196 THE WHAMPOA PAGODA. Even now, Chinqua, in my fancy am I with thee on the summit of the Porcelain Tower, and thou art pointing out to me the most attractive objects in the extended landscape that stretches far and wide; and once more I hear thee pronounce thy favourite maxim, applying it to the surrounding scene-"Something is learned by the wise every time a book is opened." The Pagoda just above Whampoa is an imposing object; take it away, and you would sadly injure the interest of the scene. This pagoda of nine stories, standing like a princely giant among the mean dwarfish hovels of the fishermen, is a goodly spectacle. Had it been built of marble, as some have imagined, instead of the blue brick of which it is really composed, it would not have presented the time-worn appearance it now does. Trees are growing in the ravages that time has made in its walls; clustering wall-flowers adorn its galleries, and plants of various kinds spring forth from its crevices. They spread and hide, with flow'rets free, With such a lesson full in view, Should hide each other's failings too. The Chinese are very fond of great bells. We talk of our great bell of St. Paul's, our Great Tom of Lincoln, our Peter of Exeter, and our Great Tom of Oxford. Why, many of the wooden THE GREAT BELLS OF CHINA. 197 clappered bells of the cities of China weigh a hundred thousand pounds! But bells, like other things, are great only by comparison; for the great bell of Moscow, which weighs more than three hundred and sixty thousand pounds, is three times the weight of any Chinese bell that I know of. Never yet have I discovered the wisdom of casting such enormous clamourers; but different people have different views. That such large bells could ever be fairly rung, is not a supposable case. A peal of treble bob majors or grandsire cators on a number of them, would make, I should think, the inhabitants of a city as deaf as a post. Moscow and Pekin, keep your huge monsters to yourselves, and give me the Sabbath bells of old England! CHAPTER XXI. MANUFACTURES, TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS. Embroidery. Glass Porcelain. - Lacquer-ware. Silks. DID you ever sit down to compare England with other nations, and Englishmen with other people? If you ever did, you must have risen from your seat with a closer attachment to your country, and a warmer glow of affection for her people. In every nation under the skies you may find, if you look for them, some good qualities set forth, but in old England you may find them all. When a boy goes abroad to gather nuts, he plucks as he goes along, perhaps one from a bough and two from a bush, and then comes suddenly to a spot where the fruit hangs in clusters on the same spray. It is thus with the good qualities of the head and the heart; in other climes you see them "few and far between," but in old England they PORCELAIN, AND LACQUER-WARE. 199 grow in clusters. Put Queen Victoria with her people in one scale, and the emperor Taou Kwang with his three hundred millions in the other, and the "Son of Heaven" will kick the beam, even if you put in with him the Chinese wall to keep him down. I must now say something about the trades of China. Nations get more by trading than by fighting with each other; by fighting they break each other's heads, but by trading they may comfort each other's hearts. The manufactures of China are in many respects excellent. The Porcelain, or China-ware of the Celestial Empire, notwithstanding the attention paid in Europe to this manufacture, as yet, remains unrivalled, though this is no doubt owing, in a great degree, to the excellence of the material found in China: the clay which the Chinese make use of, is not to be found equally fine in any other part of the world. As the manufacture of porcelain undoubtedly originated with the Chinese, we should regard ourselves as indebted to them for a very great extension of our comfort and pleasure. In the manufacture of lacquer-ware the Chinese are very clever. When the articles in wood are neatly made, they are covered with paper, which is fastened to them with gum, or glue, or hog'slard. A thin surface of porcelain earth is next applied, and smoothed down, when dry, with a stone. The ornaments and figures are painted 200 EMBROIDERY, AND GLASS-BLOWING. thereon, and then washed, over and over again, with the lacquer or varnish. Some of this lacquerwork is very beautiful. In the preparation of a superior description of silk, the Chinese have attained great excellence. From remote ages, the emperor of China, for the time being, has directed the plough, and the empress planted the mulberry tree, being the food of the silkworm. The embroidery of the women of China is admirable, and still more so that of the men, who produce wondrous workmanship. Many a pretty sketch might be taken of ladies sitting at their balusters or gay verandahs, busily occupied at their agreeable toil, as well as of humbler and homelier females, closely engaged in work at the green lattices of their several abodes. Glass-blowing is a curious art, in which the Chinese excel. Head-dress ornaments, ear-rings, and armlets; jugs, bottles, and flowers; pens, pencils, and rings; with ornamental birds and beasts, fishes, and insects, are rapidly produced; while one assistant blows the bellows for the glass-blower, and another relieves him from the heat of the furnace with his fan. In the manufacture of spangles from copper wire, and in the laying on of feathers, forming with them feather mosaic, the people are equally adroit. Great skill and patience are shown in these works. |