The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-28 00:00:00

CONCLUSION.

The Commission cannot close their report without ex.
pressing in the strongest terms their unanimous opinion
and entire conviction that measures are indispensably
necessary to give to the south-eastern frontier of the
kingdom means and facilities, which it does not now
possess, for powerful naval protection. Without any,
except tidal harbours along the whole coast between
fPortsmouth and the Thames, and none accessible to
large steamers, there is now, when steam points to such
great changes in maritime affairs, an imperative necessity
for supplying, by artificial means, the want of harbours
throughout the narrow part of the Channel.
The distance chart which accompanies this report
shows the positions where, if our recommendations are
carried out, harbours of refuge or well-protected road-
steads will afford shelter to our commerce. By these
means, and with the advantages of steam by sea, and of
railroads and telegraphic communication by land, the
naval and military force of the country may be thrown
in great strength upon any point of the coast in a few
hours.

The several recommendations we have thought it our
duty to lay before your Lordships must, if adopted, oc-
casion a large outlay of the public money, but when
life, property, and national security are the interests at
stake, we do not believe that pecuniary considerations
will be allowed to impede the accomplishment of objects
of such vast importance.
T. BY AM MARTIN, Admiral, Chairman.
HOWARD DOUGLAS, Lieutenant-GeneraL
J. D. DUNDAS, Rear-Admiral.
J. 11. PELLY.
PETER FISHER, Captain, R.N.
J. N. COLQUHOUN, Lieutenant-Colonel, R.A.
R. C. ALDERSON, Lieutenant-Colonel, R.L.
JOHN WASHINGTON, Captain, R.N.
J. WALKER.
I dissent from this report, because I consider the mass
of evidence to be in favour of Dungeness, and because I
cannot recommend a large close harbourat Dover, where
the pilots consider the holding-ground generally indiffe-
rent, and the engineers say it will silt up.
W. SYMONDS, Surveyor of the Navy.
August 7, 1844.

Rear-Admiral Sir James Gordon, K.C.B. ; Captain
Vidal, Admiralty Surveyor, now commanding her Majesty's
surveying-vessel the Styx; Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson,
Royal Engineers ; Captain Drew, an elder brother of the
Corporation of Trinity-house ; Mr. J. Walker, and Mr. W.
Cubilt, civil engineers.

AFFAIRS OF INDIA.
The following is a copy of the address of the Chair-
man of the Court of Directors to Sir Henry Hardinge
upon his appointment. Its publication at this moment
is of interest:—

I have the pleasure of congratulating you on your ap-
pointment to the high and important office of Governor-
General of India.

You have already been informed that you have been
elected by the unanimous voice of a full Court of
Directors.

It is unnecessary, therefore, to assure you that you
are in possession of their entire confidence—a confidence
founded on the reputation you have established fur your-
self, not only as a soldier, but as a statesman.
You are fully acquainted with the system which the
isdotn of Parliament has devised and established for
the administration of the va- t territories which the East
India Company has acquired for the British Crown in
India. To the Court of Directors, subject to the control
of the Board of Commissioners for the affairs of India,
is entrusted, as you are aware, the general administration
of those territories. The orders which, from time to
time, are transmitted to India, emanate from the Court,
and, being confirmed by the Court, are then issued, in
the name of the Court, for the direction and guidance of
the local authorities.

You will perceive, therefore, that the maintenance of
respect for the authority of the Court is demanded by
the existing system of the Indian Government ; and we
are persuaded that you will impress this feeling upon
our servants abroad, not merely by precept, but by your
example. On the part of the Court I have at the
same time, the happiness of assuring you that, reposing
the utmost confideuce in your judgment, and bearing in
mind the heavy responsibility under which you will be
called upon to act, at so great a distance from the con-
trolling authorities, they will ever be disposed to regard
your measures in the most favourable view, and to afford
to you, in the exercise of your high office, their steady
and cordial support.
In the discharge of the onerous duties of government
you will be aided by your constitutional advisers, the
members of the Council of India—men selected for the
high and responsible station which they occupy with
reference to their knowledge, experience, and honourable
character.

In the servants of the Company, both civil and mili-
tary, you will find talent, and every necessary qualifica-
tion for the various duties to be discharged, and an ardent
zeal for the advancement of the great interests com-
mitted to their care. Much has been done to secure, for
both services, the advantages of due preparation, and
you will not fail to recollect that the members of the
civil service are educated, not only with particular care,
but with a special view to the important duties of civil
administration, upon the upright and intelligent per-
formance of which so much of the happiness of the
people depends. I doubt not that your experience will
coincide with that of the great men who in former times
have filled the office of Governor-General, in enabling
you justly to appreciate the eminent qualities of the civil
servants of India; and I feel persuaded that your confi-
dence in them will be returned by the most zealous exer-
tion on their part to promote the success of your admi•
nistration.

Upon the merits of our army it would be presumptuous
in me to enlarge to one so much better qualified to judge
of its character and to estimate its services ; but I
cannot refrain from earnestly recommending the native
soldier to your protection and encouragement : you will
find that he possesses most valuable qualities, that he is
eminently susceptible of kindness, and most grateful to
his benefactors. Your kindly offices will be rewarded in
the manner which you will most highly value : they
will conciliate the affections of the soldiery to the service,
strengthen the bonds by which their interests are united
with those of the Government, and render them more
efficient, by enlisting their feelings in support of their
duty.
At the present moment difficulties have arisen in our
native army requiring to be met by prompt and decisive
measures. We trust that ere you arrive in India these
difficulties may have passed away ; but should you find
them still existing, we are confident that you will act
towards the sepoy with every degree of consideration
and indulgence compatible with the maintenance of
order and obedience, the first and paramount duty of the
soldier.

By our latest intelligence we are induced to hope that
peace prevails throughout India. I need not say it is
our anxious desire that it should be preserved. You,
Sir, well know how great are the evils of war, and we
feel confident that, whilst ever ready to maintain unim-
paired the honour of our country and the supremacy of
our arms, your policy will be essentially pacific.
To the native states which still retain independence,
you will extend the shield of British protection. It has
hitherto been considered a wise and just policy to uphold
and support those which arc in alliance with us; and in
dealing with those which are more immediately dependent
upon our Government, we have, with a view to soothe
the feelings, and conciliate the attachment, of both chiefs
and people, permitted the former to retain the recognised
of
emblems of authority, their titles and other wog
rank and station.
the
Peace, apart from its other advantages, i
with a view to the prosperity of our finances,
s desirable
nd
a
development of the resources of the country.
to Iro
ma
natural desire on the part of our render Government
the public service as efficient as pos
possible, there
A
ere is. asltievals,
a tendency to an increase of establishments.
and vigilant attention will be, therefore, necessary to
enforce the strictest economy consistent with the effi-
ciency of the service. This duty is rendered the more
urgent by the existing state of the finances of India ;
but it is at all times necessary, from the difficulty expe-
rienced in that country in devising new sources of
revenue, or rendering those already existing more pro-
ductive, and more commensurate with the exigencies of
the State. I feel assured, therefore, that your early and
anxious attention will be directed to the best means for
averting financial embarrassment, and for placing the
public finances on a sound and satisfactory focting.
It has long been the desire of the Court to encourage
education among the people of India, with a view of cul-
tivating and enlarging their minds, of raising them in
their own and our estimation, and of qualifying them for
the more responsible offices under our Government. It
is, however, necessary, with reference to the subject of
education, to exercise great prudence and caution, in
order to avoid even the appearance of any interference
with their religious feelings and prejudices, and to main-
tain on such points the strictest neutrality.