caused him to incur such odium amongst certain classes of his countrymen as to obscure temporarily the lustre of what he had achieved for India and the Empire. But the shadow was only a passing one. The bit terness occasioned by the incidents in question has already almost disappeared, and among no section of the British population of India has the resignation of the Viceroy been more genuinely deplored and and regretted than by the educated classes in the army of India. A recent writer in 'The Times' declared that Lord Curzon was not a popular Viceroy. Had he written two years ago his statement could not have been at the moment disputed, but the further lapse of time has enabled men to learn more clearly to appreciate the character of the statesman who for nearly seven years has governed India with so vigorous and so firm a hand. Every one whose opinion is worth having likes to feel that the ship of state is being steered by a master hand, a mariner trained to meet the dangers of storm and shoal. Every one who has the good of the country and of the empire at heart would rather have a real ruler at the head of affairs than a mere figurehead. So it is that Lord Curzon has come to be appreciated more at his true worth. His countrymen in India, and all the best-balanced and most level-headed natives of that country, see in him a man of commanding ability, with great possibilities open to him at home, who devoted five of the best years of his life to serving our eastern dependency with all the vigour of his intellect and with an enthusiasm which has overtaxed the powers of a physique never too robust; they see, too, that in spite of enfeebled health and private anxieties, he has been willing to return once more to the exacting duties of his great post in response to the solicitations of the Imperial Government, and because he saw that there was still work for him to do in India; they see all this, and because they understand something of what it means Lord Curzon leaves India, having earned what is better than mere popularity-namely, the respect and gratitude of those over whom he has ruled, and best of all, the enthusiastic admiration of those who have worked nearest to him and who know him best. In the foregoing pages not all, or nearly all, of the measures inaugurated or matured by Lord Curzon during his Viceroyalty have been touched upon. No mention, for instance, has been made of one of the greatest of all the changes-the partition of Bengal, because the arguments for and against it are numerous, but in almost every case they are matters of theory, the justice of which time alone can decide. For similar reasons controversial points connected with other questions have also been avoided. A critical review of the individual achievements of Lord Curzon cannot be attempted for years to come with any semblance of finality or Indian people. Directed by this principle he was the last man likely to starve the army or to oppose any well-considered scheme of military improvement. "These are not days," he said in one of his earliest budget speeches, "when the military strength of any empire is likely to be reduced. There are two great duties of Imperial statesmanship in India. The first is to make all these millions of people, if possible, happier, more contented, more prosperous; the second is to keep them and their property safe." And again, a year later: "The army is required to make India safe, and it cannot be said that India is safe. . . . No one can say that while the whole world has been busy with military reform we in India have stood still." There we may leave this branch of our subject, confident that it has been shown that neither by word nor deed has Lord Curzon in this, any more than in any other respect, been found unmindful of his trust. ject, and the issue of stricter can doubt for a moment the There is one subject to which some allusion must be made because, in the view of the casual observer, it has figured with undue prominence in the course of Lord Curzon's administration. We allude to cases of assaults on natives by Europeans-in some instances by British soldiers, in one or two by planters and others. In two only of such cases did the Government of India take any prominent action; but it is indisputable that the Viceroy's well-known views on the sub-ment, and for the moment they caused him to incur such odium amongst certain classes of his countrymen as to obscure temporarily the lustre of what he had achieved for India and the Empire. But the shadow was only a passing one. The bitterness occasioned by the incidents in question has already almost disappeared, and among no section of the British population of India has the resignation of the Viceroy been more genuinely deplored and regretted than by the educated classes in the army of India. A recent writer in 'The Times' declared that Lord Curzon was not a popular Viceroy. Had he written two years ago his statement could not have been at the moment disputed, but the further lapse of time has enabled men to learn more clearly to appreciate the character of the statesman who for nearly seven years has governed India with so vigorous and so firm a hand. Every one whose opinion is worth having likes to feel that the ship of state is being steered by a master hand, a mariner trained to meet the dangers of storm and shoal. Every one who has the good of the country and of the empire at heart would rather have a real ruler at the head of affairs than a mere figurehead. So it is that Lord Curzon has come to be appreciated more at his true worth. His countrymen in India, and all the best balanced and most level-headed natives of that country, see in him a man of commanding ability, with great possibilities open to him at home, who devoted five of the best years of his life to serving our eastern dependency with all the vigour of his intellect and with an enthusiasm which has overtaxed the powers of a physique never too robust; they see, too, that in spite of enfeebled health and private anxieties, he has been willing to return once more to the exacting duties of his great post in response to the solicitations of the Imperial Government, and because he saw that there was still work for him to do in India; they see all this, and because they understand something of what it means Lord Curzon leaves India, having earned what is better than mere popularity-namely, the respect and gratitude of those over whom he has ruled, and best of all, the enthusiastic admiration of those who have worked nearest to him and who know him best. In the foregoing pages not all, or nearly all, of the measures inaugurated or matured by Lord Curzon during his Viceroyalty have been touched upon. No mention, for instance, has been made of one of the greatest of all the changes-the partition of Bengal, because the arguments for and against it are numerous, but in almost every case they are matters of theory, the justice of which time alone can decide. For similar reasons controversial points connected with other questions have also been avoided. A critical review of the individual achievements of Lord Curzon cannot be attempted for years to come with any semblance of finality or impartiality. What has been What has been aimed at is to show the spirit which has animated him, the amazing energy and industry which he has displayed in the performance of his arduous duties, the extent and variety of the problems with which he has grappled. That he has made mistakes is inevitable and not surprising; who would not do so sometimes if intrusted with the task of ruling over three hundred millions of people of infinite variety in race, language, creed, and social conditions? As in the case of generals, so in that of rulers, the greatest is he who makes the fewest mistakes, and judged by this standard Lord Curzon may well be accorded a high place. Above all things let us pay homage to the high enthusiasm, the noble devotion of the man. Throughout the toils, the disappointments, the difficulties which beset him, he was constantly inspired by the confident belief in the mission of the British race in India, and in the destiny of India herself. "It is because I believe in the future of this country, and in the capacity of our own race to guide it to goals that it has never hitherto attained, that I keep courage and press forward." Surely we cannot be mistaken when we give praise and honour to such high endeavour undertaken in such a spirit. Surely it is a great Viceroyalty whose results can, without exaggeration, be summed up in these lofty words :— "As the last year of my work in India opens, I look back upon the past, not with any self-complacency, because, while much has been done, much also remains undone, but with been vouchsafed to my colleagues and gratitude that the opportunity has myself of giving so definite an impulse to all that makes up the growth and prosperity of a people and the safety conviction that none can sow as diliof an empire, and with the sanguine gently and whole-heartedly as we have endeavoured to sow without a harvest springing up. Indeed, the green shoots are already high above the ground that will ten thousand times repay the exertion, and obliterate every scar." Printed by William Blackwood and Sons. BLACK WOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. No. MLXXXII. DECEMBER 1905. VOL. CLXXVIII. THE NAVAL OFFICER-PAST AND FUTURE. BY THE AUTHOR OF "A RETROGRADE ADMIRALTY." THE management of a shipof-war calls for three separate sorts of knowledge to meet the conditions of— 1. Fighting. 2. Navigating and manoeuv. ring. 3. Working the motive mechanism-i.e., the sails of the sailing-ship or the engines of the steamer. The first may be called the military side of the naval officer's calling, as distinguished from the nautical, which includes the last two. It may seem strange to couple the sails with the engines, and to include the latter on the nautical side; but if each is viewed simply as the motive mechanism, it will be evident that its working is as much a nautical business in the one case as in VOL. CLXXVIII.—NO. MLXXXII. the other. Our argument requires that care should be taken to distinguish between the two kinds of nautical skill. In are The struggle between the military and nautical sidesbetween the conduct of war and seamanship-has always existed, and in the nature of things must ever continue. During peace, war is usually forgotten, and seamanship assumes undue importance. time of war the two seen in their true proportions. The conduct of war then becomes predominant, and seamanship is found to be only a necessary and important handmaid, of which men learn to take what is essential. The two sides have sometimes been represented by separate classes of officers and men, at other 3 E |