The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-18 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1853.

Whatever may be the political result of the
pending struggle in China, it is tolerably certain
that vast commercial advantages, at any rate,
must accrue to the world at large from the extra-
ordinary enterprise adventured upon by TAE-
PING-WANG and his attendant revolutionists. In
all likelihood the reigning, or TAT-SING, dynasty
is even now inevitably doomed to destruction.
According to every reasonable probability, the
hitherto dominant race of the Mantchoos must
before long become utterly exterminated. There
are prospects, moreover, of Buddhism vanishing
from that portion of Asia before the divine light
of Revelation—of Idolatry being permanently sub-
verted by the Iconoclasts—of nearly 400, 000,000
Pagans being gradually won over to Christianity.
All these events are apparently each day more and
more obviously within the limits of rational cal-
culation. Yet though none of these anticipations
be realised, though the Emperor m m EN-T be not
overthrown, though the
native Chinese remain
subservient as heretofore to
Trimartithe conquering race
of Mantchooria, though th
wor-
shippede and the truths of be still
Holy Writ be still re-
jected for the fables of the Shaster, it. must be
manifest to the most superficial observer that the
pending struggle will necessarily so far
beneficial in its influence that it will prepareei..and
thev
way for a more extendedcommerce,
therefore for a more enlightened
civilisation.
That, we take it, is a deduction scarcely
for
a moment to be disputed. Already, indeed, the
barriers which have hitherto excluded the rest of
the world from even occasional intercourse with
the population of the celestial empire, have been
broken down in consequence of this great social
bouleversentent. It were scarcely rational to dream
of their restoration. Its practicability may be
questioned without much appearance of extrava-
gance. Recent experience assures us that the
insurgents lack the will, as late events have clearly
enough shown that the Imperial Government
needs the power of restoring the old worn-out
system of insulating the Chinese multitude within
the confines of their own territory. It may,
therefore, be calculated upon with something like
certainty, that good in the long run must accrue
to mankind at large from the outbreak of this
astonishing revolution.
The vastness of the Chinese empire has recently
been illustrated in these columns, by particulars
calimpoculrtsatende-etoofimpress upon the popular mind the
passing occurrences. In addition
to what has before been observed upon the sub-
ject by ourselveseto
itther facts of a similar character
may not be altogether unacceptable. It is insig-
nificant, for instance,
the Chinese race, thats tslirPopulation•
ing theelouildt thy' China Proper increased front 28,605,716, as it was in
1711, during, the reibrr
01•
102,328,258, during the reign of AKN('-aE, to
and that within a century from that t}1•111"e-itticN
siderably more than tripled itself, thatin 1812,
during the reign so
of :EA-KING, it U'as no less than
t
361,221,900—attaining, according to the latest
census, the enormous aggregate of 367,632,907.
These, as before observed, united to the pope.

lation of the independent provinces—Mongolia,
Tibet, Turkistan, &U.—a population estimated at
some 40,000,000, would yield a total of upwards
of 400,000,000 !
Further tokens of the magnitude, wealth, and
prosperity of China may be enumerated in refer-
ence to the variety and splendour of its chief
cities, as well as in regard to the multiplicity of
its natural productions, and the astonishing
minuteness of its system of agriculture. The cul-
tivation of England has been commended by
EMERSON as so remarkable in appearance, that he
describes the landscape as seemingly touched into
beauty by the pencil, instead of being seamed by
the plough and raked by the harrow. The cultiva-
tion of China is mentioned by travellers as imparting
to many districts an aspect of yet more carefully-
detailed improvement. Almost perpendicular
acclivities are there clothed by art with the
utmost luxuriance of vegetation. It was once sug-
gested, if we recollect rightly, by the Hon. Baronet
the Member for Hertfordshire, that much fruitful
soil might be reclaimed in this country by a dimi-
nution in the number of our hedges, so that the
crops might extend to the utmost limits of the
lines of demarcation. A similar economy of space
has evidently been aimed at among the Chinese,
from the circumstance of agricultural toil with
them having turned almost every spot of culti-
vatable ground to advantage.
A
populous cities of China affording
evidence
wealth and general prosperity of
sto
of the
the
the population—it may be remarked, that within
a distance of merely two hundred miles, there are
situated along one portion of the bank of
the Grand Canal five of the largest cities in the
empire, that is, between the port of Hang-
chew and the great river of the Yang-tzse-
kiang. Conspicuous among them, of course, is
the beautiful city of Sou-chew—a city famous
for its silk manufactories, adorned with palaces of
marble and bridges of granite, embowered in the
luxuriant foliage of the green willow and the
black bamboo, the cypress, and the mulberry—a
city comprising in its urban and suburban quar-
ters no less than two millions of inhabitants.
Hong-chew, however, is still more populous, con-
taining, it is believed, nearly as many inhabitants
as the wonderful capital of China, Pekin, the
latter, as is well known, numbering from 2,000,000
to 3,000,000 as its population.
It was as recently as the middle of the seven-
teenth century that the gigantic and fruitful
territory, some of whose marvels we have
here been considering, was conquered, after
a struggle of thirty years' duration, by a
Mantchoo Chieftain, who thereupon established his
family upon the Imperial Throne under the title
of the TAT-SING dynasty. During the two hun-
dred years which have followed, numerous efforts
have been made for the replacement of the MING
dynasty, or that of the native Sovereigns, and for the
displacement of the Tartar conquerors from Mant-
chooria. Hitherto without success, notwithstand-
ing the fanaticism of the adherents of the van-
quished house. TAE-PING-WANG, indeed, is the
only successful opponent of the Manchoos who has
yet made his appearance. There can be little
doubt that this formidable leader has enlisted in
his cause others than the Asiatic neophytes of
Christianity. It cannot but be conjectured that
he has contrived to turn to good account those
implicated in that vast political conspiracy known
as the Triad Society, which was described
with great minuteness several years back by Dr.
GUTZLAFF. A society pledged to restore the
Ming Princes to power, and to overthrow the
race of Tartar Sovereigns. During the last hun-
dred years especially, in fact ever since 1736, the
Triads have spread through all parts of the
country, have extended their influence among all
classes of the community, and have adroitly
enough succeeded in keeping up the system of
their secret organisation. They are described as
somewhat resembling the European Freemasons—
having their lodges and their signs, recognisingeach
other not merely by particular pass-words, but even
by their manner of handling cups and dishes, by
their mode of wearing their dresses, and by their
manner of exchanging salutations. It is impos-
sible not to feel persuaded that a society exercis-
ing such extraordinary influence as the Triad
Society notoriously has long done, more particu-
larly among the poorer classes of the Chinese com-
munity, can have remained idle during the course
of recent occurrences, or can have crowned by any
such inopportune indifference their prolonged and
perillous organisation. It is tolerably certain,
therefore, that in the late struggle against the
imperial partizans, the ranks of the insurgents
have been swelled by the Triad conspirators,
as well as by the converts to Christianity.
The pending revolution, in fact, is one of
at once a political, a social, and a religious
character. It is the rising of a populous native
race against the descendants of a handful of
daring conquerors. It is the outbreak of
a multitude inimical to barbarism and friendly to
civilisation. It is the march of a modern army
of Iconoclasts resolved upon the destruction of
idolatry, and upon the establishment of a belief
in Hebraic Revelation. The singUlar adventurer,
therefore, who has placed himself at the head of
the insurgents, has displayed wisdom in securing
to his cause the force of these hitherto scattered
incentives—and, while acting thus sagaciously, has
enlisted on his side the sympathies, at least, of
the majority of the races of Christendom.

The willing acceptance by the House of Com-
mons of the Lords' amendments to the Govern-
ment of India Bill, including the rejection of the
clause relating to the salt monopoly, created great
and general astonishment ; but still greater sur-
prise was manifested at the unexplaine 1 absence
of the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Droit-
wich during the discussion. That Sir JOHN
PAKINGTON should manifest a deep interest on the
subject was considered certain. Its intrinsic im-
portance, and the vast influence it exercised over
the happiness and welfare of the Hindoo popula-
tion, would alone suffice to ensure the attention
it merited from any man of ordinary humanity.
But it had further claims on the Right Hon.
Baronet. His constituents, indeed all the inha-
bitants of the district in which he resided, were
naturally anxious to obtain a free trade in salt,
and thus to open a new and very considerable de-
mand for their staple manufacture. He had
therefore maturely considered the question in all
its bearings and all its details, and satisfied him-
self of the justice and expediency of the required
concession. The powerful and convincing argu-
ments by which he sustained his motion for the
addition of the clause, subsequently expunged in
the Upper House, proved that he was no hike-
warm advocate. He entered heart and soul into
the cause. With him it was no mere party ques-
tion, intended only to damage his opponents.
The
for notion that he could put the Government
the time
might
completely in the wrong—
to the opiniogn:
that he mi appeal even more confidently
supported Ministers Hon. Gentlemen who generally
was usually in the
than of those with whom he
could expose the
the President of the habit of acting, and that he
intrdpalpable inconsistency of
„Dross an
Board and his colleagues
did not, of course, diminish hid to make
the most of his point. Thereish his
inducement to stimulate ,
.s Was
_every possible
.ni exertions •and the
apparent
apparent apathy and indifference which
of his absence on such an occasion admitted
was the more
inexplicable. "Where is Sir JOHN pAK,
was asked on every side, and those ?"
who had
accorded the leadership in the contest to the
Right Hon. Baronet, contented themselves With
merely protesting against the omission of the clause,
and pressing the propriety of some concession on
the part of the Double Government for the
rfmiti-
gation of the universally acl..-rowle •de•ed rierinc e.
The doubtful matter was, however, yesterday
cleared up : Sir JOHN PAKINGTON had, it ap-
pears, given notice of his intention to offer some
- • 0* to the
remarks on the motion for agreeing
amendment of the Lords. But the house sat at
a very unusual hour, and not only was no spmai n-
timation given of the change, but there was nothing
on " the orders of the day" to show that there
would be any deviation from the ordinary course,
o_ r that the time of meeting would in any degree
be accelerated. It was, therefore, by surprise
that the easY victory was achieved ; and

without meaning to impute, even to Sir
CHARLES WOOD, a manoeuvre so exceed-
ingly discreditable as the adoption of such
a mode of getting rid of a formidable opposition
on any important topic, we must express our re-
gret that such a question should have been thus
disposed of, and that so very powerful an illustra-
tion should have been afforded of " the shame-
ful apathy and indifference of Great Britain to
the concerns of India," and also of the evil re-
sults of hasty legislation at the fag end of a ses-
sion.

What can the natives of India think of the
course adopted towards them by the Government
and the Parliament of the United Kingdom ?
They find their complaints, couched in the most
moderate and temperate language, totally disre-
garded—their humble, application that an oppor-
tunity might be afforded of substantiating the
facts they had put forward, contemptuously re-
jected. They see a reckless determination to per-
petrate a monstrous job, at their expense, as
recklessly carried into practical operation, that
notwithstanding the pendency of inquiries before
Committees of both Houses of Parliament, a
crude and ill-digested measure pressed forward.
Introduced only in the month of June, it was
permitted to supersede more urgent propositions.
Legal reforms, ecclesiastical court reforms—the
amelioration of the landlord and tenant code in
Ireland--of the Savings' Banks laws in the
United Kingdom—sanitary measures. Every-
thing, in fact, requiring dispatch is postponed ;
while that alone in which delay would. be benefi-
cial, was pressed at railroad speed through both
Houses. On other subjects nothing but procrastina-
tion was perceptible ; and that although they had
many mouths' priority over the only matter on
which temporary legislation was desirable. On
that an abdication of its functions by the heredi-
tary branch of the Legislature, because " not one-
fifth of their Lordships could, or would, be induced
to assemble in the month of August, on even the
most important question of the Session." An
unconditional acceptance of the bill, although five
others which had received far greater considera-
tion were postponed to another Session, to suit
the convenience of the pleasure-seeking nobility,
who could not, or would not, attend at such a
season. "An unconditional acceptance," we
said—would that it had been so. Its only bene-
ficial feature—the only redeeming point that
might have contented the sufferers—was expunged
without a division ; and when the matter was
returned to the other House, we find that, not-
withstanding the violation of its privileges, the
amendment is accepted. And why ? Because the
House sits at an unusual hour, and no sufficient
intimation of the change is given to the few who
remain in town. And also, as Sir JOHN PAKING-
TON acknowledges, that the popular Representatives
emulate the insouceance of their titled brethren,
or, to use his own words, " because, and only
because, at this period of the session, and looking
to the attendance of Members, no division on
such a subject could now be considered as a test
of the opinion of the House of Commons !" Is
this the mode by which we hope to gain the affec-
tionate respect, to cement the allegiance of Hindoo
subjects of Queen VICTORIA ? Can legislation
thus obtained be considered in any degree satis-
factory or permanent ? Certainly not. The
seeds have been sown that must produce an
abundant crop of future agitation—of agitation
that will never be relaxed until some degree of
justice be rendered to the much-aggrieved inhabi-
tants of India..

The great majority of our readers will have
read, we doubt not, with the greatest pleasure, in
our paper of Saturday, the result of the appeal
in the Braintree case to the House of Lords.
Stript of all legal phraseology, the judgment of
the House of Lords is, that a minority in a vestry
meeting cannot lay a Church Rate. It is a deci-
sion worthy of the House, which, no Radical Re-
former even can deny, has so often proved itself
conservative of our legal liberties. Had the
Lords decided as carefully upon the merits of the
India Bill as they did upon those of the Brain-
tree case, we should not have had to revive, as
we did the other day, the question, " What is the
use of the House of Lords ?" Into this case Lord
Tntno entered most fully and minutely, even
showed his judgment to the absent Lord BROUGHAM,
and the result was a verdict which the vast ma-
jority of Englishmen will applaud, which the
House itself can be proud to record on its jour-
nals, and which, if the opposite party are not
infatuated, will be the termination of this 15
years' litigation.
The Braintree case is one of no ordinary im-
portance. It was instituted not merely to enforce
a claim on Dissenters, which, as Lord STANLEY,
in his able and candid letter, shows, is now consi-
dered odious and unjust by all fair-minded Church-
men, as well as it is by Dissenters themselves.
The distinguishing feature of this case is, that it
was raised to try the question, whether a
minority of a parish meeting could lay a
church-rate, if the majority refused to do
so ; a question which appears more like a
joke than a serious legal difficulty to Englishmen
unlearned in the law. Its being made, however,
a grave legal question, and one or two abortive
attempts, as at Bradford in Yorkshire, having
been made to collect rates laid by a minority,
sober men have been waiting with a kind of half-
credulous curiosity to know whether law was
really in such absurd conflict with common sense
and the universal habits of the country. It is so
engrained into an Englishman's notions of all
matters in which we meet, discuss, and vote, that
a majority shall decide, and a minority yield with
the best grace it can, that the opposite idea is
quite a shock to all his notions of law and order.
His voluntary societies of every kind, his parish
meetings, his municipal proceedings, his elections
for Parliament, the very Houses of Legislature
themselves, all act upon one and the same prin-
ciple ; and, let it be observed, the circumstance
that enables our country to carry out so admir-
ably the principles of constitutional government,
is, that in England minorities know their duty.
On the Continent they do not. They cannot there
be content to work their way to a majority by
discussion, and fair political means ; what they
cannot carry by votes they must carry by violence
or fraud. An Englishman beaten, on the con-
trary, folds his arms, thinks his time will come,
and prepares resolutely for another contest of
votes. Nothing could do us more injury than to
make any inroad on this grand essential to public
good fellowship. It seems characteristic of our
race, having been noticed with interest and ap-
probation by intelligent foreigners in America as
well as in this country. They have been
astonished to see parties so excited before an elec-
tion for an M.P. or a President, yet as quiet as
ever when the poll or the Ballot-box had an-
nounced the result. It is all due to minorities
knowing their part. Now, the BRAINTREE case
was, in the judgment of the community generally,
an attempt to annihilate the very principle of all
our public action, and to give to a minority the
rights of the majority. An attempt almost revo-
lutionary in its nature, to compass by force of
legal chicanery what could not be attained by fair
and manly means ; and very small indeed, we
suspect, is the party in the Church of England,
almost limited perhaps to officials themselves, who
do not thoroughly concur in the judgment just
given by the Lords. It is, then, as upholding in
its integrity the grand English principle of govern-
ing by real majorities that we rejoice in this consti-
tutional decision, and the House of Lords, as a
Court of Appeal, has added to the respect in which
on that ground it is justly held by all who prize
oauctr
omf otshe Sessiontvalu will t
valuable constitutional
more in itsutionalprin favourciples.. No
It appears, from the statement of Dr.
2'7), that the case
Lto1:81-itiI1NeGTC00N' quurtoofteAdrchbyes Lord STANLEY
tn(ptahgee
Judicial Committee of InParyivyyectoubnecil.takewnhebthacekr
the zeal of the litigants will carry them thus far
we do not as yet know.
It will be for mere an-
noyance
ded,
in h
as the question is quite de-
of all besides, by the present
it fe they
niin do,ds
o
and Lord STANLEY
judgment;
will be certain now
to early next year the plan which he all but car-
ried this. When the general policy of upright