the hope of being able to bring matters to a satisfactory termination, I shall be most anxious to receive the instructions of Her Majesty's Government on this important question. 31. I inclose a copy of a notice I have had issued to the British community by Her Majesty's Consul. I have, &c., (Signed) M. SEYMOUR, Rear-Admiral, Commander in-Chief. Ralph Osborne, Esq., M.P., &c., &c. &c., No. 214. SIR, Admiralty, London. Superintendency of Trade, Hong Kong, October 11, 1856. I have the honour to forward to your Excellency sundry despatches, with their enclosures, connected with the seizure of several Chinamen at Canton in a vessel (the Arrow) bearing the British flag. As I have had the honour of discussing with your Excellency the various points at issue, and the satisfaction of finding a perfect concurrence of opinion as to the course of action to be adopted, I shall be glad if you will give the needful instructions to the naval authority, and return the despatches when done with. I have, &c., His Excellency Rear-Admiral Sir Michael &c., &c., &c. No. 150. SIR, British Consulate, Canton, October 8, 1856. I have the honour to inform your Excellency, that the British lorcha Arrow, while lying with her colours flying in the river near the Dutch Folly, was suddenly boarded this morning by a force of Chinese officers, in a war boat of large size and heavy armament, who pinioned and carried away nearly the whole of her crew, leaving two out of fourteen men on board, and added to this act of violence the significant insult of hauling down the national ensign. Having satisfied myself of the facts, and ascertained that the war boat remained with the captured crew still on board, in the immediate vicinity of the lorcha, I repaired on board to claim the men, before they should be conveyed to a distance; and to explain to the officers, if it were possible that they had acted in error, the gross insult and violation of national rights which they had committed, and the heavy responsibilities they incurred. I informed them, and had a magistrate's officer with me who could verify my statement, that I had already demanded from the civil authorities an investigation of the subject, and called upon them, if they had any charge to prefer against the prisoners, to bring them in their custody to the Consulate, where due examination might be had. To this they refused to accede, stating that they had reported the matter to their superior officers, and must wait orders, and intimating very distinctly that they would oppose with force any attempt on my part to take the men under my charge. I returned, therefore, to the Consulate, and have addressed the Imperial Commissioner the letter I beg to inclose in copy. The officers on board the war-boat stated to me, as the reason of their proceedings, that one of the crew of the lorcha is the father of a noted Koolan pirate, and being authorized to seize this old man wherever they found him, and hearing that he was on board the Arrow, they considered themselves at liberty to carry him away, without any previous reference to me, lest that I should lead to his escape. I did not understand that they had any distinct charge against the other eleven men, but heard that they wanted them for evidence or information they considered they would be able to give against the said pirate. Since writing the above (at a late hour in the evening), a coolie whom I had left on board the war boat to watch proceedings has returned, and reported that all the prisoners have been conveyed into the city. I shall be glad to receive any support or instruction that your Excellency may consider the case requires. (Signed) I have, &c. H. S. PARKES, Consul. His Excellency Sir John Bowring, LL.D., No. 69. SIR, British Consulate, Canton, October 8, 1855. I hasten to bring to your your Excellency's notice, an insult of very grave character which calls for immediate reparation. This morning, shortly after eight o'clock, a Chinese war-boat boarded an English lorcha, the Arrow, lying at anchor in the river near the Dutch Folly, and regardless of the remonstrances of her master, an Englishman, seized, bound and carried off twelve of her Chinese crew, and hauled down the English colours which were then flying. Hesitating to rely solely on the master's account of so gross an outrage, I at once despatched people to make enquiries, and found that the facts were as he had stated, and that the war-boat, said to be under the command of Leang-kwō-ting (show-pe) in the Imperial service, after leaving the lorcha, had dropped down the river, and was lying off the Yangtsing gate with the crew of the lorcha still on board as prisoners. On receiving this intelligence I proceeded in person to the war-boat, accompanied by Her Majesty's Vice-Consul, and explained to the officer who I found in charge, named the Le-yung-shing, the gravity of the error committed by the said war-boat in boarding and carrying off by force of arms the crew of an English vessel, and the gross indignity offered to the national flag by hauling down the lorcha's ensign. I also required him to bring his prisoners to the British Consulate, there to await examination, but this he refused to do; and on my claiming them, and insisting on their being delivered to me, he made a display of force and threatened me with violence if I attempted to take them with me. I hasten therefore to lay the case before your Excellency, confident that your superior judgment will lead you at once to admit that an insult so publicly committed must be equally publicly stoned. I therefore request your Excellency to direct that the men who have been carried away from the Arrow be returned by the Captain Leang-kwō-ting, the officer who seized them, to that vessel in my presence, and if accused of any crime, they may then be conveyed to the British Consulate, where, in conjunction with proper officers deputed by your Excellency for the purpose, I shall be prepared to investigate the case. At the same time that I address your Excellency on this subject, I am submitting both to Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary and the Commodore of Her Majesty's naval force in this river, a report of what has occurred; and I should also add, that the said lorcha being at present detained here in consequence of the seizure of her crew, has a claim upon your Excellency's Government for the expenses which this delay occasions her. I have, &c., (Signed) H. S. PARKES, Consul. His Excellency Yeh, Imperial High Commissioner, Governor-General, &c., &c., &c. No. 151. SIR, British Consulate, Canton, With reference to my despatch, No. 150, of last night, reporting the grave violation of national rights, committed yesterday by Chinese officials, on board the British lorcha Arrow, I have now the honour to enclose a copy of the letter I addressed to Commodore Elliot, of Her Majesty's ship Sybille, at present at anchor, I believe, at Chunpee. The whole of this day has passed without the receipt of any communication from the Imperial Commissioner, or any other Chinese official, relative to this outrage. In the hope of inducing the Imperial Commissioner to view the matter in the grave light which it deserves, I have again called his attention to it in a letter this moment despatched. I have also taken in the course of the day several depositions confirmatory of the facts set forth in my letter of yesterday. I have, &c., (Signed) H. S. PARKES, Consul. His Excellency Sir John Bowring, LL.D., Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, Hong Kong. |