IT may, perhaps, be laid down as an invariable maxim, that the condition of the female part of fociety in any nation will furnifh a tolerable juft criterion of the degree of civilization to which that nation has arrived. The manners, habits, and prevailing fentiments of women, have great influence on thofe of the fociety to which they belong, and generally give a turn to its character. Thus we fhall find that thofe nations, where the moral and intellectual powers of the mind in the female fex are held in moft eftimation, will be governed by fuch laws as are beft calculated to promote the general happinefs of the people; and, on the contrary, where the perfonal qualifications of the fex are the only objects of confideration, as is the cafe in all the defpotic governments of Afiatic nations, tyranny, oppreffion, and flavery are fure to prevail; and thefe perfonal accomplifhments, fo far from being of ufe to the owner, ferve only to deprive her of liberty, and the fociety of her friends; to render her a degraded victim, fubfervient to the fenfual gratification, the caprice, and the jealoufy of tyrant man. Among favage tribes the labour and drudgery invariably fall heavieft on the weaker fex.

The talents of women, in our own happy ifland, began only in the reign of Queen Elizabeth to be held in a proper degree of confideration.

AFTER the fketch I have exhibited of the ftate of fociety among the different ranks in China, a tolerable notion may be formed of the general character and complexion of the court. It is, as Lord Macartney has juftly obferved, “a fingular mixture “of oftentatious hofpitality and inbred fufpicion, ceremonious “civility and real rudenefs, fhadowy complaifance and fubftan-“tial perverfenefs; and this prevails through all the depart-“ments connected with the Court, although fomewhat modi-“fied by the perfonal difpofition of thofe at their head; but as “to that genuine politenefs, which diftinguifhes our manners, it “cannot be expected in Orientals, confidering among other “things the light in which they are accuftomed to regard the “female part of fociety.” Whether the great minifters of ftate, who have daily intercourfe in the different tribunals, fometimes relax from the ftiff and formal deportment obferved towards each other in public, I am not able to fay, but when at Court they invariably obferve certain fated forms and expreffions as ftudied and ceremonious as if they had never met before. It appeared to us highly ridiculous to fee our friends, the two colleagues Van-ta-gin and Chou-ta-gin, on meeting in the precincts of the palace, performing to each other all the genuflexions and motions of the body which the ceremonial inftitutes of the empire require.

THE fufpicious and watchful conduct of the Chinefe government towards ftrangers was ill fuited to the free and independent fpirit of Britons. Confined within the limits of their hotel, the populous capital of China was to them little better than a defert. It was, therefore, lefs painful to be obliged to quit a place which they could confider in no other light than as an honourable prifon, and to take leave of a people, whofe general character feemed to be ftrongly marked with pride, meannefs, and ignorance. After having paffed fome time in a nation, where every petty officer is a tyrant, and every man a flave, how doubly precious do the bleffings of that true liberty appear, which our happy conftitution affords to every one the means of enjoying at home; where property is fecured from violence, and where the life of the meaneft fubject is equally protected with that of the prince. Let thofe vifionary men, who amufe themfelves in building Utopian governments, and thofe who, from real or fancied injury or neglect, feel the chagrin of difappointment, vifit other countries, and experience how juftice is adminiftered in other nations; they will then be taught to confefs that real liberty exifts only in Great Britain—in that happy ifland where, to ufe the expreffion of an eminent writer on the laws of nations, “an enlightened piety in the “people is the firmeft fupport of lawful authority; and in the “fovereign's breaft, it is the pledge of the people's fafety, and “excites their confidence.”

IT is hardly neceffary to obferve that, after the able and interefting account of the proceedings and refult of the Britifh Embaffy to the court of China, by the late Sir George Staunton (who was no lefs amiable for liberality of fentiment, than remarkable for vigour of intellect) it would be an idle, and, indeed, a fuperffuous undertaking, in any other perfon who accompanied the embaffy, to dwell on thofe fubjects which have been treated by him in fo matterly a manner; or to recapitulate thofe incidents and transactions, which he has detailed with equal elegance and accuracy.

But, as it will readily occur to every one, there are ftill many interefting fubjects, on which Sir George, from the nature of his work, could only barely touch, and others that did not come within his plan, one great object of which was to unfold the views of the embaffy, and to fhew that every thing, which could be done, was done, for promoting the interefts of the Britifh nation, and Supporting the dignity of the Britifh character; the Author of the prefent work, has ventured, though with extreme diffidence, and with the confcioufnefs of the difadvantage under which he muft appear after that “Ac-“count of the Embaffy,” to lay before the public the point of view in which be faw the Chinefe empire, and the Chinefe character.

I HAVE now gone over moft of the points relative to which I have been able to recollect the remarks and obfervations which arofe in my mind during my attendance on this memorable Embaffy. The comparifons I have made were given with a view of affifting the reader to form in his own mind fome idea what rank the Chinefe may be confidered to hold, when meafured by the fcale of European nations; but this part is very defective. To have made it complete would require more time and more reading, than at prefent I could command. The confideration of other objects, thofe of a political nature, which are of the moft ferious importance to our interefts in China, is more particularly the province of thofe in a different fphere, and would, therefore, be improper for me to anticipate or prejudge, by any conjectures of my own. It belongs to other perfons, and perhaps to other times; but it is to be hoped that the information, reflections, and opinions of the Embaffador himfelf, may one day be fully communicated to the public, when the prefent objections to it fhall ceafe, and the moment arrive (which is probably not very diftant) that will enable us to act upon the ideas of that nobleman's capacious and enlightened mind, and to prove to the world that the late Embaffy, by fhewing the character and dignity of the Britifh nation in a new and fplendid light, to a court and people in a great meafure ignorant of them before, however mifreprefented by the jealoufy and envy of rivals, or impeded by the counteraction of enemies, has laid an excellent foundation for great future advantages, and done honour to the wifdom and forefight of the ftatefman who planned the meafure, and directed its execution.

THE prefents for the Emperor and our private baggage being all landed, the packages repaired, and every article minutely noted down by the officers of government, the porters were directed to fix their bamboo bearing pcles to each package, that no impediment might prevent our fetting out at an early hour in the morning. In doing this, as well as in landing the articles from the veffels, the Chinefe porters fhewed fuch expedition, frength, and activity, as could not, I believe, be paralleled or procured in fo fhort a time, in any other country. Every thing here, in fact, feems to be at the inftant command of the ftate; and the moft laborious tafks are undertaken and executed with a readinefs, and even a chearfulnefs, which one could fcarcely expect to meet with in fo defpotic a government.

According to the arrangement, on the 21 ft of Auguft, about three o'clock in the morning, we were prepared to fet out, but could fcarcely be faid to be fairly in motion till five, and before we had cleared the city of Tong-tchoo, it was paft fix o'clock. From this city to the capital, I may venture to fay, the road never before exhibited fo motley a groupe. In front marched about three thoufand porters, carrying fix hundred packages; fome of which were fo large and heavy, as to require thirty-two bearers: with thefe were mixed a proportionate number of inferior officers, each having the charge and fuperintendence of a divifion.

IF no traces remained, nor any authorities could be produced of the antiquity of the Chinefe nation, except the written character of their language, this alone would be fufficient to decide that point in its favour. There is fo much originality in this language, and fuch a great and effential difference between it and that of any other nation not immediately derived from the Chinefe, that not the moft diftant degree of affinity can be difcovered, either with regard to the form of the character, the fyftem on which it is constructed, or the idiom, with any other known language upon the face of the globe. Authors, however, and fome of high reputation, have been led to fuppofe that, in the Chinefe character, they could trace feme relation to thofe hieroglyphical or facred inferiptions found among the remains of the ancient Egyptians; others have confidered it to be a modification of hieroglyphic writing, and that each character was the fymbol or comprehenfive form of the idea it was meant to exprefs, or, in other words, an abftract delineation of the object intended to be reprefented.