The Press.
London, England, 1857-04-18 00:00:00

THE WAR IN CHINA.

THE Moniteur de la Flotte this week publishes some
interesting details relative to the war in China :

The Chinese, it is said, are at present making formi•
dable military preparations, which are not to be despised.
Since the attack on Canton the Chinese have executed

enormous works on the Pei-ho, a river which falls into the
Yellow Sea, and by which a communication is maintained
with Pekin. That river is now barred in twenty-two
different places by dams built of stone, which completely
intercept the navigation. These works are regarded as a
curiosity, Moreover, the three branches of the Pei•ho
canalised by the Emperor Kia•liang in 1817 are cut, and
the course of one of them, the Hu-ho, has been turned off
into the Lake of Koho•tchi. When an army invades the
Chinese empire. the principal means of defence is to let
the waters of this lake overflow the country. This system
of defence, efficacious against an enemy but mast disas-
trous for the country, was first used against the insurgents
in 18.52. The city of Pekin is consequently perfectly safe
front an attack either by land or sea, and the Emperor will
in any desperate circumstance be protected by the fana-
ticism of the people, who will st3p at no means to destroy
foreigners. A circumstance has lately demoistrated the
truth of this fact. The British ships proceeding to Canton
have been in the custom of taking fresh water at Whanipoa
from a small river which falls into the Tchou•kiang. It
was remarked that the sailors using this water lately have
been attacked with colic, and, after a careful investigation,
it was discovered that the water was poisoned by the
Chinese. They employed for this purpose the trunk of
certain trees, which, after being prepared for the occasion,
impart a deadly poison to the water. The Chinese are
naturally malignant, and their wickedness is still increased
by their fanaticism, which is beyond description. There
is but one way to subdue them, and that is to act on their
senses, and to terrify them by a display of force and by a
maritime demonstration on a grand scale, such as is about
to be accomplished by the British Government. It ap-
pears, moreover, that some of the wealthiest mandarins in
the empire propose to revive the great commercial corn-
parry founded in 1759 by Tsong-Too. These great dig-
nitaries, through personal interest, are highly favourable to
an arrangement with the English, notwithstanding their
warlike manifestations, and as they are in direct commu-
nication with the members of the Nuy.Ko or Cabinet
Council at I'ekin, they can bring their influence to bear
directly on the Emperor's advisers. The revival of Ithe
company founded in 1759 will render it impossible in
future for the Chinese Government to violate at will its
treaties with foreigners.

The Moniteur de la Flotte concludes that au ar-
rangement of the difficulties at present existing
between the Chinese and English is perfectly pos-
sible. Fur this purpose the British Government
have merely to adopt the only means efficacious with
the Chinese character, which is to make a formidable
demonstration on the coast of the Chinese empire.