The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-01 00:00:00

FRASER

The opening article of Fraser on the " Commercial
Relations of the Indian 'Archipelago," is one which
our enterprising merchants and manufacturers will
read with great interest. There can be little doubt
but that our new settlement at Labuan will become
a second Singapore, opening up to us the commerce
of the vast Indian Archipelago, containing, in the
opinion of the Orientals, upwards of 12,000 islands,
which, stretching eastward from the Straits of Malacca
to beyond the longitude of Torres Straits, constitutes
one of the richest and most extraordinary divisions of
Asia, inhabited by a race fond of commercial pur-
suits, anxious to exchange the rich products of the
islands (camphor, spices, gold, and jewels) for British
manufactures, and who, in consequence of the
destruction of the piratical establishments of the Sul-
tan of Borneo by the British fleets, will be enabled
toxunue their vocations in comparative peace. The
writer expresses a hope that the establishment at La-
buan may influence even the piratical subjects of the
Sultan of Borneo and the savage inhabitants of the
interior to substitute industry for the practices of
barbarism, when they shall find commerce more per-
manently profitable than piracy and war. That such
will at no distant period be the case, is rendered ex-
ceedingly probable by what we know has taken place
in Mr. Brooke's territory, at Sarawak :
" Already in Mr. Brooke's territory of Sarawak we
behold the Dyaks actuated by a strong desire to accumu-
late wealth ; and though they have not yet relinquished
their savage propensity to destroy the member of a
neighbouring tribe in order to possess his cranium, it is
quite clear that they are yielding to the softening in-
fluences of civilisation, and adopting gentler and more.
amiable manners.
" As yet, perhaps, it may be somewhat too early to
attempt their conversion on a grand scale, and, in tact,
we agree with Mr. Brooke, that moral and political in-

fluences should rather be employed to prepare converts
for the Gospel, which is the reverse of the practice hi-
therto observed throughout the world, than that the
Gospel, which was never intended to perform any such
service, should be converted into the mere pioneer of the
state. No doubt when men, whether savage or civilised,
have received into their minds the truths of religion,
and endeavoured to bring their conduct into harmony
with its dictates, they become better citizens, because
necessarily more averse to the practice of injustice, whe-
ther in themselves or others. But truth addresses itself
to the understanding, and cannot profitably be accepted
by men blindly, and on the same grounds as a fable.
They must know what they believe and why they be-
lieve it, otherwise, not heing able to give a reason for
the faith that is in them, they are no better than idola-
ters, though their opinions should, peradventure, be
orthodox. We would by all means convert the heathen
everywhere throughout the world, but we would ap-
proach their minds through the avenues, apparently con-
structed for that purpose by Providence, end having
conducted them up to the high platform of truth, would
compel them to come in by that sweet and gentle com-
pulsion to which honest and ingenuous men most readily
submit."

This theory of Mr. Brooke that the merchant
should be the pioneer of the missionary is certainly
novel, but it is worthy of serious consideration, and
the reasons which he urges in its favour are certainly
very cogent. The writer is of opinion that at the
close of the Chinese war a mission should have been
sent to Japan, to endeavour to establish commercial
relations with that empire ; and he thinks that the
establishment of our colony at Labuan is a still more
favourable opportuniy of doing so, which ought not
to be neglected :

" The Japanese will distinctly perceive that commerce,
not conquest, is our object, since, instead of appropri-
ating to ourselves, as we might, whole provinces on the
mainland, which, by right of treaty, are ours, we con-
tent ourselves with the possession of a diminutive island,
barely large enough to hold our warehouses and our
public edifices, and to supply exercising ground for our
military and naval officers.
"So unequivocal a proof of moderation cannot pos-
sibly be thrown away upon them. While its effects are
fresh, therefore, we should send a commercial mission
to Jedo, conceived on a statesmanlike plan, and carried
out with consummate prudence and caution. It would
be desirable to inspire the Japanese Government with
deep respect for our maritime power, without insinuating
at the same time the least desire to overawe them by its
display. Though doing things on a grand scale, we
should be thought to do nothing extraordinary, but only
to be unostentatiously exhibiting the grandeur charac-
teristic of our manner of acting. For this purpose we
would have a first-rate line-of-battle ship, the noblest in
the navy, sent on the service, accompanied by a frigate
and steamers of the greatest possible rapidity and beauty.
They could not be better employed. For what is it that
we purpose to effect with them ? Nothing less than the
throwing open to our commerce of a new market, less
rich and vast, indeed, than that of the Indian Archi-
pelago, but still in itself most extensive and opulent,
and at present enjoyed by none, since Holland, with its
paltry establishment at Nangasaky, cannot properly be
said to trade with Japan at all."

At all events the experiment is worth trying, and
by perseverance we doubt not that we should be
enabled to enter into such commercial relations with
the Japanese as cannot but be infinitely advantageous
to both parties. The article entitled Ham House
in the Days of the Cabal" contains some pleasant
reminiscences of the days of Charles 11., when
Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and
Lauderlade (the notorious Cabal), were wont to as •
semble at Ham House, near Richmond (late the resi-
dence of the Countess of Dysart), and plot the ruin
of their country. Our old Friend Colonel
Mitchell makes a furious onslaught against
the critics, who having ventured to express a
doubt whether, after all, Napoleon was not a greater
man than Colonel Mitchell, are, according to the
colonel's idea, as ignorant of the art of criticism as
the Emperor was of the art of war. The choler of
the colonel is particularly excited against a writer in
"a respectable Whig journal," for accusing him of
"scientifically trying to prove that Napoleon ought
to have been defeated." The colonel declares in
reply, that "he has never paid so much homage to
modern science as to appeal to any of its maxims," and
indignantly repels the charge of being scientific as a
gross calumny. For once we agree with the colonel.
" Retrospective Gleanings" are a series of piquant
sketches of some of the celebrities who were assem-
bled in the French capital in 1817. Those of Talley-
rand, Sucbet, envier, the Chevalier Langles are
dashed off with a free pencil, while poor Colton, the
author of "Lacon "—a man more sinned against
than sinning, who during his lifetime was never pro-
perly appreciated—is drawn at full length. The
Bobadil German Baron, and the intriguing Portu-
guese Secretary are also admirable portraits. We
hope the author has not yet exhausted his gallery.
Mr. Wakley and Dr. Bowring are the contemporary
orators. Full justice is done to the thoroughly
English qualities, the shrewd mother-wit,
the admirable tact, the strong common sense, and
the immovable sincerity of purpose of the former,
while upon the latter the author has been somewhat
too severe. " What is thought of our Commercial
Policy on the Continent ?" is the title of the political
article of this number. The author admits that the
thinking men of the Continent all admire the free-
trade policy adopted by this country, and that the
people are all prepared to follow it. To the adoption
of that policy he attributes the cessation of the war-
cry among the people of France ; but he considers
that, as the Continental Governments dread being
forced by their people to adopt free-trade measures,
they will be more inclined than they have been
to go to war with England, in order to stop the
spread of free-trade opinions. " The Memoirs of the
Shetlanders" are continued ; and we have, besides,
a mashing critique on " Morell's History of Modern.
Philosophy," a spirited account of a boar hunt in
Brittany; and the commencement of a novel entitled
" the Rector's Daughter."