There are Consular representatives at Cardiff, Dublin, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, Newcastle, Southampton; Adelaide, Auckland, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Montreal, Sydney.

2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN CHILE.

Minister and Consul-General.-John Gordon Kennedy, appointed Oct. 1, 1888.

There are Consular representatives at Coquimbo, Valparaiso, Antofagasta, Arica, Iquique, Punta Arenas, Talcahuano.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Chile.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Memorias presentandas al Congreso nacional por los Ministros de Estado en los departa mentos de Relaciones Exteriores, Hacienda, &c. Santiago, 1889.

Estadística comercial de la República de Chile. 8. Valparaiso, 1888.

Synopsis estadística y geográfica de Chile 1888. Santiago, 1889.

Reports on Means of developing British Trade in Chile, in No. 34; on Native Woollen Manufactures, in No. 60; on Condition of British Trade in Chile, in No. 61; on Trade of Valparaiso, in Nos. 120 and 227; of Coquimbo, in No. 145, of Diplomatic and Consular Reports, 1887.

Reports by Mr. Thomas on the Agricultural Condition of Chile, in Nos. 369 and 407; on Foreign Trade of Chile, in No. 385; on the President's Message, in No. 409, of Diplomatic and Consular Reports,' 1888.

Reports on the Nitrate Industry of Chile, in Nos. 122 and 142 of Reports on Subjects of General and Commercial Interests,' and on the Trade of Chile in No. 634 of Diplomatic and Consular Reports,' 1889.

Trade of Chile with Great Britain, in Annual Statement of the Trade of the United King dom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions in the year 1888. Imp. 4. London, 1889.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Arana (Diego Barros), La guerre du Pacifique. Paris, 1882; and Historia general de Chile.

Asta-Buruaga (Francisco S.), Diccionario geográfico de la República de Chile. 8. New York, 1867.

Ball (John), Notes of a Naturalist in South America. London, 1887.

Bates (H. W.), South America. London, 1882.

Fonck (Dr. Fr.), Chile in der Gegenwart. 8. Berlin, 1870.

Gay (Claudio), Historia general de Chile.

Guerre entre le Chili, le Pérou et Bolivie en 1879. Paris, 1879.
Innes (G. Rose-), The Progress and Actual Condition of Chile.
Muckenna (Vicuña), Obras históricas sobre Chile.

8. London, 1875.

Markham (C. R.), The War between Chile and Peru, 1879-81. London, 1883.
Pissis (A.), Geografia fisica de la Rep. de Chile. 8. Paris, 1875.

Rosales (R. P. Diego de), Historia general del Reyno de Chile. 3 vols. 8. Valparais, 1877-78.

Wappaus (Prof. J. C.), Die Republiken von Süd-Amerika, geographisch und statistisch. & Göttingen, 1866.

CHINA.

(CHUNG KWOH, THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.')

Reigning Emperor.

Tsaitien, Emperor-Hwangti-of China; born 1871; the son of Prince Ch'un, seventh brother of the Emperor Hien-fung; succeeded to the throne by proclamation, at the death of Emperor T'ung-chi, January 22, 1875.

The present sovereign, reigning under the style of Kwangsü, is the ninth Emperor of China of the Manchu dynasty of Ts'ing, which overthrew the native dynasty of Ming, in the year 1644. There exists no law of hereditary succession to the throne, but it is left to each sovereign to appoint his successor from among the members of his family of a younger generation than his own. The late Emperor, dying suddenly in the eighteenth year of his age, did not designate a successor, and it was in consequence of arrangements directed by the Empress Dowager, widow of the Emperor Hien-fung, predecessor of Tung-chi, in concert with Prince Ch'un, that the infant son of the latter was made the nominal occupant of the throne. There were two dowager Empresses concerned in the arrangements-the 'Eastern,' the Empress widow of Hien Fêng, and the Western,' the mother of the T'ungchi Emperor. The Western' still lives, and has lately withdrawn from power. Having become of age the young Emperor nominally assumed government in March 1887. The Emperor did not assume full control of the government till February 1889, when the Empress Dowager withdrew. He was married on February 26, 1889.

Government.

The laws of the Empire are laid down in the Ta-ts'ing-hweitien, or Collected Regulations of the Ts'ing dynasty,' which prescribe the government of the State to be based upon the govern. ment of the family.

The supreme direction of the Empire is vested in the Chün Chi Ch'u, the Privy Council, or Grand Council. The functions of the Nei-ko are administrative generally. The admistration is under the supreme direction of the Nei-ko or Cabinet, comprising

four members, two of Manchu and two of Chinese origin, besides two assistants from the Han-lin, or Great College, who have to see that nothing is done contrary to the civil and religious laws of the Empire, contained in the Ta-ts'ing-hwei-tien and in the sacred books of Confucius. These members are denominated 'Ta-hsioshih,' or Ministers of State. Under their orders are the Ch'i-pu, or seven boards of government, each of which is presided over by a Manchu and a Chinese. Formerly there were only Liu-pu or six boards, but towards the end of 1885 the seventh, or admiralty board (Hai-pu), was created by imperial decree. These boards are:(1) the board of civil appointments, which takes cognisance of the conduct and administration of all civil officers; (2) the board of revenues, regulating all financial affairs; (3) the board of rites and ceremonies, which enforces the laws and customs to be observed by the people; (4) the military board; (5) the board of public works; (6) the high tribunal of criminal jurisdiction; and (7) the admiralty board.

Independent of the Government, and theoretically above the central administration, is the Tu-ch'a-yuen, or board of public censors. It consists of from 40 to 50 members, under two presidents, the one of Manchu and the other of Chinese birth. By the ancient custom of the Empire, all the members of this board are privileged to present any remonstrance to the sovereign. One censor must be present at the meetings of each of the Government boards.

Area and Population.

Hitherto the population of China, it is believed, has been much over-estimated; a recent estimate of the population of China Proper will be found below. The following table gives a statement of the area and population of the whole of the Chinese Empire according to the latest estimates:

The territory of Corea is sometimes added to this total. According to official data referring to 1842 the population of

the 18 provinces of China proper was 413,000,000; other estimates gave 350,000,000; and the most recent unofficial calculation reduces the population to 282,000,000. In the following table the figures with an * are from Chinese official data for 1882; those with a † have the population of 1879; Fukien is estimated on the basis of the census of 1844.

After the settlement of the hostilities with France, Formosa was separated from Fukien and made an independent province under a governor.

According to a return of the imperial customs authorities, the total number of foreigners resident in the open ports of China was 8,269 at the end of 1888. Among them were 3,682 British subjects, 1,020 Americans, 811 Japanese, 607 Germans, 467 Frenchmen, and 363 Spaniards, all other nationalities being represented by very few members. About one-half of the total number of foreigners resided at Shanghai.

Religion.

Three religions are acknowledged by the Chinese as indigenous or adopted, viz. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

The Emperor is considered the sole high priest of the Empire, and can alone, with his immediate representatives and ministers, perform the great religious ceremonies. No ecclesiastical hierarchy is maintained at the

public expense, nor any priesthood attached to the Confucian religion. The Confucian is not the State religion, if the respect paid to the memory of the great teacher can be called religion at all. The Emperor, as the 'sole high priest,' worships and sacrifices to Heaven' every year at the time of the winter solstice.

With the exception of the practice of ancestral worship, which is everywhere observed throughout the Empire, and was fully commended by Confucius, Confucianism has little outward ceremonial. The study and contemplation and attempted performance of the moral precepts of the ancients constitute the duties of a Confucianist.

Buddhism and Taoism present a very gorgeous and elaborate ritual in China, Taoism-originally a pure philosophy-having abjectly copied Buddhist ceremonial on the arrival of Buddhism, 1,800 years ago.

Large numbers of the Chinese in Middle and Southern China profess and practise all three religions. The bulk of the people, however, are Buddhist. There are probably about 30 million Mahometans, chiefly in the north-east and south-west. Roman Catholicism has long had a footing in China, and is estimated to have about 1,000,000 adherents, with 25 bishoprics besides those of Manchuria, Tibet, Mongolia, and Corea. Other Christian societies have stations in many parts of the country, the number of Protestant adherents being estimated at 50,000.

Most of the aboriginal hill-tribes are still nature-worshippers, and ethnically are distinct from the prevailing Mongoloid population.

Instruction.

Education of a certain type is very general, but still there are vast masses of adult countrymen in China who can neither read nor write. There is a special literary or lettered class who alone know the literature of their country, to the study of which they devote their lives. Yearly examinations are held for literary degrees and honours, which are necessary as a passport to the public service; and in 1887, for the first time, mathematics were admitted with the Chinese classics among the subjects of the examinations. Recently, Western literature, and especially works of science, have been introduced in translations, and schools for the propagation of Western science and literature are continually on the increase. The principal educational institution for this purpose is the Tung Wên Kwan,' or College of Foreign Knowledge, at Peking, a Government institution, where the English, French, German, and Russian languages, and mathematics, astronomy, meteorology, chemistry, natural history, physiology, anatomy, and Western literature are taught by European and American professors, while the Chinese education of the pupils is entrusted to eminent Chinese teachers. There are besides several colleges under the control of some of the numerous Roman Catholic and Protestant missionary bodies at Shanghai; and a number of smaller or clementary schools at Shanghai and other ports, where the English language and lower branches of Western science only form the subjects of study. The Chinese Government has of late years established naval and military colleges and torpedo schools in connection with the different arsenals at Tientsin, Shanghai, and Foochow, in which foreign instructors are engaged to teach such young Chinese as intend to make their career in the army or navy of their country Western modes of warfare, besides Western languages and literature. Two Chinese newspapers have for several years flourished at Shanghai, and the success they have achieved has led to the establishment of others at some of the other treaty ports.