The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-11-29


publication but as guaranty for his good faith.
. We cannot undertake to return rejected Communca
Letters to be addressed oro THE DAILY EXCHANGE
Baltimore, Maryland +"
The censures that were cast upon our Minister
to China Mr.. WARD, for permitting the boats of
the Toey- Van TO be used in towing the English
boats into action, and in bringing off the English
wounded, at the battle of Taku, unjust and I'M
generous rs we esteem them to have been, were
not so unreasonable by half as the Judgment
which portion of the New York press seems dis
posed to pass upon his conduct in refusing to an
proach the Chinese EMPEROR upon his hands and
knees, according to the ritual of Court etiquette
established ut Picking. He is taxed with IA
''crotchetty and impracticable punctiliousness in
'regard TO trihes," and with having sacrificed
solid advantages, and the Substance of inter-
national courtesy" by declining to perform q
simple act Of ceremonial polteness The notion
on his part that the Flaws and customs of his
Country" forbade him to humble himself in the
presence of a foreign Sovereign, by kneeling
before his throne and beating the floor with his
head, is pronounced simply "preposterous," and
regrets are expressed that he did not 'take hint
from the high breeding of his hosts, the Manda-
rims, who, at Il banquet given TO their Western
guests, caused themselves to be served with silver
forks and napkins, out of Difference to their prp-
dlceS The occasion of all this obiurgation the
substance Of which we have taken from the columns
of the New York Times of Wednesday, is the
refusal Of Mr.. WARD to accede to the only condi-
tons on which Chinese etiquette could consent TO
an inf Mil, flo
clined TO perform the Ko-tor, even in the modified
form in which it was proposed to him-one
kneeling and three knocks with the forehead being
substituted for the three kneelings and nine
knocks required from the representatives of
subject and tributary nations To visit
Picking and to have an audience in the In
Peral Palace was not, we believe, one of
the objects of Mr.. WARDS mission He was
simply charged with the duty of exchanging ratif-
cations of the treaty negotiated by his predecessor,
Mr.. REED. Whether the exchange was to take
place at Picking or elsewhere, the treaty did not
specify, and was of course, a matter entirely
within the discretion of the Chinese authorities.
The proposition that the Legation should
visit the capital, came not from Mr..
WARD but from the Imperial Commissioners
upon whose invitation, it will be remembered he
repaired to the mouth of the Pei-ho river in com
Pany with the Plenipotentiaries of France and
England, who were bound on Il similar GRAND
win himself. The reception which he met with
there was certainly not calculated to impress him
hvorably with the good faith and sincerity Of the
Imperial Court. The sudous concealment of fine
fact that the forts at the barriers were DESIGNED
an Gov, lcco
ments of the Chinese TO Mr.. WARD and to the Eng
lish Admiral, that there were neither troops nor
any Mandarin of rank in the neighborhood, when
IN fact, the forts were garrisoned by considerable
army, commanded by military Mandarin of the
highest distinction, all combine to give to the af
fair in the Pei-ho the appearance of an ambuscade
rather than of an act of spontaneous resistance to
one of unauthorized aggression. That Mr.. WARD
did not fall into the trap which was set for him in
common with the English and French Ambassa-
doris, was certainly no fault of the Chinese. That
our people We're not combatauts, instead of neu
trails, in the conflict which took place, is wholly
due to the torbearance and moderation of our Min
lister. If Mr. WARD, after this proof of the du-
pllcity and bad faith of the Commissioners had
declined TO prosecute further his intended Journey
to Picking, no one could have blamed him. It.
perhaps, was one of the very objects which the
Chinese hoped to accomplish by their treacherv. If
so, they were disappointed. Hearing that the
Commissioners were waiting for him at another
point, ten miles distant up the coast at a different
mouth Of the Pei-ho-which nobody had ever
heard OF, and which was laid down in none of the
chartS-Mr. WARD resolved to proceed thither in
the Po~hat1". Arriving there he was well received
by the local authorities, and, after some delay. was
enabled to start on the road to Picking, escorted
by two of the highest Mandarns in the Empire
and attended by some forty Or fifty inferior Man
darins and servants. 1t is but justice to the Chi
nese, to say that the confidence which Mr.. WARD
reposed in them was not in the SLIGHTEST
degree, abused Instead of being carried TO Pc
KING, boXed-up like so much freight, or like wild
beasts IN caravan, the members of the LEGATION
were treated with every courtesy, and had every
consideration shown for their comfort Upon
reaching Picking they were well lodged and well
attended, and although no facilities were afforded
Tor viewing the city, and little addition was,
therefore, made TO the stock of information already
possessed concerning the Chinese capital, no dis
respect was shown to our Minister, nor was any
particular restraint exercised over his freedom or
that OF the members of his suite When it came
to settling the terms Of the audience, however
1t was a different question An interview with
'he EMPEROR could only be had upon conditions
winch Mr.. WARD deemed inconsistent with his
own dignity and that of the nation he represented
MOI the assurances of the Chinese Commissioners
That they would be willing, under similar circum
stances, to worship President BUCHANAN, and even
to burn incense under his nose, could reconcile
Mr. WARD to the h0-,o,c. Not the Substitution
as already mentioned of one kneeng and three
knocks Tor the three kneelings and nine knocks
usually required, could change the principle in
bis eyes, or render the ceremonial less obpox-
ious and degrading. Without excitement or
bIustcr~-calmly, but irmly-Mr. WARD declined
10 pay 10 the Chinese sovereign any mark of re-
spect which he would not pay TO a European
monarch or TO the PRESIDENT of the UN1TED
STATES. He did not call in que stion the perfect
right OF the Chinese to annex what conditions
they pleased to the privilege of personal inter-
view with their EMPEROR. He simply asserted his
own right to reject those conditions, if incompati
bic, in his Judgment, with the laws and customs.
not OF his own country merely, but of the civil
NpIIu, anu 10 the interview altOOpthpr
if the privilege could only be purchased at the
sacrifice of his own selfrespect. In all this Mr..
WARD appears to have acted with equal good temper
and good sense. He did not seek to offend the
amour propre of the Imperial Court; he simply pre-
served his own. An audience was not material TO
the success Of his mission. 1t was not contempla-
ted by the treaty or by his Instructions Except
for the name of the thing, and the qualification of
little Occidental curiosity it was a matter of no
moment, one way or the other SO far as the rati
hcation OF the treaty was concerned, that mipht
take place as well at Pei-tang as at Pe-king-in
the presence of the Imperial Commissioner, HANG |
Flu, as in that of the Brother of the Sun and Moon
himself. In matter purely non-essentiaI, Mr..
WARD thought proper to consult his own sense of
what was due to himself and to the Republic. and
we are quite sure that the sense of the country |
will sustain his decision. We are not less conf |
dent that the refusal of our Minister to comply |
with the forms of Chinese etiquette and the wishes
of the Imperial Court, temperately made and
resolutely persisted in, in the heart of the Chinese
capital, remote from all possibility of rescue or |
SuccOr, cacnlate1 tn uro1uca q oraa FOR ,,oroI