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    WAJi WITH CHTNA.

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    completely failed in eliciting from Prussia one generous sentiment or Jne noble thought . In reply to their fears for the safety Of the Jlbirie , we do not hesitate to tell the Germans , that if they will not be strong through the ascendancy of liberal opinions , little sympathy will be felt for them in this country about any territorial question . One-half of " king-deluded Germany" has constituted itself the abettor of Austrian despotism in Italy , aud the Jesuits hope , if the war -is ; renewed , to drag the other half into their toils . As a firm supporter of progress and right , Germany would be safe enough , but it will ^ arrive at no such dignified position until it

    ceases to be the land of petty courts , selfish intriguing sovereigns , and reactionary ministers , such as Humboldt ' s correspondence has exposed to public gaze . It is lamentable that the German race should be so little , and count for so little , when Austria is , to all appearances , moving steadily towards a renewal of hostilities , and with the avowed policy—as we recently showed out of Count Eechbebg ' s own mouth—of endeavouring to bring about a general European war . If Germany were wise and honest this evil intention might be / certainly frustrated , but as she is , misguided and disunited , it is not improbable that , instead of ruling the circumstances which most concern her , she will be

    ignoniiniously dragged at the tail of events . The conduct of the Sardinian Government is inexplicable , except we regard it as preparatory to a fresh war . The sudden cession of Savoy has all the appearance of a purchase of Ijench aid , to be delivered when . required ; and Count Cavour , who has shown himself an able , statesman , would scarcely burden the oppressed finances of his country with the expense of a large addition to the national army , unless he had good reason to believe that the Austrians would follow up their protests , against the annexation of Central Italy by contriving some pretext for an

    appeal to arins . Four ; thousand Austrian soldiers are already in the service of the Pope > under the command of the Austrian General Mayeeeofer , and three thousand more have been sent to reinforce the despot of Naples , whose conduct is so bad as to have , drawn from Lord John Russell the emphaticwariung , that ii his subjects rise and expel both himself and his dynasty , he need expect from this country neither moral nor material aid . All these are warlike symptoms , and we cannot wonder if France should take such steps as she may conceive necessary , not only to combat Austria , but also to meet the German Confederation If it should oppose obstacles to the successful prosecution of a new

    campaign . . It is expected thnt Count CAyorR will naake . arrangements to preserve what the French Government calls the " autonomy of Tuscany , " as even the staunchest adherents for annexation to Sardinia are desirous of keeping their Leop . oldine code , whichframed under the enlightened influence of Beccaria—is one of the best in Europe ; and they would also protest against allowing their country to sink into the position of an ordinary province . Difficulties of detail would speedily vanish if Italy could be freed from the expense and anxiety which the conduct of Austria entails . Even without the additional 75 . 000 men which are to

    "be raised , the army kept by Sardinia ,. Tuscany , and the Emilia , is out of all proportion to the population and resources of the country ; but we could not wish to see a man less under nrins while Austria preserves her threatening attitude , and , through the possession of Venice and the Quadrangle , would be able to overwhelm any moderate force . This state of tension cannot last long , and it would not surprise those who are acquainted with the Austrian Court to hear that FkaNcis Joseph had suddenly resolved to risk his crown and dynasty in another war . For the present , Austrian intrigues in Russia do not seem to have , succeeded , as Prince GottTscuAKop has recovered from the " state of health" —a purely diplomatic malady—which was to be the excuse for his retirement if the Czar could be induced

    to give up his services and take a Hapsburg partisan jn his stead ; . It is also a satisfactory symptom that the Czar , in his recent speech to the committees of twenty-four Governments , continued to enforce the claims of tlie serfs , and reiterated Ids determination to ameliorate their condition—a great national movement , which will , require the suspension of aggressive designs . & The attitude of England should bo , watchful and firm ; but while Parliament is bound to obtain adequate information And check the conduct of the Cabinet , we want neither KinGlake fireworks , nor constant puffs of Nokmanby smoke .

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    " VXTHEN Mr . Gladstone , in Iiw Budget Speech , debited W the national account for the year with no greater sum than 4500 , 000 for the probable expense of the impending Expedition to Pekin , the more serious of his hearera staved incredulously , aud those of more impulsive temperament laughed

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    aloud What Could he mean by talking of a bagatelle vote of this description to defray the cost of one of the most difficult and questionable enterprises ever' undertaken by venturous obstinacy or ambition ? When Napoleon planned his memorable expedition to Moscow , he had for the base of his operations the neighbouring States of Germany , whence he was able tb launch an a rmy consisting of half a million of men , amply supplied with an abundant commissariat and all the munitions of war . He had to traverse , indeed , several hundred miles of thinly-populated and ill-cultivated country , and to encounter a

    brave and disciplined enemy : but he was not dependent on the regions he proposed to overrun for provisions , and if Ms antagonists were numerous and brave , he had much to gain in a political sense by successive victories over them . The state of the case as between bur Government and the Chinese is in every respect , different , and in . every ' respect the difference is disadvantageous . The base of the Elgin expedition against China is between four and five thousand miles from the first scene of its operations . Every item of commissariat , every pound of gunpowder , and every ton of coals must be borne that distance over sea before it can be landed on the outermost rim of the vast

    empire Lord . Palme us ton threatens to . humiliate , if not to dismember . ' Thence to the inland capital the distance is greater than that which Napoleon had to traverse after he had crossed the Vistula Glory there is none to be sought or hoped for on the way . A swarming peasantry may be bargained with by our suttlers , or bullied by our soldiers in detail , and wholesale contributions may be exacted from towns and villages by order of our commanders ; but military reputation cannot be acquired anyhow , though the safety of the devoted troops who are to Yorm the expedition , may be hazarded , and the lives of the greater portion of them forfeited by the way . Sir I ) e Lacy Evans was told bv ministers the other * night that he reckoned too high when he assumed their number to be 40 , 000 men ; a careful silence was observed as to what their numerical strength was really to be ; and we are left to conjecture , therefore , whether the actual number of victims doomed to be sacrificed in vindication

    of Mr . Brcce ' s reputation as a diplomatist be twenty , twentyr five , or thirty thousand . "" All Ave are told is that these gallant men are to scramble and scuffle their way as best they can from the mouth of the Peiho to Pekin ; and that when they get there , they are . to remain long enough to humble the pride and wound the prestige of the Imperial Government , .. get the Treaty of Tien-tsin ratified , and then make their way " back again as best they mar- All this is easily said behind the red box in the

    House of Commons at Westminster : it sounded just as easy forty years ago in Napoleon ' s Cabinet at St ., Cloud , to say , Go to Moscow , sleep in the Kremlin , dictate a spoliation treaty , and return triumphant by Christmas Day : but every wise counsellor of the French Government in 1812 deprecated the desperate and wanton eriterpiise , and foretold its failure ; and every humane and disinterested statesman in England at the present hour , publicly or privately , deprecates the foolish , and cruel expedition projected against Pekin . .

    : In a speech , remarkable for condensation of varied and valuable matter , as well as for clearness and calmness of exposition , Sir J . Elphinstone described in ' . the recent debate the circumstances in which the expeditionary force will be placed , j ' roni the moment it began to penetrate into the interior . He reiniuded Lord Palsiekston of the fatal precedent which his own official experience furnished in Cabul . We there unrighteously and unwisely risked and lost a British army , for sake of the phantom termed " the due recognition of our dignity nncl influence" by a remote aud semi-barbarous court . 13 y the intrepidity of our soldiers we had forced our way through all obstacles aud privations to the goal or ^ our insane ambition ; but when established there we had found , as the Ereuch'found at Moscow , that it 3 permanent retention > vas imppssible , and amid the horrors of mid-winter , our isolated troops had to

    attempt their retreat encompassed by myriads of pitiless and exultiug foes . Yet , looking at the map of Russia or that ot Afghanistan , the madness of neither 1813 nor 1839 seems comparable with that of 1 S 60 . And what is the pretext put forward for tliis fearful trifling ; with the lives of teus of thousands of o \ iv brave troops , confessedly without the chance of winning even the barren recompense of martial fame ? Tlie Premier professes to repudiate all thoughts of territorial acquisition , llememberhig , as we do , how the same phrases have been invariably used whenever we were begjinmng any of our wars in India , and remembering how all these wars have ended , we own we have but Utole faith in self-denying promises of this kind . Just now " annexation , " however , stinks so strongly in the nostrils of Europe , that wo are not surprised at Lord Pajumekston ^ disclaimer . The Foreign Secretary js equally anxious to vcpii ^ UaUj the notion of our going buccaneering for Svcce silver . W uat-

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    272 . . The Lecider and Saturday Analyst [ March 24 , 1860 .

    Waji With Chtna.

    WAR WITH CHTNA .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 24, 1860, page 272, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2339/page/4/