of foreign crape of a green colour, sprinkled with flowers. She had a pair of most bewitching three-cornered eyes, and two eyebrows curved like the young willow leaves; her person was slender, light, and airy.' The gentleman was also covered with butterflies fluttering among flowers of gold: his beautiful nose was full and round, like the gall-bladder of a quadruped; and he had a face like the moon in the midst of autumn-covered with white paint, and lips tinged with vermilion. From his head to the end of his tail, which dangled to the ankles, hung four strings of precious stones set in gold. His upper tunic was pink spangled with flowers, his trowsers and stockings were embroidered, and his shoes were of a deep red colour, with thick white soles. This irresistible youth is said to have ten thousand thoughts of love collected in the corner of his eye.'

Mr. Abel (to whom we now return) had scarcely left Tien-sing when he was seized with a brain fever, which confined him to his bed for several weeks. He had the misfortune therefore of missing the best and most interesting part of the journey, especially that which led up the great river Yang-Tse-Kiang past the ancient capital Nan-King and its celebrated porcelain Pagoda, the appearance of which, though none of the party approached within two miles of it, accorded, Mr. Abel was told,' with the description given of it by different writers.' The catholic missionaries all speak with admiration of this edifice; but none that we know of, except Père le Compte, has described it; and his account of it is, like every thing else in his book, loose and vague, and little to be relied on. The following curious description of the Temple of Boudh, for such this celebrated Pagoda is, was purchased in the city of Nan-King, on the return of the embassy: it is perhaps the first authentic account of it which has reached Europe, and we think our readers will be gratified with a verbal translation of the original, for which we are indebted to the kindness of Sir George Staunton. Lord Amherst is said to be possessed of a model of this extraordinary building, which, Du Halde says, is certainly the most solid, remarkable, and magnificent structure in the eastern world.' He should have confined the remark to China, and made an exception of the 'Great Wall.'

6

"The Dwelling of Security, Tranquillity, and Peace.

"The representation of the precious glazed Tower of the Temple of Gratitude, in the province of Kiang-Nan.

This work was commenced at noon, on the fifteenth day of the sixth moon of the tenth year of the Emperor Yong Lo*, of the dynasty of Ming, and was completed on the first day of the eighth moon of the

* 1413 of the Christian era.

sixth year of the Emperor Siuen Té, of the same dynasty, being, altogether, a period of nineteen years in building.

The sum of money expended, in completing the precious glazed tower, was two millions four hundred and eighty-five thousand four hundred and eighty-four ounces of silver. In the construction of the ornamental globe on the pinnacle of the roof of the tower, forty-eight kin in weight of gold (sixty-four pounds), and one thousand four hundred kin in weight of copper were consumed. The circumference of this globe is thirty-six che,† or forty-two feet. Each round or story is eighteen che high. In that part of the tower called the Quang, were consumed four thousand eight hundred and seventy kin weight of brass. The iron hoops or rings, on the pinnacle of the roof, are nine in number, and sixty-three che, each, in circumference. The smaller hoops are twenty-four che in circumference-and their total weight is three thousand six hundred kin.f

'On different parts of the tower are suspended eighty-one iron bells, each bell weighing twelve kin or sixteen pounds. There are also nine iron chains, each of which weighs one hundred and fifty kin, and is eighty che long. The copper-pan with two mouths to it, on the roof, is estimated to weigh nine hundred kin, and is sixty che in circumference. There is also a celestial plate on the top, weighing four hundred and sixty kin, and twenty che in circumference. In the upper part of the tower are preserved the following articles :-Of night-illuminating pearls, one string; of water-repelling pearls, one string; of fire-repel ling pearls, one string; of dust-repelling pearls, one string; and over all these is a string of the relics of Foe. Also an ingot of solid gold weighing forty leang (ounces), and one hundred kin weight of tea--of silver one thousand leang weight-of the bright huing, two pieces, weighing one hundred kin-of precious stones, one string-of the everlasting physic-money, one thousand strings-of yellow satin, two pieces -of the book hidden in the earth, one copy-of the book of Omito Foe, one copy-of the book of She Kia Foe, one copy-of the book of Tsie Yin Foe, one copy, all wrapped up together, and preserved in the temple.

The tower has eight sides or faces, and its circumference is two hundred and forty che. The nine stories taken together are two hundred and twenty-eight and a half che high. From the highest story to the extreme point of the pinnacle of the roof, are one hundred and twenty che.

The lamps within the tower are seven-times-seven in number, in * A kin is one pound and one-third.

† A che is about fourteen inches.

This part is obscure, and will be better understood from Le Compte's description, imperfect as it is. The top of the edifice is not the least beautiful part of the tower ; it is a massy pillar, that stands upon the floor of the eighth story, and reaches more than thirty feet above the roof, it seems to be wrapt in a large iron hoop, of the same height, in the form of a screw or spiral line, extending several feet from the pillar, so as to appear like a hollow cone, suspended in the air, with spaces to let in light. On the top of this pillar is placed a golden ball, of extraordinary magnitude.' Extraordinary indeed! for, if the Chinese account is to be believed, its dimensions are more than twice, and, of course, its magnitude more than four times that of the ball of St. Paul's cathedral. It would seem to be of copper, and plated with gold. Ed.

all

all forty-nine lamp-dishes, and on the outside, there are one hundred and twenty-eight lamp-dishes. Each night they are supplied with fifty kin weight of oil. Their splendour penetrates upwards to the 33d heaven-midway, they shed a lustre over the people, the good and the bad together,downwards, they illuminate the earth as far as the city of Tse Kee Hien, in the province of Che-Kiang.

'The official title of the head priest of the temple is Chao Sieu. His disciples are called Yue. The total number of priests on the establishment is eight hundred and fifty. The family name of the head mason of the building was Yao, his personal name Sieu, and his native town Tsing Kiang Foo. The family name of the head carpenter was Hoo, his personal name Chung, and his native province Kiang See.

The extent of the whole enclosure of the temple is seven hundred and seventy meu*, and eight-tenths.-To the southward, towards Chin Van San, are two hundred and twenty-six meu.-Eastward to the boundary of Chin Sien Seng, are two hundred and thirty-four meu, and eight-tenths. In the centre is the ground of Hoo Kin Te.-Westward, as far as the land of She Hou Hoa, are one hundred and twenty meu. -And northward, to the land of Lieu Sien Song, are one hundred and eighty meu.

'Viewing, therefore, this History of the Glazed Tower, may it not be considered as the work of a Divinity? Who shall perform the like!

6

Lately, on the fifteenth day of the fifth moon of the fifth year of Kia-King, at four in the morning, the god of thunder, in his pursuit of a monstrous dragon,† followed it into this temple, struck three of the sides of the fabric, and materially damaged the ninth story; but the strength and majesty of the god of the temple are most potent, and the laws of Foe are not subject to change :-the tower, by his influence, was therefore saved from entire destruction. The viceroy and the fooyen reported the circumstance to his imperial majesty; and on the sixth day of the second moon of the seventh year, the restoration of the damaged parts was commenced and on the nineteenth day of the fifth moon the repairs were completed,

'On the twenty-ninth day of the sixth moon of the twelfth year of his present majesty, at four in the afternoon, on a sudden there fell a heavy shower of rain, and the god of thunder again rushed forth in front of the tower; and penetrating the roof, pursued the great dragon from the top to the bottom. The glazed porcelain tiles of the sixth story were much damaged, and, where the god of thunder issued out at the great gate, several of the boards taken from the wood of the heavenly flower-tree were broken:-Thus the god of the thunder, having finally driven away the monstrous dragon, returned to his place in the Heavens.

The priests of the temple reported the event to the local authorities, and the officer Heu, submitted the report to his imperial majesty, and awaited the issue of the sums required to defray the charge of the

* A meu is somewhat less than an English acre.

By the personification of the dragon the forked lightning would seem to be repre sented; and that of the Deity under the sound of the thunder.

repairs.

repairs. The gates of the tower have been closed for a year, while the interior has been repairing.

Deny not the presence of a God-a God there is ;

He sounds his dread thunder, and all the world trembles.' Mr. Abel was greatly disappointed in not meeting with numerous examples of that system of terrace cultivation for which China has been so highly extolled. Like one of the missionaries,' he says, I had imagined China to be an immense garden, cultivated with infinite care, and receiving its chief embellishment from mountains cut into terraces, productive in all kinds of vegetable food; and, like him, I was disappointed in finding them very frequently barren of the means of subsistence from the base to the summit.' His own experience, he tells us, agrees with that of Mr. Barrow, who has observed, that in the whole route from Pekin to Canton terrace cultivation occurred on so small a scale as hardly to deserve notice. It is to be hoped that the venerable Abbé Grozier, who is about to bring out an enlarged edition of his General History of China,' will have corrected the exaggerated statements of the Catholic Missionaries on this as well as on most other subjects connected with that country.

On the arrival of the embassay at Canton, they soon discovered that all the transactions of the Pei-ho and the court of Yuenming-yuen had preceded them; that instructions had reached the viceroy respecting the entertainment of the ambassador, the lecture he was to read to him, and the manner in which he was finally to dismiss him. The ceremony of delivering the Emperor's letter to the Prince Regent, or rather, to the King of England, for the Chinese understand not what a regent is, was more imposing (Mr. Abel assures us) on the part of the English than of the Chinese:' it was chiefly interesting to us (he adds) as affording the spectacle of a petty tyrant shrinking under the calm dignity of an English nobleman; the viceroy, whose lowering brow and gloomy visage strongly expressed his character of cunning, and his feeling of mortified pride, and who had endeavoured, on first meeting his excellency, to assume an overbearing port, grew pale, and his eye sunk under the stern and steady gaze of the English ambassador.' We did not think that Lord Amherst could assume so formidable a look -at all events, we are inclined to think that the presence of Captain Maxwell and the recollection of the guns of the Alceste in passing the Bocca Tigris, were not without their due share in blanking the once bold visage' of the viceroy.

Mr. Abel tells us that the contents of the Emperor's letter to the Prince Regent formed a subject of much speculation with the embassy;' and that there was every reason to expect, judging from

the imperial edicts which had transpired, that it would give a very false and distorted account of all the transactions of the embassy.' This document had also preceded the ambassador, and was circulated among the missionaries in Macao;-so little difficulty do they find in maintaining a rapid communication between the two extremities of this vast empire, notwithstanding their complaints of the vigilance and jealousy of the Chinese! Of this precious epistle we are happily enabled to furnish our readers with a copy-with some loss, we fear, to the spirit of the original, since it has only reached us through the medium of an Italian translation.

The Supreme Sovereign of the earth, who has received it from heaven and revolving time, issues this imperial mandate to the King of England, with the purport of which let him be most fully acquainted.

'Your country, O King, is situated at an immense distance beyond a vast ocean, yet you send to me, in the sincerity of your heart, an offering of devotedness, and turn with a zealous affection to the transforming influences which emanate from the middle kingdom (China).

'On a former occasion, in the fifty-eighth year of Kien-lung, at a time when the reign of the exalted, the honourable, and the immaculate emperor was approaching towards its close, you sent an ambassador across the seas to the residence.

At that time, your ambassador, in approaching the throne with veneration and respect, performed the accustomed ceremony without exceeding or falling short of what is required; and duly observed all the forms with proper decorum; and was then enabled to look up, and to receive the favour and affection of the Son of Heaven; to see his majesty's celestial face; to be entertained at a grand banquet; and to have numerous and valuable presents bestowed upon him.

In this present year you, O King, have thought fit again to send an ambassador to our court, with a written representation, and with orders to present me with the productions of your country on his being introduced to my presence.

I, the Emperor, having reflected that you, O King, had done so in sincerity of heart, and from feelings of respect and obedience, rejoiced exceedingly at this intelligence; I caused forthwith the former records to be examined; and I ordered the proper number of officers of state to await the arrival of your ambassador, that on the very day of his approach to the palace he might, in all due respect, behold the imperial person, and then be entertained with a grand festival, according to all things, and with exactly the same ceremonies which were observed in the preceding reign.

"Your ambassador first began to open his communications at Tientsing. I appointed great officers of state to be there to give to him an imperial feast and entertainment. When, behold! instead of your ambassador returning thanks for this feast, he refused to pay obedience to the prescribed ceremonies.

'I, the