regulations of 1793.
—[October 14, 1819.1
We have often impugned the policy and
conduct of the elirectors of the East India
Company. But it cannot be denied that their
subordinate officials have often served them
well. Copious knowledge and clear views
abound in the correspondence of many Indian
functionaries. Speculation and practice were
not divorced in the school of officials which