The Express.
London, England, 1858-08-31 00:00:00

appeal to do pretty mush as they please. It is not
the Imperial Government alone, bat the whole of the
learned, i.e., of the governing elms, that is inimical
to Christianity. Miesionaries may, perhaps, be
allowed to penetrate into every part of the Chinese
Empire ; but if the Government is not strong
enough to protect them, every attack upon
a Missionary will become the source of new misun-
derstandings,new negotiations, new wars with China.
It will be time enough to congratulate ourselves
on the extension of our trade with China when we
know what additional ports have been thrown open.
It is only "nearly the whole " of the Empire that is
said to have been " thrown open to the trade of the
" West." Lastly, we are still entirely in the dark
as to what stipulations have been made respecting
the retention or evacuation of Canton by the French
and English forces. Will the " ample indemnity"
granted to England cover all the losses incurred by
our merchants through the warlike operations con-
sequent on the wretched quarrel about the lorcha
Arrow ?

The first announcement of the conclusion of peace
with China was received with jubilant exultation by
the whole host of Palmerstonian journals. It was
declared to be • great triumph—one which would
immortalise the statesman to whose energetic policy
we were indebted for it. The present Ministers were
warned that no share in the victory was duo to
them; that it must redound to the honour of
their predecessor alone. A change, however,
has already come over the tone of these
journals. They begin to have their mis-
givings that what has been gained is scarcely
worth what it has cost us, and that " the end is not
" yet." The Treaties, for anything that appears to the
contrary, still leave the Chinese authorities ample)
opportunities of baffling us by their dilatory
system of passive resistance. The truth is, that
the advent of the period of free and nnre
strained • intercourse with China can neither bs
materially accelerated nor retarded by the action
of Governments. Until the great body of the Chime
people become reconciled to the presence of foreignsra
among them, their Government cannot conlpel
them to receive foreigners cordially ; and as
soon as the Chinese people become reconciled to the
presence of foreigners among them, their Go•ern-
ment will find it impossible to keep foreigners out-
The work of penetrating into China must be wom-
plished by the private Europeans who visit it.
They can accomplish it. Mr. FORTUNE, and many
others, have penetrated far beyond the limits that
have hitherto been prescribed to foreigners ; and by
conducting themselves well and peaceably they have
done so with perfect impunity. A frequent repeti-
tion of such visits would have worn off theirstrange-
nees, and the presence of Europeans in any
part of China would in due time have
come to be regarded by the Chinese as a
matter of course. The recent military opera-
tions and Treaties will only impede this natural
process of familiarising the Chinese with the pre-
sence of foreigners; and the disputes which are
certain to arise out of the various constructions put
by different parties on the terms of the Treaties will
only make matters worse. At Tien-Tsin the
representatives of the four Great Powers appear to
have acted with tolerable unanimity; but how
long will this unanimity continue ? The Chinese
are adroit diplomatists after their own
fashion. They will continue to stir up dis-
sensions among the European Ministers, and
will use one to thwart and baffle the others.
Already the three Western Powers are beginning to
grumble, that Russia alono has secured a permanent
and tangible advantage by these negotiations. The
question is already asked whether Russia has not
been secretly acting in the interest of China at the
Tien-Tsin Conferences in return for the cession of
the country north of the Amer ? Such en early in-
dication of jealousy among the Europeans is of bad
omen. It reminds one of the long and inveterate
wars waged by France and England for the ascen-
dancy in India.

TIM Rev. SYDNEY TURNER'S First Report to
the Home Department on the Reformatory
Schools of Great Britain, which has just ap-
peared, is lees an official narrative than an appeal
to public opinion. Another year will probnbly
enable the Inspector to supply that exact and de-
tailed information respecting the internal working
of our Reformatories which we miss In his present

Report; in the meanwhile the public will accept
with a reasonable respect the encouraging assurances
and candid censures passed by that gentleman on the
condition and prospects of a social enterprise in
which he has himself had • large and honourable
share.

Reformatory agency, as exercised on the young,
has now become a recoguised part of the social system,
and is therefore peculiarly amenable to public
opinion. Its early promoters answered for it that it
would effect a considerable diminution in the number
of juvenile offenders throughout the country. Its
opponents saw in it a disgraceful concession to the
criminal classes, and in the supposed comforts of
Reformatory establishments an offered premium for
crime. The returns of the Rome-office, while they
cliselose an amount of juvenile crime loudly
demanding the employment of every available
agency of a nature to reform • and reclaim,
are at least satisfactory as showing that
an important step has really been taken in the right
direction. In the year ending September 30, 1858,
as many as 13,981 commitments of offenders under
18 years of age were made. In the year ending
September 30, 1857, the number of similar commit-
ments was 12,601, being a decrease of 1,480. We
are given to understand that the returns for the
present year will show a continuous decline. It
would have been something to have set bounds to
the increase of juvenile crime; but these figures
show that a positive inroad has been made oa its
domain.

The notion that boys would be tempted to steal in
order to enjoy the oonvenienoes which, it is too truly
alleged, make the Reformatory a healthier and better
regulated abode than the home of many an honest fa-
mily, still lingers, it is to be feared, to impede the
progress of reformation. But those who harbour that
opinion mistake, through judging of the tastes of
criminal boys by their own. As Mr. TURNER use-
fully points out to the class from which the great
majority of our young offenders come, " airy rooms,
" separate beds, cleanliness, and good order, meals
"owned with decency, instruction and exercise at
" regular hours, are ne luxuries. They are medi-
" tines rather than comforts. Such children's ideas
" of enjoyment are much better realised in the clode-
" nem and dirt, and disorderly freedom of the tom-
" mon lodging-house:' The great and all-sufficient
securities against the supposed seductive influences
of the Reformatory are the hard practical exertion
exacted of the inmates throughout a fair working
day, and the strict discipline, without which no
Reformatory can long be maintained.
Among the suggestions which Mr. TURNER makes
for the improvement of the Reformatory system,
no one is more important than that which concerns
the supply of really efficient Superintendents and
Assistants. A thoroughly good master unites quali-
ties so rarely found together that he can hardly be