The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-27 00:00:00

FOREIGN POLICY OF THE CHINESE

REVOLUTIONISTS.

The American papers print the two following
documents, the first of which was addressed to
Capt. Buchanan, of the United States navy, while
the second appears more nearly to concern our-
selves.

A MANDATORY DESPATCH TO CAPT. BUCHANAN.

Lin and Lo, honoured with the meritorious rank
of earthly magistracy, holding the office of first
and second Ministers of State of the second

class, promoted two degrees, send this manda-
tory despatch to Buchanan, of the United States
of America, for his full information. Whereas the
Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Elder Brother
have greatly displayed their favour, and personally
commanded our sovereign, the celestial king, to
come down and be the peaceful and true sovereign
of the world, and have also sent the (five) kings to
be assistants in the court and strong supports in
the establishment of a flourishing government ;
now, therefore, when this city, the celestial capital,
has been established and built up by the sovereign
authority of the Heavenly Father and the Heavenly
Elder Brother, it is the very time when all nations
should come and pay courtly honours, and all the
four seas advance to receive instruction. From
you, Buchanan, there has been received a public
document, in hich a desire is expressed to come
and see the Eastern King's golden face ; but we,
the ministers of State, on reading what is contained
therein, find that you have presumed to employ
terms, itc., used in correspondence between equals.
This is not at all in conformity with what is right.
Because our Eastern King (may he live nine
thousand years) has respectfully received the celes-
tial commands to come into the world and to be the
assistant of the celestial court, in drawing together
the living souls of all nations ; (therefore) you who
reside on the ocean's borders and are alike imbued
with favours, ought to come kneeling and make
memorials, thus conforming to the principles of
true submission, so as to show your sincerity in
company to pay court. But we, the Ministers of
State, having examined this communication, have
not submitted it to the golden glance of the Eastern
King, lest we should excite the anger of the golden
glance, and draw on ourselves no light criminality.
Kindly keeping in mind, however, that you are
residents of the ocean's borders, and have not
known the rites and ceremonies of the celestial
court, indulgence (for the past) may be granted ;
but henceforth, as is right, you must conform to
the established rules and make respectful memo-
rial. With regard to the favour of the Heavenly
Father and the Heavenly Elder Brother displayed
in opening and awakening your minds, so as to in-
duce you to come to pay court to the true sovereign
and to be near to the celestial capital, all this you
have obtained as a manifestation of the grace of
the Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Elder
Brother, and it is also your happiness. The truly
submissive, however, most assuredly will prepare
rare, excellent, and precious things, and come and
offer them in honour of the king--in this manner
showing that you understand the mind of Heaven.
Now, because the Heavenly Father, the Supreme
Lord, the August High Ruler, is the only oue true
God, the Father of the souls of all nations under
heaven ; and Jesus, the Saviour of the world, the
Celestial Elder Brother, is the Superior Elder
Brother of all men of all nations under heaven ;
and our sovereign, the Celestial King, is the peace-
ful and true Sovereign of all nations under
heaven : accordingly, therefore, all nations under
heaven ought to reverence Heaven and to obey the
Sovereign, knowing on whom it is they depend.
We are, indeed, much afraid that you do not yet
fully understand the things of Heaven,
imagining that there are distinctions as of
this nation and that nation, and knowing
the oneness of the true doctrine. Therefore
we send you this special mandatory despatch. If
you do indeed respect Heaven, and recognise the
Sovereign, then our celestial court, viewing all
under Heaven as our family, and uniting all na-
tions as one body, will most assuredly regard your
faithful purpose, and permit you, year by year, to
bring tribute, and annually come to pay court, so
that you may become the ministers and people of
the celestial kingdom, far ever bathing yourselves
in the gracious streams of the celestial dynasty,
peacefully residing in your own lands, and living
quietly enjoy great glory. This is the sincere de-
sire of us the great ministers. Quickly ought you
to conform to, and not to oppose, this mandatory
despatch. Twenty-fourth day of the fourth month
of the fourth year of the great peaceful celestial
dynasty, Tuesday, May thirtieth, one thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four.
TO THU OUTSIDE BARBARIANS.

I, King Isen Isene, by the grace of God arisen
in the course of time, 1, in whom tho Prince of
Peace (Taeping Wang) is revived after the lapse
of ages, I, acknowledged by Heaven as Emperor
(Kwangsi) of a new dynasty, the Ming restored, a
stalwart Chinese, do herewith make known my
will and pleasure unto you, barbarian slaves and
foreign devils, and speak as follows :—You foreign
slaves are a generation of chickens, dogs, and mon-
keys. You know nothing of the five relationships ;
a moral sense is not in you. It was only because
the rulers of the South, avaricious and false to
China, invited men from afar to bring tribute and
to traffic, that you, slaves as you are, have been
permitted to build houses and to trade in Tehusan
and Ningpo, in the provinces of Tokien and Tcho-
kiang, to cast anchor at Macao and Whampoa and
Canton, and there to carry on your business. For
years you brought tribute, and came as guests, obe-
dient to our institutions, and subject to the influence
of ournational morality, For 200 years you had been
as women; you imperceptibly became arrogant, and
the insensate governors of the 18 Provinces were
shackled when it became their duty to restrain you.
In 1838, when they burnt your opium, and Ad-
miral Kevan fell gloriously fighting against you,
they turned traitors and sold Jeschan and Sawang,
Keschen and Keying sold you Hong Kong, and
liedsto the Emperor—whereat we must gnash our
teeth. You robbed land, you plundered the
people, you violated the women, you took our
houses, you defiled our graves, yeu ravaged our
fields, you burned our temples, tizc., with the heart
of the fox, demeaning yourselves as if you were
Savage as tigers. Yes, yes ! Is not your worth-
lessness ridiculously vulgar? But you did not ex-
pect that the wisdom of Heaven would guide the
virtues of men, and that the heart of the people
would return in submissive loyalty to the cause
China. I, the King, have spoken of war and oi
the motions of troops. We have many thousands
of cannon of divine, power, weighing millions of
pounds. We have ninny myriads of ships of a
hundred chains in length, which can travel with-
out wind from here to the three provinces of Kiang.
One lucky day of our selection we shall come,
down to the provinces of Canton, and chal-
lenge you to battle in the autumn. Our forests of
standards will shade the nine heavens, and with
countless swords and spears we shall enclose the
ocean. Our divine fire shall burn your ships, our
army your dwellings ; our heavenly weapons shall
flash to the pole, our godlike youths and virgins
shall be as the thunder when it shakes the heavens.
Now, then, -I herewith signify unto you my plea-
sure, that you immediately liberate those of my
people who are in your prisons, and that you treat
Chinese gentlemen with respect. When our horses
and treasures are restored, and your foreign cannon
and ships of hell surrendered to us, we will make
you a present of your valuable lives. But if you
persist in your blindness, and continue in the error
of your ways, so grossly vicious and violent—and
if the soldiers of Heaven come and the winged
sword hath no eyes to see, then do not accuse me,
the king, of a want of humanity. Let all tremble
andvan coeb:fy
tthis
odreecirgene
slavesw hcha
isn andissued fdoervtillise. obser-

RATE OE EXCHANGE.—The French rate of exchange
remains without variation. From Hazahuristtiiisl
causeagain
less favourable. Grain purchases on this
side
seracoeicLos.ns—idTerhaebrloe asueommssoftogoet
gold to be sent
little doubtsentto Spain.
but
that the public has experienced some disappoint-
ment in its expectations, that with the opening
of several lines of railway as carriers of coal, that
necessity in a climate like ours would he most greatamplei, in
o
its supply, and cheap and uniform in its price. The
contrary has hitherto been the result, and the consumer
in some instances, is coolly requested to wait for three'
months the execution of his order, while the prices have
been high, and the quality often far from satisfactory.
A reaction is consequently taking place, which is throw.
ing the custom into the old channel of supply—that of
the London coal merchants. But here, in escaping
Scylla, the public may fall on Charybdis, as it is well
known that inferior coal is too often substituted for
what has been ordered, and will pass, with a large num-
ber of consumers, without detection. This substitution
is notorious in the trade, and the facilities must be great
where dealers vend all sorts ; and it is possible that the
knowledge of this fact is urging the coal merchants to
give the public the best guarantee against such a course
—two Lon:on firms havin,:, by advertisement, declared
their intention to trade alone iu the best coal—those of
Messrs. Percivall and Co., and Messrs Cockerel! and
Co.— Weekly Chrcnicle.
[ADVERTI9EMENTI—IfoIIowav's Ointment and Pills
again successful in curing a Bad Leg.—Mr. E. Williams,
of s
Dylife Mines, Machynlleth, states that a friend of hi
sin
PlintAhire suffered for two years with a duo, Ifial bad
lheec,ruseachivaiictshiinte' berecommended
the efforts of several persons to cure,
notwithstanding various remedies were tried ; he endured
pain fur several months, and when paying
from the
effe
effects
snui
ft to
buisuek Holloway'sub u
ngefor
reitnbte-
mbeetntetrawn(ast m
He now
and ultimately his leg was
soundly Williams
satisfy any
enjoys excellent health. Mr.
Hollowayme Sosl dubs yt a
adboroa ileenyrtsi:
itrieosdfitt,ruth of this state-
and at Professor
Maiden-lane, Now York, 3.—trand, London, and 80,

THE LOSS OF THE FO.RBRUNNER.

SENTENCE ON THE CAPTAIN.
On Saturday, at 12 o'clock, Rear-Admiral Beechey
and Captain W. 11. Walker, who, with Mr. Yardley,
the magistrate of the Thames Police-court, constituted

the court of inquiry appointed by the Board of Trade,

under the Mercantile Marine Act, to ascertain and re-

port the circumstances under which the African mail
steans-packet Forerunner was lost sear the island of

Madeira, on the 25th ultimo, on her homeward voyage

;o England, with several passengers, met at the Board

of Trade, Whitehall, for the purpose of delivering their
judgment on the case. Mr. M‘Gregor Laird, manag-

ing director of the African Mail Steam Company, was

again in attendance, as was also, ' by direction of the
court, Captain Johnstone, the commander of the
fated ship. It will be recollected that after hearing
Captain Johnstone in his defence, on Thursday last,
the court adjourned until Saturday, in order to have
an opportunity of reading over the whole of the evi-
dence, and also the statement of the captain. Previous
to delivering their judgment, Rear-Admiral Beechey
and Captain Walker had a long interview with Mr.
Cardwell, the President of the Board of Trade, on

Saturday, at the office of the board.
.The court having been reconstituted on Saturday,
Captain Johnstone was summoned before them, and
Rear-Admiral Beechey, the president of the court, ad-
dre sed him as follows :—Having brought this inquiry
to a close on Thursday last, we made our report to the

Lords of the Privy Council for Trade to the following
effect :—" My lords, pursuant to your lordships' minute
of the 16th instant, directing an inquiry under tie 28th,
104th, and 105th sections of the Mercantile Marine Act,
the 13th and 14th Vic., cap. 93, and the 31st section of
the Steam Navigation Act, 14th and 15th Vic., c. 79,
to be made into the circumstances attending the less of
the steam-ship Forerunner on the coast of Madeira en
the 25th ult., and into the question whether the master
and other officers of that vessel have shown themselves,
by reason of incompetency or misconduct, unfit to dis-
charge their duties, we have to report that the investiga-
tion was commenced on the 18th instant, and continued
throughout the 20th and 23d, when the master made a
very clear and able statement in reply ; and having care-
fully considered the evidence that has been brought
before us respecting the loss of the said steam-vessel
Forerunner, and what Thomas Johnstone, the master,
has said in his defence, we are of opinion that the loss
of the Forerunner was occasioned by her being negli-
gently run upon a well-known rock, situated about
200 yards from the cliffs of Fora, forming the eastern
extremity of the Island of Madeira, the land being
at the time distinctly visible, and there being no
1 necessity whatever for the vessel being so near that
spot. That previous to this the vessel was kept
unnecessarily, some time dangerously, near to the shore,
by direction of the master, and was taken out of her
direct route when he bad a channel open before him of
nearly ten miles in width, apparently for the purpose of
skirting the coast at such unnecessarily close proximity
to the rooks, so much so that Captain Gregory remarked
to him en the danger of passing so near. That after the
vessel struck, and was found to be fast filling with
water, the master quitted his post and went below into
the cabin and occupied himself in saving the chrono-
meters and money of the ship, instead of providing for
the safety of his passengers and crew, and endeavouring
to maintain discipline in the ship, hich especially be-
came him as captain of the vessel at a such a moment
of imminent peril. Previous to those occurrences at
Madeira it appears, from the evidence, that the vessel
under his command struck upon the bar of the Bonny
after he was cautioned by Captain Gregory, a sea-faring
person well acquainted with the navigation of the river,
that he was going too wide, of the buoy moored for the
purpose of marking the channel ; and that after this,
on the 19th October, the Forerunner was greatly en-
dangered by being rna into shallow water upon the
Arguia Bank, owing to the route of that vessel being
very imprudently continued too far to the eastward, and 1
i y the sonndings net being attended to sufficiently early,
by which the position of the vessel would have been
known, and this imminent danger avoided. That after
the vessel was reported to him to be in shallow water,
he nevertheless continued the course at full speed upon
the bank until she came round in very shallow water,
and very narrowly escaped destruction, and that had it
been night instead of day, when the diseolouration of the
water could not have been observed, the consequence
would probably have been the loss of the vessel and the
imminent danger of the lives of the crew and passengers.
Putting these several circumstances together, consi-
dering how frequently he has, by his misconduct, pe-
rilled the vessel and the lives of the persons embarked
in her, and being impressed most forcibly with his cul-
pable abandonment of his post, and of his authority as
captain of the vessel in the hour of danger, and at the
moment when the preservation of discipline and order
was especially required, we are of opinion that he is,
from incompetency, unfit to discharge the duties of a
master of any British merchant vessel. In coming to
this conclusion, we have to state that it has been formed
wholly from the evidence which has been brought before
us in the case under investigation ; but we cannot with
hold from your lerdships that that opinion has been
strengthened on reading the documents which have beftn
placed in our hands by Mr. Johnstone himself, in sup-
port of his character. Sy one of those documents it
appears that Mr. Johnstone, last year, commanded a
vessel called the Argentina, belonging to the South
American General Steam Navigation Company, and
lost her upon a rock between Monte Video and Buenos
Ayres ; and we find the less thus accounted for by the
agent of the company. While testifying to the zeal and
ability of Mr. Johustone, he says ;—`He was at kis
post conning the vessel when she struck, but there is no
doubt, and no one is more sensible of it than myself,
that he was doing wrong in shaving so close to a rocky
shore.' We hare the honour Ns be, my lords, your lord-
ships' meet obedient humble brvants,
(Signed) " F. W. BUMF!,
" W. H. WALKER."
This report (continued Admiral Beechey to Captain
Johnstone) having been delivered to their lordships,
together with the evidence, and what you have
stated in your defence, their lordships have been
pleased to determine that your certificate shall be
cancelled, which is done accordingly. But before
dismissing this case, I would observe that the loss
of the Forerunner has added one more to the list of those
distressing occurrences at sea which of late have been so
frequently attended with the most lamentable loss of
life. I don't stop to inquire what has been the cause of
those casualties—whether they hare risen from neglect
of the lead or the compass—from reckless speed, or any
act such as that of which you have been convicted. It
is sufficient to observe that if those fatal occurrences be
continued they cannot fail to diminish that confidence of
the public in seam-vessels to which they are so justly
entitled when they are prudently and properly navigated.
This observation, and the sentence of the court which
has been passed upon you, will, I hope, go forth through.
out the length and the breadth of this laud, and have
their intended effect on the masters of British vessels,
and especially on you, should you ever again be placed
in a situation of responsibility in your profession.
) Captain Johnstone then retired, and the court rose.
of
__

THE BANKRUPTCY OF MR. JAMES
M'HENRY.

Letters front Liverpool state that a meting of the
creditors of Mr. James Mlteary, who failed on the 4th
of October, was held on Wednesday, when an adjourn-
ment took place, to afford time for a final consideration
of the course ultimately to be adopted. According to
the subjoined statement, presented by Mr. Fry, the
accountant, the assets show a dividend of ls. ad. in the
pound ; but this, it is expected, may be increased to 2s.
er 31., as the liabilities are likely to be largely dimi-
nished by the biliholders electing to prove against
Messrs. Allen and Anderson as partners. The enor-
mous deficiency of 307,857/. is represented as having
principally occurred through bad debts in the United
States. From the feeling exhibited at the meeting,
it is supposed that the estate will ioe wound up under
a deed of inspection :
STATEMENT OF THE AFFAIRS OF MR. JAMES M'HENRT,
LIVERPOOL, Nov. 13.
LIABILITIES. _ _ _

On acceptances
On acceptances to be retired by other
parties, 35,873/. Os. 2d.
On book debts 16,754 9 6
On foreign debts 1,510 16 11
On bills receivable 268,208 10 1
On 12 draughts of Edward
Oliver, accepted by J
APHenry £30,96410 G
On Wann and Id`Birney's
three draughts, J. AV-
Henry, in favour of E
Oliver 5,000 0 0

35,964 10 6

£337,378 7 9

ASSETS.
Claims on book debts considered good .., £22,316 13 5
Valuation of doubtful debts
Ditto stock on hand 3,155 0 0
540 6 4
Ditto working implements
Mortgage on the Ava
100 shares in the Lancashire Insurance
Company, valued at
J. Curtis's promissory note, due Oct. 27...
Valuation of office fixtures
Cash on hand
5 polices of insurance on the lives of G
Longmore, James Longmore, and James
Taylor, valued at
Estimated proceeds to be re-
ceived from Was. M'Kee
and Co., Philadelphia, of
linens shipped ou account
S. Turney Ol,OOO 0 0
Less part to be applied iu re-
tiring S. Turney's accept-
ance for this amount

350 0 0
157 10 11
250 0 0
300 0 0

150 0 0

400 0

S. Turnoy's acceptance, duo
Nor. 10, in the lianas of J
M'lfenly
Less Hurr,lusreceiptsexpected
fruit' W. .Nl`Kee and Co.

COO 0 0

£2OO 0 0

Lola amount duo to him on
book dabt

106 8 6
93 11
Valtation of ro,:idue Of book debts due to
J. APlloury Aunrica ..... . .............. 2,000 o

R 30,700 10
Less psyments to be made in fall ~,........• 1,185 10

£29,521 5
307,857 2
Deficiency,,,,,,, • •

037,378 7