Tar letter from "C. R," which we publish on another page, is so sublime in its misconceptions and misrepresentations of the Chefoo Convention, that we were half inclined to think, on a first perusal, it must have been written as a satire on the opponents of that document rather than as a sober exposition of the writer's own views. Allowance must, however, be made for the natural irritation of one who, like Balak, has been hoping to hear his enemies cursed, but is as-founded on the contrary to hear them blessed altogether. We can quite understand dislike of the Ca: i there are several points i of omission and commission, about which there is great difference of opinion; but "C. R." reminds us of aman who persists in looking at the back of a mirror and declaring it has no reflective power.—Still, though we should be loth to believe " dozen people could be found in whose eyes the Convention assumes the form under which "C. R." represents it, he touches on some points which have been much criticised; and, in expressing hostility to the Convention, he unquestionably expresses the feeling of many members of the community. We pass by the delicate suggestion of a deficiency of literary ability in the Chamber of Commerce, as the writer admits that this assumption was apparently mistaken; neither will we follow him through his miscounting of names and mis-statement of numbers, We will not venture to contradict one evidently so well informed, when he says Sir Thomas Wade had the opportunity of "opening China though it is difficult to reconcile this statement with the suggestion that he was possibly instructed to conclude peace at any price, which finds place at the close of the letter, Neither need we seriously combat such a statement as that "Sir Thomas Wade has secured the dignity of his country and obtained redress for urgent griev ances, in the opinion of the authors of the address, by the payment of Tls. 200,000;" but we may stay here to note a feature in the Convention which has been amongst the most severely criticised. No one else, we imagine, has entirely overlooked the despatch of a mission of apology to England, the issue of explicit instructions to the Provincial Mandarins to respect the treaty rights of foreigners, or the issue of a proclamation setting forth these rights which is to be posted in every town throughout the Empire, But very many people do regret that monetary compensation should have been named in connexion with Margary's murder, and hold that the British Go" vernment should itself have paid what~ ever proportion of the sum exacted may be allotted for that purpose, There are various outstanding claims of British merchants which could only be met by pecuniary compensation; but the Yunnan outrage was not one into the consideration of which money should have been admitted. There are also very many who feel dissatisfied with the general nature of the political reparation which has been required, and hold that the guilt of Margary's murder should have been fastened upon some individual culprits, and personal punishment for it exacted, We have before explained the difficulty in which this matter was involved and need only repeat, here, that this is one of the points on which the Convention is blamed by a large number of residents. There are many, on the other hand, who admit this difficulty, who agree that it would have been unsatisfactory to punish mere instruments, men who were simply obeying instructions; and that it was practically impossible to punish me dividuals, if the instigation proceeded from the Peking Government.
It was probably wise, in view of this difficulty, to pass over the political question in the address which was presented to Sir Thomas Wade on the occasion of his departure, But it was not necessary to avoid all reference to the difference of opinion which prevails regarding the Convention, and which has pre= vailed regarding Sir Thomas Wade's previous policy. It may be assumed from the signatures appended to an address which recognises the value of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.