The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-06 00:00:00

PRINCE ALFRED'S IMPRESSIONS OF
INDIA.

The Duke of Edinbuigh has written a long letter to
Lord Mayo, surveying retrospectively his tour in India.
The letter was read by Lord Mayo himself at the banquet

given at Lahore in honour of the retiring Lieutenant-
Governor, Sir Donald Macleod. The Duke says that the

anticipations of Oriental magnificence connected in his
mind with the idea of India were more than
realised during his tour. He hones that his visit
has not been burdensome to the country, but
he fears that the example of magnificence set by
the Viceroy was but too generally followed. The Duke
continues :—"The hurried character of my tour through
the Interior prevented me from obtaining more than a
bird's-eye view of the principal parts of the country, but
I have seen enough to awaken in myself a strong interest
both in its past history and its present condition. I have
seen many evidences of the anxiety which exists, not only
among the British community, but among the more wealthy
and influential of the native-born inhabitants, to
raise and improve the moral and social condition of the
poorer classes. The importance of the spread of educa-
tion is gradually beingunderstood, and in several instances
Iwas highly gratified by the manner in which the commu-
nities of some cities desired to commemorate my visit—by
the foundation of scholarships bearing my name, by the
commencement of recreation grounds for the use of the
people, by endowing high schools, and at some of the seaports
by contributing funds for the erection or improvement of
sailors' homes. These laudable objects have been very
materially, in some cases mainly, assisted by the munifi-
cence as well of private individuals as of some of the
Indian princes, whose generosity is so well known to
everyone that it would be superfluous for me to mention
their names here. That my visit has been instrumental
in bringing about results such as these is one of the
happiest reflections with which I shall look back to my
brief stay in India." His Royal Highness goes on to say
that he has never travelled in greater comfort than on the
Indian railways, states that -he " enjoyed with all his
heart" the few days he was enabled to devote to field
sports, and expresses the pleasure with which he
made the acquaintance of many officers, of
whose friendship he is proud, and the story of
whose lives is not the least instructive among the lessons
that have been brought to his notice in India. With his
visit to Bombay, the Duke says he was much gratified,
and remarks upon the fact that his arrival there occurred
almost contemporaneously with three great events, each
of which has a direct bearing upon the city's future
greatness—the completion of the railway communication
between Eastern and Western India, the opening of
the Suez Canal, and the laying of the Submarine Telegraph
between Suez and Bombay. I trust, the Prince adds,
that the bright hopes for the future which this happy
concurrence of events is calculated to inspire will be
amply realised, and I also hope that my kind friends in
Bombay will sometimes remember that, simultaneously
with the dawn of their good fortune, the son of their
Sovereign came among them to assure them of the lively
sympathy with which her Majesty regards them, and of
the pleasure with which she will learn of their hopeful
prospects. Madras, although heavily weighted in the
race with her sister capitals by local disadvantages, wel-
comed me so warmly, entertained me with so much con-
sideration, and sped me on my way with such kind
wishes, that lam glad it-was chosen as the port for my
re-embarkation. My reception there was a most gratify-
ing and flattering culmination to a very interesting tour.
The three months of my stay in India have passed
only too rapidly and pleasantly away. lam laden with a
debt of gratitude—a debt which lam proud to owe, but
which I can never hope to repay. In all that concerns
the welfare of India I shall ever take a deep interest for
I
I have learned to regard her people with affection. am
the glad bearer of a message from them to my mother,
which will give her unbounded satisfaction, for I have to
tell her how enthusiaStic has been my reception,
how universal the affectionate loyalty which
greeted me, and how it is, for her sake alone that I
have been thus welcomed to India, that my advent has
been thus eagerly seized as an opportunity for expressing
their sentiments of personal devotion to her Majesty, and
of their heartfelt appreciation of the mildness and
beneficence of her rule. I must now bid to the people of
India an affectionate farewell. May God pour down his
choicest blessings on the land."

The Prince Imperial of France has been employed
as an orderly officer or aide-de-camp at a review which has
just taken place in the Bois de Boulogne. He rode like a
centaur' and discharged the duties with which he was en-.
trusted to the admiration of all beholders.

Some interesting information is given in a series
of consular reports just published. In Brazil the slaves
are fast dying out, at the rate of about 8,000 deaths in
excess of births per annum. The liberated slave's notion
of freedom is total abstention from anything like labour,
and in a country and climate like Brazil he can almost
enjoy this luxury. The war with Paraguay has deranged,
the firm :Lob's of the empire, and its debt is nearly
£60,000,000.

STRENGTH OF THE AMERICAN NAVY.
The Secretary of the Navy, in response to the House
resolution, says the number of vessels of each class now
in commission is as follows :—First rate, 2 ; second rate,
9 : third rate, 15 ; fourth rate. 18 ; receiving ships, tugs,
&c., and for quarters, 26. The number of vessels of each
rate not in commission is as follows : First rate, 2;
second rate, 27 ; third rate, 18 ; fourth rate, 67. Whole
number of non-commissioned petty officers and seamen as
compiled from the latest returns is 8,274. It is estimated
the current duties of the naval service, afloat and on
shore, including all the various duties imposed by law or
required for the proper administration of the service, and
making allowance for the sick list and' furloughs and the
requirements of regular reliefs rendered necessary by the
nature of the naval service, it can be carried on properly
and effectively after the several grades of officers on the
active list are reduced and fixed at the following numbers,
:—Lieutenant commanders, 80 ; lieutenants, 280 ;
masters, 100 ; ensigns, 100 ; surgeons, 65 ; passed assistant
surgeons, 40 ; assistant surgeons, 45 ; paymasters, 50;
passed assistant paymasters, 25; assistant paymasters,
25; chief engineers, 68; first assistant engineers, 50;
second assistant engineers, 75. The scale makes an in-
crease in the number of lieutenants corresponding to the
decrease in the number of lieutenant eommanders, and a
small increase on the number of chief and second assistant
engineers. But it reduces the whole number of officers
allowed by law to 270, and makes a decrease in the item of
pay of $450,000.

COMING HOME—A NEW SEA. PERIL.
From the Commercial Advertiser, May 20.

The only drawback to foreign travel hereafter will be
the dread of coming home. The 'new regulations of the
Custom-house are so stringent that the returning Ameri-
can will actually look with apprehension upon the shores
of a native land. It is a question of clothes—of
" reasonable amount of clothing "—which the traveller
may have in his trunks. The individual may not decide
this. It is left to the Custom-house officer—a man who se
small salary has never allowed him a very liberal expendi-
ture for garments, and who is likely to regard a " reason-
able " supply as only another term for a " necessary
supply." Dr. Holmes wrote years ago :
" Three pairs of boots ; one pair if feet demands,
If polished daily by the owner's hands ;
If the dark menial's visit save from this,
Have twice that number, for he'll sometimes miss."

Now to many persons three or six pairs of boots or
shoes are a mere bagatelle—poverty and destitution. So
with coats and other garments. Rut who shall decide for
the ladies, and is there any " reason " in their dress ?
Shall an inspection decide for Flora M`Flimsy, who had
" nothing to wear," though a host of dresses hung upon
her walls ? The whole thing is contemptible and small,
and unworthy of a great nation. The people are not all
swindlers and smugglers. They Ore not all knaves and
cheats. Yet 'so the Government in its Custom-house and
revenue regulations regards them. As the Times well
observes :—" People have paid heavy taxes for some
years without a murmur, but instead of their liberality
being well appreciated, they are now subjected to a few
extra turns of the " screw.' Why make any method of
raising money for Government unnecessarily odious ?
Suppose a man does bring an extra coat or two with
him, the Government can much better afford to let him
do it than authorise its officials to reckon up garments and
appraise their value, like so many second-hand clothes
dealers." Returning travellers should at least be allowed
to revisit home with some emotions of pleasure.