CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 156, 31 December 1853, Page 5

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

A General Order has been just issued, ani.ouncing the immediate departure, for India, of the following regiments:—74th Highlanders, 43rd Regiment of Foot, and 12th Lancers. The Eifle Brigade to return home. Major-General Yorke, it is stated, will retire immediately, and is, we are told, to be replaced by Major-General Jackson, K. H., uncle to Lieutenant-Colonel Carey, C.M.R. The decision of the British Government to withdraw their protection from the territory beyond the Orange River, was vehemently condemned by the entire press of British South Africa. Oa all grounds on which the Sove- , reignty of a new settlement could be urged, the retention of this district under the British authority was demonstrated to be expedient. The public voice of the colony was unanimous in denunciation of the Imperial withdrawal, as a retrogade and also a dishonourable step. On the score of economy it was shewn that the territory ought to be retained, as a large amount of capital had been sunk in the improvement of land, and the commerce of the colony would be increased by the production of wool and other raw material, and its transmission to the English market. The cost of its defence would also be inconsiderable ; when the territory was conquered by Sir Harry Smith, a force of 800 soldiers was sufficient to keep off the hostile tribes; besides that, every man in the Sovereignty was well armed and trained to the gun, and would, when required, defend the common cause. The responsibility incurred by the previous policy of British rule in the colony ; the alliances, both offensive and defensive, entered into with the natiye chiefs, were also urged as strong pleas against the abandonment of this settlement. In every part of the colony the strongest dissatisfaction with the Imperial design was expressed, and delegates were chosen to represent this very general feeling to the authorities. The despatches from the Duke of Newcastle stating the grounds of the Government decision, were published in the newspapers. These despatches announced that Sir George Russell Clerke, X.C.8., had been appointed Commissioner for settling the affairs of the Orange River Sovereignty ; and shortly after the receipt of these documents, this officer, who was recently Governor of Bombay, arrived in the colony. Soon after his arrival, he proceeded to the settlement, where he was met on all sides with remonstrances on the course of conduct he was pursuing. Scarcely one of the Cape papers of July or August was published, without the report of some interview with the Commissioner, who on all occasions treated the remonstrants most courteously, but gave them no expectation of their petition being granted. He promised, however, to make a fair representation of their alleged grievances to the Home Government, on his return, who would give every consideration to their statements. — Sydney Empire. CHINA. ■ China. —There is no direct news concerning Chinese rebellion. The following is from a private letter in the North China Herald ; " Nankin is in a state of ruin, while the whole district is filled with anarchy and confusion. Nankin is held by the rebel forces, who are strongly defending it; they are also in possession of Chinkiang; the whole line of river between the two cities is in a very complete state of defence, and they are said to be awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from the south, when they will proceed on their way to Pekin. " The information gleaned regarding the character of the insurgents and their objects seems to be of a most curious and interesting nature. A very correct translation of the Bible is freely circulated among them, and a zeal amounting to fanaticism is leading them on to altempt the destruction of the whole Tartar race, while strictly moral duties are not only prescribed, but enforced ami practised." Another article, from the same paper, gives, on "good authority," the following "deeplyinteresting and astounding character of the insurgents," brought by the "Hermes," after a five days' visit, to Nankin, with his Excellency Sir G. Bouhnm on board :— ""fhe'hisurgents are-Christians of the Protestant form of worship, and anti-idolaters of the strictest order. They acknowledge but one God, the Heavenly Father, the Allwise, All-

powerful, and Omnipresent Creator of the world: with Him, Jesus Christ, as the Saviour of Mankind ; and also the Holy Spirit, as the last of the Three Persons of the Trinity. Their chief on earth is a person known as " Tae-ping-wang, the Prince of Peace," to whom a kind of divine origin and mission is ascribed. Far, however, from claiming adoration, he forbids in an edict the application to himself of the terras ' Supreme,' < Holy,' and others, hitherto constantly assumed by the Emperors of China, but which he declines receiving on the ground that they are due to God alone. Their moral code the insurgents call the ' Heavenly Rules,' which, on examination, proved to be the Ten Commandments. The observance of these is strictly enforced by the leaders of the movement, chiefly Kwang-tung and Kwang-se, men who are not merely formal professors of a religious system, but practical and spiritual Christians, deeply influenced by the belief that God is always with them. The hardships they have suffered, and the dangers they have incurred, are punishments and trials of their Heavenly Father; the successes they have achieved are instances of His grace. In conversation they 'bore' the more worldly-minded by constant recurrence to that special attention of the Almighty of which they believe themselves to be the objects. With proud humility, and with the glistening eyes of gratitude, they point back to the fact, that at the beginning of their enterprise, some four years ago, they numbered but 100 or 200 ; and that, except for the diroct help of their Heavenly Father, they never could have done what they have done. " While they have manifestly derived their religious beliefs from the writings, if not in some cases the direct teachings, of foreign Protestant missionaries, they appeared to be extremely ignorant of foreign nations. Canton was known to them as the seat of a great foreign commerce ; but Shanghae (which has indeed sprung into importance during the few years they have been fighting in the west) was found to be quite unknown to several of their leading men. It is gratifying to learn that, under these circumstances, the existence of a common religious belief disposes them to regard their ' foreign brethren' with a frank friendliness, which past experience lenders it difficult to comprehend in a Chinese, but which we earnestly trust every effort will be made to cultivate and establish in their minds." Speaking1 of the success of the rebels in the Celestial Empire, the Morning Chronicle tells us that an appeal has been made for help to Hussia. Russian emissaries from the Siberian frontier have spread themselves over the northern dependencies of China, and are impressing on all orthodox Buddhists that, betrayed by the Chinese Monarch, they have no alternative except to seek the support of that pillar of Lamaism, Nicholas I. The game is absolutely the same with that which is being played at the other end of the Russian Empire. A policy in which Patriarch and Lama, Panagia and Buddha, may be freely interchanged, is a striking and singular phenomenon in the region of international affairs ; nor could we find a better illustration of the morality of the Court of St. Petersburg, of the audacity of its conceptions, or of its constancy to a single plan of action. — Guardian. Intelligence by the overland mail states that (he Mormons are making a desperate effort just now for the conversion of India to the creed of Joe Smith. Thirteen " ministers" arrived from the city of the Salt Lake, via Cali-~ forniii, a month or six weeks ago, and their "high priest" has lately got one of the newspapers to publish his manifesto. They seem likely, however, to proceed with some difficulty, as their oift of tongues does not include Bengalee.— Ibid, AMERICA. The New York Herald states that Lord Elgin, the Governor of Canada, is to return to England in the " Sarah Sands." The yellow fever was very bad at New Orleans at the latest dates. A private despatch states that the authorities,being unable to bury all the dead, 125 bodies were burnt. Yellow fever prevailed at Mobile, but the Board of Health had pronounced it not epidemic— Times. Advices from Havannah state that the choWa bad been terrific on one estate, belonging to Mrs. Seals; 131 negroes had died in six days.