Mr. George Shaw-Lefevre succeeds Mr. Adam as First Com- missioner
of Works, and is succeeded in turn by Mr. G. 0. Trevelyau as Secretary to the Admiralty. Both appointments are excellent. Mr. Lefevre is one of the most thoughtful, cheer- ful, and thorough-going of the younger Liberals. He has made a special study of the Irish land question, and though that will hardly help him much as First Commissioner of Works, it will enable him to give, from the more authoritative position of his new office, very effective and perhaps invaluable aid to the Government during the debates of next Session on that subject; nor is there a more genuine alacrity and vigour in any of our lesser public men than in Mr. Shaw-Lefevre. Mr. Trevelyan is not only a very epigrammatic speaker, but a remarkable writer, who has written the two best by far among the biographical studies of the last ten years, and can, if he will, bring into politics very large literary resources. He must be- ware, however, of literary fastidiousness,—his last resignation of office during the Education controversy was somewhat fan- tastic; but if he can but hammer and plod as well as he can fence and write, he may reach a high rank among British statesmen.
Previous page
