they inhabit. The Manchus are of a lighter complexion and slightly heavier build than the Chinese, have the same conformation of the eyelids, but rather more beard, and their countenances present greater intellectual capacity. They seem to partake of both the Mongol and Chinese character, possessing more determination and largeness of plan than the latter, with much of the rudeness and haughtiness of the former. Barrow says, some of those whom he saw at Peking classed among the Manchus, had fair and florid complexions, a few had blue eyes, straight or aquiline noses, brown hair and heavy beards; the emperor Kienlung himself had some of these characteristics. They are evidently a mixed people, but have more affinities with the Chinese than the Mongolian race, though great pains have been taken to keep them distinct from both since the conquest of the country. The climate of Manchuria is milder than that of Mongolia, and the inhabitants of Liautung are more stationary and civilized than those on the stepps; literary pursuits are more esteemed, and they are not so much under the power of the priesthood. The Manchus, in short, may be regarded as the most improvable race in Central Asia, if not on the continent, and the skill with which they have governed the Chinese empire, and the improvement they have made in their own condition during the same time, give promise of still further advances, when they become familiar with the civilization of Christian lands.

Under the term Mongols or Moguls, a great number of tribes occupying the valleys and stepps of Central Asia, are comprised. They extend from the borders of the Kirghis stepp and Kokand, eastward to the Sialkoi mountains; and it is particularly to this race that the name Tartars or Tatars is applicable. This latter term has been used as vaguely as the word Indian in America, and the designation Cherokee or Carib Indians is quite analogous to that of Usbeck or Kalkas Tartars. No such word as Tartar is now known among the people, and the use in European books of Tartars and Tartary should be discontinued. Klaproth confines the appellation of Tartars to the Mongols, Kalmucks, Kalkas, Eleuths, and Buriats, while the Kirghis, Usbecks, Cossacks, and Turks are of Kurdish and Turkoman origin: neither Tartars nor Turks have many points of similarity with the Manchus. The Kalkas tribes constitute the majority of the Mongols at present under Chinese sway.

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The Mongol tribes generally are a stout, squat, swarthy, 4 ill-favored race of men, having high and broad shoulders, short, broad noses, pointed and prominent chins, long teeth distant from each other, eyes black, elliptical, and unsteady,-thick, short necks, extremities bony and nervous, muscular thighs, but short legs, with a stature nearly or quite equal to the European. They are nomadic in their habits, and subsist on animal food, derived chiefly from their flocks and herds. They have a written language, but their literature is limited and mostly religious; the same language is spoken by all the tribes, with slight variations and only a small admixture of foreign words. Most of the accounts Europeans possess of their origin, their wars, and their habits, were written by foreigners living or travelling among them; but they themselves, as McCulloch remarks, know as little of these things as rats or marmots do of their descent. The fate of the vast swarms of this race which have descended from the table land of Central Asia, and overrun the plains of India, China, Syria, Egypt, and Eastern Europe in different ages, and the rise and fall of the gigantic empire they themselves erected under Genghis in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, are among the most remarkable episodes in the world's history. They have always maintained the same character in their native wilds, and their conquests have been exterminations rather than subjugations. The number of petty tribes and families of this race within the limits of the Chinese empire is not known. In Inner Mongolia, there are twenty-four aimaks or tribes, arranged under six chalkans; in Outer Mongolia, the Kalkas are governed by four khans. The Ortous, Tsakhars, Eleuths, and Kortchin, are the largest tribes, next to the Kalkas. The Tourgouths, Hoshoits, Tourbeths, Choros, and Khoits, are among the tribes dwelling in Koko-nor. In Ílí, the Mongols are mixed up with and subordinate to tribes of Turkish origin; the former are mostly Budhists, while the latter are bigoted Mohammedans.

The last of the five races is the Tibetans, who partake of the physical characteristics of the Mongols and Hindus. They are described as short, squat, and broad-shouldered in body, with angular faces, wide, high cheek bones, small black eyes, and little beard. They are mild in disposition, have a stronger religious feeling than the Chinese, and have never left their own highlands either for emigration or conquest. Their civilization is fully

equal to that of the Siamese and Burmese, and life and property are more secure than among their turbulent neighbors in Butan, Lahore, or Caubul. There are, no doubt, other variations in the language, habits, and features of the inhabitants of this vast region extending over thirty degrees of longitude and nine of latitude, but they are not important enough to be particularly noticed.

It will be seen from this brief survey, that a full account of the geography, government, manners, literature, and civilization of so large a part of the world and its inhabitants, requires the combined labors of many observers, all of them well acquainted with the languages and institutions of the people whom they describe. No one will look, therefore, for more than a brief outline of these subjects in the present work-minute enough, however, to enable them to form a fair opinion of the people. The industry of the Chinese has given them their commanding place among the nations of the earth, and their superiority over all their neighbors is owing chiefly to this virtue. Not only has the indigenous vegetation been superseded wherever culture would remunerate their toil, but high hills have been tilled and terraced almost to their tops; cities have been built upon them, and extensive ranges of wall erected along their summits. They practise upon a vast scale all the industrial arts, whether rural or manufacturing, and maintain the largest population ever united under one system of rule. Ten centuries ago they were the most civilized nation on earth, and the incredulity manifested inEurope, five hundred years ago, at the recitals of Marco Polo, regarding their condition, is the counterpart of the sentiments now expressed by the Chinese when they hear of the power and grandeur of western nations.

Their civilization has been developed under peculiar forms and influences, and must be compared to, rather than judged of, by European; the dissimilarity is as wide, perhaps, as can possibly exist between two races of beings, having the same common nature and wants. A people, from whom some of the most distinguishing inventions of modern Europe came (such as the compass, porcelain, gunpowder, and printing), and were known and practised many centuries earlier,—who probably amount to more than three hundred millions, united in one system of manners, letters, and polity,-whose cities and capitals rival in num

ATTAINMENTS IN CIVILIZATION.

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bers the greatest metropoles of any age,-who have not only covered the earth but the waters with towns and streets :-such a nation must occupy a conspicuous place in the history of mankind, and the study of their character and condition commend itself to every well-wisher of his race.

It has been too much the custom of writers to overlook the influence of the Bible upon modern civilization; but when a comparison is to be drawn between European and Asiatic civilization, this element forces itself upon the attention as the main cause of the superiority of the former. It is not the civilization of luxury or of letters, of arts or of priestcraft; it is not the spirit of war, the passion for money, nor the application of machinery, that render a nation permanently great and prosperous. "Christianity is the summary of all civilization," says Chenevix; "it contains every argument which could be urged in its support, and every precept which explains its nature. Former systems of religion were in conformity with luxury, but this alone seems to have been conceived for the regions of civilization. It has flourished in Europe, while it has decayed in Asia, and the most civilized nations are the most purely Christian." Christianity is essentially the religion of the people, and when it is covered over with forms and contracted into a priesthood, its vitality goes out; this is one reason why it has declined in Asia. The attainments of the Chinese in the arts of life are perhaps as great as they can be without this spring of action, without any other motives to industry, obedience, and morality, than the commands or demands of the present life.

A general survey of the world and its various races in successive ages leads one to infer, that God has some plan of national character; and that one nation exhibits the development of one trait, while another race gives prominence to another, and subordinates the first. Thus the Egyptian people were eminently a priestly race, a vast body of undertakers; the Greeks developed the imaginative powers, excelling all others in sculpture, poetry, and art; the Romans were warlike; the Babylonians and Persians magnificent, like the head of gold in the vision; the Arabs predacious, volatile, and imaginative; the Turks stolid, bigoted, and impassible; the Hindus are contemplative, religious, and metaphysical; the Chinese industrious, peaceful, literary, atheistic, and conceited. The same religion, and constant intercommuni

cation among European nations, assimilates them more than other races ever were before; but every one knows the national peculiarities of the Spaniards, Italians, French, English, &c., and how they are maintained, notwithstanding the motives to imitation and coalescence. The comparison of national character and civilization, with the view of ascertaining such a plan, is a subject worthy the profound study of any scholar, and one which would offer new views of the human race. The Chinese would be found to have attained, it is believed, a higher position in general security of life and property, and in the arts of domestic life and comfort among the mass, and a greater degree of general literary intelligence, than any other heathen or Mohammedan nation that ever existed,—or indeed than some now calling themselves Christian, as Abyssinia. They have, however, probably done all they can do, reached as high a point as they can without the Gospel; and its introduction, with its attendant influences, will erelong change their political and social system. The progress of this revolution among so mighty a mass of human beings will form one of the most interesting parts of the history of the world during the nineteenth century, and solve the problem, whether it be possible to elevate a race without the intermediate steps of disorganization and reconstruction.