At length the troubles which arose in the empire, the civil wars which distracted it, and the corruption of manners which became almost universal, had very nearly suppressed the ancient doctrine, when Confucius arose and revived it.

This great philosopher made a collection of the most excellent maxims of the ancients, which he adhered to himself, and taught to the people. He preached up a severe morality, and endeavoured to prevail upon men to contemn riches and wordly pleasures, and to esteem temperance, justice, and other virtues: he strove to inspire them with such magnanimity as to be proof against the frowns of princes, and with a sincerity inca pable of the least disguise. The thing most to be admired is, that he preached more by his example than by his words, whence he reaped considerable fruits from his labours; kings were governed by his counsels, and the people reverenced him as a saint. Yet he frequently met with reverses of fortune, which obliged him to travel from province to province, and he was often reduced to such extremities, as to be in danger of perishing by hunger.

He sent six hundred of his disciples into different pla ces of the empire to reform the manners of the people, and used frequently to say, "It is in the West where the true saint is found." This sentence was so imprinted in the minds of the learned, that sixty-four years after the birth of Christ, the emperor Ming-ti sent ambassadors into the West, with strict orders to continue their journey till they should meet this saint. Other authors assert, that he was induced to send these ambassadors, from a dream which reminded him of this sentence of Confucius.

This philosopher seems to have carried the religion of nature as far as unassisted reason could possibly reach, After his death he was revered by the greatest part of the nation as an eminent saint, as a messenger inspired and sent by heaven to instruct mankind, and almost as a god; but interpreters soon arose, who explained away the simplicity and purity of his doctrine, and, by intro

ducing idle distinctions and superstitious observances, by perverting and wresting his meaning as well as by giving false interpretations of the ancient books, they destroyed the worship due to the Supreme Being, and formed a system of religion and philosophy equally impious and absurd. This is now the religion of the learned, who, while they pay homage to the memory of Confucius, are far from following his precepts or imitating the innocence and sanctity of his life. Yet though the purity of doctrine is not retained, the memory of their great teacher is still held in the highest reverence by the Chinese, and the emperors have even ordered that the literati should annually celebrate a festival to his honour.

The Chinese in their persons are far from being such grotesque figures as they represent themselves in their paintings; and we may form a pretty distinct idea of them in general, by considering what they esteem beauty. This they imagine consists in having a large forehead, small eyes, a short nose, a broad face, a mouth of a moderate size, large ears, and black hair; together with a certain symmetry and proportion between all the parts. As their garments are wide, and do not fit so close to the body as those of the Europeans, they have formed no idea of the beauty resulting from a genteel and easy shape. On the contrary, they esteem a man well made when he is fat, bulky, and handsomely fills his chair. Their complexion, in the southern parts of China, where the weather is excessively hot, is of an olive colour; but, in the northern provinces, they are naturally as fair as the Europeans, and, in common, their faces are not disagreeable: the men of learning,, and young people, particularly, not being exposed to the sun, have a fine skin and a beautiful complexion.Such as are professedly men of letters, especially if they are well descended, affect to let the nails of their fingers grow an inch long or more, from the vanity of shewing that they are not employed in manual labour; a custom which prevails in Otaheite, among the eries, or men of rank.

As for the women, they are commonly of the middlesize; their noses are short, their eyes little, their mouths well made, and with rosy lips; their ears are long, their hair black, and their complexion florid; their features are regular, and their countenances full of vivacity.The smallness of their feet is, in the opinion of the Chinese, none of the least charms of that sex therefore, when a female infant is born, the nurses are very careful in binding her feet extremely hard, to prevent their growing; and they are ever after subjected to this constraint; but whatever pain a child suffers from this violence offered to nature, it appears that its health is not materially affected by it; and such is the force of custom, that the Chinese women, when adult, are so far from complaining of it, that they pride themselves in this whimsical perversion of nature, and always affect to shew their feet as they walk, or rather hobble along with tottering and unsteady steps.

The men shave their heads, leaving only one lock of hair growing on the crown. Osbeck says, "If a Chinese is asked what sum of money would induce him to part with his tuft of hair? he replies by asking the inquirer, what he would take for his head?"

It is generally agreed that the silk-worm was first bred, and its curious web first manufactured, in China, and for a great many centuries formed a most lucrative branch of trade; no other part of the world having any knowledge of that insect, or of its wonderful properties. The ancients in all ages were supplied with that costly article of luxury, silk, from India, whither it was brought from China. It was about the middle of the sixth century, in the reign of Justinian, that two Persian monks, who had been employed as missionaries in some of the Christian churches, which were established, as we are informed, by Cosmas, in different parts of India, had penetrated into the country of the Seres, or China. There they observed the labours of the silk-worm, and became acquainted with the whole progress of working its productions in such a variety of elegant fabrics. prospect of gain, or perhaps an indignant zeal,

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excited by seeing this lucrative branch of commerce engrossed by unbelievers, prompted them to repair to Constantinople; there they explained to the emperor the origin of silk, as well as the various modes of preparing and manufacturing it: mysteries until then unknown, or very imperfectly understood in Europe. Encouraged by his liberal promises, they undertook to bring to the capital a sufficient number of those wonderful insects, to whose labour man is so much indebted. This they accomplished by conveying the eggs of the silk-worm in a hollow cane; which were hatched by the heat of a dunghill; the insects, so procured, were fed with the leaves of the wild mulberry-tree; and they multiplied and worked in the same manner as in those climates where they first became objects of human attention and culture. Vast numbers of these insects were soon reared in different parts of Greece, particularly in the Peloponesus. Sicily afterwards undertook to breed silk-worms with equal success, and was imitated, from time to time, by several towns in Italy. In all these places extensive manufactures were established, and carried on with silk raised in the country. The demand for silk from the East diminished of course. The subjects of the Greek emperors were no longer obliged to have recourse to the Persians for a supply of it, and a considerable change took place in the nature of the commercial intercourse between Europe and India.-Dr. Robertson's Historical Disquisition concerning ancient India, page 88.

It was ten centuries after the Chinese had lost their monopoly of silk, that tea became adopted into general use in European countries. The demand for this favourite leaf has continually increased since its first introduction, which is little more than a century ago. In the year 1785, when the British ministry introduced regulations respecting the duties on this important article, it was stated in the house of commons, that the whole quantity of tea imported into Europe from China, was about nineteen millions of pounds weight, of which it was conjectured that twelve millions were consumed in Great-Britain and its dependencies.—Payne.

Two splendid embassies from England and Holland have been undertaken within these few years past; that of lord Macartney, in 1793, and that of Mr. Titsing, in 1795. A full account of the former was presented to the public by sir George Staunton, and of the latter by N. Van Braam, both of them acting secretaries to their respective embassies. To these works we must necessarily refer the inquisitive reader for full and accurate accounts of the present condition of this populous, extensive, and flourishing empire.

CHAPTER XXIII.

PRUSSIA.

Original Inhabitants.-Name.-Subdued by the Teutonic Knights.-Albert the first Duke.-Erected into a Kingdom.

Prussia, which has lately made so great a figure in the affairs of Europe, is one of the most recent and limited monarchies on the continent. It was originally inhabited by a powerful race of people, called the Venedi, who extended themselves all along the south side of the Baltic. On the Venedi removing to the more western provinces, the Borussi, who had migrated from the foot of the Riphan mountains, possessed themselves of this country, which they called Borussia, now corrupted to Prussia.

It was divided into twelve provinces by Venedus, one of the Borussian princes, who is recorded to have given them to his twelve sons.

They made a noble stand against the kings of Poland, a brother of one of whom (Boleslaus IV.) was defeated and slain by them in battle, A. D. 1166. This bold and warlike nation continued independent, and pagans, till conquered by the knights of the Teutonic order, A. D. 1227, who, returning to Europe after the expulsion