In the House of Lords, on Monday evening, Lord Russell
introduced a Bill for the better Government of Ireland, which instead of proposing to "repeal the Union," in order to "restore- the Heptarchy," as his letter of last year had led some of hin friends to apprehend, suggested that the present dual adminis- tration by a Viceroy and Secretary should be abolished, in order- to the appointment of one great officer, a Secretary of State, with, of course, a seat in the Cabinet. But the Chief Secretary is au present, in all but name, a Secretary of State. Since Sir- Robert Peel's not very successful probation at the Castle,. the Chief Secretaries have been, as a rule, Cabinet Ministers. Nor is the abolition of the Lord-Lieutenancy so simple a question as it was. It was felt during the Fenian era very strongly, we believe, by both the- Ministries of the time that it was very desirable to have a great officer of State at the head of the local administration ; and that, in fact, it could hardly have been possible to have conducted the government of the country successfully from Downing Street by means of a Ministry charged during half the year with various; and considerable duties in the Cabinet and in Parliament. Lord Russell wandered into the O'Keeffe case, trial by jury, and , various other equally relevant topics, on all of which, however, he proposes to legislate together and forthwith ; and the Bill' was read a first (and last) time, after a somewhat nagging debate..
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