According to a Chinese petition presented on one occasion to the Emperor, it is believed that the English, by introducing opium into that country, did so as a means of its subjugation, presuming, we may suppose, that the Celestials were invincible, except by some such cabalistic means. “In the History of Formosa,” says this document, “we find the following passage: ‘Opium was first produced in Kaoutsinne, which by some is said to be the same as Kalapa or Batavia. The natives of this place were at the first sprightly and active, and, being good soldiers, were always successful in battle. But the people called Hung-maou (red-haired) came thither, and having manufactured opium, seduced some of the natives into the habit of smoking it. From these, the mania for it spread rapidly through the whole nation; so that in process of time the natives became feeble and enervated, submitted to foreign rule, and ultimately were completely subjugated. Now the English,’ it continues, ‘are of the race of foreigners called Hung-maou. In introducing opium into this country, their purpose has been to weaken and enfeeble the Central Empire. If not early aroused to a sense of our danger, we shall find ourselves, ere long, on the last step towards ruin.’” The degradation or subjugation of the Chinese is much more likely to be affected by a habit concerning which we hear less, but which is infinitely more disastrous than the indulgence in opium. This is the brandy-drinking customs of the north. This horrible drink, distilled from millet, is the Chinaman’s delight, and he swallows it like water. Many ruin themselves with brandy, as others do with gaming. In company, or even alone, they will pass whole days and nights in drinking successive little cups of it, until their intoxication makes them incapable of carrying the cup to their lips. “Gambling and drunkenness,” says Abbé Huc, “are the two permanent causes of pauperism in China.” It is unfortunately the custom for the distillers to supply brandy on credit for a whole year, so that a tippler may go on for a long time drawing from this inexhaustible spring. His troubles will only begin in the last moon—the legal period of payment. Then, indeed, he must pay, and with usury; and as money does not usually become more plentiful with a man from the habit of getting drunk every day, he has to sell his house and his land, if he has any, or to carry his furniture and his clothes to the pawnbroker’s. In the south, there is less brandy-drinking, and more gambling; but between the two there is little to choose, as either impoverishes those who devote themselves to its service, and to which even opium-smoking is preferable.