Irttrrs in tj etitnr.
f:TIRST-ItATE MEN IN SECOND-RATE PEACES.
Belfast, llth April 1859. Srit-a-As we shall probably have soon to form a new Government, -it is. worth while to take note of our materials; and here we are struck with the very singular fact that the best men in the empire are not at present within those circles from which Governments, or, more correctly speaking, Ca- binets, are formed. Sir John Lawrence is beyond allcompanson the most valuable man in the empire ; his experience is probably not of a kind that would be useful at home, but if his health is such as to qualify him for such .arduous labour when Lord Canning comes home, he ought to be appointed to the post of greatest power and responsibility in the empire, perhaps in the world,—the Governor-Generalship of India. Lord Canning is also now proved to be a true and great statesman, immeasurably-superior to either -of his employers and detractors at home, Lords Ellenborough and Stanley. And in all the qualities of a statesman and a diplomatist, Lord Elgin is be- yond comparison superior, I need not say to Lord Mahneabury, but to Lord Palmerston.
It was the same in the last generation. Sir Thomas Munro, Sir Stamford Raffles, Sir John Malcolm, and Lord Metcalfe, were equally superior to their employers at home. These were all first-rate statesmen. Charles Buller, a good judge of the merits of politicians, said that if the people of England were wise they would have taken Lord Metcalfe by force and-made him Premier. At home, on the contrary, all our statesmen since the time of the first Pitt have been second-rate men, with the single exception of Sir Robert Peel. The Duke of Wellington was not a real exception, as he was trained abroad, not at home—in camps, not in cabinets.
It is an exceedingly important problem,. one of the most important of the present time, seeing that the highest political genius is developed not at home but abroad, and especially in India, how to make it available for the general service and the highest responsibilities of the empire. I state the problem, without being able to suggest any means of solving it.
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