owner of the carriage, however, will not get into it till the walker has passed on, and he, on his part, cannot think of passing on till the other has got in. This ceremony will sometimes occupy half an hour, and if the rencontre should happen to be of dignified official personages, the Chinese await its conclusion with marvellous patience. Now and then, however, the case is different. On this our first drive it happened that a ragged, dirty fellow, in a kind of greasy smock frock, who was driving a sorry looking machine, drawn by a lean mule, detained us all a quarter of an hour with his grimaces on meeting an acquaintance, but this was too much for his long-suffering countrymen, and they bawled to him to cut short his politeness and drive on.

Although the principal streets are, as I have said, sufficiently wide, the by-streets are so narrow, that two carriages cannot pass in them, and a driver is obliged on entering them to call out, that no one may enter at the same time at the opposite end. Formerly, at every point of intersection between these streets, there stood a gate, closed at night, but though many of these gates are still standing, the custom has been discontinued.

The houses of the Chinese have a monotonous appearance, being mostly surrounded with high walls of gray, half-baked brick, above which nothing but their peaked roofs are to be seen. The only exception to this uniform gray color is offered by the imperial palace, which is covered with smooth yellow tiles. Besides this, seven or eight princely abodes offer some variety of color, but the unvarying dusty hue of the rest would become insupportably wearisome, were it not for the relief afforded by the projecting shops. Before the entrance of each of these hangs a varnished black board covered with gold letters, but there is little decoration in any other than the sweetmeat shops. The whole fronts of these are almost always covered with gilding, enriched with sprawling dragons and other figures, and their splendor is rendered still more striking from the contrast presented not unfrequently by the ruinous hovel and brokendown wall adjoining.

Gardens or walks for public resort do not exist in Pekin, and among the buildings the only ones worthy of notice are the temples, which are profusely painted with vermilion.

Among the sins of the Chinese, certainly cannot be counted that of an excess of ceremonial devotion, for these temples are almost always empty. A newly-appointed official sometimes seems to consider it a duty, when the place obtained is a lucrative one, to visit all the temples in the city, and he then goes to work in the following manner. He carries into the temple a bundle of tapers, made of the bark of trees and sweet-scented oil, and kindles them before the idols, whilst the priest strikes with a stick on a metal plate. The worshipper then makes a few prostrations, throws down some money, and the business is settled. The common people never enter the temples but on particular occasions, such, for instance, as in time of great drought, when they go thither in troops to pray for rain. Of any other prayer than a supplication for immediate temporal benefit they do not seem to have any idea.

During certain days in every year, indeed, the temples are much fre

quented, but for the purposes of trade, not of devotion. The courts are then filled with traders, who display their goods, principally of the ornamental kind, and the visiters stroll about, or make purchases, as at a fair. Enormous prices are demanded on these occasions. For a stone of a grass-green color, much valued by the Chinese for rings, bracelets, &c., a merchant asked me 250 lan, (upwards of £100,) and took 26. The scene is further enlivened by the exhibitions of conjurors throwing knives, tumblers walking on their hands, and other similar diversions, but by the evening the temple is again left silent and desolate. The priest alone had the ceremony to perform of burning three times in the day a small taper before the idols, prostrating himself at the same time. Should this duty become too onerous, he sends one of his scholars to do it for him, and if the scholar should not happen to be in the way, perhaps a common day-laborer. As long as the tapers are lighted at the proper time, and the due portion of the prostrations performed, all is right. It must be a very unreasonable idol that would require more.

If the houses of religious worship usually stand empty, the houses o public entertainment, on the other hand, are almost always full. The prices charged at these places are enormously high, and among the young men of the wealthy classes, it is by no means uncommon for a supper party of three or four to spend 50 lan (£23 10s.) The dainties consumed on these occasions are of a very recherché description, and principally recommended by the difficulty of procuring them. A favorite dish, for instance, is roasted ice, which is enormously dear, as very few cooks possess the skill and dexterity required for its preparation. A lump of ice is taken upon a sieve, and after being quickly enveloped in a sort of paste made of sugar, eggs, and spices, is plunged into a pan full of boiling pork fat or lard. The grand point is then to serve it up before the ice has time to melt. What may be the peculiar attraction of this dainty dish it would be hard to say, for though frozen inside it burns the mouth when first tasted. A small plateful costs six lan (about 36s.) The Chinese viands in general are disagreeable to an European, as they do not use salt in their cookery, and do use an immoderate quantity of pork fat, besides ginger and garlic. The roast meats, however, it must be admitted, form an honorable exception, and would be acceptable even at the table of a Parisian gastronome. The immense number of taverns (or traiteurs) in Pekin find no want of support, as it is the custom to entertain guests there, and not at private houses, to which relationship or very particular intimacy alone can give a claim to be invited. A banquet at one of these houses is considered to be a necessary conclusion to the pleasure of a theatrical entertainment, which is generally over by six in the evening, beginning at eleven in the forenoon. At these dinners, or suppers, the handsome boys who play the female parts are frequent guests, and they are allowed to select the dishes. Their choice, as may be supposed, is seldom guided by economy, and indeed it occasionally happens that they have an understanding with the master of the house. These boys are generally elegantly dressed, polished in their manners, and fluent and even witty in their conversation.

The Chinese women are to be seen neither in the temples, nor the theatres, nor the taverns, but only in the streets. None but the lowest class ever walk on foot, others drive in carioles, and ladies of the highest rank are borne in litters. They go without veils, with their heads uncovered, and decorated with beautiful artificial flowers. Indeed, this custom of sticking flowers in the hair is so prevalent, that I have known a dirty old cook, running out to buy a little garlic or a cabbage, stop to adorn her gray locks with a flower. The dress of the Chinese women consists of red or green trousers, embroidered with colored silks, and a jacket and upper garment likewise embroidered. Narrow shoulders and a flat bosom being regarded as handsome, they bind a broad girdle tight over the breast, by way of improving their figures.

Going out to take a drive is an affair of great ceremony with a Chinese lady, as she must have one horseman to ride before her carriage, one to ride after, a coachman to drive, and two men on each side to hold up the vehicle lest it should tip over. The entrance is at the front, and the mule which draws it is not harnessed till the lady and her attendant have entered, which is managed by bringing the carriage into the house and resting the poles upon the stairs. When a gentleman goes out, he displays his magnificence by the number of his attendants, which often exceeds twenty. Not more than one or two of these fellows are decently dressed, but, however ragged or dirty, pride demands that a numerous troop of these lazy vagabonds should be maintained.

The movement in the streets of Pekin begins with break of day, that is, in summer at four o'clock, and in winter at six, and the noise and bustle increases till seven, when it is at its height. By nine or ten o'clock the whole city is asleep, the most profound stillness reigns in the desolate streets, and only here and there is seen the faint light of a paper lantern fastened against a post.

Quarrels in the streets of Pekin seldom occur, as the Chinese are the arrantest cowards in the world, and rarely think of fighting if there is a possibility of running away. They can, however, become formidable when rendered desperate, but seldom have recourse on common occasions to any other weapon but the tongue. Once, indeed, during the early part of my stay at Pekin, I witnessed an affray, in which two Chinese, armed with thick sticks, attacked with indescribable rage a third, who had offended them, and though, having received some severe blows on the head, the poor devil fell senseless to the ground, they continued to work away at him, without being prevented by the bystanders. Byand-by the police appeared, but deterred, apparently, by the flashing eyes and stout cudgels of the belligerents from interfering in their diversion, waited till they had belabored their victim to their hearts' content, and then carried them off, unresisting, to the magistrate. - Algemeine Zeitung.

BIRTHS, DEATHS, AND MARRIAGES IN ENGLAND..

We have published heretofore, [Mon. Chron. Vol. I. p. 365,] an abstract of the report of the Registrar-General, of the births, deaths, and marriages in England, embracing those of the year ending June 30, 1839. We now give an abstract of his third report, embracing a similar statement for the year ending June 30, 1840, with some comparative statements respecting the three successive years. Some extracts from the appendix to this last report, containing interesting remarks upon the causes of death, and the comparative number of violent deaths at different periods, were given in a late Number of this volume, [p. 83,] but the report itself had not then reached us. The table formed from the signatures to the parish registers, by the persons married, is a curious document, as affording a scale for measuring the state of education in the different parts of the kingdom. The remarkable coincidence between the results thus obtained from the different districts in the two successive years, affords a conclusive proof of the accuracy of the scale for testing the facts in question. The report, of which this is an abstract, was made by T. H. Lister, the Registrar-General, and published by order of Parliament.

The following statement will show the numbers registered in the year ending June 30, 1840, compared with those of the preceding years:

There is thus an increase in the number of births registered in the year ending June 13, 1840, over those in 1838, '9, of 21,049; over those in 1837, '8, of 101,877.

In the number of deaths registered in the year ending June 30, 1840, over those in 1838, '9, of 19,094; over those in 1837, '8, of 14,145.

In the number of marriages registered in the year ending June 30, 1840, over those in 1838, '9, of 3,246; over those in 1837, '8, of 12,848.

The increase in the number of registered births results from a continuance of that successful operation of the new law, to which I have already adverted in my first and second reports, and which began to appear after the former half of the first year of registration; and I can truly state, as before, that I attribute this success mainly to the diffusion of a true knowledge of the beneficial tendencies of the measure, and to the diligence and intelligence of the local officers by whom it is carried into execution.

In each of the last three years the proportion of male and female births has been very nearly the same.

The increase of deaths compared with those of the two preceding years is less than it appears to be. It must be remembered that the first year's registration could not comprise the deaths of the whole year, which, including those registered subsequently, amounted to 338,660. The real

increase, therefore, over the registered deaths which occurred in the year 1837, '8, is 11,441. It must also be borne in mind, that the population of England and Wales was shown by the censuses of 1821 and 1831 to have increased from 1821 to 1831 at the rate of 16 per cent.; and if it be assumed, (as is probable,) that this rate of increase has continued to the present time, the population in the years 1838, '9, and 1839, '40, will probably have increased to the amount of from 220,000 to 240,000 yearly. If the lowest of these numbers be taken, and the mortality be estimated at the lowest rate consistent with probability, namely, 1 in 50, there will in each of these years, at the same rate of mortality, have been at least 4,400 more deaths than in the year preceding. This number, therefore, (being the probable increase, at the same rate of mortality,) must be deducted; and the remaining numbers, which indicate increased mortality, will, for the year 1839, '40, as compared with 1837, '8, be about 7,000; compared with 1838, '9 about 14,700. Yet this increase is great; and inasmuch as there is reason to believe, that it is not merely an apparent increase, arising, like that of births, from the improved efficiency of a registration which, at the commencement, was very defective, (for the very efficient registration of deaths, even in the first year, left no such room for improvement,) but that there has really been an increased mortality to that amount, a circumstance so serious demands attention and inquiry, with a view to ascertain the nature of the increase, and especially whether it has been sudden or progressive, general or local, and whether affecting equally or unequally all ages and both

sexes.

'The proportion of male to female deaths in each of the three years has been nearly the same, as appears from the following numbers;

On examination of the ages at which deaths have occurred in the foregoing years, it appears that the increase has been principally in the deaths of children, as is shown by the following table:

Thus more than half of the excess over the deaths of 1838 '9, and more than three fourths of the excess over those of 1837 '8, consisted of the deaths of children under five years of age.

That this increased mortality has not been general, but has been con