Cuar. I] FOUNDED ON EXPERIENCE. 1] 
in laws; yet they are certainly considerably in ad- 
vance of the Hindoos, Malays, and other nations 
who inhabit the central and western portions of 
Asia. Besides, the manners and customs of the 
people, and the strange formation of the country, 
are indeed striking when viewed by the stranger’s 
eye;— the pagodas, like monuments to departed 
greatness, towering on the hills; the strange dresses 
and long tails of the men, and the small deformed 
feet of the women. Added to which, this is the 
land of tea,—a beverage which in the eyesof Eng- 
lishmen is enough to immortalise any country, 
had it nothing else besides. But I must again 
assert, that the great secret of the popularity of 
China, and the Chinese people, lies in the manner 
in which foreigners allowed themselves to be treated 
in former days, and in the mystery with which 
the Chinese, from principle, enveloped every thing 
relating to their country. 
