rights and aspirations of the masses; the results to general
policy that naturally follow upon increase of population,
perfecting of arms and munitions of war, admixture of foreign
blood with the body politic, and such like matters. The heads of
events being noted, it seems to be left to the reader to fill in
the details from his imagination, and from his knowledge of
contemporary affairs. For instance, suppose the reign of Queen
Victoria were to begin after this fashion:--"1837, 5th moon,
Kalends, Victoria succeeded: 9th moon, Ides, Napoleon paid a
visit: 28th day, London flooded; 10th moon, 29th day, eclipse of
the sun"; and so on. At the time, and for many years--possibly
centuries--afterwards, there would be accurate general traditional,
or even written, information as to who Victoria was; why Napoleon
paid a visit; in what particular way the flood affected England generally;
from what parts the eclipse was best visible, etc. These details would
fade in distinctness with each successive generation; commentators
would come to the rescue; then commentators upon commentators;
and discussions as to which man was the most trustworthy of them all.

Under these circumstances it is difficult enough for the Chinese
themselves to construct a series of historical lessons, adequate
to guide them in the conduct of modern affairs, out of so
heterogeneous a mass of material. This difficulty is, in the case
of Westerners, more than doubled by the strange, and to us
inharmonious, sounds of Chinese proper names: moreover, as they
are monosyllabical, and many of them exactly similar when
expressed in our letters, it is almost impossible to remember
them, and to distinguish one from the other. Thus most persons who
make an honest endeavour by means of translations to master the
leading events in ancient Chinese history soon throw down the book