There comes back to Shanzhai—we'come as flowers in May—a flicker of the past in the visit here of Rear-Admirsl L. 4. Beardslee, U.S. N.. who hay been at the Astor House for the past few days, Apart from his high position in a brilliant servic, Admiral Beardslee has x high claim to the respectful notice of 4 who live in the Far East. As a midshipman in the U.S, corvette Plymouth he took part in that expedition" ander Commodore Perry which op: ned Japan to the worl], and was ala" concerned in the battle of Muddy Flat, which last may be said to have seen the be; 1g8 of that organisation which is the hai Volunteer Corps. In Japm Bourdslee was fitly honoursd, as was duc to him, ant in Shingha it is right that something should he sai with the active work of the' Tai ces News" edi-d on him at the Astor Hous, and there had a conversation with Admiral Beardslee which was so interesting tat its effect is well worth' recording.
Te was of the episode of Muddy Flt that the talk chiefly treated. Une must imagine—on the 4th of April, 1834—v foreign settlement norilt of the Yar king-pang Creek, " Chivese suburb the south of that Creek, and the 1 city beyond that, Also, to use the Admirals wordy, "a race-course, belonsing to the foreign residents, was in the rear of the foreign settlements, and in the rear of the walled city were the forts held by the forces of the imperial Chins." The racecourse thus red was not, of course, the present 01 track was partly that semicircular pi ground which is now the Wupeh Rod, Pakhoi Roxd, ani Thibet Road. Thus, again to quote the Admiral, the cities, race-course, and forts formed the corners of Aasomewhat irre cular quadrilateral," Thus much for the scene of battle As to the com. bat ants itis necessary to mention that duri 1854, and after the outbreak of the Taiping Wang, a certain house-boy in Shanghai, with an eye to possible loot, organised body of men, and in the easiest manner Bpsrible, took ports sion of the native city.
nis man, Ah Ling, declared himself a General, and scattered titular honours upon hin followers. Against him, there sven came a body of Imperialist troops—for Ah Ling occupied the city in the name of the Twping Wang—who mad: themselves forts, Tt is characteristic that between the extreme point of rang of the guns of the native city and the forts there Was a safety belt," so to speak, about half a mile in width. The fiercest fire and shrillest catcalls from either side could hurt nobody walking in this belt. There were battles of a terrible apparent fierceness, but wherein no damage was done to vitiier side. Indeed, Admiral Beardslee remembers an occasion on which the killing of a Chinaman by " European free-lance in Ah Ling's army resulted in the retirement of the Imperialis's, who had not dreamed of such heary losses."
The proximity of these rival bodies of Chinese resulted naturally in frequent looting, and as x means of stopping this the young men of the foreign settlement formed themselves into a body, and Russell and Ca., a prominent firm of that date, pres: nted them with tw brass howitzers. This was the which has emerged the Shanghai Vol Corps, horse, foot and aruilery, There were also the U. 8. corvette Plymouth, Captain John Kelly, and the British warships Eucounter and Grecian, Captains O'Callahan and Donalds, then stationed at Shavghai, These, with certain men from merchant vessel-, wade up a total force of about four hundred.
The cans belli was a good one, Upon a cly an E Mr, Ca'decott Smith, was escorting a lady on the Race-course, when they were set upon by a number of Chinese soldi igs would have badly with them had it not hap-4 that " purty of English and American e's, ashore for the day, had hired pavies, and had decided on an international' race, Fey—reached the Race-course in time to see Mr. Smith and the lady in difficulty, and dashed to the rescue. The Cisinese were driven off—Admiral Besrdslee remembers that one was even killel—and thus a torch was set to the tinder. It rumoured that the Chinese would revenge themselves by attacking, burning, and looting the settlements, and the foreign force was at once, by a signal alreuly agreed on, called out. On the ible of Hi first, and hit hard," they atone attacked the fort nearest the set loment, some of the defenders, and ex: turing about two hundred, who were tied together by their pigtails and unceremoniously stowed in a godown under a guard, This fell upon the 3rd of April, and the fore ders decided that a decisive step should be taken on the following day. Certain prisoners were returned to the Imperialist Chinese, with a mess we that they must evacuate their forts by three in the afternoon of the 4th.
Admiral Beardslee's connection with whit followed was more or lees surreptitious, His request to join the force was met with the tempt that he was not big enough, and he had recourse to the sympathetic assistance of certain who men out the Plymouth, ash he to obtain a position fr an w command the fe Phe no sign of life m the forts, until, shortly before the app-i hour, " listless boily of Chinese mom walls and lazily watered the Three o'clock came, and within it " con mand of "Fire!" from Captain Kelly. Thereupon a 12-pound shrapnel was sent to the forts—exploded among thuse idle gazers—and the show of fight ended. The effect of the shut was tremendous. covered the country with fleeing troops, whos - hurry was increased by another shot sent after them, Then the foreigners charged, to be met by a brow ditch which had been dug around the forts. Moreover, the Chinese had several unwieldy cannon—chokefull of balls, bullets, frayents of metal, and the like—trained in direction, which were elevated so much, however, that when fired, they only succeeded in killing Captain Pearson, of the American shi Rose Standish, onw shan, a seaman of the Plymouth, and in wounding a few—one of whom, Mr. Gray, of Russell and Ca, had his Jeg shot off. While the sharpshooters were pi off the Chinese at these cannon, an English +aval party rushed a bamboo house near at hand, tore it down, used the remains to bridge the ditch, and so were able to attack the forts in the rear. They kolled all the remaining defenders, burnt the huts, and so helped to bring the tale of Chinese killed up to more than three hundred. The rest of the history of the Buttle of Muddy Flat is of how guards were placed and steps taken to prevent a recurrence of the trouble.
This, it must be remembered, is but the recollection of a very young midshipman engaged in the butic, hut it must have very great interest for all. It is pleasant to think that Admiral "Beardslee his returned to see ogum the Settlement which ho took some pair in defending.
We give here the list of exsualties published in the ''North-China Herald" of the 8th of April, 1854.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.