The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-12-06 00:00:00

White ; red border"
Red

..th white border

JO.,
Blue thiriTartamMongols,
. Do., with red border
Ail those banners are further subdivided into twenty-
five different Cove., which form at first the exclusive
guard of Pekin and form of the imperial province, and
they afterwards keep guard in eleven provinces f the
empire, in the Mantchoree country and in Turkestan.
Virpt, the first corps. Tsin-Kwin-yng, is the Iniperial
Guard ata6lied to the person of the Emperor, and
entrusted with the internal service of the imperial palace,
as viellls,a• of the twentisfour ates of the Tartar, city of
It &corripbsed of fl Mandarin officers of the
first rank, o` the SeCifitid,..6T6* of the third, 28 of the
fourth, 272 of the fifth; 261: of the sixth, and of 1,756
non-commissioned officers and soldiers ; forrning'a total
of 2,957 nien.
All the Officers of the Imperial Utio4 are nobles,
'princes, and relatives of the Imperial family; the non-
commissioned officers and soldiers, Tartars, Movgols,
and Chinese are taken from the three superior banners,
acid are chosen from amongst the bravest and, most
devoted. All the nominations, by way of admission or
advancem'en't, are made di:ectly by the Emperor on the
ree'omMendation of the Council of the Imperial Guard,
composed of general and superior officers. The par-
ticular rules to which the officers and soldiers of the
guard are subject, are very severe, and the least breach
of elntlis"punished in most rigorous manner-100
blows of a stick for the slightest infraction, and banish-
. meat and death for offences of graver kinds.
It will be remembered that, out of the 2,957 war-
riors comprising the Imperial Guard, there 1,756 non-
commissioned officers and soldiers, and 1,201 officers, a
number almost equal to that of the soldiers. The staff,
which is very numerous, is, composed, as previously
mentioned( *of princes, or persons allied to the Imperial
family, and forms two distinct classes the first comprises
the Nantchin Tartars, who. are descended in a
.direct
line from the reigning dynasty; the second comprises
the collateral branches, descended from the uncles and
brothers of the founder. Among these two classes are
kings, princes, dukes, earls, forming twelve degrees of
hereditary noblesse.
Besides the Royal Family, there is in China a class of
hereditary nobles, whose titles are transmittable, but
who, sinking lower by degrees each generation, are
ultimately extinguished in the second, third, fourth,
and fifth generations, according to the particular rank
held by each.
Moreover, the noblesse in China is a mere title, which
does not constitute in favour of the holder of the title
any privilege or pecuniary grant. All the highest
offices of th state are filled by personages who sprung
froth the /ewer class of the people, and who attain the
highest rank only by industry and their superior intelli-
gence. leis not meant to be said that favouritism does
not exert its sway in China as everywhere else ; it. is
desired merely to bear witness to the fact how largely
the popular • element has been introduced into the
machinery of the governing bodies.
The arms of the Imperial Guard consists of a muske,
sabre, poic>nard, halberd, shield, and bow and arrows. A
Certain •Amber of muskets are percussioned, but the
greater number must be included in the category of
primitive eearrns, such as flint muskets and matchlocks.
The powder in use in China is of a very large grain,
very much resembling the powder used in Europe for
cannons; it quickly fouls, and tends also to render the
,aim uncertain. All the rquebusiers make use of
cylindrical balls, and of cartridges having a cylindrical
form, over which also they ram down slugs and small
shot. Their military knowledge, so far as regards
straight firing, is, it will be seen, at a very low ebb
indeed. The halberd is a species of lance, the shaft. of.
which is of wood, terminated by an iron trident. The
bow is the prirnitiie and "favourite arm of the Chinese
army. It is suspended from a shoulder belt ; close to
the bow a leathern quiver is carried, which contains
arrows of several lengths, armed with iron points or
tridents. Each quiver has three divisions, each con-
taining generally three large arrows, twelve of the
medium size with iron points, and twelve with tridents.
Some quiver! contain fifty or sixty arrows. Some
squadrons do not carry either bow, arrows, muskets,
nor lances, but only a large sabre, which they handle
with great dexterity.
All the men wear for a head-dress a small helmet,
ornamented with a tiger's head; and for clothing, a.
jacket with sleeves, covered with a coat of chain armour.
' All wear, also, as a defensive arm,' shields three feet in
height, and upon which are painted the heads of tigers,
' or of fantastic animals of terrible aspect.
No Tartar horsethan sets out without his pipe and his
fan, which he finds accommodation for in his boots, The
large pipe and the fan arc two indispensable articles,
which reveal the habits and customs of the soldiers, of
the Celestial Empire.

(To be contimied.)

ROBYN DDU ERYRI.—This talented Welsh orator
addressed a crowded audience in the Concert-Hall, Lord
Nelson-street, on Tuesday evening, the 4th inst., on the
Revds. Williams o'r Worn, John Elias, Christmas Evans,
and Samuel' Davies, amidst rapturous applause.
ASSAULTING THE POLlCE.—Yesterday, at the County
Magistrates Court, Peter Fearn and Hugh Ready,
labourer, residing in Bootle, were brought before Messrs.
Anderson (ex-Mayor) and Theakstone, on a charge of
assaulting police-constable Hobson (county) and police-
constable Thomas Taylor (Liverpool), at Bootle, early
yesterday morning. The charge was brought home to
the aceused, who were fined 40s. and costs, or one
month's imprisonment.
INSOLVENTS.—Insolvent debtors heard at Lancaster,
on Friday last, before Robert Segar, Esq., judge of the
said court:—John Cooper grocer and tea dealer, Wigan;
Thomas Davies, licensed' victualler, Liverpool ; Jacob
Mar Shall, cotton spinner, Hurst-brook near Ash-
ton-under-Lyne ; George Stephenson, linen and woollen
draper, Openshaw,. near Manchester ; Abel Hindley,
farmer, Woodhouse Farm, Wigan ; Joseph Hulme, pin
manufacturer, Manchester ; Frederick Jackson, iron-
monger, Manchester ; Thomas Jones, butcher, Liver-
pool; Henry Dobson Croft, grocer, provision dealer,
farmer, and book-keeper, Wigan ; John Johnstone,
grocer and provision dealer, Liverpool ; John Bain-
bride, rag,
rope, mid waste dealer, Seacombe, Cheshire ;
Lydia Taylor,
grocer and prevision dealer, Manchester;
Agrippa Flint, journeyman machinist, Warrington;
James Cross (sued with James Allen), leather dealer,
Manchester ; Jonathan Markland" Robinson, pork
butcher, Manchester ; William Hough (sued with Henry
Hindley and Alice his wife), journeyman roller coverer,
B reightm et, near Bolton-le-Moors ; Thomas Crabtree;
butcher,
Bradford, Yorkshire ; James Gibson, glass and
earthenware dealer, Ashton-under-Lyne ; John Worth-
ington, beerseller, Preston ; John Bury," joiner, Oswald-
twistle, near Accrington ; George 'Wadsworth, joiner
and farmer, Mossley, near Ashton-under-Lyne ;
George Hankey, beer-house keeper, Warrington
gßyne Tenison (sued as G. B. Tenison),
merchant's 'clerk, I,iverpool ;—diseharged. Leonard
Lowther
small-ware manufacturer, Man-
chester, six • months. James Morris, tailor and
draper, Warrington.; George Hawker,' road maker,
contractor, and farmer, Ashton-under-Lyne; dismissed.
Noah Turner, chemist -and druggist, Salford ; Henry
Hoggarth (sued as Henry Hogert), grocer and pro-
vision dealer; Coniston ; adjourned. John MawdsleY,'
guano dealer and dairyman, Churchtown, near South-
port; out of custody, Adjourned case : Thomas Hurd,
keeper of a restaurant, and cigar dealer, Manchester ;
dismissed. -
The Times' Malta correspondent, dating from Valetta,
November 22, says
" Her Majesty's paddle-wheel
sloop Scourge, Commander Jones, left port on the 17th
inst. for Candia and the gunboat Boxer, Lieutenant
Galliver, on the 19th, for Tripoli. Lieutenant Porcher,
R.N., and Lieutenant Smrth, .R.E., proceeded in her.
From Tripoli these officers are to go to Cyrene, to ex-
amine certain ruins of high historiCal interest known to
exist there, and I understand they are provided with all
kinds of implements for excavating, a tent and other
articles necessary for campaigning, also a photographic
apparatus, which has • been sent out to them by the
• Foreign Office, under whose. auspices the expedition has
been organised. Lieutenant Porcher has been before
engaged in labours of this kind, and Lieutenant Smith
was successfully engaged for two years with Mr. Newton
j on the ruins of HalicarnaSsus.n