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Manifesto by the People of Tinghải.
DEC.
agree with us to deliver up your leaders or to kill them, we shall not be able to know who is good and who is bad, but you must all of
you be either captured or killed; we will on no account permit a single man of you to return home! Ye linguists and interpreters, who are detained among them by compulsion, must translate these sentiments into their language, and declare the same to them all, which will be a work of the greatest merit.
The son of Ching tálauyé, the commandant of Chúchau fú, had previously assembled a thousand ships, and ten thousand volunteers ; he had several times burned their ships, and carried off their people, thereby reaping a harvest of merit. We have lately heard that Liú, the lieut.-governor having requested I'lípú to make peace, young Mr. Ching's ships and volunteers are now dispersed, and he is gone to accompany the bier of his great father to his native place. Let us all agree to send people to stop young Mr. Ching, and we must charge him that he on no account forget the enmity he owes the English for the death of his father, and that he turn not his back on the great duty he owes his country -he will assuredly again come and re-assemble his ships and volunteers. If the English barbarians still dare to remain squatted in our island and oppose us, we shall then arrange with him (i. e. Ching tálauyé), and fix upon a day when he will attack with his ships and volunteers from without, and we shall rush in dealing death upon them from within. Moreover we shall request the French people to cooperate, the linguists from Canton and Fukien will privately assist us; the black and white devils longing for home only wish that they may get defeated in order that they may return; they will on no account exert themselves to defeat their opponents, so that these barbarians, though their ships and guns may be powerful,-what difficulty will there be in pointing out the day when they will be all utterly exterminated? Moreover, our people in burning the ships of the English have a much quicker plan than the slow process of using fire-junks. Let us therefore cove- nant together, that if there be any among us who coveting their paltry gains forget their own name and fame, who throw obstacles in the way of this public covenant, or whose hearts incline towards the English, as well as those who through fear of death, or danger fly away, and will not aid and assist us to kill the robbers, then such people are no longer worthy to be considered as sons of Ting- hái, they must be the offspring of those barbarian dogs!
Though they may by good luck escape the laws of land, yet they are sure to meet an ignominious death, their properties will be dissi-
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