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- produce the tranquil frame of mind which is necessary for the study of the most difficult of all languages. Indeed, in the quietest times, it has always been felt that there were many obvious objections to both the Mandarin and the Cantonese dialects. He has written to me as follows:-
(1.) I think that it is not advisable to send young men fresh from England to live as they liked at Canton, without any guidance or supervision whatsoever.
Dr. Burdon, the Anglican Bishop of Victoria, is a peculiarly qualified judge of this question; for, like Sir Barry Parkes, he can speak Mandarin very well. It is desirable that some of the Officials permanently resident in Hong Kong should be able to speak Mandarin. Hong Kong is now much used as a place of "call" for Chinese high officers passing between Canton and the "North, and consequently the Governor must be required from time to time to come into direct intercourse with them. Occasionally, I presume, matters...