XXV11 



boys of his own age, but lived entirely in the society of older persons. 

 A tutor living in the house instructed him in the Greek and Latin 

 languages. He had masters to teach him Mathematics, Botany, and 

 other sciences, and he attended lectures on the various departments 

 of Natural Philosophy. Partly, perhaps, from his not being occupied 

 with the pursuits of other boys, but principally from his being natu- 

 rally endowed with great powers of application and much readiness 

 of apprehension, he made a remarkable progress in all these branches 

 of knowledge ; so that when he was not more than fifteen or sixteen 

 years of age he was as much advanced as many even diligent students 

 when they are eight or ten years older. 



In the year 1792 he accompanied his father to China, under the 

 nominal designation of Page to the Ambassador. For some time 

 before the embassy embarked, and during the voyage to China, he 

 had the opportunity of studying the Chinese language under two 

 native Chinese missionaries from the Propaganda College at Naples ; 

 and he soon made such proficiency as*to be able to speak it with 

 tolerable fluency, and to copy papers written in the Chinese charac- 

 ter. In this manner he became very useful to the embassy. When 

 the embassy was presented at the Chinese Court, the Emperor in- 

 quired for the little boy who could speak Chinese, conversed with 

 him for some time, and good-naturedly presented him with an em- 

 broidered yellow silk purse for holding areka-nuts, from his own 

 girdle. 



On leaving China, Sir George L. Staunton engaged a Chinese 

 servant to accompany him to England, in order that his son, by 

 constantly communicating with him in Chinese, might keep up and 

 extend his knowledge of the language. 



In the year 1799, having received the appointment of Writer in 

 the factory of the East India Company at Canton, young Staunton 

 proceeded a second time to China. He remained at Canton, with 

 some occasional visits to Europe, until the year 1817, having for 

 some time before his final return to England filled the office of 

 Chief of the factory. His residence in China afforded him the 

 opportunity of still further advancing himself in a knowledge of the 

 Chinese language by means of native teachers. He was the first 

 among the members of the factory who had ever studied the lan- 

 guage of the country in which their duties required them to reside ; 



