The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-02 00:00:00

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replan 4D. STAMPED JD•

represent the feelings of the respectable inhabitants of
Canton, nor is any tangible obstacle alleged to it by
these except the impracticability of the Commissioner
himself, who has laboured to associate the people with
him, by representing the English as in league with
rebels and outlaws, and has pushed his hostility to the
ferocious length of proclaiming rewards for the lives of
English subjects without distinction.
"His Excellency is determined that his demand shall
be conceded ; but the community must be well aware
that any course his Excellency may now contemplate
would be compromised by publicity. lie Excellency
therefore confines himself to stating that he sees 113 im•
mediate prospect of a restoration of quiet.
" The security of the foreign position will be as well
cared for as heretofore. The nature and object of any
measures now to be resorted to his Excellency deems it
advisable to keep to himself.
(Signed) • " HARRY S. PARKES,
Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Canton.
" To theßritish Community at Canton."

(Traualated from the Chinese.)
Notification of Mr. Parke; H.B.M. Consul at Canton,
_

issued by order : for the removal of misconceptions, by
declaration of the truth, to the end that confidence may
be restored to the public mind.
In every discussion there is a position which is the cor-
rect one; nor can a just conclusion upon the merits of any
question be arrived at until the arguments on both sides
shall have been heard..

The Governor-General, Yeh, has been at great pains,
ever since the approval of the British forces under com-
mand of the Admiral, H. E. Sir M. Seymour, to inflame
the public mind by the circulation of unfounded state-
ments on the subject ; and it is to counteract;the evil effect
but too probably to be apprehended from these, that
H. B. M. Plenipotentiary has instructed the Consul to
issue a notification of the plain truth to the gentry and
people of the city and suburbs of Canton.
At Hong Kong, being a British colony, it is competent
for the owner of any vessel, of any country, when he shall
have obtained the requisite security, to make application,
through the proper official channels, to the supreme autho-
rity for a Colonial Register. Under this the vessel hoists
a British ensign, and the register once issued she is re-
garded in all respects as a British vessel, while those ou
board her become alike responsible to Eritish control, and
entitled to British protection. The conditions of this
colonial registration were communicated some months ago
to the Governor-General by the Minister Plenipotentiary,
who is also Governor of the Colony, and a translation of
the Colonial Ordinance was enclosed to him in his Excel-
lency's despatch.
Meanwhile, the lorcha Arrow, a vessel duly registered
as above, having come up to Canton in the earlier part of
October, information, it appears, was given to the autho-
rities by a person who had been robbed by pirates at sea,
that one of the delinquents was serving as a sailor on board
the lorcha. Now by the treaty between England and
China, all authority over British vessels at any of the Five
Ports is vested in the consuls. The proper course, there-
fore, if any question had been raised against the loreha,
as she was flying British colours in the port of Cantou—
being one of the five—would have been to call on the Bri-
tish Consul to inquire into'the case and take the necessary
steps. Without any reference, however, to the Consul, a
party of the local marine boarded tl.e vessel, tore down her
ensign, seized twelve men who were on board, and carried
them into the city.
The Consul, of course, as soon as he became aware of
this violation of his jurisdiction, reported it to his supe-
rior, H. M. Plenipotentiary. He at the same time made
his complaint to H. E. Yeh, as Imperial Commissioner,
accompanying hie statement of the facts by a request that
H. E. would cause the seamen who had been carried off
from the vessel to be restored to her publicly, in order
that the atonement might be made for the affront that had
been offered tb his authority as Consul. He added, that if
it were still desirable to examine the parties, he was pre-
pared to conduct an inquiry with any officer of his own
rank, who might be deputed for that purpose.
The Governor-General replied that the lorcha was not
a foreign vessel. He sent back some of the men, but nine
of the twelve that had been taken ; but these the Consul
did not think it right to receive; and, under the instruc-
tion of the Plenipotentiary, he now demanded, besides
restoration of the whole number, a letter of apology for
their seizure, and assurance that nothing of the kind should
occur again—to be given within forty-eight hours. The
Plenipotentiary himself wrote to the Commissioner, on
the 12th October, to the same effect, adding that, unless
the required satisfaction were accorded within the period
assigned, it would be left to the Naval Commander-in-
Chief to exact it. This letter reached Canton on the 15th
of October, but was left without answer for eight days. ,
H. E. Yeh then sent a reply, in which he repeated what
he had already said to the Consul. To the requisition
made by the latter he paid no more attention than before.
H. E. the Admiral, unwilling to resort to force without
due deliberation, waited fram one day to another, until the
21st of Oct., when the Consul, under farther instruction
from the Plenipotentiary, addressed a last letter to the
Imperial Commissioner. He was now told that unless he
conceded what had been asked for by six o'clock in the
evening of tho following day, the naval forces would act.
At noon of the following day, an officer of low rank was
sent with the 12 seamen to the Consulate, with a message
from his Excellency Yeh, that two of them were criminals,
and must be sent back to him immediaiely.
The Consul, in reply, put in the hands of the officer sent
two extracts from his letters befOre referred to, reciting
the substadte of his requisition, and the form in which it
was to be complied with ; namely, that the men publicly
-ristelTved.from the ;vessel should be as publie.W.'restored to
her, and that a letter of apology should be written. At
eight in the evening came another despatch from his Ex-
cellency Yeh, requesting the Consul to inform him why his
despatch of the morning had not been acknowledged.
It being thus apparent that farther protraction of the cor-
respondence would be of no advantage to the settlement of
the question at issue, there remained no alternative but to
place the matter in the hands of the Admiral. His Excl.
lency, unwilling to inflict unnecessary injury upon the in-
habitants, confined himself in the first instance to the cap-
ture of some of the forts along the river ; this done, he
directed the Consul to warn the Governor-General that if ho
persisted in refusing to listen to us more serious proceedings
would be rendered inevitable. The Governor-General pro-
posing nothing, the Admiral proceeded to possess himself of
the remaining forts along the Canton serer. He then
reached the city wall, and blew up the Tsing Hai gate.
Now, his Excellency has been brought to this point by no
intention of his own; he has been simply driven onward by
the determined obstinacy and extreme discourtesy of the
Governor-General. The original claim advanced was, com-
paratively speaking, of no great magnitude. Leas could not
have been demanded than the formal rendition of a crew
unauthorisedly seized without reference to the consul. To
the high official of a nation with whom the rule and prac-
tice of what is due from man to man are so important a
consideration, what could have been so easy as to acknow-
ledge an error committed, and to give assurance that none
such should be repeated.
How widely different a course was pursued ! For several
years past, the high authorities at Canton have entrenched
themselves in inaccessibility to foreign officials, pleading al-
ways that the people are opposed to the admission of foreign.
ers within their walls. It has hence resulted that discus-
sions, which might have been disposed of in a single inter-
view, have endured thrpugh months of correspondence,
and this, too, without any satisfactory result. The present
case commences with an insult to our flag, that is to say,
an affront is put upon our dignity as a State; this is fol-
lowed by the unauthorised seizure of sailors subject to the
British control and protection ; we complain, and our as-
sertions are contradicted ; no attention is paid to our ap-
plication, once and again, for reasonable redress ; we are
' eanstrained to threaten force, and our menaces are simi-
larly disregarded ; and at last, after repeated delays, we
make some demonstration of our power, and the Governor-
'General Yeh, forgetting that our act is the consequence of
his own obstinacy and discourtesy, proclaims to the people
that we are in league with the rebels, and set a price on
our heads.
Would barbarism and ignorance have gone the length of
such a declaration ? Will the people of China, knowing and
practising the duty of man to man, believe the fact when it
is told them To conclude. This quarrel is not with the
people ; out proceedings have not originated in anything
done by the people. They have been caused by the obsti-
nacy and discourtesy of the chief authority, and for any
calamity that may result from them, the chief authority is
singly responsible. There is but one means of escaper from
it, and this is in the hand of the chief authority, who, if
ho lose no time in meeting our high authorities, will be en-
abled, by arranging matters on a satisfactory footing with
them, to put an end to the existing peril, and to prevent
the recurrence of like misfortune in the time to come.

Think how completely at our mercy are the lives and
property of the entire population of the city ; and with
what facility, in one moment of time, we could effect their
utter destruction—a terrible contingency. You aro told
this in no spirit of boasting ; the power of our nation is
too well known to require that we should indulge in self-
glorification ; but simply because we have no wish to see a
long continuance of these hostilities, so cruel to the feelings
of the people, and so injurious to their interests.