unequalled merits, either by the government or the country. His family were but poorly provided for, and he himself is without a monument in Ireland! When, in 1806, "all the Talents" came into office, it was intended to settle a pension of six hundred a-year upon the widow, with reversion to her four children. But, before the arrangement could be completed, the Tories returned to power, and the sum was cut down to three hundred a-year to the widow and her two daughters, leaving the sons entirely unprovided, with an understanding, however, that they should be taken care of when they came of age to accept such provision of a public nature as government might have it in their power to bestow; an understanding, we may add, which still remains unfulfilled. His eldest son, who is an accomplished scholar, a well-read divine, an excellent parochial clergyman, and a preacher who has brought strongly to the minds of many who have heard him a remembrance of his father's powers, would now be regarded by the Irish public as entitled, by a sort of inheritance, to the possession of those professional honours, which were so long, and so unjustly, withheld from the great apostle of charity. Lord Normanby, we believe, it was who conferred upon him the small deanery of Kilmacduagh; but that should be regarded rather as an acknowledgment than a satisfaction of his fair claims, from a government, for adherence to the principle of which (as far as they may be said to be identical with the principles of the Whigs in the days of Grattan and Fox) his father's vast services and transcendent merits were neglected. And, we must honestly say, that we do not see, amongst those who are looking to church patronage from Lord John Russell with any prospect of success, one upon whom it might be more fittingly and creditably bestowed than upon the son of him, whose word of power turned the streams, which otherwise would have swollen into torrents of profligacy, into the channels of charity-called down from heaven the holy fire by which the human heart was purified from its native corruptions caused men to feel benevolence as a luxury, which outweighed all the pleasures of sin-and a spring-tide of piety to set in, which has not since ceased to flow, and which cleansed society at that period, wherever it reached, from the foulest impurities and abominations. But, independent of any hereditary claims, the present Dean Kirwan has merits of his own which might well recommend him to the notice of any administration. The following is Mr. Grattan's glowing panegyric upon the subject of this sketch, in the Irish House of Commons. It has already been partially alluded to; we now present it in full, from the best report, for the gratification of our readers: "I congratulate the church on its alliance with the ministers of the crown; but let me assure them it will not serve their promotion. They live under an administration which has two principles of promotion for church, or law, or anythingEnglish recommendation, and Irish corruption. "What is the case of Dr. Kirwan? This man preferred our country and our religion, and brought to both genius superior to what he found in either; he drew forth the latent virtues of the human heart, and taught men to discover in themselves that mine of charity, of which the proprietors had been unconscious. In feeding the lamp of charity, he had almost exhausted the lamp of life He came to interrupt the repose of the pulpit, and shake one world with the thunders of the other. The preacher's desk has now become the throne of light; around him a train, not such as crouch and swagger at the levee of princes-not such as attend the processions of the viceroy (horse, foot, and dragoon)—but that wherewith a great genius peoples his own state-charity in extacy, and vice in humiliation; vanity, arrogance, and saucy, empty pride, appalled by the rebuke of the preacher, and cheated for a moment of their native improbity and insolence. And what reward? St. Nicholas Within, or St. Nicholas Without!! The curse of Swift is upon him; he was born an Irishman, and a man of genius, and he used it for the good of his country! Had this man, instead of being the brightest of preachers, been the dullest of lawyers; had he added to dulness venality, and sold to the government his vote, he had been a judge: or had he been born a blockhead, bred a slave, and trained up in a great English family, and handed over as a household circumstance to the Irish viceroy, he would have been an Irish bishop and an Irish peer, with a great patronage-perhaps a borough-and had returned members to vote against Ireland; and the Irish parochial clergy must have adored his stupidity, and deified his dulness. But, under the present system, Ireland is not the climate in which a native genius can rise, unless he sells that genius to the court, and atones by the apostacy of his conduct for the crime of his nativity!” VOL. XXXII.-NO. CLXXXVII. D CHINA AND THE CHINESE. CHAPTER I.DESCRIPTION OF MACAO, ITS CHURCHES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGSVISIT TO CAMOENS' CAVE, AND ENGLISH BURIAL-GROUND.* THE view of Macao from the sea is exquisitely fine. The semicircular appearance of the shore, which is unencumbered and unbroken by wharfs or piers, and upon which the surge is continually breaking, and receding in waves of foam, whereon the sun glitters in thousands of sparkling beams, presents a scene of incomparable beauty. The Parade, which is faced with an embankment of stone, fronts the sea, and is about half-a-mile in length. A row of houses of a large description extends along its length, and has a perfectly Portuguese appearance. Some are coloured pink, some pale yellow, and others white. These houses, with their large windows, extending to the ground, without verandahs, and with curtains, arranged in continental style, convey an idea to the visitor that he has entered a European rather than an Asiatic sea-port. This idea becomes still stronger, by the constant ringing of the church bells, and passing and repassing of Romish priests, clad in cassocks and three-cornered hats. But this illusion is speedily dispelled, when the eye, turning towards the sea, beholds the numerous sanpans and matsail boats which fill the harbour; or, glancing shoreward, rests upon figures clad in Chinese costume. The town is built upon two hills, meeting at right angles. At the rear is an inner harbour, where there is very secure anchorage; but this is said to be fast filling up with sand. Vessels of large tonnage are, therefore, obliged to anchor in the roadstead, at a considerable distance from the shore. The houses of the Portuguese and Chinese inhabitants, together with the places of public worship, are curiously intermingled in the town, and form a most heterogeneous mass. It is now between two and three centuries since Macao was given up to the Portuguese, for services performed by them, when they joined their forces with Al those of the Chinese, against some daring pirates, who then, as now, infested the neighbouring islands. The Portuguese for some time carried on a most prosperous and extensive trade with the Empire, which has now dwindled down to little or nothing. though Macao is governed nominally by a Portuguese governor, bishop, and judge, assisted by a senate, yet the interference of the Chinese, and the power which Chinese authorities exercise over the Portuguese inhabitants, to enforce compliance with their wishes, would be intolerable to British colonists. If a Chinaman feels ag. grieved, he immediately lays his complaint before the mandarin, who never scruples to inflict punishment upon a Portuguese subject, or to make some insolent demand. If any resistance is made to his will, or his authority is disputed, he instantly cuts off all supplies from the mainland, upon which the inhabitants are nearly dependant for support, and issues an order directing all Chinese subjects, who are domestics, to leave their "barbarian masters." Prompt compliance to this edict occasions the most serious inconvenience to the Portuguese and other European inhabitants; nor are these arbitrary measures abandoned, until the mandarin's commands are obeyed. The Portuguese garrison consists of only three or four hundred soldiers, who are quite inadequate for the service, and too inactive or feeble to resist the Chinese troops. The local government, it must be presumed, originally submitted to these tyrannical proceedings, and to this interference, on the part of the Chinese authorities, in the hope that this pusillanimous conduct on their part would secure to them an exclusive trade with, and a settlement in China. They thus at once betrayed weakness, and showed ignorance of the real character of the Chinese, who tyrannize, the more their exactions are The following chapters were written in 1846. submitted to, and become suppliants and submissive, when met with a firm and unflinching resistance. The local government is now compelled to yield, being alike destitute of energy, a military force, and funds. The Portuguese population is about 7,000, and the Chinese far exceeds that number. The Roman Catholic churches in Macao are numerous and splendid; the finest edifice among them was the Jesuits' Church, which was burned down a few years since. Some estimate may be formed of what it must have been, from the front, which remains entire and uninjured. This is richly carved and ornamented. Statues of various saints, as large as life, occupy the numerous niches. Situated at the summit of a broad and noble flight of steps, it presents the aspect only of departed grandeur-would that we could add also, of departed superstition. Besides those churches, there are three monasteries and a convent, together with a college, a grammar and other schools, a female orphan, and several other charitable institutions. The town is defended by several well-constructed forts. The senate-house is a remarkably fine building, whose roof is supported by columns, on some of which is inscribed in the Chinese and Portuguese language, the emperor's grant of Macao to the Portuguese crown. The customhouse, which faces the inner harbour, is a very extensive building; but little business appeared to be carried on while I was there-now, I suppose, it is next to useless, since Macao has wisely been made a free port. This measure will, no doubt, benefit the town, by an increase of trade; and the wealthy inhabitants will be considerably augmented, by an influx of our own merchants and their establishments, driven by injudicious enactments from Hong-Kong. annoyances experienced at this customhouse were very great, as the officers insisted upon opening every article, and duty was charged upon the most trivial, such as a quarter of a pound of tea the surplus of our sea-store. Frequent complaints were also made of various things which were constantly extracted from luggage or goods. It was found to be but lost labour to seek for any redress. the streets, generally speaking, wide, and the public buildings of no despicable character, yet on all sides, and at every winding, the symptons of decay and departing prosperity were too apparent. There was a noble mansion unrepaired-here another fallen into ruin-grass grew unchecked in the pavements of the most frequented streets, and even on the steps of the churches. Amongst the Portuguese, indolence and inactivity were but too evident, while the Chinese were occupied with their usual energy. The majority of the lower orders of the Portuguese inhabitants are natives of Goa, whose European blood has become almost extinct, from the intermarriages of many generations with natives and half-castes. The extreme ugliness of these degenerate representatives of Portugal, scarcely admits of description. They are of low stature, and broad, with amazingly large hands and splay feet. They have coarse, curly, and woolly, black hair, dingy black skin, with large, goggle, black eyes, and eye-lids red with ophthalmia, no eye-lashes, bushy eye-brows, low, scowling brows, flat noses, half the width of their faces, wide mouths, and enormously thick lips. Hideous as the men are, I fear I must be ungallant enough to say, the women are ten times worse; or, as a French gentleman said to me," Vraiment elles sont laides à fait peur." The fair sex, by courtesy, amongst this lower class, dress themselves in exceedingly gaudy-coloured cotton dresses. Over their heads and shoulders they throw a Spanish mantilla or scarf, made of highly-glazed cotton, and of colours equally showy with their gowns. The patterns and glazing of these mantillas remind one forcibly of English bedcurtains. They cross and re-cross their mantillas over their black-busts, which are unprovided with corsets, roll about their goggle eyes, and, in short, perform all the airs and graces of a Spanish beauty in a most ludicrously caricature manner. men of this class dress in European fashion. There are some Portuguese families of high respectability residing in Macao; and the upper classes observe, as in Portugal, the European style of dress; the personal appearance of many of them is as distinguished for Although the houses are capacious, beauty as in Europe. The The was most courteous and polite in conducting me through the walks of his beautifully-arranged garden and groves, where flourish in perfection the finest trees of various descriptions. I have seen ill-natured observations, relative to this gentleman's ostentation, but I must say that they were perfectly unfounded. When I extolled his grounds, the taste and care with which they were laid out, and the beautiful prospect witnessed from the poet's cave, he seemed inclined to depreciate everything, and attributed my commendation to good breeding. It is very possible, that the person who wrote or dictated the remarks I allude to, may be the same individual who was handed over to the police for impertinent intrusion, and insults offered to the ladies of this gentleman's family. The owner of the grounds is noted. throughout Macao for his politeness and hospitality. The cave is situate at the top of a rock, over which is erected a very tasteful temple, in which is placed the bust of Camoens. On the walls are inscribed some of his choicest lines in the original, to which is also added a Chinese translation. Some of these are descriptive of the boundless sea-view, lying beneath; and I was at a loss, whether most to admire the truthfulness of the description, or the sublimity of the prospect. The shops and bazaars of Macao are nearly all in the hands of the Chinese inhabitants. They have two temples and a monastery on the outside of the town; there are some highly cultivated gardens, belonging to the Chinese, upon which they bestow the same care which is visible in all their works, and which is characteristic of their nation. Previous to the war, Macao was the only place in China where European ladies were permitted to reside; and merchants and others, who had business to transact at Canton, were obliged to leave their wives and daughters there. After the busiseason at Canton was over, a proclamation was issued, commanding these gentlemen to return to Macao, all of which we were then obliged to submit to. ness I visited the English burial-ground, near the Cave of Camoens, which I found nearly full of tombs. I saw the sepulchres of many whose names were familiar to me; and, amongst others, I gazed upon one which brought to my mind many melancholy recollections of by-gone days. The monument was a noble one, befitting the rank of him to whom it was erected. I allude to Lord John Spencer Churchill, whose memory, owing to his many manly and honest virtues, is enshrined in the hearts of all those masonic brethren who knew him. CHAPTER II.-DESCRIPTION OF THE RIVER, TOWN, AND POPULATION OF CANTON. THE appearance of the river going up to Canton is of so picturesque and diversified a character, description can but ill convey an idea of the reality. On the heights appear a number of garrisoned forts. The soldiers may be descried by the traveller, as they assume their military attire on his approach. Near these forts ban-yan trees are generally grown-a practice said to result from the superstition of the soldiers, who believe that beneath its shelter they must become musketproof. On other heights, surmounted by pagodas or places of worship, cultivation is carried to the very summit. The houses of the peasantry peeping out at intervals, and water wheels used in irrigation, add to the picturesque appearance of the scene. Boats, used for the rearing of ducks and fowl, in which the proprietors, with their whole families, kith, kin, and generation, reside, line the banks. Very curious is the mode of treating these ducks. In the morning they are turned out upon the banks to seek their food; and in the evening, the owner, standing whip in hand, calls them, with a peculiar cry, to their floating home. The whip, experience tells them, will be used without remorse upon the last straggler. The quacking, waddling, and scrambling crew obey, tumbling rapidly forward, in their laudable anxiety to avoid the lash. No scene in nature can be more amusing. These boats are from thirty to forty feet in length, and fitted up as domestic habitations. Over the deck is the usual roof, made of bamboo, and thatched with paddy (rice) straw, under which the rowers sit upon stools, eight inches in height. The wife generally stands at the stern, moving a very long oar, which works upon an iron pivot, and both steers and propels the boat, with a singular motion of her body and wrists. In one corner is their household Joss, or deity, with joss-sticks perpetually burning before him. Inscriptions on various coloured papers, together with tinsel decorations, hang about the domestic shrine. Joss, always portly, looks peculiarly contented and happy in his arabesque abode. Night and morning they "chin chin" Joss, as they call it, honouring him by beating gongs, and burning paper offerings. The wife, as she guides the boat, has frequently an infant fastened to her back, attached by a piece of cotton, while children of various ages play about the boat. The younger have gourds attached to their backs as lifebuoys, lest they should fall overboard. Although such a precaution is thus taken for the safety of their children, yet the Chinese would not assist one another in rescuing them from a watery grave, owing to the superstitious feeling they entertain, in common with Scandinavian tribes, that a person rescued from drowning will inevitably injure his preserver. To return to the boat: near its stern they invariably place their tea and culinary utensils. A vegetable garden is frequently suspended over the side. The frame is composed of bamboos, covered with a layer of earth. The centre of the boat is provided with a small tank, in which they keep and fatten their fish. In a mat bag they keep their store of rice. At night they sleep under their thatched roof upon mats, with rattan, wooden, or earthen pillows. Advancing further up the river, the scenery is richly diversified. Orange groves, bananas, and lei-chees, fill the atmosphere with fragrance. Mandarin or police boats, having ten or twenty cars on each side, increase in number, and add to the picturesque effect. The rowers wear gaily-painted bamboocaps, of a conical form. From the masts float long silken streamers or flags stamped in golden characters with the name and titles of the owner. Various sanpans are sculled to and fro, filled with the choicest fruit. Clumsy ponderous Chinese junks, intermixed with many from Siam, with their gaily. painted sterns and weighty mat sails, diversify the scene. The holds of these junks are divided into several watertight compartments, so that a leak may be sprung in one, while the others remain dry. These compartments are generally hired by different merchants, so that the goods of each are kept distinct and separate. On their prows is painted an enormous eye, the reason for which is thus expressed by them— "No got eye, how can see?-no can see, how can walkey?" Further on are moored various fishing-boats, furnished with aquatic birds, trained to catch fish by diving. Round the necks of these birds rings are fastened, to prevent them swallowing any fish they capture. Then we encounter war-junks in all their gaudy splendour, provided with no better sails than the Siam junks. Many have a series of cabins raised over their poops, one above another, which present a very singular appearance. Their crews regard with no very pleasing expression of countenance the Europeans who pass. Gentlemen have sometimes been allowed to visit them; but I have never heard of more than one instance in which a European lady was permitted to go on board. As you approach Canton, the river is so crowded with boats of all sizes and classes, crossing and re-crossing each other, that a novice might despair of forcing a passage. On each side are moored boats in which whole families are domiciled. The fronts of some of these aquatic dwellings are very handsomely carved, and gaily painted. On their decks, or flat roofs, are constructed gardens, where they sit and smoke, amidst painted flowerpots tastefully arranged. The most gaily decorated of all boats are those sinks of iniquity called "flower-boats." The poor female inmates, gaudily dressed, appear at the doors, and on the decks, beckoning the passers-by. These degraded females are, at an early age, purchased from their parents, for prices varying from five to one hundred dollars, and are retained in bondage until worn out by illness, when |