Page:To the Court of the Emperor of China - vol I.djvu/3



R. PHILLIPS, who presents to the British Public this interesting Journey of the Dutch Embassy to the Court of the Emperor of China, conceives he is making an acceptable and valuable addition to the existing stock of knowledge relative to an Empire, the great extent, population, and antiquity of which render it an almost exhaustless subject of information and curiosity.

Respecting the views of the Embassy, and the value and originality of the materials of which the work consists, he has nothing to add to the able and perspicuous Preface of the French Editor, nor shall he in any way presume to anticipate the opinion or approbation of the English Reader.

''With respect to the Translation, he wilt venture without hesitation to affirm, that it is faithfully performed. It is the work of a Gentleman of approved talents, whom a long residence in France has rendered incapable of the blunders that almost always deform books translated from the French tongue into ours. The advantage of receiving a copy of the original long before any other was imported, enabled him also to execute his task at his leisure, and to finish it with a more than usual degree of accuracy. The Publisher''