17 FEBRUARY 1872, Page 3

The filling of two great Indian appointments has, we are

told, been arranged, Lord Hobart having accepted the Governorship of Madras, and Mr. Arthur Hobhouse the succession to the Legisla- tive Membership resigned by Mr. Fitzjames Stephen. Both are creditable selections. Lord Hobart, though a rather dreamy Liberal in speculation, is in affairs competent, hard-headed, and experienced ; and Mr. Hobhouse is believed by his colleagues on the Endowed Schools' Commission to be a man of exceptional laboriousness, foresight, and general capacity. The one difficulty in filling this office is to find a jurist who is sufficiently able and imaginative—for no man without an imagination can master India —and yet is not an idealogue.