Glasgow Courier. — 1861-01-31 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

THE GLASGOW COURIER, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1861.  ad inst., when the river was completely frozen up, and ice was beginning to form round the shores of the Gulf. The 2,500 English who, with a quota of French, have been left at Tien-tsin, will have to undergo a severe whiter, but they have all been comfortably housed ; the warmest clothing has been provided for them, and their houses are well warmed with stoves, in which is used a very clear burning coal, got from some mountains in the neighbourhood of Pekin. Brigadier-General Staveley has been left in command of this force, and Mr Bruce also winters in Tien-tsin. There have been some unpleasant reports going about in Canton and Hong-Kong of some new disaster in Pekin, but we cannot trace these to any reliable source; and, after recent events, it is not unnatural thatthey should arise, though without foundation. Though the rebelsare pretty quietnear Shanghai yet the waters of the Yang-tsze, and of its branches in that neighbourhood, continue to be infested by pirates. In our last issue we gave an interesting account of a conflict which Mr T. T. Meadows, her Majesty's acting consul, had with four pirate boats. We regret to learn that another boat, with three foreigners on board—Mr Chrietison, Mr Johnson, the master, and Thomson, the mate—was not so fortunate. They were well armed, lint, being taken by surprise, were all three murdered by the pirates. A few of the expedition who have reached HongKong have been extremely fortunate in their selection of plunder, and count their gains by thousands of pounds. The town has been quite overwhelmed yrith fur coats, silk coats, jadestone ornaments, and other articles taken from the Emperor's Summer Palace. These, when sold by auction, have fetched high prices, and were bought chiefly by this Chinese. From Foochow there are rumours of new inland I taxes having been imposed by the Mandarins on foreign goods going into the interior. Further measures have been taken by the native authorities to protect the city from any Cantonese pirates who might feel disposed to revenge the severe measures which, as described in our lad issue, had been adopted against that fraternity. Canton has been visited within the fortnight both by Baron Gros, the French Minister, and by the American Minister, Mr Ward. Much discussion has been caused by the seizure by the French, and despite the remonstrances of the Governor-General, of the site of Yeh's yamun, in order to erect upon it a Roman Catholic cathedral. The only plea which has been advanced in excuse of this act is the absurd one, that number of Catholic churches are said to have been destroyed in Canton more than a century ago. Large sums of money, probably an instalment of the indemnity money, have been removed from the city by the British authorities. We mentioned in our last that permission had been granted to a foreign steamer to run in the inland waters near Canton, and have now to record that a tnp has been made with perfect safety. On the 7th inst. a violent conflagration occurred at Canton, between the Custom-house and the Shameen site, destroying about 200 Chinese houses, and property in all to the value of about a lac and a half of dol. In Hong-Kong there had been another fire, in the Tai-ping-shan district, destroying 81 houses, and property to the value of 56,000 dol. The Civil Service Abuse Commission has come to a pause in its inquiry into the conduct of the Protector of Chinese. It has called on Mr Caldwell to reply to the charges already made, that it may adjudicate on these before making further inquiry. Some dissatisfaction has been felt in regard to the new land which, at Kowloon, has been added to the colony, as it is understood the naval and military authorities have claimed more of it than they are entitled to.