The Shasta courier. [volume] (Shasta, Calif.) 1852-1872, 1853-07-16

BY the arrival OF the British bark Roifieh the
San francisco papers have the following inter-
| esting news from China--:he dates being from
Hong Kong up to May l7,h. The San francisco
| Herald says:
:. 1t will be recollected we announced. on the
| arrival al the Pathfinder, that Mr.. Meadows In
terprrter Ia the British Consulate al Slan.hae.
had star. ed alone for The Rebel caEp near Nun
King, Tor the purpose of obiainIug Interview
with the Rebel Chiefs. His object was 10 re-
move the impression that the British We're about
To lend their aid To the lmperiulisis 10 put down
the Rebellion it appears that for some DAYS
after Mr. Meadows lett Shanghae, good deal
of anxiety felt for his safety, but lie was all
The while at Soo-chow, where The Impcrialist
Mandarins, having an inkling Of his designs
took good care throw every obstacle in his
way. Mr.. Meadows. however, took down Tor
tnidre use, from The walls, one or two prucarna-
tons by the Taoutae OF the Distr t. III which
the people were given TO understand that The
English had promised To afford the Heinfung
(lmperal) dynasty the nse of several war steam
crs, and to do all that they could To exiermlnaie
the Insurgents. With these he returned i'll safe
,y to Shanghae. As soon as Sir George Ben
ham, the English envoy, saw Them lie delcruill-
| Ell on visiting Marking. with the view of disa-
husns the patriots Of the impression The lying,
cowardiy iInperlasis had endeavored to create.
He accordingly started from Sllansllae on the
22d April, liz ii. b. NJ. steam irigate Hermes,
and assembled the great river Yang-sze-kiang To
Making"
The envoy succeeded in having conference,
with the Rebel Chiefs, but what he strove to
obtain, and wha, he arrived at in his negotia-
| tons, remains mystery. We extract the fol-
lowing portion OF MAJ ritive of the trip, written
| by an English officer on board:
SUNDAY. May 1st.-After breakfast got under
| way. and proceeded beyond Nankin about l2
| miles. Saw fleet OF Junks ahead which NOV
ed on as we approached. They proved to be
portion OF the Imperial heel-32 vessels of all
| sizes, some of them southern snake boats with
green bottoms, we'll armed and manned. On
nearing them they fired us. A white button
Mandarin came beard and asked our Lusi-
| ness. He was told we were neutral and if his
| boats did not firing, they should be sunk.
He Went away apparently Indifferent whether
the firing ceased ar not. Seeing this the Fish
boorne called all hands to quarters. cleared for
| action and anchored. The Imperialists then
stopped firing, and Capt. F. held divine service
IN peace. We afterwards saw great many of
the peasantry exchanging provisions for clothes.
The Imperial t1eet appeared but ill provided
with stores, and altogether miserable set.
Shortly after diSine service, two inferior officers
came on boartl-one Canton man who had
| been in Hong-kong, who on bein shown of
| Tea-ping-wungs Christianity book spit on it,
| and said those who believed in it were thieves.
Meadows was very angry with him, and told
| him he'd better go. At sunset anchored close
| TO the shore near Nankin where Aessrs. Mead
avs and Reynolds went ashore to make arrange
ments for intended visit to the Porcelain
| Tower. Several new adherents were then being
| sworn III.
| The steamer is nearly at Woosuns I have
mprtV In anil that k.tn lt,ayi NanEip fh,,v
would not let Sir George land to the Tower.
| He tod them that if the steamer fired upon
at ChlnkianSfoo on returning, she would resent
It, We left on Monday at noon and reached
Chinklangfoo next morning at ga. M Nearing
The hrst slockade at the canal, we were fired al,
! and we gave it To them sweetly in return, and
with considerable effect. Sc, eral OF their shot
| struck The steamers hull and ropes. We passed
slowly through The Notifications giving them
| shot and she'll i'll way which must have SUR
! prised them.
| We anchored at Silver Island, and shortly az
| ter letter was sent on board. apologzing for
havlng hreu upon US; the chiefs declaring il was
| all mistake the general not being able reach
| The outer works i'll time to prevent them. How
ever, they knew NOW. l distinctly heard
/ them say that iii the event OF their coming to
| Shang hae fore gners should have three days no.
tice OF their approach.
| Every Joss (idoi) is completely demolished
/ fleet, (lmperia about ID miles below Nankln-
| ii miserable turn out. | heard that they have
| 1000 Tarar troops ashure. and when they
reinforced by the Agnes and Antelope, com
| manded by Mr.. e. w. Aver. an American lately
| in business as an auctoneer at Shangllae, they
contemplate another attack OH Chinkang foo, Gas
on the s:h of May)
| The same account says the rebel army were
all young men, well clothed. fed, and all happy.
We saw no lame or sick, nor any women anon.
them. The China Herald says:
The Insurgents are Christians of the Protes
tant form OF worship. and anti-idolaters of the
srictest order. They acknowledge but one
God, the Heavenly Father. The All-wise ALL
powerful and Omnipreseni Creator of the World;
with him. Jesus Christ, as The Saviour of Man.
kind; and also the Holy Spirit. as the last of The
Three Persons of the Trinity. Their Chief on
earth is person known as :. Tae-ping-wang the
Prince of Peace to whom kind of divine orr
gin and mission is ascr,bed. Far, however, from
claiming alteration. he forbids in an etlict the
application 10 himself OF the Terms g Supreme,
Holy" aud others hitherto constantly assumed
by the Emperors of China; bnt which he de-
cnes receiving on the ground that they are due
to God alone. Their moral code. the Insurgents
call the " Heavenly Rules" which, exalnina-
lion, proved 10 be The Ten Commandments
The observance of these is strictly enforced by
the leaders of the movement. chiefly kwang-
lung and Kwang-semen, who are not merely for
NAL professors of religious system. but practical
aud spiritual Christians, deeply influenced by the
belief that God is always with them. The hard
ships they have suffered, and he dangers they
have incurred. punishmens and trials Of
their Heavenly Father: the successes they have
achieved, are instances of His Grace. In con- |
versaiion they g bore The more worldly minded
by that constant recurrence TO that special at
tention Of the Almighty of which they believe
themselves ID be the objects. With proud hui