, 1879-06-08

not unfortunately dscredit themselves by the con-
ttad1c,ions mud Inconsistencies that pefvaue them
h Ghfoss1er; On ths authority OF Alniot, who quoted
who,a WnGfCY .. statisteai account Of the
l743 amount to 108 or 200 millions.
het unsr1 1s,nothins Incredible in this considering
proper Is aboye eight tmes that OF France. But,
II y comparinE It with the $50, ooQ, 900 Of Lord
macsarnss n authority jusr fty years afterwards
that period keemk very largc.' The true point Of
difference is the degree OF credit that is 10 be at
Iaehed 10 the Chinese census. Tie division OF the
wnoe POPULATION into hundreds and tith1n1s seems
Calculated to secure aomeAegree Of correctness in
tn thosty that the oraiasr5 report q The popais.
lar attention Is paid. 'Thsn census Il especially
eanea eoh for BY he Emperor, the loca! eDcers .inst
taSs the tast one and MAKE Jumping addition to
:aeo or tneTenst dad prosperity. Now, although
II "a unc that the enormous census Ut $50 600, QUO
was not made to inpose on foreigners yet It might
pave been made By thls proud nation to impose On
themselves"
The elastic nature Of 3 Chinese census, as d
natural derivative from the known elasticity Of the
thnese conscience, - further In the fact {ac
cofoang to the same writer. page 351) that whlla
census taken In ITO. with a view to distribute
e IT the pea1 and T % 1ha sstes
oe only ID 31e, 200. A census taken in 1893, with
{he eyoWed object Of apportioning Government re-
famine. Developed populstioa Of so7, 4e7, s6o s OF
fold greater than il had been eighty years
earlier. Verify 1t makes difference With the
Heathen Chinee whether the object OF the census IL
to be INK OF a bountyi
/ The eame author further refers 'sop the author
ty Of Chinese work OF some note, u not named
70 census said to huye been taken in the seven
teeuth year Of kea King {18l2), making tho popu-
lation 800, 27o, So7: while Mcdhurst, missionary,
IN bis work on sChiua: its State and Prospects,
quotes Dr. 5otrison hayin: obtained exhibits
OF the population rs amounting TO l43, 125, o25 in
l790.
We are now in a fair position to present and
scrainize carefully the leading features OF the
most apparently authoritative statement Of Chinese
population which accessible to us and from which
IN. great measure the materials OF the estates
manuals and encyclopedic articles are still largely
drawn. In Johnson's Encyclopedias, for instance,
the fgures for eleven Of the provinces
sre copied from this statement, while
those for the othee seven are nearly doubled. The
statement is derived from VQrE entitled
s|Ch{na: Political. Commercial, and Social, by
z. Montgomery Marlin, Esq, her 3iajesty's
Treasurer for the Colonial, Consular, and Diplo-
matte Service in China, OF tho date lS47. 1t will
bs borne In mind that while the Chinese Empire,
including Mantchuria, the Cosea> tha Mongol
Territory, and other ontlying provinces, has an
area OF :, 0Us, S2} square miles. OF which only
J. e97. $50 square miles belong to China proper,
yet the latter ia accredited with a population Of
mated at from 448. 500, 00h to $780, 600, 900, Tins
conceding margin for mere ignorance eqna1 TO
the aggregate populations OF Germany, France,
and 1taly
Mr. hartin's schedule Of the population Of
China proper il rs follows.