The Sun.
London, England, 1840-11-28 00:00:00

Chinese call Christians) are to be found in the sea-boari
provinces of China. The exertions of the English Missionary
Societies, through their agents, Messrs. Morrison, Gutz-
laff, and Meadows, have been rewarded by the conversion
of several Chinese to the Protestant faith.
There are some Mohammedans in the country ; but
their numbers are very small compared with the entire po-

sounds with the same accent, but whose signification
is totally distinct. Henoe, in reading a Chinese corn-
position to a native audience, jt cannot always be under-
stood, except the reader wave his handnor fan the cha-
racters themselves, or at any -rate, the key from which
they are derived. Ie colloquial intercourse, however,
they remedy this deficieney by the addition of syno-
nymes, which, becoming parts'orthe original language,
render it in some degree, polysyllabic.
Thus a reader in China, even to a native audience, is,
in fact, a translator from a written to a spoken lan-
guage, totally different, and he must therefore " fan the
character," or make the sign of it with his hand in the
air, when the proper expression for it does not readily oc-
cur to him.
The Chinese possess an unlicensed Press and abund-
dance of books of ancient and modern literature, consisting
of poetry, music, works of fiction, mythological legends,
metaphysics, geography, and topography. Dr. Morrison
collected 10,000 volumes of Chinese learning. A Daily
Journal is printed in Canton, and at Pekin a weekly
Gazette contains the orders of Government. The Chi-
nese have possessed the rudiments of the physical sciences
for centuries ; but they owe their geographical and astro-
nomical knowledge to strangers An Arab, Jema-el-
deen, in 1290 A.D., composed the Calendar, which was
in use until 1664, when the Jesuits, or rather Adam
Schaaleger, revised and amended it ; it then remained
for five years in the hands of the natives, who so deranged
it, that a German in the service of the Emperor, who was
charged with its amendment, was compelled to expunge a
month to bring the. commencement of the year to the
proper season. The Emperor keeps an astronomical board
at Pekin, where there are a few persons who study as-
tronomy and compose the national almanac.
The Russians have a college in the capital, where about
ten persons arc allowed to study Chinese. They e
no
have
with them a Russian clergyman. The English ha
college at Pekin nor at Canton, but at Sincaporc
the
e
Anoka-Chinese College established by Doctors Milne n
Morison, offers to the European every facility for the
acquirement of the Chinese tongue.
The Chinese reckon their time by cycles of 60 years, and
instead of numbering them, they five a different name
to every year in the cycle. The first cycle, according to
Dr. Morrison, began 2,700 B.C. We arc now, there-
fore, in the 75th cycle. 'rho day begins an hour before
midnight, and is divided into twelve parts of two hours
each, and instead of numbering the hours, a different name
is given to each period of two hours. The months are of
twenty-nine and thirty days each ; the year has ordinarily
twelve months, but a thirteenth is added whenever there
are two moons whilst the sun is in one sign of the zodiac;
this will occur seven times in nineteen years.
The Chinese also date from the year of the reigning
sovereign, aid in that case there is no way of having
corresponding date, but by a list of emperors. The
following is a list of those who have reigned for the last
two centuries:—
Chwar.g-lei .
Shun-che
Kang-he 1669
Yung-thing 1793
1736
Keen lung
1796
Kea-ding
Taou-k ang (present Emperor) 1821
THE CHINESE DYNASTIES.
Chinese historians reckon thirteen dynasties before the
Flood, which happened in time dynasty of Shun, a name
famous in China; but the accounts up to that period arc
not to be relied upon. From that date to the Birth of
Christ five dynasties existed, and towards the close of the
last, the Han dynasty, a dreadful civil war broke out. It
was called the " war of the three nations," the war has-
leg terminated imi the establishment of three kingdoms.
The last Emperor of this race was conquered by the other
States, and was persuaded to resign the imperial seal to
the General of his enemies. His son and heir on this put
his wife to death, and therm killed himself. Up to the time
of Genghis Khan, a Tartar chief, fifteen dynasties existed.
That famous conqueror arose about the close of the last,
and began the wars against China, by which the Chinese
rulers were overthrown. The grandson of Genghis Khan
conquered China, and called his dynasty Yuen, during
which the grand canal and the great wall were begun.
Wickliffe the Reformer, and Marco Polo, who brought
extraordinary accounts from China, lived about this
time. A man named Cho: then roused the Chinese,
who expelled the Yucn Tartars, and established the
Ming dynasty, which continued till the reign of
Charles the First of England. The last Emperor of the
race, shut up in his palace by a rebel Tartar subject, de-
stroyed his family, and then committed suicide, six years
before Charles died on the scaffold. The founders of this
dynasty were Eastern or Manshur Tartars, who effected
the conquest with case, in consequence of a rebellion
which then convulsed the Empire. No people, indeed,
have suffered more from dissensions than the Chinese,
and have thereby imbibed such a horror of civil war that it
has become a proverb—" I would rather be a dog in the time
of general peace than a human being in the midst of wars."
TAOU KWANG, PRESENT EMPEROR OF CIIINA.-Taou
Kwang was born in 1781, during the life of his grandfather,
Keen Lung, at whose Court Lord Nlacartney, and the news
of a happy termination of a revolt in Thibet, arrived nearly
at the same time. The first fifteen years of Taou Kwang's
life were spent at the Court of Keen Lung, his grand-
father, a man whose long reign of sixty years showed that
the whole bent of his mind was set upon the subjuga-
tion of all the neighbouring kingdoms and nations,
and the extirpation of not a few of them.
Many a captive chief was brought to the
Imperial Palace, and there made to writhe in
all the agonies that 'lngenious malice could devise for
him. Such spectacles must have hid a far greater effect
in steeling the heart of time young Prince, than all the
virtuous le.ssons of Confucian lore could in the way of
making it soft and sensitive. In 1820 he came to tine
throne; though the following year, 1821, was, by impe-
rial edict, commanded to stand in the calendar as the first
of his reign. Taou Kiyang, though a Tartar, was a
disciple of the Confucian school, and was, of course,
obliged to feign a wonderful readiuess to comply with the
rigour of its precepts; but the solicitations of his friends
saved him this piece of penance and self-denial ; and so,
cutting asunder the thread of his poignant sorrows, he
seized the reins of government in 1820, and ordered tile
following to be considered as the first of his administra-
tion. But hear the self-:applauding sufficiency with which
he prefaced this declaration—" All the kings [several.
kingdoms are tributary to Chins], Tartar lords, great
statesmen, civil and military officers, have affirmed with
one voice that Heaven's throne must not long remain
without an occupant."
GOVERNMENT AND LAWS.
The Chinese affirm that their Government is founded
upon the model of the noblest visible part of nature,
The Heavens—hence China is called Teen Chaou,
the Celestial Empire, one of the titles of the Em-
peror, is the son of the Sun and Moon, and the form
of their cities, the economy of the palace, the ma-
noeuvres of their armies, the blazonry of their standards,
the arrangements and order of their feasts, and even the
shape of their garments, were ail anciently, and are in the
modern times, professedly an imitiation of the visible
Heavens, of some star or constellation, or of some might hty
change in the firmament, wrapped in the obscurity of e
past.
During an eclipse the Emperor sacrifices in the tem-
ples, and imputing all the ev.ls that are about ton occur
to his own peccability implores the pity of Heaven.
The form of Government
a is
nd absolute
im despotism
act ; tile
will of the emperor is law, every portant of
Government must receive his signature. Weekly reports
arc made to him from the governors of the different pro-
vinces ; and if he approve of them his approval is written
palace of Gehol, which
upon them in vermilion ; if he be displeased, with
he is con-
stituted black ink.
pTothisemfoolflotah-e-
The principal residence of the Emperor and Court is
at Pekin, but he has several fine palaces beyond the
Great Wall, particularly the
is the usual summer residence. The Emperor, like
the Grand Seignior, has a well-appointed seraglio. Ac.
cording to the laws and customs of the country,
sdoevsecrreiipgtniononoretahrethd.es
the great object of his subjects' idolatry, and 11
isn
follow-
ing rather most
despotioverchargedc
government is given by Malte-Brun ;--
" Considered in a moral point of view, we Soon per-
ceive that the Chinese possess the usual virtues and vices
o f the slave, the manufacturer, and the merchant. lk
despotism of the most ahsolute kind has either acquired or
preserved for China the external forms of patriarchal go.
vernment. But, the sovereigns having neglected non_
tary discipline, frequent 'evolutions occurred in former
times, till .at last the country fell into the power eslie.e_
reign conquerors, the Mantchoos. From that period the
whip of the Tartar has been conjoined with the paternal
rod by which China was previously governed. The only
institution tending to limit the royal powers is one by
which the mandarins and the tribunals arc allowed to make
very humble remonstrances to the Emperor on the errors
of his government. Under a virtuous prince, this liberty
has often been followed by the most salutary consequences.
The Emperor is styled the sacred son of heaven. sole
ruler of the earth, the great father of his people. Offer-
ings are made to his image and to his throne ;
his person
adored ; his people prostrate themselves in his presence,
and noblemen of his court, when addressed by him,
everything
under ben participates in the idolatry which is lavished on
his person. His numerous concubines, and the eunuchs to
whose charge they are committed, not unfrcquently reign
in his name. When this demigod goes abroad, all the
Chinese take care to shut themselves up in their houses.
NlThoever is found in his way is exposed to instant death,
unless he turns his back, or lies flat with his face on the
ground. All the shops by which the Emperor is to pass
must be shut, and this prince never goes out without being
preceded by two thousand lictors carrying chains, axes,
and various other instruments characteristic of eastern des-
potism."
The servility and homage rendered to the Emperor is
that of the most uncivilized nations. Every individual
introduced to the Emperor's presence must perform the
Kou-tow, which is to prostrate himself nine times, each
time striking the head against the ground. The failure
of Lord Amherst's embassy arose from his Lordship's
refusing to perform the lion-tow.
The Imperial kindred are distinguished by the colour
of their sashes ; those nearly related wear yellow
sashes, and those more distant a red colour; these per-
sons arc by law confiaed.within the city of Pekin, and if
they are found without its limits they are confined for life,
or exiled to Mantchoo Tartary.
When a Prince ascends the throne, he adopts some name
expressive of his qualities or his intentions. The reigning
Emperor calls himself Taou Kwang, " The Light
of Reason." The Princes of the blood are maintained in
great state in the Imperial city, although the practice of
polygamy has taken away from them their dignity, and
notwithstanding the succession is nominally hereditary,
the reigning Emperor nominates his successor.
Next to the Princes of the Blood Royal arc Fou-tcb6-
yuen, or censors, they arc required to point out his faults
to the Emperor, and the law makes them responsible for
every bad action he commits, without a remonstrance on
their part.
There are nine ranks or degrees of persons. Ministers
of State are generally of the first rank, Governors of Pro.
'Antes the second, Kagistrates the third.

pulation.
Animals, poultry, and fruit are offered upon the altars;
but as any article of food is too valuable to be wasted, after
presenting the offering or sprinkling the blood of the vic-
tim over the idol, the offering is eaten by the sacrificers
and the priests. The sacred isle of the Chinese is the
beautiful island of Poo-too, an island in the Chu-san
group, upon which are 400 temples and at least 2,000
priests. According to the Chinese Almanacs the popu-
lation of the empire is said to amount to 375,000,000.
Considering the extent of the country, the small quan-
tity of food on which a Chinese can exist, the small num-
ber of cattle and horses in the country, the industry of the
inhabitants, and their minute and frugal agricultural habits,
there is every reason to believe that this number is rather
under than overrated.
The middle and lower class of the Chinese people
live in families ; and it is usual for sons, even after
they have wives and families, to remain under the
paternal roof, until inereaing numbers render this arrange-
ment impracticable. Staunton relates an instance of so
many families living under the same room, that their num-
bers amounted to 700 persons. In these united families a
community of goods appears to be established, the pro-
duce of the labour of all, being thrown into the general
stock, and administered by the head of the household.
the parent has the polver of life and death over his child.
Infanticide is very common, and among the sect of Yon
and•Yuing the female infant is generally deprived of life.
The moment a child is born it is accounted a year old ;
every circumstance attending his birth is carefully noted,
and communicated to a shing-shang, or astrologer, who
pi.oceeds to the temples, and consults the gods, whetnce
the incidents he fortunate or unfortunate, and at what time
the parents should contract for the marriage of the child. '
Marriage contracts amongst the rich arc made when the
parties are seven years old, and at the age of fifteen or
seventeen they are married : the parties do not see each
other until the wedding day ; upon that day the bride is
placed in a large sedan-chair richly gilt, and locked, and
the key sent to the future husband. This chair is borne
over a fire placed at the door, and carried to an inner
apartment; the bridegroom unlocks the door, and for the
I first time in his life sees his wife, to whom he makes three
bows, and she drinks to him three times, :and the ceremony
is eemolete. The Chinese ordinarily have Lut one wile,
hut polygamy is allowed to the rich. The females are in
general' kept in a state of slavery, but when their mile
children arrive at manhoed they are treated with ;he greatest
respect. The greatest mandarin pays to her to tchom he ewes
his birth the most unbounded veneration. Every three months
he dresses himself in his court rubes, and prostrates tem-
self in her presence. The dress of the Empress Mother
is more splendid than that worn ether by the Emperor or
his Consort. Indeed the Emperor is much controlled by
his mother, and the Chinese historians complain of the ca-
lamities arising from the meddling intrigues of the Queen-
mother. This consideration operated so strongly upon
one of the Emperors, that upon electing his successor, he
put the youth's mother to death. A Chinese female becomes
vain of her beauty in proportion to the smallness of her
eyes, the protuberance of her lips, the lankness and black-
ness of her hair, and the smallness of her feet. Among
the men, corpulence commands a certain degree of respect,
and men of thin forms pass for psrsons of small intellect.
People of quality allow the nails of their fingers to grow
to a great length. Almost all the males can read and
write, and at ail the large towns and villages there arc found
tchu-tchang3, or learned men, whose business is to ad-
:lse, write letters, or undertake any matter with which a
, commonly educated man may not be conversant.
The Chinese schoolmaster merely teaches letters and
the science of manners ; they do not cultivate the abstract
sciences ; geometry and mathematics with the study of ge-
neral history and astronomy are not taught, and the pupils
are therefore very deficient in a general knowledge of the
world. Chinese gentlemen study nothing but the history
and poetry of China, and the opinions of their old philoso-
Oers. They never study any foreign language. Very few
females can read or write. The prevailing opinion is, that
domestic duties are enough for the Isdies, and, besides,
there exists an apprehension that the art of writing and
reading may be raisemployed, or perverted to bad pur-
poses. At school Chinese boys begin by committing to
memory two or three small books merely to learn thtecha-
racters, which they also write daily. Then they pass to
the Four Books of Confucius, and after they have learnt
these, they study the Five Sacred Books, the greater part
of which they commit to memory. They are taught the
most implicit obedience to their parents, and such is con-
sidered the authority and power of the father over his child,
that he may put his son to death, and be punished only by
a moderate fine.
Their cemeteries are judiciously placed without the
towns, on barren hills, where there is no risk of the dead
being disturbed by agricultural operations. When a man
d;es, his friends say " he is gone to ramble amongst the
immortals." White is the colour used for mourning. The
relatives offer a sort of worship at the tombs of the de-
ceased. They assemble round the grave on certain days
consecrated to their memory, and the spirits of their an-
cestors seem to be reverenced as a sort of household god .
LANGUAGE, EDUCATION, AND LITERA-
TU RE. . .

The Chinese is an earlier language than the Sanscrit
or mother tongue of Central Asia ; it is a monosyllahlic
language, and words expressing more than one sensation,
or object, or quality, or names of persons arc formed by the
union of single words. Thus the name of the page
whom we call Confucius is Con.fut-sce, the Spiraker of
Wisdom. The Chinese language has, besides the provin-
cial varieties, two great and distinct features—the writ-
ten and the spoken languages. The written or Mandarin
Chinese, is the language of religion and literature, and
the laws, and of the Government; and throughout. the coasts
and islands of China, Corea, Loo Choo, and the Li-
pan Islands, the native of China Proper, or a foreign
traveller, finds, upon addressing himself to the natives in
the ordinary tongue, he is not understood ; but if he mite
his wants in the written language, his wishes or wants
arc immediately comprehended. The written character
of the Chinese differs much from the written character of
the Asiatics, and appears to the scholar, at first sight, to
approximate to the ancient Hebrew, Pbceuician, or Pal-
rune ; but, upon more minute examination, it is found
to approach nearer to the most ancient of known charac-
ters, the cuneiform, or arrow-headed character, not that o
Persepolis, but the more ancient upon the bricks o
Babylon.

WRITTEN LANGUAGE.
The writing of the Chinese and the formation of their sym-
bols differ from those of the whole world, and they still retain
the original mode by which mankind has attempted to per-
petuate the remembrance of things by some imitative sym •
bol. Thus the characters expressing the sun and moon
stand for light, those of a man and a mountain signify her-
mit, a bird and a mouth express song, and the verb to
hear is represented by the combined character for an

ear and a door.
The number of primitive elements or symbols, acccord-
ing to Dr. Morrison, is 373; of these characters 214
arc heads of classes or radicals, or outline characters, each
having a distinct meaning and use ; from these radicals,
combinations are formed, representing by their union athirst:
for example, the characters signifying sun and moon united
signify light and brightness. Thus from 214 elements
spring 1,600 primitives, each producing nearly 80 deri-
vatives, and the peculiar composition of the language
may be conceived by the following passage from Mr.
Barrow :
" The characters are divided into six classes by philolo-
gists, viz.:-Ist. Those resembling the object. 23. Those
pointing out some quality or accident. 3d. Those arising
from combination of ideas. 4th. Characters partly to give
the idea, and partly the sound. sth. Representing oppo-
sites by inversion. 6th. Borrowed, metaphorical, or illu-
sive. As a specimen of the 3d and 6th classes—a hand
and a staff united denote a man ruling in his family, or
' a father ;' words and to exchange mean to ' converse'
or ' speech ;' the middle and heart • fidelity,' the mouth and 1
gold, 6 volubility of speech,' high and horse, 6 fraud'
(i. c. to be on one's high horse). 'To flatter' is com-
posed of words, and to lick; 'levity,' of ' girl,' and' thought.'
As an illustration of the metaphorical use, the ' wife of a
magistrate' is said to denote ' an accomplished lady.' "
Under the clement or key which signifies heart, we shall
find all the characters arranged expressive of the senti•
merits, passions, and affections of the mind : as grief, joy,
'ovo, hatred, anger, &c. The element water enters into
all the compounds which relate to the sea, rivers, lakeS,
swamps, depth, transparency, &c. The key or clement
plant takes in the whole vegetable kingdom. Yen, a wet d,
enlers into the composition of those characters which re-
late to reading, speaking, studying, debating, consulting,
trusting, &c. Alt the handicraft trades, laborious employ-
ments, and a great number of verbs of action, have tue
element hand for their governing character. Of the 214
radicals thus employed, not more than 150 can be consi-
dered as effective, the rest being very rarely employed in
the combination of characters. Of the 40,000 characters,
ar thereabouts, contained in the standard dictionary of the
language, 60 of the elements govern no less than 25,000.
The most prolific is the element grass, or plants, which
oresides over 1,423 characters ; the next water, which has
1,333 ; then the hand, which has 1,012. After these fol.
low in succession the mouth, heart, and insect, each having
about 900, then a word, man, and metal, cash exceeding
700 ; next a reed, or bamboo, a woman, silk, a bird, flesh,
mountain, &c., each governing from 500 to 600. The
number of words in the Imperial Dictionary is 40,000, but
the early writings of the period of Confucius contain
scarcely 3,000 different characters. Now it is said who-
ever has acquired 2,000 is never at a loss, and with 1,900
is in possession of all the materials of the language.
It is the apparent number of words that has pre-
vented Europeans from a more general acquisition of this
ianguago ; but the philological researches of Pote Montucci,
IZerrivaat, Du Ponceau, Morrin, Morrison, Arnot, and
Myers, have shown that the Chinese language is as easily
,eqeired as any of the Asiatic tongues. Johnson's Die.-
i,nary of the Engltsli language contains 38,000 words,
and Noah Webster's 47,000 words. Notwithstanding this
onauni, foreigners easily learn English. In writing
Chinese there are five different kinds of hands in use:—
l. The right character, or plain hand. 2. The walking
character, or free hand. 3. The running hand. 4. The
,1d hand. 5. The seal or sacred hand. The art of print-
ing has been in use in China near 1,200 years; but it was
..il,yitiwsge.ad,at,iii,,tmesrtesiosiaorni swfrboomprwinotooddenc bblioncekses.
boDokrs. Nflroorm-
\
moveable types.

There is no analogy
LANGUAGE.
gensa,l?iangnydthwieliiratmevoedrebeotiw
ceoemnptaliscitwiorni.ttenTahnuds
Token languages,
when jig, the sun,
nitthhiene
Chinese
ea rdeounitednotpronounce
to denote clear or illustrious,
their characters lib-yue, but, ge,aandipt
generallyhong sobu negd
beginning
with There are 330 monosyllables,
with a consonant and ending withe
'notornlaitqiounide, or
the double consonant NG. monosyllablesTheseayowel
means of four modifications of
each syllable,. extended to about 1,300 r lwords. Each
meanings, and
word has, on an average, 100 different
only allowing three accents to each, there are still 33

THE SUN, LONDON', SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28 18-10

The machinery of Government is carried en by six
Boards or Pous.
1. The Ly-pou, or Board for the examination of all
mandarins. candidates for official situations in the pro. -
vinces,. and controlling and degrading these already in.
ffice.=2: The Ho•pou, or Finance Board, for 'the
receipt and expenditure of the public revenue.•
Li-pou, or Board of Rites, who regulate the public
worship, the arts and sciences, titles of honour, drespa to
be worn by the officers of state, the furnishing of thom-
perial table, and who prevent innovation on the prbaent
usages.-4. Ping-pou, havin theasuperintendence of
.the
fortresses and armies, and lerything connected witlftbe
f
military service.-5. The Hong-pou, or Board of Justice,
who take cognizance of all offences.-6. The Kong-pou, or
Board of internal communication ; their office is to keep
in repair all the bridges, roads, palaces, and public build-
ings throughout the empire; and they also have the
chaage of all the canals, bridges, and navy of the empire.
The college of Han-lin superintend the literature of
the country. and instruct the children of the Emperor.
They compile and direct the printing of the books that are
printed at the Imperial press.
The government of the provinces is delegated to Vice-
roys, who rule with absolute power over districts as lare.e
as European kingdoms; the subordinate parts are filled by
the officers whom we call mandarins.
The term Mandari% is not known in China; it is
of Portuguese origin ; the Chinese call their officers
Kwang-foo,:and they are distinguished by a knob or button
on their caps, which is about the size of a shilling and made
of gold, chrysial,recious stones or coral; besides these
marks the civil otneers wear a tunic with a bird embroi-
dered on their back or breast, and the military officers have
a tiger embroidered on their dress. The Hong merchants,
and other rich people,
. are permitted to purchase rank arid
provincesadministrationare punished
wear a button, for which they pay large sums to the
acquired
b
great .)
Emperor.v,,ealth d
Governorsuringth their
of
who
have
being, appointed conservators of the Yellow River, and
their duty is to repair all damage caused by its inunda-
tions at their private cost. Refractory nobles arc degraded
and sent as slaves amongst the Tartars, or exiled to one of
the islands in the Chusan Archipelago. The Kwang-foo or
Mandarins have the power to inflict corporal punishment;
and being chiefly of Tartar extraction, they treat the Chi-
nese as a conquered people : it is this arrogant class who
have been for more than hall a century fattening on the
plunder and the bribes they have received from the trade
in opium ; it is they who, on ail occasions, have treated
the European voyager with tyranny and contempt.
The Chinese people evince, on all occasions, every dispo-
sition to trade with Europeans, but they fear detec-
tion from the Tartars, and they express, by a signifi-
cant motion, that the punishment of decollation a ill
follow the discovery. of any connection with the fan-qui,*
or foreigner. If protected by a sufficient force the Chi-
nese will be too happy to trade. In the present expedition.
Great Britain will find no difficulty in procuring sup-
' plies for her fleet from the people along the coast. The
Chine ,e groan under an intolerable oppression—their learn-
ing. their arts, are buried beneath the weight of Tartar ty-
ranny, and the estaftshment of a powerful statiun in the
vicinity of the Chinese coasts, and a communications with the
natives of our power and influence, may tend to great
chaages in the internal government and external adminis-
tration of the Chinese empire. The officers of Govern-
ment prevent the circulation of any information relating to
British power ; and as they call all the heads of the sur-
rounding nations Kings ( the Governor of Singapore they call
" King"), they affect to treat the British Sovereign as one
of these dependent Princes. But the trade with Singapore,
and the establishment of an hospital at Macao for the cure of
native Chinese, thousands of whom are annually cured and
sent to speak our praises throughout the different provinces
of the empire, has created a vivid sensation in our favour,
especially in the provinces of Kwang-tong and Fub-ken,
and a warlike demonstration upon our part will not be
without st mpathetic feeling by large masses of Chinese.
And if it should be our fate, as Sir Robert Peel has said,
to -become the governors of" two-thirds of the human race,"
we shall know that in the mission of nations it is our distin-
guished task to be the promulgators of the Christian
faith, and that every nation who owns our sway through-
ea Asia has exchanged capricious tyranny for compa-
rative liberty -and happiness.

a cup of tea is as necessary to the Englishman as his fire-
si:e. If such be the case, it might be said—How, if we
make enemies of the Chinese, are we to be supplied with
this necessary to British comfort? To this we reply—
That the monopoly of the East India Company and the
restrictions upoa Eastern commerce have prevented the
proper development of English enterprise and energy in
the East; the trade with the large island of Japan,
abounding in tea as good, if not superior, to any of the teas
grown in China, has never been properly cultivated. The
country around Sincapore abounds in tea-trees, and
thousands of Chinese emigrants annually arrive at the
British settlements, who are capable and willing to culti-
vate the tea plant ; millions of acres in the country of the
Kariayn are covered with indigenous tea trees, and the
Palaungs, a native tribe, are from their infancy, employed
in the cultivation of the plant. This country might be
easily obtained ; it is within the Burmese territory, 150
miles from Ahmurapoora, at the sources of some of the
streams that run into the Irrawaddy ; and there is wato-
way down the Mou'tama to the British settlements of
Manahan and Moulmeyn, a route very little longer than
that by which the teas are sent to Canton, beside,:
saving nearly one month's voyage, and the danger
of typhoons, &c., and last, but not least, the territory
of Assam, which, if properly cultivated by 'lindens,
(cot Chinese—this is a fatal error) is capable of suppl-
ing all our wants. The tea tree, like the vine, grows to
most advantage in stony and rocky districts (districts but
little valuable for cultivation); and in tte high latitudes
of our Indian empire many districts may be found cspable
of producing this valuable plant ; but to make these avail-
able the directors of the policy of the Engjish empire
must treat our Indian possessions as their importance and
benefit to the Imperial mate demand, and not as it has
hitherto been, sacrifice the interests of the East to the

prejudices of the West.
Large quantities of raw silk are exported since the
opening of the trade, and the amount is annually shout
5,000:000 pounds. The sugar of China is superior to the
sugar of the West hulks; but to protect our West India
colonies a duty of 300 per cent. is levied. Since the eman-
cipation of the slaves, and the decrease in the quantity of
West India sugar, about 200,000 pounds worth of clayed

and candied sugar have been imported from China.
Since the great increase of the opium trade gold and sil-
ver have been largely exported ; in the year 18:34 its value
was 1,197,735/ ; and the total annual value'of the British
exports from China was in 1838 about 8,000,000/ sterling.
Our principal imports to China are coarse woollens,
watches, glass, iron, and lead from England direct, and
opium and cotton wool from India. The wealthy Chinese
formerly used fur clothing, as the winters arc very cold
even in the southern provinces ; but the diminished sup-
ply and the high prices of fur have caused the comfortable
woollen fabrics of England to be extensively used.
Watches used to be sold in large quantities No well-
dressed Chinese in the south considers his costume com-
plete without a pair of English watches. The value of
British imports was about 2,600,0001., 'and the balance of
trade in our favour was made up by the importations from
our Indian empire, so that instead of Hindostan remitting
500,0001. or 600,0001. annually to Great Britain in specie,
her remittances a-c made in Chinese produce. The cot-
ton wool imported from Bti•ish India is valued at
1,600,000/ , and the opium at 4 500,000/. ; and it is the
importation of this article that the Tartar rulers of China
have made a pretext to insult and annoy us.