A very curious incident has interrupted the discussion upon Lord
Chelmsford. A despatch has been published from him, dated March 9th, asking the Government to send out a Major- General competent to succeed him, and also to succeed to Sir Bartle Frere, and saying:—" In June last I mentioned privately to H.R.H. the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief that the strain of prolonged anxiety and exertion, physical and mental, was even then telling on me. What I felt then I feel still more now." It was at first assumed that these words were equivalent either to a resignation or a confession of incompetence, but the Government interpret them only as an argument for the de- spatch of an officer competent to succeed the General, and to hold also the "dormant commission" of High Commissioner in the event of any accident ; and we think the Government is right. A resignation would have been more distinct ; the request is specially made for an officer lower than Lord Chelmsford; and the mention of his health indicates only anxiety to be prepared for any event. The strange thing, how- ever, is, that the Duke of Cambridge never received the letter mentioned, which, therefore, either miscarried, or was never written, or was written, but from some accident never sent. The incident certainly will not increase the confidence of the public in Lord Chelmsford, but it seems to be understood that General Clifford, who will be next in command, will, in certain undefined contingencies, assume the supreme control. He has served at the Cape, has an excellent record, and has three colleagues of nearly equal rank and experience. The whole arrangement seems feeble, but the true history of it is obviously not known.
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