The remainder of the despatch is irrelevant to the subject of the correspondence. It was received 29th April, 1862. If the Ti-pings had acted rather as angels than men, their rights would not have been respected. Captain Dew, neither satisfied by their arguments nor conciliated by their tone, addressed to them the following cartel:—
"Encounter, Ningpo, May 2, 1862.
"Sir,—We have the honour to inform you that your letter of the 29th ult., in reply to my demands for the insults offered to the French and English flags, and in which you refuse to comply with those very moderate demands,[15] have been forwarded to our admirals. In the mean time, pending the decision of our chiefs, I have moored the foreign ships two miles down the river, and cut off communication with the city, and am, moreover, ordered by our chiefs, in the event of the following demands not being complied with, to prepare to blockade Ching-hae, and prevent all foreign ships entering the river:—1. An ample apology. 2. Removal of all guns from battery and walls opposite our ships. 3. That an officer shall be specially appointed, and that proper measures, by means of guards, shall be taken to prevent anybody whatever coming on the wall opposite the ships or into the battery.—I have, &c.,
"(Signed) R. Dew."
This repeated attempt of Captain Dew to make the Ti-pings disarm themselves, and his attempt to ignore the apology he had already accepted in his letter to the chief dated 27th April, must afford convincing proof that a premeditated and organized arrangement to quarrel with the Ti-pings existed. The generals in command at Ningpo gave the following reply to Captain Dew. They declared the battery and guns necessary to defend the city against an attack by a fleet from the coast, which in fact appeared, commanded by the notorious pirate Apak, on the 7th May. They promised to remove all ammunition from the guns and to prevent armed men going on the ramparts, but, as Colonel Sykes says in his review of the affair, "Had the generals chucked the guns into the river there would have been some new demand." In their reply the generals state:—
"In reply to letter of 2nd inst., submitting three demands, we beg to inform you that we have carefully examined its contents, and that we will agree to those demands as far as we are able. In reference to the first, our previous letter has afforded full explanations on that head, how that it was the result of an accidental discharge of bullets during the salute.... In reference to the second point, demanding removal of guns, &c., our former despatch has already explained that those guns are meant as a precaution against an attack from Ting-hae, that the multitude of lives in the city that have to be taken care of urgently demands.... We shall on no account fire the guns, unless the imps attack us. Under the circumstances stated by you, we agree to stop up the port-holes of all the guns bearing on Keang-pih-gan, and to remove all the shot and powder from thence, so as to manifest to you our desire for lasting amity. Infer from the third point in your letter that you are afraid that, if people are allowed on the wall, there will be some lawless persons who will fire the guns by mistake. Far from allowing anybody whatever to come on the walls, there are most strict orders against allowing any one to go on the walls, not only on those opposite to Keang-pih, but also all round the city.... We are inordinately desirous of remaining on good terms with you, and this is our reason for this distinct statement." (Dated 3rd May, 1862.)
Affairs remained in this position till the 7th of May, when Captain Dew wrote to Admiral Hope, stating that on the evening of the 5th, Consul Harvey received a communication from the late Manchoo Governor of Ningpo, to the effect that he was about to attack the city with a strong force, and requesting support from the English and French admirals. The same evening Captain Dew proceeded down the river, found the Imperialist fleet (consisting of the pirate Apak's vessels), and visited the Governor; again, on the following morning, Captain Dew visited that functionary, and the latter, accompanied by his pirate-admiral Apak, returned the visit. While closeted with Captain Dew, they made their arrangements for the forthcoming attack on Ningpo, and the former wrote to his senior officer:—
"So I told them that in consequence of the rebels refusing certain demands we had made, I should have no objection to their passing up, but that they were not to open fire till well clear of our men-of-war."
Now Captain Dew may flatter himself that this statement has hoodwinked the people of England, but unfortunately for his reputation, people judge a man by his actions. Instead of these piratical vessels keeping "well clear" of his ships, they proceeded to execute their part of the programme of attack by keeping well foul of his men-of-war, according to previous arrangement.
On May 9th, Consul Harvey reported to Mr. Bruce the movements of the Imperialist, or rather pirate fleet, under the notorious Apak, as follows:—