The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-10 00:00:00

LONDON:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1841.

We have received by express from Marseilles,

in anticipation of the overland mail from India,
letters a.sid papers from Chusan to the 24th of No-
vaomber, from Macao to the 18th of December,
fliOtti Singapore to the 31st of the same month,
from Calcutta to the 22d of January, a day later
from Madras,—from Bombay to the 2d, Alexan-
dria 24th, and from Malta to the 26th ult. The
news from China, if not positively disastrous, is
exceedingly gloomy and unsatisfactory. After
the greater part of a year spent in doing next to
nothing, Admiral ELLIOT has been obliged, in
consequence of severe indisposition, to resign the
command of the expedition to Sir JAMES GORDON
BREMER, and to leave the luckless Captain EL-
LIOT sole Plenipotentiary of the British Govern-
ment for the settlement of all disputes with the
celestial Empire ! It now appears for the first
time, that when the expedition was sent out
against China, the Government here, by way of
reward we suppose for past blunders, appointed
Captain -ELLIOT joint Plenipotentiary with the
Admiral ; and yet when at the mouth of the
Peiho the Admiral refused an interview
with the Envoy of the Emperor, as his
inferior in rank, Captain ELLIOT scrupled not to
meet him as an equal, and actually to negotiate
the return of the expAition without the firing of
a shot, on the receipt of an apology, to the un-
healthy swamps of Chusan ! How long is England
to be befooled and degrad.ed by havinglier honour
committed to the representation of this officer? Is
the GovernmentGovernment so powerful that it can brave public
opinion so long as it is sustained by the influence
of one Noble family ? But Captain ELLIOT'S
destiny appears to doom him to be spurned and
spat upon by the Chinese. On the 21st of No-
vember Captain ELLIOT, having returned from
Chusan, went on board the Queen steamer; and
having hoisted a flag of'truce approached the Bogue
. •
forts tor the purpose of sending a letter to the
new Commissioner, KE-
bIiEN, at Canton. The
forts fired upon the flag, and one ball struck the
steamer -mid-ships. Captain ELLIOT returned
the fire by throwing some shells into the forts,
but immediately afterwards sheered off. Next
(lay a fornaidable British force appeared near
the forts ready for action, but on a mock
apology being made to Captain ELLIOT,
the different Commanders received orders not
to fire a single shot ! But what became of
the letter? ItS fate was as undignified as that
of the Plenipotentiary himself. An obscure
native pilot, on receiving a good reward
undertook to carry it to Canton! Would
that the gallant Commodore N.IPIER had
Leen on board the Queen steamer when the
flag of truce was fired upon ! He would have
-vindicated the honour of the British nation by
tumbling the forts about the ears of the petti-
coated -warriors of the " central flowery land."
Had we any more competent person to manage
Out affairs in China than Captain ELLIOT, we
should observe that our military force at Chusan
is shamefully inadequate to the necessities of our
position. 13ut of what avail would be a million
of sol hers, and an hundred sail of the line, under
the command of such a nincompoop as Captain
ELLIOT? To the Chinese his name was deservedly
sts terrible while a 'prisoner at Canton, as
now at the head of a large well-appointed
squadron at the mouth of the Canton river. If
the Government really wish to bring the Chinese
to their senses, one of its first acts must be to re-
move Captain ELLIOT from a post for which he
is its incompetent as the gallant moustachioed
Member for Lincoln himself.

With respect to the document purporting to
be a translation of the official letter of Lord
IWINTO to the Emperor of CHINA, we need only
Hay that it would afford us pleasure to be able to
Pronounce it a forgery. As it stands it is of a
Piece with Captain ELLIOT'S ridiculous corre-
spondence with him subsequent to the destruc-
tion of the opium. •
From the first the expedition was grossly mis-
managed' but NO-tether the whole blame is to
be laid at
=oe door of the British, or the
Indian Government or the Plenipotentaries, we
profess war inabilitydetermine. When the
Admiral appeared at totit nth of the Peiho
River, within ninet
charil:s of
wite:vtal
to have been ed Canton,
ought fixed
and unalterable demands, nch must be
complied with before his retirement from