Carolina Watchman

              the carolina watchman pietcber webster's l,ectnrc on • ' .. d_i:i_i a_»d the chinese . ver y crowded and fashionable audi e assembled says the n y herald to f r mr fletcher webster's first lecture nchina and the chinese the attrac ■ p character ofthe subject and a very n eral desire to hear the son of one of „ crreatest men and who himself enjoys uglily respectable reputation as a gen , , in of distinguished literary acquire rs sufficiently accounted for the nu - attendance we noticed almost jl the leading members ofthe legal pro fusion many of oui most noted divines a it number of our most influential mer cbants and a congregation of female beau iv elegance and fashion which might '.\,- inspired even an ordinary speaker dut mr webster certainly discovered on this occasion lhat he is not an unworthy representative ofa name great in the an nals of oratory his lecture was highly entertaining well written and delivered nan agreeable and unaffected style — we will give ihe best idea ofit and pre jgul perhaps lhe most readable report by rrivinsr from our notes a number of lhe r most novel and graphic passages — (', nnt oits cave — at lhe northern end 0 fthe town of macao is iln cave in u bich ibe portuguese poet cameons is said to bave written his celebrated poem lhe lu :,(!, the subject of which is ibe voyage round he cape of good hope by vasco degania this is a romantic and beau tiful spot the cave is formed by two prodigious boulder rocks which wiih great numbers of other smaller ones seem to have heen thrown down upon lhe earth at random and piled up by chance in fan tastic and careless shapes the portu guese with a wooden cupola and a wretch ed leaden bust ou the south end of ibe island is a chinese temple situated in si milar assemblage of gigantic rocks bul extremely tasteful the localities of tbe place arc taken advantage of witb great skill and judgment ; temple after temple succeeding each other up tin steep wind ing ascent cut in the solid rock with hea vy balustrades all of natural rock or of massive and beautifully hewn granite — nature has been no where distorted the steps seeming half natural and all lhat the hand of man had done lo he but ear ning out the design of nature which meant it for a place of worship a chinese temple — wesaw here for ibe first time a beautiful arrangement which tbe chinese call a moon gate and which isafavoritc arrangement with ihem iii their gardens and temples it is au open circular gateway ihrough a high granite wall giving passage fiom one enclosure to another in front of each of the tem ples were granite dragons beautifully carved in grotesque chinese style each with a moveable ball of granite seen thro tin teeth nl his closed mouth which must have heen cul out from the inside for the head was solid and the ball could neither be put in nor taken out without breaking the figure la the interior of each temple was an altar of stone md one or more idols in niches in the wall just above and behind theahar in front ofthe altar were bronze or iron tables on which were metal pans filled with loose earth and used lo set lhe gas-lighted sticks in which are burnt be fore the image the idols weie much violated with gold and silver tinsel and these temples they were all female fi gures they being dedicated to the goddess ofthe sea flowers both natural and ar tificial of gold and silver leaf which seem ed to be olfe rings were lying at ihe feet m the idols and the gas-sticks were still burning as though some worshipper had just retired from his devotion there was nothere as there is in india any mystery or reserve or prohibition no guard or priest o prevent one's going where he pleased w to watch his conduct we could have robbed the temple of all its tinsel and bowers pulled the idol's nose or desecra lerf the altar but we felt such would lie i ' ill requital of the confidence which implicitly reposed in us and we left every sprig and spangle ofthe god pirst official visit — it was announced totheministerthat aletter fromrgori ching containing an imperial edict was about jobe brought to him by four high officers ' 11 canton the correspondence had n carried on between the minister and 1 '■'■•- for some time when this announce ment was made everything was pre pared lor the reception ol this first official in high chinese functionaries and i'aited their arrival after a while ft d*scordant noise accompanied by loud '• ; a intervals was heard and we look ';;:; i!i the blinds ofthe verandah to see '■■', approach of our visitors two i ii toting fellows with wire caps on their aea s one of them with a whip and the j ' hti vith an axe iu his hand led the sion these were the executioners w w always precede a high officer next ? aie a score of poorly dressed and very oldiers with spears and shields and loei'ts then a man ot two on wretch e ponies whose hair stood out in all di ctions and whose manes and tails were ot brush or currycomb ; then the l m of nuisic and then ihe sedan chairs , sreat men themselves they were '° ur j i number all large and fine looking p*ons dressed in light colored crape fastened round tlieir waists by blue and buckles of precious stones — . stood up jo receive them with our ty 801 !, for it is chinese etiquette to be l e jl re d as a mark of respect they en f , e,j with their caps on displaying their ,, and blue buttons and peacock's fea 0 ,. rs - the button is fastened to tbe lop l , e cap and the feather bangs down nd they approached shook their l!ls at us and the chief among them i i i m i presented the letter to lhe minister on receiving it lie motioned to ihem to be seated and lake oil iheir caps ; which ob serving carefully oui own movements md keeping exact time with us ihey did — one of the interpreters now read the let ter and after a short interval of silence sucli sort of conversation as can he car ', ried on by means of interpreters and looks ' and signs took place the first civility was on tlieir pari asking our names — this information being given nnd recipro cated ihey proceeded to shock our notions of good breeding by asking our ages — ' this however is an indispensable atten tion : we returned it at once and weie of course much edified at our information alter t few minutes conversation a luncheon in the chinese style was an : nounced and we entered ihe dining room our guests according to chinese etiquette seated on tin left which with them is \ the place of honor chop-sticks had been provided for all of us and we made our first experiments wilh tbem lo ihe unre strained amusement ol our guests they showed little inclination lo eat but a de cided laste for ihe barbarian liquors champagne aud cherry bounce a very red faced gentleman whom we afier i wards saw very frequently a manchoo t.-ii tar by lie name of tung lin dispos j ed of half a dozen tumblers ol cherry ■ bounce in as many minutes we were j ; astonished by lhe very loud tones ol iheir , ! voices ; it must have been easy to bave heard in the street everything said by tbem as it is a point of politeness to empty one's glass whenever drinking wilh ; a friend — and ibey each drank wiib alio us — they became gradually as elevated as their voices civilities were now ex changed witb the greatest urbanity one unavoidable one we would have gladly dispensed wiih it is the fashion for eve ry one lo beli himself wilh bis own chop sticks from any dish on lhe table which he i can reach ; and when he feels desirous of i j offering a testimonial of particular regard j as well as respect be reaches out and ! ' seizes something with bis own chop-sticks | ; and motioning to lhe individual for whom ' j he designs tbe favor to open bis mouth puts lhe morsel whatever it is between i bis teeth as tbey are not particular nice iu their eating and their leeth are by no means pearls we would have pardon ed the omission of lhis attention it was however not to be escaped ; till lhat was j left us was retaliation wbich we immedi j ; ately practiced after an hour at table | of shouting conversation on iheir part and . of " nods and becks and wreathed smiles on ours we rose and moved lo the veran dab where a new series of delicate at tentions surprised us tbey had made us ; lell our ages entered with their caps on shaking their own bands sat on our left ! fed us with their own chop-sticks and now tbey commenced to examine our ap parel piece by piece — cravat coat waist coat shirt-bosom trousers sword-belt j gloves all in turn were inspected for tunately our good genius dr parker told us this was the very acme of politeness and to be imitated wiihout delay nothing was more agreeable to us who bad with great patience and suavity shown our bats aud swords and coats and we be gan to scrutinize their dress and orna ments we examined their caps and but tons and peacock feaihers their little i embroidered bags which wiib fan cases and sniill-bokes they bang from theirgir , dies their thumb-rings of agate their silken girdles and jewelled buckles one of ihem tung lin a tartar made him self merry with a sword belt belonging to one of us he put it on to show bow much too small it was strutted up and down to show us his portly figure struck his full chest and told us in a voice of « bunder that he was a mantchoo — he then seized my hand and squeezed it to show his strength he was a terror-spreading tar tar general my own however being much the largest for both tartars and chinese have remarkably small and deli cate hands he did not make such an im pression as he anticipated after two hours of intellectual intercourse of ibis sort out fiiends retired the procession re-formed gongs beat and pipes squealed the executioners yelled lhe little ponies were pulled between theii rider's legs and we were leit to reflect upon chinese men and manners entering the canton hirer — for tbe first twenty miles the waters are general ly rough the whole bay beintr exposed to the northerly and easterly winds and there are no objects of interest by and by the lioccii tigris and the forts of tbe rogue appear at this point about fifty miles above macao is tbe actual mouth ofthe canton river tbe shores approach each other with very high and hilly banks and ibe entrance is not more than a can j non shot wide tbe white walls of the ' | forts on both sides and on tiger island in ( i the centre ofthe river present a formida ble appearance but on examination they show themselves to be almost useless e rections they are built not on the top of ibe hill nor or they guarded by other fortifications on the top so that to take them the english had only to land out of , gunshot march round to tbe summit ofthe j bill and fire down on tbe occupants — i [ they consist of mere walls not covered in ' i at all and of course afford no protection j i whatever against bombs and the port holes are as large as tbe doors of an ordi j bruner & james ) r t s tt „_•„;„ .„ i " rltzt a check upon all tour editors 4 proprietors ' fs safe „ \ new series r ™ s^tsszt i number 31 of volume ii salisbury n c november 29 1845 decent customers and here tbey are al lowed by law and custom to remain beat ing and singing until they receive the cash if the shopkeeper i as most chinamen are blest with that fortitude which is a good remedy for evils when ihere is no olher and lets them beat till they are tired thev lie down before the counter and for get their woes in sleep awhile and then up and beat again lt is a trial of pa tience between the two the beggar holds on as long as he can hoping the shop keeper will be aggravated to the amount requisite the shopkeeper sits with the ut most apparent indifference to let the beg gar see that he has no chance mean while the beggar is losing time and the shopkeeper customers if lhe shopkeeper pays at an early period of the visitation he may get rid of one infliction only to make way for another if he keeps one pretty bearable plague he is secure against others and may get up a reputation for invincibility and stoicism that will protect him in future so there they sit shop keeper and beggar the one doing his worst to annoy and the other bis best not to no tice it till the one or the other gives in system of government — the govern ment of china is patriarchal and it is a pure unalloyed despotism the czar of russia wields a power less uncontrolled than the emperor of china lie reigns absolute and supreme and knows no re straint upon his will the laws are the mere expressions of his pleasure the soil of all china is his own inheritance — lives fortunes and honor of his subjects are in bis hand as their father and sov ereign be may take either or all from any of them by an arbitrary stroke of bis ver million pencil ii is power knows no check or balances or bounds he is the representative or victory ofthe almighty — the head of religion — the son of heaven in immediate communication with tbe supreme and the only being authorized to hold such communication all religious observances and rites as well as munici pal laws derive their sanction and obliga tions from him in short he is invested with every attribute lhat unlimited power can extort from the fear and ignorance of subject millions his vast empire for the purpose of government is divided into great provinces at tiie head of each of these is a high officer responsible immedi ately to him for its order and good gov ernment each province is again subdi vided into districts districts into towns villages and hundreds each of these subdivisions has'its proper head who is responsible to his immediate superior for the conduct and condition of those under his rule in case of crime or even acci dent punishment is made to fall not only on the guilty themselves but on those whose duty it was to detect or prevent it for serious crime or disturbance not on ly the guilty themselves but the bead of the town in which it took place and the district in which lhe town lies and of the province in which the district is included are punished in various degrees the blow from the empcrvr is felt throughout the whole chain chinese police — on ome occasion when there mas unusual excitement among tlio people al canton a large roofo surrounded in tho evening tin foreign factories an ameri can wbo had heen out on die river was ol.lig ed to make liis way through the crowd to reach his home on getting into his hon<i as they call each merchant's residence lie found thai lie had heen robbed of his watcli when or bv whom it was taken among that crowd of chinese — all dressed alike all looking aiikc and closely packed together in lhe dark no one of whom he had ever before seen or would probably see again of course he could not teli all lie could say was il had heen taken bv some one among the hundreds jammed together in the square the probability nf recovering il was verv remote but lie made liis complaint to the proper chinese functionary and slated tie case the mandarian t«>!d him lhat wiihin so manv days he should have the watch thai very day all lhe police officers in that part nl canton to the number of one or iwo hundred were seized upon and imprisoned one ol them was then brought before the mandarin and the robbery stated to him and he was in formed that he must find that watch and bring it back and that ail his comrades would remain in jail until be did each one of the poor lel lows thus confined had a family dependent on him for support and friends and relations inte rested in his release all these at once he came most active i:i their exertions to discover the watch and set free the prisoners their fiiends and their friends fiiends were interest ed ; lhe armv of police officers increased geo metrically the whole people became thief takers and at the end of three days the watch was found in an obscure hut in ihe country twenty miles from canton and restored to its owner in other cases of theft a similar tho harsher course is sometimes pursued but the result is generally the discovery ofthe thief and restoration ofthe goods if a theft takes place in a house on complaint to a mandarin all the servants are arrested and taken before him and both lhe guilty and innocent bambooed till the really guilty at last confesses the cruelty of this course not unfrequently indeed generally among foreigners prevents complaints being made the chinese code both civil and crim inal is immensely voluminous and detailed there is apparently nothing which can be done or sutteied ihat is not provided for we have thus endeavored says the herald to give some idea of this highly entertaining discourse it was listened to with marked in terest and at lhe close the plaudits were loud and enthusiastic afler thanking the audience for tlieir attention mr weh-iter announced that the second lecture would be delivered on fri day evening interesting from tiie far west an expedition tbe objects of which are fully explained in tbe subjoined selection from tbe correspondence of the boston at las df october 25th started from fort lea venworth recently under command of col kerney ofihe 1st regiment the infor mation which it contains is interesting in the extreme — giving as it docs some idea of cupt fremont's whereabouts *• the objects of this expedition were to see that the long road fo oregon was open to the emigrants and tbe sante fe trail to the traders ; to visit ihe indian tribes this side of the rocky mountains and by kindness and presents to show ihem that the white man is their friend — at lhe same time to overawe ibem and by a show of force to eonvinc them that any molestation of citizens ofthe united states would nnt go unpunished another ob ject was to explore lhe country and dis cover its military resources on the 21th of may we struck the great oregon trace which we kept to the south l\iss ofthe rocky mountains on lhe 291 h of may we arrived at the nebraska or platte river striking it twenty miles from the head of grand island the nebras ka river is very swift very muddy and shallow it puis on lhe airsofa formida ble river but it is unnavigable : nnd \\ ash ington irving ex pressed its principle fea tures when he called it the mos beauti ful and useless ot rivers the water is pleasant to drink and preferred by the mountain men to any other on il.e lb of june we came 11110:1 lhe first herd of buffalo they continued in great num bers for a week supplying tin command with a plenty of ment for twenty days alter we struck the oregon trace we were continually overtaking and passing tbe e nigrants ihis vvas an exceedingly interesting feature in the campaign for we saw the manner in which ihey con ducted tluir marches and learned their general character and it was gratifying to them to know th the government was sending her troops to keep ihem fiom be ing molested by the band of tbe savage on their long and toilsome journey they assemble annually in the spring of the year from the middle aud western stall s at different points 0:1 the frontiers gener ally at st joseph and independence mo where they form themsejvi s into compa nies of from twenty-five to fifty families ; and when the grass is sufficiently forward to subsist their stoek they comm-mec iheir journey they are bold hardy farmers and are fully competent in every respect to lay the foundation ot a new colony perhaps a new nation oregon is now evidently filling up fast and that too with citizens from the united states there have pass ed over the road to orejron this season l wagons and an immense number of stock allowing five to a wagon which is a low estimate there were aceotnpay ing ihose wagons 3060 souls on tbe 1 1th of june we arrived at the laramie fork ofihe nebraska having followed the latter and its \. fork to this place — here are two trading posts fort john belonging lo the american fur co and fort plattee to a company of gentlemen from st louis i hi ibe 16th a grand council was held at this place with lhe siu-yx — there being present some 1200 of tll ages this council was one nf great interest : for lhe troops had made their appearance in a country inhabited by ibe most powerful and warlike tribe of lhe west and the motives of their visit be ing a mystery to the indians they were quite alarmed at first and t bought they were to be chastised : knowing full well that the scalps of white men were smok ing in their lodges when told it was ihe intention of the commander to hold a council they wen reassured and came forward well satisfied that no barm was to be done to ihem the colonel gave some good advice and warned tbem a gainst molesting the trailers and immi grants this they cheerfully promised — and after the business of the council was ended lhe colonel distributed presents a mong them such as are always gratifying and acceptable to lh indian oi the 17lb tiie command started for the south pass leaving a detachment of one hun dred men at laramie on the 30th the command was mustered at lhe bead wa ters of llu rio colorado which empties into the gulf of california and returned to laramie on the 13th july our next move was from ihe nebraska southward to the arkansas river passing 70j miles along ih base ofthe main chain ofthe rocky mountains this part of our journey was interesting in the extreme — the high peaks covered with eternal snow the valleys which have never been visit ed by the blessed light of sun : the fearful cra^s ; the scathed and splindered pinna cles of granite ; the distant slopes cover ed with dark masses of stinted pines and cedars tbe broad sweep of the prairies stretching off like an illimitable ocean presented a series of pictures which for their beauty and sublimity cannot i will venture tosay.be surpassed upon this con tinent certainly no pen or pencil could ever attempt to do justice to tbem sev eral of lhe mountains in this range are the loftiest of the whole chain of the northern cordilleras and among ibem is pike's peak tbe very highest you may have an idea of the altitude of its immense sum mit when i tell you wc were marching seven davs long marches directly toward it from the time we first saw it until we arrived at ils base this part ot tbe march was severe for we suffered much ler want of water and the grass was very poor we struck th arkansas on the 20th of julv about ten miles irom where it de bouches from the mountains and about nary barn the chief fort on the right as one goes up tbe river is a water lire battery with port boles for more than a hundred guns of which i believe none were mounted first sight of whampoa — about six miles below canton are tbe remains of the barrier which the chinese built to keep olf tbe english it is a great dyke of stone and piles a narrow raceway is now made through it which so compresses tbe water that it can be passed only at a favorable time of tide the current often runs here six or seven miles an hour at length boats and craft thicken like the carriages in a crowded street they come down stream with a line w ind a dozen abreast occupying the whole river collision seems inevitable a large junk is within twen ty feet coming directly upon your boat with all sails set all the tales of cruelty and indifference to human life which we bear related of the people of china and especially the river population rush upon tbe mind they certainly mean to run you down and your crew seem to look upon it with perfect apathy ln an in stant — within live feet of collision — round swings one or tbe other boat and they have passed ! the dexterity of the chi nese with their boats exceeds that of any other people vessels are now seen at anchor in long rows and bouses floating on the water in great blocks one sails through streetsof boats as regular as those of houses on land with their ornamented fronts like small cottages doors win dows lamps elegantly carved and gilt pi lastres and porticos and abundance of in habitants butcher boats vegetable boats and scavenger boats pass up and down ibe street their occupants crying their various commodities and calling to sell or carry away it is a floating city said to num ber of those wbo live wholly on tbe wa ter — are born there pursue theirbusiness there and die there seldom touching ter ra-firma — three hundred thousand souls canton — canton itself is situated on a low piece of ground hardly above the le vel of the river lofty hills approach it on the east and an eminence is close to it on which is a tartar military station i will not attempt to describe canton at any length its population is six hundred thou sand or more its streets are seldom over eight feet in width ; the houses low and dark the city within the walls is said to be smaller than the suburbs one can not discover which is the city and wbich is the suburbs until be is informed the walls which are high and very massive form the backs of shops and stores built along them in walking next the walls one sees nothing but shops even the gates are not noticeable of which there are many in the suburbs as well as arch es crossing the streets the factories of tbe merchants are situated on the very bank ofthe liver and tire much the finest and largest buildings that i saw except ing tbe temples a chinese scholar — having reached canton my first business was to find a tartar and one was at last procured who undertook to instruct us he was not a native tartar but a chinese scholar a tall good looking intellectual person and i augured very favorably of our suc cess with him i noticed that on his first arrival there was an appearance of mys tery and concealment the chinese who introduced bim seemed very anxious — tliere was a whispering and shutting of doors and a great many injunctions ap parent ly,aiidassurances,cxclamations and gestures however we set down to our task at last and got through the alphabet the next day agreeable to appointment he came again and there was the same closing of doors and looking behind and around and springing up if any one en tered and in short such a mysterious air about lhe whole thing as if we were con spirators in some plot 1 observed he was a nervous and very much agitated hard ly able to command himself and laboring evidently under some very great excite ment he jumped up at any noise as though he spprehended imminent danger or some one was about to spring upon him from behind however we got through our lesson the next day he was missing at the appointed time the day following be appeared and with more perturbation than ever he could hardly speak or stand he had grown haggard his eyes were swollen and staring never was mortal fear of something i did not know what more plainly depicted on a man's face than on bis he was accom panied by dr parker's attendant they entered carefully and softly closed and fastened tbe door made sure that no one was in the room and then his friend in a low tone told me the nature of tbe case he was afraid of losing his head for coming to teach a foreigner mantchoo — bested me to receive back my money which he brought in his hand and let him go he could not come again he told me and i believe it that he w*as on the point of taking poison to rid himself of his trouble that he had eaten no rice and taken no sleep since he first came he expected every moment to be seized by the mandarins and carried off to be be headed there was no argument with him no comforting or assuring him ; andthe only thing to be done was to discharge hi:n and let him go we were more fortunate afterwards and found two thorough bred tartars who had no fear of mandarins and who re mained with us long after all idea of go ing to perkin was abandoned a chinese villa — while at canton i had the pleasure to visit a country seat belonging to a distinguished chinese gen tleman duke pwon dr parker had the kindness to invite him to dinner and the invitation was the consequence — duke pwon as he was created while we ■ were in china but more generally known ' as putinqua is a short stout person of for | ty years ol age his manners not pleas ; : ant according to our notion his move ments were very quick and monkey like he seemed to be uneasy with his leet on \ the ground and to want to lift them up on his chair he helped himself with his own knife and fork to everything he could reach told us he had the sallrheum and ' pulled up his sleeve to show his arm — he showed us the game played with ihe fingers practiced also in italy a drinking ; pastime not unamusing i do not wish to describe duke pwon under a disagreeable aspect he was extremely civil and we afterwards saw much of him at first one is not pleased with such manners but a litlle custom goes far to reconcile the mind to any thing his villa called pun tong situated on the river about three miles above canton lt has about 100 acresiuexteiitin the middleof paddy fields , covered with water the approach to it , is along a canal leading from the river there are several houses and detached [ outbuildings which make up the villa — : i long wooden bridges such as we see re ;' 1 presented on dinner plates connect the ". various buildings wbich are all built on : piles of a sort of glazed brick the main ; house is perhaps sixty feet square twosto i ries high with numerous apartm?nts — i the large drawing room is handsome and : handsomely furnished in the rear of the , building is a theatre the stage fronting i the windows of tbe drawing room be | tween the two buildings is a fish pond i an indispensable requisite to a chinese ! country place on nights of preformance ! long poles ate thrust into the mud at the bottom ofthe pond wilh lanterns at their tops there was an aviary made of wire tilled with gold and silver pheasants of extreme beauty a tame deer two beau tiful adjutants and a monkey made up the collection ol animals there were no i grounds or gardens being a place built on | a shallow pond and artificially raised a bove the level ofthe water the only walks j were wooden bridges the general ap pearance was pleasing but there was no thing like what we call comfort chinese courtship — every chinese as , soon as he is in any way able to do so i takes a small footed wife he sends for some old lady whose well known and re ! cognised and there considered respecta ', ble trade is that of a '* go-between and : inquires wbo among his neighbors has a ! nice daughter who would do for a wife — ; the lady mentions one and gives a de ; scription of her appearances she then | sees tbe young lady whom she thinks he ; would prefer — some miss lee nang or ! nou seen and describes the merits of the ; i gallant noo chung the parents then j with her help arrange the settlement and [ the bride is given away with as great cer i emonies and rejoicings as the means of the families will allow — and in high and ; wealthy families the husband first sees her face when be meets ber at the door of ' his bouse and taking her out of her sedan ; chair raises her veil the chinese carriers — there are no 1 beasts of burden except a few buffalo to plough tbe rice fields in all the lower parts of china the population is too dense to allow the productions ofthe earth to be used for the support of beasts ev ery thing is done by human labor there is no wheeled vehicle in canton i doubt if there are any in all the lower part ol i the empire further north they use char riots and wagons driven by sails thus milton says — " where chinese drive with wind and sail they carry wagon light besides the four or five horses used by english gentlemen at macao hall a doz en ponies in all not more certainly street begging in china — the condi . tion of the classes of beggars in canton is worth remarking on they are very wretched and always objects of pity from some accident disease or deformity and their way of getting a living is curious — china has no charitable institutions no asylum or alms houses and among such a teeming population there are ol course many beggars though not so many as would be supposed ; not so great a pro portion i apprehend as in europe or in our large cilies since the wants are few provisions plenty and the climate mild — but there are beggars enough and they must live and chinese ingenuity provides i for their support by a true chinese '* let i alone policy — a masterly inactivity verv characteristic every beggar is pro vided with some instrument that makes a disagreeable noise — two wooden clappers or a small gong or at all events a most ' villainous voice with any or all of which ; they go along the streets selecting at will ' a shop enter and not leaving off 4 their damnable faces as hamlet recommends begin to sing or beat their gongs bam boos to the great annoyances of the own er and the complete prohibition of more