robbed openly than cheated civilly, will be apt to give the preference
to the Tartar charader. Yet thofe Tartars o f diftinc-
tion, who fill fome o f the higher lituations in the ftate, foon
Ibofe their native roughnefs and are fcarcely diftinguiihable in
their manners and demeanour from the Chiriefe.
T he eafe, politenefs, and dignified carriage o f the old viceroy
o f Pe-tcbe-lêé, who was a Mân-tchoo, Could not be exceeded
b y the moll praitifed courtier in modern Europe : the attention
he ihewed to every thing that concerned the embaffy, thé unaffected
mâiiner ill which hé received and entertained us at
Tïen-ftiïg; thë kindhefs and condëfcenfion with which he gavfe
his order's to the inferior officers and to his domeftics, placed hirh
in a vefÿ amiable point o f viëw. He wâs' à te ry fine old man o f
fevënty-éight years o f âgé, o f low ftature, with findll fparklihg
byes, a benign afped, a long ftlver heat'd, àhd thë whole o f
his appearance caltri, Venerable, and dignified. The manner's
Of Sufita-gin, a relation o f the EmperOr and Ohê o f the fix M -
nifters Of ftate, were no left dignified, ëaiy, and engaging; and
Chiiiig-ia-gïn, thë new viceroy o f Carlton, was a plain, uhaffuhl-
ifig, and good-natured mân. Thé prime minifter Hb-cbarig-
iong, 'the little Tartar legate, ahd the ex-viceroy o f Canton, were
the only perfons o f rank among the many we had occafion to
converfe with that difcovered the leaft ill-humour, diftant hau-
■têür, and want o f cbmplaifance. All the reft with whom we had
fttiy Coilcern, whethët Tartar's or Chiiiëfë, whén in btfr private
fociëty, tëëré èàfy, affable, and fàmiliâ'r, êxffemëly good-humoured,
lo^üaciôus, Conununicativé. It was in public only,
and towards e'ach Other, that thèÿ àffumed their ceremonious
gravity,
gravity, and pradifed all the tricks o f demeanour which cuftom
requires o f them,
The general character, however, o f the nation is a ftrange
compound o f pride and meannefs, o f affeded gravity and real
frivoloufnefs, o f refined civility and grofs indelicacy. With an
appearance o f great fimplicity and openneft in converfation,
they pradife a degree o f art and cunning againft which an
European is but ill prepared. Their manner o f introducing the
fubjedt o f the court ceremonies in converfation with the EmbaC-
fador is no bad fpecimen o f their fly addrefs in managing matters
o f this fort. Some o f them obferved, by mere accident as
it were, how curious it was to fee the different modes o f drefs
that prevailed among different nations: this naturally brought
on a comparifon between theirs and ours, the latter o f which
they pretended to examine with critical attention. After a good
deal o f circumlocutory obfervations, they thought their own
entitled to the preference, being more | convenient, on account
o f its being made wide and loofe and free from tight ligatures
whereas ours muff be exceedingly uneafy and troublefome in
any other pofture than that o f Handing upright; and particularly
fo in making the genufledioqs and proftrations which were
cuftomary and indeed neceffary to be performed by pll perfons
whenever the Emperor appeared in public. No poticp being
taken of t|ps broad hint, fo artfully introduced, they proceeded
to compare their wide petticoats with our breeches, apd to contrail
t^e, play and freedom o f theft knee-jpints vy.ith the obftruc-
tion that our knee-buckles and gai^er^ m,uft jnppeff^nty ppcafion.
This brought .them diredly to the point, and they finiihed by
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