The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-01 00:00:00

reason to think so. On the contrary, after this; cha- I
racter,which I had read of him, I was most m.r,;ree--
ably surprised to find that his conduct and cc'nver-
sation, so far as I could learn, had been al ways
moral and. decorous, that he was regular in hi s at-
tendance on public worship, and not only well-in-
formed on religioul topics, but 'well pleased and
for to discuss Them ; that his views appeared
to me, on all essential subjects, doctrinally correct,
and his feelings serious and deferential; and that
he was not only inclined to do, but actually did
more for the encouragement of Christianity, and the
suppression or diminution of Suttees, than any other
Indian governor has ventured on. That he may
have differed in some respects from the peculiar
views of the author in question I can easily believe,
though he could hardly know himself irtawhat this
difference consisted, since I am assured that he had
taken his opinion second-hand, and not from any-
thing which Mr. Elphinstone had either said or
done. But I have been unable to refrain from giving
this slight and imperfect account of the character
of Mr. Elphinstone as it appeared to me, since I
should be sorry to have it thought that one of the
ablest and most amiable men I ever met with was
either a profligate or an unbeliever."
Again, speaking of Bombay, Ilebsr says
" Its main advantage, however, is the society of
Mr. Elphinstone, one of the ablest and most gentle.
manly men I have ever known, and possessing a
degree of popularity and personal influence, as well
as an intimate knowledge of every person and thing
within the Government, which I never saw before,
except perhaps in the Duke of Richelieu at Odessa.
This side of the:Peninsula is also indebted to Mr.
Elphinstone for some very important and efficient
improvements in the administration of justice, and
who, both in amiable temper and manners, exten-
sive and various information, acute good sense,
energy, and application• to business, is one of the
most extraordinary men that I have fallen in with."
When Mr. Elphinstone left India, in addition to
the presentation of addresses from all classes, a
college called after him was established by the
natives ;' his statue by Chantry adorns the town-
hall, and other substantial tokens of respect and
affection were offered. When Mr. Elphinston re-
turned home he wrote his well7known and greatest
work, his History of India, of which I cannot now
speak at length.. He wag, I believe, offered the
peerage twice, with the high offices of Governor-
General of India and of Canada. On her Majesty's
accession, a deputation of the Directors of the late
East India Company waited upon him to ask him
to accept, as India's most distinguished servant, the
Order of the Bath, a seat in the Privy Council, and
other things which men esteem gorgeods appen-
dages were also offered, and in turn declined ;
though his best services were at the disposal of his
country in the shape of advice, and I have been
told that one of the most able things he ever wrote
was a letter on the working of the last India Act.
The following extract from the last letter I ever
received from my departed patron and friend, dated
in January last year, will not be without its in-
terest and. its lesson at the present moment :
" I partake very strongly of your feelings about
the state of India and the altered positions of the
natives and Europeans towards each other. It is
impossible not to share in the indignation of the
latter after the atrocities-perpetrated by so many of
one class of the population, nor to feel how much
its intensity must have been increased by their
presence on the scene, and their distrust of the
natives among whom they still lived, and on whose
appearance of fidelity and attachment they had so
little reason to rely; but the eagerness of the Cal-
cutta press, and of others still further removed
from danger, to divide all India into two parties,
blacks and whites, and to force every one of its in-
habitants to join one•or other standard, is scarcely
less a profit. of insanity than the panic about car-
tridges which gave rise to this unhappy contest."
I hope the Indian services at home and abroad
will join to place a counterpart of Chantry's statue
of Elphinstone by the bide of Malcolm in West
minster Abbey, or, still better, by the side of
Napier and Ilave?ock in our future British forum
—Trafalgar-square.
Arnewood-lodge, Hants.

JOHN WARDEN.

SUPPLY OF G AS TO THE METROPOLIS.

DEPUTATION TO THE PRESIDENT OF
THE BOARD OF TRADE.
Yesterday a numerous and influential deputation,
consisting- of representatives from most of the ves-
tries and -district boards ()tithe metropolis, -waited
by appointment on the Right Hon. T. M. Gibson,
at the Board of Trade, Whitehall.
The deputation was aneompanied by the follow-
ing members of Parliament :—Sir J. V. Shelley, Sir
J. Duke, Sir C. Napier, Mr. S. Locke, Mr. E. James,
Q.C., Mr. Roupell, and Mr. W. Williams, and con-
sited of Dr. Baehhoffucr, Mr. (lodge, and Mr.
Wingfield, from Mary lebone ; Messrs. Chinnock,
Foxley, and Stevens, from _St. James's, Westmins-
ter ; Messrs: Clarke, Godson, and Hughes, from
the WeAminster district ; ,Mr. Jeffree and the
Assistant Vestry-clerk from Lambeth ; Mr. Mar-
shall and the Vestry-clerk from St. Martin-in-
the-Fields ; the Clerk of the strand district
b3ard ; Messrs. Cameron, Eldridge, and Farrel-,
from St. Pancras ; Messrs. Fox, Langley, and
Walker, from St. Wave's, Southwark; Messrs. Hot-
land, Price, and Redfern, from St. Mary's, Newing-
ton ; Messrs. Dowden and Bartolacci, from St.
George's, Hanover-square ; Messrs. Perry, Watkins,
and the vestry clerk from Chelsea; Mr. Fitchew,
from Fulham ; Mr. Morphew, from Lewisham ;
Messrs.lackson. Lobjoit, and Tolcher, from Wands-
worth ; Messrs. Gilbert and Wilkins, from Kensing-
ton ; the Rev. J. Carlyle, from Woolwich ; Messrs. '
Grant, James, Elt, and the vestry clerk, from
Islington ; Mr. Waring, from St. Giles's district ;.'
Mr. Wyatt, the Parliamentary agent ; Mr. J. Beal,
the hon. secretary ; and Mr. S. Hughes, the hon.,
engineer.
Sir J. V. SHELLEY, M.P., in introducing the de-

potation, observed that in addition to thoMemhers
of the Legislature present, it consisted of repre-
sentatives from most of the vestries and dis-
trict boards of the metropolis. "Of the entire
number of ;;8 separate vestries and district
boards constituted under the - Metropolis- Local
Management Act, no less than twenty-three had
joined most heartily;in the prosecution of a bill to
regulate the supply of gas to the metropolis. Of the
remaining 15 several had hitherto held aloof be-
cause they were already supplied with gas at the
low rate 4s. per 1,000 feet, which was below the
price proposed to be enacted in the, bill of last ses-
sion. Since the delegates, however, had determined
to press for a maximum rate of is. per 1,000 feet, it
was confidently anticipated that every vestry and
district board in the metropolis would co-operate in
the movement. In consequence of an arrangement
entered into by the gas companies to divide the
metropolis into districts, each of which was to be
supplied by a single company, the others agreeing
to withdraw from competition, numerous petitions
were presented to Parliament in 1837, and in con-
sequence two successive committees were ap-
pointed, one in 1858, and another in the following
session. The compOsition of these committees was,
he thought, evidently unfair, inasmuch as there
were five members representing the metropolitan
boroughs opposed to five members .having a direct
pecumaTy interest in gas companies. The other
five were independent members, nominated by the
Government. The committee being thus peculiarly
constituted, the result was, as might_ have been
anticipated, that no agreement. was arrived at. A
great mass of evidence was adduced before the last
committee by the promoters of this inquiry, which
gave rise to many conflicting divisions ; and such
was the effect produced, and such the difficulty of
coming to an agreement, that the committee at
length determined to hear no more evidence, ,and
to report the whole to the house. In the last ses-
sion of 1859 a bill was brought in by the associated
vestries and district boards ; but, owing to the late-
ness of the session, it was unavoidably introduced
without the proper notices being given, and it was
consequently withdrawn at the instance of the
Standing Orders Committee. A new bill, however,
was now in course of preparation, having for !
its object the regulation of priCe and quality,
the limitation of dividends, and a variety
of other matters usually introduced into gas
acts, but from which most of the London
companies were exempt, having obtained their
acts on the distinct basis of competition. The ex•
penses incurred by the vestries and district boards
in prosecuting this measure had necessarily been
very heavy. Contributions towards the object were
at first made with great liberality; but opinions of
counsel had lately been given, !tending to throw
doubt upon the legality of such contributions.
Under these circumstances he feared that much
difficulty would be incurred in meeting the ex-
penses of next session, and the attention of the
Government was therefore earnestly directed to the
necessity for inteeferenee. Sir S. Shelley then
quoted the proceedings taken by the Government lin the Metropolis Water inquiry in 1852, and read
an extract from a speech by Mr. E. James, Q.C.,
who was then counsel for the Government, settlni,
forth the grounds on which the Government
deemed it desirable to interpose. That was a pre-
cedent which he thought might now be followed
with advantage.
Mr. LOCKE, M.P., entered into an account of the
negotiations which had been attempted in the com-
mittee of 1859. These negotiations had at one time
so nearly been successful that the maximum price
had'actually been' agreed upon by both sides; and
the princiral question remaining for settlement was
as to the illuminating power of the gas—whether
it should be equal to 12 sperm or 12 wax candles.
The hon. gnitlemau also dwelt upon the ill muse-