It is stated, apparently on official authority, that Mr. Adam,
the First Commissioner of Works, will succeed the Duke of Buckingham as Governor of Madras. That is a very great pity. Mr. Adam has had plenty of Indian experience, having been private secretary to Lord Elphinstone for five years, and will probably make an excellent Governor for Madras ; but he is wanted here. He would be the best possible Speaker, and his unrivalled knowledge of English opinion, his cool judgment, and his long habit of affairs, make him an invaluable outside adviser for any Liberal Ministry. No one disputes his fitness for Madras, or will grudge him his reward, if that is what he seeks, but in India all the knowledge he has so laboriously acquired and so well used will be altogether thrown away. There are a hundred people who could govern Madras, the easiest of the Presidencies, the peoples of Southern India having a distinct talent for obedience; but there are few who could take Mr. Adam's place in the counsels of the party, or infuse into its management that tact, not to say pawkiness, which it is the misfortune of the average Liberal to lack. There will be nobody to " manage " in Madras."
Previous page
