CHINA.

Colonist, Issue 78, 6 July 1858, Page 4

CHINA.

NEWS—LOCAL AND GENERAL. MOVEMENTS OF THE PLENIPOTENTIARIES,

(From the Overland China Mail, April 28.) We take the following items from the Worth China Herald of April 10:—

The Chinese have, as usual, their version

of the matter; they profess to know that the demands are, —liberty of access to the

interior under a passport system—of trading at all the ports of the Yangtze-kiang— a concession of ground at Hanrkow, similar to that we have here—a reduction of duties on imports and exports —a Resident Minister at Peking, cum multis aliis, jamounting altogether, they gay, to twenty-. uhie articles. Our own opinon is, that there has not been any specific demand made, further than that an officer of sufficient rank should be sent to Shanghai to

.adjust preliminaries to future arrangements. i If we .are right, the refusal to comply is v evident in the intimation received through the Governor of the province, that Hwang-•tsung*-ban has been appointed Imperial Commissioner, with full powers to settle affairs at Canton; and that the Foreign Plenipotentiaries must return there to-arrange-matters with him. . We also hear from Chinese sources, that

Hwang has instructions to retake the city -of Canton from the Barbarians, and has extraordinary powers for levying troops, ,&c, from the different provinces to enable him to do so. We think this is very probable, and should Canton unwisely be restored to the Imperial Government by its present occupants before the final adjustment of affairs at Peking, accounts will be sent to the Emperor that the Barbarians have been driven out, and Hwang will receive honors.

As to the intended proceedings in the Pei-ho, we are not informed; but with some confidence in our own predictions, verified as they have been by the past, we venture to foretell difficulties which will require more than mere demonstration to overcome. The blockade of Tien-tsin, to prevent the supplies now going in great abundance to Peking, we suppose will be the first step, and a similar measure on the Yangtzekiang and Grand Canal should follow, and would do more to bring about a speedy adjustment than month's of nego-r tiation, and we doubt not it will be done. Of course we shall see fulminating edicts from the Emperor, stopping the foreign trade for ever.

A report is current here, but what truth there is in it, or whence it originated, we have been unable to ascertain, to the effect that replies from Peking to the despatches of the four Plenipotentiaries have beeti received, and prove to be of the most insulting tenor. Their Excellencies (so says rumour) are told that his Imperial Majesty has graciously deputed a High Commissioner to proceed to Canton to arrange the Barbarian difficulty—that the foreign representatives must therefore retrace their steps, as no conference will be held with them at the north—that as regards the humble petition of the Russians and Americans, his Majesty feels disposed to accede to their desires; but that with the British and French, in consequence of the rebellious spirit they have displayed, he will have no parley, nor will he consent to any alteration of their existing treatise. Lord Elgin and Baron Gros are said to have answered, that they will not return to the southward, nor will they hold any intercourse with the High Commissioner—that they insist on a personal interview with the Emperor—that the demands made by them are just and reasonable, and must be complied with; and if not, that they will visit Peking with a powerful force, and coerce his Majesty into compliance. r Such, then, is the rumour, and it is eaid that all the gunboats have been ordered up instantly to Tien-tsin, and that the Canton river is again to be blockaded by the allied squadrons; but except the four (the Bustard, Firm, Oppossum, and Staunch) which

left on Saturday in company with the Hesper, and the Algerine, now in dock at Whampoa, we hear of no others being under despatch; and consider it very improbable indeed that their Excellencies "would dream of withdrawing a force so essential to the safety of their countrymen in the South, and more especially in keeping up communication with the military occupying Canton. The Cruizer, however, has been long under orders for Pecheli, and will leave in a day or two, unless sent back to Canton. As for the replies, they may probably have been unfavorable, and even couched in language the most supercilious; but Lord Elgin is not the man apparently to let their precise terms become known, or to make his intentions regarding them public. Even if the story prove correct, we can gee no good reason for re-enforcing the blockade of the Canton river, to the injury of the merchants; for so long as trade is car- j ried on there, our countrymen will enjoy their full share of it. Reports are rife of large bodies of braves collecting in the province of Kwang-tutig, and especially near Fatshan, where a numerous fleet of war-junks is also assembling, about a hundred of them being reported as ready for launching or already afloat; but the gunboats are our best safeguard against them, and as for the rabble rout yclept the "braves," any attempt of theirs to retake the city, must result in their utter discomfiture. The utmost they could do would be to set fire to the packhouses on Honam, for the prevention of which a body of marines will, it is said, in future be stationed on that side of the river. The force, therefore, at Canton, aided by the gunboats, is quite sufficient for the holding of the city, and any fresh troops arriving will be at the disposal of their Excellencies for operations in the north. The best troops for the purpose, we should think, would be the Marines, who expect to be relieved by the Sepoy regiment from Bengal and by the 47th Queen's Regiment from Australia, and to be increased by the brigade now on service in Bengal. A considerable accession to the naval arm may be very shortly looked for from India and from the Pacific ; and a portion of the large French expeditionary force is now due; so we may safely say that some means,, at all events, of enforcing the demands of the Allies will not be wanting, should such necessity unfortunately arise, but which we are very unwilling to anticipate.