The Sun. — London, England, 1857-12-15 00:00:00

INTERESTING LZITER FROM CHINA. --. .49.-- (Farm trke Correspt indent of the Timex) 0 SHANGHAI, OCT. A change has come ova the policy of the autho rities in the south. The ..French Ambassador has arrived in the mouth of t ht) Canton river. The pro jected northern voyage is „ definitively abandoned. It is reported that the order has gon e forth that Canton shall be taken, and I mustg re turn to m3' post of observation. I hope to add a pos t sc ript to this letter with a Hon g Kong ate. ffe en with e When we have settld our Cantonese, the scene of action w dl ill r be ces re moved t t h o these northern ports. The: Chinese officials, or "a he Mandarins," as it the Court of is the custom to call them, f coerce l opinion that our deciskete, mo ve, in order to e o the supply of food to the Pekin, will be to cut off c a pit a l. They reason, ac cording to Chinese from the' prece dent of the last war ; and, for once, to ado . pt the same conclusion, and I am inc tined premises. In our previous experi from the .lame once the Co art was immovable so long as we only billed, burnt, .and destroyed in the provinces. Di rectly we put a muzzle upon the mouths of the populace of Perdu the Court was at our feet ; so it will be again. I have been inytestigating how Pekin is fed. I cannot quote my etzethorities without certain loss of the heads of my in fc rmants, but the following may be implicitly relied ell ion as in the main correct. There are nine of Ow eighteen provinces of China which produce rice, a val have, or rather had, means of water communication with Pekin. These pro- vincesare—Fuhkien, a:re/clang, Kiangsi, Shantung, Hupeh, Hunan, Kiangsu f ,Nganhwui, and Szchuen. These provinces, according' to ancient precedent, pay their tribute to the capital in rice. They are bound to contribute in the aVrege.te 10,000 junks, e ii containing 1,000 piculs of 1331 b. English ; but in the arrangement of the propoetion Shuntang and Hunan, on account of their poverty or their small extent, only pay as half a province each. This arrangement gave an annual supply of 10,000,000 piculs to the Imperial city, whicb, at the regular allowance of about per day per month—such is the capacity of the measure meted out to the soldiery—would feed a population of 3,000,000. The calculation, therefore, as is neces sary in all large calculations, allowed largely for a difference between figures and facts. The rebellion, however, and especially the occu pation of Chekiang, upon the Yang-tee, has de ranged this comfortable state of things. The pro vinces teuth of the Yang-tse can no longer commu nicate with the capital by the inner waters; Szchuen is obliged to send silver to Kiangsi, and there pur chase the rice which could not be sent from the province itself. In recent years the 10,000,000 piculs have been enormously diminished ; and the Pekin Gazette has contained many lamentations on this score. So late as the 26th of September there is a memorial on this subject. The Number of the 20th of Sep temberAontains the aAwer of officers to the urgent orders already given t ) collect rico and send it round by Tiensin. There is no trade at Pekin, and the supply is necessarily a very critical affair. Nankin formerly sent three millions, and Nankin has now other mouths to feed. The China mer chants who bought the Szchuen rice were never paid, for the four lacs of dollars sent them from that province to pay for it were embezzled by the Man darins—an irregularity which has not tended to facilitate matters. The other province's had expe rienced inundations and locusts, and had Imperial or rebel armies in their neighbourhood, and they paid their quotas with difficulty. But still, tant bier& que mat, Pekin has been fed. The supply, however, no longer reaches the city as formerly by the Imperial Canal and the other inner waters, but the junks start from the coast, and by seaboard they voyage to the Gulf of Pecheli and the month of the Peiho. The custom is to gather the rice together upon the coast as soon as the harvest is got in. About the Ist of January of our year the Custom-houses lay embargo upon the junks, and retain them for the annual voyage to liensin. Immediately after the commencement of the new year, which occurs early in February, the junks start, and, struggling against the adverse moonsoon, make their way in perhaps five or six weeks to the mouth of the Peiho. About the tenth day of the second month is the day calculated for their arrival, for by this time the ice has disappeared from the river. If this freight should arrive safe in Pekin our war with China will last for 12 montles longer. The Chinese are quite a li ve t o thi s thir vital diflieulty. They are talking of assembling this year s fleet at Lehoo, a place not marked in our maps, about fifty miles to the north of Woosung, which was used for the same purpose when Shangai was in the hands of the rebels four years since. The Government has lately also been buying some steamers. They now have three in their service, and although chasing pirates and quelling rebels is the ostensible object, I fancy that towing rice junks at a critical moment is their real destination. Ttiat rice is being collected with extraordinary activity in Kiangsu, and that the mandarins are under strong pressure, are evident. The Chinese say there is generally a stand of wind on the 10th moon (January) under favour of which the junks can work up north. The scheme is not badly conceived, and it may possibly be successful. The mandarins shrewdly calculate that in all probability the barbarians will take it for granted that the junks will not sail northward till the change of the monsoon, and that they will not care to keep the sea and blcckade the coast iu January, and if the flat-bottomed rice boats can only escape up into the gulf of Pecheli, that gulf will be so shallow at that period of the year that the steamers cannot follow them. If they can run into the Yellow River they will also be safe, for thence northwards the inner waters to Pekin are open. It is impossible to guess what insuperable impediments the courtesy of the French Emperor towards his lone ° -tailed Imperial brother, or the "mother wit" of Mr. Commissioner Reed, or the instructions from Downing -street may inter pose to a blockade of the whole coast north of Shanghai, but I take it that if left to their own devices neither Lord Elgin nor Admiral Saym - mr is a man to allow such a march as this to be stolen upon them. With Cantu in hand, and with this fleet of rice-junks kept outside, Lord Elgin's road to Pekin would b© strewn with flow,:rs, and his negotiations at the. Court would be of a very curt _l'4cl:satisfactory character. It is an uncomfortable thing to have to stat.) any fact upon Chinese authority, for you know that if a falsehood will serve the turn they never have recourse to truth. The Chinese, however, all tell me that the Russians have been to Ti. and they give me circumstantial details of the transactions there, and name even the officers com missioned to meet them. According to these ac counts the two Governments are upon the most friendly terms. The Chinese affirm that the object of the visits of the Russian admiral to the port of Shanghai has been to keep the Court of Pekin in formed of the preparations and intentions of the Entisb, and they biut that the Russians have led the at: " . to believe that at the proper moment Russia will r interpose her mediation to settle the differences. If these statements are not true they are well invented. The two courts aro undoubtedly au.e petits scrim just now. The Pekin Gazette of the 26th of September reports the return of E ke-le, a Chinese officer who had been sent to the Court of Russia to present condolences on the death of Nicholas. The Gazette simply states that the Envoy, having had an audience with the present Emperor, had retuined. Perhaps lam reclined to believe more of this information because I ge t i t f rom pecu li ar and ex elusive sources ; but, at any ra`e, it is sde to con clude that the Chinese are quite alive to every point of the game they are now playing, and that they are disposed to avail themselves of Russia. Before we leave Shanghai I must ask the British public to accompany me in a morning walk upon the Buud. It will be hard if we do not find setae few scenes there illustrative of Chinese life and manners. We will start from the hotel, which notifies its whereabouts in the rear of the settlement by a high flagstaff and a most demonstrative b inner. The street we follow is bounded by the eirdea walls a nd entrances of several " hongs "—ornamented detached residences ; resembling a little the villas in the Regent's- o ent 8-park. Our path is through a crowd 0 0 1 1 i t oe he tl ir il ara ceb,olie?. They are carrying, ha'anced bricks of ayea°° pobs, chests of tel, bales of silk, sue. It is haertv"' and burdens more multifari labour nearly S. acidrak. They earn by continuous 1 au h e But th a man is worn out in about seven years hardly en retires on his scone miss, and enjoys his the e n a te ru r ed leisure upon a small plot of ground i n them at full work loading and disre.li We Row see From earl of a I Each as he goes emits a eouud nee the moan cargo. man in pain, " ho ; alt ho." ing till eventide this chorus of sorrowful aoyvimciotirna-s the air. It is more multitudinous and mon e t snowa than the croak of the frogs iu th e sw amps, tha n t h e harsh grating cry of the ciashe upon the bo ug h s. The habit, so fsr as I can discover, is confin e d to eeltis port ; but a Shanghai porter can no mom du , work without his " ho !" than a London paviour can go t on w ith ou t his "Howie." When the English first, came hero the house servants brought up the soups and the legs of mut'on sing ing their e Ah ho " i cl in i in procession through the This was promptly put down ; but the out-of-door chorus still proceeds. Every moment from 800 chests comes this sad monotonous cry, depressing to,the spirits of new corners. We make our way through this croaking crowd, .THE SIN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, and debouch upon the Bund—the broad embank ment, having on one side the wide river, with square-rigged vessels lying at easy anchor in its noble reach ; and on the other side the " com pounds)" or ornamental grounds, each containing the hong and the godowas of some one of the prin cipal European commercial houses. The only building on the Bund which is of Chinese architec ture is the Custom-house, which is like a josshouse. There is something going on at the Custom-house. The Toutai's suite fill the outer courtyard. Some 20 fellows wearing mandarins' caps, with fox-tails sticking out behind, have swords at their sides and form the military escort. Their trousers are much patched and their odour is not fragrant; yet, if one of these ragged ruffians would come to London and submit to be washed Mrs. Leo Hunter would ask lords and ladies to meet him and present him to her guests as " a mandarin from China." There are two curious creatures having enormous gilt hares on their heads and pheasant feathers pro truding behind. They are rather shabbier and dirtier than their military comrades, and look as thongh they had been turned out of Mr. Richard son's booth. for lack of cleanliness. There are two executioners, conspicuous by their black conical caps, their dark costume, and their iron chains, worn like a sword belt. The larger one is said to be of wonderful skill in taking off heads; the smaller excels in producing torture with the bamboo. Let ,us go inside. There is incense burning, and priests are chanting. Mandarins, with white or recillut tons to their caps, silk dresses, and very dirty hands, are knocking their heads upon the ground before a little joss. It is a Chinese ceremonial day. They have turned the Custom-house into a joss house for the nonce, and are come here to " chin chin" the God of Wealtb, which means to pray for a good harvest of import and export duties. The rite is soon performed, the Toutai comes forth, the procession is formed. It would look splendid in drawing or photograph, but it is squalid and ludi crous in its shabby reality. The Toutai mounts his pony, the large crimson parasol is raised above his head— _ " Interque signs tnrpe militaria Sol adepicit conopium"— and the cortege moves off. About this Custom-house there is a grave matter to be debated. At the instance of the three treaty Powers the Chinese authorities have established at this port a triumvirate of European inspectors, or collectors of Customs, an Englishman, a Frenchman, and an American. They were originally selected by their respective Governments. They etch receive 2,0001. a-year—a salary not too great to compen sate them for the odium which the discharge of their duties involves. The English Government has ceased to interfere or to recognise Mr. Lay as haying any other capacity than that of an officer of the Chinese Government. The French and Ameri can Consuls retain an influence in the nomination and control of the inspectors of their respective nations. The effect of this Custom-house arrangement is that the duties of the port of Shanghai are received in full. At the other ports the old system of cor ruption prevails, and the Chinese collectors make their private bargains—usually about one-half of the tariff prices. Nothing but strong intrinsic vitality has enabled the trade of Shanghai to thrive, in spite of this great disadvantage. The English merchants are divided iu opinion upon this ' subject of duty collecting. Some think that the Chinese should be left to themselves ; that we should deal with the officials as we do in England with the farmers of turnpike tolls, every man making his own contract bargain. Others think that the inspecting system should be extended to all the ports. A third party are in favour of the abolition of all duties at the ports, allowing the Chinese to collect their own import and export duties inside. It is a difficult subject, almost im possible to be satisfactorily arranged by any treaty which shall give to the Chinese Government the action of an independent Power ; but the difficulty arises from the incurable corruption of the Chinese magistracy and the crumbling rottenners of the Government; Having to deal with such a nation, the necessities of self-protection give us rights which we should not have if we were dealing with honest men. There is a mind of gongs, and a crepitation of small crackers at the north end of the bund, and the coolies leaving their work to look on. As it is a day for sight-seeing, and eight-seeing is our busi ness, let us follow the crowd. It is a burial procession. The mother of a Chinese opium broker is going to her last home. She carries with her all her little comforts and necessi ties wherewith to begin life in the next world. Many palanquins appear at unequal distances, pre ceded and followed by coolies marching four abreast. These litters contain small joss -houses, and bmins holding fruits, and sweet meats, and bean cakes, and other orthodox Buddhist comestibles. There is good store also of silvered and gilded paper made to resemble solid ingots of gold and silver. This is 5 the wealth wherewith she is to appear in the land of ghosts as a respectable, well-to-do matron. But if this bullion pass current among the ghosts, they have lost the qualities which most distinguish them in the flesh. In life a Chinaman can distinguish the exact fineness of a piece of silver by the touch, so much so that the word "touch" is used as a technical term to indicate the quality of each de scription of bullion ; it must be very harrowing to the feelings of the ghost of a Chinese comprador to find himself obliged to deal in these shadowy in gots. On marches the procession. There are little boys blowing shrill trumpets and other stranger wind instruments, men excruciating our oars with cymbals and gongs, and grave adults exploding strings of crackers. Then comes the coffin—a strong wooden case like a carved and ornamental trunk of a tree. It is half covered by draperies, and is borne by 12 coolies. It is hermetically sealed with that tenacious plaster the Chinese call " chunam." It will be borne to a joss-house in the city, and thence to a spot in one of her son's fields. Here it will rest on the surface of the ground. After the time of mourning is past a few spadefulls of earth will be shovelled upon it, then year by year a few more till a mound arises and rank gra , a and Chinese lilies spring up, and this old lady's habitation adds another unit to the myriads of sacred burrows which cumber the rich soil, and serve no purpose but a harbour for the pheasants when the crops are cut. Our English books upon China say that only bills are set apart for this purpose. Sir John Davis falls into this error. But our English writers, for the most part, write only of what they have seen on the banks of the Canton River. Between Shanghai and Keehing I have seen thousands of acres of alluvial soil which the plough never turns because they are sacred to tee dead. We have plenty of time to look about us, for the procession yet dra g s its slow ler,grh along. The denizens of the Bund have turned out to leok, and business is proceeding. There is an English mer chant arranging the sale of a cargo of rice with a Chinaman. " Wantee nunibe, one bad licee for that sojer— numba one bad licee ?" " Number one bad rice for your soldiers," says the indignant Briton. " Why, we always have the best provisions we can obtain for our soldiers and sailors." Heaven forgive the patriotic man of coin- ' merce ! but he never saw a weavelly biscuit, or opened a tin of Crimean preserved meat. "0, maskee, numba one bad licee too much good for sojer man." We are separated from those bargains by a fisher man and his wife, who push their way by. The lady, who is not in her premiere jeunesse, has large natural feet, and, having tucked up her trowsers, displays a pair of calves which an Irish porter might envy. Taking advantage of their wake, stiffly totters upon her small deer's feet an ordinary Chinawornan of the urban population. She has no calves what ever. The muscles of her leg were destroyed by the operation which produced that beautiful foot, and from the knee downwards her leg is but skin and bore. Do you ask how this strange deformity is produced ? Stand back out of the crowd, inside the entrance to Mr. Heard's compound, and I will tell you. There are small-footed ladies at Hong Kong wh o gain a very fair livelihood by exhibiting their pedal extremities to sea captains and other curious Europeans at a dollar a-head ; but as so super ficial an examination of this national peculiarity did not satisfy me, I had recourse to some of my good friends among the missionaries. By their aid I obtained that some poor Chinese women should bring me a complete gamut of little girls from the missionary schools. Many of these female children probably owed their lives to the persuasion (aided by opportune donations of rice) of my missionary friend and his lady, but their in fluence had been powerless to prevent tho torture of their feet. On the appo'nted day they wire all seated in a row in my a-load's library, and their feet - , which I suspect had undergone a inspiratory washing, were unbound by their mammas. Tne first was a child of two years old. Her penance had just commenced. When the bandage of blue cotton was taken off I found that the great toe had the knuckle been IP-ft untouched but the others had been forced red and intlanae clown under the bail of the foot, and cies ly bound I in that position. The child, therefore, walked up n pain. In the n in e t x't joints of her four toesThetoes were a t n h d ree th e elig r a e t n u ( r ; e ol c o a f u a se g d es e a v a id v e a i t i l t - the :ante extent ever, wthasesecofnouft intervals) the preparation was only 10 ci ng at small four confined e t e o , fourt e h e e ding t o toes th e ; ' l w pressure, andlost their e articulations and their continual gradtially amalgamated with identity as limbs, the sole of the foot. In the eldest of the four the and inflammation had . 1 redness entirely disa— ppeared, the foot was cool and painless and appeared as Thethou f g o h o t t 1 scr i e a f s o u n r o I t v o s e o s n a ah e w d h b a e t e t n h e c u s t h a o p ft e o b f y a a t r k o n w i e f e l In the fifth girl I saw the commencement of the second operation—a torture under which sickly children frequently die. The sole of the . foot was now curved into the shape of a bow ; the great toe and the heel being brought together as near as pos sible. Take a jujube and double it till two points of the lozenge nearly meet, and you will see what I mean. This is done very gradually. The bandage is never slackened—month by month it is drawn tighter—the foot inflames and swells, but the tender mamma perseveres—as the bones and tendons accommodate themselves to the position constrained by the bandage so it is drawn tighter. At last the ball of the natural foot fits into the hollow of the sole, the root of the great tog is brought into contact with the heel. The foot is a shapeless lump. The instep is where the ancle was, and all that is left to go into the slipper and to tread the ground is the ball of the great toe and the heel. This is the small foot of the Chinese wo man—a bit of toe and a bit of heel, with a mark, like a cicatrice left after a huge cut, running up be tween them. Two of the girls were yet suffering great pain, and their feet were hot and inflamed, but in the eldest the operation was complete. She had attained to the position of a small-footed wo man, and her feet were quite cool, had no corns, and were not tender to the touch. One of the mammas, influenced perhaps by a little liberality in the article of rice money, intrusted me with a Chinese mystere de toilette. Sometimes, it seems, when a woman is expected to have to do hard work, her toe and heel are not drawn so tightly together as imperfection the true " small foot." T o di sgu i se this upon her marriage day she has recourse to art. A piece of cork, shaped like an in verted sugar-loaf,; is strapped on to her foot, and the small part goes into her slipper and passes for her foot. Thus are we poor men deceived ! While we are gossipping about small feet the old lady's burial procession comes to an end. It would be hissed at Astley's, and would be regarded with blank astonishment at the Princess's, but it is very successful at Shanghai. The opium broker has done his duty as a good son. If he keeps his two years of mourning properly, and if none of his wives should commit the indiscretion of having a child within two years, commencing from nine months after this time (for the present Emperor is supposed to owe all his misfortunes to an unfortunate acci dent of this sort), he will be esteemed a very re spectable man for evermore. The Bund resumes its normal state, and the "Ah ho's" are again in full chorus. What shall we do next? It is half-past 1 o'clock, tiffin time at Shang hai. You have made your calls on arriving here, and your cards have been duly returned, so you are free to go and come at tiffin time in all their hospitable bongs. No lack of good dishes or of pleasant iced drinks at a Shanghai tiffin. Where the junior partner, with his employes of silk inspec tor, and tea-taster, 'and beekkeper and cleiks, holds a separate mess, the allowance from the house to that mess is neverless than 50 Shanghai dollars per month per head, or something more than 2001. a year to each employe for the table alone. We may enter boldly. There is no chance of finding people making shijOs with small commons in China. There is a great charm in European society at all the ports. Everybody is able, and is, indeed, obliged to have a lordly indifference to expense. They can not control it, and they must let it go. There is no struggling and contriving to keep up appearances. The profits are large and the expenditure is great— laissez Tithe, however, is a bad habit, if we can keep out of it. Let us rather stroll towards the city and trust to chance for a light linich. " A'Lin, get a Coolie and follow us with some dollars and some cash"—the rascal wouldn't carry a string of copper cash himself to save his father's tail. It is a long stretch from the English settlement to the Chinese I city. We must pass through the French concession in front of Mr. Conolly's hong, wherein that gentle man, with exaggerated Shangai hospitality, has just taken in a distressed Singapore tiger, whose roaring attracts a crowd of Chinese around his gates. A Chinese city is no novelty to us who have journeyed together through so many of them ; but a festival day always has some objects of interest. In Pekin the " Board of Rites" busies itself about many things ; and among others it sets apart two days in every month as the days upon which alone marriages can take place. To day is one of these days, and in consequence thereof several gorgeous palanquins, like miniature Lord Mayor's coaches taken off their wheels, and containing ladies all splendid in jewels and gold, are passing through the narrow streets. These ladies have jewelled crowns upon their heads, and veils of strings of pearls falling over their faces, and em broidered satin tunics, and fans of gold tissue. They are going, properly accompanied, to their new homes. One of them is just entering the house of a distiller with whom I have some ac quaintance. We shall be welcome ; let us go in. Tho house is decoiated for the fete. It is hung with lanterns inside and out. The courtyard is full of relatives and hangers-on ; and at the gate is the comprador, who receives the money offerings of the visitors; the principal room opening upon the courtyard is prepared for the feast. Lanterns are hung from the ceilings, a small joss -house with candles and incense before it is at one end, and in the middle is the table on which stand the small basins of sauces and sliced shellfish, and goose flesh and sweetmeats and cakes, which are the pre cursive appetisers to a Chinese dinner. The bride groom (the son of the proprie4or) is lounging on a chair in his shirt-sleeves smoking ; the bride is gone up to her chamber, where she is sitting on her nup tial couch and receiving her guests. We may go up if we please, but it is less trouble to wait and look about us till she comes down. We crack a joke or two with the bridegroom, and he retires to put on his gorgeous array, and then the bride ap pears followed by her retinue of bridesmaids, and escorted by an old woman, the go-between who has made up the match. We present ourselves in due form, and the bride, who, in spite of her high crown and embroidered tunic and trousers, looks nervous and twitchy and slightly convulsive, just as she might if her name were Brown and if we had accosted her at the door of the vestry-room of St. George's, Hanoi= square, returns our salutation and would like to pass on. But such is not selou lea regles. Tho duenna insists upon our admiring the beauty of the head-dress and the thickness of the embroidered satin whereof her tunic is made; but, above all, she will pull up the trousers to ex hibit the faultless proportions of the little feet. They are marvellously small. A flea couldn't find room to hop in that slipper. "Chin, chin !" let us be off. Thera is another decorated dwelling on our way, but it is a cot'age, and presents a different scene. Three men are drinking samshu at table, while the bride, dressed in her borrowed bravery, sits on a brrrel in the most distant corner, alone and unnoticed. To-morrow and for ever more she will be a beast of burden. Perhaps, how ever, she will, in the fulness of time, create her own distractiuns. A few years may probably see a crowd of mangey brats, exhibiting every form and species of cutaneous complaint, fighting and yelling over their rice basins, and, aided by the mother's shrew voice and the grandmother's croak, making their neighbourhood unbearab'e. Such afamily lived opposite to my bedroom win dow at Ningpo. From early cockcrow to sun down the screams and shrill cries were unintermit tent. TLe nuisance burst into being all on a sud den ; but I found, on inquiry, thai it had existed in its present aggravated form about 2 years before, and was then cured. After many vain remon strances, an English merchant complained to the Toutar. Next day the lord of the house was sent for to the Prefecture, and being suspended by the thumbs received 40 blows of the bamboo ' • he was then dismissed with a warning. When that re spectable housekeeper returned disjointed and macerated to his dwelling he went in and shut his doors about him. What happened in the bosom of that family no man may know ; but thencetorward the rice was eaten within the house, and the screams did not vibrate in the street. When I heard of this I thought I would try what a threat of the Toutar would d :so I sent my boy down with a message. He returned with the air of an envoy who has failed. " Well, what does the woman say I" "She talkee no care—last moon husband dead." We must on, it is not pleasant to linger in the streets of a Chinese city. The porters jostle you, and tha palanquins push you aside, and the smells assail you. The French Jesuit, to whom a com patriote applied to send her specimens of all the finest scents of China, rather exaggerated when he replied, ' Alas ! Maiam, in China there is but one scent, and that is not a perfume." There are many scents, but with the exc-ption of the white blossom wherewith they scent their teas none of them are perfumes. We bustle our wry through the narrow streets. We pass the temples and tho yamuns, unentered, for we have seen a hundred such before, and we reach the taa gardens of Shanghai city. These are worth a visit, fur they are the best I have seen in China. A Chinese garden is usually about 20 yards square, but these cover an area of ten acres. It is an irregular figure flanked by rows of shops, rudely analogous to those of the Palais Royal. Tie area is traversed in all directions by broad canals of stag• nant water, all grown over with gre, n, and crossed by zig-zag wooden bridges, of the willow-pattern plate model,_ sadly out of repair, - and destitu e of paint. Where the water is not, there are lamps of artificial rockwork, and large pavilion-:hailed tolrooms, perhaps 20 in number. Hero self-heating kettles of gigantic proportions are always hissing and bubbling ; and at the little tables the Chinese population are drinking tat, smoking, eating almond hardbake or pomegranates, playing dominoes, or arranging bargains. Tiero are interstices also of vacant land, and these are occupied by jugglers and peepshow-men. Fron the upper room of one of these teahouses we shal. have a view of the whole scene, and A'Lin will order us a cup of tea and some cakes for lunch. The jugglers and gymnasts below are doing much the same kind of tricks which their brethren of England anli France perform. M. Houdin and Mr. Anderson would find their equals among these less pretending wizards. lam told that those peep-shows which old men are looking into, and laughing, and vhich young boys are not prevented from seeing, ontain representations of the grossest obscenity. Here is a ventriloquist who, attracted by our European costumes at the ewe ment, has come up to perform. " Give him a dollar, A'Lin, and tell him to begin." Th a t dirty, half clad wanderer would make another fortune for Barnum. He unfolds his pack, and constructs out of some curtains a small closed room. Into this he retires, and immediately a little vaudeville is heard in progress insi.le. Half-a-dozen voices in rapid dialogue, sound; and movements, and cr:es of animals, and the clatter of falling articles, tell the action of the plot. The company from the tea-tables, who had gathered round, wag their tails with laughter, especially at the broadest sallies of humour, and at the most indecorous denouements. In truth, there is no difficulty, even to us, in com prehending what is supposed to be going on in that little room. The incidents are, indeed, some what of the broadest—no:. so bad as the scenes in our orthodox old English comedies, such as " The Custom of the Country," for instance, or "The Conscious Lovers ;" but still they are very minutely descriptive of fact not proper to be described. The man's talent, however, would gain him full audi ences in Europe without the aid of grossness. "Ho lai"—" fire, there." Shall we light a cheroot and stroll about ? Don't make too sure, Mr. Bull, that the gentleman in the mandarin cap, who is holding you by the button and grinning in you face, is saying any thing complimentary about you. In a journey up the country a fat Frenchman, who had equipp e d hi mse lf i n an old mandarin coat, a huge pair of China boots, and a black wide-a-wake, was leaning upon a bamboo spear, while his boat was being drawn over one of those mud embankments, which serve the purpose of our locks. He also was very much flattered at the politeness of an old man who prostrated himself three times before him, and chin-chin-ed him. Unluckily an interpreter was present, who explained that this old man took our French friend for the Devil, and was worshipping him in that capacity according to Chinese rites. It fact, the Frenchman in his antique disguise rather resembled a Chinese idol. But ask the French Consul at Shanghai about this ; he can tell the story better than I can. Some of the best shops of Shanghai city open upon the tea-gardens ; some resound with the buzz of impr!- soned insects and the song of caged birds ; there are " curio" shops, where are to be seen antiquities of dynasties long anterior to the Christian era, carefully wrought by living hands; there are caricatures of the English barbarians, one of which I cannot refrain from buying ; there are carvings ing bamboo, very inferior to Canton ; there are shops fcr fane, and embroideries and silke, decidedly inferior to Ningpo. There is also the studio of a portrait painter, not probably a dangerous rival to Lamqua, of Macao. There is loud talking in that studio. A Yankee captain is inspecting a portrait of himself, which has been painted at a contract price of some 20 dole. The Yankee is a man about 40, with streaks of gray in his busby hair and beard, with a slight defect in one eye, a large nose, and a pock-marked face. Yet, withal, thanks to his affluence of hair and an ex pression of jaunty determination and devil-may-care go-aheadness, he is a manly-looking fellow. He is looking ruefully, however, at this counterfeit present ment of himself which is to go to the girl of his heart at New York. It is a most laughter-moving caricature of all the salient points of his physiognomy. The Yankee swears that it is no more like him than hickory nuts are like thunder. The artist has produced a small looking glass, which he places beside the portrait, and, pointing to the gray hair, and the squinting eye, and the pock marks of the portrait, and then to the present originals from which they were copied, says triumphantly at each verification, " Hab got ? Hab got ! Hab got ? How can make handsome xian 'spose no got handsome face ? " Let us leave these parties, for there seems a likelihood of a dispute, and, arming ourselves with another cheroot as a defence against bad smell, retrace our steps through the city, and out at the east gate. We are again upon the Band. The sun is down and the Earopean population are taking exercise in the short twilight. The merchants and their wives are re turning in carriages or on horseback from their ride round the racecourse, or are walking ; the missionaries and their wives are riding up and down on their parties. The shadows grow deeper, and you can scarce recognise your acquaintances as they pass. - And now, Mr. Bill, it is time to go in and dress for dinner. I hope during onr day's stroll I have given you some notion of the city and settlement of Shang be', which, if you are a wise man, and open up the Yang-tae-Kiang, will be a most important place both to you and to your descendants for many a long genera. HONG KONG, OCT. 30. After a rapid and most comfortable passage of four ;days I am back " home" in Hong Kong, just in time to ;keep you informed of the only matters having the least ;importance which have occurred since my departure for ,'the North. I You will have heard last mail by th e news f rom Si ege . pore that the Audaciease and the French Plenipo had at last arrived. The day after the departure of the mail Baron Gros steamed iato harbour, and with polite or kindly haste immediately proceed e d unaccompan i e d t o notice of his comin g . Th e d p i o n s g had the cordi a lity o f th e m t the t A i n v g a , o w f i t t h h e o u t t w e o v e r n s e e n n i non-official and uncereaaonious meeting of two private gentlemen, one of whom had been acc id en t a ll y k ept waiting and the other anxioue to expreis by his manner and onpressenzent that he regretted the delay. Next day the harbour resounded with salutes, and the two Minister met at dinner at Government House. The Andacieuse returned to her anchorage off Liutin, and diplomatic communications have since then been fre quent and, as it is said, most amicable. The gunboats are arriving daily, but Captain Sherard Osborne, who has to keep his chicken together, is not yet come in. It is neceivary to tow these craft up against the north-east monsoon, but it is scarcely worth while enumerating the actual arrivals for they will probably be all reported a short distance off by the steamer which takes this letter. It is a pleasure to be able to congratulate our Admi ralty. They may be honestly pond of the achievement of the Itnperador. On the morning of the 28th that fine ship steamed into harbour in admirable ti me a ft er a a llehde bringsof 61 500 da marines (at se a ) f rom paes England age atlomSingapore. s brings them out in the fret - rate conditio n . ' and she Only 15 men in all were on the sick list. Yesterday she pro• ceeded np the Canton river to the Wantung, where barracks have been provided, and where, it is to be hoped, the men will retain their present health and efficiency. We are now in eager expectation of the arrival of the sister ship the Imperatrix, supposed to be about three days behind her. This mail will probably bring you more certain tidings of her. It is no secret that something is now about to be un dertaken, We shall probably wait the arrival of the whole of the slender force allotted to us. 3,000 redcoats are not a too numerous army to bring to reason an empire of 300,000,000 of people ; but so soon as we have all we are to expect we hope to be able to tell you that Canton is in our hande. A l our superfluous doctors and Commissariat officers are off for India. It is understood that General Ash• burnham and staff, and Colonels Wetherell and Pakon ham go by the next mail. General Straubenzae remains with us, and I hear but one sentiment with respect to this officer. Ile has impressed all hero with full confi dence in him as a leafier of energy and conduct. SPORTINV INTELLIGENCE. TATTERSILL'S—NrONDAY. The following were the only bete laid : TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS STAKES. dto 1 agst Clydesdale 100 to 15 agst Brother to Marchioness 9 to 1 apt Lord of Lora 10 to 1 agst Happy Land SLUNTEEER.—Mr. Jacksm has sold this horse to Mr J. Merry, for 2,100 guineas. READING ST The Calcot Steeplechase P 1 Two miles Age st lb Age st lb Tom Gurney Lilford Theodine a 11 6 Kettleby Morgan Rattler ... 6 11 5 Vestige 6 10 11 Shylock (late Break- ( Zane lO 11 o'-day Boy) 3 11 3 Sunset Warwick 5 11 3 Noctis Cotton Lord . all 3 E ar th stopper Scrimmage (late T he D on Lord John) Longfori Edogton La 55...... a 11 2 Glautius Columbine Banjo Nicholas Comet 1 1 2 2 , The Scamp ......... 3 9. 5 :EPLECHASES. late (Handicap) of 40 soli. and a-half. BERKSHIRE OPEN STEXPLECHISE —The following horses have declared forfeit, and pay 2 sovs each : E.cape, Lilford, Humboldt, Tneodine, Evington Lass, Forest Queen, and Dayton. IMPORTATION OP C ORN.—resterday a return was issued showing that In the year enled last March the duty on corn imported was 483,8021. [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment and Pills have cured a wound in theleg of eleven years standing'. Mof Bri g ht on , s t a tes, in a l e tt er t o ProfessorWech Y, dated S e pt e mber G, 1865, th a t Mrs. Catherine Hudson, o f C aven di s h- p l ace, i n that l Welch, chemist, town, had been suffering for eleven years from an ulce rous wound in the leg, for which she bad been under medical treatment, in the London and Brighton Dispen saries, but received no benefit therefrom ; the applica tion however, of Holloway's Ointment, and the use of Holloway's Pills, have effected a perfect cure.—Sold by all medicine vendors throughout the world ; at Pro fessor Holloway's establishments, 244, Strand, London, and 86, Maiden-lane, New York; by A. Stamps, Con stantinople; A, Guidicy, Smyrna; and E. Muir, Malta. DECEMBER 15, 1857 1 NAVAL AND MILITA BY INTELLIGENCE. The European and American Steam Navigation Company's splendid ship Argo, Capt. Benson, will receive her troops this day alongside Portsmouth Dockyard jetty. Capt. Benson had barely eight clear working days to metamorphose the Argo from a first-class Transatlantic passenger-packet into a Government troop-transport, rendering ne cessary an entire revolution in the whole interior of the ship except the state saloon. This has been done in an able and masterly manner. The Argo is an iron ship, of 2,249 tons burden, 300-horse (screw) power, and the height between decks is 7 feet 2 inches. She prepared for berthing 850 troops and about 50 officers, but now her orders are those which we published yesterday, making her numbers 100 short of the above. Her ventilation is un equalled. She has 68 port-holes or scuttles on the troop deck, which is a clean sweep of space fore and aft, uninterruptedly presenting a line of benches and hammooks like a vista of stalls. She bas also 11 ventilating shafts and a number of rotary venti lators in various parts of her, rendering the below berths as cool as the saloon deck. She is a good sailer, having Cunningham's patent self-reefing topsails and every other modern improvement ; she steams on an average 9 knots, and only consumes about 35 tons of coal per diem. It is estimated with such advantages, and most experienced officers she must make at least as good a passage out to India as the Company's other steamer, the Golden Fleece. She will sail to-morrow. A general court-martial, composed of officers of the Grenadier Guards, the Royal Artillery, and Royal Marines, held their sittings during the greater part of last week at Woolwich for the trial of an unusual number of prisoners, principally re cruits, recently enlisted in the Royal Artillery. Three of the prisoners, convicted of crimesin breach of the articles of war—namely, insubordinate con duct to the noncommissioned officers—having been condemned to the punishment of the lash, underwent their sentence yesterday morning in the presence of the entire regiment, each receiving 50 lashes. One of the men, a Scotchman, gunner of the Horse Artillery, having under gone his sentence, exclaimed in au agitated and in censed tone, " L'll never di e h a ppy till I see k re venge on the man who brought me to this." The second was a gunner belonging to the field batteries, and the third a private of 10th Battalion, each of whom was sentenced on leaving the Infirmary to undergo a term of imprisonment in Fort Clarence. On leaving the place of punishment the troops were marched to the west square, where they were ad- , dressed by the General commanding the garrison, who remarked on the spectacle to which they had all been witnesses, " that, however painful to his feelings, he was resolved to visit with the utmost severity acts of insubordination, without which the discipline of the service could not be maintained. " The authority of the non-commtisioned. officers," added the General, "must be upheld, and I am happy to find that, in reference to the part they have acted towards the prisoners under punish ment, they have strictly performed a severe portion of their duty. In all such cases the law must be carried out." The General then alluded to some cases of desertion. In one case, after accepting the Queen's bounty, the man had enlisted in a regi ment of the line, and had subsequently been de tected. Now, to prevent the double crime of per jury and robbery, he was determined that every man found guilty as a deserter should be branded with the letter D, which would be a check to such practices, although, as an existing re gu l a ti on , it bad not been carried out of late. A detachment of 60 gunner; Of the Royal Artil lery, volunteers from the 14th battalion, were yes terday morning selected on parade, and ordered to hold themselves in readiness for service in India. The 2d battalion of the 6th Foot, raised at the expense of Major Macleod Frazer, who has ob tained a lieutenant-colouelcy and the command of the battalion for his exertions, numbers at present 1,230 strong, and in addition has given a large num ber of volunteers to the 7th Fusiliers and other regiments. The colonelcy of the 3d Regiment of Foot (the Buffs) has become vacant by the demise of Lieut.,- Gen. Nathaniel Wodehouse, who died on Friday last at his residence at Seining, Berks. The gal lant officer entered the army in June, 1807, em barked with his regiment for Portugal in May the following year • and remained in the P en i nsu l a until Dec. 1811, during which ti me h e was presen t at the battle of Vimiera, the campaign from Lisbon to Oporto, and the battles of Busaco and Fuentes d'Onor. The deceased General also served in the campaign of 1814 in the south of France, including the affair at Tarbes and the battle of Toulouse. He had received the silver war-medal and four clasps for his services in the Peninsula. At the close of last January the gallant General succeeded to the colonelcy of the 3d Regiment, in the room of Gen. N. Thorn. His commissions wore dated as follows : —Ensign, June 3, 1807 ; Lieutenant, Aug. 31, 1807 ; Captain, Sept. 20, 1811; Major, Oct. 18, 1821 ; Sept. 2,. 1824 ; Colonel, Juno 21, 1838 ; Major Gen., Nov. 11, 1851; and Lieut.- Gen., Sept. 5, 1857. By the mail from India the death of CJI. T. S. Powell, C. 8., who recently succeeded Major-Gen. Sir H. Havelock, K. C. 8., in the command of the 53d Regiment, is confirmed as having taken place in an action with a body of the Dinapore muti neers near Futtehpore. The lamented officer had had a long and distinguished career in India, and during the late War was recalled from India to act in the Crimea, where he rendered himself highly useful, and for his meritorious exertions in the field was early in last year nominated a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Col. Powell entered the army as Ensign by purchase in May, 1826, and, as may be imagined, when cut off was in the full vigour of life. He served as aide-de-camp and Persian Interpreter to Gen. Lord Keane through out tho campaign of 1838-39 in Affghauistan, and had received a medal for Ghuznee. He accompa nied the 6th Regiment to the Cape of Good Hope, and served during the Caffre war in '1846 and 1817, for which he received a medal. During:the late war in the Crimea he commanded the 57th Regi ment until after the battle of Inkermann, and sub sequently served as second in command of the re giment until promoted to an unattached lieutenant colonelcy. He had received the Crimean medal and clasps for Balaklava and Inkerman. Soon after the war with Ru&iia was concluded Col. Powell re turned to India to share the honours of the military operations against Persia. Since the outbreak in Bengal the gallant officer had displayed the greatest activity and zeal in his duties, and his death will be d. eply regretted not only by his relatives, but by a large circle of military friends. The following are the dales of his commission :—Ensign, May 15, 1826 ' • lieutenant, May 31, 1831 ; captain, Nov. 13, 1835 ' • brevet major, July 23, 1839: major, July 21, 1848 ; brevet lieutenant-colonel, Nov. 11, 1851 ; and lieutenant-colonel, Feb. 2, 1855. The following appointments were made yester day at the Admiralty : Lieutenants—J. W. Webb, to the Cambrian ; H. 11. Miller, to the Lapwing. THE MILITIA. The /loyal Elthorne Light Infantry, under the command of Lieut.-Col. M.• Prior, was inspected at Cork on Friday by Major-Gen. Eden, on which oc ca3ien the general expressed himself in high terms as to the appearance of the men, their discipline, The Royal Aberdeenshire Militia marched into Mandbridge Barracks, Dublin, on Saturday morn ing, having crossed from Liverpool the previous n , ght. The route reached Aberdeen by telegraph ac 8 p.m. on Thursday, and, although scattered in billets, the regiment was paraded at 2 a.m., and left at 3 a.m. for Carlisle. After 5 hours' halt at Carlisle the regiment again proceeded at 1 a.m. on Friday for embarkation at Liverpool, reaching the wharf at daybreak, as ordered. STEAM-SHIP COLLISION. LOWESTOFT, MONDAY. A collision took place last night off the I\tewarp light-ship, between the New Pelton screw steam ship and another steamer, which is supposed by the captain and crew of the former to have foun dered. The New Pelton is the property of the Waterford and Milford Haven Steampacket Com pary, and was on a voyage from London to the North for a car g o of coals. In consequence of the damage she sustained she put into Yarmouth-roads and intended to return to the Thames. At day light this morning a tirge steamer was reported to be sunk on the Cross Sands, off Yarmouth, which is believed to be the steamer that was in contact with the New Pollen. This vessel turns out to be tilt) Rapid, kcrew steamer, belonging to the London and Edinburgh Steam Shipping Company. She was from Edinburgh with passengers, and a full cargo of inercliandi , ,e, and bound to Irongate Wharf, London. Her crew and passengers were saved. SOUTII KENSINGTON MUSRILM.'"During the week ending 1).. c. 12, the visitors have been as follows :—On Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, free days, 1,743 ; on nonday and Tuesday, free evenings, 2,565 ; on the three students' days (admission to the public 6d.), 595 ; one students' evening (Wednesday). 106; total, 5,009. [AnvErarsEmitsr.] -- K ID NEYS, BLADDER, &C. Second Elition, Price 2s.—Practical information on the origin of Diabetes, Albuminuria, or Bright's disease, and certain other chronic affections of the Kidneys and Bladder in . both sexes their connection with the Stomach and Liver, and only successful mode of cure By Dr Denis Cronin, 35, Bruton-street, Berkeley. square.—" A. very able work upon diseases affecting a large portion of the population."—We LI N_e y ewp. Smith and Co., 52, Long-acre. BANK RETURNS. An Account, pursuant to the Act seventh and eighth Victoria, cap. 32, of the Average Amount of Bank Notes of the several Banks of Issue in England and Wales, in Circulation during the Week ending Satur day, the th day of Nov., 1857 : PRIVATE BANKS. AAmoverage unt. Andover Bank, Andover—Heath and Co. Ashford Bank, Ashford—Jemmitt Pomfret,and Co. Aylesbury Old Bank, Aylesbury—Z. D. Hunt 25,076 Baldock Bank and Baldock and Biggleswacle Bank, Baldock—Wells, Hogge, and Co Barnstaple Bank, Barnstaple—Marshall and Co Basingstoke and Odiham Bank, Basingstoke— Seymour, Lamb, and Co. Bedford Bank, Bedford—Barnard and Co. ... Bewdley Bank, Bewdley Nichols, Baker, and Co Bicester and Oxfordshire Bank and Oxford Bank, Bicester—lL M. and G. Tubb Birmingham Bank, Birmingham —Attwoods, Spooner, and Co Birmingham and Warwickshire Bank, Bir mingham—J. L. Moilliet and Sons Blandford Bank, Blandford—Oak and Co. Boston Bank, Boston—Clay pons and Co. Boston Bank, Boston —T. Gee and Co. Bridgwater Bank, Bridgwater —J. and J. L Sealey Bristol Bank, Bristol—Miles, Miles, and Co Broseley and Bridgnorth and Bridgnorth and Broseley Bank, Broseley—Pritchards, Boy cott, and Co. Buckingham Bank, Buckingham—Bartlett, Par rott, and Co. Bury and Suffolk Bank, Sudbury Bank, and Stowmarket Bank, Bury St. Edmunds— Oakes, Bevan, and Co. Banbury Bank, Banbury —J. C. and A Gillett Banbury Old Bank, Banbury —Cobb and Son Bedfordshire Leighton Buzzard Bank, Leighton Buzzard—Bassett, Son, and Co. Birmingham Bank, Birmingham —Lloyds & Co. Bradford Old Bank, Bradford, Yorkshire—ll. A. and W. M. Harris and Co. Brecon Old Bank, Brecon—Wilkins and C 0.... Brighton Union Bank, Brighton—Hall, West, and Co. Burlington and Driffield Bank, Burlington— Harding, smith, and Co Bury St. Edmunds Bank, Bury St. Edmunds— Worlledge and Co Cambridge Bank, Cambri.lise—Hemlock & Co Cambridge and Cambridgeshire Bank, Cam bridge—Messrs. Fosters Canterbury Bank, Canterbury—Hammond and Co Carmarthen Bank, Carmarthen—David Morris and Sons Chertsey Bank, Chertsey—La Coste and Son. Colchester Bank, - Colchester—Round, Green, and Co. Colchester and :Essex Bank, and Witham and Essex Bank, and Hadleigh, Suffolk, Bank, Colchester-1 1 / 1 11s, Bawtree, and Co Cornish Bank, Truro—Tweedy and Co Coventry Bank, Coventry—Little & Woodcock City Bank, Exeter—Milford and Co Craven Bank, Settle—Alcocks, Birkbecks, and Co Chepstow Old Bank, Chepstow Bank, Mon mouth Old Bank, Monmouth Bank, Brecon Bank, and Ross and Herefordshire Bank, Chepstow—Bromage, Snead, and Co Derby Bank, Derby—W. and S. Evans & Co Derby Bank, Derby—Samuel Smith and Co Derby Old Bank and Scarsdale and High Peak Bank, Derby—Crompton, Newton, and Co Devizes and Wiltshire Bank, Devizes—Locke and Co Diss Bank, Diss—Fincham, and Co Doncaster Bank and Retford Bank, Doncaster —Cooke and Co Darlington Bank, Durham Bank, and Stockton on-Tees Bank, Darlington—Backhouse & Co Devonport Bank, Devonport-Hodge and Co Dorchester Old Bank and Dorsetshire Bank, Dorchester—R. and 11. Williams East Cornwall Bank, Liskeard—Robins, Fos ter' and Co East Riding Bank, Beverley —Bower and Co Essex Bank and Bishop's Stortford Bank Chelmsford—Sparrow, Round, and Co Exeter Bank, Exeter—Sanders and Co Farringdon Bank and Bank of Wantage, Far ringdon—Barnes, Medley, and Co Farnham Bank, Farnham—Messrs Knight Faversham Bank, Faversham—Hilton and Co Godalming Bank, Godalming—Mellersh and Keen Guildford Bank, Guildford—Messrs. Haydon— Grantham Bank, Grantham—Hardy and C 0... Hereford City and County Bank, Hereford— Matthews and Co. Hull Bank and Kingston-upon-Hull Bank, Hull, Smith, Brothers, and Co. Huntingdon Town and County Bank, Hunting dou—Veasey and Co. Harwich Bank, Harwich—Cox, Cobbold, and Co. Hertfordshire, Hitchin Bank, liitchin Sharples, and Co. Hereford, Ross and Archenfield Bank, and ' Ross and Archenfield Bank, Ross Morgan and Co ... Ipswich Bank, Ipswich—Bacon and Co. Ipswich and Needham Market Bank, Suffolk, Hadleigh Bank, Manningtree and Mistley Bank, and Woodbridge Bank, Ipswich— Alexanders and Co. Kentish Bank, Maidstone—Mercer, Randall, and Co. Kington and Radnorshire Bank, Kington— Davies and Co. Knaresborough Old Bank and. Ripon Old Bank, Knaresborough—Harrison and Co Kendal Bank, Kendal—Wakefield, Crewdson and Co. Lane End Staffordshire Bank, Lane End—C d Son Leeds •• Leeds—Beckett and Co. Leeds Union Bank, Leeds—W. Williams, ar vey Bank, an Brown and Co. Leicester Bank , Leicester — T. & T. T. Paget Lewes Old Bank, Lewes — Whitfield and Co Lincoln Bank, Lincoln--Smith, Ellison, and Co Llandovery Bank, Lampeter Bank, and Llan dilo Bank, Llandovery—D. Jones and Co Loughborough Bank, Loughborough —Middle ton and Cradock Lymington Bank, Lymington—S, and G. F St. Barbe Lynn Regis and Lincolnshire Bank, -Lynn Rei'is--Gurneys and Co. Lynn Regis and Norfolk Bank, Lynn Regis-- Jarvis and C 0........, Macclesfield Bank, Macclesfield—Brocklehurst and Co. Manningtree Bank, Manningtree—Nunn and Marlborough Bank, Marlborough and Wilts Old Bank, Marlborough Old Bank, Marl borough Old Bank and Hungerford Bank, and Hung wford Bank, Marlborough —Tan ner and Co Co. Merionethshire Bank, Dolgelly—Williams and Son Miners' Bank, Truro—Willyams and Co Monmouthshire Agricultural and Commercial Bank, Abergavenny—Bailey and Co Monmouth Cld Bank, Monmouth Bank, Bre con Bank, Chepstow Bank, Chepstow Old Bank, and Ross and Herefordshire Bank, Monmouth—Bromage, Snead, and Co Newark Bank, Newark—Godfrey and Riddell Newark and Sleaford Bank, and Sleaford and Newark Bank, Sleaford—Handley, Peacock, and Co Newbury Bank, Newbury—Bunny & Slocock Newmarktt Bank, Newmarket—Eaton, Ham mond, and Co Norwich Crown Bank and Norfolk and Suffolk Bank, Norwich—Harveys and Hudsons... Norwich and Norfolk Bank, Norwich—Gur neys and Birkbecks Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Bank, Not tingham, Hart, Fellows, and Co Nuneaton Bank, Nuneaton—Craddock and Co Naval Bank, Plymouth, Plymouth—Harris and Co. New Sarum Bank, Sarum—Everett and Co Nottinghamßank, Nottingham — Samuel Smith and Co. Oswestry Bank and Oswestry Old Bank, Os westry—Croxon and Co Oxford Old Bank, Oxford — P arsons an d Co. Old Bank, Tonbridge, Tonbridge and Ton bridge Wells Old Bank, Tonbridge and Ton bridge Wells and Sevenoaks Bank, Ton bridge—T. H. and S. Benching . Oxfordshire Witney • Bank, Witney—J. W. .......... Clinch and Sons Pease's Old Bank, Hull, the Hull Old Bank and Beverley Bank, Hull—Pease and Co Penzance Bank, Penzance--Batten and Co. Peterborough Bank and Oundle Bank, Peter borough—D. Yorke and Co. Pembrokeshire Bank, Haverfordwest—J. and W. Walters Reading Bank, Reading—Simonds and C 0.... Reading Bank, Reading—Stephens, Illandy., and Co. Richmond Bank, Richmond—Roper and Co. Rochdale Bank, Rochdale Clement, Royds, and Co. ......................... . Rochester, Chatham, and Stroo;i Bank,Roches.. ter—Day and Nicholson Royston Bank, Royston—Fordham and Sons Rugby Bank, Rugby—A. Butlin and Son Rye Bank, Rye—R. C. Pomfret, &Co Ross 01(1 Bank, Heredfordshire, Ross Allaway and Macdougal Saffron Walden and North Essex Bank, Saf t,fron Walden—Gibsons and Co. ...• Salop Bank Shrewsbury--Burton, Lloyd, and Co• ................................................. Scarborough Old Bank, Scarborough—Wood all and Co Shrewsbury Old Bank and Shrewsbury and Ludlow Bank, Shrewsbury— Rocke, Ey ton s, and C 0.... Sittingbourne and Milton Bank, Sittingbune. —Valiance and Co. and Pearce ampton—Maddiyon ... Southampton Town and County Bank , South- 29,514 9,384 22,611 31,352 11,692 16,080 23,325 8,839 6,177 67,355 14,387 7,673 32,651 18,253 23,715 65,04' 35,017 29,590 34,262 25,886 11,444 63,555 17,025 11,924 2,289 14,339 46,0G1 31,631 22,694 2,953 15,803 35,429 44,006 4,265 19,330 72,835 8,564 10,004 37,628 25,635 8,446 16,319 67,249 82,814 0,181 47,266 06,346 52,216 38,988 24,700 7,001 11,210 5,781 5,359 12,692 25,902 20,060 19,943 48,537 4,905 30,283 22,585 19,118 62,812 14,718 L 1,515 43,793 5,243 55,265 36,954 29,593 19,761 86,525 30,186 7,12 . 3 , 312 37,594 10,847 13,724 1,124 10,240 17,116 29,248 14,995 21,201 50,735 18,680 20,770 47,547 93,580 10,307 3,201 20,555 9,365 29,622 11,421 33,117 7,651 9,518 44,433 10,765 9,836 11,373 27,047 23,085 6,313 4,068 6,534 11,510 9,182 13,038 3,890 28,305 14,392 24,261 41,120 3,443 10,7f7 THE EASTEiN BANK. EDINBURGH, MONDAY. At the Bankruptcy Court this day Stephens did not appear. Application was made in his behalf for an adjournment on the ground of ill health, and to give him time to look over books and documents on which he had been unexpectedly examined. Application, on the other hand, was made by the trustee for a warrant for his apprehension. Mr. Sheriff Hallard overruled the first application, there being no medical certificate produced, and granted a warrant to apprehend him. MONDAY EVENING.. In a letter to the trustee Mr. — Stephens states that his health has suffered greatly from his long continued and harassing exa m i na ti on . It was, he adds, unreasonable t o ex p ec t h e s h ou ld on theln stant account for the cont en t s o f th e man y letters, books, and document s o f b an k k ept b y su b o rdinate officers, and that he should h ave th e res p o nsibility of all entries fixed o n hi m . O n su b sequen t inquiry he finds that he has mad e s t a t emen t s t o his Pre.lu dice, which are acknowledged to be enormous,and he therefore wishes ample time to look over the bank books that he may rectify and prevent erro neous statements in future, and that he may snow that all the advances to Waugh were sanctioned by the directors, and that so late as February last he was assured by Colonel Yates that Waugh's secu rity only wanted time to be worth a million. 11 15 agent has appealed to the C our t o f S ess ion again" Sheriff llallard's decision, but this does not stay execution of the warrant to apprehend. Country Markets. CHELMSFORD—Dec. 11. Our market was generally dull to-day, and best wheats must be quoted at 3s lower than last, week's prices; barleys declined 1s to 2s. Peas, beans, and oats, fully is per qr. lower. Wheat, white, old, per a. qr.sl new 43 rod, old 43 new 42 Barley 33 Chevalier 34 Grinding 29 Malt 72 Chevalier 74 0. 0. per qr. 24 29 Partridge 40 43 White 38 45 Boiling 39 46 Dun 38 40 41 i Beans, Tisk 39 42 32 Harrow ticks 40 44 75 1 Mazagan 36 40 13. 54 Oats, 54 Peas, 47 I 47 31 Ditto; new... 36 Official Statement of the Quantities of Corn, &c, in the port of London, from the following pi Dec. 6to Dec. 12, both inclusive. ~ received )rte, floss g ; 0 ' CI 1 A ip !fg !-- I--- Colcliestor Harwich Leigh Malden -1- - 14,t1 1 11111 A, 24 - I 1 764, 27 426 46 i 42 , 52 r 5 COLCHESTER—DEa. 12. A small supply of wheat. The trade slow, at 1.1 to 2° per qr decline. Fine malting barley in demand, at nearly last week's prices. Be ans an d p eas ra th er l ow erin price; Prices to•daywere a s f o ll ow :—Wheat, white, 5 0 s t o ; red, 4is to 50s; b ar l e y, 36 s t o 43 s ; oa t s , 24 s t o 30s ; beawo Mazagan, 36s to 38 s ; m iddl e an d sma ll, 40 s to 420; Pe tlF ' white, 44s to 46s ; grey, 40s to 445. KIRKCALDY—DEC. V. A moderate supply to-day, and sales ready, the quality being good. Prices about the same as last week for bes t qualities, and inferior is lower. Wheat. Barley. I Oats. . Beane! 54s Oct I 21s 01 24s Oct I 1 8 ° A, First Second 488 Oct 27s Oct 22s Oct , Os u, Third 32s OctOd 20s Oct I 18s OJ I Os " COAL MARICIIIT.—DEo. 11. Prices of Coals per ton at the close of the market —=4 s. d. Wallsend, tea. 1. --• :::: Middle W. Hartley 15 6 ad• Bebaide's Hartley 15 6 Ni xon ' s Duffryn. ......... 2 1 6 Bates's West Hartley l5 0 Brown's Meor Haigh 16 6 Hastings Hartley... 15 3 M a i n 16 6 Davison's West Hartley 15 6 Ridd e ll Walker Primrose ...13 6 Ed en Main l7 9 West Hartley ... . 15 3 Russell's Hetton 18 6 North Percy Hartley _l5 0 South Hetton 1 9 0 Longridge's Wst Hartley 15 6 Tees l9 3 Morpeth West Hartley 15 0 [laugh Hall l7 6 Tanfield Moor l3 3 Whitworth l6 • Tanfield Moor Butes 13 3 Pl umm er ... .• •16 6 Haswell Gas 14 0 WharnclifTe 16 9 9 Holywell ...................16 3 South Hartlepool.. 18 Lambton 1$ a Cassop 6 18 Braddyll l9 3 Haswell Rotten l9 3 16 9 H e tt on Lyons Main Wallsenci. Sco. Northumberland l6 191 Eden .17 91 Montague l6 9 Kelloe 18 3 Keiper Graingo lB 6, Ships at market, 96 ; sold, 83. LOCAL SHARE MARKErj. LIVERPOOL, DEC. 14. STOCK EXCHANGE. --The transactions to-day were dull, and prices were merely nominal. Birkenhead, 651 — London and North Western, 944 i—Great Western, 50— North Eastern, , orwicks, 23A—Dovers, 19 I—Sheffields, 361—Midlauds, BN—Grand Truuk of Canada, 91—Great Western of Canada, 18, 1 , Blackburn, 91.1 MANCHESTER, DEO. 14, STOOK EXOHANGE.—The market opened easier to-day, and prices were steady, with a moderate business, chiefly for next account. Grand Trunk of Canada, 94 n a—Great Western of Canada, 18—Midlands, 86 7 n a—Dorers, 19i n a—Leeds, 91i —Loudon and North Western, Eighths, 14 n a—Sheffields, 36i n a—Caledonians, 39i na. BIRMINGHAM, DEC. 14. STOCK EXCHANGN.—Business in the market general', brisker, and prices steady. London and North-Western, 94—Birmingham and Stour Valleys, 8k —Birmingham Banking Company, 26—Shropshire Unions, 45i.3 THE NANA &min.—The lifofusgilite gives us, from a sA " a f gh o r: r ab t , h : e w i e rn , forthcoming Government suppose,N anathise4f yloewa G l ariars:ggoeetft descriptionae e , yee s t aainbrdeb bl a ck , aiasocifku round tu t; plexion light wheat-coloured, face. He is understood now to wear a beard ; height about 5 feet 8 inches ; he wears his hair very short (or, at least, did so), leaving only as much u a skull cap could cover ; he is fall in person and of powerful frame; he htsi not the Mahratta, hooked nose with broad MOE. trill, but a straight, wel!-shaped one. lie has a servant with a cut ear, who never leaves his side.' [AnVERTISEMENTI—It is with pleasure we notice the daily increase of cures without medicine of indigestion (dyspepsia), flatulency, constipation, nervous, bilious, and liver corn plaints, cough, asthma, consumption, and debility, by Du Barry's delicious Revalenta Arabica. We quote the follow. lug: —Southwick Park, Fareham, Hants, Oct. 31, 1848. — Gentlemen, I sincerely thank you for your kind attention. When I began taking the Revalenta I was in as deplorable a condition as can well be imagined. I was confined to my bed, and so weak that I could neither stand nor walk, suffering severely from flatulency, constipation, and indigestion, and being compelled to have recourse to aperients every second or third day; and, upon one occasion, I swallowed no less than seven doses within twenty-eight hours, under medical advice. There was a giddiness in my head, and a singing in my right car, that when I turned my bead on the pillow it resembled the sound produced by a light touch on a musical g i r had a pain and sort of fullness across the chest, a ktoro t mat, and a slight cough ; but the for ten great that I could not remain iu the same position minutes all night long. The principal seat of the pain seemed pain around my loins was so to be just below the ribs on My left side, and about Mire° inches from the backbone. I commenced taking Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica morning and evening, boiled in water and salt ; and in less than a fortnight my appetite was greatly . improved, and flatulency and constipation so far vanished that I have not tasted a pill or drug of any kind since. I am much stronger, can walk steadier, and less like a drunken man, Scc.—JOAN Voss, Land-steward. — Supported by testimonials from the celebrated Professors of Chemistry, Dr. Andrew Ure ; Dr. Shorland ; Dr. Marvel ; Dr. Campbell ; Dr. Gattiker ; Dr. Wurzer; Dr. Ingram ; Lord Stuart do Dccies; the Dowager Countess of Cast 0. stuart; Major-Gen. Thomas King, and many other respectable persons, whose health has been restored by it, after all other means of cure had failed. Suitably packed with full in structions. In canisters, Ilb, 2s. 9d. ; 21b, 4s. 6d.; blb, lls ; 121 b, 225. The 121 b canisters are sent carriage ft ee, on receipt of Post-Officii order.—Barry Du Barry, & Co., 77, Reo•ent-street, London. IMPORTANT Cstrnott against the fearful dangers of spurious imitations : —The Vice-Chancel. for , Sir William Page Wood, granted an Injunction on the 10th March, 1854, against Alfred Hooper Novill, for imitating " pa Barry's Revalenta Arabies, Food." BIRTHS. EDWARDS —On the 14th inst., at Dorney 'Vicarage, near Windsor, the wife of the Rev. Lambart C. Edwards, of A son. GOODE— On the 13th inst., at 19, York-place, Portman! square, Mrs. W. J. Goode, of a son. UPHAM —On the 13th inst., at Russell House, Hampstead , the wife of G. E. Upham, Esq.,.of a daughter. WINGFIELD—On the 13th inst., at 16, lialkin-street W. 6 the Hon. Mrs. Edward Wingfield, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. SCALES—WALKER—On the 11th Sept. , at Geelong , Vic' toria, Australia, Win. Henry Water s, e ldest son of W. Scales, Esq Aidgate, London, to Jane, third da u g hter of Thogne iVolker Esq., London. WIIIFFIN—BOND --On the 12th inst., at Marylebon• Church, George Whiffin, Esq., of Glooester-street, Re' gent's park, to Elizabeth, second daughter of the late Mr. Charles Bond, of Princes-street, Cavendish-square. DEATIIS. Airsurr—On the 10th inst., at Headingley-hill, near Leeds, dgebury-park, Kent, from fal aged 54. DONJoseph A th u e s i 3 n t , h E sinst.,q. J a . t P B . 0 , GIRVAN —On the 13th inst., at Clapham -park, J. Girvano Esq., aged 65. MISRISSON—On the 12th inst., at Hazlowell Hall, Wor. c estershire, Charles Huskisson, Es 9., the last surviving brother of the late Right Hon. William Huskisson and General Samuel Huskisson, aged 84. HEARN—On the 12th inst., at Queen's-road, Camden; square, Mary Ann ' wife of Edward Robert Hearn , 01 the Mining Journal, aged 411. ScALET—On the 11th inst., suddenly Wm. Scaley, Escl•P of Larkfi e ld L o d ge, Richmond, and ' 69, Mark-lane, Low' don, aged 73. LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOU NG ' of No, 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office. N C . 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the ;3avoy, in the count/ of Middlesex, Tuesday, December 15, 1857.