Pekin, answeir, notwithstanding thedifficuky which must arise
— from the minuteness ofthe type necfessSrÿ'for each partit
cuiar stroke ; a difficulty'which, wheniall the‘types are
not necessarily of so sihall&sizæ* hasbeeffvdvereoirieby -a
very ingenious and learned gentleman, in printingkhe
Persian language in Bengal; and'the further^clifl|cu3|^^
o f uniting, in the impression,, the several strôke&ï marked
-by separate types, of aJGhinesefeharacter, whichddêjs
not exist in printed European languages, >wfe#é the le t-
tersof the same word seldom touch-each other.-'
The Chinese are*satisfied, whenevertfe^ame-charac-
tersvery frequendy-occur, as in the public kâlendars arid
gazettes, to use types for such, cut apart, and«u^'as$émal.lÿ
inserted'within the frames where theyîà>É^%Shtedf“ji
Gazettes are frequently published in Pekin, under the
authority of governmen&i^The various'.appointments
throughout the empire, -th e favours granted' by^trbè
Emperor, all his public afcts, &s-remission of'4âxés. to
districts suffering by dearth or other genei^l-calamity,
his recompense of extraordinary services','the embàssïës
sent, and the tribute paid, to him, foim a considerable
part of the public news. The domestic details bfdiifs
household, or of his private life, are seldom, ifté v é t;
mentioned. Singular events, instances of longevity,
sometimes the punishments of offences committed by
mandarines* are there recorded. Even some instances of
the adultery of women, which is a punishable, tho not
a capital', offeneef?aieVrb6easionally publisHed^lpefhaps,
by way of ^ctoA:iifgVd.thers ®5om thes commission of the
like enormitiess?t While^Bina'-was ht ?'foar,J'il-s} victories,
a fw b ll^ /fe iisup|jfession?Q'^f^^ll5i0firsf,l were; announced i
In aliT6the^®es" the world, inrpoint-df iriteTlipnee,’ is
bodfinedcto China.
Beside .thei.clas^e'’works of thesChifi^se/of which the
multfptibatibn' b y -printing .is prodigious* thedlighter! literature
dKthe-’c o u h try -^ inconsiderableloccupation
to thWpflssilThe^iyAare vfGfiisna, ho weverlmpnded
Tri a® English:aress,- byarvery respectable dramatic poet,
m^bercdhsidefed as'no unfavourable specimen of Chi-
n e ^ ’tragedy.; andjthe Pkd&ingHistory of which an English
translation, uffier me Cafe of a learned and ingenious
prelate, twas pub®Med^eVeM'years« ago, is an instance
of Chinese tnoVel writirfp'that is interesting and simple ;
and for .serious'- readers^ the ?zeal of Christianity had induced;
:the missionaries to procure thej publicatiorinof
several works in the Chinese 'tongue, in proof of the
tenets which they preached.
Notwithstanding the vigilant police bf the Chinese
magistrates, books disapproved b y them are privately
printed arid disseminated in China. It is. not! easy .to
prevent, or even always to'* defect', theloperations of a
trade which, beside paper and ink, require little more
than some pieces of board, and, a.knife to cutout characters
upon them. The books thus published furtively,