The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-05 00:00:00

-41111116
>#6l4
IV* n

country and the strength of its positions, the power and
weakness of its forces, the fatness and leanness of its lands,
they will contract relations with the powerful and influential
in every place they visit ; they will assist the poor and needy
so as to work on men's hearts. They are good proofs that
these are the means ever employed by the English bar-
barians, as silkworm-like they eat their way into little
States.

" Sang-ko-lin-sin has a redoubtable force; he is well versed
in war, offensive and defensive. Were he to rouse himself
the rebellious barbarians would feel some fear. In the isle
collision of Tien-tsin people and the barbarians, the barba-
rians feared to meet them. Some of the salt smugglers and
pirates who would have seized their ships fell down on their
knees before the Imperial Commissioner and the Governor.
General, and voluuteered to fight cn masse. Permission was
refused, and they did not like to act on their own responsi-
bility. 'Who will say that the people v-e not equal to the
occasion ? Let your Majesty desire Kweiliang and
llwashana not to confine their whole attention to negotiat-
ing peace. Let Tan Ting. siang stir up the troops and the
people; let high rewards be secretly offered ; let prepara-
tion be made where needed, every near city being called on
to enrol militia and hold them in readiness to move ; and
let your Majesty at the same time issue a decree, widely
proclaiming chastisement and subjugation. Our prepara-
tions completed in so many ways, then, some morning when
in their malice they are minded to do what seems good unto
them, let Sang-ko-lin-sin with his large force hem them in
in front, let the Braves from all sides close on them in rear.
Let off the water of the liver as well, and so choke the
river. Thus, the barbarian ships shall not be able either
to advance or retire. If it be alleged that these means are
not sufficient to put their lives in our puwwr, your servant
does not believe it.

" When the advisers of the State tell us If you Ight and
are not victorious, the situation is desperate," let them be
told Get more troops and fight again.' In war there is
victory and defeat; in peace there is defeat, no victory.
When they say If you are victorious in this instance they
will avenge their defeat in another, aid then your situation
is desperate,' let them be told 'Fight on, once for all; your
enemy is of the nature of a dog or sheep; cnco chastised
and subdued, he will not dare to avenge it.' Look at hi■
defeat at Formosa, in the reign of Tan-Kwang. All he did
was to throw himself on Keying and Tahungah, but his
mouth watered no more for Formosa. Herein is another
proof of his want of power. From of old there has been

bloodshed from arms, danger from battle. This is unavoid-
able. When man has done his best, he must abide the will

of heaven. Who shall win and who lose, not Chu-hoh-liang
(a famous warrior A.D. 230) himself could foretell. The

advisers of the State maintaining that there is no certain
issue in their hands would shake your sacred Majesty's de-
cision. They are closing men's mouths, checking the ardour
of the army, and having lost the day by their inactivity are
simply watching for reports, soliciting to surrender them-
selves accordingly. Yet why ? For years there has been
war in the provinces, without any constant rule of good or

ill success. There has been some of both on either side. And

have your servants, in despair to think that the issue was
not in their hands, ever requested your Majesty to lay the
bow and arrow in its ease ?

" May your Majesty, considering in its integrity the inte-
rest of the empire, look far before you to the troubles that
are to come hereafter, and knowing how little hope there is
of satisfying the desires of the barbarians, bethink you that
there is still time to recover things from their present con-
dition. It does not follow that everything uttered by your
Ministers or those of the Imperial kindred should be cor-
rect. It cannot be that from among the measures suggested
by your lesser servants there is nothing worth selection.
" Members of the Government, whichsoever of you al-
lowed the barbarian ships to sail into the river, whichsoever
of you have urged compliance with demands of which the
barbarians were insisting ; ponder it well day and night,
and it may chance that you will take the same view of your
perversity and misdoing, and admit to yourselves that it
was because of your dread of punishment that you simu-
lated this pertinacious stolidity; and let your Majesty, who
will not have the heart to award these Ministers banish-
ment or death, command them to return home, admonish
them to wash their hearts, purge their thoughts, and im-
prove as they grow older, which if they do not, they will
find it hard to escape the penalty of the statutes. Let
Kweilang, Hwashana, and Tan Tin,g-siang be strictly en-
joined, when lawless demands are insisted upon, not to lay
their responsibility upon fate, but when the caso presents
itself, to fight without tarrying and looking behind them.
"Your Majesty's plans once decided, your commands
once issued, from sea to sea there will be felt a thrill of
emotion, and all will know that, at tho will of the Supreme,
his servant. amt h:. vrioac resolute and the bar-
barians are dismayed. On tho
Celestial Majesty reform will follow, and it will rest with us
to tighten our grasp or to loosen it ; we may exterminate or
we may conciliate ; wo may modify our cause as the occasion

appears to demand.
" Your servant is not unaware that your Majesty's ears
have already been sated with words such as he has sp,ken

to-day. It is only because of his extreme trouble at danger

so serious that he has intruded things reg,.rding which he
should have been silent. It is with tears that he thrusts

his representations upon your attention ; and prostrate ho
implores thereon the penetrating glance of your sacred

Majesty's intelligence."

The Emperor was not disposed to yield to these
.ouching appeals so long as the smart little gun-

boats which had blown up the Taku forts lay under
the walls of Tien-tsin. He therefore granted tic ery-
thing. But the moment the gunboats were with-
drawn he assumed a different tone, and his whole
bearing during the year which intervened between
the negotiation of the treaty and the time at which
ratified copies were to be exchanged at Pekin clearly
showed that he would not fulfil stipulations as dis-
tasteful to Chinese prejudices as they were important
to English interests. He was evidently prepared to
oppose such provisions, regardless of good faith or
honesty, and to oppose them by force if necessary.
The war party, immutable as ignorant, was strong,
and their exclusive policy, thoroughly Chinese, re-
commended itself to tie Emperor. Accordingly
delays innumerable were opposed to Mr. Bruce.
At length, a year having nearly expired, he ex-
pressed his intention of proceeding to Pekin, where,
according to the terms of the treaty, the ratifica-
tions were to be exchanged. Thereupon the Com-
missioners proposed that the ratifications should be
exchanged at Shanghai, and were referred to the
treaty. They then suggested a laud journey of
1,000 miles, occupying 38 days. Mr. Bruce, how-
ever, declared his intention of going by sea in the
usual way, to which the Commissioners replied they
could not reach Pekin in time to meet him. It would
take them upwards of two months to perform a
journey which they did the previous year in five

weeks, and which they afterwards accomplished in
the same time. Their plain intent was to keep Mr.
Bruce at Shanghai and prevent his getting to Pekin
at all. Wearied with their frivolous excuses Mr.
Bruce gave notice that Admiral Hope was proceed-
ing with his squadron to the Peiho to announce
the approach of himself and M. de Bourboulon, and
suggested that the Commissioners might employ a
Chinese-owned steamer to take them North. They
replied that they durst not themselves go north by
steamer without orders, but would hasten back, as
the Emperor had commanded, by the post line.
They would be glad that the men-of-war composing
Mr. Bruce's escort should anchor outside the bar,
and that he should proceed overland to Pekin with
little baggage and a moderate suite. Mr. Bruce
would be handsomely received, and the Commis-
sioners trusted that thenceforth the relations be-
tween the two countries wouldbe of the most friendly
character. Up to this time there had never been even
a hint that the waterway to Tien-tsin was closed,
nor a word about any particular route. By the
French text of the Russian Treaty her diplomatic
agent may come to Pekin—" en passant par Kiakhta
et Ourga, soit par Takon a l'embouchure du Peiho,
soir par toute outre Tulle ou port ouvert de la Chine."
No specified rotate is laid down in the English
Treaty for her Ambassador. He may come and g o
as he likes, and by Ariicle 54 it " is "PressiYssutbi-
pulated that the British Government and .
etsiP
jects will be allowed free and cqual atti oant
in all privileges, immunities, and advantages
the Emperor of China to the Government or
participation
that
may be hereafter granted by his Majesty
sub-
jects of any other.nation." The Peiho is the regu-
lar route to Pekin from the sea, and Mr. Bruce
had an unquestionable right to proceed to
Pekin by that regular route. Though the
Commissioners were silent, they well knew that
Sang ko-lin-sin was prepared to dispute the
passage. One official bound north •expressed his
intention to keep out of the way, as he was certain
there would be a collision, his own Government
still believing in their superiority.
Admiral Hope on the 16th of June arrived off the
Peiho to announce the approach of the allied Minis-
Sha-lin-tien some 30
tem His feet anchored off

miles from the er. Next day he crossed the bar
in a gunboa and proceeded up the river until
stopped by the iron stakes. The river was barred
with booms and rafts. The works demolished the
previous year were rebuilt and enlarged. But no
one was visible save a few peasants, who declared
there was no authority civil or military nearer than
Tien-tsin, and that no authority had charge of the
defences which were devised by the people for pro-
tection against rebels and pira'es
Admiral Hope then again sent and required the
river to be opened within three days, which the
people promised to do. After much parley a junk
reached.the outer anchorage on the morning of the
25th, with a letter for Mr. Bruce. It came from
Peh-tang, a small:station at the mouth of the river
named after it, about 12 miles north of Taku. This
was from the Governor-General Hangfuh, who said
ho was engaged in disarming Peh-tang, hitherto a
fortified place. When the men and guns were
moved to the south he would come out in a junk to
welcome Mr. Bruce to Peh-tang, whence he could
proceed overland to Pekin, as soon as Kweiliang
and his colleague had arrived. In short, his propo-
sition was, that Mr. Bruce should wait in the Gulf
of Pecheli until he came out to him, and at Peh-
tang until the commissioners were in Pekin. This
overture Mr. Bruce most properly declined. Indeed
the letter was returned in consequence of the cha-
racters being informal in the place assigned to those
indicating the Queen's name. The attack was then
made, which, notwithstanding the unsurpassed
gallantry of Admiral Hope and every one in the
feet, was unfortunately unsuccessful.
Such was the conduct pursued by Mr. Bruce.
Mr. Ward, the American Minister, had come up
from Shanghai, and, like the English and French
Ministers, had demanded a passage up the Tien-tsin
river. He made preparations for fighting, and,
though his tender grounded, his boats, under Com-
modore Tatnall, most nobly assisted the allied force
After the action he made overtures to the Chinese,
and, after nearly a month's delay, a decree arrived
authorising his admission into the capital, there to
exchange ratifications with Kweiliang and Hwas-
hana, who had returned from Shanghai for the
purpose. With a very limited suite he left Peh-tang
in convey ances ill-found and of the lowest class in
use. Neither chairs nor horses were allowed him.
He was smuggled into Pekin with such absence of
parade that the common people were with difficulty
persuaded that any foreign envoy had entered the
city. Arrived there he found himself a species of
prisoner in a large bxilding in but indifferent re-
pair, exit from which was rendered difficult by a
strong guard posted round it. They carried their
orders to isolate the mission so far as to imprison
two Russians who attempted to pay it a visit, while
a Russian letter addrrssed to one of its members
was intercepted and detained six days.
But the crowning insult was to come. The Pre-
sident's letter to the Emperor was to have been de-
livered by Mr. Ward in person, but the commis-
sioners, finding that no amount of persuasion would
induce him to prostrate himself when presenting it,
suddenly wrote to know why, if unprepared to con-
form to this rite, he had come to Pekin at all. Mr.
Ward replying that he had come in consequence of
the Emperor's decree received at Peh-tang ordain-
ing that the ratifications of the treaty should be
exchanged at Pekin, the commissioners rejoined,
"If you waive prostration, the Emperor waives
the presentation of the President's letter." They
reminded him that by his treaty he had no
right to require the exchange to be made at Pekin
also that he had said at Shanghai that one place
would suit him as well as another. This and the
verbal explanation of the commissioners drew from
Mr. Ward a letter, expressing " sincere regret"
that he had " found himself unable to comply NN :01
Lae ceremonies of an audience," and the Emperor
then consented to 'Tech-0 the President's letter from
the hands of the commissioners. They were desired
at the same time to hand Mr. Ward a decree from
the Emperor, since published in the Pekin Gazette,
in which he gives some curious and useful informa-
tion. Sang-ho-lin-sin, says the decree, had been
directed to fortify Ta-ku, because last year the
English broke into the port and opened fire upon
the garrison. The commissioners had told them at
Shanghai that it was so fortified, and that their road.
must be Peh-tang ; yet they had returned to Taku,
and again assuming the offensive had been repulsed
with loss :

"Meanwhile, the American Envoy, John Ward, did
abide by his engagement with Kweiliang and his colleague,
sailed to the port of Peh-tang, and begged for permission to
go up to the capital to present a letter from his Govern-
ment. We accordingly authorised his admission into Pekin
to present it, and having this day perused the letters ad-
dressed by the American Envoy, John Ward, to Kweiliang
and Hwashana, and laid before us by those Ministers, we
find their language so respectful, the true-heartedness that
has prompted them such, that we have authorised the
Envoy in question to present the letter ho is charged with
from his Government to Kweiliang and his colleague, whom
we have sent to receive it.

(4 As regards the exchange of his treaty, ho ought pro-
perly to return to Shanghai and exchange it there ; but, in
consideration of the long voyage he has made, we (are
pleased) specially to authorize that the seal be appended to
the treaty, and that it be delivered to Hang•Suh to hand it
in exchange (for another copy) to the aforesaid Envoy, that
from the date of the exchange there may be peace and com-
merce for evermore. Thus do we manifest our great desire
to show a nursing tenderness to the men from afar, and our
appreciation of good faith and right principle. Lot Kwei-
liang and Hwasbana signify this our pleasure to the Envoy
John Ward, for his information. Respect this."

To Peh-tang the American Minister was accord
ingly conveyed, and at that town his treaty was
exchanged, not with the Plenipotentiary Kweiliang,
but with the provincial Hang-fuh. Thus were the
conditions of Mr. Read's treaty fulfilled—a treaty
which places an American Minister on much the
same footing when he visits the capital as an Envoy
of Loo-Choo. Intercourse such as this could pro-
bably have been had for the asking. However, the
American treaties contain the favoured nation
clause, and the United States will profit by the pre-
sent proceedings of France and England.
Such is a summary of the events which have loo-
n insult
duced the Chinese expedition.
to avenge, a right to maintain.
of diplomatic relations on equal terms of our own
TlBhree
withe establishmentt
'h e Court
of Pekin is the only sufficient guarantee
interests in China, and the only ad
from the
equate safeguard
against the danger
constantly arising irre-
sponsibility of the cntral Government for the of-
fences of its agents. hitherto tbe Chinese Emperor
has obstinately refused to place himself on this fost-
It is therefore impossible to make
gsetattheoosef
ing of equality.
the Government acquailtzl, :Lyithe,tohrettoruuer
hat
facts in arne,Y uciaissteratn.ces_which so often prevent a
friendly
serious controversy in European States. When a
foreigner feels
wronged, and knows that an appeal
to his Consul will only produce an appeal to his
minister, and both Consul and Minister are per-
suaded that an appeal to the Chinese provincial
will simply result in misrepresentation at Pekin, it
is not extraordinary if foreign subject and autho-
rity alike occasionally take the law into their own
hands, and resort to vigorous measures. At Pekin
alone is there any regard for the general interests
of the empire. A provincial Governor is concerned
with his own province only-, and probably jealous
of his neighbour. His life and fortune are at the
disposal of a Government profoundly ignorant of
foreign affairs. Whether he resists the foreigner
or yields to him, he is nearly certain of being
ruined. It was to remedy this state of things, to
enable a British Minister to hold direct intercourse
with the Government of Pekin, that Lord Elgin
so strenuously insisted on this clause of his treaty.
It was for this that Mr. Bruce persisted in ex-
changing the ratifications at the capital, and at no
other place. It is to avenge the perfidious attacks
on their Ministers and their flags, and to enforce
an obligation for treaty engagements, that the
allied forces are about to sail. This enforcement is
now more necessary than ever, not only fourtth fore
the
joy ment of that we have lately acquired,_b
retention of what we have long possessed.