The Express.
London, England, 1853-08-01 00:00:00

14 of a crystal palace ; foreigns might see the
broth. sof industry in which we excel; but as these
ot, perforce, left out, we enter into comparison only
b thoo arts which do not express the national life.
'Pare token at a disadvantage, therefore, for while
ethets send their best, we CUR only send our second
best. and yet, on these unequal terms, our vanity has
ogi net Anion to be ottilided.
on Fridsy evening, ltith, a great banquet was
oren to the President and the forein sixthmmissioners
et the Metropolitan Hotel. About undred per-
egissat down at the tables, among whom, besides the
?resident and his suite, were the Governors of New
ork and Georgia, Baron Gerolt,the Prussian Minis-
Count de Sortiges, the French Minister, Chief
jugice Oakley. Commodore Shuhrich, Sir Charles
ILA. W. Egerton, Senator Chase, ts:c. Lord
Llienere was absent on account of illness.
When the cloth had been removed, the Chairman,
sedgwick, rose to read the toasts, proposing
them thus:
to rinse to propose the first toast of the evening, and I
opt r siting to the ebiegatecons conferred on them by
ow. ....shied ia coming out the great enterprise in
which they had engem d, 'marked more particularly the
go.st.t.ee 'mind trout the press of the United States, to
wkos they were under the deepest obligations—but to pre-
•p tonsil.. non of any toast individually would he
tow.„,he, but it they were select any one at ought to
o7th „e g nehmen who came from the other side of the
wen,. sad who, :Ater all the annoyances they had been
stosted to, had materially assisted them in reaching the
post to which the y hail already gained. It had been often
teal that the feeling of loyalty Suds no prop .m response on
Only of the water, but locked at in its proper sense it
as one of the deepest implanted feelings in the human
body The eildier is loyal to the el •g—the true•hearted
lever to his mistres.—and if the Englishman is loyal to his
users. the American is at all times loss' to the Union.
lee here here to-night 1..• head that Unio
Tn— (load and
wrote,' epigAn...),—and in proposing to you " he Pm
hot of of the United States," 1 would add the Anglo Salon
ypresswn also, and " Uod bless (Nine cheers.)
By the Band—Air, '' Colombia."
T to President then rose sod spoke as follows :
Kr. President and Gentlemen—ln responding to the
eindisseet you have pronounced, my own thoughts, I eon-
11n, dwell upon a circumstance which mars, and, so far as
I kaow, the only circumstance that does mar the festivities
of this joyous occasion. I allude to the illness and ab-
sence of land Ellesmere. Gratified as we all are thst he
genie, how much has that gratification been enhanced by
fmt thoe be ease not 'lune, but that his family graced
stotad honoured the inauguration ot your eshibition by their
▪ nee ye•terday. lam sure I should hardly be excused
if !Oen to fail here to refer to a getleenan who has paid
hour country,and c untrymen many pleasant compliments
s re, 1 have sometimes thought, than we deserved—a
Intl, man who, if his reputation depended merely upon the
caltilation of science, would stand at the head of the men
e(sci, nee ; but his fame rests u,on a brae...l.r and ampler
los +—upon this: that he has himself contribute:l largely
to the ear of yodel hennas knowledge. You cannot mis-
take me. sir; I refer is Sir Charles Lyell. (Loud cheers.)
Nis country and ours are now within—eleven days is it ?
No, nine days of each other—(A voice: Ten days)—by
stassers. As an illunration of what this exhibition was
blkly to do, 1 was very much lemon seed by what Sir Charles
hell himself told me, that an • m,nent inventor and ma.
(insist discovered, upon visiting the workshnps of Lowell,
that while they accomplished in the working of iron in one
boar what it takes us five to perform, yet in the cutting of
wood the advantage is just as great in favour of our ma-
chinery. While we return our grateful sekoowleile.ments
to all the governments and nations here represented, I US
psi that all the gentlemen here assembled will unite with
11* in the expression of the hope that the only rivalry whisk
May ever spring up between them and us shall be the els
',sire of a determined and steady dint to promote the
elevation of the race, and peace and good neighbourhood
among nations and men.
The President sat down amid a perfect storm of cheers.
Toasts were then given to the several members of
the cabinet, who severally replied.
It was again remarked of the banquet, as of the
inauguration, that not an allusion was made to the
architects, artists, and mechanics who are chiefly con-
cerned in a festivity of this kind.

CHIN A.

THE CHINESE AND CHRISTIANITY.
PROGRESS OF THE CIVIL WAR.
HONG KONG, Hey 21.
The insurgents, or patriots —terms which follow
our sympathies for the one party. or the other—turn
out to be all Christians, genuine iconoclasts, who un-
veringly destroy all images, whether of pagan
deities or Roman catholic saints. Protestant
Christians, morally and spiritually ! Whether
Christianity is viewed as the means and the esta-
blishment of a Chinese dynasty the end, or whether
Insurgency is the means and the establishment of
Christianity, the end it is hard at present to deter-
mine ; it may be that either is, perhaps both are,
made to suit the purpose of the other ; but it is now
beyond all doubt that an open profession of
Christianity, and the practice of its precepts, form as
essential a part of this extraordinary movement
against the Tartar race as the determination evinced
to overthrow that dynasty, and the establishment of,
or rather, the re-enthronement of genuine Chinese.
This singular and interesting discovery is attributable
to the recent visit of Mr. Meadow., the government in-
terpreter, to Nanking, and other places in the hands
of the rebels. It appears that in consequence of the
Taontae of Shanghai, lay means of proclamations,
baying given a wide-spread influence to the falsehood
that the appearance of British ships of war at
Shanghai waste assist the Imperial au horities and in-
timidate the insurgents, Sir George Bonham re-
solved to undeceive the latter by not only sending
Mr. Meadows into their camp, but himself appearing
in a steamer befogs the walls of Nanking. The par-
of this visit will be gleaned from the follow-
ing eptof duo ;,;11111 of an 91ficor /!ho
nied the British plenipotentiary
Mr. Meadows having returned from his quiet and
unpretending expedition up the Yang-tsc-Kiang, and
having assured his Excellency Sir George Bonham
that the insurgents were not only favourable towards
foreigners but professing Christians, Sir George Bon-
ham determined to proceed in a steamer to Nanking,
with the twofold object of convincing the insurgents
of the sutborised character of Mr. Meadows's pre-
vious visit, and to remove from their minds all doubt
as to the neutral position which our rossent had
resolved to bold. On April 22nd Sir Bonham
Wt Shan •in her Majesty's steamer ermes, and
up the Yang-tee-Xing. Oa the second
day the steamer grounded, and remained fast until
the following morning. Oa the 26th the Hermes
paned the Tomb's's fleet, all at anchor, consisting of
the schooner Dimas and Boxer, eight Macao loras,
and seventeen other craft, all protected by boarding
nets against any surprise. On landing at Teutoo Mr.
Meadows ascertained from the priests that the insur-
gentrhad visited the place but a few days previous,
and had destroyed the idols in the temples. Indeed,
the water was almost amend with debris of temples,
idols, Be. At this place the fort opened fire upon the
steamer. Shortly the Taotae's fleet hove in sight,
and opened a smart fire upon the stockades, the
whole lest engaging in the attack, in the presence
of the Hermes, and leaving the insurgents to infer
that our steamer had led the attack. Sir George
Bonham desired the steamer to move on, which she
did, the shots pusiog through her rigging, and some
of them striking the hull. Leaving the Teotas's
fleet and the south batteries hotly engaged, the
Hermes proceeded on towards Nanking, reaching the
town before 11 a.m. The batteries opened tboii:fire,
bat ceased as soon as two messengers, sent from the
ship, reached the shore, explaining the object of the
steamer's visit. The Hermes anchored ; her decks
were soon crowded by Chinese (insurgents), who ex-
pressed themselves pleased on learning that the ves-
sers visit was a peaceful one. Mr. Meadows landed
and hada long interview with the Secretary of State
and the new or rebel sovereign. Mr. Meadows was
excused prostrating himself before the Emperor on
explaining that it was not an Englishman's custom
to do so. A variety of questions were put to Mr.
Meadows, and answered satisfactorily; he was re-
quested to repeat the Ten Commandments, and was
shown a complete translation of the protestant edition
of the Bible, which the rebel monarch said was the
only holy book in use amongst them. While this
piece of diplomacy was going on on shore, on board
the steamer was a sort of fair. Hundreds of Chinese,
with long hair like Europeans, crowded the decks
and paid immoderate prices for any article they could
purchase from the officers or crew ; old umbrellas,
knives, telescopes, &c., realised Californian prices.
Not. the least disposition wu evinced to steal.
S.r George Bonham did tot land to see
the new monarch, as his doing so would
be contrary to the terms of the existing treaty
with the imperial government. At one time it
would seem that his Excellency contemplated going
in an official capacity, but subsequently he changed
his mind. The Chinese had made preparations to
receive the British plenipotentiary with due (*cre-
amy, horses and chairs being provided for his Ex-