Ocouainn with full powers to nego h'Gng-hsia Lave been appointed high Hang-chang, Hsi Chan, and Teng
tiate the terms of a Treaty of Peace with M. Pateudtre at Tientsin. Now the se officials are members Yamen, and the Tsung. li Yamin is the superior of Li in his capacity as a diplomatic negotiator that although the Clang-tang is Pres lent of the Commission, and-Hei and Teng no more than assistants or coad-jurors, their association with Lim will, by virtue of their position in the Yamen, relieve him of much responsibility, Of Hsi Chen not very much is known; but Teng Ch'éog-leiu has Intely been 'a good deal before the public, Ho is described to us as a restless-minded and by no means conciliatory person, and, as our readers are no doubt aware, he has been figuring prominently in a somewhat hot discussion with the Em-. press about the right of speech to the Throne, It was Teng whose memorial was "returned, to bim with oovtempt," atid the rejection of whioh has brought a hornets' nest about Her Majesty's care, and forced her to to use Very plain language in order. to restore confidence among the Censorate and other officers of rank, We In beard Teng compared to Chang P'ei lan, a quondam member of the Tsungli Yaméa who is now undergoing the punishment of servitude upon the military postronds; and if the parallel is just, it is not difficult to form an estimate of his character. Whether hia appointment as coadjutor to the Viceroy of Chilli in the pending negotiations with the French Minister is a Lappy one, appears, at first sight, to be questiounble, But there is every rea. son to hope that, if his influence be inimical Lo a pacific solation of whatever difficulties may arise, it will not be allowed to imperil the success of the efforts put forth by the Viceroy and the representative of France; for we may be sure that the one object held in view by both is a lasting and Lonour able peace, That, in a matter of such high moment, the Viceroy should be unwilling to act alone is only natural, and the appointment of Assistant Commissioners has many prevedeuts, do not know, we cannot even guess, whether it was possible for the Vice. roy to. suggest the names of those whom he desired to act with him.
Bat nothing, we should say, could be, better than procuring the assistance and association of a mau who would* be most likely of all mon to condemn a compact made by the Chung-Hang an. aided. Nothing could be better poling than appointing a possibly hostile oritio to take part in a decision which, as member of a higher Court, he might have been the first to impeach, And there is no present reason for supposing that the negotiations need take very long to bring to the desired issue, The probability is that the whole affair is perfectly well understood by both parties, and that it will be settled with even greater expedition than the cons troversy with Japan. Neither the Vioeroy nor M, Patendtre will lightly ran the risk of planging his country into war again, and where the main object on both sides is so important it would be hard if details could not be promptly and amicably settled.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.