Chapter 46

If then, by neglecting to study the language of the Chinese, we are silly enough to place ourselves and concerns so completely in their power, we are highly deserving of the extortions and impositions so loudly complained of. If the trade of London was exclusively vested in the hands of _eight merchants_, and if the foreigners who visited its port could neither speak nor write one single word of the language of England, but communicated solely on every subject with those eight merchants, through a broken jargon somewhat resembling the languages of the several foreigners, it might fairly be questioned, without any disparagement to the merchants of London, if those foreigners would have less reason of complaint than the Europeans have who now trade to China? Even as things are, would a Chinese arriving in England find no subject of complaint, no grievances nor vexations at the custom-house, which, for want of knowing our language, he might be apt to consider as extortions and impositions? Two years ago two Chinese missionaries landed in England, in their way to the college _de propaganda Fide_ at Naples. Each had a small bundle of clothes under his arm and, according to the custom of their country, a fan in his hand. Being observed by one of those voracious sharks who, under the pretext of preventing frauds on the revenue, plunder unprotected foreigners and convert the booty to their own advantage, the poor fellows were stripped by him of the little property they carried in their hands, and were not, without difficulty, allowed to escape with the clothes on their backs. Can we blame these people for representing us as a barbarous, unfeeling, and inhospitable nation, however undeserving we may be of such a character?

Our case at Canton is pretty nearly the same as that of the two Chinese missionaries. Every petty officer of the government knows he can practise impositions on our trade with impunity, because we have not the means of bringing his villainy to the knowledge of his superiors. For, how great soever may be the propensity of the Chinese people to fraud and extortion, I have little doubt of the justice and moderation of the Chinese government, when the case is properly represented. A recent circumstance may be mentioned in support of this opinion. In the year 1801, a sailor on board his Majesty's ship the Madras fired upon and mortally wounded a Chinese who was passing in a boat. A discussion, as usual, took place with the Chinese government; but it was conducted in a very different manner from what had hitherto been usual on similar occasions. Instead of entering into any explanation or defence through the medium of the Hong merchants, who tremble at the lowest officer of government, a memorial was addressed to the Viceroy, drawn up in a proper and becoming manner by the present Sir George Staunton, the only Englishman in the Company's service who was skilled in the Chinese language. Several conversations were also held on the subject with the officers of justice, from which the Hong merchants were excluded. Captain Dilkes setting up a plea of recrimination on the ground of some Chinese having cut his cable with an intent to steal it, the government assented to have the matter tried in the supreme court of justice in the city of Canton. By the law of China, if the wounded person survive forty days, the sentence of death is commuted for that of banishment into the wilds of Tartary; yet so favourably did the court incline to the side of the accused in this instance, that although the time was not expired, and there was little hope of the wounded man recovering, they allowed Captain Dilkes to take the seaman into his own custody, requiring only that he should leave in court a written promise to produce him in case the wounded should not survive the time prescribed by law. The man lingered near fifty days and then died, upon which a message was sent by the court, intimating to the Captain, that the court saw no impropriety, in this instance, in leaving it to him to punish the delinquent according to the laws of his own country; thus, for the first time, assenting to set aside a positive law in favour of foreigners. By this proper mode of interference an English subject was saved from an unjust and ignominious death, which would otherwise inevitably have happened, as on all former occasions of a similar kind, had the affair been left in the hands of men whose interest it is to represent us as barbarians, and who, however well they might be disposed, have not the courage to plead our cause. Hitherto the Chinese have invariably made a point of executing immediately, and without a regular trial, any foreigner who should kill a Chinese, or some substitute in the place of the actual criminal, as I have already instanced in the seventh chapter. One of the most intelligent of the East India Company's servants at Canton, speaking on this subject, in answer to certain queries proposed to him about the time of the Embassy, remarks, "I cannot help observing, that the situation of the Company's servants and the trade in general is, in this respect, very dangerous and disgraceful. It is such that it will be impossible for them to extricate themselves from the cruel dilemma a very probable accident may place them in, I will not say with _honour_, but without _infamy_, or exposing the whole trade to ruin." Yet we have just now seen, on the recurrence of such an accident, that by the circumstance of a direct and immediate communication with the government, the affair was terminated, not only without disgrace or infamy, but in a that was honourable to both parties.

CONCLUSION.

I have now gone over most of the points relative to which I have been able to recollect the remarks and observations which arose in my mind during my attendance on this memorable Embassy. The comparisons I have made were given with a view of assisting the reader to form in his own mind some idea what rank the Chinese may be considered to hold, when measured by the scale of European nations; but this part is very defective. To have made it complete would require more time and more reading, than at present I could command. The consideration of other objects, those of a political nature, which are of the most serious importance to our interests in China, is more particularly the province of those in a different sphere, and would, therefore, be improper for me to anticipate or prejudge, by any conjectures of my own. It belongs to other persons, and perhaps to other times[70]; but it is to be hoped that the information, reflections, and opinions of the Embassador himself, may one day be fully communicated to the public, when the present objections to it shall cease, and the moment arrive (which is probably not very distant) that will enable us to act upon the ideas of that nobleman's capacious and enlightened mind, and to prove to the world that the late Embassy, by shewing the character and dignity of the British nation in a new and splendid light, to a court and people in a great measure ignorant of them before, however misrepresented by the jealousy and envy of rivals, or impeded by the counteraction of enemies, has laid an excellent foundation for great future advantages, and done honour to the wisdom and foresight of the statesman[71] who planned the measure, and directed its execution.

[70] This was written at the close of the year 1803.

[71] The Lord Viscount Melville.

INDEX.

A

_Abaris_, the flying arrow of, 40

_Africa_, coast of, known to the Phenicians, 48

_Agriculture_, an honourable profession, 397 of _Pe-tche-lee_, 554 of _Shan-tung_, 554 of _Kiang-nan_, 561 terrace system of, 568

_Air_ sung by Chinese boatmen, 81

_Almanack_, national, 284

_Almeyda_, a Portuguese Jesuit, malignant spirit of, 19

_Alphabet_ of the Mantchoo language, 272

_American_ Indians resemble the Chinese, 44 traders, how considered at Canton, 593

_Amplification_, Chinese example of, 36

_Ancients_ unacquainted with China, 435

_Anniversary_ of the Emperor of China's birth-day, 196

_Anson's_ voyage, character of Chinese in the account of, 27

_Antiquary_, curious mistake of one, 258

_Appeal_, none in civil causes, 277

_Arbitrary power_, instance of, 85

_Arch_, very ancient in Chinese architecture, 339 those called triumphal, 95

_Archipelago of Chu-san_, violent currents in, 54

_Architecture_ of the palace of _Yuen-min-yuen_, 124 style of, in landscape gardening, 135 general observations on, 330 monumental, 339

_Arithmetic_, 196

_Armenian_ and his pearl, 611

_Army_ establishment, 405 how employed, 408

_Astronomy_, 284 ignorance of the Chinese in, 290

_Authority_, parental, basis of Chinese government, 359

B

_Baboom_, an Armenian, trick played by him at Canton, 612

_Bamboo_, the practice of flogging with, instanced, 161 general utility of this plant, 309 reflexions on the punishment of, 380 compared with that of the _knout_ in Russia, 383

_Bedford_, Duke of, his portrait in China, 115

_Beverage_ of life, 464

_Bishop_ of Pekin, his visit to _Yuen-min-yuen_, 110

_Books_, ancient ones of China, 276

_Breakfast_, Chinese, 89

_Briareus_ of China, 471

_Bridges_, 337 one of ninety-one arches, 520

_Budha_, compared with _Fo_, 468

_Burying-ground_, 497

C

_Calendar_, national, an engine of government, 391

_Camellia Sesanqua_, 536

_Camelopardalis_, noticed by Marco Polo, 46

_Canal_, Imperial, 335 observations on, 506-512

_Cannon_, 299

_Canton_, reasons for the Embassy avoiding it, 33 situation of foreigners trading to it, 610

_Carriages_ of the Chinese described, 90 those made by Hatchett puzzle them, 113

_Cavalry_, Tartar, 410

_Censorate_, 363

_Ceremony_ of the Court, 21

_Chain-pump_, 311

_Character_, physical, as given by Linnæus not correct, 184 moral, of Chinese and Tartars, 186

_Characters_ of the Chinese language, 248 keys or roots of, 251 examples of the composition of, 255

_Chastity_, palace of, 235

_Chemical Arts_, 298

_Checks_ to the absolute power of the Emperor, 362

_Children_ still-born exposed in the streets, 176

_Chou-ta-gin_, 70

_Chou-ta-gin_, kind attentions of, 604

_Christian Religion_ might once have been introduced, 449

_Churchmen_, intrigues of, not easily obviated, 18

_Cingalese_, of Chinese origin, 53

_Cities of China_, walls, towers, and gates of, 91 observations on, 500

_Cleanliness_ no part of the Chinese character, 77

_Cock-fighting_, 159

_Coffins_, splendid appearance of, 95

_Collieries_, 594

_Commerce_ of the Yellow Sea, how carried on, 60

_Comedy_ described, 201 extraordinary scene in one, 221

_Comparison_ of China and Europe, 29 of a Chinese and a Hottentot, 49

_Compass_, an original invention of Chinese, 39 observations on, 61 explanation of the circles on, 62

_Conclusion_, 621

_Conduct_ of Chinese prepossessing, 80

_Confucius_, religion of, 451 no statues to the memory of, 458 hall of, 459

_Cork Convent_, 597

_Corvorant_, the fishing, 506

_Cottons_, manufactures of, 307 cultivation of the plant, 556

_Court of China_, forms of, immutable, 21 manners and amusements of, 191

_Crimes and punishments_, 367

_Criminal offences_, mode of trial for, 370

_Crowd of persons_ at _Ting-hai_, 57 at _Tien-sing_, 78 at _Tong-tchoo_, 86 in _Pekin_, 96

_Cruelty_, instance of, 161

_Crystal lenses_, 341

_Cuckoo-clocks_, 181

_Currents_, violence of, in _Chu-san_ Archipelago, 54

_Custom_ respecting Embassadors, 22

_Customs_ and dress not subjects of ridicule, 74

_Cycle_ of sixty years, 293

D

_Daughters_ always sold, 145

_Day of rest_, policy of observing one, 154

_Decimal Arithmetic_, 297

_Deity_ not personified in China, 457

_Deluge_, universal tradition of, 432

_Deodato_, an Italian missionary, 107

_Departments_, public, 365

_Descartes_, his idea of prolonging life, 466

_Dignities_, personal, 385

_Dispositions_, natural, altered by influence of laws, 160

_Distillation_ of _Seau-tchoo_, 303

_Drama_, state of the, 218 extraordinary subject of one, 222 obscenities of, compared to those of Theodora, 223 absurdities of, similar to those of the amphitheatres, 224

_Dress_ of the Chinese, 71

_Dutch_ Embassadors, humiliating conduct of, 9 their missions not calculated to make terms, 13

_Duties_ levied at Canton, 613

E

_Ebriety_, not a Chinese vice, 152

_Eclipse_ of the moon, observance of, 216 ceremony on occasion of, 285

_Egpytian_ mythology in China explained, 424 deities compared with Chinese, 477

_Embassador_, English, proceeds to Gehol, 104 refuses to submit to the ceremony, 117 his introduction at court, 196 his hotel in Pekin, 332

_Embassadors_, Dutch, treatment of, at Canton, 9 lodged in a stable at Pekin, 11 reception of, at court, 208 visit _Yuen-min-yuen_, 215

_Embassies_, Dutch and English, different treatment of, explained, 17 from Europe in the last century, 23

_Embassy_, English, a necessary measure, 22 attention of the Chinese to, 604 expence of, to the Chinese government, 605 expence of, to the British government, 608

_Emperor of China_ laughs at Van Braam's aukwardness, 13 considers Embassadors as his guests, 22 an observation of, 104 obeisance to, on his birth-day, 116 inspects the presents, 119 life and character of, 226 causes the death of his Empress and son, 226 conceives the deity to be incarnate in him, 228 his ode in praise of tea, 280 observations of, on the mechanical powers, 312 maxims on which he acts, 360 checks to the absolute power of, 362 patronizes agriculture, 399 instances of gratitude in, 482

_Encyclopedists_, French, their testimony of the Chinese character, 26

_Espirit des Loix_, false conclusions drawn in, 148

_Etymological_ deductions fallacious, 241

_Eunuchs_, bad character of, 230

_Expence_ of the Embassy, to the English and Chinese governments, 605

_Eye_ of the Chinese remarkable, 49

F

_Face_ of the country near the _Pei-ho_, 70

_Failure_ of the Embassy, supposed reason of, stated, 8

_Famines_ attempted to be explained, 584

_Feet_ distorted of Chinese women, 73 not noticed by early travellers, 75 difficult to account for, 76

_Feasts_, 155

_Ferry-girls_, 595

_Fevers_, contagious, not frequent, 349

_Filial duty_, a precept rather than a sentiment, 143

_Fire-works_ described, 206

_Fishing_, various modes of, 533

_Fishermen_, condition of, 558

_Fo_ religion of, 468

_Formosa_, strait of, 34

_Four seas_, an ancient expression, 14

_Fo-shee_, the lines of, 277

_Franciscan_ convent in Madeira, 598

_Fruit-trees_, how propagated, 569

_Funerals_, 483

G

_Games_ of Chance, 157

_Ganesa_ compared with Janus and _Men-shin_, 469

_Ganga_ compared with Egyptian and Chinese deities, 472

_Gardening_, general account of, by Lord Macartney, 131

_Gardens_ of _Yuen-min-yuen_, some account of, 122

_Gates_ of Chinese cities, 92

_Gehol_, appointed for the celebration of the birth day, 104 park of, described by Lord Macartney, 126

_Geological observations_, 429

_Geometry_ and geography little understood, 295

_Gill's_ sword-blades, acceptable presents, 113

_Giraffe_, or Camelopardalis, noticed by Marco Polo, 46

_Glass_, 305

_Government_, the pride of, 20 stability of, accounted for, 359

_Governor_ of _Chu-san_, arbitrary proceeding of, 49

_Grammar_ of Chinese language, 267

_Grammont_, Monsieur, his letter to the Dutch, 7

_Great Britain_ and China, compared as to their extent and population, 576

_Gunpowder_, 300

H

_Hager_, Doctor, remarks on the publication of, 239 mistake of, 253

_Hang-tchoo-foo_, alarm created in, by three Englishmen, 526

_Hatchett's_ carriages puzzle the Chinese, 113

_Herodotus_ approves the custom of selling women, 140

_Hieroglyphical_ writing, Chinese characters different from, 237

_Hills_ of _Pe-tche-lee_, character of, 64

_Hindoo_ and Chinese features totally different, 427

_History_ of China, why so little known, 357

_Homer_ degrades women, 140

_Homicide_ punished with death, 368

_Honour_, high notions of, incompatible with despotism, 179

_Ho-tchung-tang_, the minister, anecdote of, 183 trial and condemnation of, 387

_Hottentots_, resemblance of, to the Chinese, 48 portrait of one, compared with Chinese, 50

_Humiliation_ of the Dutch Embassadors, 9

I

_Ice_, a luxury enjoyed by the poor near Pekin, 109

_Idolatry_, one cause of, 485

_Jewish_ law punishing children for their fathers, 375

_Jews_ might have carried the silk worm to China, 437 remarks on these people, 438

_Immortals_, sons of, a sect in China, 463

_Imprisonment_ not known as a punishment, 378

_Incense_ burnt before the Chinese compass, 42

_Infanticide_, remarks on, 168 extent of, in China, 169 common among the ancients, 171 probable causes of, 173

_Inns_, none in China, 421

_Inscription_ on the flags of the yachts, 69 those on monuments, 326

_Inundation_, 515

_Jones_, Sir William, his opinion of the Chinese, 27 of their arts, sciences, &c., 356

_Ireland_, peasantry of, compared with those of China, 578

_Iron-ware_, 298

_Italian opera_, Chinese drama a burlesque on, 219

_Ivory_, cutting of, 308

K

_Kamskatka_, known to the Chinese, 14

_King of Holland_, Emperor's letter addressed to, 43

L

_Lake_ of _Hang-tchoo-foo_, 523

_Lama_, religion of, in China, 464

_Language_, Chinese written character of, 236 method of studying, 259 colloquial, 264 number of words in, 265 grammar of, 267 Mantchoo Tartar, 270 sooner lost than religious opinions, 405 inconvenience attending our ignorance of, at Canton, 615

_Lanterns_, feast of, 484

_Law_, one of an extraordinary nature, 165 effects of this law, 166 a curious case of, 373

_Laws_, code of, 366

_Lens_ of Mr Parker, 342

_Leibnitz_, binary arithmetic of, 277

_Letter_ of M. Grammot to the Dutch factory, 7 of the Emperor of China to the _King of Holland_, 14

_Literature_, 274

_Lowang_, one of the _Chu-san_ islands, 36

_Lowther-hall_, grounds of, compared to the park of Gehol, 134

M

_Macao_, surmise with regard to, 20

_Macartney_, Lord, his account of Chinese gardening, 126 of the birth-day ceremonies, 196 his observations on the Tartars and Chinese, 415

_Madagascar_, a people on, resembling the Chinese, 45

_Madrid_, strange notion of the inhabitants of, 99

_Mahomedans_ visit China in the ninth century, 47 get into the interior in the thirteenth century, 442

_Malays_ of Scythian origin, 51

_Man-midwives_, none in China, 353

_Manners_ of domestic life, 142 a concern of the legislature, 178 and amusements of the court, 191

_Mansfield_, Lord, his observation on early risers, 229

_Mantchoo Tartars_, probably a mixed race, 185 a language of, 270 policy of, 412

_Manure_, an article of commerce, 84

_Marco Polo_, supposed to have brought the compass from China, 40

_Match-locks_, why preferred to firelocks, 411

_Mechanical_ powers, 311

_Medicine_, state of, 344

_Meetings_ of the people rare, 396

_Merchants_, how considered in China, 180

_Micare digitis_, a Roman game, 158

_Michael de Murano_, chart in the church of, 47

_Military_, establishment of, &c., 405 curious manœuvre of, 504

_Minister of State_, miserable lodgings of, 10

_Missionaries_, remarks on the communications of, 3-28-31 accompanied by spies when they visited the English, 105 story of an infant saved by one, 174 condition of those in the capital, 445 cause their own persecutions, 446 unjustly accuse the Chinese of superstitions, 462

_Mollusca-medusa_, an article of food, 55

_Mongul Tartars_, benefit derived by their conquest of China, 43

_Monuments_, inscriptions on, 329 erected over the dead, 340

_Mountains_ ascended for religious purposes, 451 nature of those of China, 599

_Music_, 314 specimens of, 318

_Musical instruments_, plate of, 315

N

_Nations_, who had early intercourse with China, 440

_Navigation_ of the Yellow Sea unknown, 33 of the Chinese unskillful, 38 inland, improved by the Tartars, 43

_Nautical Almanack_, a valuable present to the missionaries in Pekin, 112

_Nelumbium_, or water lilly, 473

_New-year's-day_, the only holiday in China, 155

_Noah_, supposed by the Jesuits to have travelled into China, 433 ark of, where it probably rested, 432

O

_Oar song_ of the Chinese, 81

_Oath_, form of, among the Chinese and Sumatrans, 52 never administered in a Chinese court of law, _ib._

_Objects_ that occur in China, 4

_Occurrences_ in the Yellow Sea, 25

_Office_ obtained only by learning, 386 of government, civil, 404 military, 406

_Officers_ of Canton, conduct of, towards the Dutch, 10

_Opium_ much used in China, 153

_Opthalmia_, 351

_Ornamental_ buildings in landscape gardening, 129

_Orphan_ of China, remarks on, 220

P

_Pagodas_, observations on, 503

_Paine, Tom_, his doctrines too sublime for the Chinese language, 396

_Painting_, 323

_Palaces_ of China worse than Saint James's, 194

_Pantomime_ described, 203

_Paper_, manufacture of, 310

_Park_ of Gehol described by Lord Macartney, 129

_Pauw_, his opinion of the Chinese, 27

_Peasantry_, condition of, 310

_Pearl_, story of one belonging to an Armenian, 611

_Pei-ho_, entrance of, 68 second embarkation on, 488

_Pekin_, approach to, 91 some account of, 93 uncommon bustle in the great streets of, 96 populace of, compared with that of London, 97 police of, 100 uniformity of, 101 hotel of the British Embassador in, 103 appearance of, from _Hai-tien_, _ib._ hue and cry raised in, 120 gazette of, 391 contrasted with London, 420 prices of provisions in, 549 buildings and population of, compared with those of London, 581

_Perouse de la_, his account of a people resembling Chinese, 44

_Pilots_, difficulty of procuring them at _Chu-san_, 58

_Plants_, in _Pe-tche-lee_, 493 near _Hang-tchoo-foo_, 525 near Canton, 601

_Plough_, ceremony of, compared with the _Isia_, 487

_Poetry_, 280

_Polarity_ of the magnet known to the Scythians, 41

_Police_ of Pekin, 100

_Polo Marco_, valuable testimony of, 35

_Polygamy_ an evil of small extent, 147

_Population_ of floating craft, 84 and extent of China, 575 compared with those of Great Britain, 576 as given by Father Amiot, 582

_Populousness_ of China, causes of, 587

_Poor laws_, none, 401

_Porcelain_, 304

_Portraits_ of a Chinese and Hottentot, 50 among the presents, difficulty respecting, 114

_Portuguese_ missionary, intrigues of, 18

_Posture-masters_, feats of, 204

_Potatoes_ a certain crop, 585

_Poverty_ of the Chinese, 495

_Predestination_, 454

_Present_ of the governor of _Ten-tchoo-foo_, 65

_Present_ of the officers deputed from court, 67

_Press_, liberty of, in China, 392

_Prince_ of the blood, anecdote of, 182

_Printing_, 311

_Procession_ from _Tong-tchoo_ to Pekin, 85 of, 146

_Property_ not secured by law, 177 laws respecting, 379

_Prophecy_, folly of being guided by, 456

_Pulse_, 345

_Punishments_, capital, not frequent, 378

_Puppet-shew_ described, 201

Q

_Quacks_, tricks of, 347 great pests in England, 465

_Quarries_ of stone, 598

R

_Red-book_, Chinese, 405

_Religion_, primitive, of China, 450 no longer exists, 486

_Religious_ opinions, difficult sometimes to explain, 423

_Revenues_, 403 application of them, 407 vessels to collect them, 534

_Rice_ erroneously supposed to cause opthalmia, 351 the staff of life in China, 547 mill for cleaning, 565 a precarious crop, 586

_Road_ from _Tong-tchoo_ to Pekin, 91

_Roads_ neglected in China, 513

_Romans_, amphitheatres of, 224

_Russia_ and China compared, 324

S

_Sabbatical_ institution, none in China, 154

_Sacrifices_, 509

_Salt_, stacks of, near _Tien-sing_, 78 remarks on the use of, 510

_Salutation_, mode of, 108 expressions of, mark a national character, 189