fuppofe, with a philo‘%pher whofe very 
profcription did not arreft the courfe of 
his ufeful labours, that the’ future pro- 
grefs of medicine will produce a decree of 
indefinite perfection, which, reftriGting the 
neccflity of dying to narrower limits, ‘will, 
by degrees, enlarge that period when the 
faculty of living ought naturally to 
ceafe.”’ 
a § But, gentlemen (continues 
he), how far will the grandeur and eleva- 
tion of my fubje&t carry'me? To'what 
length am I to be led away by means of 
the rapid fueceflion of my ideas and con- 
jectures ? Have I not furnifhed too many 
motives forthe fecret reproach which you, 
perhaps, already entertain againft me, on 
account of having fometimes been drag. 
ged along by the combinations of an ac- 
tive mind, the movements of a hardy ima- 
gination—! had almof faid, the illufions 
of a generous foul—to whom his zea! ren- 
ders ali kinds of good at once poflible and 
likely. Ah! where ‘is the man of fenfi- 
bility, capable of either fuffering or com- 
municating forrow, who would not dif 
pute with the grave for the tender objects 
of his affections and folicitudes ?» ‘What 
father, biother, fon, or hufband, that 
now hears me, but fometimes hazards the 
indifcreet wifh of withdrawing fuch as he 
loves from the ravages of time? And 
vehich of us would not include in thefe all 
the great men of whem our ceuntry or 
the human race can boalt >” 
‘© Voyages dans lintérieur de Ja Chi- 
neet-en Tartare, faits dans les Avinées 
1792, 1793, et 17943 par Lord MACART- 
Né&Y;. Aimo2fadeur du roi da’ Angleterre 
aupies de l’Empereur de la Chine, rédi- 
iur ies papiers de Lord Macartney, 
‘ur ceux du Commodcre ERasmse Gow- 
R, et des autres Per‘onnes attachécs a 
Ambaffade; par Sir GEORGES STaUN- 
on, de la Sacicré Royale de Londres, 
eciciaire de VAmbafflade d’ Angleterre 
Miniftre *Piénipotentiaire auprés de 
“Empereur dela Chine: traduit de PAng- 
is, avec des Notes, par J. CasTera. 
roiféme Edition, revue, corrigée et aug- 
e dun précis de PHittoire de Ja 
a Px se Si 
“~ gua 
ow 
Nerv toned 
ay] 
: 
 ODv 
-en Chire et en Tartarie de J.C; Hutr- 
wep, traduit de Allemand par le meme 
Tradaiteur, avec 37 planches et 4 cartes 
gravées en taille-douce par Tardieu, 
Pairé Cing. Volumes, in 8°.” —Travels 
into the Interior of China snd Tartary, 
during the Years @792, 1793, 280 1794; 
by. Lord Macartney, &c, Edited by gir 
Retrofped? of French Literature.—IMifeellancous, 
GrorcE StaunTon, F. R. S. &c. The 
third Edition; to which are added, a Sum- 
mary of the Hiftory of China, by the 
Tranflators ; and alfo of the Voyage to. 
China and Tartary, by J.C. HurTTNErR, 
tranflated from the German, with 37 
Plates, and 4 engraved Charts. 5 vols. 8vo. 
We fhall af courle, abfain from ail 
notice of the hiflory of the embafly to 
China, undertaken-at the expence of this. 
country, and publifhed in its capital ; it 
may not be amifs, however, to make a 
brief mention of other parts of thefe vo- 
lumes. 
/M. CASTERA, in his introduétion,. 
does not pretend to be able “ to lift the 
thick veil which fiill covers, and which. 
perhaps wiil always fhade, che commence- 
ment of the Chinefe Empire.”” He can- 
didly ebferves, that, like that of all na- 
tions, tle early hiftory of China only pre- 
fents a fantaftical mixture of pofiible fags, 
and extraordinary events ; but he is not 
emboldened by this obfcurity, to fubfti. 
tute unfounded conje€tures in the place of 
Narratives in part fabulous, He, therefore, 
colleéts different opinions, and oppoles 
them to each other on particular points, 
{uch as thofe tranfmitted by the Mifficna- 
ries, the Brahmins, Sir William Jones, 
De Guignes, Feret and ethers, leaving a 
definitive judgment to fuch as dare pro- 
nounce if. , 
. When the annals of China are contem= 
plated during that period, which My Caf- 
tera confiders as hiftorical, he introduces 
to the notice of the reader a long feries of 
monarchs, feveral of whom not only re- 
fiested honour ona throne, but on humani- 
ty itfelf, by their numerous virtues. He 
alfo thews, that laws, and. cuftoms no lefs. 
refpectable than laws in the eyes of this. 
fingular and extraordinary . people, have 
often preferved the empite from the terri- 
le confequences of thofe great changes, 
which under tho name of revolutions.not 
unfrequently defolate ftates. ‘To the vio- 
lent crifes which produce an alteration in. 
-a dynafty, a profound calm as fuddenly 
enfues, while the government of the coun- 
try prefents the fame uniform fpectacle, fo 1 
rare among Europeans, and abjolutely un- 
known inthe ether fates of Afiz—that of 
a paternal adminifiration wnited with the 
moi abfolute defpotifm., Even in modern 
times, this circumitance alone has been. 
able to preferve harmony between two na- — 
tions efientially at vanance wiih cach. 
other in their cuitoms, manners, and re= 
li Signs ; 
3 By 
4 
