licensed passage boat," inscribed on it in order to facilitate recognition of them, and the conductors of the boats to have the sureti ship of the said foreigners pledged for them, that, if in any case they should carry opium or smuggle, they shall be left to be broken up, and the passport shall be recovered and restored by the said foreigners.

Under such circumstances, the pledge of suretiship coming from the foreigners, and there being therefore a fixed responsibility, the thing assumes a practicable form. They are, therefere, permitted to make arrangement for a number of decked boats, for which official passes shall be given, that thus the necessities for their business may be supplied, and that becoming kindness may thereby be manifested.

In reference, however, to the request that the boats thus secured may have flags given to them with writing thereon, so that the forts, cruizers, and custom-house stations, which they may pass at the Bogue and elsewhere, may recognize them and refrain from causing detention, there is no consideration whatever here given to the question, whatever they shall undergo any examination or not. If they be not required so to undergo examination, it will be indeed no easy matter to insure that private objects will not be pursued under the broad shield of the general interest. And may it not be, too, that, by the indulgence of crafty or of malicious purposes, parties may occasion the breaking up of any of the boats? In the first setting on foot of any matter, it is most important that everything should be plainly and securely marked out, that so the arrangement may be lasting, and may not be attended by evil results.

Wait, while I forward a communication to the superintendent of customs, that he may speedily give the matter his consideration; and then after hearing from him in reply, ultimate measures shall be adopted and made public, in order that obedience may be paid thereon. Let these commands at the same time be communicated to the said foreigners, that they may act in conformity to them.

Given - the 10th day of the 18th month, in the 18th year of Taoukwang. (Dec. 26th, 1838.)

No. 2.

Yu, superintendent of maritime customs, &c., &c., in reply. By this address it appears that the committee of foreign merchants of the General Chamber of all nations earnestly request that a number of boats may be established for conveyance of letters between Canton and Macao, such boats to be provided with official passports, and the

suretiship of the said foreigners to be pledged for them, that in case of their engaging in any contraband transaction, they are willing that they be broken up. Also that each of the boats may have its number registered, and a flag given to it with the words "licensed passage boat," written thereon, as well as on the sails.

Those requests having come before me, I have given the matter due consideration, and find that decked, masted, and flag-bearing boats were interdicted, in consequence of a memorial laid bofore the throne, after the dissolution of the Company, by the then governor Loo, and superintendent of customs, Pang. Hence for the conveyance of letters, it was only allowed to have small boats without mast or deck, and those having decks and mast should by law be driven forth (from the river.)

Now, however, referring to the address above alluded to, I am inuced indulgently to consider, that the foreigners, in coming from Macao to Canton, have to pass over an open sea, and that to avail themselves of winds, and protect themselves from rain, decks and masts are in some sense necessary. Their request may, therefore, be granted, so far as regards establishing a certain number of such boats, with passports- But their request being to establish a number' of boats (or several boats), such, number may be an excessive one. Let the hong merchants then adopt some moderate number - not more than five or six. As to the erection of flags, this would bring them somewhat within the letter of the prohibition of flag-bearing boats. It will be enough to inscribe the words on their sails, where they can easily be distinguished. When the number of boats has been determined on, I will attach my seal to the passport for each, and will also give a (second) pass, which must be presented for examination at the custom-house stations en route, the time of arrival at, and departure from, such stations to be filled in, and the boats if found free from anything contraband or sumggled, to be allowed at once to proceed. These passes, after being filled up, shall be exchanged for the other ones. If any detention be given, or any extortion demanded, at any custom-house, the said foreigners are authorized immediately to point it out, in an address to me, that punishment may instantly be inflicted. If any of the said foreigners, under pretence of the darkness of night, evade examination of his pass at the custom-house stations, so that the required insertion therein is not made, such pressn too must be punished for the offense of perverse transgression, and the hong merchants in froming arrangements are to give this their consideration. After they shall have

made their arrangements, and the requisite number of boats shall have received passports, any other boats which, not obeying the prohibitory regulations, shall venture to ply to and fro without permission, shall be fired upon by the cruizers and forts. As regards the boats registered as of the licensed number, the foreigners shall secure each boat as belonging to such and such a person. The small boats that ply between Canton and Whampoa may remain as of old. But the large licensed passage boats must not remain for any length of time in the neighborhood of the foreign ships, lest the springing up of what is contraband should grow out thereof.

Wait further, till, having consulted with the governor, the matter shall have received final consideratiou, when orders will be published for obedience.

Given the 10th day of the 11th month, in the 18th year of Taoukwang. (Dec. 26th, 1838.)

ART. VIII. Journal of Occurrences. A case of robbery; appointment of an imperial commission to visit Canton; proceedings of the local government respecting the traffic in opium; suspension of the foreign trade threatened; the European passage boats; notice of Yuen Yuen.

A VERY melancholy event happened in Macao about the middle of last month, which, apart from its immediate circumstances, is illustrative of the treatment which those Chinese who return from the Straits are likely to receive from their countrymen.

Many years since a man of the name Tsae went from Fuhkeën to Singapore, where he settled in business, and having married remained there until his death, leaving his son Tsae Tsanglung in possession of his business. This son by his industry became very rich, being the farmer of the opium trade, and also having a large general trade. At last, about two years ago, he being well satisfied with his acquisitions, concluded to wind up his affairs, and return to the land of his fathers, in order to settle his children in life. He therefore took a passage in a ship, and came to Macao, where he hired a house, and engaged in trade. Not long since it was reported that he had an order on a foreign ship for a large sum of money, (for it was generally supposed that he was very wealthy,) and was about going to Canton to receive it; but it was uncertain whether he had yet procured the money, or when he would return; rumor said he had already received it. About this time many seizures had been made in Macao of those engaged in the opium trade, and much confusion ensued; and a number of thieves banded themselves together, and taking advantage of this confusion, disguised themselves as police officers, and came to the house of Tsae in the night, broke open the

door, and rushed in, crying out that they had come to search for opium and other unlawful goods. The poor man, hearing the uproar, and learning that the police had come to search his hous, hastily ran and hid himself; for although he had no opium concealed in the house, he had all the implements for smoking it, and was in the habit of using the drug. In the meanwhile the thieves went through the house, breaking open and ransacking everything valuable; and the man, seeing no avenue of escape open from those whom he supposed to be the agents of government, ran to a window and jumped out into the court below, by which he very seriously injured himself. After the thieves went away,-not being able to find the money which indeed had not been received,- T'sae ascertained that they were not policemen, and laid a statement of the case before the tsotang, who came to his house, and made an examination into the affair. The property stolen was valued at a thousand dollars. The Heangshan heën also was informed of the robbery, and came down to Macao to investigate and issued an edict for the apprehension of the robbers, at the same time ordering Tsae to have medical advice; but the poor man was too much bruised by his leap, and died about ten days after. The police have seized two men on suspicion of being engaged in the robbery; one of them, a poor beggar-looking man said, he had been hired about midnight by some men to carry a number of articles away from Tsae's house outside of St. Antonio's gate, but he knew nothing of the men, and no clue could be obtained from him. After the death of Tsae, his family and friends laid a statement of the case before the magistrate, and there the affair at present remains.

Lin Tsihseu, a native of Fuhkeën, high in office and reputation, has been commissioned by the emperor to visit Canton, to make inquires and to propose new measures respecting the opium trade. He is expected in a few days. He intends "to cut off the fountain of the evil," and is prepared, if necessary, "to sink his ships and break his cauldrons;" for it now appears that, "the indignation of the great emperor has been fairly aroused at these wicked practices of buying and selling, and using opium,-and that the hourly thought of his heart is to do away with them forever."

The

The proceedings of the local government, both with regard to the use of the drug and the traffic in it, continue to be characterized by "stern severity." amount of suffering is very great, and seems to be felt through the whole body of the community. A crisis is approaching,—a crisis which cannot be contemplated without great anxiety and concern. The severity exercised has already given rise to many evil forebodings, and some irregular proceedings among the people. Many idle rumors are afloat, and all seem alil e unable to conjecture what is to be the issue of the present mode of procedure. It was rumored, not long ago, that a general search was to be made throughout all the houses and shops of Canton; popular assemblies were held, and it became necessary for the local magistracy to announce, by proclamation, that such was not their intention. Lest it should be attempted, however, the gates of the streets have been repaired, so that if necessary they may be closed on the police and soldiers by the people, until the latter shall have ascertained by proper means that the search is to be conducted in a lawful manner. Several low officers have been deprived of their authority and punished for irregular proceedings in seizing innocent persons.

The suppression of the whole foreign trade has been hinted in a proclamation to foreigners, just published by the governor and lieut.-governor of this province. Their proclamation shall appear in our next.

The European passage boats are expected to be soon again employed, as in past yaars, in the conveyance of foreigners to and from Canton and Macao.

Yuen Yuen, the retired minister, having informed his majesty that he had elected a day for his departure to Keängsoo, his native province, the emperor sent him away with many marks of favor, and the expression of a hope that his aged minister, who has for baif a century faithfully served him and his fathers, may have strength to revisit Peking on the approaching jubilee in 1841, to give the emperor his blessing.

THE

CHINESE REPOSITORY.

VOL. VII.-FEBRUARY, 1839.— No. 10.

ART. I. Review of the Shin Seën Tung Keën,- A General Account of the Gods and Genii; in 22 vols. From a Correspondènt.

Ir is rather extraordinary that foreigners, though conversant with almost every part of Chinese literature, know so little about their religious writings. One reason may be found, in their being writ ten in a style almost unintelligible to the common reader. The Budhist works are full of expressions from the Páli, of which the sound is clumsily imitated in Chinese characters. Even few priests of that sect know the true meaning, and the same set of phrases are chanted by the votaries, over and over, for ages, without a single thought being bestowed upou their import. The religion of Taou, which is a national superstition, has clothed its doctrines in mysterious laconism; many sentences admit five or six different versions, and when the student imagines that he has caught the real signification, he finds himself puzzled by a new maze of vagaries. Only truth can show her face unveiled, error requires the fanciful and dark envelope of unmeaning language, for if seen in its nakedness it would be loathsome. The religious works of the literati are mere treatises on ceremony, dry and uninteresting to the general reader, and only of value to the master of rites to exercise himself in the prescribed prostrations, genuflexions, and bows. The work before us, is intended as a comprehensive statistical account of the gods, including all the fables that have been propagated about them, and describing their various offices and functions, nature, attributes, 64

VOL. VII. NO. X.