Two noteworthy deaths have been recorded this week. One is
that of " Colonel " Ingersoll, who, though a lawyer, commanded an Illinois regiment in the Civil War, and who was recognised throughout the States as the most militant upholder of negative doctrines. He was not an agnostic, as the papers describe him, but an aggressive atheist, with a kind of dry, biting humour, some eloquence of the French kind, and a high personal character. As we have said else- where, we think the idea of his influence in the States is exaggerated. The other death is that of General Sir Arthur Cotton, who for more than twenty years was the most trusted engineer in India, who completed some of the greatest hydraulic works, and was known as the apostle of irrigation. He contended that railways were comparatively useless in India, and that all available funds should be expended on irrigation. He was wrong for both political and commercial reasons, but hereafter, when the movements of troops and trade have been fairly provided for, some of his greatest plans will undoubtedly be carried out. He was a sort of prophet in his own department, very resourceful, entirely disinterested, and with a quite exceptional power of securing personal attachment. The natives about him called him " the Sunyasee."
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