The Sun.
London, England, 1827-02-14 00:00:00

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA.

The choice of a statesman to fill the vacant station of
Governor General of India, at this moment deeply affects
all those who are in any way directly connected with that
vast dependency of the British empire; and the subject is of
so extensive a nature, that it may well claim the attention
of other reflecting persons whose interest in the concerns
of India is less obvious. What a region is that of which
we speak for one little European island to govern ! The
pretensions to the vacant honour are various ; and if honour
were all that the candidates sought, or all that the nation
had to confer, we should not have said many words on the
subject. The question, however, is, not " what shall be
done to the man whom the King," or the State, or the
Company, " delighteth to honour ;" but who shall best
advance the interests of all in the Government of India ?

Lord William Beatinck would most perfectly satisfy the
wishes of the Directors ; his principles would accord with
their views ; upon his integrity and intelligence they
could repose, for he has already exercised the Government
of one of the three Presidencies into which India is di-
vided—that of Madras ; and is, therefore, practised in the
lesson of Indian politics. But he bas, unfortunately, given
a vote or two upon detached, domestic, personal ques-
tions, which it is thought may now tend to obstruct his
success.

The Duke of Buckingham stands next. It has again
and again been asserted, that he had no thoughts of the
situation : those who put forth the assertion were not
aware that the profession of indifference, the disavowal
of expectancy, were but more obscure ways of acknow-
ledging incompetence, and confessing the inadequacy of
pretensions. However, his Grace, contrary to former
professions, now stands boldly forward as an avowed
claimant of the appointment. He is great, and great exer-
tions are made in his favour. He has not enough to govern
at home, and therefore he wishes for more extensive rule
abroad. When it is said that there is " meanness' in
pride," it is evidently intended by the proverb that
meanness is conceived in the heart of him to whom pride
is imputed, respecting others. Thence, probably, it is ima-
gined; that the presents of such trumpery articles as game
may influence the Directors of the East India Com-
pany in the choice which they may ultimately make of a
Governor-General of India; and the Duke of Buckingham
is the only one of the candidates, if we may use a term
generally which applies but to himself individually, who
has made direct applications for the office. The Direc-
tors, as a body, are extremely averse to the nomination;
and in a divided form of Government, it is surely desirable
that the co-estates should at least start upon terms of con-
fidence and amity.

The pique supposed (it is more than probable without
reason) to exist in one quarter against the fittest man,—
and the dislike harboured in another against the most poir-
erful and persuasive,—having puzzled the choice and
created perplexity, the thoughts of the persons interested
hcolrt, closelyaveibeencast upon a third, the Ambassador at a foreign
connected with the most distinguished name
of the present day. Should doubt fix here, and differences be
compromised, it will be more honourable for the indivi-
dual selected, as his absence has excluded him from com-
petition, or the exertion of personal influence ; and his
noble relatives at home have frigidly, but honourably,
wished that he should stand upon his own merits. Who-
ever attends to those considerations which we have en-
deavoured to impress at the opening of these statements—
namely, the importance of the trust reposed, the value of
our Indian possessions, the delicacy of the tenure by which
they are ours, and the difficulty of governing them—must
be convinced that merit constitutes the only secure ground
of choice, the only safe motive for preference. It is, how-
ever, thought that some time will elapse before the nomi-
nation of a successor to Lord Amherst shall take place.
It may be of importance to one of the candidates to pro-
tract the selection till after the month of April, when the
customary change in the constitution of the Court of Di-
rectors may produce more subserviency to the dictation of
the powerful but obnoxious candidate. Were we in his
place, we should spurn a preference obtained through such
chicane.

Since writing the above we have heard of another can-
didate, the gentleman who stopped so long at a neighbour-
ing Court, from the difficulty of finding a successor; and
who has since concluded a treaty as the representative of
a Christian King and State, in this the 19th century of
the Christian era, according to which refugees on political
questions were to be surrendered to the vengeance of the
predominant party at home, by the State that had afforded
them refuge ! The Directors must smile at such a pre-
tender to their favours.—Tones.

In the city of Gien, a man was tried for sorcery, in
the 16th century, and convicted ; he appealed to the Parliament
of Paris, where the accusation was treated as frivolous, and the
poor devil escaped. The Gien folks, however, tried him again
another time, and burned him, without allowing him to appeal.
The vulgar opinion of sorcery went so far in the 16th century, that
a French author, writing upon the subject, says—" Many of
e sorcerersa r t .
them have boasted, that if they had but a chief to command them,
they were sufficiently numerous to dethrone all the kings of the
h
" xlvnerte duchyburnt
eurntin othfeScaovuoryse, tohfeorenew3a,esar.one city in which 80