are sustained until they die of obesity, or perish by scurvy. No persons are permitted to slay or eat these animals, lest the spirits of their ancestors should be residing in them, and the murderers be guilty of parricide, and the consumers of cannibalism. Their mercy to the brute creation, however, is not so singular as their providing for hungry ghosts; we may, therefore, be excused for alluding to this practice a little more fully.
According to the precepts of Confucius, children are bound to sacrifice to their deceased ancestors; and at the anniversary of their parents' death, as well as at the annual feast of the tombs, all persons must present offerings to the manes of their progenitors. These sacrifices are not offered as an atonement or propitiation; the pardon of sin, or restoration to the Divine favour, do not enter into the minds of the Chinese whilst performing these duties; but merely the support of the departed individual. The ghosts are supposed to feed upon the provisions offered up; and, in consequence, forbear to annoy their descendants; or, it may be, exert some influence in their favour. As the food, however, does not decrease in bulk after being feasted on by the spirits, the Chinese imagine that the flavour only is taken away, while the substance remains. These ethereal beings, they think, content themselves with the more subtle and imperceptible parts of the food, leaving the grosser particles to be devoured by the worshippers; while the Chinese contend that there is no more taste in the sacrificial food, after the ceremony is over, than in the white of an egg. Thus, those who leave children and grandchildren, are well provided for by their descendants; but, alas! for those
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