The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-29 00:00:00

the verdict of a member of the Calcutta Medical
College, who said, " If a man is fortunate when he
first comes out be will have fever; if be is unfortu-
nate he will have dysentery; if he is very unfortu-
nate he will have cholera." Such a picture may
be an extreme one, but it is only too evident that
there is urgent need of some change. We are pay-
ing a dear price for the culpable indiff:rence and
neglect which has hitherto been shown in
these matters in the lives of valuable public
servants whose official duties oblige them to
undergo the risks attending a prolonged resi-
dence in Calcutta. Mr. MILLS, •Q.C., the new
judge, is, we regret to learn, the latest victim. Some
efforts have lately been made to mend matters,
and the report of the chairman of the newly ap•
pointed Sanitary Commission, only :comprises the
most that has been said of the state of the city. The
Government is preparing for its move to Simla, and
is therefore, in common with the public, awaiting
anxiously Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN'S Budget.
That anxiously looked for event is not likely to be
quite so welcome this year as last, since recent
events have interfered with the expected surplus.
Fortunately, the unusually large receipts from the
customs have compensated in a great measure both
for the depression of the opium trade and for the
tightness of the money market. Unfortunately Sir
CHARLES TRaVELYAN has lost much of his popula-
rity among the trading community by his inaction
dnring the late commercial crisis. Matters are now
mending, bat from the restricted state of the cur-
rency the recurrence of such panics is but too cers
tain. Why cannot our financiers try the experi-
ment of a paper currency under proper limitations,
based on the national credit. Such a course would
relieve India from her monetary difficulties, and
would avoid the possibility of a crisis like the pre-
sent. It would also give a stimulus to enterprise
and an encouragement to trade and commerce,
which could not fail to affect the general prospe-
rity of the country and to develop its resources,
Had the panic occurred in a less favourable year
its results would have been far more serious, but we
have no security that it will not recur when the
Exchequer is embarrassed and the crops failing.
According to English, and still more to Anglo-
Indian custom, we must we suppose wait for that
day before we can hope for a substantial change.
Reforms of all kinds are, however, likely to go on
under the new Governor, whose energy and industry
have startled officials of every degree from their
comfortable dolce tar niente. None can complain of
overwork when they see the amount of labour
accomplished by the chief of the State, and accord-
ingly a long accumulation of arrears is being cleared
of in every quarter. The Viceroy does not spare
sharp words and practical hints to indolent
or supine officials; and by example, precept,
and keen supervision, he has succeeded in
stirring up.the various departments to a degree of
vigour and inactivity long unknown. Neither is
his supervision a mere form, since almost every re-
port bears, it is said, in its marginal notes a proof of
its 'having been read by the Governor himself.
Afraid apparently of the reaction which would fol-
low his absence, the Governor takes the whole
secretariat with him to Simla, where, if they get
change of air, they are not likely to get too many
holidays under such a chief. India wanted such a
man at her head, since the immense accumulation
of neglected public questions placed a formidable
barrier in the way of her social and political pro-
gress. There are in all quarters of the country
abuses to be rectified, reforms to be instituted, im-
provements to be Effected which have been talked of
year by year but have never been forthcoming.
The present session has seen many important
measures passed in Calcutta, and one of them for
the registration of d&eds is interesting to many in
this country, since it secures the purchaser of land
from fraud and litigation, thus encouraging the
formation of enterprising companies, .and the in•
vestment of English money in India. Altogether
the news is satisfactory, and we may hope that the
active and enlightened spirit now infused into -
Calcutta councils will before long produce
marked effects.

communication of Stater, the greatest sincerity
should prevail, also the utmost care ought to be
used to prevent any false report gaining ground,
and any unfounded charge being credited. The
same rule epp:ies to the concerns of friends and
foes, lukewarm supporters, and devoted adherenta.
Justice knows no distinction, and there will be
an end of all upright dealings and fair conduct,
if once the idea obtains that it is lawful to out-
wit an adversary at the expense of candour, and
through the violation of the laws of straight-
forwardness. Nothing can excuse Mr. SEWARD
for the part he has played in this disgraceful
affair of the forged despatch. It has been, indeed,
reported that he was aware of its peculiar cha-
racter. That cannot be proved, and it does not
mend one serious error to make another mistake
in accounting for its origin. At all events those
who are kind Enough to give him the benefit of
the doubt cannot deny that he deserves the im-
putation, and if it is an unjust assertion, he should
reflect that he had no right to be in such a hurry
to take away the reputation of others, and then
upon a supposition to do them a positive injury,
or work upon the credulity of too impressionable
allies. It is a grievous blunder in his acts as a
public man. The American war has been rife with
these disastrous personal complications, but none of
the preceding affairs has at all come up to this last
scandal. It is a very lame account of the proceed-
ing which is given in Lord LYONS' letter. Perhaps
he is ashamed of the whole thing, and, if so, it is
the first sign of good taste and feeling which has
been shown in the transaction from beginning to
end. We have seen the most ignorant infatuation,
the most indecent taste, and the most unwarrant-
able jumping at conclusions on all aides, as regards
Mr. SEWARD and his myrmidons, and Earl Rus
SELL and his emissaries, bat no trace
of consideration is anywhere discoverable
and no gleam of good will or generous forbearance
lights up the dark and devious track that has been
pursued. It is one of the many evils which accrue
from the influence of such narrow views, and the
constant practice of petty actions, that when any
mistake is made there is nothing to fall back upon.
It is impossible for the politician, the diplomatist,
or the statesman to recover himself, because he was
only actuated by the most sordid and selfish motives.
He aimed at damaging his opponent, not at render-
ing the State a signal service. Those who make the
end justify the means can never hope to inspire
respect or to win regard. If they succeed, they
may forget all higher influences in the whirl of the
busy wheel of fortune; but if they fail there is
nothing to impart dignity to reverses or to take the
sting from defeat. It may be that some of those
connected with these forged communications may
still rejoice at the success of the mar mune, although
they admit the falsity of the reports that have
worked the mischief. If so, they ought to be
ashamed of themselves, for such a dastardly course
of action is a disgrace to a civilised state and would
be a stain in the annals of savage warfare. One
thing is worthy of notice—that the deasit has been
very lightly passed over by our Ministers. The
Attorney-General has admitted that, in his sim-
plicity, he believed the reports to be genuine ; but
the other Ministers will not allow their wisdom to
be in fault, and prefer to allow the matter to drop
quietly. In the name of English honour, and for
the sake of national credit, this should not be. A
wrong has been perpetrated, and our Government
have helped to do it; a gross injustice has been done
to a struggling State, and those who have been
active agents in assisting in the outrage should
come forward and disown the originators of the
base and ignoble transaction, if they dl not take
as much pains to circulate the denial as they did to
spread abroad the false accusation,tb ey are compro.
raising themselves, and must share the disgrace, if
not the guilt, of the conspiracy. There is nothing
to be ashamed of in confessing a mistake, but
there is everything to blush for in keeping up the
game of subterfuge, and allowing things to
take their course when that course is a crooked one,
and such that will not bear the light of day shed
upon it. It is to be remembered that the subjects
of this realm have suffered great wrongs in cense
quence of this shameful and scandalous proceed;ng.
It seems strange that so little care has ,ern eels The follow'
.ag official correspondence has been
fenced by those bound to protect
them for their issued fr .
am the War-office :
unjust and unfair treatment. T'
.aose who review "Horse Guards, S.W., April 22, 1864.
the course of this American War from the outset wi2,l Sir,—Referring to my letter of the 6th inst.,
assuredly trace this ePisc''ae in dark colours, and no transmitting a copy of Lieutenant-General Sir
triumph that the PP.,rtial success of the nefarious John Pennefather's report on the Volunteer Review
scheme has wrou-
ght out for political and party par- at Guildford, I have now the honour, by direction of
Field Marshal Commanding in Chief, to send you,
poses can corrApensate fcr the mischief it has done 'for submission to the Secretary of State, a copy of a
in destroy,ng confidence and shaking our faith and supplementary report from that officer with regard
relianrse in the goodwill of our Government. It is to the volunteer artillery present on that occasion,
too late to tell us to rest and be thankful when —I have, &c.,
there is no security that any day the garbled ac. (Signed) J. YORK? SCARLETT, A.G.
count, the false report, and the forged despatches of "The Under Secretary of State for War," &c.
an unscrupulous and unprincipled foreigner may
not actuate a Minister to adopt the most stringent
course, and to resort to the most extreme measures.
Before Earl RUSSELL next presumes to address a
public meeting, and talk so glibly of the necessity
of altering our laws to suit the fancies of our sen-
sitive allies, he had better take the trouble to ascer-
tain whether he is not the dupe of an adroit
schemer, and the victim of some practical joke. It
is long since so flagrant an outrage has been offered
to the good sense, the high character, and the
honourable feeling of this country, and it is too bad
for those who have done so much harm to be too
proud to own their errors, or too wilful to do their
utmost to rectify the mistakes it has led them to
csmmit, and the injuries that it has been the means
of inflicting.

the

. still more

The Volunteer T:treviewat Guildford,

"Aldershot, April 18, 1864.
" Sir,—lt has been brought to my notice that in
my report, dated the 31st ult., of the Volunteer
Review, which took place under my command on
Easter Monday hat, at Blackheath, near Guildford,
I made no mention of the volunteer arti lery.
";I have now to request that you will do me the
honour to acquaint his Royal Highness the Field
Marshal Commanding in Chief and the Secretary
of State for War that this omission was unintena
tional on my part, and that I had good reason to be
satisfied with the soldier•like appearance of the
artillery, the excellent state of their guns, carriages,
horses, and gear, and the efficient manner in which
the batteries were worked and marceuvred on the
occasion in question.

"Many of pieces were heavy guns, and it was
surprising to see how well they were moved over
13me very broken ground—even the 24-pounders—
although of course such batteries, intended for posi-
tion, could not be calculated on to act with infantry
in extended field operation.
" It is right I should add, and I think it most
creditable to the force, that no remonstrance, re-
presentation, or complaint on the part of the Volun-
teer Artillery, directly or indirectly, has been made
to me with reference to the omission above referred
to.—l have, &c.

It is satisfactory to learn, by the news from Cal-
cutta, that recent investigations tend to prove that
the outbreak on the North- West frontier was not
the result of so general a conspiracy as was once
feared. There is no doubt that the disturbances
were enccu'aged, if not originated, by Mahommedan
agents, several of whcm have been arrested at
Patna; but it appears that nothing has yet oc-
curred to strengthen the belief of a widespread
Mussulman confederacy. On the contrary, it
would appear, from the trifling nature of the evi-
dence adduced, as well as from the relationship
proved to exist between the principal agent and
some of the frontier tribes, that the whole affair
was of a purely local and temporary character.
This is a highly satisfactory result of the investi-
gation, removing the uneasiness and suspicion na-
turally excited by a less favourable view of the
case. From Calcutta itself the news is cheering
enough, with one serious exception, the state of
the public health. Still, even the sicleaees and
mortality now so terribly frequent on the banks of
the Hooghly may in the end prove -La be blessings
in disguise, by compelling the authorities to take
active measures of sanitary reform. The acknow-
ledged evils of the city have been suffered to in•
crease with the increasing population until they
have reached a height and a virulence that threaten
most serious results, unless their progress be
promptly checked. 5,000 corpses, it is said, are an-
nually thrown into the river,:i to float among
the shipping, while the total absence of drainage
and sewerage increase a hundredfold the natural
unhealthiness of the city. When we add to these
evils the condition of the native town and the defi-
ciency of pure water, we shall not mush wonder at

(Signed) "J. L. PENNEFATIIEII, Lieut,-Gen.
"The Adjutant-General," &c.

" War-office, April 28, 1864.
"Sir,—l am directed by the Earl De Grey and
Ripon to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
the 22d inst., enclosing a supplementary report
from Lieutenant-General Sir J. L. Pennefather,
K.C.8., on the Volunteer Review which was held
o❑ Easter Monday, and to request that you will
inform his Royal Highness the Field Marshal Com-
manding-in,-Chief that his lordship has observed
with great satisfaction that the volunteer artillery
has received from Sir J. L. Pennefather equal com-
mendation to that alleAdy bestowed by him on the
other arms of the service.—l have, &c.,

(Sigh ei)
"The Adjutant-Gem rAI."

EDSVAIIi) LCOARID.

SOCIETY FOR THE gNCOURAGEMENT OF THE
FINE ARTS.—Last evening Dr. Christopher Dresset
delivered a lecture "On Colour; Its Harmonies and Con-
trasts." He gave in a succinct form a history of the disco-
veries as to the nature of colours and their progressive com-
binations, beginning with the three primitive colours, red,
blue, and yellow, and then going into their combinations in
the secondary and tertiary classes ; showing also how by
certain rules of proportion, certain combinations of colour,
primar3 , secondary, and tertiary, brought into jumtaposition
would produce a harmonious effect or the reverse. The
lecture, which was thoroughly practical in its bearing, was
listened to with great interest by a numerous audience. A
discussion followed, in which Mr Hurlstone (who occupied
the chair), Mr H, Tidey, Mr Dutton, Mr Wood, and others
took part,