The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-10 00:00:00

THE BOMBARDMENT OF CANTON.

T►tt: publication of the official despatches connected
with the dispute with the Chinese throws some im-
portant light upon the matter.
Tho details of the naval operations reported by
telegraph were in the main correct, and we need not
refer at any length to Admiral Seymour's despatches
upon the subject of those operations. Admiral
Seymour, acting in accordance with the views of Sir
John Bowring, seized the defences of Canton, cap-
tured the Bogue and Aununghoy Forts, and burned
a fleet of twenty-three war junks at anchor up the
river. Sir Michael Seymour concludes his long detail
of these various operations, between the '23rd of
October and the 15th of November last, and the steps
he took to induce Governor-General Yell to cline
t) terms, in the following words:—

The command of the river being now in our hands, I
have no other operation in immediate contemplation be-
yond the security and maintenance of our position; and it
will remain with her Majesty's Government to determine
whether the present opportunity shall be made available to
enforce to their full extent the treaty stipulations which
the Canton Government has hitherto been allowed to
evade with impunity.
During the whole of my proceedings I have received the
most cordial support of the British and foreign commu-
nities, from their confidence that future benefit must be
the result. Her Majesty's Consul has rendered me most
valuable assistance, particularly from his intimate ac-
quaintance with the Chinese language.
My thanks are especially due to Commanders Foote and
Smith, commanding the United States' naval forces, for
the good order and harmony they have so largely contd.
buteii to preserve during the present crisis.
I have endeavoured, as briefly as its high importance
will permit, to lay before their lordships every particular
connected with my proceedings. The original cause of
dispute, though comparatively tnfling, has now, from the
injurious policy pursued by the Imperial High Commis-
sioner, assumed so very grave an aspect as to threaten the
existence of amicable relations as regards Canton.

Though I shall continue to take steps, in conjunction
wi.h her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, in the hope of being
able to bring matters to a satisfactory termination, I shall
be most anxious to receive the instructions of her Majesty's
Government on this most important question.

The correspondence inclosed to the Admiralty
gives a detailed account of the different circumstances
which passed between Mr. I'arkes, the Imperial
Commissioner Yeh, Sir John Bowring, and Sir
Michael Seymour.
The first letter, dated October Ath, and addressed
by Mr. Parkes to Sir John Bowring, gives the
following version of the seizure of the Arrow's
crew .

I have the honour to inform your Excellency that the
British lorcha Arrow, while lying with her colours flying
iu the river near the Dutch Folly, was suddenly boarded
this morning by a force of (Milieu% officers, in a war-
boat of large size and heavy armament, who pinioned
and carried away nearly the whole of her crew, leaving two
out of fourteen men on board, and added to this act of
vAence the significant insult of hauling down the national
ensign.
Having satisfied myself of the facts, and ascertained that
tie war-boat remained, with the captured crew still on
b.iard, in the immediate vicinity of the lorcha, I repaired
on board to claim the men, before they should be conveyed
to a distance, and to explain to the officers, if it were pos-
sible, that they had acted in error, the gross insult and
violation of national rights which they bad committed, and
the heavy responsibilities they incurred. I informed them,
and had a magistrate's officer with me who could verify my
statement, that I had already demanded from the civil
authorities an investigatbn of the subject, and called upon
them, if they had any charge to prefer against the prisoners,
to bring them in their custody to the consulate, where due
examination might be had.
To this they refused to accede, stating that they had re-
ported the matter to their superior officers, and must wait
order, and intimated very distinctly that they would oppose
with force any attempt on my part to take the men under
any charge.
I returned, therefore, to the consulate, and have ad-
dressed the Imperial Commissioner the letter I beg to in-
close in copy.
The officers on board the war-boat stated to me, ns the
reason of their proceedings, that one of the crew of the
lorcha is the father of a noted Koolan pirate, and, being
authorised to seize this old man wherever they found
Lim, and hearing that he was on board the Arrow, they
Considered themselves at liberty to carry him away, with-
out any previous reference to me, lest it should lead to his

3ap..
1 did not understand that they hail any distinct charge
ag Mist the other eleven men, but heard that they 'Named
thmii for evidence or information they considered them
able to give ngainat the pirate.
Mr. Parkes the same day informed the Imperial
Commissioner Yeh of the affair, demanding repara-
tion for the insult:

I hasten, therefore, to lay the case before your Excel-
lency, confident that your superior judgment will lead you
at once to admit that an insult so publicly committed must
be equally publicly atoned. I therefore request your Excel-
lency to direct that the men who have been carried away
from the .4rroto be returned by the Captain Leang•kwo-