Although the ancient institutes and laws, the established forms of office, the pageantry of administration, were all retained, and the dress, the manners, and external deportment of the vanquished were assumed by the victors, yet the native character remained distinct; and now, in the higher departments of office especially, it bursts through all disguise. The conscious superiority of the one checks and overawes the other. "Most of our books," observes Lord Macartney, "confound "the two people together, and talk of them as if they made only one nation under the general name of China; but, "whatever might be concluded from any outward appearances, "the real distinction is never forgotten by the sovereign who, though he pretends to be perfectly impartial, conducts him"self at bottom by a systematic nationality, and never for a "moment loses sight of the cradle of his power. The science " of government in the eastern world is understood by those "who govern very differently from what it is in the western. "When the succession of a contested kingdom in Europe is "once ascertained, whether by violence or compromise, the "nation returns to its pristine regularity and composure: it "matters little whether a Bourbon or an Austrian fills the "throne of Naples or of Spain, because the sovereign, whoever he be, then becomes, to all intents and purposes, a Spaniard or Neapolitan, and his descendants continue so "with accelerated velocity. George the first and George the "second ceased to be foreigners, from the moment our sceptre "was fixed in their hands; and his present majesty is as much "an Englishman as king Alfred or king Edgar, and governs "his people not by Teutonic but by English laws.

"The policy of Asia is totally opposite. There the prince regards the place of his nativity as an accident of mere indif"ference. If the parent root be good, he thinks it will flourish "in every soil, and perhaps acquire fresh vigour from transplantation. It is not locality, but his own cast and family; "it is not the country where he drew his breath, but the stock "from which he sprung; it is not the scenery of the theatre, "but the spirit of the drama, that engages his attention and "occupies his thoughts. A series of two hundred years, in "the succession of eight or ten monarchs, did not change the "Mogul into a Hindoo, nor has a century and a half made Tchien-Lung a Chinese. He remains, at this hour, in all

66

"his maxims of policy, as true a Tartar as any of his an

"cestors."

Whether this most ancient empire among men will long continue in its stability and integrity can only be matter of conjecture: but certain it is, the Chinese are greatly dissatisfied, and not without reason, at the imperious tone now openly assumed by the Tartars: and though they are obliged to cringe and submit, in order to rise to any distinction in the state, yet they unanimously load them with

"Curses, not loud, but deep, mouth-honour breath.”*

Whenever the dismemberment or dislocation of this great ma chine shall take place, either by a rebellion or revolution, it must be at the expense of many millions of lives. For, as is well observed by Lord Macartney, "A sudden transition from slavery to freedom, from dependence to authority, can sel"dom be borne with moderation or discretion. Every change "in the state of man ought to be gentle and gradual, other"wise it is commonly dangerous to himself, and intolerable "to others. A due preparation may be as necessary for li berty as for inoculation of the small-pox, which, like liberty, "is future health, but, without due preparation, is almost cer"tain destruction. Thus, then, the Chinese, if not led to "emancipation by degrees, but let loose on a burst of enthusiasm, would probably fall into all the excesses of folly, suf"fer all the paroxysms of madness, and be found as unfit for "the enjoyment of rational freedom as the French and the 66 negroes."

'

* The last accounts, indeed, that have been received from China, are rather of an alarming nature. A very serious rebellion had broken out in the western provinces, which had extended to that of Canton, the object of which was the overthrow of the Tartar government. It was known for some years past, as I before observed, that certain secret societies were forming in the different provinces, who corresponded together by unknown signs, agreed upon by convention; but they were not considered to be of that extent as to cause any uneasiness to the government. It appears, however, that not fewer than forty thousand men had assembled in arms in the province of Canton, at the head of whom was a man of the family of the last Chinese emperor, who had assumed the imperial yellow. These rebels, it seems, are considerably encouraged in their cause by a prophecy, which is current among the people, that the present Tartar dynasty shall be overturned in the year 1804. The existence of such a prophecy may be more dangerous to the Tartar government than the arms of the rebels, by assisting to bring about its own accomplish

ment.

CHAP. VIII.

CONJECTURES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE. THEIR RE

LIGIOUS SECTS-TENETS-AND CEREMONIES.

Embassy departs from Pekin, and is lodged in a Temple.-Colony from Egypt not necessary to be supposed, in order to account for Egyptian Mythology in China. -Opinions concerning Chinese Origin.-Observations on the Heights of Tartary. Probably the Resting-place of the Ark of Noah.-Ancients ignorant of the Chinese.-Seres.-First known Intercourse of Foreigners with China. Jews.-Budhists.-Nestorians.-Mahomedans.-Roman Catholics.-Quarrels of the Jesuits and Dominicans.-Religion of Confucius.-Attached to the Prediction of future Events.-Notions entertained by him of a future State.-Of the Deity.-Doctrine not unlike that of the Stoics.-Ceremonies in Honour of his Memory led to Idolatry.—Misrepresentations of the Missionaries with regard to the Religion of the Chinese.—The To-atze, or Sons of Immortals.Their Beverage of Life.-The Disciples of Fo or Budhists.-Comparison of some of the Hindu, Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese Deities.-The Lotos or Nelumbium.-Story of Osiris and Isis, and the Isia compared with the Imperial Ceremony of Ploughing.-Women visit the Temples.-Practical Part of Chinese Religion.-Funeral Obsequies.-Feast of Lanterns.-Obeisance to the Emperor performed in the Temple leads to Idolatry.-Primitive Religion lost or corrupted.-Summary of Chinese Religion.

THE suspicious and watchful conduct of the Chinese government towards strangers was ill suited to the free and independent spirit of Britons. Confined within the limits of their hotel, the populous capital of China was to them little better than a desert. It was, therefore, less painful to be obliged to quit a place which they could consider in no other light than as an honourable prison, and to take leave of a people, whose general character seemed to be strongly marked with pride, meanness, and ignorance. After having passed some time in a nation where every petty officer is a tyrant and every man a slave, how doubly precious do the blessings of that true liberty appear, which our happy constitution affords to every one the means of enjoying at home; where property is secured from violence, and where the life of the meanest

N n

subject is equally protected with that of the prince. Let those visionary men, who amuse themselves in building Utopian governments, and those who, from real or fancied injury or neglect, feel the chagrin of disappointment, visit other countries, and experience how justice is administered in other nations; they will then be taught to confess that real liberty exists only in Great-Britain-in that happy island where, to use the expression of an eminent writer on the laws of nations,* "an enlightened piety in the people is the firmest support of "lawful authority; and, in the sovereign's breast, it is the "pledge of the people's safety, and excites their confidence."

Impressed with such sentiments, on the evening of the 7th of October, I rode through the streets of Pekin, for the last time, in company with Mr. Maxwell. We were quite alone; not a single Chinese servant, nor soldier, nor officer to conduct us ; yet we had no difficulty in finding our way. We passed through the broad streets of this capital from one extremity to the other without the least molestation, or, indeed, the least notice. We could not forbear remarking the extraordinary contrast, that the two greatest cities in the world exhibited at this hour of the day. In the public streets of Pekin, after five or six o'clock in the evening, scarcely a human creature is seen to move; but they abound with dogs and swine. All its inhabitants, having finished the business of the day, are now retired to their respective homes, to eat their rice and, agreeably with the custom of their great emperor, which to them is a law, to lie down with the setting sun: at which time, in London, the crowd is so great from Hyde-Park corner to Mile-end, as to interrupt each other. In Pekin, from the moment the day begins to dawn, the buzz and the bustle of the populace is like that of a swarm of bees; whilst, on the contrary, the streets of London at an early hour in the morning are nearly deserted. At eight in the evening, even in summer, the gates of Pekin are shut, and the keys sent to the governor; after which they cannot be opened, on any consideration.

The embassador and the rest of the suite, with the soldiers, servants, and musicians, had, several hours before us, set out in a sort of procession, in which an officer of government on horseback took the lead, with the letter of the emperor of China to the king of England slung across his shoulders, in a wooden

Vattel.

case covered with yellow silk. At a late hour in the night, we joined the rest of the party in the suburbs of Tong-tchoo-foo, where we were once more lodged among the gods of the nation, in a temple that was consecrated to the patronizing deity of the city. There are no inns in any part of this vast empire; or, to speak more correctly (for there are resting-places,) no inhabited and furnished houses, where, in consideration of paying a certain sum of money, a traveller may purchase the refreshments of comfortable rest, and of allaying the calls of hunger. The state of society admits of no such accommodation, and much less such as, in many countries, proceeds from a spirit of disinterested hospitality: on the contrary, in this country, they invariably shut their doors against a stranger. What they call inns are mean hovels, consisting of bare walls where, perhaps, a traveller may procure his cup of tea for a piece of copper money, and permission to pass the night; but this is the extent of the comforts which such places hold out. The practice, indeed, of travelling by land is so rare, except occasionally in those parts of the country which admit not the convenience of inland navigations, or at such times when these are frozen up, that the profits which might arise from the entertainment of passengers could not support a house of decent accommodation. The officers of state invariably make use of the conveniencies which the temples offer, as being superior to any other which the country affords; and the priests, well knowing how vain it would be to resist, or remonstrate, patiently submit, and resign the temporary use of their apartments without a murmur.

In most countries of the civilized world, the buildings appropriated for religious worship and the repositories of their gods, are generally held sacred. In the monasteries of those parts of Europe, where inns are not to be found, the apartments of the monks are sometimes resorted to by travellers; but, in China, the very sanctum sanctorum is invaded, Every corner is indiscriminately occupied by men in power, if they should require it, Sometimes, also, the whole building is made a common place of resort for vagrants and idlers, where gamblers mix with gods, and priests with pick-pockets. In justice, however, it must be observed, that the priests of the two popular religions which predominate in the country shew no inclination to encourage, by joining in, the vicious practices of the rabble; but having no pay or emolument from the government, and being rather tolerated than supported, they are obliged to submit to, and