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The Interior of a Chinese Mansion.

Many of the peculiarities of Chinese character and habits excite our curiosity. They seem to invite us to penetrate into their dwellings, and observe them at home: but their extreme jealousy of strangers has hitherto repelled almost every approach that has been made towards such an intimacy. As for the habitations of the poorer classes, (which is a term apparently applicable to the great mass of the people,) there is little to attract the eye of a civilized observer: for the degree of education which is generally diffused, is so limited to the mere rudiments, or rather there is so little beyond offered by Chinese books, so little inducement to apply the mind to any branch of reading, that fewer traces of civilization are visible among the people at large, than our wishes might lead us to expect. The principal cause is perhaps more distinctly to be seen in the female sex. It is to them that we owe the attractions of our own homes; and they alone can render the table and the fireside what they should be, in any clime or any nation.

Among the wealthy classes in China we find the women considerably elevated in the scale of sobiety, in some respects; and there, as might be expected, are to be found corresponding improvements in the domestic arrangements. The intercourse of trade has in some instances partly broken through the confirmed national antipathies, and a few foreigners have been permitted to catch glimpses of private life in China.

The following description of the plans on which the houses of the wealthy are constructed, and of the interior decorations and arrangements, we copy from "The Chinese," a new edition, by John Francis Davis, Esq., Governor of Hong-Kong:

"The apartments of the Chinese are by no means so full of furniture as ours in England; and in this respect they have reached a point of luxury far short of our own. Perhaps, however, they are the only people of Asia who use chairs: these resemble the solid lumbering pieces of furni ture which were in fashion more than a century ago, as described by Cowper:

'But restless was the chair, the back erect Distress'd the weary loins, that felt no ease.' "Cushions with hangings for the back are sometimes used, of silk, or English woollens, generally of a scarlet color, embroidered in silk patterns by the Chinese women. Near the chairs are commonly placed those articles of furniture which the Portuguse call cuspadores, or spitting-boxes,

rendered necessary by the universal habit of smoking. Among the principal ornaments of the apartments are the variegated lanterns of silk, horn, and other matrials, which are suspended from the roofs, adorned with crimson tassels, but which, for purposes of illumination, are so greatly behind our lamps, and produce more smoke than light. At a Chinese feast one is always reminded of a Roman entertainment:

'Sordidum flammæ trepidant rotantes
Vertice fumum.'

[The revolving flames tremble, waving the dirty smoke.']

The variety, and in the eyes of a Chinese, the beauty of the written character, occasions its being adopted as an ornament on almost all occasions. Caligraphy (or fine hand-writing) is much studied among them; and the autographs of a friend or patron, consisting of moral sentiments, poetical couplets, or quotations from the sacred books, are kept as memorials, or displayed as or naments in their apartments. They are generally inscribed largely upon labels of white satin, or fine-colored paper, and almost always in pairs, constituting those parallelisms which we shall have to notice under the head of literature and poetry.

"In the forms of their furniture, they often affect a departure from straight and uniform lines, and adopt what might be called a regular confusion, as in the division and shelves of a book-case, or the compartments of a screen. Even in their doorways, instead of a regular, right-angled aperture, one often sees a complete circle, or the shape of a leaf or of a jar. This, however, is only when there are no doors required to be shut, their absence being often supplied by hanging screens of silk and cloth, or bamboo blinds, like those used in India.

"Their beds are generally very simple, with curtains of silk or cotton, in the winter, and a fine musquito net during the hot months, when they lie on a mat, spread upon the hard bottom of the bed. Two or three boards, with a couple of narrow benches or forms on which to lay them, together with a mat and three or four bamboo sticks to stretch the musquito curtains of coarse hempen cloth, constitute the bed of an ordinary Chinese.

"It may readily be supposed that, in the original country of porcelain, a very usual ornament of dwellings consists of vases and jars of that material, of which the antiquity is valued above every other quality. This taste has led to the manufacture of factitious

antiques, not only in porcelain but in bronze and other substances, points on which strangers are very often egregiously taken in at Canton. The shapes of their tripods, and other ancient vessels, real or imitated, are often fantastical, and not unlike similar vestiges in Europe. In these they place their sticks of incense, composed principally of sandal-wood dust, which serve to perfume their chambers, as well as to regale the gods in their temples. The Chinese are great collectors of curiosities of all kinds; and the cabinets of some individuals at Canton are worth examining."

Turning to the large print on the page, we see an apartment of spacious size and length, well proportioned, well lighted by fine windows, formed and disposed nearly as in an European or an American dwelling of a superior order; decorated with large pictures, symmetrically placed, and offering a variety of tasteful scenes, with evidence that the rules of perspective are not disregarded by their respectable artists. We see fine, large specimens of their ancient porcelain manufacture, with well-proportioned chairs, thbles and footstools, one of the last of which bears one of those inscriptions before referred to; while the occupations of the inmates denote that propriety of manners which belongs to their class and station in the scale of civilization. While sipping their tea, with small supplies of food before them, a servant is seen approaching with a fresh supply through one of the broad, circular doors before described, which offers a remarkable, and as has been said, a peculiar characteristic of their style of building.

We cannot but repeat, in closing these brief remarks on the subject before us, that we not only may, but ought to look upon a scene like this with a reflection, that we are bound to exert ourselves to send into thousands of such habitations the blessings of truth and knowledge.

ARCTIC EXPEDITION.-Sir JOHN FRANKLIN (the British Explorer,) and his ships had been heard from as late as July 11, near Greenland, in warm weather, surrounded by icebergs.A correspondent says, on the 26th June, "when we entered Davis's Straits it became very fine, and we saw the stupendous mountains of West Greenland, covered with ice and snow; also, three large icebergs, which in a few days thickened upon us, but fortunately we had generally leading winds, which enabled us to thread them without danger. We left the discovery ships at Whalefish Island, Disco, on the 12th, all in good health and high spirits as to their future enterprise--full of hope as to their ultimate success. They are

famous strong ships, well-manned, and impossible to be better officered. We left them complete in full three years' provisions, stores, and fuel, besides five bullocks, which we killed there for them."

CEYLON.-Major Rogers, of the English army, residing in Ceylon, was instantly killed in June last, by a flash of lightning. He is said to have been a great elephanthunter, having shot about twelve hundred of those animals in that island.

THE CHOLERA has prevailed in an uncommon degree on the Sutlej river, in India.

MADAGASCAR.-The Queen has ordered that all Europeans there must become naturalized, or quit the island; and two British frigates have gone thither to protect the English.

TEA.-The cultivation of tea has been commenced in Ceylon. Some persons believe that the plant loses its flavor out of China.

THE LARGEST SUSPENSION Bridge in InDIA, near Calcutta, lately fell, without injuring any person.

LAST ACCOUNTS FROM CAPT. FREMONT.A letter has been received in this city from Captain Fremont, dated from Bent's fort, on the Arkansas, the 2d of August. The party were all perfectly well. They expected to remain at the fort some days, from which they would, at their leisure, give a detailed account of their plans and movements.-Wash. paper.

WARSAW, ILLINOIS, was under martial law at last advices. A gang of counterfeiters had been discovered, four arrests made, and the parties lodged in jail, which was guarded by seventy men. After an examination, they were required to go to prison until court, or give bail in the sum of $12,000, which was not forthcoming.

ANOMALY -There is a liquid that has the greatest density a little above thirty-nine degrees. If we heat it above that point or cool it below it, in either case it expands. This liquid is water.

HEAT. This word is used in the English language to express two different things. It sometimes signifies a sensation excited in our organs, and sometimes a certain state of the bodies around us, in consequence of which they excite in us that sensation.

LIVING SKETCHES OF ITALY-NO. 7. The Jesuits in Rome.

[By one of their late Pupils ]

The Jesuits were designated by Pope Paul III., "Brachium sanctæ Sedis fortissimum," and are considered still as "the strongest arm of the holy See.' The present pope is their most devoted friend, and has given them great privileges, so that loud murmurs have been raised against him. He has given them several institutions. They have now in that city the Roman College, the House of the Professed, Sant' Eusebio, the College of Propaganda, San Carlo Borromeo, La Vigna, and the institution of the ladies of the Sacred Heart, &c.

1. The Roman College. This has probably 4000 students or more. The students of divinity alone, we believe, amount to about 1200. Ciocci mentions one of the professors, Father Pernet. Our information fully confirms what Ciocci says in that place. He has told only the truth.

2. The House of the Professed is the head quarters of the General of the Jesuits, and also of the Gros Bonnets, as they are called in French. These are the Vicars, who represent different nations among which the Jesuits operate, in short, nearly the whole world.There are 12 or 13 of them, who form the General's Council.

3. Sant' Eusebio is the house of spiritual exercise. It is under the charge of Father Rossini, of the house of the princes of that name, and a connection of the Governor of Rome, whose palace is the Capitol, and who on public occasions, appears on the right hand of the pope. To this house of spiritual exercises, all the young men attending the Jesuit institutions are usually sent once in three weeks to spend a number of days in reading, meditation, and reflection. I have attended more than once. They have Loyola's book placed in their hands, in which they read a passage on some subject, written for the purpose of working strongly on the imagination and the fears or hopes of the young, after which they meditate in the solitude and silence of their gloomy cells, with a human skull beside them, and then confess to, or converse with a Jesuit, who sifts them to the bottom, using all his arts to ascertain their thoughts, opinions, and inclinations, that he may decide what use to make of each. After confession they are left again alone, and usually find some gloomy or terrific picture on the table, calculated to deepen the impressions already made on their minds: as a person in hell for not following his vocation, (that is, his call to be a Jesuit,) a man eaten by worms, with an inscription: "you will soon be like me;" &c. &c. Ciocci says that be, on opening his bed one night by moonlight to go to rest, found a skeleton in it. I never found a skeleton in my bed, but I had frightful pictures left on my table, &c., &c. At the close

of the exercises, and before returning to the College, the young men are sometimes taken to the Church to hear a sermon on death, where they find a skeleton laid out before their eyes. This I have witnessed.

There is no uniformity in the private dealings of the Jesuits with their victims. They suit their enquiries, instructions, threats, and promises to the cases before them. They use the institution for the purpose of gaining an acquaintance with the youth, and a permanent and entire control over them for life. It is the place where they try their tools, and they show great skill in their management.Jesuits are like fish: you cannot catch them with hands.

The institution of Sant' Eusebio is only a distinct department of the Jesuit system. On account of the great number of their pupils in Rome, they find it convenient to have one large edifice, at a distance from the colleges, appropriated to the business above detailed.In other places they generally include this department under the same roof with the others. Each pupil pays about 62 cents a day for the interesting, pleasing, and sensible spiritual exercises at Sant' Eusebio. Monks attending have their expenses paid by their convents: for the Jesuits have such extensive connections and influence with other orders, that Sant' Eusebio is the general place of delivery for all young men receiving their education in the city of Rome, who ask counsel of any priest, show any disposition to doubt the doctrines they are taught, or to exercise a spirit of independence in any other form. They are despatched at once to the house of the spiritual exercises, and rarely if ever leave it, without being brought to real or apparent submission by deceit, or terror. The experience of the monk Ciocci, whose narrative, written since his escape to England, has produced so much excitement, corresponds so well with facts within my own knowledge, that I have the fullest confidence in its accuracy.

The four great orders of Monks and priests of the present day, are the Dominicans, the Jesuits, the Franciscans, and the Augustinians. Each of these has a general, who sits near the pope. The Jesuits are priests-the others are monks.

The Franciscan order includes the Capuchins, whose founder was John de Capis

trano.

From what has already been said of the Jesuits in Rome, it may be presumed to be particularly important that we know something of their leaders. The Prefect of the Propaganda is Cardinal Prince Franzoni; and he may with propriety be denominated the Pope of all anticatholic countries. If an Englishman or a North American should go to Rome, expecting to find in the Vatican the man who directs and controls the operations of Rome in his country, he would be greatly mistaken. If he would find the head which plans, and the hand that moves the agents employed for Rome and Austria, he must go

to the Propaganda, and be introduced to Cardinal Franzoni, a Genoese prince, and brother of the Archbishop of Turin. He nominates all the bishops for the "uncatholic countries," and exercises an extensive sway over the largest part of the world. Of his disposition, some opinion may be formed from the fact, that an ecclesiastic lost his favor about the time of my residence in Rome, merely in consequence of expressing an interest in Bishop Rézé. His chaplain, Don Felippo, imitated the example of the Cardinal, and so did Cadolini, Archbishop of Edesse, late Archbishop of Spoletto.

The Jesuits have arisen high and rapidly to power under the reign of the present pope, Gregory XVI. He has been so friendly to them, as to grant them extraordinary privileges, one of the chief of which is the entire control of the Propaganda, heretofore a kind of Union Seminary, directed by all the orders combined. This change, which was made in 1837, has excited remonstrances. The other institutions now under the Jesuits have already been mentioned, as well as the fact that they have a control over all the institutions for education in Rome. But their power is not limited there. So far have they insinuated themselves, that now it is quite in vain for any man to pretend to any public charge, office or employment without the recommendation of the Jesuits.

How far their influence is extended by their connection with the youth it would be difficult to tell, and even to imagine. They resort to every mode to become thoroughly acquainted with the children, and through them with their families. They will play childish games, even marbles, with them, and having gained the confidence and affection of their ingenuous hearts, with the art and duplicity of the old Serpent, they will draw facts from their unsuspecting lips, which often criminate their parents, and involve their families and themselves in misery or ruin. "My little boy," says the subtle, smiling disciple of Loyola, while he stoops to mingle in some juvenile game, "do you say pour prayers?" "No sir, not very often." "Oh, you ought to pray to the Virgin Mary, she is so amiable, such a friend of children. Begin to-night." Thus he begins to make a young idolater, as the first step towards making him a dupe and a tool. "My dear little boy, do you read any pretty books at home?" "Oh no sir; but my father has some large ones he lets me look at. They are French books, and I cant read French." "Ah," says the Jesuit to himself -"Ah! There is something to be enquired into-write me down sometime the titles of those books." "My dear little boy, do you like to be in company? Do you love to have strangers come to your house?" "Sometimes -we often have visitors." "Do you? Italians I suppose." "Yes sir, and sometimes foreigners too." "What people are they?" "Frenchman." From that moment the family is watched by spies; for of all men in the world Rome is most apprehensive of French

men, whose liveliness, affability and independence of opinion are perhaps overrated, and certainly held in great dread by her agents.

An American gentleman once said to me: "I nad prejudices against the Jesuits; but I have lately seen some, and they are very mild, modest, courteous men, particularly fond of children. Why sir, they actually played mar bles with the boys." "Ah, sir," replied I, "I have had too much opportunity to know them, and I have abundant reason for saying what I now tell you. Their fingers play; but their heads and their hearts, you may rely upon it, are not playing. They are hard at work."

The Jesuits in their schools and colleges, make their pupils spies upon each other.While I was under their care they endeavored to make me a spy, and I soon found that another boy was a spy over me. When I became a student of divinity, I was morally forced to become a spy, as they taught me it was a Christian duty to be one.

One of their greatest triumphs in Rome was gained by the Jesuits when they got possession of the Roman College of Santo Appollinari, from Cardinal Prince Odescalchi. He was then Vicar of Rome; when, by their machinations, they induced him to give up to them all his property, abandon his Cardinal's hat, and join their society, under the simple title of Father Charles. He left Rome, spent a year as novitiate in Ravenna, where is one of their two Italian novitiate institutions, (the other being in Rome,) and then went to Asia. I think he may be now in Armenia.

Characteristics of New-England.

I never visit New-England without meeting with confirmatory evidence of the practical good sense of her people. This evidence exists in their industry, their frugality and their common sense virtues. It is evinced in their adherence, in a great degree, to their primitive habits and even their puritan princles.

In riding yesterday sixty miles through the Valley of the Connecticut River, I had an opportunity of seeing nature in all its loveliness. This Valley, eminently attractive in itself, has been greatly adorned by art. Not as the nobleman adorns his domain or as the nabob embellishes his grounds, by splendid castles or towering mansions; but with richly cultivated fields, and neat, tasteful, comfort-imparting cottages, painted snow-white with green venetian blinds, shaded by honey-suckle or woodbine.

A New-England farmer brings up a family reputably, giving his children a good common school education, from land upon which a Western New-Yorker would starve. This is the result of the primitive habits and puritan principles to which I have referred. But New-England is not content with a mere competency. She is rapidly accumulating wealth. The tariff of 1812 is showering gold into the lap of New-England. Every where, and in all aspects, their prosperity is apparent. Ten years of such enormous gains

the legitimate gains of capital, enterprise and industry, with government protection-would enable our East to vie in riches with that ancient East of whose splendor we read. These "large profits," these "enormons dividends," which were shared, heretofore, in Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, &c., are now divided in Lowell, Waltham and a thousand other American towns. The millions that went to England to make the rich of that country richer, and its poor poorer, now remain here to construct railroads, endow colleges, support asylums, build up cities and villages, furnish employment and confer blessings and scatter bounties throughout our land. Is this wrong? Can such a policy be bad?

The village of Cabotville, four miles from Springfield, was a farm in 1832. It is now a large, well built, thriving village, with between two and three hundred brick factories, stores and mansions, and a population of 3,000. And all this is the result of regular business. Nothing has been forced. There are no speculative fancy men there.

Mount Holyoke Female Academy, of which we have heard so much, is very charmingly situated in the town of South Hadley. The academy is an immense building, in which the pupils all reside. There were 280 young ladies at this academy during the last term.

Amherst college is also very pleasantly situated just where one might look for a seat of learning. But the towns which I admired most, in this day's ride, were Northampton on the west, and Northfield on the east side of the Connecticut. Each is beautiful in its way. The former is gently elevated-the latter upon a plain at the foot of a mountain, of unbroken surface, reaching for more than a mile through the broadest Avenue I ever saw, over which nature has spread a carpet of deep and most invitingly luxuriant green. whole Avenue is shaded by noble elms. foliage of both villages is rich and abundant.

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Brattleborough is the southeasternmost town in Vermont. It is compactly built and surrounded by bold scenery. It is a place of considerable manufacturing, and does a fair business in merchandise. Just now it is attracting visitors and patients to the "WaterCure" Establishment. This place was selected on account of the pure and wholesome quality of its spring water. From our friend G. F. L., who is trying this remedy, I learned something of the treatment. The establishment is conducted upon the Grafenberg plan. It is under the direction of Professor Wesselhæft, a German, who is a highly educated man. There are about fifty patients here. They occupy two houses which join, the females being in one and the males in the other.

HEMP. This article deserves, and is receiving a considerable share of the attention of eastern and western merchants. It must be regarded as one of the principal staples of the west-and which will engage the atten

tion of many farmers, and must form a very considerable item in our list of exports. The eastern merchants, who have turned their attention to the development of the resources of this great valley, have seen that the time is at hand when the chief supply of this article must come from the west. The west must and will, at no distant day, supply all that is needed, either for the United States Navy or for American shipping. We have the soil, climate, labor, and every thing requisite to its production; the only thing in which we are deficient is the manner of handling and preparing it for market, and the condition in which it is sent to market. In this particular there is much to be learned, and until those who have the preparation of it learn this, the hemp of the west will not occupy that position in the market, or bring the price which it should.

Below we give a circular from a large mercantile house in New York to their correspondent in this city, which embodies many suggestions which are worthy the attention of our farmers.-Mo. Repub.

The most successful mode of preparing dew rotted hemp, would prove to be by "thoroughly clearing it from tow and shives," by hackling, and, for the past two years, his mode of preparation has been adopted to some extent in Kentucky and Missouri, and with success.

In the selection of hemp for hackling, we would advise taking good quality only; the first requisite being a fine clean staple, which is much more valuable for this purpose than coarse rough hemp; a bright fair color is also preferable when equal in other respects.

The result of hackling depends very much upon the selection of hemp, as, if the staple is coarse, or inferior, imperfectly rotted and cleaned, it will require a greater amount of labor, will suffer more loss in tow and shives, and when ready for market, will also be inferior in value. A good quality of hemp may be reduced in the process of hackling, advantageously, say 25 to 35 per cent., depending, however, entirely upon the order and condition of the hemp.

When hackled, it should be put up in hands, say of 8 to 12 lbs., tied firmly, at or near the root end, at full length, and in that order baled.

It is not so liable to damage in transportation, is exhibited to much better advantage when opened for sale, and it is the order in which Russia hemp is packed, which in all respects is taken as the standard. When hackled, or water rotted, the expense will be well repaid by covering the sides with wrappers, and allowing the ends to remain open. During the past two years we have very regularly obtained for dew rotted hemp 6c. a 64c. lb.; say per $134 48 a $145 60 per ton.That these, or very nearly these rates may be obtained hereafter, we have much confidence, and unless a more generally successful method should in future be adopted, in water rotting,

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