Chap. I. 



VISITS OF WAR-VESSELS. 



15 



information of you English, so that all the human 

 race may learn to worship our Heavenly Father 

 and Celestial Elder Brother, and that all may 

 know that, wherever our Eoyal Master is, there 

 men unite in congratulating him on having ob- 

 tained the decree to rule." Sir George Bonham 

 says in his despatch, — To this extraordinary 

 document I returned the accompanying reply, 

 which I deemed, under all circumstances, neces- 

 sary, as, the sooner the minds of these men are 

 disabused in regard to their universal supremacy, 

 the better for all parties : — ' I ha ve received your 

 communication, part of which I am unable to 

 understand,' [no wonder] 'and especially that 

 portion which implies that the English are subor- 

 dinate to your sovereign.' " . . . 



In the month of December, 1853, the French 

 war-steamer " Oassini " paid a short visit to the 

 insurgents at Nanking; in May, 1854, the Ameri- 

 can Minister, Mr. McLane, visited them in the 

 " Susquehanna," and a short time afterwards H.M. 

 steamers " Battler " and " Styx " renewed the 

 visit on the part of the English. These inter- 

 views with the leaders of the insurgents do not 

 seem to have led to any results of importance, 

 if we can judge from the statements which have 

 been published from time to time in the news- 

 papers. While the Chinese have treated the 

 western officials with a certain amount of studied 

 politeness, they have not failed, on all occasions, 

 to assert their own superiority and to demand 



