The Press.
London, England, 1853-06-11 00:00:00

122

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enphemistically termed " influence." Above all,
the existing system of double government is left
intact ; and, in dwelling on this as the worst
feature of a bad plan, we do not necessarily
imply any censure on the Court of Directors,
whose administration could not, perhaps, have
been better than it is, under the peculiar cir-
cumstances of their position. " One second-
" rate general," said NAPOLEON the FIRST, "18
" better than two good ones in joint corn-
" mend." So say we. There have been able
men—honest men—men thoroughly in earnest
—even (though that be the exception rather
than the rule) men versed in Indian affairs,
filling directorial chairs, and addressing " our
" Governor-General " from Leadenhall-street :
there have been Ministers of great energy
and activity seated at tin' Board of Control :
but both the one and the other were ham-
pered by the necessities of a situation false in
itself, and, to the public out of doors, utterly
incomprehensible. It is idle for Sir C. Woon
to affirm, what perhaps he has brought himself
to believe, that the President is responsible
for all that is done in British Asia. Tech-
nically he may be so , but it is as certain, as
any recorded fact can be, that this responsi-
bility has never existed in practice!. Not until
Lord Deno?, in his first Ministerial speech on
India, told the House of Lords that the go-
vernment of that dependency was in practice
mainly vested in the Board of Control, (lid the
public mind begin to be disabused as to the illu-
sory nature of the directorial system. That use-
ful piece of knowledge, previous to the year '52,
remained to the people of England an unsus-
pected mystery. How else should the authors
of the Afghan disaster have escaped impeach-
ment? And what more natural than that
persons not conversant with Oriental arrange-
ments should really impute to the vast and
costly establishment in Leadenhadl-street—to
the dispensers of patronage—to those in whose
hands was vested the power of recalling a
Oovernor-General some considerable share
in the conduct and administration of affiiirt4?
But the Directors are not necessarily or fre-
quently in Parliament. They enjoy in conse-
quence a virtual immunity fur misconduct.
And the President of the Board of Control.
until lately, escaped the ordeal of parliamen-
tary criticism ; partly, no doubt, because of
the apathy of tue English public, but partly
also because he was popularly regarded, not
as the originator of, but merely as participa-
ting in, acts of supreme authority. Herein
lies the real mischief'. Nobody knows—in the
phrase lately quoted by Lord JOHN—" under
" which thimble is the pea.' It remains to be
seen whether Englishmen are so enamoured
of secrecy, or so wedded to tradition, as to
perpetuate this elaborate mystification.
Oxford and Ascot combined to spoil this
week's debate ; but we are much mistaken it'
Sir C. Woon succeeds this year in even car-
rying his measure through the House of
Commons.

THE LATE RESIGNATIONS.

" CONCILIATION HALL" has been re-opened at
Downing street, for the benefit of Irish mein
hems, and will probably be retained as a neces-
sary appendage to a Coalition Ministry. Its
first public sueeess has been so striking as to
imply many previous rehearsals. Messrs.
MossEt.t., KLoon, and SAnt.Ein have settled
again into the quietude of office, whence they
had been nearly driven by the outspoken
s• No Popery" of the Leader of the House of
Commons," and have accepted the passive
liberality of AnyttnErN as a set-off against the
" extra-Ministerial" bigotry of RrSSELL.
Why the author of the Appropriation Clause
should have become so violent a partisan of
the Irish Church, that, like his opponent, Mr.
.---7.
.4 • e tiCAS his convert-zeal outran his discretion,
~ v...!4.1. ¶. '
44*- - • is not easy to surmise. Perhaps, like the
.1..- /
4- orw.•• to lean proud of his skill, he wished to show
4
• v,,-: . • • Net
• • :s-;!:` •
. ~...;. mastery of sophisms by refuting himself;
tfp the speech of Mr. Mennoeon, who very
71 --..r.,•* rje
, w..--: jle rogrally observed that " the recent legisla-
•• „404.% VI" non the subject of the Canada Clergy
t?
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