The Portland daily press., 1895-07-22

|
ter of the United States at Peking With
seventy seven illustrations. sSAt this juno
ture, reliable histories of the Chinese are
very apropos for to certainty much mis-
statement has been circulated of late cor :
corning these Asiatic folk, not to say
lies, anent their government, customs
and characteristics The present volume
aims at a simple statement of fact with
out bias or exaggeration. Excellent ma
terial is at the authors hand and he
manipulates it with skill and intelligence
His subject includes the Introduction of
China to western civilizations and the
commercial and political events ensuing;
theZGovernment of China; it's Language,
Home and Social Life, Religion and Su-
perstitions. Courts of law, Chinese
| Queues, " Trade, the Poor-and the Finan-
cial System. Mr.. Holcombe says it is far
easier to criticise the Chinese than to un-
derstand them. The points of contact are
too few and too recent. Yet they are en-
phatically race worthy of serious study.
As real life is far more fascinating than
any work of fiction, so is the genuine
| Son of Ham, with his fixed and crystal
lized peculiarities immensely more inter
esting to the honest student than the
caricatured Chinaman, with whom alone
the average public is familiar :" The
book itself is beautifully printed and
bound. The illustrations are from pho
tographs taken on the spot and graceful
head and tail pieces mark each chapter.
~
Not only is this history accurate and full
of information but it is also as delight
fully interesting as novel and we take
hearty pleasure commencing it. Speak
| ing OF the first intercourse of China with
foreign nations, the author says, 1T is re-
lated that when what is now the German
Empire sent commissioners to China to
| negotiate treaty, they were refused. On
the kindly interference of the British
minister, this refusal was withdrawn, the
Chinese government naively remarking
that it was informed by the British rep
resentatives that the Germans were really
respectable people and that their King
was relative of the Queen of Great
Britain" While the present war is not
treated of in this book the position of
Japan towards China is clearly stated.
In the first chapter the opium war is very
succintly detailed and set forth, both as
to cause and effect. Theoretically it
may be proper to classify the Chinese sys-
tenn of government as an absolute despot-
ism, but in its practical operations such
description of it not only fails to de-
scribe but is misleading and unjust 1t
is paternalism pure and simple. Not the
man, but the home, the family is the unit
of Chinese life. And paternalism, based
upon the ancient patriarchal idea of the
position and authority of the head of the
family, is the theory upon which tho
form of government is based" The
Nation says "This work is destined to
take high rank in the army of books ON
China. The initial chapter pic
lures in strong light and with consum-
mate skill that old world of Chinese Asia
now passing away and adds that only
one behind the scenes could have SO we'll
treated of government matters. The
Nation also says that the book is written
with a surprising freshness and sets forth
amusingly the blunders of missionaries
and dipfomatists. "The Real Chinaman"
is a valuable, timely and interesting pub
LEGATION. (New York Dodd, Mead &
Company; Portland: Lorirg, Short &
Harmon. Price $2.0O.)
Lisbeth Wilson, A Daughter of New
Hampshire Hills by Eliza Nelson Blair is
story of the sacrifice and pain attending
loyal attachment which is opposed on
religious grounds and is fought against
by the heroine's father with all the obsti-
macy and iron strength of Puritan will
The young people hold their own against
great odds. This story will be enjoyed
by those who retain an interest in real
New England interior country life, a
phase of existence rapidly fading out and
valuable in reminiscence for that very
reason. 1t was a sturdy, fine dvelopement
and resultant and it can never be repro
duced. The gossip of neighbors "visit-
ing'' for their sole recreation and excite
ment-the quilting, haying, catechising,
singing school, camp meeting, muster,
the mill and the tavern, the spelling
ocIlool anu Sugdrlng Ou-tll are woven
into the recital and are pictured with
naturalness and spirit. ''Belknap says
New Hampshire may be considered the
schoolo Ct stern heroism. The sons of it
settlers were dominant race, born to
rule as sparks fly upward. They carried
sovereignty in their bearing. Exposure,
toll, fatigue, coarse food, and couches of
leaves under primeval pines, had de-
veloped breed of men strong as moose,
of commanding presence and even nerve
They have driven out the Indian, felled
the forest, and owned the land. They
were quiet, genial, neighborly. So, also
they were firm as rocks, finty in spots,
yet possessing oftentimes rare humor,
and peaceful except on three subjects
religion, schools and politics. "
"Lettice' plans quilt in this fashion;
If this was mine, Mis- Lane, sh'd put
in pine-tree pattern inter these large
blue squares, with brick-red corners set
in sasser fashion, an quilt the corners
| 'cordin' ter their shape. AS tew the other
| cc1 - c%nl~x ,J- t.