CHINA.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 333, 28 December 1860, Page 3

CHINA.

CAPTURE OF PEKIN BY THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH ALLIES. ! FLIGHT OF THE EMPEROR. Wjb copy the following from the Sydney Empire :— Fiom China we learn that the Emperor had fled, and that the allies were in command of his capital. Their rear is secured by the occupation of Tien Tsin, and by the presence of the English and French fleets at the Peiho. There seems to be now no doubt that Plenipotentiaries will secure the formal execution of a satisfactory treaty; but it is scarcely probable that, after their experience of Chinese duplicity, they will rest contented without th»exaction of some material guarantees. Their presence at Pekin must, at all event?, have the effect of disabusing the mind of, the Emperor of those flattering pictures of his power which are said to^ha** provoked him into braving the "barbarians;" and although a few ! heads will probably fall for this when he ! returns to Pekin, the chances are that they will have deserved to fall. It cannot but be* gratifying to the friends of humanity that the horrible-excesses which must have followed the bombardment and storming of' a city like Pekin, have, for the present, been averted. The troops had tasted the luxury of plunder at one of the Emperor's palaces, and their appetites for rapine would i not have been easily appeased if they had , been let loose upon the city. We [Sydney Herald]^ take a few interesting extracts from a Shanghai contemporary, (the North China Herald), of a recent date. •',•■■ - . .'■ • ■■■■.■■■'■ v; ■'•■■"'. That journal says:—By accounts received from our correspondent, we learn that there has been a serious split in the rebel camp | (Tai-ping), that the troops which had advanced ogainst Shanghai refused to a man to obey the orders given them to make another advance-movement in thatdirection. i This resistance had led to the execution ot j several officers by the command of the Chung Wang. Another descent on Shanghai was seriously on the tapis, in fact the 1 insurgents advanced and actually retook Sung Kiang, which place having been already gutted, could offer no attraction for I looting or commissariat purposes. Things at Soochow don't look well for the length- j ened stay of the rebels. While Chung Wang was near Shanghai, a rich imperialist had hired an army of mercenaries, and actually succeeded in getting into Soochow, but, being deserted by his followers, had to beat a retreat. Hard fighting has since been going on in the suburbs. Provisions are getting scarce, so we shall probably hear soon of the evacuation of the city, and advance in force on Hangchow and Ningpo. In fact, rumors have reached us of an advance from Ctiapoo on Ningpo, by many armed boats. It is a very curious fact that but very little injury has been done to the crops around Shanghai by the insurgents. Graves and uncultivated places seem always to have been selected to assemble on and hoist their flags. Where their dead are buried it is hard to say; they have probably carried the most of them far away. Such carcasses as were seen near the city wall were left there because the fire was too | hot for their friends to remove them; but their legs and hands were chopped off, in order to get away the valuables with which Changtnaos like to adorn their persons. At Zee-ka-wei, beyond making the church in ! a filthy mess, they have done but litte damage. They scribbled any amount of, abusive jokes about foreigners on whatever J paper was to be found, and seemed delighted to call [themselves Changmaos. It was at! Za-ka-wei, a mile further on, that the ' Italian priest and some children were mur- ' dered: the vagabonds refused copper cash,! and demanded a larger sum in silver than the unfortunate priest could give them, and they thereupon committed the horrible deed, which is quite enough to stamp the whole j expedition with infamy. The villagers.have long stories about raping and kidnapping committed everywhere;. but as almost every soul from the surrounding villages was safely in Shanghai, we don't believe their stories. It is amusing to see ths diligent way in which the soldiers ot the heavenly dynasty have broken open every door in the various villages, in their search, after mammon. There must be some instinct among these gentry where to find hidden wealth,, Cor to. foreign eyes, the houses are mere mud hpf ela without anything wor^ cajrrjigp j*r4 in, a^y ohhenu

The various temples occupied by ChungWang's soldiers outside the South Gate have not suffered in. the least. .The josses are standing as whole and as dirty as ever, nothing has been mutilated; only in one place was there any sign of their late occupation, consisting of a yellow placard on which was written something about God's commands; half of it bad been torn down by the-people, who, in common with the villagers, are returning to their homes very fast. At a meeting of the Royal Asiatic Society, held at Shanghai on the 28th of August, a paper was read by the Rev. J, Edkins, giving an account of a recent visit, made by himself,' and four other missionaries, to the insurgents now 'occupying Soochow. It appears.that they started from .Shanghai on the evening of July 30th, and returned early on the morning of Au gust sth—two days having been spent at Soochow. No attempt was made to stop their progress. Beyond Ye-ki-tun, no imperialist force was found to interfere with the movements of the insurgents. At Luch-kia-pang, a market town about forty English miles from Shanghai, they reached a floating bridge constructed by the rebels, on which they pass between Sungkeang and Soochow. At Kwenshan they found the suburbs, through which they passed, to be a solitude of burnt and plundered houses. They were happy, however, to see that all dead bodies had been removed,, and that the people Were beginning to go among the insurgents fearlessly. On their arrival at Soochow, they were at first refused admission into the city; but when they showed the letters, which they had received a few days before from the Chung Wang and the Kan Wang, inviting Messrs. Edkins and. John to Soochow, to confer with the latter as an old Christian convert and friend, on matters of religion, (the letter contained not a word of politics), they were admitted. During their stay in Soochow they had good opportunities of observing the present state of affairs there, to gain valuable and reliable information on various- points of great interest, to suggest plans for the correction of theological errors and the wider dissemination of religious principles, and to encourage the Kan Wang in his endeavors to promote the cause of truth and civilisation; By the Kan Wang the missionaries were received very cordially on two occasions, and were led to entertain great hopes of his exercising a good influence on the future movements of the insurgents. At the first interview—" He expressed his full sympathy with foreign doctrines, not only in religion, but in science and social improvements. He had searched the valuable library in the house where he then resided, and no book gave him so much pleasure to find there as a Treatise on the Differential and Integral Calculus, translated by Mr. Wylie." As to his persona! character, Hung Jinkang (Kan Wang) appeared to be unchanged in his principles and practice, except on two points. 1. He admitted the visions of the chief, at least in a modified way, and allows that by these dreams he is divinely appointed to the position he now holds. 2. He yielded to earnest solicitation, and became a " polygamist." On two occasions he united with the missionaries in worship—singing and praying himself. An invitation to remain for several days was extended to the party from the Chung Wang; but as there seems to be an impression on his mind that as teachers of Christianity they must be Wen kawn " civil mandarins," the missionaries determined to return at once, after having presented the two boxes of Bibles and a few other books which they had brought for the purpose. They also offered to the Kan Wang some proposed corrections in certain statements in his book on theological points. In course of conversation, the Kan Wang asked the missionaries respecting the state of things at Shanghai. He was informed that the city as well as the settlement was held and would be held by the English and French troops, and was urged strongly to use his influence to prevent the sending of the T'ai ping forces (as he informed them the Chung Wang proposed to do) there, for fear of collision. After the reading of the paper, an animated discussion followed, during which many points of great interest and importance were considered. Information procured by the Rev. J. L. Holmes during his recent visit to Nanking was referred to, as tending to shovy that the semi-theocratic system set up at the first by Hung Siutsieun is perpetuated, and has been elaborated with a good deal of minuteness. The claim of the Insurgent Chief to universal supremacy appears to be still maintained ; Dr. Bridgman mentioned that one of the insurgent proclamations brought from Socchow contained a list of grievances against the existing dynasty, which was drawn up with considerable force. Mr. Wylie, Mr. Gulbertson, and Dr. Bridgman —all of whom had opportunities of seeing the country along the Yang-tese River— agreed in stating that, as yet, the insurgents had exhibited no specimen of their ability to govern tite territory they have overrun. On the other hand, it was suggested by Mr. John and others, that hitherto each of the conquered^ cities has been nothing better than a camp under strict martial laws, that whilst the contest remains doubtful the people will keep aloof, as they well know that to countenance the rebel cause by their presence would, should it meet any reverses, secure their own extermination by the imperalists, that other dynasties have been established only after twenty, thirty, and forty years of contest and anarchy; and that theae, and such facts as these, will fcccaun* f'orj toe comparatively disordered condition ofthe insurgent's territory. It waA also remarked that much of the burning which it laid to the charge of the

insurgent* is done by the imperialists before (heir arrival; and that the horning of suburbs and villages for the security of a city or camp is justified in China by one of the first ,'. -military maxims :— "kempih t* sing ye." It was stated that the assistant king. Shin Ta-kai • (who is now master of the. capital, and the greater part of the i province of Sze>chuen), had been supposed to be keeping aloof from the chief at Nanking, but that it is now ascertained that he is still connected with the movement, and hag recently sent a large body of his men to Nanking to congratulate the Kan Wang, on his accession to power, and to request that all his communications to the chief may henceforth be presented through him. He seems to differ from the chief in some of his religious views, He conciliates the people whom he subjugates, and at the same time secures the attachment of his own soldiers. . The Herald says: The City of Nanking is in a ruinous condition. It would be no exaggeration to say that half the houses have been destroyed. The country around is not half cultivated/- Provisions are very scarce and expensive. Their trade is very limited, Instances are not rare in which workmen were compelled to labor without compensation. All indicates a policy that has little regard to the welfare of the people, or to any interests other than those immediately connected with war, and with the indulgence of their rulers. The Rev. J. L. Holmes observes that the present state of their political affairs would indicate that Hung Siu Tsuen's career must close before the present dynasty can be supplanted. His horrible doctrines, which have served to break down every distinction between right and wrong in the miuds of his soldiers, and send them forth to. perform every enormity without remorse, have secured him the lasting hatred of the masses of the people. The scenes of internal discords which so nearly proved their destruction a few years since would doubtless be enacted again, and upon a large scale, when, with their enemies vanquished, they came to a final division of the spoils. One of their most popular generals Shir-ta-ki (E. Wong) is now the leader of what will in all probability prove a rival rebellion. He left Nanking accompanied by a large army, without the leave of the Tien Wong, and it is said disbelives his doctrines. He is described as a good man, who will not kill, but strives to conciliate the people, is reverenced by both soldiers and people, and preaches that " he is a good man who acts a good man." He now holds the capital of the province of Sz'chuen, and probably has control of as much territory and as large a population as Tien Wong himself. They have as yet come to no open rupture, but it is doubtful if he will ever come again under the sway of the present chief. The pretensions of Hing sin Tsuen must also, sooner or later? if he continues at the head, bring him into collision with foreign powers, in which case, one of the claims which he founds upon his character as a religious teacher would have to be yielded; his prostige thus destroyed, it is doubtful whether his influence* would survive it. While, therefore, we are not without hopes that God will so overrule this movement as to bring great good out of it, we find little or nothing in the character of the leaders with whom we have met, or in the doctrines which they believe, upon which to found a hope except as the "wrath of man shall praise Him."