The Express.
London, England, 1862-08-16 00:00:00

RION WATIM AT LONDON BALLIOIL

Tm DATZiicWiii7 6h. 150.
Tazonsow—lionilag, Aborioon, 6h. Mai.

LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 10.

Tits detailed news from China confirms in every
particular the views of those who have all along
protested against our taking any part in the do-
mestic conflicts of the Empire, and especially
against the policy recently adopted by our authorities
on the spot, that of undertaking at the instigation
of the Imperialists an active crusade against the
Taepings. The first campaign is now over, and
it appears th►t our operations in the field, instead
of accomplishing any of the purposes for which
they were avowedly undertaken, have produced
only the most mischievous results, and rendered
our position at Shanghae far worse than it was
before. The sanguine expectations of success en-
tertained by the local advocates of an aggressive
policy have been completely disappointed. The
result proves that their calculations were
singularly at fault, hardly one of the elements
on which they had relied for success having
turned out according to their anticipations. In the
first place, the important assistance that was ex-
pected from the Chinese authorities has failed.
The Imperial troops that were to support our
operations in the field, and hold the towns
captured from the enemy, gradually melted away,
and by the end of the campaign had " entirely
" disappeared." Even the native force trained
by Colonel WARD, of whose discipline and bravery
so much has been said, were unable to stand their
ground. The town of Tsing-poo, which was strongly
garri►oned by WA3D'a troops, was abandoned
on the 19th, the Taepings en taring it
on one side as the Imperialists left it
at the other; and of all the places
captured during the campaign only one town
in the vicinity of Shaughac remains in the bands
of the Allies. It is instructive to compare this
result with the programme of our representatives
in China at the commencement of the cam-
paign. According to the bold scheme of Mr.
Balms and Admiral HOPE, the Allies were
to drive the Taepings before them for a cir-
cuit of 30 miles round Shanghae, the strong points
of this extensive area being held by Imperial troops.
In the sketch of his plan forwarded to Mr. Bares
in February, Admiral Hors, after defining the
area over which the operations of the Allies were to
extend, goes on to add :—" Colonel WARD, upon
" whose experience of the Chinese I am disposed
" to place very considerable reliance, assures me
" that if Imperialist garrisons were placed in the
" towns I have named, with the troops under his
" command employed as a flying column, he could
" effectually prevent the return of the rebels with-
" in the limits I have named, even if they were
" disposed to attempt it—an event very unlikely
"to occur." Mr. BRUCE is equally sanguine as
to the important assistance to be rendered by
the Imperial troops, and especially by Colonel
WARD'S force. "In the Chinese force organized
" and led by Mr. WAD, I see," he
says, "the nucleus and beginning of a
" military organizat'on which may prove most
" valuable in the distracted state of China."
This redoubtable force, however, was unable to
hold Tsing-poo against the Taepings, and accord-
ing to the latest rumours, instead of doing the
Allies any real service, it is likely to supply a new
element of confusion and disturbance to this use-
less conflict. "We hear," says the China Mail,
" that WARD'S Legion has been giving trouble—
" in what precise manner is not specified ; there
" is, perhaps, the germ of future complication in
" this ' filibuster' mandarin, and it will be as
" well for our authorities to let him make his
" own position in his own way."
While the expectations of important assistance
from the Imperialists have thus failed, it is
equally clear that we have made no head what-
ever against the Taepings. They have returned
in overwhelming numbers and re-occupied all the
places from which they had been expelled. The
only positive result of the campaign, so far as
they are concerned, is, that instead of being
our friends, or occupying a neutral and in-
offensive position, they are converted into
exasperated enemies. Hitherto they have not'
interfered with our trade. Now we may be
tolerably sure they will attempt to do so. Nor
have they hitherto disturbed the rural popu-
lation, or ravaged the territory in the neighbour-
hood of Shanghae. Now, according to the latest
account, the adjacent country is filled with the
smoke of burning villages. This is the result of
our benevolent crusade on behalf of the agricultural
population—the rustic Chinese—of the Poo-tung
, peninsula. Nor are the prospects either of our-
selves or the Chinese at all improved by these un-
fortunate operations. We may of course follow
up the false and mischievous step we have taken,
and try our fortune in another and yet another
campaign. But unbar we are prepared to

force,

take the field with an
the result must be substantially the same.
Whatever may be the moral and political cha-
racter of this movemset, the Taepings are a for-
midable power from their numbers, military expe-
rience, revolutionary spirit, and determined
policy. The elements of strength belonging to
this national movement against which we have
wantonly declared war, as well as the prospects of
arresting it, are well summed up in the China
Mail of June 27 :—"The mere numerical strength
" of these people, and the number they can afford
"to lose while inflicting on our troops the
" slightest injury, has rendered them for
midable in • sense we cannot afford to
" overlook. It is also to be recollected that the
" Taepings possess considerable military practice,
" and being quite aware that they are no match
" for us when they are even ten to one, on a fair
" field, they will avoid regular battles and content
" themselves with harassing us on all sides round
"about. Their immediate reoccupation of the
" places we have abandoned shows an elasticity
"that will want, on our part, a prolonged and
" vigorous campaign to destroy. If we are to
" take the field and endeavour to break up the
"power and destroy the prestige of the Taepings
" large reinforcements will probably be sent from
" India." That is the widening prospect of the
new war, which in • period of profound and in-
creasing domestic distress the light-hearted Pan-
ic= gaily imposes as a trifling burden on the
diminished resources of the country.