The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-27 00:00:00

FISCAL AFFAIR% CIRELANI)).

On the motion of Sir D Norreys, leave was given to
introduce a bill for the better administration of the fiscal
affairs of'counties in Ireland.

THE CHINA WAR.

Mr. Cobden rose to move the following resolution :
" That this house has heard; with concern of the con
filets which have occurred between the British and
Chinese authorities in the Centon river; and, without
expressing an opinion as to the extent to which the
Government of China may have afforded this coup•
try cause of complaint respecting the non-ful-
filment of the treaty of 1842, this house considers
that the papers which have been laid upon the table fail
to establish satisfactory grounds for the violent measures
resorted to at Canton in the late affair of the Arrow ;
and that a select committee be appointed to enquire into
the state of our commercial relations with China." He
said he had no private object of personal feeling to gratify
in bringing on this motion. Sir J. Bowring was a private
friend of his, and he regretted that the Government had
been induced to have recourse to hostilities. He called on
the house to consider this question as regarded the honour
of the country, and condemned the double course of policy
that had lately been adopted in this country—ono to the
strong and another to the weak. In dealing with China
they should observe the same principles as they would
with America, France, or any other powerful nation. He
entered into a history of this outbreak, similar to that
which has already been published, and remarked that as
it arose from a question of breach of treaty, it would have
been better if Mr. Consul Parkes had referred the ques-
tion to his Government before he had recourse to hostile
proceedings. (Hear, hear.) The hon. gentleman then
referred to the principles of international law, and said it
would be presumptuous on his part to offer his opinion
after that had been given by Lord Lyndhurst in
another place, and that learned lord had declared that the
course pursued by Mr. Consul Parkes was a direct
breach of international law, for this lorcha was not under
the British flag, the license having expired. He next
referred to the correspondence of Sir J. Bowring and Mr.
Consul Parkes, and with regard wherein Sir J. Bowring
stated that the Chinese ware in ignorance of the
expiration of the licence, that it was the most flagitious
statement he had ever read. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Consul
Parkes stated that when the lorcha was boarded, the c tp-
tain, a British subject was on board, and the English
flag flying, but the captain had said that he was not o❑
board at the time. There was a threefold illegelity
connected with this affair. That of the bread. of the
law as laid down by Lord Lyndhurst ; secondly, Sir J.
Bowring's statement as to the licence ; and, thirdly,
that the Hong Kong Government had no powei to
violate the statute law of this country by giving the
licence. It had been said that by the proceedings adopted
by the Chinese they intended to insult us, but the fact was
the Consul had picked an unlucky quarrel with the Chinese,
and he (Sir. Cobden) read a letter from an American gen-
tleman, named Cook, who had held an official position at
Whampoa for the last four years, detailing the illegal use
made of our flag to promote smuggling. He also detailed the
course adopted with reference to the license, and Said what

was called by the captain a British subject was a loose fish,
and generally a runaway apprentice who was put forward
to give a colouring to the illegal training finder the
English flag, and he desCribed the whole as a disgrace to
this country. He condemned the arrogant and presump-
tuous conduct of Mr. Consul Parkes to Yea, the Governor
of Canton, and contrasted it with the conciliatory conduct
of Yea, both before and after hostilities. He alluded to
Yea's reiterated declaration that the Arrow was not a
British vessel, and that a Chinese buying a license could
not make a Chinese vessel a British vessel, and in the words
of Yea, he said he believed that there was a preconceived
design on the part of Consul Parkes to pick a quarrel.
Mr. Labouchere defended the conduct of the British
authorities taking the ground that apart from the legality
of the ordnance, it having been granted Sir John B wiring
was justified in the operations which he undertook to enforce
respect to the British flag. It was necessary for the honor
of the country and the protection of our commerce that the
representative of the Crown should have power to prevent
an impression being conveyed that the British vessels might
ba attacked on any occasion without fear of any retaliation.
There was no doubt of the necessary power being possessed
by the representatives of a country, and as it was supported
by the opinion of the late Lord Stowel. He contended
that so far from being desirous of a quarrel, the authorities at
Canton had done all in their power to prevent the occurrence
by giving time for reparation, and that, the Chinese could
not bo treated other than as a barbarous nation. He thought
the proper moment had been seized by Sir J. Bowring to
obtain, not the general admission of English into Canton,
but admission of himself to the authorities. The British
flag had, he maintained, been designedly and insultingly
pulled down, and any other course than that adopted would
have rendered Sir J. Bowring liable to censure. He trusted
that these necessary measures with the local authorities at
Canton would lead to communication with the Emperor at
Pekin, W 1 rend to the benefit not only of British merchants
but also to the Chinese nation,

Eir E. B. Lytton remarhel that the digestions for con-
sideration *ere—ist, Was the Arrow bona fide a vessel
belonging to the English nation according to the 17th article
of the supplementary treaty ; and supposing that to be so,
were the circumstances such as to render the mistake of the
Chinese inexcusable, or the insult so gross as to jus:ify the
severity of our retaliation. The vessel, he contended, being
built and manned by Chinese, and having a nominal com-
mander who was under age, was a Chinese vessel, and not
entitled to the protection of the colonial ordnance.
Upon the second part of his subject, he hold that though
the evidence in support of the statement of Yeh that the
fl ig was not flying, even supposing the contrary to be the
case, the cruel massacre which followed was not to be
justified, and could only render it more ilifilcult to gain
admission for our countrymen into the city of Canton.
Mr. Lloyd Davis, while condemning the conduct of the
British authorities at Canton, declined to support the
resoluion, as he considered that the appointment of a select
committee on the subjeCt Was not ekpedient.
Sir John Rarnsden argued that the cruelty, duplicity,
and repeated insults of the Chinese during 14 years,
justified the conduct of Sir John Bowring.
Sir Thomas Herbert supported the resolution,
Sir E. Perry would have opposed the motion, had it
been proposed by the other side of the House, for the pur-
pose of removing the present • ministry froth office, but
it had been prOpoSed by the government side ;
and, concurring as he did, in every expresssion
it contained, he felt it his duty to give it his support.
Mr. Gregson supported the resolution, observing, that it
required a personal knowledge of Chinese affairs to under-
stand fairly the case under discussion.

Lord John Russell divided thr question into three
heads: The C 393 of the Arrow; the entry of Canton under
treaty, and the intention of the goverament by the hostile
operations against that city. In the case of the
Arrow, he argued that the ordnance not having
the sanction of the Quen in council was illegal,
and that, therefore, she was not entitled to British
protection. Upon the second case there was no
doubt of the right he'd
.by the treaty of admission to
Canton, but the operations directed by Sir John Bowring
had lessened the probability of the prejudice of the
Chinese being overcome. Had it bean political so to do,
the proper course for a civilised nation to pursue, would
have been to fix a time, after which a continued refusal
to admit the right would be considered a de-
claration of war. With regard to the objects of the
Government nothing could be known, but they had had
ennough, he thought, of interfering with Governments in
the case of Naples. (Hear.) He could not but regret
that the act of a mandarin should have led to such results.
and under the circumstances he was ready to give his vote
for the motion of the member for the West Riding of
Yorkshire. The noble loed was long and loudly cheered.
Mr, Lowe vindicated the G)vernnient, and threw the
responsibility upon the Chinese.
Mr. Warren moved the adjournment of the debate, which
was agreed to, Lord Palmerston fixing to-morrow for its
resumption.

Lighting of Towns' (Ireland) Act Amendment Bill went
through o mmittee.
The house adjourned at twenty minutes past 12 o'clock.

An impression seems to be entertained that this is about
to be added to the list of public undertakings, the manage-
ment of which has lately damaged the administrative
reputation of our commercial men. For several years the
directors have declared dividends ranging from 8 to 10
per cent.,Euevertheless, it was always found that the shares
could not be retrieved from a discount, and that, wherever
the highly satisfactory statements at the various public
meetings lead to any recovery, there were constantly
sellers to take advantage of it. The postponement of the
ordinary general meeting, in consequence, it is alleged, of
the illness of the manager, and the death of the account-
ant, has occasioned a further severe fall in the shares,
which has brought them to a discount of between 30 and
40 per cent. If it should appear that the position of the
company is not unquestionable a serious account will have
to be exacted from all concerned in it. The great
respectability of the directors seems, however, to reclude
the "possibility of there being anything really wrong._
Times.

A REMARKABLE LINGUIST.—In the course of a lecture
delivered a few evenings since before a " Mutual Improve-
ment Society," at Walthamstow, Cardinal Wiseman
observed that the power of acquiring and remembering
a number of languages—that is, knowing them thoroughly,
grammatically, an 1 familiarly—was extremely rare. He
considered a language known and understood when the
person professing it could speak it with its own accen-
tuation, read it with facility and point, express himself
technically through its medium, and, above all, be able to
write a familiar note in it. Of this power his (Cardinal
Wiseman's) late friend, Cardinal Mezz ifante, was a
striking example. His labours were iu the prisons, in
which he found confined natives of every habitable coun-
try—Croats, Bulgarians, Wallachians, Bohemians, Hun-
garians, Poles, and Lithuanians. Cardinal Mezzofante set
himself to work, and in a few days was able to speak
with them readily and fluently. Cases have been known
of persons coming to this extraordinary man for confes-
sion, but speaking only some out, or the way language
which debarred them from intercommunication with all
priests within their reach. On such occasions Cardinal
Mezzofante would requst a delay of three weeks, during
which time he would so completely master the language,
however difficult, that he could apprehend the most
minute particulars communicated to him. At the
age of fitty he was thoroughly versed in fifty lan-
guages, and before his death the number he knew must
have amounted to seventy or eighty. Of these, it must be
added, he was acquainted with all the varieties of 4ialect,
provincialisms and patois. He would detect. the particular
county in England from which a person came, or the pro.
vince in France, and was conversant not only vvi;ll the
grammar, but with the literature of all those nations. He
could write a note or an apology (perhaps, after all, the
greatest test) without an error in form, language, style,
or title of address of his correspondent, and would turn
his sentences without ever losing sight of the little niceties,
idioms, and peculiarities which form the distinctive cha-
racteristics of a languge. His method of studying a
language was to take:the grammar :And read it:through,
and at the end of that time he was perfect master of the
whole thing. He used to say he had never forgotten a
single thing he had ever read or heard, Together with this
wonderfully retentive memory, he possessed an acuteness
of ear and a flexibility of the organs of speech which
enabled him to express himself with the most faultless
accent. With all this he had never been out of Italy in
his life, and only once out of Rome, when he visited
Bologna. One day he (Cardinal Wiseman) had met him
hurrying away as he said to a Propaganda —"What are
you going'to do there ?" "To teach the Californians their
language." " How did you learn Californian ?" " They
taught me, but they had no grammar; I have made a
grammar, and now 1 am going to teach them to read and
write it."

THE NORTHERN TIMES.---LIVERPOOL, FRIDAY.