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Article A VISIT TO CANTON. ← Page 11 of 14 →
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A Visit To Canton.
The Viceroy received us with the most zealous demonstrations of Chinese politeness , which the numerous mandarins by whom the Governor-General at Canton was surrounded emulated one another in imitating . There is a wide difference between the obsequious familiarity and the impertinent curiosity of the Chinese functionaries , during this interview , and
the natural dignity and quiet reserve which is generally seen in Turkish officials . It is a difficult matter to deal seriously and in earnest with these statesmen , who play with the lining of your dress , scrutinize its embroidery , and who see in the credentials of an ambassador merely a piece of parchment curiously figured , which is immediately submitted to the examination of all those lower menials who in China assist
at the most secret conferences . Ki-ing , who in truth was quite as little grave in his official deportment as the subaltern mandarins around him , was-a man of at least sixty years . His erect figure and firm step seemed to promise a green old age ; and under the effeminate folds of his long Chinese robe might still be seen the intrepid Tartar , used of old to contests
with the tigers and bears in the-forests of the Mantchourie . In other respects the physiognomy of the Viceroy did not answer to our expectation : there was' a general character of simplicity and ¦ kindness , but scarcely any trace of superior intellect ; nor was it easy to read in that vacant look of indifference the political ability of which Ki-ing had iven so
g many proofs during the negotiations of 1842 , and the complicated events which followed the treaty of Nan-King . A member of the ; imperial- family , however , Ki-ing must , like the humblest of the Chinese , have attained by his personal merit the elevated rank which he occupied in the empire . Public offices in China ' rarely devolve on the relatives of the
emperor . Most of these princes , who have greatly increased in number during the two last centuries , vegetate in idleness , often in misery , and have no other resources than the slender pension granted them . Every man in China , as in Turkey , owes his position to his own talents , and to the imperial favour ; the meaning of the word parvenu is unknown to the
Chinese . There are , it is true , in the Celestial Empire hereditary titles of nobility , which are gradually degraded one degree in each generation , and are not extinct until the fifth ; but these titles confer no privilege . The members of the imperial family and the Chinese nobles have no more control over the affairs of state than rich private individuals who purchase the button and rank of a mandarin by their liberal-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Visit To Canton.
The Viceroy received us with the most zealous demonstrations of Chinese politeness , which the numerous mandarins by whom the Governor-General at Canton was surrounded emulated one another in imitating . There is a wide difference between the obsequious familiarity and the impertinent curiosity of the Chinese functionaries , during this interview , and
the natural dignity and quiet reserve which is generally seen in Turkish officials . It is a difficult matter to deal seriously and in earnest with these statesmen , who play with the lining of your dress , scrutinize its embroidery , and who see in the credentials of an ambassador merely a piece of parchment curiously figured , which is immediately submitted to the examination of all those lower menials who in China assist
at the most secret conferences . Ki-ing , who in truth was quite as little grave in his official deportment as the subaltern mandarins around him , was-a man of at least sixty years . His erect figure and firm step seemed to promise a green old age ; and under the effeminate folds of his long Chinese robe might still be seen the intrepid Tartar , used of old to contests
with the tigers and bears in the-forests of the Mantchourie . In other respects the physiognomy of the Viceroy did not answer to our expectation : there was' a general character of simplicity and ¦ kindness , but scarcely any trace of superior intellect ; nor was it easy to read in that vacant look of indifference the political ability of which Ki-ing had iven so
g many proofs during the negotiations of 1842 , and the complicated events which followed the treaty of Nan-King . A member of the ; imperial- family , however , Ki-ing must , like the humblest of the Chinese , have attained by his personal merit the elevated rank which he occupied in the empire . Public offices in China ' rarely devolve on the relatives of the
emperor . Most of these princes , who have greatly increased in number during the two last centuries , vegetate in idleness , often in misery , and have no other resources than the slender pension granted them . Every man in China , as in Turkey , owes his position to his own talents , and to the imperial favour ; the meaning of the word parvenu is unknown to the
Chinese . There are , it is true , in the Celestial Empire hereditary titles of nobility , which are gradually degraded one degree in each generation , and are not extinct until the fifth ; but these titles confer no privilege . The members of the imperial family and the Chinese nobles have no more control over the affairs of state than rich private individuals who purchase the button and rank of a mandarin by their liberal-