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of the Empire is without them. There are also inexhaustible beds of kaolin, or porcelain earth, of the finest quality, from which the beautiful ware, called china from its place of first manufacture, is made.

6. A country possessing such inexhaustible stores of coal, iron, and other mineral wealth, and a soil and climate capable of yielding all the varied productions of the tropical and temperate zones, needs only for its rapid development a people capable of taking advantage of the opportunities at their hand. China is densely populated, but its people are agriculturists, or dependent on agriculture, and the want of manufactories prevents the surplus population from getting remunerative employment. With a proper development of its mining and other resources, it would not have more than enough of labourers; and the swarms of its people who are hiving off into other countries would find at home the employ ment which they now seek abroad.

7. The Chinese belong to the Mongolian race, and within China proper they are essentially one people, more uniform in type than in any other country of equal extent on the surface of the globe. Parchment-coloured skin, coarse black hair, high cheek-bones, and oblique eyes, are characteristic throughout. Of the character of the people at large it is somewhat difficult for a foreigner to speak. "In the same individual virtues and vices, apparently incompatible, exist side by side. Meekness, gentleness, docility, industry, contentment, cheerfulness, obedience to superiors, dutifulness to parents, and reverence for the aged, are, in one and the same person, companions of insincerity, lying, flattery, treachery, cruelty, jealousy, ingratitude, avarice, and distrust of others." Such is the verdict of one writer, well acquainted with the Chinese.

8. The American Minister at Pekin-Mr. Seward -holds a higher opinion of the inhabitants of "The Flowery Land." He writes, "I find here a steady adherence to the traditions of the past, a sober devotion to the calls arising in the various relations of life, an absence of shiftlessness, an honest and at least somewhat

earnest grappling with the necessities and difficulties which beset them in the humbler stages of progress, a capacity to moralise withal, and an enduring sense of right and wrong. These all form what may be considered an essentially satisfactory basis and groundwork of national character. Among the people there is practical sense; among the gentry scholarly instincts, the desire of advancement, the disposition to work for it with earnestness and constancy; among the rulers a sense of dignity, breadth of view, considering their information, and patriotic feeling. Who shall say that such a people have not a future more wonderful even than their past? Why may not the wheels of progress and empire roll on until the countries of Asia witness again their course?"

9. The civilisation of the Chinese is old, very old; but signs are not wanting that a new start in progress is being made, and that though China has not been in such haste to clothe itself in Western garments as Japan, it will in the end, though not running so fast, make quite as much progress, and, as its wealth is infinitely greater, win in the race for the prizes of the new civilisation.

10. It is really from the governing class that the obstacles to Chinese progress come. This class is characterised by apathy, bigotry, and a pertinacious obstruction to progress. Only a very small percentage of the officials have a glimmering notion of what is meant by progress, and a still smaller number are prepared boldly to enter upon the path of reform.

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11. Thirty years ago an inhabitant of China would never have dreamt of leaving his ancestral home; but since the enforced intercourse with other nations, and the removal of the restrictions on emigration, thousands of "coolies have left, and are leaving, to settle in the Malay Islands, in India, and Australia, and even in America. Most of the emigrants economise abroad, that they may return home as soon as possible to spend their gains and die in their own country.

12. For the past two thousand years a despotic form of government has prevailed in China. The emperor is

absolutely supreme in things spiritual as well as temporal. The administrative government consists of the great Council which sits at Pekin, and of the governors of the many provinces into which China is parcelled out.

LESSON XIII.

THE CHINESE EMPIRE-CHINA PROPER.—III.

1. The chief industry of China is agriculture. In the tilling of the soil the Chinese are very skilful, and agriculture is held in higher estimation in the "Celestial Empire" than in any other country in the world. As we have seen, the tea plant is the great plant of China; but mulberry trees for the feeding of silk-worms, and bamboos for all sorts of domestic uses, are also important objects of culture. The Chinese are also very skilful in the manufacture of "China ware," and a million of workmen are said to be employed in the porcelain factories in the province of Kiang-si. They also excel in silk-weaving, in carpentry, in paper-making, in the manufacture of lacquered ware, in metal work, in delicate embroideries, and in carving quaint devices on ivory, wood, and stone.

2. China has hundreds of large towns. At least fifty are known to have a population of over one hundred thousand each; but those in which foreigners have any special interest are but few. Pekin, the present capital, is situated to the north of the Great Plain. Its population is variously estimated at from half a million to two or three millions. Nankin, the old capital, has extensive manufactures of Nankeen cloth, satin, silk, and crape. It is also a great military depôt, a commercial centre, and the principal seat of literature in the Empire. Shanghai is the chief commercial port of the Empire; and next in importance is the town of Victoria, on the island of Hong-Kong, which possesses one of the finest harbours in the world. Other important towns are Canton, Fu-chow, Amoy, and Ning-po.

3. One Chinese trading town is so very much like another that a description of one will apply to nearly all. The first impression which one of these cities gives when looked down upon is that of an immense mass of roofs, the intervals between the rows of the houses being so narrow, and the projecting eaves so broad, that a bird'seye view fails to reveal the presence of streets at all. A closer inspection shows that these are exceedingly narrow, but crooked, and that the houses are huddled so closely together that fresh air can only be got-and then merely from a comparative point of view-by climbing to the roof. This is accordingly in most Chinese houses a common place of reunion, and is decked with flowers and furnished with seats. Here also, along the sides of the flat space, are arranged great jars of water to aid in extinguishing fire; for even did fire-engines exist, the tortuous ways would not permit of their being brought to bear upon the flames. In order also to further prevent conflagrations spreading among the densely huddled-up masses of flimsy Chinese houses, here and there strong dividing fire-walls are built, thus separating the buildings into blocks. If a determined fire breaks out, the cardboard like buildings within the limits of the fire-walls usually go, but the chances are it will stop there.

4. Yet the Chinese crowd together for sociality rather than from necessity, for often in the middle of the densely-packed cities there are large open spaces which might be devoted to buildings instead of to agricultural purposes. But, though many Chinese cities are surrounded by strong walls, pierced by triple gates, yet in the streets outside the ramparts the buildings display the same arrangement as in the more crowded spaces within, the fact being that the frugal Chinaman considers houserent the smallest part of his expenses, and is very careless about the blessings of fresh air and breathing space. It is, indeed, wonderful to see the space into which a Chinese family will cram itself.

5. The monotonous mass of roofs would give most Chinese towns a most prosaic appearance, when seen from above, were it not for the break in the level, supplied by

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