marked by timidity and indecision; and, in their negotiations with strangers, they frequently entangle themselves in the most ludicrous embarrassments. Often did Gutzlaff make them ashamed of their conduct, by quoting against themselves the maxims of Confucius and the ancients, which they affect to observe as their rule of conduct, though at the same time acting in direct violation of them. Mr. Lindsay bears testimony to the extraordinary power over the minds of the Chinese, of all ranks, which our author obtained by his thorough acquaintance with the ancient classics, and the copious knowledge which he possessed of the Chinese language. On many occasions, he says, when Mr. Gutzlaff has been surrounded by hundreds of eager listeners, he has been interrupted by loud expressions of the pleasure with which they listened to his pithy, and indeed elegant language.'

6

At every port the Amherst touched at, along the whole of the eastern coast, tracts, of various kinds, in the Chinese language, were eagerly sought after; and these were not confined solely to religious subjects, but others on history, geography, and morality, containing both instruction and amusement, were copiously diffused. But that which most attracted their attention was a pamphlet, written by the late Mr. Marjoribanks, and translated by Dr. Morrison, Upon the English Nation;' a copy of which is said to have reached the emperor, and to have been carefully perused by him. Scarcely any means,' says Mr. Gutzlaff, adopted to promote a friendly intercourse, proved so effectual as the circulation of this paper.' 'Often,' he adds, when I came upon deck, all hands were stretched out to receive it; a scuffle would ensue, and loud complaints were vented by those whose wishes were not satisfied.' Mr. Gutzlaff would seem to have provided himself with little treatises on most subjects. At one place he found a number of persons in a temple, engaged in gambling: 'I presented them,' he says, ' with a tract on gambling, when they started up, astonished at our unexpected and unwelcome gift.'

6

Mr. Gutzlaff observes how difficult it is to ascertain in what manner this populous empire, of such an immense extent, can be kept together; but is convinced that it can by no means be ascribed to the wisdom of the theoretical laws of the Celestial Kingdom. Mr. Pauw tells us, which is partly true, that China is governed by the whip and the bamboo. It is certainly by a graduated and mitigated system of despotism, accompanied frequently with oppression and tyranny, that order is preserved among the greatest mass of human beings congregated on an equal space in any portion of the earth's surface. The emperor tyrannizes over his ministers, his ministers over the governors of provinces, and these over the whole series of subordinate officers-each acting with a sufficient

sufficient degree of arrogance in his own sphere; and yet all is considered-even personal castigation-to emanate from a paternal solicitude for the welfare of those committed to their care. But such a system could never have held together for such a length of time, had not the subjects, of all ranks and degrees, been carefully debarred from all intercourse with foreigners, from all knowledge of the language, the literature, or the institutions of other nations. Of all such knowledge they are, even at this time, most innocent; and it was the desire to prevent such a contamination that caused so many efforts to prevail on Lindsay and Gutzlaff to depart from their ports.

The mode pursued to get rid of the Amherst was different in different places-sometimes by offers of money and provisions, sometimes by putting on a bullying tone, frequently by coaxing, and now and then by a grand display of soldiers of the most miserable description, some of whom, the missionary sarcastically observes, had the word valour written on their jackets behind. On one occasion they were visited by two naval officers, who said, that if they failed in driving the ship away, they were to be degraded; and to show they were in earnest, they unscrewed the buttons on their caps, offering them to the party, as being no longer of use to themselves; they said they were all implicated, up to the governor and the commander-in-chief, who were in great tribulation at their remaining so long. One of the mandarins tried to weep, but the tears fell very sparingly; and, on the whole, this intended tragedy more resembled a farce than anything else.'

From the promontory of Shan-tung, the Amherst stretched over to the coast of Corea, which is studded with such a multitude of islands, that the sovereign may well style himself the King of Ten Thousand Islands.' The country is thinly inhabited, the land but little cultivated, and the people miserably Their written characters are Chinese-their timidity and duplicity Chinese-their system of government Chinese-their religion, such as it is, also Chinese. They are supposed to be independent both of Japan and China, though they do pay a sort of tribute to the latter; they, however, said to the visiters, in order to get rid of them- Our kingdom is a dependent state of China; we can do nothing without the imperial decree-this is our law. Hitherto we have had no intercourse with foreigners; how could we venture to commence it now?' They have but a few vessels, which are either employed in fishing, or in carrying on a trifling commerce with China, Japan, and Mantchou Tartary.

Leaving the coast of Corea, the Amherst proceeded to the LooChoo Islands, and came to an anchor in Napakiang Bay, in the

VOL. LI. NO. CII.

2 K

harbour

harbour of which were several Japanese vessels. The mandarins spoke the Chinese language fluently; and they were as friendly and courteous as Captain Basil Hall found them-but crafty, deceitful, and lying-which that clever, person did not discover them to be; though the late Sir Murray Maxwell, as appears by his Journal, did. The honest missionary says, "They were generally so very complimentary, and so excessive in their professions of friendship, that we were at a loss how to answer all their polite observations. Neither are they such simple, innocent, and inoffensive beings as to be utterly ignorant of the use of money and of arms a piece of intelligence that utterly confounded two great men, the one a financier, and the other a general. No money !' exclaimed Vansittart- No arms!' whispered Buonaparte.

Their corporal punishments, too, are said to be as severe as those of Corea, which exceed even the example of China; and their jealousy of foreigners is fully equal to that of either. The Amherst's people were most politely treated, and closely watched, to prevent their holding communication, as far as could be done, with the natives. Mr. Gutzlaff had plenty of applications for his physic, but he could only distribute his little books by stealth. On the whole, he says, with all their deceit, we will freely acknowledge that they are the most friendly and hospitable people which we have met during all our voyage.'

6

About a twelvemonth after the return of the Amherst, another vessel, called the Sylph, well manned and armed, set out from Macao on a smuggling and free-trade expedition along the eastern coast of China, as far up as the Gulf of Leau-tung; and Mr. Gutzlaff, true to his predetermined purpose, rather to perish in the attempt of carrying the Gospel to China, than to wait quietly on the frontiers,' embarked in her on his third voyage to circulate among the heathen the book of life,' He found, that at every place where the Amherst had been, a great change had been effected in the conduct of the mandarins: they were less officious, apparently less frightened, and more indifferent-so that the intercourse of the visiters with the people now met with little interruption. The return of Mr. Gutzlaff was hailed with joy by all his old acquaintances, and he circulated tracts and physic to his heart's content. Furious gales and a tremendous sea drove the little vessel along the coast. Only one Lascar was swept away; we heard his dying groan, but could lend no assistance. It was a dark, dismal night; we were thoroughly drenched with water; horror hovered around us. Many a wave swept over our deck, but those which dashed against our poop were really terrible."

On the 15th November they entered the Gulf of Leau-tung, and encountered a large fleet of junks, laden with Mantchou produce.

produce. The people, who were frank and open-hearted, advised them not to proceed farther to the northward, as they would soon meet with ice. The Mantchou people on shore were civil and intelligent; they appeared less idolatrous than the Chinese; but there was one temple dedicated to the Queen of Heaven, of which we are artlessly told that a few blind men were the overseers." This puts us in mind of poor little Holman, the blind traveller, being sent out of Russia as a spy. They proceeded to the Bay of Kinchow, into which the great wall descends, and grounded on a sandbank. Their situation is described (in a manuscript journal kept by a son of Captain Jauncey, of the Navy) as horrible; a fierce northerly wind from the ice-fields of Kamtschatka blew down the bay; the depth of water decreased; the ship fell over on her beamends; the cold was so piercing that the Lascars were useless and helpless, and their lamentable cries were truly distressing; every spray of the sea froze into a sheet of ice. The land was twenty miles distant, but a party volunteered to go in the boat to seek assistance at the town of Kai-chow, among whom were thirteen helpless Lascars. When arrived within three miles of the shore, the boat grounded in two-and-a-half feet water, and it was some time before they got her off. Entirely covered with ice, we arrived,' says Gutzlaff, at a headland, and were received most humanely by some fishermen and a priest, but found no mercy among the mandarins.' All the hills were covered with snow; the Lascars were not able to walk, and it was found necessary to bathe their feet with rum to prevent them from being frost-bitten. A poor Mantchou fisherman carried them into his hut, and placed the Lascars in beds spread on a bench of brick-work, with flues underneath to warm them. One of these poor seamen died, and others went into fits.

The city of Kai-chow was ten miles off, whither Gutzlaff and a party went on foot, to claim assistance from the mandarins to get the ship afloat; but these unfeeling animals would neither give any themselves nor suffer others to do so: a strong southerly wind, however, set into the gulf, and the water rose to such a height that she floated off. The conduct of the people in general, both on the coast and in the interior, made ample amends for the brutality of the mandarins. In their habits and behaviour,' says Gutzlaff, they appeared very much like our peasantry; some of their farms were in excellent order, and plenty reigns everywhere.' Seeing a large building on a hill, Gutzlaff and his party made towards it. It proved to be a temple cf Budha. The Padré (a true father Paul), with about a dozen priests, came out and addressed them in a gruff and inhospitable strain, but Gutzlaff reminded them of the precepts of Confucius concerning benevo

6

2 K 2

lence

lence and hospitality, and, having made them acquainted with their true situation, they now became all civility; the padré invited them in; a sumptuous dinner was served up, consisting of thirty or forty different dishes; among the delicacies were biche-da-mar and bird-nests' soups-such is the luxurious way in which mendicant monks and friars would seem to indulge in whatever part of the world they may be rooted.

Arrived at Kai-chow, the party was received by the mandarins, not merely with coolness, but great insolence; and though they were ultimately prevailed on to promise assistance, they secretly did everything that was unfriendly. The ship, however, as Mr. Gutzlaff informs us, 'got off by the interposition of God, who had ordered the south wind to blow, thus driving up more water upon the bank.' Too happy to avail themselves of the fortunate release, they forthwith stood to the southward.

The description of the island of Poo-to, one of the Chusan groupe, is so curious, and furnishes so strong an instance of the great extent to which the impostors of Budhism are still enabled to practise on the credulity of the public, that we shall close our brief account of these voyages with a short notice of it. The visiters, passing among large rocks covered with inscriptions, and among numerous temples, came suddenly on one of the latter, of an immense size, covered with yellow tiles. It was filled within with all the tinsel of idolatry,' together with various specimens of Chinese art, and many gigantic statues of Budha :

'These colossal images were made of clay, and tolerably well gilt. There were great drums and large bells in the temple. We were present at the vespers of the priests, which they chanted in the Pali language, not unlike the Latin service of the Roman church. They held their rosaries in their hands, which rested folded upon their breasts; one of them had a small bell, by the tinkling of which their service was regulated; and they occasionally beat the drum and large bell to rouse Budha to attend to their prayers. The same words were a hundred times repeated.'-pp. 441, 442.

Mr. Gutzlaff says there are two large and sixty small temples, on a spot not exceeding twelve square miles, which is the area of the island, and on which two thousand priests were residing; that no females are allowed to live on the island, nor any laymen, except those in the service of the priests; but he observed a number of young fine-looking children, who had been purchased for the purpose of being initiated in the mysteries of Budhism. This numerous train of idlers have lands assigned for their support, and make up the rest by begging:

To every person who visits this island, it appears at first fairy land, so romantic is everything which meets the eye.

like a

Those

large