The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-23 00:00:00

POLAND.

The incendiary fires in Poland, which halie been so
frequent of late, have in no degree diminished in number.
The Russians cannot be driven out, but the Poles are
energetically trying to burn them out. Muscovites
who have settled in Poland suffer from fire
almost daily. The intendant of a Councillor of
State had rendered himself specially obnoxious in the
absence of his master. In the orthodox Russian style he
extorted from the peasants all that they were capable of
yielding, manifesting his gratitude in the shape of the
knout. He received several anonymous letters, which so
alarmed him that he obained the protection of a detach-
ment of Cossacks. But these were not able to prevent the
councillor's house and all the surrounding buildings, to the
value of many thousand pounds, being utterly destroyed
by fire.

ENGLISH POLICY TOWARDS CHINA.

(From the Anglo-American 2 imes.)

An American paper has noticed the inconsistency
of anticipating a warm reception in England for
the Chinese Mission, after the open announcement
that Americans hoped and expected the negotiations
to result in the transfer of China trade and influence
from Great Britain to the United States. It is
absurd for Americans to sing this song, and be
surprised and indignant if England declines to join
in the chorus ; but the " tall talk," as usual, did
not mean all the words import, as reflection bas
shown Englishmen. An Embassy could as much
change the course of trade as the course of the
Mississippi ; and the influence of the English will
not be as a Chinese ambassador assesses it, but in
proportion to their numbers, wealth, and enter-
prise. These ridiculous old notions that the world
was regulated by diplomacy, that the status of the
nations was altered by the back stairs proceedings in
Cabinets, by the chicanery of men who best knew
how to make words conceal thought, have ex-
ploded at least in Christendom. Now the
business of nations is done just in the same
may theyg way as other business, and the best example
of this is the latest that but now given by his
Excellency REVERDY JOIINSON and Lord STANLEY.
Those who want permanent customers and good
credit must deal fairly, give wnat they profess to
give,crur u andu s, do
theywhat
undertake to do. If un
lo-
in for one good swindling
job; but if experience has shown that this is an
s
error in individuals, it is a still greater error in na-
tions, as the life of the individual is short and inse-
cure, while that of a nation is comparatively long
and certain. A recognized fact in diplomacy, at
least with wise men, now is, that it is injudicious to
take an undue advantage even when the opportu-
nity invites, for the seeming advantage is certain
to recoil and breed ill-feeling. A trade patched up
by privileges is artificial, and therefore unstable;
and it would not show sound judgment to create
such a trade even if proffered, much less to fight for
it. When created it is a source of weakness and worry,
the interestsof those engaged being always in jeopardy
a ceaseless pressure is brought against the Government
in their behalf. Wherever a vested interest stands
in the way of improvement that interest is detri-
mental to the welfare of the nation. They must
crop up with time, but the folly lies in deliberately
generating them. Just as a leading Minister of
China, Whose State paper we lately gave, argued
that railways should not be introduced nor steamers,
because the one would injure carriers and coolies,
and the other boats, arguing that though a bad
system, because it is in use it must be perpetuated
for the welfare of those it supports. If the Chinese
Mission has any other object than to remove im-
proper restrictions—to open the world to China, and
China to the world, as far as Chinese civilization
will permit, it has been sent on a false errand, and
the cooler its reception in Europe the better. If
Mr. BURLINGAME's aim be to benefit his native
land at the expense of all others, then it is equally
misdirected, and even in success he would but
injure the country from which he was accredited as
well as that to which he owes allegiance. But Mr.
BURLINGAME has seen too much of the world, has
too much sense, and is too deeply interested in the
elevation of the country he represents to entert tin
any such notion. On the contrary, he is aware
that whatever be the ultimate result, the immediate
effect of a more liberal policy will all be in favour
of England. Yesterday her MAJESTY received the
Mission, and, we doubt not, graciously ; for the
tendency in England of late has been to re-
cognise as progress this unprecedented step
of the Chinese Government. Lord STANLEY,
as we bad expected, has long since done so,
when the Times of course swung round ; but
that no one here notices, although it may now and
then furnish matter for astonishment to the Ameri-
can papers. Thepress of China objects, it is said, that
more has not been obtained in the way of conces-
. ions, and we should not be eurprieed if the report

were true. No Asiatic country has attained to the
knowledge that a good treaty is that equally bene-
ficial to both contracting parties. With them it
means something gained for themselves, something
screwed from their neighbours. It cannot be ex-
pected that Chinese editors can be up to Mr. BUR-
LINGAME'S point ; indeed this is a truth only now
being recognized in Europe. llis Excellency must
have been aware when he accepted the anomalous
position that he would be suspected alike in Asia
and in Europe ; and if he made a treaty dictated
by the angel GABRIEL still he would satisfy none.
He has to bear patiently, to do hisbest, and to wait,
knowing that almost under any circumstances he
cannot fail to do good. Indeed JOHN BULL'S pig-
headedness was the only thing he had really to
dread, for if a mission which must have been costly
to a Government not yet initiated into the means
of drawing the largest revenue out of the inhabi-
tants had been contemptuously rejected—there
must have been a curling up at Peking—a retiring
into the old shell—a subsidence behind the China
wall of exclusiveness. We know to what that led,
for England paid millions upon millions, and fought
three wars to get into personal communication with
the Imperial Government; and it would be some-
thing worse than inconsistent if, when that Govern-
ment voluntarily sent its Representative to Lon-
don to extend the policy for which the British had
fought and paid, that he should be saluted with a
slap in the face ! The Chinese would naturally c)n-
elude that these men are hypocritei or fools ; that
they have some unfathomable designs against the
Empire, or that they are idiots not worth culti-
vating. This was Mr. BURLINGAME'S danger, and
at first, we dare say, he felt he had realized it ;
but LOW it is happily passed. He may make a
note of the fact, and so may America, that it was
the organs of the Liberal party in England which
opened the attack, and did all they could to poison
the heart of the nation. We have a curious in-
stance of Chinese ignorance in the late attack on
the missionaries at Chin-Kcang, whose houses were
burnt by a mob of some 10,000 Chinese, who at-
tempted to burn the inmates as well, under a frenzy
excited by the report that the missionaries boiled
up children to be used as medicine. If Mr. BUR-
LINGAME has to fight against ignorance on the one
side so dense, as well as the prejudice deliberately
excited by the Liberal papers on the other side, his
task has certainly not been easy. A short time ago
the Patrie announced that the Embassy would
proceed to Paris in January to propose the opening
of foreign commercial ports in the interior waters
of China, to have European Consuls in all the great
cities of the Empire, and to send Chinese Consuls to
the principal cities of Europe.

MS EXCELLENCY REVERDY JOHNSON.

His Excellency the American Minister, now a
guest of George Peabody at Brighton, has been
invited with his host to a public banquet by the
municipal authorities of the town, which
both have accepted, Mr. Peabody as an exception
to a genera& rule he has laid down. The opinion
expressed in America is strongly adverse to the re-
ception given by Mr. Johnson to Mr. Laird. It
seems to have been felt with great bitterness on the
other side of the Atlantic, and many letters from
Americans on this side have been published in
strong condemnation. When an extra penny has
been added to the income-tax to pay for the depre-
dations of the Alabama it is probable that Mr. Laird
may be made to feel what his countrymen now think
of him, but nothing would come so home to the
shipbuilder as having to pay a cool hundred thou-
sand of the sum himself. It is a pity that he who
has worked such mischief should get off with so
little loss. We will be surprised if the annoyance
continues in the United States, considering that the
object is so contemptible, while we feel that there
is much cause for dissatisfaction in the way Mr.
Johnson met a man so hateful to his countrymen.
The London correspondent of the Tribune gives
strong expression to this feeling. At: Brighton,
however, and in company with an American so re -
spected as Mr. Peabody, the Ambassador may dine
in peace. Another invitation has been tendered to
and accepted by Mr. Johnson to dine with certain
London workmen at St. James's Hall, Regent-
street, on the Saturday following his Brighton
dinner. The invitation is couched in these words
—" We venture to ask this favour in order that
we may tell your countrymen through you how
much we esteem and love them, and how cordially
we reciprocate the kind sentiments which on their
behalf have fallen from you elsewhere. The cheers
which in America greeted the announcement of the
object of your mission to England have found a
responsive echo in your hearts, and we wish for an
opportunity to assure you that, as we have ever
been, so we shall for ever continue to be, the faith-
ful friends of the American Government and
people." In accepting it Mr. Johnson says, " The
class to which they belong is the same everywhere,
and their sentiments and political opinions must
always be the same. These lead them necessarily
to support Governments founded on principles of
political liberty, and it was, not, therefore, at all
surprising that those in England desired the success
of their friends in America in maintaining the free
institutions of the United States." We regret
again to differ from his Excellency. Working men
are not the same everywhere, no more the same
than any other men ; and instead of being the
disciples of liberty they are sometimes pillars of
despotism. That the labouring classes of America
and England should sympathise is natural, and they
will sympathize . the more the better they know
each other, and the more enlightened the workmen
of England become. That the mechanics and handi-
craft men in London can thoroughly sympathize
with a genuine American workman we readily be-
lieve, for there is much similarity ; and they have
tendered to their American brethren a very grace-
ful compliment in this invitation to their represen-
tative. While on this subject it may be interesting
to know something more of what the American
press says. The National Intelligencer has written
an article which shows that the Washington Go-
vernment approve the conduct of their Minister.
The President's organ is satisfied that all sensible
and intelligent men in America will be gratified by
the announcement of the pending satisfactory settle.
ment of the international dispute, and it considers
his Excellency " fortunate in finding a Ministry
ready to meet him more than half way, and to agree
to everything just and reasonable that he demanded,
if he only, by a courteous and amicable manner,
would allow them to yield." He has shown not
merely ordinary sense and good breeding, but the
primary qualification of an envoy having the tact to
see, and going straight to his object in a sensible
and pleasant way, without losing temper or sacri-
ficing manners. " The Liverpool banquet was one
given by the Chamber of Commerce at Liverpool, in
compliment to America and her Minister. Lord
Stanley, of the Tory Ministry ; Mr. Gladstone, the
great leader of the Liberals, and -many public and
local celebrities were present. Mr. Laird was
also present, being a resident of Liverpool, one of
her wealthiest and most prominent citizens, and a
member of Parliament. Now, was Mr. Iteverdy
Johnson, in accepting the invitation, to inquire for a
list of the guests who were to be present? The demand
would have been quite unusual in good society ; a
novelty in diplomatic circles that would have made
him the laughing-stock of Europe. But suppose the
list handed to him. Strike of Mr. Laird's name.
Why? Because he built the Alabama. Strike off
Mr. Gladstone's name. why'? Because he declared
publicly that Jeff. Davis had " created a nation"
—meaning the Confederacy. And so on ; but by
this time the banquet would have been a dissolving
vision, something very like the feast that mocked
Sancho Panza when he undertook to perform the
part of Governor of Barataria. This sort of thing,
we have remarked, is unusual in diplomacy. We
are not aware that it is customary anywhere. We
do not believe such a theory as this would be put
forward by any one accustomed to good society, or
with proper ideas of good breeding. When gen-
tlemen meet at a dinner table they frequently dis-
agree as to their political or theological opinions.
They may not like each other personally ; they may
not even be on speaking terms on the street ; but it
is not the mode for them to select that occasion for
beading cross looks at each other, Jn fine, loyalty,

patriotism, candour even, do not require a man to
be a snob. If this new theory, however, be adopted,
it will not operate very pleasantly for some of the
leaders of the Radical faction ; and there are other
tests perhaps which may be applied equally fatal to
the enjoyment of privileges, not less pleasant because
in many cases they are very new. Doubtless in due
time we shall have a new book entitled " Radical Prin-
ciples applied to dinners and Evening Parties ;" but we
much doubt if the book will be pirated across the
Atlantic, or even quoted, except for a laugh." At
the same time, we are bound to say that the sense
of America, at least for the moment, is against the
greeting extended by Mr. Johnson to the builder
of the Alabama. Frank Leslie says:—" Mr. Reverdy
Johnson, who, through the misguided friendship of
an American Senate, misrepresents us in Great
Britain, has accepted an invitation to a public din-
ner in Liverpool, to meet, among others, Mr. Laird,
M.P., the builder of the Alabama, and one of our
most virulent enemies. We suppose he will call
him my friend,' as the did the foul-mouthed tra-
ducer and life-long hater of our country, Roebuck.
Perhaps he may say of him, as he did of the noto-
rious Lord Wharncliffe, President of the Southern
Association of blockade-runners and pirates, that
his name ought to be dear to every American.'"
The strongest proof of what we assert is in the view
taken by the Albion, a paper which, through thick
and thin, advocates English interests in America.
In an article headed "Is he not over-doing it ?"
it says—" Reluctant as we are to make the admis-
sion, we must own that his countrymen are not
altogether unreasonable in taxing him with indis-
cretion, and in asserting that herein he had rather
misrepresented than represented them. They do
not stand precisely in the position of the Liverpool
shipowners and traders, of whom—at the memor-
able entertainment in that town—Mr. Johnson said
that their wisdom, sense, and patriotism would
cause them to forget the late past, an'l look with
confidence to the future.' Forget it?—of course
they would, and as speedily as possible, though
candour might substitute their own interests in
place of the motives so flatteringly attributed to
them. They are not the sufferers by the cruisers of
the Alabama. Their vessels were not burnt. Their
commerce was not broken up. They have nothing
to forgive, and could very well afford to forgive. It
was not the same, however, with Mr. Johnson's fel-
low-citizens ; nor was it likely that they would be as
prompt to applaud that gentleman's liberal utter-
ances as were the worthy burgesses who listened to
them without the intervention of telegram and
type. Mr. Johnson may indeed lead his country-
men up to these 'Waters of Oblivion ; but we
greatly fear that he cannot compel them to drink
thereof."

Mr. Johnson's reply to the address voted him by
the Mayor and Aldermen of Brighton was published
yesterday, and bears out the article we published
last week from the Times. The first cause of
trouble was the Rights of Naturalized citizens, denied
by English courts almost from their origin, the
opposite view being held by the United States, and
generally entertained in continental Europe. This
question is so settled that it cannot hereafter give
trouble to either Government, and the Executives
of each have approved ; the naturalized is placed
on the same footing in all respects as the native
citizen. "The second cause was as to the true run-
ning of one of the lines which divides your posses-
sions and ours, as described in the treaty between
us of 1846. This at one time rendered a war
almost imminent. All danger from that source is
removed by the second protocol, agreed to by his
Lordship and myself, which also has the approval
of the two Executives. The third and the only
other cause of trouble originated during our late
domestic war. From this have arisen most of the
claims made by your citizens upon my Government,
and my fellow-citizens upon yours ; the latter
known by the general name of the ' Alabama
claims.' The convention which we have recently
agreed to (and which I have no doubt will be approved
by both Governments) provides that these are to
be settled by a Board of four Commissioners, two
to be appointed by each Government. In the
event of their not deciding by a majority for or
against any claim other than an Alabama one, the
decision is to be made by an umpire chosen by
themselves. In regard to the Alabama claims, the
arrangement is somewhat different. Before these
are to be considered by the Commissioners the two
Governments are to agree upon the head of some
foreign Government as an arbitrator, by whom the
decision as to the liability of your Government for
such claims is to be made on the contingency that
the Commissioners fail to come to a unanimous
decision for or against it. This arbitrator, how-
ever, is to adjudge only the question of liability.
If he rule that question against your Government,
the amount due to each claimant is to be ascer-
tained by a majority of the Commissioners. If he
rule in favour of your Government, the claim is to
be perpetually barred." This Mr. Johnson asserts
to be a settlethent so complete that it can never
again be opened, leaving before the nations an un-
clouded prospect of enduring peace, with the mate-
rial, social, and political advantages certain to re-
sult—results hailed with satisfaction and delight
by the people of both nations. After receiving the
sanction, of the Senate (which will without doubt
be given, for Mr. Johnson has got all the United
States really contended for), we hope and expect
that what he anticipates will be realised, and in
this lie has given the best possible answer to his
assailants in America.—Anglo-American Times