The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-05-17

mel Fremont received very little profit from t.
He now depends entirely upon his literary labors,
which We trust will be as profitable to himself az
they are valuable and interesting to the world.
Tho British Expedition 70 China.
We publish elsewhere list of the force which
Great Britain is sending to China to prosecute the
war which has just begun From the best infor
credit the statement put forth some time since by
the Paris papers in reference to the instructions
given to Lord EgiD. 1t now appears that the
British and their allies will exact some terrific.
rial concession az guarantee of the fulflment Of
any future treaty they make, and there is every
reason to expect that tho territory thus to be
seized will form part Of the southern tea grow
ing districts.
The plan of operations of the British appears
! to be in accordance with the scheme proposed by
some of the soldiers of 1s46-namely, a seiz-
ure of the great canal, the occupation of the
great rivers, a bombardment of one or two prlu-
cipal towns, and eventually, under favorable
circumstances, forced march sctoss the couusry
to Pekin. This plan supposes the utter incapa-
city Of the Chiueee to make any defence at any
given point Of their territory. no matter how
disproportionste the invading force or how ar.
dent the enmiiy of the natives 1t likely as
sumes-and this doubtless on just grounds-that
the superiority of tho English IN courage s.rate-
gy and discipline, will enable them to pass from
victory to victory without once mourning loss
or submitting to defeat
1t is difficult to bring oneself to think that q
weak, helpless'nation, like the Chinese, can ever
hold their own against two such civilized and
intelligent nations as England and France. But
there are many points worth reflection; if we
propose to anticipate the success of the invaders
When we in this country find ourselves on the
brink Of a troublesome domestic quarrel, we al
most invariably relieve ourselves by exciting
breeze with England. This brings all parties to-
gether and animates them with an absorbing
feeling of patriotism that for the time quenches
party spirit. Just 30 in England and France.
When the people grow troublesome, and chartist
leagues or republican secret societies, alarm the
governments, quarrel is picked with some foreign
pation-Russia, Germany, the United States, or
China-snd the public excitement is cooled OF in
this channel 1t would appear that this pleasant
manGuvre, of which we have been in the habit
of fancying We enjoyed a monopoly, is not un-
known to the Chinese. There Il reason to believe
that the firm resistance of Yeh and the attitude
of uncompromising hostility which the govern
ment has assumed, are part Of plan by which
the Emperor hopes to effect the overthrow of the
insurgents. They have hitherto been more than
match for his troops Without some extraor-
binary event, in the ordinary course of things,
they will overthrow his dynasty. Buts war with
foreign foe would be very likely to rally them
to the support of the throne.
In this contingency, O long and great war
would seem probable From the troubles which
have broken out at Borneo among the Chinese
settled there, and the menaces uttered at Singa-
pore and Bangkok, it is evident that all the ma
tional prejudices of the Chinese are aroused, and
that they will fight harder than usual In the
North, the men have usually shown q very re-
markable degree of bravery; there ia no lack of
physical strength in the race in any part Of the
kingdom. All that is needed to make the Chi
nese q formidable opponent in war is officers
ard discipline; and q question is now arising
whether Russia viii not revenge herself on Eng
land for the defeat at Sebastopol by lending the
Chinese Emperor officers capable OF leading his
armies Russia can communicate with China
from behind; can pour in If necessary q stream Of
skilled officers, trained In European warfare, aud
accustomed TO drill strange nations She did 30
In Persia twenty years ago.
Were the Chinese properly disciplined and led,
and were their teeming labor applied TO the con-
structon ofmodern machines of war, they would
become nation not easy 10 manage. Their bare
numbers are q terrible fact. The English. send
ing out 10000 men to China, may do a great
deal of damage certainly; but If the 10000 met
20 900 Cinnamon every Monday morning and ex-
terminated them before night, it would make no
sort of difference TO the resources or strength or
spprcciablc population of the Empire. The stand
ing army Of China is only 100000 men, but in
case Of this kind, there would be no difficulty in
raising at one time or another, military force as
large as the total population-men, women and
childten-of France and England combined
What can an invader do against multitude 2
Will not the English find themselves In the posi-
ton Of man who tries alone TO tread down a
large field of corn?
The progress of the world and the desires Of
tea drinkers are for q speedy peace; but the
signs Of the times indicate that there will be q
long, troublesome and bloody war.
Marcos OPINION OF Mr. BucHASAS's New