Mr. J. A. Godley, Mr. Gladstone's Private Secretary, who is
generally understood to have been one of the ablest private secretaries a Minister ever had, has been appointed a Commis- sioner of Inland Revenue. Between 1865 and 1875, Mr. Godley won almost all the honours. Oxford could give him, except that of a high class in the. Final Schools, when ho was unfortunately ill. He was a Balliol scholar, a Hertford scholar, a Gaisford prizeman, an Eldon law scholar, and a Fellow of Hertford, and now he has passed through one of the most admirable of all political schools, with at least equal distinction, only, alas ! to become a Commissioner of Inland Revenue. It is a pity that there are no such institutions as political fellowships, which might enable such a man as this to enter on a Parliamentary career, and so raise the standard of statesmanship in the House of Commons.
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