The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-11 00:00:00

" IMPERIAL EDICT

" On the 9th day of the 9th moon of the 20th year of
Taoukwang, (Oct. 4, 1840), the Governor of Canton
opened the following despatch from the Privy Council,—
" On the 22d day of the Bth moon (Sept. 17), the fol.
Cowing Imperial Edict was received:—
" Lately, because the English barbarians came to
Teensin, and presented a document of complaint ; and I,
perceiving that its style was respectful and obedient,
t raving, with the utmost degree of earnestness, for the
bestowal of Imperial favour and kindness, it 7A4 rilht for
me to order Keshen to prepare, with the greatest attention
and care, a perspicuous edict, forbidding the English to
cause any disturbance or confusion, but to allow them to
go to Canton, and there to knock heads and state their
complaints, and if really any just causes of complaint ap.
pearcd, the said great Minister should certainly in their
behalf make and transmit a report, and beg for the Impe-
rial favour.

" It is authenticated that formerly Keshen reported,
saying that the said barbarians heard and received the Im-
perial instructions and commands.
" Now the whole of the English squadron have already
moved their helms, and returned to the southward, after
having made a report, saying that along the whole coast
hostilities should cease on both sides, and that they dared
not produce causes of disturbance ; but if they were at-
tacked, then their power and strength would make it diffi-
cult for them to restrain from returning the blow ; and
one-half of the Tinghae troops also may be first with-
drawn.'

" The said barbarians, for their former disobedient and
disorderly conduct, which, although it has been caused by
excitement, is deserving of that indignation which sets
the hair on end, and raises the cap from the head—ought
to have been immediately exterminated had they conti-
nued it

" At present, Treenchou, in Fuhkeen, Taepoo, in Che-
kcang, Paoushan and Sungming in Keangsoe, all seaport
towtts, have successively, with their thundering cannon, at-
tacked the barbarian ships, and crushed their daring spirit ;
and the said foreigners having already assented, or ex-
pressed their desire, to come and represent their complaints
and beg for imperial favour certainly the causes of what
has passed must be searched to the bottom.
" To-day I have directed Keshen to assume the rank
and power of an imperial envoy, and t.) travel post-haste to
Canton, to inquire into and manage the circumstances of
the business; after his arrival there, he must certainly
manage and settle everything securely.
" Yet I am apprehensive that the Governors and Lieut.-
Governors of the maritive provinces may be ignorant of
the present state of circumstances. 1, therefore, espe-
cially order E Lepoo, &c., to send five a hundred leading
proclamation that all may accordingly obey, and that it
may be seen at all important passes ; and that they may
acknowledge the same in fending and warding off If one or
more sails of those barbarians' ships are anchored at sea,
it is not necessary to open fire upon them ; but it is of im-
portance to keep a strict guard, and not to be the first to
attack ; but the severest and most secret arrangements must
be established ; there must not be the least appearance of
disorder or remissness ; this is of the utmost importance.
" I order that to-day Keshen's original document, with
the English barbarian's rough draft (tekaou, not a respect.
ful term) with the said barbarian's reply, be copied and
sent to E Lepoo to be by him examined, and let these or-
ders be forwarded at the rate of 500 a day, that all may
know them."

Here the Chinese arrogance is more offensive than
ever.. The EMPEROR makes the performance of
the Ko-Tou, or nine prostrations before the

yellow screen, the preliminary step on the part of
the English to any negotiation. The very Com-
missioners who are to examine their claims are
commanded to treat them as a race of barbarian
tributaries, not as conquerers, and to regard
their resistance to the former Imperial edicts
relative -to the opium trade, as deserving
of death. It is not imperial justice which
they are made to demand, but imperial
clemency which they are represented as
having most humbly implored. The EM-
PEROR also states that Admiral ELLIOT
had consented to withdraw half the Bri-
tish force from the Island of Chusan a
statement which it would be highly derogatory to
the talents and character of the humblest officer
attached to the expedition to suppose contained a
syllable of truth. Still we begin to be rather ap-
prehensive that the expedition has not realized the
hopes which we had a right to expect from it.
But as we hourly await the appearance of the offi-
cial despatches, we shall conclude for the present
with the following extract from a letter from Chu-
san, which contains matter enough for grave con-
sideration on the part of Lord PALNIERSTON, and,
the people of England :

CHI:SAN, SErr. 39.

Here we are, regularly taken in. After coming all this
distance with an ample force to arrange the existing dis-
putes between the British and the Imperial Governments,
e are referred back to the local Government of Canton,
and old Lin, who the Emperor admits has deceived him,
is to be judge of his own cause, and again allowed to
transmit his version of the affair to the Court of Pekin, so
that between Lin and Pin (the former stumbling-
blocks) the references of tho worthy Commissioner
to the Emperor, and those of the Admiral to Lord
Auckland, we bid fair to remain here until orders
from home requiring the abandonment of such ab-
surd half measures shall arrive. The negociations at Can-
ton will, as in every other instance of Chinese diplomacy,
be conducted on their parts with every sort of dissimulation
and evasion. Procrastination is one of their chief cards
_Talleyrand himself would scarcely be a match for either
of the Imperial statesmen, much less our sincere, candid,
straightforward Admiral who we fear will be weathered
upon by his Celestial Majesty. The ruse of getting the
expedition to remove from the vicinity of the coast during
the north-east monsoon is excellent. The cunning
rascals know very well that whilst it continues
C., from October until March, no sailing-
vessels could again return here, so that, except-
ing the steamers, they would remain unmolested
by us in this locality until next summer. You
will have all sorts of accounts home respecting our won..
derful success, but, depend upon it, the payment for the
opium, and the resumption of trade, are as distant as ever,
and should even the bait take of our accepting Lantao for
Chusan, the consequence will be a mere return to the an-
noyances and extortions so long suffered by us from the
local Government of Canton; Lord Palmerston would iu
less than 12 months be obliged to send a less compliant officer
fu thT.lll9Ut h of the Pciho, with orders more stringent than
those which, from the fact of our being so easily jockeyed,
appear to have influenced the Admiral. None of us could
imagine that, after all the expense incurred for obtaining
redress from the Imperial Government, the affair would
end in our being referred to the cause of the dispute (the
local Government of Canton) for satisfaction. All will
laugh at us, and the result, so say those amongst the shore-
going men wha know the Chinese character thoroughly,
will be a vexatious failure : this, when we really had an op-
portunity of obtaining a proper and dignified position, is
most discouraging.

Lisbon papers of the 4th instant have been re-
ceived by express from Falmouth. On the 2d
her Most Faithful Majesty Queen Donna MARIA,
opened in person the ordinary session of the Cortes.
She appeared in excellent health, and was escorted
to the hall of the Cortes by a squadron of the 2d
Lancers and some companies of Municipal Guards.
The senators in attendance were few in number
—not more than two-thirds of those required
to constitute a Legislative Assembly having
arrived in the capital. The QUEEN was warmly
reeted, and having taken her seat on the Throne,
read in a clear and audible voice the following
speech :
" Gentlemen,—During the brief interval that has elapsed
since the closing of the last extraordinary session and this
day, on which you are again called together by the funda-
m-ntal law of the monarchy, an unexpected and most
serious political occurrence has placed my Government in
a situation to require more than ever the convocation of
the national representatives, in whose patriotism and wis-
dom both I and they fully confide.
" It is painful to me to have to announce to you that the
Government of her Catholic Majesty has, in reference to
the question of the navigation of the Douro, presented an
unjust demand, to which it was not possible for me to ac-
cede, and which has given ground for serious fears of an
intention to break the alliance and friendship which, to
their mutual advantage, have subsisted between the two
nations.

K 1 have found my3elf, therefore, under the necessity of
taking such measures as ciroumatance3 demanded, in order,
in any case that might arise, to maintaiA inviolate tho COP*

stitution of the state, and preserve the dignity of 141
Crown and national independence, in the hope that we.
may succeed hi removing unjust suspicions, and put an end
to a misunderstanding which, without foundation, has been
created.
" In the face of such an occurrensa. my Government
could not but communicate, as it eff‘ctively did, to the
Government of her Britannic Majesty the state of this
affair, in order to claim, whenever it might be neces-
sary, the fulfilment of the treaties of alliance between
the two Crowns. And, in order to prove the fair-
ness of our proceedings. my Government subsequently
declared that it would accept the mediation of her
Britannic Majesty, if the Spanish Government on its
part would also accept it. I considered it, however, indis-
pensable to have recourse at once to the extraordinary,
means which the constitution of the State affords to Go-
vernment, in order to place the country in a state of de-
fence against any foreign aggression. My Ministers will
render you an account of the use which they may make of
them by laying before you a documentary report of the
measures of prevention they have adopted, that the whole
may be submitted to ycur approbation.
" The Lfferts which this occurrence has rendered in-
dispensable have unfortunately impeded the definite orga-
nization of our financial system, which demands so much
the attention of the Cortes, and which I therefore re-
commend still more earnestly to your utmost sol.citude.
" It is proper, too, that the Chambers occupy then.-
selves with the discussion of our commercial relations with
different countries ; and my Government will soon lay be-
fore you the Treaty which has been made with the United
States of America.

" In the interior of the kingdom public order has been
maintained, and the labours necessary for the execution of
the organic laws voted by you in the last session are pro-
ceeding..
. . . . .

" In the ultramarine provinces industry is beginning to
revive. My Government will, at a suitable opportunity,
propose to you such measures as it may deem most exp .
dient for the benefit of that, interesting portion of the mo-
narchy.

" the manifestation of public spirit throughout the
wbo;e „ 1,-;:q been such as was to be expected from
the Portuguese nation, which wilt ever pi‘';;;;:.T the glo-
rious name transmitted to it by our forefathers.
"The session is opened."
It affords us pleasure to learn that notwithstand-
ing the base efforts of a popular faction in Portu-
gal to create in the hearts of the Portuguese a feel-
ing of hatred and distrust of this country, when
the repose of the Peninsula was threatened it was to
England that the Portuguese Government first
looked for a friendly mediator. That the Spai:ish

Govern.nent, after the proofs it has had of the dis-
interested friendship of Great Britain, should have
offered to leave the question of the navigation of
the Douro to British arbitration, would have oc-
casioned us no surprise whatever. Nothing would
have teetned more natural—more a mere matter of
course. But the case is different when we find that
the first proposal for such arbitration came from
Portugal. But independently of the confidence
which this offer on the part of Portugal proves it
to repose in the good faith of England, it argues a
disposition on the part of the Portuguese Govern-
ment to arrange the navigation of the Douro on a
liberal footing. It is already well known to the
Cabinet of Lisbon that England cannot support
the view which Portugal has taken upon this
question. More than once has it been intimated to
the Portuguese Ministry that the British Cabinet
disapproved of the selfish and illiberal proceedings
of the Cortes, with respect to the Douro naviga-
tion. We may therefore conclude, with a high
degree of probability, that the Portuguese Govern-
ment not only wishes to settle the Douro question
amicably, but that it desires that the final arrange-
ment shall be on as liberal a footing as a commer-
cial country like England shall judge to be mu-
tually beneficial to the commercial and agricultural
interests of Portugal and Spain.
The Portuguese Government has resolved to
perform a tardy act of justice towards the British
officers who served in the Portuguese army from
the French invasion to 1820. Their arrears of
pensions, amounting to 320,0001. sterling, are to
be paid in ten tour-monthly instalments.
The following is the latest shipping intelligence :
Arrived on the Ist instant, the Trinculo, British brig of
war, from Madeira and Gibraltar. The brig Homer, of
Sunderland, J. H. Nixon, master, from .Odessa in 111
days, and Malta in 59, bound to London, laden with wheat,
put in, being very leaky, and short of provisions, is yet
under quarantine, and will probably, after receiving pra-
tique, be obliged to discharge her cargo. The Iberia steam-
packet, from London and Falmouth, with the mail of the
26• h ult. On the 2d the Tagus steam packet, from Gib-
ralt,ir and Cadiz. A rumour prevailed at the former port
that the British ships, Bellerophon, of the line, Pique and
Castor frigates, and Zebra brig, had (without date) en-
countered a heavy gale of wind off the coast of Syria, the
latter being entirely lost, with three of her crew ; the line
of battle ship was obliged to throw her guns overboard, the
Castor rolled her masts over the side, and the Pique sus-
tained the loss of mainmast and bowsprit. Sailed on the
2d, the Iberia, for Cadiz and Gibraltar.
Foreign ships of war in the Tagus--Trinculo, British;
La Coquette corvette, French ; Brandywine, United
States; and Marie Louise schooner, Belgian.

The Paris Journals of Friday have been re-
ceived, but those of Saturday are still in arrear,
owing to the stormy state of the weather in the
Channel. All the news in these papers will be
found under the head " France" in another part of
The Sun.
The latest arrivals from Madrid are to the Ist
instant. On the 31st, the Duchess of VICTORIA
entered the capital escorted by forty horsemen.
The press., both Ministerial and Opposition was
crying out for a war with Portugal. Six steamers
of 400 horse power were ordered by the Spanish
Government to be built at Passages. The capital
was tranquil. Fives 28! for cash.

COMMON PLEAS.-(THIS DAY.)

This being the first day of Term, the Lord Chief Jus-
tice, with Justices Bosanquet, Maule, and Erskine came
into Court at half-past one o'clock.

LAYMAN V. GOWER.

Mr. Sergeant TALFOURD applied for a rule nisi to set
aside the award of the referee in this case, which was an
action of trover. A verdict was taken in Michaelmas last
Term, by consent of the plaintiff, damages 50/., subject
to a reference ; the referee to determine on all matters
of difference between the parties. The referee, how.
ever, decided only on the cause of action, and re-
duced the damages to 18/ , leaving untouched the other
matters referred. The defendant had a set off in
the amount of 101. against the plaintiff's claim, which
set off did not appear on the award to have been taker,
into consideration by the arbitrator.
The Count' inferred from the award that the arbitrator
judged the property in trovcr to be the property of the
piaintiff, and as the set off was for hire of the cart in ques.
tion, he must be supposed to have decided that the plain-
tiff could not be indebted for the hire of his own property.
Rule refused.