Wisconsin herald, and Grant County advertiser. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1844-1845, 1845-12-11

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the whole empire into great school
Of education, and ca,iscs, asit were, the
rewards and punishments of college,
marks to continue through life. The
effect of the system Of education il
still! furtherincreased by the fact thai
there is great difference in the dia-
lects spoken in various parts Of China,
so that persons from distant provinces
cannot understand each other any bet
ter than an Italian can Spaniard; of
Portuguese Frenchman. But the
written signs are the same, and con-
vey to all the same ideas, just as the
Arabic numerical figures convey the
same idea to divers nations, while in
spoken language they give them differ
ent names Two Chinese therefore,
unable to comprehend each others di-
alect, resort TO the the expcdient of
making signs with their hands Of the
ideas they wish to convey. and are thus
enabled to understand. lam persuade
ed that these and other pcculiarities Of
of the machinery of thought, speech,
and written communication in China,
giving them an Interchangeable identity
of literature, of ideas. of mental ard
moral constitution, have contributed
more than any other cause to maintain
the stability and long duration Of the
peculiar civil institutions of the EN-
pire.
The manners OF the Chinese are en-
minently courteous; they exhibit not
only the substance of high civilization,
but its exterior also to quite as great
degree as is found in Europe, except,
perhaps. in the single fact that ladies do
not enter into society, whereas labor
ing women are abundant in the streets.
The people are fond of theatrical ope-
rations, representations of music, and
means of gratifying their propensities,
in this respectare very frequent. An
other frequent element of their amuse-
ments is festival, or a procession, re-
ligious. political or domestic. As TO
their morals, am not prepared to say
that they are any higher than in Eu-
rope or America, but they themselves
have, at any rate, very low idea of
foreign morals--deriyed from seeing
the conduct Of Europeans, especially
English soldiers aud sailors in their
seaports. Missionaries; particularly
the French, who have been admitted
into the interior. have often spoken Of
this to me as one Of the great obstacles
to the making proselytes to Christ:ani-
ty amongthe Chinese people. As well
as courteous, the Chinese are an emil
nently intellectual nation. They make
a vast use of books; the county abounds
in public libraries and shops for the
sale Of literary works. | have caia.
logue Of the imperial library, which
alone occupies ten considerable vol
umes, and in every respectable dwelling
house books are found, as a necessary
article of furniture. The people gen
orally reason well, both in their con-
vcrsation and in their state papers; but
they have suffered great injustice from
imperfect or erroneous TRANSACTIONS;
. especially at the hands OF the English.
f From the intercourse ii was my for
tune tohave with them, ] formed n high
opinion OF their capacity, and indeed
tie organization and stability Of their
government is, to considerable degree;
| a proof in itself, Of their ability, INTEL
lectual and political. In fact. talent
can scarcely fail to obtain among tie
highest classes, since, socially speaking,
the scholars constitute the first order
in the empire. After them come the
agriculturalists, and then the soldiers,
artizans and merchants. Pacific hab-
its of intellectual, literary aud artistic
refinement, arc indeed the great charac-
Eteristics OF the Chinese nation; while
one chief aim Of the government is tie
promotion of tranquility. Hence the
facility with which handful Of Eng
lish troops we're enablcdto dictate terms
to this great empire. And this exam
Pile should be "A warning to us of the
I United States not to be melted by uto-
plan visions Of continual peace, to lose
our martial spirit, and with il, our indie
pendencc.
The prevalent religion is nothing but
the worship of anccstors--if that be
rcligion--snd Of the saints and sages Of
the Empire. the same word shing-
signifying both sage and saint. Thus.
the great body Of cultivated men in
China are destitute Of religion in one
sense of the word as implying certain