The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-08 00:00:00

CIA Amt.

LONDON:
THURSDAY, APRIL S. 1841.

TERMINATION
OF THE WAR WITH

CHINA.

The Paris Evening papers of Tuesday re-
ceive.-1 by express, bring the highly important
news of the settlement of our long protracted
dispute China. The following telegraphic
despatches e..7e from the columns of the Mes-
sager, the evening official organ of the French
overnment I**

TELEGRAPHIC. DESPATCHES :-
44 MARSEILLES, APRIL 4.
ALEXANIIRIA, MARCH 25.
" THE CONSUL OF FRANCE TO THE MINISTER FOR

FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

" Accounts from Bombay announce, that, after
some hostilities, a preliminary arrangoment was
concluded at Macao, on the 20th of Janu:l3T,be-
tween Captain Elliot and the Chinese Ple."1130-
tentiaries, and that the commercial relations
were re-established."

" THE CONSUL OF FRANCE TO THE MINISTER FOR

FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

" MARSEILLES, APRIL 4.
" MALTA, MARCH 30.

" The affairs of China are on the point of being
concluded. An arrangement hastaken place, by
which the Emperor

" L Cedes the island of Hong Kong to Great

Britain.

" 2. Grants an indemnity of 6,000,000 dollars,
payable in six years._

" 3. Establishes the official relations between
the two Governments on the footing of a per-
fect equality.

" The circular of Captain Elliot announcing
these results is dated the 20th ofJar.uary. It has
been brought hither by the Oriental."
We are in hourly expectation of receiving the
de.,patch es and papers, brought by the Oriental,
with the details of the arrangement of our affairs
-with China, Before their arrival it would be
pr:miture to express any decided opinion
respecting our gain or loss by our recent
transactions with the Government of the " Central
Flowery Land." Neither can we determine with-
out these details what is meant by " some hostili-
ties;" but as the arrangement was fixed to take
place at Canton, we conclude that the Canton
;River was the theatre of any collision which has
taken place between the English and Chinese
since the occupation of the Island of Chusan.
The island of Hong Kong, of which a description
is subjoined, is but a poor affair. That Captain
ELLIOT accepted this island, and about a million
and a quarter sterling, payable six years after
date, in exchange for the fine island of Chusan,
and in liquidation of our heavy claims upon the
Chinese Government, would not surprise us, inas-
much as no blunder he could commit would ex-
cite our wonder ; but we should be indeed asto-
nished were such an arrangement to meet with
The approbation of Lord PALMERSTON and the
rest of her MAJESTY'S Ministers. But it
may possibly turn out that these dol-
lars have been inserted in the despatch
for pounds sterlinz, and that instead of six mil-
lions o' we are to receive as many mil-
lions of sovereigns. Such a sum, with the island
Whampoa, and an acknowledged equality with
The Chinese, might remunerate us for the heavy
losses of blood and treasure which we have sus-
tained through the duplicity of the Chinese Go-
vernment. But of the details we at present
know too little to express any decided opinion.
Twelve hours may serve to dissipate our doubts
on the subject.

HONG KONG.
This island is ono of the group of islands at the
mouth of the Canton River. It is of granitic
formation, and the land rises to some consider-
able height in the centre of the island. There are
several good watering-places on the southern
shores, and potatoes and vegetables are
cultivated by the inhabitants to a great ex-
tent. The anchorage is the best between the
Lamina island and Hong Kong, as there is from
ten to twelve fathoms of water. There is also
good anchorage in the Ty-tam Bay for small
Vessels, but the entrance is not good, and there
e some dangerous rocks in the course. The
entrance into the Northern Channel is through
theLy-ee-mun Channel into Hong Kong Bay, and
although several of our merchantmen have
-wintered here, the approach through the Lamina
Channel is very uncertain, as the depth is con-
tinually changing from the great deposit of mud.,
Ships from -Macao pass through the Lan tao
Channel during the Northern Ifotisoon but the

navigation of these straits is exceedingly difficult
and dangerous. Tyfongs, or gales of wind, pre-
vail along the coast at the equinox, and are
very destructive to the native and foreign ship-
ping.
This island is badly chosen as a position;
it is surrounded by small clusters of islands,
and our ships of war will be unable to act amidst
these island groups. Small steamers will
alone be serviceable, but these must be of very
small draught. The cession of this island by the
Chinese Government is according to their usual
cautious policy, as they will be enabled by their
river junks to block up the entrances, and
cut off communication from the outer
waters. The island is ten miles long, and
about five miles broad. The Chinese have two
forts on the coast opposite Hong Kong Bay;
and the small harbour of Cow-too is much fre-
quented by the coasting junks.
An excellent Chart of the Canton River, with
the Entrances and Islands (including Hong
Kong), is published by Mr. WYLD, of Charing-
cross, Geographer to the QUEEN.

Nations, likeindividuals, we apprehend, can-
not successfully attend to more than one thing at
one time. Whenever a nation, consequently, has
ally great object to accomplish, he is not a wise
man—he may be a vain man, a self-conceited
man, a crotchety man—who essays to attract its
attention to many things at the same time. Still
less is he a wise man who admits the importance
of some one paramount object, and yet is per-
petually frittering away and diverting atten-
tion from that to some crotchet o r conceit of his
own. Without meaning to be particularly per-
sonal in the application of these remarks, we
must say that the Liberal or Radical Members
seem to us to act in direct defiance of this princi-
ple, and try all they can to dissipate and divert
attention from that which 'is most essential.
It is not for us to assert that one grievance is
more pressing than another, that the abo-
lition of Church-rates should have the pre-
ference to the abolition of the Corn-laws,
that the revision of the tariff should pre-
cede both, or that the extension of the

suffrage should come first of all; but we do say

that the great mission of the Liberal or Radical
Members is to remove or abolish grievances, and
that they ought to make all their personal
crotchets, plans, and considerations, subservient
to that great public end. Their business is to
study the wants and wishes of the people, and,
disregarding their own views, to endeavour to
give effect to public opinion. However flat-
tering it may be to Messrs. HAWES, EWART,
GROTE, &c., to suppose that they are sent into
Parliament, each man to embody his 'own pet
crotchet into a law, we beg to assure them that
such is not the case, and as popular representa-
tives they are bound to do the work of the popu-
lar party,' not their own. If it be otherwise,
what better off are the people than when they
had a boroughmongering Parliament, and when
Gentlemen, because they bought their seats,
avowed that their time, their talents, and their
votes were at their own irresponsible disposal ?
The only difference will be, that under the
old system the man representing his pro-
perty had a common interest with other men
of property, and was not likely to injure them ?
while under the new system, if the representa-
tive disregards the popular voice, he will chase
after his own visions, which may be of serious
mischief to every body but himself.
On these principles, we ask Mr. EWART where
are the great number of petitions requiring the
appointment of a Minister of Public Instruction,
with which he would have diverted public atten-
tion if he could from all other things, the night
before last? Did the public demand it, or was it
Mr. EwAues own peculiar nostrum? We ask
Mr. HAWES, too, when has the public voice
cried so loud for his Medical Reform that it must,
whether or not, be thrust on the public notice ?
When such things are mooted in Parliament, the
public are obliged to attend to them, otherwise
we should be soon overwhelmed with noxious
restrictions. But though the medical profession
may be far from theoretically perfect, it answers
all time purposes of society tolerably well, and
those who most complain of it are men who,
from some circumstances or other, have little or
no practice. We must ask Mr. GROTE also,
where are the many petitions calling for a diffe-
rent appropriation of the New South Wales Land
Fund, that he should make that the object of a
repeated motion in Parliament ? Some little

1
clique of jobbers in the City, anxious to profit by
what is now called the bounty on emigra-
tion, may be deeply interested in that lane fund,
but for the public here, for whose especial bene-
' fit the Parliament legislates, it is of the smallest
' conceivable importance.
We make these general remarks because we
' frequently see the Parliament and the Ministers
reproached with not redressing the grievances of
the people, which is unjust as long as their at-
tention is continually occupied by new schemes,
projects, ansl Contrivances brought before them
by the popular' representatives. LUTHER did
not accomplish his great reform by discursive
dissertations on all the sCjences ; Mr. O'CON-
NELL did not effect Catholic Emancipation by
entertaining his countrymen with discourses on
improving the Liffey, or providing for the poor;
and in like manner the public grievances never
will be redressed, be they Church-rates, Corn-
laws limited suffrage, or any other thing, as long
as our representatives imagine they may indulge
their legislative fancies with schemes for pro-
moting edical Reform, for establishing a Mi-
nister of Public Instruction, or for giving addi-
tional wealth to land jobbers in New South Wales.
As for Mr. EWART'S motion, it appears to us
noting better than a sorry imitation of the cus-
toms of other countries, a part only of which Mr.
EWART se,'S and comprehends. In England the
greater part of the education of the people is
conducted by privNe hands, as a private specu-
lation. Few or none of our endowed and public
schools, and none of our prvate schools, are un-
der the control of the State. Schoolmasters
are not licensed, nor appointed by any council
or board; they engage in this work as a- matter
of trade. With us education has hitherto forn;:d
no part of the duty of the State. It has left the
people to teach themselves. As the State cannot
possibly know what sort of education will
be useful to individuals, or suitable to their cir-
cumstances, the State acts only in accordance
with the principles of freedom and common
sense when it contents itself with protecting and
enforcing the right of individuals, and leaves
them to learn what is useful.
This may be, in Mr. EWART'S opinion, and the
opinion of some other gentlemen, a bad system,
but we cannot adopt their conclusion. Looking
at the great results, seeing the cm
po-
sition Britain has attainedin Europe,om asndng
eeingthe
talents and victories of her naval and military offi-
cers, and the intrepidity of her people, seeing
the skill of her workmen, the superiority of her
literature, the clearness of her practical philoso-
phy, and her equality nearly to other nations in
most of the fine arts; looking at the results of
this system in the great renown of the nation, we
cannot agree with those who decry it.
In France and Prussia the whole of the educa-
tion of the people is under the direction or con-
trol of the State. No schoolmaster must teach
without a license. No gentleman or lady take
boarders, without the sanction of the public au-
thorities. Every high school in France is con-
nected with the University of Paris; or, in Prus-
sia, depends immediately on the Council of State,
or City Authorities, which are under the General
Government; as Parochial Schools are regulated
by Parochial Authorities, which depend on the
Provincial Governments. Their system may be
better than ours; but, looking at the enterprise,
mental independence, and success of the different
nations, we do not think it is. But be that as it
may, a Minister of Public Instruction may be
very suitable to the general educational institu-
tions of France and Prussia, which are all de-
pendent on the State, and very unsuitable to our
educational institutions, which are of the nature
of private speculation.
The returns of the Minister in France and
Prussia would comprise every scholar in the
kingdom, but the returns of such a Minister in
England could not include the pupils of private
schools. Those who keep such establishments
would refuse to make returns,
infringement
they
liberty. would
resent the demand as
As compared with the annumber of scholars in
France and Prussia, such returns might show a

lamentable deficiency of instruction, and lead I
statisticians into grievous errors. Unless our
whole system is to be made conformable to that
of Prussia and France—and it would be disgrace-
ful, after heading them so far, to return into
their wake; after, in fact, surpassing them, to
become their pupils—a Minister of Public In-
truction is wholly uncalled for. He would
cause expense, and create confusion. Mr.
EWART'S scheme, for the sake of which he di-
verts public attention from more important mat-
ters, would saddle the country with an additional
public officer who would be to a large part of
the community a nuisance.

A despot might by his power inflict such an in-
stitution on a free people ; it is unseemly for a
popular representative to attempt it. Apart from
the fact that the great mission of Liberal Mem-
bers is to procure the redress of those grievances
of which the people complain, not plan new
laws, and new restrictions, Mr. EwART de-
serves the public disapprobation for propounding
a scheme essentially coolish.

The account which appears in another part of
The Sun of a meeting of the electors of Lancas-
ter, is for us a happy augury of the final and
speedy success of the cause which we have
much at heart, The electors of Lancaster have
come to a resolution to promote the return to
Parliament of none but Members pledged to the
immediate abolition of the. Corn and Provision-
laws. In that neighbourhood, as in other places,
the farmers are beginning to perceive that they
are not benefited by a law which impoverishes
their best customers. At the Lancaster meeting—
a glorious meeting, as it is properly called by our
Correspondent--the greatest enthusiasm prevail=
ed, particularly when it was addressed by Mr.HEy -
WORTH, the President of the Total Abstinence
Society, who has taken up the cause of the
abolition of the Corn-laws as a great moral
and religious question. Such men's motives
are above all suspicion, and such are the men
we like to have for auxiliaries. Their convictions
are fervent, and they penetrate the minds of
others. The art of producing conviction seems
little studied, but the main secret consists in
being first convinced oneself. Mr. HEYWORTH,
the Rev. Mr. HAWSES, Mr. PRENTICE, Mr.
COBDEN, and Mr. BROOKE, are all thoroughly con-
vinced themselves, and they make a powerful
impression wikerever and whenever they speak.
The enthusiasts in the cause are daily increasing,
and we shall, ere long, have as many preachers
against the Corn-laws, should they not be re,
pealed, as there are ministers of religion.
We rejoice very much at the progress of free
trade principles which our friends now recog-
nise, and our opponents cannot deny. We see
with much satisfaction, too, that the Anti-Corn-

law men are all rallying around the great prin-
ciple of total repeal, which we have long steadily,
advocated, even in opposition to some of our
most valued and most honoured supporters. When,
the principles of free trade may be embodied into
law, when precisely the Legislature may give
a technical form and its technical sanction to the
growing public opinion in favour of the abolition
of the Provision and Corn-laws, we cannot tell ;
but we are convinced that the principles of free
trade have now been effectually sown in the pith-
lic mind, and they will in due time bear their
proper fruit. Whether it be this session or the
next. the Legislature must yield to reason and
justice, and the sooner it yields the better for
its credit, and the safer for its authority.

The Madrid papers received are of the BOth
ult. The Minister of Justice, Senor BEEERA,
was reported to have resigned rather than coun-
tenance the appointment of a single Regent.
The Chambers had not met for two days. No-
thing was doing. The Five per Cents. 251 for
cash, and 263. for 60 days.

The French Evening Papers of Tuesday bring
the result of the debate in the Chamber of De-
puties upon MM. PAGES and MAuGurres Mo-
tion, fur excluding public functionaries from
that assemblage of sage legislators. For the
debate itself, in which the orators on both sides
infused as much personality and as little sober
reasoning as possible, we cannot make room in
our columns. 'Personalities, however stinging,
lose much of their raciness when transplanted to
countries in which the N ituperators and the vitu-
perated are equally unknown. Moreover, it is

no unusual thing for legislators, both in France
and elsewhere. to be offensively-personal without
being witty; to indulge in sarcasms without
point; and to apply epithets without any thina
like a clear impression of their appropriateness.
If we take this as a general rule the debate in
the French Chamber of Deputies, on Monday
and Tuesday, forms no exception to it. The
only really clever speech made against the mo-
tion was delivered by Colonel LIADIERES, one of
the KING'S aides-de-camp. This 'gentleman
entered the arena of politics—as a genuine Irish-
man, before the days of Father MATTHEW, would
have entered the pugnacious precincts of Donny-
brook Fair—determined to have a shindy with
the first person he met with, whether friend or
enemy. M. LIADIERES laid about him
lustily, attacking indiscriminately those who sup-
ported and those who opposed the Fortifications
Bill, with several other matters equally foreign
to the question before the Chamber. He was
happiest in his attack upon the lawyers, whom
he tomahawked without mercy. On a division,
at which 373 votes were given, the motion. was
only lost by a majority of 203 against 170, being
a relative majority of 33, and an absolute majo-
rity ofonly 16 votes. With so trifling h majority
upon such a question, it may be doubted whether
the Ministers can get on without having recourse
to a dissolution.

The news from China had no marked effect
upon the funds. The Three per Cents. were
done at 78f. (30c.

The Duke of Nemours, on his departuje for Africa the day
before yesterday, was accompanied by his aide-de-camp,
General Boyer, his orderly officer M. Borel de Bretizel, an?.
by Count Berthrer and M. de Larne, orderly officer of the King.
A letter from Constantinople, of the 17th of March, says that
the Porte has laid before the Ambassadors of the Four
Powers. the answer which it is to make to the demands of Me-
hemet Ali. The conferences are held at Lord Ponsonby's.
It seems that these demands will be acceded to.—Le Con-
•fitutionnel.

~- have the following letter from Toulon, of Ist April :
~"' .i.tdron had been ordered to sea yesterday the ships
" if the sti.
• ' non in a few days much damaged. We have
would return t... "-miff. gales from the north-west, and the
had in the night sti •n-day;
accordingly the squadron re-
weather is still very bad . The following is the list of the
mains at anchor in the road. 'his inorning, but will not
ships which were to have sailed L.
leave the port till the wind has abated:—
The Ocean, Vice-Admiral Hugon ; the Sou
Admiral Casy ; the Suffron, the Scipion, the Infer.
Santi Petre, all of the line.
The Medea and Venus frigates.

-Nraine, Rear-
;hlo, and

It was by a telegraphic despatch that the squadron received
the order to put to sea.
We hear that the Montebello, Neptune, Hercule, and Ville
de Marseille, of the line, was to wait in the roads for further
orders.

The Veloce steamer, is, we hear, to be attached to Admiral
Hugon's squadron.

The Caimeleon s• earner is engaged in conveying the sol-
diers of the 56th regiment of the line from Port Vendres to
Roras, where the Trident and Marengo are at anchor.
We learn this moment a piece of news of importance. We
are to have in future two mails som Africa every week instead
of one. Of course, there will be the same number from
Toulon to Africa.—Le Commerce.