The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-22 00:00:00

irk _Sum

LONDON :
TUESDAY MORNING. NOVEMBER 22, 1842.

IMPORTANT NEWS
FROM CHINA.

TREATY OF PEACE.
The following important news from China was
published in the French Government paper, the

Messager, of Saturday evening:—

" ALEXANDRIA, Nov. 5. A dispute has lately taken place whether far-
" A treaty of peace has been concluded be- mers should or should not have leases. It is
tweea the English Plenipotentiaries and the contended on the
one hand that the farmers are
Chinese Government. It is as follows :
as sure of continuing in possession of their land,
1. China consents to pay in three years the
if they
,cultivate it well, without a lease as 'Atli a
"
sum of 21 millions of dollars. lease. They are told that the custom of the
country and the honour of landlords are better
" 2. The ports of Canton, Amoy, Ningpo, and
guarantees than any paxthments which the law
two others shall be open to English commerce. Nvill enforce for the sate possession of farms. It
"3. The island of Hone--Kong is perpetuallyn is replied, that tlle land may change hands; that
ceded to her Britannic MAJESTY. stewards, when their employers press for money,
64 4. The prisoners shall be restored. are not much troubled with feelings of honour;
that the necessities of spendthrifts will make
c, 5. An amnesty published.
64 6. The officers of the two nations shall be them forget family maxims as well as sell the
treated on a footing of equality.
family pictures ; and that a farmer can only be
sure of recovering the capital he may vest in
"7. The islandsof Chusan and Kolong shall be improving a farm, by having a lease fora consi-
occupied till full payment of the tribute." derable number of years. It appears, however,
W e congratulate the country on this glorious from the fellowing statement, which we borrow 1
England has obtained her objects, compen-
result, from the Aylesbury News, and which appears
sation for the wanton destruction of property, in- quite decisive of the question, that without any
sult to the British nation, and the expenses of time urgent pecuniary necessity, and without an estate
war; but she has gained more than all these. Five changing hands, a farmer may be driven from
commodious ports, some of them connected with his holding by the caprice or ill temper of the
the most populous and trading districts in China, landowner, and may lose all the capital he has
are to be opened to British commerce, the Eng- invested in experiments, the value of which time
fish are no longer to be treated as barbarians, only can prove •
but as brethren, and placed on the same footing In the early part of last shooting season, it seems
with the " Celestials " themselves. This agree. that the Duke of Buckingham gave a Capt. Lowndes
able intelligence now accounts for the flying permission to shoot over the farm of a Mr. Sibthorpe
lamuntarirnii at Thornborough grounds, near Bucking-
post sent els in such haste to old .
e Captain's sport was very successful,. and
llowQuA by the EMPEROR. He saw the he took. away an immense quantity of game, princi:
rapid approach of the British forces to the into- pally hares, although Mr. Fountain kept greyhounds,
rior of the country, the apathy of his people, i and had his Grace s
permission to course. The trembled even even for the safety of the capital, lant Captain carried away all he shot without so much
thanking Mr. Fountain tor his or
therefore, knew no time was to be lost. In all :as hospitality,
probability he gave this venerable officer, so well ; asking him to accept of a brace. A few days after,
known to the En
glish at Canton, full powers to ; Mr. I ountain meeting a few friends at Whaddon,
and,.get.ting a little "mellow," treat for peace, and put an end to the war at an • than became more corn-
rice Sir HENRY POTTINGER had full P ' „powers
Y municative cautious, commented freely on
what he cal!ed the ungentlemanly conduct of the
also, and has used them to good purpose. We., Captain, and spoke his mind on the probable motives
were blamed with some others for urging the which induced the brave soldier to leave his regi-
just at the time it was ordered abroad on active
Government to act with energy, and avenge the !merit

service. These remarks were conveyed to the gal-
lant gentleman, of course losing nothing of their
pungency in the carriage. The Captain imme-
diately posted off to the Duke in a great rage, and
insisted upon Fountain being tiivied out of his farm,
engaging to find another tenant at an increased rent.
The Duke of Buckingham immediately gave Foun-
tain notice to quit, and, in spite of the prayers and
entreaties of a numerous body of friends and fellow-
texants, Fountain has been compelled to sell his stock,.
hay, and corn, and take himself off to a more friendly
neighbourhood,. and to a less tyrannical landlord.
The farm on which he and his family hoped to live
and thrive for many months to come, and on which
he had done his duty as tenant and master to the sa-
tisfaction of every one, is already let to another. Mr.
Fountain has a numerous family of young children
thus thrown upon the world, and is a man much re-
spected in his parish, always employing more than his
proportion of labourers. All Mr. Fountain's neigh-
bours express their sorrow at his leaving them, their
sympathy with his present condition, and their disgust
at the conduct of his persecutors.
Such is the story of the Duke of Buckingham's
conduct towards those farmers who dare comment on
any conduct of his or of his friends.
How is it possible that men can employ their
property in cultivating farms from which they
may be thus summarily ejected? Admitting
that the story may not be strictly true, still the
belief in the possibility of such an ejectment,
which must generally exist, or such stories would
never be coined, will operate as powerfully as an
actual dismissal, and will prevent the farmers
from cultivating their land. Without that se-
curity no agricultural societies, no scientific dis-
coveries, no knowledge, whether hoarded or
fused by tli.lniftloltiigrs,' who ~larc very rarely
land cultivators, will 'much .iiiii)rove our agri-
culture. What:4, wanted,. as
.Mr. COBDEN ob-
served at Liverpool,. is MOl!e'l4ll;orier im the ground
skilfully apvilect.:- The folfowing, passage from
that gentleman's speech hearty approba-
tion, and we.,quote.it with thc,better grace, as it
forms part of 'the , cif*. ef. .hiS speech, which our
report did not coatain:—

Every intelligent rgrieulturist would tell them
what was wanted was a vast improvement in every
direction in the goih—more draining,' better hedging,
better fencing, better ploughing better sowing better
everything than it was ; and if they had that done,
they must have more labour to do it.—(Hear, hear).
Let them look at the land between Liverpool and
Manchester. Was it not most humiliating to every
man engaged in manufactures, and who was obliged
to force every invention, that no sooner did he leave
Manchester to come on the railroad to Liverpool than
right and left he witnessed a sterile proof of sluggard
indolence, and waste, and extravagance in the cultiva-
tion of the soil ? llalf the land was covered with
rushes ! There stood the pools on the surface, poison..
ing the atmosphere by their exhalations ! There was
no necessity for these if the land were drained. The
rushes might be removed, and the soil which was now
fit for herbage, might be covered with rich clover, and
would give increased employment to the people, and
double the wealth produced from the surface of Lan-
cashire. And how was this to be accomplished ?
There were two ways of governing the world; the
one was by the competitive principle and the other
by the co-operative principle. Well ! but he and
others were forced in their manufactures. The ship-
builders were forced in their ship-building. The ship-
builders were forced to improve by the force of com-
petition. Why not apply the same force to the
farmer ?—(Cheers.) What other means had they to
do it by ? By what other means did they attempt to
accomplish it ? Was it by the drivelling exhor-
tations they heard at the agricultural dinners ?
(Laughter)—the mere bleatings and gruntings of men
who told them that the sheep in America afforded
sustenance for the pigs ?—:(llear, hear, and great
laughter.) Was it by the drivelling exhortations of
such men as these, at agricultural dinners, got up
like the meetings of their poor deluded friends the
ship-carpenters.--(Hear, hear)—mixing politics with
farming ; was it by such means as these they would
.have farming improved in this country ?
Yes, it is by competition that agriculture must
be improved, and to enable the farmers to com-
b pete with one another, and with foreigners, they
must be secured in the possession of their land,
against all probable contingencies, fora consider-
able number of years. If the landowners obsti-
nately refuse to make over the use of the land
to the cultivators for some certain and fixed
period, or grant leases, it will become the com-
munity, the subsistence of which depends on the
due employment and improvement of the soil,
to inquire into the landlords' claims, and to
teach them that they hold the soil for the public
benefit, and depend on the public will.

The poor Scotsman seems much mortified that
we did not trouble ourselves to answer its puerile
arguments in tltvour of a statesman amusing
himself with turning legends into doggerel verses
when the country has been brought into a perilous
condition by his policy. The example it quotes
of Mr. CANNING does not bear on the question,
for the country was not then in an alarming
condition, nor did Mr. CANNING ever pretend,
like the Whigs, to rely on popular favour.
Those who quote Mr. CANNING as an example,
would probably act on Mr. CANNING'S princi-
ples; but the people of England are not now to
be fascinated by the mere brilliancy of any un-
principled adventurer. They have not, we be-
lieve, forgotten the taunt " the revered and rup-
tured OGDEN," with which that gentleman
mocked at a severe calamity, and replied to ear-
nest complaints by a heartless sneer. If Mr.
MACAULAY has taken Mr. CANNING for his
model, he will make a less valuable toady than
that departed gentleman to the aristocracy, and
a much less formidable opponent of the
people. They can spare him; let him try
if the CLEVELANDS and BUCKINGHAM want
him. The Scotsman, which, when it was
most serviceable to the cause of the people, stood
almost alone, should not, for its own honour,
have reproached Tice Sun that the voice we
have raised against Mr. MacA ULAY'S amuse-
ments was not echoed by the Press. The
Scotsman does not require to learn that
a newspaper may not find support, and yet
may be perfectly correct. At the same time
our Contemporary is either not a diligent
reader of newspapers, or he supprr-
ss
truth. Our observations on ""
''jr' MACAULAY
the
have been quoted by -
flore than one journal-,
which proves O-
:, they are more echoed than
the Scots mca allows its readers to suppose. Of
41ACAULAY we will only add that if he
wish to be held in public remembrance, and
obtain public support, he must do something
better for the public cause then amuse himself
with old and doubtful tales. If we were to
criticise the Right Hon. Gentleman's perform-
ance we should be as worthlessly employed as
he
bs ltandesrtohis awriesefulilt
ewfouvledrybeeienaysytopicraotNituatshaotf
perfectly modern ideas and dmo ern knowledge
ancient events, and that his
notion of poetical
truth as something opposite
to and distinct
from historical truth, is far more worthy of a
rhymster than a statesman or
aphilosopher.

The Irish papers state that a considerable op-
position is threatened in Ireland, to the levying
of the Poor-rates. The Dubli.l Evening Mail
says :

It cannot be denied that the Poor-laws, or rather
let us say, the Poor-rates, are in this country most
unpopular—and threaten to become the source of
disturbance and opposition to the laws, What-
ever cause this arises, whether from the severe or the
unequal pressure of the rates—from discrepancy be-
tween the enormous amount of taxation and the in-
finitessimal quantity of relief„ to the poor—or from the
blundering mismanagement of the Commissioners and
their overpaid staff—from whatever cause, we say,
this popular discontent arises, it behoves the Govern-
ment to take the thing into their most serious consi-
deration."

It then quotes accounts of the police having
been driven out of the parish of Creagh, when
an attempt was made to levy the rate by force
—of outrages at Desertserges in the J3andon
Union, of bitter complaints in the Ennis Union,
and of the guardians of the Rathkeale Union
having resolved to appeal from the authority of
the Commissioners to the Parliament. The fol-
lowing somewhat doubtful tale appears in the
Corti Examiner :

RESISTANCE TO POOR-RATES-ONE MAN KII,I4ED AND

TIIRE E WOU NDF,D.
Through Mr. Hurley, driver of the Skibbereen
coach, we learn the particulars of a melancholy trans-
action, accompanied with 1033 of life, which took
place at Skibbereen :
It appears that a party of police, under the command
of Captain Gore Jones, R.M., proceeded about three
miles from the town to afford protection to the col-
lectors of rates for that district ; but having met with
some resistance from the people, who were labouring