The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-11 00:00:00

oil the guarantee granted by Parliament to the
officers of the late Company's army. This is a
bold reproof, and no doubt expresses the senti-
ments of a large proportion of Anglo-Indian
officers. Meanwhile affairs in India itself are being
carried on with the promptitude and vigour which
we should expect to distinguish any administration
of which Sir JOHN LAWRENCE is the head. The
Governor of Bombay has assembled a Public Works
Conference in Poona with the object of determining
the operations of that department, so that Govern-
ment may arrive at the best conclusions with a view
to improving the communications of the country.
A commission has been appointed to examine into
the working of the telegraph throughout all India.
It seems that great delays and irregularities have
occurred, so that their causes and origin are to be
investigated, and the efficiency of all the employes
inquired. This is a very necessary step, since the
safety of a province might depend on the prompt
and accurate working of the telegraph, and it has
been relied on by competent authorities for virtually
adding a large number of men to our regular army,
since by its means, in conjunction with the rail-
ways now opening throughout the country, troops
can be quickly and readily summoned to the scene
of action from distant quarters. With regard to
the pending dispute with the Bhootanese, there is
a prospect of their being brought to terms, for an
old pretender to the Throne in Thibet has chosen
this opportune moment to threaten Thibet Proper,
having raised a large force in Chisel). Conse-
quently, the Bhootanese will lose the assistance of
the Lama, upon which they had been rely.
ing. A large supply of ordnance has been
shipped from Calcutta to Assam, and other
preparations are progressing, so that we may
hope the affair will be brought to a speedy set-
tlement. Russia is still pushing on her designs
upon India, and we have just now very evident
proof of them, for an embassy has just been de.
spatched from Kokand, an independent state in
Central Asia, to ask the advice and assistance of
the British in reference to the Russian attempt to
make a highroad for troops through that king
dom. The inhabitants of Kokand are apparently
sharp enough to see what this forbodes. What
the Viceroy will advise remains to be seen. He
is now en route for his Durbar at Lahore, at
which he is to receive all the chiefs of the
Punjab. For the first time since the MU-
tiny of 1857, which added so terrible a
celebrity to its name, Delhi will be one of the
stations selected. We regret to find that the
Viceroy's expedition has been chequered by
domestic effetion through the accidental death of
Sir ALEXANDER LAWRENCE, SOU of the late Sir
HENRY. All must sympathise in Lhe Viceroy's
sorrow for the sudden and premature death of his
young relative. His return is looked for with in-
terest, since it will bring with it the opening of the
Legislative Session at Calcutta, which is expected
this year to be of considerable importance. The
members have certainly need to be on the alert to
counteract, as far as it lies in their power, the per-
sistent efforts of the Home Government to centralise
the administrative power.

Sir GEORGE GREY'S remarks are always worth
attending to; the right hon, gentleman has a con-
siderable amount of practical knowledge which he
turns to very good account in his speeches. Last
Friday he addressed a public meeting in aid of the
Morpeth Young's Mutual Improvement Association.
Sir G. GREY occupied the chair, and very ade-
quately fulfilled the task that was assigned to him.
It is true that it was by no means a discouraging
prospect that presented itself to his view in contem-
plating the affairs relating to the society then dis-
cussed. During the two years that it has been in
existence it has made great progress in many war,
and it has become possessed of several valuable
works, besides having enjoyed the privilege of
many lectures on divers subjects. It is a great thing
for any town to have such an institution within its
walls, for it must tend in a great measure to pro-
mote the welfare and improvement of its citizens.
There are advantages to be derived from these
societies that are above and beyond the mere in-
tellectual acquirements that they induce and foster.
The habit of devoting idle hours to refined and
elevated employments works twofold in a beneficial
sense, it improves the whole character of the indi-
vidual, and also it prevents many undesirable and
deleterious pursuits being carried on. Sir G. GREY
pointed out to the young men that such a society,
if they availed themselves fully of its opportunities,
would benefit them in various ways. Besides Celia
gious and moral instruction, they would have faci-
lities presented to them of preparing themselves for
those competitive examinations which were now the
doors to all employment in the civil service of the
country. There is no doubt that the temptations to
which idleness so invariably exposes have been the
means of involving many young men in difficulties,
and inducing them to lose their acquirements for
want of practice ; thus when their time of trial has
come they have failed either partially or entirely,
and thus ruined their prospects at the outset
of their career. The chairman very effec-
tively impressed upon his hearers the necessity
that existed for training the mind after the routine
duties of school were over, and quoted in connection
with this subject of education as distinct from in-
struction some striking expressions of the Arch-
bishop of Yoax. " Education is the training of
the whole mind for the world around it, for the
duties it has to discharge here, and the services it
has to perform to its GOD and Saviour, the mental,
moral, and religious training of souls marked by
God for His own," This is as good an explanation
and as true a warning as could be given on this
difficult and much debated subject. How fele
really take it in this sense, what with " cramming"
for examinations, and reading up exactly what
is supposed to be wanted, very little care or thought
is bestowed in many Caeca on what ought to be
the chief aim and object of all such undertakings
—the improvement of the mind and the formation
of the character on the highest and holiest princi.
pies. How true was the remark of Sir G. GREY
that many waste their youth in all sorts of unpro-
fitable engagements, while, on the contrary, they
y should bear in mind that youth was especially the
season for mental culture, for the acquisition of
knowledge and the formation of principles. ,g it
was the seed-time of a rich harvest they were all
to see hereafter." The more such topics are dis.
cussed, and the greater stress that is laid on these
matters, the better, for the indifferent may thus be
won over and in time made to see the error
of their ways in consuming their precious time
in idleness or wasting their energies by acquiring
superficial knowledge of things that require minute
and careful investigation. Great credit is due to
those gentlemen occupying a distinguished position
in society, who have eo often come forward to
further the objects and promote the efforts of such
societies and institutions as that now discussed,
The advantages of their attendance cannot be too
much overrated, their names are a tower of strength,
they incite and emulate the rising generation, and
urge them on in the path that lies before them. If
the young members of such institutes find that their
progress is considered a matter of importance to the
most eminent men in the land, that their mental
culture and. moral advancement are thought to