at the head of his remaining Scotsmen, he
charged the gaping Britons, whereupon a
general rout ensued, in which the king was
slain.

Matters being thus settled in Britain, Hamlet
returned with both his wives to Jutland,
where he found himself involved in a
constitutional difficulty. The people had, it is
true, raised him to the head of the provincial
government on the death of Fengo,
but then this post was in the gift of the
Danish crown; and though Hamlet's
maternal grandfather Ruric, from family
considerations, might have been induced to
forego some of his rights, that venerable
monarch was no more, and his successor
Wigleth was a person who would not bate
an inch of his privileges. Indeed, the new
king had already despoiled Gerutha of all
her possessions on account of the delinquency
of her son. A war between the king and
the irregularly elected viceroy resulted
from this false position, but when the two
armies came in sight of each other, Hamlet,
who had had several gloomy forebodings,
wished to shun the contest. At last he
yielded to the persuasions of his second wife
Hermutruda, who promised that she would
follow him, and kill herself in the event of
his death. A conflict ensued, in which
Hamlet was slain, whereupon Hermutruda
immediately married Wigleth, and thus
became Queen of Denmark.

CANTON CITY.

THREE hundred and forty years ago, the
first western barbarians went round the Cape
to China. They were Portuguese, who very
soon got into difficulties with the Chinamen,
and were restricted to Macao; Spanish ships
to Amoy. The French were early at Canton;
but their trade was insignificant, and for three
hundred years only some three or four ships
entered this port during a twelvemonth. The
Chinese say that the first Dutch ships came
to Canton two centuries and a half ago,
Spaniards and Portuguese opposing them,
and that the trade of the Dutch, in these
parts, fluctuated for two centuries. Denmark
and Sweden sent also annually a few ships;
but of late few have been seen.

Englishmen first went to China about the
year sixteen hundred and thirty-five. We
found our way thither by way of the East
Indies, in several ships, the commander of
which carried letters from the viceroy of Goa
to the governor of Macao. Ignorant of Chinese
manners, the Englishmen thought these letters
sufficient to secure a trade.

The commander of this expedition was
Admiral Wedell. At Macao he was told by
the Portuguese, that the Chinese would not
trade with the English. Wedell, not trusting
much in this information, sent Mr. T. Robinson
and Mr. T. Mounteney, and Captain
Carter, with a bark and a pinnace, manned
with above fifty men, to the mouth of the Canton
river; the approach to which was utterly
prohibited to the Portuguese. Such audacity
produced a great stir in the city, and a fleet of
about seventy junks, under an admiral, met
the English and requested them to anchor;
which they did. The Chinese having
ascertained that no real harm was meant, and that
these bold, outside barbarians wished only to
deliver an humble petition to the Chinese
viceroy for trade purposes, consented to take
some of the English to Canton, if they would
promise to proceed with their boats no farther
up the river. Captain Carter, T. Robinson,
and T. Mounteney, ventured therefore on the
journey to Canton on board a junk. When
they came to a place about five leagues from
the town, where the news of their arrival
produced great excitement, the Mandarins,
in a friendly manner, begged them to return to
their own ships. If they would directly return
to Macao, assistance would be given them to
procure a right of trade. These fair words
covered anxiety about a little Chinese fleet
bound for Japan. When that was out of
harm's way, there was sent to the English a
flat denial of their wish. The English vessels
then proceeded to the Canton river, where
they anchored before a dismantled castle, and
it was declared to the Mandarins that the
desire of the English was to be permitted to
traffic with the Chinese on the terms granted
already to the men from Portugal.

The Mandarins promised to bring their
request before the viceroy, and desired them
to wait six days for an answer. This time
was employed by the Portuguese in blackening
the English, and denouncing them as beggars,
thieves, and horrible barbarians. The Chinese
secretly armed the dismantled fort with
forty-six pieces of heavy ordnance, besides
making other warlike preparations. After
the fourth of the six days, they began to fire
against an English ship. The shot did no
harm; but, on the provocation of it, the whole
English fleet weighed anchor, and the ships
sent, during a few hours, broadside after
broadside against the fort. When the boats
landed with about one hundred men, the
Chinese fled, and the fort was taken. The
English destroyed what they could, and
captured a few junks, to give the Chinese
a sufficient hint that they were not men
to be dealt treacherously with. Having
done this, they expostulated with the
Mandarins, and renewed their request for liberty
of trade. Two Englishmen were then admitted
into Canton, were received courteously by
the high Mandarins, and arrangements were
made to the satisfaction of both parties.
Such was the commencement of our
intercourse with China.

Thus our commerce for two hundred years
was limited to Canton; and, although the
entrance to the inner city was forbidden,
there was not much stress laid on this
prohibition, and the foreigner could walk about