and valuable to me, and in case of its not forthcoming, I beg you to claim 100 dollars, and a silk umbrella valued 3 dollars.

I have also to beg your assistance to have the four Chinese head ringleaders arrested and secured, and handed over to the authorities to undergo their trial and punishment, for the most unwarrantable, atrocious, and shameful acts committed in a broad daylight, and on a public highway. And I beg, in addition to this, to make a claim, through your kind assistance, a sum of 10,000 dollars from the parties that have taken the law into their hands, and so shamefully discredited and treated me, as compensation for the wrong done to my credit, person, and character, thereby causing great injury to my present and future prospects in China and elsewhere, and driven me to the utmost shameful position in life amongst my other foreign and Chinese acquaintances and dealers, with whom I have a good deal of business, either directly and indirectly.

And the last thing I have to beg of you is, to persuade and compel the Chinese authorities to give you an indemnity of a large amount, say 25,000 dollars, binding themselves and their subjects interested in my present affairs, to keep peace for a length of time, which I leave to your own judgment to name: if not, I suspect I shall very often be put to such unpleasant and dangerous circumstances, to the annoyance of the whole foreign community in Canton, and injury and consequences thereof, and especially I could not be considered safe out of doors, but what my life will be in danger.

I am, &c.

No. 87.

(Signed)

S. A. SETH.

Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Received September 18.)

(Extract.)

Shanghae, July 6, 1854.

MR. ACTING CONSUL ELMSLIE has sent me the copy of a despatch addressed to Mr. Under-Secretary Hammond, dated the 19th ultimo, on the subject of violence committed on the person of Mr. Seth, a native of British India.

Mr. Elmslie does not inform me whether he proposes to take any, and what, ulterior measures in reference to this case, should the mandarins refuse to listen to his proposal of making a money compensation to Mr. Seth; and I send to your Lordship copy of my letter to Mr. Elmslie, recommending much caution in his proceedings.

Inclosure in No. 87.

Sir J. Bowring to Acting Consul Elmslie.

Shanghae, July 6, 1854.

Sir, I HAVE received your despatch dated 23rd June, in which you inform me that you have communicated directly with the Under-Secretary of State on the subject of an outrage committed on the person of Mr. Seth; and you send me copy of your communication, and of Mr. Seth's letter to yourself, in which he puts forward a claim of 10,000 dollars "from the parties that have taken the law into their own hands," and requests you will "persuade and compel" the Chinese authorities to give you an indemnity of 25,000 dollars to "keep the peace."

You do not state what course you intend to pursue should the mandarins refuse to make a money-compensation to Mr. Seth, but I doubt not you will hav felt the necessity of much caution.

It appears pretty clear that Mr. Seth got hold of 1,000 dollars from a China man, which he did not return to him when he had failed to perform the contrac for which the money was paid.

The contract was in itself an illegal one; and, though Her Majesty's subjects

are entitled to every protection while engaged in the prosecution of their lawful business, when honourably conducted, the amount and the character of our interference must be influenced by a consideration of the whole of the attendant circumstances.

I am happy to observe, by your despatch of June 27, that the general state of Canton is satisfactory.

I have, &c.

MR. ELMSLIE'S report respecting the violence committed at Canton on the person of Mr. Seth reached me some weeks ago; and I have now to acquaint you that I approve of the instruction which you gave to Mr. Elmslie on that matter, and of which a copy is inclosed in your despatch of the 6th of July.

I am, &c. (Signed)

CLARENDON.

(Extract.)

No. 89.

Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Received August 30.)

Hong Kong, July 3, 1856.

I HAVE the honour to inclose copy of a despatch I have received from Mr. Consul Parkes, dated Canton, July 2, on the subject of an incendiary placard which has been circulated in that city; and conveying copy of a communication Mr. Parkes had made to the Imperial Commissioner.

As your Lordship will perceive by my reply, I have approved of Mr. Parkes' conduct in this matter.

Sir,

Inclosure 1 in No. 89.

Consul Parkes to Sir J. Bowring.

Canton, July 2, 1856.

I HAVE the honour to report to your Excellency that, shortly after my arrival here, I heard of rumours being current among the Chinese that the foreigners had again demanded entrance into the city of Canton, and that preparations were being made at Hong Kong to enforce this demand, in the event of the Governor-General refusing to admit it.

From the universality of these rumours, and other circumstances, there appeared grounds for the supposition that they had been spread abroad, in the first instance, through the instrumentality of the authorities; probably with the view of strengthening the latter in the sympathies of the people at a time when they seem to stand in need of their pecuniary and moral support.

Some talk was heard as to enrolling volunteer corps, similar to those assembled in 1849, when it was understood that the British Government intended to assert the right of entry, and foreigners passing through the streets were taunted with the futility of all their attempts, present or future, to secure the desired right.

The excitement this awakened, which had at no time assumed a serious aspect, appeared, however, to be subsiding, when, the day before yesterday, it came to my knowledge that a printed paper, menacing foreigners with death if they continued to extend their excursions into the country, was extensively circulated in the city and suburbs; and, after satisfying myself, by inquiries in various directions, that such was the case, I thought I could not omit to bring it to the notice of the Imperial Commissioner. I therefore addressed him the inclosed letter, giving cover to one of these obnoxious documents, copy of which I now forward to your Excellency.

I did not think it necessary to make any allusion to the excursions therein declaimed against, as the right of foreigners to the enjoyment of this freedom should not admit of question, and has been safely and temperately exercised, without let or hindrance, for some time past; and, from all I can glean on the subject, I am led to believe that this public expression of hostility proceeds rather from the Government than the people, and is chiefly to be deprecated as tending to awaken old feelings of animosity, which the lapse of time and the altered circumstances of the country appeared to have, in a great measure, allayed.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

HARRY S. PARKES.

Inclosure 2 in No. 89.

Hand-Bill.

(Translation.)

THE absence of interruption to the peace of the country is of the same vital importance, in our opinion, as the maintenance of regularity in the avocations of its inhabitants. We now call public attention to the fact, that in the province of Canton, from the earliest to the present times, barbarians have never been allowed to go into the villages. Recently, however, a set of unprincipled vagabonds have been met with, who, without any fear of shame or exposure, carry on a secret intercourse with the barbarian dogs, and combine with them in a number of ways for working out their crafty schemes. Night and day we see them entering the villages, and occasioning so much trouble by their irregularities, that gods and men must unite in detestation of their practices. To judge of the extent of the evil to which our provincial metropolis is thus exposed, we have only to look to Shanghae and Hong Kong, and take note of the iniquities that are there committed.

Hereafter, therefore, whenever any barbarian dogs come within our limits, we ought, by calling together our families, to maintain the dignity of our city (or province), and, bravely rushing upon them, kill every one. Thus may we, in the first place, appease the anger of Heaven, in the second give evidence of our loyalty and patriotism, and in the third restore peace and quiet to our homes. How great would be the happiness we should thus secure!

Inclosure 3 in No. 89.

Consul Parkes to the Imperial Commissioner.

Canton, July 1, 1856.

I HAVE learned that a printed paper in the form of a hand-bill, containing menacing language against foreigners in general, has been extensively circulated during the last few days, in the streets of this city. A vulgar vaunt of this description can only be viewed with utter contempt by the parties against whom it is directed, but the local authorities cannot mark too strongly their disapproval of behaviour so extremely lawless, since it is calculated, by exciting the minds of the ill-disposed, to provoke a collision on some future occasion.

I consider it my duty, therefore, to bring this paper, copy of which I beg to

forward herewith, to the notice of your Excellency, and to request that the subordinate authorities may receive from your Excellency directions to put a stop to this flagrant offence; such a course being requisite to preserve, in the first place, the reputation of the Chinese Government, to avert from it, in the second place, the danger that might otherwise ensue, and, in the third place, to enable the local authorities to acquit themselves of the responsibilities and the duties of their position. I have, &c. (Signed)

HARRY S. PARKES.

Inclosure 4 in No. 89.

Sir,

Sir J. Bowring to Consul Parkes.

Hong Kong, July 3, 1856.

I HAVE received your despatch dated yesterday, bringing me copy of an anonymous incendiary placard, which has been circulated in the streets of Canton, menacing the lives of foreigners who may visit the neighbouring villages.

I quite approve of the communication you have made in consequence to the Imperial Commissioner, and wait with some anxiety his reply, in order to determine whether it is desirable I should make any representation or take any further measures in this matter.

It would be important, if possible, to ascertain with whom the offensive document originated, and by what agency it has been circulated.

My Lord,

Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon.—(Received August 30.)

Hong Kong, July 8, 1856. REFERRING to my despatch dated 3rd instant, I have now to forward a further communication from Mr. Consul Parkes, containing evidence of the ill-will which has been excited among the vagabond Cantonese by the publication of the incendiary placard to which my despatch referred. I approve of the energetic remonstrance of Mr. Parkes to the Imperial Commissioner, and am glad to learn that the local magistrate is instituting an inquiry for the purpose of discovering who attacked Messrs. Johnson and Whittall.

I have, &c.

I HAVE the honour to state in reply to your Excellency's despatch of the 3rd instant, that careful and protracted inquiry brings me little additional information respecting the authorship of the late placard. It has been suggested to me by several Chinese, that it may have emanated from a commission of the gentry, elected among themselves, with the approval of the Government, for the enrolment and drill of volunteer corps. Other grounds, I think, exist for supposing it to have proceeded from the inhabitants of the Great West street, the route usually taken by foreigners on their riding excursions to the back of the city. To these excursions the people of this quarter are said to object, and it

would only be following a native mode of proceeding for them to give expression to their objections or their threats in the names of other persons, or to incite the inhabitants of the villages to which these excursions are taken to join them in their schemes of hostility.

If it did not originate with the Government, as is also not uncommonly believed, the local authorities appear to have taken no steps for the suppression of this inflammatory placard, or the attendant excitement; but at present I do not anticipate any more serious results than what have already occurred. I regret to report to your Excellency that the ill-will of the people has manifested itself in an attack on two English gentlemen, particulars of which are given in the accompanying affidavit of the parties assailed. The affray, I should observe, took place in the quarter of the town above-mentioned, and though neither of the gentlemen sustained injury, I thought the outrage, viewed in connection with previous circumstances, called for no milder tone of remonstrance than that which I adopted in the inclosed letter to the Imperial Commissioner.

I have, &c.

FRANCIS BULKELEY JOHNSON, duly sworn, states:

On the afternoon of the 2nd instant I was riding out with Mr. James Whittall. We went a little way beyond Sam-yuen-lee. We met with no molestation going, but on our return, as we were riding down the Long Street, which is a continuation of Curiosity Street (Te-sze-poo), and, as it was getting rather dark, we observed the people much more uncivil than they usually have been of late. When we were a little on this side of the West Gate, I was struck with a stone, on the back. The stone was held by the man, in his hand, and only dropped after the blow was given. I turned round sharp on the man, but he ran away, up a street or lane, and disappeared, so that I could not get hold of him. During the rest of our ride we were hooted at, and pelted with stones and bricks, at various times, until we arrived at the factories. We were riding slowly, at a walking pace. We injured no one during the ride, and gave no offence to any one.

1856.

(Signed)

F. B. JOHNSON.

Sworn before me, at the British Consulate, Canton, this 4th day of July,

(Signed)

CHARLES A. WINCHESTER, Vice-Consul.

JAMES WHITTALL, duly sworn, states:

I was riding out with Mr. F. B. Johnson; when on this side of the West Gate he said to me, "I have been struck with a stone." I was riding first.

I had previously noticed a good deal of ill-feeling on the part of the people. While I was speaking to Mr. Johnson about what had occurred, a second brick was flung at me, which fell in front of my pony. As we continued our ride home, several more stones were flung at us, and the people hooted and cried at us. We were riding quite inoffensively, at a walking pace, and troubled no one. (Signed) JAS. WHITTALL.

1856.

Sworn before me, at the British Consulate, Canton, this 4th day of July,

(Signed)

CHARLES A. WINCHESTER, Vice-Consul.