The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-20 00:00:00

SHARE MARKET.-( THIS DAY.)

ORDINARY SHARES AND STOCKS,

FOREIGN

Share Railways. P"4A. Closing I Business
'"*l Price. Done.

•
Share Railways. il Paid. I Closing Business
Price. Done. 10 Antwerp & Rotterdan, all 5/ 61
20 Ardennes all - - p
12.10 Amberg., Notting. Bost. 20 Ball.&S.Fran.,Lim.7p.c 3 1 d i P
and Eastern Junction 10 61 61 61 5 Belgian East. Junction all 1 11
50 llelfaat and Ballymena.. all - - 20 Beziers to Graissessaa all 9 10
13.14 Bir., Wol., and S tr. Val. all 71 71 5 Carmeanx Mine & Rail all 2 21
Stock Birk., Lane., and Chest]. 20 Dutch Rhenish
Junction lOO 66 68 6 Eastern of France ...... all 28 28f
25 Blackburn - - P
25 Blyth and Tyne all 30 32 20 Great Central of France all
Stock Bristol and Exeter
Stock Caledonian
-... 8 - -
StockiChester and Ho'yhead -
50 Cork and Bandon all • - 20 Lierre and Turnhout .. all - -
20 C,ork, Blkrock,&Passag,e all - - 20 Lombardo Venetian..., 8 41 44 p
20 Cornwall all 44 41
10 Do. A 20 Lucca & Pistoja, 5 p.c.pf. all - -
t..A. reves.
mno div. f all _ 20 Lyons and Geneva .... all 25 26
10 Do. B "ntil6p.c.an. all - - 34 Maria Antonia all - -
hasbeen fa-toll 20 Do. do. New - -
50 Dublin andßelfast June. all - - 20 Namur and. Liege all
491 91
25 Dun.,Pert h.& Abr..) um all 7 8 20 Do. do. 6p. c. Pref all 21 22
Stock East Anglian lOO 16 17 16 Northern of France .... all 401
Stock Eastern Conn aes lOO 62 63 621 20 Do. New Shares - - p
Stock Eastern Union A Stock 100 44 46
Stock Do. do. 11 Stock 100 29 31 10 Norwegian Trunk Pref. all 81 91
25 Do.Nw.A.(lte.7.lU3ds) 81 - - 2200
POattroisTLayiviisi.aa.
06dpemrecedintt
all 1.5#3 3811 d
25 East Kent all 11 12 20 Paris anti Orleans ..... all 56 57
Stock East Lancashire lOO 93 95 Recife& S. Fran. (Pern.) 19 4 id 81
20 East Suffolk all - - 20
gua. 7 p. et (Lim.) •• • 1
10 Do - - 20 Riga and Duniburg.... 4 - --
Stock Edinburg and Glasgow 100 631 614 10 Rome and Frascati .... all - -
Stock Edin.,l'erth, & Dundee. 100 2CI 274 20 Royal Danish all - -
10 Forth & Clyde Junction all - - 5 Royal Swedish - -
Stock Furness - - 4 Do. 7 per cent. Pref. .. all - -
Stock Glasgow & South Westn l6b 91 93 20 Sambre and Meuse. ... all 71 8
10 Great North of Scotland all 10 101 10 Do. 51 per cent. Pref. ... all 9 9 9
Stock Great Northern lOO 107 1071 1071 7 20 Southern of France.... all 231 23
Stock Do. do. A Stock lOO 22 94 84 West Flred2•-s
Stock Do. do. B Stock lOO 130 132 10 Do. 51 p. c. Pre:erence . all 91 91
Stock Gt. South.& Wstn.(lreld) 100 103 i 101 20 W. & N.W. of France.. all 24 25
Stock Great Western - 6 - -
Stock Do.Str.Vl.llail Gua.Stk lOO 54 541 20 Western of Switzerland all - -
12 Irish South Eastern al, - - 6 Wiesbaden - -
50 Lancaster and Carlisle. all 84 88 6 Do 8 per cent. Pref all - -
16 Do. Thirds - -
1613 4 Do. New Thirds l6 11 12 p
Stock Lancashire & Yorkshire 100 951 96 951 1 BRITISH POSSESSIONS.
16 Do. do. F 416 6 1 21,1
9 Do. do. £9 shares 7 t t d
3 Do. West Riding Union 1 - - Share Railways. Pap. Closing Business
20 Do. Southport
11.6.3 London and Blackwall all Di ei 6 i
11.6.3 Do.Newiss.at £5105p. sh 4l - -
1 Atlantic &St Lawrence all - -
Stock Lon.,Brir;•liton &S.Coast 100 1911 1911 911 1 1 100 121 112
Leased at 6 per cent..
Stock London & North Westn 100
121 Do. Eighths
Stock London& South-Westn lOO 93 91 931 18 ( gu. 5 per cent
18 Do all - -
25 L'derry & Coleraine ... all - -
25 L'derry & Enniskillen. all - - lB Do
18 Do. Do. . Addit. Capital A 6 14 B
41 141 i P.
Stock Man., Shef, 354 & Lincoln.. 100 361
10 Metropolitan 3 - - d 201 Buffalo and Lake H 1 p
Huron all 71 8
Stock Midland lOO 971 981 94 Si 201 Do. New l6l 131 12fd
Stock Do. Birming. & Derby. 100 69 71 100 Buffelo,Brant&Godrich 1 6
p 100 80 . 85
50 Mid. Gt. West. (Ireland) all - - . c... bds. 1 Aug., 1872
100 Do. do. 1 July, 1873 100 77 80
25 Do. 1 Shares all - - 100 Do. do. 1 June, 1874 100 74 77
100 Newcastle and Carlisle all - -
25 New., Aber., & Herefd all 101 11 20 Clcutta.&S.Eastrn.L m. 1. 3.0. - - p
10 Newry & Armagh (def ) 9 - - 20 Cape,Eas tn. Prov.(Lim.) 2s. - -
20 Cape Town & Dock Scrip 2s. - - pm
-30 Newry, Warpt., & Ros. all - - ~.
Stock Norfolk lOO 63 65 - 20 Central Oude (Limitea) 2s. 6d. - -
50 North. Counties Un'on 3l 31 3 d 20 Ceylon Guaranteed 6p.c. 2 f lip 4
Stock North British lOO 561 57 561 1 171 Demerara - -
Stock Nor.Dev.Rail..lrDk. Stk. 100 20 Eastern Bengal.g u.,.p.c 5 par 4p
Stock Do.A Stk.- Arec.no div. Stock East Indian, gu. sp. c lOO 1071 1071 1071 1 1
until 6p.c.hasbee.npdß 100 - - . 20 Do. C Shares all - -
Stock Do. B Stock lOO - - 20 Do. E Shares Ext. 10 1 11p
Stock North-Eastn.-Berwick 100 921 931 921 20 Do. Jubbulpore 6 - -
100 D 0.41 p.c. Bds. pay.'s:' all -
25 Do. do. G.N.E.Purchase 1613 4 1 1 d 41 -
Stock Do. Leeds . 100 461 471 20 Geelong& Mel.gua.sp.c. all 17 18
Stock Do. York lOO 75-1 761 751 Sto. I Geelong Corporation 6 1 100 -
-
Stock North London lOO 101 103 per cent. Bonds )
10 N. &S.Westn., Hampstd Stock Gr.-,nd Trunk of Canada 100 37 39
100 Do. 6 p.e. D.en..pay.'7B all 76 78 78 171
and City Junction.... '33.15. - - O
100 Do. 6 per cent. Pref lOO 88 92 90
20 North Staffordshire.— 17/ 41 41 d 20 Gt.lndiaPenin.gua.sp.c all 21 211 211
20 North-Western
10 No. & Sou. W. Junction all 74 81 20 Do. New, gua.s per cent. 4 #p 20 Do. do 2 fp 21
Stock Oxford, Wor.,& Wolver. 100 27 29
10 Peebles all - - 20 f Gt.S.of Ind.Lim.-Scrip i 2e.. - ,
( guaranteed 5 per cent. Far zp pm
20 Portsmouth
10 Rhymney lO • - -2% Do. New
'76•with I all 105 108
Stock Scottish Central lOO 110 112
Stock Scoth. N. E., Aber. Stock 100 27 28)
Stock Do. Scottish Mid. Stock 100 82 81all 105 108
Stock Shropshire Union lOO 43 44 1001° DEP ooe..PdV.tni'ld7l3B' play.
i l till '6O 60
100 Do. do. '73 without. op: all 105 107
10 Sittintourne & Sheer. all 4 2 d 100 Do. 51 p. c. do. '77 do
Stock South Devon WO 361 361 20 Madras, guar., 41 p. c. all Ifl 184-
Stock South-Eastern lOO 711 75 20 Do. do. 5 per cent. all 20 . 2(:,'
Stock South Wales
20 SouthYorks.&r. v.Dun all 12 14 •
20 Do. do lB - -
20 Do. Thild E. gua.s.p.c. 5 i , .
20 Staines, Wok., & Wok all 9 11
20 Do. Fourth do.
-1
25 Stockton & Darlington. all 321 334 took Melh. Corp. 6 p.c. Borg:, 100NertBrunswic‘t&C. -cla )
25 Do. do. 1854 221 -- -
25 Do. do. 1855 7 - - flO 2 lid
- Stockton & Hartlepool * 161 - -
L
tock Taff Vale lOO - -
took Do. Preference, No. 1 - - 270 1D" 00CR..1 7".
s&Bc4l I 'Aoo ..aC' B; d
LandP
Cl ;ail .pn ISi
d;
t r.) a:lr:de. P:oc:. ); 0. , 4 3 d
.. Do. do. Land d 0.., 1
25 ThamesHavenDk&Rail 22 - -
took Vale of Neath lOO - -
took Waterford & Kilkenny 100 - - 20 NoLritmhoifeld,ndsiaciTipramroad I 2s.
20 Oude (Limited)
J.
-
50 Waterford & Limerick all - - 20 Scinde 44 15 1. lip 16 1
20 West Cornwall
10 W-end Lon. & Cry. Pal. all - - 20 Do. New r. t', 5 1 i IP.
5 Do. A.-Arecv.nodiv.till 20 Do. Punjaub
7 p.c. has been pd. to B all 3 31
5 Do. B all 61 61 20 Do. Indus. St. Flo. 47," 5 par 1 p
20 St. Andrews Sr Quebec A 18
10 Do. let Class all - - - -
20 West London all - - 10 Trinidad(Limited) Scrip 1 par 1p
20 Do. 2d Class all - -

Stock

Stock
Stock

Stock

Stock
Stock
Stock

Stock
Stock
25
Stock
Stock
Stock

Stock

Stock
Stock
Stock
Stock
10
Stock
Stock
Stock

Stock
Stock
25
Stock
Stock

Bedford and Bletchley
Buckinghamshire ....
Clydesdale Junction ..
Colchester, S tour Val.
E.Lincolnshire,g.6p.c.
E Union.HarlrichSlis.

Do. Woodbridge
Gls.Barr.&Neils,Dret
Do. New
Gloster& Dean Forest
Hartlpool.Dek.&Rail
Hull and Selby

Do.
Do. 1 Shares
London &Greenwich
Do. Preerence
Lon ~Tilby.&Soutend
Do. Barking Shares
Lowestoft, gu a. 4p. ct
Do. 6 per cent
Manc.,Buxtn. & Matk
M id sb.& Redcr, g.6p.c
Mid.BraCordPrt. Stk.
Newmarkt.,BuryEx
guaranteed 5 p. c.
Northn.& Eastn. 5 p.c.
Do. do. 6 per cent
Do. Fixed 5 per cent.
Preston and Wyre.
Do. Shares A
Roystn,Hitch.,& Shep
Shf.Roth.&Gol.g.slo.c.
81irewsbry& Hereford
South Staffordshire
Wear Valley, g. 6p. c.
Do. do
Wilts and Somerset
Wimbledon& Croydn

Ln & N.W
Ln& N.W
ICaledonin
E.1.1.&E C
Gt. North.
E.Counts.

Caledonin
Do.
Gt. West
Yk.N.A.r. •
Yk.N.Md.
Do.
Do.
S. East
Do.
Peto &Co
Do.
Norfolk
Do.
LN W&M
Stk.& Dar
Midland .
E.Counts.
Do.
Do.
Do.
L& N
& L.Yk.
Do.

99 100
102 104
17 19
141 143
4 41

Gt. North.
Lan.& Y 1
T Brassey
111‘Clean
Stk.& Dar
Do.

24 21

Gt. Arest.l
L.&Brgtn

DOCKS.

98 100
i IF,
57 59

91 911.
10 101

92 93
8 9

q2i 2

I "'" Closing ! rosiness
Price. ' Docks.

100
100
100
100
100
100

FRUIT.
a. d. a. d.
Pine apples, per lb 4' oto 6 0
Colonial do., each 0 oto 0 0
Grapes, per lb 2 6to 5 0
Foreign do 0 9to 1 6
Melons, each
Peaches, per doz 4 o'. 010 0
Neer.' Inca, per dz 0 oto 0 0
Apples, per bush. 2 oto 5 0
Pears, per hf-1-,ieve 0 6to 3 0
Oranges, per 100 1 oto 1 6
Lemons, per 100 4 oto 8 0
Apricots, pa* doz 0 oto 0 0

VEGETABLES
Greens, dz bunch 2 oto 4 0
Cabba'es, pr do. 010 to .1 3
Savoy 10., pr do. 10 to 1 3
Cauliflowers. pdz 2 0.0 4 0
B:ocoli, pzr bh... 0 Bto 1 0
Old po.si oe3,p ..on 2 10 to 4 10
New dito, pFr lb 0 0;o 0 0
Peas, per sieve 0 oto 0 0
Turnip 3 dz bunch 2 oto 4 0
Carrots, pr bunch 0 3to 0 5
Cucurabeis, e. ch 0 2to 0 4
Garlic, per lb .... 0 6to 0 8
Sorrel, per see 0 oto 0 0
Spinach, perdu... 0 9to 1 0
Bros. spouts, 1 6to 1 9
Old onions, dz bun 1 oto 1 6
New do., per bun 0 oto 0 0
Frenchberus, h.s. 2 oto 4 0
Leeks, per bunch 0 2to 0 3

ioo I 101 103
18 I }Pi

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, NO cEINIPER, 20, 1858.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.-( THIS DAY.)

CHANCERY COURT.
(Before Vice-Chancellor Sir John Stuart.)
SHORT MOTION FOR I ECREE-BROOK V. PRESTON.

This was a motion for the plaintiff, by his counsel (Mr.
Elmsley, Q.C.), for a general inquiry as to whether it was
fit and proper, and for the benefit of the testator's estate
and•those interested therein, that any and what debts due
'to the estate should be ascertained and brought in, and
those due by the estate should be paid; and in particular
whether a debt of £15,000 was due to the testator by the
defendant, Mr. Preston; and for a certificate as to what
debts are due to, or by, the testator's estate.
Mrs. Preston, by her counsel (Mr. Russel), made a
similar application to secure her interest in the estate.

His Honour (the Vice-Chancellor) granted an order for
general inquiry, with liberty to Mr. Preston to lay before
his Honeur, at Chambers, any proposal in reference to the
payment of any debt due by him.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.(This Day.)

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

SINGULAR CHARGE OFFRAUD AT SKITTLES.—WiIIiam
Thorp, of 5, Gloucester-place, Walworth-common, was
charged with defrauding Mr. Henry Hutchings, a dentist,
of 2, Great Suffolk-street, of a watch and guard chain, by
means of skittle sharping.
The prosecutor said that five years ago, while waiting for
an omnibus, the prisoner got into conversation with him,
as also did another man, and shortly after they asked him
to have something to drink. He went with them to a
house, and one of them asked him whether he thought it
possible to throw a skittle ball 40 yards. A bet was then
made, and he was asked to hold 455. for a bottle of wine.
They then got him down in a cellar like a dungeon, got his
watch from him, and made him sign an I 0 U for £5.
In answer to Mr. Bingham, the prosecutor said he was
only 17 at that time, and did what they told him as he was
frightened and was not used to such things. They said he
must go with them; they had brandy and water, and seemed
to have plenty of money. The prisoner called himself his
"friend," and said he lived st 9, Southwark-square.
The constable produced a gold watch and guard, the pro-
bate of a will, and three fiash notes found on the prisoner.
The prisoner said none of the property belonged to him.

Mr. Bingham said if there was no other evidence he did
not think he should proceed further. It was five years ago,
and he did not think it would be safe. The flash notes had
better be detained. •
Pm The prisoner was then discharged.

THIS DAYS MARKETS.

COVENT GARDEN.
Our market is heavily supplied for the time of year.
Generally speaking the demand is steady, as follows :

s. d. s. e.
Cherries, per lb.. 0 oto 0 0
Filberts, per lb .. 0 6to 0 0
Cobnuts, per 100 lb 0 6to 0 9
' Almonds, per busl4 oto 0 0
Walauts, per 100 1 oto 2 0
Fil,s, per d0z..... 0 oto 0 0
Strawberries, prpto 0.0 0 0
Gooseberries, 4. sv. 0 oto 0 0
Currants, pct. uo. 0 oto 0 0
Plmns, per do. .. 0 oto 0 0
Greengar..ces, pr do. 0 oto 0 0
Raspberhes,prp:lo oto 0 0

Shallots, per lb .. 0 6to 0 8
Horseradish, pbn 1 6to 3 0
Paisley, per ditto 0 2to 0 4
Celery, per ditto 0 Bto 1 6
Eeet, per doz. .. 1 6to 2 0
Parsnips, per do. 0 otoo- 0
p. pn, 0 oto 0 0
liushrooms.p pod 2 oto 2 6
Articliokes, pr dz 2 oto 5 0
Cabbage leits,psc 0, oto 0 0
Endive, per score 1 oto 1 6
Radishes, dz finds 0 oto 0 0
Tomatoes, pr hsv 3 6to 5 0
Walnuts, per 100 0 oto 0 0
Chilies, per ditto 0 oto 0 0
Capsicums, per do 0 oto 0 0
Rhubarb, per bun 0 oto 0 0
Asparagus, pr do. 0 oto 0 0
Sea kail, per pun. 0 oto 0 0

NENVGATE AND LEADENHALL.

Turkeys, 4s Od to 8s Od ; poults, Os Od to Os Od each •
geese, 4s Od to 7s Od; goslings, 4s Od to 7s Od ; ducklings,
Is 9d to 2s 9d; rabbits, is Od to is 6d each; wild do., Cd
to is Id ; pigeons, 6d to NBd each ; large Surrey fowls,
5s Od to Es Od ; chickens, 4s Od to 6s Od ; barn door fowls,
3s Od to 5s Od ; capons, 4s Od ; hares, 2s 6d to Cs Od ;
grouse, 2s Od to 3s Od each; pheasants, 2s Od to 38 Od;
ptalinigan, Os Od to Od ; woodcocks, 23 6d to 3s Od ; snipes,
Os 9d to is Od ; teal, 6d to 03 9d; wild ducks, is 6d to 2s
widgeons, Os 10d to Is 3d; plovers, Os Cd to Os 10d each;
guinea fowls, Os Od to Os Od ; roasting pigs, Cs 6d to 78 Od
each; Ostend fresh butte?, is Od to is 2d; English, is 2d
to is 4d per lb; English eggs, 13.3 Od to 14s Od ; French do.,
lOs Od to 12s Od per 120; leyerets, 2s Od to 3s Od each.

CHINA AND ITS TRADE.

£1,730,000 worth of cotton goods. "But to return for
a moment," continued the lecturer, "to such ob-
jects of exports as China is likely to offer to our
commerce. By Lord Elgin's treaty a part of
Chinese Tartary is thrown open to our trade in
about 40 degrees of latitude, a colder region than
10 deg. of greater latitude would produce in the
western world. I will add to this that Russia has
lately added a free port at the mouth of the grpat
river Amoor, opening an intercourse with a tem:-
tory, wrested at one time or another from the
Chinese, computed at half a million of square miles.
I will take this opportunity of saying that, instead
of entertaining absurd and unfounded fears of the
power of Russia, because she has established thus
a communication with the Pacific and maritime in-
tercourse with China and Japan, without going
round the Cape of Good Hope, we ought rationally
and peacefully to avail ourselves of such natural
advantages as her establishments hold out. Dan-
ger to us, 'politically, from her establishments, is
quite out of the question, and obvious at the first
glance. He then referred to the import
trade of China, especially to the opium
branch of it. His own recollection of the opium
trade of China, he said, dated 44 years back, at
which time the annual consumption was said to be
about 2,000 chests, of the value of £500,000 ster-
ling. When British capital and enterprise came
into the Indian field, after the opening of the trade
in the year 1814, a vast and natural increase took
place in the import of opium into China, and in
1831, shortly before the overthrow of the tea mono-
poly, the quantity amounted to 18,760 chests of
1401 b. weight each, and of the value of £2,800,000.
In 1849 the quantity had risen to 49,870 chests, and
last year 70,300, valued at £7,200,000. Speaking
' of the effect of the use of opium on the health and
morals of the Chinese, he said it was his conviction
that, at the utmost, it was not worse than our own
stimulants, every one of which might be abused,
but might also be used with impunity, and often
with advantage, and he quoted the opinion of Sir
B.Brodic, that the effect of opium was not so much
to stimulate as to soothe the nervous system. The
lecturer then continued as follows :—The Chinese
Government at one time, but does so no longer,
charged us with poisoning its subjects with our
opium. If, however, we look back to the procla-
mations which were put forth on the subject before
the war of 1842 we shall find that the moral branch
of their argument was a mere make-weight to
assist the real one, which was that opium was rob-
bing China of its precious metals, and thus threat-
ening to reduce the empire to -beggary; for the
Chinese are firm and implicit believers in a foolish
doctrine, in which we were ourselves believers, too,
that gold and silver are the only substantial wealth.
At the time in question the precious metals had
been constantly leaving China, for the plain reason
that they were cheaper and more abundant in China
than abroad. They had for some years before been,
as they have now for some years back been doing,
constantly flowing into China. The constant cry of
Chinese functionaries before 1842 was, " The black
dirt is always coming in, and the pure Sycee sil-
ver always going out." Not a word is now said
about the " black dirt." Indeed, opium goes at pre-
sent under the polite name of " the foreign medicine,"
and is as regular and open a branch of trade as
are silk and tobacco. A regular import duty is
even levied upon it as upon any other article of
importation. The Chinese, in fact, have come to
their senses, although the process was a painful
and tedious one that brought it about. Our inter-
course with China dates from the year 1683, only
five years before the Revolution, and from that
time and down to 30 years back woollens formed
our chief exports to China; indeed, they had long
done, although not for so prolonged a time, to every.
country in the world. They were then our princi-
pal manufacture, and I take this opportunity of
expressing the strong suspicion I entertain that in
time they may become so again, taking rank of
cotton. Let us for a moment look back to the na-
ture and history of our trade in woollens with
China. The Chinese have hardly any woollen
manufacture of their own, in this matter differing
wholly from their condition as to silk, cotton, and
even linen, represented by what we choose to call
grass-cloth, but which is, in reality, the produce of
a species of nettle. They have, notwithstanding,
been familiar with broadcloth, although not Eng-
lish, ever sinco they had intercourse with Euro-
peans, and most probably long before. While the
East India Company held a monopoly of the trade
of China their staple export was always woollens,
and their management of this branch of trade is
worth describing even now, not only as a curious
illustration of the mismanagement of a monopoly,
but also of the dulness and ignorance that so long
submitted to it. In the five years ending with
1813, inclusive, being the last of the Company's
entire monopoly, from the Cape of Good Hope to
the Straits of Slagellan, their export of woollens
amounted to 248,616 pieces of all kinds. In the
five years ending with 1831, or within two years
of the close of their Chinese monopoly, the quantity
had declined to 162,578 pieces ; or, in 18 years'
time, no one can tell why, had fallen off better than
79,000 pieces. But since the era of free trade with
China, in 1834, there had been a still greater de-
cline in our export of woollens, for on the average
of the five years ending 1857 the total number of
pieces, exclusive of X 5,50 worth entered by theyard,
was only 74,189 pieces. A noble lord to whom I have

On Wednesday afternoon there was a large as-
sembly of the merchants, manufacturers, and other
leading inhabit2nts of the borough of Leeds, in-
cluding most of the members of the Leeds Chamber
of Commerce, at the Hall of the Leeds Philosophi-
cal and Literary Society, to hear a lecture " On
China and its Trade," by Mr. John Crawfurd,
F.R.G.S., of London, late Governor of Singapore.
Among the gentlemen present were the Rev. Dr.
Hook, Vicar of Leeds ; Mr. H. C. Marshall, Dr.
Heaton, Dr. Pycmont Smith, Mr. J. Botterill, Mr.
J. Kitson, Mr. J. Gott, Mr. J. H. Shaw, Mr. D.
Lupton, Mr. W. S. Ward, Mr. T. Wilson. Mr. W.
Chadwick, Mr. J. M. Tennant, Mr. T. Nunneley,
Mr. P. O'Callaghan, &c.
Mr. CRAWFURD commenced by saving that he
proposed giving a rapid sketch of China and
its trade, more especially with a view to
our own commercial intercourse with the em-
pire. The proper country of the Chinese peo-
ple contained an area of about 1,400,000
square miles—fully twelve times the size of the
United Kingdom. It extends from near the
18th deg. of latitude to the 40th deg., and had a
breadth and length of about 1,500 miles each. Some
portion of it, therefore, was within the tropic, while
part of Chinese Tartary had climates approaching
in severity to the temperature of Siberia. About
one half of the surface, of China was said to consist
of mountains, with, however, frequent fertile valleys
between, while the other is an alluvial, well-
watered, and therefore fertile plain. Two mighty
rivers, with numerous affluents and branches, are
striking characteristics of the physical geography
of China. These traversed the whole country from
west to east; disemboguing in the Yellow Sea. To
their existence must be ascribed much of the civi-

[isation of China, since, at one and the same time

hey multiplied the fertility of the land and afforded
cheap and easy means of intercommunication. The
two rivers in question were the Yangtse to the
south, and the Hoangho, or Yellow River, to the
north. The first of these was the greatest river
of the Old World, and the American rivers only
were comparable to it. It was said to be
navigable for 800 miles by vessels of considerable
burden, and was certainly so for 200 miles for ships
of the line. On the banks of the river were situated
some—of the largest commercial cities of China, and
the plain watered by itself, its affluents, and
branches was stated to peopled by 100 millions
of inhabitants, or 27 parts out of 100 of the whole
population of the empire. The Yellow River,
although also important, was of much inferior value
to the Yangtse. The population of China, accord.
ing to the census of 1813, and there was no ground
to believe that it has since diminished—amounted
in round numbers, without including its northern
dependencies, to 362,000,000, which was equal to
six times the population of the Russian empire, and
full twelvefold that of the United Kingdom. The
population was very unequally distributed, follow-
ing, as was to be expected with a people chiefly
agricultural, the ratio of the fertility of theland. In
spite of its fertility, and the means which it possessed
of maintaining its population, China was an over-
peopled country. The mass of the labouring classes
did not earn above 4d. a-day, while the necessaries of
life were as dear as in England ; and it was poverty
that drove the people into brigandage, rebellion,
and imigration, and had also, in fact, been the
cause of the present rebellion, which had now
lasted five years. Emigration had been going on
among them for two centuries, and was now more
rife than ever. In search of gold they had gone
to California and Australia, in each of which coun-
tries there were believed to be at present 50,000
Chinese labourers. The civilisation of the Chinese
went back almost historically for 4,000 years. Im-
memorially the Chinese had lived under the same
laws and mstitutions; and these, howeveiiimperfect
in the judgment of civilised Europeans, had been
sufficient to give such security to life and property
as to have created a stability, industry, and inge-
nuity unknown in any other country of Asia. In
physical strength and vigour of constitution the
Chinese were far superior to any other Asiatic peo-
ple, and in their capacity of bearing alternations of
climate they were even superior to Europeans. The
sensuality of the Chinese was undisguised, and they
were the least imaginative people in the world.
—the very antithesis of the poetic temperament.
With. many superstitions, they had little religion
and no bigotry, the only exception to their religion
being what had been called " worship of ancestors,"
—a powerful sentiment, which has kept them by
the tombs of their forefathers, which, indeed, they
never quitted without the hope of returning to them.
The national vanity of the Chinese was egregious,
and they admitted of no equals. This had evidently
arisen from their having never known equals. All
the nations in their neighbourhood were infinitely
below them in sense and civilisation. The politics
and philosophy of the present Chinese were those
of Confucius, who was a contemporary of Pytha-
goras, who lived 2,000 years ago, and of Mentius,
who was a contemporary of Aristotle. The Chinese
were bad sailors and worse soldiers. Their ships
were unsightly and clumsy, and were probably con-
structed much as they were 2,000 years ago. But
the Chinese, though difficult to move, were not im-
movable. They received the Indian religion of Bud-
dha in the second century of the Christian era, and
from India they had cotton and the art of weaving
it as late as the 13th century. Even within the
comparatively short period they had been known
to Europeans they had submitted to considerable
changes. The poppy—an exotic of China—was
made known to the Chinese by the Mahomedan
merchants, who frequented their country before
Europeans. It was at present largely and openly
cultivated by them. The Chinese had long received
and extensively cultivated and used tobacco and
maize, and the manufacture of the Prussian blue,
or the prussiate of iron, which used at one time to
be a considerable article of import from England
into China, was introduced into the country by a
common Chinese seaman. After these remarks
about China and its people, continued Mr. Craw-
furd, he would proceed to the subject of commer-
cial intercourse. China produced gold, silver,
copper, tin, zinc, lead, iron, steel, quicksilver,
coals, and of all these it was itself the chief
consumer. Gold and silver it had as often ex-
ported as imported. The staple vegetable pro-
ductions of China are very various. In the warm
south there is rice, sugar-cane, and cocoa palm ;
in the temperate region, tea, silk, and cotton ;
and in these and the cold wheat and millets,
with a very great variety of pulses, oil-giving
plants, and the almost übiquitary maize. To the
mineral and vegetable products, now that Tartary
was thrown open, might be added wool, hides,
horses, and tallow. The great staples of China,
however, at present, were tea and silk, and those
he would consider in detail. Mr. Crawfurd pro-
ceeded to give a history of the cultivation of tea by
China, and of its importation to this country.
China, he said, from soil, climate, cheap labour,
and the practice and experience of 2,000 years, had
a natural monopoly in the production of tea. Tea
was first introduced into this country about the
year 1650, and the consumption rapidly increased
until, at the commencement of the 18th century, it
averaged, perhaps, half a million of pounds per
annum. After quoting the lines of Pope in refe-
rence to Queen Anne drinking tea—
" Here now great Anna, whom those realms obey,
" Does sometimes counsel take; and sometimes tea,"
for the purpose of illustrating his (Mr. Crawfurd's)
belief that tea was at that time pronounced " tay,"
the lecturer said that at the beginning of the
present century our consumption of tea was
20,000,0001 b. a•year, and in 1833 it amounted to
30,000,0001 b. Now, under the auspices of free
trade, it was about 65,000,0001 b. The wholesale
price of this was estimated at about £5,000,000 ;
and tea, when the duty was at its highest, yielded
a revenue to the State of £6,000,000 per annum,
which was about three times the whole revenue of
the State when Queen Anne was drinking tea and
taking counsel at Windsor, and Marlborough was
fighting the battle of Blenheim. The quantity of
tea produced in China must be immense when it
was considered that it not only supplies its own
300,000,000 (every man, woman, and child being a
tea drinker who can aflbrd it), but also the whole
of the world, Japan and Tonquin alone excepted.
The quantity exported annually by land and. water
could not be less than 100,000,0001 b. What was
of more consequence was that there seems, Mr all
Tactical purposes, no limit to the supply.
ithin the last hundred years the Chinese con-
sumers themselves had been more than
doubled in number, requiring something like a
double supply of tea. Within the present
century our own consumption had been more
then trebled. America, within the last 72 years,
had added some 20,000,0001 b. to the demand on
China, yet all this had no effect in raising the cost
of teas in China. The lecturer next referred to
another great staple of Chinese export—raw silk.
He briefly glanced at the ancient records
trade, describing the cultivation of the
slk worm,
of
and then stated that from
112,000
si aloneo fsilk, therel
were exported last year 2e
value of which was estimated
and it
The prices given were of course exorbitant,
a £10,000,000, or
twice the value of the
out-bidt a
tbbreo ug
Chineseto England.a
proceeding
wasac-
ur e ;se roitffaspi
vetheir own market,
which, ilnekit-slielnavtered in, would in due time make
us manufacturers of silk for the Chinese, as
we were of cotton for the Hindoos. Mr.
Crawfurd also referred to the exportation of
minor articles for China, such as coffee, camphor,
cassia, and , rhubarb. Of the grand staple of
Chinese manufacture—silk— England imported
last year something less than £llO,OOO worth,
while _ she furtholied the Cilium With eihoye

the pleasure of being known, and whose virtues and
active public benevolence I greatly respect, although
I cannot extend my respect to his commercial and
economical notions, used such figures as I have just
quoted in favour of his proposal to suppress the
opium trade. On that occasion he insisted that if
you only extirpated the poppy in India, and de-
prived the Chinese of the power of smoking its
produce, the Chinese would take at once to broad-
cloth and calico. I believe, however, that I can
furnish you with a more reasonable account than
does this assumption of Lord Shaftesbury, of the
large export of woollens under the monopoly and
the smaller under free trade. his lordship's notice,
indeed, strikes me to be very much on a line with
a project of the French Government, if such a one
could be supposed possible, as increasing the con-
sumption of French silks in England by stopping
our supply of French brandy ; or a still madder
one of our own Government, prohibiting the dis-
till ition of rum in our colonies, and its importation
to England, in order to increase our supply of
sugar and promote the cause of sobriety and
morality. In the good old time China was, in every
branch of it, a monopoly. An obstacle to the con-
sumption of our manufactures necessarily exists in
the poverty of the great mass of the Chinese people.
A coat of Leeds broadcloth would, no doubt, be a

great comfort to a Chinese day-labourcr, but the
man that earns but 4d. a day, who pays as high for
his bread as an English labourer, and ten times as

much for the condiment of salt, cannot afford to
wear even the coarsest broadcloth. Although,
however, tl‘e great body of the Chinese
people be very poor, I ought to add that
there are in the vast mass some millions
in very easy circumstances, and many thou-
sands, the consumers of birds' nests and sea cucum-
bers, for example, living in luxury. Another pal-
pable obstacle to a wide consumption of our manu-
factures by the Chinese is found in their possession
of manufactures of their own, generally far superior
to those of any other Eastern people. A hundred
years ago they were more a manufacturing people
than ourselves. The nations of Europe, indeed,
long continued to consume Chinese silks and cot-
tons, and it has only been in comparatively recent
times that we have excelled them in their fabrics.
They, as well as the Hindoos and Japanese, quilt
their tissues with cotton for a winter dress ; and al-
though clothing of this description is but an indif-
ferent substitute for woollens, it is a cheap one. To
make the Chinese consumers of our manufactures
we must furnish them with cheaper and better than
their own, as well as with such as are equally suited
to their tastes and habits. This, it is obvious, is a
condition indispensable to our supplying them. To
the obstacle opposed to the extension of our com-
mercial intercourse with the Chinese from custom
and transit duties, I am not disposed to attach
much importance. The import duties are in
no
case high, and at four out of the
five ports
which
have been open to us since 1842 they are evaded by
a compromise between our merchants and the
ChineSe officers. What the Chinese trade is likely
to grow to may be inferred from the progress of
the conveniently situated port of Shanghai, which
lies on a branch of the great river. I take my ac-
count of it from that given in the interesting letters
of the able correspondent of the Times, Mr. W.
Cooke, who lately published them in a small con-
venient volume. Shanghai, the very name of which
was before unknown to Europeans, was established
as a port open to European trade in 1842. In 1856,
the 14th year from its establishment, its imP orts
amounted to £11,922,806, of which £4,287,290
was
bullion. It exported, chiefly in tea and silk, nearly
to the same value. Notwithstanding this fair pro-
spect of improverent in ouicommercial intercourse
with China, I will not take upon myself the re-
sponsibility of recommending any increase of in-
vestments in the China markets. 'We are bound in
prudence to watch and wait the progress of events.
Besides, I am addressing great merchants and ma-
nufacturers, and I am not myself a merchant or a
manufacturer, although I have sometimes had the
vanity to fancy tht.t I might have become one had
I been properly educated. I know well the wide
gulf that lies between talking of business and prac-
tising it. I think of that gulf and become discreet
and silent. (The lccturer, who had been frequently
applauded in the ( ourse of his lecture, concluded
amid the general acclamation of the meeting.)
At the close of the lecture Mr. Crawfurd was
unanimously elected an honorary member of the
Leeds numphical And LaterarY Society, 911 the