The Bangkok Recorder.

A Weekly journal will be issued from the printing office of the American Missionary Association, at the mouth of the Canal, "Klawng Bangkok Yai" It will contain such Political, Literary, Scientific, Commercial, and local intelligence, as shall render it worthy of the general patronage.

The Recorder will be open to Correspon- dents subject to the usual restrictions.

The proprietor will not be responsible for the sentiments of his correspondents.

No communication will be admitted un- less accompanied by the name of the Cor- respondent.

No rejected manuscript will be returned unless as a special favor.

Half Yearly9.00

Quarterly4.50

Extra Copies to Subscribers0.50

""Non. do$0.45

First, insertion-ten lines or half a square, and under, ONE DOLLAR and each additional line, FIVE CENTS.

Subsequent insertion, SEVENTY FIVE Cent, for ten lines, and each additional line, FIVE CENTS.

Advertisers must be particular to specify the number of insertions.

Standing advertisements as per Con- TRACTS.

Communications and remittances can be sent to the subscriber, or left at the store of Messrs. Virgin & Co.

Chinese Summary.

Since the date of the last report the pirates have been growing more and more enterprising. It is not too much to say that a vessel of small size can scarcely leave Hongkong by the wind- ward passage without falling a victim to the predatory junks, which infest the creeks and hidden bays of the in- tricate coast. If she be a very fast sailer and can run into the wind, she may escape; if she be heavily armed and filled with men, she may beat off any junks which attack her, though the pirates have now been rendered daring by their success and continual- ly board ships under fire. If they once get near enough to throw stink pots, further resistance on the part of the vessel attacked seems useless. On the 1st a piratical attempt was made at Aberdeen (on the south side of the is- land of Hongkong,) but the buccaneers do not seem to have had such good information as usual, and boarded some worthless native boats. H. M. S. Ad- venture was in the bay and succeeded in making a few prisoners. On the night of the 2nd a very daring attack was made on a water boat belonging to Messrs. LANE, CRAWFORD & Co. lying within the harbor limits, off the new Mint. The pirates came on board stealthily, battened down the crew and hoped to be altogether unmolested, but the master, although a prisoner in his cabin, contrived to make so much noise that he roused the attention of the men on board a neighbouring water boat, who came to his assistance and fought the pirates hand to hand, obtaining the victory in the end after a severe struggle. Five bodies have since been washed ashore, and it is supposed that they are bodies of pir- ates, engaged in this enterprise who were killed in the fight. On the 5th the Nuevo Lepanto a Spanish brig left Hongkong for Macao. In the ev- ening she was attacked by two pirates junks, near Lantao, and though the Captain tried to keep them off by his fire, they ran him on board, and threw stink pots. Officers and crew had to beat a precipitate retreat in their boats. As a general rule the pirates content themselves with ransacking a ship. They then leave her to her original owners, but in this case, they set sail, and carried off the prize altogether. Her legitimate crew returned to Hong- kong in the boats. Next morning a Hamburg brig came in and reported having seen the Nuevo Lepanto cru- ising about outside with the Spanish flag still flying. A Spanish war steam- er then went in search of her, found her and brought her in, the pirates deserving their capture at the first signs of danger. On the 10th, the schooner Chin-chin was beating out of the Ly- ee-moon when she was attacked and captured in the usual way. In this case the pirates left the vessel as soon as they had plundered her, and her crew, who had taken refuge meanwhile in the foretop, brought her back to harbor. The details of the piratical successes become uninteresting from their monotony. It seems to be re- cognised as an inevitable decree of providence, that almost all small ves- sels leaving Hongkong should be rob- bed, if they are worth robbing, and unprovided with a battery of Arm- strong guns. Meanwhile the gunboats make captures now and then, but fail to reduce the evil to any appreciable extent. On the 12th the g. b. Opos- sum went into Macao reporting that she had destroyed a fleet of fifteen piratical junks. It does not appear, however, that she made any prisoners, and the junks will no doubt be easily replaced. Piracy in these waters is too remunerative to be neglected for want of capital, and it is commonly supposed that without going away from Hongkong, it would be possible to find the money for replacing any number of vessels which the British gunboats may destroy. At present, the gunboats, even when they capture men, do not know what to do with them. The local mandarins, if given up to them, either torture or let them go, being governed entirely by the sol- vency of the pirates and their friends. If they are brought to Hongkong, na- tive traders here engage counsel on their behalf, every advantage is taken of the obscurity which must necessarily hang over the evidence of their guilt (as they are seldom caught in fla- grante delicto) and nine times out of ten they escape and resume operations in triumph.

From the North there have been exciting accounts of rebel movements and European measures for defence. At Hankow, especially, there has been great apprehension. On the 23rd of January, a meeting was held under the presidency of Mr. Medhurst the Consul, at which it was resolved to form a volunteer artillery corps. The foreign community does not number 200, and of course in the event of a serious attack by the Nienfei, there would not have been much chance for the settlement, although with an ef- ficient garrison, it would be impregna- ble. The Chinese have built a wall which embraces it completely, touch- ing the river at both ends. There is a ditch fifty feet wide, a vast embank- ment faced with granite, but unfortu- nately no troops on which the slight- est reliance could be placed. The greatest danger in which the commun- ity stood, was from the revolted sold- iers of the Imperial Army. A large body of these men, 6,000 strong (dri- ven to rebellion by want, their pay being eighteen months in arrears,) rose and captured a place called Sungpoo, about 80 miles from Hankow. They afterwards formed a junction with the Nienfei, and took the towns called Wang-chow and Wang-po, respectively 50 and 30 miles from Hankow. De- tachments began to scour the country in all directions burning villages and plundering the inhabitants. The po- pulation flocked to Hankow, and al- though when the last accounts left that place, it was said that the panic was subsiding, refugees continued to pour into the town.

The census returns of Hongkong made up to the 31st of December, 1865, have been published in the Govern- ment Gazette. It appears that the population of the island is 125,504; of these 2,084 are Europeans and Amer- ican (1,142 men, 467 women and the rest children). "Goa, Manila, Indian and others of mixed breed" number 1,645. Details of the census will be found in another page Trade Report.

(From the "Hankow Times" of Feb- ruary 3rd.)

Hankow is actually in a state of siege, the wall is in its entire length feebly manned, tents and flags are seen at uniform distances along it, and throughout all hours of the day and night the sound of cannon is heard booming through the air. The gates are shut, and the refugees from the country flock in for protection by a narrow space on the extreme edge of the river bank between barricades formed of sandstone hastily thrown up, whilst a perfect exodus of the natives of the town itself took place in the middle of the week. Such as they are, the defences of Hankow are com- plete. Against an unarmed force, as the Nienfei are known to be, they may avail some-what, if the soldiers on the wall can be kept in face of the enemy when it arrives. Against any deter- mined attack by armed troops, and those even Chinese, the defence af- forded by the wall and the troops on it is simply ridiculous. From all Chinese sources, we must infer that the hordes of Nienfei are countless in number.

The jugglery of Spiritualism.

Well meaning persons have some- times been perplexed by the marvels wrought by the mountebank professors of spiritualism. It would be good for such folks to consider the revelations made in the case of one Dr. Colches- ter, who was sued by the Collector of Internal Revenue, at Rochester, N. Y., because he had refused to take out li- cense as a juggler. The case was tried in the U. S. District Court, and able counsel contested it on both sides for two days, so that the investigation was thorough and exhaustive. No better subject could have been selected than this Colchester. He was published as the chief among the mediums: such men as John W. Forney, members of Congress, lawyers, and doctors, men of national reputation for wisdom and shrewdness, certified that he excelled all others in the wonderful feats that he performed, and that there was no possible way of accounting for them, except by ascribing them to the spirits. He would do all that tipping, rapping, writing, speaking, music-playing me- diums could do-—do all that the Da- venports pretended to do, and much more. Many smart, keen men had tried to detect the deceiver, but failed, and all seemed dumbfounded by the mysterious performer. He would an- swer questions handed him in sealed envelopes, without opening them, pro- cure messages from departed friends, and, most wonderful of all, the names of the departed would appear upon his arm in blood-red characters.

What now was the result when these extraordinary pretensions came to be sifted in a court of law? It appears that professional jugglers were sum- moned for the prosecution, and they testified that these were tricks of jug- glery with which they were familiar; that they could do all that Colchester could, by sleight-of-hand; and, more- over, two of them testified that Col- chester had proposed to enter into partnership with them, and go in for a large business in spiritual manifesta- tion, and make piles of money, not pre- tending to deny that the whole thing was a deception and fraud, but prefer- ring to work under the guise of spir- itualism, because that took better a- mong the people than jugglery, and consequently was more profitable. It was proved that Colchester opened the envelopes and read the questions which he answered by a peculiar sleight-of- hand; that he wrote the blood-red letters on his arm by a process known to jugglers, and did all his marvelous feats by similar acts which it was near- ly impossible for the uninitiated to de- tect.

The investigation was very interest- ing, as it opened up a broad field of deceit and marvelous fraud upon the credulity of the people, of which very few even have a suspicion. These tricks are so neatly performed that the sharpest observer is likely to be deceived. The testimony in this case lifted the vail, and it took the jury only ten minutes to bring in a verdict that Colchester was a juggler, and ev- ery candid man who heard the testi- mony said that the decision was just. But the dupes of spiritualism denoun- ced it as persecution of their religion.

The Buffalo Advocate, in comment- ing on the verdict, says: "But even this gives to the deviltry practised by the leading spiritualists we have known, by far too good a character. Jugglery need not necessarily damn souls, while spiritualism has led thousands to ruin and perdition. Deluded men and wo-

men by multitudes, are easily entrap- ped by Satan at his will."—

End of a Gambler.

A correspondent of the Portsmouth Journal gives the following account of one of the many victims of the gam- ing table:

“Of the many evil influences in- cident to fallen humanity, the passion for gaming may be ranked among the foremost. For the drunkard, even in the worst stages of that degrading vice, there is hope; but there is none for the victim to the fascinations of the gaming table when once they have seized him in their iron grasp. One of the worst instances of this nature, in final results, that has ever come to my personal knowledge, occurred in this vicinity in the case of a physician, the son of a most worthy clergyman, recently deceased. After the usual strug- gles that most of the profession experi- ence, he succeeded in obtaining, through the aid of kind friends, a practice sufficiently remunerative, be- sides affording all the comforts of life, to enable him and his little family to make the respectable appearance in the community requisite to continued suc- cess in his calling. Notwithstanding this evident prosperity, however, which had been greatly advanced by the generous acknowledgment on the part of some of the older and more experienc- ed physicians of their confidence in his ability, there was a mystery about him that those who knew him most intimately were unable to fathom. While living in an economical manner, and pressing the payment of his bills on the plea that his necessities required it, he did not diminish the debts he had contracted to enable him to acquire a knowledge of his profession; obliga- tions, in some instances, that he was bound by every principle of honor and gratitude to redeem, shared a like fate. So far from reducing his liabilities, he was continually adding to them,—often procuring pecuniary aid from friends on various pretences of sudden and unanticipated need, which were found to be the grossest fabrications. After living for several years in this way, he accepted the situation of surgeon on board a steamer bound to various dis- tant ports, on a voyage of about a year’s duration, giving as a reason declining health; but, instead of re- turning home in the vessel on her re- turn, to resume his practice, which he had left in the hands of another mem- ber of the profession, he left the steamer and sent for his family to join him at San Francisco.

From that time little was heard of him; he was, in a measure, forgotten, until the details reached his former place of residence, through the journals of San Francisco, of one of the most awful tragedies, in which he was the chief actor, that ever transpired in a civilized community. He had occupied the upper portion of a dwelling, and nothing being seen of him or his family for an unusual length of time, his fellow tenants became alarmed, and failing to obtain admittance by other means, broke open the door, when a most frightful spectacle presented it- self. He was found lying in bed, with one arm extended over a waterpail that was nearly filled with blood, and had apparently been dead many hours; by his side was his wife, and in an adjoining room their daughter and only child, about ten years of age, in both of whom life was also extinct. From a couple of brief notes that he had left, it was learned that being in destitute circumstances, he had administered strychnine to his family, and then committed suicide by opening the veins in his arm. It seemed that in the case of his child, the poison had not pro- duced death so soon as he wished, and he had then fractured her skull with an iron window weight, that bore evidences of having been used for that purpose. Such a frightful tale of mur- der and suicide naturally excited, at first, the greatest astonishment among those who remembered him here only as a respectable physician, until the fact became known that he had been for a long time a confirmed gambler, which fully explained, as a matter of course, all that had previously been incomprehensible in his character. One of the most thrilling of the dramas of a former day is “The Gambler’s Fate.” but it presents nothing that equals tho closing scene of this modern tragedy of real life."Pacific.

"The Record" on Sir John
Lawrence.

The peace of India has been well maintained, if we except the Bhootan war, which has just been terminated by a treaty, the merits of which are still under discussion. There can be no doubt that a war with savage hill- men, in a deadly climate, and at a distance from the centre of power, is no evil to be abated at any sacrifice consistent with the Imperial honour and the Imperial safety. We have full confidence that both will be maintained by Sir John Lawrence, in spite of the ceaseless efforts of detractors, one sec- tion of whom hate him for his religion, which rebukes their ungodliness and immorality, whilst another section entertains opinions hostile to some of his views of Indian policy. There is a third party, who are affronted by the simplicity of the Viceroy's habits, and the absence of that Oriental splen- dour in which his most illustrious predecessors were accustomed to in- dulge. It is possible that Sir John Lawrence errs on the side of simplicity, and forgets how Napoleon, when he rose to power, remarked with eagle- eye, and philosophie truth, as he look- ed from his window on the Tuileries, on the obvious impression produced even on the revolutionary mobs by gay uniforms and glittering decorations. If this were true of human nature in France, much more must it be so in India, where the people have been so long accustomed to barbarie pomp and splendour. It may be also, as has been alleged, that some of the Vice- roy's retinue, in their zeal for economy, have carried his own views on the subject further than he intended. It is a fault easily corrected, and if it has somewhat paled the blaze of his just popularity, it never can extinguish the memory of that vigorous policy which saved the empire of India, nor materially counteract the efficiency of the great talents, and the vast experi- ence, by which God has been pleased to render this Christian Viceroy so great an ornament to Her Majesty and her subjects.

Quarrelling.

If anything in the world will make a man feel badly, except pinching his fingers in the crack of a door, it is, unquestionably a quarrel. No man ever fails to think less of himself af- ter it than before. It degrades him in the eyes of others, and what is worse, blunts his sensibilities on one hand, and increases the power of passionate irritability on the other. The truth is, the more peaceably and quietly we get on, the better for our neighbours. In nine cases out of ten, the better course is, if a man cheats you, quit dealing with him: if he abuses you, quit his company: if he slanders you, take care to live so that no one will believe him. No matter who he is or how he injures you, the wisest way is to let him alone: for there is noth- ing better than the cool, calm, and quiet way of dealing with the wrongs we meet with.

The Editorial Treadmill.

The Home Journal thus describes the editor's burdens:

It is one of the hardships of our profession that its working wheels— brains and heart—are not allowed to lag for sickness or to stop for calami- ty or sorrow. The Judge may ad- journ his court, the school and work- shop may close their shutters, the mourner may wail his features, and turn friend and change from the door; but the journalists must forget be- fore to-morrow the sorrows of to-day, must write gaily and freshly as a newsmonger, on the trifle of the hour, whatever burden has been laid up- on that same hour by providence on his brains as a man. It sometimes tries and mocks as the world that reads what is thus written would never dream of. The public looks upon the editor's labors as the Indian did upon the man that was cutting hay. He finally gave in his opinion that it was “nice to see the white man mow.”

Bangkok Recorder.

It is with a good deal of hope we hear that the Siamese government was probably more in play than in earnest in ridiculing Electric Telegraphs as ap- peared in our issue of the 8th inst. We are informed that the government would be glad to have a Telegraph line established between the King's palace and the Bar provided it can be done by a company purely inde- pendent of government money, and with such limitations as will give the government control of the line in times of war when she might be im- peded by the want of such control. If the Siamese government has indeed advanced thus far, we shall think we have good reason to hope she will take other steps still more encouraging in the same direction, until Bangkok shall not only be in telegraphic com- munication with Paknam and the Bar, but also with Singapore, Tavoy, Maulmain, Rangoon, and Calcutta— nay with all the world.

We are also cheered in our hopes for the welfare of Siam by hearing that the Siamese government is en- tertaining quite seriously the pro- position of a company in Singapore, having connections in London, of grant- ing to said company or to the English government the privilege of establish- ing a Telegraphic line in Siamese territory that shall bring Maulmain, Tavoy, and Singapore into electric communication with Bangkok, and that government has dispatched an officer with letters to all the Siamese provinces within the Malayan peninsula seeking information relative to this question.

Most heartily would we advise the Siamese government to allow British subjects to secure such interests within her dominions, for we are persuaded that it will tend to make England her friend indeed in any future time of need.—-Siam feels that she is still weak and far behind the western nations in very many respects, and this we regard as a good indication for her future prosperity provided it be accompanied by a determination to increase in knowledge and righteous power. The Siamese government, we are persuaded, has too much good sense to flatter her- self that in this age of the world she can stand wholly independent of the protection of one or more of the great western powers which have become her near neighbors. It seems to us that she should choose quickly in which of these neighbors, her western or her eastern, she will henceforward place her chief reliance as a protector. France, if she be faithful, will protect Cambo- dia for Siam, and not with any inten- tion of ever annexing her to her own dominions.

It is a fixed fact, and settled for ever, we think, that England desires no more extension, and will do every thing she can honorably to avoid any further annexation to her vast territory. Hence Siam has no reason to fear that if she herself be in a good degree faithful to her treaty relations with Great Britain, that she will ever be absorbed by her. Nay she may most confidently expect England to exert her powerful in- fluence to strengthen and perpetuate her as an independent nation. What other neighboring power so strong, so wise and so good can she find in which to strengthen herself? She needs the arm of a western power the least grasp- ing, subtle, unreasonable, and ex- horbitant: for all nations are prone to have more or less of these unhappy qual- ities. Let her loose no time in making a selection in view of facts that have but recently transpired. If she pre- fer England for her ally though not in form but in fact—-a power which she has happily lived with as her western neighbor for scores of years, let her open the way more and more for Eng- land to become mutually interested in the welfare of Siam. Let England have the privilege of Telegraph lines in her territory, and a railroad as is proposed across the isthmus of Kraw, and a ship canal, even, in the same lo- cality. In this way Siam may obtain a powerful protector with but little expense, and with no sacrifice of hon- or, but a positive acquisition of power and glory.

JOHN COLLINS WARREN M. D.

Through the kindness of a Boston friend, we have recently enjoyed the perusal of a neatly executed work of two octavo volumes, comprising more.

than 800 pages entitled The Life of JOHN COLLINS WARREN M. D. Who died at his residence in Boston May 4th 1856 aged nearly eighty years. He was the elder, if we mistake not, and perhaps the more skillful of two illustrious American surgeons, who had no equals in their profession with- in the limits of the great American Republic, if indeed any superiors in Europe. The man alluded to as be- ing so nearly his equal was VALEN- TINE MOTT M. D. of New York city who died two or three years since full of riches and honors both temporal and spiritual.

It was our privilege in youth to sit at the feet of both of these great and good men. Would that we had made a better improvement of the extraor- dinary opportunities we then enjoyed —-more especially that we had copied more closely their benevolence. In honor of Dr. John C. Warren our es- teemed preceptor, and to the praise of divine grace which wrought effectually in him, we would now speak more es- pecially of his christian character. And in doing so we feel that we can- not do better than to quote two brief extracts from the work to which we have referred. The first that we se- lect is from a letter which he wrote to his wife and children twenty three years before his death, and one year after we had received our last lessons in anatomy and surgery from his lips. It is the closing paragraph of his will, which though in usual health, he felt it to be his duty to have always in readiness for a sudden death.

“May God Almighty, in his infi- nite mercy, take you and my dear children in his holy keeping, and pre- serve you from the snares and dang- ers of this world. May he give you an awful and overpowering sense of the amazing change which you must soon be called to pass through! and by this may he bring your hearts to feel the indescribable importance of a full pre- paration for this change, and a solemn conviction that you have no hope of salvation but by a perfect feeling of your own unworthiness, and of the absolute necessity of placing your whole trust and confidence in the atoning blood of your blessed Saviour and Mediator Jesus Christ, which alone is able to purify and justify you, and bring you to the mansions of everlasting happiness! May God bless you all, is the prayer of your affec- tionate husband and father.”

Such sobriety and solemnity we think was eminently characteristic of the whole christian life of Doctor Warren. —-The following extract from his pri- vate papers will show how much this physician and surgeon of a world wide renown loved the words of Jesus.

“I never read this Chapter (XIV) without experiencing a species of de- light, which scarcely anything else has power to excite,—a holy fervor combined with melting tenderness. I can almost realize the scene where the heavenly comforter poured upon the hearts of his mourning and won- dering disciples the unction from above, which rendered them superior to temp- tation, and patient amid scenes of tribulation. ‘I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me; because I live, ye shall live also.’ These words have sometimes been to my heart what oil is to the commotion of the billow. And shall this heart which is capable of immortal blessedness and expansion, resign its high privile- ges and shrink from its exalted duties?

I pray God to grant me strength to renounce firmly, deliberately, and re- ligiously every earthly hope. I desire to preserve my heart from the danger of creating an idol in his own temple, and to be constant in my supplica- tions to the Spirit who is the Sancti- fier that will make of my heart a a spotless sanctuary for his own abode.”

How refreshing is it to look at a man on the very pinnacle of eminence in a learned profession, which is often erroneously thought to be infidel in its tendencies, so Christ-like in his daily walk among men! The whole work shows with charming clearness that a life long seriousness and solemnity with regard to the eternal future, and a continual pressing onward and up- ward towards heaven is no hinderance or damper in the pursuit of the greatest celebrity in the arts and sciences.

COCOANUT TREES.

We learn that Cocoanut trees in Siam are being rapidly destroyed by grub worms which eat out their vitals at their tops. This is said to be one cause of the high price now ruling for cocoanuts and cocoanut oil. Twen- ty catties in weight sells for about six Ticals. This high price has so long ruled that cocoanut oil is now being imported at a fair profit.

It appears that that disease among the trees may be greatly controlled by human skill. It has long been known in this eastern world, and the most successful treatment would seem to be one akin to that of extinguishing a conflagration. The trees that have already been killed by the grubs and all such as show unmistakable signs of having grubs at work in them, must be cut down and the animals killed. The natives say they make excellent food when cooked with the milk of the co- coanut!—-so they need not be lost. But it manifestly is too expensive to cultivate them in the tops of cocoanut trees. If left to themselves the grubs by some means or other quickly take possession of neighboring trees and thus the destruction spreads.

It seems to us that the Siamese gov- ernment, if she would have Siam con- tinue to be enriched and beautified by the cocus nucifera, she should promptly issue a proclamation to have all owners of cocoanut trees, cut down forthwith all trees that have recently died and such as are dying of this disease, and require them to burn up or eat up, as they may prefer, all the grubs that are living in them. This course will certainly stay the plague and no other will.

H. S. M. G. B. IMPREGNABLE.

We have called on board His Siam- ese Majesty's Gun Boat Impregnable to have a look at the beautiful creature as she is riding at anchor near our dwelling. As you look at her from without you are forced at once to ex- claim—How completely European and modern she is in all her appearance! You can scarcely believe that she was made in Siam and is manned entirely by Siamese marines. And when you come to step on board, and have a close inspection of every part of the rig- ging, the guns, the magazine, the saloon the captain's cabin, the berths etc. you become more than satisfied that the Siamese are not a whit behind the Chinese in their inititative powers. And if you had been long intimately acquainted with his Majesty Prabat Pra-Pin Klow, the late second king as we have been, you will not fail to see his ingenuity, and skill, and neatness and good taste imprinted on every thing you see connected with the ves- sel; for she belonged to him and was his last work in that line.

Daniel Maclean Esq. our most dis- tinguished ship builder, we are in- formed, was the designer of this spright- ly vessel by which he will be honored.

The "Impregnable" carries 1 Com- mon gun-a 32 pounder, 2 Brass How- etsers-24 pounders, and 1 Armstrong gun-a 40 pounder.

Captain E. C. Walrond has by long patience. and a good name, through the influence of H. B. M's Consul George T. Knox Esq. obtained a fine berth for the display of his talents in the Siamese navy. We hope and trust he will prove himself well worthy of his position. His men, numbering more than fifty, look wonderfully neat and able bodied for Siamese: but they need yet much training in working the guns ere they will stand a compar- ison with European artillerymen. We will with patience wait and see what Capt. We can make of them.

Correspondence.

Mr. EDITOR ;

You are aware that I have heard from Ulysses. Poor fellow! he is wandering still, but it is apparently a kind of mental aberration, worse by far than a twenty years at sea. You are also aware that he once feigned dementation, lest he should be obliged to leave his darling Penelope for a Trojan war. He yoked the horse, and bull together, and ploughed the sea shore, and sowed salt. The com- munication from him associates things as unseemingly, as the yoking of the horse and the ox, and also has appa- rently a sprinkling of salt ; yet it is not what I would have expected from my long lost Ulysses. So different is it from him, that I am sometimes inclined to think, that some one has disguised her sex, and assumed that revered name, in order to tantalize me. Look for a moment at the first sentence of this wonderful communi- cation. "It is a tempting the meof speculation, and as it has already been broached in your last two issues, worth our while to follow it up in imagination; but it must be done with a mind clearly alive to every step won in philosophy, every discovery in science, every marked token of so- cial advance, and progress of every shape whatever—-with a liberal heart; by which I mean a mind not narrowed by its own acts, and opinions as the minds of benevolent and truly pious people are apt to be, but with a mind respectful to every sort of individual- ity, indulgent to all established cus- toms or constitutional peculiarities as to what the world would be without dancing—-the twin sister of which is music." You will recollect in the outstart I laid no special claims to lit- erary ability, and perhaps it may be my obtuseness, but I confess that I am unable to analyze this sentence so as to make any sense out of it. The thing predicated appears to be purely in the imagination, and that is " what the world would be without dancing." But the mind capable of imagining such a thing must be so broad, so comprehensive, so benevolent, and so indulgent to every fault, and peculiari- ty, that I suppose no one person upon earth even has or ever will possess it. To find such a mind we would have to fuse some of the greatest and most benevolent minds upon earth, or call down some eminent saint, whose men- tal powers have long been expanding in a world of glory. But after all, it would not be difficult to imagine what the world would be without dancing, in its modern acceptation of the term. It may be called the twin sister of mu- sic; but they should both be the handmaidens of religion. They were originally so intended. The ancient Hebrews, and Egyptians, frequently accompanied their religious ceremo- nies with music, and dancing; but it consisted of little more than giving expression to the feelings in gesticula- tions, indicative of certain mental emotions. The Greeks borrowed it from the Egyptians. Polished and improved by them, it was introduced into all their festive ceremonies. They were an athletic people, setting much store upon bodily exercises, and amongst them it still answered a good purpose. The Romans again borrow- ed from the Greeks, but their "salta[?]tio" was still a gymnastic, and mimo- tic exercises. Dancing became some- what separated from religion among the Greeks and Romans; but Plato thought that all dancing should be connected with religion, and based upon it, as among the Egyptians. But I believe the sexes did not mingle, in the dances of any of those nations. Dancing has become wholly divorced from religion, as we find it now in this Spanish fandango, the French quad- rille and cotillion, and the German waltz and gallopade. It has now nothing in common with that of the Hebrews, and Egyptians, and very little with that of the Greeks and Romans. Amongst modern heathen nations we find it performed by hired dancers, mostly female, for the amuse- ment of those in higher life. If it ever was an "inherent physical law," in its modern form, it has certainly lost all that made it valuable as a physical exercise. The attempt to make it graceful has robbed it of all those wild gesticulations, which gave the "broad shoulders" to the Greeks. Instead of being the "pleasant, ex- hilarating, graceful study of every well regulated" family, it frequently destroys the peace and happiness of those families where it is admitted. The best regulated christian families, will have nothing to do with it. Other and far better physical exercises are now provided in well regulated chris- tian families, such as gymnastics and calisthenics. As a physical exercise alone it must be admitted that mod- ern dancing is sadly deficient. It is too local,—exercising only the lower extremities.

But in the communication in ques- tion, we find the following remarkable sentence. "And so blinded are some really good worthy people in this mat- ter, that they would prohibit danc- ing, forsooth of its evil tendencies, and all exhibitions of physical strength as belonging to the barbaric ages, and attempt to give us a maximum of saintliness[?] with a minimum of pul- monary digestive and weak morbid capacity."—-" Parvum in multo"! But suppose, for instance, that modern danc-

ing is not immoral in its tendencies, shall one upon examination find it a healthy exercise favorable to physical development? I fear not. Take one of our cities in Europe or America where balls and select dancing parties are the amusement of many the whole year round. Four and five nights in the week, are given to it. Nearly, if not all, of the ladies’ time is wasted in preparation. The hours allotted to sleep, by nature, are spent in dancing. Ladies attend those balls in cold damp weather so thinly clad, and with shoes never intended to keep the feet warm, but merely to cover them. Exercising violently in a warm ill ventilated room, they return home at early dawn chilled by the freshness of the morning air. Nature has been robbed of its necessary repose, and the whole system is relaxed. Such a course, in very many instances, results in severe colds, pulmonary disease, and prema- ture death. This is no fancy picture. Every physician’s diary will attest its truth. Thousands, especially of young females, are thus hurried prematurely into eternity. Yet those “saints” who would dare say a word against the practice, are held up by would be philanthropists, great and broad freethinkers, and pseudo-be- nefactors of the race, as the “worst sinners upon earth.” Dancing has al- ways been found to be a damper up- on religious feelings, and impressions in any community, because it absorbs the whole time and thoughts of the young, and draws them from the con- templation of those eternal things, which pertain to their eternal welfare. For that reason pious parents dread its influence upon their children.

I do not think it advisable here to enter into those details, which good peo- ple think constitute the immoral ten- dencies of dancing. I only, for instance, mention the _Waltz_, and ap- peal to all candid and impartial, thinkers upon the subject, if they can see nothing unbecoming in it! When taken in connection with the present modes of female dress, what are likely to be its tendencies upon the young? I acknowledge no such pseudo-philosophy as that “_every_ social enjoyment is indifferent.”

I am referred to my canary bird as an example of that inherent principle for dancing in nature. I don’t believe he even thought of dancing, or I at least have never seen any thing to in- dicate it. He is a good singer, and he knows it, and like some ladies, is probably charmed with the sound of his own voice. If he ever thought of dancing, it was merely a leaping for joy like David at the sight of the ark.

I am also pointed back to the days of Queen Elizabeth for example of prac- tical piety. Because Sir Walter Ra- leigh led the fair old Queen to the country dance, and they were christ- ians, therefore dancing is not immoral in its tendencies. Whilst there were many things, both in the Queen, and Sir Walter which all admire, and will ever cherish in fond remembrance, still there were also many things which christians of the present day must condemn. They lived too near the middle ages, and we must not overlook the times in which they lived. Sir Walter thought it not wrong at one time to receive a heavy bribe, and I presume there are few christians who would advocate bribery because he received one. Says a writer on those times, “A transaction so shameless, has no other apology than that it was not condemned by the opinion of the age.” Happily, however, for the church, and the world, times and “_Saints_” are changing. I know of no respectable religious denomination now, in the U. S. at least, that would advocate promiscuous dancing as a healthy physical exercise. And here I may state for the benefit of my pe- culiarly sensitive readers, that by pro- miscuous dancing I mean ladies. and gentlemen dancing together, rather than each sex dancing alone. By danc- ing I refer to dancing in general, and not that suggested by an “elegantly managed ball” or any ball in parti- cular.

"Happily for the church, too, men do not now, as a general thing, present their “puny brainless offspring” to the church and God, that they may secure a “living.” There is a free church where men voluntarily lay their best offspring upon the altar of the Lord. The talent in the ministry of the present day is equal to, and if any thing surpasses that of any other of the learned professions.

There are many other fings in the communication which I cannot con- descend to notice. It winds up with the following egotistic flourish. "But after all it is my private opinion, that too much thought is given to the next world, by a "Vinegar" whole- sale denunciation of the present. One world ought to be enough for us to manage at a time etc., etc." Any thing so Jesuitical, and at the same time so sceptical, I did not expect to find in this community. At one sweep it takes away the whole object of the plan of salvation, and the teachings of scripture. For Paul says "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." Any one holding such sentiments as these, is really more to be pitied than the Fangs of Africa or the Steins of Cambodia.

LOCAL.

The "Chow Phya" sailed from the bar at 6 P. M. on the 17 inst. having on board as passengers H. D. Thompson Esq. Mr. Abdool Russel, & Mr. Farnby.

It is reported that an estimate for a Telegraphic line from His Majesty's Palace to the Bar has been submitted for the consideration of the Govern- ment. H. B. M.'s Consul we hear for- warded the document in question to the authorities accompanied no doubt with the recommendation that the line should be in the hands of the govern- ment, and not of private individuals.

A correspondent, writing from Maul- main informs us "That authentic intel- ligence has been received of the chief of Zimmoy having attacked Mr Burn's forester encampment in the My-long- kee forests, without warning, with a force of over 200 men, killing four of the party, and displaying their heads stuck on bamboos outside of the en- campment, and wounded other four, out of a party of thirty five. Thirteen of the party are missing and no ac- counts can be had of them. After the attack the said forests were taken pos- session of by the Chief and all the wood found therein he stamped with the el- ephant stamp. There is a report very generally believed that the My-long- kee Chief has thrown off his allegiance to the king of Siam, and has joined the Burman government."

Officers from the Siamese govern- ment have, we ascertained, been sent up to ascertain the truth of the many reports that have reached this country, and in a few days the scouts will doubtless lay their reports before the authorities that be. We did hear that the chief is actually on his way to Bangkok, but this is too good to be relied upon.

Low Poh Yim retains the opium farm for other two years.

We hear that the "Impregnable" Captain E. C. Walrond, will run the mails for Singapore while the "Chow Phya" is in dock. With such advan- tages as are possessed by the "Bangkok Dock Company," it is to be hoped that the enterprising owners of the said Steamer will patronise the local estab- lishment in preference to the Singapore one. The undertaking deserves well at the hands of our wealthy ship-owners.

We are given to understand that an iron bridge is to be thrown across the Klong Koot Mei in place of the wood- en one which is now across it, and preparations have commenced for its erection, by pulling down the houses near the bridge.

H. E. Chow Phya Kalahome the Prime Minister left this city on the evening of the 19th inst. per Steamer "Volant" for Petchaburee, to make preparation for the reception of His Majesty the king at the royal moun- tain palace in that vicinity. His Maj- esty we hear has postponed his depar- ture thence to Sunday the 25th inst. He is expected to be absent about ten days.

English opinion on the
Bhootan Treaty.

ENGLAND has uttered no uncertain sound on the humiliating policy which dictated the Bhootan treaty. All the leading, daily, and weekly journals have condemned it except the Daily News and the Times. The former is the organ of the peace-at-any-price party; [?]It spake the thoughts of the purely util- itarian school of trade-politicians; 'it is the exponent of Goldwin Smith who would go so far as to give up every colo- ny and military settlement which Eng- land possesses.

It will be observed that all these opinions against the Treaty are based on purely moral and political consid- erations, and do not question the soundness of the facts as to the difficul- ty and desolation of the country, and the necessity for mercy to its rulers, on which alone the authors of the Treaty rest their defence. But it is satisfactory to find an authority like Dr. J. D. Hooker, who has roamed over Sikkim and in his book has told us more of Bhootan than any other, thus writing in the Times:—

“It is asserted that the Bhootanese would starve but for the Dooars we pro- pose to occupy, and for which we are to pay them rent. This is is a mistake. They cling to the Dooars because they there hold a timid race in slavery to grow crops which go partly to support them- selves in idleness, while the rest is sold on the frontier to feed the Chinese troops at L’Hassa. Bhootan consists of a series of magnificent valleys as long as England is broad, where between 1,000 and 7,000 feet elevation, rice, maize, millet, &c., are grown without tillage or irrigation, and a- bove that elevation all European grains and vegetables flourish; its forests are im- mense and its timber excellent, while cat- tle, ponies, sheep, poultry are abundant and of most excellent quality. Sikkim, a far less productive province, was equally regarded as an unproductive wilderness, but has been redeemed from barbarism, and under every discouragement made to yield a revenue through the exertions of its late political agent and superintendent. Dr. Campbell; and half-a-dozen such men in Bhootan, with the frontier open on the north, and Assam to supply tea, rice, su- gar, tobacco, &c., in the south, would raise a splendid revenue in a few years, and civilize a vast tract of country now held by a nation of as treacherous, indolent, debauched, and priest-ridden barbarians as the world ever saw.”

If any confidence is to be placed in the united testimony of every authori- ty who has really penetrated the coun- try, from Major Turner to the mem- bers of Lord Elgin’s Mission, this is true. It is much more true of West than of East Bhootan where the Tong- so Penlow rules. But those who hold an opposite opinion, who paint the barren hills, the howling ravines, the pathless valleys, the malarious jungle, and the poverty-stricken land, are the military or civil authorities who have never gone ten miles beyond Buxa and Dewangiri, or who think that be- cause the hill country has been mis- governed and depopulated it is incapa- ble of becoming prosperous. At pre- sent the bulk of the testimony of eye- witnesses, as given in the Blue Book, and stated by Dr. Hooker, is against the lugubrious apology of our humi- liated Government. Whether, there- fore, we look to honour, which the authors of the Treaty admit to have been sacrificed, or to difficulties which the most reliable testimony shows to be exaggerated, in the present state of our information, the almost unanimous verdict of England and India against the Treaty is fully justified.

Jamaica.

We suppose that most of our readers have read, in the daily papers, the particulars of what is called the insur- rection in Jamaica and its suppression. We shall therefore only touch on a few of the more prominent points. And, first of all, there is not a title of evidence produced by Governor Eyre to show that there existed any con- spiracy at all. The existence of an intended insurrection seems to rest only on vague rumors, arising, doubt- less, from the fears of the conscience- stricken planters. That extensive and well-grounded discontent existed throughout the island is unquestionable from sources quite independent of Gov. Eyre; but that there was any scheme for the general extermination of the whites and browns, there has as yet been nothing like evidence to show. The fact that Mr. George W. Gordon, who was extra judicially murdered as the chief promoter of this conspiracy, was a brown man with a white wife would seem to be a sufficient con- tradiction of this assertion. A bloody, but by no means unprovoked, riot at Morant Bay seems to be the only fact established by evidence of any violence committed or contemplated by the negroes before the massacres began.

The original cause of the riot was a question of disputed title, which ex- cited general interest among the negroes, whose demonstration of it an- noyed the court, who ordered one of them into custody. He was rescued. This was on Saturday. Warrants were issued for the arrest of the re- cuers; which were resisted. On the next meeting of the court, on Wed- nesday, a great body of negroes came down to attend it. There was noth- ing but their numbers that rendered them formidable. There is no evid- ence whatever that they had any pur- poses of violence. The magistrates had a small force of eighteen volunteers, who, after a hasty reading of the riot act, fired on the blacks, killing and wounding several of them. Then the blacks rushed in, overpowered the volunteers, sacked the court-house, killed several of the magistrates, of the police, and the volunteers. Other acts of violence on the part of the negroes are reported, with particulars of atroc- ities attending them, which all want any authentication excepting rumor. That acts were thus committed which deserved punishment we may well be- lieve; but that these riots were any part of a concerted movement on the part of the negroes does not any where appear. It will be remembered that they were fired on fatally, without any absolute necessity, before there was any blood shed by them.

On this provocation the governor proclaimed martial law in that district, excepting Kingston, the capital, and immediately proceeded to hang, shoot, and whip men and women right and left. The troops perambulated the region, without meeting with a symp- tom of armed resistance, arresting, hanging, and shooting all and singular that they come across. One gallant officer, having taken more prisoners than he could well guard, made sure of them by shooting them on the spot, without even the ceremony of a drum- head court-martial. A large number of men and women, some fifty or there-abouts, were arrested by another, and, as nothing whatever was brought against them, their lives were mer- cifully spared, and they were only tied successively to a gun and fifty lashes administered on their bare backs. One of them, indeed, presuming to gnash his teeth and give a disrespect- ful look at the presiding officer, at the forty-seventh lash, was instantly strung up to teach him better manners. But the case which will excite the most attention in England, doubtless, from the fact that the victim was a man of wealth and position, and a member of the assembly was that of Mr. G. W. Gordon, before mentioned. This gen- tleman had made himself odious to the government of the island and the pro- prietary class by his zeal in behalf of the blacks. He was in Kingston, far from the scene of the riot, and there has not appeared a particle of evidence to connect him with it in the slightest degree. A warrant was issued against him, but he surrendered himself before it could be served. Kingston was specially excepted from the operation of martial law, so Governor Eyre had him taken round to Morant Bay within its jurisdiction, summarily tried by court-martial, and hanged! Whatever may be said for the other killings, it is hard to see how this can be taken out of the category of legal murder. And after this campaign against un-

armed men, with no blood shed but that of persons entirely innocent, with one or two exceptions, of the original rioting. Governor Eyre recommends the officers, whose only merit was their readiness to shed the blood of unresistingmen and women, to thenotice of the commander-in-chief, for pro- motion! We doubt whether there was ever before "honorable mention in the dispatches" on such grounds as this. But it will be responded to, and we venture to predict that within three months Governor Eyre will be gazet- ted as Sir E. Eyre, K. C. B. We are glad to see that these atrocities have excited a very general indignation on the part of the liberal portion of the English people. The papers and per- sons who felt with us during our war are loud in their demands for justice. But the *Times* and the organs of the governing classes range themselves on the side of the planters of Jamaica, as they did on that of those of South Carolina.

Prices Current.

Good do " 70 do

Clean do " 61 do

White do " 88 do

PADDY—Namaan " 37 do

Nassaa " 62 do

TEELSEED— " 104½ do

SUGAR No. 1. " 11 Picnl

"2. " 10¾ do

"3. " 10½ do

Steam made No. 1. " 11½ do

2. " 10½ do

BROWN " 1 " 7 do

" 2 " 6 do

BLACK PEPPER— " 9¾ do

BUFFALO HIDES " 10¾ do

"HORNS " 12 do

COW HIDES " 13¾ do

GUMBENJAMIN No. 1. " 220 do

" 2. " 123 do

TIN " 1. " 40 do

" 2. " 30 do

HEMP " 1. " 22 do

" 2. " 20 do

GAMBOGE " 50 do

SILK—KORAT " 320 do

Cochin China " 800 do

Cambodia " 650 do

STICKLAC No. 1. " 14 do

" 2. " 13 do

CARDAMUMS—Best " 190 do

Bastard " 26 do

SAPANWOOD—4 @ 5 " 3½ do

6 @ 7 " 2½ do

8 @ 9 " 2½ do

BEES WAX " 95 do

LUK KRABOW SEED " 2¾ do

IVORY—4 @ 5 " 350 do

6 @ 7 " 340 do

8 @ 9 " 320 do

DRIED FISH—Plaheng " 9½ do

Plasalet " 7½ do

TEAKWOOD " 10 [?] Yuk

ROSEWOOD " 240 [?] 100 Pie.

REDWOOD. No. 1. " 270 do

2. " 100 do

MATBAGS " 8 P 100

GOLD LEAF—-Tic. 16 [?] Ticals weight.

SPAIN—Prim's insurrection appears to be suppressed. The latest accounts leave him in the Guadalupe mount tains retreating into Portugal. Gen- eral Concha has returned to Madrid and the Moderate party hope he will, be called on to form a new Cabinet. Slight disturbances have occurred at Sarragossa and Barcelona, the troops firing on the people in the latter city. It was reported at Madrid that Ad- miral Pareja had committed suicide.

UNITED STATES.—-The Mexican question is the topic of interest in the New York papers, which give curren- cy to numerous strange solutions. Mr. Seward is on a voyage to the West Indies for his health, and some say he will proceed as far as Vera Cruz. A Torpedo-ship is reported to have been despatched from New York for service against the Spanish fleet on the Coast of Chili. The Federal debt on the first of January was $2,500,000,000.

Applying The Sermon.

Mr. Nott, a missionary to one of the Islands in the Pacific Ocean, preached a sermon one day on the words “Let him that stole, steal no more.” In the sermon he said that it was a duty to return things that had formerly been stolen.

The next morning, when he opened his door, he saw a number of natives sitting on the ground around the house. He was surprised to see them there so early, and asked why they had come. “We have not been able to sleep all night,” they said. “We were at chapel yesterday, and heard you say from the Word of God that Jehovah commanded us not to steal; whereas we used to worship a god who, we thought, would protect thieves. We have stolen, and all these things we have brought with us are stolen goods. “Then one of the men held up a saw, saying, “I stole this from the carpen- ter of such and such a ship.” Others held up knives and various tools. “Why have you brought them to me?” asked Mr. Nott. “Take them home, and wait till the ships from which you stole them come again, and then return them with a present besides.” Still, the people begged Mr. Nott to keep the things until they could find the owners. One man who had stolen from a missionary, then being on an- other island, took a voyage of seventy miles to restore the goods.

DOMESTIC WINE.—-As to wine, we can not but remember that domestic wine introduced the cause of drunken- ness into the world, and can therefore hardly be trusted to expel the evil, unless it has ceased to be what God in his word declares it to be, a “mock- er.” It is an instructive fact, that families who go into the production, and indulge in the consumption of domestic wine, nine times in ten cease thereafter all direct efforts to save men from death and destruction by whisky.—-Dr. Jewett

FIVE GOVERNORS OF NEW YORK.— Five Governors of the State of New York, including three of the greatest and best, had died drunkards.

ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED DAUGHTERS OF RICH MEN.—-There are at present 1,300 daughters of rich men asking admission to the Binghampton asylum for inebriates. What a proof of the sinful luxury of the age, and the terrible danger of tampering with strong drink!

Odds and ends.

-—Diphtheria is a very troublesome and dangerous disease. A very easy remedy has been found for it that will effect a speedy relief. Take a common tobacco pipe, place a live coal in the bowl, drop a little tar upon the coal, draw the smoke into the mouth and discharge it through the nostrils— The West Indian.

—-To love and to labor is the sum of all living; and yet how many think they live who neither labor nor love.

-—The proof reader of the London Times receives an editorial salary— but has to forfeit one guinea for eve- ry typographical error, even a turned letter in each day's impression: if he has marked an error on the proof, the compositor who neglects to correct it pays the forfeit.

-—Two old New England ministers were riding by a gallows, when the elder one asked the other: “Where would you be if that tree bore its proper fruit.

—"Riding alone, sir,” was the imme- diate reply.

—-“Pat, buy a trunk to put your clothes in,” said his Yankee compan- ion. “What, and go naked this cold weather?” asked the honest spalpeen of Killarney.

—-“Billy,” said a benevolent vender of food for stoves, as with cheerful vis- age he sat down to his matutinal repast, “is it cold?” “Werry cold, father,” was the reply. “Is the gutters froze, Billy,” rejoined the parent. “Werry hard, father, they is,” was the response. “Ah!” sighed the old gentlemen, “put up the coal two pence a pan, Billy. God help the poor!”

-—A medical student who had been screwed pretty hard at his examination for admission to the faculty, on a very warm day, was nearly overcome by the questions put to him, when the follow- ing query was added:

“What course would you adopt to produce a copious perspiration!”

After a long breath he observed, wiping his forehead,—-

“I would have the patient examined by the Medical Society!”

—-Folly would do but little mischief if it were confined to fools.

-—Most of the shadows that cross the pathway in life are caused by standing in our own light.

—-Why is a married man like a candle ! Because he sometimes goes out at night when he ought not to.

-—A worthy man who was hesitating whether he should marry a woman pious but cross-grained, or another who was amiable but not specially religious, ask- ed his pastor’s advice upon the subject. He advised him to take the woman he loved, remarking: “John, the grace of God can live where you and I can’t.”

-—A little fellow, not more than five years of age, hearing some gentlemen at his father’s table discussing the fa- miliar line, “An honest man’s the noblest work of God” said he knew it wasn’t true, his mother was better than any man that was ever made.

—-A lady’s dressing table is perhaps called a toilet, because it is the scene most of her toil is generally performed.