Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 17th September 1859, Edition 2 of 3, Page 9, FOREIGN INCIDENTS. Missionakt Tactics in...

Page 9
Page 9
9 of 24

On this page

  • Text (4)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      _ * Aooipknt To The Sultan.~By A Su Ppos...

      culty The captain has been arrested , and Sir Henry Bulwer has assured the Government that the most searching inquiry shall be made . TnE Bey of Tunis . —The Bey of Tunis has been attacked with serious illness , and . the French physician had been summoned to his aid . A second message received from the above city states that he had been attacked with erysipelas in the left side , and that hopes were entertained of his recovery . Health of the King of Prussia . — " The King of Prussia , " says a letter from Berlin of the 10 th , " has become so much better that his Majesty is able to get tip every day , and even to walk without assistance . He sleeps well at night , and has a tolerable appetite . The intellectual condition of the King has also much improved , as his Majesty converses .

      No. 4q5. Sept. 17, 1859 ] The Lea Deb. ....

      No . 4 Q 5 . Sept . 17 , 1859 ] THE LEA DEB . ... 1053

      Foreign Incidents. Missionakt Tactics In...

      FOREIGN INCIDENTS . Missionakt Tactics in Japan . —The Vnivers has an interesting letter concerning Yedo a th e French visit of the embassy . The writ Mermet , says ¦ — - " We were in one of the quarters of the 356 governors and vice-governors . Eara palace is a long building , opening on the street by means of a large heavy door , and was lighted by small windows strongly barred . The architecture is very primitive , the only ornament of the exterior being large white or gray squares in relief : it resembled somewhat a prison or an arsenal . The servants are lodged in low wooden buildings opposite the palaces . Within the latter all is still as death : the guards point the way with their fingers without

      uttering a word . The richness and luxury of the interior contrasts in ail extraordinary manner with the outside . Exquisite lacquered work , covered with silver and gold , was seen on every side , and the floor was covered with mats of great fineness and beauty . Young lacqueys , dressed in their masters ' livery , moved , about as noiselessly as shadows . With us , ' said the Japanese host , ' the inside is always finer than the outside , a mandarin must not exhibit his wealth to the public eye , but in his own house he may indulge in as . much luxury as he can affords All this that you see is for the gratification of our friends , and those noble strangers ( with a gracious inclination of the head ) who honour us the chain

      with their company . ' At the end of long of palaces was the pagoda appropriated to the French Embassy , called ChimponkoudgV or the place of adoration of the spirits , but it was re-ehristened ' Franconden , ' the Frenclv Palace . . An amusing personage , named 'Issachindgiro , ' who had his head full of songs and his mouth full of wine , whenever the opportunity offered , presided over the ceremony . He made himself quite at home , for three days , and was anything but ascetic in his habits . " He had been the spy of the Governor of Simoda ; but when Commodore Perry visited Japan , this facetious gentleman was presented as the Prince of Idzan , and his portrait engraved and inserted in the magnificent volume containing , according to the writer of the letter , a rather free account of the expedition . The correspondent , who , th

      by the way , is an apostolic missionary , en gives a long account about its being necessary that the French Ambassador should be borne to his house in a chair , carried by twelve men dressed in peculiar costumes , with tri-colored hats , and preceded by the French flag . This extraordinary exhibition staggered the poor Japanese Governor , as well it mighty but the missionary was inflexible , and so Baron Gros went home in his coach and twelve ; with the French standard displayed in the breeze , and his auito following in fifteen other cljairs ; and the people of Yedo were astonished at the honour paid to the French ( by themselves ) , and the missionary apostolic was a happy man , for he had managed everything , and had , by the twelve masquerade drosses , and twelve tri-coloured hats , shown the Japanese , to quote his own words , " that the representative of Franco was not a kind of barbarian

      coming to beg a favour at the court of xodo , m the name of a few traders . " This may have been all very polite , but it certainly was a queor aflair for a missionary to be engaged in . Canton , Past anjd Prksknt . — -He might havo passed incognito through the streets of the- great anil busy city ho had so lately governed , trembling often lost braves without and conspirators from within might snatch it from his grasp , and see how it is now hold by a handful of foreign troops , so oasily and

      unconcernedly that from streofc to street a . couple of marine police , armed with a switoh , hoop perfect order , and give security to all the thousands of the bustling throng of shopkeepers , street vendors , and still more numerous purchaser * . Their occasional presence is enough , and in this city , which no iprolgnor might pollute with his presence , English officers * eoldiers , and civilians on horseback , in chairs , and on foot , are ever passing to and fro , anil tuo Chinaman looks up from his work to notice tliom aa they pass $ nna if a Coolie meets you , his only notice is the removal of his broad bamboo hat .

      that it may not incommode the foreigner . Children , that used in all the suburbs to be taught by their elders to spit out terms of abuse , the gentlest of which was " fankwei , " or ' - ' . foreign devil , " now hail the humblest private as " taipan , " or " chief , "Jtnd , with outstretched palm , sometimes insinuate tKat a "kumshaw , " or copper cash gratuity , would be by no means disdained or unacceptable . A goodly and a pleasant change for the better , no one can doubt , by whatever evil purchased ; and clearest prqof that the long-nurtured hostility of the Cantonese population was of entirely factitious growth , due absolutely and entirely to the machinations of mandarins , and a part of the confirmed policy of the Court at Pekin . Even the admission of foreigners into the city , we now see , might at any time at their option have been granted .

      Sundat in Hong Kong . —A correspondent describing the church-going in this colony , enlarges upon the crinoline and kindred absurdities which are as much fostered there as in Europe , and adds : — " The rougher sex took it coolly in white jackets and trousers . I was told of an odd but significant incident during Divine service on Sunday morning , when a gun announced the arrival of an expected English mail steamer . Several sudden cases of toothache , stomachache , and other excuses for leaving church occurred ; but strange enough , only amongst gentlemen . who were interested in the prices current . On our way down to the club to tiffin we passed a small party of soldiers , marching gravely from the Roman Catholic church , with white cotton umbrellas over their heads—oddlooking enough , but very sensible . By the by , a company of Royal Artillery , lately arrived , was furnished with umbrellas before leaving England , at a cost to John Bull of 21 s . each . Here

      _ ihey are to be had for a dollar 1 The Sunday at Hong Kong is only honoured by those who choose to honour it . English tradesmen close their stores but John Chinaman pursues his avocations , whatever they may be , and public . or private buildings are worked at as on week days ; hence the Sunday quiet , so grateful to Englishmen , is not to be found here . A soldier ' s funeral took place here to-day , the body being carried to ' . the Happy Valley in a one-horse hearse , followed by the deceased ' s comrades on foot . A Chinaman holds a contract for carrying bodies to the graveyard , . at one dollar each ; and , sad to say , he makes a good thing of it . The graveyard is full of stone monuments , most of them erected by regiments or ships' companies , to the memory of comrades died , killed , or drowned on the station . The Roman Catholics have not displayed their usual taste in their graveyard , the Protestant one being in all respects more properly kept , and some care shown in the planting of trees , & c . "

      The Mahometan Agitation in the Punjaub . — About a fortnight ago a fakeer was arrested in the Sealkote district with some treasonable papers in his possession , evidently intended for circulation among Mahomedans . It was naturally inferred that this man must have some accomplices , and must have passed through the centre of the Punjab . Then the man himself confessed that he had one or more confederates still at large . This led to stringent inquiries at Lahore and Umritair , in consequence of which several persons had been arrested on suspicion in the Lahore and Jullumlur districts . The other day information was received at Lahore that one of these emissaries had crossed over from Umritsir , and search was made for him in all

      the mosques and " tukyas , " i . e ., places where fakecrs live . About the same time it was found that the Mahometans of Lahoro were full of stories of the birtlx of the prophet Iman Mehndeo , and expected that a revolution was at hand . This idea was unfortunately encouraged by the publication of this story by the vernacular newspapers down country . The account , too , was accompanied by a portrait of the- prophet . There is no doubt that the story was eagerly credited and canvassed by the religious section of the Lahoro Mahomedans . The sermons preached at the mosques on the last Eed contained allusions calculated to unsettle men ' s minds ; and the authorities were informed that the priests at the mosques were tolling the people of a coming revolution , and the like . As the seditious talk had

      bocome rather more open and more frequent within the last fortnight than heretofore , it was determined to treat the matter as a misdemeanour , and to prosecute a few of those foolish talkers . Four persons havo boon accordingly put on their trial . One man has been fined and placed on security for seditious talk . Another man has boon imprisoned for throe mouths and sentenced to a fine , fur having in his possession a papor intended for circulation at the coming Mohurum festival , predicting the advent of fresh troubles in Hindostan , and political disturbances generally . Such , briefly , are the facts . There are no truces of any conspiracy , nor the slightest cause for alarm . Tho prosoni affair is only ono of those slight gusts which periodically ogitato tho surface of Mahomodan society , — Lahore Chroniolo .

      India, - , . • 'And Indian Progress.

      INDIA , - , . 'AND INDIAN PROGRESS .

      The Great Trigonometrical Survey. The Gr...

      THE GREAT TRIGONOMETRICAL SURVEY . The Great Trigonometrical Survey was established about fifty years ago ; but there are very few who are at all acquainted with its details , which have remained official knowledge alone for nearly half-acentury . Its science and its maps have both come out piecemeal , and not the whole of either as yet . If any one who has complete access to the records of Captain Thuillier ' s office in Calcutta , or that of Colonel Waugh in Dehra Doon , would give a general account of the whole proceedings , well stocked with references , and abounding in short but clear statements with reference to time , place , and persons , he would confer an obligation even on the class of men who seek general information , and have no pretensions to scientific attainments .

      A few years ago Colonel Everest published a quarto volume , full of figures , to describe the measurement of an arc of meridian . A great many of our readers have about as much notion of what all this is for as the natives ,, twenty years ago , had of the railroad . In England the policeman often drags the wheel along the streets to test a disputed cab-fare , and he will swear to the absolute accuracy of his result ; and why five or six engineer officers , with as many assistants , arid several natives , and a

      large apparatus of tents » bars , microscopes and theodolites , should be required to measure a base line of seven or eight . miles , and call it a . good progress when they make three or four hundred feet aday , would puzzle many as much as to conceive what it could be all for when done . Upon the simple but accurate measurement of the base line , however , depends a whole network of triangles , often extending over hundreds of miles . And an accurate measurement can only be obtained by the most rdfined calculations in astronomy . L

      We fancy it will be a good many years yet before the survey will be completed . As the limits of our empire have been increasing so has the work . The Ordnance Survey of England and Ireland was commenced 4 « ng before Colonel Lambton measured Ms first base in the Deccan—and that survey is yet going on . Mark the difference between the area of Indiaand that of Great Britain and Ireland , and it will be seen what an extensive field yet remains to be embraced by the operations of" the survey . C olonel Waugh , the present Surveyor-General of India , writing on this important point , says :

      —r-" With regard to the duration of the survey , it has been already remarked by the late Colonel Blacker , that the question depends on the strength of the establishment employed ; which statement is true within certain limits defined by the power of suj > ervision and training . The chief point is the rate per square mile , which I have shown to be on an average 15 s . 4 d . The survey has been about forty-eight years in operation , chiefly on a small scale . Now , as the area of India exceeds Great Britain and Ireland some twelve times , we have , comparatively speaking , been' only four years at work . Since the commencement , the object in view has perpetually extended . Successive wars havo added continual accessions of territory to be surveyed . The lato wars alone have given new kingdoms , with no less additional surface than 109 , 827 square miles , as will bo apparent from the following

      statement : — . Scindo 60 , 240 square miles . Jolander , Doab , and Kohistnn 10 , 400 „ Protected Sikh and Hill States ' } j >> * ° Z " Tho Punjub Proper 78 , 000 „ Total ... 100 , 827 " Tho limits of our ompirc , however , appear to havo been at length reached . Tho total area of British India , as it now stands , including Scindo , Punjab , Jalandor , Doab , and Tenasaenm has > boon at 8007 / 58 miloaand tho

      carefully estimated , square , nativo states at 508 , 442 square miles , making a grand total of 1 , 300 , 200 square milos . as tho area of survey imdoif my charge . A complete delineation of this vast superficial extent , amounting to ono and one-third million of Bquaro milos , confined within an oxtornal boundary of 11 , 800 milon in length * including every variety of configuration and climate , ia an undertaking of unprecedented magnitude , demanding considerable tjmo to accomplish with any pretensions to mathematical accuracy . Tho exortioua hitherto mado havo boon unremitting , ana it Is but just to say that tho progress has boon , generally speaking , aa honourable to tho ofBcora

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 17, 1859, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_17091859/page/9/