In England, a commissioner, however small his acquaintance with the subject, is always deemed fully competent in virtue of his appointment. The light in which this places us in the opinion of other nations is by no means flattering to our national vanity. It has been admirably described by an accomplished Italian resident amongst us in language which an Englishman might be proud to own, and with a degree of moral courage which few Englishmen would dare to exert on such a subject.[5] It was easy to perceive that when so great a mass of people in distant quarters of the world was set in motion for such an object, it would be impossible to draw back, and that its own momentum would carry on the scheme. § That the Prince who took so strong an interest in it, and who saw so clearly and so far beyond the horizon which limited the view of those by whom he was surrounded, should become its chief, was quite natural. There are, however, circumstances in the state of society in this country, and in the constitution of human nature itself, which render it almost impossible to have unfettered discussion when a person of that exalted rank takes the chair at the meetings of a Committee. These objections are entirely unconnected with the individual person, and if any amount of good feeling and skill in such a Chairman could remove the difficulty, we have fortunately had amongst us several Princes who might easily have accomplished it. But the forms of society forbid in the presence of princes that full and free discussion by which alone the united knowledge of a Committee can be brought into play. Debates must take place and divisions occur: otherwise some individual may take upon himself to assume what either is, or appears to him to be, the sense of the meeting: this is much more frequently simply the expression of _his own views_. Thus, perhaps, he prevents the statement of his opinion by some timid man, which is possibly worth more than that of all the rest of the Committee. Again: in Committees presided over by persons of this elevated rank, it is not an uncommon occurrence for some member, anxious for the success of his _own_ views, privately to hint in conversation with other members, that these are the wishes of their President. To these objections, which are generally true, there is, however, one exception. When the Chairman is eminently conversant with the subject, while at the same time the minds of the Committee are like a sheet of blank paper,—the best course that can then be pursued is to allow the Chairman to interpret the sense of the Committee.