These leaves are stirred quickly about with a kind of brush, and are then quickly swept off the pan into baskets. The next process is that of rolling, which is effected by carefully rubbing them between men's hands; after which they are again put, in larger quantities, on the pan, and subjected anew to heat, but at this time to a lower degree than at first, and just sufficient to dry them effectually without risk of scorching. This effected, the tea is placed on a table and carefully picked over, every unsightly or imperfectly dried leaf that is detected being removed from the rest, in order that the sample may present a more even and a better appearance when offered for sale. With some

finer sorts of tea a different manipulation is employed; the heated plates are dispensed with, and the leaves are carefully rolled into balls, leaf by leaf, with the hands.

The names whereby some of the principal sorts of tea are known in China are taken from the places in which they are produced, while others are distinguished according to the periods of their gathering, the manner employed in curing, and other extrinsic circumstances.

Bohea, of which description there are five kinds, takes its name from the mountain of Vouyee, which is covered with tea plantations. The earliest gatherings in this district are called Souchong, the Chinese name for which is Saatyang; and Pekoe, called by the cultivators back-ho, or pack-ho; Congou, Kong-fou, and other commoner kinds of Bohea tea, are made from the leaves when in a state of greater maturity. Padre-Souchong, or Pao-sut-tcha, is gathered in the province where the best green tea is próduced. This kind is esteemed on account of some medicinal virtues which it is supposed to possess.

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There are three kinds of green tea, of which one called hyson, hayssuen, is composed of leaves very carefully picked, and dried with a less degree of heat than others; it is one-fourth dearer than souchong. The kind of green

tea which is most abundant is called Singlo, which is the name of a mountain on which it grows, about one hundred and fifty miles to the southward of Nan-king. Gunpowder tea is made of tender green leaves, which yet have attained a considerable size. This kind is sometimes rolled into balls by hand, and is very highly esteemed; it sells for fifteen per cent. more than hyson. It is a commonly received opinion that the distinctive colour of green tea is imparted to it by sheets of copper, upon which it is dried. For this belief there is not, however, the smallest foundation in fact, since copper is never used for the purpose. Repeated experiments have been made to discover, by an unerring test, whether the leaves of green tea contain any impregnation of copper, but in no case has any trace of this metal been detected.

The succulent tea leaves are sometimes twisted into thin rolls or cords, about an inch and a half or two inches long, and several of these are tied together by their ends with coloured silk threads. This is done with both green and black tea.

The Chinese do not use their tea until it is about a year old, considering that it is too actively narcotic when new. Tea is yet older when it is brought into consumption in England, as, in addition to the length of time occupied in its collection, and transport to this country, the East India Company are obliged by their charter to have always a supply sufficient for one year's consumption in their London warehouses; and this regulation, which enhances the price to the consumer, is said to have been made by way of guarding, in some measure, against the inconvenience that would attend any interruption to a trade entirely dependant upon the caprice of an arbitrary government.

The people of China partake of tea at all their meals, and frequently at other times of the day. They drink the infusion prepared in the same manner as we employ, but

they do not mix with it either sugar or milk. The working classes in that country are obliged to content themselves with a very weak infusion. Mr. Anderson, in his narrative of Lord Macartney's embassy, relates that the natives in attendance never failed to beg the tea leaves remaining after the Europeans had breakfasted, and with these, after submitting them again to boiling water, they made a beverage which they acknowledged was better than they could ordinarily obtain.

The tea plant is found in our conservatories, and in such situations has occasionally put forth blossoms in this country. It is not qualified to bear a full exposure to the cold of our winter; and if even this difficulty could be surmounted, there is but little reason for wishing that it should be naturalized among us, as the amount of labour required for its culture and for the preparation of the leaves, would, at the lowest rate paid in England, raise the produce to a price out of all proportion greater than we now pay for the tea of China, burdened as it is with the expenses of a lengthened voyage, and with a government duty which doubles the selling price. Attempts have been made to cultivate the plant in Brazil, where no obstacle is offered by the climate; but the comparative dearness of labour in that quarter offers a serious barrier against the successful prosecution of the scheme.

For the Youth's Magazine.

THE CHURCH SERVICE IN ENGLAND.

BY AN EMIGRANT.

As there was no other church but the one established by law in the village in which I was born, or in any of the neighbouring villages, and my ancestors for many generations were members of that church, and as I knew no other

way of worshipping God, it is not to be wondered at if I, like many others, entertained prejudices and predilections in favour of the episcopal form. Being accustomed from my earliest infancy to listen to the sound of "the churchgoing bell," to put on my best clothes, and to go to church with my parents and, playmates on a Sunday morning, I very early indulged a feeling of respect and reverence for all that pertained to the church service. And this I may say without fear of contradiction, though I never heard an extemporaneous prayer or sermon within those conses crated walls, or ever heard of the conversion of a soul from the error of his ways within the bounds of the congregas tion, I never saw any thing disorderly or irreverent in the time of service in my life, in the old Episcopal church in which I was baptized. When the appointed hour was come, the minister, clothed in sacred vestments, came in ; every eye was fixed on him as he ascended the sacred desk; the greatest silence prevailed in the congregation; every ear was attentive to the first words that fell from his lips, and every lip was ready to respond, at the proper time, to the prayers which he offered. The old parish clerk had a most melodious and equally stentorious voice, and was always sure to let every one hear him say when it came to his turn, " Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, AMEN." The aged members were as zealous also to pronounce with an audible voice those words in the excellent litany at the end of every petition, "Good Lord, deliver us," while the young people who thought any thing of themselves, or wished to be thought respectable, were always careful to know the place in the prayer book where the collect, the epistle, or the gospel, for the day, was to be found. Indeed, it was often a matter of conversation on Sunday morning, before we went to church, what day it was, whether AdVOL. III.-9

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vent, or Epiphany, or Midlent, or Trinity Sunday, for we thought it a shame not to know what service was required of us on any and every day throughout the year. But the greatest zeal was manifested among the psalm singers, and as every one in my father's family was a singer, or an instrumental performer, or both, we were all anxious to be ready to perform that part which was assigned us. My father played the oboe, one brother the clarionet, another the flute, and another the bassoon, while it fell to my lot and that of two other brothers to take part in the singing as far as we were able. The good old clerk was always careful to say, "Let us sing to the praise and glory of God," while the singers, on the other hand, were as careful, if they did well, to take the praise to themselves. This circumstance caused a young man of rather a poetical turn to send them a compliment in the following words, to wit: "Hear, O priest, how well we sing; Let the people hear us too, Now our voices sweetly ring, Let them give us praises due. Hark, the flute ascending high; Hark, the viol sounding low; Surely none with us can vie,

Surely none could please you so."

A modern connoisseur, if he could hear the original melody and the powerful harmony of a country choir might be disposed to criticise, and justly too, the barbarous performances of uncultivated genius, but after all there was a kind of consistency belonging to the whole which may be sought for in vain in more refined and polished circles; the taste of the audience, the quaintness of the poetry, the simplicity of the melody, and the plainness of the harmony, were all in accordance with the degree of improvement exhibited by the performers. I well remember an anthem, taken from the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, in which there was a counter solo set to these words, "O Zion, that bringest good