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joRD ELGIN may fairly be proud of the re-Jj suits of his difficult labour ; his success has been great ; the terms he has made have been far better than any that had been anticipated , even by the most sanguine supporters of our Chinese -policy . The treaty of Tien-sien is a grand triumph of that great principle of free trade which more than anything has secured to England her commercial supremacy , arid towards the adoption of which all other trading countries are gradually tending . A few weeks back , when , the bare
fact that a treaty of some kind had been concluded between the English and Chinese Governments , a little discomfort was felt at a flying rumour which whispered that America , following in the wake of our diplomacy , had stepped in at the ripe moment , and made special and exclusive terms for herself . The feeling , however , was not pampered into an inclination to quarrel ; arid we have now the
satisatteinpt of his . superior to evade the demand for his signature was hopeless , told him it was all right , that he signed the article . The Times draws exactly the right moral from this incident when it says : " This little episode contains all the argument of the epic . As Kwei-liaug was , so all Chinamen will be in their dealings with us ; and as Mr . I / ay met Kwei-liang ' s childish attempt to put aside one of the most important articles of the treaty , so the Mandarins of the Court of Pekin must for some time yet be gently , but firmly , made to perform their contracts , or the treaty will be a dead letter . " Another characteristic illustration of the wise councils at Pekin , is the official order that Keying , who volunteered to outwit us a second time , and failed—should commit
suici . de . , ¦ Among the satisfactory results of Lord Elgin ' s operations at Tien-sin , is the certitude that we have given check to the pretensions of Russia in China ; en ravenche , however , Russia has made a move which we were certainly not in the least prepared for , namelv , the hiring of the Sardinian port of Villafranea " " strictly commercial purposes / ' As yet , we have no official explanation of this important transaction from either of the Governments immediately concerned ; exaggeration , therefore , on the subject of Russia ' s " intentions" is likely enough
to be one of the characteristics of the comments of the English press ; but for the Times Parisian ^ correspondent to pretend that the affair is void of political importance is certainly going several steps too far in the opposite direction . Russia has too many reasons for desiring to see her flag upon the waters of the Mediterranean not to have some purpose in view beyond the formation of a coaling station for her Odessa steamers . Already her ships of war are noticeable there , and more are looked for . However , the subject is young : a little time may serve to set it in a new light to present believers in Russia ' s guilelessness .
The Times has less trustfulness with regard to Turkey at the present moment , for it has suggested a strange and ingenious suspicion that , possibly , the late scenes at the Porte , with their incidents of Sultauic rage and denouncements of Ministers and bvotliers-iii-law , may have been nothing more than a cleverly -executed comedy , the drift of which is to inspire confidence in the European money markets , as a preparation for the advent of the new Turkish loan . The notion is a little too fanciful to be seriously entertained ; but there is , in truth , room to doubt whether Abdul Medjid ' s purpose will be sustained long enough to secure the reforms which he is demanding at present . There is alwavs the
chance ot relapse into indolence in such cases as that of the Sultan of Turkey . In his case , too , there appear to be other daugers . It is reported that there is a conspiracy on foot to make away with him , for the purpose of placing his brother , Abdul Aziz , on the throne ; and so imminent was this danger considered that the representatives of some of the chief European Powers are said to have warned the leaders of the conspiracy that , in the event of the Sultan ' s removal from the throne by violent means , his brother would not be recognised by their Courts . In the mean time an imperial hait has been published , enjoining the most watchful care of the finances of the State , and threatening all who shall disobey the injunction with severe punishmentboth heavenl
, y and terrestrial . At home , perhaps the most interesting topic of tho week is the answer of her Majesty to the Canadian petition ., It is jusfc what was anticipated . Nobody expected that her Majesty would or could accept such an invitation at the present time , and therefore it will not in the least shock the feelings of the signers of the petition th . at their prayer lias not been effeotual . If thorc is anything to bo regretted it is that , in conveying the intelligence of her Majesty ' s deoision , SirBulworLyttondid not temper the refusal with tho suggestion of a hope that at some future time either her Majosly or one of tho Royal Princos would visit Canada ; tho cfl ' oof . would have boon particularly good , and the hope would certainly not wivo boon boyond ( ho possibility of realisation . ^¦ ¦
V ^ tli-hQLHVl'njoa ^^ S' -stjn ^ cyiii ^ lritl yli'S tT ' voyagb ' to ' Canada is not an undertaking ( , o daunt hor , whonovov the time comes that hor presence in tho eapitnl— -whenever it may bo—of hor groat Amorioan colony con servo any good ond . Of tho reception sho would moot \ s ' \\\\ tlioro is no doubt , or only oho , as to how tho loving loyalty of hor subjects , both French and English , could bp kept within tluo bounds . If , moreover , hor Mujosty wore to oxtoud
faction of knowing that what has been done would have neutralised any such arrangements on the part of America , if she had made them , which does not appear . Lord Elgin has thrown China open to the whole world . The only advantages which England can enjoy under his treaty are those which the superiority of her manufactures ; , and the spirit which animates her commerce ^ , gives her in competition with the rest of the world .
We have not yet seen the official details of the treaty , but we have the gist of its stipulations conveyed to us in the form of a precis by the Calcutta and Bombay mail . The altogether new footing on which we are henceforth to staud in our relations with China is suggested by the fifty-first article of the treaty , which-provides that the character "I , " Signifying "barbarian , " is for the future , to be disused in all official documents . It is the point of the wedge of Western civilisation well inserted in the Chinese log , one day to be thoroughly riven , shaped , and built into the World-Temple of
Progress . The barrier which has hitherto stood between the European diplomatist and the high officials of the Chinese empire is for ever overthrown by the fifth article , which stipulates that the permanent British Minister at Pekin shall transact all business with the Chinese Secretary of State on terms of perfect equality , the same privileges being secured to v the Chinese representative at the Court of St . James ' s . With regard to commerce , very important concessions have been obtained by Lord . Elgin . The tariff 1 is to be revised by an Anglo-Chinese commission , and a further
revision is to be made decennially ; and , in conr nexiou with this part of the treaty , there is another important provision—r-it is that the duties leviable at tho Chinese custom-house shall be published in English and Chinese ; tho British merchant is , moreover , to be allowed , if ho ohoosos , to commute the transit dues at an ad valorem rate . All that can be reasonably expooted of a treaty appears to havo been provided 'for by the stipulations of Lord Elgin's dooumont .
Iho work of bringing the Chinese Govormnont to reason is , however , by no means finishod ; and somothing liko a warning of tho difficulty which we shall lmvo to oncountor in our offorts to give practical offect to tho treaty , was given us by an inoidont at tho ooromony of signing tho dooument . One of tho artiolos of tho troaty , that one roferring to tho indemnity , was soparato , and whon it was
plaood boforo the Chinoso Plenipotentiary . Kw . cL _ liOTTgrtlmt rovorond poitson—ho is upwards of eighty years of ago , and may bo taken as tho typo of a Chinoso statosman—^ affcoted ontiro ignorance of tho subjocl ; , and ooolly pushed tho papor aside , with a " What is this P I know nothing about it . " And it was only whon his soorotary , a much younger and shrowdor man , seeing with Jmlf ftU Oyq tho
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her visit to the United States , there are not twe opinions as to the enthusiasm with which she would be welcomed . Some half-dozen members or supporters of the present Government have , at various country places during the week , been giving us their views on several subjects , and we have been . enlightened , Mr . Newdegate , in company with his friend , Mr . Spooner , at Tamworth , went in for a right grumbling agricultural speech , and the fact which lie succeeded in establishing is an interesting one- — namely , that no amount of prosperity alienates the British farmer ' s right to grumble . It is from
Mr . Henley and Mr . Du Cane , however , that we have learned the most important lessons . Erom them we take the standards b y which we are henceforth to judge of Conservatism . Mr . Henley relieves us of any doubt as to the real character oi the present Government y it is not Conservative . The term came up , Mr . Henley tells us , when he was a young man . " Conservatism" turned upon three points upon which the party stood on . the defensive : " an indiscriminate attack upon the Irish Church , a demand for Church property to be put into secular pockets , and the independence of the House of Lords . " Well , the time has gone by the House of Lords . " Well , the time has gone by
when any of these matters need defence , and , says Mr . Henley , " I certainly don't see why we should be abused for being Conservative and for not going whooping and hallooing about these matters when noboay attacks them . " Therefore Mr . Henley has no difficulty with regard to the coming Reform Bill . It was no work of ours , he says—rthose who made it are . those who now find most fault with it-r—but , "if there is any possibility of our mending it so as . to satisfy all parties , I see no reason why we should not make the attempt . " And Mr . Du Cane is very much of the same way of thinking . " Resistance to progression and
improvement forms no true item in a Conservative creed , " he lays it down ; and so in dealing with " so great and vital a question as that of Parliamentary Reform , " he is only anxious on . one point , —that it should be dealt with in an impartial and comprehensive spirit , and settled " so as to be regarded by the country in the light of a final settlement . " These sentiments , are extremely good in themselves , but expressed a little late in the day ; and they do not help to the solution of a question which we have discussed in another part of the paper—whether the country -will or ought to be governed by
Conservatives whose only merit lies in the avowed fact that they are not Conservatives . . The condition of the Atlantic telegraph is finally determined—it is useless . So that we have to wait until faith and hope can be renewed in those who , for the present , have lost their money . But every doubt has been cleared away as to the practicability of completing telegraphic communication with America ; and the experience gained in the three attempts to lay the cable which has now failed will suffice to enable us to lay with success a score of . other cables , if they are wanted . A curious episode in the history of ' the
slavetrade has reached us by a late mail from America , The United States ship-of-war , the Dolphin , espied oil tho Cuban coast a suspicious looking craft , benfc apparently on getting out of the way as soon as possible The commander , determined not to let tho stranger slip through his fingers without first overhauling her , called Tier attention to the fact of Ins neighbourhood by firing a blank cartridge , at the same time displaying , English . , colours I The stranger was taken completely off hor guard : without hesitation she ran up the " star-spangled banner , " and stood away , no doubt in high spirits . But a change soon oamo over the spirit of her dream . 1 he commander of the Dolphin , satisfied as to her quality , sent a round-shot throucrh her viam-na ^ > i "" "vj oviiu « . * wuuu-Duui ; uiruugu nor vi n
gmg made her bring to , and , in short , captured her , and oamed her with her oargo of three hundred and twenty-seven ( out of four hundred and eighty ) slaves slapped on the coast of Africa , to Charleston , where the crow were deposited in prison to await tko course of tho law . But , with regard to the . BSfiSSSfa ythfiffl , AYft&qhJi 3 Tdiiaoul . ty ^ , wiu ^ Waawt 0 ^ be---doiio with them P And tho diilioulty has yet to bo got over ; tho Carolinians boing hotly for kooping tho " niggers , " aud " giving thorn tho bouo / lta of oivihsatioii , " whilo tho Northern party eoo in suoli n-oourso a loophole through whitm all prohibition may for the futuro be evaded . T / io course which the Govornmont will tako will , no doubt , bo that which at onoo suggests itsolf to tlio unbiased mind" ** namely , to restore tho negroes to the statm quo .
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¦ I f p . 443 , September 18 , 1858 . T THE 3 L . E A D E H . 955
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 18, 1858, page 955, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2260/page/3/
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