The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-28 00:00:00

CHINA.

The Overland China Mail of May 10 says in its
summary :—" There has been a third combined
naval and military expedition against the rebels
during the past fortnight, which has resulted in the
capture of a town Containing loot to the value of
130,000 dole. The force engaged on this occasion
amounted to about 6,000, of whom 2,000 were
Chinese and the rest English and French. On the
27th ultima, a reconnoitring force proceeded to a
place ealled Nan-hsiang, 12 miles to the westward
of Shanghae; a little beyond which the rebels had
a stockade. On approaching to view the place the
party was fired upon, and an officer, Capt. Brown
of the sth, seriously wounded ; some of the Chinese
also were killed, and some wounded. Next day,
after full preparations, the place was stormed and
taken, and one of the defenders killed, the others
having evacuated the works when they saw defeat
inevitable. As they were running away, we killed
25 of them with our guns. The place was found to
be one of the numerous stockades that have been
pushed forward in the direction of Shanghae, and
which are very difficult to capture without artillery,
The forces were, upon this stockade being taken,
immediately advanced in the direction of Kale- ding,
a walled city about as large as Shanghae. After
marching along a good road and through a beautiful
country with fine thriving crops, the troops
reached the southern suburb of Kah-ding and took
up their quarters in the best houses they could find.
A few rebels on horseback came in front of the
wall in the course of the afternoon, but a marine
sentry shot one of them, and the others rode away.
On Wednesday the 30th the commissariat boats ar-
rived with more guns and stores, and a plan of
attack was at once arranged, to be executed the fol-
lowing morning. The rebels spent the night in
strengthening their defences, and at half-past two
next morning our guns were placed in position, and
the troops remained in readiness to fire as soon as
there was sufficient light. Accordingly, at 5 a.m.
a fire was opened on the city from the French
pieces, the Naval Brigade howitzers, the mountain
guns of the Royal Artillery, Govan's 24-pounder
howitzer, and a park of mortars simultaneously. In
In half an hour the enemy was silenced. In
ten minutes more the ditch was bridged over by
boats, and a scaling party advanced with ladders and
entered the city, killing one man on the walls and
about 20 in the streets. The storming party now
opened one of the city gates, and the troops marched
in to the music of the French band. The loot was
brought together and taken charge of by the Eng-
lish, to be afterwards fairly divided by the loot com-
mittee; anyone suspected of private plundering was
searched by a guard appointed for the purpose. Among
other traces of foreign leanings on the part of the re-
bels were found some cherry brandy and porter as
well as arms and ammunition. There were 1,500
prisoners taken, and a committee sat down to deli-
berate what should be done with them. Fifty, who
were recognised as men of more importance than
the rest, were handed over to the Taoutae for punish
meat. Many of the prisoners were branded on the
checks with the Taeping characters—a practice in
vogue among the rebels to arrest the allegiance of
the wavering. The loss on our side is confined to
a few trifling casualties, as may easily enough be
supposed, while the number of rebels who were
killed by our cannon is between one and two thou
sand. The country people were seen flocking back
to their homesteads as our troops returned to Shang-
hae. Of course this is all very satisfactory, and
may lead to the very best results both for ourselves
and the country ; the danger looming in the future
being that the allies may wish for "concessions" in
return for their trouble when the work is done.
Such a wish, if acted upon even in the form of mo-
derate demands, will stamp them as sordid and mer-
cenery, and give to England in China a character
which it were better she should not possess. From
the increased value that the imperial rulers will
now attach to our friendship, the best results may
be expected, but we must allow all new mares
of respect to be spontaneous, or very nearly so.
It is very certain that but for our own interest,
and that alone, we should never have fired a
gun upon the Taepings, and it will never do to
turn round and ask reward for the valuable ser-
vices we are accidentally rendering to the im-
perialists. There is another matter of re-
gret, and that is that while we are stigma-
tising the rebels as robbers and bandits, we should
take their treasure and divide it among ourselves,
while their victims are starving in Shanghae, and
asking in the most piteous tones for food and cloth-
ing, which, indeed, is given them in some measure ;
but what, after all, can a small community, how-
ever charitable, do to relieve, anything like ade-
quately, the wants of so many ? It does not ap-
pear, however, to have occurred to the naval and
military officers to whose keeping the honour and
dignity of England is at present confided, to make
any other use of the enormous loot continually
falling into their hands than that of dividing it
among themselves and their men. The good Sama-
ritan has recovered the purse of the man who fell
among thieves, but we regret to say that he has
put it in his pocket and given the landlord two-
pence to furnish the victim with a meal. It will not
escape observation, when these events come to be re-
viewed at a distance, that the recovery of the poor
people's property costs us little more than an
hour's consumpton of powder and ball ; in fact,
the mere trouble of demanding it. It would be dif-
ficult to say which are the more shameless robbers
of the two, the Taepings who spoil the people, or
the English forces who retake the spoil and share
it among themselves, while those originally robbed
are famishing in Shanghae. It may be questioned,
whether the whole history of warfare can record s
parallel example of forgetfulness, utter forgetful
ness, of all propriety to this loot-hunting game
which Admiral Hope is now engaged in. An expe-
dition against the rebels is now shown to be so
harmless to those engaged in it, that we may expect
to hear of gentlemen giving their wives and sisters
a picnic in front of the next town that is besieged,
when we have no doubt that much amusement could
be had among the Engineers and Artillery by allow-
ing the girls to point the guns. And this is the sortb.
of warfare in which the heart of the jaded and a
rassed soldier is to be cheered with loot. The occa-
sion is altogether too engrossing to admit of recollec-
tions having reference to people
wha
are naked and
starving; besides, it is disagreeable when you are
drawing your share of the
plunder to have the fact
thrust upon you that the poor wretch crouching in
the corner of the next street was robbed of all he
possessed by these terrible Taepings, and could per-
haps, with the Loot Committee's kind permission,
point out the jewels. that once were fastened about
the ankles of his wife or daughter when he had a
home of his home and food and smiling faces about
his hearth.
There is every reason to believe that
England's chivalry is likely to be kept a profound
secret from the people of China so long as her
affairs are under the present guidance. The Chinese
never in all their history knew whet chivalry
meant, and they are no nearer that knowledge than
ever. Meantime the troops and marines are in
high glee, forgetting as fast as possible what
danger means, and lulled in this dangerous sleep
by spoils to whose original owners they occasionally
pitch a biscuit as they walk along the streets of
Shanghai.
Next in importance to Shanghae, where matters
are moving so gaily, comes Ningpo, from which we
have dates to the 30th ult. At that port affairs are
taking a different tarn, and the repose of the last
five months is gone.
It appears that certain demands were made on the
rebel chiefs, whose men had fired on the English
and French ships, and no satisfaction having been
obtained, all communication between the foreign
settlement and the city has been cut off, and the
latter is about to be blockaded. It seems that on
29th ultimo the rebel prince assembled all hit
adherents and trusty followers, along with the
chiefs, in his council hall. He then addressed them
in a strain inimical to foreigners, saying that that
had enough of their insolence, and urging it
was now time to " eat them up." Accordingly' hs
moved and carried the two following resolattons
—l. That a reward of 1,000 dole. should be paid to
any rebel soldier who should bring in lbasket to
areey.
the prince the head of Consul Fred.eric
2. That a reward of 100 dols• be paid per head for