The Press. — London, England, 1857-07-18 00:00:00

706 Now, it may be granted that there is some thing plausible in Ur. Fares proposals ; but if we consider the question more attentivtly, we shall see grave reasons to doubt whether the remedy would not prove worse than the disease. For, if this scheme were cat vied out: it would tend to make politics a profession (indeed that is avowedly its author's aim); it would tend to divide the people of this country into two classes, the governing and the governed—a distinction which ought to be as slight as possible in a free State. Any one ►rho is acquainted with the political arrangements of free countries in general, and of this in particular, knows that it is expected that each individual citizen should be ready to serve the State in person when called upon to do so by his fellow-citizens. Such service should more willingly be rendered by those who by the possession of independent fortunes have time at their disposal, and who have had in early life the advantages of a liberal educa tion. It is not for such a man to say—" I " nee.l not trouble myself about public " matters—there are a lot of fellows paid to " attend to all that sort of thing," and so to live like the gods of Epicurus, looking down carelessly from his blissful height of luxurious enjoyment on the toiling and struggling mul titude below. There are, indeed, and pro bably there will always be, men who look on their advantages of birth and fortune as merely the means of promoting their own personal comfort ; but there are also many who have a higher notion of the responsibilities and, we may add, of the privileges of their position in life—for is it not a privilege, ay, and a high one, to serve one's country, and to promote the welfare of one's fellow men ? But such a plan as that now suggested would tend to augment the former class and to furnish them w►th a pretext for their political inaction. Such an amount of apathy in a nation with respect to public matters, whether local or national, may exist, that it may be looked on as necessary and proper that all public services should be paid fur, that private individuals have nothing to do but to attend to their own business, and that public business is to be attended to only by those whose profession it is to carry it on. Such a state of public feel ing has existed before now in States that have been free, but it is a canker which eats out the heart of a commonwealth. There has been too much tendency this way in this country for ',me years past ; too much tendency to inter fere with independent local self-action, and to refer matters to the Home office or to some Board at Whitehall ; too much tendency to con-ider municipal and parochial offices as beneath the dignity of a man of ample means and leisure. Should such notions as these ex tensively prevail, it may be necessary to adopt Dr. Fares suggestion , but the necessity of its adoption would be a proof that the aptitude for self government which has fur centuries been the honest boast of Englishmen had ceased to exist. A nation in which public spirit is dead is not worthy of liberty, and will not long retain it. A Residence among the Chinese : Inland, on the Coast, and at Sea. By Robert Fortune. London : Murray. China and its Inhabitants. By Sir John Davis. New Edition. Twa Vols. London : Murray. China. A Popular History. By Sir Oscar Oliphant. London : Blackwoods. (Second Notice.) EARLY in June, 1853, Mr. Fortune left. Shanghae for the silk districts, proceeding by water up the Soochow branch of the Yang-tse kiang ♦s he approached what had been the Impe rialist camp during their siege of Shanghae, he was suffocated by the stench of hundreds of decompose:l headless bodies, which lay about with scarcely an inch or two of earth up in them, polluting the air. This was the end of the Shanghae rebellion. " so much " lauded and encouraged by _foreigners at that " port ": The country was devastated for miles round, the city lay in ruins, thoutands of the peaceful inhabitants were ren • dared homeless and friendless, and the authors of this suits THE PRESS, JULY 18,1857. of things, who used to strut about dressed in the richest silks and satins (which they plundered from the shops and houses of the wealthy), smoke opium, and make a pro fession of regard for the Christian religion, were now either skulking fugitives, or had atoned with their blood for their crimes. Passing up the river, where the lang•tse-kiang resolves itself into a series of open lakes joined by narrow necks of water, through these in a few days he reached the eastern borders of the great silk district, at the central town of Ping wang, where fine navigable canals branch off in all directions to the important cities of the district. Mulberry plantations, upon artificial embankments, raised from the paddy levels, covered the country iu every direction. The inhabitants " seemed well to do in the world, " having plenty of work without oppression, " and enough to procure the necessaries and " simple luxuries of life. It was pleasant to " hear their joyous and contented songs as " they laboured amongst the mulberry-planta• " tiuns and rise fields." The mulberry tree, so largely cultivated here, Mr. Fortune remarks, is distinct from that grown in the southern parts of China and in the Indian silk dis tricts : It 4 leaves are much larger, more glossy, and have more firmness and substance than any other variety which has come under my native. It may be that this circumstance has something to do with the superior quality of the silk produced in tne Hoo•chow country, and is worthy of the notice of silk growers in other parts of the world. This variety is not reproduced by seed, but the plantations are formed of grafted trees. The different methods of gathering the leaves are " curious and instructive " : Leaves are not taken at all from plants in their young state, as this would be injurious to thei 7 future pro luctive n4ss. In other instances a few leaves only are taken from the bushes, while the remainder are allowed to remain upon the shoots until the summer growth is completed. In the latter cue the leaves are invariably left at the ends of the shoots. When the bushes have attained their full size, the young shoots with the leaves are clipped close off by the stumps, and shoots and leaves carried home together to the farm• yard to be plucked and prepared for the worms. In the case of young trees the leaves are generally gathered by the hand, while the shoots are left to grow on until the autumn. At this period all the plantations are gone over carefully; the older bushes are pruned c'ose in to the stumps, while the shoots of the younger ones are only shortened back a little to allow them to attain to the de sired height. After the first clipping in the summer months the mulberry diitrict presents a singular ap pearance : As far as the eye can reach, in all directions, one sees nothing but bare stumps. It looks as if some pestilential vapour had passed over the plain and withered up the whole of these trees. And the view is rendered still more striking by the beautiful patches of lively green which are observed at this time in the rice-fields and on the banks of the canal. The Chinese appear to be early risers, for on reaching Nantsin Mr. Fortune, who entered the city at five a.m., found the town not 003 awake but up, the roads crowded, the markets open, and the shops driving an active trade at that early hour. Crowds of people followed Mr. Fortune during his wall: through the city ; but, except that inconvenience, he had nothing, he tells us, to complain of— " all were per:ectly civil, and in the best " humour." At Hoo-chow-foo, the capital of the silk district, and within a few days' sail by canal from Nan-tsin, when he entered the city the same thing occurred ; thousands of people, very uproarious, but good humoured withal, followed him There were delighted at the chance of seeing a " white devil " Alone as I now was. and surrounded by thousands of Chinese in one of their inland cities, it. was absolutely ne cessary to keep my temper under the moat complete control. In circumstances of ibis kind. if one laughs and jokes with the crowd, and takes everything in good part, all will gene rally go well, for the Chinese are upon the whole good humoured and polite; but if he by any chance loses his temper. he will most certaio get the worst of it, and most likely will be hooted and pelted with stones. I had hid some experience in the management of Chinese crowds, and therefore continued to be in the sweetest possible frame of mind in the midst of the thousands who followed me through the city as if I had been a wild animal or " white devil " indeed. As 1 threaded my way slowly along, in addition to the dense crowds that followed and preceded me, every window and doorway was crowded with curious•looking faces all anxious to get a view of the foreigner. It WAS curious to mark the varied expression in the different countenances. In some there was alook of contempt, in others wonder was strongly depicted ; but in the vast majority there was wonder mingled aith fear, as if I was in reality a being from another world. Some native friend.s who joined him took him into the theatre. Although early in the day, the performances had commenced : To my surprise, and I must confess to my amusement too, for I was in a capital humour, I found myself in a few minutes usherel into the temple square, where two or three thousand heads were gaping intently up to a platform covered with actors, who were in the midst of what appeared to be a most interesting melodrama, judging from the effect it had upon the audience. 1 saw at once I had been duped, and, looking for my guide and conductor, found that he had disappeared, no doubt fully satisfied with the part he had played. My part was now to enjoy the joke and take it in good part, which 1 did not fail to do. I was now pressed on all hands for my opinion of the merit of the performance, which I declared was inimitable. Nor was there any flattery intended in this expression of opinion, for 1 doubt much if such a performance could have been got up out of the Celestial Empire. It was some time before a large portion of the crows found out that a foreigner was amongst them, so intent were they upon the performance, and longer still before the eyes of the actors saw me. By degrees, however, the news spread, and all eyes were turned from the stage to where I was standing. At first the actors seemed surprised at the want of that attention to which they had been accustomed ; then they discovered the cause, and, if possible, were more astonished than their audience. In vain the prompter and leader of the band urged them to go on; their " occupation was gone " until the greater attraction was removed. I'm deuce now suggested that, having thus come unexpectedly upon the scene and played my part, it would be as well to withdraw while there was time. 1 now bowed very politely to the most respectable of the people who were standing near me, and expressed my delight and thanks for what I had seen. I then edged quietly out of the crowd, a few of whom followed me, while the greater part remained to enjoy the rest of the performance, which I have no doubt was con cluded in a most satisfactory manner. But Mr. Fortune did not confine himself to the towns and cities. He visited the villagers in their cottages, purchased seeds and ento mological specimens, and he appears, except on one occasion, when some " roughs " pelted him, to have been uniformly treated with the utmost kindness and hospitality. Landing one day at a Buddhist convent, about sixty miles above Hoo-chow-foo, he found the temple of the National Deity converted into a silkworm house Mihions of these little animals were feeding in round sieves, placed one above another in open framework made for this purpose. So great was the number of the worms that every sieve—and there must have been many hundreds of them—was crammed q Bite full. In one large hall I observed the floor completely covered with worms. I shall never forget the peculiar sound which tell upon my ear as I opened the door of this hall. It was early in the morning, the worms had been just fed, and were at the time eagerly devouring the fresh leaves of the mulberry. Hundreds o thonsands of little mouths were munching the leaves, and in the stillness around this sound was very striking and peculiar. The place too seemed so strange—a temple—a place of worship with many huge idols, some from twenty to thirty feet in height, looking down upon the scene on the floor. The greatest care is taken in the management of the silkworm during feeding-time. A layer of straw raises their selves from the damp ground, and the strictest attention is paid in keeping them in a cleanly and healthy con dition : The Chinese are also very particular as regards the amount of light which they admit during the period the animals are feeding. I always observed the rooms were kept partially darkened. no bright light was allowed to penetrate. In many instances the owners were most un• willing to open the doors, for fear, as they said, of distnrb ing them; and they invariably cautioned tne against making any unnecessary noise while I was examining them. At this time nearly all the labour in this part of the country was expended on the production of the silkworm. In the fields the natives were seen in great numbers busily engaged in gathering the leaves ; boats on the rivers were fraught with them ; in the coantiy msrket•towns they were exposed for sale in great quantities, and everything told that they were the staple article of production. On the other hand, every cottage, farmhouse, barn and temple, was filled with its thousands of worms, which were fed and tended with the greatest care. So soon as the worms cease to feed and ex• hibit certain indications of commencing to spin they are picked out and placed upon bundles of straw to form their cocoons : These bundles of straw, which are each about two feet in length, are bound firmly in the mid lie ; the two ends are cut straight and then spread out like a broom, and into these ends the worms are laid, when they immediately fis themselves and begin to spin. During, this process I observed the under side of the framework on which the bundlesof straw were placed surrounded with cotton cloth to prevent the cold ilramiht ftom getting to the worms In some instances small cliarcoso fires were lighted and placed under the frame inside the cloth, in order to afford further warmth. In some of the cottages the straw covered with spinning worms was laid in the sun under the verandahs in front of the doors.