THE CHINESE WAR.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIV, Issue 1027, 1 May 1857, Page 3

THE CHINESE WAR.

(From the ' Times') A full and lucid narrative of the recent operations at Canton is given in the despatch of Sir Michael Seymour to the Secretary of the Admiralty. It entirely confirms the opinions which we have expressed as to the importance of the principle for which the British authorities contended, and which the British nation will be called on to support. The immediate cause of hostilities was, as is generally the case in war, of small moment; the re;.l question involved was the liberty of the Chinese Government to treat European nations as tolerated inferiors instead of friends and equals. Is the ridiculous pride of an ignorant race to be humoured by English consuls and commanders ? Are we, who receive thousands of Chinese yearly into our territory, to truckle before the representative of a tottering dynasty and a decaying system ; or are we to assert the rights which natural law, the term, of a recent treaty, and our superiority in arms and civilization give us, and enforce the liberty of free communication with the authorities of this intolerant empire? The details already given of these proceedings are in the main exact, but we are glad to find that on one point a correction must be made. The Admiral did no', bombard the town, but confined his fire to Government property. As far as we can learn, no part of that vast and densely populated city was wilfully destroyed, except a portion of the suburb which it was necessary to break through in order to reach the wall; and, even here, the people were allowed full time to remove themselves and their property. Sir M. Seymour gives in his despatch a convincing account of the moderation with which he acted. Of this, indeed, the facts of the case are a sufficient proo*. The first reprisal of the British Admiral took place on the 11th of October, on which day he seized an Imperial junk. The last act of hostilities was not completed until the 9th of November, when the Bogue Forts were

captured. Thus for a fall month the BritisH -trthottie* were engaged in their endeavours to bring the Governoto reason, and each successive attack was followed by a fresh warning and fresh time for consideration, It 0 somewhat difficult to judge fairly of these thing* at a distance; a multitude ot preceding circumstances may be unknown to us, and the general tone ot relations between the natives and our authorities pan. of courser only be guessed at; but it is pretty evident that the insolence of the Canton Government, and its direct violation of the treaty of 1842, had long been a subject of notoriety.. By treaty the English have n right of bCC«m to the authorities at five Chinese ports ; at lour of tneae the right is conceded, bnt at Canton it'bus been evade*, and at last directly refused. The conduct of Yeh in the matter is therelore only part of a system against which the British representatives have long t.rotestod in vain* On the Bth of October the lorcha Arrow was boarded, 12 men carried off, and the British flag hauled down. The officer who committed the outrage was remonstrated with, but to no effect. The 12 men were subsequently sent back, but "not in the public manner in which they had been carried away, and all appearance of an apology was pointedly avoided." The Admiral, having moved np the river, placed his frigates and • steamers to the best advantage, sent off his boats' crews and took possession of the Blenheim Fort and the Four Barrier Fort. In these places about 150 guns were taken—a proof that the Chinese do not neglect warlike preparations, but vet know little how to use them when they are made, the' Macao Fort, in the middle of the river, was then taken, with its 86 guns, and has been garrisoned and retained by the British. On the 24th the Birdseye and Cha-min Forts were captured, the guns spiked, and the ammunition destroyed. The factory was then fortified by barricades, to guard against an attack from the town, and boats placed to watch the approach of fire-rafts or junks by water. On the 25th -■ a fort called the Dutch Folly was taken, and all the defences of the city were in our hands. ■ juncture proposals were again made for an accommodation. The Admiral directed Mr. Park'es to write and state that when his Excellency Yeh should be piepared to arrange the points in dispute operations would cease; but the governor made no satisfactory answer. On the contrary, he took the offensive. A body of Chinese troops, supported by a larger force, attacked the Factory. A charge of marines was sufficient to rout this military array. The next' day being Sunday nothing was done. But on the 27th, and only' two days after Yeh's evasive answer and warlike demonstration, the Admiral gave him another chance of accommodation. The Governor was told that offensive operations would recommence unless satisfaction were granted, and, to prevent the recurrence of evils like the present, which had arisen from the disregard by the Governor of the British Admiral's letters, it was demanded that foreign representatives should have the same right of access to the authorities at Canton as is enjoyed under the treaty at the other four ports, and denied at Canton alone. No answer was returned, and fire was accordingly opened on his Excellency's residence. Yeh seems to have been highly exasperated by this proceeding, and roused himself from an apathy which the capture of the forts could not move. He issued and placarded publicly a proclamation offering a reward of thirty dollars for the head of every Englishman. On the 28th and 29th the fire continued, for the-, purpose of making a breach in the wall; and on the latter day the gate was blown to pieces and the city entered. The Commissioner still continued obstinate/ and till Nov. sth operations continued. On that day it was apprehended that a force of 23 war junks was about to attack our ships and the Factory. The Barracouta accordingly undertook their destruction, and, although exposed to a fire of 150 guns, took or burnt the whole of them in little more than half an hour. Qn the Bth the Chinese again assumed the offensive, and endeavoured to destroy our ships with fire-farts, bnt this manoeuvre was entirely defeated. On this same day the British Admiral brought his operations to a close by the capture of the well-known Bogue Forts, which were gallantly carried, the Chinese standing to their guns until our men entered the embrasures. The forts were found to mount 200 guns, and to be much stronger than in 1841.

It will be seen from this short sketch that the opera • tions at Canton constitute acts of deliberate warfare on both sides. The Chinese Commissioner first breaks the peace And then refuses reparation ; the English admiral proceeds to acts of hostility, to which Yeh replies by an attack on the Factory, a reward for the slaughter of Englishmen, and an attempt to burn the British ships by fire-rafts. We are therefore actually at war with China. We have declared that we will have reparation, and no reparation has yet been offered; on the contrary, our settlement and our vessels- have been attacked by the authorities. We" heed not say that ample indemnity must be given for these things. Furthermore, it cannot be doubted that both our honour and interest urge us to place our relations with the Chinese empire on a new footing. China must be brought into full communication with the civilised world, and the task of dragging her from seclusion can be best performed by Englishmen. In the interest, therefore, of humanity and civilisation we ought not to let this matter drop. If Yeh and such as he triumph, all that was gained in 1842 will be practically lost. We do not want to conquer China, although it. would be affectation to deny that English influence and enterprise are likely to be the chief agents in remodelling the immense empire which is now waking to new life after the torpor of many thousand years. We should, then, prepare at once to assert our position and to enforce the right of civilised nations to free commerce and communication with every part of this vast territory. Cape of Good Hope.—On the 23*' dof January one of the most terrific thunder and hail storms took place in the village of Fauresmith, Orange Free State, far surpassing anything of the kind previously witnessed by the inhabitants living here since the year 1842. At about nine o'clock a.m. the sky was overcast by heavy black clouds, which gradually assumed a more formidable aspect as the day advanced. At half past twelve o'clock a.m. a tremendous clap of thunder led us to expect something more than ordinary in the weather. A quarter of an hour after the first clap the peals became more violent, accompanied by intense lightning and heavy rain. Shortly afterwards the torrents of water which descended changed to hail, covering the higher parts of the streets two feet deep in less than half an hour after it commenced. The size of some of the frozen stones were as large as marbles, whilst the air was extremely cold A small rivulet which runs through the "Poort" and supplies the town with water, came down with extreme violence, rising about_2o feet above its level, carrying everything before it that impeded its progress, including stone walls and a large tree belonging to the principal and most extensive fruit gaidens in the vicinity of the flood, whilst the fluid destroyed every grape-vine and nearly all the vegetables that grew in the town, also stripping the bark off the most of trees that were not washed away. A farmer driving a flock of sheep through the town shortly before the storm, was caught by the hail and forty of the sheep were lost or killed during the storm. The damage one in §he village is estimated at £6000.