The Press.
London, England, 1853-08-20 00:00:00

AMERICA.

The New York Herald states that the British Mi-
nister, Mr. Crampton, and Messrs. Marcy and Cush-
ing, left Washington on the 30th ult. for Berkeley
springs, at the request of Mr. Marcy, who desired to
proceed with the fishery and reciprocity negotiation
in a quiet manner, and free from official interruption.
At New Orleans the yellow fever was raging l►e-
yond all precedent ; there were 54K) deaths during
the week ending the 28rd ult. ; on the 29th the deaths
were 120; and on the 30th, 100. St. John's, New
Brunswick, papers of the 30th ult. state that fires
were raging in the woods near Mediae, and had
already destroyed a large quantity of valuable timber.
Ten men bad been killed, and several others se-
riously injured, by an accident on the Belvedere and
Delaware Railroad.

The British ship Pa►ama, of Glasgow, from New
Orleans for Liverpool, with 1,3:11 bales of cotton,
went ashore on the 26th ult. on Kurdwery breakers,
took fire, and was burned to the water's edge. The
captain and the remainder of the crew reached
Charleston in safety.
Thomas Connor was executed at Baltimore for the
murder of Captain Hutchinson. The rope broke,
and the etiminal fell to the ground, a distance of 2►5
feet. He was taken up insensible. On the second
trial the strength of the rope was tested, and again
broke. A third attempt was made, and Connor was
launched into eternity.
A duel was fought near Charleston lately between
John Dunovant and J. I). Legare, in which the latter
was killed at the first fire.

An earthquake has destroyed a great portion of the
city of Cumana, in Venezuela. More than 500 per-
sons were buried in the ruins.

THE CHINESE REBELLION.

The China mail which arrived at Bombay on the
24th of June brought no news from Shanghai, owing
to the North China mails having been lost at sea on
board the Laur4tou. The Hongkong papers, how-
ever, contain some further particulars regarding Sir
G. Bonham's trip up the Yang-tse-Kiang. It appears
that the unsuccessful attempt of the Susquehanna
to get up the river to the assistance of the Impe-
rialists at Nankin was thought at Shanghai to have
irritated the insurgents greatly against the foreign
community in general, and it was, therefore, deemed
advisable to despatch the interpreter to the British
Consulate to the rebel head-quarters to explain that
the English were neutral. On arriving at Nankin
Sir G. Bonham at first intended to meet the rebel
leaders in person, but, considering that such an in-
terview might be misconstrued, he eventually only
sent the consulate interpreter and some of the offi-
cers of the Hermits on shore : one of the latter, who
is said to be unlikely to form an erroneous estimate,
mentions that the insurgent army encamped at
Nankin numbers 80,000 men, well equipped, and,
from what was seen of them, in a state of very proper
discipline—officers paying nightly visits to outlying
pickets, and observing all the formuke of regularly-
drilled troops.
It is a significant fact that the English papers in
China no longer talk of the "rebels" or "insurgents,"
the present phrase being "the patriot army."
The insurgents captured Amoy (one of the five
ports, and situate about cio miles north of Canton
and 700 south of Shanghai) on the 18th of May:

" The citadel was taken at',: p.m., and order immediately
restored. The British mereh►mts went through the city
afte►wards, and wen' well received by the insurgent chiefs,
who sent a guard of MO men to protect the foreign facto-
►ies, and another guard to the Br►tish Consulate. Had the
insurgents behaved as troops generally do after the capture
of a town by storm the lives and property of the Europe►u►
community would have been seriously endangered, espe-
cially as the►e was not a single vessel of war on the spot.
lt. is also observed that the European communities at two
other of the the ports, namely, Sing-po and 'l'aleehow•fuu,
are similarly ►wproteetcd."
It was expected that Canton would be next at-
tacked. " Reports are current that, within a day's
march of the city, large bodies of rebels are ready for
attack at a given signal ; and it is greatly to be re-
gretted," says the Friend of China," that we have not
such a steamer as the Phl►'yethon or Nemesis moored
off the factories."

The capture of Amoy, 700 miles in rear of the
nearest of the two grand armies of the insurgents,
together with the conduct of the inhabitants and
local authorities on the occasion, has manifested the
extended organisation of the rebel power and the
hopelessness of the Tartar cause : and the orderly
behaviour of the captors of Amoy immediately after
the storming of the town, and the civility of the rebels

SITUBDIY,

to the Europeans, both on that occasion anti also at
Nankin, have justified the expectations now gene-
rally entertained, that the establishment of the Miug
dynasty will terminate the vexations restrictions to
foreign trade and intercourse that have hitherto pre-
vailed.

AUSTRALIA.

By the overland mail some later intelligence has
arrived from Melbourne and Sydney, reporting a con-
tinued receipt of gold from the various diggings, but
at the same time revealing a sadly disorganised and
distressed state of society in the colony, principally
among the newly-arrived emigrants, whose uninkr-
mittent influx was occasioning much embarrassment
and no little apprehension :

'• So great is the suffering of the hundreds who land in a
state of destitution, that the residents, though till now vet),
indifferent, have at last made au attempt to relieve it, by
preparing some place of temporary shelter for the new
comers. There is sonic difficult• in comprehending haw
positive penury can exist where every kind of labour is
well paid; but a large proportion of the immigrants are
neither labourers, nor mechanics, nor domestic servants;
the diggings failing, they soon spend all they have, and fall
into a most miserable condition; at last they are coin•
palled to become labourers on the road or anything; but the
struggle with pride is often long and painful. One of the Mel-
bonnie journals has published a solemn exhortation to this
gener►►lly useless class, imploring them to descend chee►.
fully, and ' like Christians,' to the menial occupations for
which there is a field; at the same time lecturing em-
ployers on the folly of entertaining a prejudice against
taking gentlemen and ladies for household servants—an
additional difficulty with which the educated destitute have
to contend. There is, it seems, something embarrassing
to a waster in having a graduate of Cambridge to black his
boots or groom his horse; and, even if a gentleman offered
to undertake those duties, he would be rejected for one
who could not be accused of mathematics or manners,
Yet, if the advice of the writer could be followed, it would
be a benefit on both sides—that it should be so earnestly
given is one of the indications of the anomalous state of
society."

Wages, it is said, have probably reached their
highest rate. This cannot be predicted of house-
rents, as there is comparatively little building going
on. Capital makes a quicker return in other invest-
ments, and skilled labour cannot be procured in
sufficient quantity to construct rapidly. Some few
stores and offices are being pushed on to com-
pletion, but few dwelling-houses are in course of
erection. To those not actually making money life
is a struggle with expensive discomfort; many per-
sons who were independent of trade are leaving the
colony altogether and returning to England ; pro-
fessional men, Government officials, and others are
driven from the city, finding it impossible to pay
the rents demanded, and are compelled to find resi-
dences in the country.• Those who are employed at
fixed salaries, or who hold Government situations,
are the worst off, as they can neither quit them, nor,
like professional men, increase their income by higher
charges, and this unfortunate class is fast sinking
into debt.

At the diggings many of the miners now use gun-
powder to loosen the bed of conglomerate from five
to ten feet thick, which has to be cut through in
some of the most productive works. The " cradle,"
the first and simplest contrivance for washing the
stuff, is being superseded by machines that wash
greater quantities more thoroughly; the "long
Tom " is an enlarged cradle, and the " sluice " is a
still more effective arrangement for parties sufficient
in number to work it. The whole process is
gradually becoming one that requires a certain degree
of skill, and that of a kind which must be acquired
on the spot; even in discovering the most likely
places for claims, geological knowledge is often baffled
where a sort of local instinct succeeds. It is the re-

commendation of one of the scientific authorities of
the colony that persons who have read up their
geology for the article "gold," with a view to the
diggings, had better, on arriving there, "lay all their
science on the shelf as soon as posible":—

" Sydney is no home for the arts and sciences. The all-
engrossing pursuit of money-making excludes almost every
other. Music, however, is cultivated to a considerable ex-
tent, and pianos, fiddles, flutes, and guitars may be seen in
most respeetable houses. There are two choral societies;
one, called the ' Sydney,' is exclusively Church of England ;
the other, St. Mary's,' is nominally Roman Catholic, but
admits all religions. Both are private societies, but they
give periodical concerts, which are usually very fully at-
tended, and at which many of the best compositions of old
and new masters, both in sacred and profane music, sue
given with very great ability and judgment. A mecluucies'
institute and school of arts also exists, but it is scarcely
worth• of the title, and is but very moderately useful. Re-
peateti effierts have been made to raise the character of ti e
institution; but whether the people are careless of literacy
and scientific knowledge, or whether the lecturers and n.a.
nagers have been incompetent, the effret produced is vs ry
small. Sydney boasts, however, a theatre, which is very
well conducted, and has been a fortune to its lessee. lu
size, decorations, and general character, it resembles the
Lyceum. The performances are very creditable. Some of
the English versions of favourite Italian operas hare been
got up, such as Norma. La Sonnambuld,ite., and, as far se
the vocal music is concerned, with very good effect ; but the
orchestra is a miserable collection of fifth-rate fiddlers and

AUGUST 20, 1853.

a gnome eaisse rather the worse fur age. The prices of ad.
utission arm mtxterate—ts. for the boxes and' s. for the pit-
which latter is generally full. Occasionally the Hoverer.
General and his family putt.* mist% the leading set. o s tinbenefit
nights. Literary undertakings Imre I leen signally unsuccess-
fol. Many to, wspapers t daily or weekly ),msgazittes, and join,
Inds have been started, and after tut ephemeral, though
sometimes brilliant, existence, have sunk into decay. Tht•
truth is, that the only permanent titrin of which literature
is capable in a new and rapidly-progressing country is the
newspaper, but it. requires no small amount of judgment
and discrimination to conduct the public press Stleetqw-
fully. If political discussion is admitted, circumstances
almost Met itably bring the editor into collision with his
subscribers, for it. is next to impossible to steer clear of
personalities. If politics are tattooed, the paper is voted
slow, and will not take. The medium is very difficult. to
bit. Some of the most talented and gifted men in the
colony have split upon these necks—the Scylla and Cha-
rybdis of colonial literary speculations. Robert Lowe
killed the .Itkpt, and Dr. Lang wrecked the Press, two of
•the most slashing journals that have ever been started in
Australia. The colony can boast, nevertheless, a fair
summit of newspaper literature; and the press of New
South Wales may challenge comparison with that of any
other portion of the empire—except, perhaps, the leading
press of England—in point of ability, originality, and itu•
partial reflection of public opinion. There is not a section
of the community without its organ; and almost every
shade and fluctuation of thought finds expression in the
. columns of the metropolitan and proviurial papers."