CHINA. 



'"T- nperor't clemency, ind erected Wrong fort in a litua- 

 TT'T^Tl ''on 'hat WM dtnoed inaccessible, mmander 



was defected tt the head of 10.000 men, and taken pri- 

 oner br the Chinese, before the Mahometans had col- 

 lected their forco. Hut ttic chiefs who came tn ttu-ir 

 MWtance, to the number of the different tril>e>, having 

 found themselves, when united, not less than 1 00,00 J 

 fighting men, immediately commenced offrnsivc opera- 

 tion*. The Cliiucse governor injudiciously lent i-ut 

 small detachment!, which were successively cut to piece*; 

 and the insurgents, -ime in the attack of forti- 



fied places, penetrated into the midtt of ihe empire, de- 

 stroying every thing in their progress with fire and 

 word, seizing upon the public magazines and treasures, 

 and sacrificing the governor] who ventured to oppose 

 them. A numerous army, howevar, was speedily march- 

 ed againtt them, under the command of the prime minis- 

 ter ; and they were compelled to retreat to their strong- 

 hold, which was protected by a considerable river and 

 lake in the front, and in the rear by a very steep and 

 lofty mountain While they imagined themselves se- 



!cure in this retreat, the Chinese commander caused the 

 course of the river to be turned by his numerous work- 

 men, and his troops to advance to surround the lake. 

 The insurgents, being thus at once deprived of their 

 strongest protection, and regular supply of water, were 

 reduced to the greatest extremities. After enduring the 

 torments of thirst for the space of three days, they adopt- 

 ed the desperate resolution of putting to death the use- 

 less persons among them, and of cutting their way through 

 the Chinese army. They were completely overwhelmed 

 in the daring attempt, their fortress taken by storm, and 

 the whole of its defenders put to the sword, except a 

 few of the leaders, who were afterward* executed at Pc- 

 kin. This victory was followed by an order from the 

 emperor to exterminate the whole nation, excepting 

 those who were under 15 years of aije, wh-> were to be 

 distributed as slaves among the Mahometan tribe-, that 

 had remained faithful to the emperor. This barbarous 

 decree was rigorously carried into effect, and a tract of 

 country, above 100 leagues square, containing 1000 towns 

 and villages, was converted into an empty desert. 



In the year 1788, while the emperor, though now at 

 the age of 78, was engaged in his usual recreation of 

 hunting in the deserts of Tartary, a sudden inundation 

 descended from the mountains, and flooded the whole 

 adjacent country. It was with difficulty, that Kien-long 

 gained a small elevation, where he passed a whole day 

 without food, till a blender bridge was thrown across the 

 hollow, by which he succeeded in saving himself, though 

 a great number of his attendants were sweeped away by 

 the torrents. 



Britnh cm- In the year 1793, a splendid embassy, under Lord 

 Macartney, a nobleman of distinguished talents and ac- 

 complishments, was sent by the king of Great Britain 

 to the Emperor of China, with a view to establish a 

 more direct intercourse with that immense empire, and 

 to secure more extensive commercial privileges for the 

 Bntish nation. The embassy was received by the Chi- 

 nese government with every mark of respect ; but com- 

 pletely failed in attaining the desired object. This want 

 of success has been ascribed to various causes ; to an im- 

 prudent assertion in an English journal on the subject, 

 which found its way to China, and awakened the suspi- 

 cion of its rulers ; to the refusal of Lord Macartney to 

 observe the established ceremony of prostration before the 



IVttruc- 

 live inun 



Chinese emperor j to the dread of .'acobin principles, H 

 which had already been introduced into China, anil 

 which augmented the aversion of the government to all 

 European settlers; and to an oversight of the British 

 ambassador, in not having treated, in the first instance, 

 with the Ho-tchong-tang, or prime ir.ii.iater of China, 

 whose influence is uiv > be greater than that of 



the emperor himself. But, while each of these c 

 may be allowed to have had it> weight, the true reason 

 is unquestionably of a mo: >aiurc ; and must be 



sought in the spirit of the Chinese people, proud, con- 

 temptuous, and suspicious, towards the inhabitants of 

 every other country. This was sufficiently demonstra- 

 ted in the fate of the Dutch embassy, which entered 

 China with similar views in the following year. Though 

 they carefully attended to every circumstance, which 

 they supposed their predecessors to have overlooked, 

 and meanly complied with the most humiliating requisi- 

 tion on the part of the Chinese ; they were neither treat- 

 ed with so much respect as the English, nor were they, 

 in the smallest degree, more successful in their object. 

 All that they obtained was a sight of the emperor, a 

 few trifling presents from hi; hand, and an exemption of 

 the ship, which conveyed their ambassador, from the 

 payment of any duties upon its cargo. 



In the year 179'i, the Emperor Kien-long, according Alx-l- 

 to a resolution which he lud long entert.iinud, abdicated ! K 

 the throne in favour of his son, after a reign of GO year*, ^" K ' 

 and died in the year 1799, at the age of 89 years, with o 

 the character of an enlightened, hum;.iie, pacific, and k 

 prudent prince. He was succeeded, according to his 

 own appointment, by his seventeenth son Kia-lung, who 

 had then attained the age of 40 years ; but of whose 

 reign and character, from the want of intelligence from 

 Ch'na, we can present only a few detached circumstan- 

 ces. Immediately after the death of the old emperor, 

 the prime minister, from some cause which is not known, 

 was brought into disgrace, and compelled to become his 

 own executioner. By accounts received from Canton, 

 in the beginning of the year 1802, it is known that a 

 strong and well-disciplined body of Tartars had made 

 an incursion into China in the year 1800 ; an invasion 

 which excited universal terror, especially as it was con- 

 nected with serious internal commotions. Several dis- 

 tricts were in arms at the same moment ; but the impe- 

 rial troops, by a prompt movement, brought the insur- 

 gents to action before they could be joined by the Tar. 

 tars, and routed them with immense slaughter.* One 

 of those severe droughts, which are so frequent in Chi- 

 ua, had prevailed about the same time in the eastern dis- 

 tricts ; and the natives had been reduced to the necessity 

 of abandoning large tracts of country in quest of food, 

 while the must benevolent exertions on the part of the 

 emperor had not been able to impart much relief. The 

 Chinese government, it was als 1 ) learned by the same in- 

 telligence, having discovered, that the greatest evils re- 

 sult from the abuse of opium, entirely prohibited the 

 importation of that article into the empire. 



In 1804, intelligence was received in Europe, that 

 another serious rebellion had broken out in the \v< ,u-m 

 provinces of China, a:id had even extended to that of 

 Canton, where a descendant of the former imperial fa- 

 mily had appeared at the head of 40,000 men, who were 

 all animated by a prophecy current in the country, that 

 the present Tartar dynasty was to be overturned in the 

 course of that y^ar. The emperor had issued an edict, 



A specimen of Chinese Gazette, during this expedition, is published in Sir G. Staunton's translation of the penal code of that 



