13 AUGUST 1898, Page 1

The Cabinet have appointed Mr. Curzon to the post of

Governor-General of India. Mr. Curzon, who was born in 1859, and is therefore nearly forty, has held the offices of Under-Secretary for India and for Foreign Affairs, and undoubtedly made, on the whole, a very favourable impres- sion on the House of Commons. Though his oratory tended occasionally to be a little too florid, his diligence in all official work in which he was concerned, his great readi- ness in debate, and his power of turning the edge of awkward questions raised by over-curious Members of the House of Commons, seemed to mark him out for a Parliamentary career. We have ventured to suggest elsewhere that these are not the qualities which go to make a great Governor- General—who, be it remembered, is a King as long as he holds his office—but events may, and we trust will, prove that we are wrong. Meantime, it is only fair to point out that the appointment has been received with some- thing very like universal satisfaction at home, and appa- rently the news has been received with approval in India, —i.e., by the chief Indian newspapers. It is not yet stated who is to succeed Mr. Curzon at the Foreign Office.