Asiatic Quarterly Review,
AND ORIENTAL AND COLONIAL RECORD.
SOME FEATURES AND EVENTS OF LORD ELGIN'S ADMINISTRATION.
INDIA is on the eve of a change of Viceroys. It may be that the forecast of a Viceregal future is a futile exercise. We have seen it extensively indulged in in Lord Curzon's case. His appointment excited more than ordinary attention, because in many respects it was an unusual one. It has been the almost invariable habit of the Cabinet during the last 50 years to select a man of high standing in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, whereas Mr. Curzon, when selected, was but the eldest son of a peer. Again he was a much younger man than almost all, if not all, his predecessors. On the other hand, in travel, in personal experience, in unremitting study of questions of Asiatic politics and administration he is admittedly ahead of his compeers. Lastly, he was distinctly the foremost of the young men of his party.
The present century has seen six commoners (previously to Mr. Curzon) appointed temporarily or permanently to the Viceroyalty of India, viz., Sir George Barlow, Mr. John Adams, Sir Charles Metcalfe, Sir Henry Hardinge, Sir John Lawrence and Sir Henry Norman. Of these the first two were merely locum tenentes; the next three were permanently appointed, and subsequently raised to the peerage; while the last resigned the appointment when he