The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-12 00:00:00

CHINA.

(From the North ( hina Mail, Shanghai, June 12.)
Her Majesty's screw steam storeship Hesper, W.
U. Fawckner, Master, commanding, arrived here
yesterday, from the Gulf of Pecheli, on the sth inst.
Having been despatched for Hong Kong direct she
brings no letters; her engineer being sick she came
in to obtain the services of another, and left again in
a few hours.

The news by her is important, but we have to
wait a day or two longer for details by the Cruiser.
The essence of it is that the Allied Ambassadors
were living on shore, at Tien-tsin, is a residence pro-
vided by the mandarins ; that negotiations were sup-
posed to be progressing satisfactorily, and that the
junks remain in the river uninterrupted by the
Allies, none having been destroyed except a few
that formed a barricade across the river below Tien-
tsin, which were burned in order to remove the
obstruction.
After the destruction of the forts at Taku the
gunboats moved up and down the river as quietly
as if nothing had occurred. On or about the 27th
ultimo the allied Admirals, who bad gone up to
Tien-tsin, notified to the Ambassadors of their re-
spective countries that they could advance to that
city. Lord Elgin and le Baron Gros, with their
suite, then proceeded up the river without meeting
any opposition, and with a flag of truce landed at
Tien-tsin, and took up an abode prepared for them.
The American and Russian Ministers accompanied
them in the Russian steamer America, the flags of
the two nations flying at the mast-heads.
We have yet to learn by what argument other
than bon gre mal gre, this change in the action of the
Chinese has been effected, and who the functionary
is that is now acknowledged to possess the required
plenary powers to treat with the Ambassadors.
We understand a meeting to arrange preliminaries
was to take place on the sth, the day the Hesper left.
Junks were allowed to leave the river without
hindrance. None appear to have entered since the
20th, the day on which the forts were taken. Pro-
visions were abundantly supplied. The Chinese
tracked the boats of the expedition up the river
where it was shallow.

The Hesper has on board 79 guns weighing 141
tons, all of brass except one iron English 32-pounder.
Twenty of them are of immense size, weighing about
6 tons each, 11 to 12 feet long, and of 10-inch bore,
beautifully cast, perfectly smooth, with ornamental
work at the breech like chasing; the remainder are
field-pieces of 4 cwt. to 6 cwt. each.
Her Majesty's ship Fury left the gulf on the sth
for Hongkong direct, conveying despatches for the
mail. The Cruiser was to leave for Shanghai on the
9th, and may be expected to-morrow. She will
return with the inward mail now looked for.
The subjoined letter from the China Mail, gives
an account of the state of matters at Tien-tsin when
the Fury left :

" TIEN TSIN, JUNE 4.
" The proceedings of the Allied Ministers since the cap-
ture of the forts at the mouth of the Pei-ho on the 20th ult.,
have been limited to an examination of the river from Taku
up to Tientsin and the progress of Lord Elgin and Baron
Gros on the night of the 29th, and of Mr. Reed and Count
Putiatine on the morning of the 30th, up to the7same
Some of the French and English gunboats had then been off
the" city four or five days.
The details of the capture of the forts at Taku haye al-
rpady been published. These fortifications were admirably
situate to command the passage, their guns and ammunition
were abundant and effective, all that was wanted, as usual
in China, were skill and courage. The lops of life among the
defenders was probably under 300 k:lled outright, whose
bodies were found in the forts ; the wounded were carried
ofE The sfficers stood with their men in many cases, one
or two were found dead, killed by their own hand, and the
people report that Tab, the Manchu, Commander-in- Chief,
was drawn out of the water where hehad attempted suicide.
." The river Pei-ho, between laku and Tientsin, runs
through a flat Country, so level that one can see only a short
distance beyond the banks; the soil is alluvial, no stones or
rocks of any sort occur along the shores, and the houses
furnish proof of the small supply of timber. They are made
of mud or sun-dried brick, and are generally of one story;
the mud is strengthened by wattles of reed or millet stalks,
and then plastered on the outside. They are wretched and
dirty hovels, but the absence of stone and timber, rather
than the abject poverty of the people, accounts for their
miserable appearance, as they must employ what comes to
band.

" The trip from Taku to Tientsin will remind the traveller
who bas been to Thebes of the towns and scenery of the
Nile, and the similarity is increased by the numerous creeks
and well-sweeps here, with t,hich the people irrigate their
fields. The distance is about 60 miles, and great numbers
of grain junks line the sides of the river, showing the im-
p vtance of that trade to the support of the capital.' Over
300 of them passed out of the mouth of the river within the
week succeeding the capture of the forts.
"Tientsin contains upwards of 300,000 people, most of
them living o 4 the oontheria bwili 0 the Pelitoged ost of

(From the Overland Friend of China of 22d June.)
The Pekin arrived with the English mails on the
19th, again within 40 days from the General Post-
office. Our dates from the Peiho extend to the 9th
inst. No opposition was met by our gunboats on
the route to Tientsien from those forts at the mouth
of the Peiho whose capture was reported in our last
summary. On the 29th ult., both the Earl of Elgin
and Baron Gros, with their suites, took up their
quarters in the vicinity of the city. Soon after-
wards intimation was received of the appointment of
To-ming-ah, a General of the Manchou banner, as
Special High Commissioner. On Saturday, the 6th,
the Earl of Elgin had his first interview with his
Excellency—the Baron Gros meeting him in similar
state the day following. It is presumed that the
business of these meetings was entirely formal, and
failing prompt compliance with our demands, the
Ambassadors are prepared to declare war. Without
such declaration of war we see no feasible means of
bringing matters to a proper footing.
In the south of China the news of actual hostili-
ties at the north appeared to be the long-desired
signal to societies banded for annoyance of the
barbarians to proceed to actual operations. On our
inner pages will be found the details of the capture
and decapitation of several Europeans, the murder
of sepoys and police on duty, and attempts at in-
cendiarism. No person feels safe ; and one of two
things must shortly be performed • either we must
entrench the foreign quarter at flonan in such a
manner that foreigners may sleep o' nights, or vacate
the place altogether. What the Allies could mean
by declaring Canton open to trade, and yet
neglect to make provision for the safety of traders,
it is impossible to divine. It is generally under-
stood, however, that the fault rests with General
Van Straubenzee and Mr. Parkes, rather than
with the Ambassadors and naval commanders ;
neither the General nor the Commissioner having
sufficient mind to realize what is actually and tacitly
required of them. So much for making a mere
soldier—though a gallant soldier—the directing head
of a province; a mere interpreter—a conceited and
self-willed youth—a commissioner.
Some heavy floods in the interior of Chekiang
have had the effect of checking the advance of the
rebels, whose proximity to Ningpo was mentioned
in our last,
A letter says :
" A panic in the native money-market, such as has not
been known for a considerable time, has caused a suspension
of :reale at Sbanghae. Large contracts were made for foreign
goods on the spots and to arrive, in order that they might be
included in the list of stocks to he handed into the Taoutai,
thereby avoiding the additional duty to be levied on foreign
goods purchased subsequent to a certain fixed date; but
another mode of raising the required funds having been
adopted by the Taoutai in consequence of the remonstrances
of foreigners, the speculators are embarrassed with large
stocks, which, owing to the hostilities in the north and the
disturbances of the interior, they are unable to dispose of, and
have been obliged to apply to the bankers for assistance to
enable them to fulfil their contracts with f;ireigners. The
bankers having already a large portion of their funds locked
up in advances on goods shipped to the north and to the in-
terior, and in considerable investments in Shanghai dollars,
held far an advance in value when the new silk season open
in the country, withheld further accommodation. Doubts
began to be entertained about their ability to stand the loss
which would fall upon them should the junks io the Pei-ho
be destroyed--a tun was made upon the banks, and had it
not been shown that they held sufficient security in goods to
pay off their liabilities they would nearly all have suspended
payment. Time was given then] to get funds from Ningpo,
Soo-chow, &c., and now confidence is restored."
At Macao a fearful epidemic, resembling cholera
morbus, has been imported from Singapore, and
fears are entertained of its reaching Hong Kong.