The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-14 00:00:00

CHINA.

OFFICIAL DESPATCHES.
(From a Supplement to the Gazette of Friday.)

Foreign-office, Jan. 12.

The following despatches and enclosures were re-
ceived this day from the Earl of Elgin, her MPjesty's
High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary in China:

Pekin, Nov. 4, 1860.

My Lord,—l have the honour to inform your
lordship that Priece Kung paid me a visit on the
2d inst. at the palace where lam residing. He
came with a considerable following of mandarins,
and I received him with the honours due to his
rank. On the day succeeding I returned his visit.
On both occasions we had a good deal of conversa-

tion, and he repeatedly admitted the advantages
which would accrue from the more direct inter-
course between foreign Ministers and the Govern-
ment of Pekin, which will take place under the new
treaties.—l have, &c.,

ELGIN AND KINCARDINE.
The Lord John Russell, &c.

Tien-tsin, Nov. 13, 1860.
My Lord,—l have the honour to enclose herewith

ranslation of a despatch which I received from the

Prince of Kung, on the 2d of this month, embody-
ing an edict from the Emperor, which directs that
the treaty of Tien-tsin of the year 1858, and the

convention of Pekin of the year 1860, shall be pub-

lished throughout the empire. Your lordship may
remember that by the terms of the last article of the
convention in question, the withdrawal of her Ma-

lesty's forces from Pekin is made contingent, inter

alia, on the issue of an Imperial edict to the above
effect, and that this stipulation was the subject of a
correspondence between Lieut.-Gen. Sir Hope Grant
and me, the copy of which was transmitted to your
lordship in my despatch of the 31st ult. The lan-
guage of the edict forwarded to me by the Prince of
Kung is very full and satisfactory. It amounts to a
ratification and adoption by the Emperor of the
treaty and convention in the most public form. I
must add that the Prince has shown every disposi-
tion to give effect to it. The documents referred to

have not only been published in extenso in the Pekin
Gazette, but have also been printed on placards and

posted about the city in all conspicuous places.
These proceedings will, it may be hoped, go far to
ensure the faithful execution of their provisions.
The despatch in which the Prince communicated
to me this edict was preceded by another in which

he enclosed, and requested me to forward, letters

respecting the cession of the Kowloon peninsula,
the payments due at Canton on the Ist December
next, and the legalisation of emigration, which had
been addressed by him to the local functionaries,
whose duty it will be to see these measures carried
out. A translation of that despatch is also trans-
mitted herewith.

On the 7th inst. Mr. Bruce reached Pekin, hav-
ing hastened up from Shanghae, in compliance
with my request. His arrival was most opportune,
as it was very important that before my departure
from the capital I should be able to confer with
him on various matters, and more especially on the
subject of the place of residence for the future of
her Majesty's representative in China. Mr. Bruce
informed mo that he was perfectly willing to take
up his abode in Pekin at once. On consultation
with Baron Gros and General Ignatieff, however,
I found that the latter was about to leave Pekin for
the winter, and that the former was of opinion that
it would not be advisable that M. de Bourbollon
should establish himself in the capital until the
spring. I considered it, therefore, to be my duty
_ _

to advise Mr. Bruce to return with me, for the pre-
sent to Tien-tsin, and to remain there until a suit-
able residence should be provided for him in the
capital. In order, however, that there might be
no misapprehension on the part • of the Chinese
Government in reference to this, we selected a
house which we thought might be adapted to the
purpose, and which was procurable on easy terms,
and we accepted the services of Mr. Adkins, one of
the student interpreters, a very promising young
man, who volunteered to remain at Pekin, and to
superintend the arrangements necessary for putting
it in order. I think it right to mention that Mr.
Wade, Mr. Parkes, and Mr. Morrison, severally
intimated to me their readiness to stay a Pekin, if
I thought that the public interest would be pro-
moted by their doing so.
Having taken these measures I wrote to Prince
Kung to express to him my sense of the good faith
which he had evinced in the matter of the publica-
tion of the treaty, • and to inform him that her
Majesty's forces would at once retire to Ti en-tsin.
I added that I proposed to pay him a visit, with
the view of taking leave of him, and that I should
bring with me Mr. Bruce, who had just arrived at '
Pekin. I enclose a copy of the lever which I
addressed to the Prince on these subjects, and of
his reply.
In introducing Mr. Bruce to the Prince of Kung
on this occasion I was especially desirous to convey
to the latter the impres3ion that the rank and
authority of the former was in no degree inferior
to mine. Accordingly when the visit which I had
offered in my letter took place, after conversing for
some time very amicably with the Prince, I
requested the interpreters to inform him that with
us the person representing the Sovereign always
holds the highest rank; that peace being happily
concluded between the countries, my task was at an
end ; that Mr. Bruce therefore resumed his functions