The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-29 00:00:00

-44 b,
4' It

HEIN FLlNG—the two Grand Imperial Commis-
sioners. IVi refrain from the invidious task of
awarding the palm of superiority to the narrative
of these interviews, written by the hand of her
MAJESTY'S Consul, or to that other narrative
penned by his companion in diplomacy, and now,
alas ! also his comrade as a prisoner of war, the
Ambassador's Chinese Secretary. Mr. IVADE's
communication to Lord ELGlN—the writer himself
calls it evidently a mere precis, though it con-
stitutes in reality a very ample memorandum of the
occurrences described in it the letter dated
" Pa-li-chiaw, 23d of September, brings us
face to face, as it were, with their two high-
mightinesses the new Chinese Plenipotentiaries
already referred to, or as they are more generally
designated the two Imperial Commissioners. Fore-
most of the two his Imperial Highness the Prince
KUNG—brother of the EMPEROR—otherwise the
Prince TSAI or I-TSIN-WANG, a tall dignified per-
sonage, with " a somewhat unpleasant eye," but an
intelligent countenance. And associated with his
Imperial Highness in this new ambassadorial ex-
pedition—Musa, or MULE-YIN, " softer and more
wily in his manner," writes the observant secretary:
adding, " but also intelligent." Mr. WADE might
have said very intelligent, judging at least from
those traits in Mun's character given by the
Chinese Secretary a little afterwards : ex. yr.
,where it is remarked by the watchful
Englishman—after Tsai the Prince of S has risen
and left the room for a brief interval—" MUH-YIN
meanwhile perused the draft [of the convention]
and although he had professed difficulty in under-
standing our Chinese and had EVEN AFFECTED A
LITTLE DEAFNESS, he sheaved himself well up in all
that had just passed." And so on—the wily old
gentleman ! Doubtless with all his pretended
deafness and dullness of comprehension as sharp
even as old EBENEZER SCROOGE himself is
described as a shrewd-witted man of business—" as
sharp as the best Whitechapel needle warranted
not to cut in the eye !" It is amusing to note
the progress of these interviews as recorded by
Messrs. PARKES and WADE, and to watch especially
the varying moods, we might almost add (reading
these despatches) the fluctuating expressions of the
countenances of the two Commissioners. They are
both described as " extremely polite"—" the
Prince especially"—and this too it is remarked
without the slightest " condescension or affecta-
tion." Both of them, we doubt not, true Chinese
gentlemen by nature and by education—
though that assumption :of deafness by Mun.YIN,
and of a difficulty that obviously did not exist
" in understanding our Chinese" hardly coincides
with an European's idea of a true gentleman !
Smacking rather we should say of the temperament
or idiosyncracy of a genuine Artful Dodger—evi-
dencing peculiarities of disposition that would have
awakened the profound sympathy of Mr. JOHN
DAWKINS, and elicited the lively admiration of
MASTER CHARLEY BATES ! The difference of the
diplomatic atmosphere in which her MAJESTY'S
Consul ,and Lord ELGIN'S Chinese Secretary were
essaying thus to prepare the way for a new con-
vention with the representatives of the Chinese
Government in the persons of these two Imperial
Commissioners—was somewhat startlingly indi-
cated in that incident mentioned towards the close
of the first interview held with those Commissioners
in the pavilion at Fung-chow on the 14th of
September. The incident we mean mentioned
by Mr. WADE in his despatch of the 23d
of September. That gentleman having withdrawn
from the room of audience into another apartment
adjoining it, in order to draw up, at his leisure, a
draft of the communication to be written
by the Commissioners, and addressed to his
Excellency her Britannic:MasEsns's Ambassador :
"During my absence," writes Mr. WADE, " the
Prince had been in conversation with Mr. PARKEs,
who, in answer to one of the general expressions of
a hope that henceforth friendly relations would
continue uninterrupted, had remarked that an in-
crease of intercourse would doubtless make us better
friends, and that he rejoiced in the prospect of an
acquaintance between the representatives of foreign
governments and the three princes. Your Excel-
lency will bear in mind that from all we have ever
been given to understand the actual government of
the country is in the hands of Prince Hwui, the
Prince of CUING, and the Prince of I, to whom Mr.
PARKS was speaking. He started at the words
the three princes ; by whom, added Mr. PARKES,
we have been much misunderstood ; and he imme-
diately rejoined :—Not by them alone, but also by
(writing the character with his forefinger in the
air, a la Chinoise) the Han (Chinese). He then
rose, went round the table, and again whispered
the word "Han." The incident is eminently cha-
racteristic. It brings the scene to view vividly.
Equally characteristic, too, is the
.way in which
the Commissioners " sounded" the emissaries, or
representatives of the English Ambassador, as to
any chance there might be of inducing the Allies,
or even one of them, to cooperate with the Chinese
Gevernment in. crushing the Rebels—that is, of
course, immediately upon the amicable completion
of the then meditated negotiations between
themselves and the Allied Plenipotentiaries.
That enlistment of the Anglo-French expedition
on the side of the Imperial Government of Pekin,
as opposed to the rebels, would certainly be, in
the strictest sense of the phrase, on the part of
the Chinese Government, " plucking the flower
Safety from the nettle Danger !" Very probably
the Imperial Commissioners would with pleasure
see those terrible Armstrong guns turned point
blank upon the forces of the insurrection : it would
be so extremely opportune and convenient,
under the circumstances ! No wonder the Consul
evaded an answer of any kind, direct or indirect,
to these rather urgent appeals for co-operative
assistance. Before any propositions of that charac-
ter can be attended to, however, even for the pur-
pose of rejecting them preremptorily, the Allies
have to come to terms with the Chinese on their
own account—they have to take Pekin—to
put their armed heel upon the neck of
the Imperial power—to bring those lawless
Asiatics to a sense of the impossibility of continuing
any longer their shameless course of duplicity, of
treachery, of barbarity, of lying—to break down
the barriers of twenty centuries—and to signalise
all these results of the war now raging by the
mulcting of some £5,000,000 or £10,000,000 from
the Pekin Treasury.

After the excitement of GARIBALDI'S victories
such news as now comes from Italy seems but flat ;
the grand object of her emancipation, with the two
wee-known exceptions, has been gained. No
struggles of volunteer patriotism led by genius
against tremendous odds remain, and the details of
future administration
areunderstand.
notd. matters
which
foreigners can easily unde
Butone question
still remains in that uncertainty which keeps us
looking out for its announcement
in the telegrams
—when, namely, will FRANCIS 11. take • ship from
Gaeta ? To the interference, every way objection-
able, of France, the long delay is entirely due.
LOUTS NAPOLEON sees fit, for some reason or am_
bition or vanity, to protect FRANCIS 11. on the sea
side. He did so at the time when, had decided
measures been taken both by sea and by land, the