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    « nwaives . Trith . « aiefcy * nd pleasant trifling . Friends meet in an unceremonious way £ 2 ^^ : ^ o » iw ^ sw » etaaw . ott ; 8 »« b . oce « si « os , th « . y awise t ^ rosalyes bjr gwesaia ® . navies and matang CUUSr . " ¦ K CHIKESE ; COBB > MT' -FA ») CTlItG » . " In no other country than China , perhaps , could ; men be heard exchanging compliments on the subject of a coffin .. People are , mostly shy , of mentioning the lugubrious objects destined to contain the , mortal remains of a . relation or friend , and when death does ^ enter the house , the coffin is got in in secrecy and silence , in order to spare the feelings of the mourning family . But it is quite otherwise in China ; there acoffinis simply an-article of tfce first necessity to the dead , and of luxury and ed in the with all

    tancy to thte living . In the great towns you see them display shops sorts of tasteful decorations , painted and varnished , and polished and trimmed up to attract the eyes of passengers , and . gfcre them the fancy to buy themselves one . People , in easy circumstances , who have money to spare for their , pleasures , scarcely « yer fait to provide themselves beforehand with a coffin to tfceir own taste , and which they consider becoming ; and ^ until the moment arrives for lying down in it , it ia kept ijl&e hbuse ^ not as an article of immediate necessity , but as one that cannot fail to be ¦ consoling and pleasant to the eye in a nicely furnished apartment . Forwefcbrought-up children it is a favourite method of expressing the fervour of their filial piety towards the authors of their being , a sweet and tender consolation for the hbart of a son to be able to purchase a beautiful coffin for an aged father or another , and come in state to present the gift at the moment when they least expect auch an . aeteeabte surprise . If one is not sufficiently favoured by fortune to be able tnat Deior

    $ fc afiford . the purchase of a coffin in advance , care , is always taken « ¦** salutm ^ the world , " as the Chinese say , a sick person shall at least have the satis-£ Sction . jQfcasting a glance at his last abode ; ajoii if he i 3 surrounded by at all affectionate relations , they , never , fail to buy him a coffin , and place it by the side of sbia bed , * In . the country this is not always so easy ; for coffins are not kept quite ready , ana , i&sides , peasants have not such luxurious habits as townspeople . The only way then 3 g to sendite the carpenter of the place , who takes measure of the sick person ^ forgettiog to observe to him that it must be made a . little longer than would seem accessary , because one always stretches , out a little when one ' s dead . A bargain is tllien made " concek » ins the lepgth and the breadth , and especially the co 3 t ; wood is troughs and the workmen set about their task in the yard close to the chamber of the 4 ying person ,, who is entertained with the music of the saw and the other tools , while " death is at workwithin him , preparing him to occupy the snug abode when it ¦ ¦ ¦

    **"• * " ^**** . j .. " . .- . ¦ . .. ¦« ., ¦*•»*• . ¦ a . — — A . i -. _ AH ; this is dons with the , most perfect coolness , and without the slightest emotion , real or affected . We have ourselves witnessed such scenes more than once , and it has always been , one of the things that most surprised us in the . manners of thi » extraordinary country , A short time after our-arrival . at the mission in the north , we were walking one day in the country with a Chinese seminarist , who had the patience , to xepiy to all . our longand tedious questions about th ' e ' men and things of the Celestial Empire * Whilst we were keeping up , the dialogue as well as we could , in a mixture <> f 3 patin andjChinese , using a word of one or the other as . we found occasion , we saw -coming , towards us a rather , numerous crowd , who advanced in an orderly manner along a narrow path . It might have been called a procession ^ _ saf behind

    Our filftt impulse waa to , turn aside , ~ and get into some e corner a large jKiltj Xox ^ not hjKVUig . as yet much experience in the manners and customs of the Chinese , we had some hesitation in , producing ourselves , for fear of being recognised ahd thrown into prison—possibly even condemned and strangled . Our seminarist , However , reassured us , and declared that we might continue our-walk without any fear . The crowd had now come up with us , and we stood aside to let it pass ,. It was ¦ composed of a great number of villagers ^ who looked at us with smiling faces , and had the- appearance of being uncommonly pleased . After them came a litter , on which wa » borne / an-empty coffin , and then another litter , upon which lay extended a dying rrr * f > wrapped in blankets . His face was haggard and livid ) and hia expiring eyes were fixed , upon the coffin that preceded him . When every one had passed , we $ A 8 tej * ed to ask . the meaning of this strange procession . " It ia some sick man , " said the siSuiiariati tr wK 6 has [ b ^ ea taken ill ~ iu : a : neighbouris ^; village , andwhom they are , bringing home . to his family . The Chinese do not like to die away from their own f touse . " " That is very natural ; but what is the coffin for ?~ " For the sick man , who probably has not many days to live . They seem to have made everything ready for his . funeral . I . remarked by the side , of the coffin a piece of white linen that they

    mean . to use for the mourning , " . These words threw- us into . the . moat profound astonishment , and we saw then that we had'come into a new world—into the midst of a people whose ideas and feelings « u 3 fe * od widely , from thosa of . Europeans . These men quietly setting about to prepare for the funeral ' of a still living friend and relation ; this coffin . placed purposely under the eyes of the dying roan , doubtless with the purpose of doing what was agreeable to Kim ; alt , "this , plunged ua into a strange reverie , and the walk was continued in silence , It , x » ow , fb « iome 3 tiaae ,. ta iaibrm . our readers , on . the authority of Ibis inttveatuag :: b < aak * tkaAnaany ciceuttiaUjicea indicate the gradual decay of this MKwtaaattiaaA system , of tradi frioan Whatever is good . in the national life of

    < Jhina is derived evidently from the most ancient perio'd ; and is still « f > reanrrecl i »* th « forms w-hioh have grown / out of these traditions * This , industrious , x&genkms , lively , mobile race has been the- creation of manyrcenr times ; and now—so M . Htte seems to- think ( and the accounts we- read ¦ everywhere confirm it )—a period' bus- , arrived , when- the old things hare I 6 st their , moral savour , and as yet no man sees whence the new are to come J A ~ thin blight . settles upon their elaborately-created institutions total . indifference in spiritual matters—a , fatal languor , indeed spiritually - —i « sf 9 fm , fm aad wide . Corruption spreads in public affairs . The grand old organisation , by which the whole , talent , of the country was honestly drawn inio / tfaftpnbiie service * ia being ; ruined , by bribery , and prostituted to the pnxpoM * oJDfaTouiafcwittw They are passionately m earnest about getting money , and'about littte else . All 1 these symptoms , we say-, are rife in China , nnd ' mar be very beneficially studied just now elsewhere !

    EPUUXU&b . IMKM . Y . It i » . thiA mdie * V profound , indifference to all religion—an indifference that ia iea » c « i { f : conceivable * - by any who have not witnessed it— -which , ia in out opinion the aMtl > , 8 rMMl obaUuti * . that baa so long 1 oppoaod the progress of Christianity in China . Fhe Chinese is so completely absorbed in . temporal interests , in the things that fall \ JoAmMtk * wta ^» that his waola life i » only materialism , put in action . LiMittiJftrttMftt sale , object on vrhioh . bin eyes axo conatantly fixed . A burning thirst to mtUMiMonaipffoflt v gfleai op small , absorbs all bia faculties— -the whole energy of NtofcrJwg . t . qw « 1 » CT » r ;| HUT »< m , ^ nything . with , ardour but riches and material enjoy-DMftt * . CKkWtha » q « It ~* j future lifia—ho believes in . none , of thorn , or r rather , he MWii ^ biBVirviJhonistham , ^ jOl » If . he ever : take * up . a . moral or religious , book , it is

    of serving him , and of meriting by this means the rewara of eternal life . To listen to him , you would think TSim just ready to become a Christian , in fact , that he was such already- ; yet he has not advanced a single step . It must not , however , be supposed that his . speeches are wholly insincere ; he does really—after a fashion—believe what he says ; at all events , he has certainly no conviction to the contrary ; he merely never thinks of religion as a serious matter at all . He likes very well to talk about it ; but it is as of a thing . not made for him—that he personally has nothing to do with . The Chinese carry this indifference so far—religious sensibility is so entirely withered or dead within them : —that they care not a straw whether a doctrine be true or false , good or bad . Religion is to them simply a fashion , which those may follow who have a . taste for it .

    only by way > of amusement—to pass the time away . It is a less ^ serious occupation than smoking a pipe , ox drinking a cup of tea . If you speak to him of the foundations of faith , of the principles of Christianity , of the importance of salvation , the certainty of a life beyond the grave—all these , truths , which so powerfully impress a mind susceptible of religious feeling , he listens to with pleasure , for . it amuses him and piques hia curiosity . He admits everything , approves of all you say , does not find the least difficulty , or make the smallest objection . In his opinion , all this is " true , fine , grandj" and he puts himself into an oratorical attitude , and makes a beautiful speech against idolatry , and in favour of Christianity . He deplores the blindness of men , who attach themselves to the perishable goods of this world ; perhaps he will even give utterance to some fine sentences on the happiness of knowing the true God ;

    This is not the hackneyed lamentation of a mere missionary . M . Hue is something better ; and what he says is confirmed from other quarters . No wonder that—as he frankly admits—the success of missionary work is slight . No wonder that a convulsion has been raised in the country by an energetic pretender- to the throne , who is shaking it to the foundations . With regard to this " Celestial Virtue , " M . Hue is not hopeful ; and for his " Christianity , " he will by no means g ive his voucher . Witness the following , from his ; preface : — We do not , however , give the slightest credit to the alleged Christianity of the insurgents , and the religious and mystical sentiments expressed in these manifestoes second it is b

    inspire us with no great confidence . In the place , y no means necessary to have recourse to the Protestant propaganda to account for the more or less Christian ideas remarked in the proclamations of the revolutionary Chinese . There exist in all the provinces a very considerable number of Mussulmans , who have their Koran and their mosques . It is to be presumed that these Mahometans , who have already several times attempted to overthrow the Tartar dynasty , and-have always distinguished themselves by a violent opposition to the Government , would have thrown themselves with ardour into the ranks of the insurrection . Many of these must have , become generals ,, and have mingled in the councils of Tien-te . It is therefore not wonderful to find among , them the doctrine of the unity of God , and other ideas of Biblical origin , though whimsically expressed . _ - The Chinese have also fox a . long time had-at their command a ; precious collection of books of Christian doctrine , composed by the ancient missionaries , and which , even in a purely literary point of view , are much esteemed in the Empire . These books axe diffused in great numbers throughout all the provinces , and it is mare probable that the Chinese innovators have drawn the ideas in question from these sources than from : therBibles ^ prudentlydeposited . by the Methodists on the sea-shore . _

    And now , what will be the result of this Chinese insurrection . ? Will its promoters succeed in their design of establishing a new dynasty and a new worship , more in harmony with their , lately adopted faith ? Or will the Son of Heaven have power to re-establish the throne so . roughly shaken ? The recent course of events is too imperfectly known , to u % and appears also too little decisive , to enable us to determine these questions . Yet , notwithstanding the impossibility of forming any well-grounded . opinion on the probable issue of the struggle , the journalists of Europe have declared that were the Tartar dynasty once overthrown , the nation would merely return into its traditional course . It seems to us that this is an error . What is called the Chinese system-has really-no existence ; for this-expression can . be -imderstood jn t no _ other sense than by supposing it opposed to a Tartar system . Now there is not , and never waa a Tartar system . The Mantchoo race has , indeed , imposed its yoke upon China , but , has had scarcely any influence on the Chinese mind ; it . has not been able to do much more than introduce some slight modifications into the national costume , and force , the conquered people to shave their heads and wear a tail . The Chinese have been governed mostly by the same institutions after as before the conquest ; they have always remained faithful , to the traditions of their ancestors , and have , in fact , in a great measureabsorbed the Tartar race , and imposed upon it their own manners ami

    , civilisation . They have even succeeded in nearly extinguishing the Mantchoo language , and replacing it by their own . They have nullified the Tartar action on the Empire , by engrossing the greater part of the offices that stand betw « en the governors and the governed . Almost all employments , in fact , if we except the chief military posts , . and the highest dignities of the State , have become the exclusive inheritance of the Chinese , who possess , more frequently than the Tartars , the special kinds of knowledge necessary to fill them . As for the Tartars , isolated and lost in the immensity of the Empire , they have retained the privilege of watching over the security of the frontier , occupying the fortified places , and mounting guard at the gates of the imperial palace . Ouc . space is now exhausted , Let us note , that as a mere book of travels this has much , literary merit .. M . Hue has an eye for the picturesque , and a . pleasant thin vein of genial humour which , gives a human interest to bb pages ..

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    MONUMENTAL . HISTORY OF KGYJPT * The Monumental History of Eqypt , at Recorded on the Ruins of her Temph * , Palaces , and Tombs , By , W . Osbura . Two Vola TrUbnor . TiiB materials of this history , Mr . Osburn tells us , are- altogether embodied in untranslated hieroglyphic texts . The Greek historians are almost entirely laid aside ; the earlier scholiasts are rafely consulted , and the modern Egyptologers are told that they have generally reasoned from unsound premises to erroneous conclusions . In tins manner docs Mr . Odbui'ii sweep the .. ground clear for the establishment . of his own theory . It is nothing to him ( that profound and patient , scholars have investigated the records of aaoienb Egypt , and declared many of them to be unintelligible ; he is . rundy to interpret , or even to correct , the hieratic inscriptions to which Cham-Sollion gave no clue , which Bunsen cannot decipher , and which oven the aring Lepsius has not ventured to translate . In iaot , where there hml been enigmas , Mr . Osburn supplies obvibus solutions ; where there had been discrepancies , ho adduces striking coincidences ; and where there had been irreconcilable dates , a synchronism , helps him out of the difficulty . If his

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    TSfi XEOt IEADEK [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 10, 1855, page 138, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2077/page/18/