The Sun.
London, England, 1858-05-10 00:00:00

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LPRick 41). S VAMPED 5

casion to note, to high genius. It-is only upon
indifferent topics that his information is in the
slightest degree trustworthy. .
We were very anxious to know whether Yeh is
really a fatalist, hut he fences with-my questions.
He undoubtedly dots consult his Ohinese alwansck
for the lucky day to shave his ~:but it is not
easy to ascertain from him wii.,4er he does so at-
taching any belief to such supers os, or whether
he merely follows a popular custoo, if he believes
in "luck" he certainly has the sense to be ashained
of it. He is also evidently aware that it is d rota-
tory to the dignity of a high literate of the Han-
lin-Yuan to lean too much on superstitious books,
even those of Taouism or Bbuddisni, owning
thereby that the philosophy of Confucius and Men-
cius is not all-sufficient.

I asked why, if the philosophy of Confucius was
sufficient for all purposes, ineu became followers of
Bhudda also.

" There is one great universal truth, but it has
many truths within it. The Taoli of Confucius is
at one with the Taoli of Bhudda."
" But Bhuddism was not known in China until
long after the time o Confucius ?"—" The Taoli of
Bhudda was in China, although men knew not the
form."

"Confucius knew nothing of the rePgion of
Bhnicla ?"—" The men of those days knew not the
forms."

-

"If the Taoli of Bhudda is good and necessary,
*why is it not included in toe public exatnine,iions?"
—"ln ancient times it was not so."
Tins reply is with Yeh the ending of all contro-
versy. I once tried to drive him out of it by say-
ing that the custom he spoke of was only of the age
of the Han dynasty, and that, even in our eyes,
was comparatively modern. He became very sulky
and would Lot continue the conversation.
Mr. Wade hts found a great many divination
schemes among the pagers seized at the time of
Yeh's capture. I asked him if be had east any
h rose pee with a view to forettll political events.
He t.and, "No." I then told him it was under-
stood that papers of this knit.l were among his docu-
ments. He empha.irnallv deni, d that this wa+ pos-
sible. I said it was unfortunate that some mis ake
had been made, for that these papers had b 3 n
transltted svitl reported to the British authorities,
and would be looked upon as hits. He sand,—
" I was always busy with official duties ; how
could I have time for such things ?
" Do people in China generally believe in them ?
—Some people among the Chinese believe in such
things, and some do not.
" What is your Excellency's opinion ?—I can't
tell you. Sometimes I believe in them, sometimes
Ido not. The English have uo such custom, so I
cannot make you comprehend.
" On the contrary, we have such customs. With
us the learned sometimes have recourse to divina-

(iether it will be much to our advantage to Ietoh;NEWSPAPEI
Yeh the history of British India. Suppose we tell pz-I--1-17T-7.
him that about a:kupdredatid fifty. years ego t4l:4=if--,-,..- _r .37,.(4.:yy3:4,
head of the Mognlrace ruled over the great penin- P:_-.
,:tJ--„,.,,,. --,,.;z_'\:-1.(, '',,
sula of Hindostan, disturbed in his dominion only :.,t, -.,:7:r:,,,:,15
ttL..,
by occasional rebfdlions and by dsobedient'eatrapa,\xt7 :
___:).,..,.. -
that some humble English merchants had obtained' 4.
.Ifr_,: (_,....z., i',..:
leave to build' a few factories on the seaboard, ands------:(1-1114
ii '---'s's
a few French troops had oconpied some islands ta
the coast and one station on did Inainlana; shat-the,' t, a z
English had at tit's time nOidea• of any territorial ", •
coLquest, and w ,u;d 1/4VB treated-any such sugges- --
tion as the most absurd of cOnmuies ; thatjn,s;llo
ye Ira ago the French opened their.eyes to a career of _
conquest, while the English were still, wing for pri7 . .
vilelzes as humble traders ; that 13 year.sia4r saw
the French driven out of all their conquests lolthe
poor traders, who, without auy ambition on *JO ,
tbpra7;tyietswoientrie,seefii:fr_ocdewetclneTw,
ctieolla,e)vpp:atfuhoruconefndcibnoygnqkcujirneessrutinoisuntemisteeinns!
against which they vainly struegled and cPaaelessly
c anplained, to supplant the G, eat Mogul and be-
coomneottisletraSTle
uzerfa.lentsofinalil,hlndia. t
suggest Thissa
p r, quick
paralleljud
ct 9 da
stheas
mind of Yeh. .He might even be o
to imagine some coincidence between the present
11 •
o,ition of the English and Russians in china and
that of the English and French in early days in
India.

Yeh, however, is a practiser of what I am so evil-
minded to think is the real great Taoli of China
" Procrastinaton is the soul of business." he •
puts off India and the four books from day to day,
and Mr. Alabaster importums in vain. He was
for several succeeding d Sys engaged_in deep conside-
ration whether he should allow Mr. Cotton to cut
off a wart which disfigures his very well-shaped
hand, .
I mentioned to him the fact that the Shanghai
C ustom-house pays annually two and a half minions
of taels to the Imp:.•rial Treasury. Careful not to
commit himself he merely observed, "It is good."
I i‘dded that this must be a great benefit to the
Emperor. He said the Imperial Treasury wasnot
wantinginmoney. I produced some Pekin Gazettes,
from which it appeared that the Emperor was of a
different opinion. He grun'ed. I mentioned that
the Imperial troops, who had just obtained posses-
sion of Chekiang Foo. had teen maintained entirely
by the Shanghai Customs. He had not heard of it,
it was not in his provinces. I drew an inference
teat a greater facility of access would increase com-
merce and be beneficial to the.lmperiat Treasury.,
and the Chinese people. He did n,t agree. Ircr •
once h, condescended to argue. He said the open-
ing of the four ports had increased competition,
and comi,eti!ion disa. range.; all things. Iu fo.nter
sno r bute said h
good
o since
ci wtt
c competition foreigners
d
e,
h a
beend
a inb:ernrtteedd. allowedg6oiHe
e
Liinself had a very good witch before the ports
wore open. He lost it, and was obliged to buy
ano her ; it was always out of repair. I innocently
attempted to etplain that it depended upon' the
consumer whether competition produced cheapness
or quality., but wasmet only by an incredulous grin.
S nnetimes I ventured to talk about the opium
matters, but there is very little to be got by leading
him to talk upon affairs of public policy. Heil' not
only very naturally determined to say nothing that
may be remembered against him, but ho lies with an
aplomb and only placidity whichl make one's face
burn, remembering that it is a man of high office
and great learning who is emitting the ridiculous
falsehood. _ _

tion as an amusement ; but the ignorant and
it ite-
rate only really believe that events can be foretold
by such schemes. Perhaps that may be the case
also in China ?—To some extent that is the case in
China."

As I was confident as to the fact of the horo-
scopes having b-en found, I returned to this point.
He grew rather angry, and repeata-d:—
" My hours wet e coupied with official business ;
how on earth could I find tone to cas- hoc. scopes?
It is true that fortune tellsra have been sent to we
on various occasions ; such •hings have been, but
:hey never influenced public affairs.
" The finding of these horoscopes has led some
persona to the opinion that they influenced you to
neglect the defence of Canton "
The answer very emphatically given was " No."
I ventured one other question, for I felt that I
should never get him on the topic again. The an-
swer was, " Such things were never cmsidered in
public business."
The Bishop of Victoria, after his visit to Yeb,
sent off a Chinese Bible and some tracts wrapped
in a newspaper, begging Capt. Booker to present
them. The captain did so. I eb. said he bad long
ago read the Bible ; it was a good book—all books
of that kind were good—they tend to purify the
heart, as do the Buddhist and the Taouist books.
He begged of Capt. Brooker to put the parcel by
for bin until some convenient season. This time
never cane, but on the fifth day of our voyage Mr.
Alabaster reproduced the package, and b•'gged to
have hisopluion upon sumo of the tracts, Yeh opened
one of them with an evident effort of politeness,
but soon closed it with a slight grimace. He had
apparently been shocked by some solecsin of style.
Mr. Alab aster proposed to put the Bible and tracts
among some Buddhist books which Yeh's father
had scnt on board for him ; but Yeh, affecting to
misunderstand this proposition, replied, " Yea, I
think it will be convenient that you replace them
in the captain's drawer." Mr. Alabaster continuing
to turn them over, Yeh got up from h s chair and
said, " If you will not put them up in the packet as
I received them, I will do so myself." Thera was no
more to be done. The books were returned to their
envelope and con•igned to the oblivion of one of
the lockers, and the Mandarin looked pleased at
being relieved ft °in an unpleasant impoitunity.
This was the only time we attempted to force the
attention of the old dignitary to this matter. Upon
one other occasion we invited him towards the
subject by asking him why, since Buddhism was
introduced into Onion in the Han dynasty, Chtisti-
anity should not be intr,duced in the reign of tue
sixth Emperor •f the M•tmtchou Tartar dynasty.
" Ltlai tneiyu cbeko yangtsu" ("Hitherto this has
nut been so"). It is the same answer as you cou-
rt anily get from Chinamen of Hong Kong in Can-
ton-English—" Bet Ire time no catchee."

We must ever recollect in dealing with the Chi-
nese that the shibboleth of Western chivalry—the
scorn of a lie, as a cowardly and dishonouring
thing—is to them unknown. _
Y.-h most usually expresses his disbelief by a
grunt or a grin, but he has n.-) hesitation in giving
you the lie direct. Once or twice he did this in a
very coarse way after asking a question about
some matter of fact occurring on deck. The Eng-
lishmen about him, with every feeling for his posi-
t:on as a prisoner, were not inclined to endure this,
and he was told that it was considered by our nation
as the gravest discourtesy to use such language.
He couldn't understand this. "I don't intend to
offend you," he said, "but you say it is, and I sly
it is not ; that is all." It was evident that he
hiupelf cared no more for being discovered in a
fals hood than for being beaten at a game of chess.
• Thus, when I told him that proclamations had
been issued levying duties upon opium, he said,
"That is not so. ' I produced copies of the pro-
clamations. He simply remarked that this was out
of his provinces', and he bad never beard of it. He
believed that the Emperor knew nothing about it.
regretted to hear that high Chinese officials put
forth proclamations and received duties without
the sanction of the Emperor. He said that th:s
was impos-Ne. I aske 1 whether these duties ever
reached the Emperor's Treasury, or whether they
ware embezzled? He said that embezzlement by
a public officer was an impossibility in China. I
produced half a-dozen Pekin Gazettes, which re-
counted suet embezzlements and ieferred the
crime to the proper board. He said that these
Instances were not within his Viceroyalty. I
asked how it happened that public offict-rs re-
ceiving almost nominal salaries made large for-
tunes. He said that no man in office ever did
m tke a large fortune. I read to him from Wil-

liains's " Middle Kingdom" the Emperor's rescript
and the estimate of the wealth of Duke Ho (one
hundred and five million of dollars). He said this
was before his time. He was never in the smallest
degree disconcerted by being directly contradicted
by a public document, and I ventured upon no sub.
jest upon which I was not well fortified by Pekin
Gazettes. It is true he never disputed the authority
of a public document. That would have been to
dstuage the official infallibility. It was a curious
spectacle to see this Chinese Mandarin, versed for
25 years in all the iniquity of official corruption,
enjoying at this moment its proceeds in the shape
of an unlimited credit upon Howqua's house for
any moneys he may think fit to spend, yet gravely
as-erting the incorruptibility of all Chinese magis-
trates, and even reasoning upon this most notorious
falsehood as an axiom so thoroughly true that no
fact inconsistent with it could be true, and every
proposition contradictory to it must be absurd. To
talk with Yeh upon such subjects was of no possible
use for the purpose of information, although it was
psychologically interesting to see a great Chinese
gentleman shlf!ing and shuffling, and not at all
conscious that it was disgraceful to abandon as a
rfscovered faloshood propositions which be had
just before asserted as undoubted truths.
We traversed the Bay of Bengal upon an un-
ruffisd sea, and Yeh was comfortable in hisstomacb,
and during some portion of each day ready for con-
versation. One subject upon which it was never
difficult to draw him out was that of his own career.
He tolls us that he is 52 years old, that he is the
son of a public officer now 80 years old, who was
Secretary of the Thar,' of War (of which Yeh is now
President) for 14 years, and who has now for some
years retired.
He r ec nit& d the different high offices he has
held. The, list is too numerous for insertion, but it
includes every kind of judicial and political duty.
He declares that he owed his first appointment as
Prefect en'irely to his success in the public exami-
nations. This gave me an opportunity of inquiring
into the nature of these examinations, about which
so much has been written and so little known.
Yeh has taken four degrees. Ho has passed
seven examinations. In three he was unsuccessful,
in the other four he was successful. In his last his
distinction was so great that he was named the
second wrangler of the Empire—he was No. 2 on
the list of all the candidates who passed at that Im-
perial examination.
He says that the first examination is held in the
departmental city, and consists of one day's work
upon essays on the true doctrine of the four ancientlro
books.
The second examination is held
cial city, and lasts three days.
hoTojkies,fithe second to
propriated to the four sacred
the
history of China.
nrsstthdeaypriosvaipte:
the five classics, the third to
I asked whether
This is all that ever is required.oeThibet, or Japan was
the history of Alantcr!
.Noia?the history of China." I
included. He ssid,
told him we had heard that the examivation com-
prised
We are only
wit at% scienceetihrechan nels.n neces-
sary matters,sat i,
ri
expected to speak Taoli—to
sParriySed to practicalres traill
talk true doctrine. rs
w
r, Nothing about natural history, or trade, or the
foreign relariens of China natural
are only expected
to speak Taoli. The only thing required is to ex-
plain right principles, which existed at the begin-
Ling of all things.
The examination for the third degree is held at
Pekin. It last nine days and the requirements are
the same as for the second degree, only the profi-
cier,cy must be greater.
The four,h examination is held at Pekin, and
general .y in the palace before the Emperor himself,
assisted by the members of the College of the
Forest of Pencils (Ran-lin-Yuan). This examina-
also cow inues for slims days. It embraces all the
ancient books—meaning
thereby only the Confu-
cian books, for the Bliuddist and Taouist books are
excluded—and also correct writing and official style.
It was probably proficiency in official paper
writing which gained Yeti Lis high degree. He
practised this talent with great effect upon Parkes
and Bowling, but was not in a happy vein when be
wrote his replies to Mr. Reed and Lord Elgin
and Baron Gros.
I asked, " Your Excellency was judge of Y,9117
nan for four years. Did you pass any examinao
in the Ta Tsing Loo Lee (the Chinese Code) before

Tois is the answer with wh ch he always tenni-
nwes a discus ion, when he finds it taking the for in
of an argument. We then always leave him undis-
turbed to his own occupations. These are to smoke
his pipe, to choose out the rot-en oranges from his
large store, and distribit,e them among his domes-
tics, carefully replacing the sound fruit ; to give
directions about his dinner, to expostulate with the
captain that if he and his officers will not eat some
p ,ri ion of his Chinese cak,s, they will only be
spoiled. Ho never reads, and he very sel :em in-
quires. He has condescend-•d to inqtere c.ncernieg
the French, whether they ate net a nation who
drink a good deal of colftfe and make a great deal
of wine, and he seems quite attistied with this
amount of information concerning the most polite
people of the world. He is fond, also, of exhibit-
ing his stock of quack medicines to Mr. Cotton,
the ship's surgeon. Report says, although we
have been nimble to get Yeh to tell us this,
that the Viceroy's father was an apothe-
cary. The sou manifests great interest in
European surgery. The most liberal admission
I ever heard him make was upon this subject. Mr.
Cotton asked him whether the Chinese surgeons
study anatomy. Ho answered "No; it would be
impolitic to do so iu Chins." Mr. Cotton replied
that in former times it was so with our people.
Their objection to dissection was so great that snr-
geons were obliged to study by stealth, but now
people wore so alarmed at having to be attended.
by surgeons who had not studied the human body
that the practice is rendered legal.
Yell answered, that he could only say the people
would nut endure such a thing in China.
" But do you think it objectionable ? My in-
dividual opinion is, that dissection for knowledge
sake is not wrong."
Ho has asked also from time to time questions
about the distances from point to point, the situa-
tion of Calcuna, and the distance to England. He
remarked also when he saw me writing with a gold
pen, " What extravagance 1" He generally, how-
ever, declines all argument and believes no expla-
nation. When I explained that we use gold pens,
not because that metal is more valuable, but ba-
c,usa it is more flexible, and therefore better
adapted to the purpose than any other metal, this
reply only elicited an unpleasant laugh, which in its
different modifications sounds sometimes like an
angry sneer, sometimes like an exclamation of
" Fudge 1" " Humbug 1" When Mr. Alabaster
to.d him that at Calcutta he would find among the
State captive s the last of the aucieet Emperors of
India, and a king of a great ledian kingdom Yell
laugeted his bitterest and most incredulous sneer.
Wltrai I tell him that if we were g ing to Eliglind
instead of Calcutta his voyage would extend ov- r
45,000 lei, and that at every spot where the s_r
hp
cast anchor he would find a British governor, ali.
a
tish soldiers, and the British flag, he unnitst g
ably laughed " Fudge !"
We asked him one day
and Chinese
the diferenee between the Euglish:.e
what his estimate was of
' Ning-kaui
character ; lie said The Chinese
" The Englishio,
—ready and able to do Y
; a:
it luincliiao')." This he
must have teaching C.Y.t.iso"
they just have precedent.
explained to mean that th
with him the four sacred books of China. Here is a
The first, lie said
was not a bad one.
He once manifested
thing ot the his
curiosity was awakened
sons he did not te
to make a „was a good:quality, but the latter
• tifested some degree to know some-
ot. British, India. Whether his
by religious or poltiieal rea-
lain • but Mr. Alabaster offered
compa t with him to read together a
short history ot India if Yeh would agree to read
chance which all the sinologues of Europe and
China may envy this young man. I doubt, however,

~~

—......-
equivalent to this in your four booksl—Such
you took upon you that office 4—No ; I told you be- thing
is not said in the four books."
fore we are only expected to speak Taoli."
Chinese
_Y"elss.,n,not benevolence spoken of in the four books ?
" The* did your Excellency never study
law f—Never." " What is benevolence I—lf you desire men to
"Did you never read the Chinese Code 7—No." love you you must love them. If you do not wish
" Did not your want of reading in Chinese law men to bate you, you must not hate them."
make your judicial duties onerous /—No." " Would not the saying of Confucius before re-
" Perhaps you were assisted by good secretaries ? feared to forbid punishment to criminals I—The
—Sometimes I was ; sometimes not." Taoli does not mean that."
"Is there any class in China who know the code ? "Or revenging an injury I—That would depend
—Those who fail in our higher examinations often on the man."
apply themselves to study law and other matters. " Would it not be wrong I—Yes."
They sometimes become our secretaries."
"Does not this Taoli give an advantage to bad
"Is it a proper;question to ask your Excellency people who commit injuries?—The knowledge of
how much you paid your secretaries ?—Usually 100 Taoli is nevertheless the better." .
taels a month."—(33l.)
" And what did they make by perquisite 1-300 a knowledge of Taoli."
" Why I—The objectAmit wishes is to come to
or 400 more." He afterwards withdrew this reply Not directly, but it results
and substituted 30 or, 40, but this was an after- " Are murder, rob
in the four books ?---+, and adultery forbidden
thought. The first was the true estimate. from the Taoli."
"If these are influential in China, how does it
" Your Excellency will excuse my importunity become necessary to punish so many ?—The good
for we are talking upon matters foreign to our
are in the majority. It is impossible for all to be
Westernideas. May I believe that a man who un- good."
alerstands the four books and the five classics is " You have spoken of benevolence as a part of
thereby, and without any other study, fitted for Taoli ; is the benevolence you speak of merely a
every public office in Chinal—From the very coin- condition of the mind, or is it a course of action
meucernent of the Chinese Empire it has been the dictated from within f—Benevolence is Taoli—
custom to depend entirely on the four books." Taoli is benevolence."
"DO you never uponbecoming an officer readup He was evidently getting tired of a lecture which
had interested him at its commencement. It was
the duties of the office ?—The high officers oftentisa
.secretaries to look up such matters." necessary to drop the subject. We had many sub-
Can
,your Excel- sequent talks with him on the same matters, but he
I took up a Mantchou book,—"
had evidently reconsidered the matter, and had
lam? speak or read Mantchou ?—No.
made up his mind to give us no further information.
,i gor the Cantonese dialect T o.
On a day subsequent to our last conversation we
referred to a previous conversation which had been
(c You speak your own nativedialaescmt oyfaHneuepsteohrs?
—No. I -was educated at Pekin, interrupted, and said—
were, and I sp. .
-eak only the language of Pekin."
" Your Excellency said the other day that it was
It would be impertinent in me to point the moral
not by your will that the English were excluded
from Canton city.—lt was the will of the Emperor
of this conversation. It tells more of the inner work-
thanall that has hitherto
ings of the Chinese sYst_eFd and the people.
been written on the subject. , " Who are the people I—The 100 surnames.
The question remains, what is the " Taoli,' "Not only the gentry ?—The feeling was not
which is the sole knowledge of thegoverning classes only that of the inhabitants of the city, but of the
of China 1 Ido not ask what is the exact English villages all round about.
word which will convey the meaning of the corn- " What was that feeling based upon ?—That you
pound Chinese word. It is of small importance to must ask the people, you must not ask me.
bumble practical inquirers whether we are to trans- " There is no demonstration of such a feeling
late it " true doctrine," " truth," or " reason," or now 7—l know nothing about that.
the " Ultimate principle," or " the way of the uni- " When Capt. Pym, the captain of the police,
verse," or "the rule of right." All this has been goes about the city, the people come to him and
sufficiently foughtout bydreamy sophists and scho- say, 4We are glad to see you here, you preserve
lastic pedants. My inquiry is whether this word our property V— No answer.
"Taoli" is a term comprehending a cycle of know- " Does your Excellency understand the two sys-
ledge whichwill tend to make the student an,honest tems of collecting duties as in exercise at Canton
man, an intelligent officer, and an efficient magis- and Shanghai, and would you think fit to give an
trate. opinion upon them ?—I do not know."
I look in vain to all the European books on He returned of his own accord to the Canton
Chinese philosophy for an answer to this question. topic.
" Absolute truth," or "the ultimate principle," "It is not my city ; how could I let you in ?
conveys no tangible idea to the European mind. "But the treaty was express I—l do not re-
If we attempt to read the four books by the light member."
of mere common sense we utterly fail to deduce I only cite this conversation to note that,
any system of philosophy or even of ethics from although Yeh is willing, and indeed anxious, to
them. I have toiled through the Latin translation have it reported that he adheres to the transparent
of " Y King," and find it as unintelligible to me as fables he put forth in his State papers, yet he will
a sheet of algebraic signs would be to a man who enter into no discussion upon them.
has not learnt their meaning. I have no doubt He afterwards added of his own accord--
however, that it is quite capable of explanation, " I did make preparations. A man would have
and I suspect that under the tuition of a learned no sense who did not. It was not that my pre-
Chinese doctor these to me nonsensical apophthegms parations were insufficient, nor that my soldiers
about "the dragon " would resolve themselves into were cowardly, nor my officers were inefficient, but
some fine-spun speculative system of cosmogony, only because your guns are so tremendous (li-hai)."
producing itself in some fanciful moral philosophy, One night Capt. Brooker beat to night quarters,
some subtle web of objective truths, hung upon and we went down to forewarn Yeh, lest he should
ridiculous atheistic conceits. I believe that, stolid, suffer by being startled from sleep by the sound of
gainseeking, and matter-of-fact as they appear to heavy guns. He and his servant were already up
us, there is an cticregenc in the mind of a Chinaman, and inquiring. They had heard the sudden bustle
that it is more generally diffused than we imagine, upon deck. Having been told that the men were
and that it contributes greatly to the marvellous going to exercise with the great guns, he quietly
conceit of the national character. I believe there turned in again. He actually affected to be fast
is in this people a habit of dreamy cogitation upon asleep while the 681 b. pivot gun was blazing away
a self-generating system, and upon abstract truths, just over his head, and the broadsides were shaking
deducible from what they assume to be the laws of the ship from stem to stern. He had the impu-
the universe, and that they consider this the highest dente to declare next niorning that he had slept
occupation of the mind of man. They imagine that quite through the firing.
they alone have this faculty, and that the barbarians One day, after he had been sitting fanning him-
who are without it are scarcely thinking creatures. self for seven hours without saying a word, or even
We see this cropping out at every footstep in their smoking a pipe, I asked him whether it did not dig-
towns. G. into a shoemaker's shop and you find concert him to see every one else around him en-
his walls adorned with mysterious characters— gaged in some occupation. H said "It did not
very large golden characters at top, and scrolls of surprise him. He knew that the English were
smaller writing pendent below. You expect that always busy ; but such was not the Chinese
this large character means the man's name, or, at custom."
any rate, the sign of his shop ; but the Chinese
I asked him why he did not smoke ?
scholar at your side informs you that it means, He said, " The hot principle is in the ascend-
" May the pencil and the ink flow fragrantly." You ant."
continue to imagine that the smaller characters There is in the day of these blue tropical seas one
mean " Boots and shoes mended on the shortest hour of beauty, when the plain of waters is just
notice." No„they mean "Ten thousand unities heaving to the light head breeze, and the only
to all eternity." These things are nearly universal visible object is the red, roundsun, falling down the
in China. The examples I have just cited I take western heavens so rapidly that it seems at last
from 20 which I noted at Singapore. I believe that to drop, and quench in the reddened waters. Our
every Chinaman above the condition of a Coolie captain chooses this cool healthy moment to put
talks Taoli, or affects to talk Taoli, in his little way the men through their exercise, and Yell, full of
—not. with that application of an affectation of dinner, waddles upon deck and sits in a big ham-
learning to his trade which would induce an Eng- boo chair, with his two attendants behind him.
fish shoemaker to register his podosokyan pumps, What a wild turmoil of well regulated confusion
but from real reverence for " Taoli." immediately takes place on board the Inflexible !
This preface is not to introduce any theory of Mr. Beavan, the first lieutenant, is dictating an
my own upon the subject of " Taoli," although, of interminah'e series of manceuvres, more rapidly,
course, I have one, but only to explain the ire- I believe, than man ever before talked ; 300 men
portance of getting Yeh to talk upon the subject. are in perpetual motion, moving in every different
"What does your Excellency mean by Taoli ?
direction, but with purpose in their heads and
What you ought to do is Taoli; what you ought speed in their hands and feet. In a few seconds
not to do is not Taoli." the naked ship is clad in canvass. Another order,
" Has Taoli no more extended meaning ?—Taoli and before the expanded sails can feel the gently
has the most comprehensive meaning--it compre- opposing zephyr she is again naked to her spars.
bends everything." Then a whistle, and a hoarse boatswain's call, and
" Does Taoli teach of a Creator ?—There are the bees swarm again. In a moment every gun is
many Taoli. There is Heaven's Taoli, and earth's manned. Every man in that straining crowd seems
Taoli, and man's Taoli." to have a special work to do, knows it, and does it.
" Are these Taoli distinct ?—No ; they are all Handspikes are worked with a will, the blue-
parts of one Taoli." jackets beading to the labour as though a real
_ _

" Can you explain to me what you mean by
Heaven's Taoli t—lf the sun shines out it becomes
hot."
" It has relation only to the material heaven ?-•
4' Tien' means propz,rly only the material heaven,
but it also means ' Shangti' (Upper Spirit), for, as
it is not lawful to use his name lightly, we name
him by his residence, which is in Tien."
" One of our Christian sect uses the word 'Tien-
chu,'—is that a Chinese word ?—lt is not a word
known to the Chinese language."
" Your Excellency used the word Shangti'—
what does that word mean ? Our people dispute
about it ?—Shangti is a Shun, but Shun is not ne-
cessarily Shangti, for the Shun are very many."
" Have Shangti and Taoli any connexion 1—
When you discourse about Shangti you discourse
about Taoli. Shangti and Taoli are one and the
same thing."
" Is Taoli a corporeal being 7—ln things that
are done by it it is a thing having body ; but when
you discourse of it it is a thing having no body—it
is a principle."
" Has that body any visible form ?—No ; it has
no form. Different people have notions that it has
different forms."
" And do those people worship those forms ?
Yes."
" Has Shangti any visible form 4—Shangti is
produced by the Yin and Yang, the Tai-chi—the
male and female principle. It has no visible form.
It has never been represented under any form."
" Were there men in existence before this pro.
duction of the Shangti I—There were men.
"Is there authority for this ?—That is what
everybody says from ancient time ; it is said so in
the books."
" Is Shangti Confucian ?—lt is hinted at by Con-
fucius, but not explained. Shangti is a Taouist
" Which is superior—Tai-chi or Shangti ?—Tai-
chi."

enemy were at our yardarm. The broad-side guns
are run in and out like children's gocarts, and the
huge pivot-guns are spun round as though they
were dummies of cork instead of mountain cast.
iron. But the captain's sharp eye is not always
satisfied, and ever and anon comes a voice from the
paddlebox, awarding extra drill to No. 2 or No. 5
of some designated gun for not being smart enough
or for being in his wrong place.
What is Yeti doing all this time ? Is he mark-
ing this orderly energy, this discipline, this zeal
of art, this. heartiness of work, this scene of a
multitude. in motion, with one object, and is he
pondering. over the lesson ? Not at all. Two
middies, hidden by the awning from the eye of the
captain, are skylarking together, and the bigger one
has just. forced his smaller comrade breech-fore-
most into a tub of water. Yeh is slyly watch-
ing those scapegraces through the corner of his
thin eyes, and when the young gentleman goes
souse into the full tub he chuckles, but immediately
turns away bis head, to hide the undignified
enjoyment. Then in a moment it is night.
Twenty minutes after the sun is down nothing can
be seen but the tall windsails glancing to and fro
like ghosts in the gloaming. Yeh has gone down
to drink tea and sleep ; remembering, as I believe,
nothing of what he saw on deck, except only the
whimsical face of the "small boy" who was forced
backwards into the tub of water.
On the ninth day of our voyage from Singapore
we sighted the two pilot brigs which lie out of
sight of land, but give notice of our approach to the
S -indheacls. Then, having taken a pilot on board
and pursued our course fir some hours, a distant
streak of red sandy coast line (such as we may see
on some of our own eastern coasts, but still more
like the first glimpse of Egypt from the Mediterra-
nean) vouched the land of Ind. Yeh was told this,
and he went to bcd.
Next morning we steamed up the muddy
Hooghley, with its low green banks like Esse-

Once an exclamation made him turn his eyes upon
a bungalow that was visible through a little port-
hole opposite to him. Mr. Alabaster asked him
what he thought of it. "He was not thinking
about it at all." There he sat ; not now like a
statue of Bhudda, but a flabby mass of greasy, dis-
coloured nightshirt.
At last, he was left quite alone, and—Oh, Vic-
tory !—one of the shipboys comes up and tells us
that " the governor". has Climbed up and is peer--
ing through the stern-ports. Let him peep in
peace. If he were not a lump of mean artifice, he
would come on deck like a man, and admire the
glories of this great city. He might learn some-
thing by looking at Garden Reach, so crowded with
great ships that such vessels of war as the Shannon,
the Pearl, and the Roebuck have to be sought for.
He would see a sight quite sew to Chinese eyes in
that great park which comes down to the river
quay, a park larger than our Hyde Park, and in-
tersected with rides and drives broad as Rotten-
row, with monuments to Ochterlonies and Prin-
seps and Bentincks, and other names honoured
in the East, and with its three sides of forts and
palaces. In Fort-William, which occupies the
other side that strikes the river, so trim in
its green embrasures, so white in its lines
of barracks, so formidable with its heavy guns and
zigzag ditches, be might note the difference between
a barbarian and a Chinese fortification. The dis-
tant dome of Government-house only suggests the
magnitude of the palace that occupies the opposite
boundary of the park ; but somebody, would have
told him that the far away and long- drawn line of
great and lofty edifices, all columns and green
verandahs, parallel to the river, are the private
residences of merchants and civil servants, and that
these last have earned for Calcutta the name of the
City of Palaces. Yeb, however, thinks it more to
his dignity to peep stealthily out of the stern-ports,
hoping that he has cozened his captors into the be-
lief that he has no sentiment but that of sublime in-
difference both to them and to their creations.

So soon as the Inflexible dropped her anchor
Major Herbert, to whose care Yeh had been as-
signed, came on board with a retinue of red-vested
Hindoos—a glare of scarlet which much impressed
the vulgar Chinamen. The old Mandarin, how-
ever, was not to be caught. Ho received the Major
in his greasy coat, went on with his dinner, replied
to his many bows with a carefully modulated
courtesy, and decided that it would take three
days to make his preparations for disembarking.
This morning at daybreak Yeh landed. He is
located for the present in Fort William, but a con-
venient house is being furnished for him some little
way out of the city. Before he went he presented
Capt. Brooker with a written certificate of his pre-
sence and good treatment on board the Inflexible.
This was done in a grave official manner, and Yeb,
no doubt, thinks it a most valuable document. He
is now in the best place in the whole world to teach
a Mandarin a useful lesson. The Calcutta people
seem to have a very general contempt for most
things, but a special contempt for China. The in-
difference which Yeh laboriously feigns they
honestly feel. Yeh would be a lion in London ;
he will not attract more notice than a five-legged
poodle in India.

Perhaps you may allow me hereafter to say some-
thing in the way of generalising the facts here col-
lected, but here ends this episode to the Chinese
expedition—an expedition which, whatever may
be its direct claims to interest, has, by its inciden-
tal operations, relieved Lucknow and saved India.

I/ER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.
DON GIOVANNI.
TO-MORROW (TUESDAY), will be presented Mozart's
chef d'oeuvre,

. g ....... yanks like L.. .x, or
"So that the Upper Spirit or Ruler is only a like the ihorea of the mouth
a of the
lm
interest
y treeseh
in among
Rhine-L-if;i
nptaera
created being. emanating from the ultimate laws of lands would only grow few
nature ?—Yes." their other foliage. I tried to i
" What produced Tai chi ?—lt came of itself." customs of the Hindoos, and he listened so far as
(Tzu-jan-rhjan.) o
to remark that the drowning of aged parents in this
I deduce from this that the Roman Catholics river was a "strange Taoli." He had heard of the
might be true that in
iigtht have been brought the
have chosen the best word for God. They have Ganges, and thoughtm
sftotrhy°
made a new word, whereas our Protestant mission- Ilan dynasty water
of Chinese
China Empe-
rors,heha from
ari e a have adopted a word known to the Chinese as tllisribvuetr, f,o,rinthleeacronrio,nigatthioenhoi
the name of a created being.
I asked " Has Tai-chi any form ?—lts form is a not attended to such trivialprov erb matters."
that Iwhanatsewveorredia,
circle divided into two parts—male and female.
" We Westerns have a
" Has any one seen Tai-chi l—No." worth doing is worth doing thoroughly." He
" How, then, do you know that it is of that thought for a moment, and said, "That is not a
form ?—Men have agreed to represent it by that Chinese Taoli." Ho had never heard that the
gym,,,Ganges was a sacred river. I talked to him about
The Confucian philosophy, therefore, recognises it with the hope of inducing him to go upon deck
ezily nature self-produced, active, but willless and and look at it. He sat and fanned himself in the
unintelligent. The disciples of Confucius tolerate cabin, immovable.
the idea of the existence of zuling spirits born of Some of us were not sorry that he would not
the operations of nature—the creatures, and no'. come on deck. The distant approach to the City of
the ereators of the universe. In this way' they are Palaces is not prepossessing. The liver contracts
able to engraft Thames
mianista. Taouism and Bhuddism upon Con- a hnost to the dimensions of our at Mort-
lake. Though the palms are still beautiful, the fiat
When Yell turnsi to the east and remains in con- landscape wants relief ; occasionally a great, square,
templation he
ritual creation: of °rin nature, and nut the Spi- brick-built, window-pierced factor own brother
nature in her best as nature.
He is contemplating to a dozen I could pick out in Derby—appears hor-
I was anxious to as
something rid in the sun glare. A factory is not a picturesque
working of philosophy, of the practical object even in the glens of Glossop ; it always sug-
" If a man who has learnt to talk
to does not sgeefs:rt
arise to him ? es
hhi an rgd Iwn
do
irak
that
id cleo:ra basr et a
bt hei nagb, h ao iri
atehere
einn
do Taoli, does any punishment
Such a man would be very bad, arse to the Chinese unities. The bungalows come in
6 Would Shangti punish him 7—The thin sieht higher up, but the stains of mildew upon their
Heaven how can we tell ?" gs of white plaister pillars hint of disrepair. That dead
c` Does your Excellency recollect a saying of Con- Hi ode° floating past with four carrion birds
perched, upon him, driving their heavy beaks into
fucius, ' That which you would not that another
rivergo
enlecicorruption, does not suggest absolute security
should do to you that do not to him r—it is eon_ llt
od orde.r. Yeh would think of the Canton
fucian Taoli. I forget the exact expression in the i heavy with dead bodies after one of his great
four books." battues u
"In our Western Taoli we have a more extended Yeb, hepwe above.
Taoli, which commands a duty as well as forbids an body, even t 1 :re:, sees none of these Clings •; every-
offence. It runs, 'Do unto others everything that that a he slol,ousiteward, seems to think
it a shame
yon would wish others to do to you.' Is there any- and little etratageotairiss the first sight of India,
are tried to make him look.

DON GIOVANNI.
Donna Anna, Madlle. Titiens • Donna Elvira, Madlle.
Ortolani ; Zerlina, Piccolomini ; Don Giovanni, Sig.
nor Beneventano (his first appearance this season); Leporello,
Signor Belletti ; Masetto, Signor Aldighieri ; Il Commenda-
tore, Signor Vialetti ; and Don Ottavio, Signor Giuglini.
To increase the effect of the majestic final] of the lst act,
including the chorus, " Viva la liberta," all the principal
artistes of the estab ishment have consented to lend their
assistance.

In addition to the music re3tored last year, Madill). Titiens
will sing the grand aria, " Crude Is. Ah no mio bone,"
hitherto omitted.

Conductor, Signor Bonetti.
To conclude with the new Ballet Divertissement, by 31
Massot, entitled

FLEUR DES CHAMPS.

The principal parts by MadUN,. Pocchini, Annetta,- and
M. Durand.
The Opera will commence at 8 o'clock.
• On Thursday, May 13, (Extra Night), will be repeated
IL TROVATO RE.

Leonora, Madlle. Titiens; Azucena, Madame Alboni (her
2d appearance this season) ; Manrico, Signor Giugliei ; Fer
rando, Signor Vialetti; and Ii Conte di Luna, Signor Aldi-
ghieri.

Friday, May 14 (Extra Night), DON GIOVANNI will be
repeated. _

A limited number of boxes have been reserved to the pub-
ic, price 21s. and 31s. 6d. each, which may be had at the
Box-office at the Theatre,

THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET.
Lessee—Mr. J. B. Buckstene.
THIS EVENING, to commence at Seven o'clock, with
Shakespere's comedy of TWELFTH NIGHT. Sir Andrew
Aguecheek, Mr. Buckstone ; Viola, Mrs. Chinks Young.
After which a C'assical Extravaganza, entitled PLUTO
AND PROSERPINE.
Followed by JACK'S RETURN FROM CANTON.
To conclude with MIKE YOUR WILLS.
Orchestra Stalls (which may be retained the whole of the
evening), 6s. each. (No charge for booking.)
First Price. s. d. Second price. s. d.
Cress Boxes 5 0 Dress Boxes 3 0
Upper Boxes.., 3 0 Upper Boxes 2 0
P t
Gallery

at OY A L PRINCESS'S THEATRE
Proprietor, Mr. Charles Kean.
THIS EVENING, will be presented MUSIC HATH
CHARMS.
After which ICING LEAR. King Lear, Mr. C. Kean.
To conclude with the new farce, entitled SAMUEL IN
SEARCH OF HIMSELF.

THEATRE ROYAL, AD EL PHI.
Lessee—Mr. Ben. Webster.

THIS EVENING, will be presented (for the fifth
time at this theatre), the romantic musical drama of GUY
MANNERING. Meg Merrilees, Madame Celeste ; Dandie
Dinmont, Mr. B. Webster.
To conclude with THAT BLESSED BABY, in which Mr.
and Mrs. Keeley will appear.

STRAND THEATRE.—Lessee and Directress,
Miss Swanborough.—This Evening will be
presented the COUNTRY SQUIRE, supported by Messrs.
Emery, Belford, Charles, F. Seymour, Me igreson, Misses M.
Oliver, M. Ternan, Portman, and Messrs Melby.
After which, the new burlesque of ERA DIAVOLO ; or,
The Beauty and the Brigands. Fra Davolo, Miss Swan-
borough ; Beppo, Mr. C. Young.
Followed by a new Farce, YOUR LIKENESS, ONE
SHILLING. Messrs. Charles Young, Ray, and Miss M.
Ternan.

rIANTERBURY HALL, Westminster-Toad.—
*k_l OPEN EVERY EVENING.—The follow-
ing company of Vocalists aro engaged for the performance of
Selections from all the popular OPERAS, MADRIGALS,
CHORUSES, GLEES, DUETS, Ise. viz.:—Miss Russell, Mrs.
Badzey, Miss Braun, Miss Ray, Madame Bartoletti,
Miss Montague, Mrs. Lawrence, and Mrs. Anderson
!feu F. Jonghmans, Mr. Henshaw, S. Jones, J. Barker, W. Melling, Senor Antonio, E. L. Hime, Mr. Badzey, Mr.
Edwards, Mr. Cozens, Mr. Bell, and Mr. Bernard ; Messrs. T.
Maclagan, W. T. Critchfield, John G. Forde, and E. Macknoy.
Pianoforte, Mr. Cecil Hicks ; harmonium, Master Williams ;
Director, Herr F. Jonghmans. Commence at Seven o'clock
precisely. Suppers, dro., until twelve o'clock.

Mr. AUGUSTUS BRAHAM will appear every Evening.
Mr. WOODHOUSE (by permission of Ch lrles Kean, Esq.)
will have the honour of introducing, every evening, his
highly successful Performance on the new REGULATION
DRUM.

THE WE A THER —SUN OFFICE, MAY 9.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
57—highest since noon yesterday.
47—lowest this morning and during the night,
57—this day at noon.
BAROMETER, 30.12—falling.
WIND, South-Easterly; light, with fine weather.
MAT 10.
59—highest since noon yesterday.
47—lowest this morning and during the night.
63 —this day at noon.
BAROMETER. 30.08.
WIND, S.E. ; light, with fine warm weather.

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EN E.NING, MAY lO, 1858.

dictator. They may perhaps find that in this in-
stance they are " reckoning without their host,"
and that however willingly the TAPERS and TADPOLES
may join in the interested outcry, the Members of
the House of Commons will refuse to march
through Coventry with such a troop.
- There is no act of Lord DERBY'S Government
that will receive more commendation than the
refusal to assent to the wholesale confiscation,
the indiscriminate spoliation, indicated by Lord
CANNING'S despatch. There was a wide distinc-
tion between the cases of the discontented inhabi-
tants of Oude, who had seen their lawful Sovereign
dethroned and tbat which bad been an
independent kingdom coolly annexed, and that
of the mutinous Sepoys, who had been
unfaithful to their salt, and the cold-blooded as.
sassins and miscreants, who were not contented
even with the wilful and deliberate murder of our
unfortunate countrywomen who fell into their
hands. The latter should be treated with the
most stringent severity, while the former should
receive every consideration, and more especially
when there ware any redeeming circumstances
in their favour, treated with the utmost leniency.
Lord CANNING did not sufficiently discriminate be-
tween these cases. Ells policy was calculated to
drive men to desperation; depriving them of their
property, unless theycould prove to the satisfaction of
Ms Commissioners that they were Completely inno-
cent, or bad done something to merit not merely
pardon, but reward. Such a course was calcu-
lated to drive men, who might otherwise submit,
into desperation, and to indefinitely protract the
contest, adding enormously to the expense and
loss of life during its progress.

Had the Government sanctioned these proceed-
ings they would have become accomplices, consti-
tuting Lord CANNING a despot as absolute as any
that ever swayed with iron hand the destinies
of the Eastern Hemisphere. It was an impe-
rative duty to arrest his reckless path, and
that they have done so firmly, but at the same
time so temperately, gives additional cause for
rejoicing in the substitution of Lord DERBY for
Lord RALAIERSTON, and of Lord ELLENBOROUGH
for Mr. VERNON SMITH.

We can easily conceive the vexation of the ex-
Ministers at the exposure of the grave mistake
into which their pet protegtfe permitted himself to
be betrayed. When Lord CANNING was perhaps
the most unpopular administrator, when every
journal was casting the most unequivocal censure
on his proceedings, and the Timis was launching
almost
daily thunders at his devoted head,
he was Sustained and supported by
Lord PALMUSTON and his coadjutors. But
the Leviathan has,- according to its usual custom,
performed another daring act of "grand and
lofty tumbling," showing the unblushing tergiver-
sation of which it is capable. Can any reader of
the Times forget its energetic denunciation of
Lord CANNING, or conceive how it can justify is s
present servile adulation. The position of " THE
CERBERUS CLUB" might
give some inkling as to
the reasons, but it is still difficult to understand
how any public journal can be so totally indif-
ferent to the voice of public opinion on which it
must depend. Men may for a time blow hot and
cold with impunity, but retributive justice must
eventually fall on those guilty of such reckless
conduct.

the country, that will unquestionably take place
in the event of any factious movement or factious
vote.

To-night a grave question indeed will come
before the House of Commons. The Oaths nal
itself is trivial in comparison with it.
11,7hether
our constituencies shall be held qualified to judge
who is fit to represent them, 9:nd whether the
great principle of religious equality shall be ex-
tended to Jews, are we
;:glity questions ; but they
are insignificant comparison with that which
the House of Lords has wilfully raised upon them
—What is the ultimate authority in the realm ?
If the House of Commons shirks meeting this
question now, then surely every constituency in the
Kingdom ought to memorialise her MAJESTY to
dissolve at once a Parliament ignominiously below
the demands of the crisis—for a crisis it is. We
will not, however, believe, till after the debate of
to-night, that the representatives of England can
fail to assert the rights of the nation, as distin-
guished from those of the small hereditary body
which now assumes the Dictatorship, and which
contemptuously refuses to acknowledge the sove-
reignty of the nation. The three or four last
Governments have all promised or talked
of a Reform Bill ; but of what impor-
tance is it to reform the representation,
or of what avail would it be, if when
reformed, the Lords are to be allowed to put
an absolute vEro on the oft-repeated, and more
and more loudly repeated demands of the nation.
It will become a question of the most urgent im-
portance, how to reform the Upper House. At
the present day it can never be tolerated that a
body of men, having no qualification whatever,
but that of being " their father's sons," "the
tenth transmitters—it may be—of a foolish face"
—that these men shall overrule for ever the deci-
sions of men possessing qualifications for which a
million or more of their contemporaries have held
them worthy to be their representatives and legis-
lators.

The Lords themselves, we repeat, have raised a
great constitutional question, and the Commons
owe it to the country to take the decisio❑ into
their own hands. Every consideration demands
this at their hands. There is, first, their own too
long and too courteous forbearance. From the
beginning we have been indignant at the crotcheti-
ness, or must we say the meanness, of Lord JOHN
RUSSELL in allowing the oaths in regard
to the Jews to be made the subject
of a Bill. It was one of his bits of
petty personal conceit ; he thought he could
manage the peers, and they have only showed how
glad they were to have an opportunity of snubbieg
him, and religious liberty, and the Lower House
together. However, the concession to the vanity
of the Peers was the same ; thus far the Com-
mons have humbly bowed to them—if they yield
again, it will not be bowing but cringing.
There is, next, the perseverance in insult on
the part of the Upper House. In one form or
another for twenty-five years the Commons of
England have pronounced Jews qualified to sit
with them, and the majority of Lords against their
admission, is, if we rightly remember, greater than
ever. In every form it has been sought to smooth
the matter to their Lordships ; bills directly for
the object, bills including it in more general
objects, a wholly new oath with the objectionable
clause omitted, an oath retaining it, with a special
exemption for the Jews—all modes have been
tried, but nothing will do. Perversity, bigotry,
pride, dull obstinacy— we sincerely wish we could
think more respectfully of the majority of England's
Peers—have still continued to defy the intelligence
of the nation as expressed in the House of Commons.
A hundred names the ignoti, the vitlytts of the
Peerage—for assuredly there is a numerous
vulgar amongst the Peers as amongst other classes
—rush to every division against the Jews, just
to reveal to the public once a year the ignobility
of our peerage. And these utterly insignificant,
men, merely because many of their fathers were
men of mark, are able to emnpel the House of
Commons to perform political penance to them
once a year ! Is it to be tolerated that a few,
a very few, peers of ability should year after
year entrench themselves for party purposes
behind embankments formed of the very
mud of the peerage, and thus successfully fortify
themselves against the country by mate-
rials which reason, argument, and genius can never
breaoh.

The meeting of hungry expectants at Carp-
bridge House, yesterday (Sunday, of all days
in the week !), shows the lengths to
which the Palmerstonians are inclined to go.
Provided they ctn achieve office they care not by
what means it may be attained, or through what
dirt they may be dragged in their progress. They
think that " the end justifies the means," and
their organs of the fourth estate have shown them-
selves to be equally reckless.

The really important and influential meeting of
120 sincere and consistent Liberals, last week,
may be fairly set off against the Sabbath-day
demonstration of the Palmerstonians. That
meeting indicated the true feeling of those who,
after all, arc the real arbiters between the Govern-
ment and the Pahrkerstonian opposition. They
are not disposed to sacrifice their political cha-
racter for the sake of reinstating the veteran
Viscount, or bringing in the Ministry, who, not-
withstanding their prepared promises, had not
even prepared the Reform Bill, so long and so
anxiously looked for by the people of the United
Kingdom.

What course will be taken by the independent
Liberal members respecting the factious opposition
which it appears is to be founded on the recent
despatch of Lord CANNING ? That is a truly inte-
resting question, for on it will rest the last hope
of the ex-Ministers during the present session.
Judging from the feeling displayed at the meeting
on Wednesday last these gentlemen are by no
means anxious to displace Lord DERBY for the
purpose of putting in Lord PALMERSTON, who,
under such circumstances, would be more
likely than ever to display petulant
contumely towards ever► malcontent. They gave
him not merely a fair trial, but generous support
so long as he was maintaining au English policy.
But the despot-loving Lord CLARENDON, by his
truckling subserviency, inflicted irreparable damage
on the Cabinet, to which neither Mr. V. SMITH,
Sir C. WOOD, nor Sir G. C. LEWIS brought much
favour. The extraordinary greediness of the im-
mediate followers, which grasped at everything
that fell vacant, did not strengthen the Ministers
conniving at such a system, and perhaps there was
nothing that occasioned greater disgust than the
appointment of the brother-in-law of the Hon.
WILLIAM COWPER to the situation vacated by the
death of the late Mr. COPPOCK.

The Liberals were justly discontented at the
entire system pursued towards them. Although
as numerous as either the Palmerstonians or
the Russellites, they were grossly neglected.
By a sort of Parliamentary fiction Lord PALMER-
STON assumed that they were bound to regard him
as their recognised leader, whose dictates they
were bound to obey, although he neither pro-
muted the measures on which they had set
their hearts, given them their fair share
of influence or promotion, or even treated
them with
common civility, whenever they deemed
it right to exhibit an inconvenient interroga-
tory. How then could ho suppose that they
would still obey his
orders or act in obedi-
ence to his slightest hint ? Lord DERBY
has displayed far more liberality than the
soi disant liberal PALMERSTON. He has
dropped the " Conspiracy " bill, has rescued
and demanded compensation for the injured
engineers from Naples has saved Mr.
HODGE from judicial murder has averted
the wholesale confiscation of the soil of Oede
—given an unexceptionable budget, which even
the Times has been compelled to applaud, and
surrendered the property qualification as a first
instalment of the reform which he intends to
introduce at the commencement of next
session. Disinterested and unprejudiced men
will weigh these matters, and compare them
with the " sayings and doings" of the former
Cabinet ; and should the representatives of the
people not understand the true state of the popular
feeling, they will receive a lesson on the appeal to

Again, there is the aggravation of the case,
that the question is a House of Commons one.
It is not merely for a great principle that the
Commons contend with the Lords, but for Unit-
own right, moral right to say the least, to decide
on the qualifications of the people's representa-
tives. The Commons, fresh from the hustings,
have sent to the Lords their last de-
mand for Jewish emancipation by a
larger majority than ever. It must, therefore,
be the demand of the country ; indeed, at all
times, the elected representatives of the people
must be presumed to have the best knowledge of
what is a faithful representation of the people ;
yet the Lords have presumed, notwithstauding
repeated protests, to take the keys of the •House
of Commons into their own hands, as well as those
of their own House.

What, then, ought to be done? The Lords
have had already every opportunity for repent-
ance, and they refuse to repent. Arguments are
now completely exhausted ; considerate treat-
ment of a Conservative Ministry by an immense
Liberal majority has had no weight ; considera-
tions of Statesmanship so forcibly, yet kindly,
pressed by Lord GREY, were all thrown away;
the clause which embodied the demand of twenty-
five years was stolidly, wilfully, proudly erased
from the Bill. We thitdc it undignified for the
Commons, under these circumstances, even to de-
mand a conference with the Lords. The result
must be foreknown. It would be inviting one more
insult. The only procedure worthy of the Commons
would be to treat the emasculated bill, as they
would a money-bill altered by the Lords, by
ordering Mr. SPEAKER to kick it out of the House.
Such a course would raise the house incalculably
in the eyes of the nation, and of all Europe and
the world. It would proclaim that we were not
the slaves of a titled aristocracy, but a self-
governed cation of freemen.

Shou!d the House, however, unable to free
itself from red-tapism, humble themselves to a con-
ference, we trust that., on itiown part, it will appoint
some sturdy JOHN BRIGIITS, as well as (to Lards)
pliant JOUN llussELLs. An unwonted tone must
be taken by the managers for the Commons. They
must inform the Lords that the Lower House
feels itself, and the peoplo it represents, insulted;
that no compromise can now be thought of;
that
they are determined to assert the, principle that
to the national will, steadily expressed for a long
succession of years, both Lords and Commons
must give way ; and that the Commons intend to

seat Baron ROTHSCHILD-with the Lords if they
prefer it, if not, without them.
The Lords ought also to be informed that if
common-sense and reason are not sufficient to

make the two Houses work harmoniously, other

Weans must be devised. We have always thought

that the harmonising device, peculiar, so far as we