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

Ibaying already to be encountered and coped
with by the youthful King of the Hellenes, they
are of a character so exquisitely delicate as to
'be nothing less than matter for the profoundest
,regret. And they are difficulties that have
.arisen in this wise. The selection by the Greek
.nation of the Boy-Prince who is now, under the title
rut' King GEORGE 111., their reigning sovereign ; the
;selection of this youthful scion of the house of Son-
, derburg-Glucksburg to the throne rendered vacant
by the summary expulsion from it of the ex-King
-OTHo (of Bavaria)—it is well known was mainly
decided by the know edge on the partoftheGreeks
themselves, that, in the event of such a selection,,
1 Englandwaol acrecdhei at twonce o toof
tGhree elcoent; ha
nu
Islands. At the m,,ment, however, when M.. TRl-
eof twhaes longp epcaurveedt et;
COUPI was on the point of signing in the name of
King GEORGE, and in the interests of the Greek
nation, the formal Treaty by which Great Britain
would have undertaken to transfer the lonian
Islands to the Kingdom of Greece—it be-
came painfully manifest that there was to be
coupled with the cession of those islands a certain
intolerable condition by way of most humiliating
preliminary. The fortifications of Corfu were to be
razed to the ground. The Young KING was to
stand pledged by the terms of the treaty to their de-
struction. In other words, his name, at the very out-
set of his reign, was to become historically identified
with an incident, as we have said, intensely humiliat-
ing to the amour propre, to the honest self-respect
of the Greek nation. Almost, as a matter of course,
M. TRICOUPI at once declined to become in any
way a party to such an engagement as that—an
engagement that must inevitably anger the Greeks,
and as inevitably, by so doing, jeopardise the main-
tenance of their newly-chosen Sovereign's reputa-
tion. In the difficulty of the sudden hitch that has
thus awkwardly arisen in the negotiation of the
transference of the lonian Islands from England to
Greece, we observe that it is quite seriously sug-
gested, suggested by no less an official autho-
rity than the organ of the noble Vis-
count at the head of the British Government,
that England should come to the relief of King
GEORGE 1., of the Hellenes, in this his very dirs-
tressing dilemma, that England should come to his
relief at once at this most anxious moment---How)
is it asked ? By, with all convenient speed, setting
her hand to the task of destroying those ;fortifica-
tions at Corfu, the destruction of which ere deemed
to be an essential accompaniment of the transference.
Now, for our own part, we cannot for a single instant
believe that our so doing will relieveliing GEORGE of
Greece from his dilemma. We cannot but think that
his name will then still be very painfully and
hazardously associated with an act, most untoward
as the earliest incident of his reign, an act of
humiliation which, while he will no doubt be spared
from the anguish of performing himself, that is by
his own Government, that Government of his will

at any rate have the discredit of having permitted
—or rather it should be said more plainly—meanly

connived at.

We learn from the latest intelligence that the

ness from which Lord ELGIN was suffering had not
up to that date proved fatal, although there was too
much reason to anticipate the worst results. We
may still hope against hope, until we actually hear
of his death, but in any case we fear the services of
a valuable public servant are lost to England. The
appointment of Sir JOHN LAWRENCE to the impor-
tant post—vacant in any case through Lord
ELGIN'S resignation—has given universal satisfac-
tion, and his immediate departure for the land he is
so well qualified to govern was a wise and neces-
sary step. There is no fear that he will prove
unequal to the responsibilities of his post. His
natural capacity, his high principle, and his
lengthened experience of the people whom he is
called upon to govern, all combine to fit him in an
eminent degree for an office in which individual
character is more tried than perhaps any other.
But however well suited Sir JOHN LAWRENCE may
be, mentally and morally, for the high position he
has suddenly been called upon to fill, he, like his
predecessor, is mortal, and will be physically sus-
ceptible to evil agencies. The rapid succession of
deaths of men in the prime of life, the successive
loss of three Governors General, in one case the
vice-regent's death following closely on that of his
loved and honoured wife; the death and illness of
financiers and Statesmen, the terrible mortality
among our soldiers in times of peace, all combine
to call our attention to the question, and bid us

consider whether the conditions of Anglo-Indian
life are unnecessarily fatal. It is scarcely
fair to count the loss of such men as
HAVELOCK among the sacrifices to the climate. The

:errible work and anxiety might well have proved

fatal to a younger man in a more temperate zone ;
but the quiet residents in cities ought surely not to
die at a rate commensurate with the risks of the
battlefield. If England is to send some of her best

men to India, if sh© is to provide the head to plan,

the heart to feel, the hand to execute, she must at
least see that they are not sent as sacrifices, that in

appointing a man of ability, character, and position
to a high Indian office, she is not at the same time
signing his death-warrant, or at least compelling
him to take a last farewell of health and all its
blessings, when he touches the fatal shores of the
Hooghly. It has been asserted on good authority
that there is no reason why the climate of India
should, under favourable circumstances and with
due precautions, prove so disastrous to Europeans.
Many a man has lived to a good old age there, and
some parts of the country are especially salubrious.
By an unfortunate combination of natural and arti-
ficial causes, the seat of government is notoriously
unhealthy, and to their enforced residence in
Calcutta daring the greater portion of the year the
illness of the leading men in India is openly attri-
buted. Though it lays claim to the proud title of
the City of Palaces, it is anything but palatial in
' 46 stlroandings. Situated on marshy ground, ill
drained,
and i
in
suo ill supplied with water, it is placed
the
of the
poisottzimity to the native town that
native exhalations produced by the habits
to be a thi:'„."2"g
fre-
quently pestilential,
mosphere would soot,
carcases and other putrid
whom cleanliness appears
. unknown, render the air
taint the breezes. Much more .
become•ik balmy. and temperate at-
mosphere intolerable if decaying
matter wore allowed to
areb by
enoughullple unpleasant
nvtr
e...p. .
marshy soil are such evils disastrous_o, and bad air
in a hot climate on a
'Lieu a pestilence.
4 -rlenee souls of
aTid
Londonersbad
the effects of a fetid river, but they
eltn
bar l
valitenro ii-
Ifects must be under
ad 7 ima-
gine what those c
. r troical
sun. Happily for the metropolis, however, its
residents were not dependent on Father Tharaeh
for their water, but possessed a luxury unknown
to
the inhabitants of Calcutta in a pure and plentiful
supply drawn from other sources. It i 8 then ia
conditions that under any circumstances and in any
climate would be most prejudicial to health that
our statesmen are called upon to undertake
the
duties of their weighty and anxious office; to go
on in the routine path with incessant toil, continual
mental application, and the burden of a heavy re-
sponsibility. Even if natural strength of constitu-
tion enable them to withstand the pressure, or
timely retreat to the hills avert fatal results, the
insidious evil has probably materially affected their '