The New York Herald Newspaper, June 11, 1856, Page 11

ne lee el ia | worehipper teaches a lessen it were well if we would le ISTEBESIING FROM INDIA AND CHITA. Our Macao Correspondence. Macao, Feb. 5, 1855. Navigation in the Chinese Seas—The Horns of a Ditemma—Macco—its Former Adugnificence and Present Desolate Aspect—Canoens—Coolie Store Heuses—Ohinese Sense of Commercial HBonor— The Bogue Forts—Canton—The Foreign Cemciry—Trade at Hong Kong. §c., §¢. We duly arrived a+ Hong Kong in two anda half days from Yoo-chow, in time to see the Siamese tri- bute ehip, call upen several of the merchants, write a chapter on ‘Hong Kong—which I mailed by the Madras—and take our passage im the Spark for this port. We started, but it-was only a start— the miserable little screw boat reminded me of the time that I made myself a martyr to humanity and the underwiiters, when taking off the shipwrecked erew of the Boston clipper Whistler, on King’s Island, Jast Jome—for ehe was bad enough in smooth weather, and being out of order was bound over to repair her rotten machinery. We had not been out an hour anda half before it began to blowa emall typhoon, and the motion of our boat was Beither horizontal nor perpendicular, but when the 4wo were given to find the base and hypotenuse—i Imay use a problematical comparison-—it soon be- ame evident that we must anchor, and at twelve o'clock, midnight, we made fast under the shade of ‘the piratical island of Lantoa. Here was a predi cament—a ice shore, a pirate village, an approach, jog typhoon and 2 boat Jeaking—I don't kaow how mapy hundred strokes the hour. At this unsatiaface tory point the steward atone door informed us that our grub locker was empty, just as the engineer on- tered at the other to say that the coal was nearly out; while the captain discovered that we had Jost onr tiller. Pleasant, wasn’t it? Our position was by no means safe—for the wind ‘was blowing wild cats and the anchorage none too good—shortly after two o'clock it was calmer, which justified the captain in making another start, but only to return again in two hours time, the pumps all the time going at full speed, and the steamer ia the greatest possible danger. One of our party, not one of the reformed, asked for a glass of water— there was none; are there any blankets? for the eabin was very cold? No—we must make the most of the night as we best could. At last I got to sleep nd there came such a succession of strange unac xauntable noises, I positively think the infernal boat was haunted, for no one could find from whence they came. Could any one have told me whether the boat would go up or down, it would have been more satisfactory, but the glorious uncer- tainty was particularly unpleasant. In the morning two auspicious looking jnnks anchored just off the $eland—shortly another, and before noon two more, all apparently waiting for the boat to go ashore— for the news of a disabled craft goes like a prairie fire over the robber haunts. In the afternoon the weather moderated, and by the blessing of Provi. dence we maraged to get the crippled boat back to Hong Kong. This isthe well known boat that has made, during the past year or two, a Jac of dollars for the owner, whose bon homme, hail-fellow style of Going things has made him many friends. But now, aa the steamer has done so well, I think the “spark” should be extinguished. The next morniug, with a calm sea, we were more successful, and at three o’clock P.M., reached onr landing place on the Praya Grande, the celebrated promenade to the quaint old settlement of the early Portuguese kings— Macao. Once the most important maritime port in East- em <Asia—one hundred and fifty to two hundred years ago, the richest settlement in this part of the world, even during the English war—Macao was the chief port of trade for the merchants of all nations. Its present population will not exceed 30,000, about a sixth of which only are Portuguese ; the others are half castes and natives of China. At present ther are a few English and other officials in the town— Dr. Parker among the rest—but, save these few the place to zye was more cheerless than an Egyp tian decert. In company with our party I wandered about this ancient relic of gaiety and splendor now a disjointed collection of deserted palaces— haggard boat women, whose beauty disappeared with their youth—ugly dames, of Portuguese descent: their faces hid in that most unbecoming garment (uct a mantilla, but I forget its proper name,) a calico handkerchief pinned under the chin, giving them a monkish sulkiness. None had any preten- Bions to beauty. Long, narrow alleys, dark and gloomy; decaying cathedrals and public buildings dropping away; but one old church, the front of which only was standing, was very beautiful—a noble relic of the architecture of earlier days. Forts, with bristling cannon on every side, that one war steamer could blow in the air ; walks, parades, gar- dens, all defaced under the corroding hand of time: I saw all these and more, that told of what had Deen, but not whatis. The exiled poets’ last home was my next resort—the banished scholar, who made himself immartal in his banishment—for who can read that beautiful composition, the “ Luciad,” without being reminded of the romantic history of Camoens. To me the old palace garden, covering so many acres of still blooming flowers and foliage, with ‘paths winding through quaint arbors and huge stone cavee—more solid than the artificial groins of Bolton Abbey, at Chatsworth—was the most interesting part of my tour. I was never tired of roaming over the grounds, but did not remain soliloquizing long over the iron-walled monument of the poet, who lived and died before Shakspere’s time. I did not ex- ‘pect to find such old magnificence; but ruins of ages past do not, at such distance from Christian lands, in crease my love of decay. From the top of one of the Mammoth stone arbors we have a fine view of the old town, the inner and the outer harbor—the former stocked with junks and lorchas belonging to the place; the yearly incom of the latter, in freights alone, is gaid to be $150,000. We saw the islands round about—our steamer coaling from the quay— and were glad to witness scenery as romantic as it was novel. Looking down upon the Chinese part of the town, I saw a lar‘, castellated building, the courtyard of which was crowded with human beings, dressed in white. My curiosity was excited. ‘Was it a hospital? No. A lonaticasylum? No, ‘What could it be—a jail, a charity school, er what? No one could tell. We searched and searched, but could not make the people understand our wants; first on one side, then the other, and finally we got aboat, and rowed round to the portcullis, but even there there was uo admittance, ee made us more curious, but not more successful, till at last a friend in need relieved us of suspense, and told us that of course no one was permitted to enter—it ‘was a private institution—being nothing more than the place where a princely merchant here stows away his coolies, when they are caught in the country, and kept there till they are ready for me ment. en I saw them from the garden high- ands it was probably feeding time. At Whampoa they use a hulk for the ve ose, I understand. ‘e came back through the Chinese town, where with rest!ess Lasts mechanics were working at their respective trades, shopmen were doing a thriving business, while barbers never were busier— Music and dancing, with the sing song artists, never more enthusiastic—and the pawnbrokers were crowded to suffocation—for to-morrow is the China- men’s new year, and hence the unusual bustle and excitement'in the town--for before midnight all ac- counts niust be squared, all books balanced, all bills paid, and debtor and creditor must meet as friends —for it is the custom of China to close up the papers and make a clean breast of finance matters at The e¢ommencement of every new year. On ever turn I see anxious faces, and men rushing with some little trinket to the Shylocks’ den, in order to taise a little more cash. There are many who know not what to do, for their pockets are empty, and their debts unpaid, and somethin,» must be done be- fore the clock strikes twelve, or ‘se they are dis- ed in the ores of their countr) nen. Some bear the features of desperation on their faces—and hence robbery or murder, perhaps suicide, ere the bell tolls the fatal hour. For ‘tis no unusual thing to resort to violent measures if all else fails and bills unpaid. What a strange custom ; and yet it is nniversally followed from the sea coast to the limits of Tartary. If Western nations balanced accounts as often, th ere would be less rottenness in finance and NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1856. arn. T have seen Macae, but do not like it. It may be Neasant as a summer retreat, for there isa fine Baching beach near the Parsee burial ground, which lodks towards the Best, Save the native trade commerce has forsaen Macao, and Hong Kon; once so sickly, is now the favorite se'tlement; and restless progress marks the one, when old age ia its ¢iippery pantaloon, sana wealth and life, almost tells youof the other. In the warm months all foreign China flock‘to'Macao. Asa sammer retreat many of the merchants have houses here, one of which, if in Wall or State street, would make a mil- lionaire of the fortunate possessor ; but here they are hollow, sepulchral, cheerless, they are so Jarge and col@; rooms wider thin a dancing hall, with a solitary chair in the centre, and walls so thin that the least whisper at one end rings throughout the honse, and that an acre lot, outside the garde: sti}l beautiful with nature's loveliest ornaments. went to the foreigner’s graveyard, but my stay was briof, for it made me sad, it looked so dreary and so coki. Fellow countrymen, old and young, were lying side by side, the moss-grown marble telling of age, and death, and merit. Governors and subjects, the rich and the poor, all were there, crowding each other for more room, for the burial ground isfull. I saw the grave of young Joseph H. Adime, the descendant of a line of Presideuts—a Lieutenant of the Powhattan, died in 1853, and many more from the same expedition buried by their comrades. Gray would never have written an elegy here—his eloquence would have chilled in the ink—the atmosphere is so damp. I was glad to get away, and thé next morning we again paced the Bogue fort, where the old Admiral of the Chinese fleet beldly met his death, as th: Britieh shot through the war junks in 1841. Lin first, aud Kishen afterwards gave the orders of the ig but it did no good, for China was not a match for Vietoria’s navy. Once more steaming up the Bocca tigris, where more forts pointed can- non at us, and leaving Whampoa behind, we are again on the naval battle field, opposite the tactory lens. A few days in Canton, looking over that uge pile of fanetical worship and Bonze priests, the Honan temple, with its half a hundred statues, sembiematic of virtue and of vice—ita sacred josses and its sacred pigs—I don’t know which appeared the fattest—a few days more in Canton hospitality, and excursions to the celebrated private gardens of the Hong merchants, Houqua, Puntinqua, Sequa and several others. But it was the Chinaman’s new year, and all was still; every shop closed, and all dressed in holiday garb to call upon his neighbor, and be called upon in return. Fire crackers, can- non, gongs, bells and tom-toms, driving one crazy at all hours of the day and night—a never ceasing Bed- lam, it was so noisy. Purchasing quite a collection of amoy tbracelets, beautiful sandal wood fans and card cases, writing desks and ornaments of ivory, and Chinese presents innumerable for friends at home, again I bid ood bye to Canton, the seat of foreign commerce for cver a centre But I have written of Canton before, and you don’t want to hear the story again. I got out at Whampoa to take the steamer “Thistle into Hong Kong as she came down in the evening, but untor- tunately for us there was no “down” on the thistle, and we had to go back to Canton in a sampau, to take the early morning boat. However, I saw the harbors of Canton and Whampos, and was satis- fied. Here all the clippers load, and if repairs are wanted, Messrs. Cooper’s dock will accommodate the largest clipper afloat. Other docks are also being finished, and two or three steamboats are on the stocks, but the machinery comes trom home or England. Iam pleased to see so much go-ahead- ativeness, for the docks are really deserving of every credit. Another paateyerc doom God, what a place—worse than Macao! Why, Macoa is a Mount Auburn in comparison. A little square patch of stingy soil ona bleak and dismal hill that owns but a single tree—flat tombs, no enclosures, not even a fence round the burial place. One soli- tery monument points to the final home of our Minister, Alexander Everett, who, in 1847, was buried by those who loved him while living. and honor him now that he is dead. Young Walker, of N.Y., a graduate of the University, captains of American ships, and missionaries from both Regland and the States, masters and mates, cooks and sailors, and in one deep grave a solitary row of six graves, whose marble tops give the names of six young E € ishmen, who were killed in 1847, at Wong-chu-kee, by the Chinamen; their bodies were found mutilated, but none knew the why and wherefore of their death; all side by side in'an un- enclosed, uninviting, irhospituble pastare, sur- rounded by the paddy fields, that crowd fairly on to the white man’s grave. The descendants of Alped and the sons of Confucius are sleeping their long sleep on the barren side of the French Island, that does not even boast of 9 landing place to the cemetery. ‘The marble stores are black with rust already, aud no old ee to reletter the names. A few more years the bufialo and the primitive plough will meke a small addition to the rice ficld paddock. Shame on the foreigners of Canton for such neg- lect! Can no better place be provided ?—for it is a dismal abode for the last resting place of man. Should I die on this foreign shore, throw me over- board—do anything but bury me at Nhampoa. Late at night we reached Hong ee whe-e your correspondent found a pamphlet, publi hed by the Melbourne pilots, which has just come up from’ Aus- tralia, and which calls Young America anything but a gentleman for endeavoring, through the Chamber of Commerce, to reduce the exorbitant port charges of Port Phillip. All right—nothing like epposi- tion to help a man along the rough paths of life. Smallpox at Manila, andno ship going over, so I must wait a more opportune time to see the splen- did capital of the East. I am disappointed, for I wanted to go there and see something of Spanish manners and Spanish life, and look at the sugar and the rice plantations, and the Spanish girls make the cheroots, and the ropewalk—the enterprise of a fel- ow countryman, a friend of mine, from Saiem; but I must give it up, and lose the companionship even of my late travelling companion, a partner in the leading American house there—a jolly good fellow. My regrets go with him. But Manila, 1 expect, will keep for a few years longer, and then we'll become acquainted. lovg Kong is as busy as ever, ships arriving and ships departing, and_I have been so fortunate as to get a passage to Calcutta in the clipper steamer ‘iery Cross—Jardine’s opium despatch boat—which oes through to Calcutta, stopping at Singapore, in lees than a fortnight, and all for $264. On the 30th of December I landed in China, and now, on the 14th of February, I leave it again behind me, having spent six weeks of restless activity at Shanghae, Fouchow, Canton, Macao and Hong Kong, from all of which ports I have sent you the impressions of a freshman in China. On my passage down you must pardon me for taxing you with a concluding chapter pas and its people, which I shall mau at Cal- cutta. Bound from Singapore to Calcutta. Feb. 22, 1856. Books in China--Discordancy of Views in Relation toits Religious Fulure—History of the Opium Trade—Noble Declaration of the Emperor-—In- teresting Statistics of the Trade—A Practical Subject for English Phitanthropy—Precept and Practice, §c. I have not the pleasure of knowing Mr. Thos. Tay- lor Meadows, but his 250 paged book on China, pub- lished in 1847, was one of the first works that fell in my way while reading upon the Celestials, and a more unsatisfactory volume, after such a flourish of trum- pets in the preface, I have not found among the numerous writers on the country. One of the posi- tions which he takes is, that no man has a right to print his views of a country unless he thoroughly understands its language. And hence he gives us a dry dissertation on the pronunciation of words as uninteresting to the body of readers as it is egotisti- cal. Now, I must admit that I have never given that attention to the study of the Chinese lan- guage that I have to my commission account and having been only six weeks among the people will of course be pardoned for losing myself in the confusion of dialects; yet I have, nevertheless, exer- cised the privilege of a tourist who prefers a railway carriage to a stage coach, and who, while he does not hesitate to give his opinions:regarding other's writings, asks no favor for his own. Were I to stop in China as many years a3 I have days, I doubt whether I should distract my mind by placing these uncouth characters in my memory; and yet, for the purposes of commerce and litera- ture, it isa praiseworthy study for those who have the taste and time to devote to it. I only speak of my only fancy; and being desirous tofsum up, ina concluding note, the substance of what I have said to you from every port I have visited—a retrospec tive look—as well as to touch on passing events, and what may happen before three-quarters of the cen- tury has gone. Mr. Meadow’s admonition would have stopped me did I not feel in relation to my views as the old ludy did of her children, that they were very homely, to be sure, but they are mine. Roaming about from port to port and place to place, as I have been, since my departure from the golden lands of Australia, trying to add another chapter to my little stock of knowledge, I make a practice of reading the several publications regard- ing the country I may be in, so that I may fix more Ow Boarp Sreamsure Frery Cross. \ wore honesty tu sommerce, Here, af least, the idol ! gorciply in my wemory many things that ouc’s eye | sight fails to discover. Hence, everything written | on China that was in my reach I have hastily run over, and form my opinion on what I read as well as what I see; but it so happens that the more I read the more I get confused, and the more I converse on the evbject in question, the less Iseem to know; for the clashing of opinions and statements in the books are almost as confusing as the contradic: tory assertions of a dinner table inquiry. On mi- nor things, most of the able writers agree, but on many important points they widely differ. Take the missionary cause—one man argues of the good that has been accomplished; another opposes the argument, and asks for facta instead of assertion, One writer will enter into a lengthy essay to prove that Tai-ping-wang, the rebel chief, is a Christian, while his friend labors equally hard to show why he calls him the pirate leader of the age. The Bishop of Victoria, in an able article in the Calcutta Review» discoursed most enthusiastically, in 1853, regarding the nature of the present rebellions—traces their crigin, tracks their progress, and jumps at the result —while he points out as inevitable the overthrow of the Mantchou Tartar dynasty, and the consequent universal introduction of the Christian religion throughout the empire of the celestials. Dr. Parker, our Commissioner, and most_of the missionary talent of the several ports endorsed these views; while the merchants, the editors of the China journals, the officials (save Sir John Bowring anda few more) crossed swords in the argument, pointing out the difference between robbérs and the Divine influence: The same contrast may be seen in discussing the opium trade. The missionary writers see the cer tain destruction of the Asiatic races in the increas. ing consumption of this Indian poison—and that their Christian labors are fruitleas—their exertions fall to the ground, so long as the drug is smuggled into the country. Oftentimes say they, and certainly with some degree of logic, we are asked by the more intelligent of the Chinese, “why do you not use your influence with your own countrymen to observe our laws, instead of daily breaking them, and first stop your people from bringing that which ruins us to our shores, before you come among us to change our hereditary institutions for your strange doctrines ?” Certainly a most unanswerable fact. The merchants, on the other hand, most of whom directly or indirectly are engaged in the profits of the drug, shield themselves by the gin palace ar- gument, if we do not carry on the trade, the Chintmen and Americans will. {Even now, say they, the best part of it has gone into the hands of the Parsees, who living economi- cally, and doing business for nothing, are taking our bread from our mouths, And, again if we did not bring it from India, the Chinamen having once got a taste of it, will produce it, as they are now doing, in their own country. Once more, the evil they are afraid is greatly exaggerated-even the mis- sionaries themselves are as loggerheads. Look atthe seven letterson the opium trade, published in the British Banner, last May, under the signatare of a “Friend of China,” where they assert that there are now some fifteen millions of opiam smokers, and at least a million annual souls added to the fearful list, while Medhurst, an able writer, in an elabo- rate treatise on the subject, in the Shanghai almanac of last year, says, that two to three millions, at the most, indulge in opium: and he supports his position by figures. The latter writer has the support of the merchants, and they consider his views a fair exposition of the question. Dr. Medhurst is one of the oldest of the London Mission Society, and being a manof unmistakeable talent, I can but think that his statement is the cor- rect one, more especially as it is worked out with such collateral proof. While on this question there can be no harm in briefly tracing the history of the opium trade, from the notes which I have made from the several authors The first opium which the Chinese got a taste of was introduced by Col. Watson and Vice President Wheeler, from Bengal, about the year 1700. These gentlemen, then, may be considered the fathers of the immense trade which forms nearly one-hali of the entire foreign commerce of China. During the next half century the import did not exceed 200 chests of a piebul each, but in the year 1767—in Lord Chatham’s day—it reached 1,000 chests, the Portuguese having the trade entirely to themselves, at the then flourishing port of Macao. Six years later, that indefatigable body of merchants, the East India Company, started their first venture, and owned the first receiving ship near Cunsing- moon. ‘The treasury of the company was at Can- ton, and the iene) of the armed ship sent out from Bengal in 1781, entirely laden with opium, was passed tothe credit of that government. The first receiving ship at Whampoa was about the period of Lord McCartney's embassy to Pekin, 1794, and then the Chinamen began to enact prohi- bitory laws, for previous to the commencement of the present century it was admitted at the China Custom House as a medical drag, under a duty equal to six cents per pound. The import increased gradually, and at that time (1800) amounted to 2,000 chests; which so alarmed the Imperial government, a stopper was at once put on in the shape of its entire prohibition as an article of sale or import, and no man under Uronth of death was allowed to cultivate the poppy in his Majesty's dominion. These laws have not been repealed, but a government bas never been able to execute them. In 1809 the Hong merchants gave security that no opium should be brought; but, notwithstanding these precautions some 5,000 chests found their way through Macao and Whampoa, in 1820; and the next year the Governor of Canton was discharged in disgrace for remissences of duty; more stringent acts obliged the merchants to resort to all the dodges of the smuggler. Bribery, arms and secresy. Money was paid the merchant at his counti house, and the Chinese purchaser, with boats arm to the teeth, got the needful from out of the storeships under the Fintow, in the night time. Then came the age of opium i and romantic adventures—the time of great risks for great profits. About the time of Louis Phillip’s debut on the French throne, other edicts were pro- claimed year after year, stronger and stronger, 1831, 1832, and again in 1834 the Imperial Cabinet then drew forth their proclamations against foreign- ers for bringing it, and Chinese for nsing that which was underming all their happiness; and ot in the face of all this the import had so multiplied, that in 1836 35,000 chests were cold in China. We have now reached the period of one of the most remarkable events of its history. The exciting discussion among the chief governors and minis- ters of the Empire, comprising the most talented statesmen of the land, for and against its being a legalized trade; but its opponents were too strong for those who recommended it, and the former came off victorious, while many of the latter were dis- graced by the Emperor for expressing such opinions. At once meesures were taken more decided than anything before, even to the execution of those who were engaged in smu ;gling. Foreign merchants en- gaged inthe tratlic were notified from government to leave the country. In 1848 a Chinman was be- headed at Macao, and another towards the end of the year near the foreign residences at Canton, and shortly after another CLinaman was exccuted in the factory gardens—all for dealing in the drug. Some others inland had their lips cut off, and other crael- ties were resorted to in order to stop the use of it in the kingdom, and yet all the while the opium mer chants were still rolling in the drug. We are all of us more familiar with its history since then. Extra- ordinary powers were given to the celebrated Com- missioner, Lin, who arrived in Canton in March, 1839. It isashort Cog ht Lin’s energy—letters to for- eign residents—bond from them in return, swearing they would never again en; in it, which was never kept—the seizure of 20,283 chests and its destraction in crane ae by lime and salt—nearly $10,000,000 in value. “The protests of the merchants, the acti- Mid of the Kast India Company, the arrival of the British fleet—the prowess of the British army in the far famed opium war, where millions of Chinese were sent to meet their ancestors, and China opened up to foreign commerce by the treaty of Nankin, in 142. This war to a certain extent settled the ques- tion, and the trade has gone on from 200 chests, in 1756, to 70,000 or 80,000 in 1866—from one million dollars then to ae million dollars now. Bus now there is little said about in it the Pekin Gazette, and the traffic still moves on. The late Emperor, when again asked to legalise the trade in 1844, made use of strong language in his remarkable reply—“Yes, lcannot prevent the introduction of the growing poison; gain seeking and corrapt men will, for pro- fit and sensuality, defeat my wishes; but nothin; induce me to derive a revenue from the vice and will misery of my people.” Among the several writers who have taken up the subject, none seem to defend it ; all unite in decry- ing it; for, morally, what can be said in its favor? When apeaking of its evil effects, some of the lite- rary Chinamen became most eloquent aguingy it, None are more able to argue and strike the reason than the Chinese scholar. Read that w ‘ul letter of that Jacobin Robespierre—the statesman Lin—when writing to the Queen, in which he says : “ To seek one’s own advantages by others’ injury is abhorrent to man’s nature, and opposed to the way of Heaven,” and using many arguments, the lan- rite e of which Webster or Burke would not have lushed at. It would be amusing, were it not so sad, toread the opinions of some of the Goughs aud Hankins fer jens, on apap oe the Le . Let me Copy a pitby paragraph from a letter of February 1854, oad tatemente 1 made by King , @ distin- guished scholar of Nankin, in 1836 :— At first, the smokers of opium merely wish to follow the fashion of the day, but in the sequel the prisoa takes effect, the ba Neeping smok: dera rae. Saebare the It throws whole families in:o ruin, dicsipates every kind of property and destroys maa himeelt, Tcere canaot de a grester evil than ti io com psrigon with areenis I pronounce it teatuld the geater o'er, fcr these who tmoke the drog ae ivjuretia man: Itexhaces tar animal spirits, heace tha ortea their days; aud th lean aud he, injuries i: Coes ty life. rd wid hi impeces the regular performance of basin the fleeh ard blont~ fleah is graduatly worn gonrumed fiom the robsat who smoke, and we down like bags. The faees of the weak who rmoke are black amd cadeverous, and their bones ara naked a¢ renders the person i fevored macus ehr nostrils and seare frcma their «yea —their very bedies are pu‘rid and rotten. It p:omotes 0 :e3n1- ty, 1% cikoovers secrets it violates lawa, it attacks tha Vi'ale, it Cestroys life—when he bes pryced all else fr opium he will pa*n his wife snd ee! b's daughter. Powerful language. Heeven beats Pollok when describing Pleasure. This position, I imagine, ouly describes the delirium tremens of the di When a man sell his bones to the doctor aud his soul to the devil; another of their. learned men says, that the first effect is not felt, but after a little— ‘The constitution gives way, the iaterlor grainally deosy?, thousands cf worma end meggote gaaw the in- testines; their faces bessme dlesolored, thei: teeth olask, their appearance }ike charc al, thei: shoulders rina to their ears, their recks slink in, their throat and thelr whole frame is ba‘eiul as that of a cn ie de- vil; and, in fine, they conticue t> buy thei: bce ual ceath overtakes them in the as: of taking ona more put I have introduced these two paragraphs to show the style of composition, and what arguments were laid before the Emperor, when the discussion was at its height. No wonder the old man stood unnerved at the appeal, for he had lost a son—a f2- vorite boy—who smoked himself to death. If he could not keep it out of the palace, it certainly would be difficult to shut it out of the gates of the empire. he drain of silver from the nation during the last thirty years, had there been no teas or silk in return, would have been some six hundred mil- lions of dollars ! In a memorial tothe Emporer, the Chinese show pe drain from the Imperial treasury, to have been from. 1829 to 1831, -$24,000,600 1831 to 1834,, + 28,000,000 1834 to 1838,. . . + 46,009,000 and even if the r was exaggerated, statistics show that the latter average is about the annual outlay at the present time. The question of whether China could have taken more cottons and imports from England or ourselves had they not expended so much for opium, is problematieal. From what I can see you might a3 well keep back the waves of the sea (which sane Smith, when he first introduced that amiable lady, Dame Par- tington, to the world, failed to do.) as to stop the use of opium. When segars are abolished and to- bacco in any form is not used as a stimulant—when intoxicating beverages are swept from the racea of the earth—when slavery is no more and the worldas pure as when created, the opium trade, foreign and lomestic, may prove abortive; but until then I doubt ifall the books which are published, arguments which are advanced, and laws which are enacted, will bethe means of keeping opium out of China. ‘The natives have got a taste for it; and if they can- not get it from India, they can cultivate it in any quantity in their own empire. Some confidently astert that even now they produce some 40,000 chests pe year; and as the love of it increases, in spite of the government, they will continue to raise it or import it from those who do. ‘The Bast India Com- pany have the credit of all the iniquity, but so long as they continue to derive $18,000,000 revenue per acnum, what do they care for newspaper sqnibb3 and Buncom editorials? But China does not take it fast enough, for even now they have and are estab- lishing retail shops over the Indian Empire, and the beautiful rice fields and fertile lands of Hindostan must give way for the growth of the poppy, after sufficient have been left for the food of the nation. As a question of broad and liberal philanthrop: England once eae some $100,000,000 in abol- ishing West Indian slavery. I wonder if her be- nevolence will ever reach the East Indian Continent? Parliament may consider it. We will wait a little longer. In a letter from ptipecse I think I alluded to the rather startling fact that almost the whole revenue of that island of the company’s was derived from the sale of the license to the opium farmers—some $200,- 000, Take the traffic away from the commerce of China, and some of those beautiful palaces where the merchant so hospitably entertains the stranger, would have to close their doors. Evennow the trade is not what it was; fortunes are not made in one successful operation, as years ago. Then most eve- ry roll was a strike; but of late years it is difficult to geta spare. The-e’s no use of abusing thoce who dcal in it; you may as well blackball the rumsell- er. There's not so much difference as one may ima- gine. Holland gin, on the North American Indian, or Patua or Molina on the Asiatic—each carries de- struction with excess. If you blame one, blame all—and don’t save your correspondent for his first foreign venture wus a shipment of four tons of the precious stuff in the old ship Eliza Warwick to China in 1846, an invoice squeezed out of a clerkship falary in a Boston firm, (of sixty dollars,) and if those who now trade in it are not more successful than I was, they will never make their fortunes, for it almost made me bankrupt, besides getting a severe rebuke from my commander-in-chief for HN ae at m oy time of life in the opiumtrade! It} ink it only justice to state that the shipment would have been more successful had not the drug entirely evap- orated before it reached Canton. The Growing Crops. ILLINOIS. The Chisago Press of the 6th inst. says:—With respe to the quanti'y of ground under cultivation, we should juégs toat it does not vary much from last year, except in tue article of corn, considerab'y Jess of which has bren p'anted this ceason, expecially in the great corn growing region of the Northwest. A larg? 51 of last year’s crop remaics over in the hands of the farmers, and at the low prices which ruled at the time cf plantiog, with no prospect of a rise, there was lictie induceent to p'ant largey. We bave heard of farmers in the s,uthern por- tion cf the State who have not above ten acres planted now where ta¢y bad a hondred last years. MISSISSIPPI. The Vicksburg Times, of the 26th ult. says:—Wa hear of cheering accounts of the cotton and corn c-ops in this section, The eld epell not long ince was cricalated to affect them unfavorably— but toe rains that have folliw- edit, with the war jupny weather are havirg, wake them look very fine and promising. MARYLAND. Our Maryland exchanges, wa regret t> sea, neavly all speak of the appenzance of the flyin tho wheat. The Aa- napoiis sepublican says:—We regret to learn that the ily has made its appearance, and is destroying the waeit crop in some parts of our couaty, par.icularly on tue north side of Severn. The Eastcn Gazetie also says:—We boar compiain‘ from farmere in all ps of th aty of tha destruation of the growing wheat by fiy. Jos that three weeks riage bid tair to ai food yield, have been almost destroyed, far advanced slon rn¢ wkest tht ‘The Denton Journal hes tke following:—' capes the hi ‘03. ¢ have heard & number of complaiata by farmers daring the pass we k that their wheat ras been materially injure fy. generally, the wheat fields in the county present a very fintterirg appeerance The E'kton Democrat says of the corn:—We hear mu complaint that the corn not come up well. instances it has rotted in the grouna, and our {4 have to do an unusual amount of re- ton bas been very cold and unfavorat ‘the Baltimore Sun, +f the 234 inst., says :—Thare Is univerral testimony from the country that the prospect of tke growirg crops ts exceedingly flattering, aad that, with an ordinary season, a very larg: harvest wil b) col- lected. The indications respec ing frof: are not so battens Some crops are likely to be an avi per above aN as soaiigoter fait claesan, ‘apples, pears, an aps lighter fruits, Bat ths oo and fevorive prosuce of the aut v8 very generally winter, aod will probably be very soxrc vines, we learn, have also perished, and the befallen an ocoas’osal burh acd tree of almost all tho varieties of the orchard and garden. LOUISIANA. Cherles (Catcasieu County) Pres, of the 24th from ali parts cf the pari*h we have informa pest for @ corm crop is arately jr) hesvy sbowers towards the last of Apcil, the farmers hava re-planted and re ed, which last plantings are now uncer the blasting destrustion of the army worm, and it not arrested wi hin « few days, we shall nava to seskour eupplies for the coming year in rome othe: latitude, TEXAS. The Austin Slate Times of the 24h May, says :~Daring an absence of three week#, in the couatles of Comsl, Guadalupe ard Hays, ore of the scitors bed amp'e oppor. tunity ot learning the condition of the g-owing crops.-- Corn fs promistcg in all three of the coucties, with ex- ceptions in particular localiios where the grasshoppers were mitchievous, Cotton is small and no opicion of its robable product can be formed at present, its genera'ly face thag woal, ‘The gras hoppers have done 9 good deal ot irjory in all three ornatier, but it has not been general—they seem to attack partion'ar farms. Col, Cheatham, of Heys, hes planted bis corn thres times, while someéaf bis neighbors have not been troubled py them to any rericus extent. Col, Wicks on the Cb ilo had en of cotton hie bf deatrs crop beirg untoucbe|—~they etty generally in all thres gouation, jave fallen and crops of every kind aro MimeNaneeus Moreign items. Her British Majesty's ship Amphibia, 25, arriv- ed at Spithead on 228 May. She been twice u to the Arctic regions, to relieve the Plover, and is the largest ship (1,064 tons) that ever reached the latitude of 70 30 North. During a period of five years, 5 months and 14 days, she has been upwards of three years and three-quarters at sea, aud has gone 140,000 miles, the greatest number that a man- of-war has done for the last twenty years. Her Majesty’s ship Hairier is ordered to the south- east coast of South Armerica. Advices from Madrid, of May 20, say:—The demo- crats have brought forward a vote of censure on the government on account of the events at Valen- ca. The motion was supported by M. Zigueras. Gen. Zabala defended himself with dignit y ma in the energy, and produced a great sensation Chamber. . Ata grand banquet given by the Queen of Spain in bonor of the King’s birthday, the French Am- bassador was placed atthe right hand of her Ma- jesty. with the infant Dona Amalia next to him; and the Awbassadiess was placed at the rightof the King, with Don Francisco next te her. The last dates from Constantinople are to the 12th of May. General Codrington was expected to ar- rive the following day. The operations necessary for the ircsh demarcation of the frontier of Bessa- rabia will cccupy three months. The notes exchanged between the Cabinets of Vienna and Paris on [talian affairs have had a_sat- iefactory result, and the two States have agreed on the p tobe sollowed in Italy. The memoran- dum which Austria end France are on the point of sending collectively to Rome is proof of this. It contains several proposals relative to the reforms to be wrought in Rome, which are baved on the secu- larisation of the administration. The London Shipping Gazette, of 20th ult., says:— The answer given by Lord Clarendon to the Earl of Elgin, as to the reply of the British government to the siplonen of the Costa Ricans for arms, to resist the filibustering expedition of Gen. Walker, wi be read with satisfaction, inasmuch as it shows that England and the United States have been act- ing in concert with respect to the ovtrage committed by American citizens on the State of Nicaragua. In the English Commons, on May 23, Lord Pal- merston said it was not true that no toll was levied by the Danish government on goods passing by the new railway from Tonningen, in the North Sea, to Flensburg, in the Baltic. The fact was that there Was a toll equivalent to that levied upon goods pass- ing through the Sound. The toll was paid by the railway company, and charged by them as purt of their fare. Hence arose, no doubt, the idea that no toll was levied. A late Ictter from South America says:—Some at- tempts have Leen made to introduce reforms, bnt the unconstitutional and domineering influence of Oribe and Flores render good gcvernment next to impossible. Everybody gives the new President (Pereira) credit for the best intentions, and proba- bly he does his best, but his power is limited. In detiance of the law, General Pias, Colonel Tagis and some others have been sent out of the country on suspicion of intnguing to overthrow the govern- men. Lonis Lamas, a Senator, and one of the best men in the country, finding himseif obnoxious, and possibly considering himself in danger from mili- tary influences, has solicited his passport, and in- tends to leave the republic. Senor Lamas had manfully exposed in the Senate some of the late abominable abuses of military domination, by which the public revenue has been anticipated. Dr. Ellauri is no longer Minister for Foreign afuirz. His te- nure of office was short; he has been succeeded by Don Joaquin Requena. The London Globe, of May 19, says:—The Monroe doctrine is receiving-some curious illustrations on the field of Central Pay, from General Walker, theoretically from the Walker sympathisers in Congress. The London Times, of 23d ultimo, speaking of the Italian question, says:—We have called the Italian question “ a great question.” It is, perhaps, the greatest of those which now agitate Euro When government atrocities can be inflicted by Ita- li n governments on Italian citizens, and those citi- zens the most temperate, the most educated, and the most patriotic, is there not a grave case made out for the interference of those States which regard justice and equity as the sole reliable groundwork of civil order? The London Chronicle, speaking of the new mari- time code of Europe, says:—To remove from the statute book of the world penal enactments which derive their sanction solely and exclusively from law- lees and remote times, to confer upon neutral com- merce that immunity which modern civilization has for a long period extended to enemies’ property captured on land—to remove a pernicious and ever recurring cource of discord—this is the holy, noble, and Christian task which the representatives of the great Powers of aaron 80 wisely and so successfully accomplished at the Conferences of Paris. In the Turin Chambers, on a late occasion, Count Cavour thus expressed himself with regard to the He relations of Piedmont:--I will not pretend to say that the work of the Paria Conference will last perpetually, or that the Eastern question will not at some future period raise new European difficulties. Our relations with Spain have increased in impor- tance. The Spanish government professes opinions timilar to ours; it is founded on the same principles, and is, to a certain extent, exposed to the same perils; it has adversaries of the same caste as ours. (Langhter.) Our amicable relations with Russia have been re-established. Should our diplomatic re- lations not be renewed with Austria, I would recom- mend that we should send an envoy to Frankfort in order to keep up our friendly intercourse with the secondary States of Germany. By the new acquisitions of Rassia om the river Amoor, the frontier of the empire has been advanced as far as to the Japanese Sea, and made to include a new territory nearly equal in extent to that of France, Not far from the mouth of the Amoor, and on its right bank, lie the posts or forts of Marunsk, or Kisi, and Nicolajevsk, the latter of which appears tobe the more important of the two; for here it was that the squadron of Rear-Admiral Savojka, consisting of the Aurora frigate, the Olivuzzo cor- vette, the transports Dwina, Baikal and Irtish came to anchor in the June of 1855, under the protection of the batteries that had been erected there. From the Amoor the Russian establishments are already advancing in a southerly direction along the eastern coast of Mandshooria. A new colony already car- ries on a brisk trade with the Americans, who sup- ply it with all kinds of provisions, and pect of ammunition, bears the name or Alexandrovsk; it is situate on tue little stream of Nelly, and consists of acertain number of tenements with magazines, a Hadi and a church in a charchya: Quite close to Salmon Bay there is a village of jaks, where the inhabitants seem to live on very friendly terms with the Russians. The Manchester Guardian of May 17, speaking of the battle of Rivas (Nica.), says:—If we are to be- lieve the official accounts, every man in the Ameri- can at ‘was a hero, excelling in all the virtues which adorned the ages of chivalry. The official annalist is quite impeded in the narrative part of his duty by the ici of paving due honor to the sublime qualities of the assailants. Night at length separated the belligerents. The victory is claimed for General Walker, but admitted facts scarcely square with that assumption. The Costa Ricans are eaid to have lost 600 in killed alone, while General Walker's lors did not exceed eighty. Taking into account the ¢ircumstances in which the battle was fought, this is hardly credible. The Paris correspondent of the London Times says:—Nothing can exceed the satisfaction of Count Buol at the conclusion of the treaty of the 15th of April—the Traité & trois—except it be the anger of the Russian Embassy at Vienna and the partizans of Russia, who are not few in number. Count Buol is ud of his work; it is his glory and his boast, a3 it proves that thore were in error who believed that the conclusion of the Paris conferences left Austria isolated from the West, and still more alienated from the North. The Russians, as I have said, are as furious at Vienna as at Paris. The Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem, has been purchased by a Madame Polack, the widow of a wealthy banker of the Hebrew persuasion at Konigs- berg, in Prussia, The cholera appears to be showing itself again in St. Petersburg. The daily mortality has risen from two or three to as many as twenty-one. The number of deaths that have already taken place is 304, The Giornale di Roma, of the Sth of May, pub- lishes a decree making further reductions in the customs tariff—in some cases to the amount 0% one- half the old duties, On the other hand, there is an increase of duty on various articles of luxury. An account presented to the English Parliament shows that the sums received into the Commissariat chest, between April, 1854,and March, 1855, amount- ed to £11,218,665, and the payments to £10,568,572, leaving a balance of £650,093, An English government bill proposes to remedy the inconvenience of the practice and procedure in the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, by tra ring its power, Cometh and jurisdiction to the Court_of Session, which will now be also the Court of Ex- chequer. ‘The French provincial journals are much ocenpied wih the scenes of devastation which their lovalities present, in consequence of the continued rise of the rivers inthe centre and south of France. Appre- hensions are felt that, when the riveis have retired within their natural limits, great damage will have been caused to the young crops. On May 16, the Saone had risen over the roads of the Barbe and Fontaines, and almost the whole of the Quai de Serin, and the entrepots of wine and wood. All the Mg de Ja Raleine, de St. Antoine, and des Celes- tine. aa well as the streets running from them as far 1 pa the Plage de lu Pucccohue, were oviapicucly upder water. The Rhone continued to rise. In many parts the waters were overflowing the quays on the right bank, and along the Quaide Retz all cizculation was cut off. The ¢ des Cordeliers and the Rnes Claudia ard Stella were complete lakes. Beams of wood and materials of all kinds were brought down by the torients. The Moniteur de la Cote d’Or states that the waters of the Brenne and the Arma- con flooded the plains of Laumes, Athie, Viserny and Genay. The Corriere Italiano of the 13th of May states that it is seriously in contemplation to undertake ex- tensive dredging operations on the Danube, and to deepen the bed of that river. The works wili com- mence cn the part between Presburg and Gonzo. An English parliamentary paper on Loan Socie- ties shows that the amount eres advanced and ee by depositors or shareholders 1a England and Wales, last year, was £220,337; the sums in borrow- ers’ hands at the close of the year, £328,471. An ukase of the late Emperor Nicholas of Russia, issued in 1850, requiring the Jews in goverpments of the empire to dof! the long-sairted garments, and wear coats of Western brevity, is now being carried out with all vigor and severity in Wilna. Kowno, Grodno and Minsk. Another por- tion of the same ukase requires Jewesses to wear their own hair, and discontinue the use of artificial topknots. The communication between St. Petersburg and Cropstadt by steamboat is not yet re-opened; row boats ply already between Oranienbaum and the fortress. The ice has commenced shifting on Lake Ladoga, end the effects of it commenceu showing” themselves in St. Petersburg on the 10th of May. ae flatness of trade still continucs in St. Peters- urge The London Times, of May 17, says:—Some of the Caletta and Bombay papers brought by the last mail state distinctly that orders have been sent out to India for the annexation of Hyderabad, in the Deccan, as soon as the Oude arrangements are complete. It 18 also stated with much coniidence in the Bombay papers that the preliminary steps have ay. been taken towards the absorption of Baroda. e are authorised to state that no such measure has ever been ordered, or even contem- plated. The abolition of the stamp duties on British newe- paners: and the substitution of @ postage charge, ave caused a decrease of about one fourth in the number of newspapers posted. There are still about seventy-one millions of newspapers per annum post- ed, or 200,060 per day. Of these much the larger proportion bear the impressed stamp. The Vagai Iraniie, the official journal of the Per- sian government, contains a singular article, being an appeal to the two great sects of Islam, the Sun- nites (Turks) and Shiites (Persians), exhorting them to reconciliation and union, so that there may be but one great Mussulinan people. The committee of the English House of Lords on the appellate jurisdiction ieecmumenda the ae of peers for life, for the purpose of forming a Court of Appeal to sit during the legal year. Two of these life peers, or two of the te Peers, are to bo deputy Ppenerm of the Honee, with o salary of £6,000 each. ‘The report is the unanimous recommendation of the committee. It is asserted that the French and Austrian g»vern- ments have agreed to prolong the occupation of the Papal dominions, but that the two great Catholic powers bave frankly stated to the Papal government that things cannot be allowed to remain in their present state. The governments of France and Austria have addreseed circulars to their agents at the Italian courts, stating that these Powers will not suffer any anarchical movements in Italy. By a departure from its uswal practice, which con- signs to upnoted obscurity foreign observations on Roman affairs, a portion of Lord Palmerston’s apeech on Italy bas been Teer ooed in the official journal of Rome. This, it is said, has been done at the express command of the Pope. A communication from St. Petersburg states that the Emperer had approved of the financial report of the city authorities, which shows that the receipts for the year were 1,978,636 silver roubles, and expenses 1,938,730 ditto. The first reports of Colonel Bourgeois, of the Swiss federal army, on the situation of Tessino, haye reached Berne. They point out a great im? ovement in the state of the public mind, which ad beon much excited by the judgment of the su- perior tribunal relative to the political assassination of Degiorgi. Under the appellation of Le Lixiviateur, a com- Ben has been started in Paris, under the auspices of i. Letebv:e Durutfie, to remedy what they’ call one of the most crying evils which the civilzed portion of the community labor under. The nymphs of the tub in Paris are addicted to treat the linen of their customers with a disrespect perfectly painful. Shirt fronts, instead of being treated with that deli- cate solicitude which thcy are entitled to, are speedily converted, by the rough handling of cs dames, into things of “shreds and patches.” M. Le- febre Durufle and his associates have taken pity on the victims of this method of cleansing, and the company they have founded will undertake the washing—or, as they more elegantly phrase it, the lixiviation—of linen, &c., on economic principles. An audacious robbery was lately committed in Spain—a picture of the Aseumption, generally ascrib- ed to Murillo, was taken from the high altar of the church of Mendiguren, near Vittoria. The Russian vessels which had been sunk at the entrance of the harbor of Sebastopol are very much injured by their submersion, owing to their having been built of fir instead of oak. Delegates from all the railway companies in Ger- many will assemble in conference at Frankfort on the 21st of July next. A secret society, called the Community of St. John, and formed for religious purposes, has just been discovered at Vienna, and eighty persons have Leen arrested. In Rome orders have been given to resume recruit- ing for the two foreign regiments in the service of the Holy See, and to increase the effective of the na- tive troops. The two foreign regiments at present consist of from 4,500 to 5,000 men. One of the bat- talions is in garrison at Rome. The arrest of M. Yon (writes the Paris corres- pondent of Le Nord,) former commissary of police to the Legislative Assembly, and devoted to General Changarnier, is spoken of. At the time of the General's arrest some very curious reports of M. You were found. Since the 2d December, 1851, the ex- commissary has not been employed, On May 21, a party of Mormons, comprising several families, inall 152 men, women and children, left London by the railway for Liverpool, there to embark, with other parties from different parts of the country, for Boston, whence they will proceed ta the promised land. The Piedmontese Chamber of Deputies has com- menced the discussion of the budget of the Minister of the Interior, amounting to 77,489,382fc., reduced. by the committee to 75,853,526fr. The Grand Duke of Tuscany has positively re- fared to conclude the Concordat so anxionsly in- sisted upon by the Holy Sec. The spring flect from the north of Scotland for Canada has taken out above 1,000 passengers to Canada this seaeon. Mostofthem are agricultural laborers and small farmers. The preamble to the budget presented to the Gen- eral Diet of Denmark states that the last war in the Duchies cost the treasury more than 60,000,000 rix dollars, and that the pub.ic expenses now amount to 22,760,000 rix doliars, being more by 5,500,000 than they were ten years ago. The Madrid Gazette contains royal decrees ree lieving Marshal O'Donnell from the presidency of the Council, which he held ad interim, owing to the visit of the Duke de la Victoria to Saragossa. The duke immediately after his arrival, had an audience of the Queen, to give an account of his journey. COMMENCEMENT OF THR VinGinta Mruirary In- suittth A Great Day IN PROSPECT, —' ted Inst week ‘hat the exerciees attendant upon tae gg commence- ment cf the Virginis Military Institue w uid be invest. ed With great addi ioral interest from the preseaes of Geverner Wise, ard the erection of the brorz statate of Waskiogten. [thas afforded us very bigh gratification to learn that another emioen’ attrac'ion will bs euperadded to thore before ailuded to. Hom. Lawrencs M Keltt, cf S uth Carolica, haa tonsented to addrees the literary roctetios cf the Institute, ard will do s> con the prespect of ro rich an intelle: % This broad Union easnot furnish two more faacica ing orators than Wire and Keitt, His bitwrest CS gem will at Terst acknowledge that the fi.ct can talk, and tak to. gore purpree, too, The latter i ng ‘man, but one whose re, utaii.n is already firmly éstablished for gema- ine elequence of the h'gheat clase. We chansed the oth- er¢ay to pick op Mirs Murrey’s book o2 tha Uni'ed Stotex, end found that Mr. name is promi nen‘iored by her as that of the most eloquent speaker whem she heard on the floor of Congress. Nov in thin all. He ix aman of the right stamp of Soutnern feeling, piitciple ond purpose, Boid, fearless and able, he has mace ‘Le abolition harpies who now infest the House of Repreentatives quail before his energetic and es thirg denunciations, To hear su ‘an atthis particular joneture of our poll ici &@ privilege whica een- not well be too much m and we anticipate for his sudiec ce eneb @ ecnecurs the pudlie ders of Lexingy co have never known.—Lexingion, (Va.,) Vailey Sars Nove. Feature—We have stated that the Na-) tienalGuaid, Cap'aia Lyle, wil eacamp for a week at Wabark, Lancaster county, from the 50°h of Jane untit® the 6tb of July, A wovel feature cf the affair wil be the publication of a daily pepe hy the Guard, *sen'y fireot whem sretypys. The types. press, &., wil! frm a part of their camp equi id the journal wil Acabtean prove a neat and Interesticg alfair.~ J’hilatelphia Bulle~ gin, dune 9,