﻿BOOK OF THE CHINESE. I97 



which country we are indebted for the mod authentic 

 and moft valuable fpecimens of Chineje hiftory and 

 literature, from the compofitions which preceded 

 thofe of Homer to the poetical works of the prefent 

 Emperor, who Teems to be a man of the brighten: 

 genius and the mod: amiable affections. We may 

 fmile, if we pleaie, at the levity of the French, as 

 they laugh without fcruple at our ferioufnefs : but let 

 us not fo far undervalue our rivals in arts and in arms, 

 as to deny them their juft commendation, or to relax 

 our efforts in that noble ftruggle, by which alone we 

 can preferve our own eminence. 



The fecond clamcal work of the Chinefe contains 

 three hundred odes, or fhort poems, in praife of an- 

 cient sovereigns and legislators, or defcriptive of an- 

 cient manners, and recommending an imitation of- 

 them in the diicharge of all public and domeftic 

 duties : they abound in wife maxims and excellent 

 precepts, £ their whole doctrine,' according to Cun- 

 fu-tsu, in the Lunyu or Moral Discourses, ' being re- 



* ducible to this grand rule, that we mould not even 

 ' entertain a thought of any thing bafe or culpable;* 

 but the copies cf the Shi King, for that is the title of 

 the book, are fuppofed to have been much disfigured, 

 fince the time of that great philofopher, by fpurious 

 paiTages and exceptionable interpolations ; and the 

 itvle of the poems is in fome parts too metaphorical, 

 while the brevity of other parts renders them ob- 

 fcure ; though many think even this obfcurity 

 fublime and venerable, like that of ancient cloyfters 

 and temples, ' Shedding,' as Milton expreffes it, * a 



* dim religious light.' There is another paffage in the 

 Lunyu, which deferves to be fet down at length : 

 ' Why, my Ions, do you not ftudy the book of Odes ? 

 6 If we creep on the ground, if we lie ufelefs and 



* inglorious, thofe poems will raife us to true glory : 



O 7 



