No. 95.

The Earl of Clarendon to Sir J. Bowring.

Sir, Foreign Office, September 29, 1856. WITH reference to your despatch of the 19th of July last, I transmit to you, herewith, for your information, a copy of a despatch from Her Majesty's Ambassador in Paris, stating that the French Government are determined to exact ample reparation for the murder of M. Chapdelaine, a French missionary in China.

(Signed)

I am, &c.

CLARENDON.

(Extract.)

Inclosure in No. 95.

Lord Cowley to the Earl of Clarendon.

Paris, September 28, 1856.

IN the course of conversation, yesterday, Count Walewski alluded to the murder of a French missionary in China. He said that the French Chargé d'Affaires in China had stated his intention of taking up the matter very warmly an intention which the Imperial Government highly approved. It was their firm determination to obtain ample reparation for this cruel murder, and, if the French Chargé d'Affaires did not succeed by negotiation, and had not other sufficient means at his command, an expedition would be sent from hence. Nothing, however, would be settled before the arrival of the next mail from China, but in case measures of coercion were found to be necessary, Count Walewski did not doubt that both Her Majesty's Government and that of the United States would join them in avenging the slaughter of unoffending Christians.

No. 96.

Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon.—(Received October 30.) My Lord,

Hong Kong, September 3, 1856. REFERRING to my despatches of the 3rd and 8th of July respectively, I have the honour to forward copies of further correspondence with Mr. Consul Parkes, on the subject of the issue of the incendiary placard, and the assault on two British subjects (Messrs. Johnson and Whittall), in the neighbourhood of the factories at Canton. Stones were thrown (an event of common occurrence, though much less common than formerly), but as no serious injury was inflicted, and as the placard complained of has been withdrawn, I have concurred with Mr. Parkes in thinking that no benefit would accrue from any further interposition.

I HAVE the honour to forward to your Excellency translation of a letter received by me from the Imperial Commissioner in answer to my representations of the 1st and 4th of July, relative to the circulation of an incendiary placard,

and the assault of Messrs. Johnson and Whittall, copies of which have been submitted to your Excellency in my despatches of the 2nd and 5th July respectively. His Excellency's reasoning does not alter my opinion that the placard in question is not to be considered as an exhibition of a malevolent feeling on the part of the village population, as it emanated, in my belief, from parties in the city, on the occasion of the late rumour becoming current that the foreign Governments had it in contemplation to force an entry into the city. I have endeavoured in my reply to the Imperial Commissioner, copy of which I also inclose, to refute his account of the authorship of the placard, and to protest in terms which I trust your Excellency will consider the circumstances of the case deserves, against the unsatisfactory nature of his proceedings, but as all excitement on the subject seems to have died away, and the placard has been withdrawn from circulation, it appears to me scarcely necessary to appeal to your Excellency's intervention for more complete redress.

I have, &c.

(Signed)

HARRY S. PARKES.

(Translation.)

Inclosure 2 in No. 96.

Commissioner Yeh to Consul Parkes.

YEH, Imperial High Commissioner, Governor-General of the Two Kwang Provinces, &c., makes this declaration in reply.

On the 1st and 4th days of the 6th month (2nd and 5th July), I received the two statements addressed me by the Consul, with which, and the printed placard in one of them, I made myself fully acquainted, and thereupon directed the local authorities to examine into and interdict (its circulation).

In their reports made me upon the subject they state that your honourable countrymen in travelling to and fro between Hong Kong and Canton have hitherto invariably adopted the water passage; but recently it has been stated that some foreigners have travelled overland by way of the north road. This road, the officers observe, is not frequented by foreigners, and the people of the villages thereabouts having never seen them cannot lay aside the doubts and fears which their presence occasions, and have, therefore, printed and published this placard.

Such are the reports of the officers, and in connection therewith I (the Commissioner) learn that on the 1st day of the 5th month (3rd June) a foreign merchant rode out on horseback to San-yuen-lee, outside the north gate, and on passing through Looking-Glass Street on his return, he happened to meet a workman from one of the shops, who being unable to get out of the way was trampled on by the horse and hurt. It is possible that this circumstance may have led to the sale or distribution of the placard.

I, the Great Minister, have already directed the local authorities to discover the parties who cut the block, and I have also to call upon the Consul, as I do in this declaration, to make known among all the merchants and the people on board the ships that in future they must travel as they formerly did by way of the water passage, and must not again commit the irregularity of taking the land route, which leads them into the north road, such a course being calculated to excite doubts and fears among the village population, which might, it is to be feared, occasion trouble at some future period. In this case, the Chinese Government have, indeed, rendered you efficient protection. I earnestly charge you to act in the above-mentioned manner.

Heen-fung, 6th year, 7th month, 28th day. (August 20, 1856.)

Sir,

Inclosure 3 in No. 96.

Consul Parkes to Commissioner Yeh.

Canton, August 23, 1856.

ON the 20th instant I received your Excellency's declaration, acknowledging two representations I lately addressed you, the one under date 1st July bringing to your Excellency's notice the publication of an incendiary placard, menacing the lives of foreigners in this neighbourhood; the other reporting, on the 4th July, an unprovoked attack made by certain people armed with stones upon two of the English merchants of this community, while riding through the street known as Te-sze-poo, near to the West Gate.

Your Excellency now informs me in the declaration under acknowledgment, that having inquired into the cases, you learn from the reports made to you by the subordinate officers that "British subjects, in travelling to and fro between Hong Kong, have hitherto invariably adopted the water passage, but recently it has been stated that some foreigners have travelled overland, by way of the north road." Your Excellency then goes on to observe, that "on the 3rd June last a foreign merchant rode out on horseback to Sau-yuen-le, outside the North Gate, and on passing through Looking-glass Street on his return, he happened to meet a workman from one of the shops, who, being unable to get out of the way, was trampled on by the horse and hurt;" and the conclusion drawn by your Excellency is, that the placard may have had its origin in the above circumstances.

With reference to the cases thus adduced, I should remark that I have never heard of the journey to Hong Kong being made by way of the north road; and if your Excellency considers the position of Hong Kong, that it is an island situated in the outer waters, and lying to the south-east of Canton, you will, I can scarcely doubt, at once perceive that it cannot be reached by persons travelling hence by land in a northerly direction. I may add that the placard is without any local allusion suggestive of the inference that it originated among the population of the villages on the north road.

As to the unfortunate occurrence in Looking-glass Street, presuming this to be the same case that formed the subject of a correspondence between this office and the Pwan-yu Magistrate at the close of May, I have to observe that the misconduct on the part of the foreigner complained of, was wholly accidental, and not designed. Similar casualties are not of uncommon occurrence in great thoroughfares, as your Excellency is, I presume, aware. The sufferer was not seriously injured, and was at once taken to the hospital, where he remained until he recovered from the hurt, and on being sent away, received five dollars as a gratuity. But if this treatment were insufficient to remove all feelings of ill will in the case, it is clear from the accident having occurred in a street of the city, and not among the villagers, in whose name the placard is issued, that no connexion can have existed between the one and the other.

I am constrained to say, therefore, that these counter-statements, having reference to matters altogether distinct from the serious one on which I addressed your Excellency, have been furnished you, with the view of diverting attention from the real case at issue, and imparting to it a colouring not warranted by facts.

Wherever there may exist, on either side, grounds for complaint, either as to foreigners passing in their journeys the limits assigned to them, or in any other matter, the provisions and penalties of the Treaties and Laws prescribe the course to be pursued, and the redress to be obtained. How, then, can the national authorities suffer their people to follow the bent of their own inclinations, when these prompt them to commit acts of violence and wrong? In the matter now complained of, the highly criminal language of the placard elicits from your Excellency no word of condemnation. You simply observe, that you have directed the local authorities to find out the parties who cut the blocks on which it was printed,-with what effect may be learned from the fact that eight weeks have elapsed without their being discovered; and the stoning of two

British merchants is passed over by your Excellency without a single observation.

Can it be said that proceedings such as these constitute the efficient protection which your Excellency, speaking in the name of the Chinese Government, states that you have herein rendered?

I HAVE received your despatch dated the 23rd instant, accompanying your correspondence with the Imperial Commissioner, on the subject of the attack upon Messrs. Johnson and Whittal. I approve of the steps you have taken, and shall forward the correspondence to the Secretary of State; and I agree with you that further interference on my part is scarcely necessary or desirable. I have, &c.

I HAVE received your despatch of the 3rd of September, inclosing copies of Mr. Parkes' correspondence respecting the issue of an incendiary notification and the assault on Messrs. Johnson and Whittall, and I have to state to you that I approve of Mr. Parkes' proceedings, and of the opinion he has expressed that no benefit would result from any further interposition in this matter.

No. 98.

I am, &c.

Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Received December 1.)

(Extract.)

Hong Kong, October 8, 1856.

I HAVE the honour to forward to your Lordship copies of correspondence with Mr. Consul Parkes, on the subject of the arrest and conveyance to Canton of a missionary, Mr. Burns, from a district beyond treaty limits, in which he has lately been engaged.

Mr. Burns is a most zealous person; and having heard that it was his purpose to return to the district from which he has been just sent away, I have thought it necessary to instruct Mr. Parkes to caution him against so doing. The caution is all the more necessary from the disturbed state of the locality.

Sir,

Inclosure 1 in No. 98.

Consul Parkes to Sir J. Bowring.

Canton, October 6, 1856.

I HAVE the honour to report that the Rev. Wm. C. Burns, known to have been lately apprehended by the authorities of Chaou-chow, whilst engaged in a missionary tour in that department of this province, was handed over to me by the Imperial Commissioner on the 30th ultimo, the local authorities having in this instance pursued the course prescribed by Treaty, and forwarded Mr. Burns as a prisoner to Canton. On the following day, I received from the Imperial Commissioner the letter of which I herewith inclose translation, detailing the circumstances under which Mr. Burns was apprehended, and simply requiring me to verify the account given by that gentleman of his own proceedings, and to place him under some degree of restraint.

The Imperial Commissioner has shown commendable moderation in not calling upon me to take more stringent notice of this infraction of the Treaty. Perhaps it is, that being satisfied of the harmless character of Mr. Burns' pursuits, his Excellency considers forty days' confinement, ten days of which were passed at Chaou-chow, and thirty on the route thence to Canton, as a sufficient penalty for the indiscretion; or it may be that his Excellency, having some knowledge of the liberty so long allowed by the local authorities of Chaou-chow to foreigners at Swatow, justly deems it anomalous to call for the punishment of Mr. Burns for breach of Treaty, when he knows his own officers to be similarly implicated, but to a far higher degree. Not only is a foreign trade amounting annually to several millions of dollars, carried on openly at Swatow, as your Excellency is doubtless well aware, in vessels under all flags, which either lie in ordinary or visit that port at will, but the local authorities have been known to seek, and in more than one case, I believe, to obtain, the aid and alliance of these foreign visitors in their operations against insurgents or powerful marauders.

Such being the case, it is almost surprising that the authorities of Chaouchow should have considered themselves bound to incur the trouble and expense of forwarding Mr. Burns to Canton, instead of dismissing him with a caution not to appear again in that vicinity.

From what Mr. Burns could gather during his confinement, it would appear that this was their first intention, as they applied to certain native merchants at Swatow to give bail both for Mr. Burns and his Chinese associates; and these merchants, with remarkable generosity, at once came forward with the security required. Subsequently, however, this course was altered, by the advice, as Mr. Burns believes, of Wan, late Prefect of Kea-ying-chow, who is at present at Chaou-chow waiting for employment, an officer already notorious to foreigners by the persecution he set on foot in August 1850, against the Christians in his district, but whose acts in this respect were repudiated by the Imperial Commissioner Seu, at the instance of the French Minister.

Mr. Burns was arrested on the 19th August, but did not leave Chaou-chow until the 1st of September. The route traversed in his way to Canton lay up the Han river, across Chaou-chow and Kea-ying departments to that of Shwuychow, and down the East river to Canton; a more direct road which passes through the latter department only, not being considered practicable, on account of the disturbed state of the country.

The inconvenient consequences of this expedition will, I think, effectually deter Mr. Burns, as he himself indeed assures me, from visiting large cities in future. He had no intention, he informs me, of staying at Chaou-chow; it happened to lay in the route he was pursuing, and he was arrested almost on the moment of arriving under its walls.

I beg to inclose copy of the reply which I forwarded on the 3rd instant to the letter of the Imperial Commissioner; and, considering that under the circumstances I should be justified in making some appeal in favour of the two native colporteurs who accompanied Mr. Burns, I applied for their release, and have this morning received the inclosed acknowledgment from the Imperial Commissioner, which gives, I am glad to say, promise of their liberation without the imposition of any punishment.

I have, &c.