The Express.
London, England, 1867-04-29 00:00:00

CHINA.

The present mail brings us the translation of a
memorial of the Foreign-offioe at Pekin on Western
education, which the Overland China Mail con- '
eiders the most interesting document which the
Chinese government has ever promulgated. It
seta forth that the time has come for change in the
education of its officials, and adduces • series of
arguments in support of its views.
The memorial informs its readers " that the
germ of Western sciences is in fact originally bor-
rowed from the heaven-sent elements of Chinese
lmowlege. The eyes of Western philosophers hav-
ing been turned towards the East, and the genius
of these men being minutely painstaking. and apt
for dilgent thought, they have succeeded in pursu-
ing study to new results. For these they have
usurped the name of sciences brought from over-
see • but in reality the methods (of their philo-
' phy) are Chinese methods. This 1/ the case with
astronomy and mathematics, and it is equally so
with the remaining sciences. China has originated
the method, which Europeans have received as an
inheritance."
In its comments on this memorial the Mail
says :
The present memorial should satisfy the most eager
advocates of progress in China. Barely seven years have
elapsed since our victorious troops entered Peking, and
now a final blow has been administered to the most ehe-
risked tradition of the empire—that there is but one
country, one language, one mode of study to be respected
and enforced. With this before us, we may Wert that
there are yet hopes for the " sick man" of China. We
are not of course sanguine that so radical a
change in the education of Chinese youth will
for many years become popular. The present
memorial refers simply to one special college and
does not make the study of foreign arts and languages
compulsory on all who seek an official career. The thin
end of the wedge is however introduced, and further
reforms in the educational system of the country must
follow in its wake. Could the Chinese government be
induced to recognise the institutions in this colony devoted
to the training of Chinese youth, by offering annually two
or more small official appointments to those students who
most distinguished themselves, they would streogthon
their hands. We cannot, however, hope that this will be
done yet. But in the not very distant future, we may
almost foresee that a course of education at the colleges
of either Peking or Hong Kong. will be the best stepping-
' stone to an official coma. in China.
Several Portuguese have been apprehended on
the west coast, being found kidnapping. They
were captured by the Chinese.

The Royal Mail 'Company's steamship Rhone,
Captain Woolward, with the West India and
Pacific mails, arrived at Southampton on Satur-
day. She brings 113 passengers, specie 483,973
dollars and the following cargo, viz., 63 serons of
cochineal, 355 cases of cigars, 909 ags of cocoa,
198 bags of coffee, 34 boxes of live plants, 223 bales
of bark, 218 bales of indiarubber, and 107 packages
of sundries.

SournAwrrois, APRIL 29.—The North German
Lloyd steamer Hermann, from New York on the 18th, I
passed the Needles at 1.5 a.m. So-day.—Reuter's Dch yrons.
&mitre Marrero Berst.—The people of
Bath, on Thursday evening, added their voice to the
diapason for reform now resounding through the co.tntry,
by holding a public meeting at the Guildhall, " for the
of expressing an opinion upon the government
fii7o'r°mse Bill." The meeting was convened by his worship
the mayor, Mr. William Thompson, in complianos with
irtsquisitin presented to him, sad at the request of the
memorialists his worship also presided. He was supported
upon the platform by Mr. Donald Dalrymple, of Norwich,
who has been invited to contest the second seal for the
representation of Bath, on liberal principles, at the
next election ; Mr. McLaren M.P. for Edinburgh ;
Alderman Hunt, and many citizens who take an active
part in political matters, including wand members of the
Working Men's Reform Association. The body of the
room was also crowded, chiefly by the classes seeking en-
franchisement, but comprising also a large share of present
voting power. Though the proceedings were not of a per-
fectly unanimous character, they were all the more demon.
etrative of the overwhelming feeling in favour of a reel,
honest settlement of the reform question, and against the
pretentious and tricky measure of the tory government.
The meeting was occasionally boisterous beyond what is
usual even at our most excitable political gatherings, but
this was a natural result of the attempt made by one or
two citizens to bolster up the government sham.—Sean's
Balls Journal. _ _ _ _

WESLEYAN CHINA MIBB/ON.-011 Saturday morn-
ing, at the London T►vern, a public breakfast wan held,
attended by over 700 ladies and gentlemen connected with
the Wesleyan body, to promote the objects of the above
mission. Mr. Sheriff Lycett was in the chair, and he stated
that their purpose in assembling was to advocate the cause
of the China Mission, in connexion with which there were
five missionaries in Canton and three in Hankow; five
preaching places in Canton, scot one in F►tshaa. The
number of church members, though small—being only 50 or
60—was steadily increasing. Both preaching places and
schools were well attended. There were seven catechists and
four school teachers, and they had under their care 220 Ail.
dren, who were daily receiving instruction in the Christian
religion. Certainly the efforts of the mission could not as
yet be said to be crowned with any great success, but that
was owing to the difficulties inseparable from dealing with
people whose antipathy toward. foreigners was so great as
in the case of the Chinese, and whose attachment to their
own ancient form of worship was so deep-rooted. Besides,
their language was very difficult to acquire. He urged the
claims of the mission to the support of the Wesleyan body.
The report stated that for two years there had been esta-
blished at Hankow, under the care of Dr. Porter Smith,
a medical mission, through which 20,000 patients had been
relieved. Resolutiona of sympathy with the objects of the
mission were carried, the gentlemen speaking to them
comprising ministers who had laboured as missionaries in
China. _ _

DRATH OF LORD LLANOVIR. —Lord Llanover
died on Saturday, at his house in Great Stanhope-street,
May-fair, after severe sufferings. The deceased will long
be remembered for his consistent and unswerving
liberalism, as well as for hie undoubted acuteness of intel-
lect and his high administrative ability. He was a stanch
politician, an excellent friend, and, in every sense of the
word, "an honest man." The deceased nobleman was
the eldest son of Benjamin Hall, M.P., of Henson
Castle, Olamorganshire. He was born in 1802, and con-
sequently was at the time of his death 66 years of
age. He received his education at Westnunsterand Christ-
church, Oxford, and first entered parliament as member
for Monmouth in 1831. In November, 1837, be was
elected for the borough of Marylebone, which consti-
tuency he continued to represent until June. 1869, when
he was elevated to the peerage with the title of Lord
Llanover. Previous to his acceptance of office Sir Benja-
min Hall took a leading and active part in the discussions
in the House of OOMMOLIII on questions affecting the
church establishment. In August, 1854, be accepted the
office of Presidert of the Board of Health, which he held
until August of the following year, when he accepted the
post of First Commissioner of Works. It was during
has tenure of that office that Sir Benjamin Hall introduced
the measure for the local government of the metropolis
under which the present Metropolitan Board of Works
was elected, and made such great improvements in the
parks of the metropolis. He WWI created a baronet in
1838, privy councillor in 1854, and Lord Llanover in 1859,
THE New BANKRUPTCY BILL.—A deputation,
consisting of Mr. S. S. Lloyd and other members of the
special committee of the Association of the Chamber of
Commerce of the United Kingdom, bad a lengthened in-
terview on Friday with the Attorney• General, Sir John
Bolt, in reference to the above bill. A copy of the altera-
tions and amendments proposed by the association with
regard to certain points of detail bad been previously fur-
nished. The deputation warmly expressed their gratifica-
tion with the general principles of the measure proposed
by the government ; and the Attorney-General, who re-
ceived the suggestions made in a most courteous and con-
siderate manner, promised to have the bill reprinted with
such amendments as the governmenitynai ht adopt, and to
urge it forward with all convenient
Ox FORD, APRIL 27. —OM EL COLLRO R. —The
following gentlemen have this day been elected to the
vacant scholarship at Oriel College, of the annual value of
fiW., with rooms rent free, and tenable for five years :
John Reeve Brooke, from Haileybury College, and Robert
Cornish, exhibitioner of Oriel College. Proxitne Aocessit.
—Thomas Hill, from Magdalen College
nehooL There
were 23 candidates.
ADMIRALTY, APRIL 27. —APPOINTMENTS. —OOlll-
- H. Schoenberg Kerr to the Bellerophon. Midship-
men F. Henderson to the Victoria ; R. H. Archer and the
Hon. J. B. Willoughby to the Galatea i and W. N.
Atkinson to the Victoria. Naval Cadets J. E. Bond, G.
Callaghan, and A. Wolrige to the Victoria, and C.
Elphinstane nominated.

plum.

HER 31.AJERTY'S THEATRE.

This establishment opened for the season on
Saturday with Mozart's Le Nom di Ilkszro—the east in 11
all important respects the same as that of last year. T►e
Countess of blink. ntiens, and the Susanna of Mille.
Sinico are well known as excellent performances, in each
instance exemplifying a versatility that is as ram as it is

admir►ble—both fades being apparently se much at home
in comic as in serious opera. The exquisite mimic
of Mozart's Figaro, light and even heartlese as is
the subject of the opera, contains so much of
that tender sentiment and earnest passion which
were essentials of his nature, that it gains in ex-
pression at the hands of singers whose powers
are equal to the demands of lyric tragedy. Signor Arditi
received a warm greeting on his first entry into
the orchestra. At the conclusion of theopera the National
Anthem was sung by the chorus, with a semi-chorus of
the principal vocalists and one verse solo by Mdlle. Titiens.
The house was very full ; and the success of the opening
performance, with the interest of forthcoming novelties,
promises well for the present season of lire Majesty's
Theatre.