Page:Ta Tsing Leu Lee; Being, The Fundamental Laws, and a Selections from the Supplementary Statutes, of the Penal Code of China.djvu/10

Rh Other works again, uch as the Chinee pres abudantly affords, concerning the preent tate of the empire, its civil, political, and legal intitutions, they have, it mut be acknowledged, in great meaure neglected, either as comparatively unimportant in their etimation, or as inufficident and ill-uited for conveying thoe highly favourable ideas, with which they eem themelves to have been impreed, of the character of the Chinee people, and the principles of the Chinee government.

By the foregoing obervations, it is by no means intended to detract from the real merits of the learned and pious writers of this clas, either by denying, that they have afforded to the European world a vat collection of ueful and intereting information, or by aerting, that they have, in any particular intances, been guilty of wilful deception or mirepreentation. It is merely wihed to point out ome of the caues which render it unafe to rely implicitly on their authority, to tate the particular bias under which they wrote, and to notice ome of the effects of which that bias was necearily productive.

The communications between European tates and the dominions of China, which a pirit of commercial enterprize gave rie to, although they have been, at times, of coniderable importance to everal of the Continental nations, and are at preent, with repect to Great Britain, of uch a nature and extent, as to be very eentially contribute to her national properity, yet they did not, until a very late period, produce any fruits deerving of particular notice, either to cience or literature.

With the exceptions of the Travels of Mr. Bell of Antermony, and the Tranlation of a Chinee Novel, by an obcure hand, but illutrated by the name of its Editor, carcely anything of importance repecting China, derived from a commercial origin, appeared in England until the period of the Embay of the late Earl of Macartney. His Lordhip's miion was certainly an important tep towards obtaining a more accurate and intimate