$$1 A SCRAP CONCERNING THE CHINESE. 



by my vows ? — o ! then I foar aloft on eafy pinions, 

 cut through the yielding air, fee deep below me the 

 point of earth, defcry infinite worlds, have hopes even 

 from the grave, and exclaim, with the poet : What- 

 ever is is right. 



A SCRAP CONCERNING THE CHINESE. 



How much the prejudice of antiquity and the 

 averfion to what is foreign, are in oppolition to the 

 increafe of the comforts of fociety, is demonftrated by 

 the ftate of the numerous and in their way tolerably 

 civilized nations beyond the Ganges ; though by thofe 

 means their internal confritution is fecured, and, for- 

 tunately for the ftates of wefcern Afia, they are kept 

 free from the rage of conquer!. That their remoteit 

 progenitors were deficient neither in underflanding nor 

 talents, is feen by their civil inftitjutions and the flou- 

 rifning Hate of the arts. They are ftili quick of appre- 

 henlion and fuccefsful in imitation : but upon the whole, 

 they muft adhere to the antients, and even their con- 

 querors muft comply with this rule ; for to all new modes 

 and inventions they turn a deaf ear. Their art of 

 medicine is without anatomical knowledge, their gun- 

 powder is ungrained, in their armies is much ufelefs 

 lumber, the ufe of the magnetic needle is very defective, 

 their paper is without confidence, and their printing- 

 prefs without types [for their types in blocks are nothing 

 like ours]. The mechanifm of clock-work they have 



not 



