CHINA, g» 



aerally plain and flowered gauzes; and they are said to have been 

 originally fabricated in that country, where the art of rearing silk-worms 

 was first discovered. They manufacture silks likeAvise of a more du- 

 rable kind ; and their cotton and other cloths are famous for furnish- 

 ing a light warm wear. 



Their trade, it is well known, is open to all European nations, with 

 whom they deal for ready money : for such is the pride and avarice 

 of the Chinese, that they think no manufactures equal to their own. 

 But it is certain that, since the discovery of the porcelain manufac- 

 ture, and the vast improvements the Europeans have made in the 

 weaving branches, the Chinese commerce has been on the decline. 



Constitution and government.. ..The original plan of the Chi- 

 nese government was patriarchal, almost in the strictest sense of the 

 word. Duty and obedience to the father of each family was recom- 

 mended and enforced in the most rigorous manner; but, at the same 

 time, the emperor was considered as the father of the whole. His 

 mandarins, or great officers of state, were looked upon as his substi- 

 tutes ; and the degrees of submission which were due from the infe- 

 rior ranks to the superior were settled and observed with the most 

 scrupulous precision, and in a manner that to us seems highly ridicu- 

 lous. This simple claim of obedience required great address and 

 knowledge of human nature to render it effectual ; and the Chinese 

 legislators, Confucius particularly, appear to have been men of won- 

 derful abilities. They enveloped their dictates in a number of mys- 

 tical appearances, so as to strike the people with awe and veneration* 

 The mandarins had peculiar modes of speaking and writing, and the 

 people were taught to believe that the princes partook of divinity ; so 

 that they were seldom seen, and more seldom approached. '* In the 

 great palace of Peking (says sir George Staunton) all the mandarins 

 resident in the capital assembled about noon, on his imperial majes- 

 ty's birth day, and, dressed in their robes of ceremony, made the usu- 

 al prostrations before the throne ; incense of sandal and rose woods 

 burning upon it at the same time, and offerings being made of viands 

 and liquors, as if, though absent, he were capable of enjoying them." 

 Mr. Barrow (a gentleman of the embassy) was present while the ce- 

 remonies were observed at Yuenminyuen ; and he was informed that 

 f .hey likewise took place on that day in every part of the empire, the 

 prostrators being every where attentive to turn their faces towards 

 the capital. On all the days of new and full moon, similar incense is 

 burnt, and offerings are made before the throne by the officers of the 

 household in the several palaces of the emperor. 



Though this system preserved the public tranquillity for an incre- 

 dible number of years, yet it had a fundamental defect, that often 

 :onvulsed and at last proved fatal to the state, because the same atten- 

 tion was not paid to the military as the civil duties. The Chinese had 

 passions like other men ; and sometimes a weak or wicked adminis* 

 tration drove them to arms, and a revolution easily succeeded, which 

 they justified by saying that their sovereign had ceased to be their 

 father. During these commotions, one of the parties naturally invited 

 their neighbours, the Tartars, to their assistance ; who possessing 

 great sagacity, became acquainted with the weak side of their con- 



several princes of Europe ; and we hope that a manufacture so generally usej'u? 

 will meet with encouragement from every tme patriot among ourselves. 



