The following letter was received from Macao on Rriday by members of the Reform Party here, which we have been kindly allowed to translate:—Mr. J Francis, Q. C., of Hongkon; who has been retained for the defence of Mr. Kin Lien-shan, has also been requested to draw up 8 petition on his behalf to the Marquis of Salisbury, a huge number of foreign sympathisers' having also expressed a wish to sign the paper. The substance of the petition is to be telegraphed to the Premier in order not to lose time. Resides Mr. Francis and the well-known Portugues lawyer Pacheco(?), the following les:
from Hongkong lis been retained to defend Mr. Kin, namely, Messrs. Stokes and Wei On, 'a younger brother of Mr. Wei Yuk, a member of the Legislative Council of Hongkong. With such an array of legal talent—the best procurable in Hongkong—it will be strange if our Party does not triumph in this matter. We are also very grateful to the Portuguese authorities here for their invariable courtesy and kindness to M ever since it became evident that he had been made the victim of a trumped-up charge. For when Mr. Kin was Brst arrested and asked about the money he twas said to have taken from the Telegraph Administration his surprise was so. great and so genuine thas the Portuguese offi als suspected at once that there was somethin behind the charge, not knowing at the time that Mr, Kin was wanted for being a Patriot and a Reformer. Que friends are perfectly safe so long as we have the sympuhy " sri countries, and this arrest of Mr. Kin should be taken as warning for all of us to remain, for the present, under the powerful and perfectly just' protection of Great Britain, instend of sing about under the illusion that we are own tothe people we happen to he ust, unless, of course, the Cause de-even to the sacrificing of our lives.
he other hand, the Viceroy Li Hung-deputy here, the notorious Liu sun, has not been idle, but seems to be working hard and energetically to get a hold upon' the person of our friend, ' by hook or by crook," so he has been heard to declare; for we also have men watching every move and scheme of his. We have received a communication also to the effect that, even if Mr. Kin should be released fter his trial, an attempt is to be made cither on his' life or the capture of his person; but to be forewarned is to he fore urined.' There are also numerous rumours mit here, in Canton as well as at Hongwr, reg-reling the intended movements of Lia Hsid-hsun and his myrmidons the obtaining of Mr. Kin's person, ich, owing to the well-known character of Lin, find more or less credence amongst the people of the three cities. Tt la now also known that Lin's reward for success will be the return in toto of his largo property in Canton, valued at a million and half taels, which was confiscated by ex-Viceroy T'an Chung-lin, about three y when Liu himself, was lying under a similar ban to that of his intended victim, vis: summary decapitation when arrested, Liu is, moreover, further promised another chance of manipulating the Weising Lottery upon which, it will be remembered, he hat so fattened himself that the people of Canton could bear it no longer and a hue and ery was raised which led to the igsuing of an Imperial decree commanding his instant execution without further trial, Liu, however, had his friends also, and ko escaped first to Macno. This place being too hot for him and being in mo-
Canton by the Viceroy's runners, Liu went mentary danger of sing kidnapped to to Hongkong and from thence to Shanghai, Having now the chance of reversing all these with the additional one of getting his revenge upon certain gentry of Canton who were the most {encryetic in exposing his defalcations in the Weising Lottery, totnlling—according to ex-Viceroy T'an's morial to the Throne—to nearly three ion taels, it is not to be wondered at Liu Hsid-hsun is now trying his best to earn his reward.
Macao, 8th March,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.