DAVIS'S SKETCHES OF CHINA.

THE interest just now attached to every thing connected with China has caused the present publication, since the more original part of it, the journey through the interior from Pekin to Canton, was performed in 1816, when Mr. DAVIS was one in the suite of Lord AMHERST'S unsuccessful embassy. The-autheri hew-, ever, has varied and extended the observations he then made upon Chinese life and landscape, by such further knowledge as experience and inquiry have since given him. At the frequent halts on their journey, Mr. Davis takes advantage of the pause to introduce some extracts from Chinese popular literature, indicative of the character of the people : analogous occasions give him an opportunity of presenting some accounts of places through which the embassy did not pass, from GIITZLAFF and other writers : and the latter part of his work is devoted to a review of the pre- sent war ; in which the writer's practical knowledge gives a value to his commentary, though he could not add any thing to the narrative.

It will be seen at once that the leading facts of the work are not new; though they may be new to many readers of the present day, Who are not acquainted with the publication of Mr. HENRY ELLIS. At the same time, it should be observed that Mr. Davis was better qualified than the King's Commissioner to travel in China with advantage ; for though very young, he had a knowledge of the language, and some acquaintance with the people, acquired during his service at Canton. He also looked at things with a different mind. He seems to us more tolerant towards the usages of the country than Mr. Ewa ; whilst a juster appreciation of the Chinese diameter led him and the Company's servants in general to resist the wily encroachments of Chinese diplomacy, which had all but persuaded the King's Ambassadors to perform the kou-tou, by the same sort of no-meaning promises with which KESHEN has deluded poor Captain ELLIOT. Here is the principal discussion and deci- sion; from which it appears that it was not King but Coompanee that resisted the indignity of knock-head. " The conversation with the Mandarins began by some general questions from Duke Ho, relative to the number of mouths that had been spent on the voyage, Sm. ; being willing, perhaps, to remind us how far we had come—a very common argument with them when they wish to carry a point by persuasion. The subject of the ceremony was then introduced and debated with great tem- per by Ho Koongyay, who now could hardly be identified with the vociferous and insolent Tartar that only five days ago had 'vomited forth' his wrath and pride against us within the town of lungchow—• Quantum mutates ab illo Hectors I' Still he did not hesitate to repeat the superiority of the Chinese Emperor over every foreign sovereign, and the consequent propriety of our compliance. In the intervals of the conversation, Duke Ho paid particular attention to the Ambassadors son ; and calling him to his seat, presented him with purses, fans, and other trifles suited to a boy of his age. There was Chinese policy in this, absurd as it may seem; and only proved the low estimate which the Chinese generally entertain of European intellects and feelings, to suppose for a mo- ment that they could be influenced in such a way to swerve from any points of policy or duty. "He Soon ay at length gave a hint that, in the event of compliance, we should certainlnot be without an equivalent advantage in negotiation, and that he himself would stand our friend with the Emperor; and it was finally determined to go back, and for the last time to deliberate if it were possible to perform the Tartar ceremony on these terms. The Chinese upon this became all that is most gracious : we were ushered to our chairs with an incumbrance of ceremony ; while the six lads of Mougden accompanied us to even an outer gate, profuse of bows, and smiling uncouthly. 1 awaited with the utmost anxiety the result of the impending deliberation.

" Both the Ambassador and third Commissioner declared their readiness to perform the ceremony on the terms proposed by Duke Ho, provided that their remaining colleague (Sir George Staunton) concurred in its expediency ; but they at the same time called on him to deliver his own opinion definitively, and stated that they were resolved to abide by it, as the dictate of personal know- ledge and local experience. Being thus placed in a somewhat difficult and delicate position, the second Commissioner thought it right to give a final corroboration to his own sentiments, by referring (with the Ambassador's consent) to those among us who had passed some time with him at Canton. He found us, I be- lieve, unanimous in the main. For my own part, I merely persisted in what I had often expressed to him before; and the short answer which I gave was grounded on such reasonings as have already been stated.

"It was at length decided that Duke Ho should be informed for the last time, that the prostration could not be performed by us: and the Ambassador wrote a civil but firm note, thanking Ho for his polite reception in the morn. ing, but declaring that, after mature deliberation, he had come to the con- clusion of its being impossible to perform any other ceremony than the one already proposed, namely, three genuflexions on one knee and nine inclinations of the head."

There is this sufficient excuse, however, for Lord Asuman. and Mr. Emas—the Foreign Office seems to have given them no defi- nite instructions whatever, whilst it threw upon them the whole responsibility of either yielding or resisting. The Company, on the other hand, instructed their servants distinctly as to the main object; leaving them unfettered as to the means of effecting it. Here is the comparison of Mr. Dews between

DOWNING STREET AND LEADENHALL STREET.

It was curious to observe the difference between the instructions received from the Government and the recommendations emanating from the Court of Directors. The former implied that we went simply in search of whatever we could pick up, and that the performance of the ceremony was to be regarded in no other view than as it affected the question of profit or loss. The Company said, " Have most regard to the effect that the Embassy is to produce at Can- ton; complain of the conduct of the local authorities to our trade ; and make no concessions, in point of ceremony or reception, which appear calculated to diminish the national respectability of the English at that place." Now, as the welfare of the Company's trade was really the chief object of the Embassy, it was fair to conclude that the Company was the party most likely to give the best advice, their reasonings being founded on their past knowledge and experience.

It is much to be apprehended that the Downing Street system of going " simply in search of whatever could be picked up," has been acted upon in the present war ; or that, where specific orders have been given, they have been given in complete ignorance. Mr. Davis strongly remarks upon the impropriety of not making the Bogue forts and Canton the first object of attack—not merely as a matter of justice to punish the place where the injury had been inflicted, but to awe the Chinese at starting—for they fancied those fortifications impregnable. We learn from Lord JOCELYN, that the astonishment and disappoint- anent throughout the fleet were-great- -when -it was -found that the expedition was ordered to Chusan ; but it was reported that Sir JOHN BREMER (Admiral ELLIOT had not arrived) had no discretion allowed him. The folly in a diplomatic point of view is greater than even in a military sense. At Canton, Litt could not have treated after his beating ; he must have referred to Pekin. When, therefore, the expedition sailed northward to ,the vicinity of the capital, it might fairly have persisted in refusing to de- part unless the treaty were settled at once. " The armament," it could truly say, "had been to Canton, but could get no satisfac- tion : it would be child's play to go there again ; and that in fact it had a bad appearance to propose it." Mr. DAVIS thinks that the fobbing-off the expedition to Canton was a masterstroke of policy, as Pekin and the Northern parts are safe for eight months at least, on account of the monsoon : or rather, he really holds, that going back was a masterpiece of stupidity on our parts, and the pro- posal just what might have been expected from Chinese diplo- macy. At the same time, no one can tell how the officers of the expedition might have been fettered by absurd or frightened by loose instructions. Looking at the shameful way in which Lord PALMERSTON left Captain ELLIOT'S urgent appeals without any, answer, and the neglect with which the whole business has been treated by the Foreign Office ever since the opening of the trade to China, it is highly probable, if the truth could be got at, that Exiarrr (an indecisive man, no doubt, but therefore the fitter for the purpose) has been made the scapegoat of Downing Street.

Although the original materials of Mr. Davis's work are not of a new date, it may be said that they are of a curious and interesting character ; giving many pictures of Chinese diplomacy and Chinese character, as well as of the manners of the people and the appear- ance of the country. The descriptions too are lively and fresh, and the whole book, though it may not, strictly speaking, furnish any new information, will leave new or at least enlarged impressions upon the reader; whilst the frequent scattered remarks in its pages afford useful hints as to the vulnerable points of the empire, and the best mode of carrying on the war.

As a specimen of the more general character of Sketches of China, we draw upon its pages for a few miscellaneous extracts.

ESTIMATION OF THE MILITARY IN CHINA.

In the afternoon, a second attempt was made to walk on the banks ; but it proved so muddy. and slippery from rain that the party soon returned. The military Mandarin attached to our boat almost went down on his knees to dis- suade us from going on shore. This Mandarin of ours was a most original- looking person. We had lately been excessively amused by seeing him stripped completely to the waist (on account of the heat) and playing at the. game of forfeits with the fingers; called tsooey-mooey in China, and morra Italy, where I have often witnessed it. The loser is obliged to drink a cup of wine ; and when our friend had taken several cups, the silly glee, that irradiated his.

vacant countenance was ludicrous in the extreme ; the effect being much in- creased by the evident fact of his attributing our involuntary laughter to the poignancy of his own wit and humour. This man was a proof of the immense distance that exists between the intel- lectual qualities, as well as the rank and estimation, of the civil and military Mandarins. Re wore a button or ball on his cap, equal in grade to that of the lower order of magistrates; but one of these would have been eternally disgraced by such company and such amusements as this animal (for he was nothing better) was addicted to. Physical strength and boldness, as well as some skill in military weapons, are the only qualities required from a military Mandarin.

MAT-HOUSES.

Riding being out of the question, we were obliged to be contented with a walk ; and accordingly proceeded to look at the mat-houses intended for the reception of the presents. They were about half a mile from our place of re- sidence, and proved to be very spacious. The facility and cheapness with which the Chinese erect these immense mat-warehouses, is remarkable. The admirable manner in which the use of the bamboo combines lightness with strength, renders it a most valuable resource to this ingenious and industrious people. Their temporary theatres, their halls of reception on public occasions, and their warehouses for storing goods, are erected of these mats, at a few hours' notice, and serve equally well to exclude the heat and the rain. They can be built of almost any height or breadth required, on account of the ex- treme lightness of the materials. Not a nail is used in their construction, nor even a cord ; but the thin strips of the bamboo bind every part together in a perfect manner ; and when the end of their erection has been answered, they are taken down and carried away with equal ease and despatch.

multi IS MIGHTY AND PREVAILS EVEN IN DIPLOMACY.

We all of us received this morning some presents from our friend Chang Tajin. He sent me a coloured drawing on a roller, and a Chinese snuff- bottle ; and though these were but trifles, I kept them as testimonials of good-will. Chang was highly elated at his new promotion (of which we were only this day informed) to be Gan-cba-sze, or criminal judge of the province of Shan- tung. This was a very high office, and in the present instance said to he an introduction to something higher still. Chang had been raised in so sudden and marked a manner, that there was some ground for regarding the present embassy as the cause of his elevation.

It was probable that as be knew us on our first arrival, and had so much intercourse with us since, this Mandarin had been able to form a juster esti- mate of our real character than any of the other functionaries ; and that while Duke Ho and Kwong were sending up reports to Peking of the probability of our ultimate consent to perform the ceremony, he might have stated that, from his own observation of our character and intentions, there seemed little chance of it. Thus truth may for once have met with its reward, even in China, while Duke Ho and his colleague had been punished for misleading the Em- peror. Such a supposition derived strength from Chang's late behaviour to us; which since our rejection by the Emperor [rather refusal to go to him] had been rather more friendly and civil than before; and he often spoke of his admi- ration of the blunt integrity and straightforwardness of the English character.

IMPERIAL ETIQUETTE.

The Legate paid a long visit to his Excellency, and proved more loquacious than usual. He entered into a detail of all the restraints imposed by his high station upon the Emperor while in public ; a detail which proved that the au- tocrat of so many millions was not to be envied. He cannot even lean back on his seat, nor use a fan to cool himself, like all his subjects of both sexes; and is sometimes subjected to these painful demands of ceremony for a whole day. I once obtained from Padre Serra, a Catholic priest who had passed many years in the neighbourhood of the palace, a particular account of the daily habits of Keaking, the father of the present reigning Emperor (1840.) When the public ceremonies were over, he retired to play on instruments and sing with his comedians; thus displaying a curious contrast between his private and his state demeanour. After this he sometimes drank to intoxication; and at night proceeded with some of his players, masked, to the seraglio. These things excited a remonstrance from the faithful minister and censor, Soong Tajin; who was only disgraced for his interference.

LABOUR OF THE CHINESE.

On the following morning we were witnesses to a strange process—perfectly Chinese in all its prodigality of human exertion. The river was now so ex- ceedingly shallow, that a line of men stood with great iron hoes on each side of the channel for the boats, and deepened it by scraping aside the sand and gravel before we could pass. The same men then put their shoulders (not to the wheel, but) to the sterns of the boats, and actually shoved them through by main force! They stood at times not much more than ankle-deep in the water. It was astonishing to think that the greater portion of the thirty millions of pounds of tea sold at Canton to the English (not to include other nations) was con- veyed up this trout-stream, and down another like it on the opposite side of the Mei-ling Pass.