[ 57 ] 



In the purfuit of one curiofity I flatter myfelf that I 

 have flumbled by accident on another, and have gone fome 

 length to reftore to the Chinefe the invention of gun- 

 powder, fo long difputed with them by the Europeans ; 

 but which the evidence on their chefs-board, in the adllon 

 of the rocket, feems to eftablifh beyond a doubt. The 

 inftitution of the gaine is likewife difcovered to form the 

 principal a:ra in the Chinefe hiftory ; fince, by the conqueft 

 of Shenfi, the kingdom was firft Connedled in its prefent 

 •form, and the monarch alTumed the title of Emperor, as 

 may be feen in the extra(5l whicli I have obtained from their 

 annals. 



From thefe premifes I have therefore ventured to make 

 the following inferences : — That the game of Chefs is pro- 

 bably of Chinefe origin. That the confined fituation and 

 powers of the King, refembling thofe of a monarch in the 

 earlier parts of the world, countenance this fuppofition ; and 

 that, as it travelled weftward, and defcended to later times, 

 the fovereign prerogative extended itfelf, until it became unli- 

 mited, as in our ftate of the game. That the agency of the 

 Princes, in lieu of the Queen, befpeaks forcibly the nature of 

 the Chinefe cufloms, which exclude feinales from all power 

 or influence whatever ; which Princes, in its paffage through 

 Penfia, were changed into a Angle Vizier, or minlfter of ftate, 

 with the enlarged portion of delegated authority that exifts 

 there ; inftead of whom, the European nations, with their ufual 



Vol. V. , [ H ] gallantry. 



