The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-18 00:00:00

English statesman ! After this long silence to
which all through this session (until now)
the Lords and Commons have alike con-
strained themselves—the utterance of even
these few syllables by Lord DERBY comes to us,
one and all, as an inexpressible relief. Uttered at
length, as the plain truth has now been, and uttered
thus for us all at last trumpet-tongued—it seems
as if we could, with some sense of comfort, at length
breathe again. For, these words of Lord DERBY'S,
are they not expression of the thoughts that have been
burning in our hearts almost uninterruptedly ever
since the meeting ofParliament ? And now, at length,
not only are they uttered, but they are uttered es
the Earl of DERBY alone could so have uttered
them. What was the view taken by the noble
Earl, even we may go so far as to say expressly and
pointedly in his capacity as Leader of the Opposi-
tion—What even expressly, in that capacity, was
the view taken by Lord DERBY of the claim
hitherto belonging to the Government, the
distinct and positive claim of Ministers to the
discretionary silence of the Lords and Commons, to
the patient postponement of debate by the Oppo-
sition ? It was no less generous, frank, and manly
than the following :--" I conceive," said the noble
Earl last evening, " that the principle is, that while
matters are in progress—while the Govern-
ment are engaged in negotiations, it is not the
duty of Parliament to interfere, with iwper-
feet information, by advice or vote." Nay, yet
further, he remarked, "I am of opinion that her
MAJESTY'S Government must be left in all matters
of this kind with the exclusive responsibility for the
course and issue of that negotiation ; and I hope I
may take this opportunity of stating, with earnest
i anxiety, that if I have refrained during the whole
of the session, as I have refrained, from expressing
any opinion or putting any question, from raising
any partial discussion—a course which I think is
greatly to be deprecated—that abstinenee on my
part has not been, nor must it be supposed to pro-
ceed, from indifference, or still less from approval of
the course pursued by the Government." Plain
words! But, plainer still were those that followed:—
"Whatever temptations I may have felt toenter upon
a partial discussion of the state of Europe, and more
especially of that connected with the Danish ques-
tion, which keeps this country in a state of feverish
anxiety from day to day, I have laid down for my-
self a rule from wlaich I have not shrunk and will
not shrink—namely, that while matters are in the
present state I will not afford the slightest excuse
for any man to say that by ar ything I Lave said or
done I have in the slightest degree embarrassed or
impeded the action of the Government." Pretty
nearly what we ourselves had remarked in other
words, as recently as the evening before last, in
regard to the course pursued by the Conservative
Opposition. "I will leave to them"—said Lord
DERBY, that is, to the Government—" as I
apprehend it is the constitutional duty of Parlia-
ment to do—the whole and undivided responsie
bility of the course which they have pursued. and
the condition to which they have brought the hon-
our of the country. But "—mark this !—" at the
same time I will say it appears to me that the time
must be approaching when, this transition state
must be brought to a close. It cannot be long--a
few days must decide whether the Conference will
succeed in promoting peace, and above all an hon-
ourable peace, for this country, FOR DEARLY AS
I LOVE PEACE I LOVE HONOUR MORE." It was
not simply that "cheering" followed these words—
the effect produced by them was that of profound
sensation. Heart-moving in themselves, they were
delivered by the Earl of DERBY in his very
weightiest—with an emphasis of the most impres-
sive description. Yes !—peace if you will, peace if
you can, peace if in any way possible. But—beyond
all things—Honour ! The feeble echo of these sen-
timents by Earl RUSSELL, in half-a-dczsn words,
later on in the evening, will be of no avail, we
take it, towards mhigating in the slightest
imaginable degree the general estimate of the
latter's policy in regard to Denmark. That policy
has notoriously from first to last, all through these
miserable negotiations, had no reference
whatever to the supreme responsibility de-
volving upon the Foreign Secretary at such
crises the supreme responsibility, that is,
of holding sacred, at all hazards, the chastity
of • the national honour ! It is sufficiently
startling and certainly very suggestive, the
contrast thrust upon the national consideration
by, on the one hand, the haughty and patriotic
sentiments uttered last evening by Lord DERBY,
and on the other, this wavering, fluctuating,
chameleon policy of Earl RUSSELL'S, a policy of
concession, of hesitation, of weakness, apparently
of timidity, certainly of compromise.
It ' ;d

is
saie, on the high authority of the unknown
philosopher, to whom we owe our proverbs, that
" no news is good news," and there is undoubtedly
a good deal of truth in that sententious statement.
111 news travels fast and generally lcses nothing in
the journey, so that, if we do not hear of any parti-
cular news from a distant quarter, we may conclude
that there is at least no great catastrophe to tell.
No one would forget to mention a conflagration or
an earthquake, and it would be quite impossible to
cverlook sn invasion or a mutiny, so that if dullness
be the chief complaint we may reasonably congratu-
late ourselves and the grumblers on having no worse
evil to contend against. On these grounds it is
satisfactory to find so dull a budget of intelligence
coming to us from India. It speaks well for the
prospects of trade, for the progress of improvement,
for the Pacification of the frontier and the content
of the native Population. A thermometer at 105
degrees Fahrenheit in the shade is certainly not
Physical activity ; but never-
conducive to mental or
grounds for uneasiness or
probably have heard of
Notwithstanding all
dissatisfactionth ele
ss had
we there
shoulde'a
has
edtohnee
and is
them,th a t in India, there is
still enough accumulation of neglected work to
not surprised to
occupy all the seasons, and we are
fins the Viceroy directing his attention to
a work,
of all others, the most needed in the hot season.
Sir JOHN LAWRENCE has been occupying himself,
in his journey up to the hills, with the condition of
the Ganges canal. He has been holding consuita_
tions with the principal engineers engaged in it,
and it has been decided not to turn the water off
until after the rains—a decision which has given
general satisfaction, and certainly appears to be the
wisest during the summer months. The difficulty
was the fear of the masonry being undermined by
the rapidity of the current, but this can be avoided
by the construction of new locks—a course which
will put some obstacles in the way of navigation,
but irrigation is the first necessity in a famine
parched land like India. It is quite consistent with
Sir JOHN LAWRENCE'S character that he should at
once apply himself to the supervision of this matter.
It is a painful reflection that thousands of lives have
andbee scarcity in
to the farnire produced by drought
parts of India since our rule, which
might have been saved had we earlier applied our
resources to the improvement of the means of CM"
munication and the extension of water-works. The
surprising results of the works at the delta of the
Gedavery mnre than confirmed the meat sanguine
expectations, but the flame fatal spirit of routine
and indifference Which has 89 long clogged the

path of Indian progress has retarded their comple•
tion. It should be one of the first objects with all
Indian officials at home and abroad to supply all
parts of India with water, end the magnificent rivers
which flow through our dominions ought to render
such a task by no means formidable to English en-
terprise and engineering skill. We need not wonder
at the apparent strangeness of the delay, since the
City of Palaces itself has never been able to boast a
gocd supply of water, so that the very officials
whose supineness is complained of must have
shared the inconvenience. India is a country
where abuses flourish in respectable antiquity, and
if oppression has not "grown sacred i❑ its venerable
wrong," as the poet telle us of ante-revolutionary
France, other evils scarcely less formidable have
done so. Now, however, a more energetic spirit is
infused into the dolce far niente existence dear to
Anglo Indians. The new Viceroy is no friend to
wrongs, however venerable, and has no mercy for
idlers, however much tempted. He has kept
steadily at his post, and has kept other people at
theirs, doing so much work himself that no subor-
dinate could complain of increased labour. So as
complaints must be made,it has been discovered that
the now Governor-General is parsimonious—a very
safe fault for a Governor-General in a country like
India! Another serious crime is his dislike of un-
necessary pomp and state, and great was the amaze-
ment felt and expressed when the Viceroy rode into
Simla on horseback without any gorgeous retinue,
like any private gentleman. Sir JOHN LAWRENCE
is too well versed in native ways to carry this
simplicity too far, and when necessary we do not
doubt he will assume whatever increase of dignity
extraneous aids van give him, bat for ordinary
occasions this total absence of pretensions is not
without its moral. The native chiefs must learn that
our supremacy depends on something more than
jewelled robes or courtly retinues; they must under-
stand that we do not depend on such adjuncts for
power,or dignity,or position. ButAnglo•lndians have
probably Pomething also to learn, and it will be
well if the Governor succeeds in introducing a more
English tone into the life of his countrymen, i❑
making them look on India as a field for the dis-
play of those qualities which have made our coun-
try great, and our colonies fortunate, not a mere
" Tom Tiddler's Ground" to pick up money, nor a
stage to play the part of kiag or chieftain, but the
sphere for an Englishman's working energies. To
live at Rome as the Romans do may be very good
advice when given to a traveller passing a few idle
months in the country, bat if the traveller were
►egislating for Rome, and was to follow his profes•

sion there, he might naturally be supposed to in.
fluence its mode of living instead of being Mu..

enced by it.
.In matters of diet and other questions
of prudence it would be sometimes well to follow
the native example a little more closely, but pow
and extravagance, however dear to the hangers-on
of native princes, are not consonant with the cha-
racterietics of an active and intelligent English-
man. It is matter for congratulation that Sir
JOHN LAWRENCE has passed through his first

months at Calcutta unscathed, and has now reached
Simla, after a journey in which he was everywhere

received with the greatest cordiality. In some

places the villages were illuminated in his honour,

As yet he has happily fulfilled all the auguries of
his being the "right man in the right place," and

we may hope, under his supervision, to see some o

he long arrears of much needed public reforms

and improvements cleared up. But how many
more sacrifices does Sir CHARLES WOOD require
to satisfy the Moloch of routine before he will con-
sent to the removal of the seat of Government to
some less perilous Eituation ?

It was in the middle of last season that the busy
world of fashion was frightened from its propriety
by learning of the sudden death of one of the slaves
of the needle. Many thousands perish in conse-
quence of the fearful pressure that is put upon
them in order to accomplish a given amount of
work in as brief a space as possible; but the fact
of this victim dying in harness, as it were, natu-
rally struck conviction to the startled mind, and
made the thoughtless hear it. The worst of all this
undue excitement is, that people are too prone to
let the whole affair become a nine days' wonder,
and thus go on as bad as before. At all events, the
subject has not been allowed to drop, for Lord
CARNARVON has called attention to it in the House
of Lords. The Government bad promised that a
Commission should inquire into the state of work-
rcoms, more especially with a view to their venti-
lation. Lord CARNARVON very properly complained
that nothing had been seen of the result of these
labours, though more than a year had elapsed since
the distressing incident had called public attention
to the topic. His Lordship also alluded to the suf-
ferings which were experienced by tailors, and
hoped that some sanitary regulations might be en-
forced with regard to them. It was very neces-
sary that before the close of the session something
should be known about the matter. It is satisfac-
tory that Lord GRANVILLE was able to state that
this very desirable request would be acceded to ;
but, at the same time, there seems great reason in
what Lord SHAFTESBURY remarked relative to the
time that had elapsed before the report was furnished.
He said that it was to be regretted that the Com-
missioners had withheld the report upon the mili-
ners and dressmakers in order to get further infor-
mation upon the needlewomen and slopwomen of
the East of London. That informa' ion was doubt-
less requisite in its way, but considering the extent
and magnitude of the evils that exist in the West-
end, uo one can fail to concur with the noble lord
in the expression of his regret that the report had
not been presented at the beginning of the session,
as it might have been, and then "Parliament might
have legislated to meet a great and crying evil—an
evil which was to be remedied by sanitary rather
than by other regulations." There is always some.•
thing of this sort to deplore and deprecate, when
any particular case of suffering calls for class legis-
lation and extensive interference. So much is sud-
denly discovered that it is absolutely necessary to
find out, so many inquiries must be made, that the
time consumed is something dreadful to contem-
plate, when it is remembered that health is at stake,
and that life and death tremble in the balance while
they
adjudicate the difficulties and adjust the differ-
ence of the question. It is sad to reflect that during
this
gay season the ruin of Constitutions is being
effected, that the close rooms and constant employ-
ment at unhealthy avocations are sapping the
strength, and wearing out in youth the energies
in happier circumstances, and with
thta
preserving care, might have flourished un-
impaired until a green old age. There
could have been no actual necessity for
delaying all this time, and allowing the months of
this sveesrs,ion to pass by without improving them.
However, "Better late than never"is a wise adage of
o
time-honoured reputation, and let us hope that next
year will see a total change in the management of the
work-room generally, and that all private and par-
give way to the pri-
naticaurylarancldaiimmsp
owr lal nbt e qmu easdt par-
tide
o ton of health. We have

he opinion of EO excellent an authority as Lord

SHATTESBURY to vouch for the zeal and ability that
nave been displayed by the Commission in the pur-

suit of their arduous task, and therefore there is