The Press.
London, England, 1853-06-18 00:00:00

161

sure of the court. The powers of the gover-
nor-general are increased, and it is pro-
posed, amongst other things, that he should
"be empowered absolutely to overrule and
" practically set aside, on his own responsi-
- bihty. the opinions and votes of his council.
"individual or collective, on any difference
that may arise between them." This last
proviso we think rather injudicious, as it
would tend to letter, if not altogether to set
aside, the free will of the councillors. The
commander-in-ehief is to have the power of
nominating to all offices and appointments on
the general staff of the army, and to brigade
and regimental commands. The civil services
of the three presidencies are proposed to be
united into one civil service of India.
Our limits preclude us from following the
author into the details of his plan, hut we
must mention that it concludes " that all
" political powers, privileges, and patronage,
- at present held and exercised by the Court of
" Directors (except in so far as the same may
" stand modified by the terms of the foregoing
"propositions). be renewed to that body in
" full." The " plan" is followed by " explana-
" tory comments" which are terse and to the
purpose, though we disagree with the writer
in many of his conclusions. For instance,
when he says, alluding to the power of the
governors-general to overrule his council on
his own responsibility, "No fear of such a
" power being abused, as only the confidence
" inspired by high genius, and a consciousness
" of ability to deal with the emergency, would
" ever prompt a governor-general to assume
" so heavy a responsibility." &Id (purrs de hoc ;
we mistrust this confidence of genius and con-
sciousness of ability ; and it must never be
forgotten that " Fools rush in where angels
" fear to tread." We do not mean to divide
our governors-general into two such broadly-
separated classes, but experience has taught
us that they are not all angels, and we should
be sorry to see a power so despotic placed in
the hands of a single erring mortal. It istrue
that if he erred he might be impeached after-
wards, being solely responsible ; but the
mischief would be done, and where would be
the remedy ?
We heartily agree with our author when in
his last lines he asks for India—" a strong
" Government with undivided responsibility.'
Whether the Government he single or double ;
whether it be vested in the Crown or the Com-
pany, or divided between them; each and
every member of such Government should he
responsible to the Imperial Parliament for his
acts and their consequences.

The I.'nglish Huntourists of the Eighteenth CMu•
mu. By W. M. Thackeiiiy. London: Smith,
Elder, and Co.

WIRTEvEtt may have been the success of these
lectures on their delivery (and we understand
it was highly flattering), we doubt the
wisdom of giving them to the public in a
printed fem. If the most sparkling essays of
the periodical press when subsequently col-
lected and republished have been compared
to champagne brought a second time to table,
what remains of spirit or flavour can we expect
to find in lectures which, like the present, have
been prepared only for delivery, and require the
aid of voice, look, and manner to give efiect to
their " points," to carry off the negligence of
their style, and often, indeed, to explain their
meaning ? It is a more serious objection to
their republication that they contain no matter
which can justify their claim to perusal in the
closet. The writer tells us that "it is of the
men and of their lives, rather than of their
books" (p. I), that he proposes to treat. Ilut he
does not pretend in the following slight sketches
(nor, indeed, could he be expected) to throw
any new light on their history. He does not
seem to possess that deep and intituate know-
ledge of the manners of the last age which
might enable him to place before our eyes,
with a few graphic touches, the men and the
scenes in which they acted, and to condense
the result of much hard reading of his own
into a few pages of easy reading for the public.
Indeed, his apparent want of care in econo•
miring space (as, for instance, where he be-
stows two pages on conjectural ,guesses at