Most of the'instances already adduced relate to Chinese indifference to comfort. It would not be difficult to cite as many more which bear upon disregard of convenience, but a few examples will be sufficient. The Chinese pride themselves upon being a literary nation, in fact the literary nation of the world. Pens, paper, ink, and ink-slabs are called the "four precious things," and their presence constitutes a literary apartment.' It is remarkable that not one of these four indispensable articles is carried about the person. They are by no means sure to be at hand when wanted, and all four of them are utterly useless without a fifth substance, to wit, water, which is required for rubbing up the ink. The pen cannot be used without considerable previous manipulation to soften its delicate hairs, it is very liable to be injured by inexpert handling, and lasts but a comparatively short time. The Chinese have no substitute for the pen, such as lead pen-oils, nor if they had them, would they be able to keep them in repair, since they have no pen-knives, and no pockets' in which to carry them.
We have previously endeavoured, in speaking of the economy of the Chinese, to do justice to their great skill in accomplishing excellent results with very inadequate means, but it is not the less true that such labour-saving Aevices as are so constantly met in western lands, are unknown in China. In a modern hotel in the Occident, one has but to
gets whatever he wants—hot or cold water, push something otto pall something and he lights, heat, service. But the finest hostelry in the eighteen provinces, like all inferior places of accommodation, obliges its guest, whenever he is conscious of an unsupplied need, to go to the outer door of his apartment, and yell at the top of his voice, vainly hoping to be heard for his Many articles constantly required by the Chinese are not to be had on demand, but only when the dealer in the same happens to make his irregular appearance.
all other times, one might as well find himself dropped in the interior of the Soudav, so far as the supply of current wants is concerned. In the city everyone carries a lantern at night, yet in some cities at least, lanterns are to be had only when the peddler brings them around, and those who want them buy at such times, as we do of a milk-man, or a dealer in fresh yeast. That percentage of the whole population which lives in Chinese cities cannot be a large one, and in the country this limitation of trafic is the rule and not the exception. In some districts, for example, it is customary to sell timber for house building in the second moon, and the same logs are often dragged about the country from one large fair to another, till they are either sold, or taken back to their point of departure. But should any inexperienced person be so rash as to wish to buy timber in the fifth moon, he will soon ascertain why the wisest of Orientals remarked that "there is a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Fewinconveniencesof the celestial Empire make upon the western mind a more speedy anda moreindelible impression, than theentire absence of sanitation.' Whenever there has been an attempt made to accomplish something in the way of drainage, as in Peking, the resultant evils are very much greater than those which they were design-to cure, No matter how long one fas lived in China, he remains in a condition of mental suspense, unable to decide that most interesting question, so often raised, which is the filthiest city in the empire A visitor from one of the northern pro-inces, boasted to a resident of Amoy, that in offensiveness to the senses, no city in south China could equal those of the north. With a view to decide this moot point, the city of Amoy was extensively traversed, and found to be unexpectedly cleau—that is for a Chinese city. Jealous for the pre eminence of his adopted home, the Amoy resident claimed that he was taken at a disadvantage, as a heavy rain had recently done much to wash the streets! The traveller thinks he has found the worst Chinese city when he has inspected Foochow, he is certain of it when he visits Ningpo, and doubly sure on arriving in Tientsin. Yet after all, it will not be strange if he heartily recants when he reviews with candour and impartiality the claims of Peking!
The three points upon which the occidental mind is sure to lay principal stress, when contemplating the inconveniences of Chinese civilisation, are the absence of postal facilities, the state of the roads, and the condition of the currency. Private companies do of course exist, by which letters and parcels may be transtnitted from certain places in China to certain other places, but their functions are exceedingly limited, and compared with the whole empire, the areas which they accommodate are but trifling. OF Chinese roads we have already spoken, when discussing the absence of public spirit. Itis because the Chinese costume—especially Chinese'shoes—is what has been described, and because Chinese roads are what we know them to be, that whenever the weather is bud the Chinese confine themselves to their dwellings. In western lands, we speak of an unintelligent person, as one who does not know enough to gain when it rains, but in China one should rather say of such person that he does not know enough to stay in when it rains. The Chinaman has learned to accommodate himself with accuracy to his environment. To such inconveniences as he encounters he submits with exemplary, patience, because he well knows them to be inevitable.
The subject of Chinese currency demands not @ brief paragraph, but a comprehensive essay, or rather a volume. Its chaotic eccentricities would drive any Occidental nation to madness in a single generation, or more probable such gigantic evils would speedily work their own cure. In speaking of the disregard of accuracy we have mentioned a few of the more promin-out annoyances. A hundred cash not a hundred, and a thousand cash are not a thousand, but sume other. and totally uncertain number, to be ascertained only by experience. In wide regions of the empire, one cash counts for two, that is, it does so in numbers above twenty, so that when one hears that to be paid five hundred cash he understands that he will receive two hundred and pieces, less the local abatement, whic perpetually shifts in different places. There is a constant intermixture of small or spurious cash, leading to inevitable disputes between dealers in any commodity, At irregular intervals, the local magistrates become impressed with the evil of this debasement of the currency, and issue stern proclamations against it. This gives the swarm of underlings in the magistrate's yamen an opportunity to levy squeezes on all the cash shops in the district, and to make the transaction of all business more or less difficult. Prices at once rise, to meet the temporary necessity for pure cash. As soon as the paying ore in this vein is exhausted, and it is not worked to any extent, the cash return, but prices do not fall, Thus the irrepressible law by which the worse currency drives out the better, is never for an instant suspended. The condition of the cash becomes worse and worse, until as in some parts of the province' of Honan, everyone goes to market with two entirely distinct sets of cash, one of which is the ordinary mixture of good with bad, and forfeit pees. Certain articles are paid the other is composed exclusively of coun-for with the spurious cash only. But in regard to other commodities this is matter of special bargain, and accordingly there is for these articles a double market price. That enormous losses must result from such a state of things, is to any westerner obvious at a glance, although the Chinese are so accustomed to inconveniences of this sort, that they seem almost unconscious of their existence, and the evils are felt
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.