PHILOSOPHICAL 
 
 RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGM ENTS 
 
 O F 
 
 AKBUR OF BETLIS.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 FRAGMENTS 
 
 O F 
 
 AKBUR OF BETLIS. 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 REFLECTIONS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LAWS, MANNERS, CUSTOMS and RELIGIONS, 
 
 OF CERTAIN 
 
 ASIATIC, AFRIC, and EUROPEAN NATIONS. 
 
 COLLECTED AND NOW FIRST PUBLISHED. 
 
 By RICHARD JOSEPH SULIVAN, Esq. 
 
 Amicus Plato, amicus Socrates, fed magis arnica Vtrit 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR T. BECKET, PALL-MALL, BOOKSELLER TO 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES, AND 
 
 THEIR ROYAL HIGHNESSES THE PRINCEi. 
 
 M.DCC.LXXXIV.
 
 AC 
 
 lff f 
 
 VJ 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 JL HE following Fragments were writ- 
 ten by a native of Affyria, who, in very 
 early youth, was removed to the continent 
 of Europe, and thence to England. Du- 
 ring his relidence in England with a friend 
 of his father's, he became inftru&ed in 
 its language, and in the principles of its 
 religion. He then travelled ; and in va- 
 rious countries threw together the reflec- 
 tions which appear in the following 
 iheets. The imperfections of flyle, and 
 the want of method, obfervable in the ar- 
 rangement of thefe Fragments, will re- 
 quire
 
 iv ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 quire a great degree of candour and in- 
 dulgence in the reader. Akbur was a 
 benevolent man and a Chriftian ; but he 
 had not time or opportunity to erect 
 himfelf into an author. With all his 
 errors, however, there is ftill fomething 
 novel and not unworthy of obfervation in 
 his remarks ; he never defignedly mif- 
 leads : when he is wrong, he is fo with- 
 out being fenfible of it himfelf. The 
 reader will perceive that few references 
 are made, though hiftorical facts and con- 
 fequent deductions have here and there 
 been borrowed : this muft be attributed 
 to the unfettled ftate of life of the au- 
 thor. Conftantly roaming from one 
 country to another, it was impoffible for 
 him to have thofe books and materials to 
 turn to, which references conftantly re- 
 quired ; moreover, the familiar ftyle of 
 private communication did not admit of 
 precition, or a dry appeal to authorities. 
 
 In
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. v 
 
 In a word, Akbur was a friend of his 
 fellow creatures, and a zealous advocate 
 for the offices of humanity ; and, as 
 fuch, (now that he is no more) the edi- 
 tor, without any great degree of appre- 
 henfion, ufhers his thoughts to the world, 
 in their original, unadorned, and fimple 
 garb.
 
 CORRIGENDA 
 
 VOLUME I. RHAPSODIES. 
 
 Page So, line 5, for Cajhmin, read Cajhnrirc. 
 
 . . 154, 17, for initiating, read initiating. 
 
 I97> _^_ I0 , for completion, read complexion, 
 
 , 2,01, 12, for vejfalage, read va/alage. 
 
 _^_ j^ , 5, for infepefted, m>.
 
 PRELIMINARY FRAGMENT. 
 
 W E have already traverfed, toge- 
 ther, many of the fields of practical 
 and of fpeculative knowledge. The fame 
 difpofitions, from our earlier!: days, have 
 led us to the fame purfuits. We have 
 viewed the ways and the diverfities 
 of man, as through the fame optic. 
 You, indeed, with a difcrimination 
 which analized the minuteft parts; I 
 with a careleflhefs which hath bordered 
 upon inattention. To whom, therefore, 
 can I addrefs thefe thoughts with fo much 
 propriety as to you ? to you, who have 
 been my friend and my fellow labourer ; 
 who have guided me in the purfuit of 
 VOL. I. B truth,
 
 2 PRELIMINARY FRAGMENT. 
 
 truth, and who have (hewn me the fureft 
 road to the acquifition of that tranquillity, 
 which alone can conftitute our happinefs. 
 
 The fubjeft I have now undertaken to 
 difcufs, and which you muft pardon me 
 for dedicating to you, contains a vaft va- 
 riety of matter. Human affairs have al- 
 ready gone through the moft fcrutinizing 
 as well as the moil eloquent inveftigations. 
 It cannot, then, appear but as prefumptioo, 
 temerity, or poffibly both, that one fo in- 
 adequate to the talk mould adventure to 
 handle what hath fo ably been difcufled 
 before. To apologize to you for fuch an 
 attempt, would, I own, be in fome degree 
 meritorious, and might be the means of 
 mitigating that cenfure which I have too 
 much reafon to apprehend ; but I am at a 
 lofs what apology to make, or how to ex- 
 cufe myfelf. The fact is, and I am not 
 ignorant of it, no reflections or fenti- 
 ments whatever mould be obtruded on a 
 4 fubject
 
 PRELIMINARY FRAGMENT. 3 
 
 fubjeft of this nature, but fuch as can dif- 
 play an intrinfic (lamp of novelty or ge- 
 nius. This is an irrefragable pofition ; and 
 the more grievous, as I have certain indi- 
 cations, that before we get to a conclufion, 
 a lamentable deficiency of both the one 
 and the other will be found in our prefent 
 undertaking. One advantage, indeed, and 
 that alone, of which I can have an idea, 
 and which may poffibly tend towards my 
 pardon, is, that in my wanderings, I may 
 by chance hit upon a few opinions, fome 
 drawn from ftudy, and fome from obfer- 
 vation, which being placed on the level 
 with my own ordinary capacity, may by 
 that means be detailed in a more familiar 
 manner than they have hitherto been by 
 men who have written profefledly on the 
 fubjecT:. 
 
 Reflections on laws, manners, cuf- 
 
 toms, and religions, mufr, unavoidably 
 
 be dry. Mental travelling can never 
 
 B i be
 
 4 PRELIMINARY FRAGMENT, 
 
 be fo pleafant or fo amufing as that 
 wherein the corporeal faculties have 
 been principally engaged. The one we 
 drawl over, in the yawning difpofition of 
 infipidity ; whereas the other exhilarates, 
 and keeps us up to the fpur and fpirit of 
 the moment. Enlivened by the fubjet, 
 with what unfeigned fatisfadtion do we 
 not follow the kindly-difpofed traveller in 
 every ftep of his career ! W"e attend him, 
 as the companions of his inquiries. 
 We fairly become partakers with him of 
 every viciffitude of pain and fatisfa&ion 
 which he meets with in his journey. 
 
 While philofophy thus goes hand 
 in hand with the chearful fpirit which 
 feduloufly fearcheth after information, 
 nothing can be more amufing ; nei- 
 ther can any fpecies of communication 
 tend more to the improvement, or to the 
 general advantage of mankind. To tra- 
 vellers like thefe, the tribute of our prajfe 
 
 is
 
 PRELIMINARY FRAGMENT. 5 
 
 is unqueftionably due ; and we yield it, in 
 the fatisfa<tion we are happy to acknow- 
 ledge we have received from their feveral 
 performances. Animated defcription, with 
 anecdote interfperfed in lively language 
 and good humour, is the moft certain me- 
 thod of attracting admiration. 
 
 Convinced as I am of all thefe advan- 
 tages, which the profefled traveller pof- 
 fefles who fubmits his opinions to his 
 friends, or to the world, it would be to me, 
 you may be fure, of 'infinite fatisfaction, 
 could I avail myfelf of aids which I mall 
 fo much ftand in need of. But the nature 
 of my defign throws an infuperable ob- 
 ftacle in my way. Many of the countries 
 which are to be the fubjet of our inquiries, 
 it is true, I have vifited, and have refided 
 in fome of them for years ; but others I 
 can only judge of from report. Propri- 
 ety therefore requires that all, and each of 
 them mould come under review, in a fi- 
 B 3 milar
 
 6 PRELIMINARY FRAGMENT. 
 
 milar mode of exhibition. Reflexion will 
 by fuch means be diverted of prejudice, 
 and inveftigation will at leaft have the 
 chance of being as candid and correct as 
 the materials we have to go upon, and our 
 capacity of judgement will admit. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT I. 
 
 A O irradiate the mind with real 
 and effential truth, its firft operations, 
 even while acquiring the rudiments of 
 education, mould be turned to its own 
 fpecies indifcriminately. Man fhould 
 
 be ftudied. How many windings 
 
 and turnings ! How many abfurdities 
 and contradictions are perceptible in his 
 character ! Proteus like, he eludes, un- 
 lefs carefully watched, the moft prying 
 eyes. The individual, and the many, 
 fhould be the firft employment of the hu- 
 man intellect. This knowledge tolerably 
 fixed, what may not eventually be expec- 
 ted ? Other objects of the creation are at 
 leifure to be obferved. At every ftep we 
 take, and in every ftage of our exigence, 
 we mall find food in abundance for fpecu- 
 B 4 lation.
 
 S PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 lation. To view himfelf, then to form 
 a judgement of the relation he bears to 
 other beings, and of the moral obligations 
 which bind him to his fpecies in general 
 thefe mould undoubtedly be the firil: con- 
 fjderation of him who is to adhere to the 
 practice, more than to the theory of phi- 
 lofophy. Next to thefe, the ties which 
 link him to the fociety in which he moves 
 fhould employ his thoughts, his immedi- 
 ate fafety depending on a due attention to 
 the relation in which he ftands to his fel- 
 low citizens. But to be the true friend 
 of mankind, and it is this I would incul- 
 cate, he mould firft be made to consider 
 his fpecies, as I have already faid, in the 
 general point of view ; this being the way, 
 and the only way to expand 'the heart, 
 and to make the mind fpurn the idea, too 
 carefully infrilled in fome countries, of 
 a pre^eftablifhecl diftinction of kinds of 
 the human race. Ciiminal, arrogant, 
 vnehriitianljke pretenfion { , The un^ 
 
 charitable
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 9 
 
 charitable offspring of bigotry and ig- 
 norance. No imaginary barrier can or 
 fhould be fuppofed to fubfift between the 
 inhabitants of one country and the inha- 
 bitants of another. We all of us mould 
 be confidered as children of the fame 
 common father ; and in humble, grateful 
 imitation of him, we each {hould endea- 
 vour, indifcriminately, to manifeil the 
 kindeft and moft benevolent offices to the 
 whole circle of our fellow creatures. 
 
 In hinting at this, the indifpenfable 
 difcipline and duty, I muft fuppofe, of a 
 truly-enlightened man, how forcibly does 
 the neceffity appear that the mind fhould be 
 early freed from prejudice, and all illiberal 
 aflbciations of ideas ! Vices and virtues 
 bear a near (imilitude in all countries. If 
 an intrepid, an informed, and a kind- 
 hearted difpofition is looked upon by us as 
 perfection in a character, the lame is found 
 to be the moil eilimable propeniuy in the 
 
 mofl
 
 io PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 moft diftant corner of the globe. I will 
 confefs we all are prefumptuoufly apt, 
 from the wifeft to the moft ignorant, to 
 form a flandard of opinion for the 
 reft of mankind; a ftandard, fpringing 
 from the prejudices which we have our- 
 felves locally imbibed ; for where is the 
 man, who, not accuftomed to reflection, 
 but who looks upon certain tenets of his 
 ovvn country as infallible ? Will not the 
 Ikin-clad Samoide laugh at the voluptuous, 
 filken-robed Aiiatic ? The greafy, offen- 
 iive Hottentot, at the powdered, perfumed 
 European ? And whence all this ? Comes 
 it not from the want of fpirit and infor- 
 mation ? Truft, truft, is the rock we fplit 
 upon. We take almoft every opinion up- 
 on truft. An unaccountable inanity of 
 mind pervades the greateft part of the hu- 
 man race. We talk of philanthropy, and 
 we talk of conviftion founded on the bafis 
 of comparifon, but both are merely words 
 words, foothing and tickling to the ear, 
 but unhappily fwolen with cmptinefs, and 
 
 difpoffeffed
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. IK 
 
 difpofiefled of every beneficial meaning. 
 Nor are nations denominated barbarous, 
 thofe alone who are thus infatuated and 
 blind ; many of the moft civilized are in 
 an equal, if not a more unpardonable 
 degree of focial tranfgreffion ; becaufe they 
 have the ready means of information. 
 
 But we will admit there are candid, ra- 
 tional lovers of their fpecies, who burft 
 thefe unnatural (hackles of error ; who 
 defpife the arrogance of pretenfion, and 
 who withhold belief from the doctrine 
 which fuppofes perfection exclufively vefr- 
 ed in a peculiar tribe. Cuftoms and man- 
 ners may differ ; but mankind they will 
 hold intrinfically the fame. They will 
 acknowledge error ; but they will at the 
 fame time confidently affert it not to be 
 immutable. Some focieties, they will 
 fay, have evidently the ftart of others ; 
 but their enlightening hath been owing to 
 accidental caufes. Thefe, in darknefs, 
 
 will
 
 12 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 will in their turn have their day. Each 
 mud have a beginning, for none have yet 
 been found, but who, right or wrong, have 
 been for a time, inflexibly partial to that 
 which hath been handed down to them 
 by their fathers. Tenacity is congenial, 
 and in an efpecial manner, obftinately fo 
 to young or diflantly-fituated communi- 
 ties ; and therefore nothing fo difficult, 
 although perhaps pernicious in its dura- 
 tion, as to eradicate what hath been fanc- 
 tified by time, or by the religion of a 
 country. 
 
 There are, however, certain general 
 principles and regulations, for the conduct 
 which mankind mould hold, that are uni- 
 verfal, and muft be always fo, becaufe 
 they are conformable to the wants and the 
 neceffities of man, and becaufe they are 
 conformable to the invariable nature of 
 things ; but the relative fituation of man 
 is that which more immediately concerns 
 
 us
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 13 
 
 us to underftand. He who ftudies him, 
 therefore, as he is daily, as he is hourly 
 to be fhidied, and analizes his actions, 
 will foon acquire a fund of that ufeful 
 and eflential knowledge, which being 
 erected on the fufFrage of all ages and all 
 nations, will always be conformable to 
 the views and to the actions of mankind. 
 Particular modes, particular circumftances 
 may render the externals of things wide- 
 ly different; but the purfuit of the mind, 
 with all its operations, will be found in- 
 variably the fame. To invefligate, there- 
 fore, the variety of characters which ob- 
 fervation and which hiftory hands down 
 to us, and which is prefented to our con- 
 front view, and carefully and diligently to 
 fearch into the caufes which produce the 
 effects that heretofore have, and evermore 
 mufl continue to draw our admiration- 
 this is the way to fix and to ftrengthen 
 the penetration of the mind, and ulti- 
 mately to eflablifh that unprejudiced 
 
 judge-
 
 i 4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 judgment, which mould be the aim of all 
 who have an affe&ion to their fpecies, 
 and who are defirous of promoting* the 
 happinefs and the welfare of the human 
 race. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. i$ 
 
 FRAGMENT II. 
 
 OHALL I venture to fay that no man, 
 who is not profeffionally bred, can have 
 occafion for an intimate knowledge of fci- 
 ences which are abftrufe or fpeculative ? 
 I will fay it, and I think I can fupport 
 it : for nothing can be truer than the re- 
 mark, that we are not placed here to at- 
 tend to the motions of the flars, or to pin 
 ourfelves to that phyiical knowledge which 
 is of fuch rare emergence, that one man 
 may know another half his life, without be- 
 ing able to eftimate his fkill in hydroftatics 
 or aftronomy. Let him have a general, not 
 a particular acquaintance with them ; but 
 let the ftrong bent of his mind be turned 
 to what mufl be of infinitely more confe- 
 quence, moral and philofophical inquiries. 
 From ftudies like thefe he is certain to 
 reap every advantage. The principles of 
 civil fociety will by this means become 
 
 knoivn
 
 16 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES* 
 
 known to him ; the arts of legiflation, 
 with all its feveral forms of government, 
 and the caufes of thofe feveral forms, will 
 gradually unfold themfelves, with all the 
 recommendations of ability and precifion. 
 The various difpolitiOns of his fellow crea- 
 tures will unflatteringly he exhibited in all 
 fituations, in all climates, and in all coun- 
 tries. The vices, the follies, and the vir- 
 tues of his fpecies, will be candidly laid 
 open to him ; and thus, in contemplating 
 the phenomena, if I may be allowed the 
 expreffion, of this fublunary fcene, he 
 will be enabled to form a juft and valu- 
 able eftimate of the fpring of thofe ad- 
 vantages and difadvantages, and of |hat 
 fuperiority which hath been claimed, and 
 which hath apparently exifted in certain 
 nations. 
 
 Too apt the mind or fancy is to rove 
 Uncheck'd, and of her roving is no end; 
 Till vvarn'd, or by experience taught, fhe learn 
 That not to know at large of things remote 
 From ufe, obfcure or fubtil ; but to know- 
 That which before us lies in daily life 
 Is the prime wifdom. MILTON. 
 
 National
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 17 
 
 National pride, as I have curforily no- 
 ticed, is no partial failing ; it is univerfal ; 
 it is met with in the moft miferable, as 
 ftrongly marked, as in the moft affluent 
 and luxurious ; nor is it, in fact, without 
 its ufes. Some evils, no doubt, attend it ; 
 but each of them muft be confidered fe- 
 parately and conjointly, and with the fame 
 portion of allowance as fome of the hap- 
 pieft, and the moft pernicious, difpofitions 
 of the foul, which often burft into Being 
 from the fame fource, actuated upon by 
 the occafion of the moment. 
 
 'Tis, Heaven each paffion tends, 
 And different men direfts to different ends. 
 Extremes in nature equal good produce ; 
 Extremes in map concur to general ufe. Po PE 
 
 But do we know of any impulflve prin- 
 ciple, which hath been a greater fpur to 
 the grow r th of merit, whether we consider 
 it nationally or individually, than the 
 pride of which we are fpeaking ? Even 
 
 VOL. I. C in
 
 *8 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 in the common walks of life, what pro- 
 penfity fo ftrong or beneficial ? ambition 
 may operate with fome, avarice may pre- 
 vail with others; but ambition has its end 
 in the accomplifhment, perhaps, of a fingle 
 object ; and avarice, too felfim in its na- 
 ture, can never appear as a cherifher of 
 that plant which is to bear the bloflbm 
 of general utility. The fame cannot be 
 faid of pride. 
 
 Pride, which in fome, like u an eagle 
 builds among the flars," and, in others, 
 " lark like, neils upon the ground," will 
 undoubtedly, under proper fubordina- 
 tion, and turned to proper ends, fre- 
 quently atchieve wonders. It is one of 
 the moft wholefome ingredients in the 
 human compofition ; and when it pro- 
 ceeds difinterefledly and from patriotic 
 affection, is, probably, the moft advanta- 
 geous difpofition in fociety. 
 
 And
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 19 
 
 And again, let me a(k, where is it not 
 to be met with ? In what corner of the 
 globe are there not characters to be found, 
 fo formed by nature or education, as ex- 
 ultingly to erect their cherts, in the con- 
 viction of either a real or an imaginary 
 fuperiority ? and what is the injury that 
 refults from this importance ? None. Be 
 it applauded then. It muft indifputably 
 be of fervice. It will at leaft urge indivi- 
 duals to difcharge their duty as men and 
 citizens, not only with alacrity but with 
 fatisfa&ion ; and will ultimately teach 
 them to refpect thofe of countries dif- 
 ferent from their own, who are actuated 
 by motives of a fimilar nature. 
 
 The cardinal virtues are not the pro- 
 duce of a particular or pre-deftined foil. 
 Senfe and fincerity will be found diffufed 
 over the whole earth. This or that coun- 
 try may indeed poflefs them in a more 
 ample extent than others ; but no fpot 
 C 2 can
 
 10 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 can be pitched upon, however uncivi- 
 lized and plunged in error, where truth 
 does not exifl, or where fhe will not be 
 attended to and embraced, if properly 
 made known to her uninftructed children. 
 
 The principle of pride and of national 
 attachment which I thus infift upon, has 
 been, it mufl be confefled, the caufe of 
 numberlefs evils to mankind. It has in- 
 flamed the minds of the turbulent and 
 ambitious ; it has created rivallhips which 
 have engendered war, with all its dire 
 concomitants ; it has been the deftru&ion 
 of millions ; and yet, how has it been 
 poflible to fubftitute a propenfity lefs ca- 
 lamitous ! I will acknowledge it to have 
 been the parent of infinite mifery ; but 
 how was that mifery to have been avoided ? 
 
 In early ages, the general tranfa&ions 
 
 and bufinefs of fociety were carried on, 
 
 and in a certain degree, flou rimed, without 
 
 i the
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 2T 
 
 the advantages which are infeparably an- 
 nexed to a focial and permanent compact ; 
 and the fame may be obferved in fome 
 countries even at this day. But civiliza- 
 tion in fuch cafes, is ftill in its infancy, 
 and confequently pride can be of little 
 utility. It is not until property increafes 
 that the means of fafety become multi- 
 plied, and a fettled community gradually 
 taking root, that the fpirit of emulation 
 gets abroad ; that the claming of interefts, 
 glory or renown, urges to premeditated 
 defence ; and that thence follow jealoufy, 
 injury, and revenge. 
 
 On the general review of things, indeed, 
 it would feem that war and contention 
 are as natural to man as to animals of 
 an inferior clafs ; that he cannot exifl with- 
 out them ; and that ftrife, which perhaps 
 arifes from a fpecies of fatality, or from 
 the depravity of a few, is the principal 
 object of our attention ; but for the 
 C 3 honour
 
 22 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 honour of our race, we will not allow 
 this conclufion in its fullefr. extent. It 
 would be too fevere to admit, that the 
 deftru&ion of our fellow creatures, the mad 
 defire of victory and of conqueft, are the 
 pervading difpofitions of our fouls ; we 
 may certainly account in a far different 
 manner for the unhappy prevalency of 
 difcord. 
 
 The extravagancies of men have, in 
 all ages, been found more alluring and 
 contagious than the fober exertions of 
 moderation and reafon : the conqueror, 
 therefore, has ever been looked upon with 
 wonder and admiration The companions 
 of his fortunes, the interefted in his fuc- 
 cefles, together with the vaft herd, who 
 greedily follow the firft fcent that is 
 given to them ; thefe, one and all, extol 
 the prodigious creature ; they hold him up 
 to the adoration of his countrymen ; they 
 almoft exalt him, to a divinity. At length 
 
 fome
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES; *$ 
 
 fome future hiftorian, anxious for the 
 hero's glory, or for the difplay of his 
 own abilities, celebrates with the flowers 
 of rhetoric the achievements of the field. 
 All the carnage of war he tenderly paffes 
 over; they are accidents unavoidable. Ob- 
 jefts of infinitely more importance occupy 
 his attention. Befprinkling the glorious 
 man with all the incenfe of panegyric, he- 
 decks out the bufinefs of war in the moft 
 bewitching and captivating garments. The 
 trifling cries of nature, the horrors 
 of difpaffionate deftruction ; thefe he 
 kindly conceals from the knowledge of 
 the weak-hearted : he only labours at . 
 the greatnefs of his fubjecl: ; the good- 
 nefs of it is of no confideration. In a 
 word, illusion has reconciled the world 
 to difcord more than any innate depra- 
 vity of our nature. Great writers have 
 led us aftray. So true is the faying of 
 a fenfible moralift, that if one man only 
 were placed upon earth, he would be 
 C 4 made
 
 34 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 made to fight againft gods or devils, 
 or elfe againft his own fhadow. The 
 peaceful and the amiable are not brilliant 
 enough for record. 
 
 The fubftance of hiftory in general is 
 little elfe than a recapitulation of feuds 
 and fanguinary animofities ; of fuch and 
 fuch men being born in fuch and fuch 
 countries; of hofHlities being commenced 
 on fuch and fuch days ; of thoufands 
 being cut to pieces in this place, and 
 tens of thoufands maffacred in that : thus, 
 from one page to another, ringing the 
 bloody chime of murder and deftrudtion !* 
 But, unhappily and indelibly ftained as 
 the annals of mankind have been with 
 narratives of this nature, let us, as in- 
 deed we may, from our own obfervation, 
 conclude, that the fault is to be found in 
 
 * In 160 years, during the declenfion of the 
 Roman empire, feventy perfons bore the imperial 
 name of Cxfar. What carnage ! 
 
 hiftory.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 24 
 
 hiftory, where the lefier have been too 
 frequently fubftituted for the more efti- 
 mable traits of fociety. And that there 
 have been in all ages, that there are 
 ftill, and that there ever will be, thofe 
 whofe attention, happily turned from 
 fuch deftru&ive ends, will always be 
 given to the fecurity and benefit of their 
 fellow creatures ; and who will with fer- 
 vency cry out, " Happy are the people 
 " whofe kings have not been renowned 
 " in ftory !" 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT III. 
 
 1 T has long been a difputed point, and 
 always will continue fo, for it never 
 can be cleared up, which was the firft, 
 and which the beft-peopled country of 
 this terraqueous globe. Moft writers, I 
 think, incline to the Eaft, and apparently 
 (do not accufe me of prejudice) with good 
 reafon ; for warm climates, where vegeta- 
 tion is quick, and where the neceflaries of 
 life may he eafily procured, are furely not 
 only the beft adapted to immediate exif- 
 tence, but are fuch as muft enable the inha- 
 bitants to provide for their families, with a 
 fatisfaclion which cannot but lend a mofr. 
 material affiftance to population. That this 
 could not have been the cafe in northern 
 regions, is evident. Much labour and 
 unremitting induftry were required under 
 the p reffu re of a cold and an ungenial 
 
 atmof-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 27 
 
 atmofphere. Animals who fed on grafs, 
 or preyed upon each other, were probably 
 the aborigines of moft parts of Europe; 
 whereas the Eafr, which hath always 
 poured forth the moft valuable treafures, 
 and in the greateft abundance, mutt at all 
 times have ferved as an afylum and a nur- 
 fery for the human fpecies : and in fact 
 we find from the earlieft accounts, that 
 the Eaft was ever celebrated for its nume- 
 rous inhabitants. But the inquiry, it muft 
 be confefled, is ufelefs ; fuffice it, that the 
 Eaft, in all ages, has been confidered 
 as the richeft and the mofl populous 
 country in the world, and that it had pro- 
 duced the faireft fruits of fcience, at a 
 time when the feeds were only thinly 
 fcattered, or barely taking root in the 
 weftern hemifphere. The peopling of this 
 earth, then, we will leave to thofe fabri- 
 cators of fyftems, who delight in uncom- 
 mon exertions of the imagination, and 
 
 who,
 
 28 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 who, on hypothetical foundations, erecl: 
 the ftrangeft and moft whimfical edifices, 
 of air ; curious, but untenable ! 
 
 The diftincT: varieties of the human race 
 are, however, much more worthy of atten- 
 tion ; efpecially as it is frill an undeter- 
 mined point, whether there were originally 
 different races of our fpecies, or whether all 
 men were of one race, according to our chrif- 
 tian-like belief. The account given us by 
 Mofes of our firft parents, is by fome confi- 
 dered as allegorical, and by others as tho- 
 roughly orthodox ; whilft there are not 
 wanting thofe who contend that many pairs 
 were originally created, and that the variety 
 proceeds from climate, and climate only. 
 Which is the moft credible, cannot poffi- 
 bly be determined ; much difficulty will, 
 no doubt, occur in the fupport of all and 
 /either of thefe opinions. Good and evil 
 may certainly be typified by the names of 
 the firft inhabitants of Paradife. Provi- 
 
 dence
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 49 
 
 dence might have ordained us to have pro- 
 ceeded from one pair ; or feveral pairs might 
 have been created, as befl mould feem to the 
 glorious, the unerring Maker of the whole. 
 Human underftanding, however, will de- 
 termine for itfelf ; and without the fmalleft 
 prefumption, or without meaning to attack 
 religion, will very poffibly conclude, " that 
 apparently there could have been no ne- 
 ceffity why we mould all have proceeded 
 from one man and one woman, as it would 
 appear moft confonant to the majefty of 
 God, to fuppofe, that each portion of the 
 earth mould have had at its origin its own 
 diftinct inhabitants." But here a difficulty, 
 not to be furmounted, will flart againft the 
 conclufion ; for admitting, that as the dU 
 vine word could, fo it actually did breathe 
 exiftence into varieties of the human fpecies 
 at the creation. How comes it that fo 
 contrary to all the other parts of nature, 
 where the means are fo admirably fuited to 
 the end, that the diffimilitude of configura- 
 
 ' tion
 
 3 o PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 tion and completion mould be fo great, as 
 it is obferved to be in people living in the 
 fame climate, and very nearly treading on 
 the fame foil ? Turn your eyes towards the 
 Laplander and the man of Friefland fee 
 what a variety in the conformation of 
 thefe beings look again at the inhabitant 
 of Abyffinia, and the w'oolley-headed CorTre 
 of Negroeland, what a diftinction is there 1 
 and yet how little, how very little diffe- 
 rence in the air they breathe. 
 
 Whichever fide we lean to, difficulties 
 of this nature will ever prefent themfelves. 
 If we fubfcribc to the belief of a firft pair, 
 and no more, the accounting for the dif- 
 tinclions which now exift, and which ac- 
 cording to the natural courfe of things, 
 muft have proceeded from climate, (cli- 
 mate having no effect upon embryos) 
 will puzzle the ftouteft theologian that 
 ever upheld the doctrine. If we fubfcribe 
 2 to
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 31 
 
 to the contrary opinion, the obflacle of 
 climate lies before us ftill. 
 
 Naturalifts maintain, that all animals, 
 the human included, are poffefled by Pro- 
 vidence from their birth with certain pro- 
 perties fuitable to their peculiar fituation. 
 and condition : fur to quadrupeds in cold 
 countries; hair in climates that are hot; 
 flrong athletic limbs, and a large portion 
 of blood to the man in temperate regions ; 
 with diminutive ftature, and, to repel fri- 
 gidity, an un&uous fubflance in the frame 
 of the timid foil of the Frozen Land. 
 But, as I obferved before, if this were 
 really the cafe, how happens it that there 
 is fo palpable a variety in the forms, co- 
 lours, difpofitions and propenfities of chil- 
 dren of the fame parent foil ? The que 
 tion is not to be refolved; at leaft Imufl 
 think fo, if reafon be admitted in fuch 
 bewildering difquifitions. 
 
 We
 
 }2 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 We were fonn'd then, fay 'ft thou ? and the work 
 
 Of fecondary hands, by talk transferr'd 
 
 From Father to his Son ? ftrange point and new ! 
 
 Doftrine which we would know whence learn'd ; who faw 
 
 When this creation was ? remember'^ thou 
 
 Tby making, while the maker gave thce being ? 
 
 PAR, LOST, B. 5, V. 855. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 33 
 
 FRAGMENT lV> 
 
 A Little arbitrarily, but not without 
 ingenuity, naturalifts have clafled the 
 race of man in fix divifions. To begin 
 with the polar regions : Here he is faid to 
 be brown, fhort, oddly fhaped, and favage ; 
 the Tartar is reprefented olive coloured, 
 middle fized, ugly, and robuft ; the fou* 
 them Afiatic, of a dark olive tint, {lender 
 fhape, ftraight black hair and feeble ; the 
 negroe of Africk, black, fmooth Ikinned, 
 wooly headed, and well fliaped ; the Ame- 
 rican, copper coloured, with black hair, 
 frnall eyes, and flight limbs ; the Euro- 
 pean and bordering nations, white of dif- 
 ferent (hades, with fine hair, large limbs, 
 and much bodily vigour. 
 
 Thefe are the fix claffes in which we are 
 
 placed ; and here clofe the divifions ; lyfte- 
 
 maticai enough, but erroneous and in- 
 
 VOL. I. D complete.
 
 14 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 complete. Before we get to the end of 
 our fubjecl:, inftances in proof will pro- 
 bably prefent themfelves ; for the prefent, 
 therefore, we will content ourfeives with a 
 difpofition fo regularly made. 
 
 Thus filed off in bodies, to ufe a military 
 phrafe, mankind have been obferved in 
 fbme countries to diminifh in numbers 
 confiderably, and in others to increafe, 
 but not at the fame time, and in fuch per- 
 fect ratio, that the increafe of the one can 
 poflibly fill up the cafualties of the other. 
 If we give credit to the calculations that 
 have been made on this head, and which 
 are fuppofed (I will not fay how juftly) 
 to be tolerably exact ; one tenth part 
 of the people do not exift now that did 
 in former days *. An aftoniming de- 
 
 creafe, 
 
 * It appears from the regifters of England, that one 
 half of the children born in Great Britain die under 
 twelve years of age. Is this a natural evil ? moft pro- 
 bably it is not : the offspring of man is not furely more 
 2 fatally
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 35 
 creafe, if true ; but whence has it pro- 
 ceeded ? Difeafe has not been more pre- 
 valent, wars have not been more defolating, 
 nor have any fupertiatural calamities af- 
 flicted us, fmce our fubmerfion by the 
 flood. 
 
 Some hidden defect, fome latent poifon, 
 muft work this alarming cataftrophe. A 
 lingering difeafe of this nature, a decay fo 
 ferious in its progrefs, portends no perma- 
 nency to mankind : mould it continue, 
 adieu ye dreams, adieu ye phantafies of 
 exiftence ! No crimes, no monilrous enor- 
 mities, need bring on a fecond deftruftion 
 of fuch miferable flutterers of a day. The 
 
 fatally marked out than the offspring of animals of an 
 inferior rank in nature ; and that fuch animals are not fo 
 liable as man to die young is evident. Are we not to 
 look for it in the art that is ufed with infants ? Brutes 
 never bring up their young by proxy. Every crea- 
 ture, except the human, as has been well obferved, is the 
 nurfe of its own offspring, and they thrive accordingly ; 
 were it otherwife, the young of all animals would 
 lhare a fimilar fate with thofe of the young of the hu- 
 man fpecies. 
 
 D 2 crowd
 
 36 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 crowd preffing on each other, will gra- 
 dually quit the flage. The hour muft 
 come wtren the race will be extinct, when 
 all mall be at an end. 
 
 The human fpecies, however and let 
 us dwell on the fubjecl while we are able 
 whether in a favage or a civilized ftate, 
 Ihews itfelf, in its offspring, every where 
 alike : the form is the fame. The capa- 
 city for receiving, by imitation, every ne 
 ceflary information, proves, that in the 
 intellectual faculty, there is little difference. 
 The arrangement and culture of the young 
 ideas, therefore, and the fociety into which 
 we may be thrown, are the efficient caufes 
 on which we muft reft the fuperiour ex- 
 ertion of every particular talent and vir- 
 tuous difpofition. Properly fpeaking, in- 
 deed, we mould ftile ourfelves factitious, 
 and not natural beings ; creatures of art, 
 formed by difcipline and fociety, into mere 
 machines :
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 37 
 
 'Tis education forms the common mind : 
 
 Juftas the twig is bent, the tree's inclin'd. POPE. 
 
 Look at the favage, wild in the woods, 
 and with him contrail: the man who is 
 polifhed by fociety. What a difference ! 
 Not fb much in externals ; but, in their 
 paffions and inclinations, what a diffimili- 
 tude ! The happinefs of the one, you will 
 find, requires nothing more than liberty, 
 food, indolence, and repofe ; beyond thefe 
 gratifications he has not a thought. The 
 man of cultivated underftanding, on the 
 other hand, fickens at the barbarous dif- 
 pofitions of fo fenfelefs a wretch ; the feli- 
 city he delights in dwells in refinement ; 
 in the luxury of eafe, and in fenfual en- 
 joyment ; his mind, enlightened and pene- 
 trating, foars to the contemplation of this 
 mighty maze, " a wild, where weeds and 
 flowers promifcuous fhoot." He labours 
 in the purfuit of ambition ; or he modeftly 
 treads, with refignation, the paths of mo- 
 rality and peace. 
 
 D 3 And
 
 38 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 And yet the pofitive advantages which 
 the one poffefles over the other, are not 
 perhaps fo great as might be expeded. So- 
 ciety entails anxiety and care ; the unfette- 
 red (late, again, brings with it a total difre- 
 gard to thought or apprehenfion ; to-mor- 
 row may provide for the wants which to- 
 morrow may occafion ; but we will not 
 give into the idea, that the rude ftate of 
 man can be equally gratifying and com- 
 fortable, with that which has been polim- 
 ed by time and attention. A civilized com- 
 munity is certainly preferable to one that 
 is uncultivated, although fome extraordi- 
 nary virtues may be feen to exift in the 
 characters that form the latter; for candour, 
 fmcerity, refolution and perfeverance; paf- 
 iive and active courage, together with hof- 
 pitality and good faith, are as frequently 
 the ftrongeft marked traits in a refined fo^- 
 ciety as in a people denominated barbarous 
 and wild. 
 
 With
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 39 
 
 With incontrovertible propensities to fo- 
 ciety, obfervable in every quarter of the 
 univerfe, what infatuation is it in certain 
 writers, paradoxically to conjecture, that 
 man was ordained to roam a f olitary being ! 
 If no other reafon prefented itfelf, furely 
 the fuperior advantages which he derives 
 from focial intercourfe would be alone 
 fufficient to prove, that he was defKned 
 to mix with his fellow creatures Can 
 the aflbciation of any other animals 
 turn to the fame account ? No one, I 
 fancy, will hazard the conjecture. Why 
 then cannot the human fpecies be fup- 
 pofed to follow that unerring principle 
 of inftinft, which is obferved to regulate 
 the conduct of every other animal of the 
 creation ? If the bird, the fim, and the 
 beaft of the field, follow invariably the 
 law prefcribed to its immediate clafs, why 
 fhould we alone differ fo greatly from the 
 pre-determined order of Providence ? Is 
 man alone, man the firft acknowledged of 
 D 4 created
 
 40 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 
 created beings is man alone to run, 
 counter to, the ends for which he is de- 
 clared to have been formed ? If we had 
 been deftined from the beginning to flalk 
 about melancholy and wretched wander- 
 ers through the woods, how came it that 
 we fo foon ftarted from the law which 
 had been prefcribed to us, and feeling the 
 inconveniency of folitude, that we mould 
 fo univerfally have formed ourfelyes intp 
 hordes and affociated bodies ? 
 
 Mofl animals herd with each other, 
 from the fmalleft infect that flits around 
 the pool, to the towering elephant that 
 ranges through the foreft. Of thefe, 
 though evidently not calculated for fa- 
 ciety, as is the human fpecies, many will 
 be found, it is true, to ftraggle ; but are we 
 therefore to conclude, that becaufe they 
 are fometimes fcattered, becaufe they arc 
 mdifcrimmate in their connections, and 
 becaufe they are unreftrained by formal 
 
 laws,
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 4 i 
 laws, that we mould by confequence be 
 doomed to a folitary and a more unfocial 
 exigence than it is evident they are ? 
 What unaccountable hypothefes ! What 
 extravagant chimaeras I 
 
 The real difpofition of the human fpe- 
 cies hath been in all ages and in all coun- 
 tries alike. There has always been a na- 
 tural fympathy and attraction ; the inftinc- 
 tive affection of the fexes. has principally 
 ferved to eftablim the permanency of fo- 
 ciety by the ties and the obligations it 
 has occalioned. Self love is predominant 
 in all ; our wives, our children, every ob- 
 ject that contributes to our felicity, is dear 
 to us. Man is fond of what he can call his 
 own. In mort, if the propagation of the 
 human race be a natural and inirln&ive 
 paffion ; if the care of our offspring in 
 helplefs childhood be not repugnant to 
 the feelings of the parent; it then will 
 follow, and ram is he that will deny it, 
 i that
 
 4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 that fociety is, and muft be, natural to 
 man; and that eftranged from each other, 
 the human fpecies never drd nor ever can 
 fubfifL 
 
 FRAGMENT 

 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 43 
 
 FRAGMENT V. 
 
 W E have faid, that fince mankind have 
 had a fituation appropriated to them in this 
 world, there muft have been fome fociety ; 
 not indeed that luxurious, that refined 
 commixture, which modern times afford ; 
 but a fociety wherein they lived in fome 
 degree dependent on the good offices of 
 each other. That the accounts we have of 
 what are called the firft ages, do not pre- 
 fent the ftate of fociety in thofe days as 
 in any refpecl: defireable, muft be readily 
 allowed. The apparent fimplicity which 
 then reigned, and which has fince been fo 
 celebrated, was palpably barbarous and 
 unenviable; it p relented nothing but what 
 was rude and uncultivated ; a little re- 
 moved from the favage ftate ; and when rhe 
 human mind firft began, with all the eager* 
 nefs of rapacity, to dwell on its own imme* 
 
 diate
 
 44 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 diate intereft. At that epoch, man will ap- 
 pear to have been covered with vice, hi- 
 deous and deformed : moft of the hiftories 
 of antient times now extant, mew that 
 difcord very early began to reign among 
 us, and that blood (hed and (laughter were 
 known almofk as foon as ihere were men *. 
 How fanguinary do we appear from even 
 the facred records ! Wild beafts were 
 not more furious where food or the fier- 
 ceft paffions were concerned ; blood gufh- 
 ed in ftreams from the effects of rage, 
 and the unbridled defires of brutal appetite. 
 Victory then was the victory of monflers ; 
 no bounds were fet to vengeance, which 
 the mercilefs extirpation of each other alone 
 could fatisfy. 
 
 The firft perceptions, however, the firit 
 rudiments of fcience, began to fhew them- 
 
 * And the Lord faid unto Cain, the firft born, 
 * Thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the 
 " ground." 
 
 felves
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 45 
 
 ielves in times like thefe. What are the 
 moft admired exertions of human ability, 
 but improvements on what, in the earlieft 
 ages, had been but poorly underflood ? 
 Shall we fay, that (hips and palaces, with 
 a thoufand other efforts of human genius, 
 have been the growth of modern days ? 
 The affertion would be prepofterous ; rafts, 
 prows, and cottages, preceded what are 
 now the objects of admiration. We have 
 borrowed from thofe who lived in a flate 
 of rude and uncivilized nature. We have 
 indeed improved ; and by the continued ac- 
 ceffion of new and more determinate ideas, 
 have advanced confiderably farther than 
 they did in the intricate walks of fcience ; 
 but we are indebted to them for the origi- 
 nal defigns. 
 
 The effects of what is called antient 
 fimplicity were long felt ; ambition, fuper- 
 ftition, luft, and revenge, ruled uncontrol- 
 ably the greateft portion of mankind. The 
 
 magiftrates
 
 46 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 magiftrates lorded it with fceptres of iron ; 
 the people groaned under the preffure of 
 the yoke. Priefts in the fervice of God, 
 pillaged and fed on the laborious induftry 
 of the poor. Impediments fuch as thefe 
 could not but obftruft the advancement of 
 knowledge and fcience. The day, however, 
 broke, after years of ignorance and infa- 
 tuation : men then faw their way, and the 
 cnind, flruggling for freedom, emancipated 
 itfelf from that ilavery in which it had 
 continued fhackled from the remoteft pe- 
 riods of time. 
 
 In this manner contemplating the hu- 
 man difpoiition, the nearer we go to the 
 flate of nature, the more humiliating 
 {hall we appear as rational beings ; the 
 more enormous will be found the crimes 
 which flain the character of our race. 
 Society therefore, free, but whole fomely 
 regulated fociety, is alone capable of 
 embelliming and rendering us generally 
 
 and
 
 f HILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 47 
 
 and individually happy : it is the parent 
 of fafety, the beneficial fpring of thofe 
 fciences and arts which adorn and dignify 
 man, and which render him, in the end, 
 the merited pofleflbr of the pre-eminence 
 he claims. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 48 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT VI. 
 
 JVJL AN was born to labour* the earth re- 
 quires it. Were it not for the operations of 
 both body and mind, the myriads of 
 beings whom this globe contains would 
 not find fubfiftence : the foil indeed pof- 
 fefles the principles of vegetative life, but 
 care and cultivation muft make it fuffi- 
 ciently productive. Health and future eafe 
 require that we mould labour ; for what 
 dreadful difeafes, what frightful calamities 
 afflict the human frame, where ftagnate 
 waters, marmy fens, and uncleared woods, 
 cafl forth their baneful exhalations labour 
 is therefore a neceflary confequence of our 
 exiftence. Moreover, the products of this 
 world are in general fo incomplete in 
 their origin, and fo fcattered by the 
 wife hand of Nature, that it fhould feem 
 as if, in the providential care of her 
 
 children,
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 49 
 
 children, fhe had refolved that every man 
 fhould work on his own particular ipot, 
 and then, by intercourfe and traffic, to 
 affift each other ; fo that a common in- 
 terefl, and a mutual attraction, fliould be 
 every where eilablilhed. 
 
 Radical dependencies like thefe, firft 
 laid the foundation of large communities ; 
 but previous to this, and to the ordination 
 of any particular laws for uniting fo- 
 ciety, a language muft have been formed, 
 and the force and meaning of it mutt have 
 been generally underftood. 
 
 Language is univerfal, and not confined 
 to man : almoft every animal, that comes 
 within our obfervation, has fome peculiar 
 method by which he can render himfelf 
 intelligible to his fpecies by found. If a 
 any time mankind were without language, 
 the eyes muft have been ufed as the organs 
 of communicating thought. How forcibly, 
 VOL. I. E how
 
 50 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 how univerfally underftood are thofe fea- 
 tures, by even the moft ignorant and un- 
 civilized. Range from -one extremity of 
 the earth to the other, the language of the 
 eyes will be the language of every human 
 being you fhall meet ; nay, fo fuperior 
 will you find it to any, the moft artificial, 
 combination of words, (and here I reft 
 my felf upon the evidence of my fair readers) 
 that a look will be frequently more ex- 
 preffive and intelligible than the moft 
 eloquent and perfuafive flow of fpeech. 
 
 But as we have faid before, language 
 is univerfal : whether there was a time 
 when we could not articulate founds, and 
 whether at a fubfequent period, the moft 
 flexible organs, by accident, modulated 
 founds into words, and thefe again came 
 to be ftudied by imitation, whether fuch 
 was the fate of man, in any degenerate 
 period of his exiftence, I will not pretend 
 to determine. Deep-thinking men muft de- 
 cide
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. $| 
 
 cide upon fuch points, apparently inexpli- 
 cable ; adverting, as they go along, to what 
 the Rabbins fupport, the exiftence of the 
 Hebrew dialed from the beginning of the 
 world. Adam and Eve, they fay, fpoke 
 it ; the former even came from the hands 
 of God, with innate ideas, and an innate 
 acquaintance with the Jewifh language*. 
 
 With us, however, who are neither 
 miraculoufly informed, nor yet bold in our 
 conclufions, the ufe of the tongue will un- 
 doubtedly be thought as old as that of any 
 of the other members of our frame. The 
 only records we have, fupport us in fuch 
 a belief; the contrary opinion, which is 
 held forth by fome, is merely the refult 
 
 * In a difpute between the Phrygians and Egyptians 
 relative to the antiquity of the two nations, Pfam- 
 metichus, king of Egypt, caufed two new-born infants 
 to be ili ut u p with dumb nurfes ; when they grew up they 
 were heard, when hungry, to pronounce the word 
 lekkos t which in the Phrygian dialect fignified bread 4 this 
 determined the point in favour of the Phrygians. 
 
 E 2, of
 
 |2 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 the refult of ingenious fpeculation, or of 
 ignorance at heft, engrafted on fuperftition. 
 
 While we admit (and it is impoflible 
 to do otherwife) this univerfality of 
 fpeech, how (hall we be able to account 
 for the varieties of language among the 
 human race, efpecially as we are told, that 
 there was but one language when it was 
 prefumptuoufly refolved to build a tower 
 in the land of Shinaar ? The Lord, I know, 
 it is faid, confounded this language on ac- 
 count of our temerity, and then fcattered us 
 abroad. This was to fow the feeds of va- 
 riety, no doubt ; but are we to receive this 
 account in the literal fenfe in which it is 
 given, or fhall we venture to explain away 
 the inconfiftencies of it, as others have 
 done before us ? The difcuffion, I fancy, 
 would lead us too far ; it involves too 
 much ; let us think, therefore, as we 
 pleafe ; but, as no good can refult from 
 the inquiry, let us be humble and filent. 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 53 
 
 FRAGMENT VII. 
 
 -FROM the articulation of founds, to 
 the communication of our thoughts by 
 writing that fublime art ! the diftance 
 muir have been great. Hieroglyphics and 
 rude {ketches of drawings, were, no doubt, 
 the rudiments of that extraordinary cor- 
 refpondence which hath been {ince efta- 
 blifhed between intelle&ual minds. On 
 imperfect eflays fuch as thefe, the mind 
 muft have dwelt a confiderable length of 
 time ; hence gradually improving, the 
 eftablimed form that emblematically con-' 
 veyed the fenfe, at length fucceeded to 
 the crude reprefentation, which was but 
 partially, perhaps individually underftood, 
 until a fixt and a fimple charader, arifing 
 from reflections on the conveniency of 
 combination, ultimately produced an al- 
 E 3 phabeC
 
 $4- PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 phabet formed to exprefs and to convey 
 to the uttermofl parts of the earth, thofe 
 fentiments of the heart which originally 
 were confined to fpeech, and to oral 
 communication. That thefe were the 
 progreffive fteps of the art of writing, is 
 evident from the accounts we have of 
 the Chinefe, the Indians, the Egyptians, 
 the Phoenicians, the ^Ethiopeans, Etruf- 
 cans, and many other nations, fcattered 
 and difperfed as they have been through 
 the various divifions of the globe. 
 
 To give the exclufive invention of this 
 fcrt, therefore, to any one man, or to any 
 one people, is incompatible with that juf-* 
 tice which is due to every country alike.* 
 
 * Sir Ifaac Newton calls Mercury, who was furna- 
 med Trifmegiftus, the fecretary of Ofiris, king of 
 Egypt; and this Mercury, Diodorus Siculus fays, " was 
 " the firft who out of the coarfe and rude dialects of his 
 *' time, formed a regular language, and gave appella- 
 *' lions to the moft ufeful things ; he likewife invented 
 * ( the firft characters or letters, and even regulated the 
 * harmony of words and phrafes." 
 
 t The
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 55 
 
 The fad is, that points of this nature can- 
 not poffibly be afcertained, buried as they 
 are, in the mifty and impenetrable clouds 
 of antiquity ; nor is it of confequence that 
 they mould. The north, the fouth, the 
 caft, and the weft, have feverally produced 
 benefactors to mankind, whofe inclina- 
 tions and endeavours to be of fervice to 
 their fpecies, have been as ftrongly marked 
 in one hemifphere as in the other ; they 
 proceeded from the fame fource, and tend- 
 ed to the fame purpofes. Let the Egyptians, 
 the Phaenicians, and the Greeks, therefore, 
 reft in quietnefs with the credit which 
 fome writers have given them for the in- 
 vention of letters ; we will not endeavour 
 to wreft from them what, among them- 
 felves, one perfon or other moft probably 
 deferved. 
 
 The veneration which is paid to a cha- 
 racter that has been of fervice to mankind, 
 is furely laudable, nor is the worfliip even 
 E 4 that
 
 $6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 that hath in fome countries been paid to 
 fuch illuftrious memories, to be reprobated 
 and condemned. Before the knowledge 
 of the true Divinity defcended amongfl us, 
 what could be more warrantable than the 
 religious refpect, the deification I may fay, 
 which grateful people paid to their protec- 
 tors and benefactors ? Every nation owes 
 efteem to thofe by whom it has been en- 
 lightened and amended. Their memories 
 mould be celebrated, the remembrance of 
 them mould be cherifhed ; even images, (I 
 approach not here the pale of ChriiHanity) 
 reprefenting their perfons or their actions, 
 fhould be honoured ; and in ages unin- 
 ftructed by revelations from Heaven itfelf, 
 what fyftem could be more commendable, 
 or what fo immediately productive of good 
 confequences to fociety ? The apotheofis of 
 a heathen was not like the holy election of 
 a bigot to a celeftial rank ; to acquire di- 
 vine honours, it was previoufly neceflary 
 to deferve them. 
 
 /3 'Twas
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 57 
 
 'Twas virtue only, or in arts or arms, 
 Diffufing bleflings, or averting harms ; 
 The fame which in a lire the fons obey'd, 
 - A prince, the lather of a people made ; 
 On him, their fccond Providence, they hung, 
 Their law his eye, their oracle his tongue. 
 He, from the winding furrow called the food, 
 Taught to command the fire, control the flood. 
 Draw forth the monfters of th' abyfs profound, 
 Or fetch th' aerial eagle to the ground. Poi'E. 
 
 I am well aware of the general objection 
 to fuch gratitude. I am aware too that our 
 real and artificial neceffities have been de- 
 clared the firft caufes of exertion and im- 
 provement felf intereft always fuppofed 
 in view ; and that luxury and refinement 
 have, on that fame felfifh principle, been 
 accounted the great promoters of arts, 
 fciences and traffic ; that it hath likewile 
 been averred, that avarice, ambition and 
 envy, have been, are {till, and always will 
 be, the grand fprings to aduate the majo- 
 rity of mankind. Let them be fo. What 
 then ? Shall man refrain from venerating 
 the appearance of that which is praife 
 worthy, becaufe the reality of it be rarely 
 4 met
 
 58 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 with ? The idea is confined. It is wrong 
 to infift on the defeats of our nature ; let 
 us rather be liberally erroneous, than back- 
 ward in the commendation of our fpecies. 
 The wholefome purpofes of fociety require 
 the femblance at leaft, if not the reality of 
 good in the human character. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT VIII. 
 
 JT R O M the hour in which the ferpent 
 beguiled the firft woman, even unto this 
 day, divines, philofophers, and all thinking 
 beings, have puzzled themfelves in endea- 
 vouring to find out, why fuch a plentiful 
 harveft of evil Ihould have been diffemi- 
 nated among us. The inquiry is curious. 
 To fay it is neceflary we fhould fuffer 
 all the miferies of battle and murder, 
 plague, peftilence and famine, all the per- 
 fecutions of bigoted and fanatic fuper- 
 ftltion, together with the other natural 
 and phyfical evils to which we are liable, 
 in order to our being rendered deferving 
 of a fomething hereafter, is not only arbi^ 
 trary and unfatisfactory, but pernicious, 
 and has been moft deftru&ive in its 
 conferences. With a rooted opinion of 
 
 this
 
 6o PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 this nature, what bloody tragedies have 
 been acted ! Have we not in our own times 
 feeii, and have we not heard of the pureft 
 and moft fimple doctrine under heaven, 
 being turned, from fuch conviction, to the 
 vileft and mo ft dreadful purpofes ? To fave 
 the fouls of heretics, how many thou- 
 fands have been doomed to perim in agony 
 and torment ! The fovereign, the all-wife, 
 the all-beneficent Ruler of the univerfe, 
 hath been fupplicated for mercy, whilfl 
 the knell of death has tolled unrelenting 
 fury and extirpation on thofe of a contrary 
 perfuafion. Are we not told of the in- 
 nocent, the uninftructed Indian, being 
 barbaroufly reviled at the flake for not ac- 
 knowledging that God, whofe children ex- 
 hibited no other character than that of 
 blood-thirfty avarice, fuperftition and fe- 
 rocity ? 
 
 That gracious Power, unto whom man 
 in his wildeft ftate looks up, hath, it muft 
 
 be
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 6x 
 
 be acknowledged, fcattered our way with 
 the thorns of bitternefs and affii&ion ; he 
 hath placed us in the flate where we me* 
 vitably fuffer, " where we come up and 
 are cut down as it were a flower." But 
 the reafon why mifery is fo flrewn, the 
 reafon why it in general is fo paramount 
 to happinefs, is far beyond the reach of 
 human comprehenfion. The limited fa- 
 culties of man are inadequate to the dif- 
 perfion of thofe clouds, which enmroud 
 the firfl principles of nature. Experience 
 and good fenfe fay, therefore, to our race, 
 Be patient, have fortitude, be juft, an den- 
 joy fuch comforts, as in the fight of uner- 
 ring wifdom are fufficient for you. 
 
 All nature is but art, unknown to thee ; 
 
 All chance, direction, which thou canft not fee ; 
 
 All difcord, harmony not underftood ; 
 
 All partial evil, univerfal good ; 
 
 And fpite of pride, in erring reafon's fpite, 
 
 One truth is clear, whatever is, is right. POPE. 
 
 Thus let us iing ; it will be the fureft 
 fign of our being refigned, of our being 
 
 content
 
 6z PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 content in our prefent fbte, and of our 
 poffefling at leaft gratitude of heart. There 
 are, however, men, and thofe of a moft 
 extenfive genius, who labour to deftroy 
 the great and the good effects of this 
 humble fubmiffion, this entire refignation 
 to the will of him who made us. But are 
 not fuch men culpable in an unpardonable 
 degree r Of what benefit to mankind can 
 be the combating of fo divine a tenet ? 
 Pride and philofophic arrogance may en- 
 deavour to oppofe that do&rine, the belief 
 of which is eflential to the happinefs of 
 every rational creature. But is philo- 
 fophy to authorize fuch wanton licen- 
 tioufnefs ? Shame on that criminal pre- 
 fumption, which would willingly deprive 
 us of a hope that conftitutes the greateft 
 portion of our felicity ! Abilities turned 
 againft the peace and happinefs of fociety, 
 mould draw upon the pofleflbr the execra- 
 tion and deteftation of all who are anxious 
 for the welfare of their fpecies. 
 
 The
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 63 
 
 The facred truth of " whatever is, is 
 right," admiffible in all religions, is found 
 generally to prevail in thofe countries 
 where the people are moft civilized. But 
 religious errors, even thofe which gave 
 inhabitants to heaven, and peopled the 
 earth, the air, and the feas, with a profu- 
 fion of divinities, have been of infinite 
 advantage to mankind. Religion fbftens 
 the human character ; it itrengthens and 
 cements the bonds of communities and 
 nations ; and if diverted of bigotry and 
 fanaticifm, is capable of producing a mul- 
 tiplicity of bleffings. We mould reve- 
 rence, therefore, thofe who took ignorance 
 by the hand, and led her awfully and trem- 
 blingly to the altar ; we mould venerate 
 them, for calling in the aid of fupernatural 
 means, to the rivetting of thofe moral 
 duties, which they wifhed to inflil into 
 the minds of their fellow creatures. Con- 
 vinced of the validity of thefe pofitions, 
 mall we apprehend the attacks, thefneersof 
 
 the
 
 64 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 the infidel and the bigot ? No. Men of fenfe 
 \vhofe minds are un con traded, and to them 
 alone we appeal, poflefs that liberality 
 which will not hefitate to agree with us 
 in an opinion, which has naught but cha- 
 rity for its object. The carpings of others, 
 too feeble even to recoil on themfelves, will 
 evaporate in fmoke, and die as foon as they 
 are born. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 65 
 
 FRAGMENT IX. 
 
 ity, which would infpire its 
 followers with benevolence and good hu- 
 mour, has neverthelefs inftilled into men 
 of certain defcriptions, far different prin- 
 ciples. The mildnefs of the gofpel has been 
 transformed into gloominefs and intole- 
 rance; I do not mean univerfally: I al- 
 lude to particular times and to particular 
 cafes. But in the name of heaven, how- 
 is it poffible for a man, ferioufly, to ad- 
 vance it as his opinion, that thofe who 
 lived before our Saviour, and many who 
 now exift, but who have had neither re- 
 velations nor miraculous aflurances of his 
 divinity ; how can he, I fay, aflert, that 
 they mould, one and all, be given over 
 to perdition, merely becaufe they did not, 
 and do not, believe in him as we do? 
 VOL. I. F Can
 
 66 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 
 
 Can any thing be more monftrous or 
 more repugnant even to the di&ates of 
 that faith which we profefs, and of 
 which we are fo jufHy proud? And yet 
 there are who fay, " there is no falvation 
 " for the heathen." This pernicious doc- 
 trine originated with the Jews ; and 
 bigots among the Chriflians have trod in 
 the fleps of their progenitors, 
 
 But why mould that nation, and why 
 mould that little flip of ground, Palef- 
 tine, have been fo peculiarly blefled, as 
 that none but thofe who fprouted up in 
 the Land of Promife, mould be capable of 
 entering into the kingdom of heaven ? 
 The elder fons of Japheth, from whom, 
 I think, it is faid we are defcended, 
 would, furely, in fuch a cafe, have rea- 
 fon to complain of injuftice ; for why 
 mould we, the defcendants, be more en- 
 titled to falvation than thofe our fore- 
 fathers, who were holy and enlightened 
 
 men ?
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 6? 
 
 men ? This general condemnation of all, 
 who are ignorant of, and who preceded 
 the coming of the Meffiah, is ftrangely 
 unaccountable ; it is like the cuftom of 
 Borough-Englim, which places the inhe- 
 ritance in the youngeft of the family. 
 
 Men like thefe, who hold the Divinity 
 unjuft, and who endeavour to bring him 
 down to a level with themfelves, are, if 
 poffible, even worfe than thofe who have 
 no belief in Providence. For the one, 
 the errors of our judgement, and the in- 
 comprehenfibility of the Godhead, may 
 plead a little in excufe ; but for the other 
 no apology can be admitted : their teme- 
 rity is not to be pardoned. They make the 
 all-merciful Difpofer of the world more 
 capricious than even man ; they reprefent 
 him fickle, revengeful, and thirfry for 
 the blood of thofe whom it would feera 
 he had created, merely that he might 
 F 2 have
 
 68 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 have the pleafure of tormenting them 
 here and hereafter. 
 
 That fubllme Majejly which is above us ; 
 that awful Power which animated ail things, 
 whofe being we cannot difcover, but whofe 
 exiftence is engraven on the minds of all : 
 thus mould God be reprefbnted. Yet we, 
 who from the weaknefs of our nature, 
 are incapable of inquiring into even what 
 we are ourfelves We, the atoms of a 
 day, the children of ignorance and mor- 
 tality, are ftill adventurous enough to de- 
 cide on a Being that eludes all fearch ; 
 and that is neither to be feen nor under- 
 flood by corporeal fenfe. In every part 
 of his works we perceive the Deity; we 
 fee him glorioufly difplayed in every ob- 
 ject of the creation : but to endeavour to 
 reafon, or to contemplate on the eflence 
 of the Divine Nature, is the height of 
 folly and prefumption. 
 
 The
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 69 
 
 The innate conviction of a beneficent 
 Providence, is furely fufficient for every 
 rational mind ; it is all that is required by 
 the human underftanding, when left to 
 itfelf and to its own deductions. Arbi- 
 trary reprefentations, therefore, are to be 
 treated as baneful and pernicious; injuri- 
 ous to God, and hurtful to fociety. 
 
 " Lo! the poor Indian, whofe untutor'd mind 
 *' Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind." 
 
 Shall this poor creature, who only acts 
 and believes as he has been taught, 
 be given to deftrudtion ? The intelligent 
 and the merciful among Chriftians will 
 anfwer no : all men to them appear the 
 fame. 
 
 In the difpofition of this globe, in the 
 distribution, ' or the difperfion of its inha- 
 bitants, all men were alike poflefled of 
 vmderflanding and judgement. Left, 
 then, to the dictates of their own reafon, 
 F 3 every
 
 70 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 every fet determined on -the religion 
 moft fuitable to its ftate: the Egyptian 
 adopted one mode ; the Phoenician adop- 
 ted another ; Chaldea reared up her chil- 
 dren to wormip the Divinity in the em- 
 blem of fire ; Ifrael walked in the ways 
 of truth, agreeably to the Lord's covenant 
 with Mofes. In this manner, every peo- 
 ple formed to themfelves a theological 
 fyftem of their own. Error, indeed, 
 may have crept in, notwithfranding 
 every effort to the contrary ; but where is 
 that human inftitution to be found which 
 is wholly free from imperfe&ion and 
 frailty ? When the Divinity condefcends, 
 by infpiration, to fpeak to his creatures, 
 then the faith of thofe chofen people 
 muft be unequivocally pure ; but till 
 then, ignorance mufl lead the world 
 aftray : and however moral we may fup- 
 pofe mankind, they yet are not of the 
 elecl:, no fyftem of religion having been 
 revealed to them in form. 
 
 No
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 7* 
 
 No religion Is uniform and invariable. 
 Reafon prefcribes no fixed rule for the ex- 
 ternals of worfhip. Sufceptible of vari- 
 ous forms, and liable to the fluctuating 
 opinions of thofe who are appointed to 
 watch over the flock, the changes are 
 great ; but the internal fenfe of it is {till 
 the fame. Could we, as I have already 
 faid, but divert ourfelves of that arro- 
 gance and pride, which a blind attach- 
 ment to our own particular way of think- 
 ing too frequently engenders ; and could 
 we but crufli in the bud that hatred which 
 too univerfally moots up amongft fectaries 
 of different perfuafions, we then mould 
 fee religion (as its firft principles invari- 
 ably inculcate) mild and charitable. In- 
 ftead of this, however, different reli- 
 gionifts, led on by prejudice, bigotry, 
 and phrenzy, turn, what they denominate, 
 a holy zeal into perfecution, and the 
 bittereft reproach. What a reflection on 
 our nature ! What a picture of the hu- 
 F 4 man
 
 72 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 man race! When the Indian poftrates 
 himfelf before the riling fun ; when the 
 Mohammedan turns himfelf towards the 
 tomb of his holy prophet ; or when the 
 ChrifHan, in the fervency of prayer, ad- 
 drefies himfelf to his Maker ; are they 
 not feverally actuated by the fame motive 
 the honour of God? In feveral coun- 
 tries, many unaccountable, and many 
 extravagant practices, are, no doubt, 
 mingled with the ceremonials of reli- 
 gion ; but mould we abhor, mould we 
 deteft an entire people becaufe they are 
 doomed, by heaven, to continue in a ftate 
 of ignorance? Or fhould we perfecute 
 them, knowing, as we undoubtedly do, 
 that their intention is certainly good ? 
 Innate knowledge of good and evil, of 
 virtue and vice, is not given to man : we 
 acquire the faculty of difcriminating their 
 qualities, from the ideas we receive in 
 fociety ; and not from any pofitive fenfe 
 with which we are endued. Were it 
 
 other-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RH'APSODIES. 73 
 
 otherwife, man would be invariably tne 
 fame : the cannibal, the unnatural expo- 
 fer of innocent childhood ; the favage 
 who devours his prifoner, each might be 
 common to every country; on the other 
 hand, perfection might be paramount, 
 and we mould fee nothing but humanity, 
 gentlenefs, mutual good offices, and the 
 moft refined fociety. 
 
 To conclude, then, this fermon-likc 
 Fragment, which I am afraid I have 
 dwelt on too long, let every man follow 
 the dictates of a clear confcience : let 
 fuch opinions and fuch actions be alone 
 punifhable as affect the peace of that com- 
 munity in which he is placed ; and let 
 all thofe of the ancients, who unfortu- 
 nately were, and thofe of the moderns, 
 who, from the fame neceffity, are ftill 
 uninformed of the tenets of the true be- 
 lief, let them reft with the charitable 
 good wifhes of every Chriflian, and of 
 
 every
 
 74 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 every being who has an affe&ion for his 
 fpecies. 
 
 For modes of faith let gracclefs zealots fight, 
 His can't be wrong, whol'e life is in the right. 
 
 POPE. 
 
 Even St. Auftin went fo far as to ac- 
 knowledge, that though " God would 
 " not give heaven to the Romans becaufe 
 " they were heathens, he yet gave them 
 " the empire of the world becaufe they 
 " were virtuous ;" and that St. Auflin was 
 not the moft tolerating of mankind, the 
 hiftory of his life is fufficient evidence. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 7$ 
 
 FRAGMENT X. 
 
 JL HE range we are now about to take, 
 and the different countries into which it 
 will confequently carry us, will effe&ually 
 confirm the orthodoxy of the text which 
 I have wiihed to eftablifli in the preceding 
 pages. Nations of the moft contrary 
 difpofitions will come before us : we mall 
 in all find a religion ; but in none mall 
 we find one that is pure and unmixed 
 with error. 
 
 Tartary mall be our firft ftage : I fpeak 
 of Tartary firft, becaufe, among the va- 
 rious people of the world, of whom we 
 have any record, the Tartars certainly 
 have the pre-eminence, both from their 
 conquefts, and from the kingdoms they 
 have founded. Almofl every age, from 
 
 the
 
 76 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 the earlieft periods of time, hath borne 
 particular marks of their amazing power 
 and fuperiority. It is unneceflary, how- 
 ever, to go very far back : we fhall content 
 ourfelves with looking on them as the 
 deftroyers of the Roman empire ; the 
 conquerors and rulers of the vaft domi- 
 nion of China; the matters of the Mogul 
 empire, which included the whole of the 
 peninfula of India ; the lords of Perfia ; 
 and the pofleflbrs of other moft extenfive 
 dominions, as well in Afia and Africa as 
 in Europe. 
 
 The Tartars being defcended, accor- 
 ding to their own tradition, from the 
 eldeft fon of Japhet, whom they deno- 
 minate Turc, affords alfo another reafon 
 why we mould pay them the com- 
 pliment of precedency. The near rela- 
 tion we bear to each other unquefHon- 
 ably claims it. From Turc, however, 
 they did not derive their prefent name ; 
 it came to them from one of the fons 
 
 of
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 77 
 
 of Alanza Cawn, who divided his domi- 
 nions between Tartar and Mongul, the 
 two eldeft ; and hence the diftin&ion of 
 thofe nations, which hath ever fince pre- 
 vailed. The original deiignation of Tar- 
 tary was Scythia ; it then comprehended 
 a vaft variety of date's : it may now he 
 faid to be partly independent, partly fub- 
 jeft to China, and partly to Ruffia. 
 
 The inhabitants of this very extenfive, 
 and, in many places, very fertile country, 
 have been, and flill continue, the rude, 
 but happy, children of nature. They 
 chiefly derive fubfiftence from hunting, 
 fiming, and the milk of their herds; 
 they neglect agriculture, and wander 
 about as we read of the firfl Patriarchs. 
 Notwithftanding this unfettled way of 
 life, they have a religion which confifts 
 in the belief of the one fupreme God, 
 and the tenets of it breathe fome 
 of the moft fublime principles of mora- 
 lity. But what is flill more extraordn 
 4 nary
 
 78 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 nary, they are guided in the articles of 
 this faith by the hallowed decrees of a 
 fovereign Pontiff, flyled the Great Lama, 
 who prefides over more confciences than 
 any other prieft upon earth. The refi- 
 dence of the Great Lama is at Putali ; 
 his legates are fcattered as their fervices 
 are required ; fome are refidentiary, and 
 poflefs almoft an equal degree of power 
 with the Great Lama himfelf, fuch as 
 the Dala Lama of little Thibet or Boutan : 
 they have the whole of the fpiritual and 
 fecular power in their own hands. 
 
 An erroneous opinion very long pre- 
 vailed, that the Grand Lama was never 
 to be feen by Grangers ; late difcoveries 
 have proved the contrary : foreign minif- 
 ters and travellers of diftinction are al- 
 ways admitted to his prefence. The 
 divine character which is allowed him by 
 his people, renders it politically right in- 
 deed to keep them from too critical an 
 i invefli-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 79 
 
 inveftigation of his actions and difpofi- 
 tion : he rarely, therefore, expofes him- 
 felf to the view of his fubjecls ; were he 
 to do fo, his mortality might be dif- 
 covered, and the impolition of his never 
 dying might be afcertained to be a trick. 
 The ridiculous {lories which have been 
 circulated of the Great Lama are innu- 
 merable, and fcarcely worthy of atten- 
 tion ; fuch as, that certain facred matters, 
 proceeding from him, are fold to his de- 
 luded followers at a moft exorbitant price. 
 The truth of this, I know, is univerfally 
 believed ; but I doubt it ; it is too grofs to 
 deferve credit. Allowing, however, that 
 the reprefentation is juft, cannot we 
 match it ? I think we can ; no lefs than 
 the holy St. Chryfoftom affords the proof, 
 and to him I appeal : does he not fay, 
 that " it was common in his days to un- 
 " dertake dangerous voyages by fea, from 
 " the remotefts parts of the earth, to vifit 
 " Job's dunghill in Arabia ;" and that 
 
 thofe
 
 8o PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 " thofe who undertook this pious journey, 
 " received from it infinite benefit and 
 " muchphilofophical inft ruction." Is not 
 this, think you, match fufficient for the 
 Tartar? If Cammin, Thibet, Mongalia, 
 or Bochara can equal it, I will yield the 
 point, and will moil readily allow that 
 the Grand Lama's excrement is a drug 
 of moft inefHmable value ; and that to 
 poflefs a little of it, a precious drop no 
 bigger than a pea, no expence fhould be 
 fpared. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT XL 
 
 A HE character of immortal, afTumed 
 by the Grand Lama, is frill heightened 
 in eftimation, by the attribute of omni- 
 fcience which is vefted in him ex qfficto ; 
 and he fupports thefe prerogatives with- 
 out the" fmalleft inconvenience. When 
 he dies, (for they do not fuppofe that the 
 body always exifts,) the foul, fay they, 
 flies into the frame of fome handfome 
 youth, who poflerTes certain marks 
 which are known to the clergy only : 
 thence turning the lad's own foul out of 
 doors, the Lama's gets pofleffion of its 
 new habitation, and there remains, with- 
 out difturbance, until fuch time as the 
 inevitable decay of nature obliges it to 
 change its quarters. The fat is, that 
 children are always' in training for this 
 VOL. I. G holy
 
 !A PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 holy purpofe. Like David, a boy, is 
 taken from tending his father's fheep, and 
 being approved, he is anointed by the 
 Lama, fucceffor and ruler over the Tar- 
 tar tribes. 
 
 The denomination of Kalmucks is 
 given, without any fort of diftin&ion, to 
 the various tribes and communities of 
 Tartars which fill the fpace between the 
 Wolga and the wall of China. This 
 proceeds from their great fimilitude of 
 feature, language, and religion. The 
 different Hordes, however, have different 
 laws, and different municipal regula- 
 tions ; and, as naturally may be fuppofed 
 in fo prodigious an extent of country, 
 and where the patriarchal way of life is 
 ilill in its fullefl vigour, the variations 
 in their natures and difpofitions, their 
 manners and cufloms, as you approach 
 to, or recede from, more civilized nations, 
 is ft ri kingly apparent. 
 
 The
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES* I 3 
 
 The wild Tartars live in tents; the 
 more refined have houfes upon wheels : 
 thefe travelling habitations are far from 
 being incommodious ; they are raifed 
 upon a platform of wicker, carefully 
 bound together ; fome of them are 
 twenty, fome thirty feet in length, cal- 
 culated for all feafons ; they are readily 
 made, airy, or clofe and comfortable, as 
 the ftate of the weather requires. The 
 ladies (according to their undoubted title) 
 have the moft, elegant equipages ; their 
 vehicles are coftly, and as beautifully 
 adorned as the little progrefs of the arts 
 among them can give one reafon to ex- 
 peel:. The attendant carts are without 
 number ; fo that in the train of a rich 
 Tartar, you may frequently fee hun- 
 dreds of thefe enormous tenements. The 
 drefs of the Tartar is rich ; in the hot 
 months his garments are made of the 
 fineft manufactures of the Eaft ; and in 
 the cold, his raiment is of the choicefl 
 G 2 furs
 
 S 4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 
 
 furs that can be procured from the north. 
 The moral character of the Tartars, is, 
 in general, good. The crimes of mur- 
 der, treafon, &c. are capital as with Eu- 
 ropeans; andjufticeis adminiftered among 
 them with the {tri&eft impartiality. 
 
 Although the Tartars wander about 
 from place to place, they yet, at all 
 times, contrive to carry a multitude of 
 wives. Polygamy is allowed ; but the 
 firfl wife is always the principal. Con- 
 trary to the practice of moft other na- 
 tions, where- a plurality of wives is ad- 
 mitted., the Tartars are above the mean 
 refuge of a feraglio ; they allow their 
 women freedom and liberty ; and this 
 confidence is very feldom abufed. The 
 women are moil faithful. Adultery is 
 rarely heard of; and yet, (however 
 fingular it may appear) it is an uni- 
 verfal and an eflablifhed rule among this 
 people, that the fon, on the demife of 
 i his
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 85 
 
 his father, mall have'the optional choice 
 of the widows, excluding indeed his own 
 mother ; and thofe on whom he pitches 
 are under the neceffity of marrying him. 
 
 The fituation of the women, however, 
 taken altogether, cannot be very enviable. 
 The words of Mr. Gibbon, in his elegant 
 Hiftory of the Decline and Fall of the 
 Roman Empire, are particularly defcrip- 
 tive of what a female of a civilized fo- 
 ciety would feel, were me unfortunately 
 fhackled to one of thefe roaming lords of 
 the creation : "A felecl band of the 
 " faireft maidens of China was annually 
 " devoted to the rude embraces of the Huns. 
 " The fituation of thefe unhappy victims is 
 " defcribed in the verfes of a Chinefe Prin- 
 " cefs, who laments that me had been con- 
 " demned by her parents to a diftant exile, 
 " under a barbarous hufband ; who com- 
 *' plains, that fome milk was her only 
 " drink, raw flem her only food ; a tent 
 G 3 her
 
 !& PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 " her only palace; and who exprefles, in a 
 " ftrain of pathetic fimplicity, the natural 
 " wifh that (he was transformed into a 
 " bird, to fly back to her dear country ; 
 ^ t( the object of her tender~and perpetual 
 " regret." 
 
 From the prodigious number of people 
 which the regions of Scythia have fent 
 forth, one would imagine that polygamy 
 was beneficial to a community ; and that 
 no connection of the fexes could be more 
 favourable to population. The fact, 
 however, has been doubted, and appa- 
 rently with good reafon ; for although a 
 plurality of wives has been much more 
 tiniverfally allowed than the fimple ftate 
 of monogamy, as will more fully appear 
 hereafter, there yet feem to be natural 
 as well as political confiderations which 
 fpeak forcibly againft it. An equal pro- 
 portion of the fexes is generally allowed 
 to be the confequence of a man's being 
 
 confined
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. $7 
 
 confined to a fingle wife ; whereas, a 
 great majority on the female fide is ob- 
 fervable in thofe countries where his ap- 
 petites are unreftrained. Of this, both 
 India and China, together with the na- 
 tions of which we are now treating, af- 
 ford fufficient proof. Among thefe peo- 
 ple, the women far outnumber the men; 
 nor is the reafon affigned, a bad- one. It is 
 obferved by naturalifts, that the offspring 
 of every animal partakes in general of the 
 fex of that parent which has the ftrongeft 
 -and moft vigorous conflitution ; and that 
 the women in India and China have lefs 
 exhaufted conftitutions than the men, 
 muft readily be admitted. A variety of 
 attraction mull enervate even the mofl ro- 
 buft man. The feraglio, therefore, cannot 
 but be hurtful to the male propagation. 
 In fupport of this opinion, we find, that 
 in Europe, where Polygamy is exploded, 
 the proportion of males and females is 
 nearly equal. I do not exactly recollect 
 G 4 the
 
 88 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 the calculation; but I believe it is as 106 
 to 1 08. Europe, then, can boafl of 
 being in the trueft and moft eligible {rate 
 of nature ; for woman being formed for 
 man, and nature riot allowing of thofe 
 adventitious claims of riches and diftino 
 tion which firft introduced a plurality 
 of wives, the divifion, by her rules, 
 mould be as equal as poffible; each fhould 
 poflefs his mate, the poor a,s well as the 
 wealthy. Moreover the monopoly of 
 beauty is a monopoly of the moil injuri- 
 ous kind ; it is a robbery ; it is a fraudu- 
 lent feleclion of the lovelieft and moil 
 valuable treafure that is given to man. 
 Peace, happinefs, and population, can 
 only go hand in hand, while freedom 
 reigns, and while there is a natural com- 
 mixture of the fexes. 
 
 Polygamy, however, unfair and illi- 
 beral as it may be called, has yet the ad- 
 vantage, in every refpect, of polyandry, 
 
 or
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 89 
 
 or a plurality of hulbands ; this is, af 
 furedly, not only a mod unnatural, but 
 a moft abominable cuftom. Something 
 may be faid for a variety of wives, but 
 that one woman mould cohabit with a 
 variety of men, is too grofs to be dwelt 
 upon. Happily for the prefervation of 
 our fpecies, this cuflom at prefent is fel- 
 dom found to prevail. Thibet, and the 
 mountains of AfFghaniftan, are the only 
 places that I know of where it continues 
 to exifl: ; formerly, indeed, it was com- 
 mon. Media was fo celebrated for it, 
 that a woman was looked upon with con- 
 tempt who had fewer hufbands than five. 
 Even Britain, the honeft foil of Britain, 
 fome hundred years ago, produced fe- 
 males who would, without a blufh, be- 
 troth their faith to a dozen boiftrcus 
 fellows at a time. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT XII. 
 
 if it were ordained that all fhould 
 be upon the fame fcale, the empire of 
 Tartary is bounded by dominions of the 
 greateft extent in the known world : the 
 Ruffian, the Mogul, and the Chinefe. 
 The Kontayfa, or more properly the 
 Cawn Taifhaw, is the fuppofed fovereign 
 of all territories of the Kalmucks ; it is 
 he whom we ftyle the Great Khan of 
 Tartary. An army of an hundred thou- 
 fand men is always in readinefs to attend 
 him to the field. It is a doubtful point 
 if the Kalmucks ever were in a flate of 
 greater civilization than they appear at 
 prefent. Nations unqueflionably have 
 had their declenfions and renovations; the 
 decadence of one hath, at all times, 
 thrown the principles of grandeur into 
 
 another,
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 91 
 
 another, and thus revolving, we all of 
 us may have had our refpe&ive rifes and 
 falls, the records of which are not now 
 in being. 
 
 Like leaves on trees the race of man is found, 
 
 Now green in youth, now with'ring on the ground ; 
 
 Another race the following fpring fupplies, 
 
 They fall fucceffive, and fucceffive rife : 
 
 So generations in their conrfe decay, 
 
 So flourifh thefe, when thofe are paft away. 
 
 ILIAD, b. vi. v. 183. 
 
 One thing is certain, that many of the 
 plains of this country are fire wed with 
 monuments, whofe age hath not been af- 
 certained. The bits of wrought metals 
 that are found in them, as well as the pre- 
 cious flones which have been dug up, are 
 vouchers of a degree of civilization, 
 and in fome refpedts of the progrefs of 
 the arts. However this may be, the 
 Kalmucks, though not perfectly refined, 
 are yet a hofpitable, courteous, and 
 well-meaning people ; the wandering lives 
 
 they
 
 9 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 they lead prevent any extraordinary efforts 
 of improvement. They are content with 
 what they have, and are tenacious of 
 their liberty ; what we call comfort and 
 luxury, they call flavery and confinement. 
 No argument can make them believe that 
 man happy who is forced to continue 
 in one fpot. With their herds and 
 flocks they travel about. Their whole 
 property is of this nature : like unto 
 Job, " whofe fubftance was feven thou- 
 " fand fheep and three thoufand ca- 
 ** mels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, 
 " and five hundred {he afies, and a very 
 " great houfehold, fo that this man was 
 " the greatefl of all the men in the Eaft." 
 
 Notwithftanding this fimplicity in the 
 manners of the Tartars, a fimplicity which 
 one would fuppofe the parent of hu- 
 manity, they yet have cuftoms among 
 them which are in a high degree barbar- 
 ous and favage ; one in particular, is the 
 
 expofing
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 93 
 
 expofing their fick and lame in fmall 
 huts on the banks of rivers, where, with 
 a little flock of provifion, they leave them 
 to perifh, never afterwards giving them- 
 felves the trouble to enquire whether they 
 are alive or dead. In this refpect the 
 Kalmucks exceed the wildefl even of the 
 Americans ; for although in America an 
 aged or an infirm parent or relation is put 
 to death, that the burden of attendance 
 and fupport may be got rid of, yet it is re- 
 pugnant (agreeably to American feelings) 
 to mercy and humanity, that thofe who 
 are incapable of affifling themfelves mould 
 at any time be deferted. They morten 
 their days indeed, but they do not fuffer 
 them to linger comfortlefs, in mifery and 
 in want. The peculiar difpofition of the 
 Americans, renders this aft, which ap- 
 pears fo mocking to us, humane anil moft 
 merciful to them. Accuftomed to the 
 fight of fuch deeds, from the time they 
 become capable of obfervation, the horror 
 
 gradually
 
 34. PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 gradually decreafes as they advance in 
 years, till the decay o"f faculties, or the 
 deprivation of bodily ftrength, makes it 
 to them a matter of choice. They then 
 call their kindred around them, and fmil- 
 ing on the friendly hand that meditates 
 the blow, they chearfully refign them* 
 felves to that fate which they have always 
 been accuftomed to look to, as the in- 
 evitable, and the laft and moft meritorious 
 aft of their lives. 
 
 If barbarous, however, in the one cuf- 
 tom of expofing the helplefs, the Tartars 
 are yet in others infinitely praife-worthy, 
 and greatly to be refpe&ed. As I have al- 
 ready fpoken of fome, I fhall here confine 
 myfelf to the tendernefs they fhew to 
 their women. In Tartary a woman is re- 
 fpe&ed ; me is treated as the objecl: of af- 
 fedion and regard, not as in Europe for- 
 merly, nor according to the cuflom of 
 many confiderable countries in Afia, Af- 
 rica,
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 5 
 
 rica, and America, even at this day, 
 where indolence is the lot of man, and 
 where the moft laborious work is given to 
 woman. The Tartars rear their females 
 with kindnefs ; they do not humble them 
 with harmnefs and cruelty ; and though 
 neceffity may compel all to be partakers in 
 the common bufmefs of a clan, that which 
 is given to women is always domeftic, 
 proportioned and fuitable to their fex. 
 This indicates liberality, and is a certain 
 mark of refinement ; for nothing, furely, 
 can be more favage than the ungenerous, 
 the unmanly pretentious of fuperiority 
 which is and has been aflumed over weak 
 but lovely woman. 
 
 Can any thing be more humiliating 
 than the accounts given us by hiftorians 
 and travellers, of the vile occupations in 
 which females in fome countries have 
 been employed ? The feebleft, the moft 
 delicate frame, enjoined the hardefr, the 
 
 moft
 
 9 6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 moft toilfome labour. How much is the 
 fituation of thofe women to be commif- 
 ferated: doomed to the pangs, to the 
 fufferings of bringing an ungrateful off- 
 fpring into the world, and then to be 
 employed in the moft fervile and la- 
 borious offices for their accommoda- 
 tion : as if woman were formed for 
 the bafeft end ; for abfolute fervi- 
 tude to man. Proud, arrogant affump- 
 tion ! The fource of mifery not only 
 to woman, but to man himfelf. The 
 forced fubjection cf a woman, occa- 
 fions, indeed, an abject compliance with 
 the will of her tyrant; but where is 
 the kind look, the affectionate participa- 
 tion of the fentiments of the heart; the 
 numberlefs bleffings which attend the li- 
 beral ; the refined connection of the fexes ? 
 In this, and in this ftate alone, is man to 
 learn the value of the partner affigned to 
 him by nature. Here he will find, that 
 woman is the moft admirable object of 
 the creation; his thoughts will dwell 
 
 upon
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. ~ 97 
 
 upon her with delight; he will cherifli 
 her in his bofom. The univerfe will be 
 charming, only as relative to her. In 
 fhort, here is man to know and to con- 
 template the full value of his felicity. 
 In not arTuming the authority to which 
 he has no pretenfions, but which has un- 
 generoufly been ufurped, he here frees 
 himfelf from that which would evermore 
 be an infuperable obftacle to his happi- 
 nefs : he at the fame time acquires the 
 kind confidence, the anxious folicitude 
 of a lovely companion, bound to him by 
 gratitude, and by the moft endearing ties 
 of tendernefs and affection. 
 
 When frienclfhip Full-exerts her fofteft power, 
 
 Perfect efteem enlivened by defire 
 
 Ineffable, and fympathy of foul ; 
 
 Thought meeting thought, and will preventing will, 
 
 With boundlefs confidence ; for nought but love 
 
 Can anfvver love, and render blifs fecurc. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 VOL. I. H FRAG-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT XIII. 
 
 A* R O M Tartary we naturally pafs into 
 China. This country is of prodigious ex- 
 tent. It is bounded by India on the 
 fouth, by Ruffian Tartary on the north, 
 by the ocean on the eaft, and by Thibet 
 on the weft. The greateft part of the 
 e-aftern extremity of the continent of 
 Ada. is comprehended within the domi- 
 nion of China; befides which, Japan, 
 the peninfula of Korea, Tonquin, Cochin 
 China, Siam, and Pegu, were formerly 
 fubjeft to its authority. The government 
 of China is monarchical. No fovereign ia 
 the world has more power than the Em- 
 peror Of this country ; and poffibly no 
 other potentate ever received fuch un- 
 bounded marks of veneration and attach- 
 ment to his perfon. He is looked up to 
 4 as
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 99 
 
 as the parent of his people ; he is ftyled 
 their, common, their univerfal father. 
 
 In the domefKc arrangement of this 
 mighty family, in which every one bears 
 a part, the Emperor himfelf is not ex- 
 cufed. He is felf-obliged to fuperintend 
 a diftinct department, formed purpofely 
 for the fecret infpe&ion of the affairs of 
 the different provinces. In this wide 
 circle of bufinefs, a deviation from regu- 
 larity of fyftem is obferved by the Em- 
 peror, fo that no diftrict can poflibly 
 know the time when it fhall come under 
 the ftrict and fevere examination of its fo- 
 vereign. From this arifes conftant atten- 
 tion, and a cautious obfervance of the. 
 ordinances of the empire. 
 
 The municipal regulations of China 
 
 are peculiarly adapted to the fcrutinizing 
 
 conduct of their government. Each 
 
 province, diftrict, and city, is directed to 
 
 H 2 keep
 
 iOo PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 keep regifters of every material circum- 
 fiance which occurs. Thefe are divided 
 into feparate clafles : in one is inferted 
 the improvements in agriculture, manu- 
 factures, fciences, and arts ; another con- 
 tains the names, and the remarkable anec- 
 dotes in the lives of any celebrated per- 
 fbns who have either refided in, or been 
 natives of the provinces : the third is 
 the chronicle of political events. Thus 
 from the hiftory of his people, which is 
 in this manner constantly before him, 
 the Emperor is at ail times prepared to 
 apply whatever may be neceflary in 
 every, the very remoteft, corner of his 
 dominions; neither does he, while he 
 keeps this watchful eye over the conduct 
 qf others, hinder the wholefome reprefen- 
 tations and remonftrances of his people 
 from coming before him, whenever they 
 feel themfelves aggrieved. Abfolute as 
 he is, he yet is made to confider that he 
 is mortal, liable to error, and therefore 
 i to
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. ,01 
 
 to be admonifhed. From this right in 
 the fubje& to addrefs the throne, Innu- 
 merable bleffings are derived to the Chi- 
 nefe ; the tyranny and avarice of diftant 
 magiftrates are checked ; even the Em- 
 peror is told to proceed in the road pre- 
 fcribed to him by his own law ; and it is 
 not unfrequent for him to promife amend- 
 ment in his moft public edicts. 
 
 Infinitely more fuperb than the mon- 
 archs of Europe, the magnificence of the 
 Emperor of China is unpafallelled. In 
 this refpeft, indeed, he has forgot his 
 Tartar origin, though in others he ftill 
 perfeveres in the cuftoms of his fore- 
 fathers. A fondnefs for the chace is ftill 
 the prevailing difpofition of the Emperors 
 of China ; great part of the time that is 
 unemployed in affairs of ftate, is given 
 to hunting and the diverfions of the field : 
 for this purpofe, as hath been the univerfal 
 cuflom of thofe monarchs who have de- 
 ll 3 fcended
 
 102 PHILOSOPHICAL RfiAPSODIES. 
 
 fcended from the Scythians, confiderable 
 trafts of country have been enclofed ; and 
 being defignedly left uncultivated, are 
 turned into forefls for the royal re- 
 creation i 
 
 An infringement of this kind on the 
 rights of a people, who are too numerous 
 for the land they have to dwell on, and 
 who are therefore compelled to live on the 
 lakes and rivers, is greatly pernicious in 
 an empire fuch as China. In any coun- 
 try, indeed, it is injurious ; but in China 
 particularly, where a genial climate, a 
 happy inexperience of war, comparative 
 to other nations, and an abundant ferti- 
 lity of foil, have caufed a population 
 which exceeds every account that is han- 
 ded down to us by hiftory. Beyond the 
 enclofure of the imperial forefts, how- 
 ever, I do not know that any other ex- 
 cefles of the prerogative bear hard upon 
 
 the
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 103 
 
 the fubjeft *. It is not ena&ed in China, 
 that " Every perfon whatever, without 
 " any refervation or diftinftion, as to the 
 " rank, quality, or fortune of the ofFen- 
 * der, killing or deftroying any hare, 
 " pheafant, partridge, moor game, &c. 
 *' or ufing any dog, gun, &c. for that 
 " purpofe, mall, for the firft offence, be 
 *' imprifoned not lefs than three months; 
 " and either for the firft, or any other 
 " offence, be once publicly whipped in 
 " the town where the jail or houfe of 
 " correction mall be, between the hours 
 " of twelve and one in the day." No, 
 the Chinefe are too juft to the common 
 and unalterable privileges of nature, to 
 admit of fo fcandalous an exertion of au- 
 thority : it is left for a more enlightened 
 people to trample thus mamefully on the 
 
 * In William the Conquerors time, killing a deer, 
 a boar, or even a hare, was puniftied by the lofs of 
 the delinquent's eyes ; while the killing man was to 
 be atoned for by a moderate fine. 
 
 H 4 natural
 
 104 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 natural rights of mankind. I blufh while 
 I write it, but England is the fpot where a 
 folemri aft of the legiflature, as juft recited, 
 is in force. It is difgraceful to the fove- 
 reign power; it is hofUle to the freedom 
 of thofe who exultingly, jftyle themfelves 
 the fons of liberty ! 
 
 The Emperor of China, as I have al- 
 ready remarked, is denominated the father 
 of his people ; nor is this an adulatory 
 distinction. It is the fond appellation 
 which hath been given to the fovereign 
 from the foundation of their monar- 
 chy. At the firft rife of this prodigi- 
 ous ftate, the parental form of authority 
 feems that from which they took the idea 
 of their government. The fovereign, 
 as father over his children, poflerTed 
 the abfolute difpofal of all dignities 
 and honours ; no hereditary diftinction 
 was allowed. They never would ad^ 
 mit that a certain fpecies of men, un- 
 qualified
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 105 
 
 qualified, perhaps, and even without 
 pretenfion either to genius or ability, 
 fhould be umered into the world with 
 pomp and oftentation ; neither would 
 they fuffer them to move in a command- 
 ing fphere or exalted fituation ; they 
 thought it baneful to fociety. They would 
 have every man the author of his own 
 nobility : it was the fpring of emulation, 
 the great moving principle of all thofe 
 exertions which alone were entitled to pre- 
 eminence. To acquire honours, there- 
 fore, and the fyftem is the fame to this 
 day, was merely to acquire a life-pof- 
 feffion. No diftin&ion defcended to the 
 children of even the firft in rank and 
 confideration ; the moral character, or 
 fuperior abilities, could alone place a man 
 in a confpicuous fituation : " Deferve 
 ' fupremacy, and you will be exalted to 
 " command,'* was, and is, the favourite 
 maxim of this phUofophic people. 
 
 It
 
 ie6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 It is not, however, that the citizen is 
 checked by the unflattering reflection, 
 that he, and he only, is to derive advan- 
 tage from his acquiring the honours of 
 the (late ; a moft extraordinary refine- 
 ment of policy frill leaves him a fatis- 
 fa&ion, that to grateful minds muft be 
 almoft as complete as if all titles and 
 diftinctions were to pafs to the children, 
 from one generation to another : this is 
 the reflected radiance of honorary rewards. 
 The fon can ennoble the father, and 
 throw the luftre of dignity on the manes 
 of his anceftors. 
 
 1 will not enter into the merits of this 
 not unparallelled cuftom of the Chinefe ; 
 J know it has its admirers. Hereditary 
 diftinftions are cried down as arbitrary 
 and unjuft; pre-eminence, it is faid, is 
 alone due to merit. I will not difpute 
 the point ; the efpoufera of this petition 
 are poilibly right. They are fupported 
 
 on
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. toy 
 
 on the grounds of the natural equality of 
 mankind ; but a perfect equality has fel- 
 dom been found to exift : if it has, it 
 mud have abounded in anarchy and con- 
 fufion, and in every fpecies of incon- 
 veniency. 
 
 However humiliating, it is neverthe- 
 lefs certain, that in fome governments 
 an hereditary nobility is of infinite fer- 
 vice ; nay, that it is eflentiaLto the wel- 
 fare and to the protection of the ftate. 
 Even in abfolute monarchies it cannot 
 but be advantageous; but in the ariflo- 
 cratical and mixed form, how peculiarly 
 requifite is it to tranquillity and peace. 
 Men muft be ruled ; they never were or- 
 dained to wander in herds unrefiri&ed 
 and uncontrolled. Some hand muft hold 
 the reins, and that hand muft guide the 
 multitude under the influence and the 
 fan&ion of their own laws. How often 
 do we read of the daring influence of 
 
 fortunate
 
 io9 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES* 
 
 fortunate and afpiring leaders ; and of the 
 impetuous torrent of royal power, which 
 has only been withftood by the firm 
 phalanx of an .hereditary nobility? This 
 is to be gathered from the hiftories of all 
 nations. Every people have found the 
 bad policy of leaving the avenue un- 
 guarded, that would admit of even the 
 fhadow of deftrulion to their rights. 
 As all, therefore, cannot be exalted, fo 
 experience hath pointed out the advan- 
 tage of inventing a certain number with 
 a fecondary fort power ; a power, which 
 defcending from father to fon, neceflarily 
 eftablifhes a control that carries in itfelf 
 the moft effectual barrier to the oppreffive 
 flrides of tyranny and ambition* 
 
 That honours and diftin&ions frequent- 
 ly defcend on unworthy obje&s, is certainly 
 moft true ; but there is furely every rea- 
 fon to expect that men, who through the 
 channel of their fathers, have fucceeded 
 
 to
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 109 
 
 to any dignities, will as fully and faith- 
 fully difcharge their duties to the ftate, 
 as thofe who have owed their exaltation 
 to Caprice, intrigue, or far lefs creditable 
 means. Merit cannot be fought after 
 in every corner of an extenfive empire ; 
 neither are we to imagine that merit is 
 at all times an objed of choice with the 
 fovereign. In a word, the defcent of no- 
 bility, together with the means of for- 
 tune which it generally affords to its pof- 
 feflbrs, is unqueftionably a paladium of 
 confequence in a well-governed kingdom. 
 Educated with ideas of property and in- 
 dependence, men of an elevated rank are 
 naturally watchful over the encroach- 
 ments of that power which is inveftej 
 with the fupreme and executive authority; 
 nor will they, while they thus guard 
 their own privileges, entirely forget 
 that thofe of their inferiors are equally 
 facred, and equally well to be pro- 
 vided for, as any which, by better 
 
 fortune,
 
 no PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 fortune, they have derived from the 
 loyalty, the good conduct, and the bra- 
 very of their anceftors : an hereditary no- 
 bility, therefore, while the road is frill 
 kept open for merit to arrive at honours, 
 cannot but be beneficial. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. in 
 
 FRAGMENT XIV. 
 
 IN like manner as the Chinefe, practi- 
 cally condemn the fyftem of monopoliz- 
 ing fecular diftinction, fo they as tenaci- 
 oufly combat all attempts at clerical 
 ufurpations. No civilized nation, per- 
 haps, ever exhibited its priefts in fo con- 
 temptible a point of view ; the paflor is 
 of as little eftimation as the loweft of his 
 flock : whence this has proceeded, I will 
 not prefume to fay ; it is a fingular trait 
 in the character of this people. In other 
 countries, when the tattered garb, and the 
 fanctified deportment of the monk, have 
 been often found to conceal the moft 
 violent ambition, and the mofl unboun- 
 ded rapacity, ftrong meafures have been 
 taken againft the pretenlions of the clergy. 
 They have been debafed when they 
 
 would
 
 ii2 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 would have exalted themfelves ; but no- 
 thing of this kind has ever happened in 
 China. The priefthood from the begin- 
 ning hath been confidered as infignificant ; 
 and, what is very remarkable, the Tar- 
 tars, who hold the government, have 
 guardedly refrained from inftilling into 
 the Chinefe any of their own religious 
 prejudices, or regard for them. Few 
 offerings are made, and no tythes are 
 granted to the Bonzes. They are not 
 pampered as their neighbours, the La- 
 mas ; of fome of whom Mr. Ides reports, 
 that on a fmall hillock, on the borders 
 of China, and on an old birch tree that 
 grows there, the Lamas make the Mon- 
 golian and other Tartars hang either their 
 purfes, boots, breeches, or fhirts ; hover- 
 ing round the fpot, he fays, as vultures, 
 where the carrion lies. 
 
 The little confequence, indeed, in 
 which the Chinefe clergy are held, may 
 
 have
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES* 113 
 
 have operated in fome relpe&s to the ad- 
 vantage of the ftate. It has prevented 
 the influence of fuperflition (the de* 
 ftroyer of the peace of every country 
 into which it hath entered) from exciting 
 thofe difturbances which have uniformly 
 been obferved to erect a government of 
 defpotifm. The Chinefe tolerate every 
 fpecies of religion ; they make no man 
 act in oppofttion to his judgement : they 
 have a national form of worfhip, the 
 ceremonials of which being obferved, the 
 fcrutinizing eye of the church extends no 
 farther. 
 
 In this refped the Chinefe differ eflen- 
 tially, as we fhall more fully obferve 
 hereafter, from the Hindoos, from whom, 
 they fay, they have derived the principles 
 of their religion. Their diflent, howr 
 ever, is liberal, and they are therefore to 
 be applauded for it. 
 
 VOL. I. 1 The
 
 214 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 The religion eftablifhed in China, is 
 founded on the moral aphorifms of their 
 great philofopher, Confutfee, from whofe 
 writings (which he acknowledges to have 
 gathered from the Bramins) the Chinefe 
 are generally faid to have derived their 
 befl lights. The aera in which this ami- 
 able teacher of a truly mild doctrine ap- 
 peared, was five hundred years antece- 
 dent to the birth of our Saviour : love 
 and veneration have ever been ardently 
 and voluntarily paid to his memory ; his 
 precepts are fondly cherimed not only 
 in China, but in other parts ; they pre- 
 ferve his works as a moil invaluable trea- 
 fure. Honour and refped are not con- 
 fined to the defcendants of this great 
 man ; even the edifices which are dedi- 
 cated to him are approached with reve- 
 rence.* 
 
 From 
 
 * Thus was the memory of Pindar venerated by 
 the Greeks. Alexander the Great, when he attacked 
 
 th*
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. it$ 
 
 From the pure impulfe of virtue, and 
 of unbounded regard to his fellow-crea- 
 tures, Confutfee drew the eflence of his 
 doftrine ; he never affumed the charafter 
 of a prophet ; he never pretended to the 
 gift of infpiration ; he fupported his fyf- 
 tem by common reafon, and by common 
 means. "Reafon," faid he, " is an 
 " emanation of the Divinity ; the fu* 
 " preme law is nothing but the effeft of 
 *' nature and of reafon ; fuch religions 
 " as contradict thefe two guides of our 
 66 exiftence, proceed not from heaven." 
 
 The annals of the Chinefe, which go 
 a great way back, and with uncommon 
 regularity, evidently prove, that from the 
 earlieft period of time, they have believed 
 
 the city of Thebes, gave exprefs orders to his foldiers 
 to (pare the houfe and family of Pindar. The Lace- 
 demonians had manifefted a fimilar attention before ; 
 for during the ravages of Baeotia, and when they had 
 even burned the capital, thefe words were written, 
 by order, on the poet's door: Forbear to turn this 
 bouff, it was the dwelling of Pindar. 
 
 I 2 in
 
 ji6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 in the exigence of one all-powerful, om- 
 niprefent God. Idolatry, indeed, appa- 
 rently prevails among them : but what 
 religion has been at all times exempt 
 from idolatry ? Atheifm is faid to have 
 fpread itfelf through the greater part of 
 China : how far this may be true I know 
 not, nor how far the aflertion of travel- 
 lers may be credited, (but which they 
 have probably borrowed from Socrates) 
 that many of the Chinefe will in mock- 
 ery fay of heaven and hell, " Who, 
 ** pray, hath come from thence, and 
 " who can defcribe to us the fituation of 
 " thefe abodes ?" Thefe expreffions, pof- 
 fibly, may have proceeded from a Chi- 
 nefe, for a Chinefe may be fuppofed to 
 have reflected and reafoned as freely as a 
 philofopher of Athens ; but I do not be- 
 lieve that atheifm is prevalent in China ; 
 it is too dreary, too mortifying an idea 
 for a thinking people to adopt. Hear 
 what the celebrated Emperor Kamhi faid 
 
 to
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. n'y 
 
 to the Miffionary Fridelli, when, in the 
 beginning of this century, that reverend 
 father befeeched him to become Chriftian, 
 " Why fliould I become Chriftian ?" faid 
 he, " To the fame God that the Chriftians 
 " worfhip, do I and all my fubje&s pay our 
 " adoration. This is fufficient. A change 
 " of religion, in the fovereign of an em- 
 " pire like mine, might occafion diftur- 
 " bances ; and to prevent them is his 
 " fir ft and principal duty.'* This does 
 not imprefs us with the idea of an 
 unbelieving race. Some of the Jefuits, 
 however, have given them this character; 
 and as very few, except thofe of the 
 catholic perfuafion, have had proper 
 opportunities of detecting the mifrepre- 
 fentation, it is not aftonifhing that it has 
 adhered to the Chinefe in the manner it 
 has done, But what would not ven- 
 geance and indignation diclate to that 
 formidable fociety of Jefus ? Their ex- 
 puliion from China was held as an inex- 
 I 3 piable
 
 Ii8 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 piable crime in the Emperor Yontchin. 
 His words to the Miffionaries on the oo 
 cafion, and which we gather from their 
 own Lettres Edif antes, are worthy to be 
 recorded : " What would you fay," faid 
 he, " if I were to fend a number of 
 " Bonzes and Lamas into your country ; 
 " how would you receive them ? If you 
 " have found means to impofe upon my 
 " father, Kamhi, do not think I will 
 " fuffer you to deceive me in the fame 
 " manner. You would have my Chinefe 
 " embrace your religion; now I very 
 " well know that you will not permit 
 " any worfhip different from your own : 
 " what, then, muft become of me and 
 " my people ? I am fenfible that at pre- 
 *' fent we have nothing to fear ; but when 
 * c your veflels mail find their way hither 
 " by thoufands, times of trouble and dif- 
 <c traction may enfue." If this was not 
 .fufficient afperfion for an anathema, 
 evert an Ernulphus's curfe, the Jefuits 
 
 never
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 119 
 
 never had provocation given them in any 
 of their various perfections*. Suffice it 
 then, with refpect to the religion of the 
 Chinefe, that they believe in the unity of 
 God, though they worfhip him through 
 the medium of idols ; and that the renV 
 due of their creed confifts in a due obe- 
 dience to the laws of their country, and 
 a moft perfect and implicit refpecl and 
 veneration for thofe unto whom they are 
 indebted for their being. 
 
 * [ muft here once for all beg that I may not be 
 mifunderftood in the following pages : I mean no dif- 
 refpeft in any thing I may fay to that moft refpec~t- 
 able body the clergy ; no man feels more veneration 
 for them than I do. I know them to be greatly eflen- 
 tial in fociety ; and I feel them moft juftly entitled 
 (excluded as they are from all lucrative profeffions, 
 for the fake of the reft of mankind) to the comfort- 
 able conveniencies and enjoyments of life, and thofe 
 at the expence of the community, for whofe benefit 
 they forego the ufual means of providing them. I 
 level fimply at clerical chicane and ufurpation, and no 
 truly Chriftian divine will, I am fure, condemn me 
 for it. 
 
 I FRAG*
 
 no PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES* 
 
 FRAGMENT XV. 
 
 W E have already taken notice of the 
 provincial registers of the Chinefe ; be^ 
 fides which, they have another very ufe- 
 ful cuftom of inferring in the imperial 
 books, the date of the day and year in 
 which every male child is born. By this 
 precaution, the ftrength of the kingdom 
 can at all times be collectively and fepa- 
 rately underftood. It affords the means 
 likewife of the taxes being eafily ga- 
 thered in, and of levying them under 
 fuch equitable regulations, as that one 
 cliftricT: mail not be under the preflure 
 of a greater burden than the other. 
 The general tax is capitation ; from 
 the age of eighteen, a man is obli- 
 ged to pay a ftipulated quota of his pro-f 
 .perty ; mould he arrive to the age of 
 
 eighty
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. is* 
 
 eighty it then ceafes, and he, in his 
 turn, becomes a petitioner of the ftate. 
 Old age, they fay, fhould always be pro* 
 vided for : the fervices of younger days 
 are to be requited in a more advanced 
 ftate of life by kindnefles and comfort. 
 
 One great and original caufe of all that 
 reputation for wifdom and fagacity which 
 the Chinefe have acquired, may be juftly 
 afcribed to the uncommon attention which 
 is paid to education. Exclufive of a know- 
 ledge of the do&rities of Confutfee and 
 of the eftablimed principles of govern- 
 ment, they are reared with the ftrl&eft 
 regard to politenefs, and to the little 
 minutiae of attention and good manners ; 
 points of infinitely more importance than 
 is generally imagined. The grand part 
 of the Chinefe difcipline, however, af- 
 ter the qualifications ufeful to the citizen 
 are acquired, is in the ftudy and know- 
 ledge of their langua'ge ; this is attained 
 
 with
 
 izz PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 
 with infinite difficulty : it requires the 
 application of a man's life. The fitter 
 arts of poetry and mufic, indeed, do not 
 feem to have arrived at any degree of re- 
 finement in this country : the one, we 
 are told, is devoid of imagery and fire; 
 the other is certainly harfli and diflbnant, 
 devoid of melody, and of the fimplefl 
 modulation of found. 
 
 Though eflentially different from the 
 character either of the Greeks or Ro- 
 mans, the Chinefe are as fond of ath- 
 letic games as were thofe celebrated na- 
 tions. They do not, however, carry 
 their inclination for fuch fports to the 
 fame barbarous and bloody excefs : 
 wreftlers throw each other ; combatants 
 encounter with lances, cudgels, quarter 
 {laves, battle axes, &c. but they never are 
 permitted to murder each other for the 
 amufement of the fpe&ators. In plays 
 and pageants they have likewifc confider- 
 
 able
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. iaj 
 
 able diverfion ; in fhort, all exhibitions 
 in China appear as if purpofely calcu- 
 lated to dazzle the multitude, and to in- 
 fpire them with good humour and fatis- 
 faction both as to their fituation and 
 government. 
 
 When the lefs civilized Tartars eftab- 
 lifhed a dominion over this country, they 
 prefently perceived the fuperiority of 
 manners and cuftoms in their new fub- 
 jecls : this induced them to adopt, at 
 once, the whole fyftem of political and 
 domeftic regulation. Inftead of compel* 
 ling the Chinefe to tread in the fteps of 
 their conquerors, they wifely gave them 
 the lead, and were content to learn from 
 the Chinefe themfelves the way of pre- 
 ferving that power which effeminacy and 
 irrefolution, and not radical defects in 
 government, had compelled them to fur- 
 render. The only change the Tartars in- 
 troduced, was in filling the offices of 
 
 fate;
 
 j4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 ftate ; here they took efpecial care that 
 no Chinefe mould continue in employ 
 without a coadjutor. Leaving the Chi- 
 nefe, therefore, in the refpeclive depart- 
 ments they had filled, previous to the in- 
 vafion, they only checked them from 
 undue practices, by joining with them 
 Tartars, invefted with an equal degree of 
 authority ; this was not only liberal but 
 politic. The Chinefe, above all nations 
 of the Eaft, had been celebrated for ex- 
 traordinary caution in the choice of their 
 magiftrar.es : the ftudy required as a ne- 
 ceflary qualification for an employment 
 of ftate, was immenfe ; neither could any 
 man be admitted into an office who had not 
 previoufly undergone the moft fevere exa- 
 mination, and who had not in confequence 
 arrived at the dignity of one of the lite- 
 rati. The vaft extent of this country, the 
 amazing number of its inhabitants, and the 
 diftance of many of the provincial govern- 
 ments from the feat of empire, rendered, 
 
 indeed,
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. i*j 
 
 indeed, a careful feledion highly expedi- 
 ent and neceflary. 
 
 In China, the delegation of abfolute 
 authority is exceffive ; it runs from the 
 Emperor to the mofl iniignificant man* 
 darin, in a ftrong and copious flream. 
 The viceroys may be faid to be little 
 kings, iupreme and uncontrolable in 
 their governments ; and yet, notwith* 
 ftanding all this omnipotence of the Em- 
 peror and his fubftitutes, the Chinefe 
 have the certain indications of a contented 
 and fatisfied people. Even the inferior 
 orders are well fed and cloathed, and 
 boafl that they are, what I verily believe 
 them to be, the happiefl race on earth ; 
 it is obfervable in their temper and difpo- 
 fition. The general intercourfe of fociety 
 is kept up amongft them with the utmoft 
 politenefs : they are feldom out of tem- 
 per, and they are both feparately and col- 
 
 le&ively
 
 1*6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 lelively poffefled of great benevolence 
 and hofpitality. 
 
 This account, I am fenfible, is diffe- 
 rent from that which is handed down to 
 us by a certain clafs of travellers and 
 voyage writers ; but becaufe a few knave- 
 ries have been detected in the inoft confi- 
 derable fea-port town of China, and be- 
 caufe the exclufion of Grangers from the 
 courts of juflice has prevented the aggrieved 
 from acquiring that immediate redrefs to 
 which they were entitled, is it equitable 
 that the whole nation fhould be involved 
 in an indifcriminate condemnation ? Eu- 
 ropeans fhould look at home before they 
 fpeak deciiively : the firft trading town in 
 China is not the only one in the world 
 where rogueries are praclifed, not merely 
 on Grangers, but cooly and deliberately 
 by one citizen on the other. 
 
 The
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 117 
 
 The Millenaries, who from their 
 knowledge in fcience, and their holy cal- 
 ling, and the minifters of foreign courts 
 with their fuites, who have been admitted 
 freely into China, have reprefented the 
 Chinefe in exa&ly the fame light ill 
 which they have appeared to me ; but 
 that which mofl firmly riveted me in the 
 opinion, was the account which I re- 
 ceived from a native of Cafhmiere, who 
 in the garb and ftyle of an itinerant 
 merchant of China, had, for ten years, 
 uninterruptedly, been travelling from one 
 extremity of the empire to the other. 
 His voice was loud in their praife : he 
 had never been defrauded, he faid, of the 
 mofl inconfiderable fum. As to oppref- 
 fion, he had been a ftranger to it; where- 
 ever his fancy led him he went ; thieves 
 and affaffins, never infefted his way ; his 
 road he had always found a road of fafety ; 
 and the people, good humoured and oblig- 
 ing on every occafion, had given him 
 
 caufe
 
 ja$ PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES* 
 
 caufe to be thankful, that he had found a 
 refidence among them. The Chinefe have 
 unqueftionably been mifreprefented; at 
 the fame time, that they have poffibly been 
 too glaringly extolled : their true charac- 
 ter may lie between the two extremes. 
 
 From the firft arrival of Europeans iu 
 China, the government, with infinite 
 good fenfe, has prevented their entering 
 into the internal parts of the country, 
 and from forming colonies, which might 
 give room for apprehenfion. A few 
 iketches which had been given them of 
 the manners and cuftoms of the Portu- 
 guefe and Dutch, at a very early period, 
 made them fee the good policy of con- 
 fining trafficking {hangers to limited fac- 
 tories. Hindoftan, and the Malay (hores, 
 had prefented them with melancholy in- 
 {lances of what was to be expected, fhou!4 
 a free entrance be allowed to thofe feem- 
 i ingly
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 1*9 
 
 ingly harmlefs and inofFenfive merchants ; 
 they therefore fagely took the line of ex- 
 clufion : they ftill keep to it with rigor and 
 pertinacity ; nor will they deviate, unlefs 
 compelled or driven to it by neceffity. 
 
 Thus debarred from the view of what 
 is paffing in the provinces of China, it 
 is from report alone that we can form any 
 idea of their municipal regulations : fome 
 of them have already been tranfiently 
 adverted to ; one or two more are all that 
 remain to come within the fcope of our 
 inveftigation. From the great extent of 
 the dominion of China, the neceffity of 
 fure and fpeedy modes of circulating the 
 orders of government was very early 
 feen and provided for : poft houfes for 
 that purpofe, long before they were 
 known in Europe, were erected through- 
 out the empire ; but left the difpatch by 
 fuch communication mould be inadequate 
 
 VOL. L K to
 
 ?3 o PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIC 
 
 to the emergency, they fell upon ano- 
 ther method peculiar to themfelves, but 
 every way anfwerable to the purpofe. 
 This was the erection of lofty pagodas, 
 or places of worfhip, at the diftance of 
 every eight or ten miles ; from the tops 
 of which, by fires and other lights, the 
 alarm, or the neceffary orders on urgent 
 occafions, are fpread through every di- 
 vifion of the empire, and in a fpace of 
 time inconceivably fhort. 
 
 Their moft provident, and rnofl to be 
 admired regulation, however, and which 
 continues in force to this day, is the law 
 which ordained the annual flocking of 
 the public granaries : every diftrift is 
 obliged to build fo many of thofe grain 
 depofitories as are proportionate to its 
 number of inhabitants ; thefe are always- 
 kept full, left a fcarcity mould arife from 
 droughts, or any other accidental caufes. 
 
 If
 
 RHAPSODIES. ^ 
 
 If the harveft is plentiful, and the enfu- 
 ing crops promife abundance, or even a 
 fufficiency, the grain that is on hand 19 
 difpofed of at a moderate, but {rated, price, 
 and a new fupply is gathered in ; but if, 
 on the other hand, a bad feafon, or any 
 other unfavourable circumftance, give 
 reafon to apprehend that want may be 
 felt by the indigent, the government then 
 opens the gates of mercy to the poor, 
 and feeds them at its own expence. No 
 reflections are required on fo charitable a 
 practice ; it fpeaks for itfelf : I can only 
 wifh that fo falutary, fo humane a pre- 
 caution, to guard againfl the neceflities 
 of thofe who have not the means of be- 
 ing provident themfelves, were taken 
 in all countries, fubjeft to European au- 
 thority, where famine has too often fpread 
 her baneful and peflilential wings. Need 
 I fay, I look now to the Eaftern Indies ? 
 England mould there advert to the bene- 
 K * volent
 
 J3? PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 volent inftitutes of Ackbar, who feelingly 
 thought of, and provided againft the cala- 
 mities and miferies of the lower orders of 
 his people. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 133 
 
 FRAGMENT XVI. 
 
 .N Otwithftanding the parental care of 
 the Chinefe government, in eftablifhing 
 fuch falutary regulations for the well- 
 being of the poor, the miferies of want 
 are feverely felt in China, and that 
 not un frequently : whole diflri&s are 
 fometimes laid defolate by famine ; nay, 
 fo apprehenfive are thefe people of 
 a failure in their crops of rice, the 
 flaple grain of their country, that the 
 inhuman cuftom, it is faid, obtains in 
 feveral parts of expofing children. I 
 know not if this be true ; I can fcarcely 
 give credit to it. It is well known that 
 the Chinefe are, of all people, the fondefl 
 of their children ; why then are we to 
 fuppofe that a dread of future fcarcity 
 fliould fo far operate, as to make them 
 K 3 unna-
 
 I 3 4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 
 unnaturally defert their offspring, and 
 that too in the helplefs ftate of infancy, 
 when their utmoft Wants could drain no- 
 thing from the public ftock ? Charity 
 inclines us to hope that this ftigma on the 
 Chinefe character is wholly devoid of 
 truth : I never heard of it when among 
 them, and yet I was particular in my en- 
 quiries about it. 
 
 The calamity of famine, indeed, in 
 China is horrid beyond defcription. Mil- 
 lions are fwept away by it ; nor does it 
 fail in general to draw along with it its 
 fifter cUrfes, peftilence and plague. To 
 avert thefe fcourges of mankind, every 
 Ipecies of art and induftry is univerfally 
 exerted ; nothing is left undone that can 
 poffibly promife plenty in the provinces. 
 From the higheft to the loweft, the bufi- 
 nefs of cultivation is attended to ; all 
 are farmers ; all ar6 to exift by the plen- 
 teous harveft of the field. They even 
 
 pro-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 135 
 
 profufely bribe the images of their God, , 
 and by every kind of pageantry and pro- 
 ceffion, endeavour to awake in him a 
 confederation of the nature and extent of 
 their neceffities : every feafon is feen to 
 exhibit Ihews to this effect. 
 
 In forming a judgement of the Chinefe 
 
 difpofition, one might unwittingly be led 
 
 to think, that a circumftance of this 
 
 completion indicated fuperftition, and a 
 
 conliderable degree of influence in the 
 
 Chinefe clergy ; but the fact is, as we 
 
 have already inftanced, decidedly the re- 
 
 verfe. . The Chinefe have as little fuper- 
 
 ftition, and what is a neceffary confe- 
 
 quence, as Jittle reliance on their ghoflly 
 
 fathers, as any people on earth ; nothing of 
 
 this kind proceeds from the church. The 
 
 government alone is the propounder of all 
 
 heavenly fupplications ; and it is fo ordered, 
 
 that the neceffity and love of agriculture 
 
 may be conflantly kept alive in the minds 
 
 K 4 of
 
 136 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 of all, the firft officer of ftate as well as 
 the labourer and hufbandman. 
 
 How different the principle on which 
 this cuftom is grounded, to that of 
 many of the fenfelefs pageants here- 
 tofore fo prevalent in thofe European 
 countries, where the empire of China 
 was denominated the empire of idola- 
 ters. An infcription upon a church of 
 Imprunata in Italy, ran to this effecT: : 
 " The facred image of the Madona being 
 " carried with folemn pomp into Flo- 
 " rence, wlien it was vifited by a pefti- 
 " lence for three years fucceffively, and 
 " received with pious zeal by the Great 
 " Duke Ferdinand II. and the whole body 
 " of the people who came out to meet it, 
 " and having marched about the city for 
 " three days in proceflion, the fiercenefs 
 " of the peftilence began miraculoufly to 
 ** abate, and foon after entirely ceafed." 
 
 The
 
 FHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 157 
 
 The Chinefe, more wife than the 
 Italians, labour while they pray : their 
 ufual fupplications are for rain and favour- 
 able feafons ; while they are at the fame 
 time careful that fuperftitious idlenefs 
 /hall no way impede the important bufi- 
 nefs of agriculture *. Their acquaintance 
 with the effects of gunpowder, and with 
 the attractive qualities of the magnet, 
 
 * The Chinefe do not admit the influence of au- 
 thority to degrade their reafon : they tolerate ihews, 
 and the pageantry of religion ; and that, as well 
 from the good which they are fenfible refults from 
 them, as from their ufage, from time immemorial, 
 but no farther. The Chinefe, however addicted to 
 a tenacious veneration for old cuftoms, are yet a wile 
 people. They may be fuppofed (though I deny the 
 fa&J obftinately trammelled in the ways of their 
 forefathers ; and hence, it may be faid, the reafon 
 why the arts and fciences have arrived at fo incon- 
 fiderable a degree of improvement among them. 
 But I aver it, the Chinefe are an ingenious, and I 
 repeat it, a wife people ; and this can be proved from 
 their being acquainted with almoft every branch of 
 knowledge held in repute by other nations. For this 
 knowledge they are not, like Europeans, [indebted 
 to the ancients or to emulative rivalry ; they find it 
 among themfelves. 
 
 Jong
 
 138 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 long before either was underftood in Eu- 
 rope, is alfo a convincing argument of 
 their being an inquifitive and an invefti- 
 gating people. 
 
 The ufeful, I will allow, has been in 
 general the favourite fludy of the Chi- 
 nefe ; but the ornamental has not, in 
 confequence, been utterly neglected. 
 When we view them as ailronomers,. it 
 mutt be confeffed, they appear in an in- 
 different light: mere fatellites to thofe 
 glorious luminaries which have arifen in 
 the weftern world; but if they have made 
 no mighty progrefs in the fcience of the 
 heavenly bodies, they have the celebrated 
 names of Greece and of Rome to keep them 
 in countenance. If we confider them in. 
 regard to painting and fculpture, thofe 
 arts will appear with them (as with the 
 Indians and Egyptians) ftill in their in- 
 fancy ; neither do they exhibit any extra- 
 ordinary proficiency in the art military ; 
 
 this
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 139 
 
 this may arife from their want of ambition, 
 their domeftic and peaceable propenfities, 
 which render them happy in the pof- 
 feffion of what they find within them* 
 felves. In lieu of all thefe, however, 
 they can boaft of a perfection in eflen- 
 tials, equal, if not fuperior, to any which 
 are now to be met with, or which are to 
 be found even in the records of hiflory. 
 
 Provident and careful, the attention 
 of the Chinefe to the cultivation of their 
 land is, as we have already mentioned, 
 prodigious ; no contempt is thrown upon 
 the peafant or the hulbandman ; no dif- 
 cou raging fupremacy is arrogated by 
 the pampered, luxurious citizen, over the 
 honejl labourer of the field, who chear- 
 fully fmgs as he fcatters bleffings for the 
 human race. In a word, agriculture is 
 encouraged and honoured, as the firfl: 
 and moil natural occupation of man. 
 
 i But,
 
 I4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 But, from the fields, when the means 
 of fubfiftence are provided, turn but 
 your eyes to the crowded towns and 
 villages, which in fmiling comfort and 
 affluence cover the face of the em- 
 pire : look to the manufactures of thefe 
 towns ; obferve the ftupendous canals, 
 which, at an immenfe expence, have 
 been carried through the empire, for 
 the purpofe of internal trade ; mark the 
 patience and univerfal induftry which 
 pervades the general character : thefe are 
 the points of view in which the Chinefe 
 rnufl be taken. Let them be thus viewed, 
 and they will be found rightfully to 
 poflefs that eftimation, which will ever 
 infure the refpect and the trueft venera- 
 tion of unprejudiced men. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 145 
 
 FRAGMENT XVII. 
 
 I HAVE already faid,' but it may not be 
 amifs to repeat it, that parental affection, 
 a punctual difcharge of obligations to the 
 ftate, and an univerfal attention to agri- 
 culture, are fome of the moft finking 
 features in the Chinefe character. So ne- 
 ceflary, indeed, fb incumbent is it on 
 them to preferve this character, that the 
 Emperor, as father of his people, and 
 even his delegates in the provinces, con- 
 ftantly hold themfelves out as examples 
 to the inferior clafles of the community. 
 The Emperor annually exhibits, in the 
 more public ab of agriculture, an awful 
 ceremony ; where, to fliew that he is no- 
 thing more than man, mere man, who 
 muft be fed by induftry and labour, he 
 
 clears,
 
 , 4? PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 clears, breaks up the ground, and fows 
 the firft feed of the approaching harveft. 
 
 la ancient times, the facred plough employed 
 
 The Kings and awful fathers of mankind : 
 
 And fome, compar'd with whom, your infel-tribcs 
 
 Are but the beings of a fummer's day, 
 
 Have held the fcale of empire, rul'd the florm 
 
 Of mighty war; then, with unwearied hand, 
 
 Difdaining little delicacies, feiz'd 
 
 The plough, and greatly independent liv'd. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 ' 
 
 Thus, likewife, do we read of the Incas 
 of Peru ; though defcended from the fun, 
 they yet knew that the favour of their 
 God would exift no longer than while la- 
 bour and induftry gave them a claim to 
 his animating influence. The fpring, 
 therefore, mewed them to their fubje&s 
 in the ad of cultivating a field near 
 Cuzco: they denominated it, indeed, 
 their triumph over the earth; but the 
 wholefome example which it was meant 
 to fet, was only thus politically dignified 
 
 with
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 143 
 
 with an appellation which flrengthened 
 their pretenlions to a heavenly defcent. 
 P.'i;; "3i\-A\ (, r 'l i 
 
 In the more abftrufe and fpeculative 
 arts, we have already faid that the Chi- 
 nefe have, through a long fucceffion of 
 ages, fcarcely arrived at a moderate de- 
 gree of perfection ; neither in phyfic have 
 they made that proficiency, at which, 
 from a knowledge of anatomy, practi- 
 tioners in other countries have been en- 
 abled to arrive. Phyfic is in its infancy in 
 China; and it muft continue in that ftate, 
 until by a thorough enquiry into the 
 nature of the human frame, they may 
 be able to determine as to the proximate 
 caufes of diftempers. The theory and 
 practice of the medical art, therefore, is 
 confined to the fimplefl: prefcriptions*. 
 We are told by a traveller into this coun- 
 
 * The phyfictans of the Greeks and Romans acted 
 chiefly in the capacity of nurfes : they went very 
 little beyond aliment in their prefcriptions. 
 
 try,
 
 144 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 try, that a ftone which is generally ten 
 cubits high, is erected in a public fquare 
 in every city, and that on this ftone are 
 engraved the names of all forts of medi- 
 cines, and their exact prices. The truth 
 X)f this I will not pretend to affirm ; it 
 has fomething extravagant on the face of 
 it. Should it, however, be the cafe, it 
 furely had its rife in goodnefs, and is hu- 
 manely meant to aiifwer the moft fulu- 
 tary purpofes. 
 
 Iii reviewing the cuftoms of various 
 nations, I cannot help adverting to the 
 fanctiori which in every country is given to 
 empirics : a fanction of the moft pernicious 
 tendency, fince every ignorant or pretend- 
 ing coxcomb is thereby enabled to trifle 
 with the health, and even lives of our fellow 
 creatures. To cheat a man of his property 
 is felon/ in every civilized fociety ; and 
 fhall health, perhaps exiftence, be lefs 
 dear to mankind thaa tranfitory pro- 
 perty ?
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 145 
 
 perty r Let patents be fold ; let officers 
 of ftate be benefited by the fale ; but, in 
 merciful consideration to thofe who 
 know no better, let not pernicious noft- 
 rums be vended ; let not experiments be 
 tried upon the human race : the idea is 
 horrid ; it is repugnant to every fenti- 
 ment of humanity. Is mourning, and 
 all the wretched train of griefs, to be 
 carried into an helplefs family (for the 
 rich can always have the beft advice) 
 that a few advantages may be derived to 
 one, or to a particular fet of men ? And 
 is the royal licence to be (lamped on fuch 
 heart-rending calamities ? Why, why 
 will you not, ye rulers of kingdoms, 
 why will you not interpofe your au- 
 thority, and fave your people from de- 
 ftruttioii ! Why will you not rather grant 
 rewards for all difcoveries in the healing 
 art, and then promulgate them fcV the 
 benefit of mankind, than fuffer the fale 
 of drugs, the very compofuion of which 
 VOL. I. L is
 
 j 4 6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 1 
 
 is unknown! Phyficians of benevolence 
 and candour (and ye are many) I do not 
 here reflect upon the profeffion, or the 
 profeflbrs of your art ; I would ftrike 
 only at that evil which each of you would 
 banim, if in your power, from the com- 
 munities of which you hear a part. It 
 is a fcandal to the name of medicine ; it 
 is the principal caufe of that odium and 
 reproach with which you are indifcrimi- 
 nately and unjuftly loaded. 
 
 The phyfician in China prepares and 
 adminiflers his own medicines : this is a 
 wholefome cuftom ; it in general prevents 
 the impofition of old, decayed, and con- 
 fequently pernicious drugs. The man of 
 feeling, whofe credit is at flake, will, 
 while thus acting in a double capacity, 
 be careful that his patients are furnifhed 
 with what alone can be of fervice to 
 them. No clearings of mops ; no con- 
 nivances with apothecaries ; no admix- 
 tures
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 147 
 
 tures of ingredients, poffibly deprived of 
 their power of operation, or baneful from 
 their age, or other accidental caufes. 
 Here he will portion his means to his 
 ends ; and what is not unworthy of con- 
 fideration, here he will keep free of thofe 
 fatal miftakes which frequently occur 
 from the ignorance of men employed in 
 the preparation of medicines, and from 
 their deficiency in all profeffional infor- 
 mation. " Ye call them apothecaries," 
 fays Quevedo, " but inftead of that, I 
 " prithee call them armourers, and their 
 " mops arfenals. Are not their me- 
 " dicines as certain death as fwords or 
 " daggers, while their patients are purged 
 " and blooded into the other world, with- 
 " out any regard either to the difremper, 
 " meafure, or feafon." 
 
 La FRAG-
 
 I 4 8 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 
 
 FRAGMENT XVIII. 
 
 AGreeably to the computation of the 
 Jefuits, China mould contain about fixty 
 millions of inhabitans ; and conformably 
 to the belief of the Chinefe themfelves, 
 the foundation of their empire mould go 
 as far back into the reign of chaos and 
 old night as eighty or ninety thoufand 
 years : thus, you fee, there is a mighty 
 number to fupport a mighty age ; but 
 old as it may appear, I have yet an el- 
 der branch of the family to introduce 
 you to in proper feafon ; wherefore, out 
 of compliment to thofe who lay claim to 
 primogeniture, I mall refrain from any 
 chronological difcuffion for the prefent. 
 
 The ancient Chinefe, if accounts be 
 
 true, were averfe to foreign traffic: they 
 
 4 neither
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 149 
 
 neither traded themfelves, nor encouraged 
 Grangers to vifit their ports. What vaft 
 abundance, therefore, muft their country 
 have produced, to have fed and cloathed 
 fuch an immenfity of people ; nor at 
 this hour, when foreign commerce is to- 
 lerated in China, have this induftrious 
 people any real need of trade with any 
 other country. That which they purchafe 
 of imports, they purchafe merely from 
 curiofity, fuch as ingenious pieces of me- 
 chanifm, clocks, watches, trinkets, and 
 toys : viewed in this light, the Chinefe 
 ^re certainly the moft independent peo- 
 ple on earth. They want nothing but 
 what they find within themfelves ; but 
 where is another nation to be found 
 which is not neceflarily obliged to en 
 courage external, as well as internal 
 traffic ? And which, even then, is more 
 than upon an equality in eflentials, with 
 thefe highly- favoured Afiatics. The 
 filks, fatinsj teas, wares, in fhort, the 
 L 3 variety
 
 i$o PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 
 
 variety of materials which the Chinefe 
 markets fiirnim, are prodigious : they 
 formerly, too, afforded confide rable quan- 
 tities of gold; but the precious metals 
 are now getting into a degree of efUma- 
 tion, which renders their reflux fome- 
 what difficult. I make ufe of the word 
 reflux, as the greatefr, part of the gold 
 and filver which is in ufe in China, has 
 been poured into it from other coun- 
 tries. 
 
 Not but that fhe has mines of her 
 own ; but the fundamental laws of the 
 ftate, it is believed, are adverfe to the 
 working of them. The general circula- 
 tion of gold and filver, fay thefe ordinan- 
 ces, would unavoidably occafion diforder. 
 We have every thing that nature can de- 
 fire ; money could yield us neither far- 
 ther means of fubfiftence, nor even in- 
 creafe of happinefs : thofe who poflefs it 
 in greater!: profulion, exhibit the mofl 
 
 unequi-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 151 
 
 unequivocal proofs of diftrefs. We will 
 be content with the induftry which hath 
 hitherto been our never-failing wealth. 
 It will be time enough to open mines 
 when we can no longer do without 
 them. 
 
 Happy had it been for Spain, and 
 thrice happy for the wretched inhabitants 
 of the new world, had a like forbearance 
 operated in the councils of Madrid, a 
 century or two ago : avarice would not 
 then have fet fail with a mercilefs thirft 
 of riches ; nor would bigotry and bloody 
 fuperftition have followed the abhorred 
 partakers of her fpoil. 
 
 China, indeed, would have lefs to fear 
 than the poor inhabitants of Mexico or 
 Peru, were (he to produce the treafures 
 fhe poflefles; but {till me would have 
 reafon to apprehend the prodigioufly in- 
 creafing ftrength and confequence of cer- 
 L 4 tain
 
 *5* PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 tain envious nations, particularly Ruffia. 
 Nothing but a river forms the boundary 
 of the . two empires. While (he con- 
 tinues, therefore, the object of admira- 
 tion more than of rapacity, (he may, per- 
 haps, promife herfelf fafety : it will be 
 her own fault if the continuance of that 
 tranquillity and repofe, which (he has fo 
 long enjoyed, be at any time inter- 
 rupted. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT XIX, 
 
 r ROM a jealoufy of the growing 
 power of the Ruffians has arifen, it is 
 probable, the fuppreffion of the internal 
 traffic which was carried on from Mofcow 
 to Pekin: the precaution, as it refpects 
 the eventual interefts of the Chinefe, is 
 unqueftionably a good one ; but in fact it 
 is nothing more than a renewal of the 
 pre-eftablifhed maxim of their govern- 
 ment, of guardedly excluding all ftran- 
 gers from too free an entrance into their 
 country ; and yet they muft have admit- 
 ted, in former days, of a much greater 
 latitude to ftrangers. This is evident, 
 from the accounts handed down to us by 
 the Hindoos, the Mohammedans, the Ca- 
 tholic Chriftians and the Jews : Judaifm 
 
 even
 
 154 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 even at this day is to be found in 
 China. 
 
 The common opinion relative to the 
 introduction of the Jewifh fyftem of re- 
 ligion, and I mention it as a curious cir- 
 cumftance, is, that about 900 years after 
 the coming of our Saviour, a colony of 
 travelling Ifraelites hit upon the direct 
 road into this land of plenty, this fecond 
 land flowing with milk and honey ; and 
 as they always carried with them a difpo- 
 fition of manifesting their principles, 
 they loft no time in communicating to 
 the Chinefe the doftrine of Mofes ; in- 
 ftructing all who would embrace the 
 faith in a knowledge of the Hebrew lan- 
 guage, and iniciating them into the myf- 
 teries of the chofen of the land of Ifrael. 
 From this flock the cleft increafed, info- 
 much, that in feveral parts of the em- 
 pire the Jefuits found Judaifm to have 
 taken fuch root, that notwithftanding 
 
 perfe-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 1^5 
 
 perfection, there were frill remaining, 
 and not many years ago, thofe who could 
 read the original text of the Pentateuch, 
 and who could alfo expound it with con- 
 fiderable erudition. 
 
 ' 
 
 This account, I know, this Graying of 
 the flock, is combated by learned writers : 
 they fay that the journey into China muft 
 have happened at leaft three centuries be- 
 fore the Chriftian ajra; and they fupport 
 the affertion by affirming, that the Ten-ki 
 of the Chinefe are neither more nor lefs 
 than the ten generations which preceded 
 Noah. Nor do they flop here; they ftill 
 proceed to declare, that even admitting 
 the improbability of this their patriarchal 
 tour, the knowledge of the law of Mofes 
 muft have found its way into China long 
 before the period I have mentioned. The 
 Chaldeans, they fay, were acquainted 
 with them; and who more likely than the 
 Chaldeans to penetrate into China, and 
 
 with
 
 156 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 with them fome Jews who undertook to 
 promulgate the doctrine of Mofes ? Be this, 
 however, as it may, Grangers, as I have al- 
 ready faid, muft have had freer admiffion 
 into this country in former days than 
 they have at prefent. 
 
 In the rude (ketches which we have al- 
 ready given of the Chinefe, we have 
 glanced upon the few objects which we 
 have, found neceflary to bring within the 
 purpofe of our inquiry. The adminiftra- 
 tion of juftice, indeed, has efcaped us ; 
 a word or two on that head, therefore, 
 may be neceflary : the Chinefe, perhaps, 
 of all people in the world, are the leaft 
 fanguinary; their averfion to the fhed- 
 ding of blood is almoft incredible. Mur- 
 der, and acts of high treafon are alone 
 punimable with death; fo that it has 
 been computed, and it is imagined with 
 great exactitude, that ten criminals are 
 not executed one year with another in 
 
 China.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 157 
 
 China. What a merciful example to 
 mankind ! The whole globe cannot afford 
 us fuch another ; ten out of fifty or forty 
 millions ! One century alone in England, 
 and that too the fixteenth, faw feventy- 
 two thoufand miferable wretches brought 
 to condign punimment. 
 
 The courts of law in China, if we 
 are to believe their hiftorians, are moft 
 carefully watched over : the feats of juf- 
 tice are almoft always ably filled, from a 
 difrlnc"l order of Mandarines, who are of 
 the highefl dignity ; and the adminiftra- 
 tion of the true fpirit of coercive authority, 
 is no where more attended to. Bank- 
 rupts alone, I think, are treated with any 
 degree of feverity ; and that is only when 
 they endeavour to defraud their creditors 
 by concealing their effects : in every other 
 refpect they are gently dealt with. In 
 this country, a poor broken-hearted man 
 is never torn from his family and thrufl 
 
 into
 
 158 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 into prifon : the reverfe ; he is affifted ; 
 he is encouraged in every exertion that 
 can be fuppofed capable of improving his 
 fortunes. Would to heaven fo bright an 
 example were followed by the world in 
 general ! Debtors fliould furely, in moil 
 inftances, be looked upon with an eye of 
 indulgence. From what innumerable ac- 
 cidents, from what unexpected fluctua- 
 tions in the courfe of human events, 
 does infolvency often, and moil inno- 
 cently proceed : to bankruptcy, therefore, 
 we fhould not annex the idea of guilt; it is 
 too cruel that opprobrium and inhuman 
 treatment fhould be added to diflrefs. 
 
 Authority! unfeeling power, 
 
 Whofe iron heart can coldly doom 
 The debtor, drag'd from pleafure's bower, 
 
 To ficken in the dungeori's gloom ! 
 O might thy terror-finking call 
 Profufion's fons alone enthral! 
 But thou canft want with guilt confound, ' 
 Thy bonds the man of virtuous toil furround, L 
 Driven by malicious fate within thy dreary bound. * 
 
 HAYLEY. 
 
 The
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 159 
 
 The favourable impreffion which I 
 would wifh to give of the Chinefe jurif- 
 prudence, will, I am well convinced, be 
 confiderably weakened by the evidence of 
 many who have been in that country; 
 nor are they altogether wrong ; for ftran- 
 gers aggiieved, deprived of their pro- 
 perty, and denied the protection of the 
 law, no doubt have reafon to complain of 
 the ordinances of the country in ^hich 
 they fbjourn ; and particularly in China, 
 where honefty and fair dealing is moft 
 peculiarly expected. But the principal 
 grievance of the trader refident in China 
 is, the difficulty of getting a complaint 
 lodged before the magiftrate, or any of 
 the tribunals of juftice. Confined to the 
 fuburbs of the town, flrangers are denied 
 all accefs to the courts in perfon; nor 
 will the offer of any bribe or reward to even 
 the loweft citizen, induce him to prefent 
 a petition againfl his fellow countryman. 
 When we confider this, therefore, and 
 i when
 
 160 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 when we reflect that a ready control is 
 among all people eminently neceflary, we 
 fhall rather be furprifed at the good faith 
 which is generally found among the Chi- 
 nefe, than at the comparatively few frau- 
 dulent practices which are detected. The 
 Chinefe government, however, is aware 
 of the inconveniencies which eventually 
 may refult to Grangers, from this diffi- 
 culty of recurring, with eafe, to the 
 laws of the country ; and they have 
 guarded againft it in a manner the moft 
 fimple and efficacious. They licenfe a 
 certain number of merchants for the bufi- 
 nefs of traffic with foreigners ; their 
 names are made public, and for their 
 equitable conduct government itfelf be- 
 comes refponfible. By this means, com- 
 merce is carried on in general with a per- 
 fect reliance on, and confidence in, thofe 
 with whom fuch authority is placed ; 
 which confidence is very feldom abufed. 
 
 When
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 161 
 When Grangers, indeed, indifcrimi- 
 nately entrufl themfelves to men whom 
 they are previoufly warned againft, they 
 muft unavoidably fuffer. Fraud and im- 
 pofition will be experienced in every com- 
 mercial town : in a word, I have every 
 reafon to be ftrongly grounded in opinion, 
 that the laws and regulations of China 
 are both merciful and wife. The provin- 
 ces fhew that they are fo ; and the pro- 
 vinces, or rather the inhabitants of the 
 provinces, being the conftituent parts of 
 which the nation is compofed, from 
 them the judgement is to be formed, and 
 not from the interefled conduct of a large 
 town where a different principle pervades, 
 and where a different fpirit animates, the 
 body of the people. 
 
 VOL. I. M FRAG-
 
 i6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 
 
 FRAGMENT XX, 
 
 1 HE Chinefe, who are fingular and cha- 
 rafteriftic in every point of view in which 
 they can be taken, are moft peculiarly fo 
 in all domeftic regulations. The exceffive 
 veneration which they pay to their pa- 
 rents, does not ceafe when thofe parents 
 are no more : it is continued to their 
 memories while their children live. The 
 cuftom of burying, or burning, at the 
 proper feafon after death, which prevails 
 in other countries, is held in abomination 
 by the Chinefe. They do not bury their 
 dead until a full year after the deceafe ; 
 during this time the body is kept in a 
 coffin, ' carefully lacquered, that no air 
 may have entrance, and in that manner 
 is placed in the mofl elegant apartment 
 of the houfe, where it is folemnly com- 
 plimented
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 163 
 
 plimented every day. How they keep 
 the body from the effects of putrefaction, 
 is difficult to difcover ; they do not em- 
 balm, although the preparation they 
 make ufe of proves equally good, as a pre- 
 fervative* At the end of the year the 
 deceafed is removed with the utmoft de- 
 monftrations of grief and lamentation, 
 and lodged in a vault on the fide of fome 
 fanctified hill where it is regularly ho- 
 noured with an annual feftival : after 
 this, the mourning is continued in the 
 moft rigid manner for two years. 
 
 " That which - thou foweft is not 
 " quickened unlefs it die :" I pafled over 
 marriage, therefore, until the aged were 
 interred. I now come to the connubial 
 connection which fubfifts in China : poly- 
 gamy is allowed, and feclufion from the 
 fight of any other men except thofe of 
 their neareft kindred, is the lot of the 
 M 2 ladies ;
 
 164 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 ladies ; accident, however, fometimes 
 throws them into obfervation. 
 
 The general countenance of the Chi- 
 nefe, I think, is far from pleating ; the 
 flatnefs of the face, and the fmallnefs of 
 the eyes render it deficient in expreffion. 
 The pernicious practice of painting, and 
 that too of an inanimate white, which 
 univerfally rages among the females, is 
 alfo more than difagreeable to one who 
 is unfamionably content with nature in 
 her fimpleft charms ; but what I think 
 particularly difgufting, is the cruel and 
 illiberal cuftom of bindng the feet of 
 the women : this is a moft inhuman prac- 
 tice, and mult have had its origin in 
 mean and felfim jealoufy. At their 
 births, the tender limbs of thofe un- 
 happy creatures are fwathed from the toe 
 to almoft the knee, and thus comprefled 
 into the (ize in which they are always 
 meant to be continued ; the feet are put 
 
 either
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 165 
 
 either into iron or wooden (hoes, fo that 
 the foot of a full grown woman is no 
 larger than an infant's. 
 
 To compenfate in fome degree for 
 thefe natural and artificial imperfections, 
 the Chinefe ladies are attentive to and 
 elegant in their drefs : their hair, which 
 is univerfally black, is neatly braided, 
 and fancifully ornamented with artificial 
 flowers, pearls, &c. Unmarried women 
 comb the front part of their hair care- 
 lefsly over the forehead, fo that a fpinfter 
 is immediately diftinguimed from a ma- 
 tron ; fuch are the Chinefe females in ex- 
 ternals. Of their education and mental 
 qualifications I am not fufficiently infor- 
 med to fpeak. 
 
 In a preceding Fragment, we have 
 
 faid, that the Tartars, on their conquefiy 
 
 immediately adopted the manners and 
 
 cufloms of the Chinefe : the treatment of 
 
 M 3 the 

 
 j66 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 the ladies, however, was an exception 
 which we fhould have noticed. Freedom, 
 and a more generous way of thinking, 
 had taught the Tartars to look upon their 
 females in a more amiable, and a more 
 refpe&able light. They fpurned the idea 
 of an inhuman confinement, which 
 mould entail pain and a deprivation of 
 limbs on one half, and that the lovlieft 
 of the human fpecies. Cherifhing, there- 
 fore, the wife fyftem of their anceftors, 
 they continued to their wives and daugh- 
 ters the fame unfettered liberty which 
 they poflefled in their Scythian fields. 
 
 Having thus related all that I have 
 been able to gather, touching the gene- 
 ral charader of the Chinefe, I mail haf- 
 ten to a conclufion. It is a common, 
 and a very jufl remark, that no nation 
 is behindhand with another in felf-im- 
 portance and arrogant pretenfions; this is 
 peculiarly conlpicious in the Chinefe, 
 
 Un*
 
 THILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 167 
 
 Unqueftionably the dominion which they 
 poflefs is a fine one, perhaps the fineft in 
 the world : they are not, however, fatis- 
 fied with this, they will alfo be the 
 wifefr, the moft puhTant, and the moft 
 formidable ; but here they are miftaken. 
 They have fagacity, it is true ; but valour, 
 and all the hardy mafculine propenfities 
 of the foul they are ftrangers to. Indo- 
 lence and effeminacy are their moft ftrik- 
 ing features. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 i68 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT XXL 
 
 A SPANIARD once faid, " It was lucky 
 " that Satan, when he tempted our Savi- 
 " our in the wildernefs, forgot to fhew 
 " him Spain, as Jefus certainly could not 
 " have withftood that temptation.'* How 
 much more reafon would a Chinefe have 
 to make this boaft. The general opinion 
 which has prevailed among the learned 
 of Europe relative to China is, that it 
 was peopled from Egypt. Abfurd as 
 you may fuppofe this hypothecs, it yet 
 has been fupported with all the tenacity, 
 and with all the zeal of fyftem-working 
 genius. Animals, fifties, birds of every 
 denomination, are every where to be met 
 with; but man, poor man, is never to 
 be found indigenous. Strange that ability 
 (hould be exerted to eftablifh fuch extra- 
 4 vagant
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 169 
 
 vagant and arbitrary pofitions. Afk you 
 whence came the people of India ? The 
 anfwer is ready for you in a moment, 
 from Egypt. Whence came the people 
 of China? From Egypt. Whence thofe 
 of America ? Why from Egypt to be 
 fure. Do not fmile, Egypt is, ferioufly 
 fpeaking, the declared parent of almoil 
 all colonization. The ftep to America, 
 therefore, was nothing; it could not, in- 
 deed, be conveniently accounted for in a 
 direct line. Collateral branches, how- 
 ever, were not wanting, and thofe were 
 made ufe of. The Chinefe, the lineal 
 defcendants of a ftrong party from Egypt, 
 were placed in the front ground : from 
 them iflued multitudes who peopled the 
 innumerable iflands that lie fcattered 
 around their empire. From thefe again 
 fprang the inhabitants of Otaheite, the 
 Society Ifles, and others. Voyages, (hip- 
 wrecks, &c. ferved the purpofes on the 
 fouthern fhores of America, while the 
 
 northern
 
 170 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 northern extremity of Afia, peopled from 
 the lame fource, admitted of a defcent 
 (for the journey was nothing through 
 Siberia) of a formidable body into the 
 land, now poflefled by the Efquimaux. 
 In mort, Egypt has been dignified with 
 the appellation of the general nur- 
 fery of mankind, and China, the pro- 
 digious empire of China, is allowed to be 
 one of her firft-born. 
 
 As children, then, of this celebrated 
 people, it is not furprifing that in certain 
 matters their tafte mould be the fame, 
 and that they mould delight, as we 
 mall find their progenitors did, more in 
 the maffive and enormous, than in the 
 elegant and fuperb. The mofr. remark- 
 able infbnce of this tafte in the Chinefe, 
 is in the immenfe wall which runs from, 
 the bay of Nankin acrofs rivers, and 
 the tops of the higheil mountains, for 
 the diflance of 1400 miles, until it ends 
 
 in
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 171 
 
 311 inacceffible deferts. The learned fup- 
 pofe this wall to be the wall mentioned 
 by the ancients as the rampart of Gog 
 and Magog ; and Ezekiel is directed by 
 the Lord " to fet his face againft Gog, 
 " the land of Magog, the Chief Prieft 
 " of Mefheck and Tubal." This won- 
 drous monument of induftry, intended 
 originally (though it failed of its purpofe) 
 for keeping off the Tartars, is flill in 
 high prefervation. The height of it is 
 .determined by the nature of the ground ; 
 in fome parts, fuch as where it is con- 
 tinued over mountains, it is not more 
 than eighteen or twenty feet ; in others 
 thirty feet in breadth, and in the difpoii- 
 tion of the towers which are creeled on 
 it, it is generally uniform and regular, 
 twenty feet the breadth, and about a 
 quarter of a mile the fpace between the 
 buildings. The time employed in this 
 Amazing work, the mofl extraordinary of 
 
 which
 
 ijz PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 which we have any tradition, was fcarcely 
 fix years. 
 
 Betides this wall, we are told by the 
 Jefuits, of mountains cut with vaft la- 
 bour and expence, into the figures of ty- 
 gers, lions, dragons, &c. Father Martini, 
 efpecially, mentions a ftupendous hill 
 fhaped into a ftatue of fuch prodigious 
 fize, that its nofe and ears are to be dif- 
 covered at the diftance of feveral miles. 
 Here, then, we mall take our leave of 
 China and the Chinefe, juft obferving, 
 that their firft fubjection to the Tartar 
 arms by Zingis Cawn, was in the year 
 of Chrilt 1232, and of the higeira 630: 
 that an indifputed pofleffion of the throne 
 was kept by the fucceffors of Zingis 
 Cawn for about ninety years, when the 
 then fucceflbr was expelled from it by 
 the general fuffrage of the nation ; and 
 that they did not regain pofleffion until 
 the 1 644th year of our Chriflian asra. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 173 
 
 FRAGMENT XXII. 
 
 LEAVING China, we proceed to Ja- 
 pan : the empire of Japan, as far as a 
 knowledge of its hiftory has reached us, is 
 of high antiquity. From its infular fitua- 
 tion, and from its vicinity to China, one 
 would naturally fuppofe its firft inhabi- 
 tants might have come from thence; but 
 this is not admitted. Travellers who 
 have vifited Japan, at leaft fome of them, 
 are of opinion, that at the difperfion of 
 thofe under the weight of whofe pre- 
 fumption the land of Shenaar groaned, a 
 nimble tribe, more a&ive and more eu- 
 terprifing than the reft, forced a long 
 march to the confines of China, and 
 thence crofted to the iflands of Japan ; 
 iflands but little tempting to appearance, 
 and conftantly fubjecl: to volcanoes and 
 
 the
 
 *74 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 the moft tempeiluous ftorms. Here, 
 however, it is faid, a colony of the 
 builders of Babel came, and from them 
 arofe an empire of no inconsiderable im- 
 portance in the annals of the eaftem 
 world. 
 
 The government of Japan is veiled in 
 one perfon, fry led the Dairo, who is both 
 fovereign and chief prieft, and, as in all 
 other countries where the people are 
 greatly addicted to fuperftition, the 
 earthly and heavenly character affumed 
 by this royal pontiff, has acquired him 
 the moft unlimited obedience, and the 
 mofr. devoted attachment to his facred 
 perfon : fuch was formerly the fituation 
 of the DaTro. Whether it has lowered 
 in its confequence, I will not pretend to 
 fay ; writers go fo far as to affirm, it 
 was ufual to pay divine honours to the 
 Dai'ro even whilft living ; an adulation, 
 though not greater than that of the Ro- 
 mans.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 175 
 
 mans, in fome period of their ftory, yet 
 infinitely more extravagant than all the 
 nonfenfe of th,e Tartars with their Lama 
 and his immortality. 
 
 But even this, in the opinion of the 
 Japanefe, was inadequate to what was 
 due to their Dairo. It was not fufficient 
 that he mould have a heavenly rank ; the 
 perfection of his nature rendered it like- 
 wife indifpen fable that he mould be ex- 
 empted from the fufpicion of delighting in 
 earthly gratifications. Hence the Dai'ro, 
 for the prefervation of the mummery of 
 ftate, was compelled to relinquish almoft 
 every kind of recreation and amufement. 
 As a defcendant of the gods, his feet 
 were never to touch the ground : as their 
 immediate reprefentative, he could not 
 receive any obligation ; and of courfe, 
 though mivering, perhaps, with cold, 
 and when the chearing influence of the 
 fun would be moft agreeable, he was pre- 
 cluded
 
 176 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 eluded the benefit of a ray of that exhi- 
 larating luminary. 
 
 What the DaTro gave up in comfort, 
 however, (and much of what has been 
 faid of him you will readily believe fili- 
 tious) he gained in that flatulent fpecies 
 of praife which gratifies vanity. His 
 people worfhipped him ; the morning al- 
 ways faw him feated on his throne, 
 where, with eyes fixed and an immove- 
 able pofition of body, he continued for 
 hours together, mewing his fubjects, by 
 an emblem of fuch fublimity, that repofe 
 was alone procured to the ftate by the 
 ilillnefs of the fovereign of the world. 
 
 The extremes to which it is poffible to 
 feduce the mind of man is unaccount- 
 able ; nothing fo falfe, but what may be 
 impofed upon the credulous. It is not 
 our purpofe, or I could eafily reconcile 
 this fenfelefs farce of the Japanefe pontiff 
 
 with
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. t;; 
 
 with a thoufand equally ridiculous inftan- 
 ces, from the theological records of other 
 nations; but the time would be mif-fpent. 
 I (hall content myfelf, therefore, with 
 merely reminding you of the arrogance 
 of our own priefts in the younger days 
 of chriflianity. Not a volume of the 
 firfl fathers but teems with abfurdity and 
 holy prefumption ; none of them went 
 indeed fo far as to lay claim to immor- 
 tality, or to this character of the Dai'ro, 
 which was virtually no higher than that 
 of a heavenly automaton ; but all of 
 them previoufly infifted on unbounded 
 pre-eminence and infallible fupremacy. 
 " It is execrable that holy hands," fays 
 Urban, " appointed to perform what was 
 " never granted to any angel, to create 
 " God the creator, and offer him to God 
 " the Father for the falvation of man- 
 " kind, mould be reduced to the humi- 
 " Hating bafenefs of flavifhly mingling 
 " with profane hands, which, befides 
 VOL. I. N " being
 
 i ? 8 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 *' being foiled with rapine and blood-flied, 
 " are day and night employed in impure 
 " offices and obfcene contacts." 
 
 The Japanefe, however, ridiculous as 
 was the homage they paid to their Da'iro, 
 (for I do not aver that they continue the 
 practice {till) were yet influenced in a 
 great degree, to a difcharge of the moral 
 duties of fociety, by the principles which 
 it was eflablifhed that he fhould incul- 
 cate, and, by the hope and perfuafion, 
 which it was his duty to teach and 
 cherifh, of the immortality of the foul. 
 This was a prevailing doctrine among the 
 Japanefe ; it afforded them comfort ; 
 they contemplated it with ardor, and, 
 confequently, conformed themfelves to a 
 Uriel, obfervance of all arts of focial kind- 
 nefs, beneficence, and good will. 
 
 Sectaries, indeed, as in every religion 
 upon earth, fprung up among them ; and 
 
 they
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 179 
 
 they carried the phrenzy of enthufiafm to 
 the greateft excefs. The moft to be 
 pitied, however, of all who feceded from 
 the eftabliflied church, were thofe, who 
 fcorning the bleifings of life, and preach- 
 ing up aufterities and mortification, 
 blindly threw away what at the moment 
 they could have enjoyed, for the ideal 
 profpeft of a fomething in futurity, 
 which fancy, and fancy only could de- 
 piclure. Of this latter feel:, bearing 
 fome affinity with the Carthulian, were 
 their ftouteft warriors. An uniform con- 
 tempt of life, rendered them indifferent 
 to death. They held the extinction of 
 the vital fpark as a matter of no regret ; 
 they even, like the ftoics, prided them- 
 felves in anticipating the hand of fate. 
 
 It is not within the nature of my de- 
 
 fign that we mould always confine our- 
 
 felves to a fet mode of inquiry, or that 
 
 we mould always inveftigate or criticife 
 
 N 2, minutely.
 
 i8o PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 
 minutely. With the Japanefe, therefore, 
 I (hall be brief: the only judgement I 
 can form of them, is from the accounts 
 which have been publifhed, and which 
 are in every body's hands. Thefe make 
 them, in the eye of impartial reafon, an 
 intelligent, fagacious, generous, and hu- 
 mane people ; well acquainted with the 
 principles of liberty, and nouriming the 
 moft fond regard to it, from a conviction 
 of its value. Quick in their difpofition. 
 to revenge, but forbearing, liberal, and 
 candid, when not roufed by injury ; fen- 
 fible of the charms of fociety, and re- 
 fined in their manners, cuftoms, and 
 intercourfe with the world. Such was 
 the ftate in which Japan was found 
 when vifited firit by Europeans : what it 
 is now I will not pretend to fay. 
 
 The reigning family of Japan, it is 
 faid, afcended the throne about the year 
 of Chrift 660; for ages it continued in 
 
 tran-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. i8r 
 
 tranquility. Many convulfions, how- 
 ever, and civil wars, from the fourteenth 
 to the fixteenth century, are known to 
 have fhaken the empire. It was di- 
 covered by the Portuguefe in the year 
 1542, and it was then involved in all 
 the horrors of civil diffention. '-'' 
 
 N 3 FRAG-
 
 i8z PHILOSOPHICAL StHAP'jSODIESr 
 
 FRAGMENT XXIII. 
 
 THE'Portuguefe difcovered the iflands 
 of Japan, Misfortune firfl threw them 
 on thofe tempeftuous fhores ; but hofpi- 
 tality and kindnefs gave them a generous 
 and a permanent eftablimment. Ignorant 
 of the pretentious of the Portuguefe, and 
 uninformed of the property which thofe 
 voyagers claimed in every country of the 
 Eaft, the Japanefe harboured no fufpicion 
 of them. They allowed them to erect 
 factories ; their Miffionaries to make con- 
 verts ; and their commerce to fpread with 
 every fpecies of immunity. JLittle did 
 they know that they foftered a fnake in 
 their bofoms, which would one day re- 
 quite them with treachery and blood* 
 (hed. 
 
 Situated
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 183 
 
 Situated at the diftance of many thou- 
 fand leagues, and having the greateft part 
 of the habitable globe between them, it 
 never could have occurred to the Japa- 
 nefe, that a prieft of Rome fhould have 
 the folly or prefumption to think of dif- 
 pofing of a dominion unknown to the 
 people of the Weft; or that he fhould 
 fay to the fovereign of his own hemif- 
 phere, " I give the countries in the eaft- 
 " ern extremities of Afia to a prince of 
 " the Catholic houfe of Portugal." The 
 idea would have been too mad for the 
 verieft vifionary that every played with 
 the imagination ; and yet this folemn in- 
 veftiture, unknown to the miferable, de- 
 voted inhabitants themfelves, was made 
 by Alexander VI. in a bull which he 
 iffued anno. 1493. To Spain, in the 
 plenitude of his power, he granted the 
 fovereignty of the Weft, and to Portugal 
 the fovereignty of the Eaft. He even 
 authorifed them " with the aid of the 
 N 4 " divine
 
 184 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 " divine mercy'* to fubjugate, and bring 
 into the bofom of the holy Catholic com- 
 munion, the numerous people that dwelt 
 in thofe extenlive regions. 
 
 This arrogant exertion of clerical ufur- 
 pation, this palpable deviation from that 
 felf- denial and humility which was be- 
 queathed to all priefts by pur Saviour in 
 his teftament; this, I do not know what 
 to call it, this impudence in the head of 
 the Chriftian church, founded on a paf- 
 fage of the Septuagint, as cited by St. 
 Auftin, " To the faithful man belongs a 
 " whole world of riches ; to the infidel 
 " or unfaithful, not even a farthing," 
 was furely the moft extraordinary that 
 ever yet entered into the brain of man ; 
 it is fcarcely to be credited, but fo it was. 
 The Chrifrian world fubmitted to it, and 
 the favoured potentates poffefled them- 
 felves, by force or treachery, of this fa- 
 
 cred
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 18$ 
 
 cred gift ; a gift derived to them imme- 
 diately from God ! 
 
 The Japanefe, ignorant of this holy 
 donation of Alexander VI. with extended 
 arms, welcomed the unfortunate ftrang- 
 ers to their mores, and cherifhed them as 
 if they had been their brethren ; but this 
 felicity 'was not to be of long continu- 
 ance, it foon was to have a check. It is 
 not eflential that we mould enquire into 
 all the particulars of the Portuguefe 
 eflablimment in Japan, it is fufficient 
 that their abode was made both comfort- 
 able and advantageous to them; and that 
 they were increafing in affluence and con- 
 fequence when the Dutch, fmartjng with 
 the wounds inflicted on their countrymen 
 by the mercilefs hand of Alva, appeared 
 in the feas of Ada. 
 
 Wrought up to phrenfy at the unex- 
 piated blood of their fellow-citizens, 
 
 thirfting
 
 186 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 thirfting for revenge, and Simulated by 
 an intolerance almoft equal to that of their 
 perfecutors, the Dutch threw off all re- 
 ftraint of mercy with the Portuguefe, 
 the newly-become fubje&s of Philip II. 
 of Spain : every part of the Eaft became 
 witnefs of this fanguinary ftruggle*. 
 
 It is not fair, nor is it confident with 
 hiftoric truth, although it has been con- 
 fidently aflerted, that the perfecution of 
 the Catholics, which afterwards enfued 
 in Japan, mould be attributed to the in- 
 trigues and the mifreprefentations of the 
 Dutch. Much mifmanagement, every 
 one muft confefs, was evident on the 
 part of the Portuguefe. The moft glar- 
 ing, and probably the moft deftru&ive, 
 was the intemperate zeal of the fathers of 
 the church. 
 
 * Japan unfortunately exhibited it, in its moft aw- 
 ful colours. 
 
 To
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 187 
 
 To interfere with the interefts of priefts 
 can never be allowed with impunity ; the 
 Portuguefe Miffionaries mould have known 
 this, but inftead of temperance and humi- 
 lity, they manifefted dangerous difpofitious 
 towards intolerance and abfolute exaltation. 
 The Bonzes faw it and murmured, but the 
 Chriftian paftors frill continued to grafp ; 
 complaints, then became common. The 
 evil, however, {till gained ground : no- 
 thing was heard but reciprocal invective 
 and reproach. In fhort, from avidity on 
 the one iide, and apprehenfion on. the 
 other, the contefl was foon brought to 
 an iffue. Every one took his line ; no 
 man could be neuter. Sovereign and all 
 became involved. In a word, Japan 
 againft Japan, revenged the religious 
 quarrels of Europeans. 
 
 Religious difputes have never yet been 
 terminated without a dreadful effufiori of 
 blood ; this was the cafe in the prefent 
 
 inflance.
 
 i88 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 inftance. The Emperor, at firft indifFe- 
 rent and unfufpefting, allowed the diffe- 
 rences of opinion which iubnfted be- 
 tween the Portuguefe and his own fub- 
 jets, ftimulated by the Dutch, to take 
 their courfe. He refolded on caution and 
 forbearance; and as he tolerated every fort 
 of worfhip, fo he conceived it of impor- 
 tance to refrain from every fort of inter- 
 ference. Matters, however, could not 
 continue long in fuch a ntuation ; deci- 
 fion at length became neceflary. The 
 Emperor faw it, and reluftantly took up 
 arms againft the Portuguefe, whom he 
 conceived to be the aggreffors. 
 
 The iflue of the ftruggle fo unequally 
 matched, and fo peculiarly circumftanc- 
 ed, was moft tragical. Sixty thoufand 
 Chriftians perimed either in the field, or 
 by the hand of the executioner. No 
 follower of the facred ftandard of the 
 crofs remained to tell the ftory. The 
 
 whole
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 189 
 
 whole body of the Catholics was extir- 
 pated ; every veftige of chriftianity was 
 abolifhed ; and the re-introdudlion of it 
 prohibited under the moft dreadful penal- 
 ties. Thus did the day fet, whofe 
 dawn had been fo propitious to the chil- 
 dren of Portugal. 
 
 A contradiction of what I have now 
 faid, may, indeed, appear, in the inter- 
 courfe which is kept up with Japan by 
 the Dutch; but in fat there is no con- 
 tradiction, if the matter be properly con- 
 (idered. The Dutch know the execra- 
 tion in which the name of Chriftian has, 
 is, and always muft be held by the Ja- 
 penefe ; and as their views are turned 
 folely to commercial purpofes, and to the 
 acquifition of wealth, they do not allow 
 themfelves the privilege of excefles on 
 the fcorce of religion. They even go fo 
 far, it is alledged, as to deny the firft 
 principles of their faith ; and as a writer 
 
 of
 
 igo PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 of their own nation fays, if a Japanefe 
 alks a native of the United Provinces of 
 what belief he is, he readily replies, " I 
 ** am noChriftian; I am a Dutchman." 
 
 I have already faid, that the {hiking 
 features of the Japanefe character are 
 thofe of hofpitality and good humour. 
 This is evident from the accounts given 
 us by travellers of all nations ; the 
 Englim in particular, and they at one 
 time had an opportunity of ftudying 
 them. The Englim are warm in their 
 praife of the Japanefe. The only fault 
 they found while the Dutch permitted 
 them to refide at Japan, was in the uni- 
 form prohibition of the introduction of 
 ecclefiaftics ; but even in this they con- 
 fefs the Japanefe were not to be blamed. 
 However illiberal, they at nrfl conceived 
 the precaution ; they afterwards had rea- 
 fon to acknowledge them defenfible, if 
 not commendable, in fhutting their hof- 
 
 pitable
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 19! 
 
 pitable doors, when the opening of them 
 would, in their apprehenfion, he pro- 
 bably requited with a fecond entrance of 
 bloody zeal, and murderous infatuation. 
 
 No people under Heaven, if we except 
 South America, and I mean not to give 
 offence, have had fuch reafon to curfe 
 Chriftians and Chriftianity, as the Japa- 
 nefe. " Your King," faid the Emperor 
 to an Englimman who was fuing for per- 
 miffion to erect a factory for the purpofe 
 of traffic, " your King* has married the 
 " daughter of the King of Portugal, 
 " whofe fubjects have filled my dominion 
 " with horror and defolation. The fer- 
 " vants of your matter may be as cruel, 
 " perhaps, as thofe they are willing to 
 " fucceed. No trade, therefore, mall be 
 " carried on between you and the fub- 
 " jedts of Japan. Go, return to your 
 
 * Charles II. 
 
 country,
 
 192 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 " country, where, at a diftance, I can only 
 " hear of the name of Chriftian. That 
 *' which you may ftand in need of ihall be 
 " fupplied you. I wim you well. I would 
 " I could fay more ; but the blood which 
 " has been already fpilt fhews me how 
 " cautious I fhould be in admitting Chrif- 
 " tians into a land which will have caufe 
 " to execrate them fo long as Japan has a 
 *' fon to mourn." 
 
 Nothing farther occurs to me on the 
 fubjeft of Japan, excepting the mention 
 of its having been fubje&ed at different 
 periods to the dominion of China ; and 
 that it once, and nearly with fuccefs, at- 
 tempted, in return, to reduce the Chinefe 
 to a fimilar fituation. The peninfula of 
 Korea, was to afford the Japanefe an en- 
 trance into the Chinefe territories. The 
 fcheme, however, failed, from the An- 
 gular heroifm of a Korean nobleman, who 
 feeing inevitable ruin, fhould the Japanefe 
 
 fucceed,
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 193 
 
 fucceed, generoufly refolved upon facri- 
 ficing his own life to the liberties of his 
 country. The method he adopted was 
 that of poifon ; he firfl drank of it him- 
 felf, infufed in wine, and then prefented 
 it to the Japanefe Emperor, on whom 
 alone the fate of the expedition, he knew, 
 was to depend, and who had intruded him 
 with the fecret. The Emperor followed 
 the example of the Korean ; he drank the 
 poifon. The effects foon declared them- 
 felves ; both expired in the moil excruci- 
 ating agonies. 
 
 A treacherous deprivation of life, what- 
 ever good may refult from it, is furely 
 unmanly, and muft evermore be con- 
 demned. Many Machiavelian arguments, 
 it is true, are ufed in vindication of it. 
 Brutus has been held out ; Brutus has 
 been immortalized for tabbing his patron 
 and- his friend; but no arguments can 
 
 VOL. I. O fanftify
 
 194 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 fandtify an atrocious deed. Sophiftry 
 may, to fome, reconcile an act which in 
 itfelf may be effentially ungenerous and 
 bafe ; but an honefl mind will fhudder at 
 even patriotic aflaffi nation. There are, 
 however, degrees of palliation. The 
 conduct of the Korean may be entitled to 
 one of them. He certainly facrificed 
 himfelf ; and in fo doing, in great mea- 
 fure wiped off the flain which would 
 otherwife, in my mind, have {tamped his 
 name with indelible difgrace. To his 
 memory, therefore, we will allow all the 
 praife that is given to it by his grateful 
 countrymen. Annual feftivals are cele- 
 brated to his honour. Hymns are fung 
 to perpetuate his generous regard to the 
 liberties of his country. " Twine around 
 " his tomb, ye never-fading laurels ; ye 
 " nymphs and fwains of Korea, fcattcr the 
 " grave of this your hero with the fweeteft 
 ** flowrets of the fpring; and you, yc 
 
 " guardians
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 195 
 
 " guardians and prote&ors of your conn* 
 " try, refound forth his name, that his 
 " memory may live for ever :" thus iing 
 the youths and maidens of Korea. 
 
 O 2 FRAG-
 
 .196 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 F R A G M E N T XXIV. 
 
 W E have mentioned Tonquin as hav- 
 ing formerly made a part of the extenfive 
 dominion of China. It is now indepen- 
 dent, and has been fo for many centuries. 
 To the eaft it touches China ; to the weft 
 it is confined by the kingdom of the 
 Burmans ; to the north again by China, 
 and to the fouth by the Gulph of Cochin 
 China. The climate of Tonquin is, in 
 general, ferene and temperate. The 
 whole country is interfered with rivers, 
 the moft ineftimable bleffing in the 
 torrid zone. A conftant verdure covers 
 the face of the earth ; fo that SPRING, one 
 would fuppofe, had eftablifhed here her 
 feat of empire. 
 
 We
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 197 
 
 We have very little fatisfa&ory infor- 
 mation relative to Tonquin ; it lies out of 
 the general track of European navigators. 
 That which hath come to our know- 
 ledge, however, gives us reafon to con- 
 clude that the Tonquinefe are an honefr, 
 and a candid nation. The people are re- 
 prefented as induftrious; the foil as abun- 
 dantly fruitful ; and the form of govern- 
 ment fomewhat of the fame completion 
 with that of China. In one refpecl, in- 
 deed, the difpofition of the Tonquinefe 
 feems to differ from that of the natives of 
 China. The Tonquinefe are warlike ; 
 perfonal courage is held in high eftima- 
 tion with them. They are fond of arms; 
 and, they fay, they are fo, becaufe arms 
 enabled them to make off the yoke of 
 China, and glorioufly to preferve their 
 independence. 
 
 In almoft every country where the 
 
 military profeffion is, as neceffity fays it 
 
 O 3 fhould
 
 I 9 8 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 
 
 fhould be, the firft in rank and confidera* 
 tion, the foldiery are the peculiar care of 
 the ftate. Their pay is, or at leaft al- 
 ways fhould be, adequate to their wants; 
 and they fhould meet with thofe indul- 
 gencies, to which, from the dangers and 
 hazards they encounter, they are well en- 
 titled. But in Tonquin a very different 
 fyflem is feen to prevail; the profeffion 
 of a foldier, though highly honourable, 
 fcarcely affords him means for fubfiftence. 
 He is not allowed (although his country 
 fhould be in peace with all the world) to 
 defcend from the dignity of the military 
 character; neither is he permitted (though 
 not on duty) to engage in any kind of 
 traffic or employment by which he might 
 advance his fortune. This refinement of 
 the Tonquinefe is vain-glorious and un- 
 juft. Thofe who defend their country, 
 are certainly entitled to a proper fupport 
 from that country ; but mould that not 
 >e granted them, they at leafl fhould not
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 199 
 
 be prevented, when not interfering with 
 other more important duties, from ac- 
 quiring, by fome civil occupation, a mo- 
 derate provifion for themfelves and fami- 
 lies. Induftry mould never be difcoura- 
 ged. 
 
 The King, the nobles, and the people 
 of Tonquin, exhibit, at this day, a ftrik- 
 ing reprefentation of the ftate of fociety 
 in moft European countries a very few 
 ages ago, and of which there are fome re- 
 mains at this moment : I mean the pre- 
 valency, with all its inconveniencies, of 
 the feudal form of government. The 
 King, as firft in power and fituation, 
 rules, in general, with abfolute autho- 
 rity ; but the nobles control and coun- 
 teract him whenever they fee occa- 
 fion. They again, in their turn, are 
 kept in order by the fovereign power, 
 while the people, finking under the 
 double preflure, naturally fall into a flate 
 4 of
 
 200 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 of vaffalage, degrading and pernicious to 
 fociety : an ordinance of the kingdom 
 even eflabliming a three-months perfonal 
 fervitude to the Crown in all the inferior 
 fubjects of the realm, and a farther three 
 months to the nobles : fo that the mid- 
 dling fort of people, the moil: numerous 
 clafs of the community, have only fix 
 months of the year wherein they can call 
 themfelves^free and independent. 
 
 It would be ufelefs here to enter into 
 a difcuffion of this fyflem of government, 
 or of the many fimilar fyflems which are 
 to be met with in the annals of the vari- 
 ous nations of the earth. I cannot, how- 
 ever, refrain from remarking, that partial 
 flavery, fuch as prevails in Tonquin, bad 
 as it is, is certainly a proof of much more 
 civilization, than that of complete vaflal- 
 lage, which ran throughout all Europe, 
 and which was, in fome degree, unex- 
 ploded even among Britons fo late as the 
 
 reign
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 20 i 
 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth ; for the year 
 1574 produced an order from that Prin- 
 cefs for the manumiffion of certain of 
 her bondmen. 
 
 The Ruffians, even to this day, adhere 
 to perfonal and hereditary flavery. The 
 peafants of an eftate are fold with the 
 eftate itfelf, and are calculated in its 
 valuation as the heads of black or any 
 other cattle. What a degradation ! But, ' 
 alas, there are flill more horrid exhibi- 
 tions of veflallage to be met with among 
 the children of the weflern world ! Why 
 does Europe afford me the ready means 
 of giving examples of this nature ; ex- 
 amples which blur the face of charity 
 and benevolence ? Europe, the feat of 
 kindnefs, companion, and generality ! 
 
 But fo it is, Europe affords the means : 
 fhe prefents the mercilefs contracts called 
 affiento ; the inhuman channels whereby 
 
 avarice
 
 so* PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 avarice accumulates riches by the barter 
 of the race of man. I am aware of the 
 neceffity that is pleaded for this abomina- 
 ble traffic ; but how can I reflect on the 
 excruciating agony which we ourfelves 
 fhould feel on the lofs of a fon, daugh- 
 ter, friend, or brother, though even in 
 the ordinary courfe of nature ; and at the 
 fame time not be confcious that the chil-- 
 dren of Africa are born with as exquifite 
 a degree of fenfibility ? That the bitter- 
 nefs of anguim can rend their fouls 
 as much as it can ours ; and that inceflant 
 labour and perpetual ilavery cannot but 
 bend them to the earth with an excefs 
 of mifery, which muft cry aloud to 
 Heaven ! 
 
 The firft barbarous contract for this 
 galling fervitude of the human fpecies, 
 was made between France and Spain; 
 the former engaged to drag the unhappy 
 wretches from their native fhores ; the 
 
 latter
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 2O j 
 
 latter to receive them annually into South 
 America: thirty-eight thoufand males 
 and females, during the courfe of the 
 war which then raged in Europe ; and 
 forty-eight thoufand when peace mould 
 be re-eftablifhed. This contract was after- 
 wards transferred to the Englijh by a 
 formal treaty in the reign of Queen 
 Anne, the firft article of which ftipulated, 
 that in a certain number of years, one 
 hundred and forty-four thoufand fouls 
 mould be transported to America, to re- 
 place the natural inhabitants who had 
 met with deftru&ion at the hands of their 
 conquerors the Spaniards. 
 
 But flavery was not all; other evils 
 were entailed by this affiento, fuch as 
 unhealthinefs of climate, through which 
 thefe miferable creatures were to pafs ; 
 unwholefome food ; the working of mines 
 tp which they were deftined, where pef- 
 filential damps and vapours conftantly 
 
 prevailed ;
 
 jo4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 
 
 prevailed ; all thefe were the confequence 
 of the execution of the contract, fo that 
 in a word, the efHmate was made, that 
 not one in three furvived the heart-rend-* 
 ing afflictions of the year. What, what 
 fhall we fay to this ? Can the thought be 
 dwelt on, and the tear not ftart from the 
 eye of humanity ? O fhame, that no other 
 corner of the world can exhibit fpe&acles 
 fo unfeeling as the polifhed dominions of 
 Europe ! That Europeans mould fink fo 
 infinitely beneath what they ought to be ! 
 Europeans who boaft fo much of free- 
 dom and generofity ; fo much of the at- 
 tention which mould be paid to the laws 
 of nature ; to the laws which bind and 
 regulate communities and flates ! 
 
 FRAG-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 205 
 
 i:;' 
 
 ; -- 
 
 FRAGMENT XXV. 
 
 v-JUR.laft digreflion led us a little too 
 far ; we will now return to the people of 
 Tonquin. The deportment of the Ton- 
 quinefe is grave, model}, and polite. 
 They are humane and courteous. In 
 general they are followers of the 
 doctrine of Confutfee, whofe memory, 
 as we have already remarked, they hold 
 in the higheft veneration. The tranf- 
 migration of fouls is an eflential article 
 of their belief. Their whole fyftem of 
 religion, indeed, is confiderably refined, 
 and in fact much more inculcated 
 and better obferved than that of the 
 Chinefe ; and that may be one efficient 
 caufe why the Bonzes or priefls of Ton- 
 quin pofTefs a character more refpedtable 
 in itfelf, and more amply provided for, 
 
 than
 
 ao6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 than that of their brethren of China* Ta* 
 vernier fays, the offerings made to the gods 
 of Tonquin, through the medium of the 
 clergy, efpecially on the acceffion of a 
 monarch to the throne, are incredible ; 
 in one article alone, (that of animals) 
 he tells us of an hundred thoufand which 
 were given by a fovereign> in order that 
 his reign might be profperous* 
 
 This deviation from the frugal, though 
 prudent line, fo fr.ri&ly adhered to by the 
 Chinefe, (hews that fuperflition has al- 
 ready made fome progrefs in Tonquin. 
 The days of exorbitant riches and prof- 
 perity in the prieflhood, are always re- 
 marked to be the days of bigotry and in- 
 fatuation in the laity. Manfell, the 
 domeftic chaplain of your third Harry, 
 poflefled feven hundred livings at one 
 time ; and you know no period of time, 
 nor country, nor people, ever could ex- 
 hibit flronger fymptoms of diftempered 
 
 imagi-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 307 
 
 imaginations than you did at that aera, 
 about the middle of the thirteenth 
 century*. 
 
 * Tn England the clergy, increasing in wealth, 
 power, honour, and intereft, began foon to fet up for 
 themfelves ; and that which they obtained through 
 favour of the civil government, they claimed as their 
 inherent right, indefeafible, andjuredivino: founding 
 their exemption on the text of fcripture, "Touch not 
 " mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." 
 Hence the comprehenfive criterion was eftablimed, 
 that every one who could read (a mark of great learn- 
 ing in thofe days of ignorance and fuperftition) being 
 accounted a clerk or clericus, was admitted to the 
 privi/fgium clerical, or benefit of clergy. But this is no 
 longer the cafe. We may collect from it, however, as 
 the firfl law authorities expound, that though in fuch 
 times, that monfter in true policy, of a body of men 
 rending in the bowels of a ftate though independent 
 of its laws, may for a while fubfift ; yet when learn- 
 ing and rational religion have a little enlightened the 
 minds of men, fociety cannot any longer endure fo 
 grofs an abfurdity, an abfurdity which muft defiroy 
 its very fundamentals. For by the original contract: 
 of government, the price of protection by the united 
 force of individuals, is that of obedience to the united 
 will of the community. This united will is de- 
 clared in the laws of the land ; and that united force 
 is exerted in their due and univerfal execution. 
 
 The
 
 208 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 The difcipline of the Tonquiiiefe 
 youth, and the courfe of ftudies necef- 
 farily required for thofe who aim at 
 offices of fbte, are nearly the fame as 
 thofe among the Chinefe. Law and 
 Phyfic, with the abftrufer fciences, are 
 equally well cultivated, fo that they in 
 no refped yield the palm to their former 
 matters. 
 
 A plurality of wives is tolerated in 
 Tonquin, and that under harfher cir- 
 cumftances, with refpect to the women, 
 than even in China ; for the men 
 affume the privilege of repudiating their 
 wives whenever they are weary of them, 
 nor will they allow their wives to avail 
 themfelves of a iimilar prerogative. The 
 Tonquinefe, indeed, are not fingular in 
 this ungenerous treatment of women ; 
 the laws of Mofes exprefsly fpeak in fa- 
 vour of it. " When a man hath taken a 
 " wife, and married her, and it come to 
 
 " pafs
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 209 
 
 " pafs that fhe find no favour in his eyes, 
 " then let him write her a bill of di- 
 " vorcement, and give it in her hand, 
 " and fend her out of his houfe." Thus 
 we fee the chofen of the land of Ifrael 
 may be, if they are fo inclined, to the 
 full as hard-hearted and ungallant as the 
 Tonquinefe. 
 
 Exclufive of the unlimited number of 
 wives, admitted by the Tonquinefe cuf- 
 torn of polygamy, the mod unbounded li- 
 cenfe is likewife granted the men in their 
 promifcuous commerce with the fair fex ; 
 whence arife other fources of mifery. In 
 fhort, nothing can exceed the wretched- 
 nefs of the women of Tonquin. Subject 
 to all the tyranny and capricioufnefs of 
 mafters, not of hufbands ; doomed to 
 eternal confinement, folitude and pain ; 
 the objects of love one moment, of dif- 
 grace at another ; and compelled to filence 
 and refignation, at the infidelity of thofe 
 
 VOL. I. P whofe
 
 919 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 whofe affedions they alone fliould poffefs, 
 and yet they themfelves adjudged, if guilty 
 of a fimilar tranfgreiTion, to the moft 
 horrid and ignominious death ! 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. ait 
 
 FRAGMENT XXVI. 
 
 A HE Tonquinefe, who, like the peo- 
 ple of China, delight in mews, have yet 
 fome that are, perhaps, more rational 
 and more conducive to the welfare of fo- 
 ciety, than any that are to be met with 
 among that celebrated people. I fhall 
 content myfelf with mentioning one ; and 
 I feleft it, becaufe I do not recoiled it to 
 be parallelled by any other nation. It is 
 this : At the commencement of every 
 year, a folemn feftival is held, in a plain 
 adjacent to the capital of Tonquin, at 
 which the King and all the nobles of his 
 court attend. Scattered up and down 
 this plain are temporary altars, on which 
 are infcribed the names of the warriors 
 and other great characters to whofe me- 
 mories they are dedicated. For feveral 
 P 2 fuc-
 
 2i2 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES; 
 fucceffive days, thefe altars are adorned 
 with all the fplendor of religious pomp, 
 while conftant facrifices are pioufly of- 
 fered on them. The hour then comes 
 when the gratitude of the people mani- 
 fefts itfelf in awfully commemorating 
 the afts of their benefactors, their wif- 
 dom, and their labours. This ended, 
 the fovereign approaches the altars with 
 the utmoft humility and refpect. At 
 each he makes a ftand ; recounts the ac- 
 tions of the hero or the ftatefman who is 
 fuppofed to fleep beneath it ; from for- 
 mer deeds draws emulative conclufions ; 
 recommends their toils as examples wor- 
 thy of imitation; blefles their memo- 
 ries ; and then joins in prayer and fup- 
 plication to the gods who prefide over 
 merit, and who reward the exertions of 
 the patriot and the good citizen. 
 
 . 
 
 We now take our departure from 
 Tonquin, and flop for a moment in Co- 
 chin
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. ^13 
 
 chin-China, feparated from it by a river 
 that ferves as the boundary of the two 
 kingdoms. The reigning family of this 
 country, and indeed almoft all the nobles, 
 are defcendants of the Tonquinefe ; but 
 they did not eftablifh themfelves by con- 
 queil. During the times of civil diftractioii 
 in their own country, they fought an 
 afylum among the rude, but kind, abori- 
 gines of Cochin-China. The reception 
 they met with was hofpitable ; the Cochin- 
 Chinefe embraced them as beings of a 
 fuperior order; they gave them territory ; 
 they gave them power ; they gave them 
 every thing they flood in need of. In 
 fhort, in the courfe of a few years, they 
 allowed them fo firmly to rivet them- 
 felves both in flrength and confequence, 
 that they readily acquired an obedience 
 in the natives, and an approbation of fuch 
 form of government as they found it con- 
 venient to eftablifh. 
 
 P 3 Some-
 
 ,I 4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIEf. 
 
 Something like a natural equality took 
 place. The democratic, with a very few 
 checks, was determined on, as fiftiing, 
 hunting, and agriculture, were the fole 
 employments of the Cochin-Chinefe. A 
 confiderable degree of refinement, how- 
 ever, having been introduced by the Ton* 
 quinefe, a tafte for fociety gradually infi- 
 nuated itfelf into the breads of the rude, 
 but honeft, natives: hence fprang induftry 
 and every fpecies of improvement. Com- 
 merce even began to fiourim ; the neigh- 
 bouring nations encouraged it ; and the 
 Cochin-Chinefe, having the means in 
 profufion, foon came into the habit and 
 fpirit of commercial dealings. 
 
 If we are to believe the accounts of 
 travellers, the hofpitality and the fim- 
 plicity of this people fome years ago 
 were fcarcely to be parallelled. Nojea- 
 loufy of flrangers ; no apprehenfion of 
 evil defigns from thofe whom they were 
 
 happy
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 315 
 
 happy to receive and look upon as friends. 
 " He who comes among us, faid they, 
 " and generoufly confides in our good 
 " faith, is one whom we fhould love, 
 " arid for whom we fhould feel both gra- 
 " titude and refpeft." But this ftate, I 
 fear, this type of the golden age, is ra- 
 pid in its decline. Late navigators tell 
 us, that a Prince, no longer a common 
 father of his people, now reigns over the 
 Cochin-Chiniefe with all the fplendour of 
 an arbitrary potentate. The feeds of ty- 
 rannical government are univerfally fcat- 
 tered; and it is to be apprehended, from 
 all appearance, that the time is not 
 very diftant, when the chearful fun- 
 (hine of that happy liberty which they 
 have hitherto enjoyed, (hall be obfcured 
 for ever. 
 
 FRAG-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT XXVII. 
 
 Jr ROM Cochin-China, were it within 
 the limits of our enquiry, we fliould pro- 
 ceed to Cambodia, Siam, Pegu, and the 
 coafts of Aracan, and there dwell a little 
 on the laws, the cuftoms, and the reli- 
 gion of each people. But in fact the 
 manners and cuftoms of the inhabitants 
 of thefe very extenfive regions are fo very 
 little known, and the anarchy in which 
 their governments have invariably been 
 found, hath been fo effectually a bar to 
 investigation, that we fhall find ourfelves 
 under the hard neceflity of leaving 
 this blank to be filled up by fome future 
 writer on the fubject of the Eaft. For a 
 moment, however, we will place our- 
 felves, as it were, in the center of them 
 -all. The view will .be but tranfitory : 
 
 it
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 217 
 
 it will, however, enable us to fpeak of 
 their existence, and then we arc free to 
 continue our way. 
 
 The exaft geographical defcription of 
 thefe countries is very immaterial. It 
 may be fufficient to remark, that from 
 the borders of Cochin-China, they con- 
 tinue in a regular chain (the peninfula of 
 Melacca excepted) to the confines of Ben- 
 gal. They there meet the rocks and de- 
 ierts of Afiatic Tartary, and there they 
 terminate. 
 ' 
 
 Similar in features,, completion, and 
 difpofition, the natives of thefe king- 
 doms appear as one and the fame people ; 
 bold, uncivilized, and treacherous; maf- 
 ters of a foil in the utmoft degree fruit- 
 ful, yet yielding little, from indolence and 
 inattention ; intrepid fons of rapine, and 
 flaves to every kind of tyranny and fuper- 
 ftition. In fhort, from what 1 have 
 
 either
 
 ii8 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 cither feen, heard, or read of thefe peo- 
 ple, they are utterly unworthy of notice ; 
 and yet how dreadful that it fhould be 
 fo! No country in the world is more 
 favourably fituated, or more abundantly 
 capable of yielding every thing for the 
 tife and conveniency of man. Na- 
 ture there pours forth her treafures in 
 almoft wanton profufion. Thus circum* 
 itanced, with a population, however, com- 
 paratively inconfiderable, the major parts 
 of thefe beautiful mores are left unculti- 
 vafed and wafte. That which mould be. 
 the refidence of men, is permitted to 
 continue the lurking place of the moft 
 noxious reptiles. Nay, not even Africk 
 fcerfelf can produce more deftru&ive 
 
 animals of every fpecies, and of every 
 
 
 
 denomination. 
 
 With this imperfeft glance at the 
 coafts of Aracan, &c. I ihould, perhaps, 
 conclude the fubjel ^ but I find mylelf 
 
 imex-
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 219 
 
 unexpectedly flopped by the recollection 
 of a circumftance which the mention of 
 thefe countries hath often brought under 
 our difcuffion ; a circumftance far beyond 
 the reach of reafon ; far beyond the com* 
 prehenfion of the deepeft, the moft en- 
 lightened refearchers into the arcana of 
 nature. I mean that rank in the ani- 
 mated fyftem of the world, in which we 
 can place the Ouran-Outang, or man of 
 the woods, whofe fpecies is fo common 
 throughout this divifion of the Eaft. I 
 do not know how to explain to you the 
 nature or the difpofition of this creature ; 
 both the one and the other amaze me. 
 I cannot difcriminate his propenfities, 
 though I am greatly defirous of doing fo, 
 however humiliating the knowledge might 
 turn out,1 and however declarative it 
 might be found of the individual imbe* 
 cllity of man. 
 
 The
 
 iao PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 The defcription of the Ouran-Outang, 
 as given us by an able anatomift, is to 
 this effeft : the Ouran-Outang, as well 
 as all animals of the monkey clafs, are 
 furnifhed with hands inftead of paws ; 
 their ears, eyes, eye-lids, lips, and breafts, 
 are like thofe of mankind ; their internal 
 conformation alfo bears fome diftant like- 
 nefs, and they difcover fome faint efforts 
 at intellectual fagacity. The Ouran- 
 Outang, indeed, of all others, approaches 
 neareft to the human race; it has been feen 
 from three to feven feet high ; it is covered 
 with hair rather of the human than of 
 the brute kind. The tongue, and all the 
 organs of the voice are the fame, and yet 
 it wants fpeech ; the brain is formed in 
 the fame manner, and yet it wants rea- 
 fon. It is patient, . pliant, imitative, and 
 melancholy, as if confcious of a fallen 
 fiat* 
 
 Such
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 221 
 
 Such is the Ouran-Outang, as it ap- 
 pears on examination. St. Jerom, indeed, 
 differs fomewhat in the account he gives 
 of the man of the woods. " St. An- 
 " thony," fays he, " a hermit, once 
 " travelling through the deferts of Egypt, 
 " efpied a Satyr approaching towards him, 
 " or a little man, with goats feet, a 
 " crocked nofe, and a forehead armed 
 " with horns, and being aiked by St. 
 " Anthony what he was, gave this an- 
 " fwer: I am a mortal, and one of thofe 
 " inhabitants of the defert whom the 
 " deluded Gentiles worfhip, under the 
 " names of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi, 
 " and am now deputed as ambaflador to 
 *' beg your prayers and interceffions for 
 " us." Now, whether, with St. Jerom, 
 (but St. Jerom, I believe, was no naturaliil) 
 we may credit the ftory of this holy an- 
 chorite, or whether it be more confonant 
 to found fenfe, to concur in the received 
 opinion, that all men of the woods are 
 
 animals
 
 * 2 2 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 animals of a diftincl: fpecies, I will not 
 pretend to fay. I have already declared 
 myfelf unequal to the decifion. 
 
 That invifible chain which links all 
 animated nature ; that infcrutable deftiny 
 which forms, combines, and exifts per- 
 haps in mafles, the moft inert to our 
 perceptions; that all-feeing Providence 
 which watches over all, that, and that 
 alone, can difcern where one fpecies ends, 
 and where another is to begin. When in 
 the fearch of knowledge, man obferves 
 the clafs of zoophytes or vegetable nature, 
 that thefe infects have life, motion, and 
 yet can be propagated by difleftion : 
 when he fees the amphibious tribes of 
 animals, the cetaceous clafs of rimes, fuch 
 as the whale, who with the internal con- 
 formation of a quadruped, has warm red 
 blood which circulates; parts of genera- 
 tion fimilar to thofe of a terrene animal, 
 and lung's which compel it to emerge for 
 
 the
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. aij 
 
 the freedom of refpiration. When maa 
 fees this, and when he likewife can dif- 
 cover that even plants have a circulation 
 of juices, through veffels as nicely and 
 carefully difpofed, as thofe of many of 
 the ftationary objects which are claffed as 
 animate ; and that when deprived of the 
 active principle of nature, a free and li- 
 beral fupply of air, thefe very plants 
 ficken, droop, and perim, as we fhould 
 ourfelves in a fimilar (ituation : when 
 thefe, with a vaft variety of other fuch 
 phcenomena, are daily open to our con- 
 templation, where are we to flop, or on 
 what are we to determine ? 
 
 Human curiofity, indeed, is great ; but 
 human curiofity never can be fatisfied. 
 We would know all things, and yet how 
 ignorant are we of even the commoneft 
 properties of nature ! The caufes which 
 impel one body to al upon another, 
 which fix on the mind thofe impremons 
 
 from
 
 ?i PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 from the external appearance of things, 
 which we call thought, and which ulti- 
 mately producing will, excites corporeal 
 motion : of thefe we are entirely igno- 
 rant. How becoming, therefore, would 
 it be to drop the pride of arrogant af- 
 fumption, and hypothetical fingularity ! 
 The little knowledge we have mould 
 teach us to be modefl. 
 
 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT XXVIII. 
 
 IN a former fragment, I {lightly touched 
 upon the feveral general diftinctions of 
 the human fpecies. I then aflerted, 
 that the fcale was in fome degree defec- 
 tive ; and I am warranted in fuch afler- 
 tion, from the accounts which have been 
 given us of fome late difcoveries. It is ex- 
 traordinary, and not very flattering to hu- 
 man pride, that the chain may be fanci- 
 fully traced, from man in his perfect 
 ftate, to man in a fallen fituation, fuch 
 as that of the Ouran-Outang may be 
 imagined to be, and which we have juft 
 mentioned. I fay fancifully traced, for I 
 would not wifh to be underftood as be- 
 lieving, that monkies and men are of the 
 fame fpecies. The gradation, Jiowever, 
 is curious ; we run them clofe, and clofer 
 indeed than many a fine gentleman 
 VOL. I. Q^, would
 
 22 6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 would wifh, if a fine gentleman could 
 prevail upon himfelf to reafon on fo 
 frightful a fubjecl:. 
 
 It is not an eafy matter to determine, 
 on that people who approach neareft to 
 the chattering generation. Mallicollo, 
 Tanna, and New Caledonia in the South 
 Seas, afford, I believe, the moft ftriking 
 proofs of an affinity. In thefe countries, 
 we are told, the natives are extraordi- 
 narily hairy all over their body, the back 
 not excepted : their ikulls likewife, we 
 are informed, are of a fingular conforma- 
 tion ; the forehead from the beginning of 
 the nofe, together with the reft of the 
 head, being much deprefled and inclining 
 backward: in fhort, that the appear- 
 ance of the whole frame, the very look 
 and countenance, are apifh, and ftrongly 
 expreffive of a family refemblance, 
 
 Theie
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 227 
 
 Thefe, indeed, are not the only people 
 who may be thought akin to the monkey 
 tribe; they are fufficient, however, for 
 our prefent purpole, efpecially as in their 
 configuration, they have as determinate 
 traits of relationfhip as the Quojas Mor- 
 ros of Africa, of whom we have the fol- 
 lowing defcription : one of thefe animals 
 was formerly brought over from Congo 
 to Holland, and prefented to Frederick 
 Henry, then Prince of Orange. It was 
 about as tall as a child three years old, 
 moderately corpulent, but fquare built, 
 and well proportioned ; the fore part of 
 the body without hair, and all the back 
 part covered with hair of a black colour. 
 At firft fight, its face refembled that of 
 a man, but its nofe was flat and fnubbed; 
 its ears were like thofe of the human 
 fpecies ; its breafts, for it was a female, 
 were full, its navel was indented, its 
 ihoulders well hung, its hands divided 
 into fingers and thumbs, and the calves 
 
 of
 
 a2 8 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 of its legs and its heels plump and flefhy. 
 She walked erect, and could raife and 
 carry burdens not over heavy. 
 
 But the animals of all others the 
 moft extraordinary, are the Albinoes of 
 Africa; and the diminutive race that was 
 difcovered by the Spaniards under Vafco 
 Nugnez de Balboa on the Ifthmus of 
 Darien. The accounts of them, as col- 
 lected from travellers and naturalifts, are 
 thus given by two very elegant and very 
 profound hiftorians : the Albinoes, accor- 
 ding to M. de Voltaire, are a very incon- 
 fiderable nation who inhabit the interior 
 parts of Africa. " The\r weaknefs," 
 lays he, " does not allow them to make 
 " excuriions far from the caverns which 
 " they inhabit. The negroes, neverthe- 
 " lefs, catch fome of them at times, 
 " and thefe we purchafe as curiofi- 
 " ties. I have feen two of them; a 
 " thoufand Europeans have feen fome. 
 
 " To
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 229 
 
 " To fay that they are dwarf negroes, 
 " whofe (kin has been blanched by a 
 " kind of leprofy, is like faying, that the 
 " blacks themfelves are whites blackened 
 " by the leprofy. An Albinoe no more 
 " refembles a Guinea negroe, than he 
 " does an Englifhman or a Spaniard. 
 " Their whitenefs is not like ours, it 
 " does not appear like flefh, it has no 
 " mixture of white and brown, it is the 
 " colour of linen or rather of bleached 
 " wax ; their hair and eye-brows are like 
 " the finefl and fofteft filk ; their eyes 
 " have no fort of fimilitude with thofe 
 " of other men, but are very like part- 
 " ridges' eyes. Their (hape refembles 
 " that of the Laplanders ; but their 
 " head that of no other nation what- 
 " ever, as their hair, eyes, and ears, 
 " are all different; and they feem to have 
 " nothing that belongs to man but the 
 " ftature of their bodies, with the fa- 
 
 *' culty
 
 230 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 " culty of fpeaking and thinking, but in 
 " a degree very different from ours.'* 
 
 This defcription of the Albinoes, from 
 the animated pen of Voltaire, we will 
 follow with that of the diminitive race in 
 Darien, as given us by Dr. Robertfon in 
 his Hiftory of the Southern Continent of 
 America : " Lionel Wafer," fays this 
 elegant writer, " a traveller poflefled of 
 " more curiofity and intelligence than 
 " we fhould have expelled in an affociate 
 " of buccaneers. This man difcovered 
 " in the Iflhmus of Darien, a fmall, but 
 " fingular, race of people : they are of 
 " low flature, according to his defcrip- 
 " tion, of a feeble make, and incapable 
 " of enduring fatigue ; their colour is a 
 " dead milk white, not refembling that 
 " of a fair people among Europeans, but 
 ** without any tincture of a blufh or 
 " fanguine complection. Their fkin is 
 c< covered with a fine hairy down of a 
 
 " chalky
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 231 
 
 <s chalky white ; the hair of their head, 
 " their eye-brows, and eye-lames; are 
 " of the fame hue ; their eyes of a fin- 
 " gular form, fo that they can hardly 
 " bear the light of the fun, but they 
 " fee clearly by moon-light, and are 
 " moil active and gay in the night. No 
 " race fimilar to this has been difcovered 
 ** in any other part of America. Cor- 
 66 tes, indeed, found fome people exactly 
 " refembling the white people of Darien, 
 " among the rare and monftrous animals 
 " which Montezuma had collected." 
 
 In laying thus before you a minute de- 
 fcription of each of thefe extraordinary 
 people, if we may call them people, i 
 have meant nothing more than merely to 
 fhew you, in palpable inftances, and thofe 
 from different countries, " that there is 
 " more in this world than is dreamt of 
 *' in our philofophy ;" and that it is im- 
 
 poffible
 
 ^32 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 poffible arbitrarily to decide where the 
 one fpecies terminates, and wnere the 
 other commences : all is infcrutable to 
 the ignorant and imperfect perceptions of 
 man. 
 
 There are authors, indeed, of great 
 ability, and Voltaire you may perceive is 
 one, who, without the fmallefr, hefita- 
 tion, admit both the Albinoes and Da- 
 riens to be of the human race ; and that 
 even the Ouran-Outang is of the fame 
 family, though in a greater degree of 
 degeneration. But thefe politions are 
 warmly combated ; orthodox writers ad- 
 mit not of fuch unhallowed doctrine : 
 nothing is allowed by them that will not 
 tend to eflablifh the diftincl: pre-eminence 
 and dignity of our nature. 
 
 That there is an extraordinary fimili- 
 tude of parts between the focial being 
 
 and
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 233 
 
 and the man of the woods, is m oft cer- 
 tain. The great difference is in the fup- 
 pofed ftupidity of the latter, and its un- 
 acquaintance with the powers of fpeech ; 
 but I know not, I confefs, how far this 
 manner of reafoning will hold good. 
 Speech may or may not be natural to 
 ma,n ; this, however, is clear, fpeech is 
 acquired by imitation. May it not be 
 conjectured, therefore, in the true fpirit 
 of Pyrrhonifm, that from the efforts of 
 fociety, and from the wonderful capacity 
 of the mind for receiving knowledge and 
 improvement, that man has exalted him- 
 felf far above what he was originally 
 from nature ; and that his fuporiority 
 over the other branches of the doubtful 
 fpecies, is folely the refult of culture 
 and experience ? I am fure a conjecture 
 of this nature, and I cry your mercy, 
 gentlemen, for faying it, is much more 
 rational than that of Des Cartes, who 
 
 {tiles
 
 <5 4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 
 
 {tiles the whole clafs of animals which 
 approximate fo cloiely to the human, 
 nothing better than Automatons ; nothing 
 more than machines. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 235 
 
 FRAGMENT XXIX. 
 
 Jr ROM the unpleafing train of thought 
 into which the laft effay may have 
 thrown you, I now gladly folicit your at- 
 tention to a fubject of eafier comprehen- 
 fion : the contemplation of a numerous 
 people, a people whofe country hath been 
 indifferently explored, but whofe manners 
 have been depreciated with prejudice and ill 
 humour ; m a word, they have not been 
 obferved with that candour which every 
 nation is entitled to. A great body mould 
 always be ftudied with the kindeft allow- 
 ance ; for the variety of character to be 
 met with in it, the tempers, the difpofi- 
 tions, the habits of millions, are not to 
 be underftood from the condud or the 
 extravagancies of a few. 
 
 The
 
 * 3 6 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 The country of Malayo extends over 
 the greatefl part of the peninfula which 
 goes under that designation : it is fingu- 
 larly beautiful, clad in an eternal fpring, 
 and though fituated under, and immedi- 
 ately in the neighbourhood of the equa- 
 tor, is yet fo regularly blefled with 
 morning and evening mowers, " that 
 " the little hills rejoice on every fide, 
 " and the vallies mout for joy." Exclu- 
 five of this considerable dominion on the 
 continent, the Malays alfo poflefs the 
 greateft number of thofe iflands that are 
 fcattered over the eaftern feas of Afia. 
 
 The religion of the Malays is in com- 
 mon Mohammedan ; it crept in among 
 them ihortly after the firft difciples of 
 the Koran had eftablifhed themfelves in 
 India. With the faith of the Moham- 
 medans, however, the Malays did not 
 imbibe the principles of their govern- 
 ment ; they flill adhered to their eftab- 
 
 liflied
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 237 
 
 limed fyftem, the feudal tenure; and that 
 tenure is, to this day, the prevailing form 
 of legiflature among them. They im- 
 prove, indeed, on what was once the cuf- 
 tom of Europeans ; they admit of no 
 villanage or perfonal flavery. 
 
 The ufual epithet beftowed upon the 
 Malays (though very unjuftly) is that of 
 favage ; they rather appear to me a civi- 
 lized people. Their houfes, it is true, 
 are built in general with cane and rattan ; 
 and it is likewife true, that they are nei- 
 ther fumptuous nor gaudy in their drefs 
 or appearance ; but this feems to me no- 
 thing more than the confequence of a 
 fine climate, and of an univerfal inclina- 
 tion to poflefs the comforts and the con- 
 veniencies of life with as much fimpli- 
 city, and with as little trouble as poffible. 
 But there are not wanting inftances of 
 feveral well-built towns, and of coniidera- 
 ble iymptoms of refinement among them. 
 
 The
 
 238 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 The city of Achin ftill fhews that it was 
 a place of fome importance long before 
 Europeans had difcovered a paflage to the 
 Eaft. 
 
 The fureft means of acquiring im- 
 provement in the great bufmefs of fociety 
 is, we are told, by commerce ; this is an 
 undoubted fact. Admitted, therefore, in 
 its ordinary extent, the Malays have had 
 every opportunity of reaping that fort of 
 knowledge which, it is fuppofed, can 
 alone foften and humanize the mind. 
 With the Hindoos and the Chinefe, the 
 oldeft civilized nations with which we are 
 acquainted, they have had a trade from 
 the earlieft periods of time ; and why 
 fhould they not be allowed to have pro- 
 fited themfelves of thefe opportunities ? 
 To aflert that they have not, is to aflert 
 arbitrarily, and without proof. But that 
 which to my mind fets their improve- 
 ment beyond the poffibility of doubt is, 
 
 that
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 839 
 
 that in all commercial tranfaclions, a fcru- 
 pulous honefty is found to be their ruling 
 principle ; and they are unfufpicious in the 
 higheft degree. From the foreign mer- 
 chant, whom they never faw before, 
 they will purchafe fuch commodities as 
 they want, on the bare credit of his word; 
 and though unacquainted with the fcien- 
 tific law of nations, and fo fituated as to 
 be debarred all hope of reparation mould 
 fraud be praclifed on them, they yet, in 
 the excefs of good faith, are never appre- 
 heniive of any finifter defign ; nor can 
 they admit the idea that they themfelves 
 are to be fufpected. 
 
 This fair character, I know, will be 
 denied the Malays ; I am lorry for it ; but 
 I am free to fay, I think they are entit- 
 led to it. Proofs, in repeated inftances, 
 have come within my own knowledge, 
 of the reliance they have on the honour 
 of Grangers ; and the univerfal depen- 
 r dence
 
 3 4 o PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES: 
 
 dence which is placed on their honefty in 
 the purchafe of thofe bags of gold duft 
 which they annually fend from their 
 coafts, and which are never either in- 
 fepected or affayed, is evidence fufficient 
 that they are to be trufted. In fact, in 
 this very valuable article in which the 
 people of Hindoftari deal considerably, I 
 never heard of any unfair practice. The 
 intrinfic value of the duft is always 
 found fuch as it is declared to be. 
 
 While we are on this fubject, it may 
 not be out of - the way to remark, 
 that the greateft quantity of gold duft 
 imported into India, is from Achin, 
 above mentioned, fituated on the north- 
 weft extremity of the ifland of Sumatra. 
 This place has long attracted the atten- 
 tion of the curious; but whether it be 
 the Ophir of Solomon, as is contended, 
 is difficult to determine: " and they came 
 " to Ophir and fetched from thence, 
 
 " gold,
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 241 
 
 " gold, four hundred and twenty talents, 
 " and brought it to King Solomon." The 
 name of a mountain immediately in fight 
 of the harbour of Achin, and down 
 \vhofe fides the chief part of the gold 
 that is colle&ed, is warned, is moft cer- 
 tainly Ophir, at leaft the natives call it 
 fo; but whether they learnt the word 
 Ophir from the Tyrians or the Euro- 
 peans, who refided formerly among them, 
 or whether it be the proper name of the 
 mountain, I will not take upon me to de- 
 termine. It is fufficient, I think, for us 
 to know, in fupport of its being the 
 fcripture Ophir, that the voyage might 
 have been made by Solomon's mips. 
 
 During one part of the year, the fouth 
 weft winds blow invariably down the 
 Arabian Gulph ; and during the other, 
 the north eaft winds prevail. With the 
 firft of thefe, therefore, the royal (hips 
 or prows, or whatever they were, had it 
 
 VOL. I. R in
 
 242 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES, 
 in their power, with eafe, to reach Achni 
 in two or three months ; and with the 
 latter, to return in as inconfiderable a 
 fpace of time. Camoens, one of the firft 
 Portuguefe navigators to the Eaft, feems 
 ftrongly to favour this opinion in his beau- 
 tiful poem of the I^ufiad, and as his au- 
 thor! ty cannot be confidered as- an indif- 
 ferent one, I have a pleafure in ad- 
 ducing it. 
 
 " To this fair ifle, the golden Cherfonefe, 
 
 " Some deem the Sapient monarch, plow'd the feas, 
 
 " Ophir its Tyrian name." 
 
 LUSIA. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES 243 
 
 FRAGMENT XXX. 
 
 IN the interior parts of fome of the 
 principal Malay iflands, a (ingular people, 
 I am told, have been difcovered, who are 
 different in figure, language, and cuf- 
 toms, not only from the Malays them- 
 felves, but from every other nation 
 of the Eaft. Thefe are probably the 
 Aborigines ; a future day may poffibly 
 bring to light fomething fatisfalory on 
 this fubjeft, at prefent, from want of in- 
 formation, I am neceflarily obliged to 
 confine myfelf to the inhabitants of the 
 coafts. 
 
 The language of the Malays is wonder- 
 fully harmonious, abounding in the fofteft 
 and moft liquid founds; the Italian, per- 
 haps, is not fuperior to it. Tavernier 
 R 2 fays
 
 244 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 fays it was diffufed, in his time, through- 
 out the whole peninfula of Malay, even 
 to the dominions of the Grand Mogul ;, 
 and that it was ftudied for its beauty and 
 copioufnefs, infinitely more than Greek 
 and Latin by Europeans in the weftem 
 hemifphere. It is extraordinary, how- 
 ever, that this fine language, and one fo- 
 greatly admired, ihould be without an 
 arbitrary character for its exprefFion. 
 The chara&ers uied by the Malays, in 
 writing, are chiefly Arabic, and the 
 mode in which they write is exactly the 
 fame, from right to left. 
 
 It is a known and a jufl obfervation, 
 that a people in a flate of freedom and in- 
 , dependency, are peculiarly addicted to 
 poetic compofitions ; and the reafon is 
 evident, paffion, fentiment, and fine feel- 
 ings, are the growth of liberty, and all 
 thefe have naturally the power of pro- 
 ducing the moil forcible expreflioas, and 
 
 the
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 245 
 
 the moft lively imagery. The warrior 
 and the lover feldom fpeak but in ani- 
 mated and well-meafured numbers. 
 
 But poetry without mufic, when the 
 ear alone is to be relied on, can never 
 have the certainty of not being forgotten; 
 rude attempts, therefore, have always 
 been made in the infancy of poetry, to 
 draw in the affiftance of harmony and 
 mufic. In the flate of freedom and inde- 
 pendency, therefore, in which I have re- 
 prefented the Malays, and pofTefled of a 
 language the child of harmony itfelf, it 
 cannot be doubted but that both their 
 metre and mufic are pleafing and full of 
 fire. The fact is, they are fo ; no Euro- 
 pean people have a greater variety of 
 {trains, almoft all of them pleafing, than 
 the Malays. Scientifically, indeed, they 
 do not underftand the principles of mu- 
 fic ; but from the delicacy of their ear, 
 and their aptitude at learning thefe prin- 
 R 3 ciples
 
 246 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 ciples when they leave their own country, 
 they fhew, demonftratively, that they 
 have made a confiderable progrefs in the 
 knowledge of the natural, though wild 
 and irregular, properties of ibund. 
 
 The Malays are in common of an infe- 
 rior fize to Europeans, as indeed are all 
 the inhabitants of the torrid zone. 
 They are of a reddifh yellow colour, with 
 a profufion of long ilrait hair, which 
 they in general cut for the conveniency 
 of wearing on the crown of the head a 
 fmall Arabic cap. The women are in 
 fize proportioned to the men ; they braid 
 their hair in pretty fancied forms. In the 
 more confiderable towns, both women 
 and men not only drefs with decency, 
 but many of them with tafte and ele- 
 gance. Taken altogether, however, their 
 appearance is not very agreeable to an Eu- 
 ropean, efpecially that of the lower fort of 
 
 womerj,
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 247 
 
 women, who diftend their ears to a 
 frightful fize by means of elaftic reeds, 
 which conftantly keep enlarging the ori- 
 fice of the ear into which they are at firft 
 put, until it almoft touches the fhoulder : 
 an outre vanity, it muft be confefled; but 
 vanity is not confined it is the produce 
 of every foil ; and is only outre as the 
 circumftances which gave it rife are un- 
 known, or rife in contradiction to what 
 is deemed right by local and prejudiced 
 impreflion. 
 
 An immoderate love of play is evi- 
 dently a finking feature in the character 
 of this people ; nay, to fuch exceffes do 
 they carry it, that like the Germans, as 
 we are told by Tacitus, they venture 
 their liberties, and every thing that is 
 dear to them, on the caft of a die. " He 
 " that lofes, voluntarily becomes the flave 
 " of the winner." Firfl goes the pro- 
 R 4 perty;
 
 248 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 perty ; next the wife and children, and 
 laftly the wretch himfelf. 
 
 It is not incurious to reflect on this 
 difpofition for gaming ; nor is it unwor- 
 thy of attention to obferve, how ftrongly 
 the fame propenfity operates among all 
 men : with the Malay or the American, 
 for inftance, in his native woods ; and 
 with the European furrounded with lux- 
 ury and refinement. Indolence and want 
 of employment, are manifestly the caufes 
 which firft impel the mind to leek gratifi- 
 cation in this inordinate, this ruinous 
 paffion. Could a man force himfelf to 
 induftrious applications, the fpirit of play 
 would foon evaporate ; but fome, as 
 among Europeans, are placed above the 
 neceffity of labour; and others, as among 
 the Malays and Americans, defpife it. 
 Hence univerfally arifes that ennui 9 
 that liftleflhefs, that indifference to every 
 purfuit but that of chance, when the 
 
 mind
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 249 
 
 mind agitated, and every generous feeling 
 of the foul abforbed, the man at length 
 becomes totally involved in all the mazes 
 of uncertainty, in all the heart-rending 
 diftra&ions of apprehenfion. 
 
 The Malays, though fomewhat fero- 
 cious in their look, are yet, as I have 
 already faid, courteous and affable to 
 ftra.gers; and whatever may be faid to 
 the contrary, they affu redly are con- 
 fiderably more advanced in the principles 
 of civilization, than were the inhabitants 
 of moft parts of your now charming Eu- 
 rope a very few centuries ago. That 
 we read of their frantic extravagance at 
 Batavia and other places belonging to the 
 Dutch, is certain ; but to which fide are 
 we to attribute the caufes of thofe horrid 
 lengths to which they have been feen to 
 carry their refentment ? Are they to be 
 'coked for \n the original texture of his 
 
 foul,
 
 350 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 foul, that the Malay, reduced to madnefs 
 and defpair, with his hair difhevelled, his 
 body anointed with oil, and a poignard 
 in each hand, mall fly at a friend or 
 foe indifcriminately ; murder attending 
 every blow, while he, as a common enemy 
 to mankind, is purfued, mot at, and cut, 
 till he is ultimately deftroyed ? Or is it 
 to be accounted for, in the haughty fu- 
 premacy aflumed, and rigoroufly, nay 
 barbaroufly exercifed, by a cruel tafk- 
 mafter, over a free and independent be- 
 ing, breathing his own native air, and 
 treading on the foil heretofore the pro- 
 perty of his fathers ? 
 
 Humanity would here wifh that the 
 obloquy could fall on the people the lead 
 connected with us; but the voice of truth 
 is too loud to be fupprefTed. The mad- 
 nefs of the Malays, the madnefs, I mean, 
 which is premeditately raifed by opium, 
 is generally well known to be the refult 
 
 of
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 251 
 
 of injury and harfh ufage : they are 
 driven to madnefs, and they deal round 
 deftru&ion without mercy. ' 
 
 *' If you prick us do we not bleed ? If you tickle us 
 
 ** do we not laugh ? And if you wrong us, (hall we not 
 " revenge ? If we are like you in the reft, we will re- 
 " femble you in that. What you teach us we will exe- 
 " cute j and it lhall go a hard but we will better the in- 
 " flrudion." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 FRAGMENT
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 FRAGMENT XXXI. 
 
 I CANNOT conclude the fubjea of the 
 Malays, without taking notice of a late 
 discovery made among the inhabitants of 
 the interior parts of certain of the iflands 
 of Malayo, namely, that of their de- 
 vouring fuch prifoners as fall into their 
 hands in war; a cuftom framed with 
 the deepeft tinge of barbarifm and inhu- 
 manity, and which for the honour of 
 man, I hoped, had been exploded in 
 every country where the fmalleil traces of 
 civilization could be difcerned. But the 
 fad, I am afraid, is beyond the pombilify 
 of doubt ; it comes to us with too 
 many marks of authenticity to be difbe- 
 lieved. 
 
 The Malays, in this inftance of favage 
 ferocity, in a great degree defcend from 
 
 that
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. *$j 
 
 that character which I am defirous you 
 mould think they really poffefs ; but, 
 incompatible as fuch ferocity may appear 
 with refinement, there yet have been 
 other nations, probably, as much im- 
 proved in the principles of fociety as the 
 Malays, who have been found to devour 
 fuch unhappy perfons as have fallen to 
 them in captivity. The cuftom, we 
 know, was univerfal in the Mexican do- 
 minion, when firfl difcovered by the 
 Spaniards ; nor is it difficult to trace it 
 likewife to the no lefs civilized Peruvians, 
 
 Barbarous, however, as this practice 
 mutt indifputably be held, it ftill is nearly- 
 parallelled by an infinitely more cele- 
 brated people than either the Americans 
 or the Malays ; a people whom we are 
 taught to look upon as gods. The Romans 
 allowed of torture, and even of death, to be 
 inflicted on prifoners taken in war. They 
 did not, indeed, like the Iroquois, fay to 
 
 each
 
 S 5 4 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES,' 
 
 each other, " Come, let us go, and eat 
 " fuch and fuch nations/' The principle, 
 however, was to the full as bad. In cold 
 blood to deftroy a brave, an honourable 
 chara&er, for nobly fighting for his 
 country, was not, in the fmallefl degree, 
 lefs atrocious, than the devouring him 
 in revenge ; for revenge muft be confi- 
 dered as the firft, and the ruling paffion 
 of the cannibal. 
 
 It will not be found to redound at all 
 to the credit of human nature, when the 
 univerfality of this practice comes to be 
 looked into. Scarcely any country in 
 the world but has had its sera of man- 
 eating. The old world had tradition of 
 various nations addidled to the ufe of hu- 
 man fleih ; the new, in which we are all 
 included, has afforded repeated inftances 
 of the like depravity. America, almofl 
 from one end of its vafl continent to 
 
 the
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 255 
 
 the other, and all the various iflands 
 which have lately been difcovered in the 
 fouthern hemifphere. 
 
 Man, neither from inflmft, nor from 
 the paffion of hunger, could ever have 
 been driven, while herding with his fel- 
 low creatures, to the neceffity of eating 
 human flefh. The extremity of want, iu 
 certain cafes, hath indeed reduced fbme 
 unhappy fufFerers to the dreadful alterna- 
 tive of either doing fo or ftarving ; but 
 the inftances have been few, and diftrac- 
 tion or madnefs hath generally preceded 
 fuch bloody acts. The accounts, there- 
 fore, that we have both in ancient and 
 modern writers of whole nations who 
 have taken human flefh as their common, 
 as their general food, cannot but be ex- 
 aggerated ; travellers have been miftaken. 
 They have branded thofe with the un- 
 qualified name of Anthropophagi, who 
 
 have
 
 556 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 have done nothing more, perhaps, 4fc than 
 " boil and eat the brofh of their ene- 
 " mies." 
 
 Were any people profeffedly cannibals, 
 one would iuppofe the moil ibuthern in- 
 habitants of Tierra del Fuego to be io, 
 who are the moft miferable of all human 
 beings ; and who not having provifiun, 
 fuch as is procurable in other countries, 
 are compelled to feed on raw feals' flem, 
 and that frequently in its moil putrid 
 ftate. And yet the inhabitants of Tierra 
 del Fuego are not cannibals, either from 
 neceffity or from revenge ; but, indeed, 
 that which puts the impoffibility of it 
 beyond a doubt is, the forbearance always 
 fhewn when the weaker fex or when 
 children are brought into captivity. It 
 has rarely happened that women or chil- 
 dren have fuffered : the fierce barbarian 
 thirfts for the blood of none but him 
 
 who
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 35, 
 
 who ftimulates his ardour, and who op- 
 pofes him in the field* 
 
 When we confider the cannibal, there- 
 fore, as a&uated folely by the fpirit of 
 revenge, we fhall not fo readily fubfcribe 
 to the opinion, that the eating of human 
 flefh neceflarily implies a total privation 
 of every benevolent affe&ion ; neither 
 fhall we any longer wonder at it, among 
 men but moderately civilized, when the 
 page of European hiftory can almoft 
 match it in barbarity. I refer to the fix- 
 teenth century, a century which exhi- 
 bited many of the moil bloody tragedies. 
 No one, however, more diabolically in- 
 human than the carnage at the memora- 
 ble fiege of Malta : at a florm of a for- 
 trefs on that ifland by the Turks, all fuch 
 of the garrifon as were found alive when 
 it fell into the enemy's hands, had their 
 bellies ript up, and their hearts torn out, 
 
 VOL. I. S while
 
 a$8 PHILOSOPHICAL RHAPSODIES. 
 
 while the adverfe party, in the fury of 
 dreadful retaliation, maflacred all the 
 Mohammedans they could lay hold of, and 
 fevering their heads from their bodies, 
 fired them, inflead of fhot, into the 
 camp of their friends. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
 
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 I N D 
 
 TO THE 
 
 FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 AcHIN, city of, on the ifland of Sumatra, fends 
 a large quantity of gold duft to India, 240 
 
 fuppofed to be the Ophir of Solomon, 241 
 
 Agriculture, the chief employment of the Chinefe, 137 
 Albinoes of Africa, a remarkable race of people. 
 
 Defcription of them, 128, 129 
 VOL. I. T Alex-
 
 *6o INDEX. 
 
 Alexander VI. his bull in favour of Spain and Portu- 
 gal, 184 
 
 Alexander the Great, his orders refpecYmg the houfe 
 and family of Pindar when he attacked the city o 
 Thebes, 114, note 
 
 Americans, wild, their cuftom of killing their rela- 
 tions and friends when aged or infirm, 93, 94 
 
 Animals, thofe who fed on grafs or who preyed on 
 each other, probably the aborigines of moft parts 
 of Europe, 27 
 
 , all herd with each other, 40 
 
 Anthropophagi, 6r man eaters, the accounts of fuch 
 people greatly exaggerated by travellers, 255 
 
 Apothecaries, Quevedo's opinion of them, 147 
 
 Aracan, coafts of, Ourang-outang found there, 219 
 
 Affiento, thofe mercilefs contracts reprobated j aoi. 
 Reflections on them, 203, 204 
 
 Aflronomy, little known by the Chinefe, 138 
 
 Atheifm, though generally fuppofed to be prevalent 
 in China, not fo, 116 
 
 Auftin, St. his faying, 74 
 
 .Author's apology for his freedom in fpeaking of the 
 clergy ; that he levels fimply at clerical chicane, 
 
 119, note 
 
 B 
 
 Bankrupts and debtors, favour fliewn to them by the 
 Chinefe, 158 
 
 Bonses
 
 INDEX. 261 
 
 Bonzes of China, have no tythes granted to diem, 
 ji 2. Refpeted by the Tonqu'mefe, 206. 
 
 Cambodia, very little known, curforily confidered, 216 
 Camoens, his opinion that Achin is the Qphir of Solo- 
 mon, 242 
 
 .Capitation, the general tax in China, 120 
 Calhmire, native of, his account of the Chinefe, 127 
 China, its fituation and extent, 98. Government 
 monarchical, ib. Extremely populous, 102. No 
 hereditary diftin&ions allowed, 104. Each man 
 mufl be author of his own nobility, 105. Honours 
 merely a life pofTeflion, ib. .Superior abilities alone 
 could gain diflindlion, 106 
 
 -. , government of, divided between the Tartars 
 
 and Chinefe, 124. Power and authority of the 
 Viceroys ; the people notwithstanding happy, 125. 
 Strangers excluded the courts of juflice, 126. 
 Europeans not allowed to fettle in the interior 
 parts of China; confined to limited factories, 128. 
 Method of circulating the orders of government, 
 129,130. Every diftricl obliged to build a cer- 
 tain number of granaries, thefe granaries annually 
 ilpcked, 130; and the indigent relieved, 131. 
 
 T 2 China,
 
 262 I N D E X 
 
 China, whole diflricts (notwithftanding the precau- 
 tions of the magiflrates) laid defolate by famine, 
 
 133. Children expofed and left to perifh, ib. 
 Millions are fometimes fwept away by famine, 
 
 134. Pillar, on which* are the names of medi- 
 cines and their prices, 144. The phyfician pre- 
 pares and adminifters his own medicines, a whole- 
 fome cuftom, 146. Contains fixty millions of 
 inhabitants, 148. Empire founded, according to 
 the Chinefe, eighty or ninety thoufand years ago, 
 148. Gold mines not allowed to be worked, 150; 
 were they opened, it might awaken a fpirit of ra- 
 pacity, 152. Judaifm at this day to be found 
 there, 154. The doctrine of Mofes communi- 
 cated to the Chinefe nine hundred years after the 
 birth of Chrift, by a band of itinerant Ifraelites, 
 ib. This opinion of their having received in- 
 ftrucYions from the Ifraelites, combated by others, 
 who fuppofe them to have been vifited by the 
 Chaldeans, 156. Laws not fanguinary, murder 
 and high treafon only being punifhed with death, 
 ib. Courts of law carefully watched over, 157. 
 Indulgence to bankrupts and debtors, 158. Stran- 
 gers in China have difficulty in obtaining juflice; 
 excluded the courts, 159. Method adopted by- 
 government for the redrefs of grievances, 160.
 
 INDEX. 263 
 
 That we fhould judge of the laws and regulations 
 (which appear merciful and wife) from a particular 
 view of the provinces, and not from the interefted 
 conduct of a large town, 161 
 
 China faid to be peopled from Egypt, 168. Abfurdity 
 of this opinion, ib. 
 
 , the great wall of, defcribed, 170, fuppofed by 
 
 the learned to be the wall mentioned by the an- 
 cients as the rampart of Gog and Magog, 171 
 
 , mountains there, cut into various fhapes and 
 
 figures, 172 
 
 firft fubmitted to the Tartar arms anno 1232, 
 
 ib. 
 
 Chinefe have no laws for the prefervation of game, 
 103. Chinefe government, the idea of it taken 
 from the parental form of authority, 104. The 
 fovereign, as father, difpofes of all dignities and 
 honours, ib. Maxim of this philofophic people, 
 105. Condemn the monopolizing of clerical, as 
 well as fecular diftin&ions, in. Their priefts 
 exhibited in a contemptible point of view, ib. 
 This contempt of the priefthood, a fmgular trait 
 in the character of this people, ib. No tythes 
 granted to the Bonzes, 112. Tolerate every fpc- 
 cies of religion, 113 
 
 T 3 Chinefe
 
 264 INDEX. 
 
 Chinefe differ eflentially from the Hindoos in the ar- 
 ticle of religion, from whom they are faid to have 
 received the firfl principles of it, 113. Their reli- 
 gion founded on the moral aphorifrns of ConfuC- 
 fee, 114. Believe in the exiftence of one God, 
 116. Atheifm not prevalent in China, ib. Jefu- 
 its, their opinion of them, 117. Worfhip idols, 
 yet believe in the unity of God, 119. Infert in 
 the imperial books the date of day and year in 
 \vhicheverymalechildishorn, 120. The gene- 
 ral tax is capitation, ib. Every man who arrives 
 at the age of eighty, becomes a penfioner to the 
 State, 121 
 
 Chinefe, their great attention to education, 121. Study 
 of the Chinefe language difficult, 122. Little- 
 {killed in poetry and mufic, ib. Fond of athletic 
 games, plays, and pageants, ib. Very cautious 
 in the choice of their magiftrates, 124. Accufed, 
 by travellers, of great diihonefty ; the charge not 
 ftri&ly true, 126. Not addicted to fuperftition, 
 *35* Agriculture their chief employment, 137. 
 A wife and ingenious people, not indebted to the 
 ancients for the knovyledge they pofiefs, ib. Very 
 indifferent aftronomers, painters, fculptors, and 
 fbldiers ; the ufeful their chief ftudy, 138. Their 
 great induftry exemplified in the variety of manu-
 
 INDEX. 265 
 
 factories, the large canals, and other works, 140. 
 Have little Ikill in phyfic, 143. Formerly averfe 
 to foreign traffic, 148. Have no occafion for fo- 
 reign commodities, their own country fupplying 
 them with every thing necefTary, 149. Jealous 
 of the growing power of Ruffia, 153. Pay an 
 exceflive veneration to their parents, 162. Do 
 not bury their dead till a year after their deceafe ; ' 
 the body folemnly complimented every day, ib. 
 Do not embalm, yet preferve the body from 
 putrefaction, ib. Mourning continued for two 
 years, ib. Marriages : Polygamy allowed, 163. 
 Women kept from the fight of all men, except their 
 neareft kindred, 164. Chinefe countenance not 
 pleafing, ib. Cuftom of binding the feet of the 
 women, ib. Ladies elegant in their drefs, 165. 
 Confider themfelves as the wifefb and mofl puiflant 
 people on earth ; their finking features indolence 
 and effeminacy, 167 
 
 Chriftianity fhould infpire benevolence and good hu- 
 mour, 65. Its effects on men of certain defcrip- 
 tions, ib. Abfurdity of condemning thofe who 
 have not had either revelations or miraculous af- 
 furances of our Saviour's divinity, 65 ; and com- 
 pared to the cuftom of Borough-Englifh, 67. 
 Men who hold the Divinity unjuft, lefs pardonable 
 T4 than
 
 266 INDEX. 
 
 than thofe who have no belief in Providence, ib, 
 The incomprehenfibility of the Godhead may 
 plead in excufe for the latter, for the former no- 
 thing c'an be urged, ib. 
 
 Chryfoftom, St. his opinion of thofe who vifited 
 Job's dunghill in Arabia, 79, 80 
 
 Cochin-China, its fituation, 213. A colony from 
 Tonquin; the chief people defcended from the 
 Tonquinefe, ib. Hunting, fifhing, and agricul- 
 ture, the fole employment of the natives, till 
 the introduction of commerce by the Tonquinefe, 
 214. Hofpitality and courteous behaviour of the 
 people, 215. Now ruled by an arbitrary Prince, 
 ib. , 
 
 Confutfee, the great Chinefe philofopher, lived five 
 hundred years before the birth of Chrift, 114. 
 His precepts fondly cherifhed by the Chinefe, ib. 
 His works confidered as a moft invaluable trea- 
 fure, ib. The edifices which arc dedicated to him 
 approached with reverence, ib. He never aflumed 
 the character of a prophet, nor pretended to the 
 gift of infpiration, 115. Mildnefs of his doc- 
 trine, ib. Saying of his, ib. 
 
 D 
 
 Da'i'ro of the Japanefe, his character, 1 74
 
 I N D L X. 267 
 
 Dala Lama of the Tartars, account of, 78 
 
 Darien Ifthmus of, a diminative race of people, 
 found there 4>y Lionel Wafer. Defcription of 
 them, 130, 131 
 
 Deity, by fome men reprefented as fickle and unjuft ; 
 their temerity, 67, 68. That we fee him glori- 
 oufly difplayed in every object of the creation, 
 ib. To reafon on the eflence of the Divine Na- 
 ture is folly and prefumption, ib. 
 
 Des Cartes, his opinion that the whole clafs of an- 
 mals which nearly refemble the human, are merely 
 automatons, 234 
 
 Dutch, their quarrel with the Portuguefe, 187. 
 Their conduct in Japan, 188. Renounce their 
 title to the name of Chriflian, for the fake of 
 traffic with Japan, 189 
 
 Egypt, inquiry into the opinion of Egypt being the 
 general nurfery of mankind, 169, 170 
 
 Empirics, pernicious confequences of giving fandYion 
 to them, 144, 145 
 
 Eaft, a nurfery and afylum for the human fpecies, 
 17. Celebrated for its numerous inhabitants, ib. 
 
 Pro-
 
 ji68 INDEX. 
 
 Produced the fineft fruits of fcience, when the 
 feeds were barely taking root in the weflern he- 
 mifphere, ib. 
 
 Education, great attention of the Cliinefe to, 121 
 
 Emperor of China. No Sovereign has greater power, 
 98. He is greatly venerated, ib. He infpedts and 
 inquires into the affairs of the feveral provinces. 
 His wife regulations, 99, 100. Always ready to 
 attend to the reprefentations and remonftrances of 
 his people, 100. The Emperor is made to confi- 
 der that he is mortal and liable to error. He is 
 fometimes admonifhed and promifes amendment 
 in his public edidts, 101. !}is unparallelled magni- 
 ficence, ib. Greatly addicted to hunting, ib. 
 Confiderable trails of country inclofed and left 
 uncultivated for the royal recreation, 1*2. This 
 infringement on the rights of the people obliges 
 them to live on lakes and rivers, ib. Denomi- 
 nated the father of his people, 104. Annually 
 clears and, breaks up the ground. Ceremony of, 
 142 
 
 Emperor of Japan, his fpeech to an Englishman, 
 who requefled permiffion to ere6t a factory, 191 
 
 Europeans not allowed to fettle in the interior part* 
 ef China, but confined to factories, 128 
 
 Famine
 
 N D E X. 269 
 
 Famine frequent in China, 133 
 
 Fathers, primitive, their holy prefumption cenfuretl, 
 177 
 
 Females, in fome countries, fubject to the vilefl oc- 
 cupations, 95. Inhumanity of fuch treatment, 
 96. That they fhould experience every mark of 
 tendernefs and affection, 96, 97. Much more ' 
 numerous than males where polygamy is tole- 
 rated, 87 
 
 G 
 
 Game a6t, Englifh/ cenfured, 104 
 
 Gaming, reflections on it, 2^8 
 
 Globe, terraqueous, examination of the queftion, 
 " what part of it was firft and beft peopled ?" 
 26. Moft writers incline to the Earl, ib. and 
 apparently with good reafon, ib. Population of 
 northern regions comparatively fmall, 27. The 
 queftion cannot be determined, 28 
 
 Gold mines in China, not allowed to be worked, 
 
 '50 
 
 Gofpel, mildnefs of it, transformed into gloominefs 
 
 and intolerance, 65; though not univerfally, ib. 
 Granaries of the Chinefe annually flocked, 130 
 
 Grana-
 
 a ? o INDEX. 
 
 Granaries, public, recommended to be eftablifhed in 
 the Eafl Indies, and other countries fubje& to Eu- 
 ropean authority, 131 
 
 Grand Lama of Tartary, afTumes the character of 
 immortal, 81. Believed by his followers to be 
 mortal, but that when he dies his foul takes re- 
 fuge in the frame of fome handfome youth, ib. 
 Some boy always in training for this holy purpofe; 
 and on the deceafe of the Lama, he is appointed 
 fucceflbr and ruler over the Tartar tribes, 82. 
 Mr. Ide's account of the Lama's refident on the 
 borders of China, 112 
 
 Great wall of China, fuppofed to be the rampart of 
 Gog and Magog, 1 7 1 
 
 H 
 
 Health deflroyed by ftagnate waters, marfliy fens, 
 and uncleared woods, 48 
 
 Heathen, abfurdity of thofe who give him over to 
 perdition, 65, 66 
 
 Hereditary diftindlions, by fome confidered as arbi- 
 trary and unjuft, 106 
 
 Hereditary nobility, defireable, and eflential to the 
 welfare of a State, 107. Has often checked the 
 influence, and crufhed the power of afpiring lead- 
 ers,
 
 INDEX. 271 
 
 crs, 108. An effe&ual barrier to kingly tyranny 
 and ambition, ib. That hereditary honours not 
 unfrequently defcend on unworthy obje&s, ib. 
 The evils attendant on an hereditary nobility 
 greatly overbalaaced by the good refulting there- 
 from, 109, no 
 
 Heroifm, fignal inftance of, in a Korean nobleman, 
 192 
 
 Hiftory, little more than a recapitulation of fangui- 
 nary feuds and animofities, 24. Dreadful effects 
 of them during the declenfion of the Roman em- 
 pire, ib. 
 
 Human race, varieties of it, 28. Whether all men 
 were of one race, or whether there were origi- 
 nally different races of men ? ib. If there were 
 originally feveral races of men, how are we to ac- 
 count for the diffimilitude of configuration and 
 completion of thofe people who live in the fame 
 climate, and nearly the fame foil? ib. Difference 
 between the Laplander and man of Friefland; 
 the inhabitant of Abyfmia and the Coffre of Ne- 
 groland, 30. Great difficulties in either cafe, 
 ib. 
 
 Human fpecies every where the fame, 36. Capable 
 of receiving, by imiiation, every neceffary in- 
 formation, ib. 
 
 Bunt-
 
 272 I N D E X. 
 
 Hunting, a favourite diverfion of the Emperor of 
 China, 101 
 
 Japan, its fituation ; the empire is of high antiquity, 
 173. Of the peopling of Japan, 174. Govern- 
 ment veiled in one perfon filled Dairo, ib. Da'i'ro 
 afTumes a heavenly character. Divine honours, 
 paid to him, ib. Abfurdity of the Japanefe, in 
 their conduct towards the DaYro, 175, 176. Gra- 
 tifies the vanity of the Da'i'ro, ib. 
 
 difcovered by the Portuguefe, anno 1542, 181. 
 The reigning family afcended the throne, anno 
 660, ib. Shaken by civil wars, ib. 
 
 -Japanefe reprefented as a fagacious, generous, and 
 humane people, 180. Their general character, 
 ib. Allow the Portuguefe to fettle and ereft fac- 
 tories in Japan, 182. Bull ifTued by Pope Alex- 
 ander VI. by which he grants to Spain the fove- 
 reignty of the Weft ; and te Portugal the fove- 
 reignty of the Eaft, 184, 185. Japanefe ignorant 
 ef this holy donation of Alexander, welcome tht 
 Portuguefe to their fhores, ib. Afterwards perfecuta 
 them, 1 86. Highly extolled by the Englifli, 190 
 
 Jerom, St. his account of a fatyr, as defcribed by St. 
 
 Anthony, 221 
 
 Jews
 
 INDEX. 273 
 
 Jews and bigoted Chriftians, their pernicious doc- 
 trine, 66 
 
 Incas of Peru, their love of agriculture, 1 42 
 Indian, who believes, as he has been taught, fliali 
 
 not be given to deftruclion, 69 
 Italy, curious infcription on a church there, 136 
 Judaifm to be found at this day in China, 154 
 
 K 
 
 Kalniucs, denomination given to the varfous tribes 
 of Tartars, between the river Wolga and the wall 
 of China, 82. This proceeds from the fimilarity 
 of feature, language, and religion, ib. The dif- 
 ferent Hordes have, notwithstanding, different 
 laws and municipal regulations, ib. Patriarch 
 way of life in its fullefl vigour among them, ib. 
 Never were in a greater ftate of civilization than 
 at prefent, 90. A hofpitable, courteous, and 
 well-meaning people, 91. In fome inftances bar- 
 harous and favage, 93. Expofure of their fick, 
 &c. ib. Their practice of leaving .them on the 
 banks of rivers, &c. to perifli, more inhuman 
 B that of the wildeft among the Americans, 
 who kill the aged and infirm, 93 
 
 Kamhi,
 
 274 I '* N D E X. 
 
 Kamhi, Emperor of China, his fpeech to the Mif- 
 
 fionary Fridilli, 116 
 Khan of Tartary, fovereign of the territories of the 
 
 Kalmucs, 90. Has an army of an hundred thou- 
 
 fand men always ready to take the field, ib. 
 Korean nobleman, fignal heroifm of, 192. Annual 
 
 fefljvals inftituted in honour of him, 194 
 
 M 
 
 Malay iflands, a flngular people difcoverd in the in- 
 terior parts of them, 243 
 
 Malayo, its fituation and extent, 236 
 
 Malays, their religion Mohammedan, 236. Adhere to 
 the feudal tenure, but admit not of perfonal {la- 
 very, 237. Ufually ftiled favage, but very un- 
 juftly, ib. Have feveral well-built towns, 
 ib. Carry on~a confiderable traffic with the 
 Hindoos and Chinefe. Scrupuloufly honeft, 
 
 238. Place an unlimited confidence in others, 
 
 239. Their language remarkably harmonious, 
 
 243. Make ufe of Arabic characters for writing, 
 
 244. Their poetry and mufic animated and full 
 of fire, 245 
 
 Malays, inferior in fize to Europeans ; their drefs 
 defcribed, 246, 247. Greatly addidled to gam- 
 ing,
 
 INDEX. a7| 
 
 Ing, ib. Courteous and affable to ftrangers 249. 
 The frantic extravagance which they are fome- 
 times guilty of, accounted for, 250. Devour their 
 prifoners, 252. That this favage cuftom took its 
 rife from revenge, 256 
 
 Mallicollo, natives of, are of the monkey tribe, 
 account of them, 226 
 
 Malta, fiege of, unparallelled barbarity exercifed 
 there, 257 
 
 Man, reflections on, In the feveral ftages of his ex- 
 ifterice, 7. His moral obligations, 8. His duty 
 towards his fellow creatures, 9. One man toa 
 apt to form a ftandard of opinion for the reft, 10. 
 That the cuftoms and manners of mankind may 
 differ, but that men are intrinfically the fame, u. 
 That all men are partial to what has been handed 
 down to them by their fathers, 12. Certain prin- 
 ciples and regulations for the conduct of mankind 
 univerfal, and muft always remain fo, ib. 
 
 Man, the particular ftudy of him recommended, 13. 
 That the characters and difpofltions of men 
 fhould be thoroughly inveftigated and inquired 
 into, in order to flrengthen the mind and to eftab- 
 lifh our opinions, 14. That no man who is not 
 profeflionally bred, can have occafion for an inti- 
 VOL. I U mate
 
 j 7 6 I N D E X, 
 
 mate knowledge of abfhufe or fpeculative fciencef^ 
 15. Moral and philofophical inquiries of infinitely- 
 greater confequence, ib. His unbridled deftres 
 and brutal appetites in the firfl ages of the world, 
 44. Born to labour, 48.- In the diftribution or 
 difperfion of mankind,-, all were alike pofiMed of 
 vmderftanding and judgement, 69 
 '. has no innate knowledge of good and evil r 
 Faculty of difcriminating their qualities is ac- 
 quired, ;a Every man fhould follow the dictates 
 of his own confcience, 73 
 
 ... y his fuperiority over the Ouran-Outang, or man 
 of the woods, fuppofed to be merely the refult of 
 culture and experience, 233 
 
 Man fell, chaplain to Henry III. of England, poflef- 
 fed feven hundred livings at one time, 206 
 
 Mexicans devour their prifoners, 253 
 
 Moderns have derived their principal knowledge in 
 arts and fciences from the ancients, 45 
 
 Mortality confiderahle in- Great Britain, 34^ note. 
 One tenth part of the people do not now exift 
 that did in former days, 34. Inquiry into the 
 caufe of this decreafe, ib. Half of the children 
 born in England die under twelve years of age, 
 34 note. Every creature, except the human, i 
 the nurfe of its own offspring, ib. 
 
 Mofes,
 
 I N D E X; -575 
 
 Mofes, his account of our firfl parents ; by fome 
 confidered as allegorical, by others as orthodox, 28. 
 Human underflanding muft determine for itfelf; 
 what that determination may probably be, ib. 
 His dodkrine communicated to the Chinefe nine 
 hundred years after Chrift, 154 
 
 N 
 
 Nature in the providential care of her children, or~ 
 dained that they mould labour, 48 
 
 Naturalifts, their opinion that all animals are pof- 
 feffed of certain properties peculiar to their fitua- 
 tion, 31. If this be really the cafe, how happens 
 it that there is fo great variety in the forms, co- 
 Jours, and difpofitions of the children of one pa- 
 rent foil ? ib. 
 
 *- clafs the race of man in fix divifions, 33. 
 Account of them, ib. 
 
 New Caledonia, natives of, are of *he monkey tribe. 
 Account of them, 226 
 
 O 
 
 Ouran-Outang, defcription of, 220 
 
 U 2 Parents,
 
 NDEX. 
 
 Parents, great veneration paid to by theChinefe, 162 
 
 Putali, refidence of the Grand Lama, 78 
 
 Pegu, little known, curforily confidered, 216 
 
 Peruvians devour their prifoners, 253 
 
 Phyficians, among the Greeks and Romans, relied 
 chiefly on aliment in the cure of difeafes, 143, 
 note 
 
 Pillars erected in China with the names and prices of 
 medicines, 144 
 
 Poetry and mufic, little cultivated in China, 122 
 
 Poetry and mufic of the Malays animated and full of 
 fire, 245 
 
 Polyandry, or a plurality of hufhands, indelicacy of 
 it, 89. Thibet, and the mountains of Affghanif- 
 tan, the only places where it continues to exift, 
 ib. Media formerly famous for it, ib. 
 
 Polygamy, whether favourable to population, 86.' 
 Natural as well as political confiderations fpeak 
 forcibly aginft it, ib. Females much more nu- 
 merous than males where polygamy is tolerated ; 
 reafon afligned, 87. In Europe the proportion of 
 males and females nearly equal, ib. Polygamy 
 reprobated, 88. It* advantages over Polyandry, 
 ib, Extreme indelicacy of the latter, 89
 
 INDEX. 279 
 
 Pride, national, not a partial failing, but univerfal, 
 17. Equally confpicuous in rich and poor, ib. 
 A fpur to the growth of merit, ib. That it ope- 
 rates differently on different men, 18. No corner 
 of the globe in which it is not found, ib. No 
 injury refulting from it, but that, on the con- 
 trary, it urges individuals to difcharge their duty 
 as men and citizens, 1 9. That fpecies of it, how- 
 ever, which arifes from national attachment, has 
 been the caufe of numberlefs evils to mankind, 
 fuch as war and all its dire concomitants, 20 
 Priefthood, the, held in contempt by the Chinefe, in 
 Providence, innate conviction of, a beneficent one, 
 fufficient for every rational mind, 69. Arbi- 
 trary reprefentations refpe&ing Providence baneful 
 and pernicious, ib. Infcrutable ways of; reflec- 
 tions on, 222, 223, 224 
 
 Quevedo, his opinion of apothecaries, 147 
 Quojas Moros of Africa, a defcriptton of that ani- 
 mal, 227 
 
 R 
 
 Religion. That we fhould not perfecute any people 
 on the fcore of relig : on, whofe intention is evi- 
 dently
 
 aSd INDEX. 
 
 dently good, 72, That both ancients and moderns 
 (uninformed of the tenets of the true belief) 
 fhould have the good opinion and good wifhes of 
 every Chriftian, 73 
 
 Religion. Each nation originally fixed on fuch mode 
 of worfhip as was moil fuitable to its ftate, 70. 
 Errors may have crept in, ib. No human inftitu- 
 tion free from error, ib. No religion uniform or 
 invariable, 71. Externals of worfhip no Way 
 fixed, ib. That in judging of religious matters, 
 we fliould diveft ourfelves of pride and arrogance., 
 ib. Religion would then appear mild and chari- 
 table, ib. In many religionifts holy zeal becomes 
 downright perfecution, ib. Every religion has 
 for its object the worfhip and honour of God, 72. 
 Many countries exhibit ftrange and extravagant 
 practices in their religion, ib. 
 
 , every fpecies of, tolerated in China, 113 
 
 .*_ 9 difputes about in the empire of Japan. The 
 
 Emperor, ftimulated by the Dutch, takes up 
 arms againfl the Portuguefe, 188. Sixty thoufand 
 Chriftians deftroyed, 189. Every veftige of Chrif- 
 tlanity abolifhed, ib. 
 
 Romans, their cuftom of punifliing their prifoners 
 ef war with death, cenfured, 253 
 
 Ruffia,
 
 INDEX. 281 
 
 Ruflta, growing power of, excites a jealoufy in the 
 
 Chinefe, 154 
 Ruffians adhere to perfonal and hereditary flavery, 
 
 201. The peafantsof an eftate fold wkh it, m. 
 
 Savage, eontrafted with the focial being", 37. They 
 differ little in externals, ib. The pofitive advan- 
 tages which the one poflefies over the other by no 
 means great, and this arifes from the cares and 
 anxieties of fociety, 38. A civilized community 
 is neverthelefs greatly preferable to one that is 
 uncultivated, 38, 39. Social intercourfe flrongly 
 recommended, 39, 40 
 
 Science, the rudiments of, obfervable in the earlieft 
 ages of the world, 44. Ships, palaces, and other 
 efforts of human genius, not the growth of mo- 
 dern days, 45 
 
 Siam, little known; curforily confidered, 216 
 
 Sectaries to be found in every religion, 178 
 
 Simplicity, ancient, picture of it, 45 
 
 Society highly commendable ; inducements to it, 41. 
 That there muft have been fome fociety from th 
 beginning of the world, though not fa luxurious 
 and refined as modern times afford, 43, Jrr the
 
 2 82 INDEX. 
 
 firft ages, the manners rude and uncultivated, ib. 
 
 Well-regulated fociety the bafis of human happi- 
 
 nefs, 46 
 
 Spaniard, remarkable faying of one, 168 
 Strangers not allowed to enter the courts of juflice 
 
 in China, 159 
 
 Tanna, natives of, a-kin to the monkey tribe 5 ac- 
 count of, 226 
 
 Tartars, wild, live in tents, the more refined in 
 houfes on wheels ; defcription of them, 83. 
 Vehicles of the Tartar ladies coflly and beauti- 
 fully adorned, ib. Drefs of the Tartar, ib. His 
 moral character generally good, 84. Crimes of 
 murder, treafon, &c. capital, and juftice ftri&ly 
 adminiilered, ib. Polygamy allowed ; the wo- 
 men have, notwithstanding, perfect freedom, ib. 
 Adultery rarely heard of, ib. A fon, on the de- 
 ceafe of his father, has the choice of the widows, 
 85. The fituation of the women, taken altoge- 
 ther, not enviable, ib. Mr. Gibbon's opinion of 
 it, ib. Tendernefs fhewn to their women, 94, 
 95. Their wifdom in adopting the manners and 
 cuftoms of the Chinefe, 123 
 
 Tartars,
 
 INDEX 283 
 
 Tartars, their pre-eminence over the various people 
 of the world, 75. Deftroyers of the Roman em- 
 pire; Conquerors and rulers of China, 76. Matters 
 of the Mogul empire, and the whole peninfula of 
 India, ib. Lords of Perfia, and pofleflbrs of the 
 moft extenfive dominions in Afia, Africa, and 
 Europe, ib. 
 
 defcendtd, according to their tradition, from 
 
 the eldeft fon of Japhet, whom they denominate 
 Turc, 76. Derive their name from one of the 
 fons of Alanza Cawn, ib* The rude, but happy 
 children of nature ; derive their fubfiflcncc from 
 hunting, fifhing, and milk of their herds, 77. 
 Negligent of agriculture, and wander like th firft 
 Patriarchs, 77. Their religion, which is in the 
 belief of one fupreme God, breathes the moft 
 fublime principles of morality, ib. Guided m 
 the articles of their faith by the hallowed decrtm 
 of the Great Lama, 78. Refidence of the Great 
 Lama at Putali, ib. His legates fcattered as thir 
 fervices are required, ib. Some almoft equal in 
 power to the Great Lama, fuch as the Dala 
 Lama of Thibet, &c. ib. Erroneous opinion 
 that the Grand Lama was never to be feen bj 
 Grangers, ib. His divine character renders it 
 politically right that his aclions and difpofition be 
 VOL. I. X not
 
 sS4 INDEX, 
 
 not too critically inveftigated, 79. Many ridi- 
 culous frories told of him, ib. 
 
 Tartars, firft fubdued the Chinefc, anno 1232, 172 
 
 Tartary, anciently called Scythia, 77. Now partly 
 independent, partly fubjec~j: to China, and partly 
 to Ruflia, ib. 
 
 Thibet, refidence of the Dala Lama, 78 
 
 Tierra del Fuego, inhabitants pf, a miferable race, 
 256 
 
 Tonquin, its fituatioa, 196. But little Icnp'wn* 
 197. The people faid to be honeft and^iiduf- 
 ttious, ib. Form of government the farne as that 
 of China, ib, Perfonal courage highly efleemed 
 by the Tonquinefe, ib. 
 
 T- formerly fubjed to China, now free, 197. 
 The profeilion of a foldier honourable, but barely 
 affords him fubfiftence, 198. A foldier is not al- 
 lowed to engage in any kind of traffic or employ- 
 ment, ib. Induflry flioqld never be difcouraged, 
 .199. Government feqdal, 199. The people com- 
 pelled to a three- months fervitude to the crown, 
 and three months to the nobles, 2OO. Polygamy 
 tolerated, 208. Men allowed to repudiate their 
 wives at pleafure, ib. 
 
 Tonquinefe, grave, modeft, and polite, 205. Fol- 
 }o\Yers of the dodriae of Confutfee, ib. Relieve 
 
 m
 
 I N D E X. 285 
 
 in the tranfmigration of fouls, ih. Bonzes held 
 in greater refpeft than thofe in China, 206. 
 Make confiderable offerings to their gods. Pro- 
 digious offering of one of the Kings, ib. The 
 difcipline and education of their youth nearly 
 the lame as that of the Chinefe, 208. Wo- 
 men wretched in the extreme, 209. Delight in 
 fliews, 211. Account of a folemn feftival, ib. 
 7'ravelling, mental, and that in which the corporeal 
 faculties are engaged, compared, 4 
 
 V 
 
 Vaffalage, common in England fo late as Queen Eli 
 
 zabeth, 2CO 
 Virtues, cardinal, not the produce of a particular or 
 
 predefined foil, 19. One country may poflefj 
 
 them in a more ample degree than another, but 
 
 truth is every where to be found, 20 
 Voltaire, M. his opinion that the Ouran-Outang, 
 
 Albinoes, and Darians, are of the human race, 
 
 232 
 
 u 
 
 Urban, his faying, 177 
 
 W 
 
 War, confidered as a neceflary evil. Inquiry into the 
 validity of that pqfition, 21. Vi&ory and con- 
 
 queft
 
 ztb INDEX. 
 
 queft not the pervading 'difpofition of our fouls, 
 22. That war and bloodfhed is grown in a great 
 degree familiar to us, by the pleafing recitals of 
 our hiftorians, 23. 
 Women, Tonquinefe, their wretched fituation, 209 
 
 Y 
 
 Yontchin, Emperor of China, his fpeech to th Mif- 
 fionaries, 118
 
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