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jtfa 44£, September 18, 1858.T
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WitUlttit Ht IP Wall
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TOBD ELGIN may fairly be proud of the re...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Jtfa 44£, September 18, 1858.T
jtfa 44 £ , September 18 , 1858 . T
THE IiEAPER . 955
Witulttit Ht Ip Wall
% tuitm of M Wetk
Tobd Elgin May Fairly Be Proud Of The Re...
TOBD ELGIN may fairly be proud of the re-Jj suits of his difficult labour ; his success has been great ; the terms he has made have been far better than any that had been anticipated , even by the most sanguine supporters of our' Chinese policy . The treaty of Tien-sien is a grand triumph of that great principle of free trade which more than anything has secured to England her commercial supremacy , and towards the adoption of ffhich all other trading countries are gradually tending . A few weeks back , when the bare fact that a treaty of some kind had been concluded between the English and Chinese Governments , a
little discomfort was felt at a flying rumour which whispered that America , following in the wake of our diplomacy , had stepped in at the ripe moment , and made special and exclusive terms for herself . The feeling , however , was not pampered into an inclination to quarrel ; and we have now the satisfaction of knowing that what has been done would have neutralised any such arrangements on the part of America , if she had made them , which does not appear . Lord Elgin has thrown China open to the whole world . The only advantages which England can enjoy under his treaty are those which the superiority of her manufactures , and the spirit ¦ which animates her commerce , gives her in
competition with the rest of the world . We have not yet seen the official details of the treaty , but we have the gist of its stipulations conveyed to us in the form of a . precis by the Calcutta and Bombay mail . The altogether new footing on which we are henceforth to stand in our relations with China is suggested by the fifty-first article of the treaty , which provides that the character "I , " signifying " barbarian , " is for the future to be disthe of
used in all official documents . It is point tha wqdge of Western civilisation well inserted in the CWuese log , one day to be thoroughly riven , shaped , and built into the World-Temple of Progress . The baui ^ r which has hitherto sjtood between the European diplomatist and the high officials of the Chinese erapiro is for ever overthrown by the fifth article , wliich stipulates that the permanent British Minister at Pekin shall transact all business with the Chinese Secretary of
State on terms of perfect equality , the same privileges being secured to . . the Chinese representative at the Court of St . James ' s . With regard to commerce , very important concessions have been obtained by Lord Elgin . The tariff' is to be revised by an Anglo-Chinese commission , and a further revision is to be made decennially j and , in connexion with tlxia p » rt of the treaty , there is ano t-hov
important provision—it is that the duties leviable at the Chineso custom-house shall bo published in English and Chinese ; tho British merchant is , moreover , to be allowed , if ho chooses , to commute tho transit dups at an ad valorem rate . AH that can bo reasonably expected of a treaty appears to have been provided for by the stipulations of Lord Elgin ' s' document . '
Tho work of bringing tho Chinese Govomment to reason is , however , by no means finished ; and something like a warning of the difficulty which wo shall have to oncounter in our efforts to givo practical offoot to tho treaty , was given us by on incident at tlio coromony of signing tho dooument . Ono of the articles of tho treaty , that ono referring to tho indomnity , was separate , and whon , it was
plaood before the Chineso Plenipotentiary , Kweilfa » ff ,. thatyoyorond po » son— -ho is upwards of oighlv ycarbof ngo } and may bo taken as M ° typo ol a Chinese statesman—affeotcd entire ignorance of tho subjogt , and coolly pushod tho paper aside , with a " \ yhat is this P I know nothing about it . " And it was only , when his seoretary , a much younger ftud shrewder man , seeing with half an eye , tho
attempt of his superior to evade the demand for his signature was hopeless , told him it was all right , that he signed the article . The Times draws exactly the fight moral from this incident when it says j " This little episode contains all the argument of the epic . As Kwei-liang was , so all Chinamen will be in their dealings with us ; and as Mr . Lay met Kwei-liang ' s childish attempt to put aside one of the most important articles qf the treaty , so the Mandarins of the Court of Pekin must for some time yet be gently , but firmly , made to perform their contracts , or the treaty will be a dead letter . " Another characteristic illustration of the wise councils at Pekin , is the official order that ICeying , who volunteered to outwit us a second time , and failed- —should commit suicide .
Among the satisfactory results of Lord Elgin ' s operations at Tien-sin , is the certitude that we have < nven check to the pretensions of Russia in China ; * enracenche , however , Russia has made a move which we were certainly not in the least prepared for , namelv , tha hiring of the Sardinian port of Villafranca' " strictly commercial purposes . " As yet , we have no official explanation of this important transaction from either of the Governments immediately concerned ; exaggeration , therefore , on the subject of Russia ' s " intentions" is likely enough to he one of the characteristics of the comments of
her visit to the United States , there are not two opinions as to the enthusiasm with which she would be welcomed . ' Some half-dozen members or supporters of the present Government have , at various country places during the week , been giving us their views on several subjects , and we have been enlightened . Mr . Newdegate , in company with his friend , Mr . Spooner , at Tamwortb , went in .-for a right grumbling agricultural speech , and the fact which lie succeeded in establishing is an interesting onenamely , that no amount of prosperity alienates the
British farmer ' s right to grumble . It is from . Mr . Henley and Mr . Du Cane , however , that we have learned the most important lessons . From them we take the standards by which we are henceforth to judge of Conservatism . Mr . Henley relieves us of any doubt as to the real character oi the present Government ; it is not Conservative . The term came up , Mr . Henley tells us , when he was a young man . " Conservatism" turned upon three points upon which the party stood on the defensive : " an indiscriminate attack upon the Tricli P , linroll , a demand , for Church . mrouerLv to be Irish Churcha . demand for Churchproperty to be
, , put into secular pockets , and the independence of the House of Lords . " Well , the time has gone by when any of these matters need defence , and , says Mr . Henley , " I certainly don't see why we should be abusea for being Conservative and for not going whooping and hallooing about these matters when nobody attacks them . " Therefore Mr . Henley has no difficulty with regard to the coming Reform Bill . It was no work of ours , lie says- ^ r—those who made it are those who now ; find most fault with it—but , "if there is any possibility of our . mending it so as to satisfy all parties , I see no reason why we should not make the attempt . " And Mi \ DuCane is very much of the same way of thinking . " Resistance to progression and . improvement forms no true item in a Conservative
the English press ; but for the Times Parisian correspondent to pretend that the affair is void of political importance is certainly going several steps too far in the opposite direction . Russia has too many reasons for desiring to see her flag upon the waters of the Mediterranean not to have some purpose in view beyond the formation of a coaling station for her Odessa steamers . Already her ships of war are noticeable there , and more are looked for . However , the subject is young : a little time may serve to set it in « a new light to present believers ill Russia ' s guilelessness .
creed , " he lays it down } and so in dealing with " so great and vital a question as that of Parliamentary Reform , " he is only anxious on one point , —that it should be dealt with in an impartial and comprehensive spirit , and settled " so as to be regarded by the country in the light of a final settlement . " These sentiments are extremely good in themselvesj but expressed a little late in the day ; arid they do not help to the solution of a question which we have discussed in another part of the paper—whether the country will or ought to be governed by Conservatives whose only merit lies in the avowed fact that they are not Conservatives . The condition of the Atlantic telegraph is finally determined—it is useless . So that we have to
The Times has less trustfulness with regard to Turkey at the present moment , for it has suggested a strange and ingenious suspicion that , possibly , the late scenes at the Porte , with their incidents of Sultanic rage and denouncements of Ministers and brothers-in-law , may have been nothing more than a cleverly-executed comedy , the drift of which is to inspire confidence in the European money markets , as a preparation for the advent of the new Turkish loan . The notion is a little too fanciful to be seriously entertained ; but there is , in truth , room to doubt whether Abdul Medjid ' s purpose will be sustained long enough to secure the reforms which he is demanding at present . There is always the
chance of relapse into indolence in such cases as that of the Sultan of Turkey . In his case , too , there appear to be other dangers . It is reported that there is a conspiracy on foot to make away with him , for the purpose of placing his brother , Abdul Aziz , on the throne : aadsp i mminent was this danger considered that' tlie repre & eatucivea ~« some of the chief European Powers are said to have warned the leaders of the conspiracy that , in the event of the Sultan ' s removal from the throne by violent means , his brother would not be recognised by their Courts . In the mean time an imperial hctit has been published , enjoining the most watchful
wait until faith and hope can be renewed in those who , for the present , have lost their money . But every doubt has been cleared away as to the practicability of completing telegraphic communication with America ; arid the experience gained in the three attempts to lay the cable which has now failed will suffice to enable us to lay with success a score of other cables , if tlioy utq wanted . A curious episode in the history of the slavetrade has reached us by a late mail from Amcricar The United States ship-of-war , the Polphin , espied off the Cuban coast a suspicious looking craft , bent apparently on getting out of the way as soon as possible . Tlie commander , determined not to let the stranger slip through his fingers without first overhauling hercalled Tior attention to the fact of
care of the finances of the State , and threatening all who shall disobey the injunction with severe punishment , both heavenly and terrestrial . At homo , perhaps the most interesting topic of tho week is the answer of her Majesty to the Canadian petition . It is just what was anticipated . Nobody expeptcd that her Majesty would or could accept such an invitation ; at the ' present time , and therefore it will not in the least shock the feelings of the signers of the potition that their prayer has not been effectual . If thoro is anything to be regretted it is that , in conveying tho intelligence of her Majesty ' s decision , 8 irBul \ voi \ Lyttoiidid not temper the refusal
, his neighbourhood by firing a blank cartridge , at the same timo displaying English colours I The stranger was taken completely off her guard : without hesitation she ran , up tlie . " ptor . spangled banner , " and stood away , no doubt in high spirits . But a change soon came over tho spirit of her dream . Tho oommaudcr of the Dolphin , satisfied as to her quality , sent a round-shot through her rigging , made her bring to . and , in short , captured her , and carried her with her cargo of three hundred arid , twenty-seven ( out of four hundred and etehtv )
with the suggestion of a hope that at somo future timo cither her Majosty or one of tho Royal Prinoes would visit Canada ; tho effoot would havo been particularly good , and the hope would oertaiuly not havo been beyond the possibility of realisation . With her Mujesty's soa-going habits a voyago to Cauada js i | iot an und ^ e ' voi' ' thetimo' comes tlnu ' lior presencei in tho ' capital— -whenovor it may bo—of her groat Amorioan colony can serve any good end . Ol tho icooption she would moot with thoro is no doubt , ov only ono , as to how tho loving loyalty of Jior subjects , both French and English , could bo kopt within due bounds . If , moreover , hor Mt | osty wore to extond
slaves shipped on the coast of Africa , to Charleston , where the orow were deposited in prison to await tko course of the law . But , with regard to tho negroes , thoro was thi 3 diffioulty—what was to be done with thorn P And tho diffioulty lias yet to be S 9 . L Oyfiy . i-tUft , ,, Camliiiiuu 3 , bciJigJiiQ tly ^ QiUcccping ^ tho •< niggors , * and " giving them tho benefits ot civilisation , " while tho Northern party seo in suoh . a course a loophole through whibli all prohibition may for tho futuro be evaded . The course which the Gpvornmont will take will , no doubt , bo that which at onoo suggests itself to tho unbiased mind—* namely , to restore the negroes to tlio status quo .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1858, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18091858/page/3/
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