The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-12-29 00:00:00

city, walled and gated, and in the centre of this the
innermost precinct of the Emperor,_ also walled and
geed? end guarded by numerous functionaries and
aren-at..-airrth It is remarkable, by the way, in What
apparent secf(friff this careful despot dwelt at his.
country palnee.., There? T 7 eTe barracks. for a strong
foree,r, and the ,books .of China Lwowa corps of some.
raainittide- ris
.prOper to' .V...'nen-Viif.:;;NYneti, but the
& pale of pala-ees were. as; accessible to the outsiders as
any gentleman's toa.:k Etrglund: To return' to Alin. •
you approach ii rtt*iv tub rine& the some
60 feet high and in good order, trlth I'ery high build-
ings overtopping the gates, aredecided7filriptfinl.- Coin
draw nearer, and are moved to laughter at doir,V.China-
man's consistent adherence to his babylike fashions in,
matters of war. These great gates seem to you, far off;
to lie.provided'with five tiers of guns, which you cannot
• ma, ne Would ever be fired without bringing down the
whole tower. Nearer inspection satisfies you that the
tosser' is. in no' danger from this cause, at least. The
enibiastires, Which are tx§ crogricd as in an old linc-of-
baftl4 ship,' are. simply apettrtres dosed with a shutter,
on' which' t.ftinfeff a circle With it hoofs eye. On
. occupying the Ore' tib foree'did find,. right and left
of it, some very rileO• #nArks',. laid as il' up to
the, last' moment thoughts' had` Wen entertained of
resisting this introduction of befonet-,DeerStig barbarians
withiV the holy of Chinese holies: If We my trust
native gossigh; counsels of the authorities were
greatly divided. A Clitiraninn'iS slow to believe what
he has not seen, and, althertigh two juke armies were
threshed within. a few miles of eiiiriat a fortnight
before, it is thought likely enough that +ere Welt and
are some grand conservative sons of Ilan bin. means
satisfied that the walls never known to. be taken Were
not impregnable. Happily the opposite conviction pre-
vailed, and this vast population was spared the- horrors -
of assault and pillage, and the allied force the demorali--
sation censequerit on the latter inseparable accie.ent of
.

I could ettaftge ow this fast subject considerably, had
; I space and time. The re' illation of pillage has ever
been the opPrOrithie diseiPtlytm: If I may hazard an
the French' soldier recorets himself after an
aceW of pillage far more speedily than ear men, lie
pillages, tob; in moth hetet' taste, and without the
ruthless and unneCiessiq destruction of his ally, whose
missien it•appears to be nof f".l nrubh to flit his pockets
as to prod pier-glasses, to anniliilateiants, and to cripple
tables and chairs past hope of recovery:
The coup creed from the north walls is fn&syntahly
gratifying. Past experience of Chinese cities will have
prepared you for an absence of what we call public"
buildings in the view below you. Still there is the
Imperial Palace, protesting in this case against 'your
rule, rind; besides the gate-towers, a fair sprinkling, of
lofty temples, the whole interspersed with much wood.
The' palace seenm te. have almost a park of good middle-
sized trees about its Efftigicial lakes, and bridges that •
hate been' comely, and are still, at a distance, pictu-
resque. do the. WhOte, yotr feel favourably towards
Pekin. But descend into the streets—and since the
signature of the convention on the 24th everybody has
descended—and you became painfully sensibie that
thtre is not a more squalid co/lettion of houses in an
Arab vithrge or in the old city of Limerick. The streets
are wide and brve been in some instances paved, but
they seem to hate iiberr long forgotten by the Macadam
of these parts. On a dry day their soft loam sends up
a cloud of dust that puts yotir faee and whiskers past
the recognition of your most inti Mate friends. If it
rains, you are knee-deep in mud, and a journey along
the disjointed stone charessee is a service of real danger
to your horse's fetlocks. The bulk Oftitrade belong to
the southern city, which is traversed from north to
south by a few broad streets at right angles to one or
two etossi'nt it frOm the cast gate to the west. The.
lesser feeder's of these, I say, take me back to the banks
of the Shannon twenty years ago, and even in the
larger arteries there is not, as a general rule, the regu-
larity or substance which yon will find in the west
suburb of Canton or the show street...roc Ningpo. We
see the place, it is true, at a disadvairtair, Many of
the wealthy and respectable have fled, and are but now
heel:ming to return ; but the poorer classes, and even
tik middle ranks, are more poverty-stricken-looking
then All Chinese I have seen, except at Tien-tsin.
Supplies of 16 kinds are, of course, just now high-
priced ; but Palo nin6t always be an expensive abode,
as it has positively nothinte; within hail, and froth its
official position the demand is immense.

FRENCH DESPATCHES
FROM CHINA.

The iltoniteur of Thursday publishes the fol-
lowing desputefi from Baron Gros, a telegraphic
summary of IClkh. appeared in the Moniteur of
the 20th of December', tic? St. Petersburg :--
. PEKIN, Nor. 7.

Peace was signed on the 25th of October between the
brother of the Emperor and myself.
The ultimatum of Shanghai has been accepted. The
etchrange-e of the ratifications of the treaty of Tien-twin
has taken place. 60,000,000 f. will be paid as an indem-
nity to Prance; 3,750,000 f. will be paid in cash on the
3'Oth of the prevent month.
The einigration of Coolies is authorised by the
Chinese 431:aeintnent.
The churches and Cemeteries;vith their dependencies,
belonging formeriflO Christians throtighout the whole
empire will be restored to them' through the medium
of the Minister of France. Prince IC:ung sent to me,
yesterday an official document confoinin,4. the statement
of handing over to me, already done, of thu Catholic
Cathedral of Pekin ; he adds that he knows Cat in the
Imperial city there was formerly another churcilf now
destroyed, but that the ground and dependencies will ire
handed over to me.. This day I have given passports to
missionaries.
On the 286 of October nearly the whole of the army,
headed by the Emlia&y, took the six victims of the am-
buscade of the 18th of !September to the Catholic burial-
ground already handed over to Monseigneur Mouiy,
Bishop of Petcheli, and where repob-o the remains of the
reverend fathers' Gerbillon, Ricci, and Simi: General
Grant and his staff joined us ; Ignatieff, the Minister
of Russia, whose frank support has been of great nse to
me on all occasions, awaited us in the burial-ground.
On the following day, the 29th, mass was performed in
the- Cathedral, which has also been given up to M.
Mouly.
The iron cross has been replaced on the summit of the
edifice, and the "Domine, minim fee Imperatorern" has
inaugurated the public and legal re-establishment of the
Catholic faith in China.

Moreover, there has been remitted to me, as an espe-
cial indemnity for the outrage of the 18th of September,
the sum of 1,500,0001.

•
Everything is progressing admirably, and encourages
the hope that this success will be lasting. I shall pro-
bably leave Pekin in two or three days to return to Tem-
tsin, to concert there with Lord Elgin as regards what
remains to be done. Baron Gnos.

The Moniteur adds the following to the above
despatch :
To explain the above it is well to give the principal
points of the ultimatum addressed to the Chinese
Government : ,

-
" 1. Formal excuses for the attack on the allied forces
at Taku.

"2. Exchange at Pekin of the ratifications of the
Treaty concluded before at Tien-tsin.
"3. Declaration that the French Government re-
assumed the right of establishing a permanent diplomatic
mission at Pekin.

" 4. Payment of an indemnity of 60,000,000 f."

MR.-MASON JONES ON GARIBALDI.—At the Philhar-
monic Hall, last night, before a brilliant and delighted
audience, filling. every compartmett of this magnificent
edifice to almost excess, the talented, eloquent, and
accomplished Mason Jones deliiered his third oration on
"Garibaldi and Italy." Every phase of the Italian
revolution,. and every movement of the illustrious master-
spirit,who evoked and sustained this glorious struggle
for freedom, liberty, and unity, were described with a
minuteness; sublimity of language, fluency, of speech,
beauty of imagery, and gorgeousness of fancy, which we
can only expect from the Cicero of the age.
THE THREATENED MINERS' STRIKE IN THE WEST
RIDING.—A meeting of colliery masters in the district
of Morley, Churwell, and Gildersome, and delegates
from the Churwell, Morley, and Gildersome district
board of the Miners' Association, was held on Thursday
evening, at the Dartmouth Arms Inn, at Morley, for
the purpose of conferring on the subject of the threa-
tened strike.on New Year's Day. There did not appear
to be any likelihood, however, of the masters yielding
the advance sought, namely 10 per cent on the present
wages, and the men to be supplied gratuitously with
coal for domestic use ! The conference was exceedingly
frank and cordial, but the bulk of the Masters were
strongly indisposed to make the concession. They
alleged that the wages were quite ample, and they could
not by any possibility yield :another advance. Some of
them expressed readiness to submit the matter in dis-
pute to the judgment and decision of the mayors of
Leeds, Bradford, and Halifax, or any one of these
gentlemen, or even, if necessary, to submit their wages'
books to the publics. It was stated, in illustration of
the state of wages amongst the miners of the district,
that at one pit, where more than 100 colliers were
working, no fewer than 20 were in receipt of 335. per
week, even under limited hours of working; and none,
not even aged men of 70 years, received less than £1 per
week.
A CHILD BURIED ALIVE IN THE SNOW.-011 the
south-western extremity of Knowle Common, near the
Great Western station, is a cottage inhabited by a
labouring man, named Hands. Having but a scanty
subsistence, both he and his wife are necessarily absent
from home during the greater part of the day. The
cottage is then left to the care of four children, the
eldest being but nine years of age. This was the case
on the morning of Wedneiday, when, . just as the snow
began falling, the youngest child, a girl three years old,-
was sent to gather a few sticks. The child did not
come back, and but little concern was felt, until the
mother;unexpectedly returning home about two o'clock,
was told of the circumstance. She at once surmised
some evil had befallen the little creature, and while
looking about in a state of frenzy, communicated her
apprehensions to a benevolent gentleman living in the
'immediate neighbourhood. Prompted by sympathy for
the poor woman. but with a very vague idea as to any
assistance he could render, lie left his residence, follow el
by a small spaniel. He had not proceeded far when the
dog was suddenly missed;. but though . the snow fell
thickly and evening was fast approaching; he was enabled
to track him in the, direction of a shallow well, Astich
formerly received the land-soak, hut which an improved
system of drainage had long rendered dry and useles.s.
For safety, however, the mouth of the pit had been
covered over. At this spot the dog was descried:
scratching with violence, and whining most impatiently.
The gentleman now pressed forwarCi with cagerners,,
thinking some game might possibly be sheltering dear;'
but on arriving at the well and lifting the lid, to his
unspeakable amazement lie beheld the child whose loss
had spread anxiety throughout the neighbourhood. It
was evident from the partial decay of the supports, that
the child must have trod upon the insecure side of the
cover, which, yielding to her step, suffered her to fall
in, and readjusting itself by its own weight, closed like
a trap. The little innocent was in a standing posture,
and comparatively unhurt, but too far beneath the sur-
face to make a successful effort for its own deliverance.
Immediate suffocation was fortunately prevented by ‘a
lateral opening into a neighbouring drain. Nevertheless,
but for the accidental discovery; the doom of the child
was inevitable, either from starvation, or from drowning
had a thaw ensued. The discovery induced the imme-
diate presence of the mother, who discntombed her
offspring in a paroxysm of thankful, delight. The joy
of the kind-hearted old gentleman was scarcely less, in
having been unwittingly the means of rescuing the little
fugitive.—Binningham .Daily Post.