The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-20 00:00:00

LAST WEEK BUT THREE OF

ALFRED MEL T,ONONCERT S'S PROMENADE
C.

THEATRE ROY COVENT-GARDEN.
THIS EVENING.

vons.lists :—Mdlle. FLORENCE LANCIA, Mdme. LAURA
BAXTER, Mr. WEISS, and Mr. VERNON RIGBY (his 2d
appearance), who will sing " Let me like a soldier fall," "My
own,. my guiding star," and "My pretty Jane." Mendels-
sobri's Scotch symphony -Grand Operatic Selection, "Il
Trovatore. New York Quadrille—The Patti Polka—Over-
ture,r Le Domino Noir "—Songs by Mdlle. Lancia, Mime.
L. Baster, and Mr. Weiss.—Solos, &e.,
Commeuce every Evening at S. Promenade, ls.
Coll(fuctor, Mr. ALFRED MELLON.

To-morrow (SATURDAY), a GRAND VOLUNTEER
NIGHT. Beethoven's BATTLE Symphony, performed by
the ORCHESTRA (OF NEARLY 1,0 PERFORMERS),
ass'sted by Two Volunteer Bands under the direction of Mr.
Stanton Jones,

THEA'I'RW. ROYAL, HAYMANKET,
Lestee, Kr. J. B. Bnoirstone.

,r,„42 mvioTrsTo. t„ nerforminees will sommence with
FAINT HEART NEVER woN FAIR LADY.
After which, a new Comedy, entitled TAE SOFT SEX.
Mr. C. Mathews, Mr. Ftnekstone. Mr. Compton, Mr. E.Villiers,
Mrs. Charles Mathews, Mrs. Wilkins, &o.
With THE CRlrrcl Mr. C. Mathews.
To conclude with the Ballet, BACCHUS AND ARIADNE.
Commence a 7.

R oy. AL LYCEUM THEATRE.
manacrer—mr. Edmund Falconer.
DET LI ins EVENGROUND.ING, for the benefit of Mr. Walter Lacy,
C AT E
Followed by WOMAN; or, Love against the World.
Chars ^ters by Nlesers. Walter Lacy, Addison, Herman Vezin,
J. Robins, Mrs. Charles Young, Mrs. Weston, Miss Murray,
and Miss Lydia Thomson.
And THE FETCHES; or, The Onconvanience of Single
Life. Tim O'Reilly, Mr. Edmund Falconer; Mary O'Brady,
Miss Lydia Thompson.
Prices as usual. boors open at half-past 6, to commence at
7 Box-office open daily from 11 till 5.

NEW THRATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHI,
Sole Proprietor and Newer, Mr. R. Webster.
This Theatre will RE-nPEN on MONDAY, September
23, when 31r. and Mr.. Dion Boucicault will re-ap,Jear in
THE COLLEEN RAWN.
This Drama will be played for a limited number of nizhts
during the preparation of the new American Drama, by Mr.
1). finneleall, entitled THE OCTOROON; or, LIFE IN
LOUISIANA.
Box-oftlee open on Thursday, Sept. 19.

C A.NPERBURY HALL CONCERTS,
AND FINE ARTS GALLERY.

Mr. SAM COWELL every Evening at Nine and a quarter
to El men.—Also, Grand Selections from TROVATORE,
TRANI ATA, NORMA, MARTHA, Arc., by Miss Russell,
)fiss 14.rnst, Mr. Herbert, Signor Tivoli, Mr. Morley. and a
powerful Crigrua. The Comic department comprises Messrs.
'Harvey and French, "The Nerves " Mr. Marshall—Mr.
Wo-d and his talented Sou--and Miss Harriet Coveney.
New Opera by Auber, LA CIRCASSIENNE.—A Grand
Selection, arramzed and conducted by Mr. Jonghmans, from
this Opera will be produced, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS
COUNTRY, on MONDAY next. Principal Artistes—Miss
Russell, Mr. Herbert, and Signor Tivoli.

Musical Director, Mr. Jonghmans.
Admission—Hall, Bd. ; Stalls and Balcony, le.

T H E

O X F 0 It D,
8. OXFORD-STREET.
EVERY EVENING.

A Grand Selection from Verdi's new opera, " Simon Boc-
canegra" (now produced for the first time in this country), by
Miss Russell, Messrs. C. Greville, Tivoli, Greene, Morley,
and Herbert ; also from Verdi's " Macbeth " by Madame
Enderssohn and the entire Company. Full band and chorus.
Conductor, Mr. F. Jonghmans. Varied Comic entertain-
ments by Messrs. M. P. Foster, Sam Collins, Harvey and
French (the Nerves), E. Marshall, and W. Randall. Hall,
sixpence; Balcony and Stalls, one shilling. Private Boxes,
10s. 6d.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Two DAY.—Morning, 2h. 37m.—Afternoon, 2h. 50m.
To- ,ionil.ow.-Iklorning, 3h. Bm.—Afternoon, 3h. 24m.

THE WEATHER.-SUN OFFICE, SEPTEMBER 19, 186

TRZISMOICETIIN IN TYE
62—highest since noon yesterday.'
47---lowest this morning and during the night.
65—this day at noon.
Baum/Limn-30.22.
WIND - South-Westerly moderate; with cloudy
weather. Heavy fog yesterday morning.

. • 9°C.'.,;•44
,
4 • td,
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• -

~_ _ „~

THE SUN.

LONDON, FRIDAY, SEPT. 20, 1861.

When a man of business meets men of business
some result ought to follow, and we have no reason
to think that Mr. LAING'S meeting with the com-
mercial notabilities of Manchester will prove an
exception, or disappoint expectation. Much was
no doubt effected in the chit-chat of the parlour or
the counting-house between the Finance Minister
for India and the gentlemen who are so very eager
for her cotton. There, in the easy mode of con-
versational statements of wants, difficulties, objec-
tions, and facilities, the case on each side became
fully and practically understood; and, as the
result, we had yesterday what the parties thought
best to say to the general public. Not, indeed,
that in this case there is much which can be oc-
cult in the objects to be obtained and the way to
attain them. One thing, however, we have little
doubt the gentlemen who were admitted behind
the scenes heard about from Mr. LAING, of
which nothing was said at the meeting—the im-
mobility, perversity, red tapeism, jealousy, and
pride of those grand obstructions, the gentlemen
of the " Covenanted Civil Service." After the
Manchester men had pointed out what might easily
be done, we can imagine Mr. LAING replying
" Yes, it all seems natural and easy, but you must
bore a tunnel through that Indian Civil Service,
and I expect there will be a good deal of blast-
ing and slow work before we do get through."

However, it may be done and will be done. We
have all eddy blasted almost everything of the old
old regime away, but the men of the old school who
unfortunately could not be swept off at once ; but
every year, it may now be hoped, will introduce into
India those "interlopers" and "outsiders," to whom
India must owe the commercial status, if she ever
attain it, to which her soil, her climate, her water,
and her productions entitle her. Utterly immovable
was the old service on the subject of any re•
dilation of the immense native army—Sir C.
TREVELYAN, indeed, sacrificed himself to his de-
termination to get reduction of expenditure,
military expenditure especially, in preference
to accepting obnoxious taxes. Mr. LAING
will tell us how wisely. The grand hin-
drance in India was the accumulating deficit;
the mutiny past, "and there seemed but one
.obstacle left before the era of warfare in India
sbould terminate, and the era of peaceful progress
begin in earnest. That obstacle was the financial
crisis. For years and years a deficit had gone
on accumulating, until at last it became a ques-
tion, almost from month to month, whether the
Government could continue to pay its way. This
was an obstacle to further improvement, and per-
haps the main reason why many of those useful
reforms which had been urged to-day had been
suspended or hindered. When he arrived in
jL,dia, hardly nine months ago, nothing could
well be more gloomy than the financial prospect.
in the three preceding years, some 38 millions had
been added to the national debt, and an official
circular had just been issued admitting a deficit for
the current year of over six millions. The very
gravity of the danger, perhaps,
proved the means
of e.xtricating the Government from this position,
because through it they were enabled to carry out
some very large measures of reduction, which were
sure to encounter much opposition and difficulty.
The French saying, ' Aide toi, le Ciel t'aidera,' was
never better exemplified than in this case. The
moment the Government applied themselves to ear.
"eat to the work of reduction, the tide seemed to
turn, and
they had a complete run of luck. The
:airs fell in the very nicktime,
of so that the
whetnin
huni"
`9l`l4lthreatened to be so very over-
notg was had
very importanottned within limits that were
was productive off 4'1.13441y, though of course it
price of opium ran npotall nal suffering. The
P
other sources of revenue tunlen- etted height, and
I
pun bad bun
anticiE4ted.
,„u.,_°_llt more productive
The result was that t

April he was enabled to present a budget, in which
the deficit (previously only reduced to about 5
millions by taking into account the p-, ceeds of
inoome tax, and the other new taxes imposed by
Mr. Wilson) was met, and an additional expendi-
ture of £509,000 on roads and communications was
provided for, by, in round numbers, about 31 to 4
millions of reduction in expenditure, and a million
and a half in almost imperceptible additions to in-
direct taxation."
In India the grand test of the state of the exche-
quer was the "cash balances." " Now, since the
reductions were commenced in earnest at the begin-
ning of the year, the cash balances in India had
inereased by more than £3,000,000. He did not
mean that there was an actual surplus of three
millions in six months, because temporary and ex-
ceptional circumstances would account for a good
deal of it; but he referred to this as proving with
considerable confidence that, on the whole, they
could not be far off from a substantial equilibrium."
This is very encouraging, because all that can be
done in improving communications, the great ne-
cessity for cotton supply, must be deter-
mined by the state of the revenue. But the
limit of taxation, Mr. LAING says, is nearly
reached; the great hope, therefore, still lies
in reductions. There was opportunity for
this ; for, until recently, there could not have been,
one year with another, less than from half a mil-
lion to a million of armed men in India, or men
subsisting by the profession of arms. As things
were now arranged there would not be more than

120,000 to 150,000 natives holding arms in their
hands, and whose object in living was rapine
and slaughter. Although Mr. LAING was
not an advocate of peace at any price,
and thought the volunteers had a right
impulse, he conceived this must necessarily
make in the course of a short time a great differ-
ence in the habits of the rising generation ; and
adding to this the great rise in wages and conse-
quent increasing habit of steady industry, it must
tell in diminishing the tendency to manufacture
wars. The army of 75,000 Europeans was a solid
element of strength in the face of which it seemed
utterly impossible there should be any serious at
commotion, half that number having sufficed to put
down a mutiny under every possible disadvantage.
Happily Mr. LAING carries with him to India
the fundamentally right conception which, in spite
of the old Indians, must be the basis of legislation
now—that " he entirely agreed in the broad principle
that had been laid down, that the improved state of
India which we all desired was chiefly dependent
on the infusion of European enterprise and capital
into that country." For this a Government as free
and as local as possible is the first requisite, and
Mr. LAING adopts heartily the principles, though
not exactly the details of the statesman-like speech
of Mr. BRIGHT on Indian Government, with which
he enraged the old Indians here. " One thing," Mr.
LAING observed, " which lay vety much at the
root of the whole matter was, whether the
Government of India should continue to be
conducted in England or be conducted in India ?
As surely as we lost the United States of America
by attempting to govern them in England, and
nearly lost Canada by the same process, and whilst
we turned Canada, Australia, and the Cape of Good
Hope into loyal and prosperous colonies by simply
letting the local government be conducted in those
colonies instead of attempting to keep them in lead-
ing-strings from Downing-street, so the like results
would follow from like causes in India. He thought
the measures recently adopted in giving legislative
councils for the different presilencies was a step in
the right direction. Although there might be a
certain amount of discussion in a country like India,
on the whole there was more to be gained by it than
would be lost. Therefore the amount of free in-
stitutions we had in India, with a free press, liberty
of discussion, and these local councils as an antho- '
rised expression of public opinion, if we left India
a good deal to itself and did not attempt to govern I
it too much in detail from this country, he saw rea-
son to hope we should make things right, and 1
that habits of self-government would gradually '

spring up."

Mr. LAING will also return to India to enforce
the views of the cotton buyers on the all-important
subject of the law of contracts for advances, en
which we remarked yesterday ; and on the land
question he seems to be English rather than Indian
in his views. He will have an immense amount of
via inertice to overcome ; and even when he
has succeeded at Calcutta his work will be
but half done, for India swarms with officials
who hate the very class they ought to
aid; still Mr. LAING, with Manchester and
her Parliamentary orators at his back, and
Manchester, in this case, cordially backed also by
the intelligence of all England—Mr. LAING will
speak with authority ; and we trust that the ob-
structors will learn that they must obey the voice
of their mother country, or that she will speedily
send them notice to quit.

Few of our readers will fail to peruse the entire
columns which record the encounter of the largest
ship ever built with a storm which, if not unsur-
passed in power and fury, had not been equalled in
the experience of the nautical men on board. It
must have been one of those circular hurricanes, of
no great superficial extent, which often in the
tropics, and occasionally even in England and Ire-
land recently, have done such almost miraculous
local damage. Other ships not far off at the same
time felt merely a strong gale, when the Great
Eastern was hurled about like a cockboat by the
might of the tempest.

After so long a chapter of accidents, almost from
the time when she refused to be launched, to the
day when her conveyance of a littte army to Canada
seemed to have condoned all past "ill luck," and to
have opened out at length splendid hopes for the
future, the fates seemed to have been more or less
adverse to the Great Eastern. With the last voyage
to America and back she appeared, however, to
have satisfied all hopes respecting her, except that
her speed had been somewhat overrated. Though
consuming far less coal than any steamer afloat, in
proportion to tonnage and speed, she did not sur-
pass all others by quite so much as was expected.
It was settled, however, by her last
voyage that no vessel could excel her
in point of comfort for non-nautical voyagers.
Her motion was so little and so easy, and her space
so ample, that she was named by all the floating
hotel, and was worthy of the name. She came home
with a reputation which induced 400 passengers to
commit themselves to her cars on Tuesday week.
And they were justified in their confidence, and
we venture to believe will, if right measures be
taken, be aeon more justified than ever.
For what has this hurricane proved ? That the
largest ship is also the strongest ship afloat. To
read the story of her struggle with the irresistible
Atlantic tempest, to see her lamed in the most im-
portant member, for continuing the unequal match
with the mighty waves—reminding us of the
athlete refusing to give in when his right hand was
crippled by his giant opponent—to see her then
completely at the mercy of a power which rolled
and dashed her about at its pleasure for about two
drys—hewing, rolling, plunging, ring