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 A CANTON LADY.

A LADY in China passes her life in strict seclusion. Her little world is her home, her companions the ladies of her own household, or relatives of her own sex. If married, she has a separate suite of apartments for herself, children, and maid servants. If she pays a visit, a sedan chair conveys her from her own door ; silken curtains screen her from the public gaze ; and thus protected, she is borne to the ladies' quarter in her friend's home, with jealous privacy and concealment. When seated among her friends she partakes of tea and a pipe, and displays in her conversation a far greater knowledge of the outer world than one might at first have expected. In passing through the streets her eyes have been busy between the spaces of her blinds, and she has formed her own impressions of the faces and figures as they went by. However contented she may be, her lot must at least appear monotonous to the ladies of western lands Her life ,s hedged round with so many restrictions ; she is not even permitted to monopolize the privilege of wearing false ha,r, for the gentlemen use it extensively, to add to the length and attractiveness of their queues. Neither are they free to dress as they may choose, for there is an Imperial edict which regulates her attire. I question however whether this law, which thus hampers the Chinese lady, is a more rigorous despot than fashion, which in our own country' sways the gentler sex.

I shall have occasion to notice the Chinese ladies in a future part of the work, and I shall then show the costumes which prevail in different quarters of the Empire.

THE LADY'S MAID.

THIS maid is a slave girl, bought in childhood for a trifling sum from her poor parents, as female children are at a sad discount in many parts of China, where infanticide is still practised. This girl has been reared in the bosom of the family, and trained to wait on the ladies of the household, to attend to the children, and to make herself generally useful. In this picture she is represented on her way to market, the slave enjoying more freedom in going abroad than does her mistress. In her left hand she holds a small lacquered-ware case for cakes and confections, and in her right a huge fan to screen her from the sun. It is wonderful to notice how careful the poorest women in China are of their complexions, how they dread being tanned by the sun, and how universally the fan is employed as a sunshade, as well as for keeping down the temperature of the body ; excessive heat and cold being considered two of the leading causes of disease. Even the men delight in a pale skin, and may be seen during summer wearing the fan spread out to shade the face, and fixed to the head by means of the tail.

A BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM.

MY fair readers will gather from what has gone before that women's life in China is by no means an enviable lot. The monotony of creation with them is enlivened by none of the entertainments which ladies find indispensable in our own quarter of the globe. No balls, no concerts, conversaziones or picnics, no private theatricals, no— not even a lecture— save from a venerated husband's lips, who jealously keeps watch over their actions, and, with careful mistrustfulness, confines them within doors. It has been suggested that the custom of pinching their feet, now regarded as an essential element of female beauty in China, originated in the selfish jealousy of man. For as ladies could not be trusted to go about alone, it was considered necessary to make them cripples, so that they might never appear abroad without attendants to assist them. Be that