The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-31 00:00:00

2,200 miles in length, and has been happily corn•
pared to a great steam arch, which will unite Cal-
cutta, in the Bay of Bengal, with Kurraohee, on
the Arabian Sea. It is no wonder that in face of
such an achievement the wild hill tribes stand awe-
stricken, and that educated Englishmen deemed
the occasion a fit one for rejoicing and celebration.
By no one could it have been more suitably presided
over than by that energetic and able man who
proved so efficient an adminibtrator of the affairs of
the province ; and it was Sir JOHN LAWRENCE
who in that capacity turned the first sod
of the Punjaub Railway in February, 1859.
India had hardly then recovered from the terrible
convulsions of 1857, yet with the fearlessness which
distinguishes him, Sir JOHN LAWRENCE boldly pre-
dicted the success of the line, and declared that few
railways in India had been undertaken under such
auspices. Three years later Sir ROBERT MONT-
GOMERY, then Governor of the Punjaub, opened
the first section of the line, which extended from
Lahore to Umritsur. Lahore is the seat of the Pun-
jaub Government and the residence of many of the
principal chiefs. Umritsur is of greater importance
in another way, beitig the chief commercial em•
porium of Northern India. It is densely populated,
and its merchants deal largely with London and
Paris, as well as with Persia, Chinese Tartary, and
all the principal Indian towns. The union of these
two cities was therefore very justly described by Sir
R. MONTGOMERY as "a great event for the Pun•
jaub." "Another mile," said he, in his opening
address, " has been added to the great highway be-
tween Karrachee, the seaport of North-western
India, and Umritsur," and he remarked that the
natural result of the final completion of that high-
way would be to effect a striking change, not only
among the inhabitants of the Punjaub itself, but
in the half barbarous tribes of the frontier, who ex-
pressed the greatest amazement and awe at the
wonderful achievement of the Europeans. A
Brahmin, on the opening of the first section of the
line, exclaimed, while looking at a locomotive, that
" All the gods in India had never produced such a
thing as that." A few months more will see Lahore
placed in direct communication with Mooltan, 220
miles distant, to which the Punjaub Railway is to
extend, being in all 252 miles in length. The in.
auguration of the first section was held at Lahore
on the 19th of October, the day after that grand
durbar which was without parallel among the re•
cords of the hills. Many of the native princes who
had attended to do honour to their old friend the
day before, were present at the opening ceremony,
together with the chief civil and military authori-
ties of the empire. The civilian might see in this
great connecting link the promise of the further ex-
tension of the blessings of civilisation and corn.
melee; the soldier might reckon securely on the
protection it would afford in case of hostile
action, while the native chiefs bad really the most
cause for rejoicing, since it opened the prospect of
raising themselves and their people not only in
civil importance, but in the scale of education and
intelligence. No longer cut off by the distance and
difficulty of access—no longer regarded as the
" outer barbarians" of the Empire, they will be
placed in constant and rapid communication with
the great emporiums of commerce, with the seats
of Government, with the abodes of wealth, science,
and teaching. Many of the native chiefs have
quite sufficient intelligence and magnanimity to ap-
preciate this, and instead of feeling aggrieved at
invasion of their barbaric State by the busy
modern element, they rejoice at the bene-
fits which it confers. The Maharajah of
Cashmere, with his heir apparent and his
suite, travelled some distance by special train on his
way ts. his own donainione, and although he Led
never seen a railway before, he quite understood
its mechanism and its uses. He is one of the fore-
most among the native princes of the North-west,
and has a high reputation for his courteous and
princely disposition. Of this he gave convincing
proof, for, on leaving the railway, he not only ex-
pressed his gratification verbally, but placed in the
hands of the Lieut.-Governor the munificent dons.
tion of 2,500 rupees as a gratuity to be distributed
among the employes of the line. These honest
workmen had good cause to be gratified with
the termination of their labours, for the
railway company entertained 120 with a banquet
in celebration of the event. An eye-witness, in
speaking of this assembly in an Anglo-ladian joule.
nal, remarks that although the grand durbar at
which the Viceroy of India received 600 princes in
a splendid tent was a magnificent sight, yet the
assembly of 100 hard-headed, plain English mecha•
nits is an ordinary railway waiting room was in
same way more striking and suggestive. " The
one was a mere pageant, representative of the bar-
baric splendour of the dark ages, while the other
waslthe living embodiment of progress and en-
lightenment." The great central railway station
at Lahore is of itself a fine spectacle. It has been
built with a view to possible exigencies, and will
serve for a fortress as well as a station, so that
in case of danger the European community
could retire within its walls and defend them-
selves and the railway. Had such arrangements
existed in 1857, how different would have been
the state of things. But it is well at last that
the proper steps are taken, though there was no
reason why they should not have been taken earlier.
The Punjaub was at the time of the mutiny a
most valuable possession, having communication
with the sea by the Indus at Kurraohee. It is a
province of vast importance, extending 100,600
square miles, with a population, including its border
tribes, very nearly equal to that of Great Britain,
It is extremely fertile, being very well watered,
and the fine rivers from which it takes its name
are of themselves importe.nt highways. The
Indus, as has been happily said, is to the North
West what the Ganges is to Bengal, and the Pun-
jaub itself linking the Valley of the Ganges on the
east with Affghanistan and Persia on the west, is
one of the most valuable portions of our Indian
dominions. Henceforward its value will be in-
creased rather than diminished, and we trust the
great semi.circle which is to traverse British India
will bring about a rapid advance in the progress
and welfare of its people.

HER MAJESTY'S GUN VESSEL ALGEIiINE.—The
following is an extract from a letter received by last mail
from an officer on board of her Majesty's gunvessel Alge-
rine :—" Hankow, Oct. 13, IF,64.—Yesterday a fire broke
out in the Chinese city, burning an immense extent of
houses and some of the English and other foreign houses
on the river side, outside our concession. The Algerines
were there as soon as possible; their behaviour was really
admirable, as it had been during a previous fire about a
fortnight since. On both occasions they were surrounded
by liroor, and I had not occasion to find fault with a
single man. Every one on shore remarked, How those
men do work And, truly and candidly speaking. I have
been at several fires in China, and I never saw men work
so well and steadily."

SUICIDE AT BRIGHTON.—On Tuesday an inquest
was held on the body of William George, aged 69,
a carpenter, who committed suicide on Christmas Eve.
Deceased had been visited with fits of late, and had come,
plained greatly of his head, He was seen after five o'clock
by an errand boy on the Marine-parade, walking along the
beach so that the sea washed over his legs, When opposite
German-place he walked into the water up to his neck, and
the boy lost sight of him. The lad ran down to the beach,
and could see the unfortunate man floating on the water.
As no one was by just then, assistance was not forthcoming
for some time. When the lad returned with a coastguards-
man, whom he saw at the western end of the pier, deceased
had disappeared, and his body was not recovered till
Sunday forenoon. when it was washed up near Ratty's
Groyne. The jury returned a verdict of "Temporary
insanity,"—Brigitem Gazette,