Review scarcely contains the usual proportion of new matter. Three papers on the introduction of Railways into China, the so-called tablet of Yii by Mr. Gardner, and a translation of examination papers given at Wuchang, making up the greater portion of the new matter contributed. The "Young Prodigy," a Chinese tale ably translated by Mr. C.F. R. Allen, is concluded in the present number; and Dr. Birth continues his analysis of the description of Leichow from the Kwangtung T'u-show. Dr. Birth likewise commences a sketch of the geographical distribution of commercial products in Kwangtung, which, from the opportunities of gaining information at the disposal of that gentleman, will probably turn out to be useful addition to our knowledge on these subjects. The author of the paper on Chinese railways gives up all hope of seeing any step taken by the Chinese themselves. They are, it is true, ready to build arsenals and ships, and even talk of coal mining. " But," he adds, "all this is merely defensive; toy it is bub for our own extermination the end in view is not disguised.". He wishes to see a Chinese Railway conference in England, of sufficient influence to induce the Government to take action towards obtaining a special Railway Convention with China. His ideas are so far reasonable that nothing for the economic good of the Empire is to be expected from its present rulers, Pressure has in the end to be resorted to, to obtain the slightest easement of the burdens on communication; and this, not that the mandarins are as a body unable to see the advantages to the Empire of reform, but because in that reform they fear a weakening of their own. power for evil.
Mr. Gardner gives an elaborate account of the so-called Tablet of Yii and its pretended copies. Pr, Legge gave his decided opinion against the authenticity of this inscription, an opinion which, considering his general readiness to accept all that the Chinese commentators have written, might carry some weight with those who are incredulous of ancient Chinese story. Mr. Gardner doubtless believes in the personal existence of Yii, and is ready to accept the tale of his engineering Inbours as gospel. Be this as ib may, the very characters in which the inscription is said to have been written, afford a strong proof against its an thenticity. Not only is there no authentic instance of an ancient inscription in the so-called "tadpole" character, but analogy is against its having existed at the time in which the pretended tablet is said to have been setup. More or less intimately, the form of any written character depends on the material on which and by which it is delineated. The Egyptian hieroglyphs and the Assyrian uniform are distinctly correlated with the use of papyrus and clay respectively. In China, the oldest records were incised on a hard material, and the first books we are told were engraved with a style, on slips of bamboo. Hence the oldest forms of the characters consisted of thin lines, twist. ed in various directions, of which the Chinese character is at the present day lineal descendant. It was not till the introduction of the pencil and paper changed the method of manipulation, that the present style, essentially a Trushy one, came into vogue and gradually displaced the older linear manner. Now these-called " tadpole" character is essentially a painted style. It never could have occurred to the manipulator with the stylus, and in point of fact it would have been found difficult if not impossible to imitate it with such an instrument. This fact alone must go far to prove the unau-then tie nature of the pretended inscription, even if clearer evidence as to its former existence than we have at present, could be produced. Mr. Gardner's paper is, notwithstanding, a very useful addition to our knowledge on a curious pie.
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Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.