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of courtly complaisance; but no grounds appear to justify such an uncnaritable conclusion. One test of his sincerity has been remarked. which is perhaps the strongest that can be exhibitedne educated his children in that faith; and when the tide of fortune changed he remained steadfast, without a symptom of wavering. It is not unusual for men educated in extreme principles of any kind to fly to the opposite, and the difference between the fanatical Puritan and the bigoted Catholic is not so great as may be imagined. Be this as it may, his avowed adherence to the Catholic Church gave rise to his singular poem, entitled "the Hind and Panther;' " in which he eulogises the faith of his adoption under the guise of the "milk-white Hind,"-while the Church of England, typified by the Panther,-the Presbyterians, satirised as the "lean and hungry Wolf," and most of the public characters of the day under various disguises, are brought upon the scene, and play their parts according to the will of the poet. This poem, however its readers may dissent from the opinions of the author, cannot be looked upon as other than a most masterly composition, and the full force of the mighty power he possessed over the language he wrote in, was here exerted. The poem of "Absolom and Achitophel," written for party purposes just after the Rye-house plot, in which King Charles is typified by David, the Duke of Monmouth by Absolom, and Sheffield by Achitophel, is also a striking example of his great powers. This poem was so popular, that he was induced to publish a second part, in which he was assisted by Tate, the joint translator of the Psalms.

The Revolution put an end to all Dryden's court favour, and deprived him of his offices of poet-laureat and historiographer. The former he had the mortification to see bestowed on his unworthy antagonist Shadwell. This is alluded to in an epistle to Congreve, who was then in the meridian of his fame; an epistle which, in the words of Sir Walter Scott, "is one of the most elegant and apparently heartfelt effusions of friendship that our language boasts, and the progress of literature from the Restoration is described as Dryden alone could describe it." We, therefore, transcribe it as a worthy specimen of the poet :

Well, then, the promised hour is come at last,
The present age of wit obscures the past:
Strong were our sires, and as they fought they writ,
Conquering with force of arms, and dint of wit:
Theirs was the giant race, before the Flood;
And thus, when Charles return'd, our empire stood.
Like Janus, he the stubborn soil manured,
With rules of husbandry the rankness cured;
Tamed us to manners when the stage was rude,
And boist'rous English wit with art endued.
Our age was cultivated thus at length;

But what we gain'd in skill, we lost in strength.
Our builders were with want of genius curst;
The second temple was not like the first;
Till you, the best Vitruvius, came at length,
Our beauties equal, but excel our strength.
Firm Doric pillars found your solid base;
The fair Corinthian crowns the higher space :
Thus all below is strength, and all above is grace.
In easy dialogue is Fletcher's praise;

He moved the mind, but had not power to raise:
Great Jonson did by strength of judgment please;
Yet, doubling Fletcher's force, he wants his ease.
In differing talents both adorn'd their age;
One for the study, t'other for the stage.
But both to Congrere justly shall submit,
One match'd in judgment, both o'ermatch'd in wit.
In him all beauties of this age we see ;
Etherege his courtship, Southerne's purity;
The satire, wit, and strength of manly Wycherley.
All this in blooming youth you have achieved;
Nor are your foil'd contemporaries grieved.
So much the sweetness of your manners more,
We cannot envy you because we love.
Fabius might joy in Scipio, when he saw
A beardless consul made against the law,
And join his suffrage to the votes of Rome,
Though he with Hannibal was overcome.

Janus is said to have introduced the arts of civilisation among the wild inhabitants of Italy. He was a native of Thessaly, and is stated to have been a son of Apollo.

Thus old Romano† bow'd to Raphael's fame,
And scholar to the youth tie taught became.
O that your brows my laurel had sustain'd!
Well had I been deposed if you had reign'd⚫
The father had descended for the son;
For only you are lineal to the throne.
Thus when the s'ate one Edward did depose,
A greater Edward in his room arose :
But now, not I, but poetry, is curst;
For Tom the second reigns like Tom the first 1.
But let them not mistake my patron's part,
Nor call his charity their own desert.
Yet, this I prophesy,-thou shalt be seen
(Though with some short parenthesis between)
High on the throne of wit, and, seated there,
Not mine, that's little,-but thy laurel wear."
Thy first attempt an early promise made;
That early promise this has more than paid.
So bold, yet so judiciously you dare,
That your least praise is to be regular.

Time, place, and action, may with pains be wrought,
But genius must be born, and never can be taught.
This is your portion, this your native store;

Heaven, that but once was prodigal before,

To Shakspeare gave as much,-she could not give him more.
Maintain your post; that's all the fame you need;

For 'tis impossible you should proceed.
Already I am worn with cares and age,
And just abandoning the ungrateful stage;
Unprofitably kept at Heaven's expense,

I live a rent-charge on his providence:
But you, whom every muse and grace adorn,
Whom I foresee to better fortune born,
Be kind to my remains; and O defend,
Against your judgment, your departed friend !
Let not the insulting foe my fame pursue,
But shade those laurels which descena to you §:
And take for tribute what these lines express;

You merit more, nor could my love do less. The straitened circumstances of the poet after the Revolution compelled him to seek the stage once more; and the first fruit of his return to dramatic composition was "Don Sebastian," the best and most highly-polished of his plays. His earlier pieces were written too much for the times, and with too little attention to his own reputation. They display an intimate knowledge of the rules of art, and considerable acquaintance with what is technically called "stage business,"—but are disfigured by grossness of language, and weakened by the rhyming verse in which the greater part of them are composed; a practice which Dryden, after a long advocacy, at length renounced as unfitted for the stage, and only adapted to regular poems. They are, moreover, deficient in the delineation of character; the tyrant, the lover, the mistress of each piece have too much of a family likeness; they want individuality; we feel the deficiency of the poet's creative power. "Don Sebastian," which was written in blank verse, and composed with great care, is free from most of the errors which disfigure Dryden's other dramatic performances; and the character of the renegade Dorax, the victim of mortified pride, is well imagined and admirably sustained. The scene between him and Sebastian, the king of Portugal, his former sovereign, whose life he had preserved that he might with his own hand revenge his supposed wrongs, is justly celebrated. Dryden wrote, however, but little for the stage after the Revolution, his chief works now being translations, of which the principal is his admirable version of Virgil; he executed also portions of Ovid, Theocritus, Lucretius, Horace, Juvenal, and Persius. His translations from Boccaccio, and remodellings of several of Chaucer's Tales, which were among his latest works, are also to be classed with his very best productions. We would gladly introduce some specimens from these, but we have already overstepped our limits. His labours were not confined to poetry alone, for at various periods he poured forth a multitude of prose works, treatises, prefaces, dedications, and translations; among which his † Giulio Romano, a justry-celebrated painter, whose pupil Raphael had been. This compliment to Congreve is exquisitely graceful.

Shadwell is "Tom the First." On his death, Rymer, "Tom the Second," with whom Dryden was on bad terms, was made historiographer, and Nathan Tate poet-laureat.

§ Congreve discharged the sacred duty thus feelingly imposed upon him, in his preface to Dryden's Plays.

still occasionally figures among the advertisements in our newspapers, a conviction of the inutility as well as the immorality of these great games of chance, is very general amongst the mass of people both at home and abroad.

Essay on Dramatic Poetry holds the chief place. To the last, Dry- | in France, as well as in England; and though the Hamburg lottery den's was a life of toil, but to the last his genius was undimmed; and some of his most perfect productions, Alexander's Feast, and his translations from Boccaccio and Chaucer, were produced within a very short time of his death, which took place on the 1st of May, 1700. He was honourably interred in Westminster Abbey, in a grave next to that of Chaucer.

Dryden left three sons, who all at different times had held offices of trust at the Court of Rome. Of these, John entered the cloister; Charles was unfortunately drowned while bathing in the Thames; but Erasmus Henry lived to inherit the estates and honours of the family.

Lady Elizabeth survived her husband several years, but towards the end of her days fell into a melancholy state of imbecility, in which she lingered till the kind hand of death removed the burden of life.

"In a general survey of Dryden's labours," says Dr. Johnson, "he appears to have had a mind very comprehensive by nature, and much enriched with acquired knowledge. His compositions are the effects of a vigorous genius operating upon large materials. "The power that predominated in his intellectual operations was rather strong reason than quick sensibility. Upon all occasions that were presented he studied rather than felt, and produced sentiments not such as nature enforces, but meditation supplies. With the simple and elemental passions, as they spring separate in the mind, he seems not much acquainted, and seldom describes them but as they are complicated by the various relations of society, and confused in the tumult and agitations of life."

LOTTERIES IN THE OLDEN TIME.

ALL the world knows that a Lottery is a scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance;-a sort of public game at hazard, played upon a grand scale; and, sometimes of old, for most important state purposes. We need not discuss the point of their immorality and pernicious influence on the public mind, as the matter has been practically as well as theoretically decided against this national gaming by its total abolition in Great Britain, on the 26th of October, 1826. It is still kept up in other parts of the world, however, particularly in America; for the inhabitants of which country, as a highly speculative people, it presents many attractions, and will probably long continue to allure them with its El Dorado heaps of riches. The Romans invented lotteries for the purpose of enlivening their Saturnalia-that pagan carnival of mirth and madness. The festival commenced with the distribution of tickets which gained some prize. This seems to have been very similar to that species of lottery which is still practised in tumbling booths at country fairs and the like. In the lotteries of Augustus, prizes of small value excited the hopes of the speculative; but Nero established some for the people, in which a thou sand tickets were daily distributed. Heliogabalus carried the scheme to a degree of modern perfection; for he contrived that his lotteries should be "all prizes and no blanks," and a dash of the comical was imparted to these dispensations of Fortune, their favourite goddess; for while one individual gained six slaves, another was rewarded with six flies;-here went a costly vase, and there a pipkin of coarse earthenware. There were various kinds of lotteries; but the leading features of such schemes were the same in all. During the early part of the sixteenth century, lotteries for the disposal of merchandise were established in Italy, Germany, and other places. This was a less vicious form of the thing than that for money, which immediately succeeded. One was established at Florence in 1530; from Italy the lottery passed into France, where the pernicious traffic was sometimes carried to a destructive extent, and that too in very recent times. This was likely to occur amongst a people the groundwork of whose mental constitution is a vivacious imagination, which paints the future in the colours of the rainbow. Who but they would have surrendered themselves to the visionary scheme of Law of Laurieston,that empire of cloud-gold? But state lotteries have been abolished

We turn to England. It seems probable that lotteries were introduced into this country in the age which may be distinctively called the chivalrous; but we have not met with any on record before the time of Queen Elizabeth, when they became a common mode of raising money for the purposes of the state. Curious documents are extant illustrative of the manner in which the business was then conducted; particularly some manuscripts and papers preserved at Losely-house, in Surrey. The "Chronicles*” of 1585 likewise make mention of "a lottery for marvellous and beautiful armour, begun to be drawn in Paul's Churchyard, at the great west gate, in a house of timber and board, there erected for that purpose, on St. Peter and St. Paul's day."-But that of which the Losely papers give the particulars, is of an earlier date. It is described as "a very rich Lottery General of money, plate, and certain sorts of merchandise, erected by her Majesty's Order," A. D. 1567.-From the dimensions of the Bill, esteemed by bibliographical judges to be a unique specimen, and from other circumstances, it appears that the art of puffing and of attracting the vulgar gaze was at that early period carried to a high degree of perfection. There can be no doubt that the proud, lion-hearted Elizabeth-the defier and foiler of all the might of Spain, when Spain was most omnipotent-was the inventor of those long posters, those flaming broadsides, that everywhere ornament or deform the walls of our city. In the "Chart" of the lottery of 1567 she stands proudly prominent;-holding forth the most short, she appears as the most accomplished quack of her day, brilliant prospects of a golden harvest to her liege subjects: in and for her achievements on walls quite worthy of wearing the

mural crown of the Romans as well as her other honours.

inches in breadth, surrounded by a neat border of ornamental The Bill extant in Losely-house is five feet in length by nineteen types.-At the top there is the impression of a boldly cut wood block, twenty inches deep, representing the royal arms, the city the sun effulgent. Underneath this are the articles of plate, money, of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, with its lofty spire, the river, and and tapestry, curiously displayed in several compartments. It is in which the tempting prizes were exhibited to the gaze of the not at all improbable that this is a representation of the manner Londoners two centuries and a half ago in Cheapside, "at the sign of the Queen's Majesty's Arms, in the house of Master Derick, goldsmith, her servant." The lots in number amounted to 400,000, and the price for each was ten shillings. They were occasionally subdivided, for the accommodation of the purchasers, into halves and quarters, and even more minute shares. The objects propounded for the profits of this lottery were highly laudable, being the repair of the harbours and fortifications of the kingdom and other public works. As great pains were taken to times; but still the lots seem to have been slowly disposed of, for provoke the people" to adventure their money as in modern the lottery appears not to have been read, as the phrase for drawing them was, until the 11th of January, 1568-9†. The reading then took place in a building erected for the purpose at the west door of St. Paul's Cathedral, and continued incessantly day and night, until the 6th of May following, certainly an unreasonable length of time to keep hope upon the rack. The jointly with her Majesty, responsible for the faithful fulfilment of Lord Mayor and corporation of the city of London were made. the conditions of the lottery to the public;-the highest possible guarantee, as every one must allow. It appears that the civic rulers adventured amongst them to the number of 1000 lots, a considerable sum in those days;-that all the city companies, as *See Stowe's "Summarie of the Chronicles," page 401; a rare little duodecimo.

64

† It is just necessary to mention, that in all old documents the year is always calculated to commence on the 25th of March.

66

the mercers, drapers, haberdashers, and so on, did the like, and that this was general throughout the whole city.-That every man adventured what he thought good. Several of the small parishes and hamlets near London formed themselves into companies, every man putting into the lottery according to his ability, some one lott or mo, some half a lott, some iis. vid., some xiid., some iiid., some iid., or more or less according to their haviours and power; and the same put into the lottery under one posye, in the name of the hole parishe." Of course, the persons who risked their money put it in under certain posies, mottoes, or devices, which were publicly proclaimed at the drawing, whence came the term then used, "reading of the lottery." Of these we shall give a few specimens presently, for they are extremely curious, and, if we mistake not, may in some measure serve to illustrate the spirit of the times.

.

as the reader will perceive from the following quotations, to a very small extent. The probability was very slight, indeed, that a person who had put in thirty lots should happen to draw the last lot of all, or the one next to it. But it was a good bait for the superficial, an excellent lure to hope.

"Whosoever having put in thirty lots under one device or posy, within the said three months, shall win the last lot of all, if before that lot (is) won he have not gained so much as hath by him been put in, shall for his tarrying and ill fortune be comforted with the reward of two hundred pounds; and for every lot that he shall have put in besides the said thirty lots, he shall have twenty shillings sterling.

"And whosoever having put in thirty lots under one device or posy, within the said three months, shall win the last lot save one, and hath not gained so much as he hath put in, shall likewise be

After stating the nature and objects of the lottery, as above comforted for his long tarrying with the reward of one hundred described, the document proceeds :

"Three welcomes.

"The first person to whome any lot shal happen shal have for his welcome (bysydes the advantage of his adventure) the value of fiftie poundes sterling, in a piece of sylver plate gilte.

"The second to whome any lot shal happen shal have in like case for his welcome (bysydes his adventure) the summe of thirtie poundes, in a piece of plate gilte.

"The third to whome any price (prize) shal happen shal have for his welcome, besides his adventure, the value of twentie poundes, in a piece of plate gilte."

The highest prize of all was £5000, of which £3000 was to be paid in ready money, and "seven hundred poundes, in plate gilte and white, and the rest in good tapissarie meete for hangings, and other covertures, and certain sortes of good linen clothe." The next highest prize was £3500, the third was £3000, the fourth £2000, and so on. Of course, although there were no blanks, by far the greater number of the four hundred thousand lots consisted of small sums; about three hundred and fifty thousand of them did not exceed two shillings and sixpence each.

In the days of Queen Elizabeth the lottery was a great national transaction. It was not an affair of individuals, like the getting up of a joint-stock company of modern times, which goes off amongst us daily without creating any great stir,-felt merely as one of a thousand similar waves in the vast ocean of London business. The lottery was then an event which excited the public mind throughout the whole extent of the kingdom, like a coronation, or the passing of some momentous bill in Parliament. In the conditions ordained for the advantage of the adventurers in this lotterie," there is the following passage. We have taken the liberty of modernising the spelling ::-"The Queen's Majesty, of her power royal, giveth liberty to all manner of persons that will adventure any money in this lottery, to resort to the places underwritten, and to abide and depart from the same in manner and

form following; that is to say, to the city of London, at any time within the space of one month next following the feast of St. Bartholomew this present year 1567, and there to remain seven days. And to these cities and towns following: York, Norwich, Exeter, Lincoln, Coventry, Southampton, Hull, Bristol, Newcastle, Chester, Ipswich, Salisbury, Oxford, Cambridge, and Shrewsbury, in the realm of England, and Dublin and Waterford, in the realm of Ireland, at any time within the space of three weeks next after the publication of this lottery, in every of the said several places, and there to remain also seven whole days, without any molestation or arrest of them for any manner of offence, saving treason, murder, piracy, or any other felony, or for breach of her Majesty's peace, during the time of their coming, abiding, or return. And that every person adventuring their money in this lottery may have the like liberty in coming and departing to and from the city of London during all the time of the reading of the same lottery, until their last adventure be to them answered."

In these conditions some inducements are held out to those who shall adventure thirty lots and upwards "under one devise or posie," that is, their chances of success are increased, although,

pounds, and for every lot that he shall have put in above thirty, shall receive ten shillings."-But the doctrine of probabilities was illustrated in other ways equally curious, but always in such a manner as to reduce the chance of success to one in we know not how many millions.-Yet to the unreflecting, these "conditions" wear a specious appearance. For instance, the person who happened to have five or more of his posies or devices drawn or read consecutively, had a specified sum allowed him besides the prizes themselves, whatever they might be.

Amongst the papers extant relative to lotteries, there is a book entitled "Prizes drawen in the Lotterie, from the 16th to the 26th day of February."-It consists of nineteen leaves, each leaf containing on its upper side four columns, printed in the black letter, enumerating the differer.t devices or posies, the names of the persons, &c. whose ventures they represented, the numbers of the lots, and the amount of the prizes, which, it will be observed from the annexed specimens, was for the greater part very insignificant.— This list is supposed to have belonged to the lottery of 1567, drawn in 1568-9.

As salt by kind gives things their savour,
So hap doth hit where fate doth favour.

Per John Harding, London, salter, number 4,535,-Prize 7s. 6d.
First learn, then decern.-Jo. Fitz. Tavestock, 309,751,-18. 2d.

The above was the identical Sir John Fitz whose remarkable fate has furnished the groundwork of Mrs. Bray's Devonshire tale, Fitz of Fitzford *. The following device is of frequent occurrence, and in all probability was a proverbial expression of the time :

What is a tree of cherries worth to four in a company?-Per Thomas Lawrence, London, 123,487.-18. 2d.

In the next, allusion is made to the blowing of a trumpet; and it occurs frequently in these posies, from which we may infer that the drawing of the greater prizes was announced by a flourish of voice" in vain; it was trumpets. The hopeful speculator here invokes their "brass "Enter Tom Thumb."

Blow up, thou trumpet, and sound for me,
For good luck comes here do I see.
Peter Shob, of St. Peter's Cheap in London, 25,086,—ls. 2d.

The fate of this individual was so singularly romantic and extraordinary, that we offer no apology for giving an outline of his life:-Mr. Fitz, his father, was a profound student of judicial astrology, to the principles of which he publicly professed his attachment. Before the birth of the future planets at the moment, that unless the birth were delayed one hour, the Sir John, he calculated his child's nativity, and found by the position of the child must come to an unhappy end. Delay was impossible, and, as often happens in such cases, the prophecy was actually realised. The child grew up, and, succeeding to the paternal estates, was knighted, but happening to quarrel with his neighbour, slew him in a duel in 1599. Sir John procured his pardon from the queen, but he suffered the loss of part of his estate as a fine.-Fitz s nialignant stars still shedding "disastrous influence" over him, he shortly afterwards killed another person in a duel, and afraid of the consequences of this second offence, he repaired immediately to court. On his way he stopped at an inn in Salisbury. During the night he was disturbed by a loud knocking at the door, and fearing it might be some one sent to apprehend him, he seized his sword, and in the dark suddenly slew the unfortunate person who had caused his alarm. Lights being brought, and finding himself guilty of the unnecessary murder of an innocent man, he, in despair, rushed upon his own weapon and died. The monument of this Fitz and his lady are still extant in Tavistock Church.

Here is a person whose wishes were by no means extravagant, and it was fortunate.

I would be content with a hundred pound;
In my purse it would give a sound.

Per Thomas Chamberlayne, Horsted Teynes, Sussex, 1,129,—1s. 2d.
He might still compound for the noise by getting the whole in
halfpence. Some of the adventurers make desperate efforts at wit
by punning upon their names.-Here is one.

As fouler's minds are fed by every right redress,

So fouler I, least fortune fail, do seek for some success.

T. Fouler, London, 270,413,-2s. 1d.

Here is another; and it is a most judicious and appropriate | motto for Mr. More, of Loseley.

I looked for no more.-William More, Lowsley, Surrey, 276,013,-ls. 3d. Priests had become fair game in Elizabeth's time.-Here is a dash at them; one of the old charges is flung in their teeth. Priests love pretty wenches.-Per Rich. Cnecke, Sibford,-13,569,-1s. 2d. The following, the name of one of Shakspeare's immortalities, was a common saying of the time :

All is well that endeth well. Per Thomas Lawley, de Chaddesley Marches, Wales, 232,859,-1s. 3.

Amongst the adventurers we find the munificent patron of commerce and letters, Sir Thos. Gresham.

Fortune amy. Sir Thos. Gresham, knight, 345,471,-1s. 2d.

We find a number of the lot-holders making allusion to the public works in the places where they reside, and some making their motto a promise that whatever the prize turned up, the whole was to go for repairs and the like. But fortune was not to be bribed, nor the dispensers of her favours either. Let no one quarrel with the rhyme.

If a very rich prize arise should to our lot,

All that would be employed on our decayed port. Thos. Spikernell, of Maulden, in Essex, 331,597,-2s. id.

Instances of pious resignation to the decrees of fate are not uncommon; and here is a man urging the fruitfulness of his lady as a fair reason why the blind goddess should look his way.

God send a good lot for my children and me, Which have had twenty by one wife truly. Per William Dorghtie de Westhalme, 195,315,-2s. 3d.

There is a tradition that the Monks of Canterbury neglected the repairs of Sandwich Haven, in order to erect the steeple of Tenterden, on the borders of Romney Marsh, in Kent; a circumstance not at all improbable. But it gave rise to the wild and absurd saying of the people, that the building of the said steeple occasioned

the Goodwin Sands *.

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Of many people it hath been said

That Tenterden steeple Sandwich Haven hath decayed.
Per Ed. Hales, Tenterden, Kent, 40,884,-1s. 2d.

This is remarkably good.-The great prize is no doubt meant.
The duchy of Lancaster, without Temple Bar,
If God give the lot he shall not greatly err.

Per the Parish of Savoy, 56,922,-28. Id.

Here is a sly advertisement for a husband.-Surely so much ingenuousness and generosity deserved a partner independent of a lottery prize. It is to be hoped that one of the great prizeholders took compassion on her, and doubled her blessedness. I am a poor maiden and fain would marry,

And the lack of goods is the cause that I tarry.

Per Sibbel Cleyon, 51,832,-2s. Id.

We find other spinsters stipulating that if they be successfui they shall marry.-But we must conclude by presenting a few more mottoes, merely indicating the prizes.-Pray excuse the rhymes and what not.

We cooks of London which work early and lato,
If anything be left God send us part-1s. 2d.
William Wood.-A poor wood I have been long, and yet am like to be, but
if God of his grace send me the great lot, a rich wood shall I be -18. 3d.
The head of a snake with garlick is good meat.-2s. Id.
As God hath made hands before knives,

So God send a good lot to the cutlers' wives.-38. 4d.
From Hastings we come, God send us good speed,
Never a poor fisher town in England,-Of the great lot hath more
need.-18. 2d.

A maid and I am of advice-To marry if we get the prize.-38. 4d.
And so this unfortunate compact of marriage may close our
notice of Lotteries in the Olden Time.

CHINA AND THE CHINESE.

NO. IX.

CONCLUSION OF THE SERIES.
WOMEN IN CHINA.

THE term "degraded" has more than once been applied to the Chinese female, as if that were one of the principal features in her character. But before we apply this word, it would not be amiss to borrow the schoolmaster's office for a moment, and determine the sense in which we mean to use it. If it means that the con

duct of the Chinese woman is below or unworthy of the situation she occupies in reference to parents, husband, or children, we say without hesitation that the proofs to this effect are very scant and meagre. But if it means that she is lowered from the dignity of that independence with which she ought to dispose of her person, we say in reply, that the same observation applies to men; for in the choice of a partner, the will of the father, and not the inclination of the son, decides the match. And, lastly, if it implies that she is robbed of her rights, in that she does not come forward and claim an honourable place among the guests or visiters of her "husband, we remark, that etiquette is to blame for all this-that foolish, cruel, and not unfrequently wicked thing, which has made slaves of not a few of us who inhale the draughts of freedom as a part of our birthright. We will, therefore, divest our style of this or any other dogmatic phrase-throw together a few particulars taken from life-and leave the intelligent reader to apply what epithets, after the perusal of this piece, may seem best suited to

The following passage from Bishop Latimer, illustrative of the absurd reasoning of some people relative to cause and effect, is curious in itself, and, bearing upon this point, is worthy of being quoted. He states that Master More, having been appointed to examine into the cause of the Goodwin Sands and the stopping of Sandwich Haven, summoned the country to appear and give evidence. "Among others came in before him an old man with a white head, and one that was thought to be little less than an hundred years old. When Master More saw this aged man, he thought it expedient to hear him say his mind in this matter, for being so old a man, it was likely that he knew most of any man in that presence and company." The old man's answer to Master More's interrogatory was :-"Yea, forsooth, good master," quoth this old man, "for I am well nigh an hundred years old, and no man here in this company anything near unto my age."—" Well, then," quoth Master More, "how say you in this matter? What think ye to be the cause of these shelves and flats that stop up Sandwich Haven?" "Forsooth, sir,” quoth he, “I am an old man; I think that Tenderden Steeple is the cause of Goodwin Sands; for I am an old man, sir," quoth he, "and I may remember the building of Tenderden Steeple, and I may

remember when there was no steeple at all there. And before that Tenderden Steeple was in building, there was no manner of speaking of any flats or sands that stopped the haven, and therefore I think that Tenderden Steeple is the cause of the destroying and decay of Sandwich Haven." The application of this "merry toy," as the great reformer calls it, is eminently happy; indeed it is one of the finest things of the kind in the language." And so to my purpose, preaching of God's word is the cause of rebellion, as Tenderden Steeple was the cause that Sandwich Haven is decayed." This species of error we may put into the form of a proposition : When two events, both of which are perceptible, follow each other without any connexion existing between them, and the cause of the succeeding event is concealed or latent, there is a tendency to ascribe the succeeding

event to the improper cause.

the character.

As we glide upon the smooth surface of the river, amidst thousands of floating homes, or wander through the suburbs of a city, where every nook swarms with inhabitants, our eye must again and again light, and dwell too in the gaze of contemplation, upon the China woman. How decent in her apparel-how assiduous in her labours-how cheerful and contented her countenance-how exhilarating her laugh-how good-humoured her conversation! Amidst so much to render her amiable, there is something that

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shows she has a value for herself-a regard for what is of good report in the smaller as well as in the more important points of good behaviour. A dutiful carriage towards a parent, fidelity to a husband, and a tender and discreet care for children, are virtues that bear the palm in China, and are, of course, as resplendent in the poor woman that tugs the oar as in a queen that wears a coronet of dazzling chains, and reclines amidst the pageants and heraldic badges of rank and honour. In saying this, I speak the sentiments of Chinese, not my own. I have seen a book containing short biographical records of illustrious women who had lived in the neighbourhood of Macao. Most of these were persons remarkable only for their fidelity to husbands, kindness to children, and the humbler virtues of domestic life. These poor women are not only exemplary for their consistent deportment, but also for a very tender and susceptible heart. Gentleness on the part of a stranger charms them exceedingly; so that many a time, while I have stopped to ask the name and properties of a plant, the village dames would gather in a crowd a short distance from me, and echo and comment upon every word I uttered in their language, with the liveliest interest: and as I have passed along the sides of the canals and streams of water, I have heard them say, "He smiles!" though the utmost they could discern was a look of complacency and hence, in conversation, I have more than once affirmed that a stranger cannot throw a smile away; for the merest expression of kindness shed over the features is sure to be noted by these keen decipherers of the human countenance. In a short voyage from Canton to Macao, by what is called the Inner Passage, we are obliged to stop awhile at Heangshan, the principal town of the district in which Macao is seated, in compliance with certain regulations of the custom-house. On one occasion we were detained some time, which gave the boat-women an opportunity of approaching our boat in great numbers. These, I should say, obtain their livelihood by conveying native passengers across the river for a few cash each. By this they earn enough to keep themselves in excellent plight, and in very decent apparel; but the notorious generosity of a Briton produces a sort of extemporaneous beggary wherever he goes; and so they flocked around us, and plied our charity with the most eager importunities. "Never," said I, "did I see such a throng of good-looking beggars before." Some wanted money, some clothes, and others said they were very hungry; and all used the most plaintive accents to enforce these claims upon us respectively. All the while a smile of goodnature lighted up their faces, which seemed to mock their own complaints, and to show that their hearts were happy in spite of all these sad ostents of woe. They have a formula of address which is very pretty and very touching, but cannot find justice in

any corresponding term in our language. Instead of the pronoun me, for the sake of endearment, she calls herself your sister-and in doing so uses a term that places you in the position of an elder brother, who, according to the rules of good manners, in a father's absence receives a father's worship and attention. The term of address is in the highest sense endearing, and respectful at

the same time.

I had not small money enough to indulge every individual in such a crowd of spontaneous sisters, and so was obliged to be a little partial, and select only such as objects of my bounty whose features and smiles were of the most engaging kind. One of my companions amused himself in thrusting away their boats, or shampans, with an oar, and two or three others in setting a dog at those who came aboard; while all of them pointed to me as one who had used them after a very different fashion. Were it not the policy of the Tartar authorities to keep the Chinese and the British from growing too well acquainted with each other, I might

have landed here amidst shouts of applause from the poor women and girls in their shampans, which would have been the first step in obtaining any information or courteous treatment I had desired; for popularity in China, even among the lowest ranks, is a very useful thing. The magistrate there courts and humours the common people, however cruel and unjust he may be to wealth or rank among his subjects.

I look back to this little adventure with sentiments of peculiar pleasure, for it was this that laid the first stone to an entire revolution in my own views of the Chinese, and confess that I am not ashamed that the change had an origin so humble.

Our remarks of the Chinese females have been confined to those who earn their livelihood by the labour of their hands, and whose feet, as a matter of necessity, are allowed to thrive in their natural growth. Now let us glance at those who have had the misfortune to lose the principal use of these important organs. When I call it a misfortune, I remember that no Chinese man or woman is prepared to agree with me in this decision. The females regard the destruction of this member as one of their highest accomplishments, and have changed the fashion of their once long flowing robes, in order to give the admirer the opportunity of contemplating at full all the minute graces of their little trotters. Te train has been replaced by a plaited shirt of the choicest embroidery, which leaves the site of the ankle uncovered, and, of course, the delicate shoe that invests the parts below it. On the part of the males, "the one small foot," as it is called in Canton English, is no less in admiration, which they express by comparing it to the most elegant among the flowery tribe: and I may confidently affirm, that it was not from a wish to keep the woman at home, but from a desire to enhance her beauties, that the practice of compressing the foot was derived. After I learned to express my sentiments with as much freedom as kindness among the natives, I complained to one of them against this unnecessary act of cruelty. I said, a Chinese woman has a gift from nature-a very handsome foot; why do you Chinamen spoil it by an attempt at improvement? The young man laughed, while the beams of satisfaction glistened in his eye at the compliment thus indirectly paid to his countrywomen, but said, that though he must allow that the small-footed ladies could not walk well, he must still maintain that they looked better. The Chinese have no ordinary sentiments of pride and self-complacency in relation to the supposed excellence of female beauty among them. In a chance conversation they would not acknowledge it, lest they should be laughed at by the foreigner; but this foible (if it does not deserve a better name) betrays itself on a variety of occasions, but particularly in this, that the first thing you see in an apartment is a picture of a Chinese belle, in an attitude to display to the best advantage the well-turned arm, the kind and melting smile, or the admired delicacy of the little feet. My teacher was a man in middle life, and the father of a family, yet he never spoke with so much feeling and eloquence as when detailing the various points of taste and refinement which are in authority and cultivation among the ladies of China. He told me of a proverb in use by them when they would censure the practice of sheltering misconduct under the patronage of another, "You borrow my petticoat to cover your large feet."

The process of reducing the foot to the required dimensions is one of consummate cruelty; for if it be done properly, it should, in their own language, be killed by it. The period which is considered the best for the operation is five, when two of the toes are bent under the sole, and the instep is pressed down so as nearly as possible to be in a line with the fore part of the leg. The height of the individual is increased by this means, which is looked on as

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