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    July 21, I860.] The Saturdayi Analyst'an...

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    LAWS AND MORALS. M EASURES are being tak...

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    ... " . . .. . . , China. , . - . . . -•...

    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 Pekin 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 living 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 pr ivileges given by the treaty of

    Tientsin , or to be obtained by a new arrangement , w ould 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 our ally , we cannot subjugate or exterminate a people of three hundred millions . We cannot occupy China . We may hold possession of a few pprtSj but that is all .

    What end shall we gain by . destroying the Taboo forts , and marching upon Pekin ? A ratification of the treaty of / Tientsin * and an apology for ^ thes refusal to recei ve Mr . Brucb at -Pekin ? Let us put the apology Out of the question . It is not worth bur while to spend several millions , and sacrifice many braye men , for the sake of an apology . What shall we get by the ratification of the treaty ? - —nothing but a crop of difficulties , which wiHsurelv involve us in other wars . If an ambassador

    is admitted at Pekin , the result will be a weakening of the Imperial power and prestige , and a consequent nullification of the treaty , in a large part of the empire . If the hapless diplomatist is murdered , as would likely enough be the case , in a popular outburst , a war would of course become : an immediate necessity . If the ambassador does not go to Pekin , we might just as well have stayed as we were before . But Englishmen are to be admitted into the interior . That is a privilege of £ of at it to

    Yery rirmfrtM v ^ "e- I availed , a great number of murders and other outrages to obtain satisfaction for which another war will be necessary . In fact , this war , like all those we have waged in China , is utterly un-• warrantable and injurious . The privileges it may extort will not promote our commerce , any more than those obtained by previous wars have done . If our merchants would act fairly as merchants ; would deal honestly with the people , and make it worth their while to trade honestly too ; would not embark in smuggling transactions , and , relying upon the character of British subjects , set the most ordinary

    and necessary regulations of the Government at defiance ; commerce would go on smoothly enough . But they insist upon doing exactly as they please ; treat the natives with arrogance and insolence ; and then , because the Chinese officials attempt to enforce the laws , call upon the British arms to protect them . We have not the slightest right to force our goods upon the Chinese , and we have not the slightest need to attempt it . They are shrewd and sensible enough to understand their own interests , and , if we offer them a good price for their products , and attempt to sell them useful articles , they will majnage to carry on an enormous trade with us , without any interference of ambassadors of admirals .

    This war is a sheer waste of money and men . It cannot improve our position ; it will probably make it much worse . To our august ally , it is a very different matter . It serves his interests injevery wav . _ It exhibits England dependent upon assistance , unable to settle her own . difficulties anywhere without his good offices . It gives him a further pretext for inter * fering in Asiatic affairs ; and , what he chiefly values , enables him to destroy that prestige which England had gained in the East , by appearing there us the only great European power . In exactly the proportion , that this war is unjust in itself , and embarrassing to England , does it serve the purposes of the great Imperial conspirator .

    July 21, I860.] The Saturdayi Analyst'an...

    July 21 , I 860 . ] The Saturdayi Analyst ' andLeader . 669

    Laws And Morals. M Easures Are Being Tak...

    LAWS AND MORALS . M EASURES are being taken in France to 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 , now many year . ? ago by M . dc 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 , % o 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 theii 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 no 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 writer to he 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 be simple , except -where the ciase is historical , and possesses the piquancy of truth , as , for instance , where one civilian is compelled to engage , like M . Henri do Tene a troop of officers in detail . •¦ ¦" ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ . _

    5 . Furniture descriptions and details of dress to be as extended as possible , to favour the trade of the-capital ; a direction of course only applying to a portion of tho roinancists , as many of them already exceed , in their ennmerations an appraiser ' list , or the catalogue raisonne of a marchande des modes . I ) . Military ardour to be encouraged , but not to the disadvantage of mercantile scheming and success . 7 , And lastly , the hero and heroine are to be united tts- ^ jediiy -as ^ assi ^^ ^ excitement and suspense—this for the better encotirngemenfc of early marriages , as the population of France , or at any rate of some of the large towns , has of late years remained almost

    stationaiy . ' . ¦" ,, ' . 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 French should not consult the true strength and energy of the nation which lie governs , and would lead to glory ; that he should not see the selfish nesss , frivolity , and debility , to which the light literature of France was lending its aid . The idolized boheraianism of young France , the wilfulness , the self-indulgence at all risks , and in spite of all consequences , must tend to broken fortunesdesperate counselsand 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 , great aspirations , and great impatience , is tempted into Paris life , and after taking his swing—out of pocket , out at elbows , and worst of all out oi place , perhaps writes a novel , perhaps is made the hero oi one , perhaps both , and in a one franc volume represents himself to his province , a precious example for the rising o-cueration . The greater his number of bonnes fortunes among the fair sex , married and unmarried , the more interest find their into

    ho excites ; and that these novels ofton way tlie'fiandsofl ^ be no doubt , though it must be admitted that , n very grcnt number of French mothers take tho utmost pinna in their powerto prevent it . Family ties , and the tic * , of friendship arc tho seed ' s , tho types , and tho foundations of stutoj ami communities ,. Yet in these talcs confidence is vio , itcc heirship rendered doubtful , families » ro disorganised , * ill with applause ; and tho talent , the tact , tho shrewJnow I remark upon human nature in these volume , far exceeds

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 21, 1860, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21071860/page/5/