merchant were two large lanterns of horn; they were full three feet high and two feet and a half broad, yet nowhere could we see any trace of a joining. We also remarked that Mowqua possessed a large English plate of looking-glass, which is much superior to the Chinese, but he desired not to attract attention by the use of European articles, and had therefore caused the plate to be fixed in an ordinary and very clumsy Chinese frame. In a large adjoining room was the whole instrumental music, with several eminent singers, who kept playing during the whole feast, and performed a kind of opera; the noise they made was positively horrible, but the Chinese took no notice of it; only when the entertainment paused for a moment they listened to the singing, and had commonly a joke to laugh at or an observation to make.

'Presently the dinner began: we were conducted into another room, and took our places at little four-cornered tables, each meant for six persons. The tables were placed together in the form of a half-circle, and the side towards the centre remained unoccupied. At the middle table sat the host, and at every other table sat a Chinese, who did the honours of it. The empty sides of the table, where no one sat, were hung with scarlet drapery, beautifully worked in embroidery of gold and different coloured silks; Chinese flowers, but not very striking forms, furnished the pattern. On the front edge of each table were placed the finest fruits in little baskets, with beautiful flowers stuck between them. Besides these, the whole table was covered with little cups and plates, which were ranged with great precision, and contained fruits, preserves, confectionery, slices of bread and butter, with small birds cold, and hundreds of other things. An extraordinary degree of art had been expended in the arrangement of those articles; amongst the rest were whole rows of little plates, filled with elegantly-raised three and four cornered pyramids, composed of little bits of pheasants, larded geese, sausages, and so forth. Here stood plates with small oranges; there preserved plums; and here again almonds. Various little seeds of different colours were served upon shallow saucers, so arranged, however, that each colour occupied a particular field. We here recognized a kind of quince seed, of very delicate flavour; chick-peas, which, if eaten frequently, are said to produce a very bad effect; and chestnuts and hazel-nuts, which come from the province of Pecheli, and greatly excel our fruits of the same kind. There were, moreover, grapès, which likewise came from the northern provinces of the empire; with preserved ginger, citrons, and lemons. After making but a short stay in China, one is accustomed to see daily and hourly that the Chinese conduct all their arrangements in a different style and manner from ourselves; it was thus also with the repast, for we began with the dessert.

By way of cover, three small cups are placed before each seat; the first on the left hand is filled with soy, which the Chinese add to almost every sort of food: the second serves for the ordinary eating; and in the third is a little spoon of porcelain for the

soups.

soups. In front of these three cups, which are ranged in a line, lie the two round little chop-sticks, which, in rich houses, are made of ivory. It is extremely difficult for strangers to get at their food with these sticks, and the Chinese were amused with our unskilfulness; one was overheard to whisper, "Here are wise Europeans for you; they cannot so much as eat properly." Mr. Lindsay understood him perfectly. Instead of napkins, small threecornered pieces of paper are placed near the covers; these are ornamented with stripes of red paper, and are used by the Chinese to wipe their hands.

The dinner began by the host's inviting us to eat of the finer dishes; whilst we were eating them, he kept calling our attention to the flavour or the rarity of this or that thing: and the mode of eating was to convey the food to the mouth, with the two sticks, out of the dish; for a small bowl was the largest vessel placed upon the table during the whole entertainment. The Chinese place no cloths upon the tables, but instead, so soon as the course is finished, the whole board is removed, and a new surface, as it were, with fresh things, is served. As soon as the first course was removed, another small cup was added to each cover; this was used for drinking hot samtschu, a fermented liquor made of rice, which at a Chinese table supplies the place of wine, and which is always served boiling; servants walk round with large silver cans, and help everybody to this nectar; which, principally on account of its heat, begins very soon to operate. The Chinese, in drinking wine, observe nearly the same rules as the English:'-[We presume the doctor had studied our English modes of wine-bibbing at one of the sailors' pot-houses in Dover]- they challenge to drink, then hold the cup with both hands, and, after wishing each other health and happiness, drink it off at a draught; whereupon they turn the inside of the cup towards the person with whom they are drinking, and show that they have drained every drop. On one occasion, when I did not wish to drink off a whole cup, my Chinese friend held his own constantly before me, and kept making signs till I had finished mine. Samtschu is in general of an insipid taste; they have, however, a great many kinds of it, which are constantly changed at the tables of the rich, and I tasted one variety which might be placed alongside of the best brandy.

'So soon as the first division of the dinner, consisting possibly of sixty ragouts, was over, the soups appeared; these were placed in small bowls, in the middle of the table, and every man ate, with his little porcelain spoon, out of the dish. In this way, five, or six different soups were served in succession, and between them various other things were placed before the guests in little cups; amongst the rest, pastry, prepared in many ways, articles of confectionery, and strong chicken-hashes.

Between the different grand-divisions of the dinner, tea was handed round and tobacco smoked; during which we were enabled to rest ourselves, so as to begin again with fresh vigour. After

several

several courses, five small tables were placed outside of the halfcircle of the original tables; these were completely covered with. roasted pork and birds of all sorts. Then ten cooks came into the room, clothed all alike and very tastefully, and began carving the roasts. Two placed themselves before each table, and commenced, with long knives, to sever the hard roasted skin of all these viands, which was done most skilfully. Other servants, who stood in front of the tables, received the little bits, into which all these roasts were cut, upon small plates, and then placed them on the middle of our tables. At the end of the whole meal, the cooks came again into the room, and returned thanks for the honour which had been done them in being permitted to cater for the illustrious company. I shall here close the description of this dinner, which perhaps has wearied the indulgent reader more than it did us; yet full six hours were we obliged to sit at it, and many hundreds of dishes were served up.'

The streets of Canton are not above five feet or five feet and a half wide, yet all sorts of cookery are constantly going on in them; and among the articles enumerated are some which we had never before heard of as embraced even by the unscrupulous Chinese cuisine.

They eat almost every thing that comes to hand. Upon the streets of the city, but particularly on the large square before the factories, a number of birds are daily exposed for sale which amongst us have not yet gained much repute for flavour; among others, hawks, owls, eagles, and storks. To a European, nothing can have a more laughable effect than to see the Chinese arrive with a carryingpole supporting two birdcages which contain dogs and cats instead of birds. A small thin sort of spaniel appeared to us to be most in request; they sit quite downcast in their temporary dwellings when they are brought to market, whilst the cats make a dreadful squalling, as if conscious of their fate. The flesh of these last, when they are well fed, is much esteemed in China, and they are often seen on the tables of the rich. Other Chinese bring upon their carrying-pole many dozens of rats, which are drawn quite clean, and, like pigs in our country, when they have been opened, are hung up by means of a cross piece of wood through the hind legs. These rows of rats look very nice, but they are only eaten by the poor.'

The dog-eaters, we have somewhere read, are regarded by all living animals of that order with unmitigated abhorrence. They are said to nose a man addicted to this kind of luxury in the streets, gather round him in crowds, and often attack him with fury.

The concluding chapter of these volumes is devoted to St. Helena, where, as the author observes, very little wearing even the semblance of novelty has been left for later travellers to glean. He is very angry with us because part of the villa in which Napoleon died is now occupied as an alehouse; but he might

have

have reflected, that this is in fact a compliment to the celebrity of his hero, more especially as he tells us that he himself found it very comfortable to have a glass of beer at the conclusion of his pilgrimage to Longwood. He adds:

Napoleon's sitting-room is at present a stable; and in a garden which he himself laid out before his window, the English sheep thrive and fatten so well that they are set apart for the table of the governor. The new residence, which was built for Napoleon, lies some hundred paces from the old house. The governor of the island occupies it at present; the best proof that the air there is not so unhealthy as the emperor described it.'

We suppose Dr. Meyen would wish us to keep up Longwood in the style of one of the temple-tombs of the Grand Moguls; but we suspect, the Prussian government, which so strenuously insisted on the living man's incarceration, would not volunteer to defray any part of the cost of such an establishment.

In conclusion, we think it right to add, that although Dr. Meyen has professedly reserved his scientific discoveries for his forthcoming volumes, a great quantity of curious botanical, zoological, and geological information is contained in the two now before us. The work when completed will, we have no doubt, be generally considered as a valuable addition to the German library; and we hope in due time to see it in an English dress.

ART. III.—A History of Architecture. By Thomas Hope, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1835.

HOW is it that the English gentry, so many of whom are possessed of wealth, leisure, and cultivated minds, have hitherto displayed so little real attachment to that branch of the refined arts which is the subject of Mr. Hope's book? The question is not easily answered, though the fact must be universally admitted. It is the more remarkable, because our national habit of travelling furnishes opportunities of acquiring architectural knowledge beyond those enjoyed by any other people. Not only have a large proportion of our educated classes possessed extraordinary facilities for the acquisition of such knowledge, but the general diffusion of wealth throughout the country has enabled them to exemplify their skill in practice. In no part of the modern world has so extended a demand for buildings, public and private whether for utility or embellishment-at any time arisen. Has the effect corresponded with the means?-Has the exercise of the art evinced a general acquaintance with its principles ?Among the numberless structures which have sprung up in every

corner

corner of the kingdom, is there one in a hundred which, for purity of design, harmony of parts, or becoming effect, at all indicates a judicious application of the sums expended? The most slender acquaintance with the structures recently reared on the Continent can leave no doubt on the mind of any rational man that, as compared with some of our neighbours, our success has been in the inverse ratio to our means. We observe nowhere any fixed or acknowledged maxims of taste-no received standard of excellence; nor do we discover anywhere a body of men sufficiently able and united to make their opinions heard or respected. To help to rectify this state of things, we cannot do better than recommend the example of the laborious and accomplished author of the present History. Mr. Eustace, in enumerating the most essential acquirements of a traveller, long ago said,—

'No art deserves more attention than architecture, because no art is so often called into action, tends so much to the embellishment, or contributes more to the reputation of a country. It ought therefore to occupy some portion of time in a liberal education. Had such a method of instruction been adopted a century ago, the streets of London would not present so many shapeless buildings, raised at an enormous cost, as if designed for eternal monuments of the opulence and of the bad taste of the British nation.'

General taste has assuredly not improved since the time when these sentiments were recorded. It is impossible to speak of the architecture of Brighton, or of some of the new quarters of London and Edinburgh, with too much reprobation. Such an exhibition as these present is a positive disgrace to the country and to the age in which they have been reared. Mr. Eustace wrote feelingly, and perhaps under consciousness of his own scanty stock of the science which he so strongly recommends to others. The same deficiency has been felt by hundreds of his countrymen in that land, whereof the history, ancient and modern, is so indissolubly connected with the triumphs of art. To those peaceful triumphs, the recollections, the literature, and conversation of the inhabitants perpetually recur. A scientific acquaintance with art becomes thus a necessary preparation for every gentleman who would travel in Italy-even if for no other object than that of social gratification.

'In the works of ancient authors,' observes Mr. Hope, allusions to the productions of ancient artists are so frequent; so much do the productions of Greek painters and sculptors explain and illustrate the speculations of Greek orators and poets; so much do the same history, mythology, and philosophy furnish the subjects for both,-that it seems almost impossible for the love of ancient letters anywhere to acquire great strength, and the love of ancient art to be restrained

z 2

from