The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-17 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The examination of officers candidates for admis-
sion to the Staff College commenced yesterday
morning at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, before
Major-Gen. Rumley, Vice-President ; Major-Gen.
Portlock, and the other members of the Council of
Military Education. The examination will extend
over 8 days, terminating on the 24th inst. There
are about 30 officers candidates.

The Ist and 2d battalions of the Grenadier Guards
are to be inspected by H.R.H. the Duke of Cam-
bridge on Thursday next in Hyde-park.
The proceedings and finding of the General
Court-martial which assembled at Chatham garrison
a few weeks since for the trial of Captain Henry
George Savage, commanding the 33d company of
Roy al Engineers, having been approved by her
Majesty, were promulgated to the officers of the
Royal and Indian Engineers at Brompton-barracks
yesterday. The charges on which Captain Savage
was tried were for having, on the 21st May, know-
ingly sent in the morning state of the 33d company
of Royal Engineers, addressed to Col. Sandham,
and also some passes for the men of his company,
as well as an application for leave for himself,
falsely signed with his name, the false signatures
having been attached by Lieut. Harvey, by pri-
soner's directions ; for having absented himself
from the issue of bread and meat, and also failed
to attend parade on the morning of the 21st of
May ; and for having falsely stated to Lieu-
tenant-Colonel . Ross, when questioned by that
officer, that he did not know he was on duty
on the day in question. Lieutenant E. Har-
vey, RE., has also been placed under arrest with
Captain Savage, and has been in custody ever since,
without having been brought to trial, both officers
havinc, been in coninement since the 22d of May.
At 9.306 a.m. yesterday the whole of the Royal and
Indian Engineers were assembled in the officers'
mess-room at Brompton barracks by order of Major-
General Eyre, when Capt. Savage and Lieut. Har-
vey having been brought into the room, General
Eyre informed both those officers that they were
released from custody and would return to their
duty, at the same time handing them their swords.
Captain Savage at once took the command of his
company. The finding of the Court has given very
general satisfaction to the officers of the garrison.

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What are the objects of the China war? The
question has been asked over and over again by the
country, and has hitherto received no explicit an-
swer. British and French troops are now moving is
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probability already gone north, and the Admiral,
who was waiting only the arrival of Lord Elgin, is
doubtless by this time escorting him towards the
scene of his former diplomatic exploits. The French
are evidently far on their way to the gene/II rendez-
vous, for we find that one of their largest storeships
has been lost upon the dangerous coast of Amoy.
Those yellow, muddy, shallow, northern seas, where
usually nothing is seen but timorous fishing-
boats, huddled together under the convoy of some
Portuguese lorcha, while a pirate hovers in the dis-
tance to cut off a straggler or to pounce upon a
sugar junk—those turbid, dreary seas are now
clouded with the smoke of gunboats, covered with
the white sails of the square-rigged ships, and
peopled with soldiers and sailors whose homes are
in the West. At what expense these demonstra-
tions have been made the House of Commons has
only just discovered; but what this great warlike
force is going to do no one seems to know. Per-
haps it may pass the hot months and the sharp
winter in Japan, or in utilising the hitherto
neglected opportunities of surveying the northern
coast and internal waters; perhaps our soldiers
and sailors may go right on, and do their work
off-hand, laughing at that terrible bugbear of a
Pekin winter, and believing that an English
soldier is not likely to perish of cold which an
Asiatic can endure. But what this work is no one
seems to know. The House of Commons on Fri-
day night persistently, but vainly, tried to draw
the secret from the Government. Having paid the
bill, SirJ.Elphinstone, and Mr. Osborne, and other
members, thought they had a right to be told what
species of value they were to receive for it. To Mr.
Osborne's question the Chancellor of the Exchequer
was obstinately silent. Lord John Manners only
succeeded in drawing from Lord J. Russell a sort
of hint that he hoped at this vast expense to obtain
an apology and a ratification of the treaty. Lord
Palmerston told us that the object of the war was
" to prevent our subjects being murdered, our treaty
torn up as waste paper, and every indignity and
outrage heaped upon us," but the intimation was
rather too general in terms to add much to our
knowledge.
Why is this ? Why is it that there is no defined
national policy in our relations with China ? The
answer is very easy. We have only to note the
men who rise to take part in these debates, to re-
collect their previous conduct, and to know their
connection, and we see at once why every one
advocates a different line of action, and why nearly
all would be ready to combine against any really
national policy which a Minister should be bold
enough and, we are afraid we must say, indiscreet
enough to declare, There are a dozen different
objects which a dozen different classes see in this
war. First, and perhaps most contemptible of
all, is the vanity of a few antiquated military
and naval men, who desire to avail themselves
of the accident of a seat in Parliament to direct
from their places at Westminster operations
which would never have been committed to their
professional control. These unemployed officers
' are anxious to:override in their quality of burgesses
the responsible counsels which Ministers obtain
from the heads of their respective professions.
They are ready to dispute with a Minister every
military probability, and to demonstrate that every-
thing is impossible, and that ships and armies are
good only to be paid for. It is only by concealing
every military or naval plan that the anxious and
obtrusive interference of these zealous volunteer ad-
visers can be avoided. They are men with votes
and men with tongues, and a Minister dares not say
to them " This is a professional matter which has
been considered by your superiors in your own pro-
fession ; I am unable to argue it with you in detail,
but the Crown, in whose province it is to make
choice, has confidence in their judgment, and has
none in yours." The House of Commons would re-
sent so curt a truth, and the public will listen to a
Parliament man who talks. Next to these in per-
sistency, and before these in influence, we have the
China commercial interest. To them the British pub-
lic owes nearly all that harrowing news which from
time to time disturbs its equanimity. The rebels are
always threatening Canton or destroying the young
teas just at some critical moment for the markets.
The silk crop is always going to fail. British manu-
factures are very dull, and the markets overstocked.
The exchanges are very bad. The interest of this
class is to keep things exactly as they are—to buy
things cheap in China and to sell them dear in Eng-
land, and to buy things cheap in England and to sell
them dear in China. That is their business. It is

the spirit of commerce, the true policy of the trader. I
No one complains of it, but it gives a special chan-
nel to their desires and carries out for them their
object. In their eyes the object of a China war
must be to keep things exactly as they are—ships
of war always on the coast, troops always within
hail, the Chinese authorities always in alarm, Man-
darins too frightened to be very particular about
dues, and too much in dread of a barbarian force
to make much noise even if a Chinese Custom-
house officer should be slain, and a Hong Kong
jury should acquit the slayer. These are the
natural objects of one class which has great autho-
rity in England, and in order to attain these ob-
jects that class must, of course, oppose any large
measure which would put our relations upon a solid
footing, open the whole country to trade, and
destroy that profitable mystery in which China has
ever been shrouded. Mr. Baring must speak in the
name of this interest, and this interest only, when
he affects to speak in the name of commerce.
Thirdly, we have the diplomatic class, which be-
lieves only in treaties and in the phrases used in
diplomatic correspondence; which thinks that the
best object of a China war is to make some Man-
darin admit that a British Consul is his equal in
rank, that the highest success is to have the name
of our Queen placed as high up in a column of
, Chinese characters as the name of Hienfung, and
that a sufficient compensation for 10,000 lives and
twenty millions of money has been obtained if
the Emperor can be got to tolerate a Resident
Ambassador at Pekin—where he must always
necessarily be the fruitful occasion of more wars
and of a constant succession of expeditions. This
class also has its object. To them the expedition
is of use only to alarm the Chinese—to go to
Tien-tsin, but not to go so far as to frighten
the Emperor and his Court into flight, lest they
should lose their beloved ceremonies, and be baulked
in their desire to sit upon the same bench as a fat
man with a peacock's feather in his cap. There
are other classes besides these who have their spe-
cial objects. We cannot here deal with them all.
We must pass by the professional humanitarians
and the committed party men, and speak only of
that interest which we wish to prevail.
This, then, is the Great National Interest. The
country has a true instinct that such an interest
exists, but has only a vague perception of it. The
general election showed this so plainly that our
party men have not even yet forgotten the lesson.
This National Interest requires an entire disregard
of the effete counsels of home-staying warriors,
an impartial dealing with the special interests
of those who now monopolize the China
trade, and a discouragement of official digni-
taries, uneasy at being thought not good com-
-1 pang by a barbarian with a ball of red coral on
his head. The national interest is to open China
to all, to make the people our friends and our cus-
tomers, and to show their corrupt oppressors that,
with them or without them, we will exercise our
treaty rights to traffic with those who are desirous
to traffic with us. This is what we consider to be
the only proper object of a China war. To this
object we believe there is but one effective course
of action. That is, that we should once for all go
direct to Pekin, enter that city—as we should do
without any real opposition--and there have our
treaty properly signed and ratified. We saw after we
had bombarded Canton that the bombardment was
utterly unnecessary, and that we might have entered
it with half our force. We shall never have again
to use force at Canton. We never have had to use
force a second time at Amoy or Ningpo, or in any
other city where we have adopted a decided policy.
So it would be at Pekin. To hold the city
for any time would be unnecessary ;
to main-
tain a Resident Ambassador there would, as we
venture to think, be a blunder. But to show our-
selves there in force as masters of the city is a
necessity. Unless we do this nothing is done.
Unless we show the Court of Pekin that our arm
is long enough to reach them we may slaughter
Chinamen and burn cities, and weep crocodile tears
as we do so, but we shall make no impression Upon
a court whose only instinct is a selfish fear. The
public object which we hope to attain by this is
not one which will find favour with China mer-
chants or with politicians who have taken up their

Mons. 1)e Vattel, in his admirable work, defines
the Necessary Law of Nations to consist in the ap-
plication of the law of nature to nations. "It con-
tains the precepts prescribed by the law of nature
to states, on whom that law is not less obligatory
than on individuals, since states are composed of
men, and the law of nature is binding on all men,
under whatever relation they act. Hence it is
necessary, because nations are absolutely bound to
observe it." This is the law which Grotius calls
the "internal law of nations," "on account of its
being obligatory on nations in point of conscience.!'
If these eminentjurists had been in the habit of stu ;ly-
ing the blue-books of the present day, more espe',!ialiv
those relating to the affairs of Italy, Savoy arid Nice,
they would have been forced to the conclusion that
some of the nations of Europe, at all events, having
no conscience, had ceased to be bound by any law,
but had "become a law unto themselves'," and
therefore set at defiance all those international
principles so carefully and ably laid down by these
learned men. The annexation took place in defi-
ance of the Powers, who were never consulted,
because it was well known that they were opposed
to it, and if we are to believe the description given.
in Mr. Oliphant's pamphlet (" Universal Suffrage
and Napoleon III."), of the mode in which the wish
of the population was taken, the choice put before.
each voter was French annexation or a French
penal settlement. Nor was the pressure thus exer-
cised confined to French influence alone. We regret
that the Sardinian Government should not merely
have connived at the political jugglery -which was
carried on in Savoy and Nice under the name of
universal suffrage, but that it should have actively
co-operated in forcing the people to vote in accord-
ance with the treaty of the 24th of March, and
allowed it to be generally understood that a hos-
tile vote would be considered an act of rebellion.
The stumblingblock in the way of the imperial
policy at this moment is Switzerland. This stub-
born and courageous little Power has, during the
last six months, bombarded M. Thouvenel with,
notes and protocols to an extent which has caused
that fluent and versatile diplomatist no little em-
barrassment. In vain have threats and caresses
been employed to win over to silence the Federal.
Council. While all Europe was dozing, the Swiss,
like the bold inhabitants of Lilliput, were binding
down the giant with red tape, and sticking tiny
spears into him in all directions. There is an Eastern
proverb, to the effect that a cat will fly at an
elephant if she is pushed into a corner. Switzer-.
laud is in this position, and while struggling naar,_
fully to hold her own, appeals to the Powers of
Europe to help her—not as an act of charity, but
in fulfilment of those obligations in her b(lhaif
which were entered into in the interest of Eirrope
itself.

The negotiations with reference to the prcr;inces
of Faucigny and Chablais resulted in that article
of the Treaty of Vienna, the reconcilement of which
with the second article of the Treaty of Turin is
to form the subject of a conference of the Great
Powers. The 92d article of the Treaty of Vienna
runs as follows :—" The Provinces of Chablais and
Faucigny, and the whole of the territory of Savoy
to the north of Ugine, belonging to his Majesty
the King of Sardinia, shall form a part of the neu-
trality of Switzerland, as it is recognised and gua-
ranteed by the Powers. Whenever. therefore, the
neigh louring Powers to Switzerland are in a state
of open or impending hostility, the troops, of his
Majesty the King of Sardinia, which are in those
provinces, shall retire, and may for that purpose
pass through the Vallais, if necessary. No other
armed troops of any other Power shall have the
privilege of passing through or remaining in the
said territories and provinces, excepting those
which the Swiss Confederation may think proper
to place there."
The stipulation with which this article is to be
reconciled is to this effect :—" It is equally under-
stood that his Majesty the King of Sardinia cannot
transfer the neutralised parts of Savoy, except on
the conditions upon which he himself possesses
them, and that it will appertain to-his Majesty the
Emperor of the French to come to an understand-
ing on this subject with the Powers represented at
the Congress of Vienna and with the Swiss Con-
federation, and to give them the guarazztees re-
quired by the stipulations referred to in this
article."

In entertaining the possibility of reconciling
these two articles, we have to consider, not so
much in whose favour the territory was neutralized,
as against whom it was neutralized. The only
Power to whom the acquisition of this district could
be of importance was France ; hence the trouble
she has taken to acquire it, and hence the impossi-
bility of her fulfilling those conditions which were
imposed for the purpose of keeping her out of it.
It was not until the French Government per-
ceived the absence of any concerted action on the
part of the European Powers, that it receded from
the language held by M. Thouvenel, and diFeovered
that the cession of the North of Savoy to Switzer-
land was impossible, in consequence of the objec-
tions said to be entertained by the Savoyards
themselves to the dismemberment of their country.
England, Russia, and Austria had agreed. to join in
this Conference, and it is of the utmost ii nportance
that they should meet not as parties to a discus-
sion upon equal terms with France, to consider an
expedient solution of a complication, but as a
tribunal sitting in judgment upon the acts of the
French Government—bound in honour to respond
to the invitation of a weak and threatened power,
whose independence they have sworn to protect,
and ready if need be demand the restitution of ter-
ritory which can alone secure that independence.
There can be no doubt that if the Powers insist upon
the abandonment of Northern Savoy by France, as
the only solution which will be accepted by them,
France would be compelled to revert to her own
original proposal of their annexation to S witzer-
land. This is what the Powers are honourably
bound to insist upon. Unfortunately, in the present
demoralised condition of Europe, it is not what we
have any right to expect from them. Meantime, if
the conference ends in no concession on the part of
the Emperor, those who have:been parties to it will
have been justly humiliated, and Switzerland most
unjustly betrayed.