The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-18 00:00:00

THE PEUSSIAN MEROENARY.

The Neuchatel Conferences threaten to become
the Poland of Europe. Everybody knows on which
aide right and justice lie, but the cause is not one
of sufficient importance to enlist the sympathies or
secure the active co-operation of the human race.
The King of Prussia, it appears, is holding out on
the money question. He wishes to strike a good
bargain with the inevitable. All that was said
upon recent occasions of the point of honour and
the nice susceptibilities of the dwellers in Potsdam
may be reckoned as so much vapour, or as the
mere flight of winged words. The King of Prussia
is a prudent man in his generation,—he loves
honour well, but thalers and groschen even more.
There is balm in the chink of the.precious metals
.—Gilead is that bank on which we can draw
at sight with the certainty of honoured checks.
Why, after all, quarrel with the Prussian
Sovereign for such a conclusion to his high-
flown assertions of the dignity of his Crown ?
A good round sum will conclude the Neuchatel
question ; and this, after all, is not the worst re-
sult at which the Parisian diplomatists could have
arrived. We shall know at least what we are about,
and what is the pretext on which the peace of Eu-
rope is to be troubled by Prussia, if trouble there is
to be. "Make it guineas !" and the dogs of war
will be coupled up, and the Prussian Bellona will
quench her hissing torch in the muddy Spree. The
King of Prussia, we say again, is a very prudent
man. In small things, as iu great, his circumspec-
tion and provident forethought are conspicuous.
When the great nations of Europe had met in last tle
array on the grim shores of Crimean Tartary, and
the treasures of the world were cast forth like
sand, and the blood of Europe's bravest and best
was shed like water in that great contest which
tbrned the course of history, the cautious Monarch
stood aloof, and made his game. Let the world
wag as it might, let the future of Europe be Euro-
pean or Muscovite, that signified but little to the
politicians of Berlin, and to the carriers who were
to make their fortune by neutralising the Baltic
blockade. This was a great coup. The prudent
Sovereign, however, who conceived it and carried
it out is not unlike that celebrated elephant who
could with his trunk lift a cannon or pick up a
needle with equal facility. Small gains are not
to- be despised, and, in the absence of any greater
operation, the little Neuchatel affair might cer-
tainly be looked upon as a g )dsend. But first
it was necessary to raise the price of the article
in the market. Neuchatel must be considered
as the symbol of European peace. In this
case the nations of Europe would be disposed to
look favourably upon the question of pecuniary
compensation. When so great a blessin,, could be
secured for a certain price in money we should not
be careful to higgle about price, nor to tolerate any
hesitation in the Swiss people upon settling-day.
Arms and armaments were thrust in the foreground.
Arrangements for the transit of troops through the
territories of reluctant populations were negotiated
with various petty Courts, with whom dynastic in-
fluences and family ties weighed far heavier in the
scale than their own dignity and independence. It
was loudly proclaimed by the King's agents, and
never denied by himself, that when once the politi-
cal prisoners were liberated every other point would
be smoothed down. The only question was one of
the susceptibilities of pedigree and the dignity of a
Crown.

Well, the prisoners were liberateJ, under the
auspices, if not on the direct admonition, of the
powerful Court of the Tuileries, and the parties to
the Neuchatel dispute were summoned before a
Tribunal of Honour. Alas for the misnomer ! it was
found practically that the point of honour was far
from being the real point at issue, and that a Tri-
buns! ff Commerce would have far more speedily
terminated the dispute between the litigant parties.
The question at issue was not one of honourable
punctilio, but of monetary interest. The King of
Prussia, it appears, is holding out for a larger price
than the Swiss are willing to give for the total eman-
cipation of the Canton of Neuchatel from the tradi-
tionary thrall of Prussia's King. We cannot wonder
at the spirit of ehapmanship which the Swiss have
displayed in the course of the negotiation. In th e first
place, the Swiss are chapm.en born, ready to deal with
the first corner for the blood of their children or the
Milk of their cows. They are, moreover, fully justi-
fiedin saying that the ware which the Prussian n ego-
tiatOroffers for sale is but a soap-bubble at best, and
should not command a higher price than the ordinary
market value of goods of that description. What
is it the King of Pruszia is giving up What consi-
deration is he offering for the money payment which
his emissaries are now demanding in his behalf ?
The value of a nominal sovereignty over a Princi-
pality in a distant part of Europe is, of course, in-
finitely small to the present King of Prussia, or to
any future Sovereign of the house of Brandenburg,
although to the Swiss it is an object of considerable
importance to rid themselves of a claim which can
ever be used by factions at home to disturb the
tranquillity of the Cantons. There is another rea-
son which just for the moment renders them more
unwilling to loosen their purse-strings. Their nego
tiator, Dr. Kern, who seems to be a gentleman of
very .sanguine temperament, had possessed them
with the notion that the dispute would be termi-
nated without any cash payment if they could but
make up their minds to yield the point of the libe-
ration of the prisoners. Theyare naturally disgusted
with a blunder which procures them so disagree-
able a surprise.
. .

At the present moment, if we may judge from
advic?s which we have recently received from Paris,
the negotiation, so far as the Swiss and Prussian
Plenipotentiaries are concerned, is at a standstill.
Each has reached the limits of his instructions, and
theycannot agree. M. de iliitzfeldt hadmade certain
demands from which he would not recede, and Dr.
Kern certain offers which he would not enlarge.
Under these circumstances the other representatives,
having excluded the two dissident Plenipotentiaries
from their deliberations, have, it is said, settled
among tbemselves the draught of a convention which
they will force upon the acceptance of the Swiss
and Prussian diplomatists. We know not how far
compulsion is possible in such a case, but at least
one would fain hope that if the refu,ial should come
from the side of Prussia, the great Powers would
entirely withdraw from every gulrantee, or implied
guarantee, which they have ever given to Prussia
concerning the relations of her Sovereign to the
Principality of Neuchatel, and for the future leave
the head of the house of Brandenburg to assert his
claims to that shadowy supremacy in his own way.
'On the chances of any rejection by the Swiss of any
conclusion to the difficulty which may be suggested
by the active and friendly interference cf the great
Powers we need not enlarge. If they are so inju-
dicious as to neglect such au opporttibity of getting
out of this difficulty, the best thing we can do for
the future is to leave them to themselves and the
King of Prussia.—Times.

SIB J. BOWRING ON THE CHINESE
pARBARITIES.

The Liverpool Courier contains the following let.
ter horn Sir J. Bowring :
" Hong Kong, Feb. 24.
"My dear Sir,—l doubt not that it will be a
gratification to my Manx friends to hear from the
best authority that we are all recovered from the
effects of the poison of which several hundred per-
king partook on the 15th of Jan. About 101 b. of
arsenic had been mixed with a batch of bread issued
from the largest Chinese bakery in the colony, and
the excess of the quantity led to immediate alarm,
--application of emetics and speedyejection of 'the
perilous stuff.' It left its effects for some days in
racking headaches, pains in the limbs and bowels,
&c. In my family, my wife, daughters, three guest 4,
my private secretary, and myself, besides several
servants, ate of the poisoned bread. Lady Bow-
ring's has been a bad case, as it is thought some
of the arsenic bad got into the. lungs, but danger
is over now. This mode of warfare is hard to
deal with, and will, lam sure, excite a gene-
ral sympathy and indignation. Large premiums
have been offered by the Mandarins to any who
shall set fire to our houses, kidnap or murder us ;
and many unfortunate wretches of all na'ions (as
the hatred of the Chinese is indiscriminating) have
been seized, decapitated, and their heads have been
exposed on the walls of Canton, their assassins
having been largely rewarded ; they have even tern
tip the odies of Christian men from their graves,
In order to decapitate them anti expose their mu'i-
* lated skulls to the public gaze. All this is suffi-
ciently horrible, but I doubt not the results will be
mist beneficial, for certainly we shall exact indem-
nities for the past and obtain securities for the
: future. We shall not crouch before assassination
end incendisriarn, you may be assured. I did all
that depended upon me to promote conciliation and
establish peace. This was obviously my duty, but
every effort I made was treated with scorn and re-
pulsion. The forbearance with which the Chinese
nave been treated has been wholly-misunderstood
by them, alai attributed to our apprehensions of
tht it great power and 'awe of the majesty of the
'Son of Heaven.' So they have disregarded the
most so!eain engagements of treaties, .and looked ,
upon us as barbarians,' who, in amoment ofsuccess,
imposed conditions from which they were to escape
when occasion offered, and when they could (in t
their judgment) safely do so. I doubt not that
—OOPS For: CH [NA. etst,vtu. won were issued
Government, Parliament, and public opinion will from the War ()Tile f Y •
or ,tlr cornpantcs of the Royal
go with min this great struggle, andpray that my Artillery, and the 2d battaron of
life may have been preserved for the real and en- camped Woolwich to embarkthe on militaryb o
hired
during benefit of my country and mankind.—Ever transports Nt- ells, Violet and Mooreefent, aart Woclwich
faithfully yours,
this day (Sal rday)• The Fur.ons, 16, with the division
13owaxik.ra. o gun and dispatch boats un ler orders for C',ins,
William Kelly, gag" toughs, Isle of Man." tail for Can river on Monday.