The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-29 00:00:00

Nepaul, and set out in the disguise of a religious
mendicant to find him. He did not succeed in the
attempt, and then pursued his jaurney in other
quarters, gathering fresh tracks, and obtain-
ing the aid of two detectives from Bom-
bay. At last, we are told, he came up with
his prey at Saloombur, where he won his
confidence, passing for a faquir, This is the most
singular part of the story, for it seems strange that
six years of hiding for his life should not have
taught the fugitive more caution than to trust in an
acquaintance of an hour. However, if he prove to
be the real miscreant whom we have secured we
can only rejoice at his imprudence, that the ends of

justice may be at last satisfied, and that the natives
may be taught that there are some crimes which
English mercy cannot forgive.
In matters of internal government India is pro-
gressing satisfactorily. The hill sides are being
rapidly covered with tea plantations, and the estates
situated in their cooler and healthier climates are
fast passing into English hands. The possession of
the plains is likely to be left to the natives, but the
more Europeans can settle themselves in the conge-
nial atmosphere of the hills the better. Thanks to
the rapid extension of the railway system through-
out India, it will soon be no longer a formidable
expedition to reach those pleasant quarters—an
expedition only undertaken formerly when
health imperatively demanded it, and which neces-
sitated complete absence from business. How many
valuable lives might have been spared to us had it
been possible to vary the oppressive routine of offi-
cial work during the hot months in Calcutta with
an occasional trip to the hills without sensible in-
terference with regular duties! Mr. MAINE, the
law member of Council, is preparing a code of civil
law, drawn up under the auspices of the commis-
sion. This gentleman is said to have proved of
great service in India by the various improvements
he is endeavouring to introduce into the law—a
task by no means easy in India, where old cum-
brous statutes remain to be cleared away, where
local practices, traditions, and prejudices require to
be taken into account, and where the educated natives
are no contemptible critics of the equity or efficacy
of our legal administration. The best means of
selecting civil servants for the Crown continues to
occupy attention. It seems that the majority of
the candidates are considered to be deficient in some
particulars not to be secured by examination tests
and similar precautions. There are, undoubtedly,
many difficulties attending this question, and it is
an indisputable fact that the men most likely to be

useful public servants might not be in the first rank
at an examination. Success in competition depends
on the possession of certain faculties—a habit of
application to close and abstruse study, a retentive
memory, and a cool self-possession. But for the
great warfare of life, for those sudden crises that
are apt to test the resources of an official, especially
in a half-civilised country like India, many other
things are needed than en accurate knowledge of
dates, or an extensive acquaintance with nearly
forgotten history. Energy, presence of mind, de-
cision, tact, resource, are the qualities that England
require in ber Anglo-Indian servants, together
with a large amount of that common sense
and knowledge of human nature by no means
inseparable from the proficient scholar or the well-
read pedant. The mistake has been in trusting too
exclusively to mere scholastic examinations, and in
making these so severe and comprehensive in their
nature that young men of average talent, without
any bookworm tendencies, shrink from the inevi-
table " cramming." Of course a certain amount of
proficiency in the ludian dialects must be secured,
together with a fair share of useful general know-

ledge, but it is idle to exact from every third-
class clerk an amount of abstruse and profitless

learning which he will probably never be called
upon to exercise, and to sabmit him to an exami-

nation which we very much question if some of
the greatest men in Anglo-Indian history could
have passed. Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN'S sugges-
tions are open to some objections, but the discus-
sion to which they will give rise will probably be
productive of benefit; and we may hope, after a
few more experiments, to reach that happy medium
which shall secure us able and energetic gentlemen
for our civil service, without, on the one hand, fall-

ing into the errors of indiscriminate patronage, or,
on the other hand, falling into the error of sup-
posing that if candidates have certain abstruse
questions answered they are therefore qualified to
be efficient public servants.

Sir RODERICK MURCHISON'S speech at Newcastle
is worthy of particular attention. He made special
' allusion to the vast progress iu discovery that had
been made, and especially by Englishmen. Australia
L had been so rapidly colonised by British subjects
that before long she bids fair to rival the vast re-
gions of North America, which were first inhabited
by English subjects. He then alluded to the more
recent discoverers in Australia, and said that while
"the bold expedition of WILLS and BURKE cost
those noble fellows their lives, the latest researches
of their successors stand out as, indeed, most singu"
larly successful." After alluding to the achievements
of M`DONNELL, STUART, M`KINLAY, and others,
Sir R.MURCHISON went on to remark on the marvel
of the rapid rise of colonies in Australia, and re-
joiced to be able to state that the settlements on
the north coast were progressing satisfactorily; this
occupation he had been advocating for many years,
on political as well as on commercial and colonial
grounds. A few years of experience have enlight-
ened the ignorance that obtained regarding these
territories,in which there are desert tracts certainly,
but also fine oases of pasture grounds. "Ashort time
only (says Sir R. MußcHtsoN), I venture to pre-
dict, will elapse before towns arise at the head of
the Gulf of Carpentaria, as well as at the mouth of
the Victoria River of the north, whence, as well as
from the new settlement of Cape York, Australians
will have a dinict communication with our great
Indian empire." Farther on in his remarks the
speaker commented on the state of Queensland as
being particularly distinguished among its notable
compeers. This wonderful colony possesses a sur-
face which is six times greater than that of the
United Kir gdom ; and the Governor, Sir G. BOWEN,
observed that its very grazing-grounds are twice
as large as the British Isles, and that is saying
nothing of large tracts adapted to the growth of
cotton. Certainly it is a matter of great mo-
ment that a state of such magnitude should
fare Prosperously, and its welfare concerns
many.
The progress which our Australian colonies
proved
they had made at the Great International
_exhibition
was adverted to in forcible terms by Sir
11. MußcrasoN.
He truly said that they exem-
plified their attainments,
not only in wealth and
material prosperity, but in
all that can dignify a
people. We saw exhibited in that great edifice
not only the rich natural
Products of gold and
silver, with beautiful pictorial views; but the
excellent maps and catalogues of
the Sydney and
dbourne libraries proved that there Was scarcely
a branch of industry and knowledge which was
not cultivated in Australia with a zeal and
energy
that rivalled that of the
mother country. This
tribute of praise was well deserved, and it is
always satisfactory when distinguished men, like
come forward and
the speaker here referred to,