THE CANTON LOISPATCHN.3,

The London Gazette of Tuesday contained a mass of correspondence relating to the proceedings at Canton. It consists of the letters of Consul Parkes, Imperial Commissioner Yeh, Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, and her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, Governor Sir John Bowring ; and, beginning with the forcible seizure of the crew of the Arrow, it continues down to the 14th November, when all the defences of the city were in the hands of the British commander. The outline of the events between the 8th October and the 14th November was described with substantial correctness last week, partly from official and partly from unofficial papers. But the documents published in Tuesday's Gazette supply more material for a judgment on the merits of the questions at issue, and enable us to fill up gaps in the previous accounts. On the 8th October, Consul Parkes informed Sir John Bowring, that a Chinese force had on that day boarded "the British lorcha Arrow, while lying with her colours flying in the river near the Dutch Folly," hauled down said colours, and took away twelve out of fourteen of her crew ; that he instantly went on board the war-boat containing the prisoners, to claim their surrender, as he had already demanded an investigation of the subject from the civil authorities, and had called upon them to prefer any charge against the prisoners at the Consulate. The Chinese officers refused to surrender their prisoners, and menaced Mr. Parkes with violence should he try to take them away. On the same day, Consul Parkes transmitted a similar statement to Yeh. No answer was received from Yeh until the 10th. It simply stated that the crew had been seized because there were pirates among theta; and it enclosed the depositions of Hwang-Leen-Kae, who had been robbed, and Woo-Asin,one of the crew, to whom the piracy had been confessed. From these it appeared,

that Hwang-Leen-Kae, in passing up the Canton river, recognized on board the Arrow a pirate who had plundered his vessel on the 6th September, and that he gave the information which led to the seizure of the Arrow's crew. Yeh remarked, in passing, that the lorcha was not a foreign vessel, and that therefore it was useless to enter into discussion respecting her. In forwarding this reply. to Sir John Bearing, Consul Parkes gives these particulars respecting the loran " I should mention, that the Arrow is sailing under a Colonial certificate

of registry, renewable annually, bearing the date 27th of September 1855, and the number '27.' She is therein said to belong solely to Fong-Aming, of Victoria, Hongkong, Chinese trader ; but the place and date of build are not given. Her master's name is Thomas Kennedy, a native of Belfast, and a very respectable man of his class; who informs me that he was engaged by Mr. Block, Danish Consul at Hongkong, as nominal master of the lorcha, which he has hitherto believed to belong to Mr. Block's compradore, and he supposes that it is the compradore's name which appears on the register."

On the 11th, Sir John Bowring replied to Mr. Parkes

" It appears, on examination, that the Arrow had no right to hoist the British flag: the licence to do so expired on the 27th of September, from which period she has not been entitled to protection. You will send back the register, to be delivered to the Colonial Office.

"But the Chinese had no knowledge of the expiry of the licence ; nor do

they profess that they had any other grounds for interference than the supposition that the owner is not a British subject. That, however, is a question for this Government, who granted the register ; and it is clear that the Chinese have violated the 9th article of the supplementary treaty, which requires that all Chinese malfaisants in British ships shall be claimed through British authorities."

Sir John added instructions directing Mr. Parkes to demand an apology within forty-eight hours. On the 12th, the Consul communicated these instructions to the Chinese Governor in the following form

" That as it is clear that the Chinese authorities have violated the 9th article of the supplementary treaty, which requires that all Chinese mallitigants in British ships shall be claimed through British authorities, I am to inform your Excellency, that her Majesty's Plenipotentiary requires you to furnish me with an 'apology for what has taken place, and an assurance that the British flag shall in future be respected• and I am to intimate to your Excellency, that if forty-eight hours are allowed to pass without a compliance on your Excellency's part with this demand, I am then to concert with the naval authorities the measures necessary for enforcing redress."

Yeh rejoined on the same day ; quoting the evidence of Woo-Asin to show that the vessel was built by Chinese and manned by Chinese. "Thus," he continued, "it had been ascertained by the previous exami nation that this lorcha is not the property of a foreigner ; and at the time when the naval officer seized the twelve men and brought them to my yamun, I directed that they also should be examined as to the matter ; and they stated, that when they went to the lorcha to seize the men, they saw no foreigner on board ; that at that time no flag had yet been hoisted on board the loreha ; that they heard that the flag was stowed away below, but they themselves saw nothing of it. Therefore they seized the men and brought them away." As Yeh refused the British demands, Sir John Bovrring suggested that

a junk should be seized. This was done by Commodore Elliot ; but, as it turned out that the junk, although in the service of the Government, was private property, it was released. Consul Parkes again remonstrated. Yeh repeated his statements, and added a promise for the future— "Hereafter, if any lawless characters conceal themselves on board foreign lorcha, you the said Consul shall of course be informed of the same by declaration, (from the Imperial Commissioner,) in order that you may act in conjunction (with the Chinese authorities) in the management of such affairs." In the mean time, nine of the men were sent to the British Consulate ; but Mr. Parkes refused to receive them, as they were not returned publicly to the lorcha as demanded. On the 21st October, the Consul decisively informed Yeh, that if the British demands were not complied with in twenty-four hours, Admiral Seymour would have recourse to force. Ych answered this by sending the twelve men to the Consulate, but intimating that two of them, against whom there were criminal charges, must be sent back. Consul Parkes rejoined by stating that this course was not acceptable—the men were taken publicly from the lorcha, and to the lorcha they must be publicly returned, and not ten, but the whole twelve. He did not, he said, intend to liberate them, but "to detain them until all the requirements of the treaty in their case shall have been fulfilled."

The naval operations began on the 23d October, with the capture of the Barrier and Macao forts, followed by the course previously described. On the 24th, Ych remonstrated, repeating his former statements; and asked whether the attack on the forts corresponded with British reverence "for the spirits of Heaven and the Sabbath-day." Sir Michael Seymour continued his operations : the Bird's Neat fort and the Shameen

forts were taken on the 24th, and marines were landed to protect the factories ; the Dutch Folly was occupied on the 25th ; Sunday the 26th was observed as a day of rest. On the 27th, the British demands were augmented. Admiral Seymour having concurred in opinion with Sir John I3owring that this was a fit ting opportunity for requiring the fulfilment of "long-evaded treaty obligations," Sir John instructed Mr. Parkes to communicate this additional demand

" That, to prevent the recurrence of evils like the present, which have been occasioned by the disregard paid by the Imperial Commissioner to the repeated applications for redress and satisfaction made to him by letter in the matter of the Arrow by her Majesty's Plenipotentiary and the Consul,— writing, in consequence of the closing of the city to foreigners, being the only means of comumnication,—I demand for all foreign representatives the same free access to the authorities and city of Canton (where all the Chinese high officials reside) as is enjoyed under treaty at the other four ports, and denied to us at Canton alone." To this there was no reply. The Admiral therefore resumed the work of destruction ; bombarding the Governor's palace, breaching the citywall, blowing in a gate, and visiting the palace, for the purpose of showing that the British had power to enter the city. On the 30th, Admiral Seymour sought to enter into personal communication with Yeh ; but Yeh refused. An attempt was made to induce an acceptance of the additional demand. Yeh pleaded that Mr. Bonham, Sir John Bowling's predecessor, had in 1847 abandoned for ever the claim to enter the city : a plea which Admiral Seymour met by quoting an extract from Mr. Bonham's despatches, showing that the right was only waived, not abandoned. The Admiral then proceeded with his measures of physical coercion and destroyed a fleet of war-junks. Sir John Bowring's "admiring sense" of the merit of this achievement, and his views as to what should be done next, were communicated to the Admiral in the following terms, on the 8th November— "I have to express to your Excellency my great and admiring sense of the consummate skill and prudence with which the military operations have been directed ; and to all concerned my thorough appreciation of the promptitude, zeal, and bravery, which have given them such successful results. Whatever may have been the importance of the question which ne cessitated the first appeal to hostilities, it has now assumed a character seriously involving all our present and future relations with China and I am of opinion that everything possible should be done to give effect trea ties which have been pertinaciously and recklessly violated. A small and turbulent fraction of the population of China cannot be allowed to supersede the engagements of their Emperor to the Sovereign of Great Britain. "I submit to your Excellency, that the next step to take should be a notice to the Imperial Commissioner, that unless, within a period to be fixed

by you, your reiterated demands are complied with, the Bogue forts will be

destroyed. I think it should also be stated, that the object of our entering the city is to carry forward a work of peace and amity; to put a stop to the miseries the infliction of which has been rendered imperative by the resistance to lawful requirements, and to prevent their recurrence on any future occasion."

Sir Michael Seymour closes his despatch to the Admiralty, of the 14th November, by asking for instructions

" The command of the river being now in our hands, I have no other operation in immediate contemplation beyond the security and maintenance of our position ; and it will remain with her Majesty's Government to determine whether the present opportunity shall be made available to enforce to their full extent the treaty stipulations which the Canton Government has hitherto been allowed to evade with impunity." It appears that the British were not without sympathizers in Canton. Admiral Seymour writes— "Between the 8th and 12th of November, the Consul received three deputations from the principal merchants and gentry of Canton, who seemed

anxious to bring about a settlement of the present disastrous state of affiiirs.

They were obliged to admit that our demands were not unreasonable ; but that such was the inflexibility of the High Commissioner's character, they feared it would be useless to attempt to alter his expressed determination not to admit our representatives into the city. They denied the accusation made by the High Commissioner that he had been compelled by clamour to offer a reward for our heads, and loudly expressed their disapprobation at it. Even if they have the disposition to settle this dispute in our favour, I fear they lack the power to do so."

Some illustrations of the character of the hostilities arc furnished by a despatch from the Admiral. It appears that the Chinese boats furnished

supplies to the ships throughout. This led to the distribution of a state

ment of the case in Chinese. Two or three times the enemy tried to inflict damage by the use of fire-boats, and on one occasion by sending

fire-rafts down the river. These attempts were frustrated by proper vigilance. Thirty dollars for the head of each Englishman were offered. The attack on the junks alone brings out the spirit of the Chinese

" On the 5th instant, I received information that an attack was intended to be made on our ships and the factory, and that twenty-three war-junks were at anchor below the Dutch Folly, protected by the French Folly fort, mounting twenty-six heavy guns. Captain Hall having ascertained the correctness of the statement about the junks, I directed Commodore Elliott to take the Barmcouta, Coromandel, and the ships' boats' and either disperse or capture them. The narrow channel having been buoyed by Commander Bate at daylight of the 6th, the Barracouta proceeded, followed by the Coromandel with a detachment of Royal Marines, and towing the ships'

boats. Commander Fortescue anchored his ship about 800 yards above the French Folly, and within 200 yards of the nearest junks, which were per

fectly prepared for attack, and drawn up in line of battle. As the Chinese were observed training and pointing their guns, the Banacouta was obliged to open fire from her bow pivot-gun to cheek their deliberate arrangements, before her broadside could be brought to boar. A most animated fire was returned instantly:, by the junks and fort from more than 150 guns; which was maintained with great spirit for at least thirty-five minutes. But when the ship was sprung, her grape and canister., with the aid of the boats in charge of Captain Thomas Wilson, which, pulling in, opened a most effective fire, soon drove the people out of the junks. The Barracouta was then enabled to give her undivided attention to the fort ; and, having silenced it, Captain Hall pulled in and took possession."

The Bogue forts were captured on the 12th November.

"I sent a summons to the chief Mandarin to deliver up the forts till the Viceroy's conduct could be submitted to the Emperor of China ; pledging myself that the forts should remain uninjured, and be given back when the present differences shall be terminated. This being refused, the squadron then attacked the two Wantung Island forts from the Bremer Channel side; and they were taken possession of by the boats and Royal Marines, after a considerable though ill-directed resistance of about an hour. These forts were fully manned, had upwards of 200 guns mounted, and were found stronger than when captured in 1841. The Chinese troops stood to their guns up to the moment our men entered the embrasures. The Mandarins had boats in readiness to facilitate their own escape, leaving their unfortunate followers; who rushed into the water until they were assured of their safety. by the efforts made to save them. They were afterwards landed on the main." The loss on our side was—two marines, one sailor, and a boy, killed ; twelve marines, six sailors, and two officers, wounded. (Lieutenant Swale of the Sybille, very slightly, and Mr. Oliver Lang, midshipman.) The Admiral in his despatch, gives especial thanks to Commanders Foote and Smith of the United States Navy, "for the good order and harmony they so largely contributed to preserve" ; and generally to the British and foreign communities for their cordial support.