were persisting in, and hence the present difficulties have been brought about. The twelve men sent to the consulate at noon on the 22nd, together with the communication from your Excellency, which accompanied them, were returned because the demands made in my letters of the 8th and 12th October had not been complied with, as was clearly explained at the time to the Nankee, Assistant Magistrate, who brought them. Can it be possible that he did not represent these particulars to your Excellency? If so, it is another proof of the dangerous consequences which the want of direct personal communication between Her Majesty's officers entails, and how indispensable such communication has become. His Excellency the Naval Commander-in-Chief directs me to add, that when your Excellency is prepared to arrange these questions satisfactorily, and to furnish the reparation demanded for the outrage committed on the Arrow, he will then desist from further operations; and as he is careful to respect the property of the people, he is not apprehensive that these movements, which are directed solely against your Excellency's Government, will incite hostility on their part. I have, &c., (Signed) H. S. PARKES, H. B. M.'s Consul. His Excellency Yeh, Imperial High YEH, Imperial High Commissioner, Governor- At noon on the 26th October I received your statement, and have well considered it. On the morning of the 22nd October I ad dressed you a Declaration, and with it sent you the twelve men, thus, therefore, returning to you the whole number that had previously been seized. You, the said Consul, received (the letter and men), and thus had knowledge (of the fact). Was not this proceeding in perfect accordance with (the demands made in) your letters of the 8th and 12th October? Why then did you as before refuse to receive them, and proceed without reason to burn and destroy the forts of this city? But the Minister also knows full well what you, the said Consul, have in view. For a certainty it is nothing less than a desire on your part to terminate the course taken by the Envoy Davis in the spring of 1847. Little, indeed, do you know that the people in China form the basis of the nation, and that the people of Kwangtung are very different from other communities. As to what you say in your statement under acknowledgment about respecting the property of the people (let me inform you) that the forts you destroyed on the 23rd and 24th October were all built or repaired at the cost of the people to guard against the attacks of thieves or rebels. The destruction you have committed has therefore fallen upon the people, and the people being enraged at these proceedings, trouble will inevitably ensue. But you, the said Consul, must alone decide whether what I now say is to be believed or not. 26th October, 1856. SIR, True translation, H. S. PARKES. British Consulate, Canton, October 27, 1856. I have received and laid before his Excellency the Naval Commander-in-Chief your letter of yesterday afternoon. A reference to my previous letters of the 8th, 12th, and 22nd October, will show very clearly that your Excellency has never yet offered the satisfaction demanded for the matter of the Arrow, and you now refuse to entertain the proposal for direct personal intercourse, made to you by the Naval Commander-in-Chief, in my letter of the 25th. His Excellency therefore directs me to inform you that he shall resume offensive operations, and that your Excellency is alone responsible for all the evil consequences that may ensue. I have, &c., (Signed) H. S. PARKES, Consul. His Excellency Yeh, Imperial High SIR, Encounter, at Canton, In continuation of my letter of the 26th instant, I have the honour to inform your Excellency, that, seeing the measures which had been taken to compel the High Commissioner to yield compliance with our just demands having proved of no avail, I opened fire at 1 P.M., on the 27th, on the Governor's Compound in the New City, from the stern pivot gun of the Encounter, and continued it till sunset, at intervals of from five to ten minutes. The Barracouta at the same time also shelled the troops on the hills at the back of the city, from a position at the head of Sulphur Creek. No change in the state of affairs having followed, I yesterday resumed offensive operations from the Dutch Folly, where I had placed two guns in position, having previously given the fullest warning to the inhabitants in the vicinity to remove their persons and property, an occupa tion they were engaged in during the whole of the previous night; our fire in the direction of the city walls, aided by a conflagration of a large portion of the houses in our line of attack, has materially furthered our object of opening a clear pasage between the Dutch Folly and the walls of the eity, and will, I have reason to hope, facilitate our farther operations. The fire has reopened on the city walls this morning earlier than I intended, in consequence of the Chinese mounting guns on the walls opposite the Dutch Folly. I have, &c., (Signed) M. SEYMOUR. His Excellency Sir John Bowring, LL.D., Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, Hong Kong. No. 234. Government House, Hong Kong, I have to acknowledge your Excellency's despatch of yesterday, advising the continuance of hostile operations, consequent upon the unsubdued obstinacy of the Imperial Commissioner. I venture to hope that the pressure will soon be irresistible and the final result all we could reasonably anticipate. In addition to the small body of Artillery sent up to be placed under your Excellency's orders, we have thought it desirable to despatch an Officer of Engineers (Captain Cowper) who will be at your Excellency's disposal for any service required at his hands. I have, &c., (Signed) JOHN BOWRING. His Excellency Sir Michael Seymour, K.C.B., Return of Officers, Seamen, Royal Marines, and Royal Artillery, engaged in the capture of a portion of the City of Canton, on the 29th October, 1856. Her Majesty's ship Calcutta. W. K. Hall, C.B., captain; W. R. Rolland, commander; H. H. Beamish, lieutenant; F. J. Campbell, lieutenant; Robert Boyle, captain, R.M.; R. P. Henry, 1st lieutenant, R.M.; W. W. Allnutt, 2nd lieutenant, R.M.; W. R. Kennedy, midshipman; S. Osborne, midshipman ; C. H. Eden, midshipman; A. B. C. Booth, midshipman; H. H. A'Court, midshipman; E. W. Pearn, master's assistant; F. T. Holdsworth, naval cadet; 97 seamen; 104 marines. -Total, 14 officers, 97 seamen, 104 marines. Grand total, 215. Her Majesty's ship Sybille. The Honourable C. G. J. B. Elliot, commodore 2nd class, commanding the forces; E. F. Dent, lieutenant; Henry Swale, 1st lieutenant, R.M., slightly wounded; A. T. Brooke, midshipman; H. T. Price, midshipman; 53 seamen ; 1 marine.-Total, 5 officers, 53 seamen, 1 marine. Grand total, 59. Her Majesty's ship Winchester. J. H. Bushnell, lieutenant, in charge of field piece, highly active and zealous; P. W. Pellew, acting lieutenant; P. F. James, acting 2nd master; P. C. Penrose, captain, R. M., commanding detachment; C. W. Burton, 1st lieutenant, R.M., acting adjutant; 43 seamen; 39 marines, 34th company, John Lyne, acting lance corporal, mentioned for gallant conduct in |