LOBSCHEID.
Aim, the mark or targot 把,打把的,紅心,正鵠,射把; object, 意思大意,大志; scheme, 謀計 謀; to take aim, 描準,描正描中; to learn to take aim, 學描頭,學準頭; to have taken a good aim, 好描 頭; to he elever at airning.好眼法好眼界, to miss one's aim, 打陪中; to fail in one's object 不得已意, 唔謀得成; to aim at a mark, 描把打把描準; to point at, 指向; tw attempt to obtain,求得; to aim at gain, 圖: to aim at one's destruction, 敗人名節,立意損害,陰毒害人; to sim at in conversation, 暗指; to aim at much, 求多; to talk without aim 三级四; to aiin at excelling, 求勝,不肯輸人,唔分輸; to aim high, 凌志在凌人; to sim at by improper means, 求繳倖
MEDHURST,
Aim, the mark at which a person shoots E; the object of pursuit, ; intention, design, 謀
Aim, trust not, at much, A.
MORRISON.
CHALMERS.
Aim, [the latter character is wrong; the word together conveys no meaning.]
It would be difficult for Mr. Mayers to show me a single dictionary published without any pronnciation of one of the Chinese dialects. The dictionaries of Morrison, Medhurst and Williams are as much Mandarin colloquial as mine and are yet published with the pronunciation of that dialect. Medhurst's so called Hokien dictionary is no more Fokien than Williams' Canton Vocabulary is Mandarin, and yet nobody has ever attacked him on that ground; hence people must conclude that there is only one man in China who understands what he says about Chinese affairs, aud with him wisdom is surely to die.
The supposed difficulty of distinguishing between the two pronunciations is only imaginary. Every person knows that cach character is followed by two different pronunciations, of which the Punti is the first and the Mandarin the Unless you have the two pronunciations printed with two different characters (which would have increased the labour enormously) a full stop was the best mark that could be used, and only a person who is determined to detract from the value of the work can possibly raise any objection to so simple and practical a distinction.
next.
As to the renderings of the various religious denominations, Mr. Mayers must know, that when the Chinese shall have studied Church history and made themselves acquainted with what an Englishman understands under orthodox and what a Russian or Italian means by the same term, that then shorter definitions can be substituted for the present renderings; whilst now they would be as unintelligible as Greek or Italian. If men acquainted with the Chinese language cannot distinguish between Mandarin colloquial, and Mandarin pronunciation, as Mr. Mayers, people will not wonder at the ease with which a reviewer as the prosent can misgnide the public as to the character of a work. His remark on the Justice of Peace is a specimen of that kind. If in a prefecture you ask: "Who is the Police Magistrate P" the answer will be:
; if you ask; "Who is the Judge of Summary Jurisdiction ?" you will hear that it is the same functionary; ask: "Who is the Treasurer ?" and you will be referred to the same person, who besides unites a dozen more appointments under the one title The most ridiculous thing is, that the heads of the various departments in Hongkong, as the Registrar General, the Superintendent of Police, &c., are all called and call themselves. The same is applicable to the assistants in the Consular offices, who all, however young and unexperienced, pass under the venerable title, Croat Venerable Sire. [Is that in accordance with the Treaty ?] These distinctions are now as inseparably attached to those appointments as the same term is to a man who exercises his powers over several millions of people. The office of Justice of the Peace cannot be defined by an equivalent in any Chinese term. We must look for men who have at times duties to perform similar to that expressed by the English term and thus express the idea approximately, until laws and institutions in China have been changed. The two characters which Mr. Mayers renders by aid-de-camp have here in the South and par ticularly in the districts, also a different meaning, and are applied to persons who have from time to time to go on a tour of inspection for the purpose of investigating matters and of reporting them to the proper authorities, whenever their importance exceeds their limited powers.
(the latter character in the Herald is wrong) Mr. Mayers does not fare better. A
With reference to the
person has power or authority in the same degree as he is punishable for not exercising it. The payment of taxes, public order, &c., is demanded of the, who played so conspicuous a part in the late war of China with England and
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France, and are the municipal powers in the towns and districts throughout China. The terms which he proposes ander "complaint" (viz: and do occur in petitions and law-suits, but have nothing to do with "coun plaint" and Mr. Mayers cannot give a single instance in which these words are rendered or can be rendered “complaint.” Another specimen of inacuracy of the existing dictionaries so much lauded by Mr. Mayers may be seen from the following extract. Dr. Medhurst calls a Governor-General "governor of two provinces," and governor of a province he calls lieutenant governor of one province," and applies to him the term, a title of honor which belongs to the Governor-General. He further states that anciently was equivalent to, whilst the Imperial Statutes of the present Dynasty state to the equivalent with or perfect.
According to the preceding designation we must call the Governor-General of British India Governor of four presidences, and the Governor of Madras Lieutenant governor of Madras. Such definitions would have been styled "German" by Mr. Mayers, though now they are not only given by an Englishman, but by the best Sinologue of China. Eved Mr. Chalmers has been unfortunate enough to render Governor by and H.
I would in conclusion advise Mr. Mayers to attend to his duties of Consular Assistant, in order to avoid the necessity of dragging him before the public as a slanderor, as such an epithet is sure not to advance his promotion.
W. LOBSCHEID.
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