The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-10 00:00:00

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LONDON:
SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 1841.

tide be that we may send an Ambassador to
reside at the Court of ?ekin, we at once pro-

nounce it of the utmost importance. So inter.

preted, it would almost reconcile us to the terms

of the Convention, as they are understood in
England. But, falling short of that, the article
is of little value indeed. The last article, which
opens the trade with Canton in ten days after the
Chinese New Year, is as advantageous to the
Chinese themselves as to us; consequently there
is little in it for which we should be exclusively
grateful.

Such is our view of the importance of the ac-
counts as yet received from China. British va-
lour was finely displayed in the capture of the
forts, and had it been seconded by British saga-
city in the person of the Superintendent, the
results would have been very different from
what they are now represented to be. From
first to last
we have witnessed nothing but
a consecutive series of blunders on the part of
the ill-starred Superintendent. This moment
all valour, the next all timidity; one day all
promptitude and decision, the next all hesitation,
doubt, and uncertainty—such has been the in-
glorious career of Captain CHARLES ELLIOT'S
policy in China. But it may be that better
news await us. If so, we shall have pleasure in
placing it before the country in the light most
advantageous to the character of Captain ELLIOT.
Sim the

ce above was written the India mails
have arrived in London, and we have received
our -usual files of Bombay and Calcutta Papers.
The, 4Qovarnor of Bombay, Sir JAMES CARNAC,
4E.ssSl'illtWllt to return to England for the benefit of
bis=health, which has been for some time rapidly
deckuing. Commodore Sir CLIARLES NAPIER I

&-°t-

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CHINA.
IMPORTANT NEWS.
The detention of the Indian mails by the
French Post-office authorities, has prevented the
arrival in London of more than a summary of the
news from China. This is the second or the
third time this trick has been played upon the
London Press by the French Post-office authori-
ties, and as its repetition would inflict great in-
jury upon the people of this country, we trust
that Lord PALMERSTON will see in it an affair
worthy of the interference of the Government.
The additional intelligence
.from the Celestial
Empire is not materially different from the news
published in The Sun of yesterday. The "some
hostilities" mentioned in the telegraphic de-
spatches had reference to the capture on the ith
of January of the Chumpee and Tycocktow forts
by the British, who destroyed them on the
following days. It was this demonstration of
impatient valour which induced the Chinese
Plenipotentiary to sign the Convention of which
the articles will be found in another column. So
far as we yet know of the matter, they form a
" most lame and impotent conclusion " of a great
national undertaking. The cession of the Island
of Hong Kong to the British, who had already
purchased the thousand times finer Island of
Chusan with their blood, is no great subject for
congratulation. But even this cession is clogged
with one of the most absurd restrictions
ever imposed upon a British Plenipotentiary in
the possession. of his senses. It appears that
though belonging to Great Britain, Captain
ELLIOT has agreed that all merchandise exported
or imported there shall be liable to the same
duties as goods imported or exported from
Whampoa, which duties shall be paid into the
Imperial Exchequer ! This sounds so like a
hoax, that we can hardly believe it. What !
Chinese officers allowed to impose and collect
duties in British ports ? Even so say these de-
spatches. That pink of diplomacy, Captain EL-
LIOT, sees nothing disrespectful to the British
name in even making Queen VICTORIA tax-
collector for the Emperor of CHINA. The
second article is, if possible, still more ex-
travagant. By it Great Britain accepts six
millions of dollars, or one million two hun-
dred thousand pounds British currency, pay-
able in six annual instalments, for losses in
money only to the amount of nearly four mil-
lions sterling ►! And be it remembered that
money is the least item in the national account
against China. The blood of the gallant Lord
NAPIER—the gross insults offered to our SovE-
REIGN in the person of Captain ELLIOT himself—
the restrictions placed on the liberties of British
subjects at Canton—the violent and
illegal
seizure of the opium :—these were the principal
items in our account against China, and yet
these appear to have been in a great measure
overlooked. The importance of the third article
entirely depends upon the Chinese interpretation
of it. By it we have secured to us direct official
intercourse with the Chinese Government on a
footing of equality. If the meaning of this ar-