The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-13 00:00:00

actresses very seldom followed their parents' profes-
sion, so that there is no reason to fear overstocking
the already overcrowded ranks of minor players.
With the hearty English nature belonging to him,
Mr. DICKENS bestowed cordial praise on our public
schools, and more especially commended the honest
self-respect which had hindered the promoters of
this scheme from making it an exclusively chari-
table asylum, and had induced them to throw
open their school to all corners of those sturdy
middle classes which form so important a part of
our English social system. There appeared to be
some doubt on the part of some gentlemen present
as to the risk of parents in an independent position
getting upon the foundation, and it was suggested
that a clause should be introduced in its charter ex-
pressly limiting the benefits of gratuitous education
to those whose circumstances really need such
assistance. There was a strong feeling, however,
on the part of the meeting that it would be un-
whe and unseemly to brand the foundation scholars
with the stigma of poverty, and put a distinction,
as it were, between them and the other children.
It would not b 3 the same as any other charitable
educational institution where all the children are on
the same level, but as the school is to be thrown
open to the public, the insertion of such a condition
would be invidious, Besides, as Mr. TOM TAYLOR
and Mr. B. WEBSTER explained, every eleetion
must, according to the rules of the society, be a
public one, so that there is no risk of the child of
wealthy parents reaping the advantages designed
for those who need help. Publicity is, as we all
know, the best protection against any underhand or
unfair dealings, and so we may reasonably hope
that the substantial benefits of this institution will
be reserved for those on whose behalf it is founded.
The plan will commend itself to many who might
be more indifferent to the claims of refuges and
asylums. It is always a good thing to give
a fair start in life, and a good education
is the best patrimony. The fact of throwing
open the doors of the schools to all corners
has a substantial advantage, since by so doing the
managers, as we have said, hope to make them
self-supporting. If they are conducted on the
prineirles and with the spirit of our other public
schools, there is little fear of their ultimate suc-
cess, especially as they are to be situated in a part
of the country where no such establishments exist
at present. The question of middle class education
has lately occupied:a good deal of attention, and
wise men urged the necessity of putting within
their reach the same advantages that Rugby,
Eton, and Harrow confer on the higher classes.
Therefore these new schools may be looked upon
as the first step towards supplying this want, and
in so doing the managers of the Royal Dramatic
College have shown the foresight and good sense
of practical men of business, instead of the indis-
cretion once popularly attributed to their profes-
sion. The charter of the college expressly provides
for the establishment of schools, but their erection
has been delayed in favour of the erection of a
harbour of refuge for those having, as Mr. DICKENS
pathetically expressed it, their faces turned to the
setting sun. The young could afford to wait—
they could not, and their needs claimed the first
care. But there could be no more fitting time than
that of this national commemoration to begin this
good work, to show our sense of the claims of those
who toil for our pleasure, and to express our sense
of what we owe to the art of which SHAKSPERE is
the undisputed king.

The annual budget of national receipts and ex-
penditure is always one of the most important poli-
tical events of the year. The question of pounds,
shillings, and pence may affect, as we all know,
matters seemingly far beycnd its range. ft may
influence a nation's policy, and by so doing inter-
fere with the proceedings or interests of other
States. A country whose exchequer is known to
be flourishing is regarded with very different eyes
by the statesmen and potentates of Europe from one
whose finances are at a low ebb, and her friendship
or her menaces are often respected accordingly.
In younger States, the condition of the finances is
always a matter of very great importance, since
they only lack the credit and prestige of older
nations, which may enable them to recover in one
year what they lost in another. The finances of
India were, as we all know, until very recently in
a highly unsatisfactory position. So great were
her embarrassments indeed, that serious fears were
entertained as to her prospects, and many wise and
cautious men gravely advocated the abandonment
of our possessions, since, instead of being a source
of profit, she was likely to produce nothing bat loss
and discomfort. Thanks to the new and enlight-
ened policy which, in spite of many serious obstacles
and difficulties, has presided over Indian finance for
the last few years, so great and startling a change
has been wrought that the most lugubrious of sight-
seers cannot now indulge in the gloomy anticipations
once so general. Since the inauguration of the new
system there has been a continual and decided pro-
gress. Year by year matters have mended until, in
the budget of 1863, Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN felt
himself justified in anticipating a considerable sur-
plus. But, as we know, there has of late been con.
siderable anxiety felt as to what his disclosures for
1864 might be. Thanks to the expenses of the
frontier war, the tightness of the money market,
and the receipts on account of opium, which ex-
ceeded Mr. LAING'S estimates by £1,750,000, fall-
ing short of Sir CHARLES TIIEVELYAN's calculations
by more than a million, there have been rumours
current that the prosperous financier would have
this season to report a deficit. Happily, the event
has not fulfilled these sinister predictions, and a
balance of £30,000, though far short of what was
reasonably hoped for at one time, is sufficient to
spare Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN the necessity of
imposing new and unwelcome taxes, or of making
any addition, direct or indirect, to the fiscal burdens
of the people. It seems that much of the uneasi-
ness respec' ing the finances was occasioned by a
miscalculation regarding the expenses of the Sit•
Lana war. The authorities, on that occasion, acted
with commendable promptitude, and being uncer-
tain how wide or deep the disaffection had spread,
having at the moment no means of distinguishing
between the insubordination of A few mountain
tribes a-ad an organised Masi:Liman conspiracy,
they moved up men and batteries in large num-
bers ready for action. By this means the out-
break was promptly suppressed, and it was surely
wiser, after the lesson of 1857; to be too well armed
than too !ittle prepared. It was known that the
expense incurred must have been great, which
knowledge prepared men, we suppose, for the mis-
take we have alluded to. The war was declared to
have cost a million sterling, and had it done so it
would, of course, have produced a disastrous effect
upon the Budget. As it is, with the cost of the
Sittana expedition, reckoned at less than one quar-
ter of the sum supposed, there is, as we have seen,
a bare surplus; and consequently had these calcula-
tions been correct, there would naturally have been
a deficit of something like three quarters of a mil-
lion, We may, indeed, be thankful that the pro-
gress of Indian development has not been checked
by such a weight, which must have pressed heavily
on her industry and restricted her awaking energies.
The mistake about the war arose from the fact that
the cost of the force in peace time, which was of