Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/66

 infanticide in China, is wholly confined to the female sex; boys, it is imagined, can provide sufficiently well for themselves; are likely to repay, by their labour, the care and expense bestowed on them; and contribute to the building up of the family name and fortunes; in all of which matters, girls are of little value. Hence the birth of a son is hailed, in every Chinese family, with delight; while the house is only filled with lamentation, on the appearance of a wretched daughter. A son is, therefore, valued and cherished, while a daughter is despised and neglected. This feeling, carried to excess, leads many, in extreme poverty, to perpetrate infanticide, in the one case; and to practise forbearance, in the other. Again, the abominable custom alluded to, is not taught or enjoined by any religious system prevalent in China—either Confucianism, Taou-ism, or Buddhism; it is not done to propitiate the gods, as was the case, formerly, amongst the cruel worshippers of Moloch; nor do the natives expect to reap any spiritual advantage, by giving "the fruit of their body for the sin of their soul;" but the Chinese perpetuate this infernal custom merely from parsimonious motives, and just to save themselves the care and expense of bringing up a useless and troublesome being, who is likely to cost more than ever she will fetch, on being sold out in marriage. It prevails, therefore, in proportion to the general indigence of the people, and affords by its prevalence, a criterion by which to judge of the density of the population, and the poverty of the inhabitants. Hence, we find that it obtains more in the southern provinces, where the numbers of human beings exceed the powers of the soil to produce sufficient sustenance; or, in a crowded