Page:Ta Tsing Leu Lee; Being, The Fundamental Laws, and a Selections from the Supplementary Statutes, of the Penal Code of China.djvu/9

vi caue in which they were united, which they were bound to upport, and to which all others were to be made ubervient; that they were perons who had all of them profeedly renounced the world, and who, having abtracted themelves accordingly from its various puruits, had been in great meaure incapacitated from acquiring that particular experience which is neceary towards appreciating the merits and characteritic features of other countries, by the mot obvious and indipenable of tets, a comparion with their own. It was alo inevitable, that perons thus ituated hould be, generally peaking, under the influence of a trong pre-dipoition in favour of a people, for the ake of whoe converion they had renounced their country, and devoted their lives, and of a government, from whom, at one period, they had received extraordinary kindnes and indulgence, and upon the continuance of whoe protection with ucces of their future undertakings was foreeen almot entirely to depend.

Although having, peronally, acces to all the principal objects of curioity, and chief ources of information, and poeing ufficiently the requiite talents of decription, we too often find that a want of ubtantial impartiality and dicriminating judgment in their writings, has tended to throw a fale colouring on many of the objects which they delineate, and has ometimes produced thoe inconitencies by which errors and mirepreentations of this decription are often found to contribute to their own detection.

In like manner, although an intimate knowledge of the language of China enabled the Miionaries to explore and illutrate the antiquities of the empire, by ther perual and tranlation of the obcure and diputed tets of its mot ancient poets, hitorians, and philoophers, an extreme anxiety to place thee productions in the mot favourable and pleaing light, has led them, in ome intances, to engraft o much of the European character and tyle upon the Chinee originals, that the authenticity of their verions has, however unjutly, been in thoe caes more than upected. Other