978 



ANNUxVL REGISTER, 1804. 



Whilst iheComment vousportcz vous? 

 How do you carry yourself?- was 

 equally expressive of the gay mo- 

 tion and incessant action of the lat- 

 ter. 



" The Chinese are so ceremonious 

 among themselves, and so pun6tiIious 

 with regard to etiquette, that the 

 omission of the most minute point, 

 established by the court of ceremo- 

 nies, is considered as a criminal of- 

 fence. Visiting by tickets, which, 

 with us, is a fashion of modern re- 

 finement, has been a common prac- 

 tice in China some thousand years ; 

 but the rank of a Chinese visitor is 

 immediately ascertained by the sizu, 

 colour, and ornaments of his ticket, 

 which also varic- in all these poinfs, 

 according to tjic rank of the person 

 visited. The old viceroy of Pc- 

 iche-lec^s ticket to the embassador, 

 contained as much crimson- oiourcd 

 paper as would be sufficient to co- 

 ver the walls of a moderate-sized 

 room.'' 



Having exceeded our usual limits 

 in the above extract, we are neces- 

 sarily precluded from detailing at 

 any length the particulars of the fol- 

 lowing chapters ; which, however, 

 wc can promise the reader, continue 

 to iihii last page of the volume to 

 recommend themselves, by ingenious 

 disquisition, originality of opinion, 

 and liveliness of narration. The 

 maimers and amusements of the 

 court; the character and private life 

 of the emperor; language, litera- 

 ture, and the fine arts ; sciences, 

 mechanics, and medicine of the 

 Chinese are separately, and wifh 

 elaborateness, considered in the 3th 

 and 6th chapters ; whiie the govern- 

 ment, laws, tenures of land and 

 taxes, revenues, civil and milit;iry 

 ranks and establishracnts, form the 

 subject of the 7th. 



Mr. Barrow next ventures som« 

 conje6lurcs on the origin of the Chi- 

 nese, and gives an ample stateuient 

 of their religious setts and ceremo- 

 nies. His journey from Tong-choo- 

 foo to the provice of Canton, ena. 

 bles him to state, with apparent pre- 

 cision, the face of the country and 

 its productions ; the buildings, and 

 other public works ; general view of 

 the condition of the people; state 

 of agriculture, and the probable po- 

 pulation of the empire. 



The remainder of this instrudlivc 

 and amusing work is employed in 

 the account of the author's journey 

 through the province of Canton ; 

 an useful description of the city ; — 

 the situation of foreigners trading 

 to that ])ort ; and of the impositions 

 practised by the officers of the go- 

 vernment. 



The following modest'and sensi- 

 ble " Conclusion," terminates tlie 

 volume. " I have now gone over 

 most of the points relative to which 

 I have been able to recollc6f the 

 remarks and observations which 

 arose in my mind during my attend- 

 ance on this memoraljie embassy. 

 The comparisons I have made were 

 with a view of assisting the reader 

 to form, in his own mind, some idea 

 w hat rank the Chinese may be con- 

 sidered to hold, when measured by 

 tlie 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 objefts, those 

 of apolitical nature, which are of the 

 most serious importance to our in- 

 terests in China, is more particu- 

 larly the province of those in a dif- 

 ferent sphere, and would, therefore, 

 be improper for me to anticipate, or 

 prc-judge, by any conje6ture of my 



own. 



