Foreign Intelligence.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume I, Issue 1, 1 March 1861, Page 11

Foreign Intelligence.

CHINA. The war with China is at length brought to a close. The Peace Treaty with the English was signed within the walls of Peliin, the principal City, on the 24th November last, and the Treaty with the French on the following day. The Chinese are to pay the sum of two millions six hundred thousand pounds, the Town of Tien-tsin is to be in future the consular port, and that part of Canton which is at present occupied by the English is to be ceded permanently 10 them. As few of our Maori readers know anything about China, or of the causes of the war, we propose to give them now a short description of this vast Empire, together with an account of its invasion by England and France, and the circumstances which led to it. The Chinese Empire spreads over the Eastern slope of the table lands of Central Asia. Te will probably be difficult foi* the Maori to form anything like aa adequate idea of its vastness. him, however, imagine eighteen countries, each of them equal in extent to the whole of New Zealand* and let them be arranged together

in a square, which is accessible by sea on one side only. This will give bim some idea of this gigantic Empire. The population of China is immense. By, the last Census, which was taken in 1812, it contained more thau 360 millions of inhabitants! To enable the Maori to form a correct idaa of these numbers, let us suppose that each of those eighteen countries like New Zealand, has a population of twenty millions (one million being about ten times the present population of New Zealand both Pakeba and Maori)—then, the people of all put together would equal that of China! The upper frontier of this vast country lies awav up North amid the snows, where the reindeer abounds—the other boundary is far to the South, where the heat is intense, and the elephant is indigenous. Within these limits every production is found which is necessary to the comfort arid luxury of man—wheat, sugar, tea, coffee, silk, cotton, &c. The population is spread over the whole territory but is denser in some parts than in others. Over this great nation there reigns one Emperor, who is considered by his people the \icegerent of Heaven, and whose will is law. He is a despotic ruler: whom he! will he kills, and whom he will lie keeps alive. The great characteristic of the Chinese nation is their aversion to intercourse with foreigners. For many long centuries the Chinese empire, though considerably advanced in civilization, was hardly known to the rest of the civilized world. While other countries were enriching themselves by international commerce, the people of China kept the gates of their empire closed, xind confined their trade to themselves. But! as the wealth oT China became known to other nations, commerce was commenced and gradually increased, notwithstanding the efforts of the Chinese authorities to prevent it, till in 1859 they forcibly attempted to suppress the opium trade. A war with England immediately ensued, which lasted over two years, and issued in a.Treaty., requiring China to pay to the English the sum ol seven millions sterling, and to open some of her ports to foreign commerce.

But the Chinese authorities never lost an opportunity afterwards of evading the terras j of this Treaty, and in J 836 it was openly violated by them. In 1857 hostilities commenced and Canton was captured by the English. In the following year, the four great powers—England, France, America, and Russia—sent ambassadors to China, to insist on a renewal of the Treaty. Meeting •with resistance they captured the Chinese works at the mouth of the Peiho, and took the Town of Tien-isin, when the Chinese came to terms. After long negotiation a Treaty with each of these Nationsseparately was entered into and signed by the Emperor. The English Treaty secured to all British subjects the right of travelling to! any part of the Empire of China for trading purposes, and, amongst other provisions, -entitled the British Minister to a residence in Pekin, the Imperial City. But in June •4859, when a British Ambassador was proceeding to Pekin in accordance with the stipulations of the Treaty he was received .as an enemy, and his ships fired upon from the Chinese forts. Three of the vessels were destroyed and 464 British officers and m«n slain and wounded! Notwithstanding that the Chinese Emperor had himself signed the Treaty only twelve months before, the ships of the English were thus treacherously attacked when on a peaceful mission to Pekin—the place appointed for the residence of the British Minister! The Treaty of peace had been wickedly violated by the Chinese, and the English and French at once prepared to send out a fleet of men-of-war and an army of soldiers to demand satisfaction. Accordingly in the •early part of last year some ten thousand troops were sent to China from England, .and about the same force from France, with a fleet of vessels of both nations. We have already told our readers of the very successful issue of the campaign which followe d. We have not room here to follow the allied forces in all their movements, but as it will be interesting to see how a comparatively small force of English and French brought , the great Chinese nation to terms; we will give a short accouut of their principal operations. ' the sth July the French and Cochin v Chinese had a pitched battle in which the French retreated. On the Ist August the

allied forces landed near to the Pehtang Southern Fort, intending to storm it, but finding both this and the Northern Fort deserted, they entered without resistance, j took possession of them, and quartered j themselves in the City of Pehtang. Peh-| tang is said to contain a population of 20,000 inhabitants. On the I2th the allied I forces advanced on the entrenched Camp i which was situated midway between Peh-1 tang and Taku. On their approach the' Tartar cavalry caine out to meet them, j The British cavalry immediately charged, utterly routing and dispersing the Tartars, j who fled in all directions. The allies then 1 stormed and took the Camp, the enemy j retiring and entrenching themselves in some neighbouring villages. From these they were dislodged and were pursued until lbe\ took shelter under the walls of the Taku! Fort. At daylight on the 14th the allies: advanced on Taku. A heavy fire was immediately opened upon them from the Chinese batteries, but these were at length silenced by the Royal Artillery, and about ii o'clock, after a hard fight, the storming parties gained a fooling on the walls and took the Garrison. On the 21st an attack was commenced on the great North Forts by a force composed of 1500 English and ihe same number of French troops, with a heavy train of seige Artillery. The gun-boats of the allied forces advanced to the mouth of the river and pitched shell and rockets into the fort, and succeeded in blowing up the principal magazine. The enemy kept up a heavy fire from their batteries, but at length the allies, after a long and sore fight, succeeded in storming the fort. The total loss of the English on this occasion was 211, of the French 150. In the afternoon of the same day the remaining Northern forts surrendered, a truce of four hours having been granted them to consider the matter; and in the evening the Governor-General of Pecheli held a Conference with the allies at Jaku, and unconditionally surrendered the Southern forts on a cessation of hostilities being granted. The Chinese force at these forts is estimated at 25,600 men !

These were tbe same forts which in June] *859 fired upon ihe vessels of the English' Ambassador, as we have already described. The allied forces now worked their way tip towards Pekin, the principal City, and the residence of the Emperor. On the 2nd October they had taken possession of one of the gates of Tangchou, and placed Artillery on ihe walls. On the 7th they captured the Emperor's Summer Palace, near to Pekin, and found there silver to the value of £30,000 besides much other treasure. It was found that the Einperor had left Pekin and fled towards Tartary. The Chinese now sued for peace, but the Commander of the English forces refused to entertain conditions until the English prisoners still in their bands had been given up. They accordingly sent eight prisoners into the Camp, with a promise that the others, at a distance from Pekin, should be given Bp as soon as possible. On the 43th preparations were made for the bombardment of Pekin unless it should surrender by noon. Immediately before the given period expired, Hong Cha, the chief Minister, came out and handed over the keys of the gates in token of surrender. The outer and inner gates were at once taken possession of, and a portion of the allied force was quartered on the walls of Pekin; and the flags of England and France were hoisted on the Chinese ramparts! The Emperor having thus surrendereJ, the war was at a close, and another Treaty was entered into, the principal terms of which we have already slated.