be considered so long, there was at that time little remarkable, except a detention of fourteen days off the Chinese coast, by northerly winds, in the month of August. Sixteen ships had reached Whampoa before the Prince Charles, and one came in after her, making a total of eighteen European vessels that year. Of these, two were Swedish, one Danish, two French, four Dutch, and nine English; and of the latter, one was a country ship.* It is almost needless to say, that the trade is now very much altered and increased.-The Swedish trade is at an end; in number of vessels, the Danish, French, and Dutch trade remains nearly the same, while the English Company's is more than doubled; the country ships are increased about fifty-fold, and the North American trade, averaging from twenty-five to forty vessels yearly, has entirely arisen since the time of our author.

Proceeding with Mr. Osbeck to Canton, where he and Mr. Toreen resided and preached-alternately, we find, among other passages, the following remarks, respecting the European factories as they then stood.

"The factory is the first place in the suburbs to which the Europeans come: this is a general denomination of the houses built towards the river, or over it upon piles, and which are let by the Chinese merchants to the European ships, during their stay this time is sometimes five months, and sometimes a year; which long delay, though it may arise from accidental causes, is often by design.... Commonly each ship takes a factory for itself; but sometimes two ships of a nation may be together, and this time it happened so to two Swedish ships, and if I remember right, they paid 900 tel (taels) for it....

"The above-mentioned houses are but two stories high, but very long; and one end of them stretches towards the river, and the other to the factory street. Some are built of unburnt bricks, others of bricks and wood laid crossways: but the partitions and upper floors, &c., are sometimes entirely of wood.

The factories look like two houses built parallel and near

*For the information of our readers abroad, it may be necessary to observe, that the term country ship is usually applied to an English vessel, holding its license from any of the Hon. Company's Indian presi. dencies.

to each other, between which there is a court-yard, with square or rather oblong stones; in these stones are here and there little holes, through which the water may run into the river; the stair-cases are either of stone or wood; the rooms are high, and the roofs are sloping and covered with tiles, like those in Spain. Near some of the rooms is a little garden, of the size of a middling room. The doors, when opened, give sufficient light to these apartments; for the side towards the garden is quite free. The garden encroaches no farther on the court-yard than the projection of the building. From the excessive heats, the doors are mostly kept open; but a nanking curtain is commonly hung up before them, with three pieces of wood plated with brass; one of which is at the top, one in the middle, and one at the bottom....

"The tea-chests, and porcelane-chests, and other effects which are to be taken home, are piled up on both sides of the yard. This yard is divided quite across by three arched walls: in some places of the yard, buildings like coach-houses run quite across it, which are sometimes supported by arched roofs.

"A factory is mostly built in the following manner: Near the entrance of the street of the factory, on both sides of the gate, is a little apartment, upon which are commonly some papers with figures like arms, and two round lanthorns of bamboo, covered with skins; for glass or horn lanthorns are quite unusual here. The gate of the factory is on the inside built over directly behind it, stands a high board almost as broad as the entrance, to hinder the people in the streets from looking into the yard or court, without being any obstacle to those who pass to and fro. In almost all corners are buckets. The foremost rooms on the sides look like kitchens, and have rails before them. Further on, quite across the court, in the second story, is an open hall, with a sort of gallery, upon which is an altar covered with flowers and incense, provided with a gilt picture and a table. Behind this, the yard is quite open in front, but on the sides are rooms, both above and below. In the side roofs are here and there some lanthorns of painted gauze, in some of which they burn lamps at night. Before the side roofs, and on their sides are little gardens, with bamboo trees, citrons, and plantains, and other trees already mentioned. The wall about these trees towards the yard is made of bricks, which, except the foundation, are laid like lattice work. Next to these gardens is an inclosed court-yard, and then an open one, with rooms and gardens for pleasure on the sides; the last of all is a hall in the second story, across the yard, having rooms on its sides, and another ball goes towards the water, which we fitted up for a dining-room."

In the above description of the factories, we find a very correct picture of the Chinese merchants'

hongs or commercial houses, as they still are. The description, however, bears but little resemblance to the present foreign factories, which are altogether built in a more comfortable and more European style. They are still, indeed, built upon piles, but earth being now thrown under and around them, gives them the appearance of a more substantial foundation, and affords space which, though very limited, is yet sufficient for walking, without the jostling necessarily incident to an excursion through the narrow Chinese streets. While, however, the factories are of a far more comfortable description, than when they were mere Chinese hongs, it should not be forgotten, that they occupy very little more ground now, than they did, at a time when there were few or no resident merchants, and when only eighteen ships arrived yearly, each of which commonly took a factory for itself. Regarding the trade, also, it would be well to recollect, that while formerly almost every ship might have its own merchant, as well as its own factory, now almost the whole legal trade lies in the hands of ten or twelve men, some of whom are little better than bankrupts.

Everything that has been published respecting the Chinese, only serves to show, more and more forcibly, that they are a very peculiar people, of whose character, dispositions, and prejudices, it is extremely difficult to obtain a correct knowledge, even by long residence among them. How difficult then must it be for persons, who have never visited China, nor even come in contact with the Chinese, and who probably have never studied the subject, to dictate what measures ought to be adopted by foreigners, in their intercourse with this people! One of the predominating characteristics of the Chinese is that love of specious falsehood, which stamps almost all their words and actions, which must be mainly attributed to their long subjection under a despotic sway, and the almost universal tyranny

Another

of their corrupt and unprincipled rulers. characteristic is their exclusive selfishness, which, coupled with their pride and arrogance, leads them to regard their own country as the crown of nations, and the centre of civilization, and to look on all foreigners as an inferior race of beings, undeserving aught but their hatred and contempt. In parts where foreigners are not known, this real hatred and affected contempt, joined, as is usually the case, with an unaccountable dread of coming into close contact with Europeans, is much diminished, or ceases to exist; and there the reception given by the natives is often kind and conciliating. But in Canton,-where, as Mr. Osbeck very aptly says, with considerable truth, “the common sort of people train their children up with their dogs, for which reason neither of them can bear strangers;" and where the government constantly presents foreigners to the people, as objects of scorn and derision, the behavior of the natives is such as would be nowhere else met with, except in a savage or a hostile country.

And, in the existing state of the people,-while, also, the footing, on which foreign commerce now rests, is suffered to continue,-can any change for the better be anticipated? The children are brought up in equal pride and ignorance with their fathers; from infancy they are taught to insult and maltreat foreigners; as soon as they can read, they see the abusive proclamations of the government, pasted up on the very walls of the foreigners' own houses; and they invariably see foreigners subjected to every grievance and annoyance that is not imimmediately, strongly, and perseveringly resisted. With such education, and such examples placed before them, is it to be wondered at, that instead of having improved, we find them grown worse, since the time of our author? Then the government put some restraint on its subjects, and foreigners were often protected by the police when they wished to

walk about the surrounding country; but now, if beaten, they are told that it is their own fault, for they come only to trade, and till their trade is finished, and they are ready to go away, they must remain quietly within their factories, and not move out of them, without the permission of the hong-merchants.

If any are disposed to doubt these assertions (and we believe, there are many, who, in the face of the universal testimony of those who have resided here, choose to disbelieve the character given of the Chinese), let them read a few pages of Mr. Osbeck's plain, matter-of-fact narrative. Some extracts will suffice to set this subject in a clear light. Speaking of Canton, we find the following:

"There is no occasion to fear any beasts of prey; but the men have assumed their ferocity, and assault strangers frequently with stones and insults. Murders are seldom heard of: but a Chinese makes very little of stripping people to the shirt. I will here add an account dated at Canton, November the 7th, 1747. Captain Congreve being happily arrived at Canton, with the English ship Onslow, took a walk upon the French island (an isle near the road where the Europeans anchor), where he was soon attacked by some Chinese. They took, without much ado, all his money, gold, silver, and buckles; they cut the gilt buttons off his coat, and he would hardly have preserved his finger, if he had not pulled a ring off, with all his might, and given it them. After he had been quite stripped, he returned to his boat. But the next day, being Sunday, he armed his boats, and landed in the same isle with sixty of his men, who had fixed their bayonets, and were provided with four small cannons; he marched his men before Wampu, a town in this isle, and began to fire. The inhabitants were immediately put into the greatest confusion, and the principal mandarins immediately came to him, to desire him to cease the attack, being very willing to give him satisfaction. The captain told them, that he had been stripped the day before, and now was come to revenge himself, and other people who had been insulted by those rogues; that he would not cease till satisfaction should be made him by the punishment of the malefactors. During this time, the robbers were searched for in the town, and four of them were apprehended, who in the presence of the captain, had their hands and feet tied together, and were sent to Cantou to receive further punishment