( 89 ) 
S E.C.T.1.0 N. . XIE. 
Perruars it will not be deemed foreign to an effay 
upon this fubject, to take a concife view of the manners 
and difpofitions of the Chinefe, as we have done of their | 
difeafes. Thofe who are beft acquainted with human na- 
ture feem to afcribe even to their food, and way of life, as 
well as to their climate and education, certain propenfities 
at leaft to vice and virtue; and it may be of ufe to draw 
what light we can in thefe refpects, from the character of a 
people, who have ufed the infufion of Tea fora long feries 
of years. 
They are in general defcribed to be a people of moderate 
ftrength of body, not capable of much hard pick aes 
feeble when compared with the inhabitants of fome nations, 
excelling in fome minute fabricks and nufactures, but exhi- . 
biting no proofs of elevated genius in architedture, either civil 
or military. ‘They are faid to be pufillanimous, cunning, 
extremely libidinous, and remarkable for difimalation. and 
felfifhnets *, effeminate, revengeful, and difhoneft *. 
a“ See ‘Asfon's Voysae round the World, 8yo. P 366, and many = autho- — 
rities. 
+ See likewife Du Halde’s Hiffory of China, Vol. IL p. 75, 130, et feq. es 
Lettres Curieufes et Edifiantes des Jefuites. 
N ie 
