The Daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1845-1850, 1845-10-31
MECHANICS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.

MECHANICS, LIBRARY ASSUCIAIlON.
CHINA. We copy from the Mercantile Jour-
nal, the following abstract of Hon. CALEB CUsH-
ING's Lecture before the Mercantile Library
Association of Boston. His subject was s'China''
Mr. Gushing in commencing his lecture, warn
ed his audience against any disappointment that
might be experienced as he should proceed in
his address, as, from the nature of his theme COW
ering such an immense field for comment he
should necessarily be brief and desutory in his
remarks. The vastness of his subject the thou
sand details connected with it, the topics of i'm
portance and interest upon which he must touch
would exclude all use of rhetorical ornament. and
his audience must content themselves with
plain recital of facts
To a European or an American continued the
lecturer, just landed in China, every thing ap
pears strange. He finds himself not only at the
antiPodes, physically speaking, but at the anti
podes in a moral sense. He sees around him
countless myriads of men in a strange garb and
with general appearance unlike to all that TO
which he has heretofore been accustomed He
observes the most studied uniformity among the
various classes, and the progress of every thing
which falls under his observation, so slow and so
UNMARRIED, strikes him in singular contrast with
our own changing manners and locomotive speed.
thousand things admonish him that he is in a
strange land. He hears the constant sounding of
v
ers, the dwelling places of millions of Chinese
carts moved on land by sails, as well as boats on
the water. If the pilot looks to the compass to
direct his course upon the deep, he looks to the
pointing OF the south pole-if he receives a letter
he will ind 1t written in lines running from ton
to bottom OF the sheet, reading from right to left
with the date at the bottom OF the letter-no IL
phabet being used but idiographic characters
The mourning, instead ofbeng black as with us
is white with the Chinese-the shoe even Is
whltened with some substance, to correspond
with other portions of dress He sees the sancar
placed on the cup, instead of the cup Oh the san.
cer-shuttle cocks played with the feet instead of
the hands-ladies feet compressed instead of
their waists-leaves of book cut open and trim
med on the hack-a person swimming strikes bis
hands vertically and not Observation-Disclosures ton 81
the head shaved-and when friend meets Won in
the street, he does not shake your hands bnt
shakes his hands at you-the infantry armed with
matchocks, the cavalry with the bow and arrow
and Colonel at the head of his regiment MA
untrequently brandishing pan instead of a sword
He will not only mole these exterior forms of ar
terence but will learn that nobility is not inbar
tied from the father by the son. but rather IL ono
may so speak, by the father from the son--oood
deeds rejecting back upon a remote ancestrv
Corruption OF blood, for crimes committed. afects
ancestors long since dead and gone though Il
does not necessarily affect posterity. All these
Things VIII strike one, upon cursory view but
it is just to treat the subject in different nan
ner' or injustice will be done to great and ,ol-
ished people, "'iU pol
We in America receive our language ana -,