The Sun.
London, England, 1858-07-31 00:00:00

-

DAMPED

VP.

CAPTURE OF THE FEHR) FORTS.

The Momiteitr gives the following account of the
circumstances which led to the late attack on the
Chinese forts at the mouth of the Peiho :
`• After the teeing of Canton, the coinmissinncri ex-
traordinary of France and England came to an unCer-,
stinding with the representatives of huesia and of the
United States of America, to make an application simul-
taneonsiy to the Prime Minister of the Emperor of China.
They proposed to the Court of Pekin to o?en negotia-
tion?, and requested it to seed to Shanghai, before the
Ist April, plenipotentiaries provided with the necessary
powers for that purpose. The Court of Pekin not
having accepted these overtures, the plenipotentiaries
of Franco and England came to an understanding
to present them elves as soon as possible in the Pe-
tchr-1, accompanied by their squadrons. Tney
assembled on the 20th of April at the mouth of the
Peiho. They there met two fonctionarie3, ver-
bally appointed by the Emperor to come to treat with
the nations who happened to be in the pert. Overtures
so evidently not of a lona fide character only showed
an evident desire on the part of tho Chinese Government
to gain time. The representatives of the powers then
agreed to make a fresh application to the Court of Pekin.
Notes, still more pre,s,ing than those which had been
previoihly sent from Canton, were addressed to the
Prime Minister, demanding that Chinese plenipeten•
tiaries, i, vested with fall powers, should be sent to Ta.
LIU. The governor-general of Tcheli was named Im-
perial Commissioner ; but, in informing Baron Gros and
Lord Elgin of his nomination, he confined hiruse:f to de-
elar]ng that, by order of the Emperor he came to know
what they demanded, in order to refer to P. k:n and get
his instructions. The demands of the representatives
of the powers had been before so clearly set forth that
this persistence of the Chinese Government could only
be considered as a wish to protract the question. Never-
thele,ss, not being willing to reject any chance of ar-
rangement which niiiht yet offer, the commiesioners of
France and England consented to grant a fresh delay to
. . .
urt of Pekin all

--~-~

the time nec-ssary to decide on what
adopt. They only obtained an evasive answer, which
was, in,iact, equivalent to a fresh refusal. As gush a
state of things could not be allowed to continue any
longer, the plenipotentiaries of France and Eaglaud were
obliged to concert measures to put an end to it as
promptly as possible ; and after consulting on the
subject with the admirals, they addressed, on the
morning of the 26th May, a cernrourtieation to the
governor-general of Tcheli, stating that they had come to
the resolution to advance tJwards the capital, in
order to treat direc ly with the Chinese Governmen!.
They added that the admirals commanding the ravel
forces of France and England were obliged, in order to
guarantee the security of the representatives of the two
powers, to demand that the Imperial C huarnissionFr
should deliver up to them the frets on both bapks of the
Peiho, as well as the battery placed at the bend of the
river, and that if within two hours they were not de-
livered, they would be attacked and taken. Such were
the circumstances in which was accomplished a brilliant
feat of arms, which delivers to the squadrons the mouth
of the Peiho, and which allows the commissioners of
France and England to freely ascend the river in order
to approach still closer to the capital of the Celestial
Empire, if the Chinese G ivernment should any larger
hesitate to enter int negotiwions."
Here follov:s a despatch, addressed to the Minister of
Marine from Admiral Rigault de Gencuilly, commander-
in-chief of the naval division in the Chinese i.eas, geeing
an a.courit of the capture of the f e-ts alluded to above.
The details differ in but a trifling manner from
those given in the English despatches already published.
The document mentions the following officers as having
perished La the action :—M. Rideaux, enseigne de vais-
seau, belonging to the Mitraille ; M. Frcussart, cleik
of the administration of the same vessel; M. Baratier,
mate of the first class, acting as officer on board the
Dragonne ; and M. Porquet, enseigue de vaisseau,
serving on board the Fusee. In addition, M. Regnault,
enseigne de vaieseau, also furring on board the Fusee,
was badly wounded iu the neck with a bad. Several
other effictis, belonging to the marines and ordinary
troops, were wounded, and two had after wa•cls suc-
cumbed. Several men had lost their lives by the ex-
plosion of the powder magazine, and in ail 40 persons
had been mere or less injured by the disaster, and aiming
them Lieut. Vsriot of the Nemesis, and the two mates
Villemeens and Gardatne.

NE',,`,-SPAPER

/

,

.....,.,--0:04,1i;,,,
f,--1..'-.U,--1-e,Sli
4.4. n.,7 z :-.- .• 4 .
c .)
.-----;64-47:-%:, poi, v
V••••- .4-?4 __—, 4•,•i',.A' •
i AN'
/ "„0.._.--- LAW 1257 IT T., 1: IGI7N a R. ---- diay rAL:IL
.
1 FIOUSE OF LORDS.
COMMITTEE OF PRIVILEGES.
THE NEWBURGH rLhRAGE.
1 Their lord, hips sat to-day, acacommittee of priviloge,

for the i Tirpose of giving a -decision in this case—Lord.
Red,sdale presided.

Thepetiiioner,ecilia,Princesa Ginstinisni.Merehionega
Dowager Bhnclinl,emro.:irl t er
„01.0ivw.
bt:7•4l:, id +.1,3 i:ocrt,gt) of be-LH land.
Tbeir lorchhips allowed the claim.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

:,,,,,CIT.—MAIDOrtircE, JULY 30.
CROWN SIDE.
(Before Mr. Baron Bramwell.)
THE; ROCHESTER MURDER.

Albert Huskey Turner, 44, was charged with the wilful
murder of Mary Ann Turner.
Mr. F. J. Smith and the Hon. G Denman conducted
the prosecution. The prisoner was not in a position to
obtain the assistance of counsel, but at the request of the
Court Mr. Bridge watched the case on his behalf.
The learned counsel for the prosecution, in opening the
case to the jury, described it as coo of a very melancholy
character, the prisoner being charged with the dreadful
offenca of wilful murder, and that murder committed upon
the person of his own wife. He said he was afraid there
e6,11(1 he no doubt the ;IA was committed by the prisoner
under the influence of jealousy, and that the only questions
they would ultimately have to decide under the direction of
his lordship, would be, whether the prisoner was guilty of
the crime of wilful murder. or whether, under the circnm•
stances that would bo detailed to them in the evidence,
they would be justified in convicting him of the lesser
offence of manslaughter only.
Witnesses having been examined,
The jury retired to consider their verdict. They were in
guilty
iltof
for life. manslaughter.
deliberation nearly three hour?, and uponthoirreturz
into owuarst
stehaetyococue nidtothe
penalprisonere r s servitude

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.— DURHAM, JULY 29.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Lord Chief Baron Pollock.)
George Menham, 39, and Edwin Fox, 33, were indicted
for the wilful murder of Wm. Barren, on the high seas
—to wit, on the river Elbe, at Hamburg, on the 22d of
Juue last. A second count charged that the prisoners
wore masters of two British ships lying in the river Elbe
at Hamburg on the 22d of dune last, and that they wilfully
murdered the said Win. Barren, a seaman on board one of
:he said ships.
It appeared, from the opening of the learned counsel for
the prosecu Lion and from the evidence of the witnesses
ealh,., in supp, rt dire that the re isoner Fox was the master
of the bAsSchiellatn, end the prignner Menham master of
the bri ' ;Una that on she 22,1 of June last both
vesseele tere moored along,eicle each other, in the rive:
Elbe, at. liamhurg, the bow of one rind stern of the other
being up stream. About Gin the evening of that day thede-
°cased Vs Barren, a seaman on board the Reliance,
tNeat on beard the Schiedam in a state of intoxication, and
bejten " sky-larking" with the apprentice boys on board
.the ship. The captain—the prisoner Fox—went up to him,
and endeavoured to persuade him to leave the ship, and
pushed him towaris his own ship. Tic deceased returned
the push, and the two men got scuffling together. Fox
cal!ed out to the men ou boarcithe Reliaace to take Barren
away, aed. shortly after the captain, the other prisoner
Mull:ern, came on board, and gave the deceased a shove or
blow on the cheek, and told him to go on board his own
ship. The deceased said, " You rely split my face, sir,
but that -- shan't." The deceased and his captain,
the prisoner Menham, then got scuffling together, and the
deceased tore the shirt of Captain Menham. The prisoner
Menham, leokine at his shirt, said, according to one ac-
count, "Let's throw the overboard," but according
to the other witnesses, " I'll thr w the overhe .rd ;
and thereupon immediately seized the decease I under the
arms, and lifted him, assisted, according to Ramsay's evi-
dence, by Fox, who lifted his legs and placed him on the
rail of the vessel. The other witnesses said Fox only stood
by.
.When on the rail Fox turned round and left him,
walking aft, the other prisoner, Menham, let go of the de-
ceased, his legs b:ing over the vessel's side, and he slipped
down overboard and sank. In a short time his hair and
one hand appeared above water, and Ramsay threw a rope
over him, but he made no attempt to catch it, sank again,
and was drowned.
The jury, after a short absence, returned a verdict of
not guilty as to both prisoners.