The death of Lord Ellenborough was announced on Friday. He
had become almost an historical personage to the public, but till 1858 he was a power in the Tory ranks. There was some de- fect in his judgment which caused him to be always making theatrical coups, like his wild proclamation about the gates of Somnath—a personal insult to every Mussulman in India—and his savage despatch to Lord Canning about his decree confiscat- ing all property in Oude. For the first blunder he was recalled from India, and for the second driven from Lord Derby's Ministry, but he was a man of splendid capacities none the less. He probably missed his groove. Observers who knew him well in India said that had he been trained a soldier he would probably have surpassed Lord Peterborough—whom he closely resembled in character—in genius as well as eccentricity. He was a man of remarkable force both with pen and tongue, but the only one of his sayings recollected by the public is that " he could not walk down Pall Mall without stumbling over a Colonial Bishop," which is as true now as it was when it was uttered.
