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

, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 5, 1860.

from the language he had employed, except in the addi-
tions that, if on representations made to the throne he
should be honoured by your Majesty's assents to his re-
quests, it would behove him, of course, to assist China in
completely removing her cause of disquiet. Now, it is the
opinion of your slave that inasmuch as the American bar-
barians, hitherto accounted so submissive, have taken pos-
session of the present juncture to press their demands, re-

liance is not to be placed in their Co-operation, though they
promise it in the restoration of order. Their example will
probably.be followed, and to a much more serious extent,
by the English and French barbarians."
The Emperor replies in an edict of July 15 :

" His (Mr. M‘Lane's) own communication contained re-
quests that did not appear in the letter of his Government,
and his conduct was otherwise presumptuous. Let him see
out at once for Canton; it will be Yeh's duty to forestall
his malice, holding fast by the treaty, and addressing him
authoritatively in peremptory language."

Conduct like this affords sorry encouragement to
those who are now disposed to assist the Govern-
ment against the rebels in the neighbourhood of
Shanghai.

Soon after the contemptuous rejection of Mr.
APLane's proposal the representatives of the-treaty
Powers were proposing a joint expedition to the
North for the revision of the treaties. His Majesty
was informed of their intehtion, and told they were
driven northward by their dread of Yeh, "him
whom they were accustomed to fear." "It is the
nature of barbarians," replies the Emperor, "to be
cunning and maliciou- As to the forms to be
observed by the Geyer ='- General Yeh, in his
=
reception of the barbarian ;efs, let him religiously
adhere to the old rules.' Nor is he, because of the
application of these barbarians to be treated some-
what more liberally, to make any concession, no
matter how small, lest it tend to dissipate their
fears." Yeh, thus encouraged, pursued a course
which led to the "Arrow case" in 1856, the storm-
ing of Canton, the Viceroy's imprisonment and
death at Calcutta, the forcing a passage up the
Peiho, and the treaty of Tien-tsin. By this treaty
five great points were gained. 1. An English
Ambassador might reside in permanence at Pekin,
or go backward or forward from time to time ; and
England being "an independent nation, and on
equality with China," the Ambassador, when he
approached the Emperor, was not to perform any
ceremony that might affect the dignity of his
nation. 2. The Queen was to have the right of
appointing Consuls at the trading ports, and new
ports were to be opened. 3. All teachers or pro-
fessors of the " doctrine of Jesus, the Lord of
Heaven," were to be protected. 4. British sub-
jects were to be allowed to proceed to every place
in the interior with passports to bo issued by the
Consuls. 5. The Yang-tze was to be opened to
British merchant vessels as soon as the rebellion
was put down. Such were the terms obtained
by Lord Elgin from a Court which ,had for the
first time abandoned its pretensions to stand
aloof from intercourse with all the Powers that
would not acknowledge its supremacy; preten-
sions which were the constant cause of misunder-
standing, owing to the conceited self-insulation in
which the Government was placed by its own acts.
But though the skill and firmness of Lord Elgin
had obtained these concessions, the greatest opposi-
tion was to be expected from the old Tory party, in
a Government ever jealous of the most trifling no-
velty, and opposed to the smallest change. At the
very time that Lord Elgin wasnegotiating at Tien-
tsin, the strongest pressure was placed upon the
Emperor, and the terms of the treaty were most
emphatically denounced. I have obtained posses-
sion of several documents stating the case of the
Chinese opposition. It is of such importance that
the real feeling of those who are now advising the
Emperor and directing the material resources ofhis
enormous dominions should be known, that I give
one of these documents almost in extenso, and let
the statesmen speak for themselves. Yin-Yau-Yung
is now an old man, and has filled some of the highest
rests in the empire- T-L, 10..L.ontrle Censor. Vice-
President in the Court of Revision of Criminal
Cases, and now occupies a similar place in a Court
of the Elan-Lin Academy. Sang-ko-lin-sin, to whom
he refers, is the Tartar chief who commanded at the
Taku forts last year, and who is now generalissimo
of the Chinese force :

"Your Majesty's servant Yin-Yau-Yung presents a
memorial, prostrate beseeching your Majesty, for that the
proposed conditions of peace are in the extreme pernicious,
to choose freely from among the opinions of plain reasoners,
to thrust out with vigour those who counsel what is vicious,
andlby speedily deciding on a policy suitable to the great
interests at stake to turn danger into safety.

"Ile would humbly represent that ever since the vaga-
bond barbarians first revolted, the sole study of your Minis-
ters in their ignorance and inefficiency has been to be at
peace with them. For every day the State reposed itself,
for so many did they, princes of the blood, or secretaries of
State, repose themselves, finding no moment for contem-
plation of that future which was causing hidden sorrow to
the empire's Gods. New, whereas the evils that have be-
fallen us at Tien-tsin in those days are the result of the
complaisance of Kishen, Kiying, and Ilipu on a former
occasion, if in this second instance those charged with the
administration be similarly complaisant, the issue will be
very much more disastrous.
"The conditions of peace, it has been lately reported, aro
nearly arranged, and among them are such articles as those
providing indemnity for war expenses. That isto say, that
China, the mighty, mighty empire of Ta Tsing, is to be
constrained by a few thousand barbarians ; that they have
but to command it, and she shall tender them her land or
her cities. But of the clauses which are most pernicious,
there are none so woeful as those which authorise the esta -
blishment of a residence in the capital, trade up the rivers
in the interior, and the propagation of the Gospel in the
provinces. The heart of those who have heard it burns
with vexation. Every one knows, aye, even to the women
and children, that it ought not to be. Do not, says an
ancient proverb, over-advantage a tribe not your own, for it
will be certain to force itself into your place. ' How,'
said the founder of the Sung dynasty, ' shall I allow
any ono to snore on the ledge of the bed on which I sleep
myself?' The capital is a precious spot. Had the outer
barbarians brought tribute thither, still should free ingress
and egress have been prohibited them, intercourse with them
fended off, and, the ceremony of their presentation over, they
should have returned without being allowed to loiter and
delay. How, then, when they come with violence and
hostility, with a feud that has lasted through generations,
are they to be suffered to station officers here in official resi-
donces, to have their free say, to roam at random about the
centre of the empire, filling its highways and byways with
the Kiang and the I (barbarians from west and east).
Never, indeed, from ancient days until now, have such
things been heard of.
" The Great River (Yang-tze), in that it passes through
Kiang-nan, Cheh-Kiang, and Sz -Chu'en, is in fact the line
which divides the empire in half. There is a difference be-
tween it and ports along the sea coast. If trade at these
has been a mistake, the country may be compared to the
body of a man suffering as it were from paralysis in his
four limbs ; with the civilized and the barbarians huddled
together up the river, the paralysis is attacking his bowels.
The salt exercise of Hwai-ngan, Yang-chau, and Hang-
hau is in great disorder. The salt smugglers are commit-
ting every atrocity. If they get the rebellious barbarians
to become their receivers, the whole revenue derivable from
salt will revert to the barbarians and the officers of Govern-
ment will be ruined. Nor is this all,—the more ports they
occupy, the more stir they will make ; the more complicated
their intercourse with the Chinese, the more easily
will causes of quarrel present themselves. The local autho-
rities, if they favour the barbarians, will outrage the people ;
if they favour the people they will outrage the barbarians,
who, withal, regard the seizure of a Governor-General, or
a Secretary of State, as they do the tying up of a dog
or a pig. What extent of mischief do their hearts it secret
not contemplate perpetrating ? To admit them upon the
river would be like keeping a tiger in one's balcony or sup-
porting a robber in one's house. They may break out into '
violence at any moment. Could WO in such a case obtain
even a place apart to be at peace in, if we required it, as
under the Eastern Tsin dynasty (AD. 312-416), or the
Southern Sung (1163-12,31) ?
"To come to the propagation of religion. Without being
versed in the religion of the Lord of Heaven, your servant
takes its general aim to be to disturb the world, to bewilder
the people, to foster privily a desire for what is strange.
Were it otherwise, why
should the nations that have em-
braced it—who, of course,
are free to practise it them-
selves—insist on proselytising, or, granted their right to
proselytize, go roaming through the provinces, working
and slaving as they do, undaunted by fatigue ? The rebels
of the late period have also made profession of the doctrine
of the Lord of Heaven. The poisonous influence of its
propagators, exciting and deceiving, binding themselves in
shall have
such alliances, is plainly spreading. When they
travelled throuGh the provinces, and informed themselves
oi cumopiop 4A the empire, 01 the ftAtl,VVi 94 the

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-lie-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 late
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 volunteered to fight en masse. Permission was
refused, and they did not like to act on their own responsi-
bility. Who will say that the people are not equal to the
occasion ? Let your Majesty debire Kweiliang and
Hwashana 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 river 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 power, your servant
does not believe it.

" When the advisers of the State tell us ' If you fight 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, and 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 ; once chastised
and subdued, he will not dare to avenge it.' Look at his
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.A. 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 case ?

" 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 Ting •siang be strictly en-
joined, when lawless demands are insisted upon, not to lay
their responsibility upon fate, but when the case 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 the will of the Supreme,
his servants and his people are made resolute and the bar-
barians are dismayed. On the punishment inflicted by your
Celestial Majesty reform will follow, and it will rest with us
Hampn wily grasp or to lnnsen it we may exterminate or
we may conciliate ; we 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 spoken
to-day. It is only because of his extreme trouble at danger
so serious that he has intruded things regarding 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
touching 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 every-
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 the 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 land 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. Bruee'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 would be 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 Troaty her diplomatic
agent may come to Pekin—" en passant par Kiaklita
et Ourga, soit par Takou a l'enibouchure du Peiho,
soir par toute outre ville ou port ouvert de la Chine."
No specified route is laid down in the English
Treaty for her Ambassador. Ile may
o
as he likes, and by Article 54 it " is expressly b
ts
isub-
/ pulated that the British Govixnment and
t. n
equal
participation
jeds will be allowed free and. come and...git
in all privileges, immunities,
by his Majesty
Government or may be hereafter granta
the Emperor of China to the .
and advantages that
proceed to
he sea, and Mr. Bruce
route to Pekin from t
sub-
jects of any other nation." The Peiho is the regu-
larZrutte. to
° Though the
Pekin by that regular
had an unquestionable
They well knew that
Commissioners were silent,
Sang ko-lin-sin
was prep ared to dispute the
passage. One f
d north
expressed his
intention to keep out official boar t
t of the way, as he was certain
there would be
a collisiol 1, ,his own Government
still believing in their sup(
Admiral Hope on the 16 01 of June arrived off the
!.iority.
.e‘
Peiho to announce the at,,prot, eh of the allied Minis-
tern. 'Ls fleet ancla9red some 30