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LAWS AND MORALS. taken in to
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It should always be remembered , when the bad faith of the Chinese Government is denounced , that there are very considerable difficulties in the way of its maintaining good faith . To abuse the Emperor for the misconduct of Mandarins at Canton and Shanghae , or to assume that the presence of an ambassador at JPekin would prevent' evasions of a treaty , is alike ridiculous . Allow the people to be of the most docile , obedient temperament , it is impossible to strictly enforce imperial commands amongst more than three hundred millions , some of them Jiving at an immense distance from the seat of government . But , as we know , the authority of the Emperor is not recognised by a large number of his subjects . A rebellion , with the full extent and scope of which we are unacquainted , has been raging with varying success in some of the most important provinces , for several years . Within the limits in which its chiefs exercise authority , an ambassador at Pekin could obtain the enforcement of no treaty stipulations . To drive the Emperor from Pekin , or to degrade him by forcing upon him the residence of a " Barbarian " ambassador at this capital , would be simply to further lessen his authority , and hand over the best part of the empire to anarchy . All the privileges given by the treaty of Tientsin , or to be obtained by a new arrangement , would then become valueless , except within very narrow limits . Our real interest must be to confirm and strengthen the Imperial authority , because it alone can secure that internal access which is deemed so desirable ; and we ought , therefore , to abstain from all steps calculated to weaken it . It is only by this course of action that we can , for the present , at least , secure the observance of past treaties . Great as are our resources and those of pur ally , we cannot subjugate or exterminate a people of three hundred millions . We cannot occupy China . We may hold possession of > a few ports * but that is alL \ Vliat end shall we gain by destroying the Taboo forts , and marching upon Pekin ? A ratification of the treaty of Tientsin , and an apology for the refusal to receive Mr . Bruce at Pekin ? Let usput the apology out of the question . It is not worth our while to spend several millions , and sacrifice many brave merf , for the sake of an apology . What shall we get by ; he ratification of the treaty ? - —nothing but a crop of difficulties , which , will surely involve us in other ware . If an ambassador s admitted at Pekin ; the result will be a weakening of the [ mperial power and prestige , and a consequent nullification of he treaty , in a large part of the empire . If the hapless diplbnatist is murdered , as would likely enough be the ^ case , in a jopular outburst , a war would of course become an immediate lecessity . If the ambassador does not go to Pekin , we might ust as well have stayed as we were before . But Englishmen ire to be admitted into the interior . That is a privilege of rery doubtful value . If availed of at all , it will lead to a great nimher ^ bf murdeTs ~ a ;^ or which another war will be necessary . In fact , this var , like all those we have waged in China , is utterly unwarrantable and injurious . The privileges it may extort vill not promote our commerce , any more than those btained by previous wars have done . If our merchants vould act fairly as merchants ; would deal honestly with he people , and make it worth their while to trade honestly oo ; would not embark in smuggling transactions , and , relying ipon the character of British subjects , set the most ordinary , nd necessary regulations of the Government at defiance ; ommerce would go on smoothly enough . But they insist ipon doing exactly as they please ; treat the natives with rrogance and insolence ; and then , because the Chinese officials tterapt to enforce the laws , call upon the British arms to rotect them . We have not the slightest right to force our ; oods upon the Chinese , and we have not the slightest need to ttetnpt it ; They are shrewd and sensible enough to understand heir own interests , and , if we offer them a good price for their iroducts , and attemp t to sell them useful articles , they will manage to carry on an enormous trade with us , without any nterference of ambassadors or admirals . ' This war is a sheer waste of money and men .. It cannot mprove our position ; it will probably make it much worse . !* o our august ally , it is a very different matter . It serves his atereats in everyway . It exhibits England dependent upon his ssiBtance , unable to " settle her own-difficulties -anywhere -withiut his good offices . It gives him a further pretext for inter- . ering in Asiatic affairs ; and ,-what he chiefly values , enables lira to destroy that prestige which England had gained in the Sast , by appearing there as the pnly great European power , n exactly the proportion . that this war is unjust in itself , and mbarrassing to England , does it serve the purposes of the fteat Imperial conspirator .
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July 21 , I 860 ;] The Saturday Analyst and Leader . 669
Laws And Morals. Taken In To
LAWS AND MORALS . taken in to
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M EASURES are being France render the press somewhat more pure , if not more free . This , . of course , mainly applies to the feuilletons or stories , which occupy so large , a portion of the newspapers , a system first introduced , we believe , how many years ago by M . de Girardin . It is singularly disinterested on our part to offer in such a case any beneficial counsel . It was the insidious policy of ages even less knowing than this , to give to formidable neighbours every facility for self-destruction , to enervate , to demoralise , to sap strength by weakening principle , to poison not merely natural wells , but moral sources ; to facilitate pestilence and infection of both kinds ; history is full of such examples . It is sometimes , however , an easier matter to interfere with the petty habits than the grand action of States , with then daily frivolities than with their essential liberties ; and in no country is this more like to be the case than with our French neighbours . We would therefore offer a little programme to the French Emperor—he is fond of programmes—and to M . Billault , for their guidance in prudent reform , a slight sketch for injunction and prohibition . The cord may be drawn more stringently hereafter ^ for future novels and feuilletons then we would suggest—1 . That ho incest should be admitted as a feature of interest . , 2 . That no writer , however strong his propensity for both , should be allowed unlimited indulgence in blasphemy and obscenity in the same work . 3 . That there should be no double murder and adulterythe waiter to , be limited to one of each set , and at liberty to make his selection . 4 . Duelling not to be encouraged , nor to be considered necessary to the consummation or the finishing off , in either sense of the words , of the hero of the novel . Duels to _ simple ^ except w here the ease is historical , and possesses tFe piquancy of truth , as , for instance , where one civilian is compelled to engage , Jike M . Henri de Pene , a troop of ofncejs in detail . ~ 5 . Furniture descriptions and details of dress to be as extended as possible , to favour the trade of the capital-f a direction of course only applying ^ to a portion of the romancists , as many of them already exceed , in their enumerations an appraiser ' s list , or the catalogue raisonne of a marchande des modes , 6 . Military ardour to be encouraged , but riot to the disadvantage of mercantile scheming and success . t 7 . And lastly , the hero and heroine are to be united as speedily as possible , consistently with a faiiy measure of excitement and suspense—this for the better encouragement of early marriages , as the population of France , or at any rate of some of the large towns , has of late years remained almost stationary . . . . Long ago we wrote a very few brief lines on this subject . It seemed strange to us that a man of so much sense and discernment as the Emperor of the Fkencii should not consult the true strength and energy of the nation which he governs , and would lead to glory ; that he should not see the selfish nesss , frivolity , and debility , to which the Ught literature of France was lending its aid . The idolized bohemianism oi young France , the wilfulness , the self-indulgence at all risks , and in spite of all consequences , must tend to broken fortunes , desperate counsels , and political disorders . If we draw the picture it is only a copy of one to be found in a hundred modern French novels . The young provincial with little money , some Character , grqat aspirations , and great impatience , is tempted into Paris life , and after taking 1 us . swing—out of pocket , out at elbows , and worst of all out oi place , perhaps writes a novel , perhaps is made the hero of one , perhaps both , and in a one franc volume represents himself to his province , a precious example for the rising generation . The greater his number of bonnes fortunes among the fair sex , married aud unmarried , the more interest ho excites : and that these novels often find then-way into ahelianos . oX-Oi ^ girls ^ und ^ be no doubt , though i t must be . admitted that a very great number of French mothers take the xxtmost pains m their power to prevent it . Family ties , and the ties of *™ M ™ V are the . seeds , the types , and the foundations of statea : imd communities . Yet in these talcs confidence is vio utcd heirship rendered doubtful families «™ ^^ " ^ of with applause ; and the Went , the tacythe . sh ™ vdncss oi remark ipon human nature in these volume * , / m exceed *
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 21, 1860, page 669, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2357/page/5/
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