The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-16 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

By direction of the Duke of Cambridge a general
order was yesterday promulgated to the officers and
men of the Royal Engineers, at head quarters, Chat-
ham, announcing that 200 volunteers are required
for service on the Royal Engineer Public Works
Department in India, and inviting the non-commis-
sioned officers and men of the depot companies at
head quarters to volunteer for that branch of the
corps. The names of men desirous of volunteering
are to be given in to the captains of companies. In
the course of yesterday nearly the entire number of
volunteers were obtained. The men selected will
undergo a complete course of instruction in sapping
and mining and surveying before embarking for

The detachment of troops, time-expired men and
inviklide, that arrived at Spithead on Sunday in the
East India and London Shipping Company's steam-
ship Calcutta, from Calcutta, Madras, and the Cape
of Good Ilope, were disembarked yesterday. They
consisted of 123 men, women, and children ; 76 inva-
lids were Bent to the Royal Victoria Hospital at
Netley, the remainder being forwarded on to their
respective regimental depots. Eight deaths occurred
during the homeward vcyage. The Calcutta was
appointed to sill from Spithead for London at 7
p.m. yesterday.

We have to announce the death of Major-General
_Portlock, R.E., L.L D. ,
Which took place on
the 14th inst. at Black Rock, near Dublin. General
Portiock was a distinguished officer of the Royal
Engineers, who, by his works on geology and other
subjects, contributed much to the advancement of
science. In the year 1856 and 1807 he presided
over the Geological Society, and, until his health
began to give way, he Wa3 actively employed as a
member of the Council of Military Education, hav-
ing previously acted as Inspector of Studies of the
Royal Military Academy of Woolwich.

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LONDON, TUESDAY, FEB. 16, 1864.

The result of the Brighton election is a great
triumph for the Conservatives. It shows clearly in
what direction public opinion now tends, and how
little support the Ministers can have a right to
expect should they fulfil their threat of appealing
to the country in the event of an adverse decision
being recorded against them in the House. There
could hardly have been a more difficult or unlikely
place to select for a trial of strength than Brighton,
which is proverbial for returning Liberal candi-
dates, and has been regarded as a sure stronghold
against the inroads of Conservatism. Mr. Mooß's
success was a decided one ; but, notwithstanding
that he came is at last by a decided majority, this
election is not to be regarded so much as a Conser-
vative triumph, as a Liberal failure. It is not that
the country care for all the tenets that are held
dear by lhe Constitutional party, as they are called,
so much as they are thoroughly disgusted with the
hypocrisy, and the inertness or inefficiency of the
popular section of politicians. What is there to in-
duce a constituency to return a supporter of Lord
PALMERSTON, a devotee of this Cabinet, a professor
or Liberalism ? Those who look on at the game
from afar, will not be influenced by any pre-
judices or confused with conflicting statements.
They saw the plain unvarnished truth, and not the
embroidered facia which are presented to those who
are dragged into the vortex of public affairs. In
Successes the many and surprisinguccesses which have of
late distinguished the Conservative party at elec•
tions throughout the country we recognise a marked
change in the public generally. They are begin-
ning to comprehend that it is safe and wiser to elect
men who make but few professions, and afterwards
fulfil them faithfully, than to put their faith in those
would-be reforming and impetuous candidates whose
actions so seldom keep pace with words. Vox et
preterea nihil may well be the criticism of their
careers. It must be a great mortification to mini-
sters thus to witness their spoils taken from them,

and their rivals coming in with flying colours on I
the spot which they might with scme good show of
reason have considered their lawful property, and
sure and certain to return them a supporter. If the
policy of the Cabinet is to be indubitably fixed to
the sketch which has been graphically drawn for
us in one House by Earl RUSSELL, and in the other
by Lord PALMERSTON, he need not be a renegade,
but a patriotic lover of his country, who will wish
that the example of Brighton may be widely fol-
lowed, and a sort of pfecedent thus established to
send to Parliament none but those who declare for the
true and tried policy which has always distinguished
our country, amid all the earthquakes and hurri-
canes that have upset thrones and dynasties
abroad—double-dealing will infallibly fail in poli-
tics, as in everything else in the long run. The
people of an intelligent and cultivated community
will inevitably inquire what is our object, and
whether are we tending. To such queries at pre-
sent the most unsatisfactory answers must begin.
The Government came in through a successful
dodge, and their sinuous policy has landed them at
last among doubts, dangers, and difficulties that
would be enough to appal the boldest, and affright
the bravest. Our foreign policy is a disgrace to us
at home, and of the most disastrous issue abroad ;
our home tactics are to do nothing, and it is there-
fore no wonder that the inhabitants of an impor-
tant town should try a desperate remedy, and adopt
the expediency of selecting new men to see if such
an experiment can procure them better measures.
The decision at Brighton will doubtless influence
other constituencies whose members are not yet
returned, and if so the ranks of the Opposition will
present a most formidable phalanx when the day
comes for the tug of war. May they then be found
faithful to the principles they have professed,
stedfast in the spirit of nationality which now
animates them, and zealous to uphold the rights of
the country of whose honour they claim to be the
champions and defenders. There was an excellent
piece of advice offered to Ministers some time since
in a comic publication, and they had better take
heed to its counsel, for since then the clouds have
darkened, and all portend the coming necessity of
caution, which is implied in these words, " Against
the storm prepare."

The news brought from India by the latest mail
is not without interest, although it is less eventful
than the intelligence of last month. There was
every reason when the mail left to conclude that the
worst of the frontier war was over, if not finally
concluded. The Bouairees, said to be the most dan-
gerous of our antagonists, had not only given up
the contest, but had sent a contingent of 2,000 men
to assist our forces in another quarter. General
CHAMBERLAIN had held the Umbeyla Pass, in spite
of all attempts to dislodge him, and the discourage-
ment of the tribes was complete. The Government,
warned by previous experience, determined to act
promptly at the first alarm, and at the first rumours
of war and disaffection despatched such strong rein-
forcements into the dangerous quarter that matters
were very soon settled. The arrival of Sir JOHN
LAWRENCE, which was looked for with the greatest
eagerness by all parties, will also by this time have
expedited a pacific arrangement. The Punjab is
the very quarter in which Sir JOHN LAWRENCE'S
capacities and experience will prove most valuable.
It is the scene of his former successes, and his cha-
racter and ability are known and appreciated by
the native chiefs. They Rill confide in his justice
and honour no less certainly than they will reckon
on his firmness, his energy, and his courage. The
man who held the reins of Government unshaken
through the terrible convulsions of 1857 may surely
be trusted to bring a mere frontier campaign
to a speedy conclusion. The first matter of regret
connected with this outbreak must, of course, be
the thought of the brave men and gallant officers
whose lives have been sacrificed in the struggle ;
but the cost of the expedition is a serious weight on
the finances of a country like India. The expense
of the war will, it is said, be not less than a million
sterling. Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN will have good
reason to lament the restless pugnacity of the hill
tribes, which have added so large and unexpected
an item to the debtor side of his balance-sheet, just
when the financial prospects of India were doing so
much credit to his careful and judicious manage.
ment. Added to the demands made upon the Trea-
sury by military expenses, there is another financial
perplexity in the existence of a monetary crisis.
There is a heavy pressure upon silver, and this it
has been proposed to relieve by the introduction of
a subsidiary gold currency ; but Sir CHARLES TRE-
VELYAN, with the more enlightened views to be
expected from him, prefers to try the experiment
of making paper currency a legal tender beyond
Allahabad. Happily, there have as yet been no
considerable failares, and we must, therefore, hope
that the storm will blow over. The cotton interest
seems to be happily exempt from the distress felt in
other quarters. The area under cultivation is
rapidly on the increase, having augmented nearly
one-half in the year in the North-Western
Provinces. With regard to matters of in-
ternal legislation, India shows signs of
improvement. The Chief Justice, Sir BOWES
PEACOCK, has addressed himself to the reform of
the civil courts. It seems that it had become too
much the fashion for our Judges in these courts to
aim at getting through the cases as rapidly as pos-
sible, hearing two or three suits at once, or rather
leering the hearing of the witnesses to clerks, and
only reading the depositions. Such laxity is now
at once put a stop to. It is required that the Judges
shall make a memorandum of each witness's evi-
dence, which they must sign ; they are called upon
to attend punctually, and to devote their whole
attention to the business before them, being re-
minded, very justly, that " the character and merits
of a judge do not depend so much upon the number
of suits which he decides as upon the soundness and
accuracy of his decisions." This movement has taken
the Judges by surprise, but it is one that is of great
practical value, and is calculated to do a great deal
of good. One of our firmest holds upon the natives
is the equity and impartiality of our laws. The
Hindoos are naturally a litigious people, and no-
thing is more likely to incense them than any ap-
parent neglect of their law suits. Tho party against
whom the verdict goes will naturally say that the
Judge did not understand his case, and had
he had a fair hearing the result would
have been different. There is no practice,
save abso.ute bribery and corruption, more
inimical:to the interests of justice than a hurried or
imperfect hearing of cases, and if the custom of
hearing more than one cause at a time has really
prevailed to any extent among our Anglo-Indian
judicial functionaries, the sooner it is put
a stop to by high authority the better. The
Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal has meanwhile
been bestirring himself in a cause that will win
the sympathies of all persons of common humanity.
It appears that the atrocious custom of Suttee
has cot entirely died out in Bengal,
since very recently a most painful instance oc-
curred, in which the miserable victim, unable to
endure the torture, flung herself from the pile,
only to be driven bock by the taunts and re-
proaches of the bystanders. Hearing of these
circumstances the Lieutenant-Governor invoked
the aid of the British Indian Association to pre-