The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-08 00:00:00

healths and has exposed them to a risk which
may be considered as uncalled for and unnecessary.
In consideration of these facts it has been sug-
gested in many quar`ars: that it would be wise to
remove the seat of government from Calcutta to a
healthier city. These is no absolute reason why the
Governor-Gen.ere.l should hold his court ou low
ground, in *.4 country where low grounds are, under
present conditions, notoriously unhealthy. The
questi'an of salubrity should be one of the very first
cnir.iiderations, and there is no reason why a spot
s'aould not be selected situated on higher ground,
in a more temperate climate, which should combine
all the advantages of Calcutta with others which
Calcutta never had. There is nothing in the posi-
tion of Calcutta which renders the thought of such
a transfer particularly inconvenient or injurious to
the public service; in fact, nothing can be more
injurious than the rapid succession of deaths which
may well deter men of independent position from
accepting offices for which they have to pay with
their lives. This matter is well worthy of the
attention of the authorities, and would be a sub-
stantial benefit to all concerned. In the meantime,
as this is not an affair to be settled in a day, let
what can be done be done towards improving the
condition of Calcutta with the least possible delay.
It may not be feasible to change the climate or
raise the soil, but at least all the dangers
may be modified. It is surely possible to enforce
some sanitary regulations to compel the natives to
bury or burn dead bodies of all kinds, to establish
a system of something like drainage, to lend every
assistance to the irrigation schemes which pro-
mise to supply Calcutta with good and pure water.
Whether or no it remains the seat of Government,
Calcutta will probably always continue to be a
place of English residence, and therefore the time
and tpo•ney expended in rendering it less un-
healthy will be far from thrown away. The sums
expended on public works will not be begrudged
in either country; and whatever labour and skill
can do to mitigate the evils of climate and situa-
tion ought to be forthwith done. Drainage is cer-
tainly possible there as elsewhere, and the proper
steps should be at once taken. Sir ARTHUR COT-
TON undertakes to carry a liberal supply of water
to the tops of the highest houses in Calcutta. Why
does not the Indian Government encourage and
forward his plans, instead of turning a deaf, or at
least an unwilling, ear to them ? The works at
the Godavery have proved so marvellously remu-
nerative, although incomplete, that there is no ex-
cuse on tho ground of expenditure; but even if the
outlay were never to be repaid in cash, it is time
that our statesmen should learn to reckon national
health and vigour among a country's most precious
possessions. We trust that Sir JOHN LAWRENCE,
warned by the fate of his three immediate succes-
sors, will speedily look to these matters, and that
the official staff, both at home and in India, will
help instead of hindering him in such endeavours.

In nothing has there been a more marked change
for the better in the aspect of society during the last
ten years than in the interchange of ideas and the
mingling of classes. The schemes set afloat for
education have been most fruitful in bringing about
this happy result. Not alone nave the institutions
that.have sprung up through the length and breadth
of the land been productive of benefit as regards
their immediate object, but they have been potent
agents in approximating interests and attracting
various ranks by the spell of a common influence.
The aristocracy have been most active in many
directions in aiding and assisting the great work
of education. The starched proprieties of an
earlier generation would ha;re been amazed
and incredulous beyond measure had any prophet of
their days foretold the chanrs time would bring,
that their immediate descendants should meet
in conclave with the children of the sons of toil,
whom they then regarded as almost without beads,
and join in some degree in that community of feel-
ing which knowledge and learning can alone im-
part, the mighty levellers of the pride of the acci-
dents of birth and fortune, and the glorious
uplifters of the humble and the poor. No one who
does not study the subject in all its bearings can
sufficiently appreciate the importance of such
unions, temporary as they may be, and the interest
imparted to such assemblages, uneventful and in-
consequent as they may seem to a cursory glance.
Last Saturday Lord HARTINGTON spoke at the
annual meeting of the East Lancashire Union of
Mechanics and Literary Institutions and Evening
Schools ; as many as one thousand attended, and
prizes were distributed, the recipients having
selected their own volumes in a manner
which did great credit to their discernment.
The resolution which Lord HARTINGTON
moved was a very significant one, and is
worthy of attentive consideration :—" That the
number of scholars attending the evening classes
throughout the Union, notwithstanding the unpre-
cedented distress which has prevailed during the
years 1862-.3, affords abundant proof of the perma-
nent attraction which a well organised and efficient
system of instruction has for the young men sup-
ported by manual labour in this district." A more
satisfactory statement could not be endorsed than
the one put forward in these words, and it needs no
great skill in divination, or very sanguine estimate
of events, to declare that by adopting such a course
the individuals referred to are doing their best to
overcome the evils that have been brought upon
them, and to rise superior to the depressing in-
fluences that have assailed them. No better way
is there to resist the temptations and overcome the
dangers which the chances and changes of this
mortal life may occasion, than to fill the mind with
useful knowledge and to cultivate the faculties and
refine the intelligence. These labours may be toil-
some, and the result not so swift or manifest as
Wright have been expected, but what portion is
gained is a sure treasure for the possessor. He has
a storehouse for the exigencies of hereafter that
nothing can deprive him of, and he is more fitted
to bear the inevitable ills that fall to the lot of
humanity. The noble lord, in moving the re-
solution referred to, remarked that it would
be as idle nowadays for a man to clothe himself in
armour, and ride about for adventures, as to seek
for any one who would contradict the assertion that
education should be widely diffused. He then
made some very pertinent observations on the pecu-
liarities of the Northern states, There is great
truth in the summary that is here given of the result
of the sedulous instruction that is so rife in the
New -England States. The reason here adduced is
a. valid one, that the children are not well
trained. They are taught to admire what is
" large rather than what is good, and, above all,
what is American more than what is anything
else." This is perfectly correct, and it has been
shown how lamentably these notions have worked,
and what deplorable consequences they have en
tailed, now that the theories are being put into
practice. Also, the press in America exercises a
Very deleterious influence; and Lord HARTINGTON
very
reasonably deduced from this that the educa-
tion of the people
did not go far enough to enable
them to reject Such
itactuelture ought to produce npor,
reading. It is well to consider
these subjects at
times
f and to ponder upon the
against the beneficial effect
condition of
thethat
mS reasonsoU:
ah whichextensive
and nmentali
country. The