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stricfed to the coast and the immediate
vicinity of the Treaty Ports, but the great
barriers which recently forbade or deterred
efforts to reach the interior, are now partial
ly, and almost wholly removed. The sup
pression of the great “ Tai Ping” Rebellion
and a more liberal policy on the part of the
Imperial Government have opened up the
highways of China to the Prince of Peace,
and vast numbers of the people, especially
those in the great valley of the Yang Tsz ,
where the “ abomination of desolation ”
stood the longest, are willing and ready to
welcome his advent. Having sought and
round refuge, during tho desperate years of
’62, ’63 and ’64, in the sea ports, where the
foreign flag , brazen-serpent like, assured
and protected them from future harm, they
have at last returned to their homes, which
foreign powers, too, restored them ; but they
have not been permitted to return »s they
came. Missionaries, early appreciating the
wonderful opportunities their presence af
forded of extending the influence of Chris
tianity, took ad vantage thereof and the result
is, they have returned carrying with them
kind if not grateful remembrance of their
contact with foreigners ; and in numerous
instances, “■ impressed with the truth of
Christianity, and bearing with them its pre
vious seeds.
Throughout this vast Province and even
beyond, not less apparent and perhaps not
less real the change wrought in the hearts
and minds of the people than upon their
homes and country. And now that such a
marvellous change has been effected in
Government and people, and this extensive
valley, once more populous than thb whole
United States, been thrown open to our
coming, with here and there throughout its
extent a Christian Church member ready to
welcome the Missionary, and make his house
a sanctuary for Christian worship, and his
family and relatives a nucleus of future suc
cess, who can ignore the indications of
Providence, or say that this is not a field
peculiarly prepared and white with the har
vest ? Oh ! that we were prepared to enter
and occupy it fully. Already have Christian
colporteurs gone before us and circulated
numberless tracts and books, but the great,
■*the pressing, imperative want is men, both
foreign and native, to perfect the work alrea
dy wrought abd perpetuate the saving influ
ence which begun during their captivity at
Shanghai. I have been endeavoring by
means of a system of weekly and monthly
itinerations to supply, in a small measure,
instruction and preaching to those of our
little Church who have returned to their
homes in the interior, and I find it both a
more extensive and hopeful work than that
immediately at Shanghai, where there is so
much to conflict with and modify the influ
ence of our teachings.
Here in this place daily public and pri
vate preaching and teaching have been
maintained for years, until there are but
fdw who have not learned the name of Jesus
and more or less of his doctrines ; but a deep
deep seems to have fallen upon this people,
an oblivious indifference, from which all
efforts seem vain to awake them, and the
time very nearly if not quite arrived when
Missionaries shall be called to shake off the
dust of this city from their feet as a testi
mony against them and proceed whither the
'Lord seems directing them.
The lloman Catholics, alive to the pres
ent emergency seem destined to overrun the
country. With an agency and energy pe
culiar to themselves they outstrip us all;
and the recent concessions of the Govern
ment in their favor will go £ir toward estab
lishing the influence of the Pope “ under
heaven,” as the Chinese say, of tho Empire
1 have not yet been able to ascertain,
whether the Catholics demanded it, or
whether official representations moved the
Government tq take the initiative in this
matter; be that as it may, the Roman hier
archy or Priesthood in Chiua find themselves
suddenly elevated among the Chinese to
official rank and station equal with that of
the Magistrate of a third class or district
city, and their bishops in contact and com
munication with the higher Mandarins of
the Empire. The alleged object of this
movement, whether originating with the
Priesthood or the government, is to guaran
tee and secure the execution of the law and
punishment of crime which often finds a
refuge and hiding place in that Church.
Their numbers are considerable, amounting
to several hundred thousand, and as they
arc more or less in contact with their
foreign spiritual guides, Chinese officials,
since the experience of the last war, have
been exceedingly cautious of conflict with
them ; hence many Chinese criminals, not
adherents of the Church, often seek it and
aVail themselves of it as a shield from tho
law. The present movement therefore seeni3
to be somewhat mutual: the Catholic Church
claims the right to adjust all difficulties
arising in the Church or between adherents
and non-adherents and the Government
have conceded the demand, and officially
proclaimed them Mandarins. How char
acteristic this wholo matter of the subtlety
and greed of power on the part of the one,
artd the reticence and timidity of the other.
It remains, however, still to be seen what
influence this new inauguration of power is
to haye on the future destinies of this coun
try, whether the “Son of Heaven,” or the
cause of Protestant Christianity be the ulti
mate victim
About the close of last year or beginning
of this, two Catholic Priests were mntdere i
in the remote Province of Sz Churn, at
the instigation of the literati , who were as
sembled for their annual examinations, and
a more horrible and extensive mas-snore, has
been recently perpetrated in Corea, a small
tributary kingdom to the north -east<*f China.
Recent intelligence from the North of
China, Peking and Che-foo, intimates that
a lively sympathy has been manifested for
the victims of the recent Corean prosecu
tion, and that measures will be forthwith
taken, especially by the French, to avenge
these wrongs and throw open that hitherto
unknown region to the commerce of Foreign
Nations. Most important results are antici
pated to flow from this blood-thirsty out
rage, and especially from the part the French
are expected to act in view of it. “ Blood
is thicker than water,” said Commodore
Tatnall at the battle of the Pei ho, on see
ing his men go to the assistance of the
wounded English Admiral and his brave
boys ; and this bloody event, we may safely
say, is the cement of the Church, a crown
ing stroke and pledge bf her success in that
region. Already great inducements are be
ing offered to emigration and exploration.
The country is described as being beautiful
ly situated and abounding in gold and sil
ver.
“ One town situated on a hill is said to be
built on a silver rniue of nearly pure ore.
Nearly all the rivers contain gold dust, and
gold has been found at a few feet from the
surface in many parts of the country. One
of the French Missionaries, formerly in
California, has given it as his opinion that
Corea is much richer in gold and silver than
California or Sonora. The Government
prohibits all search for gold, etc., except lor
its own use.’’
Such statements as the above are current
rumor here, and though evidently circulated
without scrupulous regard to their truth,
are producing a sensation. Trade in this
p’ace is excessively dull, and there are num
bers here ready to avail themselves of the
first opportunity to emigrate to this new El
Dorado.
It is now mid summer here and the heat,
is quite oppressive. So far, however, we
have not been visited this year with any
plague or epidemic. A few cases of sun
stroke have occurred—three were reported
yesterday, the 2d August. Cholera has
occurred, but of milder type and less alarm
ing than formerly. Indeed, Shanghai is
one of the most healthful regions iu all
China, early impressions to the contrary
notwithstanding. Dysentery and diarrhoea
are our most common and fatal diseases;
fevers are almost unknown —except inter
mittent, and rare cases of what has been
called Shanghai fever.
Our Mission families are in good health
at this time.
I shall, I think, be able hereafter to make
regular communication of any items of in
telligence or news, which may come into
my possession in this far off region, that
may interest your readers.
1 would not complain, but I must suggest
that your Missionaries here begin to feel
most keenly, the great neglect and silence
with which they have been treatel. It is
now the 3d of August, and not a paper or
letter, except a few private ones, from per
sonal friends, has been received. We should
have been in blissful ignorance of nil that
has been going on in the Bouth, in the
Church especially, had it not been for the
few items gleamed from “ unwelcome
sources.”
[have seen “The Methodist,’’of New
York, and hence am more or less acquainted
with the proceedings of the (General Con*
fercnce, but far above “The Methodist’’ I
esteem your noble sheet, and hope ere loug
to see it once again on my table.
With prayers and best wishes for you and
your enterprise, I remain,
Yours affectionately,
Young J. Ar4.Es.
Shanghai, China, Avgust 3d, 1866.
~ ■ ' ■—
EUROPEAN LETTER.
From Lyons to Strasburg, you pass
through many fertile valleys, bounded by
precipitous mountains of considerable height.
At Mill house I stopped a few hours to look
through that interesting manufacturing city
of 60,000 inhabitants. Here I find large
warehouses filled with American cotton.
From the ragged and soiled appearance of
the bales it looked as if it had run the block
ade. I doubt not some of it was hid in the
swamps of Carolina and Georgia to escape
the torch of Sherman’s army.
Millhousc is one of the greatest manufac
turing cities in France. The mills are
turned mainly by water conveyed through
canals from the river 111, which flows in the
suburbs of the city. The operatives do not
live hi houses near the factories as with us,
but many of them come from small villages
for miles around, bringing with thorn their
scauty meals. The most of the mills are
employed in the manufacture of cotton
prints and muslins. It is said that the
quantity of prints manufactured here ex
ceeds that of any other city in the world.
The goods are of a very superior quality
and have a fine reputation in Paris and oth
er large cities. There are a number of
mills for the spinning of cotton, hut in this
article they find it difficult to compete with
the English manufactories.
Here is a manufacturing town that labors
under the great disadvantage, of having to
transport the raw cotton from America,
8000 miles by water, and 500 miles through
France by rail, with the further disadvan
tages of a great scarcity of coal and wood.
Our manufacturers have the raw material at
their very door —water, coal, and wood in
abundance, provisions cheap—and yet the
cry is ptoteetion! protection! The time
will come when the high lands of the South
ern Stales will become the great manufac
turing districts of the world —cheap labor
will find it* way South from the over-crowd
ed States of the old world. What we want
I now is a united and stable government—a
1 government that will protect life, liberty
and property. It matters not so much
whether we have a King ora democratic
President, so that we* have wise rulers.
Capital will go where it is protected and
yields the largest return. Scarcely a gener
ation has passed away since the first bale of
SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.
cotton was shipped from America to En
gland. A hundred years will work won
derful changes in our great republic. The
North American States will drain Europe
and Asia, not only of their surplus popula
tion, but of the vast wealth which has been
for so many ages accumulating.
We are now at Straeburg. This was for
merly a German free independent eity.
Louis the XLV seized it in time of peace
and annexed it to France—but this unwar
rantable act did not make Frenchmen of
the people of Strasburg. They look Ger
man and generally speak the German lan
guage —French is taugh* in the schools.
The greatest attraction in Strasburg is the
celebrated cathedral with its lofty spire, on
which busy mechanics have been at work
for 6UO years, and have not yet reached the
height of the ambitious architect. The ca
thedral is one of the finest Gothic edifices
in Europe. Its spire is the highest in the
world. It is 30 feet higher than the jyr
amids of Egypt and 130 feet higher than
St. Paul’s, London.. This is one of the church
steeples I did not have the to climb,
as I was informed people occasionally drop
ped through the open work, falling a dis
tance of some 500 feet. The Rishops have
found it necessary to issue many indulgences
to procure money ft) build the “Notre
Dame’’ or cathedral of Strasburg. The
church is decorated with so mo tine statues
ar.d numerous paintings. Its extreme
height has made it a mark for the lightning,
and it has been struck more than a dozen
times. In 1654, the spire was entirely de
molished by lightuing, but was soon restored.
In 1728 an earthquake came near shaking
it to the ground. Its stained windows are
beautiful. One of them is unusually large,
being 50 feet in diameter. In 1703, a year
long to be remembered throughout France,
the cathedral fell into the hands of the Ja
cobins. They caused several hundred stat
ues of Kings and Saints to be cast into the
streets and liver, and converted the church
into an arsenal and commissary store. The
cut of the Jacobin sabre is to be seen on
many statues, paintings and church altars,
not only in Strasburg but in Paris and other
cities.
In the cathedral is an astronomical clock
almost as celebrated as the tall spire. Three
German professors spent a lifetime in trying
to perfect it, but did not complete their
worx. It is called “ the clock of the three
sages.” This celebrated clock has racked
the brain of the German mathematicians
for 300 years, and was finally perfected by
Schwilgne who is now a resident of Stras
burg. It shows the hour, day of the week,
of the month, the year and many Church
celebrations. Precisely at 12 o’clock its
full mechanism is set in motion. At that
hour, the crowd is generally so great it re
quires a number of police to preserve order.
The figure of Death is surrounded by four
figures—representing the four ages of life.
Childhood strikes the first quarter —Youth
the second —Manhood the third and decrep
it old age the fourth (on the continent the
the clock always strikes each quarter of the
hour). As Death strikes the hours, Youth
turns over the hour glass that he holds in
his hand. At noon, the twelve Apostles
pass, bowing before Christ, as they pass,
one at a time. Our Saviour lifts his hand
to bless them. During that time a cock
which is perched on the right flaps his
wings,and crows three times. Mr. Schwilgne
has recently added an ecclesiastic compute
with all its indications, presenting also the
revolutions and eclipses of the sun, and
moon for an indefinite time. As ari intri
cate and fine piece of workmanship the old
c'ock surpasses anything I have yet seen.
Perhaps, to the majority of Awiericans, it
looks like an unnecessary expenditure of
time and labor. It proves, however, what
skill and mechanism can produce.
Strasburg is about as celebrated L.r its
Pads de foie gras , as for its tall spire and
wonderful clock. The pates are made from
the livers of geese which are enlarged to an
immense size by shutting the geese in coops
too narrow to allow them to turn, stuffing
them three times a day with maize made in
to paste and steeped in sulphur water to in
crease the appetite.
The lager beer of Strasburg is very fine, the
hop from which it is made grows to a great
height in the valleys of tho 111,and the Rhine.
One guide pointed out the place where 2000
Jews were burned in 1348. They were ac
cused of having poisoned the wells and
fountains, causing tho plague which desola
ted the city about that time. For nearly a
century no Israelite was permitted to live or
worship in the town. Now every one is
free to worship under his own vine and fig
tree. Religious toleration is general,
throughout Fiance. Those who choose to
keep their shops open and work qn the Sab
bath can do so. A true Catholic never fails
to go to mass Sabbath morning. Searching,
stinging poverty, makes it necessary for the
poor to labor on the seventh day of the week.
With us wo make a great show in the ob
servance of the Sabbath, by requiring the
stores and places of business, to be closed.
A conscientious who shuts his shop on
his Sabbath, is abo required to close on the
Christian Sabbath, while the mammoth rail
roads and steamships, employing thousands of
tnen and women, are permitetd to run extra
trains on Sunday. This looks to me like
straining out a gnat, and swallowing a cam
el. Perhaps the public authorities are of
the opinion that corporations have no souls
to be saved or punished.
Strasburg is regarded one of the strong
est fortified cities in France. The arsenal
contains 175,000 stand of arms, 1000 can
non There is a cannou factory* here, and
one of the largest depots of artillery to be
found in France. The country around the
city, between the Rhine and the 111, can be
laid under water —thus rendering Strag
burz, alnfost unapproachable by an army.
Louis Napoleon nqide an unsuccessful effort
to in 1836. The river 111,
runs through it, forming canals over which
there are numerous bridges to connect the
different quarters of the city. It is a place
of considerable commerce, and has numerous
manufactories of cloth, linen, carpets, to
bacco, beer, ale, &c. It is connected with
the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, by
canals, and with the North Sea by the
Rhine. The city is surrounded by a strong
wall. At 10 o’clock the gates are closed,
and neither ingress nor egress is allowed.
We visited the Cathedral of St. Thomas
(Protestant) to see the monument of the
famous Marshal Saxe, erected to his memo
ry by Louis XV. It represents the Mar
shall descendinz to the grave, while
France personified in a female figure is en
deavoring to detain him, and at the same
time to stay the threatening advance of
Death. In this church are deposited in
metallic coffins, covered with glass, two bodies
said to be of a count and his daughter. It
is a disgrace to humanity, to exhibit to
strangers such disgusting spectacles. \V hen
I was a boy in the mountains of Georgia, I
rode 24 miles a cold December day to see a
man hung up by the neck until he was
dead, dead, dead ! From that day to this
I have been haunted by that poor fellow. I
presume I shall be haunted the .balance ot
my life by the horrid Strasburg monuments.
G. W. W.
Strasburg, August Is/, 1866.
Dittos of t|e Mtch.
FOREIGN NEWS.
(bt the cable.)
Berlin, Oct. 25.—The treaty between Prussia
and Saxony has been fully ratified. Pursuant
to its provisions Saxony is to pay ten millions
florins. The army of Saxony has already been
dissolved.
Baden, Oct. 25.—The House of Deputies has
rejeced proposed alliance with Prussia.
Paris, Oct 25. —Rumors are current that
changes arc imminent in the French Cabinet.
Her threatened rupture is Caused, it is said, by
the Emperor’s insisting oa the negotiation of
large loans It is now said that tho French
troops will leave Rome in December.
Vienna, Oct. 25. Field-Marshal Bcncdek
has been placed on the retired list.
Florence, Oct. 2G.—Victor Emmanuel will
make his formal entry into Venice on the 7th of
November.
Constantinople, Oct. 26.—The Sultan of Tur
key has formally recognized the ilospodar, and
given him a reception at his palace.
London, Oct. 29 —lt is said that the relations
between Austria and Russia are assuming a
menacing character. The Times Bays that the
Russian Government is intriguing for a further
disintegration of Austria.
Paris , Oct. 29.—The project submitted by
France and England to the Spanish Government
for the settlement of the Chilian difficulty has
been approved by the Queen of Spain arfd her
mini-try.
Florence, Oct. 29.—An arrival from Candia
states that another great battle took place on the
llth inst. The Greeks report that the Turkish
army was repulsed.
MEXICAN NEWS.
Washington, Oct. 24.—Special dispatches
slate that (lie French Government has asked
for an extension of time for the withdrawal of
the first instalment of troops from Mexico, until
January first, offering in that case to wave tho
time allowed for the withdrawal of the remain
der, and remove all substantially at one time,
which proposition is not assented to.
Rcmors About Mexico.—A Washington dis
patch to the Boston Journal says: “Mexican
affairs are assuming a definite shape, and in
formation of the highest importance on that
subject will be made public in a day or two.
Treaties have been agreed upon, and arb now
under process of exchange. The French troops
and Maximilian withdraw this from Mexi
co. The United States assumes the protector
ate over the republic, guaranteeing the French
claims. In consideration, Mexico cedes to the
United States the peninsula of Lower Cali
fornia, and other territoiy south of our present
sou 1 h-west boundary.”
General Sheridan has addressed a letter to
Col. Sedgwick, commanding at Brownsville, in
structing him to warn all adherents of any par
ty, or pretending Government in Mexico, that
they will not be permitted to violate the Neu
tra ity Laws, as between the Juare? liberal Gov
ernment of Mexico, and the United States.
Fenian Excitement.
Col. Lynch and John McMahon, two of the
prisoners captured during the Fenian invasion
of Canada, have been sentenced in Toronto,
Canada, to be hung on the 13th December.
This has created great excitement among the
Fenians. They are demanding the intervention
of the United States Government. Despatches
are coming in from all parts of the province,
demanding that no mercy be shown to the con
victed Fenians. Mr. Seward has addressed a
letter to the British Minister in behalf of Lynch
and McMahon, in which he says that the United
States Consul at Toronto has been instructed to
procure, tor the information of the Government,
a copy of the record of the trial and conviction of
Lynch and McMahon, and also all further trials
and convictions of a similar character, which
shall take place in Canada. The Secretary
says, “ The President directs me to assure you
of his confident hope that her Majesty’s Govern
ment will not only cheerfully comply with the
request thus made, but that they will think it
proper a so to examine the judicial proceedings
aforesaid with a careful regard to the rights of
he United States, and to the maintenance of
good relations between the two countries. For
this reason it will be very gratifying to tho
President if you should be able to give me aa
assurance that the execution of the sentence*
pronounced upon convicted persons will be sus
pended, if occasion for delay shall arise in tho
manner before mentioned to make it desirable.
It is the opinioa of this Government that soval
policy coincides with the best impulses of a be
nevolent nature in recommending tendornooo,
amnesty and forgiveness in 6uch casos.”
Terrific Gale.
Turks Island, on the 30th of September, was
visited by a terrific hurricane, destroying over
eight hundred houses and their contents. Oxer
three thousand persons are rendered houseless,
penniless, and are almost naked. One hundred
and twenty thousand bushels of salt were swept
away, and’six foreign and twelve Island crafts
were lost, with twenty of their crews. The
center of the hurricane passed over the island
of New Providence on the first instant, and the
scene of wreck and devastation is marvelous
and very sad to see. More than half of Nassau
is in ruins. Most of the houses are unroofed,
many blown to pieces, and some moved bodily
from their foundations into the street. Churches,
houses and other buildings of solid stone, are
scattered as if by a bombardment. The trees
were destroyed, leaf and branch, ns if by a con
flagration. Nearly every vessel and boat is
sunk, or swept, high and dry, on the outer
islands The destruction of properly and the
consequent suffering is said to be dreadful.
Items —Gen. Sherman has had several inter
views with the President the past week. It is
rumored that he will be made ad interim Secre
tary of war, in Stanton's place—soon to retire.
He is reported to have written a letter to the
President, endorsing his policy. Gov. Orr
has authorized tho South Carolinian to say that
he is utterly and unequivocally opposed to the
Constitutional amendment, and will not recom
mend its adoption by the Legislature. The
President has ordered a pardon to issue to Ex-
Confederate Secretary of Treasury, Mr. Tren
holm. The State Department at Washington
has received a copy of the Spanish Royal de
cree, intending to make impossible, henceforth,
the prosecution of the African Slave Trade in
Cuba and Porto Rico, and provides for the
emancipation of every person who is in their
provinces, whenever they touch the peninsula
and adjacent islands. Late Montana advices
state that fifty Sioux Indians recently attacked
an encampment at the mouth of Milk River;
After five hours fighting, they were repulsed
with a loss of twenty-one killed; whites, four
killed and several wounded. A lengthy let
ter from Secretary Browning, addressed to a
committee at Quincy, Illinois, in response to an
invitation to deliver an address on political
topics, is published this morning. He argues
forcibly against the Constitutional amendment,
and in vindication of the President’s policy,
says it is his purpose as the Executive head,
to maintain and preserve the Constitution as R
is.——lt is reported that Gevernor Wells will
reconvene the Constitutional Convention of 1864.
He says he has assurances from leading mem
bers of Congress, that he will be sustained bf
force if necessary.
Market Reports.
Liverpool , Oct. 29 {h\ —Cotton steady, sales to
day 8,000 bales. Middling Uplands quoted at
15d.
The weather is unfavorable for breadstuffs.
Market firmer. Corn advanced.
London, Oct. 29th. —Consols quoted at 891-2;
U. S. Five-Twenties, 68 1-4
New York, Oct. 30 th. —Gold, $1.46 1-2; Ex
change, 109 3-4; Cotton dull, 38 l-2@40 1-2;
Flour firm, sl2 75@17; sales 300 bbls; Wheat,
l@3c. better; Corn 6@7c. higher; Oats,2@So.
higher ; Pork firmer, at $34 75.
New Orleans , Oct. 29.—Cotton unchanged;
market firmer; sales, 3,800 bales; Gold 148.
Mobile, Oct. 30.—Cotton sales to-day. 500
bales. Middling 35@36c; market quiet, de
mand limited.
BISHOP’S FUND.
The following amounts have been receivod
for the support of the Bishops, to Oct 29th :
Previously reported, $385 45
Americas—Rev. C. R. Jewett, 20 00
Upson—Rev. J. O. A Cook, 10 00
St James, Augusta—Rev. Geo. Kramer, 18 00
Campbellton—Rev. J. B. McGehee, 10 00
Franklin “ “ “ 8 00
Troup ** 20 00
Greenville—Rev. J. Blakely Smith, 80 00
$5Ol 45
Jos. S. Kky, Chairman.
To the Members of the Montgomery
Conference.
Trains from Selma to Blue Mountain ; distance
135 miles— fare, $9 45.
Stage from Blue Mountain to Jacksonville;
distance 10 miles—fare, $2 00.
Stage from Rome to Jacksonville; distance 60
miles—fare, $8 00.
Stage from Montgomery tri-weekly to Tallade
ga—fare, $lO 00.
Train from Tal’adega to Blue Mountain; dis
tance 25 miles—fare, $1 80.
Presiding F.lders please give us the names of
candidates for admission, also of locul brethren
coming up for ordination.
Ministers who expect to bring their wives to
Conference, must let us know in due time.
Ministers who do not expect to attend Con
ference, will do us a favor by letting us know
before Conference convenes. Ample provision
will be made for all.
_ L. M. Wilsoh.
Oct 26—3 w W. R. Kirk.
5