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

THERMOMETER.

This morning
'fhis day at Two 0'c10ck........
Barometer-30.02.
Wind—S.; fresh, and fine.

• :42 t,
-
• N' )""kki
434,3*,

LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1863.

- -0- -

The acquittal of the editor of the Marseilles
Semaphore by the very liberal and enlightened
tribunal of Marseilles is one of those great facts
which become landmarks in the path of progress.
This decision will constitute, notwithstanding all
Government apposition, au indubitable and inevit-
able precedent in the history of the press in France.
The charge brought against the Semaphore was of
publishing false news calculated to disturb the
peace. A very serious charge, if capable of
due substantiation, but the Marseilles authorities
exercised a very wise and deliberate discrimination
in the matter.. They go so far as to say that they
do not consider a Ministerial denial of any piece of
intelligence a sufficient proof of the truth or falsity
of that intelligence, inasmuch as " such news is
likely to be avowed or denied, iii accordance with
the political exigencies of the moment and the cul-
pability of an honourable citizen, whose good faith
there are no grounds to suspect cannot be made to
depend on those daily fluctuations which policy may
ccmmand, but which the tribunals do not accept
as a rule of their judgments." Furthermore they
declare that the republication of any immaterial
rumours cannot come within the definition of" pub-
lishing false news." It is impossible to " recognise
in any such ephemeral and virtually unimportant
publication, the offence of publication or reproduc-
tion of false news, such as it is likely to suppose
that an intelligent legislator and protector of public
libertiesdesired to reach and to punish." Hence they
freely acquit M. BARLATIER, the accused editor of
the Semaphore. As HENRY IV., exulted in being
the Sov(r,•eiga of a Judge who dared to enforce the
laws, an d the father of a Prince who submitted to
obey the m, in like manner the Liberals of France
may rejedce in having not only some few journalists
who dare venture to assert a spirit of independence,
but above all in having some enlightened tribunals
before w horn that spirit of independence is not re-
garded as a crime. It is rumoured that
the Gaecernment Prosecutor will attempt to
get this decision of the Marseilles Tribunal
reversed- We are hardly inclined to believe that
the Government will venture upon so impolitic a
step. The Marseilles authorities may have brought
themselvfs into disfavour in high quarters, but they
have earaed golden opinions from all true friends of
lineralit:r and the independence of the press—terms
which ere indeed synonymous and identical. Far
otherwise has it fared with the Courrier de St.
Etienne. That unhappy journal has ventured upon
Frame crltcal remarks respecting the elections, and
the cone: uct of the Mayor—whether correct or un-
truthful we have no means of becoming
informed, as the proceedings of such
trials are not allowed to be published in
France, but, judging from the result, we should
surmise that the charges are not without

foundation, on the principle the greater the truth
the greater the libel ! The unhappy Courrier de
St Etienne is suppressed. Its principal editors, M.
ROBIN and M. HYEME, are subjected to heavy fines,
and the one is condemned to be imprisoned for
fifteen drys, the other for no less than a whole
mouth! We will hope, for the sake of French
justice, that the libel was really most unfounded
and severe, otherwise the French law respecting
the Press is likely to receive even greater damage
from such a victory as that achieved over the hapless
Courtier de St, Etienne than from the yet more
remarkable defeat it has sustained in its attack upon
the now triumplatot Semaphore of Marseilles.

The news bron ght by the Eastern mails is, on the
whole, of a satisfe.ctory character. India is peace-
ful and prospercaul, and the principal subjects under
discussion are paints of civil government. The
recent change of Ameers in Affghanistan has as
yet produced DO disturbance, although the present
ruler is said to be bitterly hostile to the English.
lie is brother LO AKBAR KHAN, whose name was
well known in our old Indian wars, and appears to
share his sentiments of animosity towards us. How-
ever, internal factions and intrigues seem likely to
keep his attention centred at home, and rivals near
the throne will give hint enough to do in his own
dominions, if he is wise, to prevent him from rush-
ing into certain destruction by provoking a quarrel
with us. Of the intentions of Persia nothing is
known in Calcutta ; and the Anglo-Indians content
theraselve3 with keeping a watchful c,ye on her
wocoedings, expecting to be more fully enlightened
before long. with regard to the supposed NANA
SAUIB, wliose capture was the most prominent lea-

the conviction that we
lure of laa month's news,
have indeed secured the veritable criminal is in-

creasing in Calcutta. Official opinion as to his
identity with the prisoner now in detention is, we
are told, unanimous. An English aergeant-major,
who had often seen the Nana at Meerut before the
mutiny, is positive on the matter. It seems, accord-
ing to the account now given, that his present cap-
ture is owing to a feeling of revenge. A Brahmin
of Bithoor, whose village had been pillaged and bis
relatives murdered by the Nana's troops, had vowed
revenge, and, with the cunning and vindictiveness
peculiar to Eastern minds, he has long been watch-
ing his opportunity. A year ago he obtained in-
formation that the object of his search was in

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 journey 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 oely 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,
whichand
neces-
sitated complete absence from business. H o w
m a ny
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 fi:st 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 an accurate knowledge of
dates, or an extensive aequaintance with nearly
forgotten history. Energy, presence of mind, de-
cision, tact, resource, are the qualities that England
require in her 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 Indian 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 submit 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
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 ---111JEEE cost
those noble fellows their lives, the latest researches
' of their successors stand out as, indeed, most
eingu-
larly successful." After alluding to the achievements
of M`DONNELL, STUART, WKIN LAY, and others,
Sir R.MIIRCHISON 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,
bat also fine oases of pasture grounds. "Ashort time
only (says Sir R. MURCHISON), 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 dirlet 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 Kivgdom ; 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
jl MURCHISON. 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
Melbourne 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 ,
the speaker here referred to, come forward and