The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-28 00:00:00

THE ENGLISH NAVY IN THE CHINA

SEAS.

(Thom the Times' Correspondent.)
GULF OF PECH.ELEE MAY 17.
Exactly five weeks have now elapsed since the
Russian steamer Ametica, with Count Putiatin on
board, anchored opposite the forts at the mouth of
the Peiho River, to the dismay of the garrison and
the disquietude of the Celestial mini generally.
This must have been increased by the arrival cn
the following day of the Furious, with Lord Elgin,
the Pique, and the Slaney (gunboats), There are
at this moment anchored inside of the river, or off
its mouth, 29 men-of-war, of which 15 are English,
10 are French, three American, and one Russian.
Four Plenipotentiaries and two admirals have been
for more than a month helplessly gazing at the
miserable mud forts at the month of the Priho, and
so encourag'ng has been this long period of inaction
on the part of the barbarians to the garrison that
the awe which our appearance first inspired has
been converted into contempt, and they now in-
dulge themselves in derisive gestures, bootings,
and the defiant waving of flags, very much to the
disgust of those on-board of her Majesty's ships
Nimrod and Cormorant, which are Anchored within
400 yards of the forts. Of course the general public
are not fully informed as to the canes which have
combined to place us in this conteraptible attitude
in the eyes of the Chinese. Enough has transpired,
however, to enable me to describe to you with tole-
rable accuracy the history of the unfortunate diffi
culties which seem to have arisen in a quarter from
which they were least to be expected, It appears
that the original intention of the Four Plenipoten-
tiaries in conning' to the mouth"' d the-'Peiho to-
gether was to proceed at once direct to Tien-tsin,
as it was considered that the nearer to the capital
negotiations were carried on the more likely they
would be to meet with success. This project
seemed the more feasible as arrangements were en-
tered into between the allied naval authorities and
the French and English Ambassadors to supply
them with a fleet of gunboats to be at Shanghai by
the end of last March. These gunboats, however,
did not reach the Gulf of Pechelee until the 9th of
May, so that on their first arrival here the Minis-
ters found themselves absolutely unable to move.
In the meantime mandarins of high degree, anxious
to fend off barbarian intrusion, appeared at the
mouth of the river, with proposals to open nego-
tiations, and thus, even had the means existed, the
excuse of proceeding pacifically to Tien-tsin to find
a negotiator was no longer valid. It must ever be
regretted that so favourable an opportunity has
been lost of creating an impression on the minds of
the Chinese. Nor can there be any doubt that
the representatives of the four Powers, supported
by a flotilla of gunboats under the walls of Tien-
tsin, would have found the difficulties of negotia-
tion wonderfully diminished. An additional re-
commendation to the plan, in the eyes of the neu-
tral Powers at all events, was the fact that it did
not involve any hostile operations. Now, in the
opinion of the admirals, and, indeed, of every
officer in the squadron, these have become abso-
lutely necessary to save the allied flags from dis-
honour. Tan, Governor-General of the province
of Chilli, and the other mandarins who appeared as
Imperial Commissioners, were found not to be pro-
perly qualified, and it is said that the Chinese
Government has refused to confer upon them the
necessary powers. Whatever may have been the
reason, neither Lord Elgin nor Baron Gros have
ever been ashore, or sought an interview, and so
long ago as the 29th of last month preparations
were made for hostilities. The Nimrod and Cor-
morant despatch gunboats, the Coromandel (admi-
ral's tender), and the Slaney (gunboat), with three
French gunboats, the only vessels of small
draught then here, were put across the bar,
after having been lightened, immediately under
the guns of the fort, and in a position from which it
was difficult to escape. We considered this move
indicative of action, more especially when it was
followed by the signal for small arm parties to b.,
in readiness for landing ; the appearance, on the
30th, of general orders for the attack put the mat-
ter beyond a doubt. What was our astonishment,
then, to find all these grand preparations end in
smoke, and when the reason for postponing hosti-
lities transpired the matter became still more in-
comprehensible. It appeared that the Ambassa-
dors had called on the naval authorities to act, and
that the latter had declined, in consequence of the
smallness of the force. To us, who bad inspected
the so-called forts from every point of view, with
many of their embrasures containing flags instead
of guns, and their scanty garrison, of which the
largest computation at that time amounted to only
500 men, this refusal to act seemed incredible.
There were at that time seven men-of-war inside
the bar, and upwards of 3,000 men in the fleet
then anchored off it. It is not to be wondered at
after this that on the arrival of six more gunboats
the admirals are said to have declined to move up
the river Tien-tsin, although they might have done
so accompanied by a force of 13 gunboats in all.
When we remember the achievements of the soli-
tary little Nemesis during the last war, and, com-
pare the river force now here with that which
sufficed in those days to bring the Chinese to
their senses, we are tempted to suspect the exis-
tence of some motives of which the public are
ignorant, as the explanation of a proceeding on
the part of the naval authorities otherwise in-
explicable. It may be that our able naval ally
is carrying on a little "diplomatic pigeon," not
with the Chinese, but his own colleague. He has
certainly succeeded in playing his cards with con-
siderable skill hitherto ; with a force of only 12
ships in the China seas he has brought up 10 to
the scene of action, while the British, with a naval
squadron 54 strong, are only represented by 15
pennants. Two of our gunboats have gone on a
cruise to the Prate shoals, just at the time when
they were most wanted. It is doubted whether
the French gunboats are of sufficiently light draught
of water to proceed far up the Peiho. If this is
so, we do not wonder at the determined opposition
the French Admiral has shown to the proposed
scheme of pushing up the river, affirming that he
will not consent to move on Tien-tsin unless sup-
p-rted with a land force of 4,000 men. We very
much fear it is a repetition of the old story of Pe-
lissier and Simpson. However, it is difficult to
speculate upon the wheel within wheel policy which
impedes vigorous action at this moment. We can
only judge by appearances, and it must be con-
fessed that they do not lead us to augur favourably
for the success of an enterprise upon which such
important commercial interests depend both in
England and Chins, and which has been under-
taken upon a scale calculated, if properly managed,
to ensure the most brilliant results. With 25 men-
of-war at the mouth of the Peiho,and a good ground
of complaint agaiust the Chinese Government, we
should be in a position to obtain satisfaction for our
just and moderate demands, and if we fail it is to
be hoped that the matter will be thoroughly sifted,
and the blame fall on the right shoulders.
A conference of the allied Admirals and the
French and English Ambassadors has just been
held on board the Audacieuse. The result has
raised the drooping spirits of the fleet. The attack
on the forts is to take place the day after to-morrow.
and it is earnestly hoped that it will be immediately
followed by a move up the river. If it be not we
shall have taken nothing by cur motion. The same
game will have been played here which was played
with so little success by Admiral Seymour the year
before last at Canton ; if we abandon these forts
without further action we shall incur difigrace in
the eyes of the Chinese and contempt in the eyes of
everybody else. The forts are being daily strength-
ened and large reinforcements have come down
from the interior. Russian missionaries from
04cittment as exibting Pekin report considerable