of the English, who, being a brave people, and terrible in "arms, had intimidated the Portuguese at Macao, though "without reason, as their ships of war, as usual, came only to protect their ships of commerce against their enemies." When this dispatch of the viceroy reached Pekin, the emperor was so exasperated, to think that the court had suffered itself to be misled by an European missionary, that he ordered Almeyda to appear before the master of the household, and, on his knees, to ask forgiveness of a crime, which, he was told, deserved to be punished with death; and he was dismissed, with a caution, never more to interfere with the stateaffairs of China. The whole of this curious transaction is published in the Pekin gazette of last year; so that the English have gained a considerable degree of reputation by it; so much, indeed, that the Chinese at Canton (and a great deal depends upon their representations) would have no objection to see the English in possession of Macao; for they cordially hate, I believe it is not too much to say they despise, the Portuguese; and they speak with horror of the French. What a moment, then, is this, for England to turn to its advantage!

Independently, however, of the machinations of missionaries, such is the pride and the haughty insolence of the Chinese government, that, in no instance on record, but that of the British embassy, has it ever relaxed from its long-established customs, nor acquiesced in any demands of foreign embassadors, whether the tone in which they were made was supplicating or authoritative. The forms of the court they contend to be as immutable as were the laws of the Medes and Persians. Every thing must be conducted by prescriptive usage; and no deviation is allowed from the rules which, for ages, have been established by law, and registered by the council of ordinances; much less the remission of any duty that might derogate from the reverence and respect which are considered to be due to the person of the emperor.

It may be imagined, then, that an event so new as a refusal to submit to the degrading ceremony required from an 'embassador, at his public introduction, could not fail of making a very strong impression on the minds of those about the person of his imperial majesty; who, as Mr. Van Braam says, were (and without doubt they were) much better satisfied with the complying temper of the Dutch, than with the inflexible pertinacity of the English. Yet, they did not ven

tare to lodge the latter in a stable, nor think proper to persevere in demanding unreasonable homage. Neither was any pique or ill-nature apparent in any single instance, after the departure of the embassy from the capital, but very much the contrary. The officers, appointed to conduct it to Canton, testified the most earnest desire to please, by a ready attention to every minute circumstance that might add to the comforts of the travellers, or alleviate, if not entirely remove, any little inconvenience. It was a flattering circumstance to the embassador to observe their anxiety for the favourable opinion of a nation they had now begun to think more highly of, and of whom, in measuring with themselves, it was not difficult to perceive, they felt, though too cautious to avow, the superiority.

The British embassy was a measure which it was absolutely necessary to adopt, for reasons that are stated, at full length, in the first chapter of Sir George Staunton's valuable work; and the foundation it has laid, for future advantages, more than counterbalances the trifling expence it occasioned to the East India Company, which did not exceed two per cent. on the annual amount of their trade from England to Canton. Those who had formed immoderate expectations must have little understood the laws and customs of China, which admit not the system of mutual intercourse between distant nations, by means of embassadors or resident ministers at the respective courts. Their custom is to receive embassadors with respect and hospitality; to consider them as visitors to the emperor, and to entertain them, accordingly, as his particular guests, from the moment they enter the country till they return to the boundaries of his empire. This being necessarily attended with an enormous expence,* the court of ceremonies has prescribed forty days for the residence of foreign embassadors, either in the capital, or wherever the court may happen to be; though, on particular occasions, or by accident, the term may sometimes be extended to double that time.

Thus, by consulting the accounts of the different European embassies that have been sent to China in the two last centuries, it will be found that the residence of none of them was extended to thrice the term fixed by the court of ceremonies; and two of them did not remain the period allowed.

The expence occasioned to the court of China by the British embassy, will be stated in a subsequent chapter.

The first embassy, sent by the Dutch, arrived in Pekin the 17th July, 1656, and departed the 16th October following; having remained ninety-one days.

The second Dutch embassy arrived in Pekin the 20th June, 1667; and departed the 5th August; having resided forty-six days.

The first Russian embassy arrived at the capital on the 5th November, 1692, and left it on the 17th February, 1693; having remained there one hundred and six days.

The second Russian embassy arrived at Pekin on the 18th November, 1720, and did not leave it till the 2d March, 1721; being one hundred and fourteen days.

These two embassies were immediately connected with the commercial concerns of the two nations, which were then transacted in the capital of China, but now confined to the adjoining frontiers.

The Pope's embassy arrived in Pekin on the 15th December, 1720, and departed the 24th March, 1721; being ninetynine days.

The Portuguese embassy entered Pekin the 1st May, 1753, and left it the 8th June following; being only thirty-nine days. The British embassy arrived in Pekin the 21st August, 1793, and departed the 7th October; being forty-seven days. The third Dutch embassy entered the capital the 10th January, 1795, and left it the 15th February; being thirty-six days.

On the whole, then, it may be concluded, that neither M. Grammont, nor they who conceived that an unconditional and servile compliance, on the part of the British embassador, would have been productive of more favourable results, were right in their conjectures. On the contrary, it may, perhaps, be rather laid down as a certain consequence, that a tone of submission, and a tame and passive obedience to the degrading demands of this haughty court, serve only to feed its pride, and add to the absurd notions of its own vast importance.

CHAP. II.

OCCURRENCES AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE NAVIGATION OF THE YELLOW SEA, AND THE PASSAGE UP THE PEI-HO, OR WHITE RIVER.

Different Testimonies that have been given of the Chinese Character.-Comparison of China with Europe, in the sixteenth Century.-Motives of the Missionaries in their Writings.-British Embassy passes the Straits of Formosa.-Appearance of a Ta-fung.—Chusan Islands.—Instance of Chinese Amplification.— Various Chinese Vessels.-System of their Navigation-their Compass, probably of Scythian origin-foreign Voyages of-Traces of Chinese in Americain an Island of the Tartarian Sea-in the Persian Gulph-traded probably as far as Madagascar.-Commerce of the Tyrians.-Reasons for conjecturing that the Hottentots may have derived their Origin from China.-Malays of the same Descent as the Chinese. Curious Coincidences in the Customs of these and the Sumatrans.--Cingalese of Chinese Origin.--One of the Brigs dispatched to Chu-san for Pilots.-Rapid Currents among the Islands.-Visit to the Governor.—Difficulties in procuring Pilots.-Arbitrary Proceeding of the Governor.-Pilots puzzled with our Compass.-Ignorance of.-Arrive in the Gulph of Pe-tehe-lee.—Visit of two Officers from Court, and their Present.-Enter the Pei-ho, and embark in convenient Yachts.-Accommodating Conduct of the two Officers.-Profusion of Provisions.-Appearance of the country-of the People.-Dress of the Women.-Remarks on their small Feet.-Chinese an uncleanly and frowzy People. -Immense Crowds of People and River Craft at Tien-Sing.-Decent and prepossessing Conduct of the Multitude.—Musical Air sung by the Rowers of the Yachts.-Favourable Traits in the Chinese Character.-Face and Products of the Country.-Multitudes of People, Inhabitants of the Water.-Another Instance of arbitrary Power.-Disembark at Tong Tchoo, and are lodged in a Temple.

"IF any man should make a collection of all the inven❝tions, and all the productions, that every nation, which now is, or ever has been, upon the face of the globe, the whole “would fall far short, either as to number or quality, of what "is to be met with in China." These, or something similar, are the words of the learned Isaac Vossius.

The testimony given by the celebrated authors of the Encyclopédie des Connoissances Humaines is almost equally strong;

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"The Chinese who, by common consent, are superior to all "the Asiatic nations, in antiquity, in genius, in the progress "of the sciences, in wisdom, in government, and in true philosophy; may, moreover, in the opinion of some authors, "enter the lists, on all these points, with the most enlightened "nations of Europe."

How flattering, then, and gratifying, must it have been to the feelings of those few favoured persons, who had the good fortune to be admitted into the suite of the British embassador, then preparing to proceed to the court of that sovereign who held the government of such an extraordinary nation! How greatly must they have enjoyed the prospect of experiencing, in their own persons, all that was virtuous, and powerful, and grand, and magnificent, concentrated in one point-in the city of Pekin!

And if any doubts might have arisen, on consideration that neither the learned canon of Windsor, nor the celebrated authors of the Encyclopédie, were ever in China; that the first was wonderfully given to the marvellous, and the latter had no other authorities than those of the Jesuits, and other missionaries for propagating the Christian faith; yet, ́ such doubts were more inclined to yield to the favourable side, as being supported by the almost unanimous concurrence of a multitude of testimonies, contained in the relations that havè, at various times, been published, not only by the missionaries, but also by some other travellers.

The late Sir William Jones, indeed, who deservedly took. the lead in Oriental literature, had observed, in speaking of the Chinese, that "By some they have been extolled, as the "oldest and wisest, as the most learned, and most ingeni

ous, of nations; whilst others have derided their preten"sions to antiquity, condemned their government as abo"minable, and arraigned their manners as inhuman; without allowing them an element of science, or a single art, for "which they have not been indebted to some more ancient " and more civilized race of men."

It is true, also, the researches of Mr. Pauw, the sagacious philosopher of Berlin, and the narrative of the elegant and impressive writer of Lord Anson's voyage, convey to the reader's mind no very favourable ideas of the Chinese character; yet, as the enquiries of the one were entered upon in a spirit of controversy, and directed to one single point, and the au