§ COLONEL SYKESsaid, he rose to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether the bodies of the officers, British subjects, attached to Ward's Chinese levies, and killed at the attack upon Tai-tsaing, were recovered; whether it is true, as stated in the Shanghai newspapers, that two pieces of Her Majesty's ordnance were lost at the attack upon Tai-tsaing, which were lent by General Staveley to Ward's levies; and whether Officers of Her Majesty's 31st and 67th Foot, of the Marine Light Infantry, and an Officer of the Royal Engineers, were present at the attack upon Tai-tsaing, which is beyond the thirty-mile radius from Shanghai?
§ MR. LAYARD, in reply, said, he was afraid he could not give his hon. and gallant Friend very full answers to his Questions. It was only that morning that he (Mr. Layard) had received an account of what had taken place, contained in articles from files of the same papers as his hon. and gallant Friend had been consulting. It appeared that an attack had been made by what was called "Ward's Force" on a walled town without the thirty-mile radius, on the authority of a Chinese officer, and against the urgent advice of General Staveley. General Stave- 307 ley appeared to have allowed Captain Holland to accompany the force, fearing that disasters might arise. With regard to the recovery of the bodies of British officers, he had no information on the subject. Two guns appeared to have been lost, but he (Mr. Layard) was not aware that they belonged to Her Majesty, or whether they had been lent to Ward's force for the purpose of the expedition. Captain Holland was the only officer, he believed, attached to Her Majesty's forces who had accompanied the expedition; but he could not answer his hon. and gallant Friend's Questions so fully as he could wish.