The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-12 00:00:00

MORNIN G EDITION

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS•

FROM TRH DAILY PAPERS OF SATURDAY.
_ __ ( From the Times. )

Although, if the ostensible and constructive ad-
vantages of Captain Elliot's heads of agreement with
the Chinese do not turn out to have been seriously com-
promised in the subsequent arrangement of detzilc, some
of those advantages are undoubtedly entitled to our fa-
vourable consideration, we are very tar indeed from attach-
ing the importance to them which seems to be so absurdly
magnified by the Ministerial journals. According to the
incontinent boastings of the Downing-street press, the
Chinese dispute has been brought to a triumphant, ho-
nourable, and satisfactory adjustment. For their own
gloomy and discouraging anticipations, warranted
by former advices, they have now the acuteness to
discover that there was no oundation whatever. The
whole course of Captain Elliott's management has been
characterized, it seems, by progressive prosperity, issuing
in final success. Now, whether the impudence or the stu-
pidity of these pretensions be the more conspicuous, it
may be somewhat difficult to say. Certain it is that the
reflecting portion of the community, being thereby led
to examine the precise nature and amount of the al-
leged success of this Celestial ente-prise, cannot fail te
be struck with the practical insignificance and indefi-
niteness which appear, more or leas, to mark the entire
upshot. Before proceeding, however, to offer a Lew ob-
servations upon this subject, we cannot refrain Iron no-
ticing the burlesque magniloquence indulged in by Captain
Elliot. From the style of the circulars issued by that self-
complacent personage, who occupies a sort of hybrid posi-
tion between a mercantile and a political Consul, it is plain
that his experience in Oriental diplomacy has imparted to
his proclamations a considerable smack of celestielism. As
specimens of pompous bathos, they almost trans-
cend the renowned compositions of the sublime Ke-
S►ren, or the ill-appreciated Lin. Laying aside
the humble title of " the Br'tish Superintendent at
Canton," the gallant functionary has suddenly
sprung to the alteude of ‘• her M,jeaty'e Plenile ten-
tiary ;" and, as well beseema so high an officer, he largely
magnifies his calling, by an inflatA phraseology which
even the courtiers of Pekin must ever despair to emulate.
But what, after all, has the worthy Plenipotentiary
achieved for us? To understand the fuil value of the sti-
pulations with which he has contented him-el on behalf of
Great Bri ain, it is necessary to keep in mind the precise
grievances he was called upon to redress. N,,t to mention
the loss of Mr. Moss's ears, and the infringement of Mr.
Stanton's liberty ( in reference to which the Globe tells us that
"the cause of the war was the violent spoliation and coer-
cion of British subjects"), we must not forget that our
countrymen hod been arbitrarily defrauded to the tune of
about $10,000,000; that many of them had been ion
pritoned for six weeks, and threa'ened with starvation;
that the Plenipotentiary himself had also been pot into
limbo, and menaced with "the last degree of sew-it), ;"
that the coeficated property was surrendered by Cap-
tain Eliiot on a solemn pledge that the sufferers should
be indemnified, with intertst, by the English Go-
.

vernment ; that British voisels had incurred a heavy

demurrage at Whampoa ; that at Macao, whither
the British traders ha l retired, the water springs
had been poiaoned ; aid, finally, that the crew and pis-
. aengers of an unarmed passageaboat had been attacked by
certain Mandarins and inhumanly butchered. To effect a
salutary reparation for these enormities, an expensive exp.
dition was despatched and plaead at the gallant plenipo's
disposal. During seven entire months did that expedition
attend his }recut beck. At length, having reason to sus-
pect that the force of re flaction and seleinterest, combined
with a small expenditure of powder and shot, might bring
his refractory opponents to a sound mind, a warlike
,demonstration ass seriously set about, and the redoubtable
Ke- Shen forthwith proclaimed, in the Captain's own
style, that " the Engiish barbarians were now obe-
dient re' order=," and teat he should therefore
" solicit for them the lalpeeal favour." On the occur.
ranee of this fateical solemnity. her Majesty's Plenipoten-
tary prescribed cis terms cf peace—the terms, mind.
which profess to redfess all the foregoing catalogue of
wrongs and with which the Whig prints are now in ab-
solute ecatacy. Of those terms generally, we have al-
ready given an epe i on, which we ace no occasion to
rnodif; ; but that they fail, in various respects, to rreet
the exigencies of the ease, must be admitted, we thiek,
by every impartial person competent to understand
teem. Fer example, the nominal cession of the
island of Hong. Kong to the British Crown, though
apparently premising considerable advantages to our
mercanti'e interests, bas been clogged with con-
ditiens which la practice may substantially defeat
there. As the saute imposts are to be exacted by the
Clerics° et that island, as have bere'ofore been imposed at
Creates, ilia disadvanele of British traders leaving a large
city whee a peafiiable traffic has been carried on for cen-
Wrier, to ;few up their residence in an insulated and un-
frequented locality, aiecears to be counterealanced by no-
thing but the protection anticipated from a military sta-
tion, which, if any faith can .4e put in the efficiency of
Captain Eilict's treaties, might be equally available, whe-
ther our cotritrymen should prefer to I 'side in theone place
or in the other. Not more satisfactory, as 7ve stated yester-
day, are the terms cf the pecuniary indemeification, for the
payment of which, to the full value of the property
confiscated, the precipitate Plenipotentiary had long ago
put in pawn the credit of her Majesty's Government.
'The sum which Captain Elliot has compounded for, is, as
we showed in a former article, wholly disproportionate to
the lasses sustained. But, apart altogether from this un-
justifiable inadequacy, the question as to the mode in
which the Chinese may think fit to raise the so/atium, still
remains to be solved. For any thing that Captain Elliot
rims done, his wily circumventors may levy the stipulated
instalments in the shape of an augmented tariff upon bar-
barian commerce. " A tact or two on tea (says the
Canton Press) will soon raise the required sum." And
in that case the whole burden will devolve upon English
car sumers. On the other hand, if an extra import duty be
imposed, the smart will fall upon ourselves in the de-
creased consumption and profits of the articles which we
send to their markets. In any event, the probability is,
.that the whole amount of this miserable com:,romise will
Foe dragged in some form or another from British purses.
Cs the guarantees exacted from the Chinese for their
future good conduct, and even fur the fulfilment of their
extorted engagements• Captain Elliot maintains a prudent
diplomatic reserve. To say that no better terms could
be obtained under the circumstances, is just to say that
the crafty Orientals have beat us. In addition to all
this, the plausible recourse which our defrauded country-
men wilt have upon our impoverished Home Exchequer,
will perhaps give the Government more annoyance than
they choose at present to anticipate. For our own part,
we think we can discern certain lingering elements of die-
earbance in this Chinese bushes!, which it may require
some time and treuble to extinguish.
The Morning Post of Saturday contains a leading article
on the subject of Free Trade, in the course of which our
Contemporary says :—" All we want is such amount of
protection as may secure a decided preference to our borne
industry, it is not our wish both to exclude practical com-
petition on the part of fareigners, and the possibility of all
such competition, no matter how dear or how inferior
the products of our own country may be. We should ra-
ther have the possibility of competition under certain cir-
cumstances, as to form a check upon extortion, and a spur
to improvement."
The Morning Chronicle, alluding to our late military
operations in Canada and the East, remarks as follows :
•" It must tad manifest to the nations that while England
lass the :strongest interest in preseering the peace of the
world, the Immense resources which she can command
must make hee a formidable enemy. This consideration
must check in the bud many ambitious designs. It is not
always by determiniree obstinately on preserving peace at
whatever cost, that peace, for a continuance, can be mast
effectually secured. In this respect our late operations
have been peaceful in their tendency."
The Morning Advertiser thus refers to the recent in-
telligence from-China The possession of Hong Korg
is in itself an object of great importance : but yet greater
will be the establishment of ' direct official relations be-
tween the countries on an equal f twinge" The latter,
however, is a point which the Chinese, with their wonted
duplicity, may endeavour to evade. Wi h all these earl-
tingcncies, hewever. the arrangement is such as to afford
much satisfaction ; far, after what has taken place after
elle experience that the negotiators have had of each other,
it, it scarcely to be expeced that the Chinese said again
incur the chastisement r f Britism arms, by endeavouring
to evade the stipulations or to baffle them in details, or
that the British representatives will accede to any condi-
tions which will possibly admit of misconstruction or mis-
take. To this expectancy, however, the Tories cling as
..the last 'tape of justifying their disastrous forebodings."
(From the Globe.)

We cannot feel disappointment that more than a moderate
use I, as not been made of our superiority to the Chinese in the
arts of war. We conceive that our character in Europe would
jirtly have suffered, if we had not shown the spirit of for-
bearance we have shown ; and it is more than doubtful ( what-
ever be the impatience of local commercial intere ts) whether
the policy of striking terror by force may not
go greiitly
too far. We say this much with reference to the complaints of
some Eastern Contemporaries, which our readers wi I find ex-
tracied in this day's publication. It was apprehended by par-
ties well acquainted with China, that the only consequence of
overwhelming warlike demonstrations on their coasts wonld
be a system of passive resistance and retreat to the in-
terior ; and that to leave the Chinese and their Government
no policy but that of despair, would be to throw ourselves
.further than ever from the scope of our efforts. There is,
'beside=, something repugnant to the right feelings of civi-
lized men in avenging a l'outrance provocations on a people
so completely unwarlike ; and the general wish decidedly
has been in this country, thit the dispute should be tenni-
niatesd wiih as frugal a resort as possible to fore ble method:.
'hee considerations ought to moderate the impatience of
such
parties as may imagine the Chinese ought to have been
more trightened, or more extorted from their fears. We have
obtained a very valuable real security for their future good
',behaviour ; and it will depend upon ourselves to keep them in
ay.incl of the lesson we have taught them ; and to make the
best Ilse of our newly-acquired position in behalf of our com-
merce.

(From the Courier.)
With the ample details before them of late occurrences in
China, in to-days Courier, as at length received with the over-
land mail, our readers %sill be well enabled to decide for them-
selves how far we were warranted in those animad-
versions on the conduct of Superintendent Elliot, and
his convention for postponing the final adjustment
.of our differences with China—to the Greek Kalends.
anv other less definite period which the reader's
imagination may suggest—for neither more nor less than a
postponement is it, which, on the necesarily brief enumera-
tion I4f the articles of this famous document, communicated by
the French telegraph, we were not slow, and were indeed
the first to pronounce. A document, which we publish
below, emanating, from the first commercial establishments
of Canton, may be accepted unhesitatingly as the unanimous
expression of the sentiments of all those British residents
•,-• Nho:are best qualified by actual position for the most correct
4':ireciation of passing events, with their bearing on British in-
tere.,,ts, serving also peculiarly to enlighten whatever may appear
tsialae zsinbigttous, and to illustrate what is practically preju-
fro.:iffacts consummated and positive, in this extraordi-
nary tre4y):•oduct of the Elliot school of diplomacy. As was
expecjea, the mercantile community felt justly out-
by. notorious inadequacy of the six millions
s ' stipulat...d under the title of indemnity for
.0-mlg Chinese spolb.tions on British property to the
..4teut.",ef twice that amount, and this sacrifice of the eom-

mercial community is the more unpardonable, since Captain '
Elliot should have known, even if. as l•eretofore en all other
subjects, left uninformed and uninstructed from superior author-
ity, that the home Treat-ury was not only unequal to sustain any
additional burden in the shape of satisfaction for the large balance
accruing on opium account, but was positively in default
of means to provide for the current expenditure of the
country, ordinary and extraordinary, independent of such
supplementary charge. We repeat that he could not be
unaware of this deplorable condition of fiscal affairs at
home, unless we are to presume him so unread in the
occurrences of the day and the proceedings of Parliament, as
to be unfit for the discharge even of the mere clerical functions
of his agency. We observe, indeed, that he is so complacently un-
conscious of his own ignorance, and so self-satisfied of his own
power to wield, if not to create, the re.ources of the Trea-
sury, that, in a circular to the merchants at Macao, issued
doubtless under the influence of some compunctious misgivings
for hasty and improvident action, and by way of conciliatory
propitiation of discontent openly manifested, he " considers it
incumbent upon himself to lose no time in assuring the com-
mercial community that he will use his best efforts with her
Majesty's Government to secure an early and entire advance
of their claims for the indemnity."
(From the Standard.)
The news from China brought by the Overland Mail from
India, which arrived in town yesterday, is certainly not of a
character to warrant the exuberant exult at io • of our Ministerial
Contemporaries. It announces, to be sure, the basis of an
immediate settlement of our dispute with China, but
alloys the gratification with which this announcement would
otherwise have been received, by an intimation that " the
details still remain matter of negotiation ! It is of course
impossible for us to know the precise nature of
the instructions under which Admiral Elliot has acted; but
it is perfectly clear that either he or his employers are
greatly to blame that the terms which his successor has ob-
tained from the Chinese have not been much more favourable
thin they seem likely to be, even should those points
which remain for future discussion be decided in exact ac-
cordance with the sanguine anticipations of the British
" Plenipotentiary." The indecision and feebleness of pur-
pose of Captain Plenipo Elliot, as the India papers
entitle him, appear to have been contagious. Admiral
Elliot caught the inf ction, and although backed by one of the
most powerful expeditions that have ever been despatched on
such an errand. was unable to make up his mind to any de-
cisive step until the military force in the occupation of
Chusan was decimated, to speak moderately, by d•sease,
and his own health so shattered as to make it im-
perative on him to give up his command to the
next officer in rank to himself—not, however, until he had in-
dulged in a bombastic speech about his deep anxiety to " perish
in battle with the enemy !" There had, to be sure. been
some "palaver" about 3,000,000 i. sterling of indemnity, and
the reinstatement of the trade on an equal footing. hut as no
substantial authority appears to have existed for such a proposal,
rod the gallant Admiral's disorder increased in violence,
he was fain to yield his command to other hands before the nego•
ciations could be brought to bear. No sooner had Commodore
•it J. Gordon Bremer assumed the direction of the expedi'ion,
than he determined to bring the Chinese to the point;
and, having satisfied himself of the insincere and shuffling
conduct of the Imperial Commissioner, commenced an
attack upon the Bogue Forts, which produced the al-
mo-t immediate surrender of the enemy, a surrender, in
fact, almost at discretion. It was, of course, no part of the
object of a generous power like England to take advantage of
the miserable weakness of such an opponent, but her re-
presentatives in the matter were bound to see that the
terms they secured were not inferior to those which
had been proposed before any offensive measures were adopted.
After exhibiting their power, however, and receiving the
submission of the Chinese authorities, they were con-
tented to accept a promise of , the cession of the island
and (harbour of Hong Kong to the British Crown, the
removal thither of the trade from Whampoa, and an in-
demnity to the British Government of about a million and a
quarter sterling, to be paid in instalments covering a period of
six years. These are the chief advantages obtained by our
great expenditure of life and treasure in this dtspute—
concessions which, with the most ordinary energy and
management. ought to have been secured before the British ex-
poclition had been a single month at its destination. We
have, to be sure, the proclamation of the great Keshen that
as the " English barbarians had become more obedient to or-
ders, he should solicit for them the imperial favour ;" but look-
ing at the matter throughout, it is clear that her Majesty's
agents have been outwitted, and that the Chinese have for
once, at least, got the better of the " English barbarians."