We regret exceedingly to see that the India Museum at
South Kensington is to be abolished, and its contents dispersed. It costs 29,000 a year, and its abolition is dictated by economy, and by the argument which, to our surprise, carries away Mr. Fawcett, that the Museum is not in India. The economy is an absurdity while the Governor-General wastes five times the sum in an annual visit to the Hills—made only that members of the Government may be comfortable-- and the reason would justify the abolition of the House of Com- mons Library. Electors do not see that. The object of the Museum is not to amuse Londoners, or even to enlighten London, but to instruct the masters of India in the arts and manufactures of their subjects. Lord Cranbrook is just like the squire who, unable to pay his port-wine bill, stops his Times, 'and cuts off his daughters' subscription to Mudie.
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