Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1857-1858, 1857-01-26
From tn. London Pos,of Dec. st.l

AdVlces from AleAandra rehueF IL poeslOse
to.obtain q complete aud connected view OF
the recent occur noes a. Cdn,On.
Il lras more than once been mentioned By
our correspi nieDt at Hong Kong that the in
terconrse between he British authorities and
the Governor Of Canton has for some lime
been embarrassed with growing difficulties,
the results Of the unred esSed grievances OF
British merchants. On the S,h of October,
Chinese authorities con animated their career
of arbitrary violence by seizing lorclla un-
der i -ti>li cOlors, and making prisoners I
the crew. Il is stated on good authority that
they cut off the heads of four OF the crew.
Tie consul, Mr. Parkes, the British agent or
the spot. proceeded first on board the lcrcfa,
and afterwards sndeavured TO obtain sn inter
view with tie mardarins. On board the ior-
ella he was mennced, and the mandarins refu'-
ed to give any explanation of the proceeding.
The consul Immediately despatched intelli
gence of these events 10 Sir John Bowrlng &C
Hong Kong, and also To SIR Michael Seymour,
who was Oh the spot, and reprlsals were com
menceA in mild form by the sc znre Of a
mandarin junk. which Commodore the Ho' .
@. g. J. B Elliot, of the Sybille, took anI
sent to Hong Kong. Meanwhile the consul
sent IL strong demonstration to Yeh, the gov
erGor of the city, Ia which no answer was re
turned. Finding all his efforts vain, Consul
Parkes renowned further attempts at recon-
Citation, aud a naval force soon appeared on
the scene.
Ga the 18th of October Sir Michael Seymour
despatched from Hong Kong the screw cor
vette Encounter, IL guns, and the steam Shop
Sampson, Z, for WiIaimFoa in tie first instance,
with large force of marines and blue jackets;
81 Loo, Harraccu.a f,llnwaI vii l.,
farther detacllnents. Admiral Seymour him.
self then proceeded to Canton, and undertook
the direction of the operations. The British
and other traders were officially warned of the
posture of affairs, and commercial transactions,
which for week before had been little more
than nominal, were suspended.
The river in front of Canton is rather b ,,o
er than the Thames AT London Bridge, bat
depth of water does not exceed two lhoTns,
while the narrow passages, by which access Is
gained to il on the eastern side of the Island
of Whampoa, have depth not exceeding a
! fahom and half The city is externally
guarded BY five forts, of which two are on 81 e
! land side and two on Pearl river. These were
attacked and taken by our countrymen, on the
| oath of October. An attempt was then made
| bv Admiral Seymour to terminate The Difficult
| ~ without further hostilijies, bnt the Chinese
/ Governor would neither give satisfaction nor
! grant an interview to the British commander.
| Admiral Seymour then determined to at
tack the city itself. A wall, composed partly
of sandstone and partly of brick, surrounds
| Canton it is about 80 feet high aud 20 feet
! thick, and Is mounted with cannon. Against
| this wall fire was opened on the 9th Octo
| Ter. and by ihe 29th practical breach had
| been opened, through which the troops enter
| ed. TIE Governors palHce, situate in the
southwest part Of the new city, was gained,
| bGt appears not to have proved apps ton worth
| holding, for the troops were Withdrawn IN the
evening, with a loss of only three killed aud
! twelve wounded.
A further attempt which was now made to
negotiate proved vain, and it was then resolv-
cd to attack the Old, innerIor Mantchuu portion
of the cItv, divided from the Southern by a
high, massive stone wall, ard containing the
garrison OF Canton. This part of the city was
| bumbarded on the 81 and 4th of November
on the Ga the Barracuda destroyed twenty =
three war iunks. Another interval Of refleo
ton was then granted 10 the Chinese Gov
eruor, but at the date of the last accounts
from Canton which had reached Hong Kong
no signs of an accommodation were discern
ible
The Imperial garrison of Canton was 10 q
very weakened state. The Governor had
raised the pay of common soldiers from six to
eight dollars a month. kaweilian-foo the
capital OF the adjoining province Of Kwang,i,
was closely invested by the insurgents, who, it
was thought, would probably attack the Mau-
tchon Governor as soon as his new embarrass-
mcuts became known.
Our fleet OF war ships in the Chinese seas is
at this pa ticular time large, consisting Of ten
sliips and three steamers.
The Daily News says thescrew corvette, En-.
counter, aud the steam sloops Sampson and
barracuda were engaged in the naval attack
on Canton.
The Times, in a leader, says that in a city
IhIckly populated rs Canton, the loss of lives
from a bombardnent muss have been ener-
nous. Assuming the collision to be inevitable,
s,oppage Of commerce AT this moment is pecu'
ljarly uufortunate. The failure of the silk in
southern Europe rendered the Chinese export
espt claliy valuable, and any thing which tends
To raise HE price al tea Is matter OF imports
ance To every family. Canton Is the third port
in rank for the export OF tea.