soudden, an' cried out." Indeed, he fell upon
the neck of the lad he loved so dearly, sobbing
out, " My bairn, my bairn, my lile, lile
bairn!"

"I'll nit gang t' Lunnon," sobbed, on his
part, Oby. " I'll nit be a gentleman, nor
mak' my fortune. For thou hast been Lunnon
and gentlefolk, and fortune, and a' th'
warl tu me, an' I will na leave thee!"

The Constitution coach went to London
that night; but without Oby. He did not go
next week, next month, next year; he never
went. If I were writing a romance I should
dearly love to tell how Oby grew up strong,
clever, and prosperous, and in due time
wedded one of the fair maids of Dodderham.
But alas! this is but the story of a true hard
world that I heard in a little country inn.
The lad had been delicate from his cradle,
and he died before he was twenty-two years
of age. Lile Jack followed him to the grave,
and the tears that fell upon his coffin pattered
louder than the dust that the gravedigger
sprinkled on it.

FRANCIS MOORE IN CHINA.

OF the innumerable native books circulated,
throughout China, "there are in the empire,"
say they, " only the Wooking, or Five
Classics, and the Sz'-shoo, or Four Books,
that have been handed down from the ancients."
The former consists of one hundred and
four volumes, and treats of the ancient history
of China, its wars, its various governments,
customs, poetry, and other matters. The latter
is a classical and authentic summary of the
doctrines and sayings of Confucius, and of his
leading disciples. These two may be regarded
as the standard works of Chinese literature
and the class-books in their schools. A
careful study of them is supposed to make
a proficient scholar, thoroughly acquainted
with the whole duty of man. Of course these
classics rank high in the estimation of all the
people.

However, there is one class of publication
besides, which, though it does not bear so
antique and classical pretensions, is probably
equally popular. It is an annual, regularly
published, and found in the hands of every
person, and on the counter of the commonest
tradesman. It is the Almanac. There are
various forms and editions of it, some full,
others abridged; sometimes pocket manuals,
sometimes sheet almanacs. But the original,
which is the largest and most complete edition,
is that drawn up by the Astronomical
Board of Pekin, sanctioned by imperial authority,
issued by government at the opening
of the year, and sold at every huckster-stall
at the small price of three-farthings or one
penny. It is a complete register of the months
and days of the year according to the Chinese
system, its various divisions, agricultural
seasons, commercial terms, official sessions
and adjournments, religious festivals, and the
anniversaries of the Emperors and Empresses
of the reigning family.

Occasionally a few astronomical notations
are put down; but generally the movements
of the celestial bodies, and notices of solar
and lunar eclipses, are omitted. Silence on
these points is maintained,—not that the
members of the Astronomical Board are ignorant
of them; for astral observations, accurate
and minute, are regularly taken by that
Academy, and duly recorded for the premonition
of the official courts through the
country. In this work intended for the public,
however, as little allusion is made as possible
to such points, rather out of deference to the
popular bondage to judicial astrology, it being
the universal belief that sun, moon, stars, and
comets— their motions, eclipses, and rotation—
influence the destinies of mankind. Still further,
while scarcely anything is said of the
mysterious motions of the heavenly bodies, so
much is explained of the prognostics that fall on
each day as to allay the suspicions and quiet
the anxieties of the populace. For this purpose,
professed and skilful astrologers are
consulted—men respected for their acquaintance
with the science of interpreting astral
movements, determining the magic power of
the celestial orbs on human fate, and pronouncing
what days are lucky or unlucky.
According to the verdict of these men, the
character of each day is set down, and transactions
suitable for every day are named.
Accordingly this calendar Is studied with no
little curiosity by a great proportion of the
masses in China, for positive information when
they may, or may not, lave their persons,
shave their heads, open shop, set sail, celebrate
marriage, or perform any other act of life.

As specimens of instructions of this nature,
recorded in the Imperial Almanacs, we
quote from the Calendar for the last year,
commencing with our February eighth, eighteen
hundred and fifty-three,—the Chinese
New Year's day: on the first day of the first
moon—

You may present your religious offerings (such as
fowls or fish); you may send up representations
to heaven (thanks, prayers, vows—by burning
gilt paper, straw-made figures, or fireworks in infinite
variety); you may put on full dress, fur caps, and
elegant sashes; you must at noontide sit with your
face towards the south; you can make up matrimonial
matches, or pay calls on your friends, or get married;
you may set out on a journey, get a new suit of
clothes commenced, make repairs about house, &c.,
or lay the foundation of any building, or set up the
wooden skeleton of it, or set sail, or enter on a
business-contract, or carry on commerce, or collect
your accounts, or pound and grind, or plant and sow,
or look after your flocks and herds.

In audition to the items specified as fit for
the first day of the month, on the second (February
the ninth) you may likewise bury your dead.

On the third—You may bathe yourself; sweep
your houses and rooms; pull a dilapidated house
down or any shattered wall.

On the fourth—You may offer sacrifices, or bathe,