Grand River times. [volume] (Grand Haven, Mich.) 1851-18??, 1853-09-07
THE CAPTURE OF Annoy.


capture of Annoy, in China, by tho in
surgents
1.-The insurgents came down upon
Annoy in humber, probably over twenty
thousand. They were all natives oil
this region. 4 was awakened by the
first guns which were fired, about four
O'Clock in the morning. The great ma
val fight took place directly opposite our
house. SO that we had the whole affair
in full view, and we may say, IT this bat
tic can be called "A fair specimen OF Chi
nese warfare, then we have reason to de-
eide that there arc some excellences OF
which you western nations know moth
inc. The Chinese vessels Of war kept
sailing up and down the harbor, in front
of our house, from five o'clock in the
,mornng until about two o'clock in the
afternoon, firing continually on the boats
of the insurgents, which exhibited the
'excellency Of which ] spoke, viz: not
man killed or wounded on either side
About two o'clock in the afternoon the
tide turned q mean the tide of waters)
in favor of the insurgents, accompanied
by II fine breeze, which enabled them TO
come up rapidly. The Impcrialists, re-
Numbering the old and wise maxim that
sprudence is tho better part of valor,'
ceased firing and got out of harms way
as fast as possible. This great battle
being over, the insurgents commenced
landing their forces, which was accom-
plshed without difficulty. During the
afternoon they were engaged in plumber
ing the Mandarin establishment and
other Government offices outside the
city walls. Some of them they burnt.
Toward evening they entered the city,
when the officers Of the Imperial Gov
eminent fled Tho soldiers who did not
become rebels followed the example of
the officers. Messrs. Doty, Hartwell
and myself visited the chief Of the rebel
forces, to see whether some arrangement
might not be made for the security OF
the persons and property Of the mission
aries. They profess to be friendly to
foreigners. In fact, both sides seem dis
posed to treat foreigners rs neutral. i
am satisfied the instruction in this
.neighborhood is without the knowledge
'-of the chiefs of the great rebellion to
the north and west. Chin-chin and
Tong-an have fallen into the hands of
the insurgents. The first named is a
large city about forty miles west OF
Annoy; the other, some thirty miles
north. You will think it strange when
| say that the rebels Of the north have
the Scriptures in circulation among
them. Their law is the ten command
.mcnts. They keep the Sabbath day.
They worship one God and trust in one
Saviour, Jesus Christ Some Of their
books which they circulate are excel
lent; others have supcrstitions connect
ed with them. The only way we cal
account for this discrepancy among then
Is, that some ofthcm are genuine Chris
.tians, and others are fanatics, and 9th
ers again have associated with then
merely for worldly gain. We live in ,
strange time. If the insurgents are sue.
cessfuI, the whole empire will doubtless
be thrown open to tho preaching of The
Gospel of Christ. If they should fail
we think the way of the Gospel will b.
.hedged up. We have this satisfaction
however, God reigns' He will take
care Of his cause and his people"
DECAY OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE
Consider what the Turkish empire wa
seventy years ago, (writes Angicanu
in the London Iin,es,) and tho law b.
which its decay is governed becomes Wis
ible. 1t is at the extremities that it
energy mortiiies, withers, and gives plac,
to new combinations. The Crmea i
gone, Algiers is gone, Greece Proper i
gone, Egypt is virtually independent
Moldavia and Wallachia are virtually il
the grasp of the Car, Servia has expel
led the Mussulman, Bosnia is in stat
of transition, the end of the Montcne
grin affair we have. just seen. The lit
tie islands arc alive also; Samoshas ha
its revolution, Scio is scarcely KEEP
down, the Greeks of Crete may be OK
,pected every day to revolt. A yearl
decreasing circle marks the area of tn
Sultan's sway. The Turkish empire, a
defined in maps and in the minds of cor
ventional statesmen is fiction. I'h
centrai power, weak every where, is a.
most extinct in the remoter provinces
and yet tho nominal subsection to til
porte is sufficient to keep them in stat
'of suspense and doubt, to check thei
progress, 10 prevent that cOntidenc
which arises from definiiive settlement
and 10 agaitate mems minds with tn
distractions of an uncertain future
Who can gain from such state Of al
fairs but Russia! The northern prov
inces. whose deepest desire is to be un
ted under Christian throne at ConstaI
tinOple, are now broken off from the
natural stem. What remains for tbei
but to be picked up and appropriate
'one by one, by their powerful neighbo
And 80 strong is the feeling that Coz
stantinople is the true capital Of the
race, that even those who would no.
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