The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-30 00:00:00

lately as 11 years ago the succession to the whole of the
Danish monarchy devolved upon Prince Christian of Glucks-
burg. There is an end to all faith in treaties if the powers
who signed the one in question are now to set it at naught or
to remain indifferent to its execution. We can hardly think
that either Austria or Prussia will avail themselves of

any flimsy pretext to evade their plain obligation to re-
cognise Christian IX. as King of Denmark, including
Schleswig-Holstein.. Their signature to the treaty of
1852 was given unconditionally. It was subject to no
reservation of any right which the German Diet might pos-
sess to pronounce on the succession to the duchies. It
bound them, not to Denmark, but to Europe, in whose
interest the treaty was confessedly concluded ; and even if
Denmark has violated other stipulations entered into at the

same time, the breach of these does not release the signa-
taries of that treaty from their mutual obligations, although
it may possibly furnish an independent ground of complaint
against the offending state. This is so clear that, in all
probability, neither Austria nor Prussia will venture to
espouse openly the cause of the Augustenburg family. The
real danger seems to be lest, while nominally respecting the
letter of the treaty, these Powers should be driven or
tempted to disregard its spirit ; lest, while recognising the
title of the new monarch, they should so far yield to the

pressure of German feeling as to push on the Federal
execution, which, under present circumstances, can only be
regarded as an indirect means of promoting, as it certainly
would promote, the dismemberment of Denmark. It is
openly avowed that the object of the professed adherents of
Prince Frederick of Augustenburg is to secure Kiel as a
German naval port ; and some enthusiasts at Hamburgh
have even gone so far as to proclaim that the duchies should
be told from Denmark whether their inhabitants are willing
or the reverse. Other Powers, whether they are mainly
anxious for the preservation of the independence and
integrity of Denmark or for the limitation of the power of
Germany, will not see with indifference any steps which tend
to the accomplishment of such designs. It rests at the pre-
sent moment with Austria and Prussia either to give us

peace or war. And while we are willing to hope the best
from their sense of the consequences which must follow

from the adoption of the latter alternative, we are compelled
to fear the worst from their rivalry for the leadership of
Germany. Upon their own heads, however, must be the
consequences if they afford France a pretext for crossing the
Rhine as the ally of the Scandinavian kingdom. However
much we might regret such an event, we neither can nor

....
will assist a nation which chooses I o pursue its own aggran•

disement in the teeth of European opinion and in violation
of a recent and deliberate European settlement.
THE SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW —History tells much of
the high state of civilisation which prevailed in India
many ages ago, when Europe was sunk in ignorance and
barbarism. We are inclined to think that this high culture
must be considered comparatively ; if ever it were absolute,
India must have sadly fallen from her high position, to have
sanctioned the priestcraft, the superstition, and the utter
ignorance which prevail among her inhabitants at the
present day. Nor can it be hoped that the future of India
will be materially improved unless strenuous and well-
directed efforts are made to educate the people. It is almost

impossible to suppose a lower state of education than that
existing in India at this moment. Very few persons can
read : as nearly as can be ascertained, the proportion varies
from one in 300 to 10 per cent. An official inquiry recently
instituted in Mysore, gave 215 p r cent. as the proportion
of readers. H. Woodrow, Esq., Inspector of Schools, esti-

mates that in the richest and most populous portion of the
province of Be( gal there aro about three persons in every
100 under instruction. Taking the whole of British India
into account, and including all schools which had any pre-
tensions to the name—Government, aided, and mission
schools—less than one in 400 of the population were under
instruction. For the sake of comparison, we may remark,
that the proportion in England is about one in eight. The
proportion of the people under Christian instruction is
barely one in 1,760. We have not included the indigenous
schools in the foregoing statements; they are somewhat
numerous, but from the superstitious and obscene books
generally read in them, they are in many cases productive
of evil rattier than of good. In some of these native
schools the life of Krishna is the principal textbook, and
its disgusting details are dwelt upon with apparent delight
by the teachers. The influence of such a book may be best
illustrated by supposing that in ancient times the life of
Venus had been prescribed for the study of Greek youth.
Efforts have been made by Government, and by various
religious bodies, to bring about an improvement, and some
good has been done. When, however, we remark, thai,
for example, the expenditure by Government on account of
education in Bengal does not reach one half-penny per
head per annum, and whon it is remembered that the
assistance afforded by religious bodies must of necessity be
even less, it will be seen that pecuniary assistance to the
instruction of the people is at present administered in ex-
tremely infinitesimal doses. It may be added that there
are in India over 30 millions of children at a school-going
age. Still, Government is taking a prominent part in pro-
moting the education of the people, and its measures gene-
rally have a good effect. Tho rule professedly observed in
Government schools with regard to religion is perfect neu-
trality. There are perhaps obvious reasons why the teach-
ing of religion in the existing state of India should be ex-
cluded, but grave doubts are entertained by many who see
the working of the system, whether the evils of this exclu-
sion do not more than counterbalance its advantages.
Perfect neutrality, however, is not observed—although the
use of the Bible is not allowed, even permissively, in
Government schools, a book known as " Timil Mioar
Poets," published by the Madras Direction of Public In-
struction, and extensively used in schools, contains en in-
vocation to Gausea, and advocates the worship of Vishnu
and of Liva, besides encouraging pantheism, fatalism, and
transmigration. This is not as it should be. A Govern-
ment which jealously excludes the Bible from its schools,
and which would dismiss any teacher who taught his
scholars the worship of Christ, is certainly bound by its
own rule of neutrality to see that only expurgated editions
of the native sacred classics are allowed in the schools, This
would be a great benefit to the country, for by encouraging
only such editions, in a few years even those issuing from
native presses would lose much of their obscenity and
superstitious idolatry.
COURT JOURNAL.—There is nothing more calculated to
inflame the prejudices and wrath of a common man than to
tell him that he is crushed under the iron heel of a cor-
rupt and tyrannical aristocracy, and that he ought to rise
up and secure those privileges to which nature entitled him
and which would place him far beyond the power of the
Crown, the Lords, the Church, and the landed gentry.
These are the especial objects of Mr. Bright's hatred, and
it is his constant study to instil that hatred into the breasts
of the uneducated and ignorant artisans and labourers, who
are but too common in manufacturing towns like Rochdale
and Manchester. His speech the other day, even more
than that of Mr Cobden, was a studied attempt to excite the
populace against the political and religious institutions of
the country, to cause them to decry and distrust both Whig
and Conservative—any party, in fact, that is safe and mo-
derate—and, above all, to hold out the glorious Republic
of North America as the faultless model of a great and free
country—One far superior to his own in every respect—and
one which we shall never equal, unless we abolish the
Monarchy and the Lords, adopt universal suffrage, vote by
ballot, and an increased income tax, annihilate the Church,
or place it on a level with Dissent, destroy our fleet, make
cotton operatives of our soldiers, send back our volunteers
to the counter, the desk, or the plough, and hand over our
colonies to France and the United States, before whom we
are bound to humble ourselves on every occasion whatever.
If these are not the sentiments of Mr. Bright the reporting
system ought to be done away with, for it must have
treated him with singular injustice during the last 15 or 20
years. The modesty of these two gentlemen is scarcely
less remarkable than their moderation. Mr. Bright takes
all the honour of Reform; Mr. Cobden, according to him-
self, is the impersonification of Free-trade principles.
"Now," exclaimed Mr. Cobden, conscious of his own
greatness—" now I carry a flag wherever I go, when
I travel abroad—whether in France, America, Austria, or
Russia. lat once become the centre of all those who have
strong convictions and purposes with reference to free-trade
principles." How is it that this King—apostle of tree trade
—ignores the right of the Southern States of America to
enjoy its advantages whether they become an independent
nation or remain part and parcel of the United States ? Yet,
spite of this glaring inconsistency, Mr. Cobden is still
firmly convinced of the great blessings which every people
would receive by the adoption of the system, and is just as
convinced that free trade must be desirable under every cir-
cumstance as is Mr, Newdegate that free trade has failed in
its object, and that in Ireland, more especially, it has been
the source of innumerable evils and discontent. Both men
are honest and sincere, yet it is difficult to say which holds
the more extreme opinions : but there is this distinction—
that whilst Mr. Newdegate's doctrines are rather safer than
brilliant, those of Mr. Cobden are more brilliant than safe.
Both Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright touched upon a variety
of topics, but with everything but " the Great Republic"
were they discontented and disgusted. Mr. Cobden very
properly expressed his horror of the English proceeding in
Japan, and the most unwarrantable and inhuman destruc-
tion of the town of Kagosima, " with its 150,000 of
prosperous, commercial people," but he said nothing about
the shelling and attempted burning of Charlestonl,thae
cap
tal of the great agricultural State of Southi Caro
in
i Ida et
oonu,nbc
ue dt
tßrightlrishindulged
Church
st the
le e"grievances
to Christianity," ascribed all the evils
to the faulty and
venal system of English Government, and, as might have
s c ada l l Ireland,
r et
oa e
able advantages to be derived from been expected, ended by pointing out tomlrtihshemeeintiztehnesihniep ofsti
mUnited Slates, not telling them, however, of such petty
and small-minded objections as the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus Act, the continual proclamation of military
law, the slaughter of half a million of men, and the enforce.
ment of the conscription, which gives every Irishman a fair
and impartial chance of being added to the list of those
dead, dying, or captive. But then his starving family will
have the satisfaction of knowing that he fought for the
maintenance of "an instructed democracy." Mr. Brig ht
ventures to say " that if the United States of America were
to send transport ships to Ireland, and to offer to carry
every Irish man, woman, and child free of cost to the United
States, and to send them to the lands of the West, he is
not certain that there would be men enough left in Ireland
at the end of one year to cultivate one half of its soil,"
Yes; and if at the end of three years the ceusus of those