Manchurian Books

This, however, could not have been the case: and, as the
pirates have spies among the servants in every house, they were
unfortunately but too well acquainted with the circumstance.
During my stay in Canton, the house of a European was pulled down by
the populace, because it stood upon a piece of ground which, though
Europeans were allowed to occupy, they had not hitherto built upon.
In this manner there was hardly a day that we did not hear of acts
of violence and mischief, so that we were in a continual state of
apprehension, more especially as the report of the near approach of
a revolution, in which all the Europeans were to perish, was
everywhere bruited about. Many of the merchants had made every
preparation for instant flight, and muskets, pistols, and swords
were neatly arranged ready for use in most of the counting-houses.
Luckily, the time fixed for the revolution passed over, without the
populace fulfilling its threats.
The Chinese are cowardly in the highest degree; they talk very large
when they are certain they have nothing to fear.


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