t 49+ ] 
its own, be adopted: he candidly owns, that any 
connexion between the two modes of writing, is 
hardly difcernible at this day. He affirms, that the 
Ghinefe language is one of the moll antient ; and 
perhaps the only one which has been fpoken with-* 
out interruption ; and is yet a living language; the 
fmall number and the fliortnels of its words having 
fo guarded it from changes, that they could fcarcely 
extend farther than the pronunciation. 
They diilinguiffi in the Chinefe language, ift, the 
Kou-ouen, the language of the King^ and other 
books written in this tafle. The harangues of the 
Chou-king^ and the fongs of the Chi-king^ prove that 
it was fpoken formerly. It is prodigioully laconick. 
2dly, The Oum-tcha 7 igy the language of rcle-vees^ ele- 
vated compolitions, and books. This language, ex- 
cepting fome proverbs, axioms, and forms of com- 
pliment, is no longer ufed in fpeaking. gdly, The 
Kouan-hoa, the lar<guage of men in ollice. This is 
the only language'fpoken at court, and in good com- 
pany, and ufed in books ; and this alone runs through 
the empire. 4thly, The Hiang-tan^ patois or pro- 
vincial jargon. Each province and town, and almofl 
every village has its own. In fpight of thefe varieties, 
theChinefe tonguecounts butabout 330 words. From 
hence the Europeans conclude, that it is barren, mo- 
notone, and hard to underfland. But they ought to 
know, that the four accents called uni (even) 
chting^ lejjened)^joii^ rentranr, 
(returning) ^ multiply almo-fl every word into four, by 
an inflexion of voice which it is as difficult to make 
an European comprehend, as it is for a Chinefe to 
comprehend the fix pronunciations of the French E. 
Thde 
