movability from office, and other wise precautions against the menaces or seductions of power. In most of the provincial capitals there are kept Ephemerides, which go back to upwards of two centuries before our era (at which time, as we shall after wards see, the existing records were destroyed), and which offer, says M. Pauthier, "the same exactness in regard to the observations then possible as those of our Bureau of Longitudes." In cities even of the third order, a daily register is kept of all meteorological events, as well as a separate one for the troubles, sieges, revolts, fires, and other calamities "which flesh is heir to." In fine, to quote the words of Father Amiot, one of the most laborious and most learned of the French missionaries, "The Chinese annals are preferable to the historical monuments of all other nations, because they are the most free from fables, the most ancient, the most generally received, the most abundant in facts. They are worthy of all confidence, for they have epochs fixed by astronomical observations," and every other means of insuring accuracy. And lastly, "these annals are themselves the most authentic literary work in the world, because there is not in the world one which has been worked at for the space of eighteen centuries,-which has been revised, corrected, augment ed, in proportion as new discoveries were made, by so great a number of learned men, acting in concert, authorised by royalty, and provided with every possible assistance." The whole period embraced by these annals is upwards of four thousand years, an immense time for the life of an empire, during which there has been succession of twenty-two dynasties, and consequently as many great revolutions. The prejudices of country are often serious impediments to the right perception of the truths of history; and we are so deeply impressed with the pre-eminence of Europe in civilisation, that, like the Greeks, we are prone, in our comprehensive contempt, to characterise all extra-European nations as "barbarians." In all things relating to political government, especially, we have been taught to regard Asia as essentialy despotic, and the centralised government of China as synonymous with the most grinding oppression. But the fact is not so; and however the opinions of most writers support this notion, the facts which they publish are quite inconsistent with it. When the full light of history first breaks upon the Chinese empire, we find the form of government not hereditary, but elective. The sovereign aided by the advice of his grandees, nominated a successor to the throne; and no humbleness of parentage or occupation was allowed to hinder the choice from falling on the person most distinguished for his wisdom and goodness. Thus the Emperor Yao rejects his own son, because "deficient in rectitude, and fond of disputing," and, after consulting with his ministers, selects Shun, "born of an obscure family," but who, under trying domestic circumstances, had comported himself with uniform excellence,—gives him his two daughters in marriage, and after a season of probation in this elevated station, appoints him his associate and successor in the empire. Shun also, in like manner, selects Yu, a man of humble station, to be his prime minister, and afterwards raises him to the throne as a reward for his great ability and energy in draining off, by means of canals and other works, the waters of an immense inundation. In default of those institutions which we call constitutional to limit the imperial authority in China, there exist in the canonical books of that ancient monarchy, that is to say, in the revered writings of its sages, which have had the force of laws since the earliest times,-a vast number of passages thoroughly popular in spirit and most menacing to tyrants. Thus, after the empire became hereditary,which change was affected, not in consequence of the ambition of any sovereign, but by the grandees, in order to avoid the practical inconveniences of the system of election, we read of several monarchs being deposed on account of their crimes, sometimes with and sometimes without a change of dynasty. Such examples have received the express sanction of the sages of China; the people of old were imbued with the same spirit: body and mind of man. They have black, strong, lank hair,-that of the females being often very beautiful; a flat nose, small oblique eyes and thin eyelids, round and prominent cheeks, a pointed chin, and little beard. Their constitution is of a coarse grain; consequently they are much less sensitive than Europeans, and also less subject to diseases. At what period they first broke off from the great central mass of mankind, it is impossible to say with accuracy; but, entering their future empire from the north-west, their earliest seat was the provinces now called Shensy (anciently Tsin) and Honan, which constituted the realm of their first king, Fohi. At this early period they seem to have been a pastoral people, living on the produce of their flocks and herds; but Fohi's successor taught them the art of agriculture, and induced them to cultivate and settle upon the land. Spreading southwards, they next occupied all the country to the north of the Yang-tse-keang, but suffered dreadfully, and for many years, from a great inundation; and thence gradually penetrated to the full limits of the present empire, the southern provinces not being wholly subdued and civilised until subsequent to the Christian era. Everywhere-Egypt perhaps excepted -we find that vast forests have preceded the reign of civilised man on earth. Every one has heard of the ancient forests of Europe and of the New World; the old Hindoo poems are full of descriptions of the primeval woods which overspread the Indian Peninsula; and in the early history of China, also, we find that the newcomers from the north-west were forced to level before them vast forests, in order to reclaim the soil from the dominion of nature. Still more remarkable, we find that before the Chinese (as in India before the Hindoos) there existed an aboriginal race, which the "sons of Han"* had to drive before them in their progress southwards. These the new-comers styled "Sons of the Wilderness" and "Bearers of great bows;" and under the first of these titles (in Chinese, Meaotse) they still exist, in an almost savage state, in the high and inaccessi ble mountains of Western China; having thus lived for four thousand years in contact, with Chinese civilisation, yet refusing all amalgamation; and illustrating the extraordinary historical fact, that there are certain tribes of men against whom the waves of civilisation break for ever in vain, and whose destiny it seems to be only to tenant the earth till a superior race arrive to dispossess them. Nothing is more perplexing to the historian, or more monstrous to the eye of modern science, than the chronology of the Hindoos, with its kalpas, its divine ages, its reigns of Menou, and its nights of Brahma, and, finally, its astounding assertion that this present world has existed for five and a half millions of years, and has yet to exist for upwards of four billions more. In Chinese history this difficulty is little felt. Some otherwise very sensible native historians, indeed, think they can trace back the course of events for six thousand years before our era: but the "Men of Letters," comprising the great bulk of the educated classes of the nation, either reject these traditions or refuse to pronounce upon them. Like their great master, Confucius, they abstain from all speculative qestions, and content themselves with rigorously establishing the authentic history of their nation, which, they are agreed, goes back with perfect certainty to the sixty-first year of the reign of Hoang-te, 2637 years before the birth of Christ. We have not space to detail the chronological elements which serve as a base for Chinese history; but all writers concur with M. Pauthier in asserting that "no nation possesses, or ever possessed, a body of history so complete and authentic as the people of China." And this will not appear surprising when it is understood that the intelligent registration of events has in all ages been honoured and favoured in that country, and that since the reign of Hoang-te there has existed in the capital of the empire a Tribunal for the writing of History, whose members, chosen from the most distinguished of the Men of Letters, enjoy several prerogatives, as well as im * The favourite self-appellative of the Chinese. movability from office, and other wise precautions against the menaces or seductions of power. In most of the provincial capitals there are kept Ephemerides, which go back to upwards of two centuries before our era (at which time, as we shall afterwards see, the existing records were destroyed), and which offer, says M. Pauthier, "the same exactness in regard to the observations then possible as those of our Bureau of Longitudes." In cities even of the third order, a daily register is kept of all meteorological events, as well as a separate one for the troubles, sieges, revolts, fires, and other calamities "which flesh is heir to." In fine, to quote the words of Father Amiot, one of the most laborious and most learned of the French missionaries, "The Chinese annals are preferable to the historical monuments of all other nations, because they are the most free from fables, the most ancient, the most generally received, the most abundant in facts. They are worthy of all confidence, for they have epochs fixed by astronomical observations," and every other means of insuring accuracy. And lastly, "these annals are themselves the most authentic literary work in the world, because there is not in the world one which has been worked at for the space of eighteen centuries,-which has been revised, corrected, augment ed, in proportion as new discoveries were made, by so great a number of learned men, acting in concert, authorised by royalty, and provided with every possible assistance." The whole period embraced by these annals is upwards of four thousand years, an immense time for the life of an empire, during which there has been a succession of twenty-two dynasties, and consequently as many great revolutions. The prejudices of country are often serious impediments to the right perception of the truths of history; and we are so deeply impressed with the pre-eminence of Europe in civilisation, that, like the Greeks, we are prone, in our comprehensive contempt, to characterise all extra-European nations as "barbarians." In all things relating to political government, especially, we have been taught to regard Asia as essentialy despotic, and the centralised government of China as synonymous with the most grinding oppression. But the fact is not so; and however the opinions of most writers support this notion, the facts which they publish are quite inconsistent with it. When the full light of history first breaks upon the Chinese empire, we find the form of government not hereditary, but elective. The sovereign aided by the advice of his grandees, nominated a successor to the throne; and no humbleness of parentage or occupation was allowed to binder the choice from falling on the person most distinguished for his wisdom and goodness. Thus the Emperor Yao rejects his own son, because "deficient in rectitude, and fond of disputing," and, after consulting with his ministers, selects Shun, "born of an obscure family," but who, under trying domestic circumstances, had comported himself with uniform excellence,-gives him his two daughters in marriage, and after a season of probation in this elevated station, appoints him his associate and successor in the empire. Shun also, in like manner, selects Yu, a man of humble station, to be his prime minister, and afterwards raises him to the throne as a reward for his great ability and energy in draining off, by means of canals and other works, the waters of an immense inundation. In default of those institutions which we call constitutional to limit the imperial authority in China, there exist in the canonical books of that ancient monarchy, that is to say, in the revered writings of its sages, which have had the force of laws since the earliest times,-a vast number of passages thoroughly popular in spirit and most menacing to tyrants. Thus, after the empire became hereditary,which change was affected, not in consequence of the ambition of any sovereign, but by the grandees, in order to avoid the practical inconveniences of the system of election,-we read of several monarchs being deposed on account of their crimes, sometimes with and sometimes without a change of dynasty. Such examples have received the express sanction of the sages of China; the people of old were imbued with the same spirit: and in the "Book of Verses" we find reign kingdom situated in the middle of them; and hence the title Kingdom of the Middle has continued to be given to the empire down to the present day. China at this time was in great danger of being permanently split up into a number of small kingdoms, which, instead of pouring down its civilisation in one grand stream, would have scattered it into puny rills, liable to be arrested or turned aside by the least obstacle. Instead of a Mongolian giant, remaining immovable against all attack, there would have been a series of active dwarfs, more potent to harass one another than to preserve themselves. In short, there can be little doubt that had China then (or even five centuries afterwards, when again threatened with a similar calamity) separated into a number of independent states, the country would have been wholly overrun and subdued by the roving hordes of Central Asia, and, like the Empires of the West, have had its ancient civilisation submerged by a flood of barbarism. From this danger China was saved by one of those extraordinary men whom Providence raises up at distant intervals to accomplish its designs. During the last reigns of the Under their early monarchs the Chinese were a united people, living quietly upon the patriarchal principle of filial obedience to the sovereign. Chow dynasty, the Tsin state had As population increased, however, and the limits of the empire extended, the more distant or more vigorous of the provincial rulers became virtually independent. As in most other countries, the feudal regime came to supplant the patriarchal; and under the three dynasties that followed the great Yu (for after him the crown became hereditary) the extent of the imperial dominions depended upon the talent of individual rulers and the fortune of war. The last monarch of each of the two first dynasties was dethroned by the people, whom their crimes or oppression had roused into rebellion-one of them perishing, like Sardanapalus, amidst the flames of his palace. In the days of Confucius who lived during the third of these dynasties (that of Chow), between five and six hundred years before our era-China was divided into a number of little kingdoms or feudal states dependent, or which ought to have been dependent, upon a sove been gradually overshadowing its idle on the country. It was with this object, not less than as a defence against the Tartars, that he set four or five millions of men (a third of the able-bodied population) to work in constructing the Great Wall, and shut up five hundred thousand soldiers in fortresses, where they were employed in works of utility. He visited all parts of the empire-caused great roads to be made through the most impassable districts-ordered a universal disarmament of the peopledrew up a statistical account of all the provinces-again and again went to war, each time extending the limits of the empire, and devoted large sums to the embellishment of his capital. We question if Europe, or the whole rest of the world, can show a Grand Monarque like this. Strong in the consciousness of his own genius, he contemned the precepts of antiquity which have always been so highly venerated by the Chinese; and to the remonstrances of the men of letters replied, that the old precedents were inapplicable to the new times. Unquestionably he was right in the main, -nothing but an unflinching hand and indomitable will could then have rescued the empire from falling to pieces; but, incensed by his tyranny no less than by his innovations, the whole body of the Men of Letters ranged themselves in opposition to him. For long the Emperor temporised with them; but at length, feeling his power fairly established, and fearing lest his opponents should by-andby inoculate the people with their sentiments, he resolved to cut up their power by the roots, by commanding, under the penalty of death, that (with a few exceptions) the whole books in the empire should be burnt. The conduct of the Men of Letters, throughout this trying struggle, was in the highest degree patriotic, and several hundreds suffered death rather than acquiesce in the tyranny of the Emperor. The destruction of the books, and most of the other monuments of the past, shows the imminence of the conflict in which Che-Hoang-te found himself involved. He triumphed for the time; but it is always vain for a single man to contend with the natural predilections of a whole nation, and in sixty years afterwards the interdict against the books was removed, and the people engaged with enthusiasm in the task of recovering their old literature, by carefully search ing out all the fragments which had escaped the flames, as well as the many volumes, vases, etc., buried in tombs. The dynasty of the First Great Emperor was even shorterlived than his political system: his son was dethroned while still a youth, and his crown, contended for by his generals, at length fell to the lot of Leou-pang, who founded the celebrated dynasty of Han. In the case of this great Chinese monarch, as in the case of Alexander, Charlemagne, and Napoleon, we see how difficult it is for a great conqueror to transmit his sword-won empire to his descendants-and how expedient it may be in autocratic states, where the empire rests wholly on the shoulders of one person, that the law of primogeniture (so beneficial in its operation in constitutional states) should be dispensed with in order to secure a succession of able sovereigns. The system of standing armies, which had been introduced by CheHoang-te, was continued by the new dynasty, asserting the supremacy of the throne, and extending its sway over the Mongolian tribes to the shores of the Caspian. As early as this dynasty, political and commercial relations existed with Western Asia; and the emperors having discovered the channel by which silks were exported, it was resolved to send an ambassador to Rome. But the pusillanimity of the Chinese general to whom this mission was intrusted, marred the whole plan; and thus the mightiest empires of the East and West existed simultaneously without becoming acquainted. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, indeed, sent an embassy to the country from which the silks came, and these envoys reached their destination, A.D. 166, but returned without having effected anything. This is not surprising; for the celebrated entrepot where the Chinese and Western merchants met, seems to have been in the narrow pass of Belurtag, in the neighbourhood of the Gihon and Yerghien; and the deserts on the frontiers of China, with their roving robber-tribes, presented almost insur |