The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-28 00:00:00

ability I could count ; and I most say, in justice to my
colleagues, thst if success has attended our councils—
that if our exertions have been crowned with satisfactory
results, I claim to myself no exclusive merit for that. I
The credit attaches equally to all the members of the
Government, for all contributed to the utmost of their
power in theirdifferent departments, with unanimity which
could not be exceeded, and which has not been always
equalled, to perform the service of the country—to bring
that war to a successful issue, and to bring that peace to
a satisfactory result. (Loud cheers.) It is well known
that by co-operation with our gallant and noble allies
—France, Sardinia, and Turkey----we did not succeed
in bringing to a speedy conclusion that war which
many, when it commenced, believed would last for many
years to come. (Hear.) We obtained for this country
a peace which in its results accomplished, beyond the
expectation of many, those objects for which the war
hand been undertaken. (Hear, hear.) And when that
peace came to be carried into execution, we stood firmly
upon the rights which the treaty had given us, and we
did not permit any equivocation or stratagem to deprive
us of some of the most important stipulations which that
treaty contained. (Cheers. It has been laid to my
charge that the policy which I have pursued has been
" turbulent and aggressive." (Laughter.) Why, if the
policy which led to the war with Russia was "turbulent
and aggressive," I know not the meaning of the words ;
but the charge, if true, would be shared by all those who
have taken a part in public life, and by the whole of the
British nation. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, during the many
years in which it was my lot to conduct the foreign rela-
tions of the country, we escaped any war. (Hear, hear.)
We, no doubt, had many difficulties to encounter during
that period. Many questions arose out of which war
might have arisen, but out of which no war did arise,
and we maintained the dignity and interest of the coun-
try and preserved peace. We did no small service dur-
ing that period to the progress of civilisation and civil
and religious liberty in Europe. (Hear.) We succeeded
in establishing the independence of Belgium with a free
constitution. = We succeeded in assisting the people of Spain
and Portugal in establishing free Parliamentary Govern-
ment in these two countries, and then, forsooth, we, are
to be told that we are the friends and champions of des-
potism, and that we are adverse to the spread of free
and constitutional principles. Why, gentlemen, wo
wish to be at peace with all the great Powers of Europe,
whether their form of Government be monarchical, de-
spotic, or constitutional. (Hear, hear.) These are
questions which concern the people of the respective
States ; that which concerns us—that which concerns
you is, whether they be free or enslaved, they should
be in friendly relations with this country—that our
commercial intercourse shall not be interrupted,
and that we shall be as free with regard to tariffs
as the prejudices of these different countries may permit.
(Hear.) Then came the China question. (Hear, hear.)
I have stated elsewhere, and I think I do ample justice
to the Opposition when I say that they behaved during
the whole of the war with Russia in accordance with the
feeling and spirit of the country. It would be unjust if
I,were not to make that admission. But in the begin-
ning of the last session "a change came o'er the spirit
of the dream," and from some cause or other hopes arid
expectations appeared to be entertained, that upon some
question or another the Government might be put in a
minority, and power transferred to other hands. Well,
first it was supposed that we meant to persist in keeping
up the " war ninepence" of the income-tax duty. Dis-
appointment followed that expectation. (Hear.) That
question slipped out of their hands. (Hear.) But there
were other points which they thought likely to afford an
opportunity for a political triumph. One after the other
failed. Then came the outbreak in China, and that cir-
cumstance, most unfortunately for those who took it up,
was adopted as a party question on which to try the
strength of respective parties. But what was that ques-
tion ? Why, unexpectedly to the Government at home,
independently of any orders from them, and not in con-
sequence of any act of ours, a collision arose between our
officers, civil and naval, and that insolent barbarian Yeb,
who unites in his person all the insolence, cruelty, and
perfidy ever collected in one single man. (Loud cheers.)
He began, after long-continued neglect, and the violation
of treaty engagements, by an outrageous attack upon
the British flag. It was the duty of our officers on the
spot to resent it, and demand an apology for the past
and a guarantee from similar outrages for the future.
(Hear.) They were unable to accomplish this, or to ob-
tain any concession from the ChireseMiniater. We have
heard a great deal of technical argument about registers,
colonial orders, and imperial laws, but the question sub-
mitted to Parliament was broad and simple. Here was
a vessel with the British flag flying, with a British regis.
ter, British subjects on board, and commanded
by a British subject—a man from Belfast violently as-
saulted by a Chinese force, her entire crew taken away,
with the exception of two men whom the Chinese autho-
rities, at the request of the commander, left on board to
take charge of her ; and the only pretence set up for
this outrage was—not that any one of those 12 men who
formed the crew had committed any offence, but that
one old man was the father of a son who in some part of
China, and not at Canton, was believed to be a pirate.
(Laughter.) Then there was a quibble raised, and it was
said that when they boarded the vessel no British subject
was on board ; but the master of the lorcha was at
breakfast in another ship not 50 yards off, whither he
bad gone to take leave of a friend whose vessel was
about to sail for Hong Song. Moreover, before the
Chinese left the Arrow, the commander came on board,
and it was specially at his entreaty that two out of the
12 men who formed the crew were left in the vessel. It
is therefore preposterous for the Chinese to say that they
did not know it was a British vessel. Why, the vessel
had been lying for 10 or 12 days in the Canton river, as
a British vessel ; and it was distinctly as a British vessel
she was boarded, and her crew taken out of her. This
was a violation of our treaty; and what did our officials
do in consequence ? They began by reprisals; they took a
junk, and the Chinese Commissioner snapped his fingers
at them, and said, "You think you have got a Govern-
ment vessel, but it is only a merchant vessel, and I don't
care a sixpence about it." (Hear.) Our officials th n pro-
ceeded to disarm the forts, but allowing an interval be
tween each successful operation, they stopped to afford
the Commissioner an opportunity of doing that which in
reason and justice he should have done before. (Hear.)
Notwithstanding all that has been said about cruelty, I
say that never were the rights of a nation enforced with
more forbearance and absence from unnecessary violence
than they were by Sir Michael Seymour—a man well
known for his humanity and moderation, and one utterly
incapable of abusing the power with which he was er-
trusted. (Hear, hear.) Again we have been told that
officers abroad ought not to involve the country in war
without distinct orders from the Government, and that
the Government ought not to act without first appealing
to Parliament. But will any one tell me that officers at
the other extremity of the globe, when a violent outrage
is committed on the honour of their country, are to re-
main viith their arms folded till they can send home for
orders and receive instructions ? Why, months would
elapse between insult and resentment, and the purpose
for which redress had been demanded would be defeated
by the apathy and want of exertion which would have
ensued in the long interval. Let us suppose a case simi-
lar to that which caused the former Chinese war. Sup
pose the Chinese had taken 12 Briti3b, merchants, and
threatened to starve them if they did not do that which
they were called upon to do, was our adiniral or super-
intendent to leave those men in prison till they could
write home to England and ask whether they should. take
necessary steps to relieve them ? Way, the men would
have ceased to exist, and the answer of the Chinese
1 governor would be—" I am very sorry, but three months
ago these men die 1 from their sufferings in prison."
(Hear.) This is the doctrine of those who condemn
British officers in vindicating the honour of the country
and the rights of their fellow-subjects without writing
home for instructions. Then, again, as to the authority
of Government to undertake operations. Wby, no
doubt, if Parliament is sitting, communication is made
to Parliament ; if it is not sitting, and the occasion is
adequate, Parliament should be called together to be
made acquainted with the circumstances which have
arisen. But, again, these hostilities cannot, properly
speaking, be described as " war with China." We are
rot yet at war with the Chinese. We do not know that
the act of this local authority will be adopted by the
Imperial Government. On the contrary, we are in-
formed that at the other ports—Shanghai, Wbampoa,
Foo-shoo-foo, and Amoy—the Chinese authorities have
said that this local collision at Canton should not inter-
"Pt the good relations existing between the t countries,
and that there was 110 reason why our commercial re,ta•
lions should be at all disturbed. We therefore do
not yet know that the Chinese Government has made
this a cause of war. We hope they are too well informed
as to the true nature of the. violence committed upon us,
and of the danger to China of a conflict with England,
to make this affair of the Arrow a national quarrel. But
we are told that we have adopted the resolution of the
house of Commons, and that we have superseded Sir J.
Bo wring and Len' Elgin. No such thing. It is per-
fectly natural, and it is in accordance with the general
practice in cases of important difficulties, that al bough
you have an agent on the spot in which you place conE-
deuce, and whose conduct you approve, and in order to
give greater weight to your nego'iations, you send from
home some officer of h'gh rank ehargf d with the direct

and verbal instructions of the Government, who acts
with greater powers, who goes over f a special purpose,
who does not supersede the local agent, but who, by
virtue of the right he carries, may accomplish the peace-
ful purpose for which he has gone out. That Le the case
with Lord Elgin. It is in point with the mission of Lord
John Russell to Vienna, who did not supersede Lord
Westmoreland, our Minister there. It is in point with
the mission of Lord Clarendon to Paris, who did not
supersede Lord Cowley, who was our ambassador at that
court. Well, gentlemen, I think I am justified in saying
it was an unfortunate determination on the part of those
who took up Mr. Coblen's motion to make that a ques-
tion between party and the Administration. I entirely
believe that Mr. Cobden gave his notice without previ-
ous communication with other persons. But when it was
announced—when the words of that motion were placed
upon the paper of the house—then every man mighthave
exercised his judgment as to the effect of the resolution
if carried, and I am surprised that some men, wellversed
in Parliamentary lore, should, knowing the effect of
Parliamentary divisions, have allowed themselves to be-
lieve that they were only acting the part of jurymen
met to decide upon a fact that had taken place at the
other end of the globe, and the result of the vote would
have no political effect on domestic affairs at home.
Why, if the House of Commons had been sitting as a
jury upon Sir J. Bowring, who ever heard of a jury pro-
ceeding to try a man 18,000 miles off without his having
the slightest conception that he was put upon his trial,
and without an opportunity to instruct counsel to defend
him. I say such a tribunal would be more like the
secret tribunals of the middle ages, and would have
nothing in common with the practices of the British con-
stitution. (Hear, hear.) Nevertheless, I am bound to
believe that there were some men of Liberal principles
who honestly mistook the nature and effect of the vote
they were giving, and who, not meaning to withdraw
their general confidence from the Government, voted in
a majority, the eff,ct and intention of which was to turn
the Government out of office. (Hear.) Well, I say
that was an ill-chosen motion. Perfectly fair it is, in the
conflict of political parties, for any set of men, no matter
how much they may differ, yet if they can agree to a
course of future policy, to take advantage of any lair op-
portunity to dislodge their rivals, and place themselves
in the seats of power. .I do not blame that, for it is in
accordance with our political constitution; but I say
that they are bound to communicate with each other so
as to ascertain that there are no obstacles to forming a
Government in the place of that which they mean to
turn out. But if they are agreed in that—if they can
form an efficient Administration—what is the fair and
proper course for them to pursue 1 They should propose
a vote of no confidence in the Government of the day.
They should fairly put to the country the choice of one
party or another ; but it is not fair, or in accordance with
the British constitution, or spirit and feeling of the Bri-
tish nation, to take as a trial of strength a question in
which one party is to be arrayed against the honour
and dignity of the country, and the other is called upon
to maintain that hoaour and uphold that dignity.
(Hear, hear.) That was the nature of the question on
which the recent division took place. The resolution
was that the proceedings in Canton were unjustifiable,
and that as we (the Government) had approved them
our course was :lso unjustifiable, and that we ought
no longer to wield the power of the State. The voice of
the people rises against that decision, and against the
principle on which it was founded. (Cheers.) It went like
an electric spark from one end of the land to the other.
It was no result of intrigue on the part of the Govern-
ment; but when the merits of the question came to be
sifted and examined, the nature of the people of Eng-
land, whatever their party politics might have been, in-
dignantly repudiated the resolution of the majority of
the House of Commons, and said that was not a suffi-
cient peg on which to hang a resolution which was to
change the hands in which power was to be placed. (Loud
cheers.) And now let us see what must have been the
necessary consequence of that vote it the party who
joined in it had acceded to power, and if their conduct
was to be consistent with their vote. Why, of course, if
the proceedings of Sir J. Bowring and Admiral Sir M.
Seymour were unjustifiable, the Government that came
in must have apologised to Y eh for the unjustifiable con-
duct of our officers ; they must also have given him com-
pensation for the batteries and forts which our sailors
had destroyed, and they must have paid fur the expense
which his resistance incurred. What, then, would have
been the degrading and humiliating position in which the
country would have been placed I We would have been
acquiescing in the violation of our treaty rights, and en-
treating forgiveness from a man who offered rewards for
the heads of our fellow-countrymen, who had obtained
the murder of many of them already, who had encouraged
kidnapping for the purpose of assassination, who had
published an edict, stating that he had taken secret
measures to procure the extermination of our hated race,
who had shown what those measures were by compelling
an unfortunate Chinese baker to poison the bread to be
eaten by the British community, and whose diabolical
attempt nothing but the meroitul intervention of Provi-
dence frustrated.- Marvellous' indeed, it was that nothing
but illness supervened, and that the whole of those doomed
Europeans were not swept off in a single day. I say, that
if a Government had come in and acted on that policy, it
would have been swept away by the indignation
of the pcuple, and would have boon 00eeigued to perpe•
tual infamy for a course which no honourable or honest
man could have approved. But we are told that they
would not have pursued that course, but that they would
have continued the war. Then what becomes of the poli-
tical consistency of men who one day form a resolution to
condemn the policy and subvert the Government, and
who tell you the next, without hesitation, that if their
object had been accomplished, and it they had come into
power, they would not have pursued their own avowed
policy, but would. follow that which they had already
pronounced unjustifiable, because they found it in opera.
two. Well, then, I say that to-day and to-morrow will
be days on which a large portion of the people will pro-
nounce their verdict upon the question which we have
deemed it our duty to put to them. You have a ready
pronounced your verdict, and the accounts we receive
from all parts of the country lead us, without hesitation,
to believe that a large majority of the eleceors of Eng-
land
.will pronounce a. verdict in accordance with that
which has done honour to yourselves. Well, but we are
asked by many what is to be our future policy, and what
are the grounds upon which the Goverement recommends
itself to the approbation and support of the country. I
have already told you, with regard to our foreign rela-
tions, and such as our policy has been in that respect, it
shall continue to be. It shall continue to be peace with
all nations as far as peace can be maintained without dis-
paragement to the dignity and honour of the country,
and without any diminution of the rights of the country
on the aggregate or on the part of our fellow-countrymen
engaged in foreign lands. Now, with regard to our do-
mestic policy. There are many here, as elsewhere, who
expect from the Government distinct pledges on the ques-
tion of reform. Those who know what is the position of
men in office, but more especially what is the position of
the head of the Government, must see and feel that I
should be acting a very unbecoming part if I were to per-
sonate the character of a young candidate appearing fur
the first time on the hustings and endeavouring by clap-trap
pledges to enlist stray votes, and going headlong to any•
thing which one or two persons might tell him would in-
crease the majority which he is endeavouring to main-
tain. It is the duty of the Government of this country
to look at the interests of the country at large, for a
Government worthy of its position must feel that no na-
tion.can stand still —that England is not China, and that
the people of England cannot continue to be in precisely
the same situation in regard to their institutions from
year to year and from century to century. (Cheers.) We
are a progressive people, and therefore progressive im-
provemente in all our institutions must be, and ought to
be, the guiding principle of any Government that wishes
t o maintain itself in the confidence and affection of the
peep:o. (C.mere.) I believe our institutions iu the main
to be the best of any country on the face of the earth,
I make no exception. I believe them to be the best. I
do not say on that account they are not to be improved.
All human institutions must necessarily beimperfect, and
some of the branches of ours aresusceptit le of much ame-
lioration ; and the Government that shuts its eyes to facts
and ch.cuinetancee, and maintains things as they are be-
cause they are so is a Government on which the lessons
of experience and the instrectiune of men ate utterly
thrown away. (Cheers.) But, gentlemen, I am sure you
will see it would be unbecoming of me to enter into de-
tailed pledges, and to hold out promises with reference
to subjects on which some of you feel an interest; and
therefore, however I may disappoint the expectations of
some, it is my duty to do so, and that duty, like other
duties, I feel it imperatively necessary to perform. Eco-
nomy, no doubt, is a duty deeply interesting to the peo-
ple of this country. A Government that launches into
lavish expenditure without necessity would not deserve
nor receive the support of the Parliament or the country.
But there are great interests which must be cared for.
(Hear.) We do not, like contieental countries, maintain
large naval and military establishments in time of peace,
but we ought to have the foundation on which arma-
ments may be created when times of danger arise. (Hear.)
Our army and navy, although small in time of peace,
should be so organised, mcra especially with regard to
the scientific branches and professional education, that
we should be able, if the country were threatened with
danger, rapidly to raise an amount of force which would
place us in safety from attack. That is the limit beyond
which this Government will not endeavour to go.
We will endeavour to prepare such establishments as
will be sufficient for the necessary service of the country
during a time of peace, but which by their organisation
may be capable of expansion when danger may arise ;
and more especialy we deem it our duty to provide for
the defences of those great naval arsenals which, if at-
tacked successfully by an enemy and destroyed, would
deprive us of all our naval superiority, and leave us open
to any amount of invasion by an enemy with superior
military farce. These are the principles upon which we
propose to conduct the Government of the country. We
believe those principles will meet the support of the
people of England and of the Parliament which the
pe )pig of England may return. (Cheers.) Whenever
that confidence le withdrawn—if the course which we
pursue should cease to be in accordance with the feel-
ings and wishes of the people of England, you will not
tied any grounds for that which in the apprehension of
Mr. Cobden you will find, viz., a dictatorship. He knows,
and you know, that the breath which made us today
can unmake us to-morrow, and that, standing upon the
approbation and confidence of the people of the United
dKwriiatuhwgdndroaswmon from u
,lownhgeanstwshat approbation and confidence are
e(baurtewcohnicshidlerbeedlicieev,Dewrviit
g notof btehweim)
site-
drawn
that day our dictatorship will end, and the voices
which have now raided us to power will be raised,