The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-03 00:00:00

CONVEYANCE OF VOTERS BILL.
Mr. COLLIER moved the second reading of this bill.
Mr. HUNT moved the adjournment of the debate, as the
whole subject must necessarily be discussed when the
right hon. gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer's
bill was under discussion.
Mr. HEADLAM strongly objected to postponement.
Mr. COLLIER said the present bill was to prevent the
continuance of a bill which would expire in July. It had been
said that the present bill should not be proceeded with, because
the subject would be dealt with in another bill. But the
reason he wished the present bill to be proceeded with was,
that he believed that bill would not pass. (Hear, hear.)
Lord PALMERSTON thought the bill ought to be pro-
ceeded with.
The motion for the adjournment was then withdrawn,
and the discussion on the bill proceeded.
Mr. EDWIN JAMES thought that the expenses at pre-
sent entailed upon candidates for metropolitan boroughs
prevented men of eminence and talent from coming forward
to contest these boroughs. The cab hire was enormous.
At the late elections for Finsbury and Lambeth there was a
phalanx of cabs, and every description of vehicularity—
(laughter)—engaged in conveying voters to the poll, and if
these proceedings continued to be legal, the ultimate result
would be that the successful candidate in any case would be
the one who had the longest purse. He thought members
of Parliament should be returned free of all expense. (Hear.)
During a contest that he had lately taken part in in allu-
sion to the great expense of cab hire, some of his most in-
fluential supporters had said that they were sorry to put
him to such an outlay for cab hire ; but the other side did
the same. The practice had been legalised by Act of Par-
liament, and without he did the same he would stand no
chance. He again said electioneering expenses were a
scandal and a disgrace. In a contest he had
had in Marylebone he had paid about £4OO for
the erection of polling booths, yet in all the booths erected
there was not one which would not have been a disgrace to
a gingerbread stall. (Hear, hear, and laughter.)
Mr. P. O'BRIEN opposed the bill.
Mr. STEWART thought sufficient reason had not been
shown for repealing a measure which had been passed after
considerable discussion.
Mr. WHITE thought the bill had been introduced into
Parliament merely to secure the omnibus and cab interest
in elections. He hoped the hon. gentleman would be suc-
cessful in his endeavour to repeal the law.
Mr. DEEDES said he opposed the bill last session, and
he should now give his vote in favour of its repeal.
Mr. NEWDEGATE opposed the bill, as he considered
it one of disfranchisement to the poorer out voters of all
the county constituencies of England
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that last year he was of
opinion that the house had no right to disfrancise those
poorer voters who could not convey themselves to the poll.
The bill of last year was merely a temporary measure, and it
was open to repeal immediately more polling-booths were
erected. By his bill his hon. friend had removed this ob-
jection, as he found he had largely increased the number
of polling places, and he did not see why the practice of
conveying voters to the poll should continue, as it was nearly
akin to bribery. He should, therefore, seeing that the bill
' increased the number of polling places at no great distance
from the residence of the voters, give his vote for the second
reading of the bill.
Mr. HUNT thought the bill highly objectionable. He
thought a voter whose residence was eleven miles from a
polling place had a right to a conveyance to the poll. An
infirm voter had also the same right; he should therefore
move that the bill be read a second time that day six

months.
Sir J. PAKINGTON thought the present a very
inconvenient time to proceed with the bill, although
at the same time he had no strong feeling on the matter
one way or the other. He thought the present law ought
not to be repealed before extra polling places had been pro-
vided. The new Reform Bill did this, and he therefore
should vote against the bill.
Mr. AYRTON said, when the bill of last session
was passed, the Government said the bill could be fully
discussed during the present session, and now, when it was
proposed to remedy the effect of hasty legislation, his hon.
friend was met with strong opposition. He thought he
had a right to insist that the bill should be allowed to go
into committee.
The house then divided, when there appeared—
For the second reading 172
Against it 153
Majority —l9
The bill was then read a second time, and ordered to be
committed this day week.
The Recreation Grounds Bill was read a second time.
MEDICAL ACT (1858) AMENDMENT BILL.
.

This bill was
M read a ihird.time and passed.
METROPOLITAN GAS.
Mr. BYNG nominated the select committee on the supply
of gas, as follows :—Mr. Byng, Sir John Shelley, Mr.
Ayrton, Mr. John Locke, Mr. John Abel Smith, the Judge
Advocate, Mr. Alderman Cubitt, Mr. Adams, Mr. Barrow,
Sir William Dunbar, Sir William Hayter, Mr. F. Russell,
Mr. Jackson, Mr. Thomas Mills, and Mr. Whitbread.
SCOTCH COUNTIES AND 110 ROUGHS.
Mr. BLACKBURN moved for a return of the number
of proprietors on the valuation roll of each county or burgh,
or Parliamentary combination of counties or burghs, in
Scotland, having property under £lO but not under £5 of
annual value.—Agreed to.
SUNDAY OBSERVANCE.
Mr. T. BUNCOMBE moved for copies of all informa-
tions, summonses, and convictions, with the amount of fine
and costs paid in each case, under the Act 29 Charles 11.,
intituled, " An Act for the better Observation of the Lords'
Day, commonly called Sunday," before her Majesty's jus-
tices of the peace for the county of Southampton, from 25th
day of December, 1858, to the Ist day of March, 1859 ; to-
gether with a copy of a memorial recently presented by the
inhabitants of the district to the magistrates, complaining
of the conduct of the police, with their reply thereto.—
Agreed to.
The house then adjourned.

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CANTON, JAN. 12.
The troops in Canton, just sinking into the slum-
ber of an ordinary garrison life, were very roughly
roused up in the course of last week.
One of the chief evils to be guarded against in a
garrison and climate like that of Canton is that
listless ennui that enervates both mind and body,
and leaves the soldier, with few resources in himself
and none of the sanctifying influences of o home, to
take refuge in drink and other sensual vices. Com-
manding officers have worked well and successfully
to meet this evil. Athletic games and other amuse•
meets have been got up in the different corps and
battalions, while the General issued an order that
each brigade should march once a week into the
country, taking their dinners, cooked, with them,
and returning home before dark.
The men rightly regarded this as a great boon.
It varied the monotony of their life within the
lines, and all felt the better for turning their backs
for the day on mouldering joss houses and dingy
yamums, and inhaling the fresh breeze of the
country.
Several of those marches took place, and nothing
could exceed the good conduct of our men or the
apparent good-will of the Chinese. The poor
flocked in crowds to share the remnants of our
soldiers' dinners, while, to avoid the very appear-
ance of evil, we refrained from entering their
populous villages.
On Tuesday, the 4th inst., Colonel Holloway
went out with his brigade for their usual weekly
march. The friendly. Chin-chins greeted them
along the way, and when they sat down to dinner
the average hundreds of hungry and eager expec-
tants watched for the scraps or scrambled for the
cash that was scattered among them by the officers.
But a sudden change came over this busy scene.
The beggars, young and old, cast from them the
untasted tidbits, and rushed in a fright past hun-
dreds of ungathered cash, for they saw the many.
coloured flags of the Quantung Braves cresting the
top of a neighbouring hill. and though this was a
pretty sight in itself, and much admired by the
soldiers as they reclined after dinner, it convinced
those poor people, who were up to the customs of
the country, that the sooner they got out of the
way the better for their personal safety.
Colonel Holloway, strong in his own good inten-
tions, believed (as any reasonable man well might)
that this was only a deputation from the surround-
ing villages to welcome us, and so we rode forward
with a few mounted officers to meet them half way
and cement the friendly bond. His reception was
indeed warm enough, though I can't call it friendly,
for ere he could carry his kind intentions into exe-
cution a storm of rockets and gingal bullets burst
around the astonished picknickers, and compelled
them to make use of more deadly weapons than
knives and forks. I need scarcely state with what
result. The Braves, though plucky enough at
long bowls, have a wholesome dread of British cold
steel, and a few well-directed shots, with a dash
forward by two companies, ended the affair, and
drove the Braves flying in all directions, but not
before some of them paid at the cost of their lives
for this act of foul treachery.
The escape of our people was most providential.
A rocket passed between the body and arm of one
of our officers (Mr. O'Grady), merely drawing a few
drops of blood ; had it gone two inches on one side
it would have cost him his life, while an inch on
the other would have cost him his arm. One of
our men had the strap of his water-barrel cut from
his back ; another had the sole shot from under his
boot ; while the call to arms was suddenly cut
short, and the bugle, squashed with a ball, flew from
the hand and mouth of the astonished bugler who
was blowing it.
Those marches into the country had taken place
with the full concurrence of Teh-Qui. He had given
notice throughout the towns and villages of the
district of the friendly nature of them, and there-
fore satisfaction was required, through him, for this
gross outrage. However, those refractory subjects
of the Emperor rejected alike the threats and coax-
ings of the Governor, and when Capt. M'Cleverty
attempted a direct communication with them they
fired on the flag of truce.
It was now apparent that we had to deal, not
with an isolated case of a few ignorant and discon-
tented villagers, but with an opposition to the Im-
perial treaty and the presence of Europeans in the
province, well organised and widely extended.
The league of the Quantung gentry was up and
at work with its old bitter hostility, collecting mu-
nitions of war at Shek-tseng, preparing to make
the next summer hotter for us than even the last,
and no doubt resolved to pay their last year's prices
for Englishmen's heads. A triumvirate sitting in
Shek,tseng directed the operations of the league.
The Chinese pride of those provincial magnates
had quite got over the fall of Canton, and attributed
it to cowardice and treachery on the part of the
Tartar garrison, but there was Shek-tseng within
nine miles of Canton, defended by true Chinese
Braves. No European had ever crossed over its
beautiful bridge, nor ever should in their day, for
they had placed 20 pieces of heavy ordnance in
position to guard it. All this was to be kept quiet
until the summer had set in, when Europeans could
not stand the sun, and then the League would teach
the outside Barbarians and cowardly Tartars in
Canton such a lesson.
Such was the information brought in after the
outrage of the 4th. The intemperate zeal of one of
the leaders in attacking our Marines gave timely
notice of the storm that was brewing against us in
Shek.tseng, and so it was wisely determined not to
waste our strength on outlying villages, but to
advance direct on this Gibraltar of the league, and
cut away the fountain of the evil.
The expedition thus planned was most success-
fully executed. On Saturday last, at 7 a.m., 1,700
picked men started from the north gate, while a
naval brigade of 400 men, under Capt. M'Cleverty,
R.N., went round in gunboats.
Had our people the pick of the entire year, they
could not have lighted on a more propitious day—
dry, cold, and bracing. You felt the buoyancy of
home as you marched over the Chinese paddy-fields
Two hours brought the troops to a village within
1,000 yards of Shek-tseng, and the gunboats to the
mouth of the river that runs by it, and then the
work began.
The enemy had got the range of this village and
the mouth of the river. They opened a well-directed
fire, and sustained it for a short time with very
great vigour. Of the first four shots they fired two
hullod the gunboats, while in the village the leaves
began to fall from the trees and the old walls to
tumble down in such a way as to warn those who
valued their safety to move forward as fast as pos-
sible, for within 800 yards of the place you were
much more secure than at 1,000 or 1,200.
The position of Shek-tseng looked no joke from
this village. There was the deep unfordable river
between us, while the beautiful bridge we wanted
to cross abutted on an island that growled upon us
with twelve well worked guns, while this island was
connected to our side of the water by a narrow
wooden causeway.
The attacking party consisted of 200 French on
the right, 150 Ist Royals in the centre, and the
same number of Royal Engineers on the left. All
these were thrown out in skirmishing order, and
supported by the Ist battalion of Royal Marines,
under Col. Lemon.
The rest of the troops formed a corps of reserve.
Three of our rocket tubes, with seven English and
one French howitzer, took up a position between the
skirmishers and opened a very telling fire. The
French, with their usual promptness, rushed for-
ward, determined to be first up, but as they at-
tempted to pass a little hamlet with a thick hedge
in front of it, they were met from behind the hedge
with w fire of gingals that wounded two of the party
and compelled them to retreat a little and gather
together to make a full sweep through the place.
The General, noticing this, ordered the 65th Bengal
Native Infantry up in support. Meantime the Ist
Royals and Engineers were advancing steadily, the
former making beautiful practice on the Chinese
gunners in the island (I noticed afterwards the side
stones of the embrasures dotted with the marks of
their bullets and trickling blood round more than
one of their guns), while the Engineers, up to their
knees in thick mud, worked on to the front and
reserved their fire for the final rush.
At this critical moment the naval brigade topped
the hill on the Shek-tseng side of the river. Cap-
tain M'Cleverty had made short work of the inner
side batteries, and arrived at the nick of time to
turn the position. The Chinese, who up to this time
behaved with great pluck, now fled for their lives.
In rushed the Engineers, followed by:Royals and
Royal Marines, and Shek-tseng lay at our mercy.
The place was full of munitions of war, even to
waterproof coats and hats for the Braves next
summer. So besotted were these people that they
utterly disbelieved in our power to take this town,
and though they had ample notice of our approach
the wives of the chief men remained in the place,
and were found all together in the women's quarter
of the town, utterly paralysed with terror.
Everything was done to save them from ill-
treatment. Guards were set to prevent any male
entering that part of the city, and when on leaving
we burnt the rest of the town, the General not
only spared that quarter, but humanely caused
several houses between to be gutted to prevent the
possibility of the fire extending.
The next day we made a march of some 20 miles
through ono of the richest and most beautiful
countries I ever passed over. The whole of it was
cultivated like a garden. A great part of our
road was arched over by trees that would race the
river, 300
noblest of our parks at home,