PEACE WITH CHINA.
PEACE has been concluded with the Tartar Court of Pekin. The intelligence of this event came on the heels of Lord Elgin's budget of interesting despatches, and in time to relieve Ministers of the load of anxiety with which they must have met each other on Saturday in Downing Street. For a time, at least, we are quit of a task which seemed to some minds likely to grow burdensome, if it did not become impracticable of execution. The men of little faith did not believe in the efficacy of the severe mode of treating our Celestial friends. The political opponents of the war indulged in gloomy anticipations, and saw in their imagination a stern self-denying Emperor holding aloof in his desert retreat, determined to punish the barbarian by depriving him of the light of the Celestial countenance and the saving signature of the Im- perial pen. The Russian telegram swept away their fine array of terrible consequences, and the result it indicated is a vindication of the soundness of the policy which made the Allies strike boldly at the capital. We could have wished the stroke had been de- livered with a little more decision, and that Lord Elgin and Baron Gros had refused to listen to the palaverings of the Mandarins until they were masters of Pekin. But we are content to accept the result, and, not to dwell too curiously on that tissue of inge- nious evasions with which first Hang-ki, next Kweiliang, then the Prince Tsi, and finally the Prince of Kung, sought to charm away an enemy who, however slowly, continued to advance upon them like Fate. The main thing has been done. A handful of Europeans and Punjabees have taught the Tartar Court that it can be reached in its capital, and in future that Court will act in its relations with the barbarians under a salutary fear of another visit, which may be more penal in its consequences.
The interesting questions now are—What peace has been con- cluded, and how long will it last ? We may assume that every- thing contained in the violated treaty of Tien-tain has been stipulated afresh, with the addition of an indemnity, and a pro- vision that Tien-tsin itself shall be held, at least, until the indemnity is paid. We may aniline that the absolute right of free
entry into the specified ports has been obtained afresh, the privilege of worship secured, the right to plant an ambassador in Pekin recognized, and the right to travel throughout China sanc- tioned anew. What beyond these stipulations ? The occasion was favourable for insisting upon free entry into any port, for ob- taining the cession of Chusan, or even some still more eligible site for the location of the forces it will be necessary to maintain with- in reach, almost within the view of evasive Mandarins. The occasion was favourable, also, for raising the amount of the indem- nity—the costs of the action, which the defendant must pay. The only regret one experiences in demanding payment of these costs is that they must come from the pockets of the people who have done so little to support their rulers, and who alone were found to show kindness to our captive countrymen, and to bind up their wounds. Indeed, we might cry fur mercy to a people not really hostile, and none for a government hostile and perfidious to us, and rigorously oppressive to its subjects, were it not that every people must be held responsible fur the acts of its rulers. The China- man, like the European, must seek his remedy against those who- inflict on him the costs of war.
It is not more easy to guess at the terms of the peace that may have been made, than it is to calculate its duration, or, the consequences of the war to the Tartar dynasty and the Chinese empire. How long will the peace last ? V We have been dealing with a moribund dynasty ! It is a striking fact that what is called our war with China, has not been with China at all, but with the Mandarins at Canton, their fighting men at Taku, and the Mandarins at Pekin. Fur many years, Mien Fung has only been a nominal Emperor of China. When we warred with Canton, the war was local. When we landed at Pchtang, the people grumbled and said it was "a Taku affair." At Shanghai, at Ningpo, trade has flourished, and the markets have been supplied. The authority of the Emperor does not run in his empire. Go where we may, there are men ready to trade with us in spite of him, to help us if we fight him. Vast districts, magnificent cities do nut own his authority at all, but make war on his troops, and slay his officers. Is it likely that Bien Fung, or any succes- sor, will be able to recover the lost authority of the Tartars, and bring back the golden age of submission ? Yet it is with a central government, having so comparatively slight a hold over the teem- ing myriads who people a huge empire, that we have signed a peace. Under these circumstances, we may well inquire how long that peace may last, how soon some local magnate may display hostility with the connivance or in defiance of the court. It may be that this is the last peace we shall make with an Emperor of China. Our business on the fringe of the vast and unknown region called an empire, is to trade with the people who are wil- ling to trade with us. We may find it easier to settle with each difficulty on the spot where it arises, and to recognize only the authorities on the spot, than to refer everything to the Man- darins of Pekin. It may be that a stipulation to this effect would have been more useful than the right of resi- dence in the capital, for if the unwieldly bulk of the Chinese empire is breaking up into separate provinces, the re- sidence of an ambassador in Pekin, the privilege of treating with the nominal fountain head, will yield little fruit. In spite of the success of our expedition, therefore, nay in consequence of its very success, we still hold that the Chinese question has entered upon a new phase, and that we must make up our minds to the serious business of revising the theory and practice of our relations with the Chinese. We shall have to see whether it will not be better to deal with them entirely on the Oriental principle of Force, tem- pered and guided, as it should be, with and by justice and fair dealing. Nor must we lose sight of the fact that, whether the- empire holds together or not, even in its present rickety state, we shall have to face the formidable difficulty of keeping within striking distance a strong force ashore and afloat. Those who ob- ject to this must remember that the alternative is the loss of our China trade, and its transfer to some nation more willing to pro- tect and defend its traders. Thus the question grows wider and wider, and exhibits the usual characteristics of the contact of a Western with an Oriental people—defeat and disorganization for the inferior race. Let us hope that, in the ease of the industrious Chinese, the operation of European energy and enterprise will mainly tend to augment their welfare as well as our own.
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