The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-27 00:00:00

(Front the Times.)

The new India Bill is a remarkable combination of modesty
and enterprise. It fulfils not only tho pledge mate by the
Government o i its accession to office, but also ,me w, ich it

did not make, for it is au India Bill and a Parliamentary Re
form Bill rolled into one. To the populous constituencies o
London, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Belfast it gives
new members, not in the House of Commons, but in he
Council of ;mile. Why should wo not build Chateaux
d'Eepagne in that country ? At home it is not always easy
to satisfy exp cation. Parliamentary Reform is a ticklish
affair, because if you have once created a majority against
you there may be an end of Toryism altogether. But give
Reformers India instead. Your'friend asks a commission in
the army, and you a e forced to reply that it is not iu the
line of your interest, but—what would he -say to an Indian
appointment? It is the first thou that the populace of Man-
chester has had a thousand a-year and heaps of patronage
offered ; and only the most brutal natures, such as Mr.
Bright's, could be insensible to the boat. We should like to
see the hon. member for the metropolis in the Council of
India. Thi.re is something peculiarly English i.i these
mixtures of home and foreign ideas. Thus it was
that India has first, held in copyhold as of the Manor of
Greenwich, and to this day, if sai ors are to be believed, the
ocean is in the parish of Stepney. On a memorable occision
it was proposed that not only he property, but, if we re-
member right, ;he persons too of all the Hellenic dependen-
cies, the YEgean, Asia Minor, Sicilian and Italian colonies in-
cluded, should b seized, and divided equally between the
five thousand citizens of Athens. Let us seize upon India
and divide the spoil. The 101. householders of the five
favoured cities are not few, but yet ev ry man's share of male
and female slaves, gold earrings and necklaces, shawls, lulu. d
boxes and filigree work, will not- be a trifle. Lord Ellen-
borough leads the way,„like another Sir Walter Raleigh, cry-
ing, "Lo tlfese be your gold mines," Carrying out the
true princieles of Parliamentary reform, we are to have re-
presentatives of the Indian Civil Service, of the native inte-
rest, of co amerce and manufactures, of railways, of stock, of
everything that has a s eke in the empire. We need not go
far for the origin and authority of this splendid conception.
It is eminently a prize scheme ; or, perhaps, we ought to
say, a competitive design. In Westminster Hall there lately
stood two hundred models of monuments for the Duke of
Wellington iu which the well-known figure of the hero stood
surrounded bet cities, commerce art, peace, war, experi co,
industry, inveietion, integrity, all the virtues, graces, talents,
nymphs, Grenadiers, sailors' and everything, that exists, or
ecnald be imagined to exist. Such is the proposed constitu-
tion' for the government of India.
But, if the invention display. d in this measure be remark-
able, not less is its modesty. Her Majesty's Government do
not take a single piece of patronage for themselves. They
give nine names to P. rliarnent and the other nine to the con-
stituencies mentioned above. This is almost too heroic. We
are not accustomed to it. '-','here has been only o. e example
of the kind that we remember, and th it was in an India Bill
which did net pass into law. Notwithstanding tide red- em-
ing piece of modesty in Fox's Bill, it would not go dew., and
overthrew the party. The only possible conclusion is that
the English do not like modesty—that is, too much of it.
Parliament adopts a very high tone with Mi isters, but It
does not like to see the Exocu ive wholly abeslng its If. be-
ftbie the Legislature. It does not like to cc the Mi Aster
cAlteelifirTand crawling on the ground; offering humble peti-
titiflarNby your leave," with bated breath, beseeching the
horWto do what is the business of the Minister himself. The
House of Commons has no more wish to name the Council ef
India than to fill up the names of a Cabinet, or to nominate
the Judges, the Bishops, or any other Min sterial appoint.
ments. It may argue a want of ambition, and even of grati-
tude, but these are tasks-which even the House of Commons
will not take upon itself. It would rather leave something
to Government. Indeed, there is risk in ell appoint-
ment ; out of nine three or four will turn out indiffer-
ent, and Parliament would rather not be answera4ble for
their s'ns and deficiencies. It expects e inisters to
accept-the responsibility. We suggest this to account for
the indifference shown by the house to the patronage freely
offered to it. The moderation, the humility, the self-denial
of the Ministers we cannot doubt This is to be a Govera-
i troheinngt. iLnwhsiuctihera.alnlocwe,s wthhiechindtern,ideus no ionfg
aannyd oeffaserusreev, earnyd-
gives to the House of Cotnmo s, to tie great cities; to the
civil and military services, to the holders of shares and
stocks—to everybody, in fact, the latronage which rightly
accrues to her Majesty, and for the exercise of which they'
are themselves answerable.
Nev, rthdess,the bill has its good points. A Council of
eighteen members is nearev the mark than one of eight, which
nobody believed to be the final ;retention of that scheme.
There is, • teo, something to be said for the qual fications
designed to secure the speeial experien, e revisit lon the
various departments. But they are too many and too fine.
They would often operate to the exclusion of good men, and
the selection of men who have little else than a Lamina'
qualification—so many y.-ars' service, or residence in such and
such a position. Lot anybody consider what would become if
India at this moment if the choice of her rulers on the spot
were subject to so many conditions. It is possible to be
too ingenious. A watch, as any honest maka will tell
you, may have too many movements—it may tell you teo
much, do too much. Suppose all these eighteen represents-
tives of as many interests, classes, services, provinces,
and attainments placed round a table, who is •to keep
th m all together, and put th. m into good mutual
relations? How will horse, ox, mule, ass, pull together,—
strong and weak, fast and slow, steady and Fekittish. and with
all sorts of antipathies? It will be like one of those conven-
tions that paved the way for the Fre ieh Revolution Those
great city representatives will feel themselves so many
Talbots, each the head of his 50,000 or 500,000 men. Scarce
a merchant in the city that would not be eligible to the "post
as exporter of goods to India or importer of its produce, and
it is easy to see how much advantage a long resident candi-
date would have over one lately tetarned from India. We
confess we tremble at the idea of London having to cheese a
man to recieve a thousand a-year, dispense patronage. exert
great influence, and get a footing in the grand machine of
Government. Such clockwork as Mr. Disraeli proposes is
too elaborate for the English t .ste. It would ruin us in
cleaning and repairing, and not go after all.

(Prom, the Morning Herald )
Under the circumitaut es, we are not surpris3d that several
members ratting on the Opposition bet cies expressed a de
tided preference for this proposal over that introduced a few
weeks since by Lord Palmerston. T new India Bill con-
tains many popular elements. It gives the people afa lr
share in the Government; and the question of patrmage is