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noticed, that the hieroglyphics constituted a real written language. Of the three inscriptions sculptured on its sides, a considerable part of the first is unfortunately wanting; the beginning of the second and the end of the third are also mutilated; but the last, which is in Greek, terminates with the important information that the decree which it contains (in honour of Ptolemy Epiphanes), had been ordered to be engraved in Three different characters-the Sacred, or hieroglyphic, the Enchorial, or letters of the country (synonymous with the demotic), and the Greek. So that here was an authentic specimen of hieroglyphic charactersexpressly accompanied by a Translation.

Now, the first step to be taken evidently was, to obtain an exact translation of this translation. Accordingly, the Society of Antiquaries having caused a correct copy of the Triple Inscription to be engraved and circulated, Porson and Heyné, the two best scholars of the age, employed themselves in completing and illustrating the Greek text which constituted the third part of the inscription—a task, we may observe, in the performance of which the superior industry and vigilance of the German gave him a decided advantage over the more active genius of the English Professor. This, as we have said, was the first step; but the next was far more arduous. No data had been yet obtained by means of which a comparison might be instituted between the Greek, which the labours of Porson and Heyné had restored, and the hieroglyphical and enchorial texts, of which not a single character was known. In these circumstances, there was but one course to be adopted; and that was, to adjust the inscriptions, so that they might, as nearly as possible, correspond, and, from the situation of the proper names in the Greek inscription, endeavour to ascertain their places in one or both of the other inscriptions. If characters merely phonetic entered into the composition of the hieroglyphic and enchorial texts, it was evident that, by this means, the value of some of them would be ascertained. It was, therefore, a matter of indifference whether the comparison was first made between the Greek and hieroglyphic, or between the Greek and enchorial inscriptions; but a notion happening to prevail that the enchorial was altogether alphabetical, the first attempt was made upon it. Accordingly, M. Silvestre de Sacy having examined the parts of this text, corresponding, by their relative situation, to two passages of the Greek inscription, in which the proper names Alexander and Alexandria occur, soon recognised two well-marked groups of characters nearly resembling each other, and which he therefore considered as representing these names. He also made out, very satisfactorily, the locus of the name of Ptolemy; but beyond this he found it impossible to advance a single step, and ultimately abandoned the pursuit as hopeless.

Matters were in this state when Dr. Young commenced his labours. Little or nothing had been done to interpret the hieroglyphics; but the germ of all the succeeding discoveries may be said to have been found, when the idea of fixing the places of proper names had once been suggested, and of considering the corresponding groups of figures as representing their sounds. Having been induced, as he states, "by motives both of private friendship and of professional obligation,” to offer to the editors of a periodical publication an article containing an abstract of the Mithridates of Adelung, a work then lately received from the Conti. nent, the Doctor's curiosity had been very forcibly excited by a note of the editor, Professor Vater, in which the latter asserted, that the unknown language of the Rosetta Stone, and of the bandages often found with the mummies, was capable of being analysed into an alphabet consisting of little more than thirty letters: but, having merely retained a general impression of this original and striking remark, he thought no more of these inscriptions till, early in 1814, they were recalled to his attention by the examination of some fragments of papyrus which had been recently brought to England by Sir W. R. Boughton, and on which, after a hasty inspection of Mr. Akerblad's pamph

means of preventing. I have understood that in Suffolk, and in some of the southern counties, the larva of the cockchafer are so exceedingly abundant, that the crops of corn are almost destroyed by them, and that their ravages do not cease even when they have attained to a winged state. Various plans have been proposed to put a stop to their depredations; but I have little doubt that their abundance is to be attributed to the scarcity of rooks, as I have somewhere seen an account that rooks in those counties (I have not been in them) are not numerous, either from the trees being felled in which they nestled, or that they have been destroyed by the prejudiced farmers. I am the more inclined to be of this opinion, because we have many rooks is not known as a destructive insect; and 1 in this neighbourhood, where the cockchafer know that insects of that class and their larvæ are the most favourite food of the rook.

let, he communicated a few anonymous remarks to the Society of Antiquarians. In the summer of the same year, he applied himself vigorously, first to the enchorial, and afterwards to the hieroglyphic inscription; and, by an attentive and methodical comparison of the different parts with each other, he was able, in the course of a few months, to send to the Archeologia a "conjectural translation" of each of the Egyptian inscriptions, distinguishing the contents of the different lines with as much precision as his materials would then admit of. He was obliged, however, to leave many important passages still subject to doubt; but he hoped to acquire additional information before he attempted to determine their signification with accuracy; and, having made the first great step, he concluded that many others might be added with facility and rapidity. Meanwhile, in order to facilitate the inquiry, he endeavoured to make himself familiar with the remains of the old Egyptian language, as these are preserved in the Coptic and Thebaic versions of the Scriptures,-hoping, with the aid of this knowledge, to discover an alphabet which would enable him to read the enchorial in- I will mention another proof of the utility scription, at least, into a kindred dialect; and, of the rook, which occurred in this neighbourthough he felt himself compelled gradually to hood many years ago. A flight of locusts abandon this expectation, he soon after published visited Craven, and they were so numerous as anew (in the Museum Criticum of Cambridge) his to create considerable aların among the farmconjectural translation with considerable additions and corrections. Finally, in the article EGYPT, in relieved from their anxiety; for the rooks ers of the district. They were, however, soon the fourth volume of the Supplement to the Ency-flocked in from all quarters by thousands and clopædia Britannica, published in December, 1819, he digested and arranged in a methodical form the result of his researches, and, in particular, gave a Vocabulary, comprising upwards of 200 names or words, which he had succeeded in deciphering in the hieroglyphic and enchorial texts, and in the Egyptian manuscripts. We do not hesitate to pronounce this article the greatest effort of scholarship and ingenuity of which modern literature can boast.

tens of thousands, and devoured them so greedily that they were all destroyed in a short time. Such, at least, is the account which is given; and I have heard it repeatedly mentioned as the reason why the late Lord Ribblesdale was so partial to rooks. But I have no means of ascertaining how far this is true, except general report.

It was stated in the newspapers, a year or two back, that there was such an enormous quantity of caterpillars upon Skiddaw, that they devoured all the vegetation on the mountain, and people were apprehensive they would

SERVICES OF THE ROOK (Córvus fru- attack the crops in the enclosed lands; but the

gilegus, L.) TO MAN,

And a Notice of the Prejudice prevailing against it.

A STRONG prejudice is felt by many persons against rooks, on account of their destroying grain and potatoes; and so far is this carried that I know persons who offer a reward for every rook that is killed on their land; yet so mistaken do I deem them, as to consider that no living creature is so serviceable to the farmer, except the live stock he keeps on his farm, as the rook. In the neighbourhood of my native place is a rookery belonging to Wm. Vavasour, Esq., of Weston, in Wharfdale, in which it is estimated there are ten thousand rooks, that one pound of food a-week is a very moderate allowance for each bird, and that nine-tenths of their food consists of worms, insects, and their larvæ; for, although they do considerable damage to the fields for a few weeks in seed-time and a few weeks in harvest, particularly in backward seasons; yet a very large proportion of their food, even at these seasons, consists of insects and worms, which (if we except a few acorns and walnuts in autumn) form at all other times the whole of their subsistence. Here, then, if my data be correct, there is the enormous quantity of 468,000 pounds, or 209 tons, of worms, insects, and their larvæ, destroyed by the birds of a single rookery; and to every one who knows how very destructive to vegetation are the larvæ of the tribes of insects (as well as worms) fed upon by rooks, some slight idea may be formed of the devastation which rooks are the

rooks (which are fond of high ground in the summer), having discovered them, in a very short time put a stop to their ravages.-T. G., Clitheroe, Lancashire. June 30th, 1832.

Mr. Waterton, in his valuable essay "On the supposed Pouch under the Bill of the Rook," (vol. v. p. 512,) incidentally shows that the rook is a very extensive destroyer of insects. Magazine of Natural History.

Edited by the late W. GREENFIELL, Superintendant of the Editorial Department of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

THE PSALMS, Metrically and Historically

Arranged. Stereotype Edition. 4s. 6d., boards. The peculiarity in this Edition is, that, in addition to the metrical arrangement, the type is as large as that nsed the size of the volume is small.

in the largest Edition of the Comprehensive Bible, while

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Just published,

SUBSTANCE of an ADDRESS to the LADIES of GLASGOW, upon the present Aspect of the great Question of NEGRO EMANCIPATION ; delivered at Mr. Anderson's Chapel, John-street, Glasgow, Shilling. March 5, 1833, by GEORGE THOMPSON. Price Que

To be had of J. Haddon, 27, Ivy-lane, Newgate-street,

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Printed by J. HADDON and Co.; and Published by J. CRISP, at No. 27, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, where all Advertisements and Communications for the Editor are to be addressed.

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THE most interesting objects of atten- | ancient architecture which were connecttion at Malmesbury (says Britton, in his ed with the religious institutions once so Beauties of Wiltshire) are those relics of numerous and flourishing in this country,

whose dilapidated walls and moss-grown towers at present serve to give only a faint idea of their former magnificence. Among

4

these, the Abbey Church is the most pro- | minent and important. The present remains of this once spacious and noble edifice consist of a part of the nave and aisles of the church, the grand southern porch, and a wall belonging to the south transept. Imperfect and decayed as this structure is, enough is left to show the peculiar character of its architecture. The prevailing style is Norman, with an intermixture of the English, or pointed. The western front, the original lower tier of windows, the massive pillars between the nave and aisles, and the southern porch, display the semicircular arch, exemplifying the earliest species of architecture in this building. The next variety occurs in the intersecting arches which ornament the lower part of the wall on the western and southern sides. The arches springing from the pillars which divide the nave from the aisles are pointed. Above them is a tier of broad semicircular arches, each of which includes four others, with an open colonnade to the roof of the aisles; and over these is a series of long, narrow, pointed-arch windows, with mullions and tracery.

from the history of the Old and New | hunter, would spend his life with her, and Testaments; and though many of them secure to her comfort and subsistence, while are distorted and ill-designed, yet, as the warrior would be constantly absent, intent specimens of early art, they are very were, however, of no avail; and her parents, upon martial exploits. Winona's expostulations curious. The inner doorway, without having succeeded in driving away her lover, columns, is also ornamented with sculp- began to use harsh measures, in order to comture. Below the arch is an impost, on pel her to unite with the man of their choice. which is a basso-relievo, which seems to To all her entreaties, that she should not be have been intended for a representation forced into an union so repugnant to her feelof the Deity, supported by two angels. ings, but rather be allowed to live a single On the left hand of the door is a large all times enjoyed a greater share in the affeclife, they turned a deaf ear. Winona had at piscina in the wall. On each side of the tions of her family, and she had been indulged porch is an arcade, above which are more than is usual with females among Inseated six large sculptured figures, sup- dians. Being a favourite with her brothers, posed to be designed for the apostles, they expressed a wish that her consent to this with human figures over their heads in the union should be obtained by persuasive means, attitude of flying. The western front is rather than that she should be compelled to it much mutilated; but enough of it remains against her inclination. With a view to remove to show that it must have had an im-vide for her future maintenance, and presented some of her objections, they took means to proposing effect in its original state. In to the warrior all that, in their simple mode of 1732, the doorway appears, from draw-living, an Indian might covet. About that ings, to have been perfect; but at present only one side remains. One of the capitals which support the arch is charged with a figure of Sagittarius, and it is probable that the other signs of the Zodiac were continued round the arch. The running scrolls are gracefully formed, and Such are the great characteristic fea- resemble some Grecian and Roman ornatures of this edifice, which, whether con- ments. The only ancient sepulchral sidered as a whole or examined in detail, monument remaining is an altar tomb, affords ground for some interesting reflec-placed within the chapel; upon it is a

tions.

The earliest notice relative to this Abbey Church appears to be the statement of its dimensions, contained in the "Itinerary of William of Worcester," who wrote in the reign of Henry the Sixth. The account given by Leland of the state of the building, in the time of Henry the Eighth, is more interesting. He says, the Abbey was "a right magnificent thing; where were two steples, one that had a mightie high pyramis, and felle daungerously, in hominum memoria, and sins was not re-edified. It stode in the middle of the transeptum of the chirch, and was a marke to al the countre about. The other yet standith: a greate square toure, at the west ende of the church." Both the towers which Leland mentions have been long since destroyed, leaving no traces of their forms or architectural characters. Indeed, so great has been the dilapidation of this building, that not more than a sixth part of it remains standing; and the preservation of this was owing to its being fitted up for the use of the inhabitants of the town after the Reformation. At that period it probably underwent some repairs; the east and west ends were walled up, some of the windows enlarged, the area pewed,

&c.

The exterior and interior portals of the grand southern porch are elaborately decorated with sculptures. The former displays eight enriched mouldings, continued all round from the base on each side. The subjects of them are apparently taken

recumbent statue in royal robes, said to
be that of King Athelstan, to whom the
tomb has been assigned. But, if it was
intended to commemorate that prince, it
must have been erected long after his
death, and on a spot distant from the
place of his interment, which William of
Malmesbury states to have been in the
choir beneath the high altar.

THE MAIDEN'S ROCK ON THE
MISSISSIPPI.

THERE was a time (our guide said, as we
passed near the base of the rock) when this
spot, which you now admire for its untenanted
beauties, was witness to one of the most melan-
choly transactions that has ever occurred
among the Indians. There was in the village
of Keoxa, in the tribe of Wapasha, during the
time that his father lived and ruled over them,
Winona, which signifies "the first-born." She
a young Indian female, whose name was
had conceived an attachment for a young
hunter, who reciprocated it; they had fre-
quently met, and agreed to an union, in which
all their hopes centred; but, on applying to
her family, the hunter was surprised to find
those of a warrior of distinction who had sued
himself denied, and his claims superseded by
for her. The warrior was a general favourite
with the nation; he had acquired a name by
the services which he had rendered to his vil-
lage when attacked by the Chippewas; yet,
notwithstanding all the ardour with which he
pressed his suit, and the countenance which
he received from her parents and brothers,
the usual commendations of her friends in
Winona persisted in preferring the hunter. To
favour of the warrior, she replied that she had
made choice of a man, who, being a professed

time, a party was formed to ascend from the village to Lake Pepin, in order to lay in a store and which is used by the Indians as a pigof the blue clay which is found upon its banks, ment. Winona and her friends were of the company. It was on the very day that they

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visited the lake that her brothers offered their
presents to the warrior. Encouraged by these,
he again addressed her, but with the same ill
success. Vexed at what they deemed an un-
justifiable obstinacy on her part, her parents
remonstrated in strong language, and even
used threats to compel her into obedience.
"Well," said Winona, you will drive me to
despair; I said I loved him not, I could not
live with him; I wished to remain a maiden,
but you would not. You say you love me—
that you are my father, my brothers, my
relations; yet you have driven from me
the only man with whom I wished to be
from the village; alone he now ranges
united; you have compelled him to withdraw
through the forest, with no one to assist him,
none to spread his blanket, none to build his
lodge, none to wait on him; yet was he the
man of my choice. Is this your love? But
even it appears that this is not enough; you
would have me do more; you would have me
rejoice in his absence; you wish me to unite
with another man-with one whom I do not
love-with whom I never can be happy. Since
this is your love, let it be so; but soon you
will have neither daughter, nor sister, nor rela-
tion, to torment with your false professions of
affection." As she uttered these words she
withdrew, and her parents, heedless of her
should be united to the warrior. While all
complaints, resolved that that very day Winona
were engaged in busy preparations for the
festival, she wound her way slowly to the top
of the hill. When she had reached the sum-
mit, she called out with a loud voice to her
friends below; she upbraided them for their
she,
cruely to herself and her lover, "You," said

were not satisfied with opposing my union with the man whom I had chosen; you endeavoured, by deceitful words, to make me faithless to him; but, when you found me resolved on remaining single, you dared to threaten me. You knew me not; if you thought I could be terrified into obedience, you shall soon see how well I can defeat your dirge; the light wind that blew at the time designs." She then commenced to sing her wafted the words towards the spot where her friends were; they immediately rushed, some

towards the summit of the hill to stop her, others to the foot of the precipice to receive her into their arms, while all, with tears in their eyes, entreated her to desist from her fatal purpose. Her father promised that no compulsive measures should be resorted to. But she was resolved; and, as she concluded the words of her song, she threw herself from the precipice, and fell a lifeless corpse near her distressed friends. Thus (added our guide) has this spot acquired a melancholy celebrity. It is still called the Maiden's Rock; and no Indian passes near it without involuntarily casting his eye towards the giddy height, to contemplate the place whence this unfortunate girl fell, a victim to the cruelty of her relentless parents.-Keating's Expedition.

POMPEII.

THERE are few things so strange as a walk through the silent streets of a town which, for 1700 years, has been hid from the light of the world, when the manners and every-day scenes of so remote an age stand revealed, unchanged, after so long an interval. It appears that, sixteen years before the shower of sand and ashes from Vesuvius occurred, an earthquake had nearly ruined the town; so that the houses are roofless, partly from this cause, and partly from the weight of ashes which fell, otherwise they stand just as they were left. The streets are narrow, but paved, and the marks of the carriage wheels in the lower pavement are evident. In Murat's time, 4000 men were employed in excavating; and so a great number of houses, perhaps one-third of the town, have been uncovered. The houses were small, generally of two stories, but beautifully painted, and the figures of horses, peacocks, &c., are as bright as the day they were painted. There are two theatres standing, and one amphitheatre, all nearly perfect. At one time we walked up a street, called the Strata de Mercantis. On either side are the shops of Mosaic sellers, statuaries, bakers, &c., with the owner's name painted in red, and the sign of the shop rudely carved above the door. The mill in the baker's shop, and the oven, amused us much. At another time we passed through the hall of justice, the temple of Hercules, the villa of Cicero, and the villa of Sallust. The only villa of three stories we observed, belonged to a man called Arius Diomedes (this name was at the side of the door); and in the cellar, beside some jars of wine still standing, was the skeleton of this poor fellow, found with a purse in one hand, and some trinkets in his left, followed by another bearing up some silver and some bronze vases. From the ticket of a sale, stuck upon the wall of a house, it appears that one person had no less than nine hundred shops to let. The street of the tombs is the most impressive; one for the gladiators has a representation of the different modes of fighting carved upon it; and from this it seems that they occasionally fought on horseback, which, before the discovery of Pompeii, was unknown.-Edinburgh Philosophical Journal.

CORPOREAL IDENTITY.

SOME have considered a change of corporeal identity to be effected every three, others every seven years. Letters marked on the skin, however, last during life; and there are some diseases of which the constitution is only once susceptible.

CHINA.

in Europe; excepting that it is monarchical and hereditary; that the power of the chief THE following very comprehensive and ruler or emperor is absolute; and that he deinteresting article, illustrative of the pre-legates it to viceroys in the several provinces, sent condition of the Chinese, has been some of which provinces, it may be observed, handed to us by Mr. Fisher, the gentle- the whole of the British empire in Europe; contain each of them more inhabitants than

man to whom we are indebted for our

former articles on this subject, and forms part of one inserted in the last number of the Gentleman's Magazine.

As the relations of Great Britain with the subjects of the Emperor of China are now about to undergo parliamentary revision, a few statistical notices of the population, government, language, literature, arts and sciences, religion, and jurisprudence of the immense dominions of that potentate, may not be altogether unacceptable to readers. your

and that all the viceroys are accountable im mediately to the emperor for the whole of their conduct.

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LANGUAGE. -The language written and spoken by the inhabitants of this region differs, in its whole form and structure, from the languages in use in other parts of the world. For many years this peculiarity of language interposed, although not an insuperable barrier, a very great obstacle in the way of European intercourse with the Chinese; an obstacle which, to the honour of our country, has been removed by the industry and exertions of the individual already referred to, who, as a Christian missionary, felt himself stimulated to the necessary exertion by a conscientious wish to fulfil his important trust. To him the literary world is indebted for a grammar of the Chinese language, a dictionary of the same in six volumes quarto, together with other philologiThe following is a statement of the POPULATION cal writings. There is nevertheless reason to of China and its Colonies, according to a believe that but very few either of Europeans Census taken in the 18th year of the reign of or Americans are qualified, even at the present Kea-king, A. D. 1813, and under the autho-hour, for personal communication with the rity of his Imperial Majesty.

They are derived chiefly from the communications, either written or printed, of that eminent Chinese scholar and valuable Christian missionary, the Rev. Robert Morrison, author of the Chinese Dictionary, &c.; or of his son, Mr. John Robert Morrison, who is with his father in China.

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Provinces, &c.
Chihle
Shantung
Shanse
Honan
Keangsoo
Ganhwuy
Keangse
Fuhkeën
Formosa (natives)
Chekeang
Hoopih
Hoonan
Shense
Kansuh
Barkoul and Oroumtsi
Szechuen
Kwangtung or Canton
Kwang-se
Yunnan
Kweichow
Shing-king or Leaoutung
Kirin

Kihlung-keang, or Teit-
cihar, &c.
Tsinghae or Kokonor, &c.
Foreign tribes under Kan-

suh

Ditto, ditto, Sze-chuen
Thibetan colonies

Ele and its dependencies
Turfan and Lobnor
Russian Border

Individuals

No. of Individuals. 27,990,871

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28,958,764

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14,004,210

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23,037,171

37,843,501

34,168,059

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30,426,999 14,777,410 1,748* 26,256,784

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27,370,098

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18,652,507

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10,207,256

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Families.

2,398 7,842

natives of China in the language of the latter.
Of that language, so little known to the
natives of other regions, Dr. Morrison observes
that it is "read by a population of different
nations, amounting to a very large proportion
of the human race, and over a very extensive
geographical space; from the borders of Rus-
sia on the north, throughout Chinese Tartary
in the west, and in the east as far as Kams-
chatka;
and downwards through Corea and
Japan; in the Loo Choo Islands, Cochin-
China, and the Islands of that Archipelago,
on most of which are Chinese settlers, till you
come down to the equinoctial line at Penang,
Malacca, Singapore, and even beyond it on
Java. Throughout all these regions, however
dialects may differ, and oral languages be
confounded, the Chinese written language is
understood by all. The voyager, the merchant,
and the traveller, as well as the Christian mis-
sionary, if he can write Chinese, may make
himself understood throughout the whole of
Eastern Asia."

LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. The Chinese appear to have been a literary and, to a certain extent, a scientific people for several ages. It is now known that they have possessed the art of printing books from wooden blocks during more than 800 years; that is, long before the 26,728 invention of printing and revival of letters in 72,374 Europe. "During the tenth century, the art 4,889 of taking off on paper an impression from an 69,644 engraving was discovered in China, and hence 700* 2,551 the Chinese acquaintance with the art of print1,900 ing arose." This art of printing from wooden blocks is now practised by the Chinese with so 361,693,879 188,326 much facility, that a MS. Gazette or newspaper, transferred to blocks or plates of wood, is, in the course of a very few hours, prepared 753,304 for printing by the expert use of gouges or 361,693,879 chisels, employed in removing the wood from the blank parts, so as to leave the characters standing up, in precisely the same way as they would appear in this country in wood-cuts.

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in this country; the one in the library of the East India Company in Leadenhall-street; the other, which is the property of Dr. Morrison, in the Mission House, Austin Friars.

The following sketch, abridged from the doctor's notes, may afford some idea of the character of Chinese literature; which comprehends books of the following descriptions:Writings deemed sacred, or held in high veneration, including a compilation of the works of the ancient moral philosophers of the age of Confucius (B. C. 800 years), with numerous notes, comments, and paraphrases on the original text, and "with controversies concerning its genuineness, the order of particular words or phrases, and the meaning of obscure passages," as follows:-"The text of the Woo King, which name denotes Five Sacred Books; and of the Sze Shoo, or Four Books, which were compiled by four of the disciples of Confucius, and from which circumstance the books receive their title; these contain the doctrines and precepts which their master, Confucius, approved and communicated to them. In respect of external form, the Five Books (Woo King) of the Chinese, correspond to the Pentateuch of Moses; and the Four Books (Sze Shoo), in respect of being a record of the sayings of a master, compiled by four disciples, have a slight resemblance to the Four Gospels." But the contents of these sacred writings of the Chinese are described as altogether dissimilar to the Christian Scriptures; containing, "with the exception of a few passages in the most ancient part of the Woo King, which retain seemingly something of the knowledge which Noah must have communicated to his children," nothing but "personal, domestic, and political moralities, without the sanction of an eternal and Almighty God, arrayed with every natural and moral perfection-wise, good, just, and merciful; and without presenting the fears and the hopes of immortality, or revealing the grace of the Saviour." Such is the character which Dr. Morrison has given of the sacred writings of

the Chinese.

Histories. Those of the Chinese are described as voluminous, containing, of course, accounts of their domestic and foreign wars, especially with the Huns and Tartars; often tracing, with great gravity, effects to their supposed causes in the operation of the dual system of the universe, which the Chinese historians assume to be true," and by which system of materialism they imagine both the physical and moral world to be influenced." The Chinese historians place their deluge about 2200 years before Christ, and carry back their antediluvian traditions, concerning a great ancestor of the Chinese nation, "who melted stones and repaired the heavens," to about 3200 years before Christ; but these historians are described as not professing to be very correct in dates, and the principal facts stated by them are regarded as mere traditions.

In every other department of literature, Dr. Morrison represents the Chinese press as having been for ages prolific, and the accumulations

vast.

Historical Novels appear to constitute a favourite department; but, owing to the licentiousness of some of them, they have been made the subjects of legal, although ineffectual, prohibition.

Dramatic Works and Poetry.-In these the Chinese abound; and we are informed that the candidates for public employment are examined in poetry, on the ground that poetry leads to an acquaintance with the passions and

feelings of men, and that "none can govern
well, or durably, but those who win the peo-
ple's hearts, by an adherence to the principles
of equal rights and a clement justice." The
Chinese have nothing that can be called epic
poetry. The most ancient poetical composi-
tions were a collection of popular songs, made
at the request of government, in order to ascer-
tain the popular feeling, which it is stated the
Chinese monarchs have generally thought it
right to consult. Although the ladies of China
are not usually literary, there are exceptions;
and, in an educated family, the writing of
verses, from a theme given at the moment by
one of the party, is practised as an amusing
trial of skill.

will be satisfactory to most of your readers to learn that the lithographic art seems destined to be instrumental in promoting a happy change. That invaluable invention, in the success of which, on its first arrival in England, I ventured, as may be shown by a reference to your pages, to feel and to express a strong interest, and to advocate it when the artists of this country thought fit to reject it, has not only surmounted the opposition of prejudice here, but has been at length introduced into China; and its first effort there has been the circulation of Christian truth, in connection with a new, and, compared with that with which the Chinese were previously acquainted, a very superior mode of diffusing knowledge Geographical and topographical works abound by the multiplication of copies of books. This in China; together with a species of law, de-association I regard as a most happy one for nominated Collectanea, consisting of collec- the interests of religion. The first work printed tions of appeals and remonstrances, and opi- in Chinese at a lithographic press, and of nions of philosophers, and controversialists, which I have a copy, is entitled "Good Words with the endless et cætera of compilers. to_admonish__the Age," published in nine volumes by Leangafa, a native convert, and now a Christian missionary.

Astronomy.-In China, this branch of science and literature extends to a correct calculation of eclipses and some other celestial phenomena; but it is greatly mixed up with the dreams of astrology, calculating, with wearisome minuteness, lucky and unlucky, felicitous and infelicitous, days and hours for bathing, for shaving, for commencing a journey, or beginning to sow, or to plant, or to make a bargain, or to visit a friend, &c.

The ARTS OF DESIGN (which are in England denominated the Fine Arts) appear to be among the Chinese in an immature state. All their productions, and particularly their statuary, manifest great care and neatness of execution, with ingenuity; but in their paintings they display very little, and in some of them not any, acquaintance with the rules of drawing in perspective.

The MECHANIC ARTS appear to be in very considerable perfection among the Chinese, who work in metals with ease; and their long acknowledged superiority to the natives of Europe in earthen wares is a fact which cannot be forgotten by any persons who have possessed or who possess China. It is scarcely necessary to add, that they have bridges, and houses, and halls, and palaces, and other conveniences and contrivances for domestic and social life, in great variety, very much like our own; and that these things they have had for many years, and that they import none of them.

Medicine. In the science and practice of this art the Chinese appear to have acquired great proficiency, and much acquaintance with natural history, whether belonging to the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms. "The theory of the pulse is in China carried by practitioners to a degree of exactness that baffles the most careful attention of European surgeons to discriminate. When Chinese and English practitioners have been seated at the same table, and felt the pulse of the same patient, the one has professed to ascertain symptoms, of which the other was unable to ascertain any thing. The Chinese are not at all convinced, by the reasoning of the west, that pulses, being simultaneous in all parts of RELIGION.-As is notorious, the Chinese the body, the feeling of one pulse is therefore are addicted to the grossest idolatry; worequal to the feel of more than one; for they shipping, with great cost and parade of pubsuppose that local disease may make a dif-lic processions, the statues of their deceased ference."

emperors, with such creatures of their imagiThere are other departments of Chinese nation as the following:-the Gods of the literature; a sort of family record called Wau Southern, Northern, Eastern, Western, and Chang, consisting of the prize essays of many Central Mounts; the God of Furnaces, with a generations, which are preserved and published thank-offering on the day of his ascension; with care; also the moral and religious essays the Budhi, on their days of ascent and descent; of different sects; those in particular of the the God of Spring; the Gods of Wealth and Confucian school of atheistical materialists; Wine (in which, perhaps, a few British Christhose of the visionary alchymic school of tians may sympathise with the Chinese); the Laoukeun; and those of the Hindoo Polythe-Gods of Learning, of Happiness, of Land and istic school of Buddha; in addition to which may be named the essays of a sort of eclectic school, which picks and chooses from, and sometimes blends, the other three.

"The Mahommedan and Christian writers in China have been too few to produce any very sensible impression, beyond now and then a little scorn and philippic, such as is conveyed in the political sermons, read by an official person on the days of the new and full moon, in the several provincial imperial halls, before the governor, deputy-governor, and magistrates in each province."

Such is the brief sketch which I have been enabled, by reference to the respectable authority already named, to offer you of the literature of the Chinese. In the last-mentioned and the most important department of that literature, viz. that connected with religion, it

Grain, of the Small-pox, of Thunder, War, and Fire; also of the Southern and Northern Seas and of the South Pole; the Queen of Heaven, who is considered the Goddess of Sailors; the Goddess of Childbirth; and the God of Carpenters. These gods are worshipped on their several days in the Chinese calendar, which is replenished with them; together with the anniversaries of the airing of clothes, the exhibition of paper lanthorns, and the births and deaths of their deceased emperors, to which they add the birth of Confucius, and the decease of their own respective ancestors, whom they commemorate by offerings at their tombs.

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