The Express.
London, England, 1862-11-29 00:00:00

HIGH WALTZ:RAT LONDON BEIDGZ.,

TEM Dav-711andag, 7445;:77.1141ra0a40. 180.
TO410100•—liorolag. 85. 95.

LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29.

Wz now know enough of the attack on our
,countrymen in Japan to perceive that it was an
outrage on an untamed pleasure party, made with
true A,riatic cruelty : but we know too little to be
_ _

able to pronounce finally on the conduct of those
who, it is said, . ought to have avenged, or still

better, prevented it.
Mr. MAILMALL'S party, consisting of three
gentlemen and a lady, were riding out on horse-
back on a Sunday afternoon, last September,when
th.sy Met the retinue of A native nobleman They
were immediately set upon by the armed men,
when one of the gentlemen was killed and the
other two dangerously vroilr'.!4.3; while the lady
only escaped by riding seven miles at the tali
speed of her horse. These facts constitute a ease
which the QVICEN'S Government will, of course,
make the ground of a stringent demand upon the
Government of Japan. On the face of the matter,

the outrage was one of the simplest kind, and seems
to have been most wanton and unprovoked. An

Eastern coutemporary, however, cautions us against
this view, and suggests that the party were vio-
lating the social usages of the country. We do
not know how this may be, but we all know that,
in the East, it is safer to break the laws of the
government than to violate the manners and ideas
of the people. The Bishop of Bono KONG tells
us, in his instructive work on Japan, that the
thoughtlessness of our countrymen in this re-
spect, especially of those who ride, is a cause
of great exasperation to the Japanese. The
.Singapore Times states that it has "always been
"the practice of the Japanese authorities to intimate
" thus a few days previously the particular day on
"which any nobleman with his retainers intended
" to travel along the road near to a foreign settle-
" meat. Our authorities have then made the
"matter public, and advised those under their
" care to avoid giving cause of offence by going in
" the way of the procession. On the present
"occasion, however, there had been no notice
"given on either aide." If this was the case the
attack is in some measure explained, although in
no degree excused.
The conduct of Colonel Nx•ra., her Majesty's
charge (raffaires in Japan, after the outrage, is
much criticised. The residents say that he shrank
from his duty at the crisis. Perhaps he did. We
hope the matter will be inquired into. We cannot,
however, recognise in the residents the moat fitting
judges of his duty on this occasion. They say
that if he had only listened to their advice and ac-
cepted the offer of the naval commanders on the
station, the Japanese nobleman might have been
captured with his whole party. Possibly he might,
and what then ? Why then, it is said, we should
have made a solemn public example of the ruffian
who commanded the massacre, and have gained a
great point towards public security. We are bound
to suppose that those who say this really think so,
but it is difficult to believe it. Without the means
of collecting evidence or bringing the parties to a
fair trial, and with a justly excited European
colony crying out for an expiatory sacrifice, Colonel
NEALE would have been very fortunate if he did
not execute the innocent.
It is easy to see what would have been the
political consequences of an act such as Colonel
Nests is blamed for omitting. The feeble govern-
ment of the TYCOON would have been forced by
the D.onios into an indiscriminate war against all
foreigners. There may be some who think that
a war with Japan is inevitable, and that the
sooner it is begun and finished the better. These
persons talk of the nobles of the country as robber
chiefs, and speak of it being the duty of England to
break their power, just as if they lived in the
Punjaub or Oude. For our parts, we think that
there are better ways of spending the public
money than in making war for the purpose of
reconstructing society in countries which we visit
only for purposes of trade. We think it would
even be better that our countrymen who go out
there and make fortunes had to suffer a curtail-
ment of their rides into the interior, and were
confined to the ports, where they are sure of the
protection of the ships. But if we are wrong,
it is never too late to begin a sanguinary
war, and we should prefer to see it originate
in the declared policy of the Imperial Govern-
ment then begun by a high-handed official at a
distance. We take Colonel Naua's conduct as
evidence that our representatives in distant coun-
tries understand their responsibilities better than
they have sometimes done in the ESA

(astord Chronicl) understand that ier.
M.P. for Manchester, hu purchased the Eynehant
estate and mansion, cod intends making it hie residence
ig the parliamentary session.

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Bailey,
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during