The Press.
London, England, 1857-02-21 00:00:00

T HE PRESS.

With regard to the lorcha herself, there are
primarily four points to be considered. First,
the nature of the register under which she
claimed British protection; secondly, how far
the ignorance that this register had expired
may be held to nullify the defence of the
Chinese, on the plea that she was no longer a
British vessel ; thirdly, the matter of fact
whether or no the British flag was actually
flying at the time she was boarded by the
Chinese authorities ; and, fourthly, whether
the fact that a Chinese culprit was secreted on
board did not exclude her from the provisions
of the treaty, even granting that she was in
every other respect entitled to the benefit of it
It is not to be supposed that embarrassments
of this complicated character, and arising in
our dealings with a people by whom our in-
tentions are in all probability but half under-
stood, and whose character we, in turn, only
half understanl, should admit of any decisive
opinion being at once formed upon them. The
case must be carefully argued in Parliament,
and thoroughly winnowed by the various
organs of public opinion, before we can hope to
arrive at the precise truth. Local experience
must be brought into court, and the customs
of the Chinese ports be fully expounded,
before we can be entirely satisfied. But in
the meantime there is no reason why we
should not lay before our readers such lights
upon the subject as the lately-published Blue-
book appears to afford us.
Now, as regards this same register of which
so much has been heard, it really seems
doubtful how far it formed a legitimate title to
British protection. The Imperial Commis-
sioner says distinctly in one of his despatches
that this register did not make the Arrow a
British vessel ; and he complained over and
over again of the practice of selling British
registers to native vessels as the source of
perpetual confusion and misunderstanding,
which he would hardly have done had it
been a long and mutually recognised system.
If we turn to the article in the treaty which is
relied upon as the justification of this usage
we find as follows :—" Every British schooner,
" cutter, lorcha, &c., shall have a sailinif letter,
"or register, in Chinese and English,
" under the seal and signature of the
" chief superintendent of trade, describing
" her appearance, burthen, &c." But this
does not say that such sailing letter or regis-
ter is sufficient to make the schooner, cutter,
or lorcha, a British one. It would seem to
mean that a vessel, being British, owned and
navigated by Chinese, must possess some
such testimony to her character. Not that
any vessel whatever could invest herself with
the character of a British vessel by simply
purchasing a register. Such indeed is alleged
to be the law by Mr. PARKES in the notification
which he put lished to the inhabitants of
Canton, where he says that " at Hong Kong,
" being a British colony, it is competent for the
" owner of any vessel of any country, when he
" shall have obtained the requisite security, to
" make application through the proper official
" channels to the supreme authority for a colo-
" nial register. Under this the vessel hoists a
" British ensign, and the register once issued,
" she is regarded in all respects as a British
" vessel, while those on board her become alike
" responsible to British control, and entitled
"to British protection." But these conditions
were communicated to the Chinese authori-
ties only " some months " before the outbreak
occurred, and it seems rather hard to consider
them as absolutely bound by a regulation
which originated exclusively with ourselves,
which they had barely had time to consider,
and which on the first opportunity they have
pointedly and repeatedly condemned. How far,
moreover, this Colonial Ordinance could have
had the force of law without the sanction of
Parliament is a point that still remains to be
discussed, and will, we trust, on Tuesday next
receive due investigation.

The second of the four points we have above
indicated becomes practically merged in the
third. How far, if Brown kicks Jones in mistake
for Robinson, supposing Robinson to have in-
sulted him, whereas in reality it turns out that
Jones was the man, tho aforesaid Brown can

SATURDAY,

be said to have committed an injustice, is a
point of casuistry which AQUINAS or ALBEirrus
MAGNus would have loved to tackle, but
which, happily for ourselves, we can hero
afford to pretermit. It is useless to inquire
whether the Chinese knew that the register
had expired till we know whether they were
aware that the Arrow was a foreign vessel. They
most distinctly deny that they did know this.
Their denial is based upon two grounds, upon
one of which there is no dispute whatever, while
upon the other the weight of evidence is, to
say the least, evenly balanced. They state
that upon boarding the vessel they found no
foreigners there ; and it is admitted that
the master, KENNEDY, the only Englishman
connected with her, was absent at the time.
They allege, moreover, most positively that no
flag was flying at the moment she was boarded ;
and to show the probability of this being the
case, they say that it is the invariable custom
of such vessels to haul down their colours
when they come to anchor in the harbour,
and not to hoist them again till they put out
to sea. This is a statement of custom which
is nowhere contradicted by our own officials.
When we add that it was well known to every-
body that the Arrow had been built by a
Chinese, was owned by a Chinese, and was
engaged in the Chinese coast trade, we shall
hardly think the " gentry and scholars of
Canton " went too far in describing the mis-
take, supposing it to be one, as "a slight
matter," not justifyinglthe violent consequences
with which it was visited.
It has yet to he considered how far the
master of the Arrow, THOMAS KENNEDY, was
cognisant of the ch arac ter of LE-MING-TAE, whom
he had engaged in his service. This man was
a noted pirate ; and the fact of his being
received on board a British vessel might have
seemed to the Chinese very like an infraction
of that same article which Lord CLARENDON
accuses them of violating themselves. A
Chinese criminal taking refuge on board a
British man-of-war might no doubt remain
there a long time without his eharactzr being
suspected ; but this could hardly be the case
on board a vessel manned entirely by Chinese,
and engaged in a trade which necessarily
brought the master into contact with that class
of natives from whom he would be most likely
to hear the truth.

Such is a summary of the case which the
Chinese consider they have against us. But let
us grant for argument's sake that every one of
these pleas is worthless ; let us suppose that
the case is exactly as the Government agents
have represented it—that the. register was in
force, and was a legitimate title to protection—
that our colours were flying, and were delibe-
rately and maliciously hauled down ;—we con-
fidently appeal to the good sense and humanity
of the Bfitish people to say whether these
were grounds for bombarding a peaceable town
belonging to a friendly Power? What more
could have been done had British property
been confiscated or destroyed, or British sub-
jects openly murdered in the noon day? But
here was no danger either to the one or to the
other. No British lives were in jeopardy, no
valuable interests were at stake which de-
manded instant and violent interference. The
difficulty was peculiarly one of that character
which required calm investigation, and which
the delay of a few months could not have
aggravated. But by the hasty and passionate
conduct of British officials, not only has the
national character for patience and justice
been tarnished, but a settlement of those
controverted points which have since been
raised rendered more remote than ever. For
a satisfactory settlement is remote exactly in
proportion to the violence or the decadence of
the Chinese prejudices against us.

But the dangerous character of the prece-
dent thereby afforded to our various colonial
officials, whether military or civil, is a feature
in the case even more to be deplored than its
immediate and obvious evils. If governors
and admirals are to be allowed to take the law
into their own hands upon every petty provo-
cation, and plunge us into hostilities with
friendly and peaceable nations at their own
discretion, there is every reason to apprehend
that we shall be in a normal state of skirmish
all over the globe. For every soldier, sailor, or
civilian will deem it a point of honour not to