140 Progress and Civilisation. PT. m. 



all resist doggedly the introduction of any change. 

 Their sense of morality is lower than that of the 

 European nations ; they are treacherous, dissimulat- 

 ing, and cruel ; they evince a great disregard for 

 human life and human suffering ; they are not 

 deficient in animal courage, and when trained and 

 disciplined make good soldiers. One of the most 

 remarkable of their characteristics is that they at- 

 tained, at a very early period, a very considerable 

 proficiency in all the arts of civilisation, and have 

 remained stationary ever since. Our recent Exhi- 

 bitions of Industry in Paris and in London have 

 rendered us familiar with a great variety of Oriental 

 fabrics, and most of us have observed the beauty of 

 the designs and colours, and the excellence of the 

 workmanship of all the manufactures exhibited, 

 particularly of those woven by the hand. Carpets, 

 brocades, and silk stuffs equal ours in beauty and 

 surpass them in durability. But the range of these 

 industrial products is very much limited ; they are 

 chiefly confined to those, produced by manual labour, 

 in which all the Eastern nations appear to possess 

 much delicacy of touch and dexterity of the hand. 

 They have also a considerable talent for imitation, 

 and can copy most of our productions with great 



