a certain amount of reason, he is considered, in China, as the originator and cause. His old opponents may consider that the present moment is an apt one for avenging the griefs of Commissioner Yeh, and their own losses and anxieties, upon Mr. Parkes, and for his sake upon all his companions in captivity and misfortune. Speculation can go no further. Lord Elgin has informed the Chinese authorities that he will neither treat with them, nor suspend military operations until the prisoners are restored to liberty. Let us look forward to the arrival of the next mail from China, with reasonable expectations of good tidings as to the fate of our countrymen.
This untoward occurrence does but furnish fresh evidence that the attempt to deal with these strange samples of humanity as we would deal with the governments of the Western world, will simply end in disappointment. If such be the spirit which presides over their negotiations even now, when they have received a few broad hints from the Armstrong gunners, what hope would there be that they would adhere to any conditions which might be imposed upon them, and which were to be fulfilled at a future day, as soon as military pressure is withdrawn? The intelligence of Lord Elgin’s policy, immediately after the first engagement, in which the Tartar troops had been routed in so ridiculous a way, was not received in this country with any peculiar satisfaction. The private letters which have come to hand by the last mail prove that the impression upon this point in this country is identical with that which was stamped upon the minds of our countrymen, being residents in China, as soon as they heard what had been done in the North. The opinion of the leading commercial houses engaged in the China trade is, that it would be better if the trade were entirely stopped for a while, rather than that it should be exposed to these constant interruptions, which paralyse the foresight of the merchant, and confound his most carefully devised calculations. “Let us know, once for all, where we are, and what we are about,” is the cry from Shanghai to Hong Kong. The ruling men at Pekin, whoever they may be, must be convinced at length that they are dealing with a Power which, as far as they are concerned, is irresistible. It does not, happily, seem necessary, in order to ensure this end, that any system of sanguinary operations should be carried out. There is wanted such an armed demonstration at Pekin as should not leave the smallest shadow of doubt in the mind of any inhabitant of that city—and chiefly in the mind of any person connected with the present system of administration—that the days of blustering at Europeans, and rejecting their overtures for intercourse upon an equal footing, are at an end. Whether it be sufficient for this purpose merely to enter Pekin in military triumph—or whether it will be necessary for a period to retain possession of a part of the city—we, at this distance, are unable to say; but it is clear that such an impression must be produced as will make the mandarins think better of it, before they court a second visit, or visitation, from European troops.
As far as we may judge from the very interesting state papers which fell into the hands of our countrymen some months ago, China, at the present moment, is ruled by a Tory clique, composed of men whom in our country we should call Lords Eldon and Ellenborough, but China must have her Peels and Palmerstons, aye, and her Cobbetts, O’Connells, and Brights. As far as Europeans are concerned, no form of Government could be more unfriendly than the present. If the presence of the European forces in Pekin should lead to what we should call a “ministerial crisis,” and an “infusion of young blood” into the administration, both Englishmen and Chinamen would be much the gainers.
After all, it is time that the Chinese question should be divested of its grotesque and absurd conventionalities of thought. Life in China is not passed as it is represented upon that famous plate with its pagoda, and its bridge, which is so familiar to us all from our earliest years. It is a very grave event in the history of the human race that one-third of the human beings now crawling upon the surface of the planet should at length be brought really into contact with the vigorous and scientific thought of Europe. The Chinese are pre eminently an industrious, a persevering, and an ingenious race. That they would ever assist in promoting scientific discoveries, or that China could under any circumstances produce men of superior intellect, it is not for us to say. The evidence upon this matter is not before us. We do not even know what has been in China. Who shall say what may be, if the labours of this vast hive of human beings should ever receive a proper impulse and direction? The peasantry of China seem to be quite upon a par with the French or English peasant, and they are numerous as the sands upon the sea-shore. We may well suspect that if access had ever been obtained to those vast and flourishing towns of the interior, which are scarcely known to us even by name, it would be found that the burgher of Soo-chow-foo was quite as intelligent a man as his brother of Derby, or Blois. We are talking at our ease, now we have enjoyed a few years of railroads, of the electric telegraph, of a free government, and of a free press. But what was the state of England, and what the state of France, forty or fifty years ago, when compared with what it is at the present time. These myriads of Chinamen, or at least as many as knew of our existence, are by all accounts not only desirous, but eager to accept our offers of commercial intercourse; and so they find their profit in it, be sure that they will not be the first to break the bond. The only point which can yet be affirmed with certainty of John Chinaman is, that he is a keen and shrewd trader. This is not a bad basis upon which to build the intercourse of nations.
As important work as ever was taken in hand since history has been written, is now being carried through in the North of China. Let us not be led astray by the idle cries of the pseudo-philanthropists. The time has arrived when Europe and China must be brought together, and all the ridiculous shams and caricatures of government, which have hitherto interfered with this result, be swept away, peacefully if possible—if not, by the