New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-10-21
tAe trsls IN e,ttens j. sn ;sstsseA ~ e-rf. TIE
300 cor ONO ,.i,s Of unn tonnblss ~ shicA Lord

trader.
lam e,jueJ 10 believe that there is Do greater
alscy existing than tne oi.'nc'bst"n OF voc
Chinese p,oyh 70 'or-gn intercourse. ic is {
,.t,m.rtop oar with the fables regarding the Diet
,no the msrDers Gf the Chln..e: SID ike rDO--, 10
Welding Ia the testimony Of experience. Toe j-sl
Gus ard mistaken policy Of to- asotchpo dJ nssty
u,ere int.Tlopers scarcely tvo bur drof years 10
Chi a. bss been taken as the expression of he
popular feeling; wher-bs on The contrary, IT ht
been in direct sntsgoosm IN il. Rut Of TIRE, more
At smother time / mus, add bowever, that ~her.
ever ] meet China m4n ~ any Intelligence ! nod
a IOetve tkirtt for information regarding e1t kn0
-toreipD cUubtnes; ee Rrsp6y epecia y A'aVo-
rite subject Of ioquuy. Ab'u' Ia iin9- MO"
Crest EDglaDd) tOleraby lGcd loeas are current,
tbsbts TO come native trao.'atous Of geossPh'c.
works: bu, ,bou, Hua Chi (t1oTery Flag, aias
N. United St.te.) there s the hvelest cur'o-ity.
Rnssia is Of course subj OF frequent inquiries
ard patve the other day completely puzzled ne
by iuquirrg how MAJ J thousand dJlara The NIsss
psid to ED.lard and France at the close oi the
CIimean var -
But a standing eDigms IN most Chinese 10 toe
Prot. ,tabt sDd Rousn Catholic Missionary system.
Uueiy d.stitut- be is of aoy species III fepg0is
feeling warned BY bic Eup-rors tpat all creoos
are alke empty and To be avoided, some ltnes pro-
Teasing Conf cisbi-m, Ta"uisD, aud Buddhism az
0pe al The acme time, the Chinese Cannot be
broupbt 10 comprehend how, without some pus-
eros. the seas to preach new ystem OF morals to
strange people. But if he happens to &c struck
with some suay word Of q missionary, ard lnctnes
TO s1opt the tsu chiao at the hands-say OF Prot
estsIt- bst is his confusion and surprise on hear
ing the peat Mt, possl5y, some missionary Of
Of the Ten Sign religion Gas toe Roman Catholic Is
called from the fact that IS the symbol OF ten
in the written l,neuaee) revile .be Protestant mis-
siopary A. deceiver, ard his teaching as snare!
But the Chinese missions are not to be Disposed OF IN
paragraph, and trust To revert to the subject at
time more favorable than the preseUt for the dis
cussion Of so serious matter. cannot. however.
forbear putting on paper small piece OF personsl
experience. A day or two ago was asked by an
educated Dstiye Of Pekp, with whom, tant Jnn que
mai converge every day for the sake OF improve.
nent in the language, how many dollars be would
| receive if be became Yesu-chao tot the Chris
tan religion. thought there must be some mis-
take ard had the query repea'ed when, seeing my
look of establishment the h,ien shtpg informed me
that the Portuguese with whom he PROBABLY con-
founded the FRENCH missionaries at Pekln were
accustomed to offer money for the sahe OF OBTAINING
converts and that be could have made few dollars
in that manner had be cbosen. Being now somewhat
hard up, be had bethought himself Of this hnan-
cial resource. l was obliged to inform hum that
the Ye.su.chiso-t who 60 not use the Tea Sign are
not accustomed to buy necpbytes; but did MT
undertake the hopeless task " explaining the dit
ference between creeds, neither of which he could
be brought to comprehend.
The regard that a Cbinaman has for bis own
especial belief is, however, proverblslly slight;
and, indeed, all their religions, or rather devotional
performances, are but compliance with time
worthy custom pot obedience 10 the dictates on
conviction. A Chinsmsn will praS to Buddha, 1t
is true but if the prayer remains frnitless, he VIII
lust ss readily tesr the tiDsel from Buodhas idol,
spd throw away the joss sticks he would other wise
have burned. No he would not throw them
away but would sell them for tfty cash TO the first
CONFER The other day made some inquiries OF
my servant, Cantonese, aid buddhist il any
thing regarding the deterioratd cash which are 10
circulation. In every string of one hundred cash
(ten cents) there are probably 20 to 30 pieces
struck in the bssest metal and far less in size than
the Official money. i was curious to learn how
Chlnsman reconces this drawback with his ideas
of economy; and accordingly asked What Is done
by the poor with the seterioratcd chiea. Oh,
massa - wss the reply ID that celebrated pigeon.
Ensltb," which bas become aluost separate
language, "suppose one piecey man hsb got forty
" fifty DuWberODe-bsd piecey cash, no can catchey
"chOgcbuw (victusls), he makey save; suppose
Zone PEGGY mandaee (mandarin) hsb got wife
"wAnchey one piecey smallo boy, he mskey buy
"bad cash, makey chin chin joss" The English
Of which is that if any person wishes TO make a
sscrlfce to some divinity ne EN- ,lOys what would
be otherwise useless lumber for the work of grace.
Apropos of each, your numismatic readers. of
whom | know there are gOodly number, viii
relish some information on the subject The only
currency of the Empire is the chttn or cash,
copper or brass coin somewhat smaller and much
tbinuer than United States cent, bearing on one
aide aCtiDese and on the other Msntchoo inscrip
tion and perforated with square hole. These |
cash are strung 10 hundreds on lengths of rice
straw ard ten of these hundreds, forming string,
are equal TO one ounce or dollars worth OF silver.
The bundles of loo seldom united, and thus it
happens tbst cash OF hgn antiquity are frequently
discovered by the feT foreigners who have inter
es,ed themselves in this, the moot ancient OF exist
Ing consges The cash Of The 9TH century Of our
era differed only in the inscription from those OF
the present day. and are sometimes found IN elrcu
l.tiop. The debssed cash, TO winch h,ye slready
alluded are cOlbed in immeose quantities by die
honest mandarins ss well by pry ate spectators,
ard ale mixed with the Government cash 10 as
large q pr. portion possible. In some OF toe
Northern provinces ohaO, or large cash, worth 10,
80, or 100 of the small coin. in circulation.
Foreis ners however unless they especially seek il,
seldom see the cash. The only currency ackno~l-
edged by the people at present is the Mexican dol
lar which, however has entirely lost the fictitious
value II once bore. 1t circulates 81 its commercial
value of Is. ID Sterling The Carohs dollar which
was once worth "a. I'd. sterog, will now scarcely
circulate st par, and United States aud South
American dollars are not in f4vor Small change
is supplied by Epelish shlings and American halves
and quarters below this toe sycee, or broken sill
yer, comes into psy; and when small change Is
scarce as It very often Is one either goes without,
accepts cheroOts a. a circ Hating medium.
II had almost forgotten to add piece of ntelli-
geDce thst will interest msny Of your readers. A
small steamer, built in the nejghbOrtOod of Csntln
by AL American Vas launched last week. aud is
destred 10 trsde up aud down the Pearl River.
She is undoubtedly the iorerunner Of msny similar
undertakings, which cannot fail 10 be attended