TRANSLATION FROM THE CHINESE.
Notification of Mr Parkes, H. B. M. Consul at Canton, issued by order: for the removal of misconceptions, by declaration of the truth, to the end that confidence may be restored to the public mind. In every discussion there is a position which is the correct one; nor can a just conclusion upon the merits of any question be arrived at, until the arguments on both sides shall have been heard.
The Governor General, Yeh, has been at great pains, ever since the approach of the British forces from the vessel under command of the Admiral, H. E. Sir M. Seymour, to inflame the public mind by the circulation of unfounded statements on the subject; and it is to counteract the evil effect but too probably to be apprehended from these, that H.B.M. Plenipotentiary has instructed the Consul to issue a Notification of the plain truth to the gentry and people of the city and suburbs of Canton,
At Hongkong, being a British Colony, it is competent for the owner of any vessel of any country, when he shall have obtained the requisite security, to make application, through the proper official channels, to the supreme authority for a Colonial Register. Under this the vessel hoists a British Ensign, and the register once issued, she is regarded in all respects as a British vessel, while those on board her become alike responsible to British control, and entitled to British protection. The conditions of this colonial registration were communicated some months ago to the Governor General by the Minister Plenipotentiary, who is also Governor of the Colony, and a translation of the Colonial Ordinance was enclosed to him in His Excellency's despatch.
Meanwhile, the Lorcha Arrow, a vessel duly registered as above, having come up to Canton in the earlier part of October, information, it appears, was given to the authorities by a person who had been robbed by pirates at sea, that one of the delinquents was serving as a sailor on board the Lorcha. Now, by the Treaty between England and China, all authority over British vessels at any of the Five Ports is vested in the Consuls. The proper course, therefore, if any question had been raised against the Lorcha, as she was flying British colours in the port of Canton,--being one of the Five, would have been, to call on the British Consul to enquire into the case and take the necessary steps. Without any reference, however, to the Consul, a party of the local marine boarded the vessel, tore down her ensign, seized twelve men who were on board, and carried them into the city.
The Consul, of course, as soon as he became aware of this violation of his jurisdiction, reported it to his superior, H. M. Plenipotentiary. He at the same time made his complaint to H. E. Yeh, as Imperial Commissioner, accompanying his statement of the facts by a request that H. E. would cause the seamen who had been carried off from the vessel to be restored to her publicly; and that a letter of apology should be written. At 8 in the evening came another despatch from H. E. Yeh, requesting the Consul to inform him why his despatch of the morning had not been acknowledged.
The Consul, in reply, put in the hands of the officer sent, two extracts from his letters before referred to, reciting the substance of his requisition, and the form in which it was to be complied with namely, that the men, publicly removed from the vessel, should be as publicly restored to her.
It being thus apparent that farther protraction of the correspondence would be of no advantage to the settlement of the question at issue, there remained no alternative but to place the matter in the hands of the Admiral, His Excellency, unwilling to inflict unnecessary injury upon the inhabitants, confined himself in the first instance to the capture of some of the forts along the river; this done, he directed the Consul to warn the Governor General, that if he persisted in refusing to listen to us, more serious proceedings would be rendered inevitable. The Governor General proposing nothing, the Admiral proceeded to possess himself of the remaining forts along the Canton River, he then breached the City wall, and blew up the Tsing Hai Gate.
Now, His Excellency has been brought to this point by no intention of his own; he has been simply driven onward by the determined obstinacy, and extreme discourtesy, of the Governor General. The original claim advanced was, comparatively speaking, of no great magnitude. Less could not have been demanded than the formal rendition of a crew unauthorizedly seized without reference to the Consul. To the high official of a nation, with whom the rule and practice of what is due from man to man are so important a consideration, what could have been so easy as to acknowledge an error committed, and to give assurance that none such should be repeated?
How widely different a course was pursued! For several years past, the high authorities at Canton have entrenched themselves in inaccessibility to foreign officials, pleading always that the people are opposed to the admission of foreigners within the walls. It has hence resulted that discussions, which might have been disposed of in a single interview, have endured through months of correspondence, and this, too, without any satisfactory result. The present case commences with an insult to our flag, that is to say, an affront is put upon our dignity as a State - this is followed by the unauthorized seizure of sailors subject to British control and protection; we complain, and our assertions are contradicted; in order that due atonement might be made for the affront that had been offered to his authority as Consul. He added, that if it were still desirable to examine the parties, he was prepared to conduct an enquiry with any officer of his own rank, who might be deputed for the purpose.
The Governor General replied, that the Lorcha was not a foreign vessel. He sent back some of the men, but nine of the twelve that had been taken; but these the Consul did not think it right to receive; and, under the instruction of the Plenipotentiary, he now demanded, besides restoration of the whole number, a letter of apology for their seizure, and assurance that nothing of the kind should occur again,-to be given within forty-eight hours. The Plenipotentiary himself wrote to the Commissioner, on the 12th October, to the same effect, adding that, unless the required satisfaction were accorded within the period assigned, it would be left to the Naval Commander-in-Chief to exact it. This letter reached Canton on the 15th October, but was left without answer for eight days. H. E. Yeh then sent a reply, in which he repeated what he had already said to the Consul. To the requisition made by the latter, he paid no more attention than before.
H. E. the Admiral, unwilling to resort to force without due deliberation, waited from one day to another, until the 21st October, when the Consul, under farther instructions from the Plenipotentiary, addressed a last letter to the Imperial Commissioner. He was now told, that unless he conceded what had been asked for by 6 o'clock in the evening of the following day, the naval forces would act. At noon of the following day, an officer, of low rank was sent with the twelve seamen to the Consulate, with a message from His Excellency Yeh, that two of them were criminals, and must be sent back to him immediately.
Think how completely at our mercy are the lives and property of the entire population of the city; and with what facility, in one moment of time, we could effect their utter destruction—a terrible contingency! You are told this in no spirit of boasting; the power of our nation is too well known to require that we should indulge in self-glorification; but simply because we have no wish to see a long continuance of these hostilities, so cruel to the feelings of the people, and so injurious to their interests.
There is but one means of escape from it, and this is in the hand of the chief Authority, who, if he lose no time in meeting our high Authorities, will be enabled, by arranging matters on a satisfactory footing with them, to put an end to the existing peril, and to prevent the recurrence of like misfortune in the time to come.
November 1st, 1856.