ya-yuen to Pekin, as well as the baggage of the embafly. Among the former were fix fmall brafs field - picces, fixed on light carriages, and each firing feveral times in a minute. The deputy, or legate from the Emperor, gave it as his opinion, that the field-pieces fhould be left behind, as the Emperor was to return foon to Pekin; yet the fame man had before fhewn great anxiety that all the prefents fhould accompany the Emperor to Zhe-hol. The gunpowder too, of which there were as many finall barrels as might be used occafionally in falutes, and in exercising the field-pieces and mufquetry of the guard, had become an object of fufpicion. He defired that it might be given up; which was immediately done. His whole conduct feemed to indicate an apprehenfion left the Chinese fhould entertain a higher idea of the prowess of the English nation than of his

own.

letter to the Emperor. His Excellency, in thefe circumftances, determined to fend the fecretary of the embaffy in his room, with a copy of the King's letter, and a memorial relating to the bufinefs of reception at court. The etiquette of the Chinese court not permitting the fecretary to hold, in that capacity, any converfation with the prime minifter, nor even to fit down in his prefence, it became neceffary to make ufe of the commiffion of Minifter Plenipotentiary, which his Majefty had granted to him, to act in cafe of the Ambaffador's abfence or indifpofition. It was announced to the Ambaffador, that his Imperial Majefty would be fatisfied with the fame form of refpectful obeifance from the Englifh, which they had been accuftomed to pay to their own fovereign; and the day before the birthday of the Emperor, the 17th of September, was appointed for the reception of the British embafly. In the interval, fuch of the prefents as had been brought to Zhe-hol were carried to the palace; and very civil meffages, implying the fatisfaction they gave to his Imperial Majefty, were conveyed to the Ambaffador. His Excellency now paid a private vifit to the Colao, who received him with franknefs and affability; but he found it neceffary to ufe great tenderness, as well as very qualified expreffions in conveying any idea that a connection between Great Britain and China could be of any importance to the latter. Such were the real or affected notions entertained by the Chinese government of the fuperiority and independence of the empire, that no tranfaction with foreigners was admiffible by it, on the ground of reciprocal advantage;

but,

but, on the part of the former, as an act of condefcenfion, grace, and mercy to other nations, who came in queft of fome portion of the good things of China. The Ambaffador was not unwilling to negotiate, even on these terms. On the day of the Ambaflador's prefentation to the Emperor, moft of his family attended. The tributary princes, thofe of the Imperial family, and the great mandarins of the court, formed together no inconfiderable groupe, while they were waiting in front of the great tent erected for the Emperor in the garden of Zhe-hol. Each was decorated with diftinctive marks of the rank beftowed on him by the Emperor. Before the Emperor's arrival, the Ambaffador's fmall tent was filled with a fucceffion of vifitors. Soon after day-light the found of feveral inftruments, and the confused voices of men at a diftance, announced the approach of the Emperor. He foon appeared from behind a high and perpendicular mountain, fkirted with trees, as if from a facred grove, preceded by a number of perfons bufied in proclaiming aloud his virtues and his power. He was feated in a fort of open chair, or triumphal car, borne by fixteen men, and was accompanied and followed by guards, officers of the houfhold, high flag and umbrella bearers, and mufic. He was clad in plain dark filk, with a velvet bonnet, not much different in form from that of the Scotch. On the front of it was placed a large pearl; the only jewel, or ornament, he appeared to have about him.

For the purpote of correfponding with Chinefe ideas and manners, the British Ambafador was

clad in a richly embroidered fuit of velvet, adorned with a diamond badge and ftar, of the order of the Bath; over the fuit he wore a man, tle of the fame order, fufficiently ample to cover the limbs of the wearer. The Secretary of Lega. tion, and Minifter Plenipotentiary, being an Honorary Doctor of Laws of the univerfity of Oxford, wore the fcarlet gown of that degree, which happened alfo to be fuitable in a government where degrees in learning lead to every kind of political fituation. The Ambaffador, inftructed by the Prefident of the Tribunal of Rites, held a large and magnificent fquare box of gold, adorned with jewels, in which was inclofed his Majefty's letter to the Emperor, between both hands lifted above his head, and in that manner afcending the few steps that led to the throne, and bending on one knee, prefented the box with a fhort addrefs to his Imperial Majefty; who, receiving it with his own hands, placed it by his fide. Throughout the whole day the Emperor was very attentive to his European guefts, and expreffed the fatisfaction he felt at the teftimony which his Britannic Majefty gave to him of his esteem and goodwill in fending him an embaffy, with a letter and rare prefents;. that he, on his part, entertained fentiments of the fame kind towards the fovereign of Great Britain, and hoped that harmony would always be maintained among their refpective fubjects.

His Imperial Majefty, after a little more converfation with the Ambaffador, gave, as the first prefent from him to his Majefty, a gem, or precious ftone, as it was called by the Chinese, and ac

counted

counted by them of high value. It was upwards of a foot in length, and curioufly carved into a form intended to refemble a fceptre, fuch as is always placed upon the Imperial throne, and is confidered as emblematic of profperity and peace. During the repaft, he fent them feveral dishes from his own table; and when it was over he fent for them, and with his own hands prefented to them a goblet of warm Chinese wine, not unlike Madeira of an inferior quality. He afked the Ambaffador the age of his own fovereign; of which being informed, he immediately replied, that he heartily wifhed him to equal himfelf in years, which had already amounted to eighty-three, and with as perfect health. He was indeed yet fo hale and vigorous, that he fcarcely appeared to have exifted as many years(fifty-feven) as, in fact, he had governed the empire. When the feftival was entirely over, and he defcended from his throne, he marched firm and erect, and without the leaft fymptom of infirmity, to the open chair that was waiting for him.

Soon after the Ambaffador's return home, he received from the Emperor prefents of filks, porcelain, and tea for himself and all the gentlemen of his fuite. Prefents were repeatedly fent to the Ambaffador and all his fuite. Some fmall tokens of his Imperial Majefty were given to the meaneft fervant of the embaffy, and even to the common men, as well as officers, of the fhips which had brought it to China.

The Ambaffador and his fuite were invited on the day after his prefentation, to the celebration of

the anniversary of his Imperial Majefty's birth-day: a feftivity which was continued for several fucceffive days; during which, various entertainments were exhibited to advantage on the lawn, in the open air, before his Imperial Majesty's great tent.

After the feftivities were over, the Tartar princes began to prepare for their return home; and ioon after, the Ambaffador, preceded by the Emperor, returned to Pekin.

On the whole, the embaffy was conducted with the greateft prudence and propriety, decorum and dignity, by Lord Macartney; nor did he neglect any means, by con ferences with the prime minifter, and otherwife, to effect his object: and it was received with all the politenefs, pomp, and munificent hofpitality that were to be expected from a fovereign prince, whose character deservedly holds a high place in the long lift of the Emperors of China. But the end correfponded not with the means by which it was fought, nor yet with the flattering appearances that feemed to promife its accomplishment. The inveterate jealoufy of foreigners was heightened by recent reports. In a war in 1791, in which the Emperor of China took part with the Lama, in oppofition to the Rajah of Napaul, it was reprefented at the court of Pekin, by the General who had commanded the forces in Thibet, and his officers, that the Chinese army had met with more refistance, and fuffered greater loffes than could have been forefeen from fuch an enemy as was expected to be encountered. They had perceived hats, they faid, as well as

turbans,

turbans, among their enemies; European troops and European difcipline; and thofe Europeans they fuppofed to be English. The new French principles, too, were nowhere more detefted and dreaded than in China. These coming, as well as the embaffy from the weft, rendered the government averfe to any extenfion of intercourfe with that quarter of the world. In thefe circumftances, the allufions to the power of Great Britain, in the let ter of his Britannic Majefty, and in the memorials and conferences between the British Ambassador and the Chinese minifter, as well as the famples exhibited of our military difcipline and art, may be fuppofed to have contributed to the counteraction of the defign they were intended to promote.

Soon after the return of the court to Pekin, the Ambaffador received an invitation from the Grand Colao to Yuen-min-yuen; where he had a converfation with him on the fubject of the embally. The Colzo being informed of the intended departure of the Lion, faid He hoped that fhip was not yet gone, but would wait to carry back the embaffy--that the Emperor upon first hearing of the Ambaftador's illnefs, and the lofs of fome perfons of his fuite, by death, fince his arrival in China, had remarked how much foreigners were liable to fuffer from the fevere winters of Pekin; and being apprehenfive that the prefent vititors would run great rifks of injuring their healths materially by continuing there, 'thought it might be defirable for them to fet out before the rivers and canals were frozen, which fometimes took place very early, and on a fudden; as the route by land was neceflarily fatiguing and inconvenient," The

Colao added, on his part, "that as to the feaft of the new year, for which he fuppofed his Excellency might with to wait, it was nothing more than a repetition of what he had feen already at Zhe-hol."

If the real meaning of this affected folicitude for the health of the Ambaffador could have been misunderstood, it would have been fufficiently illuftrated by the intimation that the Emperor's letter to the King of England would be prefented to the Ambaflador next day; with a hint, at the fame time, that this was a fignal for departure. On the evening of the fame day the Emperor's anfwer was brought in ftate to the Ambaffador's hotel. On the morning of the 7th of October the prime minifter, with other Colaos, came to a pavilion within the gates of Pekin, to go through the ceremonies of parting with the, Ambaffador. They communicated to him the moft gracious expreffions, and, together with a list of prefents to the King of England, inclofed in a number of chefts, an antwer to the demands which had been lately made by the Ambaffador. The nature of this answer, though not announced by the Colao, was evident from his total filence on the fubject. Among the prefents fent to the King of England, was a copy of verfes compofed by his Imperial Majefty, fraught with moral and political truths, and conceived with much taste and fancy; and fome curious and precious gems, which he particularly valued from their having been for eight centuries in his family; and which he now gave as an earnest of perpetual friendship.

The Ambaffador, after parting with the Emperor's minifters, attended by his former retinue of

English