One hundred years ago Mr C. P. Ilbert, of the
Equity Bar, and one of Sir H. Thring's Staff, has been appointed Legal Member of Council in India. The selection, though possibly an admirable one, will certainly occasion some surprise. The appointment is one of the few great prizes obtainable by jurists, and has hitherto been usually reserved for men who have been publicly recognised, like Lord Macaulay, Mr D. Bethune, Mr Fitzjames Stephen, and Sir FL Maine, for exceptional ability. Mr Ilbert may be a most worthy successor or superior to them all, but the public knows nothing about him. The post was offered, it is stated, to Mr Bryce, Member for the Tower Hamlets, who would have been an admirable selection, but he did not care to accept it. We fan- cy we note, as India draws closer to us, an increasing reluctance to accept the great Indian appointments, which should make reformers hesitate in their perpetual reductions.
Spectator, 25 February 1882
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