THE CHINESE.MILITARY SYSTEM.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 31, 8 October 1842, Page 124

THE CHINESE. MILITARY SYSTEM.

The n&vs brought by the last Indian mail may render interesting, at the present time, the' following account (upon the authority of Davies) of ' the general military- system in China : — " All the military of the empire are placed under the management of their proper tribunal, or board, at Pekin, the power of which, however, is jealously checked by a dependence on some of the others, as the Board of Revenue must supply the funds, and the Board of Public Works the materiel of the army. The trusty Tartar troops are ranged under the eight standards (viz., the yellow, white, red, and blue, together with each of these bordered by one of the others); while the green flag distinguishes the Chinese troops. Each of the Tartar standards is said to represent 10,000 men, making a standing army of 80,000, in addition to the local militia, spread throughout the provinces (generally consisting of 'a ragged and undisciplined rout, fit for little more than the purposes of a police '), which, with the army, make about 700,000, as it is estimated, always receiving pay throughout the empire. By far the greatest number, however, of these are fixed to their native districts, either cultivating the land, or following some other private pursuits. Dv Halde (quoting the opinion of the missionaries of the inferiority of the Chinese troops as soldiers) says, ' they are not comparable to our troops in Europe for either courage or discipline, and they are easily disordered and put to the rout. Besides that, the Chinese are naturally effeminate, and the Tartars are almost become Chinese ; the profound peace they have enjoyed does not give them occasion to become warlike.' Very few mounted soldiers were seen by either of our embassies, and whatever may be their actual amount, they are said to be nearly all Tartars. A great difference also exists between the pay of Tartars and Chinese. The most common uniform of the military is a jacket of blue turned up with red, or red bordered with white, over along petticoat of blue. The principal arms of the cavalry are bows and arrows, the bow being of elastic wood and horn combined, with a string of silk strongly twisted and wrought. Dv Halde states that 'though the knowledge of gunpowder is very ancient in China, artillery is but modern.' The highest military rank is that of a Tseangkeun, or TarI tar General, which post can never be filled by a Chinese, but secondary commands may. All the military officers of China are subject to corporal punishment, and very often they experience it, with the punishment of the dangue, or moveable pillory. Enterprising courage is not considered as a merit in Chinese tactics, as is shown by their maxim, that ' rash and arrogant soldiers must be defeated.' They usually display extreme caution and love of craft, not without a large share of perfidy and falsehood. In short, by their acts they usually seem to recognise the truth and good sense of the lines — ' He who fights and runs away May live to fight another day.' The present dynasty, as an encouragement to its army, established examinations, or rather trials, in the military art (as in riding and shooting with the bow), at which the candidates are ranked for promotion in three degrees, like the civilians. All appears to prove, as Davies says, that ' the military art is not beyond its infancy among the Chinese.' "

Decline of English Country Towns. — Country towns are daily losing their physiognomy. The surface becomes smoother and smoother, like that of our current coin, till, by the evenness of the superficies, the value is lessened. Mail coaches did much, and railroads are doing more, to destroy all local characteristics and distinctions. The' two capitals of the sister kingdoms are divided by only four-and twenty hours each, from the great metropolis, and the interstitial towns, now that they receive the gossip of London wet from the press, and new fashions and new follies bright from the mint, have flung aside those quaint old. garments of individuality, which rendered Winchester as different from York, as Chester from all other cities of the United Kingdom. It may be doubted whether they alter for the better. A man may cease to be the yeoman without becoming the gentleman. Superficial- polish is often acquired, when the nature is not intrinsically improved. The heartiness of the country disappears, but the politeness of the capital lags behind. The common run of towns resemble a blunt razor — or a single-barrelled gun— or a sailing-packet— or any other antediluvian thing which, instead of beguiling the time, by looking like the time, looks like times better forgotten, its society is a shoal of minnows, among which the most moderate fish becomes a Triton. Accustomed to receive its laws and opinions, like its ribbons and other manufactured goods, from London, if you ask a question, people are as slow in answering, as if waiting the arrival of the coach to make up their minds. A century ago, ere roads and newspapers had established an electric chain betwixt the capital and her satellites, every country town was the capital of its province, as in France at the present day; and the substantial old mansion-houses, now figuring as boarding-schools and manufactories, attest that, aforetime, the winter migration of the squirearchy extended no farther than the limits of their shire. The wealth thus concentrated brought refinement and progress. Now, all who haye money to spend, spend it in London ; country towns are consequently restricted to a secondary order of civilization. The great manufacturing towns are distinguished by a certain flashineM of taste, in addition to their smoke, noise, and unwholesome looking population. The cathedral towns pretend to higher gen-

tility, are blue and scandalously addicted to whist and green the. , Garrison towns* are : gay and flirtatious, inclining to theatricals, and boasting a capital circulating library.' But the genuine country town is' the one that hath neither canon nor cannon— neither coats black nor red— neither a barrack nor cathedral close— nor even a manufactory, beyond a slender steam-engine chimney or two, starting up, like asparagus running to seed, in the suburbs—or perhaps a few mills, half hidden among the shallows of an unnavigable river.— Mrs. Gore in the New Monthly. The following notice in the French papers, gives reason to hope that another grand advance will shortly be made in international communication:— English agents are arriving m Pans, to arrange with the Government the means of establishing a good telagraphic line from London to Calcutta, across France, and which should extend through Italy, Greece, Syria, and the Red Sea to India. It appS an English engineer has demonstrated the possibility of excutingthe work, and of placW London an, Paris ir, immediate connection with the Indian continent. A murder of the most barbarous description has been committed in the neighbourhood of Putney, near London. A man named Good stole a pau- of trowsers from a shop at Wandsworth, and the constable while searching a stable for the stolen property, discovered the mutriated remains of a female, with whom Good was known to have cohabited.

WHOLESALE PRICES CURRENT CORRECTED UP TO LAST NIGHT. ' Ale: In bottle, per doz. . 0 12 o' to 1) I*4 * Beef : Fresh, per lb. . . 0 0 10 . 0 1 2 Salt, pet barrel ..3100 Bread : Per 21b. loaf ..009 Brandy : Per gal. duty paid 0 12 0 . 0 16 0 Butter: Irish, per lb. . .0 2 0 Fresh .... 0 3 6 Candles : Wax .... 0 4 0 Moulds ...016.020 Dips .... 0 1 0 Cheese : Pineapple ...016 Dutch .... 0 1 3 Cigars: Havanna, per lb. 0 16 0 Coffee : Per lb 0 13 Flour: First quality,p f ton 28 0 0 Second do. . . .0 0 0 Gin: per gal., duty paid .0 12 0 . 0 1 0 Hams : New Zealand, p' lb. 0 0 10 . 0 1 1 Yorkshire do. . .0 1 2 Iron : Per ton ... .43 o 0 Maize : Per bushel ... 0 4 6 Milk: Per pint .... 6 0 6 Muskets: Each .... 0 15 0 Mustard: Per doz. bottles 14 0 Mutton : Per lb. ... 0 1 0 Oil : Linseed, per gallon .080 Black 0 2 6 Sperm 0 0 0 Paint : Black, per cwt. . 2 0 0 . 2 10 0 Pickles : Per doz. bottles 10 0 Pitch: Per barrel . . . 1 15 0 Plank: Nelson, per 100 ft. 12 0 Kaurie .... 1 5 0 Pork : Fresh, per lb. . .0 0 10 Irish, per barrel . 5 5 0 . 5 15 0 New Zealand . . 3 15 0 . 4 0 0 Porter : Bottled, per doz. 0 13 0 Potatoes: Per ton . . . 6 0 0 . 10 0 0 Rice : Good, per cwt. ..150 Common .... 0 0 0 Rum: Per gallon, duty paid 0 10 0 . 0 12 Salt: Per ton ....400.500 Scantling : Per 100 feet .12 0 Shingles: V.D.L.,p' 1000 1 3 0.150 New Zealand .110 Soap: Liverpool, per ton .30 0 0 London ... .45 0 0 Starch : Per lb 0 0 8 Sugar : Mauritius, p' cwt. 0 0 0 Brown .... 1 10 0 Manilla. ... 2 0 0 - Refined loaf, p'lb. 0 10 Tar: Stockholm ... 115 0 Coal 0 0 0 Tea: Per chest .... 7 0 0 . 10 0 0 Tobacco: Negrohead, p'lb. 0 2 0.023 Turpentine : Per gallon . 0 8 0 . 0 10 0 White Lead : Per cwt. . 2 0 O . 2 10 0 Wine : Sherry, per pipe .28 0 0 . 40 O 0 Port 30 0 0 . 42 0 0 Zinc : Per ton ... .90 0 0 Poultry: Fowls, per pair 0 12 0. Ducks ... 1 0 0 Geese ... 0 0 0 Turkeys ... 0 0 0 Pigeons, wild, per pair ..020 Ducks, do. do. . 0 4 0 Eggs : Per dozen ... 0 4 0 Cows Milch, each . . .17 0 0 . 30 0 0 Mares: Each ... .50 0 0 .60 0 0 Working Bullocks: Per pair 50 0 0 . 60 0 0 Sheep : Wethers, each . 1 5 0 . 115 0 Wages: Mechanics, per day .... 0 12 0 * Labourers ..050.070

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