On this page
-
Text (3)
-
44 The Leader and Saturday Analyst. P**-...
-
THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE AND SOCIALISM.* LET u...
-
*Tho Russian Peojnlo ami Socialism. By A...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Letter Erom Germany. Hanover, January St...
and some improvement in their m-tillery practice ^ which they seem already to have attained , might at once convert them into enemies far more formidable than they havei hitherto proved . ; ' ¦ \ . Xord Elgin subsequently moved jap the Peiho river to Tientsin , where , after much haggling he finally obtained the signing of the . Treaty , which bears thename of that town . Upon this he sailed , for Japan , to present to the Japanese sovereign a steam yacht , as a present from the sovereign of Great Britain ; and to dbtain , if he could , by persuasion , and , as usual , by some show of force , another of those treaties of commerce to which politicians and " practical men " of the old school still attach so much importance . The account of this journey is by far the most interesting - . and novel portion of Mr . Oliphant ' s work , and its interest is much enhanced by the coloured pictures , chiefly from native drawings , which accompany the narrative . The maps and illustrations , indeed , which are scattered through both volumes , evidence the great care and pains with which the work has been prepared .
Mr . Oliphant ' s descriptions of what he saw at Nagasaki , at Simoda , and at Jed do , are in the highest degree curious and entertaining . His observations confirm in a remarkable manner the glowing accounts of Japanese civilization given by all previous writersi from old Kcemprer to Golownin ; In the Japanese bazaars he saw evidences of their advancement in the arts not to be mistaken : in their streets he found every where signs of a polite , a moral , and a happy people- —no beggars , no drunkenness , no thieves , no broils . Wife-beating " , and even corporal punishment of . children , are barbarities which Japanesecivilizatioii has left far behind . The English mission , though altogether a novelty in Jeddo ; and though , as
representing foreign intrusion , not popular with a large party , met with no annoyance from any class of the people during their stay there—r-nor were they even troubled in the public Btreets with the vulgar curiosity which generally greets the outlandish stranger . The princes furnished the ambassador and his suite with a suitable house for their use , and every other thing necessary to render thenstay agreeable . Lord Elgin ' s treaty , proposing to permit English consuls to reside at . Jeddo , and otherwise violating' the sacred principle of ¦ ¦ nati-brial . privacy , was indeed somewhat unpalatable .- '; but even this objection Was waived , and the treaty finally settled and sighed : ' . : tins
' "Mr . Oliphant furnishes iis , in his Appendix , with a copy-of . ¦ treatyj and we have been struck in perusing it ,. with' an error so glaring ; so certain to lead—as we believe it has -already . led—to mischievous results , that it is hard to imagine that it could have hitherto—as we believe it has '—escaped' criticism . By Article 10 , it is provided that all foreign coin shall be current in Japan , and shall pas ? for its corresponding -weight in Japanese coin of the same description . It seems . extraordinary that any one who would venture to insert a clause relating to the regulation of currency , in a document of such importance , should not have been aware that snph a Stipulation ; violates the best established principle ? of monetary science , and notwithstanding treaties , laws , or decrees , must be entirely inoperative . Japanese gold coins are stated by Mi \ Oliphant tp be of greater purity ( that is of less alloy ) than English coins , irind upon -this he innocently remarks that there will , consequently , in the case of English gold , < ' always be a difference between its actual and intrinsic value . " In this , however , he is quite mistaken ;
respect" for their sovereign , which the Chinese Government foretells ; the consequences for the unfortunate monarch are always loss of power without loss of responsibility and trouble , and finally an anarchy , which becomes an excuse for depriving the native r : tler of his last remains of power . Our wisest and best statesmen are of opinion , that our dominion and responsibilities in the East have already assumed dangerous dimensions . Our recent troubles m Hindostan , and our huge Indian debt , ought to serve as warnings . The best informed upon such subjects will , we think , agree that the seizure of any portion of China , by our representatives would be a serious evilj and so far from being profitable or' desirable * would inevitably prove costly , and fruitful of embarrassment . Yet to this result a British resident at Pekin would certainly help to lead us ;
The documents presented by the Chinese are drawn up with much skill and might bear no unfavourable comparison with the State papers of Governments accounting themselves more civilized "The permanent residence of foreign ministers at the capital , they say , wbuld " be an injury to China in many more ways than we can Iind words to express ; " and they fear that " in the present critical and troublous state of the country , " it would lead "to a loss of respect for their Government in the eyes of the people . " There is , indeed , little doubt that foreign ministers would not long have resided at Pekin before the Emperor would have become as dependent upon them as is the Sultan upon the ambassadors at Constantinople , or the native princes of India upon the British residents . Such circumstances inevitably produce that " loss of
nor will the footing which we have already obtained upon the edges of the flowery land fail to extend itself , unless watched and guarded against by a determination to repudiate the acts of officials , which haye not received previous authorization- Before a just and reasonable policy , steadily pei-sisted in , even Chinese exclusiveness would speedily melt away . Of their willingness to trade with us there cannot be a doubt ; when is there a doubt with any people ? They are eminently a commercial people , and are not deficient in any of the qualities Which that character supposes . At Singapore , and elsewhere , wherever Mr . Oliphant touched in the Indian Ocean , he found the Chinese settlers busy , prosperous , and orderly . The fact is , it is the nlisfprtune of Englishmen to be ruled , and have their treaties of commerce made for them , by a class who have not , and never had , any real sympathy with commercial interests . Their faith is in shot and shell , in assaults upon city walls , and in
the burning of whole suburbs ,- —in short , in that violence and disorder which is against the very spirit of peaceful interchange . Their acquaintance with the great economic laws which affect- , , the wellbeing of commercial communities , may be fairly judged of by the specimen which we have given of Lord Elgin ' s theory of the precious metals . So Mr . Oliphant , speaking , no doubt , as a firm believer in his lordship ' s doctrines , descants upon the vast importance of these new markets for British goods , which our loud cannon , and plenipotentiaries , scarcely less loud or menacing , are kindly , as the phrase idea entirel to
is , " opening up" for us . It is , no doubt , an y new his lordship , and most of his class , that markets being merely places where men exchange goods , the extent of our market in Japan must depend upon how much of Japanese manufactures we desire to buy . Of course , these will only be ' such' goods as could not be obtained so cheap or so good without going fourteen thousand miles for them . The reader who has fully grasped this idea may ask himself , how far it is probable that the camphor , the vegetable oil , the wax , the tobacco , or even the silk ( admitted to be inferior to Chinese silk ) , over whose existence Mr . Oliphant is so rejpiced , will answer this description . . ,
and he may be sure that in the markets of Nagasaki the intrinsic and the actual value of English coin will be , as it is iut every other market- ' in the world , o . nc and the same . Though Lor-d Elgin and his ' suite bad been as little versed in the laws of political economy as his Japanese entertainers , it would seem scarcely possible that they could hove failed to have met with the maxim that the value of a commodity will find its level , in spite of kings and ambassadors . The gravity of such an error cannot well be overstated , and is indeed proved by the result . Since Lord Elgin loft Japan , reports have reached England of serious complications between the English and ' the Japanese Government , arising * out of disputes connected with the currency complications , which appeared likely to lead to a repetition of our Chinese difficulties . If , as we believo , thoso troubles have arisen entirely from the blunder of Lord Elgin , which we have pointed out , no time ought to be lpst in endeavouring' to repair it ;
As with the Chinese , Lord Elgin found the chief difficulty with the Japanese to lie in their unwillingness to allow British residents at the capitals . ' The authorities in both countries have endeavoured by all the arts of porauaaion and delay , to stave off this dreaded result . Nothing , perhaps , hus created greater prejudice against them--roi * at all events against the Chmese- ^—than their obstinate perseverance in what appears , at first sight , to bo so unreasonable' ; but it should not be forgotten that both countries adopted the determination to exclude foreigners deliberately , and on what wore to them good grounds—for both originally admitted strangers , and both unfortunately found the result to be serious disorders , nnd in one case rebellion and conspiracy against the life of the sovereign . With
such , fuots , it is not to be wondered at if they have sought tp isolate themselves . Such isolation is certuinly not a just ground of quarrel , much less of violence ; and it must be remembered that if they have abandoned their principle , it has always been reluctantly , and after the employment of some kind of coercion . Treaties signed under the muzzles of the guns of a British fleet—whatever thoy may bo in naval or military eyes—aro not , a , ncl never will be , ho $ ncroa in the eyes of the moralist as independent contracts between free nations . Nor can it be said that the Chinese arguments for excusing 1 themselves from admitting 1 an English minuter , to reside permanently at Pekin are wholly without reason . The reader of Mr , Oliphant ' s work will , if ho in curious , find in tho appendix to the firat volume somo interesting correspondence 011 . tUia point .
44 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. P**-...
44 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . P ** - 1 *> *& 60 v
The Russian People And Socialism.* Let U...
THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE AND SOCIALISM . * LET us , give as wide publicity as possible to the fact , that there exists in London a free Russian press , which , thanks to the genius and the energy of Alexander Herzen , and the enterprising spirit of Mn . Trubner , has-for four or five years been exceedingly active . The Rusaiun language , from its extreme difficulty , is never likely to attract many students . Russian literature also , while acknowledged to be scanty , has been too much influenced by foreign models to reward the time and trouble spent in acquiring the
language . But Russia has played a part so important in the affair * , of the world since the outbreak of the French Revolution , that it i . s not without interest to read in their own tongue what the Russians themselves have to say about the deeds , the during " , and the aspirations of their country . We were , not very long ago , by this among other reasons , tempted to acquaint ourselves with Russian speech , and aru iible so far to boast of pur industry and perseverance more than of our success , though wo doubt not that here , ns in other cases , perseverance and industry will at last boar their proper fruits .
We wish , as an act of simple fairness , to call attention to the pamphlet on the Russian People and Socialism . It is in the form of a letter to M . Michelet , and was published in French at Nice , in the autumn of 1851 . The whole edition was seized at Mnrseillos by the French police . A translation into English from the French was given by Mr . W , J . Linton in 1855 . Recently , the first edition in Russian has appeared . It is impossible not to oatoom and love Alexander Horzeh , or to fail to discern in him much nobleness , elevation , and integrity . Hid country is dear to hjm , but truth is quite as deai ; . He can often rise to indignation , but he can never bo cither bitter or calumnious . Deep and intense is his enthusiasm ; yet it never carries him either
*Tho Russian Peojnlo Ami Socialism. By A...
* Tho Russian Peojnlo ami Socialism . By Alexander Ilcrzon . London : Trubnur & , Oo .
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 14, 1860, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14011860/page/16/
-