The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-19 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1857

A singularly ingenious and scholarly pamphlet*
in reference to the Canton Quarrel—;rather after
date)--:has just made its appearance. It is
entitled ." The China• Question Dispassionately

Considered"—and purports to be the production
of "An Asiatic." Our pamphleteer not merely
announcing himself to be An Asiatic upon his title-
page,
but endorsing that declaration immediately
afterwards by the apologetic excerpt of a thread-
bare verse from a dog's-eared page of Terence.
His argument, howbeit—whatever may be said as
to the bloom of his latinity—is anything but hack-
neyed. And it is precisely because of this, because
of its novelty—added to the graces of a rhetorical
style and the occasional evidence (unhappily to our
thinking invariably upon " the wrong side") of
much logical acumen—that we conceive the
pamphlet of this ingenious if not ingenuous Dis-
putant is entitled to an immediate aid respectful
consideration.

As it is here " dispassionately considered" by
An Asiatic—The China Question is viewed en-
tirely from the side of the late triumphant but
worsted Opposition. So that the anonymous
pamphleteer himself, with all his easily recognis-
able ability, constitutes after all but another atom
added supplementarily to the old "fortuitous
concurrence." An atom sparkling, however, like
diamond-dust as he flutters into the doomed heap
_though otherwise strangely dull at the same
time to the recognition of the glaringly obvious
fact that the Country at large has very recently
negatived the decision arrived at upon The China
Question by the motley opponents of Lord
PALMERSTON's Government. That indisputable
" fact " is virtually ignored throughout the
whole of his argument by our clever but
by no means convincing pamphleteer. He
will give credit at once, we doubt not, to our
candour and sincerity, when we observe in re-
ference to this novel and ingenious plea of his, in
behalf of the Yehites both in China and in Eng-
land, that the tendency of his argument has only
served in reality in our own instance (now that
we have carefully road it throughout), to confirm
our judgment all the more resolutely in our im-
pression as to the accuracy of our former con-
victions. Any recapitulation in this place of the
names, and dates, and events, constituting the out-
line of the Chinese Question in its entirety would be
absolutely superfluous. We have told the story
over and over again, until we are all of us heartily
sick of it—until we are, many of us, eager to
place a taboo, for ever and a day, upon the mere
names of the Lorcha and the Consul, and the British
Plenipotentiary and the Chinese Commissioner. We
do not, therefore, by any means, intend to follow
our Asiatic publicist through all the windings of
the labyrinth thridded so perseveringly by our-
selves, time and again, as occasion required, until
we had become familiarised to its every turn and
involution. It will be sufficient for our purpose
if we here point out briefly, in one or two parti-
culars, where it is, and why it is, that
we conceive the analogies attempted to be drawn
by our author between the China Question and
several other questions to be altogether uudiscover-
able to ourselves, in their pretended apposite-
ness, that is to say," by way of illustration. Im-
plying at the same time casually, and, so to speak,
merely inferentially, how:it comes to pass that we
regard the conclusions arrived at by this able
pamphleteer to be general' y speaking altogether
inconsequent.

Foremost among these assumed analogies,
then—to be plain—is the one attempted to be
drawn between this new war with China and the
late war with Russia. And here it is at once as-
sumed that the course adopted by the Muscovites
at the outset of their quarrel with reference to
Turkey, was absolutely humane as compared with
that subsequently pursued by the English
with regard to the Chinese. "The princi-
palities, so much land, on the one hand," says
An Asiatic, "are secriestered, as if by a civil
process assisted by military aid; the whole City of
Canton," he adds, "on the other, is bombarded,
and marines landed to set the suburbs on fire,
dre., arc." Pp. 8-9. Not a syllable here
about the bloody work perpetrated by the Rus-
sians (after crossing the Pruth) at Jassy and
Bucharest—by way of enforcing the mere " civil
process" we may presume, by which they were
amiably appropriating to themselves the twin pro-
vinces of INlcldo-Wallachia. Not a word as to
the sanguinary conflicts forced upon the Osmanli
army under OMER PACHA at Giurgovo, at K tla-
fat, and at Silistria ! Not a whisper about the exe-
crable massacre of Sinope ! All those events being
prior (recollect !) to the advance of the allied fleets
into the Euxine through the Channel of the Darda-
nelles. Yet the Russian inauguration of the late
war is spoken of as a mere sequestration—" as if
by a civil process assisted by military aid ' While
the British inauguration of their war with the
Chinese is held up, on the contrary, to universal
&limn, as a gratuitous and monstrous violation of
all the dictates of Humanity. Remembering that
while among the immediate provocations to war
in China, were—a wanton outrage upon the British
flag, an insolent refusal of negotiation, an official
instigation at Canton to the murder of our fellow
countrymen, the setting of blood-money by YEn
upon the heads of Englishmen, the stabbing and
throat-slitting of unarmed passengers on board
the Thistle, the poisoning of the bread at Hong
Kong by some one, no matter by whom, at any
rate by some one ! Remembering that while all
these atrocities might be enumerated as amcng
the provocations to war in China (to say nothing
of the gratuitous violation of a Solemn Treaty of
Peace for fourteen years consecutively)—abso-
lutely nothing of the kind could be adduced in
explanation of their onslaught upon Turkey by
the ltussians—no blood-money, no poisoning, no
stabbing, no insult to the national flag, uo re-
fusal of negotiation I Remembering this,
we put it to our Asiatic pamphleteer if
we are not after al!, in some degree, justified in
designating a turn of the argument like this—
ingenious rather than ingenuous ?

Again, commenting upon the statement some-
where advanced, to the effect that the whole of
Europe approves of the war with China, and in-
sisting at the same time that " they (sic) did not
Approve of the war with Russia," it is here ob-
served (p. 13)—" If the war must be righteous
because of this European concurrence—why,
their, holding back in the war with Russia
was a proof that the Russian war was not a
righteous war !' Illogically argued—obviously—
for the one sufficient reason, that all Europe was
not opposed to the war with Russia ! European
Turkey being backed up not merely by England, but
by France also, and by Sardinia, and, in a quibbling
manner, even by Austria—Prussia alone, among
all the " Great" Powers, maintaining, from first to
last, an obdurate neutrality. For the petty
German Principalities are out of that cate•
gory altogether ! And Italy no less is self-
absorbed in her own woful dreaming over her
disappointed aspirations ! And the Iberian Penin-
sula has but a feeble inclination, and absolutely
no capacity, to participate in the great interna-
tional contentions of Christendom ! So that the
inference in the case is altogether inadmissible.
Referring yet in another way to the outbreak
of the Russian war as compared with the outbreak
of this Chinese war, our pamphleteer exclaims (p.
1S), "How much negotiation there was in that case
bef ;re even the declaration of war True—but

remember one thing—By those Russians, the

British Flag had not been publicly outraged
Occasionally, indeed, there is, beyond all this,
an inaccuracy in his facts, such as, when onoe
indicated to the writer, may reasonably induce
him to hesitate in his own mind as to the abso-
lute soundness of his conclusions. At fault in
his " facts," he may appreciate the possibility of
his being in error as to his deductions. It is
thus, in the former particular, for example, that
we find him at p. 10 writing of " the bombard-
ment of Algiers in 1820 by Lord EXMOUTH"—
when the Battle of Algiers was fought, on the
contrary, four years earlier, viz., in 1816:
Sir EDWARD PELLEW having then won his
viscountcy by that superb maritime achieve-
ment. Enough, however, upon these casual flaws
in detail—important only, it must be admitted,
inferentially ! Not so, however, is it when the
writer endeavours to prove his case by other im-
plied analogies—no less erroneous, to say the
least of them, than the one attempted to be
drawn, as already intimated, between this new
war with the Chinese and our late war with the
Muscovites. It will be sufficient for us, we con-
ceive, upon this point to remind An Asiatic, in
reference to what he has remarked at page 40,
that the "Arrow" lorcha was not taking auxiliary
forces to swell the ranks of the Chinese insur-
gents—a circumstance essential for the comple-
tion of any parallel with the case of the " Kan-
garoo" barque, whicb, when seized by the Rus-
sian gun-boats, was (he admits it himself) " tak-
ing Polish recruits to Circassia !" Again—the
"Billow" ship mentioned at p. 41, was not
boarded by the American authorities, its flag was
not hauled down, contemptuously when the two
" free negroes" were taken into custody, those
same unfortunates being, on the contrary, seized
(under suspicion) at the time when they were
"ashore at New York without leave." Conse-
quently here again there is no admissible resem-
blance whatever to the wrong-doings perpetrated
on board the " Arrow" 1 Drcha by the Cantonese.
Moreover, when our pamphleteer asks later on (p.
51), " Would a merchant captain (sailing under
the British flag) engaged in a Danish contraband
trade, and with Danish refugee sailors on board,
forcing a passage through the Sound, and being
fired upon while his flag was flying :—be the
cause of war between this country and Denmark I"
It may be answered—But the " Arrow" lorcha was
not engaged in a contraband trade, was not forcing a
passage anywhere contrary to the maritime regu-
lations of the Chinese—but was, on the contrary,
lying at anchor in the waters of Canton, having
been duly chartered as a British trader not many
months before at Hongkong. Sufficient has been
said, however, we rest assured (perhaps more than
sufficient), to make good our opinion in regard to
this really clever but uuconvincing(and unconvinc-
ing because purely illogical) argument—au opinion
expressed at the commencement of our remarks,
and here again reiterated, to the effect that the
ingenuity of the plea advanced by "An Asiatic,"
in defence of the Yehites, will be found to be very
slightly sustained in the course of his really able
pamphlet by the far higher characteristic of
ingenuousness.

The second reading of the Ministers' Money
(Ireland) Bill was last night carried in the House
of Lords by the very slender majority of five.
In the Commons the similar stage of the measure
passed by no less than 149 majority. There
was, therefore, but a very narrow escape from a
collision, that might have proved very prejudicial
to the interests of the Established Church in Ire-
land ; and we earnestly hope that, the sense of
the hereditary branch of the Legislature having
been thus taken, no further efforts may be made
either to reject or neutralise the advantages that
may fairly be anticipated from the bill passing
into a law.

The whole question is one, so far as the Irish
Church is concerned, merely of As. d. If the
claimants receive the money from any quarter
they will be well contented. Indeed, even the
recipients would greatly prefer that so fertile a
cause of dissention should be removed, and that
the interests of the Church should not be jeopar-
dised by so unfortunate a connection.

It is however a very different matter with the
payers. They naturally regard it as "an insult
and badge of degradation"—one that should be
resisted at any expense, however onerous. Far
more than two-thirds of the entire amount is
levied in the Irish metropolis, which contributes
8,4901. of the entire charge. Of the trifling
balance, 2,2701. is claimed from, not paid by,
Cork ; while only 1,4161. is demanded from the
other six towns. And this is the mighty sum
which is to create ill-feeling and irritation in the
centre and south of Ireland

The 'charge, too, is partial, and that enhances
the annoyance. Why should Cork pay when
Belfast is exempted I—why should Kinsale be
mulcted, while Enniskillen escapes with impunity?
Its origin, too, is known, and that by no means a
creditable one. It is a bequest of the pious and
religious (!) Monarch, CHARLES IL, and how is it
sustained t By the allegation that it was a charge
on the property of Protestants, because no
ethers could legally hold real estate at the time it
was enacted ! Thus ripping up the very worst
feature of the atrocious penal code !
Lord DERBY should have been the last man to
mix himself up with the opposition. He had
himself saved the Irish Church, by yielding to
expediency. He it was who brought forward the
grants in 1832 and 1833, of 60,0001. and
1,000,0001. sterling, suppressed ten bishoprics,
rendered tithe composition compulsory, and re-
duced the amount by 25 per cent. He it
was who got rid of Church cess, and averted
the storm that was threatening the exist-
ence of the Establishment. All parties hav e
recognised the value of his exertions, and
having experienced the efficacy of a conciliatory
policy, he should not " nail his colours to the
mast" on a comparatively trivial issue. The
funds in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commis-
sioners provide the legitimate means of satisfying
the claims of existing clergymen. They are said
to belong to the Church, and are properly appli-
cable to church purposes, and there can be none
more advantageous than that of abolishing a
source of discord that must occasion animosity and
ill-feeling, and create, or rather continue, an
organised opposition to the temporalities of the
Irish Church.

The Directors of the Bank of England have at
length made a trifling reduction in the minimum
rate of discount. It was yesterday fixed at 6 per
cent., in plane of 6i, at which it had stood since
the beginning of April. We do not now thank
them for the change which they resisted while it
was possible so to do—we will not say that it
was " their poverty, and not their will, that con-
sented ; " but we have no doubt that the pro-
ceedings before the Committee, now sitting on the
Bank Charter Act, exercised a salutary influence
in bringing about this result. They would, if pos-
sible, keep it at the highest point ; but it was
palpable that so doing would be merely "killing
the Goose that laid the golden eggs," or, at all
• rents, transferring her custody to more conside-

rate keepers. According to the official returns for
the week ending the 6th inst., the amount of bullion
in both departments had increased to 10,290,6491.,
and the "Notes Unemployed " to 5,277,600/.,
while the entire circulation had been reduced to
18,785,9801., being a decrease within the week
of 291,4951. 1 A continuance of the screw at its
previous intensity would, under such circum-
stances, have proved that the Bank did not act
fairly with the public, and have gone far to prove
the necessity of the regulation of monetary affairs
being intrusted to a national department in place
of a private trading corporation I

Although, however, this change has taken place
—a movement at a snail's pace—in the right
direction, we cannot look forward to a re-
turn to even a reasonable rate of dis-
count for years to come, unless occasioned by
a change in the monetary code and an en-
larged paper currency. The Times, which so
earnestly protests against English notes of small
and convenient denominations, approves of the
creation of 50 franc notes (2/.) by the Bank of
France, the result whereof will be the liberation
of a large amount of gold and a strong effect on
prices. Why, then, should not a similar experi-
ment be iried in this country ? Mr. JAMES WIL-
SON has long since pointed out the certain advan-
tages that must inevitably follow the adoption of
such a course, which would be tantamount to
those resulting from the discovery of an equal
quantity of gold in the centre of England.
But this is to be avoided to suit the interested
views of Mercator and his disciples. Mills are
still to work half time ; factories are to be par-
tially or altogether closed ; the industrial popula-
tion of the country must submit to the most seri-
ous privations, simply that the wealth of a few
leviathan capitalists may be enhanced beyoud all
reasonable bounds! The people deserve the inflic-
tion because they have submitted patiently to the
most flagrant injustice ever perpetrated on any com-
munity. But, sooner or later, they will shake off
the unaccountable apathy, and then a long
reckoning must be settled. A reduction of the
minimum rate of discount to 6 per cent. at head-
quarters, will not satisfy the demands of an
outraged and indignant people.