the cold bath. At seven lie has his levee of Mandarins : all
the letters are read which have been received in the course of
the preceding day, on which his orders are minuted by the
respective secretaries. He then proceeds to the naval arsenal,
examines the works that have been performed in his
absence, ro'ws in his barge round the harbour, inspecting his
ships of war. He pays particular attention to the ordnance
department; and in the foundery, which is erected within the
arsenal, camion are cast of all dimensions.
About twelve or one he takes his breakfast in the dockyard,
which consists of a little boiled rice and dried fish. At
two he retires to his apartment and sleeps till five, when he
again rises; gives audience to the naval and military officers,
the heads of tribunals or public departments, and approves,
rejects, or amends whatever they may have to propose.
These affairs of state generally employ his attention till midnight,
after wThich he retires to his private apartments, to
make such notes and memorandums as the occurrences of the
day may have suggested. He then takes a light supper,
passes an hour with his family, and between two and three
in the morning retires to his b ed ; taking, in this manner, at
two intervals, about six hours of rest in the four-and-
twenty,,
He neither makes use of Chinese wine, .nor any kind of
spirituous liquors, and contents himself with a very small
portion of animal food. A little fish, rice, vegetables and
fruit, with tea and light pastry, constitute the chief articles of
his diet. Like a true Chinese descended, as he boasts to be,
7
from the imperial family of Ming, he always eats alone, not
permitting either his wife or any part of his family to sit
down to the same table with him. On the same principle of
pride, he would not allow some English gentlemen to pay
their respects.to him at his palace, in the yeai 1799, because,
as he observed, the unsettled state of the country did not
permit him to make such preparations as were due to himself,
and to strangers of respectability. The meaning of such
an excuse, coming from a Chinese, could not be well mistaken
; but, on the part of this Monarch, there did not appear
to be any thing like jealousy, or a wish to deprive the
strangers of the means of gratifying their curiosity: on the
contrary, they had full liberty to visit every part of the naval
arsenal, and to, inspect the town and its fortifications. He
had no objection to entertain them as a General, but refused
to see them in his character of Sovereign.
His stature is represented to be somewhat above the middle
size ; his features regular and agreeable ; his complexion
ruddy, very much sun-burnt by a constant exposuie to the
weather. He is at this time (1806) just on the verge of fifty
years of age.
Of the English he has little knowledge but by name ; yet
he is said to profess, on all occasions, a great veneration for
their character. When Frenchmen declare this, they may
be believed. He has given, however, frequent proofs of his
good inclinations towards the English. He published an
edict, declaring that all our ships should at all times be admitted
into, any of his ports and harbours, free of all duties