The telescope. (Columbia, S.C.) 1815-1818, April 30, 1816, Image 1
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HY THOMAS W.LORRAIN.
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kxTMACT ruoM Tnr. tu'ARTkRLr atvmw.
RKVIKW
Of " Translations frttm the Original ChlHete*
with ? (fantyn, Ch. Btrtall 4 to. printed
by order of the Select Committee) 1815.
Sir (ieorge Staunton wan unquestionably tho
first who opened to Europeans any of the useful
treasures of Chinese literature.* lib elaborate
translation of tho Ta-tsing-lcu-lec, or funda
mental lawn and institution* of the Ta-tsing dy
nasty, made uh acquainted with the real practi
cal mwhiiierv by wliich the Chinese government
is enabled to keep together, in one bond of uni*
on, the multitudinous population of that exten
nive emptre.'Befoie tht? valuable work appear
ed, all the world thought, and the JeKuit missi
onariesencouraged the opinion, that the Chinese
had found out the Hecret of keeping men in or
der by the application ofcertiiin refilled maxims
of morality to the practical oporationH of the go
vernment, ? a Hecret which had elevated the na
tion to the acme of political wisdom ; so that
when M. Pauw asserted that the Chinese were
actually governed by the whip and the bamboo,
he was held up by tlie missionaries as an igno
rant and yrejudicud writer. M. I'auw's state
ments however were amply verified by the two
subsequent embassies of Lord Macartney and
Mr. Titsing to the court of I'ekin. The truth is,
that the missionaries suppressed the facts that
every day came immediately liefore their oyes,
and published only what they read in Chinese
books ; they gave tlie theory of the government,
but kept back the practice ? the moral senti
ments, but not the mornl conduct of the |>cople ;
and they omitted to tell, what they must nave
known, and what Mr. Morrison very soon dis
covered, that " there is no nation in the world
in which professions and practice are more at
variance than in China.'* I'hey wrote as if tlie
coinmun-place maxims of morality drawn from
the ancient writings of Confucius were actually
the rulo of conduct with tho Chinese : in short,
as if China was a nation ol'suges, in which phi
losophy and science not only flourished omong
tho up|?er classes, but produced wholesome fruit
in the multitude. The corrupt jargon of the
schools llnudh and Krahma, rendered more ab
surd and unintelligible by translation into an ob
scure and] symbolical language, was called histo
ry, and p tilosophy, and science ; and the moat
trifling M jrJnft# of tit* nneigit*, provided **?*.?
were old enough, were JK down as sublime
truths.
The fii st part of the little volumct now before
us contains a selection of reports and edicts
from theiPekin Gazette translated by Mr. Mor
rison tlie missionary, of whose literary labours
we have already had occaoion to speak. The
most interesting arc those which relate to a re
bellion raised by a certain sect (the Tien-Ire)
with a view of expelling Kia-Kinu, the present
emperor* from his throne, headed, it has been
supposed, by his own brother, though tlie know
ledge of this part of the transaction is properly
suppressed.
It has been the custom of all the emperors of
the present Tartar dynasty to pass the summer
months at Oehol in I*artary, on account of the
heat j or as the Chinese say, to keep open the
communication with the country from which
they came, in the event of a change of circum
stances making it netvissary for them to retreat
thither. On the IHth October, 181.1, an His Im
Er?rial Majesty Kia-Kiug was returning from
is summer excursion, ami about to enter Pekin.
a party of conspirators broke into the imperial
palace, and kept possession of a part of it for
three davs. On this occasion His liniierinl Ma
jesty issued a proclamation, which, as lie candid
ly states, whs 44 to announce a revolution, and
?o take blame to himself,** After observ in# that
he had scarcely mounted the throne when the
sect of the Ve-llrn (the white water lily ? the
nttumMa) causcd a revolt in four provinces,
which took eight years in subduing j that ano
ther sect, the iP/en-fee (heavenly reason, iHumi
nati,) whom Mr. Morrison malics llis Imperial
Majesty to call a 44 banditti of vagabonds," nud*
denly created disturbances ; 44 out now,*' he
continues, 44 rebellion has suddenly arisen un
der my own arm-pit } the calamity has sprung
from my owl* house."
This proclamation, full of hypocritical humil
ity and self-reproach on the part of His'lniperi
af Majesty, was followed by the most liarharnus
exertions, which lasted a whole year ? several
hundreds were put toddath t some by behead
ing j othors by a slow and lingering process ;
home were hacked ill pieces by a certain number
of strokes, and others had their bodies rut, as It
in called, into fenthoosaitd nicccs. The Kmpe
ror then announces that he had lieen graciously
pleased to promote the officer who first discover
ed the plot | and that of the three officers of the
district, who failed to main 'such discovery, one
he exiled to the extreme confines of the empire,
utid ordered to bo kept to ItA'rd labor s another
he had degraded, and scut to the army to atone
lor his offence) 'and tho third lie had .deprived
of his office. Some month* afterwards- seven
teen rebels were hacked in pieces at Pekin and
thirty-five others sentenced by tlie courts of jus
" | If0m
? We would mitke an exception however Itf the Mw?.
k.MMchusn, or 4 tig If v.* transited l>y the
lli-lwp of flromore (Vnit?nPorlUK?iC:.e ihnnovripi. which
wliu li iv n genuine Chinese Novel, containing a ru.thful
p ruire of llic donwat'c hslitt an-l character of
tMv itngnnr p?>p!e.
tice to transportation \ but Hi* Imperial Majes
ty wu graciously pleased, in his great mercy to
mitigate the sentence of these last Unfortunate
people, and to order that they should only be
ttrangled after a certain period of close im
prisonment.
It is a privilege, and rather a singular one, in
this despotic government, which, however, every
officer may claim, to lay hls sentiments in writ
ing before the sovereign, whether in the shs^e
of representation, complaint, or. even admoni
tion, and these docurti4nt? are usually made pub
lic through the I'ekin Gazette, together /with
the Kmperdkr's approval or otherwise. , '
A spirited representation Qf this kind, made
ty the tithperor by one of his magistrates, is
published in, the Gvzette. It states tb^t many
innocent persons had been brought to trial* tor
tured and suffered death', apparently for no o^
thcr purpose than to rtince the zeal of the ob
viating magistrate it. The imperial edict that
first announced the insurrection had ascribed
the cause and origin of it to a particular sect r
and bence ovcry person, it appears, who was
known to belong to any other sect than -that of
lioudh, which may be called the established reli
gion of the country, became obnoxious to the
persecution of these over-zealous magistrates.
The Christians, being considered as a sect, were
grievously persecuted in every part of the em
pire, and the Christian missionaries driven out
of I'ekin. 80 abhorrent indeed do the Chinese
now appear to be from the Christian religion in
particular, that, on seizins a Chinese linguist,
who had been despatched from Canton to Pekin
by the servants of the East India Company, with
a letter and present from our Secretary of State
to the late viceroy of Canton, who had been
called to the capital, they insisted, in imitation
of the Japanese, that he should trample on a
cross, to evince his hatred of that sect of which
it is considered to be the standaru ; this the
mandid without hesitation, being no Christian,
but a disciple of Po. *
The magistrate above mentioned state*, that
numbers had been unjustly confined, that many
were pasted from court to court, and put to the
torture under pretence of preparation fur trial ;
that they were finally liberated without trial af
tcr their health wafxteitroyed, and their pro
perty wasted | Mid that numbers were seduced
01 tortAred into confession by the inferior offi
cers. Indeed the whole dnrum#>n* ouImKWu ?
tuous government .ymmw I
But what can be expected from a nation whose
sovereign and high priori (united In the t
Ol' His Imperial .Mljfcstv) issued through tl .
for tht information and respect"
Wired million Hubject*,nn edict, of
IKe following is a translation, mid which
we uive at full length j it being, in our opinion)
as obvious an interpoHition of miraculouts pow
er as any of those which have recently U|ten
place in the Peninsula.
Kin. King, 19/A year, lw moon, \5thdiiu (Frk. 4, 1814A;
?? The lollowmg imperial edict has ucpii respect
received. Lutt \e.?r, wImcii the rebels broke open and en
tered the prohibited gate, there was in the air, obscurely
seen, an appearance ni' tin: image of the Cod K wan-to i
on perceiving it, the rebels liecame alarmed, and fled to
hide themselves. Tlieir immediate destruction follow.
I ed. To day Na-ycn-ching (lite general commanding the
imperial troops) lias reported that wlten the town llwa
was re-taken, the rebels during the darkness of tlie night
made a desperate attack < the government troop;* were
playing upon them with spear* und arrows, hut were till
able to produce any real effect i when suddenly, from u
temple ny the side of die town, a flume rose spontaneous
ly and shone brigtit at noon. The imperial troops then
(attacked in two divisions, pressing on the rebels from
opposite points, their retreat Was cut oft', und tlie entire
number of the rebels completely destroyed. After the
affair was over, it was found that by the side of the city
was a temple dedicated to the image of Kwun-te. The
temple was completely burnt down j hut the divine im
age, ami it alone, was preserved, not having been moved
?n injured in the l*:tst possible degree. Doting tlie con*
fusion caused by the rcoels on this occasion, repeatedly
ban Kwaii-te man. fested himself und afforded protection.
I feel the most profound veneration and gratitude. It is
ordered that the proper court, with the highest respect
atld veneration, consult about, and propose, two word*,
to be added to tlie original inscription of the (tod. I?ct
iho.word.H be presented toint* for my approval, ami after
that Ik* published throughout the empire, to be made use
of as a return for the Cod's protection. Let the temple
of tlu* district llwa lie built and adorned i and when fi
nished, let the lieutenant-governor report and rcauostnie
to write with tny own bund an inscription for tlie front
I of the temple, to be hungup with due respect above tht:
If ? lloilfl't ll'i" "
We thul in this little collection a reply from
the Kmperyr to a memorial, rather itt the way of
reproof, of a civil officer, in which he linn used
the liberty to request that Hi* Imperial Majesty
would issue hi* orders that the steward of the
household should be examined strictly " what
work* are going on at the Three-hills and Five
gardens;" and that he use his endeavor u to les
sen tho expense." At the same timo this o Ilk or
proposes tyat certain waste land* should be
brought under cultivation.
From all that we have seen and heard of this |
over-grown empire, we are inclined to think that
the 'I artar dynaxty now on the throne is totter
ing to its base, and we shall not be in the least I
surprised if, instead of a sprig of the 'i'a-tniiifr
branch, f*ord Amherst should find a withered
Chinese eunuch on the throne of /OW-A'in/r,
with little twinkling even and straggling beard,
shaking bin npddle like a porcelain mandarin
on u ( hiinney- piece. Hut no matter ? the splen
did orients and tho hnmago will do Justus well
for the one a<i for the other. A rebellion or a re
volution, an irruption of Tartar hordes, or a
change of u Chinese family, |?roduccs no altera
tion of tlie least natiptial improvement. The
old machine of govcriiinefct turn* round as usual,
and though for a tim&ita wheels inav bo clogged
and Its moviutienta somewhat disturbed, it soon
tcgains its usual motion, and rolls on as if no
oltotiuctioii had happened. If any of our rea
ders should fuel "uprise, let them look to Spain
y; " r " i
and cease to wonder*- Spain, thai has the advan
tage of oommunicating freely with thb, morc eh
ligntened nations of Kurort lias profited noth
ing froiu ber revolution and little iron* her mis
fortunes. 'China . U<i intercourse with this
rest of the world, and knows* 90 latiauagebut
jier own* The flint fotir'emperori of the -Tartar
race were men of grea(.t|Jen? for. business, ex
traordinary vigor of intellect end 'capable' of
great bodift exertljta t KaUKtyris a weak bum
apda sensualist. aid he hft been unfortunate in
the'cholj* of his ministers? perhaps deserved
ly so 1 fertile first act oCJils government wM
to putto;death the favorite minister of his de
ceased father, tojbanish his family and friends
to the' wpds Of Tartary, and to rob them of their
property.
The second part of this little production con
sists of the translation of a moral tale, called
M The Ihree Dedicated Rootns," by Mr. Davis
jrjroungwriter of Canton, and son of Mr. Da
vis, thrnirector. We consider this essay high
ly creditable to this gentleman, who, wo ijolieve,
has net been more than two vears in the coun
try aiigW.wcll of |ils, future attainments
in thU obscure anu intricate tunguage? 'Die ar
gument of the story is simple enough ; the me
rit of it consists chiefly in the lights which it
throws on Chineso manners, sentiment** & traits
of character. There were 2 men in one street.
Tang, the miser, who is called u wise man, and
Yu,the spendthrift* who is reckoned a foolish
man. 'liie wisdom of Tang consisted in adding
field after field tohi? estate, and in determining
never to build a house ( the folly of Y11, in al
ways building and pullinu down, beautifying his
pavilions, and planting his gardens, Life, this
foolish Chinese would contend, was not worth
the having, without three things, a good honse,
a soft bed and a stout coftin. But though Tung
would not build a house for himself, hi* had no
objection to buy, at an under price, those built
by others, hi process of time Yti jjot rid ot his
fortune, and Tang, who Cor many year* li.nl been
canting u longing eve on Itix house, now im<l it a
good bargnin ; but Yu in soiling, stipulated to
keep for liis own use u small part uf the build*
ing which rose to three stories, each consisting
of a single room ; the lowest he " dedicated to
men," Ming that in which lie received his friends
? in the middle room he read and wrote, and
" dedicated it to the ancients" ? the highest was
" dedicated to heaven," and had only within it
a sacred book and a chafing dish for incense. ?
It seems that in China, if a man on selling his
estate, reserve any part, however small, he can
at any time redeem the rest ; so that u purchase
under such reserve is no more than a mortgage.
This circumstance was annoying to Tang, the
avaricious man, who tried by every possible
i meant to get possession of the " three dedicat
ed room*?' and thtiscut off the privilege of re
'demptloh.
In the midst of Yu's poverty, lie was visited
by a wealthy and benevolent friend, wh? gene
rously offered to redeem liis house and gardens :
I but toe other resolutely declined it, saying, tlie
three rooms would do for him ; that he could
not lire long, and that at his death every brick
AMU tile would go to strangers. The' friend,
on taking leave, thus addressed him : " At night
while I was reposing in the lowest room, I ob
ci'rven a white rat, which suddenly sunk into
the floor. Some treasure is no doubt concealcd
there. On hit account part with these three
rooms/' Yu only laughed at his friend's caution.
Yulmd a son Ittri) io him in his old ate, on
which occasion life guests poured in upon mm in
such numbers, that, according to the Chinese ex
pression, " they ate his salt clean, and drank
I his vinegar dry." Ho sold his rooms to the pur
chaser of the other part of the property, and
1 died shortly after leaving the widow and her son
I in great distress.
The son, however, became a greet scholar ;
and, of course, acquired a Mandarin's cap.-?
One day as he was travelling towards his mo
ther's house, a young woman presented a petition
in the name of her husband, imploring his
protection, anil offering, with his whole family,
to become his slaves. Her father-in-law, she
said, was a rich man, and while he lived contri
ved to keep out of scrapes \ but he made ma
ny enemies ; and at his death his sun was
persecuted by them, and lost a great part
of his property ; hut that a great misfortune
had now befallen hitn : ? he was cast into prison,
mid none but himself (the Mandarin) could get
him out. The voung man conceived it to bo
some trick, hut the woman assured' him to the
contrary. " In the midst of our property (says
she) is a tall building called " The three dedica
ted rooms." It was originally your lordihfp'a,
but was sold. We lived in it for several years
without molestation. Lately, however, some
one presented an anonymous petition to tlie
courts, Haying, that my husband was one of a
nest of robbers j and that the three generations,
from the grand father to tlie grandson, were all
rogues i that there were now 'wentjr pieces of
treasure deposited under tho - three dedicated
rooms," and that when the hoard was taken up,
tho particulars would lie understood. She went
on to state, that, in consequence of this infor
mation, the magistrates caused a search to be !
made, 44 tliat the treasure was found, her hus
band apprehended and sent to prison, where he
underwent the torture to forre him to n disco
very of his associates." " Nothing," she adds,
" can save us but your claiming the money,
which must have belonged to your family."-?
The young Mandarin refused to do this, but
promised to enquire of the magistrate into the
particulars of tl^o case.
On menticninu the eircumstanco to his mo
ther, she immediately called to her recollection )
the story of the white rat, which the young man
laughed at ; hut the magistrate, who had now |
arrived, thought thnre wa? something in it which
would give V>?n? a clue tp the business, especi
ally when the mother informed him that ten
years afMjr her husband's death, hit friend hal
[Mid her a visit, .and enquired, whether, beforo,
iheV sold the ??.three dedicated roomy," they'
-hiVfl discovered ahy treasure j and that, being
answered ijjjtke negative, he said it was a fine
thins fVr those jvho had bought the property,
but that Undeserving of the wealth they liad thua
acquired, initead of a blessing it would turn out
jlHwr greatest misfortune. During this conver
sation, the old gentleman made his appearance,
and the story of the* white rat and the treasure
wap at, once unravelled ) the treasure was em
plovea in redeeming the property of the decea
sed I'm / and the son of Tang Was released from
prison.
*' In order to remember these circumstance^
every one had a stance of verses, the object of
whicli was to advise persons of opulcnce not to
be contriving schemes for the acquirement of
their neighbors' property. The lines were t?
this effect :
Ily wont compell'd, he sold his home ami land :
Both house and land tlx purchsters return.
Thus profit ends the course by virtue pUnn'd,
While envious plotter# their misfortunes mourn."
We have only to add, that if Mr. Morrison
will continue to make translations from the I'e
kin Gazette, Mr. Davis from their numerous
collections of moral tales, and Sir George Staun
ton employ his superior know lege on the state
of the arts in China, for science we know they
have none, we shall soon be able to assign the
proper place of this people, who have been much
too highly extolled, in the scale of civilised na
tions. They would be found, wc suspect, cither
immediately above, or next below tho Turks.
MKS. KAIK'LIFFE.
" Of this justly celebrated woman, the princi
pal object seems to have been to raise iwwerfu!
emotions of surprise, uwe, and especially terror*
Dv means and agents apparently supernatural.
To effect this, she place* her characters, and
transports her readers, amid scenes which are
calculated strongly to excite the mind, and to
predispose it for spectral illuHion : Gothic cos
ties, gloomy abbeys, subterraneous passages, tho
haunts of banditti, the sobbing of tne wind, and
the howling of the storm, are all employed for
this purpose ; and in order that these may hav?
their full effect, the principal character in her
romances is always a lovely and unprotected fe
male, encompassed with snares, and surround
ed by villains. Hut, that in which the works of
Mrs. RadclifTe chiefly differ from those by which
they were preceded Is, that in the Castle of O
tranto and Old English Baron, the machinery is
in fact supernatural ; whereas the means and
agents employed by Mrs. RadclifTe are in re
ality human, and such as can be* or, at least*
are professed tobe. explained by natural event*,
lly these means she certainly excites a verjr
powerful interest, as the reader meanwhile ex
periences the full impression of the wonderful
and terrific appearances j but there is one de
fect w hich attends this mode of composition, and
which seems indeed to be inseparable from it*?
As it is the intention of the author, that the mys
teries should be afterwards cleared up, they are
all mountains in labor ) and even when she is
successful in explaining the marvellous circum*
stances which have occurred, we feel disappoint
ed that we should have been so agitated oy
ties. But the truth is, they never are property
explained j, and the author, in order to rati*
strong emotions of fear and horror In the body
of the work, is tempted to go lengths^to acroiint
for which the subsequent explanations seem ut
terly inadequate. Thus, for example, after all
the wonder and dismay, *nd terror and expec
tation, excited bj the mysterious chamber in the
eastfc Vwijwt, how much are we disappoint
ed^ dlij uteri to find that all this potiier has
' b&h ratsed by a waxen statue. In short, we
may say not only of Mrs. Radcliffe's ca-tles, but
of her works in general, that they abound " in
that lead to nothing.*'
" In the writing of this author there is a con
siderable degree of uniformity and mannerism,
which ispernaps the case with all the producti
ons of a strong and original genius. Ilcr he
roines too nearly resemble each other, or rather
they possess hardly any shade of difference.?*
They have all all blue eyes and auburn hair?
the form of each of them'ha* " the airy lightness
of a nymph" ? they aro all fond of watching tho
setting sun, and catching the purple tints of e?
vening, and the vivid glow or fading splendour
of the western horizon. Unfortunately they
are all likewise early risers. I say unfortunate
ly, for in overy exigency Mrs. ltadcliffe's he
roines are provided with a pencil and paper, and
Lthe sun is never allowed to rise nor set in peace.
? Like Tilburina in the play, they are " inconso
lable to the minuet in Ariadne,*' and in the most
distressing rircumstahr.es find time to compose
sonnets to sun-rise, the bat, a ?ea*nymph,a lily,
or a butterfly." ? Dunlop.
LANCASTRIAN SCHOOLS.
The trustees of the lfrec-8chool Society of
New-York, (or which Dewitt Clinton, Ksq. in
President) have petitioned the legislature of
that State for an extension of Schools on tho
Lancastrian plan throughout the State. They
mention that they have estabtyshed two Schools
of this kind in the city, in which eight hundred
children are tanght \ that they have succeeded
in practically proving its pre-eminent utility i
its advantages in point of economy, facility anil
celerity of instruction j in inculcating ordor
activity and emulation. Anxious to extend this
plan to all parts of the State, they, offer to in
struct persons in the art of teaching the system
free of expense, so that overy cotttmon school in
the State may, in this manner, become a Lan
castrian School, and thereby greatly Multiply
the advantages of education, e?|*?'ltll1y to Hit
poo/rr of ?oclMy,