In Allibone's Dictionary of British and American Authors, 1859, we find the following biographical particulars relative to the above author: John Doran, LL.D., born 1807 in London-family originally of Drogheda, in Ireland. He was educated chiefly by his father. His literary bent was manifested at the age of fifteen, when he produced the melodrama of the Wandering Jew, which was first played at the Surrey Theatre in 1822 for Tom Blanchard's benefit. His early years were spent in France. He was successively tutor in four of the noblest families in Great Britain.' EMERSON, LOUDON, ETC. Among the American authors well known in this country is Mr Ralph Waldo EMERSON, formerly a Unitarian preacher at Boston, and born in 1803. His principal works are-Nature, an Essay, 1845; Essays, two series, 1846; Poems, 1847; Representative Men, 1850; English Traits, 1856. The ethical writings of Mr Emerson are of little value, but his essays display original thought and observation. His style-apparently modelled after that of Carlyle is marred by affectation and conceits. JOHN CLAUDIUS LOUDON (1783-1843) stands at the head of all the writers of his day upon subjects connected with horticulture. He was a native of Cambuslang, in Lanarkshire; and having been brought up as a landscape-gardener and farmer, he settled in London as a writer on his favourite pursuits. His chief productions are an Encyclopædia of Gardening, 1822; Encyclopædia of Agriculture, 1825; Encyclopædia of Plants, 1829; Encyclopædia of Cottage, Villa, and Farm Architecture, 1832; and Arboretum Britannicum, eight volumes, 1838. The Arboretum consists of four volumes of close letterpress and four of pictorial illustrations, and presents such a mass of information and reading as might apparently have been the work of a lifetime. In 1830 Mr Loudon married a lady, Miss Webb, of kindred taste and talent, who entered with great spirit into his literary schemes, and was authoress of The Lady's Flower Companion, Gardening for Ladies, Philanthropic Economy, &c. After the death of her husband, Mrs Loudon received a pension of £100 per annum, which she enjoyed till her death in 1858. transformed into a very pretty parlour. At half-past two their majesties came, which was two hours later than they intended. On the second pair of stairs was placed our own company, about forty in number, the chief of whom were of the Puritan order, and all in their orthodox habits. Next to the drawing-room doors were placed our own selves, I mean papa's children, none else, to the great mortification of visitors, being allowed to enter; for as kissing the king's hand without kneeling was an unexampled honour, the king confined that privilege to our own family, as a return for the trouble we had been at. After the royal pair had shewn themselves at the balcony, we were all introduced, and you may believe, at that juncture, we felt no small palpitations. The king met us at the door-a condescension I did not expect-at which place he saluted us with great politeness. Advancing to the upper end of the room, we kissed the queen's hand, at the sight of whom we were all in raptures, not only from the brilliancy of her appearance, which was pleasing beyond description, but being throughout her whole person possessed of that inexpressible something that is beyond a set of features, and equally claims our attention. To be sure, she has not a fine face, but a most agreeable countenance, and is vastly genteel, with an air, notwithstanding her being a little woman, truly majestic; and I really think, by her manner is expressed that complacency of disposition which is truly amiable: and though I could never perceive that she deviated from that dignity which belongs to a crowned head, yet on the most trifling occasions she displayed all that easy behaviour that negligence can bestow. Her hair, which is of a light colour, hung in what is called coronation-ringlets, encircled in a band of diamonds, so beautiful in themselves, and so prettily disposed, as will admit of no description. Her clothes, which were as rich as gold, silver, and silk could make them, was a suit from which fell a train supported by a little page in scarlet and silver. The lustre of her stomacher was inconceivable. The king I think a very personable man. All the princes followed the king's example in complimenting each of us with a kiss. The queen was up stairs three times, and my little darling, with Patty Barclay, and Priscilla Ball, were introduced to her. I was present, and not a little anxious on account of my girl, who kissed the queen's hand with so much grace that I thought the princess-dowager would have smothered her with kisses. Such a report was made of her to the king, that Miss was sent for, and afforded him great amusement by saying, 'that she loved the king, though MR EDWARD JESSE, surveyor of Her Majesty's she must not love fine things, and her grandpapa would parks and palaces, is author of An Angler's Rambles, not allow her to make a curtsey.' Her sweet face made 1836; Gleanings in Natural History, 1838; Favourite such an impression on the Duke of York, that I rejoiced Haunts and Rural Studies, 1847; Scenes and Occupashe was only five instead of fifteen. When he first met tions of Country Life, 1853; &c. These works of Mr her, he tried to persuade Miss to let him introduce her Jesse are very pleasingly written, and are excellent to the queen; but she would by no means consent till I informed her he was a prince, upon which her little companions in the country. Sketches from Nature, female heart relented, and she gave him her hand-a 1830, by JOHN M'DIARMID (1789-1852), describes true copy of the sex. The king never sat down, nor did Scottish scenes and studies by a man of genial spirit he taste anything during the whole time. Her majesty and observation, who, as editor of the Dumfries drank tea, which was brought her on a silver waiter by Courier, did much to spread a taste for natural brother John, who delivered it to the lady-in-waiting, history and agricultural improvement over the south and she presented it kneeling. The leave they took of of Scotland. A series of tours by MR WALTER us was such as we might expect from our equals; full WHITE are interesting works of this class. These of apologies for our trouble for their entertainment-are-A Londoner's Walk to Land's End, 1854; On which they were so anxious to have explained, that the queen came up to us, as we stood on one side of the door, and had every word interpreted. My brothers had the honour of assisting the queen into her coach. Some of us sat up to see them return, and the king and queen took especial notice of us as they passed. The king ordered twenty-four of his guard to be placed opposite our door all night, lest any of the canopy should be pulled down by the mob, in which [the canopy, it is to be presumed] there were one hundred yards of silk damask.' Foot through the Tyrol, 1856; A July Holiday in Saxony; A Month in Yorkshire; &c. An eminent physician, SIR JOHN FORBES, has shewn what may be done in a four weeks' ramble: his Physician's Holiday, or a Month in Switzerland in the Summer of 1848, is a clear and animated narrative. A vast number of interesting descriptive works of this kind have been published within the last twenty years. The increased study of natural history and geology, and the facilities which have been opened up for cheap travelling, tempt students and literary tourists abroad, and good works of this class find ready with a sterner boldness than our own, but they publishers and readers. TRAVELLERS. Every season adds to our library of foreign travels and adventures. Dr Edward Clarke saw and described more of the East, as Byron said, than any of his predecessors, but a numerous tribe of followers has succeeded. Travels in the East, by the REV. HORATIO SOUTHGATE, 1840, describe the traveller's route through Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Koordistan, Persia, and Mesopotamia, and give a good account of the Mohammedan religion and its rites and ceremonies. The following is a correction of a vulgar error: [Religious Status of Women in the Mohammedan System.] The place which the Mohammedan system assigns to woman in the other world has often been wrongfully represented. It is not true, as has sometimes been reported, that Mohammedan teachers deny her admission to the felicities of Paradise. The doctrine of the Koran is, most plainly, that her destiny is to be determined in like manner with that of every accountable being; and according to the judgment passed upon her is her reward, although nothing definite is said of the place which she is to occupy in Paradise. Mohammed speaks repeatedly of believing women,' commends them, and promises them the recompense which their good deeds deserve. The regulations of the Sunneh are in accordance with the precepts of the Koran. So far is woman from being regarded in these institutions as a creature without a soul, that special allusion is frequently made to her, and particular directions given for her religious conduct. Respecting her observance of Ramazan, her ablutions, and many other matters, her duty is taught with a minuteness that borders on indecorous precision. She repeats the creed in dying, and, like other Mussulmans, says: 'In this faith I have lived, in this faith I die, and in this faith I hope to rise again.' She is required to do everything of religious obligation equally with men. The command to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca extends to her. In my journeys, I often met with women on their way to the Holy City. They may even undertake this journey without the consent of their husbands, whose authority in religious matters extends only to those acts of devotion which are not obligatory. Women are not, indeed, allowed to be present in the mosques at the time of public prayers; but the reason is not that they are regarded, like pagan females, as unsusceptible of religious sentiments, but because the meeting of the two sexes in a sacred place is supposed to be unfavourable to devotion. This, however, is an Oriental, not a Mohammedan prejudice. The custom is nearly the same among the Christians as among the Mussulmans. In the Greek churches the females are separated from the males, and concealed behind a lattice; and something of the same kind I have observed among the Christians of Mesopotamia. Letters from the South, two volumes, 1837, by MR THOMAS CAMPBELL, the poet, give an account of a voyage made by that gentleman to Algiers. The letters are descriptive, without any political or colonial views, but full of entertaining gossip and poetical sketches of striking and picturesque objects. The grandeur of the surrounding mountain scenery seems to have astonished Campbell. "The African highlands,' he says, 'spring up to the sight not only borrow colours from the sun unknown to our climate, and they are marked in clouds of richer dye. The furthest off summits appeared in their snow like the turbans of gigantic Moors, whilst the nearer masses glared in crimson and gold under the light of morning.' Six Years' Residence in Algiers, by MRS BROUGHTON, published in 1839, is an interesting domestic The authoress was daughter to Mr chronicle. Blanckley, the British consul-general at Algiers; and the work is composed of a journal kept by Mrs Blanckley, with reminiscences by her daughter, Mrs Broughton. The vivacity, minute description, and kindly feeling everywhere apparent in this book render it highly attractive. Discoveries in the Interior of Africa, by SIR JAMES ALEXANDER, two volumes, 1838, describe a journey from Cape Town, of about four thousand miles, and occupying above a year, towards the tracts of country inhabited by the Damaras, a nation of which very little was known, and generally the country to the north of the Orange River, on the west coast. The author's personal adventures are interesting, and it appears that the aborigines are a kind and friendly tribe of people, with whom Sir James Alexander thinks that an extended intercourse may be maintained for the mutual benefit of the colonists and the natives. CAPTAIN RICHARD FRANCIS BURTON, of the Bombay army, is author of a Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, three volumes, 1856-57. This is a highly interesting work. Captain Burton travelled as an Afghan pilgrim to the Holy Places in Arabia. He has also explored a vast region of Eastern and Central Africa, never before traversed by any geographer, and discovered the great internal lake of Tanganyika, 300 miles long and 30 broad. A Journal Written during an Excursion in Asia Minor in 1838, by CHARLES FELLOWS, is valuable from the author's discoveries in Pamphylia. Mr Fellows has also written a second work, Ancient Lycia, an Account of Discoveries made during a Second Excursion to Asia Minor in 1840. LIEUT. J. R. WELLSTED, author of Travels in Arabia, the Peninsula of Sinai, and along the Shores of the Red Sea (1838), and LORD LINDSAY, in his Letters on Egypt, Edom, and the Holy Land (1838), supply some additional details. The scene of the encampment of the Israelites, after crossing the Red Sea, is thus described by Lord Lindsay: [The Red Sea.] The bright sea suddenly burst on us, a sail in the distance, and the blue mountains of Africa beyond ita lovely vista. But when we had fairly issued into the plain on the sea-shore, beautiful indeed, most beautiful was the view-the whole African coast, from Gebel Ataka to Gebel Krarreb, lay before us, washed by the Red Sea a vast amphitheatre of mountains, except the space where the waters were lost in distance between the Asiatic and Libyan promontories. It was the stillest hour of day; the sun shone brightly, descending to 'his palace in the occident;' the tide was coming in with its peaceful pensive murmurs, wave after wave. It was in this plain, broad and perfectly smooth from the mountains to the sea, that the children of Israel encamped after leaving Elim. What a glorious scene it must then have presented! and how nobly those rocks, now so silent, must have re-echoed the Song of Moses and its ever-returning chorus-'Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea!' The EARL OF CARLISLE, in 1854, published an interesting, unpretending volume, entitled A Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters. His lordship is also author of a lecture on Pope, and of a paraphrase in verse, The Second Vision of Daniel, 1858. A narrative of Eastern travels, entitled Eothen, by MR ALEXANDER WILLIAM KINGLAKE, M.P., has been justly admired for its vivid description and eloquent expression of sentiment. In the discursive style of Sterne, Mr Kinglake rambles over the East, setting down, as he says, not those impressions which ought to have been produced upon any 'well-constituted mind,' but those which were really and truly received at the time. We subjoin his account of [The Sphynx.] And near the Pyramids, more wondrous and more awful than all else in the land of Egypt, there sits the lonely Sphynx. Comely the creature is, but the comeliness is not of this world; the once worshipped beast is a deformity and a monster to this generation, and yet you can see that those lips, so thick and heavy, were fashioned according to some ancient mould of beauty -some mould of beauty now forgotten-forgotten because that Greece drew forth Cytherea from the flashing foam of the Egean, and in her image created new forms of beauty, and made it a law among men that the short and proudly wreathed lip should stand for the sign and the main condition of loveliness through all generations to come. Yet still there lives on the race of those who were beautiful in the fashion of the elder world, and Christian girls of Coptic blood will look on you with the sad, serious gaze, and kiss you your charitable hand with the big pouting lips of the very Sphynx. Laugh and mock if you will at the worship of stone idols; but mark ye this, ye breakers of images, that in one regard the stone idol bears awful semblance of Deity-unchangefulness in the midst of change-the same seeming will, and intent for ever and ever inexorable! Upon ancient dynasties of Ethiopian and Egyptian kings-upon Greek and Roman, upon Arab and Ottoman conquerors-upon Napoleon dreaming of an Eastern empire-upon battle and pestilence-upon the ceaseless misery of the Egyptian race-upon keeneyed travellers-Herodotus yesterday, and Warburton to-day-upon all and more this unworldly Sphynx has watched, and watched like a Providence with the same earnest eyes, and the same sad, tranquil mien. And we, we shall die, and Islam will wither away, and the Englishman straining far over to hold his loved India, will plant a firm foot on the banks of the Nile, and sit in the seats of the Faithful, and still that sleepless rock will lie watching and watching the works of the new busy race, with those same sad, earnest eyes, and the same tranquil mien everlasting. You dare not mock at the Sphynx! Mr Kinglake is a native of Taunton, born in 1802. After studying at Trinity College, Cambridge, he entered as a student in Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the bar. His Eothen, published in 1850, was eminently successful, yet several publishers, it is said, had previously declined the work. As a guide and pleasant companion over another Eastern route, we may note the Overland Journey to the North of India from England, by LIEUTENANT ARTHUR CONOLLY, two volumes, 1834. Lieutenant Conolly's journey was through Russia, Persia, and Afghanistan. MISS EMMA ROBERTS, in the following year, gave a lively and entertaining series of Scenes and Characteristics of Hindostan, with Sketches of Anglo-Indian Society. This lady went out again to India in 1839, and was engaged to conduct a Bombay newspaper; but she died in 1840. Her Notes of an Overland Journey through France and Egypt to Bombay were published after her death. Another lady, MRS POSTANS, has published (1839) Cutch, or Random Sketches taken during a Residence in one of the Northern Provinces of Western India. The authoress resided some years in the province of Cutch, and gives a minute account of the feudal government and customs, the religious sects and superstitions of the people. The aristocratic distinctions of caste are rigidly preserved, and the chiefs are haughty, debauched, and cruel. [Sacrifice of a Hindoo Widow.] [From Mrs Postans's Cutch, or Random Sketches, &c.] News of the widow's intentions having spread, a great concourse of people of both sexes, the women clad in their gala costumes, assembled round the pyre. In a short time after their arrival the fated victim appeared, accompanied by the Brahmins, her relatives, and the body of the deceased. The spectators showered chaplets of mogree on her head, and greeted her appearance with laudatory exclamations at her constancy and virtue. touch her garments-an act which is considered The women especially pressed forward to meritorious, and highly desirable for absolution and protection from the evil eye.' The widow was a remarkably handsome woman, apparently about thirty, and most superbly attired. Her manner was marked by great apathy to all around her, and by a complete indifference to the preparations which for the first time met her eye. From this circumstance an impression was given that she might be under the influence of opium; and in conformity with the declared intention of the European officers present to interfere should any coercive measures be adopted by the Brahmins or relatives, two medical officers were requested to give their opinion on the subject. They both agreed that she was quite free from any influence calculated to induce torpor or intoxication. Captain Burnes then addressed the woman, desiring to know whether the act she was about to perform were voluntary or enforced, and assuring her that, should she entertain the slightest reluctance to the fulfilment of her vow, he, on the part of the British government, would guarantee the protection of her life and property. Her answer was calm, heroic, and constant to her purpose: 'I die of my own free-will; give me back my husband, and I will consent to live; if I die not with him, the souls of seven husbands will condemn me!' * Ere the renewal of the horrid ceremonies of death were permitted, again the voice of mercy, of expostulation, and even of entreaty was heard; but the trial was vain, and the cool and collected manner with which the woman still declared her determination unalterable, chilled and startled the most courageous. Physical creed, the customs of her country, and her sense of pangs evidently excited no fears in her; her singular conjugal duty, excluded from her mind the natural emotions of personal dread; and never did martyr to a true cause go to the stake with more constancy and firmness, than did this delicate and gentle woman prepare to become the victim of a deliberate sacrifice to the demoniacal tenets of her heathen creed. Accompanied by the officiating Brahmin, the widow walked seven times round the pyre, repeating the usual mantras or prayers, strewing rice and coories on the ground, and sprinkling water from her hand over the bystanders, who believe this to be efficacious in preventing disease and in expiating committed sins. She then removed her jewels, and presented them to her relations, saying a few words to each with a calm soft smile of encouragement and hope. The Brahmins then presented her with a lighted torch, bearing which Fresh as a flower just blown, And warm with life her youthful pulses playing, she stepped through the fatal door, and sat within the pile. The body of her husband, wrapped in rich kinkaub, was then carried seven times round the pile, and finally laid across her knees. Thorns and grass were piled over the door; and again it was insisted that free space should be left, as it was hoped the poor victim might yet relent, and rush from her fiery prison to the protection so freely offered. The command was readily obeyed; the strength of a child would have sufficed to burst the frail barrier which confined her, and a breathless pause succeeded; but the woman's constancy was faithful to the last. Not a sigh broke the deathlike silence of the crowd, until a slight smoke, curling from the summit of the pyre, and then a tongue of flame darting with bright and lightning-like rapidity into the clear blue sky, told us that the sacrifice was completed. Fearlessly had this courageous woman fired the pile, and not a groan had betrayed to us the moment when her spirit fled. At sight of the flame a fiendish shout of exultation rent the air; the tom-toms sounded, the people clapped their hands with delight as the evidence of their murderous work burst on their view, whilst the English spectators of this sad scene withdrew, bearing deep compassion in their hearts, to philosophise as best they might on a custom so fraught with horror, so incompatible with reason, and so revolting to human sympathy. The pile continued to burn for three hours; but, from its form, it is supposed that almost immediate suffocation must have terminated the sufferings of the unhappy victim. countries in the character of a wealthy merchant. Pleased with his tour, and becoming interested in the occupation he had assumed as a disguise, he was absent much longer than he originally intended, and in the course of a few years greatly increased his already large stock of wealth. His protracted absence, however, proved a temptation too strong for the virtue of the viceroy, who, gradually forming for himself a party among the leading men of the country, at length communicated to the common people the intelligence that Sultan Hassan was no more, and quietly seated himself on the vacant throne. Sultan Hassan returning shortly afterwards from his pilgrimage, and, fortunately for himself, still in disguise, learned, as he approached his capital, the news of his own death and the usurpation of his minister; finding, on further inquiry, the party of the usurper to be too strong to render an immediate disclosure prudent, he preserved his incognito, and soon became known in Cairo as the wealthiest of her merchants; nor did it excite any surprise when he announced his pious intention of devoting a portion of his gains to the erection of a spacious mosque. The work proceeded rapidly under the spur of the great merchant's gold, and, on its completion, he solicited the honour of the sultan's presence at the ceremony of naming it. Anticipating the gratification of hearing his own name bestowed upon it, the usurper accepted the invitation, and at the appointed hour the building was filled by him and his most attached adherents. The ceremonies had duly proceeded to the time when it became necessary to give the name. The chief Moolah, turning to the supposed merchant, inquired what should be its name. 'Call it,' he replied, 'the Mosque of Sultan Hassan.' All started at the mention of this name; and the questioner, as though not believing he could have heard aright, or to afford an opportunity of 'Call it,' again cried he, 'the mosque of me, Sultan Hassan!' and throwing off his disguise, the legitimate sultan stood revealed before his traitorous servant. He had no time for reflection: simultaneously with the discovery, numerous trap-doors, leading to extensive vaults, which had been prepared for the purpose, were flung open, and a multitude of armed men issuing from them, terminated at once the reign and life of the usurper. His followers were mingled in the slaughter, and Sultan Hassan was once more in possession of the throne of his fathers. First Impressions and Studies from Nature in Hin-correcting what might be a mistake, repeated his demand. dostan, by LIEUTENANT THOMAS BACON, two volumes, 1837, is a more lively but carelessly written work, with good sketches of scenery, buildings, pageants, &c. The HON. MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE, in 1842, gave an account of the kingdom of Cabul, and its dependencies in Persia, Tatary, and India; and A Narrative of Various Journeys in Beloochistan, Afghanistan, and the Punjaub, by CHARLES MASSON, Esq., describes with considerable animation the author's residence in those countries, the native chiefs, and personal adventures with the various tribes from 1826 to 1838. MR C. R. BAYNES, a gentleman in the Madras civil service, published in 1843 Notes and Reflections during a Ramble in the East, an Overland Journey to India, &c. His remarks are just and spirited, and his anecdotes and descriptions lively and entertaining. [Remark by an Arab Chief.] An Arab chieftain, one of the most powerful of the princes of the desert, had come to behold for the first time a steam-ship. Much attention was paid to him, and every facility afforded for his inspection of every part of the vessel. What impression the sight made on him it was impossible to judge. No indications of surprise escaped him; every muscle preserved its wonted calmness of expression; and on quitting, he merely observed, 'It is well; but you have not brought a man to life yet!' The war in Afghanistan, and the occupation of the Scinde territory by the British, gave occasion to various publications, among which are-a History of the War in Afghanistan, by MR C. NASH; Five Years in India, by H. G. FANE, Esq., late aide-decamp to the commander-in-chief; Narrative of the Campaign of the Army of the Indus in Scinde and Cabul, by MR R. H. KENNEDY; Scenes and Adventures in Afghanistan, by MR W. TAYLOR; Letters, by COLONEL DENNIE; Personal Observations on Scinde, by CAPTAIN T. POSTANS; Military Operations at Cabul, with a Journal of Imprisonment in Afghanistan, by LIEUTENANT VINCENT EYRE; A Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan, by LADY SALE, &c. These works were all published in 1842 or 1843, and illustrate a calamitous portion of British history. SIR JOHN BOWRING has written an entertaining and instructive account of The Kingdom and People of Siam, two volumes, 1857. Sir John had been deputed, as governor of Hong Kong, to visit Siam; and he describes at length the history, physical geography, manners and customs, government and religion of that Asiatic empire. Siam, it appears, contains a population of about six millions, a revenue of three millions sterling, and a government vested [Legend of the Mosque of the Bloody Baptism at Cairo.] us. [State and Ceremonial of the Siamese.] April 16, 1855.-How can I describe the barbaric grandeur, the parade, the show, the glitter, the real magnificence, the profuse decorations of to-day's royal audience! We went, as usual, in the state-barges; mine had scarlet and gold curtains, the others had none. Parkes sent them back, and they all returned with the needful appendages; he understands the art of managing Orientals marvellously well. When we landed, chairs were brought, and multitudes of guards escorted From the moment we entered the precincts of the palace, an unbroken line of soldiery, dressed in a great variety of costumes, and bearing every species of weapon -many singularly grotesque and rude-spears, shields, swords, bucklers, battle-axes, bows, quivers, in every form, and uniforms of every colour and shape, fantastical, farcical, fierce, and amusing; the rudest forms of ancient warfare, mingled with sepoy-dressed regulars ancient European court costumes amidst the light and golden garments, and, sometimes, the nakedness above the waist of nobles of the highest distinction. I was carried in a gaudy gilded chair, with a scarlet umbrella over me, borne by eight bearers, with a crowd of attendants. My suite followed me in less decorated seats; but crowds of men, women, and children pressed around us, who were beaten away with canes by the police. We passed through rows of caparisoned ponies and elephants mounted for war. The ruder troops of the wilder countries were broken by small bodies of soldiers dressed in European style, who 'presented arms,' and had fifes and drums; but much of the music was of tom-toms and Siamese instruments. We were all conducted to a building to await the royal summons, where coffee and cigars were brought in, and gold and silver vessels, containing pure water, covered the table, at the head of which I was placed. The spittoon at my feet was of silver, inlaid with gold, and about fourteen inches in diameter. Soon a messenger came, and we proceeded on foot to the hall of reception. Soft and exceedingly pleasing music welcomed our arrival, and it thundered forth a loud peal as we approached the grand hall of audience. On entering the hall, we found it crowded with nobles, all prostrate, and with their faces bent to the ground. I walked forward through the centre of the hall to a cushion provided for me in a line with the very highest nobles not of royal blood: the primeminister and his brother were close to me on my right hand. The king came in and seated himself on an elevated and gorgeous throne like the curtained box of a theatre. He was clad in golden garments, his crown at his side; but he wore on his head a cap decorated with large diamonds, and enormous diamond rings were on his fingers. At my left, nearer the throne, were the king's brothers and his sons; at the right, the princes of the blood, the Somdetches, and the higher nobles. The nobility crowded the hall, all on their knees; and on the entrance of the king, his throne, being raised about ten feet from the floor, they all bent their foreheads to the ground, and we sat down as gracefully as we could, while the prostrations were repeated again and again. China has received a flood of new illustration, and the intercourse which has recently been opened up with that immense and mysterious empire, will still further augment the amount of our knowledge. MR JOHN FRANCIS DAVIS, late chief superintendent in China, has published two interesting works: Sketches of China, partly during an Inland Journey of Four Months between Pekin, Nankin, and Canton; and The Chinese, a General Description of the Empire of China and its Inhabitants. The latter work was published in 1836, but has since been enlarged, and the history of British intercourse brought down to the events which produced the dissolution of 1857. Mr Davis resided twenty years at Canton, is perfect in the peculiar language of China, and has certainly seen more of its inhabitants than any other English author. The Journal of Three Voyages along the Coast of China, in 1831, 1832, and 1833, by MR GUTZLAFF, a German, is also a valuable work. The contraband trade in opium formed a memorable era in the history of Chinese commerce. It was carried on to a great extent with the Hong merchants; but in 1834, after the monopoly of the East India Company had been abolished, our government appointed Lord Napier to proceed to Canton as special superintendent, to adjust all disputed questions among the merchants, and to form regulations with the provincial authorities. The Chinese, always jealous of foreigners, and looking upon mercantile employments as degrading, insulted our superintendent; hostilities took place, and trade was suspended. Lord Napier took his departure amidst circumstances of insult and confusion, and died on the 11th of October 1834. The functions of superintendent devolved on Mr Davis. The Chinese, emboldened by the pacific temperament of our government, proceeded at length to the utmost threatening the lives of the whole foreign commuextent; and not satisfied with imprisoning and nity, laid also violent hands on the British representative himself, claiming, as the purchase of his freedom, the delivery of the whole of the opium then in the Chinese waters-property to the amount of upwards of two millions sterling. After a close imprisonment of two months' duration, during which period our countrymen were deprived of many of the necessaries of life, and exposed repeatedly, as in a pillory, to the gaze and abuse of the mob, no resource was left but to yield to the bold demands of the Chinese, relying with confidence on their nation for support and redress: nor did they rely in vain; for immediately the accounts of the aggression reached London, preparations commenced for the Chinese expedition.'* After two years of irregular warfare, a treaty of peace and friendship between the two empires was signed on board Her Majesty's ship Cornwallis on the 29th of August 1842. This expedition gave rise to various publications. LORD JOCELYN wrote a lively and interesting narrative, entitled Six Months with the Chinese Expedition; and COMMANDER J. ELLIOT BINGHAM, R.N., a Narrative of the Expedition to China. Two Years in China, by D. MACPHERSON, M.D., relates the events of the campaign from its formation in April 1840 to the treaty of peace in 1842. Doings in China, by LIEUTENANT ALEXANDER MURRAY, illustrates the social habits of the Chinese. The Last Year in China, to the Peace of Nankin, by a Field Officer, consists of extracts from letters written to the author's private friends. The Closing Events of the Campaign in China, by CAPTAIN G. G. LOCH, R.N., is one of the best books which the expedition called forth. [Chinese Ladies' Feet.] [From Captain Bingham's Narrative.] rounding islands, in one of which-at Tea Island-we During our stay we made constant trips to the surhad a good opportunity of minutely examining the farfamed little female feet. I had been purchasing a pretty little pair of satin shoes, for about half a dollar, at one of the Chinese farmers' houses, where we were surrounded by several men, women, and children. By signs we expressed a wish to see the pied mignon of a * Macpherson's Two Years in China. |