6 JANUARY 1849, Page 6

The death of Lord Auckland removes another statesman of the

steady-going Whig school, and occasions more perplexity in filling the vacancy at the Admiralty than might have been anti- Opated from the unmarked character of the departed First Lord. The notices of his career have all been animated by a spirit of kindliness; and if his Indian wars and the Afghan disasters have not been quite forgotten, they have not been recalled with any bitterness. A leading journal praises Lord Auckland's naval ad- ministration for its purity and independence of nepotism—that is, as compared with Lord Minto's administration. But the diffi- culty now is, how to find a man at once able and willing to undertake the formidable responsibilities of the office,—in which there must be great cutting down of expenditure, and at least no diminution of available strength.