The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-04 00:00:00

It was My task, in pun :Hance of what I 13:).
never
lieve4 to be my duty, to pro( seed to Calcutta at the
thrs hour was a d
critical period of August, 18 457
; .and I shall
eve
ie
r
forget, to my dying day—for
saonvee, and
t.ha tthoefrethweashardlya Governor-Geco n
raj, L
un'tenance in Calcutta-
ord Cannin
which was not blanched with fear-_I shall never
forget the cheers with whi eh the Shannon
vessel which had been assigi acid to me as my float-
ing mansion, and which I vas then hastening to
place at the disposal of the Government of India,
was greeted as she sailed up the river, pouring forth
her salute from those 68-pounders which the gallaht
but lamented Sir W. Peel sent up to Allahabad, and
from those 24-pounders which, according to .lord
Clyde, made way across the country in a manner
never before witnessed. (Cheers.) I hope I may be
pardoned if I own at this moment to a certain feel-
ing of exultation, tempered, I trust, with a devout
sentiment of gratitude to Almighty Proihwtehwveeanst
hlf
era am
oom trdProvidence,em fortunefi dceedd,
to
osyt
destined
ehdde
myself
eor cnl vicinity
iy.ttai
agnha whichby that
aI
stretch of authority on my own part which was
perhaps unpi•ecedented, that the two regiments
which were then holdir g B ,ngal against the rebels
and which were panting and ,r the command of the
dauntless Havelock to pro( eel to the relief of Luck-
now, and of that brave warrior, Col. Inglis, with
his noble wife, the sharer not of his danger alone,
but also of his courage and fortitude, were rein-
forced and enabled to achievethe prodigies of valour
which have rendered them illustrious. (Cheers.) I
have, my Lord Mayor, accepted your invitation on
this occasion with great gratification. It has been
my lot to live for some time in a country boasting
of laws and of usages, some of which are not wholly
unworthy of imitation, together with a morality
which, to judge from the precepts contained in its
books, should be of. a pure and elevated character.
In that land, however, one thing is wanting, and
this defect neutralises all the merits of its system.
*The integrity of the administrators of its laws in
dispensing what, by a little touch of irony, is some-
times denominated justice—(a laugh)—is cer-
tainly not entirely above suspicion. Thus a moral
gangrene eats into the heart of a social system,
introducing wide-spread corruption and decay. The
wandering Englishman—and I am sorry to say
that I belong to that category—when he returns
hpme, after an absence however protracted, finds
that not only in respect of disinterestedness and
impartiality, but of wisdom, learning, and indepen-
dence, the judges of this country hold as high a
position as they ever did ; and whatever may have
been the case with public men in other spheres of
activity the judicial bench at least have lost nothing
in the estimation of their fellow-citizens. (Cheers.)
But if I have passed a somewhat severe sentence on
China, I must say it possesses some securities
against mal-administration which ought, according
to received opinions, to prove highly efficacious. In
, the first. place, all its public functionaries of every
class pass repeatedly through that ordeal which
many ardent reformers in this country believe to be
an infallible test, not only of capacity, but of every
other qualification—viz., through a competitive
examination. (Laughter.) J think it is a matter
of custom rather than of positive enactment, but
the practice in China is for every official of high
rank placed in a position of great difficulty to
accept it with the comfortable assurance that if he
fail to extricate himself creditably from his em-
barrassments, he is perfectly certain sooner or later
to terminate his career by decapitation. (Laughter.)
That is a system no doubt attended with some in-
conveniencies. It presses sometimes rather hardly on
individuals. But it provides vacancies, and operates
in that way unquestionably as a powerful encourage-
ment to enterprising young men desirous of entering
the public service. (Renewed laughter.) Still, if
that practice were introduced into this country, I
can't help thinking it would create considerable
perturbation among the heads of departments. At
any rate, it would have a strong tendency to reduce
the plethora of Prime Ministers and that kind of
determination of blood to the head which now ap-
pears to be the disease from which England is
likely to suffer. (Laughter.) The result of my
experience in the East is that competitive exami-
nation, even when supplemented by decapitation,
is not an adequate substitute for that manly mora-
lity which is the product of our free constitution and
of the characteristic training of our countrymen.
(Cheers.) The late Parliament, which died an un-
natural death, although it was elected for the ex-
press purpose of looking after affairs in China,
nevertheless observed during the 'whole of its exist-
ence so discreet a silence on that subject as neither
to have asked for nor received any communication
whatever with respect to our proceedings in that
quarter of the world. (A laugh.) The consequence
is that if, in obedience to your invitation, 1 were
now to begin to open my heart on the question of
our diplomatic relations with China, I might un-
warily and unwittingly betray some secrets of
State, and, after dining so luxuriously under your
lordship's auspices, I might breakfast to-morrow
much more finonally under the auspices of the
Constable of the Tower. (A laugh.) lam anxious,
however, that over-sanguine expectations should
not be raised respecting the issue of recent events
in China and Japan. On a former occasion, after
a much more partial opening of China, it was stated
that Manchester would not be able to provide
enough goods for one province of that country; and
those in whom these hopes were excited were sub-
sequently disappointed. lam anxious that the
error should not be repeated. Yet, when we talk
of 400,000,000 of people, it is really difficult to
avoid statements that seem to savour of exaggera-
tion. I have been told that the best way to calcu-
late the future extension of our commerce in these
regions is to reckon how much cotton it would
take to provide nightcaps for these 400,000,000
of Chinese, and then send an order to Man-
chester accordingly. Now, really, my acquaintance
with the Chinese and Japanese does not enable me
to say whether they wear nightcaps or not; but,
if they do, certainly the quantity of cotton that
would be required to pack up their long tails
would be something enormous. (Laughter.) I
know, however, that these 400,000,000 souls wear
blue cotton blouses, and that they dress in other
garments of the same material; and, though in
China the ladies are habited exactly like their
lords, I have never heard that the practice is at-
tended with the domestic inconvenience supposed
in England to flow from such a circumstance.
ak seriously, China and
(Laughter.) But, to speak
japan are now open to British enterprise. The
barrier which separated 400,000,000 of human
beings from their fellow men has, as far as inter-
national engagements can effect such a result,
now been broken down. I have never exaggerated
the part which diplomacy has had to play in these
matters. I said a year ago at Shanghai, when
the treaty was concluded, that after force and ne-
gotiation had finished their work the labour of
establishing our commercial intercourse with
China on a proper footing had only begun. I hold
that our manufacturers must task their ingenuity
to the utmost if they would supplant the native
fabrics produced in the leisure hours of an agricul-
tural and industrious people. But though the
great work commenced by the feeble hand of diplo-
macy has to be completed by the vigorous brain
and stalwart arm of the British manufacturer, we
have no reason for despondency. Indeed, I am
confident that the enterprise now begun will lead.
to a vast development of the commerce of. England,
and introduce a new era of prosperity and civi-
lization for a large portion of the human race.
(The noble Earl concluded amid loud cheers.)
The next toast given was " The Bar of England,"
for which the Attorney-General responded, and the
company shortly afterwards retired.