The Press.
London, England, 1853-08-06 00:00:00

RUSSIA AND TURKEY.

The Russian Government, though it allows the
Hospodars of Moldavia and Wallachia to retain their
titles, and nominally also their power, has decreed
that those Princes shall have the assistance of a
board of government, to consist of three members, to
be appointed by the Czar. All political and adminis-
trative measures are to be submitted to this council,
and its decisions are to be final. The two princi-
palities have, moreover, been ordered to furnish a
contribution in kind.

Several young Boyards, having shown their disgust
at the burdens imposed upon the country by the
invading army, have been seized and pressed into
the Russian regiments, where they will have to serve
for a term of three years.
Advices from Constantinople mention that a Rus
Sian army was assembling at Erzemum, which city
would be completely invested in a few days.
Accounts from Riga affirm that. several Russian
vessels had been sent to Cronstadt to be fitted out
for sea.

A letter from St. Petersburg, of the 24th ult., in
the Patrie, says :—" The evening before last the
Emperor gave a grand fete at his palace of the Her-
mitage. On this occasion the ambassadors of France
and England, it was remarked, were the objects of
particular attention from his Majesty."
The Grand Duke Constantine has been accompa-
nied in his visit of inspection by several engineers,
who are about to make hydrographic surveys along
the shores of the Crimea.

THE GREATEST DISORDER prevails in Syria. The
Christians are leaving Antioch and Aleppo, and re-
pairing to the towns on the coast. At Laodicea the
Turks have made an attempt upon the life of the
Russian Consul.

QUEEN Atom (Louis Philippe's widow) is ex-
pected at Seville before the end of the month.

M. SAIN, president of the committee of bond-
holders of the Don Miguel Loan, has left Paris for
Lisbon to urge theYrench claims upon the considera-
tion of the Portugues Government.
THE QUEEN OF PRUSSIA set out on Monday for
Vienna and Ischl. The King will be able to have an
interview with the Emperor of Austria when he goes
to join the Queen.

THE LATE ARRESTS IN VIENNA have been nume-
rous, and include several ladies of honourable
families.

WE believe it is her Majesty's intention to leave
town for Osborne on Tuesday next.

THE REVIEW OF THE FLEET AT SPITHEAD, which is
appointed to take place on the 11th inst., will be on a
scale of magnitude and splendour never before wit,
nessed. As at present arranged, the different vessels
composing the fleet will move into action at eleven
o'clock. It is stated that the Admiralty will place
steam-vessels at the disposal of the members of both
houses of Parliament, and other eminent persons ;
and from Gosport an ample supply of boats for the
general public will be provided, to enable them to
view the manoluvres to advantage.

THE ACT FOR REPEALING THE ADVERTISEMENT
DUTY received the Royal assent on Thursday night,
and came into operation yesterday.
AT the seventh half-yearly meeting of the Royal
British Bank, held yesterday, a dividend at the rate
of per cent. per annum was announced, and an
addition of the same amount made to the reserve
fund, which now amounts to 9,1181. It is proposed
to double the present capital by 1,000 new shares of
1001. each, 79,000/. of which has already been sub-
scribed.

A DESTRUCTIVE FIRE broke out on Thursday
evening at Dulwich, near the c liege, on the farm
premises of Mr. C. Higgs. Several hours elapsed
before the firemen could get the mastery over the
flames, and not until two valuable hay-ricks were de-
stroyed. The fire is supposed to have been caused
from the hay having been stacked too soon.

THE BODY OF MR. WHITEHEAD, an eitensive
farmer at Edmonton, was discovered by his labourers
lying in a wheat-field on Monday last. A razor was
by his side with which it was evident he had com-
mitted suicide. The recent dissolution of a partner-
ship in which the deceased had long been connected
with a Mr. Starling had appeared to weigh heavily on
his spirits, and is suppo ed to have occasioned the
fatal act. He has left a widow, but no family.

SATURDAY,

NEW CHINESE " SHASTER."

A CURIOUS document, containing what may not in-
aptly be termed the Scriptures of the revolutionary
sect in China, has been extensively promulgated in
the Celestial Empire. Like most other religious
writings in the East, it possesses a metrical character,
each line containing three words, and the whole being
divided into verses of four lines each. Its contents
present a curious admixture of facts and doctrines,
derived in almost equal measure from the Pentateuch,
the New Testament, and Chinese mythologies. From
an able translation of this poem—which may per-
haps, ere long, become the bible of no small section
of the human race—we present the following selec-
tions. The translator is, we understand, the Rev.
Dr. Medhurst :
The great God
Made heaven and earth ;
Both land and sea
And all things therein.
In six days
He made the whole :
Man, the lord of all,
Was endowed with glory and honour.
Every seventh day worship,
In acknowledgment of Heaven's favour :
Let all under heaven
Keep their hearts in reverence.
It is said that in former times
A foreign nation was commanded
To honour God ;
The nation's name was Israel.
Their twelve tribes
Removed into Egypt;
Where God favoured them,
And their posterity increased.
Then a king arose,
Into whose heart the devil entered ;
He envied their prosperity,
And inflicted pain and misery.
Ordering the daughters to be preserved,
But not allowing the sons to live ;
Their bondage was severe,
And very difficult to bear.
The great God
Viewed them with pity,
And commanded Motes
To return to his family.
He commanded Aaron
To go and meet Moses:
When both addressed the king,
And wrought divers miracles.
The king hardened his heart,
And would not let them go;
Wherefore God was angry.
•

[A metrical detail of the twelve plagues, the exodus
from Egypt, and passage of the Desert, follows here. The
promulgation of the Ten Commandments is then related,
followed by the elementary facts of the Christian dispen-
sation.]
And Moses was commanded
To make tables of stone.
The great God
Gave his celestial comumnds,
Amounting to ten precepts,
The breach of which would not be forgiven.
He himself wrote them,
And gave them to Moses ;
The celestial law
Cannot be altered.
In after ages
It was sometimes disobeyed,
Through the devil's temptations,
When men fell into misery.
But the great God,
Out of pity to mankind,
Sent his first-born son
To come down into the world.
His name is Jesus,
The Lord and Saviour of men,
Who redeems them from sin,
By the endurance of extreme misery.
Upon the cross
They nailed his body;
Where he shed his precious blood,
To save all mankind.
Three days after his death
He rose from the dead :
And during forty days
He discoursed on heavenly things
When he was about to ascend,
He commanded his disciples
To communicate his Gospel,
And proclaim his revealed will.
Those who believe will be saved,
And ascend up to heaven ;
But those who do not believe
Will be the first to be condemned.

• •
[Adverting then to China itself, the subject is intrr
duced by a declaration of the unity of the Creator.)
There is only one God ( Shang te) ;
The great Lord and Ruler,
Without a second.
The Chinese in early ages
Were regarded by God;
Together with foreign states.
They walked in one way.
From the time of Pwan-koo (1)
Down to the three dynasties (1)
They honoured God,
As history records.
• • •
(1) The first man spoken of by the Chinese.
(2) This period cloned B.C. 2*o.

AUGUST 6, 1853

When Tsin obtained the empire
He was infatuated with the genii;
And the nation has been deluded by the devil,
For the last two thousand years.

Ming (3), of the Han dynasty,
Welcomed the institutions of Buddha,
AM set up tables and monasteries,
To the great injury of the country.
But Hwuy, of the Sung dynasty,
Was still more mad and infatuated,
For he changed the name of Shang to (God)
Into that of Yuli hwang ( the pearly emperor ). (4)
But the great God
Is the supreme Lord
Over all the world,
The great Father in heaven.
His name is moat honourable,
To be handed down through distant ages.
Who was this Hwny,
That he dared to alter it'
It was meet that this same Hwuy
Should be taken by the Tartars ;
And together with his son
Perish in the northern desert.
From Hwuy, of the Sung dynasty,
Up to the present day,
For these seven hundredl years.
Men have sunk deeper and deeper in error.
With the doctrine of God
They have not been acquainted;
While the King of Hades
Has deluded them to the utmost.
The great God displays
Liberality deep as the sea ;
But the devil has injured man
In a most outrageous manner.
God is therefore displeased,
And has sent his son (S)
With orders to come down into the world,
Having first studied the classics.
In the Ting-yew year (1837 )
He was received up into heaven,
Where the affairs of heaven
Were clearly pointed out to nim.
The great God
Personally instructed him,
Gave him odes and documents,
And communicated to him the true doctrine.
God also gave him a seal,
And conferred upon him a sword,
Connected with authority,
And majesty irresistible.
He bade him, together with the elder brother,
Namely, Jesus,
To drive away impish fiends,
With the co-operation of angels.
• •

r The power, acts, and attributes of the new deliverer
under the name of the Son are then described, the details
being mixed up with some traces of Popish saintly legends.]
God bas set up his Son
To endure for ever,
To defeat corrupt machinations,
judge And to display majesty and authority.
Also to the world,
To divide the righteous from the wicked ;
And consign them to the misery of hell,
Or bestow on them the joys of heaven.
Heaven manages everything,
Heaven sustains the whole:
Let all beneath the sky
Come and acknowledge the new monarch.
Little children,
Worship God,
Keep his commandments,
And do not disobey.
Let your minds be refined,
And be not depraved ;
The great God
Constantly surveys you.
You must refine yourselves well,
And not be depraved.
Vice willingly practised
Is the find step to misery.
To ensure a good end,
You must make a good beginning;
An error of a hair's breadth
May lead to a discrepancy of 1,000 le.
Be careful about little things,
And watch the minute springs of action ;
The great God
Is not to be deceived.
Little children,
Arouse your energies :
The laws of high Heaven
Admit not of infraction.
Upon the good blessings descend,
And miserieson the wicked :
Those who obey Heaven are preserved,
And those who disobey perish.
• • •
The great God
Is the Father of our spirits :
Those who devoutly serve him
Will obtain blessings.
Those who obey the fathers of their flesh
Will enjoy longevity ;
Those who requite their parents
Will certainly obtain happiness.
Do not practise lewdness,
Nor any uncleanness ;
Do not tell lies ;
Do not kill and slay;
Do not steal ;
(31 a.n. ss.
(4 A.D. 1107.
(5 By God's Soo is meant Hustemtsetite, the leader of the
Insurrection.