The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-01 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

Thii:day at Two o'clock 46
Barometer-29.72.
Wind—S.-E. ; moderate breeze, and hazy, with rain.

(Trt" Sun,

LONDON, TUESDAY, DEC. 1, 1863.

The appointment of Sir JOHN LAWRENCE to fill
the vacant office of Governor-General of India will
give very general satisfaction. The reported death
of the gifted and revered Earl of ELGIN has called
forth one unanimous expression of public regret,
and mingled
with that regret has been a keen
anxiety as to
the. judicious appointment of his suc-
cessor.
No
appointment in the hands of the British
Government is
so important as that of the Governor-
General of India. The extent of his jurisdiction is
so enormous, the Weight of his responsibilities is
so onerous, and the distance
between his viceroyalty
and the mother country 18 so extreme that no help
from without, no conasel
from the Home Govern-
ment can avail in any emergency. The Governor-
General must act on his own responei, •
,zzat bie
,I,it! and rely
upon his own resources.
should, above all others, be right man
"
the%
1
peculiar post is therefore a matter ofe' for that
paramount
importance to the well-being of
that great
empire over which the British Styy
EMI/DX is
called to rule. To make a wise and
'Popular
selection at the present moment must have been
garded by her MAJESTY'S Government as a task of
peculiar difficulty and,delicacy, the affairs of India
having of recent years assumed a position of Pee.
liar and vital importance, and the Governor-General,
whose vacant place they were called upon to fill,
being a man co very generally esteemed and admired,
and so admirably well qualified for his position—in
making their selection, the Government have ven-
tured upon a glorious innovation of established pre-
cadent. They have ventured to ignore what
Mr.
THACKERAY calls "The British Bible"—they have
not consulted the pages of the " Peerage,' but they
have chosen for this responsible position a man whose
best title to the distinction is his fitness for the post.
Sir JOHN LAWRENCE has already won golden
opinions from the Britieh public for his heroic
ilicfeneo of the Punjaub. We believe that Sir
lIN LAWRENCE does possess those high qualities
which are
those likely to render him the worthy successor
o soldiers and statesmen so emphatically
and eloquently enumerated by the late Lord
STRANGFORD--

And
neafter Hastings still t4ero came, a great and glorious
li

0: pi ueonsul cn Proconsul to tend his Wail design"
Counsellors and Heroes whoae tae shall live for aye,
with the Wellesley of h4sore,w
and the Wellesley of

Conspicuous in that moineht
ous list of our Indian
chieftains are the recent names
Of EL •
LENuoROUGII
and ELGIN. Their example must effort;
ft cordial
encouragement and a patent
sti'nuina to the
exertions an :1 ambition of their new auceeesor
Let him remember, tLat Peace c.,, court,:

glory as great as any acleitvtd in war. That
the prudent Counsellor, the wise Administrator,

equitable Judge and the merciful Ruler
tray effect more real good in his genera-
ti on and acquire a more lasting renown

fature times than any to be acquired
mid the din of arms. The great Soldier of mo•
41 era times, whose sword carved his pathway to a
tl !one, did not rest his hopes of fame on his military
a( tievements. " I shall go down to posterity,"
sab I NAPOLEON, " with the Code in my hand.'
-7A e congratulate Sir JOHN LAWRENCE on
hii 3 appointment, not so much for the high
b c 'flour which it confers upon his name as for the
g Aden opportunity which it opens to his hand.

The report of the progress of the Madras Irriga-
tion Company, given by the chairman to the share-
holders at the November meeting is, notwithstand-
ing the delays and contingencies inseparable from a
great undertaking, far from unsatisfactory. It is
;true that comparatively little has been done in the
ast half-year, owing to the prevalence of the rains
which naturally interrupt the works, but progress
i s being made notwithstanding. The canals and
a queducts are going on favourably on the whole,
a lthough the shareholders cannot derive much pro-
fit, from the fact that it will be necessary for the
c anal to be completed before the full amount of
traffic to be expected passes along it_ The
principal difficulty in their way is the
scarcity of labour a difficulty which is
rt ether singular in a country so thickly
populated. The chairman remarked that he
expected this statement would cause great sur-
Txrise, but there was, he said, a strong prejudice in
Tmdia in favour of emigrating in search of labour.
We may reasonably conclude, however, that this
evil will be considerably modified in course of time,
as not only is the government taking steps in the
matter, but it can hardly be doubted that when

the Coolies comprehend that constant work and
good wages are within reach of their own door they
will be less eager to start on journeys of speculation
elsewhere. ft is to be hoped that the company will not
only give fair wages, but see that they are properly
paid, and that an undue proportion does not remain
the hands of the intervening native agents. The
system of contract labour, which has been tried,
has prosed unsatisfactory, and the company have
reverted to the old system of day labour, em-
ploying from 16,000 to 17,000 men and women.
It appears probable that they are in want of effi-
cient and honest managers on the spot—men who
are accustomed to deal with the natives, and to
guard against their tricks and inconsistencies. The
matter is one of great public interest, and of na-
tional importance to India, where disease and
famine will always be frequent visitors, until the
water supply is regulated, and cheap, easy,
and certain means of internal communication
secured. The progress of the works of
irrigation in Madras will, therefore, be
watched with interest here, while in the presidency
itself they must naturally excite a good deal of at-
tention. Madras has never been celebrated for its
salubrity, but people are begining to discover that
the great wonder-worker—fresh air and pure water
—are powerful agencies everywhere, and that it is
not exactly fair to build on marshy ground, use a
scant supply of impure water, provide very limited
means of ventilation, and then grumble at the un-
healthiness of the climate. This is very much what
we have been doing all through India, and many
are the valuable lives that have fallen sacrifices to
the reckless defiance of all sanitary laws. Officials,
like others, are now awaking to the truth, as well
they may, for they themselves furnish a goodly
band of victims, and the Chairman of the Company
we have been speaking of congratulated the share-
holders on the fact that their scheme was now re-
ceiving fairplay from the home authorities, as well

as from the Madras Government. Judging from
the immense results that have followed the partial
opening of the Godavery works, there can be little
question that whatever difficulties or delays may
impede their present progress, the members of
Indian irrigation companies will reap a rich reward
for their labours, as well as the satisfaction of for-
warding works of great and lasting public benefit.

Mr. SPENCE'S remarks on the independence of
the South are well worthy of attention. The ques-
tion was one of such paramount importance, and
concerned such vital interests of the community,
that at any rate some consequence must have been
imparted to the speech. But Mr. SPENCE was so
earnest and eloquent that he could not fail to im-
press the assembly with his address. There was
great truth in many of his observations, and more
than one argument which he adduced appears in-
controvertible. For instance, at the Declaration of
Independence of the United States it was decreed
that, if the Government failed to produce certain
ends, the people had a right to alter or abolish
it, and institute a new Government. From this

Mr. SPENCE correctly affirmed that the South had
a right to secede. He said it was absurd to declare

that therd was a right to abolish a Government
without seceding from it ; that it was as absurd" as
to say that if you differ from a man you have a right

to destroy him, but have no right to leave his com-
pany." It is sometimes very useful to put a case
forcibly by way of illustration ; and the extraordi-
nary mistakes that are made by would-be reformers
and social vindicators of the rights of man, are often
quite as inconsistent with the fundamental prin-
ciples of independence, and interfere as much with

the exercise of freedom, as any of tho dogmas of ab-
solutism and the doctrines of tyranny. So far, Mr.
SPENCE proved his case with great perspicuity ;
and, notwithstanding some interruptions, the gene.
ral audience were attentive, and appeared to be im-
pressed with the force of his remarks. It is at all

mes desirable that great public questions should
be niootee, and brought before the public in all
their bearings, so that the mind of the people can
embrace at once the arguments pro and con,, and
This
decide and determine for themselves as to the value
ef this suggestionc or the validity of that proposal.
altogeth„ received
Southern independence has not
the notice it deserves. People
have been very
read
y
without consi ~ to declaim against slavery
tion at issue
; dVring that this is not the real ques-
but
to the right of one part of the
Union to withdraw or
escedie, it is not calmly con-
sidered, but fiercelyonly
de-
bates, or sneeringly advertudded to in angry
to by disappointed
philosophers of progress, who
fancied that the
Utopia of the world's long desires was to be found
in the flourishing republic, whose fresh and fervid
youth had electrified the nations, and
whose green
old ago far distant generations would revere, re-
spect, and admire. As to the subject of slaver
itself, as it actually exists, Mr. SPENcE showed that
it was greatly misunderstood and misrepresented.
It was not invented by the people of the South.....
they did not originate it; on the contrary, it was
the people of this country who had taken the
negroes from Africa and planted the slavery there.
There is some sense iu this statement, and it would
be well if those who are exerting themselves in de‘
crying the evils of the system took occasion to re-
member that the last generation witnessed the error
in our own possessions, and witnessed the crimes
they shudder at rife among their own countrymen.
It is wise to turn from the excitement of the preeent
spheres of discussion and IIOW and then to contem-
Plate them from afar, as 7.7t'e calm Slatl baud,'