The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-07 00:00:00

Hereafter, if any lawless characters conceal themselves on
board foreign lorchas, you, the said Consul, shall of course
be informed of the same by declaration (from the Imperial
Commissioner), in order that you may act in conjunction
(with the Chinese authorities) in the management of such
affairs."

I should state to your Excellency that I hold such clear
and conclusive proofs of the facts which your Excellency
attempts to deny, namely, that the lorcha had the British
ensign flying when boarded, and had an Englishman on
board, that no doubt or question in respect thereto can for
a moment be admitted.

I should further state to your Excellency that British
interests alone are placed under my care or control, and
not those of other foreign nations. Whenever, therefore,
lawless characters conceal themselves on board a British
vessel, it will be very proper that reference should be made
to me in the manner stated by your Excellency, and that
I should co-operate with the local authorities on the mea-
sures necessary for their apprehension ; but in the case of
a vessel under any other but a British flag I cannot be
called upon to interfere.
But not only is it on all future occasions that this course
should be pursued; it mast also be adopted in the present
instance.

As to the offer of your Excellency to send back ten of
the Arrow's crew, it is my duty to represent to you that
twelve men having been carried away, the same twelve
men must ba returned, and in the manner previously de-
manded; that is, they should be taken by Chinese officers
to their vessel and given over to nae there. If but one of
their number be missing I cannot undertake to receive
them. But it is very far from my intention to give these
men, when they are surrendered to me, their liberty. I
shall receive them, but ought to detain them in safe cus-
tody until all the requirements of the treaty in their case
shall have been fulfilled.

To resume : my letters of the Bth and 12th October con-
tain, as I have often had occasion to state to your Excel-
lency, the satisfaction required in this case, namely, an
apology for what has occurred, an assurance that it shall not
be repeated, and the strict fulfilment of the provisions of the
treaty in the proceedings necessary to be taken with the
arrow's crew; and I should add, that if your Excellency
cannot assure me that these demands will be conceded, it is
in vain for yon to again address me on the subject.—l
have, Ac.

(Signed) HARRY S. PARKES, 11.8.51.'s Consul.
His Excellency Yeh, Imperial High Commissioner,
Governor-General, &c.

British Consulate, Canton, Oct. 22, 1856
Sir,—lt is with deep regret that I inform your Excel-
lency that the Imperial Commissioner and Viceroy of those
provinces, has been so ill-judged as to withhold up to this
hour the satisfaction demanded for the outrage committed
by his officers on the Arrow lorcha.
That your Excellency may know the form in which our
final demands were presented, I have the honour to enclose
copy of the representation containing these, which, as your
Excellent' is already aware, I was directed by her Maj3s-
ty's Plenipotsntiary to forward to the Imperial Commis-
sioner, allowing him twenty-fourhours for compliance, and
which I accordingly delivered to his Excellency yesterday
at six o'clock p.m.
I add two extracts from my letters to the Imperial Com-
missioner of the Bth and 12th, referred to in the above en-
closure, from whichyour Excellency will learn that the de-
mands authorised by her Majesty's Plenipotenr iary consist
of the surrender of the Arrow's men in the particular man-
ner therein described, an apology for what has occurred,
and an assurance that the British flag shall be respected in
future.

By way of complying with the demand for the above
assurance, the Imperial Commissioner wrote to me this
morning, " Hereafter, if any lawless characters conceal
themselves on board foreign lorchas, you, the said Consul,
shall of course be informed of the same by declaration
(from the Imperial Commissioner), in order that you may
act in conjunction (with the Chinese authorities) in the
management of such affairs."

This may, perhaps, be considered a sufficient assurance,
though tilt) word " British," in place of " foreign," should
have been used.

As to the surrender of the men. his Excellency offered
early this morning to give up 10 of them, but 1?, having
been seized, I declined to receive a smaller number. He then
forwarded the 12, but not in the manner required in my
letter of the Bth (see Enclosure No. 2), and demanded that
I should at once return two of them without any " proper
officer" being deputed to conduct with me the neces.ary
examination. I again declined to receive them on these
conditions, or in any other manner than that described in
my letter of the Bth, and the men were again taken awry.
Finally, no apology of any kind has been tendered.
Thus your Excellency will' see that, although the Impe-
rial Commissioner may be said to have yielded to one of
the three demands, there yet remains two which he has
not complied with, and it cannot therefore be maintained,
I submit, that he has offered the satisfaction which the
case requites. _ _ _

It appears to me, therefore, that I have no alternative
but to place the matter in the hands of your Excellency,
and as my letter to the Imperial Commissioner was circu-
lated among the British and foreign community of Canton
last evening, they are already apprised of the resort to farce
which the violation of treaty rights on the part of the Im-
perial Commissioner may at once occasion.—l have, &c.,
(Signed) HS. PARKES, H.B.M.'s Consul.
His Excellency Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour,
X. C. 8., Naval Commander-in-Chief, &c.,
Coromandel, off the Bruner Forts, Oct. 23, 1853.
Sir,—l have the satisfaction to inform your Excellency
that in furtherance of the decision come to in our confer-
ence on the morning of the 20 h inst., at which la. A.'s Con .4
anl at Canton was present, I have this day taken possession
of the four forts known as the Barrier Forts, without
casualty on our side, but with the loss of four or five killed
on the part of the Chinese, solely arising from their
ill-
judged resistance to our forces, two of the forts having
tired upon us, with guns in position and small arms.
After rendering the forts incapable of interfering with
our operations in the river, I shall proceed to Canton,
where I shall continue such further operations as circum-
stances may render necessary.—l have, &c.,
(STgaci) M. SEYMOUR.
His Excellency Sir John Bowring, LL.D., her
Majesty's Plenipotentiary, Hong Kong.

Superintendency of Trade, Hong Kong, Oct. 24, 1856.
Sir,—l have to acknowledge your Excellency's despatch
of yesterday, and to express my high satisfaction at the
prompt, able, and successful manner in which the naval
operations have been carried out, in accordance with the
arrangements made at oar conference of the 20th inst.
I cannot doubt that the Imperial Commissioner will
now feel the absolute necessity of complying with the
demands which have been made, and I have to add that
if your Excellency and the Consul should concur with me
in opinion, that the circumstances are auspicious for re-
quiring the fulfilment of treaty obligations, as regards the
city of Canton, and for arranging an official meeting with
the Imperial Commissioner, within the city walls. I shall
willingly come to Canton for that purpose, and request
you will kindly give me the means of conveyance thither.
—I have, Sm.,

(Signed) JOHN BOWRING.
His Excellency Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour,
K.C.E., Naval Commander-irs-Chief, Canton.

British Consulate, Canton, Oct. 23, 1856.
Sir,—l have to report to your Excellency the arrival at
this city of his Excellency the Naval Commander-in Chief,
and to inform you that the forces under his Excellency's
command him: this morning possessed themselves of the
Four Barrier Forts and the Delano Fort, and have com-
pletely dismantled and rendered them wholly unavailable
for offensive purposes.
_ However much he may regret this resort to force, which
your Excellency, by the violation of the treaty has c -
polled, his Excellency will proceed to the destruction of all
the defences and public buildings of this city and govern-
ment, unless you at once comply with every demand which
has been made.

Should these movements occasion or load to the destruc-
tion of ary British property, the British Government will
demand from that of China fall compensation for the same.
—I have, &c.,

(Signed) H. S. PARKES, Consul
His Excelleney Yeh, Imperial High Commissioner, Sc.,.

Yeh, Imperial High Commissioner, Governor-General of
the Two Kwang Provinces, &c., makes this declaration
to Mr. Parkes, the British Consul :
At five p.m. on the 23d inst. I received your statement
informing me that the Naval Commander-in-Chief of your
honourable nation had arrived with his forces at Canton,
having the same morning taken possession of the Barrier
Forts and Macao Fort, all of which had been completely
dismantled, and their ammunition destroyed.
I, the Minister, have been made aware of these circum-
stances before your communication reached me.
I find that the rules of propriety have hitherto been in-
variably observed by your honourable country in your
commercial intercourse with China.
Now, when the twelve men or criminals were seized on
board the lorcha on the Bth October, I at once deputed a
special officer to conduct their examination. He found that
nine of their number had committed an offence, and on the
10th instant they were returned by an officer to the lorcha;
but you, the Consul, declined to receive them. Early on
the morning of the 22d instant I forwarded to you, with a
declaration, Leang-Mingtae and Leang-Keenfoo, the two
criminals concerned in the case; the Woo-Agin, the wit-
ness, and the above-mentioned nine men—in all 12. The
same day at 12 o'clock, I received a t.tatement, in which
you made no allusion to this circumstance.
This lorcha was built by the Chinese Loo-A-ching. When
he was boarded by the Chinese soldiers, they were not
aware that she was a foreign lorcha ; she was anchored
near the Dutch Folly, and she was originally a Chinese
vessel.

It is an established regulation with the lorchas of your
honourable nation that when they come to anchor they
lower their colours, anddo not rehoist them until they again
get under weigh; we have clear proof that when the lorcha
was boarded her colours were not flying. How then could
they have been taken down ? Who could have incited you,
the said consul, to attack, on the morning of the 23d • t IrIS
the Barrier Fprts, burniac, the forts, and wounding or kill-
ing six of the Chinese soldiers ; and again on the 24th
inst., to attack and burn the Macao Passage Fort, when 3
of our soldiers received contusions. It was because I, the
minister, am at peace with your honourable nation that
the soldiers in no instance offered resistance ; but if you,
the said consul should of your own will again n sort to
violence, and occasion trouble among the people of thin
city, who will not submit to such proceedings, then I, the
minister, shall find it difficult to employ persuasion on your
account. I therefore inform you of this beforehand.
Furthermore, your honourable nation has hitherto re-
verenced the spirits of heaven and the Sabbath-day, and
justice and propriety are-held by yon in esteem;bu
tdoe
the destruction of forts correspond with such professions?
Yon, the said Consul, should well consider this.
24th October, 1856, 7 p.m.
True translation.

(Signed) aS. PARKES, Consul.

Encounter, at Canton, Oct. 25, '856.
Sir,—l have the honour to inform your Excellency of
my proceedings since toy letter of the 23d instant.
After rendering the guns in the forts which I had taken
possession of useless, I set Sre to the buildings, and then
proceeded to Canton, where I found the Encounter lvi .g
cff the factories." I had sent the Sampson and Barracoota
' to secure the free navigation of the Blenheim [teach, and
on myarrival I found that those ships had taken possession
of the Blenheim and Macao Forts without resistance ; the
latter I retain temporary possession of.
Yesterday morning I proceeded down the Macao Reach,
where I met the Barracouta; and at a given signal, the
fort opposite the factory and the Bird's Nest Fort were
taken quiet possession of, as were afterwards the two forts
c,lled (I think) Cha-min, commanding the passage. The
guns were rendered unserviceable.—l have, &c.,
(Signed) M. ..:ET/iiol3ll,
Rear-Admiral and Commander-in Chief.
His Excellency Sir John Bowring, LL.D., her
- Majesty's Plenipotentiary, Hong Kong.

Encounter, at Canton, Oct. 26, 1856.
Sir,—l beg to acquaint your Excellency that my ,pro.