The Sun. — London, England, 1857-10-31 00:00:00

CHINA. (From the Time Special Correspondent.) SHANGHAI, Aro. 7. My last despatch was closed in hot haste, for the Formosa hove in sight, and in five minutes the boat was lowered, the letters were put on board, and we followed them with wistful eyes as they departed for " home." Next morning we were still out of sight of land, but the landsman's cry told that we were steam ing in shallow waters. The morning's bath showed that the water was quite fresh and opaque, with rich alluvial soil. There were no other symp toms of land. We were in the mouth of the mighty river Yang-tae--" the child of the ocean" the richest river in the world—richest in naviga ble water, in mighty cities, industrious human beings, in affluent tributaries, and in wide margins of cultivated lands of exhaustless fertility. This vast expanse of turbid fresh water is saturated with the loam of fields 1,500 miles away. Portion of this rippling element was gathered upon those great mountain ranges of Central Asia where the Ganges, the Brahmaputra ' and the two great rivers that irrigate Siam an d Cochin China, and the fierce "yellow river" which pervades the north of China divide the drainage. The volume was increased by every mountain and every de scending streamlet through 600,000 square miles of midland China. In its pride and in its strength the proud river fights for a little while with ocean himself for empire, drives back his salt waves, and establishes a freshwater province in the midst of his dominions.. The Chinese love and venerate the ' Yang-tse as Chinese sons love and venerate their fathers. Philosophers draw their parables from his greatness and benificence, historians chronicle his droughts and floods as events more important than the change of dynasties, and poets find his praises the most popular theme for their highest flight of song. Many a gentle dullard will think or say that I am. "straining after the picturesque," or, more hor rible still, "writing sentiment." Don't believe it. I write rapidly what I feel earnestly. The Yang tse-Kiang is the mot de enigmes, the secret of the great Chinese puzzle. If I cannot make Mr. Del. drums, or Sir John Fathead, or General Craes un derstand the grandeur and the all-importance of this river, I shall never succeed infixing in his skull one right idea about China. If he will study the geography of this empire as I have done, hour by hour, and day by day, with map, glass, and books of travel, collating the bad maps, and asking explana tions from French missionaries and Chinese mer chants, he may then say what he likes about my descriptions, for he cannot but share my conclu sions. We had steamed for some hours in this shallow sea, when aline, having length but neither breadth nor thickness, became just visible far away upon our left. As our course was tangential to this line it gradually became more distinct. Then through our glasses we could sae a level coast, well timbered with trees—no palms or Easter forms of foilage, but such an outline as we might trace on the banks of Essex or Lincolnshire. Between the river shore and the woodlands there was a margin of meadow land, where droves of cattle and flocks of sheep were depasturing, and every thing around, except only the fierce sunshine, gave promise that we had escaped into an European cli mate. Then land upon the right grew into view, not the opposite bank of the Yang-tse, that is far out of sight—but an island which he is throwing up. From day to day he piles there the spoils he brings down from the midland provinces, The pilots say they can observe an increase every week. The Chinese are already planting bamboo there to give solidity to the rich alluvial soil. A thousand squatter= are ready t'r seize upon it and convert it into gardens immediately the tide shall cease to cover it. Fishing anal carrying and convoying a thousand junks and lorchas are scudding to and fro in the estuary. ißut we proceed not far up the channel of " the child of the ocean"—" the father of rivers" —" the girdle of China." A che::ker-painted sea mark (which wants only a telegraph upon it to make its usefulness complete) and a floating light hcuse mark the point where the last tributary to the Yang-tse Kiang, the river Wang Poo, joins its waters. Upon a low spit of land stands the deso late and amphibious looking village of Woosung. The place is not really desolate and is not really amphibious, for large fortunes are constantly being made here (the golden sands of commerce accumu• late as rapidly as the deposits of Yang-tse-Kiang), and the piles on which the building are erected lift them out of danger of inundati,n. But the Chinese have a talent f,r giving an appearance of squalor to their towns and village. I did not land, but proceeded immediately in a sanpan to Messrs. Dent's receiving-ship, which lies strongly anchored fore and aft in the mouth of the river. Time was when the Emily Jane wasa floating garrison with a disciplined crew trained to gunnery and boarding practice. Her guns are still in very good order, but she is not likely to test their powers; for the Mandarin junks are tao longer her enemes, and the pirates hold her in great respect. lam afraid she is a very wicked E:nily Jane, for she is crammed with opium, and the odour of the drug is strong in her spacious cAbins. Your "Special Cur r.spondent " ought to be above such base consider ations ; but temperance advocates have beeu known to relish a rump steak cooked upon the furnace fire of Broadwood's brewery, and I must own that when the frank and hospitable commander of the Emily Jane had responded to my letter of introduction by an invitation to join him in some well-cooled sau terne, a joint of capital Shanghai mutton, and a successfully concocted ice pudding—grateful con trast to the monotonous fare of a passenger steam boat—l did not look ailout me with so much flaming indignation as a total abstinence-from opium advocate ought to have done. These cool drinks calm one's judgment. I shall return to this opium question hereafter—l hope in more serious and ratiocinative mood. After " tiffin " I loft the Emily Jan?, for the tide was making, and Shanghai is seicri mles up this river Wang Poo. At a distance of three miles, in the gray twilight, Shanghai looks like a distant view of Woolwich. he tall spars of the Pique frigate, the English and American steamers of war, and a fleet of merchant vessels give an air of life and bustle to the Waters of this noble tributary to the Yang-tse-Kiang. Higher up, where a turn in the river gives an inland appearance, we see a multitudinous mass of junk masts, just as from Greenwich and Woolwich we see the spars of the ships that crowd our dock. All tells of a large commerce requiring a strong protec tion. In this indistinct light the "Longs" of the European settlement loom 1 ke the ship slips at Deptford or Woolwich. I, is only upon a near approach that they resolve themselves into fine finished buildings, some columned like Grecian temples, soma square and massive like Italian palaces, but all declaratory that the res augusta doini is a woe unknown to Englishmen iu China. The English settlemenr. at Shanghai is situate upon a bend of this river Wang Poo. I: s bounda ries are its fortifications. On one side the Soo-choo river, which c nuts down from the great city Soo chcio (the Birmingham of China) and fails into the Wang Poo, forms its Jim . its. On the other side, the Yang kang-pang canal shuts it from the settle ment allotted to the French. This French allotment extends up to the walls of the Chinese city of Shanghai. Tha frontage upon the Wang Poo, between the Soo-shoo river and the canal, is nearly a mile in length, and the settlement extends backwards about half a mile. This space is divided into squares by six roads at right angles with the river, and three arallel to it, and in Close squares are the residences and godowns of the commercial houses, each in its surrounding plot of ornamented ground. In the rear of all is the Shanghai race-course. I am so fortunate as to be commended to the princely hospitality of Mr. Beale, whose capacity of entertainment is eo large that he can afford a sepa rate establishment to each guest. I occupy the rooms where Mr. Fortune stored his treasures and where he hung up that terrible double-barrelled gun which raked the decks of so many pirate junks. If I have succeeded in conveying to the reader any notion of this place, he will recognise in it the present mainstay and the future hope of our trade with China. Almost yesterday the site of this hand wale Angle-Chinese city was paddyfields and cotton gr° llll di. In 1856 3d9 British ships of the tonnage of 92,943 tons unloaded on the quays. Imports from the whole World to thbeamount of 3,010,511/. passed through the Custom ho r se , in addition to these opium to the value of ° passed through tbis portal b the interior of 4 dhi 51. e . t 1 notwith standing this amount of leg it and illegal further impoi tat ion, 4,287,9901. in haeb l u m ll Ports, a requisite to settle the balanc e of trade with Europe was and America, and to pay for the enormous amount urope of tea and silk which China sent down to Shanghai, and Shanghai distributed to Europe, America, and Australia. This is something like prosperity —a single port with an annual balance of four millions anda quar ter in its favour. But for the opium the amount would have been nine millions. In the current year, according to all present appearances, the sum may reach 9,000,0001., even with the set-off of the Opium ; and but for this undesirable resource for hedging our losses, the civilised world would have to find 1 4,000,000/. worth of silver t o p a y the Chiname n who supply this single port. It is impossible to predict this as a ce rtaint y . Perhaps the native Chinese merchants may over stand their market and the exports may be checked. All we know at present is that the Chinese have tremendous silk crop, and are holding out for most extortionate prices ; and that, although some houses hold their hands, there are others who think it can all be sent to Europe at a profit at the prices demanded, and are buying freely. In any otleez country this problem would meet a certain solu tion, but in China even this great export trade is as nothing. There is a competing home market of 360,000,000 of people, and almost every labourer in the cities has his holiday silk tunic. True, it is small merit in an Englishman's eyes that this port of Shanghai is so productive to China that it drains us of our bullion, deranges our ex changes, and embarrasses our commerce. But it is a fact, and a-Nary important fact. I am not now going to investigate why this so happens. lam not iu a condition to speak authoritatively yet of the doings at the Pihisn, the Taepinea and the Kan Custom houses, or to tell the mysteries of that cordon of Dortanes which is drawn round this port, and pre vents our goods from penetrating, with fair chance of competition, 60 miles into the interior. When I have succeeded or failed in getting nearthese places, and have gat all the information I can gather, I shall devote some very lengthy epistles to the great question of how to work our manufactures into China. At present I have no further purpose than to show what a commercially important place this port of Shanghai is, to fix it in the public mind so that in our dealings with the Court of Pekin it may hold its proper rank, Beyond the limits of the European settlement the rich alluvial plain on which Shanghai stands extends for 20 miles without a hillock. We must admire the fertility of the soil and the industry of the people, but there all our gratification must end. The roads are devious footpaths, and the courses of traffic are dykes and drains falling rapidly to ruin. When the fierceness of the sun is a little moderated I walk about these fenny tracks as they wind more tortu ously than the footways in the marches between Erith and Greenhithe. They all tell of better days. They are strongly paved with rough blocks of gra nite or of limestone, fortunately too solid to need repair. Small drains are crossed upon slabs'of stone of many tons weight, and wider water-courses are crossed by bridges of stone built to last centuries. But where present or eonstant care is required we see the evidences of a decrepit Government and an unsettled society. Reeds and bamboos choke the water-courses ; some have become dry which were navigable five years ago. Here we come upon the site of the imperialist camp. The canal which formed its defence in front is now a swamp. The peasant still retains his habits of industry. The land is par celled out into little patches of cotton ; and as the plant must be sown wide, the interstices are filled with beans, or some vegetable that will find a mar ket in Shanghai. The senses are afflicted with open pans of human ordure, carefully preserved for ma nure; and the proprietor, with a small bucket fixed at the end of a bamboo, is bringing water from the ruined canal to irrigate his little cotton garden In all probability th Government has made the usual grant for sustaining that canal, for routine is constant in China as in England ; but the mandarin has embezzled three-fourths of the sum, and the contractor has expended one-half of the rest in bribes, and has pocketed the remainder. Cotton (yellow aid white) is the general crop ; but it is not all cotton. There are patches of maize, purple, gingals, and leguminous plants of many kinds, but the staple of this district is cotton. At present the plant is a low woody plant about a foot high, a little like (with the exception of the stools) those young springs of an oak coppice which form such pleasant cover to shoot pheasants in early in October. In another month the flowers will be out, and a fort night later the yellow pods of, which the nankeen cloth is made wid form and burst, and all the popu lat on will turn out to pluck them. The old women will sit under the eaves of their cottages cleaning and winding, which, indeed, is their normal occu pation all the ye tr through ; the ablebodied part of the family having cleared their leguminous crop, will plough up the ground, and. either prepare it for wheat, or, if th situation is favourable, will bank up the land and let in the water to prepare for rice. The whea , , is off the ground in May or June, and the cotton is again sown. Thus three crops annually are obtained from this alluvial plain. 0 Vice-Consul Harvey—doctus utriusque Unglue —to whom the manners and the language of China are even as the manners and the language of Paris or of London, tell me what means that more than usually pestiteutial stench. It seems te radiate from that decaying pepper-box-shaped tower, which, although not 20 feet high, we must by the courtesy of China call a pagoda. Undismayed, the energetic Vice-Consul, who sometimes acts as guide, philosopher, and friend, and expatiates with me over this maze, advances through a vapour so thick that I wonder the Chinese do not cut it into blocks aud use it for manure— and at a distance of five yards from the building puffed hard at his cheroot and said— " That is the baby tower." " The ?" said I, inquiringly. "The baby tower. Look through that rent in the stonework—not too close, or the stream of effluvia may kill you. You see a mound of whisps of bamboo straw. It seems to move, but it is only the crawling of the worms. Sometime; a tiny le; or arm, or a little fleshless bone, protrudes from the straw. The tower is not so full now as I have seen it; they must have cleared it out recently." "Is this a cemetery or a slaughterhouse?" " The Chinese say it is only a tomb. Coffins are dear and the peasantry are poor. When a child dies the parents wrap it reuud-with bamboo, throw it in at that window, and all is done. When the tower is full, the proper authorities burn the heap and spread the ashes over the land." There is no inquiry, no check. The parent has power to kill or to save. Nature speaks in the heart of a Chinese mother as in the breast of an English matron. But want and shame sometimes shout 1 uder still. There is a foundling hospital in the Chinese ci"y with a cradle outside the doer and a hollow bamboo above it. Strike a blow upon the bamboo, and the cradle is drawn inside. If it con taiu pn. infant, it is taken and cared for, and no qeestions asked. There is also a system of domestic slavery in China. At an early age a child worth dollars, a father or mother in ,y for money delegate their own absolute power—delegate without losing it—for, although the father may have sold his son ) a stranger, or although a mother may have so!d her daughter to prostitution—and concubines in China are only thus to be obtained—the duty from child to parent remains uuinapaired, and is strictly performed. The incentives thus offered by Mammon and the alternatives proffered by native charity may save lives that would otherwise b 3 destroye I ; but this baby tower is a terrible institution. It stands th re, close to the walls of a crowded city, an obtru,ive invitation to infanticide. I have paid one hurried visit to the Chinese c'ty, but must postpone any description of it until I have opportunity to sea it thoroughly, and this will not be for some weeks. Ever since my ar►ival here I have been trying to organise an exped.tion into the interior, but every one is afraid of fever and ague and suns trokes, and talks of two months hence, when I hope to be think ng of 'coming home. At last I have found a companion in an ardent mission ary who speaks the language well. I have purchased a modest Chinese wardrobe, and a barber is delibe rating upon the fabticatioirof a toupee, with a hand some tail attached. With the aid of Chinese spec tacles, which are always four inches in diameter, I flitter myself lam so disguised that my own house keeper, with her Lest spectacles on, would not re cog:iise me. Ti have written a long n.lws-letter without one word of news in it ; a , zd yet it would he easy to w:ite columns, for one hale of the people here are reporting news from the interior, and the oth.r half are contradicting it. People say that the rebellion is dying out. They expect every day news that Chin-Kiang Foo is re - taken by the Imperialists, and opinions are strong that Nankin will not long hold out. This, if true, is very important news for us, for it clears the Yang-tse-Kiang and the Imperial Canal, where our operations both for war and commerce were most likely to be complicated by the presence of these insurgents. I believe the news to be correct to a certain ex tent, and in a certain sense. If the rebellion be not. wearing out it is shifting. Chin-Kiang-Foo and Nankin are consumed. The locust has eaten every leaf, and must take another flight or die. " Wait a. while, all will come right—ten years, perhaps," has always been the Chinese view, and they think the time is now near. They have tested this re bellion, and find it has no root. The old Chinese families do not join it, the merchants have no confidence in it, no literati except one degraded graduate has yet gone over. Therefore they think it will never be more than an excuse fur brigandage, and that it will always be local and transitory. This is the opinion of the Chinese hereabouts ; and as we are within 200 miles of the seat of rebel go vernment, their opinions deserve soma attention. I question, however, whether they know much of what is passing in the SJuttl. En T g h la e c y : anera i ao,cra.rsgoonofthseilk9thw which ith theythe a y il for give the Peninsular and O r i en t a l Company 9,0001. frel gh t. hope to write parts hof Chekiang. y b o y u n a ext from Niugpo, which city thel intend inland to p semicircular route through ON THE IMPERIALg: CANA.L h , AUG. 10. e an up on the autlio • At the close of my despa'ch, cities at Hong Kong were re.olviu g blockade of the river—a me ;sure whie p h o W n a a s formal v vient to the fleet, and which th e ripened rice e 6har vest renders not very important to the Cantonese, —I was about to employ the interval of Lord Elgiu's absence in gathering a little experience in the interior. On the appointed day Mr. Edkins, the missionary, Dr. Dickson of Canton, and myself, started in throe sauchau Loats, with a fair flood tide, up the Wang poo River.. Our object was to reach Ningpo through the network of internalcanals, and without crossing the bay. This is a journey never yet made even by the missionaries, and Mr. Elkins regards-it as a pioneering expedition preparatory to future labours. Our first stage is to Hangchau, and thus far our boatmen have covenanted to convey us. These sauchau boats are somewhat like ale larger gondolas which go outside into the Adriatic. The cabins are fitted up with no little preten sion. Mine had plate-glass windows; much carving and some gildiug had been lavished upon it. There was a joss-house with a vacant niche for any idol I might fancy to put there, and two ecclesiastical candlesticks, upon the spikes whereof I might, if I had pleased, burn any sized joss-sticks or wax candles. The extent of this, my habitation for the next eight dlys, was however not great—it was 7ft. Gin. square. Nor was there provision for effeminate luxury. There was a locker within which I might put my most important bag gage, on which I could spread my bamboo matting, and over which I hung my mosquito curt %ins ; there was a table and two camphor-wood stools. There was a box, with " Fortnum and Mason's" name upon it in one corner, a modicum of sherry and Bordeaux and a dozen of soda water in another corner, and a revolver and double-barrelled gun handy to the grip. The use of the firearms is, I believe, solely this—the boatmen will not go on at night unless they know you have them. The adroit ness of the Chinese thieves will justify their con tempt for any barbarian swell-mobsman. Mr. Ed kins not long since found that some one had during his slumbers crept in at the cabin window, taken his keys out of his pocket, opened his trunk, and abstracted all his dollars, leaving the trunk open, and nothing else, not even the proprietor, dis turbed. But Ido not hear of any open piratical attacks up the country, and you do not want fire arms to drive away a thief. The first thing he would steal would probably be the gun and the revolver. Off we go, then, up this tributary of the Yang tse-Kiang. About four miles an hour is our pace, propelled as we are by one gigantic oar, worked over the stern by three men, curved in the handle, and made to perform in the water the evolution we call skulling. We pass through the European ship ping, by the floating bath, and into and along moored tiers of junks, which may almost vie in numbers with the shipping in our pool. Hun dreds of these ply between Shanghai and Amoy, bringing sugar here and tsking cotton back. A thousand others will start this season for Shantung, and will carry with them 100,000 pieces of our gray shirtings—a demand owing, the merchants say, to exceptional causes. In an hour we are clear of the environs of Shang hai, and we look to see the river contract to the proper decent dimensions of a third-rate stream. Nothing of the sort. Seven m les up the Wang poo is still quite a mile in width, and for the green ness and flatness of its banks, and the European ou line of foliage, we might be a little below Gravesend. Resenting, perhaps, my small respect for him as a third-class river, the Wangpoo treats us to a cap ful of wind just as the tide is finished, and the boatmen incontinently run into a creek, which le.ids up to a village possessing a high pagoda and a Buddist monastery. On our walk to the village—quickly speeding, for we hope to reach the pagoda before the sun has set—l notice the same lavish expenditure of labour in raving the footpaths and bridging the dykes with slabs of limestone or granite which struck me in the neighbourhood of Shanghai. The pagoda, from the galleries of which nothing is ♦isible but the limitless fat plain and the frequent villages, is of course a thing comparatively of yesterday. The Buddhists brought the form from India not long bt fore the birth of Christ ; but these products of untiring toil, these mounds and dykes, these count less masses of enormous stones brought from afar —still more those practical, matter-of-fact, Us bathless,, business-loving, pleasure despis:ng habits of mind which under a less corrupt and depressing system of rule would lead the present race of Chinese to sust tin these works and to create others—that insensibility to play of fancy, yet love of quaint conceits and forced antithesis—that incapacity to feel grace and beauty, yet strong appreciation of mere geometrical symmetry—that complete discon nection from (not divergence from) all the modes of thought and ♦ehicles of thought, traditions, and superstitions of other nations—these things suggest a train of dreamy thoughts, and send the mind wan dering back to times almost as old as that setting I sun. May it not be th,t we have here a not very degenerate specimen of a civilisation that covered the whole earth bet ore our traditions begin—which spread and flourished before the Setni , ie or the lud ) Gennauic race had beibr , —which has left its trices iu Endia and in England, in Mexie) and in Italy, in California and in - Gree . ,.e, in Brittany and in Normandy, and in the most remote islands of the ocean; pilers of mounds and hewers of moun tains,.builders of Babels whose might was quenched we know not how, and whose sparse descendants we can just trace under the names of Egyptians, Pelasgians, or Etruscans mingling with now races and losing their identity. We patted the night upon the wide and troubled waters of the Whangpoo with less of meekness than befitted the peaceful character of my companion. I insisted upon starting as soon as the floo'. lie made. Every wave seemed to break under the flat bottom of my boat, and she rolled and quivered and croaked as though she would have quoted Mencius to rebuke my impatience. But the night was very beautiful. It was so hot that I lay outside with my head against the broad junk-like prow, and even • the rushing wind brought no coolness ; the round morn looked down in all her splendour, but did not dial the light of the big stare. Ever as one of our sister beats went ahead, the oar o..cilliating to and fro at her st , rn, produced a sheet of phosphoric radiance which neither moon ,nor stare could pale. Sometimes we n=ared the banks, and then the monotonous croak of the frog was beard, and in sheltered place.; fights of fireflies, like flakes of diamond, fluttered up and down among the cotton plants, and then also myriads of mosquitoes of great stature came off and sounded their declara tions of war in nay ears. We were not alone on the Wangpoo. On the cont , ary, there were never loss than a hundred sail in sight. some were beating up and others were coming down, the strong monsoon urging them swiftly against the tide. Sometimes collisions seemed imminent, but a little shouting, and all went clear. From 3 o'clock till 8 I slept, and awoke to find myself moored against the village of Min-Hang. While at this village I fell in with a Chine.° physician, who had escaped from Nankin when it felt into the hands of the rebels. He was the first specimen of a Chinese gentleman I hadlseen. The villages in this neighbourhood contain many fugi tives from the relel districts. The Government lodges them in the temples and allows them 30caAs (Mout 31.)a- dap, wherewith, at the present price;, they cannot buy Teven a sufficiency of rice. Of course di3,:aie is common among them, and this benevolent old gentleman. devotes himself to their care. He came on boiltd my boat and we had a long chat. He 'insists that the . key of the Yang-tse- Kiang, Chin-Kiang, has been removoi by the Imperialists ; for his friends at Soo-choo have written to him to say so. I doubt this, however ; for if this decisive event had happened the Govern ment would certainly have announezd it at Shanghai. His view is that the rebellion is dying out. He says the locusts have deltroyed it, h 4ving especially c. , me upon those provinces where the rebels hold their sway. He does not rest his expectation upon the Imperial armies, for he says the rebels are robbers and murderers, accustomed to every artifice, and adepts in all villany. All the loyal people can do is to hem the conflagration round and wait till it burns cub. _ _ These are the opinions of a well-informed Chinese gentleman, who has seen much more of these rebels than the Europeans who have written upcn the subjec , . About 48 hours is the longest peeled that any European has been am mgst them, and they have never invited any closer intercourse. Mr. Edkine interpreted for me these sayings of my Chinese acquaintance with no gre bt satisfaction. The missionaries still hang their hope upon this rel , el cause. The facts are unpromising, but still they hope. Devastation and bloodshed track the course of these insurgents wherever they gei but these are only necess,ry incidents of Lisa war. The ruin of those public works which are to China what their d ans are t') the Dutch mark where these rebels are; an I where they have been. Still mote widely extended ruin follows upon the exhaustion of the Imperial treasury. The two great rivers, no longer restrained by the great artificial euibink men's, now suffered to decay, are altering their c mrsos and dev!stating tracts as large as European kingdoms. Perhaps a man whose fervid religious zeal is akin to that which animated Joshua or Gideon may see in all this but the will of God working to a great end, but the religi o us facts are not encouraging. The nominal held of the movement, cl dim d as a missionary convert, has sought no communication with any Christian teacher. Ho boasts himself the Sovereign of the whole Earth, calls himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ, and claims to have constant personal intercour e with the Almighty. His second in command, the King of the East, blasphemously . styled himself the Holy Ghost ; but he has been slain in internecine conflict, and the great leader, or his counsellers, proved their vigour and their Chris tian humanity by butchering two thousand of his adherents in cold blood. This does not look like a hopeful result of a mis sionary conversion, nor does it give much promise of temporal success to the insurrectionary move ment. But then these refOrmers put to death the " idolators," whether they call themselves the priests of Buddha or the missionaries of the Pope ; they forbid opium-smoking under pain of death, and to bacco-smoking under pain of blows ; they appear to have read, although they have misinterpreted the 'sacred books which the missionaries distribute. Amid the outpourings of blood, in famine and pesti lence, in the wrack of all the physical good which antiquity has wrought our missionaries think they see a hope for the religion of the Bible. We must not expect from men whose zeal sends them forth among the heathen a sober and chastened faith ; but, with all allowance for their strongly militant posi tion, it is hard to understand how so faint and in definite a hope can blind their eyes and deafen their ears to the material woes which this rebellion has produced. Yet we have men here who have gone among them in the same spirit as Samuel went to Saul, and who have produced scandal even among their own body by urging their ruffians to go forth and kill. Mr. Edkins is a man of very different spirit to such as these. Upon the testimony of the linguists of Paris and of the Chinese here I know him to be one of the greatest ofChinese scholars, and from my own intercourse with him I can say that he is fairly read in the sciences and well acquainted with west ern literature. He has undertaken the task of showing the Chinese that we have a literature, and thus disabusing them of that contempt which ex- tends itself to our faith. His American coadjutor, Dr. Macgowan, undertakes to instruct their gradu- j ates iu the mysteries of the electric telegraph, and their pilots in the law of storms. Missionary labours thus directed must result in good. Your medical missionaries, such as Dr. Lockhart and Dr. Parker, command the gratitude and goodwill of the people. Men of learning like Mr. Eakins and Dr. Macgowan gradually compel the respect of the literati. These men are ploughing a soil in expectation of a seed time which is not yet. To the missionary societies of England and America I would say hce tibi erunt artes,—lguorant declaimers in bad Chinese have no success in China. Their preaching is foolishness in more than the Apostolic sense ; but this practi cal and conceited people only jeer and blaspheme. Yet I have found oven the higher class of mission aries hoping against hope that the rebels may suc ceed, and that they may turn out to be Christians. I have objected to them the material miseries the insurrection has caused ; they have quoted against me Mr. Cousin's defence of war, which is no other than that war is in itself a pod, and that the abridgment of longevity is not necessarily an evil. When I reply that this is all that could be best said by an infidel philosopher against a certain ar ticle in the Decaloie, they have replied that not withstanding this commandment the Israelities were enjoined to exterminate the Canaanites. I reply that to establish an analogy between the casts it will be necessary to admit Taeping-wang's pre tensions to direct personal intercourse with God the Father. No missionary is prepared for this admis sim, and our argument closes. With these men it is a hope and a sympathy which they cannot but feel and cannot justity. With semo others it is a truculent spirit of partisanship embittered not a little by envy and hatred of the merchants. I know no more of the rebels than others who write about them do—that is, I know ♦ery little in deed ; but having talked the matter over daily and in all societies for the last two months, I know pretty well what the views of the official!, mer chant=, and missionaries are upon the subject. Meanwhile, my Chinese guest is sipping his tea, looking through my opera-glass, and condoling with me upon my sad condition in not being able to un derstand Gaines*. I hope I omitted no point of ceremonial with him. When he begged to present me with his spectacles, which I had affected to ad mire, and pressed them upon me with as much ear nestness and sincerity as a Downing-street secretary assuresyou be is your most obedient humble servant, I dedmed the gift according to Chinese fortis, but I confess .I could not prevail upon myself to offer him my opera glass. Human nature is weak, and the Caina gentleman's admiration was evidently very strong. We parted with a hundred chin-chine. Up the flood tide of the Wangpoo Dr. Dickson's boat separa ed from us last night, and is not come up. Tile boatmen talk of perils from pirates or foundering in the storm. We wait and send back runners, and, learning no tidings, conclude he has returned to Shanghai. Two lirge navigable tribu tar esfall in, but the rivor above is not much de creased in width. After some hours' further voy age the Wangpooloses its name and form. It divides into two equal channels, one of which descends from the right, and comes down from a string of lakes that extend to Soo-choo ; the other is our way. Tributaries and canals now come quickly in show ing how wonderfully ramified is the internal water communication of this land. Of course the volume of the stream contracts as we me nd. At night the action of the tide is but faintly felt, and we anchor in a channel about 50 yards wide. In the moonlight Dr. Dickson's boat comes up with a tale of adven ture. The next day was a day of canals and grsat cities. (To be contioued ) GRAND AMERICAN BALL AT PLY MOUTH. One of the most successful. balls ever held in Ply mouth took place on Thursday evening at the Royal Hotel. The ball was given by Captain Hudson, Commander Pennock, and the Ward-room Officers of the United States steam frigate Niagara, to mark their esteem of the kinduess and hospitality which have been accorded to them since the Niagara has bean lying in the port of Plymouth ; and the .Plymouth Journal, which commemorat.s the event in a special edition, assures us that, as a fraternal demon , tration of a sense of that kindness nothing could have been more liberal on the part of the American Union—nothi ng more grat if ying to those who had the honour and the pleasure of being present. The decorations showed that neither trouble nor expense was considered in their preparation. The en.rance to the staircase was through a passage of crimson cloth, the sides and roof being festooned with evergreens, the green and the crimson con trasting very finely with each other. The staircase was also profusely decorated with evergreens. Round the sides of the windows were festooned the "Jacks" of England and America. On a cornice extending across the room above the orchestra was written the passage of Scripture, " Let there be peace between thee and me, and between my people and my people, for we are brethren." Be low this was another arch, from which extended were written the names of the thirty-one stettes thirty-one burners, on the glass globes of which composing the American Union. Underneath these again were several large stars, composed of swords 'and bayonets, and these were surrounded by large gas jets, on the globes of which were painted the rose, the thistle, and the sharnroCk. The sides of the room were festooned with the flags of the various nations, those on the right-hand side, im mediately over the fire-place, c o nveying a graceful allusion to the approaching union between Prince Frederick William and the Princess Royal. The flag of Prussia and the white English ensign were festooned, and both being white a eggested ideas of a bridal character. The decorations were designed and superietended by Lieut. Beverley Kinnon, master of the Niagara, assisted by Mr. Eldridge, the purser of that ship. At the time when the company began to arrive, Captain Hudson and other officers of the Niagara stood at the top of the grand staircase, and received each and all of their visitors with a graceful recog nition. The company began to arrive early, and by 10 o'clock the room was well filled. This is rather an early hour for assemblies to be so well packed in Ply mouth, but the company had evidently comp pre pared to have a night of it, a nd certainly a more bril liant assembly has rarely b een brought together. All that was f a i r and beautiful was there ; and this personal beauty, of which the fair Devonians can boast to a very large degree, was sustained by the numerous and gallant sons of Mars, of both services. Amongst the no bilit y that were present were the Earl and C oun tessof Morley, Lord Boringdon, Miss Homily, Si r Coryton, Lord V a ll etor t, the Hon. Miss Mac donald, the H on. G eorg i ans I:tonally and Mr. Massey and Lady L o pes, Major Ibbet son and Lady Ad e l e Ibb e ison, Sir Barrington Reynolds, the Port Admiral, Sir James Hanway Pleennge, th e Admiral Superintendent, and all the heals of departmnits. the Mayor of Plymouth (Mr. F. F. Bulteel), Mr. Watson (Mayor of Devon port) ; Mr. T. W. Fox, iu his official dress as Vice - Consul of the American States • Admiral King combo, and M r . Whit© M.P. There wer e few of tho officers whose breasts were not adorned with One or more sig.'s of th e i r past experience in the more active s erv i ce o f the i r coun try. i The bail lasted till nearly five o'clock in the morn ing. Nothi ng cou l d have b een more liberal and elegant than th e arrang we repeat that, as a suc ements for the entertain ment of th e guests.; and cessful demon s t ra ti on o f our friendly relations, nothing could h ave b een more co mplete or more sat i -factory. The Niagara will leave Plymouth next Thursday morning. Its officers will take with them o ur esteem, and on their return, in April next, they will be wel come d with renewed ple.uure. From the London Gazette of Last Night. ST. JAMES'S PALACE, OCT. 27. The Queen has been pleased to appoint Benjamin Travers, Esq., to be one of the Serjeant Surgeons to her Majesty, in the room of. Robert Keats, Esq., deceased. BOARD OF TRADE, WHITEHALL, OCT. 23. The Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Plantatior have received through the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs a copy of a despatch from her Majesty's Charge d'Affaires at Monte Video, enclosing a copy of the following decree of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, respecting the navigation of the River Uruguay. Art. 1. —All vessels coming from beyond seas, naviga- ting the River Uruguay, shall pay 120 reis per ton, as a due, on account of thebeacons. Art. 2.—Coasting vessels, from 10 tons and upwards, are to pay 50 reis per ton. Art. a.—Vessels having paid the due on entering the river will not be required to pay it on leaving, and vice versa. WAR-OFFICE, PALL-MALL, OCT. 30. 35th Regiment of Foot—Major-General John Leslie to be Colonel, vice General Sir George H. F. Berkeley, K. C. B. , deceased. let Regiment of Dragoon Guards--The surname of the Cornet appointed on the 25th of October, is Elliot, and not Elliott, as previously stated. 6th Dragoons—Honourable W. 0. Beresford Annesley to be Cornet, without purchase, vice Anderson promoted. 9th Light Dragoons—Cornet Alex. Morrogh to be Lieu tenant, without purchase, vice Hamilton, promoted; Cornet John Evans to be Lieutenant, without purchase, . vice Morrogh, whose promotion on the 21st June, 1857, has been cancelled. 11th Light Dragoons—Lieut. John McLoughlin, from the Military Train, to be Lieutenant, without purchase. 13th Light Dragoons—The third Christian name of Cornet Lethbridge, appointed on the 23d October, 1857, is "Erin.,' 17th Light Dragoons—Ensign Henry W. F. Harrison, from the 21st Foot, to be Cornet, a ithout purchase. Military Train—Capt. C. J. Tuffnell Oakes, from half-pay Ist Foot, vice Godfrey Clerk, appointed to the Rifle Brigade ; Lieut. Wm. E. Cater to be Ad j utant, vice Jenkins, appointed to the Bth Light Dragoons. 3d Regiment of Foot.—Frederick Taylor Hobson, Gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Gape, promoted. 6th Foot.— Ensign Henry Kitchener, from the 9th Foot, to be Ensign and Bth Foot.—Ensign J. C. Cooper, from the 92d Font, to be Ensign. 14th Foot.—Ensign Peter Barlow to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Hall, promoted ; Henry John Harington, Gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Barlow. 17th Foot.—Captain James Browne H. Boyd, from half pay 17th Foot, to be Captain, vice Brevet-Lieutenant- Colonel Charles Seagram, who retires upon full pay. 23d Foot—Staff Surgeon of the Second crass Patrick - Sin clair Laing to be Surgeon, vice Macfarfaxe deceased. 26th Foot—Ensign Henry Augustus Barton to be Lieu tenant, without purchase, vice Mill, promoted in 6th Foot. . 30th Foot—Captain J. S. Chandos Harcourt, from half pay 30th Foot, to be Captain, vice O'Brien, appointed to the sth Foot. 37th Foot—Albert Jones, Gent., to be Ensign, without purchase, vice Sale, killed in action. 39th Foot—Brevet-Lieutenant•Colonel William Caine, from half-pay Unattached, to be Major, vice Wolfe, who exchanges ; Brevet-Major Robert Hamilton Currie, to be Major, by purchase, vice Caine, who retires. 494 h Foot—Captain William Young, from half-pay of the 49th Foot, to be Captain, vice Brevet-Major W. Gordon Cameron, whose Brevet Rank has been converted into Substantive Ronk, under the Royal Warrant, 6th Oct. 18;4. 53d Foot—Lieutenant Henry Buck to be Captain, with out purchase, vice Brevet-Major Thomas Ffrencb, who retires upon full pay. 60th Foot—Robert Fitzwilliam de Barry Barry, Gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Sewell, promoted. 61st Foot—Ensign Samuel Bucknall Elkington to be Lieu tenant, without purchase, vice Gabbett, killed in action. 67th Foot—Lieutenant H. S. G. S. Knight to be Captain, by purchase, vice Count William C. River°la, who re tires; Ensign William Henry Bell Kingsley to be Lieu tenant, without purchase, vice Graham, promoted in the 9th Foot ; Ensign Charles Morgan to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Knight; James Hardie Fraser, Gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Morgan. 70th Foot—Lieutenant Charles A. royntz James to be Captain without purchase, vice Flay, deceased ; Ensign Thomaa Deerin; Backhouse to be Lieutenant, without purchase, vice James. 71st Foot--Lieutenant G. Campbell to the Captain, by purchase, vice Halkett, who retires. 75th Foot John Thomas H. Butt, Gent., to ba Ensign, without purchase, vice Hurford, promoted. 77th Foot—Captain John MacHcriry, from half-pay 7th Foot, to be Captain, vice Brevet-Major R. G. A. Luard, whose Brevet Rank has been converted into Substantive Rank under the Royal Warrant, 6th October, 1851. 78th Foot—Lieut. Thomas Anderson to be Captain, with out purchase, vice H. D. Campbell, deceased ; Alexan der Ewing, Gent., to be Ensign, without purchase, in succession to Lieut. Anderson, promoted. 84th Foot—Ensign Hugh Pearce Pearson to be Lieute . nant, without - purchase, vice Kenny, deceased. 92d Foot—John Colebnd Coopar, Gent., to b 3 Ensign, by purchase, iu succession to Lieut. Mecham, who has re . tired. 98th Foot—Ensign Edward Frank Gregory to be Lieute nant, by purchase, vice Montagu, who retires. 99th Foot—Lieut. William H. D. Reeves Wellman to be Captain, by purchase, vice Do Wiuton, who retires ; Ensign Henry James Day to be Lieutenant, without purchase, vice Gray, promoted in Bth Fcot. let West India Regiment—Ensign A. Sullivan to be Lieu tenant, without purchase, vice James, appointed to the , 6th Foot :T. B. Eames, Gent., to be Ensign, without . purchase, vice 501h.v...n, promoted. 2d West India Regiment—Ensign T. Purefoy to be Lieu. tenant, without purchase, vice Oldfisld, deceased • En. sign C. B. Cradock to be Lkutenant, without purchase ; vice Baylis, deceased ; Ensign W. H. M'Coy to b 3 Lieu tenant, without purchase, vice Purefoy, whose promo tion on the 16th October, 1857, has been cancelled. UNATTACHED. Brevet-Major R. G. A. Luard, 77th Foot, to have hie Brevet Rank converted into Substantive Rank, under the Royal Warrant, 6th oAober, 1S 4., HOSPITAL STAFF. Staff-Surgeon of the Second Claus Eneas Mackintosh Macpherson, from half-pay, to be Staff• Surgeon of the Second Class, vice Laing, appointed to the 23f Foot. Assistant-Stair-Surgeon W. M. Trestrail has been per mitted to resign his Commission. Acting-Assistant-Surgeon John Alex. Harvey, has been permitted to resign his appointment. THEA SUN, LO NEON, SATURDAY w EVEN IN! Gir OCTOBER 31, 1857. BREVET. The undermentioned officerA, haviui completed three year: actual service on the 29th Oct., 1857, in the rank of Lieut.-Colonel, to be promoted to be Colonel in the Army under Royal Warrant of Gth Oct., 1854. Lieut.-Col, Edmund Haythorne, of the Ist Foot. Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Seagram, retired full-pay 17th Foot, to be Colonel in the Army, the rank being honorary only. Brevet-31 , j ar Thomas Ffrench, on retired full-pay of the 53d Foot, to be Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army, the rank being honorary only. Henry Charles Van Cortlandt, Esq., to have the tempo rary rank of Colonel in the East Indies, while commanding a corps of Irregular Levies in that country. 11011, ANDA. The Christian names of Cornet Macleod, on half-pay of the late Land Transport Corps, are Henry David James. The Christian names of Cornet Kean, on half-pay of the late Land Transport Corps, are John Henry. The surname of Cornet Robert Stewart, on half-pay of the late Land Transport Corps, is spelt Stuart. The surname of Cornet George Ramsay, on half-pay of the late Land Transport Corps, is Ramsey. COMMISSIONS S t GNED BY LORD LIEU TENANTS. County of Kent—The Hon. Sir Jiohn Duncanßllgh,K.C.B., to be Deputy Lieutenant. Tower Hamlets- -John Joseph Tanner, Esq., to be De. puty Lieutenant. County of Dumfries—George Hope Johnstone, Esq., to be Deputy Lieutenant. Royal Sherwood Foresters, or Notiinghamshire Regi ment of Militia—Charles Frederick Clements, Gant., to be Lientanant, vice Thomas Davies, appointed to the 11th Foot ; Hugh Vandeleur, Gent., to be Lieutenant, vivo Stephens promoted. Ist or Royal East Middlesexßegiment of Militi a —Wilf re d Dukin Speer, Esq., to be Captain, vice Snell, resigned. 2d or Edmonton Royal Rile Regiment of Middlesex Mi litia,- Benjamin Charles Stephenson, Gent., to be En sign, vice Stephens, promoted. 4th or Royal South Middlesex Regiment of Militia—Assis tant-Surgeon John Berry Bryant to be Surgeon vice Levies, resigned ; Edward Bullock Jackson, Gent , to bo Ensign, vice Magill, resigned; Ch ar l es Wilkinson, Gent., to be Lieutenant, vice Hale, resigned. West York Rifle Regirneet of Militia—Edmund Bowyer, Gent., to be Ensign, vice Channer, promoted ; Charles Fox Oxley, Gent., to be Ensign, vice Reid, promoted. 2d Regiment (Light Infantry) of West York Militia—Geo. Henry Lamb, Esq. (late Captain 4 ith Foot), to be Cap tain, vice Ashwor tb, resigned ; Ensign James Bell Rib bert Tate to be Lieutenant, vice Lloyd, deceased. sth Regiment of West York Militia —Arthur Henry Gries b tch, Gant., to be Eniigu. 2d West Regiment of Yorkshire Yeomanry Cavalry— Lewis Randle Starkey, Gent., to be Lieutenant, vice Armitage, promoted. Forfar and Kincardine Regiment of Militia Artillery-- John Allen Allen, Gent., to be Second Lieutenant ; Jathes Whitton, Gent., to be Second Lieutenant; John Allan Johnson, Gent., be Second Lieutenant. NOTICE OF INTENDED DISTRIBUTION OF NAVAL PRIZE MONEY. Department of the Accountant -General of the Navy, Admiralty, Somerset-house, Oct. 29, 1857. Notice is hereby given to the officers, seamen, and ma rines, and to all persons interested therein, that the distri bution of proceeds arising from the grant for the destruc tion of pirat es i n th e C h i na Seas, by her Majesty's ship Bittern, between the 27th June, 1854, and the 30th March, 1856, will commence on Monday, the 16th Novena her, 1857, in the Prize Branch of the Department of the " Accountant-General of the Navy, Admiralty, Somerset House." Agents and other persons holding powers of attorney, prizo orders, assignments, or other instruments, by virtue of which they may be legally entitled to claim the share of any aaptor, serving in the ab.we-narned ships, are re• quested to present the same at this office. Any officer, seaman, marine, or other person, who may desire to receive his share from the Collector of Customs or Inland Revenue within the United Kingdom, is required to intimate the same by letter to be addressed "On Prize Busi ness, to the Secretary of the Admiralty, London," in which letter his own place of residence is to be precisely stated, as well as the place of the nearest Collector of Customs or of Inland Revenue, from whom it would be convenient to receive such share of prize money. The following are the shares due to an individual in each class :- 27th June, 1851—Commander, 21; Third c l ass, 7/ 18s td ; Fourth class, 5 / Is 8 d ; Fifth class, 21 163 ad ,• Sixth class, 2/ 103 11d ; Seventh class, it 13s lld ' • Eighth class, 163 11 , 1 ; Ninth class, Ils 4d; Tenth class, 5s 7d. Ist and 22d January, 1835 Commander, 371 7s G t i ; Third class, 10/ 6s 61; Fourth class, 6/ 123 8d ; Fifth class, 31 13s 10d ; Sixth class, 3/ Os 4d ; Seventh class, 9 / 4s 31 ; Eighth class, 1/ 2s ld ; Ninth class, 148 9d; Tenth class, 7s 4d. 21st March, lBs;—Commander, 2611 10s; Third cl ass, 771103 9d ; Fourth class, 49116 s lld ; Fifth class, 27113 s 91 ; Sixth class, 24/ les d ; Seventh class, 111 12s sd; Eighth class, 8l Gs 2d ; Ninth class, 51 10s 9d; Tenth class, 21 lrs 41. 19th and 20th August, 1855--Conunanier 430 t 2s 6a ; Third class, 1241 lOs Gd ; Fou r th class, 801 is ; Fifth class, 441 9,3 6-2; Sixth class, 401 Os 7(1; Seventh dais, 261 13s- 7d ; Eighth class, 131 6s 10d. ; Ninth class, 81 17s lld ; Tenth class, 4184 11d. 30th August, 1855—Commander, 71; Thirl clans, 216.1; Fourth class, hs ld ; Fifth class, 14s ; Sixth class, 13s ; Seventh class, 8s 101; Eighth class, 4s 4 I ; Ninth class, 2s lld ; Tenth class, is sd. Sept. 18, 1855. —Commander ' 3261 178 61; third class; 931 os 2d ; fourth class, 591 19s ; fifth class, 331 6s ld ; sixth class, 291 19s 6d ; seventh class, 191 19s 81; eighth class, 9/ ls 10d; ninth class, 61 13s 3d ; tenth class, 31 6s 7d. 17th, 18th, and 21st October, 1855.—Commander, 18s Ild ; third class, 121 18s 2d ; fourth class, 81 6s ld ; fifth cla=s, 41 12s 2d ; sixth class, 4/ is ; seventh class, 2/ 15s 5d ; eighth class, 11 7s 8d ; ninth class, 18s 5d tenth class, 93 2d, 24th Novi/tuber, 1855.—Commander, 12/ 12s 63 ; third class, 3/ 16s 6d ; fourth class. 2/ 9s 3d ; fifth class, 1/ 7s 4d; sixth class, 1/ 43 7d ; seventh class, 16s sd; eighth class, 8s 2d ; ninth class, 54 6d ; tenth class, 2s Bd. 12th Fib., and 30th March, 1856—Commander, 31115 s: Third class, 9/ 93 5d ; Fou r th c l ass , 6/ l s 9d ; Fif t h c l ass, 31 7 8 8d ; Sixth class, 3/ 10d • Seventh class, 2/ 7d ; Eighth class, 114 d ; Ninth class, 13s 6d ; Tenth class, 6s 9d, NOTICE TO MARINERS. (No. 39.) ATLANTIC OCEAN—UNITED STATES. Fixed Light at Dutch Island, Rhode Island. The United States Lighthouse Board has given notice, that on and after the 25th day of September, 1857, a light would be exhibited from the new lighthouse recently built on Dutch Island, Rhode Island, in the place of the old one, when the temporary light shown during the erection of the new buildings would be discontinued. The light is white, fixed, and at an elevation of 50 feet above the sea at high water • it is visibie all round the horizon, and should be seen from the deck of a vessel in ordinary weather at a distance of 14 miles. The illuminating apparatus is catadioptric, being a Fres nel lens of the fourth order. The new light tower is 36 feat high, with a keeper's dwelling attached ; both are built of brick, and coloured white. By command of their lordships, JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer. Hydrographic-office, Admiralty, London, 10th October, 1857. This notice affects the United States Lights List, No. 105. NOTICE TO MARINERS. (N 0,40.) SCOTLAND—NORTH AND WEST COASTS. BaseOn on Stroma Skerries, Pentland Firth. The Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses have given notice, that a beacon has recently been erected on the south-west extremity of the Skerries of Stroma, which ex tend from the south-eastern side of Mallit lead on the island of Stroma, in the Pentland Firth, and are covered by the sea at high water. The beacon consists of an open framework of iron, sur mounted by a cylindrical cage, in all 40, feet above high water, and painted red. Beacon on Bo Caolas, Loch Inver. Also that a beacon has been erected on Bo Caolas, a rock which is covered at high water, and lies at the en trance to Loch Inver, on the west coast of Sutherlandshire. The beacon is composed of cast iron pillars surmounted by a cylindrical cage ; it is elevated about 30 feet above high water, and painted red. Beacon on Screen Rocks, Whithorn. A beacon has also recently been placed on the Screen rocks at the entrance to the port of Whithorn, on the south-eastern coast of Wigtonshire. This beacon is of iron, with a barrel top, and painted red. By command of their Lordships, JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer. Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, London, Oct. 13,1857. This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts : Coast of Scotland, Sheet 5, No. 21151; Orkneys, No. 2180; and Pentland Firth, N o . 2162 ; West Coast of Scotland, Sheet 9, No. 2336; Loch Inver, No. 1933. Also North Sea Pilot, Part 2, page 28. NOTICE TO MARINERS. (No. 41.) SCOTLAND —EAST COAST. Alteration in Colour of Buoys. The Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses have given notice that in adopting a uniform system in colouring the buoys under their direction— by which arrangement vessels entering a harbour should keep red buoys on the starboard hand, and black buoys on the port hand, while chequered buoys indicate centre patches—the following changes have been made in the colours of the undermentioned buoys : Dornoch Firth. Tain bar inner buoy, north sid , ), from black to red, Tain bar inner buoy, south side, from red to black. Cromarty Fitth. Nigg sand buoys from black to red. Newhall buoy from red to black. Moray Firth. Whiten Ness saavilie.ad buoy from red to black. Inverness Firth. Craig Mee buoy from red to black. Skate bank buoy from black to red. Munlochy buoy from black to chequered red and white. Petty bank buoy fiona red to black. Middle bank buoy from black to red. Meiklo Mee buoy from black to red. By communl of their Lordships. JOHN WASHINGTON, Hydrographer. Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, London, 14th October, 1857. This notice affects the following Admiralty Charts : East Coast of Scotland, Sheet 4, No. 1,-23 ; Dornoch Firth, No. 2,170 ; Cromarty Firth, No. 2,167 ' • Inverness Firth, No. 1,431. Also North Se a Pil o t, P ar t 2, chapters 3 and 4. BANKRUPTCY ANNULLED. Charles Alexander Hill, cabinet maker, Bristol. BANKRUPTS. George Wacey Stevenson, general merchant, Fora street, Cripplegate, to surrender, Nov. 12, at two, and Dec. 8, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Edwards, official assignee, Sambrook-court, Basinghall-street ; Stmt. ton and Postans, South-square. William Treehy Chafe, ironfounder, Devonport, Nov. 10 and Dec. 9, at eleven, at the Exeter District Court. Hertzal, official assignee, Exeter; Hawker, Devonport ; Slogdon, Exeter. _ Samuel Mendel, commission agent, Fenchurch-street, Nov. 7, at half-past twelve, and Dec. 15, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. St ansfeld, official assignee ; Lum ley and Lumley, Ludgate-hill. George Gossling, baker, Upper Berierton-street, Mid dlesex, Nov. 13, and Dec. 15, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Lee, official assignee, Aldermanbury; Begbie, Essex street, Strand. Jeremiah Self, innkeeper, Bishop's Waltham, South ampton, Nov. 6, and Dec. 1, at two, at the Court of Bank ruptcy. Lee, official assignee, Aldermanbury ; Lawrance, Plows and Boyer, Old Jewry-chambers. William Pemberton, commission agent, Barge-yard Chambers, Bucklersbury, Nov. 13, at three, and De.c. 11, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Whitmore, official assignee, Basinghall-street ; Moss, Pancras-lane. Samuel Rawiisley, brush manufacturer, Halifax, Nov. 20 and Dec. 11, at eleven, at the Leeds District Court. Young, official assignee, Leeds; Wavelt, Philbrick, and Foster, Halifax. George Baker, flour factor, Fulham, Middlesex, Nov. 13, at half-past two, and Dec. 11, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Cannan, official assignee, Aldermanbuiy; Watson and Sons, I3ouverie-street, Fleet-street. Edward Rogers, draper, Oswestry, Nov. 9, and 30, at half-past twelve, at the Birmingham District Court. Whitmore, official assignee, Birmingham; Bull, Oswestry; Il e ac Birmingham. William Edward Waters, milliner, Haverstock-street, City-roe I, Nov. 7, at one,' and Doc. 15, at eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Stansfeld, official ass i gnee ; Depree and Austin, Lawrence-la'no Cheapeido. Thomas George White, lace warehouseman, Alderman - bury, Nov. 13, at two, and Dec. 11, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Carman, official assign ee , Ald erman b ur y ; Rogerson and Ford, Lincola's-inn-fid.ds ; Brown, Notting ham. Jaynes Clarke, timber merchant, Kingsland, Nov. 17, at half-past two, and December 11, at one o'clock, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Whitmore, official assignee ; Chidloy, Basingliall-street. Edwin and William Sunderland, bill brokers, Oldbury, county of Worcester, Nov. 12 and Doe. 3, at half-past eleven, at the Birmingham District Court. Whitmore, official assignee, Temple-street, Birmingham ; Southall and Nelson, Birmingham. Robert Hindry Mason, printer, Sunderland, Nov. 11, at eleven, and 130. c. i 5, at twelve, ut the Royal Arcade, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Baker, official assignee, New castle-upon-Tyne; Harter, Bush, and buildings, Chancery-l ane . Southampton- James Musto, Joseph Musto, and Robert William Mnsto, millwrights, Cambridge-road, Mile-end, Middlesex, Nov. 10, at half past twelve, and Dec. 10, at two, at the Court of Bankruptcy. John son , o ffi c i a l as signee , Basing hall-street ; Lawrence, Plews, and Boyer, Old Jewry chambers. John Woolsey, ironmonger, Great Grimsby, Lincoln. shire, Nov. 18 and Dec. 23, at twelve, at the Leeds Die. trict Court. Carrick, official assignee Hull; Reed, King. ston-upon-Hull. George Tin tall, wheelwright, Wickenby, Lincolnshire, Nov. 11 and Dec. 16, at twelve, at the Townhall, Kingston upon-Hull. Carrick, official assignee, Hull; Brown, Lincoln. William Alliston Lamprell, carpenter, Long-lane, City, Nov. 12, at half-past two, and Dec. 15, at twelve, at the Court of Bankreptcy. Edwards, official assignee, Sam brook-court ; Broughton, Falcon-square. Henry Whitmore ' tailor and woollen draper, Stockport, Oct. 10 and Dec. 1, at one, at the Man.thesttr Didttiot Court. Hernarnann, official assignee, Manchester; Cop pock and Oldham, Stockport. Henry Bastow, mercer and draper, Manchester, Nov. 13 and Dec. 4, at eleven, at the Manchester District Court. Hernarnan, official assignee, Manchester; Cooperansi Sons, Manchester. SCOTCH SEQUESTRATION. Michael M'llatlie and Co., merchants, Glasgow. BANK OF An Account pursuant to the Act the Week ending on Saturda &NGLAND. Ith and Bth Victoria, cap. 32, ftr the 2:th day of Oct., 1857. IRTXENT. ISSUE DEP, A Notes issued 23,252,1051 Government debt.... 11,015,100 Other securities.... • . 3,159,901, Gold coin and bullion 8,777,105 Silver bu11i0n........ - Country Markets. LIVERPOOL - OCT. 30. The transactions at our corn exchange this morning were limited ; we had, however, more inquiry for wheat from the millers in the interior, indicating that our present range of prices will command next week a better and larger demand than we have lately had. Good American red wheat can be bought at 7s to 7s Fcl, and white 7s 10d to 8s per 701bs. Choice American flour is not lower, but English sack is offering at 2s decline. Best oats id., and secondary ld per bushel lower. Indian corn is 6d per qr. cheaper. No other change on Tuesday's quotations. - - 423 252,1e5 • .£23,252,105 M. MARSHALL, Chief Cashier. Dated the 23th day of Oct., 1857. BANKING DEPAITMENT. Proprietors'capital .. 14,553,000 Rest 3,239,499 Public deposits (in cluding Exchequer, r' omtnissioners of National Debt,Sav ing's Banks, arid Dividend Accounts) 4,81;1,740 Other deposits ...• •• 11,263 ,936 seven Day and other Eills•••• •• •• • .• y 819,442 Government securities (includg.Dead Weight Annuity)„„„.... 10 2'54,541 Other securities 21,404,597 Notes .......... 3,455,540 Gold and silver coin .. 392,68 t, £34,737,(67 £34,737,667 E. MAR3IIALL, Chief Cashier Dated the 29th day of Oct , It4bj' AVERAGE PRICE OF SUGAR. The AverageWiCT:;Br;;;;:o; 3,luscovado Sugar, com puted from the returns made in the week ending Oct. 27, 1857, exclusive of the Duties of Customs paid or payable thereon, on the importation thereof into Great Britain : H. d. From the British Possessions in America 3l Of Thomas Fuller Bacon, convicted of administering arsenic to his mother at Stamford, was on Wednesday removed frow Linooln Castle to Millbank prison, under tentenoe of penal servitude for life. WAKEFIELD -O'T. 30. There was a fair supply of wheat, and trade was doll ; the best qualities are 2s to 3s per qr. lower than on last Friday. Barley is to 2s cheaper. Beans, oats, and shel ling have also a downward tendency. EXETER-OCT. 30. CORN.—Wheat, 6s 6d to 64 9d ; barley, 4s 9d to 5s ; grinding do., OF Od to Os Od. Oats, 3s Od to 3 s 3d. Beans, Os 0,1 to 0 Od. Peas, 00s Od to 00s Od. FLOIJR.—Fine, 37s Od to 38s Od; seconds, 36s Od to 37s Od per sack. CATTLE. —There was a small supply of bullocks. Best beef, from lOs 6d to ns per score ; inferior, 7s Od to Si per score ; fat calves, Od to 7d per lb ; barrenners, Os Od to 05 Od. per score ; cows and calves, 121. to 201. ts ; butchers' calves, Od to 7d per lb., rearine calves —s to -- a each; sheep, ewes and l am b s , 21. 5s to 31. 5s per couple; ewes, Od to 60 ; wethers, 7d —d; lambs, lid to 0 per lb. igs, large size, —s to —s ; second size, —s to —s ; slips, —e to —s ; suckers, —s to —s. Rough fat, 4id per lb. Pork carcases from lOs Od to 105 6d per score. BRISTOL SUGAR—OcT. 30. The transactions on the spot are limited to a few boards of Demeraras and Barbadoes, at a further decline of fully is per cwt.; one floating cargo of Havannahe, 1,200 boxes, No. 12i, is also reported at 325. ; p r i va t e l y , a b ou t 5 , 004 boxes Savannahs lying in London, have been purchased for this market, at very moderate rates. Refiners' produce of all descriptions meet a ready sale at full prices. Of ruin we are without any supply. COAL MARK . Prices of Coals per ton at s. L Holywell 6 s d. Wylam Acorn Close 2O 6 Walken& Scc. ileugh Hall 2O 0 (losforth l9 0 Hartlepool Hetton 21 0 Nixon's Dnffryn. 2l 6 Ships at market n.— Om. 30. the close of the market Wallsend, ise, ;, 15 ; sold, 13. COURSE OF EXCHANGE.-YErSTERDAT. msterdam 11 1614 Ditto, three months .. 12 1 .4 aotterdam •• •O •• •• •• •• 12 Antwerp •• •• •• •• •• •• •• 25 57X, Brussels .. .. •• •• •• •• •• 25 57% . . Gibraltar .....••••••••• Leghorn ....•.•• 30 5 0' Genoa Milan • ' Venlea•• •. •• •••• - aamburgh 13 10}6 Naples .... Altcna ............ . • Palermo .... Paris • • .......... • • .... 2 537% Messina ... ... 127 Do. three months . •.25 85 Lisbon ... ... 52%. ............ 25 85 Oporto .............• •• 12 % Bourdeaux .. Rio Janeiro ..... . • • .... -•- Frankfort-on-Maine.... 120 Buenos Ayre5.......... Berlin • • New York,6o days' sight Vienna.......... • • .... 10 47 , Philadelphia .......... -- trieste ••••••.••• • • .• .. 10 49 PRICES OF BULLION, PEB oz; Petersburg ............ 34% Foreign Gold in Bare XS 17 9 Madrid 48% Portugal Gold Coin •• 0 0 0 Cadiz 49% Mexican Dollars .... 0 0 0 Barcelona •• •• • • • • •• •. • • Seville•• •• • • •• •• ****** .. New Dollars 0 Silver in bars ....: 0 0 0 5 I% RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS. TRAFFIC RETURNS FOR THE WEEK. Miles • Receipts. o?ened, . NAME OF RAILWAY. 1857. : 1857. 1856. - BRITISH. X X - Aberdeen •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• .• • •• •• - - 65 Belfast and Ballymena ......., ...... 1,231 1,017 17 Belfast and County Down .• .• ...... 284 289 82 Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshirt 2,624 2,112 2654 Bolton,Blackburn,and West York -.. 1,018 997 118 Bristol • and Exeter • • .. • . •• ..• • •• • • •• 6,59; 6,774 198% Ca1ed0n1an............. .........• „ 13,878 12,618 94 '4 Chester and H01yhead............. • . 6,478 6,474 6 36 Cork, Blackrock, and Passage • • .... 216 229 20 Cork and Bandon .. • • .............. 299 236 56 Dublin and Belfastj unction .. .. .. - 1,446 1,178 63 Dublin and Drogheda ......... 1,539 1,688 40 1 ;4 Dublin and Kingstown .............. I,g 1 13 5 6 8 17 Dundee and Arbroath .............. 3 1 Dundee, Perth, and Aberdeen Junctioi 1,054 967 35 Dundalk and Enniskillen .... .... • • • • - 67% ' East Anglian.... •••.•••••••• •• •• •• •• ,:6:315245 93 East Lanca5hire...................... , 489 Eastern Counties and Norfolk.. • • ..1 2r280 6,859 25 Eastern Union •• • ... .... • • ...• .. • • 1 1 7 4 8 2 Edinburgh zdinnh , Perth,and Gl a s a g n o d w J . ); m . . d . e . e . .. .. 7. .. .. 6 Exeter and Cred1t0n................. - - 3 6 :1 179 1 !, ,0 0 8 02 5 - 22 Furness Railway ... .............. _ . - 182 6.781 1 8 3% Glasgow, and South-Western .• .. •• • • 1 26,143 25,654 283 Great Northern •.. 7, 2 13 7 3 4 6,6 25 3 6 2 ••-• • - ': 7.311 6,792 20354 Great Southern and Western ( Ireland! 29,6 .2 29,564 465 Great Western .. •••••••••• •• '? :: :: • ... - ... .. - 22,661 22,461 Leeds Northern .• •• • • •• • ........... - - 29806 Lancashire Irish S t• t ha and c Eastern Yorkshire a r i ;1... .. -- 63 16 7 1 Liverpool , Crosby , d Cro N s o b r y th , a w nd es S te o ra uthpOrt..., - .... 64,390 64,141 674 London and Blackw all - .......• .... 1,357 1,441 183% London, Brighton, and South Coast 14,826 16,089 289% London and South We5tern......... 14,639 16,279 60 Londonderry and Enniskillen ........ 784 792 - Manchester, Buxton, and Matlock, &c. - ..... 17354 Manchester, Sheffield,and Lincolnshire 11,082 10,060 9 % Manchester and South Ju n ct io n...... 882 827 28 Maryport and Carlisle .. •• .. .. .• .. ~ 1,008 933 66 7 Midland .... •-•• •• • • .............. 84,126 30,738 17 7 Midland Great Western (Irish) ...... 3,799 4,293 52 Monklands ••• • • • •••••••••••••..... L 606 1,401 78 Newcastle and Car1i51e.............. 3,934 3,493 149 North British •... • . ................ 5,909 6. 1,65 233 North Staffordshire ................ 7,736 6. 942 47 North-Western .................... 1,007 891 b 0 Scottish Central •••.•• • • .. .... -•• .. 3,265 3,024 3235 Scottish Midland ••••.•• • • • • • • • ••.. - 29 Shrewsbury amal Birmingham ...... 48 % Shrewsbury alrd Chester ............ 1,680 1.6_ 6 . . 5 ° 3,212 21 0 4 1 4 30 Shropshire Union „ ,„ 867 5 7 Routh Devon .•• • • • • - .• .. .• •....... 2 301 % South Eastern ... . •••• .............. 19 • '° 47818 2 t 8785 114 171 South Wales .. ••..•. • • • • .......... 7,237 6 , 3 4 2 108% South York., Doncaster, and Goole .. - 53 Taff Vale .......................... 4 . 317 1;367807 33 Lr15ter............................. 1 , 519 77 Waterford r. nd Limerick .......... • • 1,171 1,307 27 West Cornwall ...... . .•, „ ....... 712 52 5 12% Whltehaven Junction • - •••• • • • • • • • • 513 3 93 68 2 York and Ne wcas tl e, and Berwick & York and North Midland & Leeds.. - -- FOREIGN. 109 Dutch Rhenish .. .. • . .............. 3,269 2,439 344 Lyons and Mediterranean - •••• .. .. 24,269 26,180 63 Montereau and Troyes .••• •• .. •• •• .; - ....• Namur and Liege .................. 515 Northern of France ...... • • ........ 44,451 40,0 13 - Orleans and Central .. .... - -,, ;S7 Paris and Lyons .... •• • • .....• :: ~ 42,687 41,15 0 - Paris and Rouen. .. :•........... 5 66 Paris and Strasburgh .... • ... . .., .. 41,898 37,1 13 -- I:ouen and Havre... - 5 94 West and North-West of France .... 35,455 35,01, The judge f,r the new Court of Probate has not been announced. The act does not come into effect until the Ist January. A DVE SE SI ENT. 1— SIGHT AND HEARING SPECTACLES—' POWERFUL TELESCOPES OPERA, RACE, AND PERSPICOTf/S GLASSES. —S. aunt 13. Sohn:cons, opticians, 39, Albemarle street, Piccadilly. 0 1 413rce—opposite the York Hotel, NV- By her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent for valuable and a traorclina7 improvements in the most powerful and brilliant Telescopes, Camp, Race-course, Opera, and Perspective Glasses, to know the distances. These Telescopes possess such extraordinary power that some, three and a-half inches, with an extra eye-piece will show distinctly Jupiter's moons, Saturn's ring, and the double stars ; with the same tefescopu can be seen a person's countenance three-and-a-half miles distant and an object from 16 to 20 miles., For the waist coat-pocket, and are of larger, and all sizes, with inereasing Exhibition, laBisstle.o—atA.pook ol3wGol valu able,asers a Glass, the wley :l nd () vi l a tYe. w d l vT n eh t l i .e t y , Rs b m y oya w lall hich a person can be seen and known one and a-half mile distant. They answer every per'' Pose on the Race-course and at the Opera-houses, Country scenery and ships are clearly seen at 12 to 14 miles. They are invaluable for shooting, deer-stalking yachting, to sportsmen, gentlemen, gamekeepers, and tourists. Opera.. Camp, Perspective, and Race-c ourse Gl asses, with wonderful powers. Invaluable preserving Spectacle Lenses of t" greatest transparent pow er . Th e great advantage doriveg f: em this invention is, that vision impaired becomes Prt served and strengthened and very aged persons are enabled to employ their sight at the most minute occupation—can 0 1, with those lenses of a much lees magnifying power---an" they do not require the frequent changes. to the din" gerous effects of furtber powerful assistance. Personal can be suited at the moos remote part of the world by send; lag one of the glasses out at their spectacles in a letter, and stating the distance from the eye they can read small print with it, and those who have not made use of spectacles b?' stating their age. Deafness.—New Discovery.—The Ox ganl Vibrator, an extraordinarily po wer ful, sm all, new ly-i nv o nte instrument for deafness, entirely different from all of tiers, surpassing anything of the •kind that has been, or probably can, be produced, Being of the Same colour as the sk in, not perceptible. It enables deaf persons to hear distinct ly a* churehand at public asserublie. ; the unpleasant sensatic D of singing noises in the ears is entirely removed, anti it affords all the assistance that possibly could be desired.-i-39, Like marle-street, Piccadilly,—Opposite the York la otel, W. BIRTHS. • OF A SON. On the 30th inat., at Spencer House, the Counted Spencer. On the 29th inst., at 34, Hyde-park-gardens, the wife of Arthur Mills, Esq.p.M.P. OF A DAUGHTER. On the 00th inst., at Hyde-vale, Blackheath, lira Edgar Sydney. On the 29th inst., at 39, Pembridge Villav, W., the wife of John H. Pollen, Esq. MARRIED. On the 29th inst., at St. Mary Abbots, Ken s i ng t on, M r . William Russell Bland, of Fleet - street, to Eliz a Ch ar l o tt e , - only daughter the 29th n 8 of Mr. at s Green t w . aja , Mary yf Kensington. On ,s, Richmond Williamßobert, second son of Joseph Strother, Es.. 4 of Clarendon Villas, Notting - hill, to Alice, second d aug h ter of T. Heath, Esq., of the Hermitage, Richmond, Surrey. DIED On the 29th inst., at 13, M ansfield -street, Cavendfah• square, Colonel Edward C a d o„an, H.E.I.C.S. aged 69. On the 29th inst., Mr. Th omas Philpot, of ' 6, Victoria• place, Mile-end-road, and 49, Gracechurch-street, solicitor, aged 36. On the 29th inst., at Razlewood Hertfordshire, Richd, Sanderson, Esq., age d 73. , On the 28th inst., at Surbiton-hill, George Fell, Esq., late of Heston Lodge, near Hounslow, and formerly of Piccadilly, aged 63. M og Oner tho 2 sth inst., at Woodland House, Bath, George , ER. On the 2 , ;th inat , at 9, Goswell-road, David Williams, Esq., aged 86. On the 27th inst., Mr. Wm. Gates, Deputy-Registrar of the Diocese of Pet:rborough, aged 78. - Loxnox : Printed and Published. by ISIIIRDO YOUNG of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Mice. No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the as.voy, in the ooelutY of Middlesex, Saturday, October 31, 187. -, f ~. ti '~; a ..~. may: