CHINA AND JAPAN.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 39, 5 February 1864, Page 6 (Supplement)

CHINA AND JAPAN.

(From the Overland Mail, Dee. 15.) The news of the past fortnight has been somewhat interesting. The great event not only of the fortnight, but of the present year, has been the^ dismissal from the Chinese service of Mr. H. N. Lay, who, for several years back, has filled the post of Inspector G-eneral of '.Foreign Customs. The cause of this dismissal is understood to be, that Mr. Lay's demands upon the Chinese Gi-overnment were uoi only preposterous themselves, but somewhat arrogantly urged. Mr. Lay's dismissal is not regretted, either by the customs employees or by the foreign mercantile community of China. His successor, Mr. E. Hart, enters office with the general good wishes and esteem of the whole mercantile body. The germ of this affair has been the squadron which arrived in China some time ago, under the command of Capt. Sherrard Osboruc. The course which captain Osborne should probably have pursued, was to haye reported himself on his arrival in the Yangtze liiver, to the Governor- General of the Two Kiang, and to have given him delivery of the fleet. Mr. Lay, however, is reported to have demanded the direct recognition by Prince Kung of Captain Osborne, and to have declined delivering over the vessels to any local provincial officer. Tseng Xwo-fan, to whom the Chinese Government desired the vessels to be given, is a man of great note, and rules over no less than 20,000,000 of people, besides possessing most extensive influence in the Chinese Empire, Mr. Lay, of all men, was to have been .expected to have avoided the mistake of igß^ring this mandarin. The fleet is still reported as being about to sail for England ; and the Avhole affair promises zo be one of the most disgraceful matters with which the British name has ever been mixed rip. jFrom Japan we learn that Satsuma still declines to pay the indemnity demanded from hun by ildmiral Kuper, except upon condition that every foreigner quits Yokohama. Th« British forces in Japan are evidently waiting for support, and are not likely to withdraw If om the country until something has been done much more deemve than the affair at Kagssima. With regard to Major G-ordon and the rebels, we have to report that Soochow has Me&. Gordon attacked the city at eight a.m. .on Saturday, the sth instant, and entered tike njaee on i the same morning. Dissension has broken out amongst the rebels, and a ))p.rty <>£ them, desirous of suwettieyIn-/ the cityj cut the Mo Wang's head oft? taiour says that 30,000 wanted ■ixi nuvrendoi\ and tfcqt 20 } QOO had re^ ,maked true to the cau\*e. ; aiad moreover, tiwb, of the latter nu£}uer, soms 1 still hold ott in the different patftg .of ; the city The of . the Mo Waiig-has not .only facilitated the capture of Soochow, but J&ust go a !great iway to demor^ise th.c generaiiy. Hang- Chow will bo dopbt ' fioon. fail.; asxd, failing other means, : .tKe ; vCtnpowftlißts will W aMe to starve :the-^etielß out of Jfnnking, Jtfcmg,€how -a-nd Sfftukiiig eiumat keen vis

communication ; and as the rebels have not now (as they had in 1860, when they burst through the besiegers of ■ Nanking) any large, army to help them from Kiangsee, of anywhere else, they ; will soon be in a bad way. : From the river Yang-tsze we have no news of importance. : 'All is quiet, in the southern ports. ; l:Oiui contemporary the Daily Press has the following on the fall of Soochow •■;.) and we are inclined to believe it .in every particular. The Imperialists are certainly a stupid set of people, and the sooner we drop assisting them the better : — ," There are reliable advices in town to the effect that Tseng-kwo-fan was hotly pressing Nanking, that the Cluing- Wang had left. Soochow with the best Taiping troops to its relief ; that provisions were getting scarce, and that the city must fall unless relieved by forces from without. Chung Wang's evacuation of SooChow is therefore easily accounted for. We see moreover from the last letter quoted from our correspondents, that Li Wang, the leader of the disaffected party at Soochow, had carried his point in surrendering the city, and had been murdered for his pains. The defection of the Chun Wang had clearly thrown matters into the hands of Li Wang — who, we should suppose, had entered into arrangements of capitulation with Major G-ordon, which arrangements would naturally embrace immunity for himself and all who laid down their arms. The Futai would naturally seek the undivided honor of capturing the city — therefore it doubtless was that he made the bargain with Grordon's men that they should have two months' pay as compensation for not entering the city. Having thus cleared the stage for himself the Futai enters the city, ignores the conditions of surreuder, ]oots and murders right and left, and breaks his promise to (xordon's men. We 'learn, on good authority, that upon the fall of Soochow G-ordon will retire from the Imperial Service, and that a consular notification will be issued, strictly prohibiting all .British subjects from engaging their services, either to Imperialists or Taiping. A change has clearly come o'er the spirit of the dream, and honest convictions have overtaken Her Majesty's ministers.