which it is time to advert, illustrates their foreign relations. But, from the peculiar genius of their policy towards other countries, it may be readily conceived that these are topics which cannot occupy a very conspicuous portion of their literature. It is indeed, as Sir George Staunton in his well-written preface remarks,

but rarely, and with apparent reluctance, that the Chinese writers notice foreign nations at all. Thus, relations of voyages and travels, and narratives of foreign negotiations and expeditions, which are so numerous, and read with so much avidity amongst us in Europe, are of very rare occurrence among the productions of the Chinese press; even of those limited communications and transactions with the neighbouring powers, which of recessity occasionally take place, but few traces appear in their published writings; and the following work is, in fact, the only one which the Translator has met with of any authority, which strictly belongs to this class, and at the same time enters at some length into the detail of the principles of their external policy.' Preface, p. 9.

The Chinese title of the book is Yee-yeu-loo, "A description "of foreign countries." The notices, however, of the countries travelled through, are short and incidental. The more immediate object of the work is, the proceedings of the embassy upon which the Author was sent by the Emperor of China, in 1712, to the Khan of the Tourgouths; a tribe of Calmuc Tartars, who then inhabited the banks of the Volga. The ambassador details, in the form of a journal, the incidents that occurred on his journey, and his intercourse with the Russians and Tourgooths; and then concludes with a recapitulation of the whole, in the form of an official report of the Embassy. The mission was a remarkable event in Chinese history. It was a laborious and hazardous expedition to the distance of several thousand miles, through the terri.ories of powerful and often hostile states. The descriptions of the scenery, inhabitants, and remarkable objects which were seen on the route, are, it is true, meagre and unsatisfactory; but the form of narration assumed by the Writer, has led him to describe the manners and notions of his own countrymen, as frequently as those of the people whom he visits; a peculiarity which, to an English reader, gives it considerable value, as China is naturally an object of greater curiosity than Tartary or Siberia. It derives a further interest from its supplying a link in the chain of history, in respect to those pastoral nations of Asia, which was previously wanting; since it is only from this Narrative, that the connexion between China and the Tourgouth tribes of Tartars, receives the slightest degree of elucidation.

It also throws some light on the Russian intercourse with China. In 1719, it is well known, that some untoward circum.

stances having interrupted the trade of Russia with the Chinese, an embassy was sent from Moscow, of which the public have long been in possession of a curious and interesting account by Mr. Bell, an English gentleman wh was attached to it. It is a satisfactory proof of the authenticity of the Chinese work, that there is a general coincidence in the narratives of these nearly contemporary expeditions.

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The result of Lord Amherst's mission is well known. But it seems from the uniform language of the Chinese Author, that the extravagant pretensions and haughty demands of the imperial court, which had in 1806 defeated the embassy from Russia, and afterwards frustrated that of the British government, were by no means the fruit of a modern policy, but of ancient and established precedent, and acted upon by the most enlightened princes of the Tartar dynasty.

We could not suppress a smile, when Tu-li-shin, the Ambassador and Author of the narrative, after enumerating the of ficial situations which be held previous to his envoyship, proceeds to state with the utmost simplicity, the fact of his having been dismissed from a former employment for want of capacity; an acknowledgement of rare occurence in the official departments of other countries.

It happened that on the day when I was first presented at court, one of the assistant secretaryships to the council of state became vacant; and the counsellors having been pleased to recommend me as worthy of some mark of royal favour, the emperor was graciously moved to promote me in consequence to that superior office. I was, about the same time, appointed to inquire into certain deficient branches of revenue, and after accomplishing that service, but previous to my return to the capital, I was nominated to the superinten dance and custody of the sacred animals belonging to the department of the Supreme Court of Rites and Ceremonies. Unfortunately, my talents and capacity proved inadequate to the proper discharge of my several duties, and I failed to answer the expectations which the em peror in his gracious goodness had formed, when he thus selected and employed me. Having been in consequence censured and dismissed altogether from the public service, I retired to Lin-loo, where I remained seven years and upwards, devoting my time to the culti vation of my farm and to the service of my parents. At length, when it was determined to send a special mission to the kingdom of the Tourgouths, I humbly addressed a petition to his majesty to be employed on the occasion, that I might thus have an opportunity of evincing the grateful sense I entertained of the many favours I had at former times enjoyed under the imperial government. Being admitted in consequence to the imperial presence, I had again the hap piness of witnessing the benign influence and excellent effects of the sacred virtues of his majesty, by whom I was restored to my former

rank and offices, and further honoured with his majesty's special commands to proceed on the service I had solicited.' pp. 6-9.

The instructions (in the form of an imperial edict) given by the Chinese monarch to his Ambassador, are very remarkable. We select the following passage.

'On the occasion of your interview with Cha-han-khan,' (Peter I., Czar of Russia,) if you are asked what we principally esteem and reverence in China, you may thus reply. In our empire fidelity, filial piety, charity, justice, and sincerity are esteemed above all things. We revere and abide by them. They are the principles upon which we administer the empire as well as govern ourselves. In the face of danger we firmly adhere to them. There have been many who have even fearlessly encountered death rather than abandon them. We likewise make many sacrifices and oblations; we pray for good things, and we deprecate evil things; but if we did not act honestly, if we were not faithful, pious, charitable, just, and sincere, of what avail would be our prayers and our sacrifices! In our empire, therefore, there is no hostile array of shields and spears, no severe punishments.'

pp. 13-14. The above piece of imperial morality may be considered as a species of summary of the Confucian system of faith. But, whatever might have been the purity of Chinese polity in the reigns of the earlier monarchs of the Tartar family, we fear that the government of that immense empire has gradually descended from this moral elevation. The provinces are far from being exempt from intestine war; and the disclaimer of severe inflictions upon offenders, we conceive to be entirely without foundation in the whole annals of China. In no country have the frequency and brutality of corporal punishment more hardened the heart, and diffused a more general indifference to human suffering, than in China. To say nothing of the bamboo, which is perpetually at work, the kang, or wooden collar, is a daily punishment; and Mr. Ellis, the secretary to Lord Amherst's mission, describes the punishment of face-slapping as peculiarly harsh and degrading. It was inflicted, he tells us, with a short piece of hide; the hair of the culprit was twisted till his eyes almost started from their sockets, and on his cheeks, which were much distended, blows were repeatedly struck the executioners, he adds, seemed to delight in his sufferings.

But the Embassy yields considerably, in point of interest, to the other contents of the volume, which Sir George Staunton has subjoined in the form of an appendix. It consists of an abstract of part of a Chinese novel, some notices of Chinese plays, an extract from a Chinese herbal, and a collection of documents from the Pekin Gazette. It is worthy of remark, that the Gazette is a most important state-engine in China, and exhibits a restless anxiety to conciliate public opinion upon all questions of

policy; and it is pleasing to observe how much a government, which, in theory, is a pure despotism, is practically mitigated by the influence of that public feeling which controls by a silent but visible operation, the exercise of supreme power even in its sternest and most odious forms. This solicitude to secure the public approbation, is strikingly manifested in an edict relative to the punishment of a disobedient general.

* 24th and 25th of the 6th moon of August 15th and 16th, 1800. the 5th year of Kia King. J

· IMPERIAL EDICT.

The power residing with the sovereign is chiefly displayed in the distribution of rewards and punishments. The exercise of this power ought to be guided by exact impartiality and a scrupulous attention to the public good, to the exclusion of private interests. Excessive liberality in rewards, is often productive of ingratitude from those on whom it is conferred. Extreme severity of punishment, is disheartening and oppressive. On the other hand, if merit fails to meet with its reward, a due encouragement to others is withheld. If a guilty action is unpunished, the principles of correction and amendment are abandoned.

⚫ These maxims are ever to be kept in view, but more especially in military matters. For, if a superior officer who violates the laws is suffered to escape, what motive is held out to excite the courage of others? But above all, when we see myriads of our subjects, our children, perishing in consequence, their unburied remains arresting our attention, must not this touch and rend the heart of their father and sovereign? Shall we then protect and skreen an unworthy officer, the author of such great calamities? The imperial line of Ta-tsing has not given to the empire a master so incapable. In order to the expiation, therefore, of the crimes whereof the late vice-roy Quay-lung stands convicted, an extraordinary edict, declaratory of our pleasure thereon, shall shortly be made public.'

It seems that this edict was shortly after issued; and it directed that Quay-lung should be permitted to be his own executioner, that is, should be privately strangled in prison.

Another edict extracted from the Pekin Gazette nearly of the same date, elucidates one of the usages of this remarkable people.

• IMPERIAL EDICT.

The marriage of the third Imperial Princess Ho-je, being appointed to take place in the ensuing Spring, the Tribunal of Mathematics is ordered to select a fortunate day for its celebration."

We lament that our space is too circumscribed to permit us to make an extract from the abstract of the novel. Our readers will probably recollect the little Chinese Romance published by Dr. Percy, which, though appearing under the disadvantage of

a double translation, conveys a juster and more lively picture of the actual state of manners and society in China, than any other work in our language. We could have wished on this account, that Sir George Staunton had not given us reason to believe that he had wholly abandoned his Chinese pursuits; an intimation we receive with great sorrow, because the novels and romances of that country must necessarily lay open views of the national habits and character which, in our present imperfect intercourse with it, must be wholly out of our reach. For, with all the massive tomes which have been written upon China, we are lamentably ignorant of its domestic society: a feature which the catholic missionaries, who had exclusively the means of observing it, have altogether overlooked. It was with the hope of obtaining this interesting species of information, that Mr. Manning passed ten years on the skirts of the empire-with fruitless perseverance, since he was never permitted to advance a mile into the interior.

The dramatic works of the Chinese are less adapted to reward the labour of the translator. They are too local and national to impart pleasure as mere compositions; and if minute beauties of style and diction are lost in the translation, what sources of interest will remain? The dramatic dialogue, drily rendered, and unaided by the action, can present only an imperfect outline of that interesting picture of life and manners, which in their novels and romances is filled up in its minutest details. We could have wished, however, that our Author had conferred upon us a few remarks relative to the present state of their drama, in addition to the slight sketch drawn by Mr. Davis, a young, but distinguished Chinese scholar, published in his introduction to the "Heir in his Old Age," translated by that gentleman *

All travellers, however, seem to agree with regard to the grossness and puerility of their dramatic representations. Mr. Ellis represents them as mere pantoninies, and observes of one of them, that the part of a stag was the best performed. But it has never been satisfactorily explained why they should exhibit these miserable puppet-shews before foreign ambassadors, while they have regular comedies and tragedies which are constantly represented at their own entertainments. Mr. Davis conjectures, that their characteristic contempt for foreigners has persuaded them to think that noise and dumb-shew are more suited to the capacities of their visiters, and that more intellectual exhibitions would be thrown away upon them.

It would be affectation, were we not to waive all observations on the critical merits of these translations, or not to acknowledge

* V. Eclectic Review, N.S. Vol. XII. p. 167. et seq.