Chap. Iir. the Kmpire of China. 97^ 
“ fo ignorant of Foreign Affiiirs as is imagined ; they 
know enough of them for their Purpofe, and they 
“ have neither Leifure, Qccafion or Inclination to know 
more •, they are naturally civil to Foreigners, but at 
‘‘ the fame Time they are naturally jealous of them, 
‘‘ To fum up all, they look upon themfelves to be the 
“ Wifeft, the Greateft, the Richefl, the Happieft, and 
“ the moft Powerful of all Nations ; and, exclufive ot 
their Spiritual Concerns, thofe who are bell ac- 
“ quainted with them, will think them the leafl: mif- 
“ taken. 
25. After this concife Detail of the Chinefe Affairs, 
it is Time to haften to the End of this Subjeft, by gi- 
ving our Readers the remaining Part of Dionyjius Kao's 
Delcription and Account of his own Country, which 
is written in fo plain, fo diftincff, and fo juft a Manner, 
that it will be eafily perceived it differs as much from 
the Accounts given us by the Jefuits, as it is poffible for 
Pieces to do that are written upon the fame Subjeft, 
and neither of which can be faid to be abfolutely void 
of Truth : For moft of the Defcriptions given us by 
the Miflionaries, are penned in a high-flown rhetorical 
Stile ; and every Thing in them is reprefented fo much 
beyond the Life, that either we do not conceive it at 
all, or the Notions we form are quite befide the Truth. 
But what our writes is in an eafy. Ample, and 
familiar Way, and in fuch a Way as leaves us no Doubt 
that he tells us the Truth, and nothing more or lefs 
than the Truth. In his Account, the Reader will ob- 
ferve a Glearnefs and Candour that is fcarce to be found 
in any other Thing of the like Nature, as well as a 
Strain of fincere Piety, that has very little in it of Su- 
perftition, and nothing at all of that Hypocrify and 
Cant with which moft of the Defcriptions of China are 
burthened. The Concents of it will very fully fupporc 
and confirm what is delivered in the foregoing Me- 
morial, and afford a Picture at whole Length, of what 
is there reprefented only in Miniature. 
Before we put an End to this Sedfion however, I 
crave Leave to make one Obfervation of my own, 
which I flatter myfelf will enable the Reader to deliver 
himfelf from a Difficulty that has hitherto been thought 
almoft inextricable. It is this : Some Writers, very 
well acquainted with China^ reprefenc its Inhabitants as 
the moft ingenious, the moft penetrating, and the 
moft happy in their Inventions, of any People in the 
World *, while others again, who pretend to know 
them full as well, pofitively affert, that their Notions 
are narrow, their Inventions mean, their Execution 
very incorredf, and that, in fhort, they fall full as much 
below the Europeans, as their Admirers would place 
them above them. Now common Senfe feems to teach 
us, that one of thefe Opinions muft be abfolutely falfe, 
and yet it is not very eafy to diftinguiffi which, flnce 
the Authorities on both Sides are pretty nearly equal. 
On the ftri<fleft Enquiry I begin to think, that both 
thefe Notions, properly iinderftbod, are redoncileable 
enough to Truth, and even to one another. If we 
compare the Arts and Sciences of China with thofe of 
Europe, there is no Doubt that in moft Things they 
fall very far flaort ; and yet compared with the reft of 
the Eaftern Countries, their Knowledge and their Per-> 
formances are very extraordinary. 
But on the other Pland it is to be confidered, that 
the Europeans have had much greater Experience, and 
much better Mafters : For as to the former, it is no- 
torious that we have ail the Lights which various 
Countries and various Ages can beftow, what the Greeks 
left unfiniflied to the Romans, what the Romans farther 
perfected, and what, upon the Revival of Arts and 
Sciences in Italy, was cultivated with that Zeal and Di- 
ligence, which is natural when Arts are emerging out 
of Barbarifm, at once excites and direds our Endea- 
vours in thefe later Times. But befides all this, there 
is and has been a vaft Spirit of Emulation in the dif- 
ferent Parts of Europe, and what has been firft ftruck out 
in one Country, has been altered, improved and carried 
to the higheft Perfedion in another. By this Means we 
are become, in moft Things, infinitely fuperior to the 
Chinefe but if we confider Things in another Light, 
we muft allow them to be fuperior in their Turns. 
They have been always a diftind and detached Nar- 
tion, having nothing to do with the reft of the World, 
or atleaft nothing to do to with in thisRefped ; all that 
they have acquired, with regard to Science, all that 
they perform, in reference to Arts, is folely of their 
own Invention, Profecution, and Improvement ; and 
therefore they deferve in this Senfe the higheft Praifes; 
If Printing, Artillery, the Ufe of the Compafs, and 
many other Things, feem very rude amongft them, in 
Comparifon of that Neatnefs and Perfedion to which 
they are arrived with us ; yet we cannot deny, that 
they had them long before us ; and after all, there 
may be many Things faid in Excufe of that State in 
which they are found here ; for their Manner of ex- 
preffing their Language in Charaders, the Method 
they ufe in Printing is better than ours 5 their Artillery 
are fufficiently ferviceable for any the Purpofes to which 
they employ them ; and as to their Navigation, con- 
fidering the Maxims upon which their Commerce is 
carried on, it may be very doubtful whether they wifli, 
and confequently we need not wonder, that they are 
not folicitous to arrive at any farther Perfedion. 
Thus I apprehend this Knot is fairly untied, and the 
Difpute fettled, as to the Proficiency of ^Europeans, 
and the Ingenuity of the Chinefe 5 if the former excel 
in the one, fo do the latter in the other •, and if we 
know Things better, we have this Knowledge from 
others *, whereas they have all from their own Stock, 
and had all they have much earlier than wCi 
S E C T I O N VI. 
A copious, accurate, and authentick Account of whatever is moft 
remarkable in Regard to Perfons or Things throughout the whole 
Empire of China ; more efpecially the Number of the Inhabitants 
in general, and of the Chriftians in particular j the Rivers, Ship- 
ping, Lakes, Bridges, ^c. The different Religions that prevail, 
and have prevailed, amongft the People ; their Manners, Ceremo- 
nies, and extraordinary Politenefs. Of the remarkable Trees, rich 
Fruits, and valuable Drugs in this Country ; together with a iuc- 
VoL. II. N? 136. II P cind 
