ioo8 A curious and concife Defcription of Book IIL 
haps alfo with Indian Commodities. But when it is 
confidered that this PJace is under the Power of the 
Chinefe, Vv^ho have a Mandaryn conftantly refiding there, 
it wiJl appear no proper Port for Corean Veffels ; and 
therefore their not making ufe of it, cannot be efteemed 
an Objeftion of any Weight to the Truth of what I 
have delivered j neither am I confcious to my fell of 
having concealed any thing that might make againft 
the Account which I have given, and which therefore I 
hope will be thought to deferve Credit, at leaft till we 
can obtain a better. 
9. The Pains taken to defcribe this Country, to di- 
geft the fcattered Remains of the Hiftory of its Inhabi- 
tants, to explore their Manners and Cuftoms, and to 
inveftigat6 the Nature and Circumftances of their Com- 
merce, might pais for a very rational Amufement, even 
fuppofing no higher End to be propofed, than that of 
fupplying the Deficiency of other Writers, and placing 
in a tolerable Point of Light a Subjedl that had remain- 
ed in the Dark before. But I muft confefs this was not 
my Motive, or at lead: it was not my only Motive ; and 
when I fay this, I perfuade my felf that^ the Reader will 
be not at all at a Lofs to difcover what was my Motive. 
At the Time when an Application to Parliament 
was defigned for altering the Method of collefting the 
Duties upon Tea, which fince that has in fome Meafure 
taken Place, I remember, among other Suggeftions, 
this was one, that for many Years pad our Trade to 
China was declining and this fird put me upon enqui- 
ring whether there might not poflibly be fome Method 
found of fupplying this Deficiency in our lndiaTx2At ; 
and this Hint produced the Thoughts of carrying on a 
Commerce on the Coads of Corea \ for which 1 fought 
and procured Materials, with an Intent to have pub^ 
lidied them by themfelves ; but after engaging in this 
Work, I thought they might be better preserved here. 
The Reafons which induced me to think a Scheme of 
this Sort practicable, were chiefly thefe : The Situation 
of the Country, which being a Peninfula with a vad 
Extent of Coad, made it probable that fome convenient 
Port might be met with to which Britijh Ships might re- 
fort. If upon Trial this fhould be found either im- 
pradlicable or difficult, it appeared to me, that as 
the whole of this Coad was furrounded by Iflands, fome 
of them might afford fuch a Port, without the Hazard 
of navigating a Coad which I know fome of the Dutch 
Charts reprefent as very dangerous, though I am not 
altogether certain that thefe Charts are to be abfolutely 
depended upon. Something of this Kind might un- 
doubtedly be undertaken, for as thefe Iflands are very 
numerous, it is not to be conceived that in none of 
them a good Port, a tolerable Bay, or a fafe Road 
fliould be found ; becaufe Experience fhews us, 
that there is no fuch Thing to be met v/ith in the red of 
the habitable World. When I found, upon Enquiry, 
that the Coreans were much addidted to Trade, and 
very defirous of correfponding with Foreigners, which 
obliged the Chinefe to take fo many Precautions to pre- 
vent their Deputies from indulging this Propenfity du- 
ring their Stay at Pekin ; I concluded, that if an At- 
tempt of this Sort was made with proper Care and Di- 
ligence, it could not well fail of fuccceding *, and that 
though very poffibly the fird Trials might not be at- 
tended with any great or any extraordinary Profit, yet 
they mud of Neceffity afford us great Lights, and en- 
able us by Degrees to open a new Branch of Trade, 
which in the End mud tend greatly to our Benefit. 
I was confirmed in thefe Notions, by confidering, 
that the Inhabitants of the Northern Part of this Penin^ 
fula live in a" very cold Climate \ for all the Writers 
of Credit, in relation to the Affairs of China^ agree, 
that the upper Part of the Corean Gulph is entirely froze 
over almod every Year •, that therefore the People 
might very probably be pleafed ^ith fome Kind or 
other of our Woollen Manufactures ; and I was the 
rather induced to entertain this Opinion, when I found 
chat, we formerly fent confiderable Quantities of Cloth 
to Japan. It occurred to me farther, that as the Co- 
reans had a great many valuable Commodities and Ma- 
nufadures much edeemed in Europe^ the Returns could 
not but be valuable in Cafe fuch a Trade could be 
brought about • or if we found ourfelves difappointed 
in that Refpedf, as it is certain that thefe People have 
amongd them Plenty both of Gold and Silver, we 
could not fail of being very well paid, in Cafe our Com- 
modities and Manufaftures could be introduced. I was 
indeed aware of the Umbrage this might give to the 
Chinefe, and that very poffibly it might put them upon 
taking every Meafure in their Power to didrefs, and 
even to dedroy this Trade •, but on the other Hand, 
when I reflefted, that in Spite of the Endeavours of 
the Chinefe, the Coreans were in aCfual Poffeffion of a 
confiderable domedick, and no very defpicable foreio-n 
Trade, this did not appear any formidable ObjeClion, 
there being no Reafon why the Chinefe fliould exert 
themfelves with greater Vivacity to hinder the Coreans 
from trading with us than with the Japonefe, which they 
tacitly permit, though they openly prohibit ; and as 
they are a very fubtle Nation, I could not help thinkino- 
they might be rather induced to connive at our Trade, 
in Hopes of its dedroying, in a great Meafure, the 
Inclinations which the Coreans are known to have for 
carrying on a Correfpondence with the Ruffians. 
It is very eafy to penetrate the Caufes that alarm the 
Government of China upon this Head 5 and as they have 
been before fet forth, there is no Occafion for repeating 
them here ; but whoever confiders them, mud at the 
fame Time difeern, that our ^Trading upon the Coads 
of Corea would be attended with none of thofe Incon- 
veniencies. It could not be feared that we fhould aim 
at difeovering in order to conquer the Country ; it 
could not be apprehended that we ffiould excite the Co- 
reans to revolt ; it could not be fo much as fufpedted, 
that under Pretence of Commerce we ffiould attempt 
any thing to the Prejudice of thofe Rights which for a 
long Courfe of Years the Emperors fird, and 
the Tartar Monarchs fince, have edabliffied over this 
Kingdom and its Inhabitants. I am well enough ac- 
quainted with the Chinefe Government, to be very fen- 
fible that Nothing of this Kind can be fuggeded by any 
Ambaffador in our Favour ; but I know very well, that 
whatever we may imagine in Europe, there are no Re- 
folutions taken in the Cabinets of the Chinefe Monarch 
till the Confequences are thoroughly confidered ; and 
therefore we have good Reafon to believe, that amongd 
other Circumdances attending a new Trade, thefe might 
fall under their Cognizance •, and as the Inference I 
make is drawn from their own Maxims, there is No- 
thing abfurd in fuppofing that they may fee it as well as 
we ; but I mud defire the Reader to obferve, that what I 
contend for is not a Permiffion, or a Toleration to trade 
to Corea in the fame Manner as we do to Canton in 
China, but a bare Connivance only, founded upon pru- 
dential Motives, which to be fure the Chinefe will not 
think proper to declare, and into which it will be as 
little neceflary for us to enquire. But befides all this, 
let us but remember a little what paffed in former Times, 
The Dutch adlually poffeffed themfelves of Formofa, 
when it was more drongly connedled with China than 
Corea is at this Day 5 nor does it appear from any thing 
recorded in Hidory, though I mud confefs that v/e are 
pretty much in the dark as to what paffed in this Ifland, 
that the Chinefe Government ever made any confiderable 
Attempt to recover it out of the Hands of the Dutch ; 
but it was taken from them at lad by a Multitude of 
defperate Perfons, who when they were themfelves dri- 
ven out of China, were to feek for a Habitation, and 
refolved to fix themfelves here, which however not with 
great Difficulty they did. 
It IS indeed true, that we have fome imperfed Ac* 
counts of an Attempt made by the Dutch to fix them- 
felves at Amoy, on the Continent of China, in which 
they were repulfed with confiderable Lofs ; but as the 
Point I am labouring is not at all of this Nature, and 
as I do not apprehend there is or will be any Occafion 
for proceeding to Force in order to fix a Trade, or even 
an Edabliffiment in one of the Ports, or on fome of 
the Iflands about Corea, there will be no Danger of 
a Quarrel with tho. Chinefe, though if there were, I pre- 
fume that their naval Force, which never appeared 
terrible 
