favour of the Chinese court, by useful services in suppressing some of those extensive piracies which so frequently endanger the existence of the local government. But, above all, the long continued influence of their Missionaries at the court of Pekin, supported their interests; and their present immunities are a mere boon given in remembrance of ancient services,-and continued to them, because their perfect subserviency, and, above all, their weakness, remove from the minds of the Chinese every thing like jealousy and suspicion.

The second Dutch Embassy was followed by some privileges granted to their nation; but they are very obviously to be ascribed to the conjuncture in which they were asked, and not to the skill with which the negotiation was conducted. The insurgent Que-Sing-Kang or Caxinga, as the Portuguese misname him, was the common enemy of the Tartars and of the Dutch. He was the most formidable opponent of the first in their conquest of China, and he conquered Formosa from the latter. This united their arms; and hence arose the favours bestowed for a time on the Dutch. When they undertook their last mission in 1796, they had no such claims upon the government; and consequently they were treated with the contumely and ridicule that is known to all the world.

It was with these precedents before us, that our mission of 1792 was resolved upon. A man of great experience in diplomacy, of a fine address, and all covered with ribands and orders, was chosen as Embassador. The utter failure of this experiment is matter of notoriety to the nation, and of humiliation to the party with whom it originated: And, with regard to its reasonableness, it may be enough to observe, that Mr Barrow, who accompanied the mission, has lately declared in print, that its immediate object was just about as reasonable as if the Emperor of China had sent to demand from us a cession of the Isle of Wight.' The only point gained on this occasion, was the evasion of the ceremony of the Ku-tou: a victory, to the merit or importance of which we confess that we are still incurably blind, and for which we cannot help thinking that it was at all times absurd to contend. The Emperor,' says Du Halde, is vested with absolute authority, and, to appearance, is a kind of divinity:'----none are permitted to speak to him but on their knees; not even his eldest brother. As • soon as a person has entered the door of the hall, he must run in a graceful manner till he comes to the bottom of the chamber fronting the Emperor, where he must stand a little, with both arms stretched downwards, and after bending his knees, bow to the ground three times; then rise up again; and repeat this last ceremony the second and third time, till he is

commanded to advance, and kneel at the Emperor's feet.'Such is the ceremony of the Ku-tou-which really does not appear much more humiliating than other court ceremonies.

Now, when an embassador goes to a foreign court, it really seems to us but reasonable to suppose that he shall conform to the ceremony of that court with respect to embassadors, and not attempt to prescribe a new one. The most petty state in Europe would not submit to let this be disputed, by the greatest Sovereign in its neighbourhood ;-and shall we expect the arrogant and unchangeable Chinese to submit to it? If the result of Lord Macartney's mission had created any such expectations, they should have been corrected by what took place a few years after, in the case of that European power which ranks highest in Chinese estimation-and with which it is most for their interest to be on terms of amity. In the year 1806, the present Emperor of Russia made a third attempt to negociate with the Chinese; and a splendid embassy, consisting of no less than 500 persons, was despatched. But the habitual jealousy of the nation was neither to be lulled nor flattered. The gorgeous cavalcade had no sooner arrived at the Great Wall, than an order was received from Pekin to reduce the persons of the embassy to the number of 70. Shortly after, commenced the discussion respecting the Ku-tou, which the Russian envoy refused to perform; in return for which he was hastily and unceremoniously dismissed, without being suffered even to approach the capital.

The difficulties in conducting the trade, which had suggested the former embassy, having not only continued, but been greatly aggravated, the Court of Directors of the East India Company, in 1815, thought proper to propose a new embassy; and his Majesty's Ministers thought proper to accede to the proposition. A nobleman of the most amiable character, but without diplomatic experience, was appointed embassador; and, to remedy all defects, two of our supercargoes from Canton were joined in the commission with the plenipotentiary of his Britannic Majesty, in a country where, in the clumsy but intelligible words of the late Sir George Staunton, persons of a mercantile profession happen to be the lowest class in estimation.' If any thing could add to the folly of such a measure, it was, that one at least of the individuals, so nominated, though every way deserving of confidence and esteem, was considered by the Chinese as a dangerous person, and that this was notorious to those by whom he was appointed.

Such were the auspices under which the mission set forth on the voyage; no arrangement whatever having been made for

the ceremonial of reception, which ought surely to have been provided for before leaving England. It was not, however, till they were fairly landed on Chinese ground, that the ridiculous discussions respecting the Ku-tou commenced, the details of which fill nearly one half of the volume before us;-though we shall take the liberty to dismiss the subject with merely remarking, that every member of the mission unconnected with the local interests of the Company in China, were decidedly of opinion, that the ceremony, if insisted in, ought to be submitted to:-Lord Amherst himself, Mr Ellis, who had seen the Persian court, and Mr Morrison, who had much experience of the Chinese, and acquired an admirable facility in the use of their language, had all the good sense to consider it as a matter of very little importance, and by no means a point upon which the substantial objects of the embassy should be hazarded.

The sequel of this undertaking is well known; and we have no desire to dwell upon it,-although it must be allowed to be summed up in a style of very amiable simplicity in the paternal lecture which the Chinese monarch directed to be read to the embassador before his embarkation. Your good fortune has been small! you arrived at the gates of the imperial house, and were unable to lift your eyes to the face of heaven.' In this way two or three hundred thousand pounds have been very idly thrown away: But we are not of the number of those who apprehend any serious injury to our trade, from the failure of this expedition. The trade, luckily for us, is in a great measure beyond the reach of our political blunders, and may be soon made still more so. Nor should we be at all inclined to grudge the money that has been expended, if we could be assured that we have purchased with it the lessons of which we stand so much in need-and that there was at last an end of the infatuation of expecting to benefit our commercial relations with China, by associating them with our political power. It seems evident enough, we should think, that the state of society and government in China is such as to preclude entirely a diplomatic connexion with her, of the nature which subsists among the nations of Europe; while, in a political point of view, the country itself is so distant, and our interests so remote and distinct, that no national benefit could be expected from such a connexion. But, on the other hand, China is so vast a country, so populous, her population so ingenious, property so secure, tranquillity so general, and her productions so peculiar and so valuable, that a commercial intercourse with her, ought, to the utmost extent, to be encouraged and protected. For this purpose, we conceive all candid people will admit, that all cause of jealousy and

distrust ought to be removed from the minds of the Chinese : And the whole history of our connexion with that country most clearly evinces, that all the dangers to which our trade has been exposed, all the disgusts we have received, and all the insults we have endured, have arisen from the absurd mixture of political and diplomatic authority with the system of our commercial agency. Ours is the only nation that has made this awkward combination; and it is matter of notoriety, that, with all our superiority in wealth and mercantile integrity, ours is, beyond all comparison, the most unpopular of all names in that quarter of the world; and that it is almost exclusively to the English that the characteristic jealousy of the nation is practically directed. Of all foreigners frequenting the port of Canton,' says Sir George Staunton, the English were certainly ⚫ depicted in the most unfavourable colours to the government ' of the country; and probably treated with the greatest rigour ⚫ on the spot. Mr Barrow goes further, and offers it as his opinion, though we think erroneously, that the discussions with the English,' and the forcing upon the Chinese our broad cloths,' must eventually induce them to the measure of shutting even Canton against all European commerce.

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The factors or supercargoes of a body of merchants take upon themselves to represent the British nation, in a country where, in the strong but accurate language of Mr Barrow,

merchants, tradesmen and mechanicks, are considered far be'neath the husbandman, '--and where the man who engages ' in foreign trade is looked upon as little better than a vaga'bond.' If there was nothing more in the matter, it must seem, at the very first, excessively absurd to choose for political functionaries persons of this obnoxious description. But the absurdity must appear still greater, when it is discovered, that there is no necessity whatever for giving them any political character-and that their utility, as commercial agents, is greatly and seriously impaired by it. To understand this thoroughly, however, it is necessary to have a precise idea of the mauner in which our Chinese trade is actually conducted; which will naturally lead to some remarks on the policy which, we humbly conceive, ought now to be pursued with regard to it. The views which we are disposed to take of this question, differ, no doubt, very widely from those which have been industriously propagated by those interested persons who have hitherto monopolized, in a great measure, the information necessary to judge of it. But we have so much reliance upon the plain sense and justice of the case, and the simple eloquence of the facts we have to disclose, as by no means to despair of their ultimate, and even speedy adoption, in the practical polity

of our commerce. There are a few facts of a general and preliminary nature, which the reader would do well to bear all along in his recollection.

The East India Company's trade to China takes up about 18,000 tons of shipping annually, which, in their expensive way of equipment, cost 261. 5s. per ton, at the moment that the free, or rather licensed trade, affords freights in abundance at 127.; consequently there is a waste, and an actual loss to the public, of no less than 256,500l. There are many circumstances which contribute to this enormous disproportion. The Company's ships are, even in time of peace, armed and equipped extravagantly-and the voyage which, with the Americans, takes eleven months, takes with them always eighteen months from the period of contract. The trade, in all of these voyages, is more or less a trading voyage in the ports of India, for the benefit of the captain and officers,-the amount of which, to the nation, may be moderately estimated at 10,000l. per voyage on each ship, or, in all, 180,000l.

The affairs of the East India Company in China are managed by their Factory-which consists of twelve supercargoes, eight writers, a surgeon and assistant, with a tea inspector and his deputy. Three of the senior supercargoes form a committee, called the Select Commutee; and it is this choice junto which represents, among the Chinese, the strange mixture of political and commercial agency to which we have already alluded. The 12 supercargoes are rewarded for the good or evil they do, by a commission of 2 per cent. on the sales of the outward and homeward investments, which may be said to average yearly 120,000%. Sterling; of which the senior member of the Select Committee receives 18,000l.; and he who is worst paid of the group, gets 4000l. a year. The writers have independent salaries; and the inspectors and gentlemen of the faculty 5000l. divided between them. They have all, besides, a superb table, supplied by that most magnificent body, the East India Company,-whom the Most Noble the Marquis of Hastings compared to the merchants of lyre. To tell what is the employment of all these persons, would not be quite so easy; for we really believe they have little or nothing to do. The junior supercargoes and writers are occasionally employed in superintending the weighing of tea, or the measuring of broad-cloth, &c. &c.-until, in time, they are promoted to the Select Committee, to mix politics with the humbler duties of their employment.

It is needless, we hope, to say, that nothing can be further from our intention, than to insinuate any thing whatever to the personal