The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-14 00:00:00

CHIN A.

From the China Mail of Nov. 1 we extract the
following :
" The state of affairs in China and Japan during
the past fortnight has not been of a very pleasing
nature. From the latter country indeed we have
very little news of any kind, and everything like
active diplomacy seems to have been effectually
quenched by that attack upon the embassy in which
Mr. Oliphant was wounded. Yo'auharna seems to be,
at present, the headquarters of our Minister, and
the various confederated Ambassadors from Europe
are understood to be waiting instructions from their
respective Governments, who in their turn will most
probably act in concert, and treat the question of
Japanese relations as one of common interest. The
United States Minister may perhaps consider that
his country has not sufficient leisure, in the present
emergency, to bestow attention upon foreign affairs,
but, in any case, his position will never be worse
than that of his colleagues. We cannot but hope
that the various Governments at home will give
their most serious attention to the few points of
real difficulty that this matter presents.
" All was well with the legations at Pekin by the
last accounts that were received. In a letter to the
Chamber of Commerce at Shanghae, Mr. Bruce
speaks of a time when he shall have acquired in-
fluence with the Chinese Government, and he pro-
mises to use that influence in favour of British trade.
He has already obtained the withdrawal of many
new trading regulations, which were imposed, con-
trary alike to the spirit and letter of the last treaty,
as well as the rectification of some native regula-
tions that were acting most injuriously to foreign
trade, although their existence was no breach of any
clause in the recent treaty ; and, altogether, it is
beginning to appear that our having a Minister in
Pekin is a boon that cannot be too highly estimated.
From Chefoo, one of the three northern ports, we
have letters up to Oct. 15. Our correspondent arrived
at that port on the morning of the 7th ult., when he
found all the available forces landed and holding the
place against rebels, the inhabitants being all in a
most excited state. On the Bth the French admiral,
who had arrived in his despatch boat, the Feiloong,
on the previous day, landed and took charge just in
time to save the place, not from rebels, but from
junkmen who had landed to protect the hongs, but
eventually took to looting, and would certainly
have destroyed the place but for a small force of
sailors, who cleared them out in an hour, killing 8
and wounding as many more. Next day the rebels
appeared in force on the summit of the hills to the
westward, and their advanced guard proceeded to set
fire to some villages about two miles off. The gun-
boats Insolent and Drake were lying off Chefoo at this
time, and one of them fired three shells into the rebels
with such precision as to induce the entire host to de-
camp, leaving 8 killed by tie explosion of the shells.
During the next three days our correspondent says
the scene was truly heart-rending ; thousands of
men, women, and children, rushing in a frantic
manner to the beach, to embark on board the nume-
rous junks lying in the bay, and not fit to hold one-
half of those who sought shelter. The Admiral then
despatched the Feiloong to Taku for forces, and she
returned on the 12th with 150 infantry, and towing
a small gunboat. On the 14th the whole force at the
Admiral's disposal—about 500 men—went out some
10 miles westward, but only saw the destruction
that had been made. The rebels had gone eastward,
giving up everything to fire and sword. The scene of
their recent visit is said to be frightful beyond de-
scription. Their object is extermination, but they
indulge in the most atrocious cruelty wherever
they are victors. The most unhappy part of
the story remains to be told. It appears that tw•
American missionaries had, at an early stage of the
proceedings, gone away in the direction of the rebels,
either to urge clemency, as some suppose, or to see
after the safety of a gentleman, brother of one of the
missionaries, who was expected to arrive about that
time from Tien-tsin, whence he was travelling over-
land. He did arrive safely, but only to find that his
brother and brother's friend had been cruelly put to
death by the rebels. The bodies were brought in on
the 16th, and they bore undoubted marks of tor-
ture. The unfortunate men were Messrs. Parker
and Holmes, and the unhappy widow of one of
them was at Cheefoo when the tragedy occurred.
When it was reported that the two missionaries had
been slain, a volunteer force of seven civilians of the
PrussianEuvoy's suite with five officers and 20 men
of the Prussian war frigate, proposed to go and re
cover the bodies; but the French admiral forbade
it, as a breach of neutrality. Afterwards, when
the gentlemen from Tien- tsin arrived, and reported
tho road clear, the admiral went along the same
road in search of the rebels—at least so the report
reaches us; he must have gone simply to witness
the devastation they had made.