The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-11 00:00:00

seed-time and its harvest in some part of the island; and
fruit hangs ripe on the same branches that are garlanded
with opening buds. But as every plant has its own period
for the production of its flowers and fruit, each mouth is
characterised by its own peculiar flora.
" As regards the foliage of the trees, it might be expected
that the variety of tints would be wanting which forms the
charm of a European landscape, and that all nature would
wear one mantle of unchanging green. But it has been re-
marked by a tasteful observer that such is far from the fact,
and though in Ceylon there is no revolution of seasons, the
change of leaf on the same plant exhibits colours as bright
as those which tinge the autumnal woods of America. It
is not the decaying leaves, but the fresh shoots, which ex••
hibit these brightened colours, the older are still vividly
green, whilst the young are bursting forth; and the extre-
mities of the branches present tufts of pale yellow, pink,
crimson, and purple, which give them at a distance the ap-
pearance of a cluster of flowers."
One of the most curious things mentioned in the
accounts of the plants and trees is the strange
growth of the fig-tree, whose seeds take root in an
extraordinary manner. There is an engraving
which represents "the marriage of the fig-tree with
the palm." The original tree, strangled with the
weight of its companion, at last dies, and leaves the
intruder in undisturbed possession. These perse-
vering interloprs also assail the ancient monu-
ments of Ceylon. One, in a ruined edifice at Polla-
narrua, is the most conspicuous object of the place ;
" its roots, streaming downwards over the walls as
if they had once been fluid, follow every sinuosity
of the building and terraces till they reach the
earth." The palm is the most attractive, both in
singularity and beauty, of all the trees in the forests
of Ceylon. The leaves are converted into many
uses for the Singalese, one of the most interesting
being as " substitutes for paper, both for books and
ordinary purposes." It is worthy of notice in how
many various forms the palnzyra is of signal ser-
vice. The natives of the south boast of the
hundred, uses to which the cocoa nut palm
may be applied, and those of the northern
provinces find their palmyra equally available. " Its
fruit yields them food and oil, its juice palm wine
and sugar, its stem is the chief material of their
buildings, and its leaves, besides serving as roofs to
their dwellings and fences to their farms, supply
them with matting and baskets, with headdresses
and fans, and serve as a substitute for paper for
their deeds and writings, and for the sacred books
which contain the traditions of their faith." In the
chapter on the literature of the Singhalese we meet
with details that arrest the attention ; in the ac-
count of the palm tree there is a description of
the preparation of olas, which are strips taken
from the leaves of the palm for the purpose of
forming substitutes for paper. The books of the
Singhalese are formed to-day, as they have been for
ages past, of this strange material. In old times
the Buddhist priesthood were the depositories of
all learning and the dispensers of all knowledge.
" On these palm leaves the custom is to write with
an iron stile held nearly upright, and steadied by >t
nick cut to receive it in the thumb-nail of the left
hand, the furrow made by the pressure of the steel
is rendered visible by the application of charcoal
ground with a fragrant oil, to the odour of which
the natives ascribe the remarkable state of preser-
vation in which their most sacred books are found,
its aromatic properties securing the leaves from
destruction by white ants and other insects." So
many of the works are in Pali or Sanskrit that the
Singalese can scarcely, it is said, be considered to
possess a literature in their own dialect. It is
strange that such is the passion for verse that
nearly all Singalese works, in all times, are com-
posed in that form ; and perhaps some hopeless
students here would be glad if the English writers
followed the example of the writers of the nume-
rous grammars that are found in the island, for it
is mentioned that "even the repulsive abstraction
of Syntax have found an Alvarez, and been en-
veloped in metrical disguise.—The llrahawanso is
mentioned as the chef dceuvre of Pali literature
the compilation of the Buddhist priests. " It stands
at the head of the historical literature of the East,
unrivalled by anything extant in Hindustan, the
wildness of whose chronology it controls;
and unsurpassed, if it be equalled, br
the native annals of China or Kashmir.'
An account is given of Buddhism and Demon Wor-
ship, which conveys a very good idea of the gene-
ral state of theb island in religious matters; and
although the author prefaces it by stating that
thei e exists considerable difficulty in the task, it
will be found by the reader, ou perusal, that the
sketch is so succinct and so skilfully arranged, that
he can hardly fail to be familiar with the strange
tenets of faith that have held permanent sway over
the people from a time that may be considered loaf
in the twilight of fable, and which still exert their
mighty sway, and exercise their apparently moo
trovertible influence. Buddhism is here emphati'
cally designated as destitute of vitality. " The hopes
and fears of a Buddhist are at once mean and cir-
cumscribed; the rewards held in prospect by his
oreed are insufficient to incite him to virtue, and its
punishments too remote to deter him from via&
Thus insufficient for time, and rejecting eternitif
the utmost triumph of his religion is to live witl
out fear and to die without hope." The followin%
passage illustrates the impediments that hinder the
progress of the missionaries, and frustrate their
efforts towards Christianising the island :
" Thus the outward concurrence of Christianity in those
points
on which it agrees with their own religion, has
proved more embarrassing to the natives than their per•
plexity as to others in which it essentially differs ; till at
last, too timid to doubt and too feeble to inquire, they cling
with helpless tenacity to their own superstition, and yet
subscribe to the new faith simply by adding it on to the
old. _ _ _

Combined with this state of irresolution a serious ob-
stacle to the acceptance of reformed Christianity by the
Singhalese Buddhists has arisen froM the differences and
disagreements between the various chiurches by whose mi'
nisters it has been successively offered to them. In the
persecution of the Roman Catholics by the Dutch, the sub-
sequent supersession of the Church of Holland by that of
England, the rivalries more or less apparent between the
Episcopalians and Presbyterians, and the peculiarities
which separate the Baptists from the Wesleyan Methodists
—all of whom have their missions and representatives it!
Ceylon—the Singhalese can discover little more than theb
they are offered something still doubtful and unsettled, in
exchange for which they are pressed to surrender their owls
ancient superstition. Conscious of their inability to decide
on what has baffled the wisest of their European teachers to
reconcile, they hesitate to exchange for an apparent WI.
gceernt
eari
anttiloyntshaotf wt
hh
ei hr
ahnacse
sbteoerns, uannhde si t
whicha t i ng lcyo
mbelieved
bf
mended to them by all the authority of antiquity ; and even
when truth has been so far successful as to shake their coil'
fidence in their national faith, the choice of sects which
has been offered to them leads to utter bewilderment as to
tho
os t peculiar
gflym or
place itof Christianity with which they null
m confidin re,"
We shall take an early opportunity of again refer-
ring to this admirable work, which offers subject)
for attention and contemplation iu almost evert
page.

TILE NEW INDI4N GOVERNMENT
AXD ITS PATRONAGE.

There were two acknowledged difficulties in the settle'
ment by Parliament of the home constitution for India 0
be substituted for the East India Company and Board ?f
Control. These were, first, the control of expenditure—infamiliar terms, the question who was to be vested with the
power of the purse ; and, secondly, to whom was the
patronge to be transferred which was then enjoyed by the
East India Company, and distributed among the directoret
who allotted a double share to the President of the Board of
Control. These difficulties were fully recognised in the
discussions which took place in the House of Commons in
1858, and it was especially for the purpose of meeting these
that the Council established by the act of that year was made
strong in number, and, by the conditions of election and of
nomination with a declared tenure for life, as independent ie
character as could well be devised. To the Council so cow
stituted the aot specifically gave the control of expenditurej
requiring the concurrence of a majority for every vote 0:
money, and the signature of those members of the Council
to every document for its issue. The military, which We
the most important branch of patronage, was also sped&
tally directed to be distributed among the members, as here'
toforo among the directors of the East India Company, with
a double share to the Secretary of State as president of the
Council. One-tenth, however, was reserved to be appro'
priated to the families of men who had deserved well by
service in India upon any royal or local establishment.
With respect to other services and establishments, it wee
left to the Secretary of State in Council to make regulation/
for the patronage, which were to be eventually laid before
Parliament.
Such was the constitution established in 1858, now in the
second year of its working. The Council shave not had
easy times in finance, but the credit of India is now on the
rise ; and it is likely, when the enormous military charge,
occasioned by the necessity of sending upwards of 90,000
men of the line to subdue the rebellion of the Bengal Sepol
regiments, shall be reduced, and that branch of the militia%
have to be placed on its ordinary peace footing, the Council
will again be able to lay before Parliament a balance-sheet
proving India's ability to meet her own annual expense/
from annual revenue. It is much too premature to bring
this branch of the subject under review, and to inquire
whether the control of the supposed independent Council
has been efficient or otherwise in its management
B utwith respect to the patronage, it is known to those wh°
have made application at the East India-house, as well rif
claimants on the. score of public services, as candidates who
hoped for a nomination from the personal favour of mein'
bers of the Council, that the answer they have received ief
that there is to be no distribution of military patronage
this year ; and with respect to all other services, that ther°
have been no regulations yet established, bit the whole he
been assumed by the Secretary of State as attaching to hie.
office. This is likely to lead to sad disappointment among"
those classes of the community who, through past comae'
tion with India, have had the lion's share of this patronage
in some way distributed amongst them. It cannot, of coureel
be pretended to judge of the grounds upon which the dis.
tribution presented by law for their military patronage bee
been suspended for this year. One of the avowed reason/
is said to be, that there are outstanding, and not taken uY
by nominees, or not appropriated, nearly as many nomille
tions to the Indian army as are usually made in one yeer;
This, even if true, is no sufficient reason; for, since
.th
introduction of examinations a year is given to a nounilef
to pass them arid take up his appointment , this meat:
of necessity, lead to appointments being a year behind'
hand, just as would be the case if cadets were require".
to pass a year at Sandhurst or any other military college..
There must evidently, therefore, be some other reascl
fur suspending the operation, if not endeavouring to defet
the act of Parliament, and a breach of faith with the Hon?:
of Commons and the country in this r. spect ; and probably,
the unsettled state of the question relating to the reorge%
sation of the Indian army may have something to do with
This aught account fur suspending the issue of cadetsUlr