EUROPEAN. 293 



of their formal systems of morals and politics ; though some of it is 

 highly imaginative, arising in part from the structure of their lan- 

 guage. The most ancient and approved of the Chinese poetry, is 

 the Shee King, (or Shi Kin), a collection of three hundred odes, 

 composed or preserved by Confucius, and many of them in praise 

 of the early princes of China. The Tsoo-tsee, and the Shan-hay- 

 king, are poems on philosophical and romantic subjects ; and the 

 San-t see-king, consisting of verses of three syllables, is one of their 

 elementary books for the young. Among the poems of the late 

 emperor Kien-long, is one on the city of Mougden, the capital of 

 Mantchooria. We believe that Soolo and Kien-gan, are also the 

 names of Chinese poets. Among other dramatic productions, the 

 Chinese have a collection entitled the Hundred plays of Yuen; 

 chiefly historical; among which are the Heir in old age, and the 

 Chalk ring or circle. Two plays of this collection, The Orphan of 

 China, and the Sorrows of Han, have been translated into English. 

 Of Chinese romance, we may mention Haou-kew-chuen, or the 

 Fortunate Union ; an imperfect translation of which, has been incor- 

 rectly entitled the Pleasing History. It relates to the trials and 

 happy marriage of Teihchungyn, (or Tingsing), and the beautiful 

 Shueypingsing. King-ping-moey, is the title of another romance, in 

 which Symengking, the wealthy hero, marries six wives. The three 

 Lins are the principal personages in another novel, in praise of 

 virtue: but whether Yu-keao-le, (or lu-kiao-li), is the title of this, 

 or of another one, we have not been able to discover. In another 

 novel, the hero, Tchouangtse, (or Tcho-ang-tse), finds his wife 

 unfaithful, and, after her death, becomes a famous philosopher. This 

 is said to have been the original of Voltaire's Zadig. 



CHAPTER III. 



EUROPEAN CALLOGRAPHY. 



THE Polite Literature of Modern Europe, though of later growth 

 than either of the preceding branches, and formed in some degree on 

 the model of the ancient classics, is not to be regarded as inferior to 

 them, either in extent and variety of subjects, or in grandeur and 

 beauty of sentiment and style, or even in its intrinsic importance. 

 We have no hesitation in placing Dante and Milton in the same 

 exalted rank with Homer and Virgil : and if the present branch can- 

 not furnish exact parallels to all the great writers of antiquity, it can 

 at least produce those of equal merit, and in still more various kinds 

 of composition. 



Modern European Callography originated in the middle ages, com- 

 mencing, we believe, with the songs of the German Minnesingers, 

 and of the Proven$al or Romance poets, in France and Italy. It 

 fed upon the remains of Euclassic literature; the preservation of 

 which is due in no small degree to the labors of the ecclesiastics, 

 sheltered, in their convents, from the storms of war and the revolu- 



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