The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-01-08 00:00:00

s•h:+ was completed he bought her from the foreign firm
Polo (Block), a register, for which he paid 1,000 dollars,
and he also engaged the foreigner Aloo to take care of the
vessel, paying him 30 dollars a month as wages. Thus it
had been ascertained by the previous examination, that
this loreha is:not the property of a foreigner, and at the
time when the naval officers seized tho twelve-men, and
brought them to my yamun, I directed that they also
should be examined as to the matter, and they stated that
when they went to the loreha to seize the men, they saw
no foreigner on board; and at that time no flag had yet
been hoisted on board the lorcha ; that they heard that
the flag was stowed away below, but that they themselves
saw- nothing of it. Therefore they seized the men and
brought them away. Hereafter, Chinese officers vv ill on
no account, without reason, seize, and take into custody
the people belonging to foreign lorchas, but when Chinese
subjects build for ithemselves lorchas, faieigners should
not sell registers to them, for if this be done it will occa-
sion confusion between native and foreign ships, and render
it difficult to distinguish between them. Thus may all
parties conform their proceedings to the conditions of the
9th Article of the Treaty?'
The British Consul not deeming the above reply satis-
factory, communicated again with Governor General Yeh,
intimating that measures would beat once taken to obtain
redress, which brought the following explanation from the
Governor General :

"On the 17th day of the 9th month (15th October), I
received your statement representing that your demands
had not been complied with. I, the Minister have there-
fore considered the matter, and find that the party who
was plundered by the pirates went and seized subjects of
China on board a lorcha. built by a Chinese, in China.
It is a matter, therefore, in which from the first foreigners
have no concern. The lorcha, too, had the flag of no
foreigner'hoisted at the time, nor was there any, foreigner,
on board the lorcha, therefore, the men were apprehended
and taken before the tribunals. Hereafter, if any lawless
characters conceal themselves on board foreign lorchas,
you, the said Consul, shall of course be informed of the
same by declaration (from the Imperial CommisAoner),
in order that you may act in conjunct ion (with the Chinese
authorities) in the management of such affairs. You
further inform me, in the statement under acknowledge-
ment, that a naval force tits seized and retains possession
of a large junk, forming .one of the fleet of vessels at
anchor below the Hacchow Fort (Dutch Folly). I find
that the junk in question is a trading junk, and the
property of Chinese. merchants, who, although faultless
have thus been suddenly involved in trouble by the act of
the said Consul. Where,- iu the Treaty, will he find
authority for such proceedings as these ? I, the Minister,
in any course of action, must not exceed the rules of strict
propriety, nor go beyond the bounds of the laws in any
punishment that I impose. Nine of the twelve men who
were seized on the 10th day (Bth October) were returned
on the 12th day (10th October) to you, the said Consul,
hut you refused to receive them. At the present moment
the examinations of ten of these men stave been taken and
completed, and these men shall be immediately given Oyez'
to you, the said Consul, if you are content to receive them.
In the event, however, of your declining to (19 so, then I,
the Minister, shall myself set them at liberty."
Twenty-four hours' notice was then given by Consul
Parkes to accede- to the demandslfor reparation, at the
expiry of which operations were to commence. No answer
arriving, a conference was held, at which it was decided
to commence operations on the Barriei Forts, which were
taken on the 23rd and 21th October. On the 26th; we
again find Governor. General Yeh addressing the British
Consul thus :

On the morning of the 22nd October, I addressed you
a Declaration, and with it sent you the twelve men, thus,
therefore, returning to you the whole number that had
previously been seized. You, the said Consul, received
(the letter and men). and thus had knowledge (of the fact).
\Vas not this proceeding in perfect accordance with (the
demands made in) your letters of the 6th and 12th October ?
Why then did you as before refuse to receive them, and
proceed without reason to burn and destroy the forts of
this city ? But the minister knows full well what you, the
the said Consul, have in view. For a certainty it is
nothing less than a desire on your part to terminate the
course taken by the Envoy Davis in the spring of 1847.
Little, indeed, do you know that the people of China tbrm
the basis of the nation, and that the people of Kwangtung
aro very different from other communities. As to what
you say in your statement under acknowledgment about
respecting the property of the people (let me inform you)
that the forts you destroyed on the 23rd•and 24th October,
were all built or repaired at the cost of the people to guard
against the attacks of thieves or rebels. The destruction
you have committed has, therefore, fallen upon the people,
and the people being enraged at these proceedings, trouble
wiil inevitably ensue. But you, the said Consul, must
alone decide whether what I now say is to be believed
or not."
To which the British Consul replied, under date. Oct.
27 :—.

" A reference, to my previous ,letters,,ef the Bth, 12th,
and 22nd of October, will show very clearly that your
Excellency has never yet offered the satisfaction demanded
for the matter of the Arrow, and you now refuse to enter.
talc the proposal for direct personal intercourse, made to
you by the Naval Commander-in Chief, in my letter of
the 25th. His Excellency therefore directs me to inform
you that he shall resume offensive operations, and that
your Excellency is alone responsible for all the evil con
sequences that may ensue."
The satisfaction required being still withheld, offensive
operations were resumed, and several other forts were
taken by the British fleet. On the .30th of October we
again find Governor-General Yeh offerieg explanations,
with, however, no result. Admiral Seymour proceeds
with offensive operations. The following reply from the
Admiral to Governor-General Yeh, dated Nov.- 6, closes
the correspondence:—
" I haze nothing to add to what I have before written,
except that I observe with much regret that no satisfaC-
tory result is to be anticipated from a protracted corres-
pondence."
The bombardment then commenced in earnest,: the
Admiral writes:— .
"This morning, in consequence of a most menacing
number of war junks having collected under the protection
of the French Folly Fort, it appearing absolutely neces-
sary, for the security of our position, that they should be
dispersed or destroyed, the Barracouta and Coromandel,
steam vessels, with cur armed boats, successfuly
accomplished this service, though, I regret to state, not
without the loss of one man killed and three wounded.
Considerable resistance was offered, and the fire from the
junks and forte, in the early part of the operation, was
stoutly maintained."
Then follows a list of officers engaged in the attack
upon the French Folly Fort. We next have the following
congratulatory letter from Sir John Bowring to Admiral
Seymour, dated Government House, Hong Kong, Nov. 8:
"I have received your Excellency's dispatch of the 6th
instant, informing me that shot and shell had been thrown
into the most distant of the city forts, and Government
buildings, and announcing the destruction of a large
number of Chinese war junks and the capture of the
French Folly Fort. I have to express to your Excellency
my great and admiring sense of the consummate skill and
prudence with which the military operations have: been
directed, and to all concerned, my thorough appreciation
of the promptitude, zeal, and bravery which have given
-them such successful_results. Whatever-may have been
the importance of the question which necessitated the first
appeal to hostilities, it has now assumed a character
seriously involvinz all our present and ,future relations
with China; and I am of opinion that everything possible
should be done to give effect to treaties which have been
pertinaciously and recklessly violated—a small and tur-
bulent fraction of the population of China cannot be
allowed to supersede the engagements of their Emperor to
the Sovereign of Great Britain. I submit to your Excel-
lency that the next step to take should be to notice to the
Imperial Commissioner that unless, within a period to be
fixed by you, your reiterated demands are complied with,
the Bogue Forts will be destroyed.. I think it should also
be stated that our. object in entering the city is to carry
forward a work of peace and amity ; to put a stop to
the miseries whose infliction has been rendered imperative
by the resistance to lawful requirements, and to prevent
their recurrence on any future occasion.", .

Governor-General Yeh still -holding out, the following
summons was sent in by Admiral Seymour to the Man-
darin commanding the Bogue Forts, on the 12th of
November :

" The British Admiral wishes to spare life, and is not
at war with the Chinese ; and as it is necessary for him to
hold possession of the Bogue Forts, until the conduct of
the Viperoy Yeti can be referred to the. Emperor at Pekin,
one hour will be given for the purpose of clearing out ; if
this offer is at once accepted, boats will be permitted to
pass to and from the main land and the Wanteings. In
this case the forts will remain uninjured, ready to be
returned in the same state to the Chinese when these
differences are over ; and the rebels will neither be allowed
to pass the Bogue Forts, nor to enter them whilst in our
possession."
At the expiration of an hour the answer came.

" The adthiral commanding the Bogue Forts cannot give
them up, as he would lose his head, and he must, there—
fore, fight."
On the 12th of November the Bogue Forts were
attacked and taken, with the loss of one killed and twelve
wounded. The despatches conclude with a circular from
the British Consul at Canton, dated November 15, which
contains the following passages
His Excellency regrets to find that neither the extreme
measures to which the Impelial Co.mmissioner4s deflince of
treaty abligitions has compelled him to resort, nor the
plain proof given that the city and its inhabitants are at
the mercy of her Majesty's ships of war, have as yet
induced the 'lmperial Commissioner to make the concession
drmanded by his Excellency, as a guarantee againat future
misunderstandings of a similar nature to the present. The
concession is not regarded as unreasonable by the Chinese,
who, his Excellency unders'ands, adequately represent the
feelings of the respectable inhabitants of Canton ; nor is
any tangible obstacle alleged to •it by these except
the impracticability of the Commissioner himself,
who has laboured to associate the people with
him, by representing the English as in league with the
rebels and, outlaws, and has pushed his hostility
to the ferocious length of proclaiming rewards for
-the lives of English subjects, without distinction. His
Excellency is determined that his demand shall be conceded
But the community must be well aware that any course his
Excellency may now contemplate would be compromised