New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-23
RRTTIsH PEERS IN COUNCIL

.oWEN MEREDTrHS" MAIDEN SPEECH.
UNUSUAL POPULAR INTEREST IN INDIAN AFT AIRS
,opn IyrToN,s sPrECH IN sELF-vINDicATIoN-
p,psovAI. APPEARANCE OF TIE POET, DIPLO-
MAfrs1-A CRUSHING REPLY FROM THE DUKE OF
y ARGYLL
iynox TIE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE,
LONDON, Jan. 11.--Although the session Is oat
three nights old and although the Irish question ID
supposed to monopoIize public nterest-and the IN
tercst of the Irish business centres for the present
the House of Commons-twice already has inc
House Of Lords attraced its full share OF afternoon
First on the opening night. which have descriped
and when, to be sure. Ireland did figure In the no
bate; secondly. last night, when the analrs Oh 'h'
Green Isle were not mentioned at ALL In the Com-
mons the debate on the address is in full swns anu
the most Irish of IrishInen cannot complain tha' '
disorders Of his own country are not discussed
with fulness; aud not only WIN luinee'
Init in the presence of listening and sympa'het'o
,nditorv. both within and without the walls OF ST.
stenbens In the Lords nevertheless there gathered
larga assembly both of Peers and of mere specta-
t.ns and the evening was one which those present
will long remember. 1t marked, for one thing,
new departure In the history OF the great depend
sncy which has, during the last two or three years.
divided with Ireland the anxious solicitude OF the
English people. Time was when India might thlnk
herself fortunate if she could get the ear OF thirty or
forty English Legislators taking both houses toeether
Last night the Peers alone mustered nearly two
hundred strong and for che first time they came 10
hear an ex-viceroy of India attempt defence OF
hlmself against charges which had not been made.
Lord Lytton has not been impeached at any other
oar than that of public opinion, yet the speech he
n,eant to deliver would have been appropriate to
,ne accused before legal tribunal 1t Is no fault OF
merit of his If it took another turn.
Ever since Lord Lytton's return from India it has
been understood that he was DESTROYS to be heard
m the merits of his viceroyalty. He was not al
together satisfied with the pauegyrics which his
own chiefs had bestowed on him; nor with the
rewards with which their generosity had sought
10 screen his failure in a great post. When he
came home no popular greeting awaited him. lie
was already half forgotten. He had earned neither
immortal glo.y nor immortal infamy. The splendor
Of an earps coronet illumined his brow. but 1t
was well understood that his step IN the
,eerage had been the reward OF his hdellty
20 the leader who had chosen MIN as
nan who could be depended on to do the sort OF
work his leader had resolved should be done III
india. II Lord Beaconsfeld had not made Lord
Lytton an Earl the omission would have been quoted
Is proof positive that he himself regarded Lord Lyt-
on's vicerOyalty as failure Most Enelishmen
sho know much about India. and nearly all English
men living in India, were agreed that the poetdlp-
omatist-half poet and half diplomatist-whom the
Prime Minister had thrust up into the perilous
celebrity of the Governor-Gcneralship had
hown himself incompetent for his high
luties courage born of ignorance had
been his chief characteristic. He had dealt
with great problems of government as a gambler
might with great sums which did not belong to
him. or which were part of q suddenly acquired
wealth, the value of which he could not measure.
The hard working officials under him thought their
.hef led q life of Incidence. He was never be-
ieyed to have mastered the questions he had to de-
,lae in council. At times he took strong notions,
and even went the length of demonstrating with his
chiefs at home when they declined to sanction his
going further faster than seemed expedlent at the
moment to the Cabinet His acquaintance with
the pen and his habit Of attaching much influence
to what is written led him to cultivate the friend
sbip Of contributors to important newspapers. One
result of this was tho astonishing spectacle of
Vceroy of India in Calcutta, attacking the Ministry
whose deputy he was, in the English press; arguing
his own case and upbraidug his superiors for their
suggishness in policy of aggression on which
their su bordinate in the plentude OF his unwisdom,
had resolved. This made unfayorable impression,
as did the stories which came home about the
strange life he led, the strange habits he had,
the strange company he kept, aud the IN
descrb ,ble scenes that occurred from time to time
81. the Government House at Calcutta. There are
other matters into which have no time to enter.
1t is enough to say that Lord Lytton returned to
England with the reputation OF a man who had
trfed away great opportunities and had gravely
imperled the interests of the Empire; partly as
the tool of wrong policy imposed on him from
home; partly from a natural frvolity of mind
a1u lion din Uula Qlantai
form ruler, had made him incapable of governing,
or even of taking iols of his responsibilities
l suppose Lord Lytton found out that some such
opinions as these were prevailing. He knew, at any
rate that his reputation stood less high among his
countrymen tlan he thought it ought to stand.
With that confidence in the power of mere words to
which have adverted. he conceived the notion that
The removal he had failed to achieve by his acts In
India might be secured by speech in the House of
Lords Il was known he was most eager to speak
His friends gave out that he meant to review his
whole administration in India and to vndcate what
be called bis policy. He was expected to do more
than that There were whispers of yet unpublished
documents which would then the light; above
all, those letters found at Cabul, to which
Tory orators had so often made mysterious
aiusons as if pregnant with disclosures disastrous
TO the reputation of Liberal statesmen. Altogether
curiosity high strung. and it reached its highest
pitch when Lord Lytton put down a notice on the
paper to call attention to the affairs of India and
make personal statement as to his viceroyalty:
Lord Lytton has lived so much abroad. as pro-
fessionsl dipomatist must. that there was even
some curiosity about his personal appearance. When
he rose last night all eyes and good many opera
glasses were bent on him; and he had to undergo
the inspection of full galleries where sat and stood
an array nots only of the general public but of
peeresses and their friends The bar was
thronged, and 90 were the steps of the throne.
What we saw was man who looked about forty,
rather understood, with face about which clus-