A Corner of Cathay: Studies from Life Among the Chinese

A Corner of Cathay: Studies from Life Among the Chinese is a chatty book giving the experiences of the author among the people of Southern China in the neighborhood of Swatow. Like everyone else who has lived in the interior of the country, Miss Fielde entertains a profound admiration for the industry and frugality of the people, and an equally deep abhorrence of the way that justice is administered. Her chapter on legal processes is instructive reading for those who are under the impression that the Chinese Government possesses the right to be called civilized. She describes faithfully the various preliminary processes, legal and illegal, through which a plaint has to pass before it is adjudicated upon: - "The amount of money given to the underlings of the court determines the speed with which the complaint reaches the hands of the magistrate; and then, if there be no personal gain in the case, the magistrate gives the plea no attention, plaintiffs being many, and lucrative business pressing." A common method of extortion practiced by the underlings charged with a summons is thus described: - "The family usually flees at the appearance of the constables, and the latter smash dishes and break furniture until some responsible negotiator presents himself a bribe and a breakfast is offered, but the harpies are not easily appeased. They bluster, poke holes with their staves in the tile roofing, batter the iron pans, dislocate the tables, and threaten arrest, until a sum of money, as large as the afflicted family can, by begging, borrowing, and pawning, scrape together, is handed over to them. Meanwhile, they are invited to smoke opium; a fowl is caught and put in the pot; pork and wine are bought, and a meal that must not be less than a banquet, is served to them. Not until they have wrung the utmost possible out of their victims can they be induced to depart." No wonder that the common saying likens a mandarin's yamen to a tiger's den. The Chinese student is as diligent in his work as the laborer and mechanic are in their respective callings. Miss Fielde describes accurately the usual course of study, and tells some amusing stories of the zeal of advanced scholars-one, for example, of a student "who, being afflicted with drowsiness when at his nightly studies, thrust a needle through his flesh so that pain might keep him awake"; and another of a youth "whose active body revolted against sitting at his books, and who cured himself of a constant disposition to rise and leave them, by placing a pail of cold water where his feet would be immersed in it whenever he stood up." Miss Fielde tells a plain unvarnished tale pleasantly and well. It contains what she herself has seen and heard in her daily experiences among the people, and is illustrated by some very characteristic colored native drawings. -"The Athenaeum"