The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-30 00:00:00

CHINA;

By last mail it was stated that the Chinese autho-
rities at Shanghai were reported to have asked as-
sistance of the English ships of war in the harbour,
but that the rumour was disbelieved at Bombay
by those best acquainted with the Chinese charac-
ter. The Ganges, which left Shanghai on the 21st,
and Hongkong on the 28th of March, has, how-
ever, brought the important intelligence that such
request was actually made, and that the English,
French, and American ships of war present have
consented to interfere for the protection of Shang-
hai and Nankin.

On the 16th of March most urgent dispatches
from the Governor of Nankin were received by
the Chinese Governor of Shanghai, requiring
him to implore the foreign Consuls to send im-
mediate assistance to Nankin, and stating that
unless foreign aid were afforded, and that im-
mediate, the city must fall into the hands of
the rebels, by whom it was closely invested
both by land and water. A fleet of Imperial
junks, assisted by hired Portuguese armed lorchas,
which had been sent up the river to oppose
the progress of the insurgents, had been over-
powered by the rebel flotilla ; and the latter, sail-
ing down the Yangtsekiang, had anchored without
opposition immediateiy opposite Nankin. The
division of the " revolutionary army" investing
the place by land is stated to be 30,000 strong, and
increasing. Several days before this the Chinese
Government had also applied for assistance to Sir
C. Bonham, the British Commissioner at Hong-
kong. Sir Charles accordingly departed in her Ma-
jesty's steamship Hermes on the 13th of March for
Shanghai, but had not arrived there when the
mail left. Her Majesty's steamship Salamander
had also gone to Shanghai, and her Majesty's ship
Lily was already there. The French war steamer
Cassini and the United States leviathan Susque-
hanna have both proceeded up the Yangtsekiang,
and Colonel Marshall, the American Commissioner,
has determined to place the latter before Nankin.

The immediate effect of this interference on the
relative position of the insurgents and Imperialists
is most momentous. It is acknowledged by the
Chinese themselses that the loss of Nankin would
have been the loss of the empire. A recent Impe-
rialist proclamation contains the following :

"The provincial city of Nankin, together with Chang
Kiang and Yaug Tchou (situated on the right and left
banks of the Yangtsekiang, at its junction with the
grand canal) are important posts, on which depends the
fate of both the northern and southern divisions of the
empire ; they must not, therefore, be allowed to fall
into the hands of the rebels. But it is necessary now
that all the forces should be concentrated, in order that
measures should be taken in conjunction for the defence
of these points."

The occupation of Nankin by the "revolutionary
army" would have given the command of the grand
canal, and cut off all communications between
Pekin and the coast provinces between Nankin and
Canton. The insurgents avoided these provinces
in their advance northwards (desiring, it is supposed,
to prevent the possibility of a collision with Euro-
peans), but they are the most productive of those
at present remaining faithful to the Tartar dynasty.
The course of the grand canal offered, moreover, to
the insurgent forces by far the most eligible route
for an advance on Pekin. The physical and moral
effect of the check given to the revolution by the
act of foreign interference might yet (if properly
improved by themselves) be the salvation of the
Tartar dynasty. _ . .

nal affairs of the Chinese Empireis
The policy of foreigners interfering in the inter-
defended. The insurrectionscarcely b
considered b many
e
to be what it professes itself—a great nationaly
movement to get rid of an alien dynasty—on far
too extended a scale to be crushed by the occupa-
tion of the mouth of a single river by European
vessels of war. But, even were those vessels sent
400 or 500 miles up the river, so as to check the
northern progress of the revolutionary f • forces along
the whole of their present base line of operations,
and were the revolution truly altogether stopped
for the present, the bolstering up of the Tartar
dynasty would be
anything but conducive to the
progress of enlightenment
and
the extension of
foreign intercourseand in
commerce the Chinese
Empire.
The translations of the rebel proclamations (with
which the Chinese "
papers are now filled) convey a
very favourable idea of the organization and cha-
racter of the movement in progress.
The revolutionary army is divided into five corps
or divisions, each complete in itself. Each division
is subdivided into brigades of 6,400 men, com-
manded by a brigadier, and containing four regi-
ments of 16 companies each. A subaltern's com-
mand is 25 men, a captain's 100 men, a major's
400, and a colonel's 1,600. The names of all the
generals are' given, and also a description of their
persons. There is a corps of "Imperial Guards"
and a strong Staff, • "Inspectors of Troops,"
" Masters of the Horse," " Paymasters," a corps
of " Surveyors," " Officers in charge of the signal
department." All these are dignified with yellow
scarfs and the title of " Excellency." The in-
ferior grades are numerous. Among those par-
ticularized are " officers distinguished by a red and
black scarf, whose duty it is to urge the people to
enter into their confederacy and to administer the
oaths of adherence."
But by far the larger proportion of those pro-
clamations refer to the civil organization of the
conquered provinces, andthe establishment or order
in the neighbourhood of the army. There are
stringent proclamations against military officers
allowing their troops to plunder, and against cor-
rupt civil functionaries ; proclamations for the pro-
tection and extension of educational establishments,
and the encouragement of literature generally. The
education of women is one of the objects of the
insurgents, and over the doors of the female
schools they have established there is a notice
posted, " on red paper," to the effect that they are
sacred to the sex, and that any men presuming to
enter them "in a disorderly manner will be be-
headed." The enlightened tone of their proclama-
tions is attributed—partly—to the circumstance of
there being among the rebel leaders many members
of the " Chinese Union"—a literary society inst-
tuted by the late Dr. Guzlabb for the purpose of
disseminating a knowledge of the results of Euro-
pean civilization among the Chinese, hut it is
doubtless principally due to the high mental cul-
ture of a people among whom education in general
and literary acquirements are the only passports
to public employment or distinction.
There is a complete stagnation of trade in the
north of China. At Shanghai the British Consul
has been compelled to take on himself the respon-
sibility of dispatching vessels without the usual
permit from the Chinese Superintendent of Cus-
toms ; this measure was necessary by reason of the
want of money to pay the duties and port dues,