“ Besides you and the Ti-po, Shang-hing,* Kam - i, and Tsang -sin are a
company that hang well together, and as to your confederates it has long been
said that, one call from you, a hundred voices will respond, with hearts as one,
with strength united, banded together, making answer to the summons.
“ Make a great effort , gentlemen , and accomplish this very difficult matter
(lit. put forth aa mountain -moving strength, take up on your backs one wall or
city after another) ; if your plans be good , you cannot fail of success. In any
case you must be early active ; you must not delay. If you want junks to
support you , let me know, and I shall immediately lay an embargo on some
which shall go to you for the purpose. There shall be no mistake about it.
“ When you have read this letter, gentlemen, hold it to the fire and destroy it ;
you must not keep it . On no account let its contents get wind . Mind what I
say ! Mind what I say ! Be sure you remember ! Be sure you remember !
“ There is inore to tell you than I write. I specially communicated (thus
much to you) , and wish you wealth and tranquillity.
“ To At-sun, eldest brother of the house (or tribe) , and the rest of the
gentlemen ; and to Tsang -sin, and the rest of the gentlemen of his set or company.
“ 3rd moon, 16th day . (10th April.)
“ Chan -kwei-tsih writes and salutes you.
“ P.S. (in a different hand.) — I have to add that my own seal is at home in
my house. I have not got it with me, and have borrowed this fancy seal
because I found a man on the road (to Hong Kong ?) to whom I am giving this
letter. Pray give it all credit ; on no account have any misgiving about this
fancy seal . Mind what I say ! Mind what I say !"
Inclosure 3 in No. 2 .
Memorandum on Contents of a Parcel seized at Stanley .
IN a small paper parcel containing a four- bladed ivory penknife, a cameo
ring, and two watch keys, of which one is broken, was the following note :
“ A gold watch , a gold chain , a brace of pistols, two rings with stones in
them , saddle shaped, two watch -keys, and a small foreign knife, in all nine
articles ; the price of which, when they are sold, at whatever value, my brother
(the person addressed) may put on them , ( 1) shall be obliged to him to receive.
“ To (my) elder brother At-sun .
“ The year Ting (short for Ting -ki, the present year), the 3rd moon , and
10th day (4th Apirl , 1857 ).
“ A-po's own handwriting.”
(Signed) THOMAS WADE,
Chinese Seeretary.
Shang -hing is , I think , a shop name. The " company that hang well together," taken with
what follows, argues that they have influence over a number of triads, pirates, or the like. The
“ company, & c .,” is a common expression.
14
Inclosure 4 in No. 2 .
Memorandum of the Information contained in certain Papers seized by a party of
Seamen and Marines engaged under command of Commodore the Hon .
C. J. G. B. Elliot, in the capture of some Junks, on the 4th of April, 1857 .
AMONGST much that was of no importance, therewas taken a tolerably
complete file of the correspondence, some in original and some in copy, of one
of the principal leaders of anti-barbarian agitation in San -on, the districtopposite
Hong Kong .
The letters speak, ' in terms more or less explicit, of the contemplated
destruction of Victoria, the seizure of steamers, and the capture and decapitation
of Englishmen. A large number are devoted to the steps taken , or to be taken ,
for the stoppage of supplies ; a measure which, in two cases, has recoiled, as will
>
be scen, somewhat seriously on those employed to carry it out. The great
poisoning case is twice alluded to , but not in a manner calculated to implicate
A -lum , who is mentioned, but as “ the Heung-shan man.” If, as has been
generally supposed, he were a principal in that case,he would almost certainly
have received his instructions from the Committee of his own district and not
from San -on . At any rate there are no words in the papers now under review
which can be construed as at all laying the onus of the offence upon him .
They contain , on the whole, a singular mixture of truth and exaggeration,
but are even more remarkable for the misapprehension both of our means and
motives, the standing and opportunities of some of the writers considered.
Chan -kwei-tsil , the agitator -in -chief of the District of San -on, is a man of
distinguished literary eminence : he graduated as a doctor ( “ tsin-sze ' ) in 1841 ,
and was appointed a subordinate of the sixth grade in the Board of Revenue at
Pekin . His age must be between forty and fifty. He resides ordinarily at
Sha-tsing, about two miles from the District City of San-on , but appears to be
found, at present, mostly at the latter place, where he is President of the
Central District Committee of Hostilities.
Chan - tsze -tin, his third brother, may be termed chief of the Executive. It
was his portfolio that was taken , and his letters and papers introduce us to
various names of more or less respectability.
Su -ting -kwei, who corresponds with both brothers from Canton, is a
subordinate consol , now in mourning for a parent, and consequently living in
retirement in Kwang -tung, his native province. lle appears to be Yeh's channel
of communication with the San -on gentry:
There are, beside the above, letters from the nephew of the brother Chan ;
from Man -hing, the nephew of Man -tsap -shin, a gentlemanı, the author of an
unsuccessful project to burn or blow up the City of Victoria, and the probable
>
agent in the destruction of Duddell's store, of which his nephew is stated in one
letter to have given notice to Chan - tsze -tin, two days before it occurred. A
very active gentleman named Yü -ki-nan, and Wong -sui-shang, chief agent of
an attempt (it is supposed) upon the inerchant-steamer “ Unicorn ,” also figure
in the correspondence. The capture of the “ Queen , ” and the demand of the
Portuguese Government for her , are likewise mentioned ; but the fact of gravest
interest to us, is the announcement that heads, stated to be heads of Englishmen,
had been, on more than one occasion, forwarded to Canton, and that a reward, in
amount so much below the captors' expectation as to cause serious discontent,
was paid for them .
There is, on the whole, indisputable evidence that none of the recent
rumours of impending danger, general or particular, were without foundation ;
that we have been fully justified in every precaution that has been taken ;
and that peril is only to be apprehended in the event of a relaxation of our
vigilance.
The earliest paper of importance is dated the 4th December last. The
Canton Conimittce direct two gentlemen, not of this District, to repair to
Kaulung (Cowloon ), and take measures for its defence.
On the 21st January Chan -tsze - tin , informs his brother that his braves are
so planted at Sha -tive and Tai-wei, in rear of Cowloon , as to command all the
approaches to the latter place, which is separated from the others by the steep
range of bills facing Ilong Kong. Victoria, he hears, is in great perplexity.
15
“A
A proclamation is issued once a day, and three sets of regulations every two
days. People abroad at night are taken up in haste , and discharged with equal
precipitation .” No one is allowed out after 8 o'clock< ; the shops are forced to
take out tickets (passes ?) and to pay sixteen dollars a ticket, and these have to
le changed every few days. Boats passing to and fro between Cowloon and
Victoria are not searched, but a bakery (it is not here stated whose) had been
closed , and some forty people imprisoned for poisoning a number of English
devils .
We are styled in all the papers, barbarians, devils , barbarian devils, or
rebellious barbarians.
The people of the San-on, Heung -shan, and Tung -kun Districts, the writer
goes on to say, are all alarmed, and meditate a return home ; but those of
Nam -hoi and Pun -yü, on the confines of which Canton is situated, and Shun-tak,
deride the submission of the others to the authority of the officials and gentry.
He closes with a complaint that Hong Kong is drawing supplies from Canton ,
Kong.mun, and Macao.
On the 24th January, he reports an improvement in the working of the
interdict to the eastward, in the region overlooked by his pickets. Two of his
braves have visited Victoria, and counted 110 foreign vessels in harbour, but
declare that there is not one-tenth of the usual quota of native craft belonging
to the province. There are some from other provinces (viz., north and east
coasters). The west end of the city is quite deserted, and the English, by the
unanimous declaration of the Chinese, thoroughly dispirited. All mat and
wooden buildings had been demolished towards East Point. He also reports a
great burglary in the centre of Victoria ; the burglars had escaped with several
thousand dollars over the hills .
The people of Kwei-shin, the district east of San -on, continue perversely to
supply Hong Kong. At the latter place, the English protect the harbour by
cruizing night and day, north and south of the island, but do not venture to land
on the opposite side.
The braves that accompany the writer, Chan-tsze-tin, are only 140 ; but
with the local train -bands, it presently appears,a body , real or nominal , of 1,000,
is assembled in rear of the Cowloon hills .
On the 2nd February a man, calling himself Wong -a -muk , dressed in
devil clothes and boots, armed with a devil fowling -piece , and speaking devil
language fluently, came over the hills by Chan -tsze-tin's position, shooting, and
was made prisoner. He declared that he had been in business at Hong Kong,
had kept the Tak -lung pork -butchery, and the Hing-lung fish-shop. There is
some reason to suppose that this man was a Macaist. Strange to say, he was
bailed out by the gentry of Sai- kung, a place which our data lead us to mark in
the neighbourhood of Hebe Haven, and released with a slight punishment.*
On the 5th February, Chan -tsze -tin writes to his elder brother Chan
kwei-tsih, that an intended expedition of the braves across the water (to Hong
Kong) had failed . The English were too well on their guard. Cannon are fired
by night at intervals, to keep their spirits up . Cruizers constantly sweep the
harbour. The black troops who have come on drill incessantly . “ Such being
the doubt and alarm of the English rebels, we must wait until they tire a little ;
)
a blow will then be sure ."
He had intercepted a large quantity of supplies en route to Hong Kong, and
had seized an English row -boat, with two Chinese of the five in her. She was
left in charge of the headborough of Cowloon. A few days later he expresses
his apprehensions that the English will come to Cowloon to look for the boat,
and had directed his own braves not to go into Cowloon for the time being.
At this time, 7th February, both Chan-kwei-tsih and the District Magis
trate issue orders to the braves to abstain from molesting the people. They are
to be forward in action : to report all seizures to their officers ; not to cut down
trees near the villages ; to be alert on their posts ; and to refrain from insulting
the women .
Chan -tsze -tin has farther news from Victoria . After admitting his misgiv
ings above mentioned, he thinks that we are “ so utterly broken ” that we shall
not venture to disturb Cowloon . The Americans at Hong Kong look on the
present state of things as full of danger, and are sending their ships away.
* There is also a Sai-kung, called by the Nam -tau traders Sai-lu, the western road, or lay ; but
th's is a spot near San-on.
D
16
He had hiniself been to Cowloon to meet three of the parties about to
undertake something at Hong Kong. These men insisted on having a written
guarantee of their remuneration . He then enlisted ten braves secretly (it is to
Le presumed , for co -operation in the proposed plot ), and these were to be
supported by another body. They would probably cross the water in a day
or two.
He closes his note with the announcement that eleven English rebels have
been, to his great joy, made prisoners. ( These were probably Portuguese,
belonging to a lorcha seized off' Lan-tao by pirates, and by them exchanged
against one of the piratical body then in the hands of the mandarins; a Chinese
who escaped brought the intelligence to Macao on the 10th February ), and that
pirates, or other outlaws, were the captors is manifest from Chan -tsze -tin's
exultation in the prospect of “ theEnglish rebels and vagabonds of the country
not being able to bear each other, if matters are managed thus ; cach party will
get to suspect the other, to the advantage of the main issue .”
The interdict, he writes on the 13th February, is being more steadily
enforced to the east . On the 16th , a letter from his brother Chan -kwei- tsih ,
evidently in answer to more than one from Chan -tsze -tin , explains that, about
the end of December, a man named Cheng -tsik was directed by the Canton
Committee to go to Cowloon and collect persons together for the purpose of
firing Victoria. The plot had fallen through. After other matters, he states
that Tsé-fung-shan has brought down thirty gilt mandarin buttons and 1,000
dollars, to be distributed in rewards. This Tsé is a gentleman associated with
him in anti- barbarian operations. Either against him , or another Tsé, as a
dangerous man , he warns his brother in a subsequent note . Later still , a Tsé is
dismissed by the younger brother, with his braves, for quarrelling with some one.
The rewards to be disbursed out of the 1,000 dollars, he says, in an inter
rcha, and 30 taels for every devil's head.”"
lineation, “ are 300 dollars for the lorcha,
Then, in a postscript : “ The price of devil's heads has been reduced this
>
year.
On the 17th February, Chan-tsze-tin writes that Victoria is reported to be
more on the qui vive than ever. No one is allowed out after 6 o'clock . No
communication permitted between the shipping and the shore after dark.
Soldiers and sailors both co -operate with the police.. Three principal rice-shops
had been closed .
He had heard of the destruction of four war -junks at Tung- chung, on
Lan-tao , and presumes that the English had done this to satisfy the feeling of
spite which they could not vent in any other direction.
“ It is now said that the barbarian merchants of the different nations have
deputed some one to England to denounce the English devil-chief (Governor or
Admiral).”
He is sanguine about the safety of Cowloon , and his confidence is strength
ened on the 21st February, when an English steamer brought over seventy -two
pirates and surrendered them to the fort. Cowloon was in great alarm , and the
garrison stood to their arms. The English went away, however, without doing
any mischief . “ What their purpose (or intention ) may be, it is indeed difficult
for any man to divine."
The Indian reinforcement is, at the same time, stated to be in a very mise
rable condition ; sickly and unserviceable : “ five or six-tenths without breeches
to wear, and all swathed in ragged blankets and coverlids. Mat barracks are
being built on the parade-ground for 3,000 men that are expected. Arms are
being embarked, it is believed , for an attack, first on Nam -tau, and then on
Canton.
“ The police (green -jacket devils) say that there is to be this one fight
more ; by it they are to stand or fall. If they are beaten, they will be ready to
sue for peace ; if they cannot obtain peace, they will go home to England ."
Six vessels, with supplies for Hong Kong, had been seized at Tsin -wan (a
small place a little to the west of Victoria Harbour) and ransomed for 72 dollars.
A flour-mill there is said to be working again, and it is recommended that a party
of braves should be sent to close it.
The opening of this shop had been announced in aa letter from Yü -ki-nin,
who also states that the execution of a plot discussed between him and Chan
tsze -tin on the 20th February is deferred. What this was, does not appear.
On the 21st February, Chan-man -sin, nephew of Chan-tsze-tin, writes to
17
his uncle to inform him that the San- on Committee had forwarded to Canton an
English head , taken from an English cruizing boat (it is believed he means to
say near Aberdeen, on the south side of the island); the rest of the crew escaped
to land . “ The Canton Committee are giving now only 30 taels for devils
taken , dead or alive.” (It will be remembered that Yeh's earlier proclamations
promised 100 taels reward for Englishmen taken alive . He then interlines :)
“ For aa devil's head they may possibly give but 30 dollars ; the San-on Committee
(consequently ) do not now much prize devils' heads.” He then goes on to
mention , that some days had elapsed before the braves had consented to receive
the reward lately sent; requests his uncle, if he is going to employ his own
braves in the getting of heads , to tell them plainly the state of the case ; and ,
finally, recommends him not to be keen in the head-hunting, as it is unremune
rative.
document.
There is some doubt about the date of the next document. It is either of
the 21st February or the 22nd March . Assuming it to be the former, the
proper place of the note in the series is here. In it Chan -kwei-tsih promises
from 500 to 600 dollars if an attempt apparently * to blow up some place,
succeeds. It must be done in three days, and notice is to be given . The bar
barians are spreading a report that they are coming to attack San -on. He,
Chan -kwei-tsih, is preparing to defend it. (The expenses of the braves are
evidently pressing the Committee's exchequer. Reductions of their number are
proposed and effected.)
On the 23rd February, a man whose surname is not given , but whose
name is Yü -nam , writes that (the Representatives of) Portugal and France have
addressed a letter (to Yeh ) to the effect that the rebel vessel seized (evidently
the “ Queen,”) was not English , but Portuguese (interlined) : this is to be kept
very quiet. The inquiries made by the writer or his superiors establish nothing
to their satisfaction one way or the other. Things were not well at Nam -tau,
the trade of which place was suffering much from the interdict on supplies to
the foreigner. This was causing discontent and cavilling. The braves, com
manded by the man before mentioned as dissatisfied with the amount of head
money awarded , were deserting. There was also trouble at Sai-kung.
On the 25th February, Yu ki-nin writes to Chan- tsze-tin to say, that Man
tsap -shin's attempt (at fire-raising) had failed on the 23rd. (He means after
midnight. Our police record an attempt on a shop named Tung-li at the other
end of the town on the 24th .) It was made behind the Tung-li, a mat-building
establishment in the Ha-wan, but was to be renewed again in three or four days
in the shops to the left of the police station by the Commissariat (Webster's
bazaar), when the whole line of hongst in that vicinity could be burned ; or in
the Canton Bazaar, or in both places at the same time . (An attempt was made
on the Canton Bazaar, but on the 19th February.)
On the 26th, Chans-tsze-tin reports to his brother that several of the shops
which had been closed at Hong Kong ( for the new year,) are open again, and
that supplies come in from Macao, Chan -tsun, a place in Shun-tak , well up
the river, and Tai-ping, in Tung-kun, near the Bogue.
.
Then, he receives news from Tang-chiu-yung that the steamer " Queen "
>
seized near the Ning Islands, was a passenger-ship ( that is, not a war -steamer) ;
that she had gone up to Canton to Cheung -tak -ngung (a civilian much distin
guished in the troubles of Kwang-si, where he was judge, in 1851-4, and now
Chief, or one of the Chiefs, of the Canton Committee of Hostilities) . He will
report her capture to Yeh. There are other emissaries, adds Chan, at hand, >
who are ready to make another swoop . He had been to Cowloon to confer with
three. Wong-sui-shang's design (against a steamer ) for the execution of which
he was to have received 3,000 dollars, it was thought would fail ; Wong was so
slow. He had written to hurry him . The sum being large, and there being no
“ head and neck ” to produce in proof, he, Wong, was to bring the vessel to a
particular spot, &c .
Ships were few at Victoria. The soldiers before estimated at one thousand
turned out to be a small body . The building of the mat barracks had been
discontinued.
* The word “ yo ” here perplexes the translator. If it stand for “ ho -yo," it means powder ; if
for "yo-tsai " it means medicine, drugs, poison. The former, all things considered, is most likely
what is intended.
+ The Commissariat, Messrs. Fletcher & Co.'s, &c.
D 2
-18
On the 27th February, he reports an increase of vigilance at Victoria .
People are shut up in their houses at 5 o'clock , and, even at noon , ſew seen
about.. He has inspected Cowloon, and finds thirty heavy guns fit for use ,, and
about 110 soldiers in garrison. He complains that the interdict is not rigorously
enforced by the authorities, either civil or military. He would himself plant a
picket on some high ground about two miles from Cowloon , in a place well
suited for purposes of surveillance, but is afraid, if his tents are seen by the
English, that " they will pick a quarrel with him . ” He has seized a junk coming
with supplies from Kwei-shin .
A note express from Tang-chiu- yung, without date, begs him to come to
Cowloon at once to meet five friends, who engage that something shall be under
taken and accomplished at once. ( These are probably the men with whom he
has conferred at Cowloon, according to his note just quoted . The plot was
most likely to destroy the “ Unicorn ." )
The opposition of the people of Wong Kong, who persist in supplying
Hong Kong, now begins to give serious trouble ; but deferring this and other
similar matters to a later period, our next letter is a paper from Su -ting-kwei,
the ex- Censor, who writes from Canton that the English barbarians are said to
be about “ to acknowledge their transgression , and that the different nations are
united in their entreaties for trade." Incendiarism and the seizure of vessels
may therefore be postponed, as it might give some trouble to the Governor
General were similar acts to drive the barbarians “ to such a struggle as beasts
make when surrounded.” The stoppage of supplies is to be as strictly insisted
upon as ever, as this is a means of keeping the rebellious barbarians well in
hand .”
On the same day, 4th March, Chan -tsze-tin (who has been the pupil of
Su- ting-kwei, that is to say, has sat at his feet as bis literary patron ) writes to
his brother that he has heard from Su that “ the ruler of the rebels ( Her Majesty
Queen Victoria) had written back blaming the military devil-head altogether for
commencing the disturbance of last year ,” and that Yeh had issued orders to the
trainbands to suspend offensive operations. The taking of heads, he suggests,
may therefore be let alone with even greater propriety. The credit of taking a
head now about to be forwarded to Canton, he requests may be assigned, in the
memorandum accompanying it, to Cheung -chan -mu, a relative of his own.
On the 7th March , Chan -tsze -tin writes to his brother that he had sent
Man -tsap-shin to him , and reports the burning of Duddell's store on the night
of the 6th ; great destruction of flour, biscuits, and spirits ; and the death of a
black man in the flames. “ As soon as the fire broke out, the English devils
fired some guns and knocked down the Christian Church by the side (of the
flour store).” The barracks and powder-magazine were guarded by several
hundred devil soldiers. The spy “ saw with his own eyes that the building on
fire was Duddell's store, and not the great devil building (Government house or
offices). Ever since the closing of Cheung-alan., the Heung -shan man’s, bread
shop, the greater portion of the devil soldiers' rations have been ordered of
Duddell.” The burning of his store is an excellent measure, ““ of more value
than the interdict itself.” In a separate letter he mentions that Man -hing,
nephew of Man -tsap -shin, had given notice on the 4th March that the deed
was to be done. As there is now no doubt of it, news should be sent post haste
to Canton .
Three ships are believed to have come to Hong Kong with troops ; and
arms have been issued to these, for what purpose is not known ..
He then expresses great regret at the failure of Wong -sui-shang's enter
prise on the night of the 5th March . Two of his underlings had been seized ;
the rest had escaped to Cowloon .
The town of Sam -chun (a little east and below San-on) is denounced for
supplying Hong Kong ; and Ho - tsei-luk, of Wong Kong, is specially mentioned
as the villain - in - chief. We hear more of him in time.
The (Chan ?) Yü- nam before mentioned writes on the 8th March, that the
English wish to treat, and that other foreign nations are giving ( Yeh ) to
understand that they wish (the English ) to confess their fault.
On the same day Chan-tsze-tin writes to the Sai-kung Committee to hold
their hands in respect of the graver acts of aggression, but to continue strict in
stopping the supplies. Also to his brother, congratulating himself on the
prospect of the speedy and satisfactory termination of the campaign that is
19
before them , now that the English are about to kiss the rod. He proposes
reducing his braves by near half their strength.
In another letter of the same day he alludes to the fact, that the business
was done on the 6th March (evidently the burning of Duddell's store) . About
the same time, Tang-chiu-yung, believed to be an Ensign of the Cowloon
establishment, reports the failure of an attempt to destroy a steamer on the 5th
March. . (This was doubtless the “ Unicorn ;" a man was apprehended, on the
6th March, by Mr. Caldwell, on suspicion of his privity to a plot in contempla
tion against that vessel.) The master had detected the plot, and had seized one
man ; four, however, whose names are given, had made their escape. They
know Victoria well , and have a large number of adherents, who have been, or
are, in foreign employ, either in dwelling -houses or on board ships . They
would be useful in any future incendiary undertaking, and Chan is recom
mended to retain them , on militia rations, as they have no other means of
subsistence .
On the 10th March , he writes that he has been obliged to dismiss Tse, the
man before mentioned ; and, in the same letter, adds, that the rebellious
barbarians do not now look as if they meant to ask for pardon and sue for
peace. Every important place must, therefore, be well guarded ; but if there be
no movement observable before the end of the moon , he will disband ten more
braves. ( The expense of this force very possibly accounts for Yeh's readiness to
believe that we were contemplating a course which would have enabled him to
dispense with them .)
On the 24th of March , Chan -kwei-tsih tells his brother that on the night
of the 19th, he had sent on an English head to Canton . “ This is the fourth
victory announced .” He has understood that in the English attack on Tung
chung (the “ Auckland's ” affair of the 1st April) ten English were killed.
On the 29th March, the elder brother, Chan-kwei- tsih, writes very earnestly
to the younger, Chan -tsze -tin, regarding the capture of a vessel, about to be taken
by Tang -chiu -yung. He fears the amount of remuneration has been reduced at
Canton , but he will himself make up whatever is allowed to 1,000 dollars. He
must have four days' notice , and thevessel must be brought up tothe Mau -chau
shallows, opposite Sha-tsing (a little above San-on, where Chan -kwei -tsih
resides ', in which case he will send out to meet her. Under these circumstances
she need not be set on fire. 66
Any money and merchandize on board her are to
go to the captors, but devils, flags, muskets, telescopes, letters, and arms, must
be given up (to Government).” A black devil was taken on the 28th, and the
twelve devils (whose capture has been noticed before) are removed, by the
Governor -General Yeh's desire, to the Wan-lam pawnshop. ( These are most
likely the Portuguese who, after being two months in durance, have just been sent
back to Macao .)
On the 3rd April, the same authority states, that on the 1st the English
had made another attack on Tung -chung, on the north of the Island of Lan -tao,
and had carried off a fast-boat. Their fire had only killed one man . He hear's
that Tam , a sergeant of the Cowloon garrison, well known as a thief-taker, &c. ,
had been seized in Victoria by Mr. Caldwell in person. He, Chan -kwei-tsih, is
moving a large force on Tsin-wan .
(This was to punish the people of that place for their contumacy ; they
persist in supplying Hong Kong.)
( The remaining papers, with one exception - a list of the shops and
-
tra esmen in parts of the centre and west of Victoria — all relate to collisions
between the people, and the braves and their superiors, on the same ground, in
the nionth of March .)
At Tsin-wan , which lies on the other side of our bay, although a little west
of the limits of the harbour, the braves, attempting to stop seven supply-boats ,
were beaten off with the loss of a life. Arecreant graduate named Chan -tsik -ün,
a
led on the rioters, whosurrounded the public meeting-house, tied up the under
graduale in charge of the braves, beat the latter, and robbed them of everything,
and finally threatened that, unless the said under -graduate signed a statement to
the effect that his braves had killed one of their people by mistake, they would
carry the whole party to Victoria, and get a reward for them from the English.
They also extorted 140 dollars ransom .
It is remarkable that in the letter detailing all this ( which is from Chan
tsze-tin, and urges Chan-kwei-tsih to put down these people) there is a detached
20
slip of paper in a different hand, with the words, “ On no account destroy the
Temple of Jesus of the West, at Tsin-wan . " Reports on the fray at Tsin -wan
come in from various quarters ; and we have now an edict of the District
Magistrate desiring the District Committee to move a force upon Tsin -wan,
Wong Kong, and Sai-kung. In a separate paper are given the names of the
Sub-Committee charged with these operations.
There is a village named Wong Kong about ten miles higher up the
Canton river than the city of San -on ; but this can hardly be the place, which
appears to be not far from Sham-chun, a town higher up the stream on which
San -on stands . As before observed, Sai-kung lies in one of the small bays east
of the headland which forms the eastern side of Hebe Haven .
At the former place boats load for one Ho-tsei-luk, stated to have almost a
monopoly of our supply market. Some braves interfering with these were fired
upon. The village elders were summoned to give up Ho-tsei-luk, but evaded
compliance. The magistrate had himself gone to Wong Kong ; but the people
were assembled by beat of gong, the official was refused admission , and obliged
to fall back on Chik -mi, a place a little east of Sham -chun.
(The dates here are not very clear, but the whole must have taken place
about the beginning of March .)
At Sai-kung, on the 6th March, a salt- boat, passing from Kwei-shin to
Victoria, with fuel, was seized. Information was sent to Victoria , and twenty
salt.boats came to the rescue ; their crews retook the prize, ransacked the public
all, or meeting -house, and threatened the braves that if they continued at Sai
Kung they would hand them and their leader over to the English at Victoria .
( Signed ) THOMAS WADE,
Chinese Secretary.
Inclosure 5 in No. 2 .
Plan of the District of San-on.
CHINA.
Her
of
proceedings
the
to
relating
Papers
Further
Canton
Nava
Majesty at!.
Forces
's
Comby
Parliament
of
both
Houses
Presentedto
of.
1857.
Majesty
Her
mand
LONDON:
HARRI D.
SOXS
IND
SON
PRISTEBY
7
FURTHER PAPER
RELATING TO THE
PROCEEDINGS
OF
HER MAJESTY'S NAVAL FORCES
AT
CANTON.
Indy 57
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty.
1857 .
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Proceedings of Her Majesty's Naval Forces at Canton.
Sir J. Bowring to the Earl of Clarendon.— (Received June 29. )
My Lord, Hong Kong, May 8, 1857 .
THOUGH I , perhaps , ought to rest satisfied with the prompt , generous,
and unreserved approval with which Her Majesty's Government sanctioned my
proceedings as connected with the recent events in Canton, I feel, after reading
the debates in Parliament, that I owe to the defence of my own character some
observations in reference to the lorcha “ Arrow , ” and to the extent of protection
which , under the flag she bore, she seemed entitled to receive at my hands.
The papers connected with the Ordinance No. 4 of 1855, under which the
flag was granted, having been published, I have to add, in explanation, that one
of the main objects of that Ordinance was to place under periodical revision the
proceedings of vessels enjoying the local privileges conceded under its sanction.
It is not necessary I should re -state the grounds which led to the passing an
Ordinance which was unanimously adopted by the Legislative Body here, inas
much as, after deliberate consideration, it was approved by Her Majesty in
Council. That Ordinance gave to me prompt means of punishing any irregularity,
and the Chinese, who had been made acquainted with its provisions, never
objected to any of them, and were bound to treat with becoming regard any
vessel which bore prima facie evidence of having complied with the conditions
on which the license was granted .
When I discovered the fact that the term for which the license was conceded
had expired, I wrote to the Consul, for his guidance, that the term of protection
had so expired .
But it was not less a question for my consideration whether the fact of the
expiry of the license gave to the Chinese jurisdiction, and authorised the violence
exercised towards the crew of the “ Arrow ."
In my judgment, it did not.
For, first, they were vi holly ignorant that the term of the license had expired,
and never for a moment put forward that excuse for their proceedings. Had
they doneso, had they acted as they were bound to act under Treaty obligations ,
the Consul would, no doubt, have made a special reference of the point to me,
and the Chinese would have had all the advantage of having discovered aa flaw in
the title of the vessel, and their representations would have met with prompt
attention from me.
But, secondly, I had to look at their intentions, as exhibited by their acts.
There was no doubt in my mind that it was their distinct purpose to disregard
the rights, and trample on the privileges, of a British flag - rights and privileges
which I thought it my especialduty to maintain .
Thirdly, the surrender of Chinese subjects, who most undoubtedly believed
they were entitled to the protection of the flag under which they served, to so
bloodthirsty a ruler as his Excellency Yeh , whose frightful sacrifices of human
life probably exceed in numbers and in cruelty anything in the records of history,
would, in ny opinion, have been an unpardonable abandonment of unfortunate
men .
Fourthly, the case of the “ Arrow ” was but one of a succession of wrongs
of which I had to complain , and for which I could obtain no redress. Yeh has
always exhibited a contemptuous disregard not only of my representations, but
of those of the Ministers of other Treaty Powers ; and the affair of the lorcha was
but an accidental incident in a long history of grievances, though it undoubtedly
[296]
2
brought about the crisis which no man acquainted with Chinese affairs will, I
believe, hold was other than inevitable.
Fifthly, the expiry of the license, the failure of the owners to seek its
renewal, placed the ship under Colonial jurisdiction, and she became responsible
to the Government for the penalties she might have incurred . The Chinese had
no title whatever to interfere with her except through the Consulate . Their
plea that she was a Chinese, and had never been a British vessel , was altogether
without foundation. This was the locus standi on which his Excellency Yeh
chose to base his argument : this was the question between him and me. I
hold that he was altogether wrong, and his wrong warranted my assertion of our
rights.
I repeat, then , that whether the “ Arrow ” was entitled to protection or
not, the Chinese had no jurisdiction ; and their proceedings were unwarrantable,
and to be resented. The expiry of the license did not make the lorcha aa Chinese
vessel, and gave the Chinese no right to interfere, except through the Consul.
>
She could only be a foreign vessel in their eyes. The papers, whether in order
or not, were deposited at the Consulate, and if they had acted in accordance
with the conditions of Treaty, and had put themselves in communication with
the Consul, there would have been no collision. The papers granted were, I
contend, of undoubted validity against any but British authority — the authority
which alone granted, and which alone was entitled to withdraw , protection .
If, then , the fact of the expiry of the license, of the right of the lorcha to
its renewal, did in no respect concern the Chinese, but the British alone, my
action was a necessity — at all events as far as placing the question in the hands
of the naval authorities when I could obtain no redress.
The after-proceedings of Sir Michael Seymour need no defence from me .
I have, &c .
(Signed) JOHN BOWRING .
CHINA.
Further
Paper
relating
Proceedings
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to
of
Her
Majesty's
Canton.
Forces
Naval
at
Com
Parliament
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Presented
to
Ilajesty
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1857.
Her
of.
LONDON:
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ſiin
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LIST OF PAPERS .
No.
Page
1. The Earl of Elgin to the Earl of Clarendon
..
' ..
..
December 12, 1857 1
One Inclosure.
2. The Earl of Elgin to the Earl of Clarendon ..
December 22, 2
One Inclosure.
3. The Earl of Elgin to the Earl of Clarendon
..
.. December 24, 5
One Inclosure.
4. The Earl of Elgin to the Earl of Clarendon
..
..
December 26, -
6
Two Inclosures.
:
:
Correspondence with the Chinese High Commissioner Yeh.
No. 1 .
The Earl of Elgin to the Earl of Clarendon.-(Received January 28, 1858.)
( Extract.) Hong Kong, December 12, 1857 .
I HAVE the honour to inclose herewith the copy of a note to the Imperial Commis
sioner Yeh , which is to be delivered at Canton on this day , to any person whom the
Imperial Commissioner may depute to receive it.
Inclosure in No. 1 .
The Eurl of Elgin to Commissioner Yeh .
Hong Kong, December 12, 1857.
THE Undersigned has the honour to apprize the Imperial Commissioner Yeh , &c.,
that he is the bearer of letters of credence, accrediting him as Ambassador Extraordinary
from Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain to the Emperor of China ; and further, that
he has been specially appointed and deputed by Her Majesty the Queenof Great Britain
as Her Majesty's High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary in China, with full powers under
Her Majesty's Royal Sign Manual and the Great Seal ofthe United Kingdom , to settle the
differences which have unfortunately arisen between certain of the authorities and subjects
of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and certain of the authorities and subjects of
His Majesty the Emperor of China, and to negotiate and conclude with the Minister or
Ministers who may be vested with similar powers and authority by His Imperial and Royal
Majesty the Emperor of China, such Treaties, Conventions , or Agreements, as may obviate
future misunderstandings , and tend to develop commercial relations between the two
countries.
The Government of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain , in appointing this
Special Mission , is animated by the sincerest feelings of goodwill towards the Chinese
people and its Government. It has observed with gratification the happy results which
have followed on the enlarged facilities for commercial intercourse between Great Britain
and China provided under the Treaty of 1842. The industrious subjects of His Majesty
the Emperor have derived therefrom increased returns for the products of their labour.
The duties of Customs have supplied timely resources to the Imperial treasury. Free
intercourse has engendered feelings of mutual esteem between natives and foreigners. In
a word , at all the ports of China opened to foreign trade, save one , commerce has
presented itself with its accustomed attendants, national wealth and international
goodwill.
To this favourable picture there is unhappily one exception. By repeated insults to
foreigners, and by the refusal to carry out faithfully the stipulations ofTreaties, the autho
rities of the Province of Kwangtung have frequently, during the period in question,put in
jeopardy the peaceful relations of China with the Treaty Powers. Great Britain , France,
and America have successively been compelled to seek, by menace or by the employment
of force, satisfaction for wrongs wantonly inflicted, until, finally, an insult to the British
flag, followed by the refusal of the Imperial Commissioner to grant adequate reparation, or
even to meet in the city the Representative of Her Britannic Majesty , for the purpose of
effecting an amicable settlement, has forced the officers who are charged with the protec
tion of British interests in this quarter, to have recourse to measures of coercion against
Canton. The contest thus commenced has been carried on by the Chinese authorities in a
manner repugnant to humanity and to the rules of warfare recognized by civilised nations.
[ 154] B 2
2
Acts of incendiarism and assassination have been promoted by the offer of rewards. Under
the influence of these provocations, innocent families have been plunged into mourning by
the kidnapping of private individuals ; and vessels engaged in the peaceful pursuits of
commerce have been treacherously seized , and the European crews and passengers
barbarously murdered .
The Undersigned thinks it right to remind the Imperial Commissioner that the
Government of Her Britannic Majesty, in its endeavours to terminate a state of affairs
which has led to these deplorable results, has not confined its efforts to representations
addressed to the Imperial officers on the spot . In the year 1819 a communication was, by
the express command of Viscount Palmerston, Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign
A Hairs, transmitted to the Imperial Government at Pekin, warning it of the consequences
that would ensue from the non -fulfilment of Treaty engagements, and terminating in these
words : “ Let the Chinese Government well consider these things, and whatever may
happen in future between the two countries that may be disagreeable to China, let the
Chinese Government remember that the fault thereof will lie upon them .” And again , in
the year 1854, Sir John Bowring, Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, urged upon the Imperial
Commissioners, who were deputed to conter with him at the mouth of the Peiho, the
necessity of granting to British subjects free access to the city of Canton . These repre
sentations, however, prompted by a spirit of conciliation and humanity, have been
unheeded, and the result has only served to prove that the forbearance of the British
Government has been misunderstood by that of China.
In the conviction that the season for remonstrance is past Great Britain does not
stand alone.. The disregard of Treaty obligations, and the obstinate refusal to redress
grievances which have forced the British authorities to have recourse to arms, have aroused
the just indignation of the Government of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French.
The Governments of England and France are united in their determination to seek, by
vigorous and decisive action, reparation for past, and security against future, wrongs.
Under these circumstances, the Undersigned thinks it his duty to state distinctly to
the Imperial Commissioner that he cannot assume the responsibility of arresting the
progress of hostile operations against Canton, until the following demands of the British
Government are absolutely and unreservedly conceded : the complete execution at Canton
of all Treaty engagements, including the free admission of British subjects to the city ;
compensation to British subjects and persons entitled to British protection for losses incurred
in consequence of the late disturbances.
If these moderate demands, and those preferred on behalf of the Emperor of the
French by His Imperial Majesty's High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary, be frankly
accepted by the Imperial Commissioner Yeh within the period of ten days from this date,
the blockade of the river will be raised, and commerce will be permitted to resume its
course . But the English forces, in conjunction with the forces of the French, will retain
the Island of Honan and the forts on the river as a material guarantee until the terms of a
Treaty for regulating these and all other questions pending between the Government of
Great Britain and that of China shall have been agreed to between the Undersigned and a
Plenipotentiary, of equal rank, appointed by the Emperor of China to negotiate with him,
and until the Treaty so agreed upon shall have been ratified by their respective
Sovereigns.
If, on the contrary, the Imperial Commissioner shall meet these demands by a refusal,
by silence, or by evasive or dilatory pleas, the Undersigned will deem it to be his painful
duty to direct the naval and military Commanders to prosecute, with renewed vigour,
operations against Canton, reserving tohimself the right to make, in that case, on behalf of
the British Government, such additional demands on the Government of China as the
altered condition of affairs may seem, in his eyes, to justify.
The Undersigned, &c. (Signed) ELGIN AND KINCARDINE.
No. 2 .
The Earl of Elgin to the Earl of Clarendon.--(Received February 14, 1858.)
My Lord, Furious,” Whampoa, December 22, 1857.
I HAVE the honour to inclose herewith the copy of a translation of the reply of the
Imperial Commissioner Yeh to the note inclosed in my despatch to your Lordship of the
12th instant.
I have, &c.
(Signed) ELGIN AND KINCARDINE.
3
Inclosure in No. 2 .
Commissioner Ych to the Earl of Elgin .
( Translation .)
YEH , Imperial Commissioner, Governor -General of the Two Kwang, &c., makes a
communication in reply .
On the 12th instant, I received the letter sent to me the same day , and was
highly gratified to learn that your Excellency had been sent with plenipotentiary powers
to Canton .
By the commercial relations ensuing on the establishmentof the Treaty between our
two countries, the mercantile communities of both have alike been advantaged . The
letter under acknowledgment observes, that “ to the favourable picture presented at the
ports of China, there is one exception.” Now, during more than a century that your
Excellency's nation traded at Canton, its trade was with Canton alone ; no such thing was
known as four other ports. They were first opened by the Treaties of 1842 and 1844 .
Canton had had, it is true, its own ways of trade long established—so far, indeed , it
differed from the other ports; but its commercial intercourse has been throughout
conducted on the same principle as theirs ; nor has there been , any more (at Canton than
elsewhere), any “ insult to foreigners."
As to the question of admission into the provincial city of Canton, no Article whatever
relating to this exists in the Treaties of 1842 and 1844. It was in March 1847 , that the
Plenipotentiary Davis attempted, at a moment's notice, to raise the question . Ile
prescribed a term of two years (within which the right was to .be conceded) ; but before
one year had elapsed, the unsatisfactoriness of his conduct in many particulars had been
complained of by merchants who returned home for the purpose, and he was recalled.
He was replaced by the late Plenipotentiary Bonham , subsequently to whose arrival in
Kwangtung there passed, in 1849, a long correspondence between him and the late
Commissioner Seu. Discussion respecting admission into the city was finally dropped, and
the Plenipotentiary Bonham issued a notice from the Government offices (at Hong Kong),
to the effect that he, the Governor, would not allow foreigners to enter the city. On this,
I myself, then Governor in concert with Seu, then Commissioner, represented to His late
Majesty, canonized as the Perfect, in a memorial, that the English had finally dropped
the question of admittance into Canton, and we had the honour to receive in reply the
following Imperial Decree :
“ The walling of cities is for the protection of the people, to the end that they may
turn their capital to the best account, &c. Respect this.”
It is also reported, on the authorityof an English newspaper, of 1850, that a Royal
(lit., national) letter from the Queen arrived at Hong Kong, to the address of the late
Plenipotentiary Bonham, to the following effect :
“ We are informed of everything regarding Tien-tsin and the five ports of China as
detailed in the representation (of Mr. Bonham). The Governor* in question has, without
doubt, shown great sagacity in the course he has followed. He was aware that Seu,
Governor-General of the Two Kwang, was secretly devising measures in which Yeh,
Governor of Kwangtung, was also taking part, and that they had together moved the
Chinese Government to send from Pekin a secret expedition of the Solont vessels of war
for the defence of Tien-tsin .But though our vessels of war could have been easily
worked (i.e. by pushing and pulling) along the shores (of the Peiho) to fight with these
Bonham, knowing what was becoming his own nation ( or Government), and being well
acquainted with the usages of China, confined the purpose of his visit to the ports of
China, to an observation of the condition of the country, prosperous or otherwise . Were
he to have fought, the Chinese would have said that our people were entirely in the wrong .
It is hence evident that our Governor Bonham has managed matters very satisfactorily ;
by no offence against reason (or right) has he caused us anxiety : he is very much to be loved.
Let Bonham be rewarded with the title of Wei-li-pa. (The Queen) also conferred on him ,
a badge of honour to be borne on his person , very goodly to behold ; and the English
authorities and merchants at Hong Kong went in their dresses of ceremony to offer him
their congratulations .
Thus the merchants of your Excellency's nation (showed that they) thought the
Plenipotentiary Bonham right and the Plenipotentiary Davis wrong. It is doubtless the
duty of your Excellency, who is come here in obedience to your instructions, to imitate the
* " Governor" --great chief of soldiers the term used by the common people at Hong Kong.
+ A Mongol tribe.
Į There is a confusion between Sir G. Bonham's Knighthood of the Bath and his Baronctey. “ Wei-li-pa," a
99
Chinese suggests, stands for “ Ba -li-mei, ” supposed to be Anglo -Chinese for Baronet. It is not aa Chinesc term .
B 3
4
conduct of the Plenipotentiary Bonham . It is equally imperative that you should decline
to imitate the conduct of the Plenipotentiary Davis.
With respect to that passage in the letter under acknowledgment which says that,
“ until the terms of a Treaty shall have been agreed to between the Undersigned and a
Plenipotentiary of equal rank appointed by the Emperor of China to negotiate with him ,
& c.," in 1850, the late Plenipotentiary Bonham went in person to Shanghai, and detached
thence an officer to Tien-tsin, to request once more admission into the city. In 1854, the
Plenipotentiary Bowring went himself to Tien - tsin and entreated with instance * to be
admitted into the city ; also that the Treaty should be reconsidered . His Majesty the
Emperor, holding that whereas the Treaties of 1842 and 1844 were ratified by the late
Emperor, canonised as the Perfect, there was not in the agreement so sanctioned by His
late Majesty, and which was to last ten thousand years with a view to the preservation of
a good understanding for evermore, any place for alterations, and that the order of proceed
ing that had resulted in those advantages which , from the time the Treaties were made,
had accrued to Chinese and foreigners alike from commercial intercourse, had been, in no
respect other than what was in accordance with the Treaties, was satisfied that these were
good and sufficient. The cessation of discussions regarding admittance into Canton was
for His Majesty a point on which the fiat of His late Majesty had been received, and as the
Treaty of Peace for ten thousand years had been in like manner ratified by His late Majesty,
it would have been equally improper to alter this. Hence, although on both occasions,
that (officers of ) your Excellency's Government repaired to Tien -tsin, Imperial Commis