132
Notice of the Works of Sú Tungpo.
MARCIL,
“I shall not iutrude so far on your lordship's time, as to enter at length into a defence, if such be requisite, of the course of quiescent policy, in which I flatter myself I have successfully persevered to the present moment, when 1 rejoice to say everything in this country manifests a state of uninterrupted tranquillity and peace, which I could hardly have ventured to anticipate from the very discordant state of society, the virulent party spirit and default of unanimity and good-will existing among the British cominunity in China, while the important trade of the season is in active, and I trust, successful progress under a tacit and mutual under- standin gand total abstinence and forbearance from communication, on the part of the Chinese and myself. My position has been one of extreme delicacy and difficulty. Succeeding, in pursuance of the instructions under his majesty's royal signet and sign manual, to the high and important office I have the honor to hold, at a crisis when a false step or error in judgment might not only have led to extreme hesita- tion and difficulty in the arrangements which his majesty's government may deem it proper to make for the adjustment of affairs here, and their future ma- nagement and control, but have plunged the whole of his majesty's Commission, all British subjects, and the valuable trade in which they are engaged, as well as perhaps life and property, in great jeopardy, or into an utterly hopeless and inex- tricable state of confusion and discord; my best efforts have been directed to maintain the precise position in which I found myself placed on the departure of Mr. Davis, whose recommendation to that effect has had duc weight with me. Corresp. p. 106.
(To be continued.)
ART. II. Notices of the complete works of Sú Tungpo, comprised
in twenty-six volumes. 8vo. By a Correspondent. THERE was once a period in Chinese history, when the spirit of com- piling and of commentating, had so completely taken possession of the nation, that the whole tribe of literati was at once absorbed in the contemplation of the real and imaginary beauties, which they had discovered in the ancient writings. Almost every nation takes the same turn as soon as the talent for begetting original ideas becomes extinct, of which the Greek scholiasts are proof. But the literary sous of Han are exceedingly unwearied in their researches, bringing together everything they can lay their hands on; no matter whether they be scraps of poetry, rhapsodies, or absordities, if they contain a phrase or even a single character which will elucidate their own opi. nions, they are sure to quote it. And so it happens, that volumes after volumes are filled with nothing, so that one is at a loss to imagine what could possibly have been the intention of such compilations. In this grand science of book-making, however, no race among them
F
!
E
I
:Page 151