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all public fervice. The only fon of a father who has reached the age of four score, enjoys the fame privilege; the whole family of him who has • reached ninety; and, lastly, the fons of all thofe who are obliged to attend upon the fick.'

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When we read thefe inftructions, can we help exclaiming-What excel lent morality! what wife precepts refpeating relative duties!" and what lef fons of humanity! We shall now proceed to fome others, of a different kind which will afford ample matter for certain reflections.

Permit not the murderer of your father to breathe the fame air with you. Never lay afide your arms, while he lives who hath deprived a brother of existence; and inhabit not the fame ⚫ kingdom with him who hath destroy⚫ed your friend.

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• When Confucius was afked, in what manner a fon ought to behave towards the enemy of his father, this philofopher replied-He ought to fleep dreffed in mourning, and to have no other pillow but his arms?

Thefe two articles feem contradic tory to the law, which punishes with death every murderer, and even thofe who act in felf-defence.

It may, however, be fuppofed, that it contains an exception in favour of thofe who have taken away the life of another in defending a father, or to revenge his death. We have already feen, that the Emperor of China is confidered as the common father of the whole nation: filial piety extends even to him; and he himself gives an example of this virtue before he fucceeds his father. He never really affumes his place until the time prefcribed for mourning be expired; and the term of mourning continues three years. During this interval, the helm of affairs is managed by a certain number of mandarins, who are appointed for that purpose.

The refpect which the Chinese fhew towards the dead, is equal to that which they fhew to parents of an ad

vanced age, while living. If the em peror happens to meet a funeral proceffion when he goes abroad, he never fails to fend fome of his attendants to condole with the relations of the deceased.

The heir-apparent to the throne is carefully inftructed in the reciprocal duties of a father and fon, prince and fubject. He is often told, that a fon who knows and practifes his duty, will equally difcharge the obligations of a father; that a prince, born for the throne, qualifies himself for be ing a fovereign, when he has learned what is required in a good subject; and, laftly, that to be able to command, one must first study to obey.

The endeavours of moralifts to maintain and promote filial refpect, have received no small support from the in fluence of government and the authority of laws. The obfervance of this virtue is ftrongly inculcated in all the public schools of the empire; it is even that part of education which is firft taught, and on which the greatest attention is beftowed. The laws alfo have regulated, with the greatest precifion and accuracy, the relative obligations of children and parents; of younger and elder children; of hufbands and wives; of uncles and nephews, &c. Gentle chaftifement is employed to restrain on the one hand, while flattering rewards give encou• ragement on the other.

One of the most powerful means employed by the emperor of China, to maintain and encourage the obfer vance of filial duty, has always been, to grant only to fathers, whether li ving or dead, thofe marks of diftinc tron which their fons might have merited on their own account. The example we are going to give is ancient; but we think proper to relate it, be caufe it is ftriking. Chouantzee, whofe fon had been the prime minister of the prince of Ouci, having died, the fon begged that fome title of honour might be conferred upon his father. The prince replied, When the kingdom

of

of Ouei was defolated by famine, your father diftributed rice to thofe who were in greatest diftrefs-What be'neficence! The kingdom of Ouci was ⚫ then almost on the eve of its decline; your father defended its interefts at the hazard of his life-What fidelity! the government of the kingdom of Ouci, having been intrufted to the 'care of your father, he enacted ma⚫ny excellent laws, maintained peace and friendship with all the neighbouring princes, and preferved the rights and prerogatives of my crown • -- What wifdom! The title of honour therefore which I confer upon him, ' is that of Tchin-ouei-oven, wife, faith" ful, and beneficent.'

Every thing here attributed to the father, had been effected by the fon; but in China the father has the merit of every good action which the fon performs.

Before we finish, we muft touch apon fome of the manners and customs of the Chinese; for in this fingular

Scarcely has the fun appeared above the horizon, when the mandarins of all the tribunals repair to the palace, where they range themfelves in a line according to their rank, in that court, which feparates the hall of audience from the interior gate of the palace: they are all dreffed in their robes of ceremony. The princes and lords of the royal family, invested with particular diftinguishing badges, are placed in a line in the fame court according to the rank which they hold in the empire. When the emperor leaves his chamber to pay his refpects to his mo ther, he enters his chair of state, in which he is carried to her apartment, although the diftance is very fmall: This apartment is fituated in the interior part of the palace, and is feparated from that of the emperor only by a few courts. Thofe who bear the infignia of the empire, that is to fay, the maces, pikes, standards, &c. have fcarcely advanced a few paces, altho' they stand so close, that they

empire filial duty depends as much up-almoft touch one another, when they

are arrived at the first court of the palace of the emprefs-mother, where

on thefe as on the laws themselves; and what decidedly proves it, is, that the emperor conforms to cuftomary e-they range themfelves in two lines. tiquette with as much strictness as the

The mandarins also range themselves

meaneft of his fubjects. Should he ap-in two lines, and the princes of the pear deficient in this refpect, he would blood and lords of the royal family be guilty of the greatest political error do the fame in the third court, which he could poflibly commit. Filial duty is oppofite to the hall that contains commences in families, and rises step the throne of the emprefs-mother. by step to the common father, who The emperor quits his chair in the furpaffes even the meaneft of his fub- veftibule of this court, and croffes it jects, either in that kind of reverence on foot. He then afcends the east which is confidered as due to ancefern ftair-cafe fit would be disrespect tors, or in his conduct to the empressful to go up by that in the middle) mother, if the furvives her husband. which conducts to the platform on No mother in the world, of whatever which the emprefs-mother's hall of rank the may be, is fo highly honour-audience is placed. When he reach ed and refpected, and in fo public aes the covered gallery, which forms

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apartment. The petition is carried to the interior part of the hall, and the mufic of the emprefs-band announces the emperor's departure. The emperor's band then play in turn, after which the mandarin of the Li-psu goes and proftrates himfelf before the prince, informs him that the ceremony is ended, and in.

and affection which he is about to pay her. The mandarin eunuch, to whom the petition is delivered, carries it to the interior apartments. The empress then, dreffed in a habit of ceremony, comes forth from her chamber, followed by her whole court, and ascends her throne. The ⚫ mandarin eunuch informs the mandarin of the Li-pou, who generallyvites him to return to his apartment. is the prefident of this tribunal, that the empress is ready. The latter throws himself upon his knees, and begs the emperor to pay his filial re'fpects to his molt auguft mother. The emperor advances through the gallery, which is oppofite to his mo

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The emperor's mufic then founds, the prince defcends by the eatern ftair-cafe, croffes the court on foot, and does not enter his chair until

he reaches the veftibule in which he left it. His attendants obferve the fame order in returning as they did

ther's throne, and stands in an up-before. As foon as the emperor has

right pofture, having the fleeves of

his garment pulled down, and his

arms hanging by his fide. The prin

reached his apartment, the reigning emprefs, followed by all the prin ceffes and ladies of the imperial fa

ces who are at the bottom of themily, goes alfo to make her proftra

· court, and the mandarins who are
placed in the next, do the fame.with the fame ceremonial.'
The emperor's band of musicians,
and that of the emprefs, play in con-
cert the air ping, which is exceed.
ingly foft and tender. A mandarin
then cries with a loud voice, Kneel,
• and immediately the emperor, prin-
ces, and all the mandarins fall upon
their knees. A moment after, the
• faine mandarin cries, Proftrate your-
felves, upon which they all incline
themfelves with their faces towards
the earth. The mandarin next cries
out, Raife your bodies, and every one
returns to his former pofture; but,
when after three proftrations, he a-
gain cries, Rife up, then the emper-
or, princes, and all the mandarins
rife, and ftand erect in their firft pof-
ture, then fall on their knees, make
three new proftrations; then again
rife, and again fall on their knees,
and incline themselves to the earth
in the fame manner as before. Af
⚫ter thefe nine proftrations, the man-
⚫darin of the Li-pou falls on his knees,
and prefents a fecond petition to the
emperor, in which the emprefs-mo-
ther requests him to return to his

tions before the emprefs-mother, and

This ceremony is obferved with the moft rigid minutenefs in every point. The following is a ftriking proof of it. The emperor, besides this ceremony on the commencement of the new year, is obliged to vifit his mother every five days. The prefent emperor, till he reached the age of fixty-three, had never once neglected to perform this duty in all its formalities. That of crolling the court on foot, in the middle of Winter, might have incommoded him, efpecially when the fharp North wind blew with cutting feve rity: yet he never once thought of omitting that part of the ceremony. The exprefs-mother was obliged to grant him a difpenfation for this pur pofe, by a public declaration, registered according to form. She there ordered her fon to take care of his dear health, to pafs through the lateral gate of the court when he came to vift her, and not to expofe himself to the cold air, by quitting his chair, unul he fhould reach the gallery which is before her apartment.

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Of the Patagonians, formed from the Relation of Father Falkenet, a Jefuit, who had refided among them thirty-eight years, and from the different Voya who had met with this tall race. Frinted by the Friendship of George Allan, Efq; at his private Prefs at Darlington, 1788, 4to*.

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HIS little piece is a letter ad--Magellan firft faw one of them in 1519: he was afterwards vifited by numbers of them. Their height was about feven feet (French), but the firit he faw was taller. In 1525 Garcia de Louifa faw fome men of great ftature, but does not mention their height. In 1586 Sir Thomas Cavendish meafured one of their foot-fteps, which was eighteen inches long. Anthony Knetet, who failed with Sir Thomas in his fecond voyage, faw fome of thefe men fifteen or fixteen fpans high, and meafured the bodies of two recently buried, which were fourteen fpans long; after this three Dutchmen, at different times, faw fome men' of a gigantic ftature, one of whom thought they were ten or eleven feet high. Le Maire and Schovten found. fome skeletons ten or eleven feet long.. In 1618 Gracias de Nodal, a Spaniard, trafficked with men taller by the head than Europeans, on the fouth fide of the Straits of Magellan ;, and in 1642 Henry Brewer, a Dutchman, obferved in the Straits of La Maire foot-fteps of men which meafured eighteen inches. Thefe are the only two inftances of their being found on this fide of the straits. Sir Francis Drake, however, and two other, voyagers, in the 16th, and four more in the 17th century, faw none of these people.

T dreffed to the Hon. Daines

Barringten, by Mr Pennant, and dated from Dowing, Novemb. 28, 1771. It feems to have been written in confequence of a promife made fome time before, occafioned by a converfation on the fubject of the Patagonians, where feveral opinions arofe, fome favouring of fcepticifm.' A preface, dated March 1, 1788, gives a fhort ac. count of Father Falkener, to whom the author paid a visit, exprefsly for the purpofe of obtaining information on this fubject.

Father Falkener was, at the time of this visit, about feventy years of age, active in mind and body, brufque in his manners, and very communicative. He was born at Manchester; about 1731 was a furgeon in the Affiento fhip, in that year was made a convert to Popery at Buenos Ayres, was in due time admitted of the fociety of Jefuits, and was fent on the miffion of Paraguay. He pafied thirty-eight years of his life in the fouthern parts of South America, between the river La Plata and the ftraits of Magellan. By his long intercourfe with the inhabitants of Platonia,' fays our author, he seems to have loft all European guile, and to have acquired all the fimplicity and honeft impetuofity of the people he has been fo long converfant with.'

In the prefent century there are only two evidences of their exiftence.. In 1704 the crew of a fhip, belonging to St Maloes, faw fome of thein. In the Philof. Tranfact. for 1767, p. 75,. is an account given by Mr Clarke, an officer in Mr Byron's fhip, who had an opportunity of ftanding for two

Mr Pennant begins with obferving, that he will only give as much of Mr Falkener's narrative as that gentleman could vouch for the authenticity of, as having been an eye-witnefs to. He then proceeds to notice all who have mentioned thefe extraordinary people. VOL. VII. No 42. 3 E

Analytical Review.

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hours within a few yards of this race, and feeing them examined, and one measured by Mr Byron, who, though fix feet high, could fcarce when on tip-toe reach the top of the Patagonian's head. He affures us, that none of the men were lower than eight feet, fome even exceeded nine, and the women were from feven and a half to eight feet. Neither Mr Wallis nor Mr Bougainville met with any people approaching to fuch a height.

Let us now hear Mr Falkener.About the year 1742 he was fent on a miflion to the vaft plains of Pampas: there he first met with fome tribes of thefe people. The talleft which he meafured, in the fame manner that Mr Byron did, was feven feet cight inches high; the common height was fix feet, and there were numbers fhort

er.

The tallest women did not exceed fix feet. They are fuppofed to be a race derived from the Chilian Indians, the Puelches, who defeated and deftroyed the Spaniard Baldavia. They dwell in large tents covered with the hides of mares, and divided within into apartments for the different ranks of the family, by a fort of blanketing. They are a moft migratory people: the women, like the females of all fayage countries, undergo all the laborious work. Their food is (almost entirely) animal. Their drink is water, except when certain fpecies of fruit are ripe, of which they make a fermenting liquor, called chucka, common to many parts of South America, with which they intoxicate themfelves. There are two fruits of this kind, one called algarrova, which they eat as bread, the other molie. Their cloathing is either a mantle of fkins, or of woollen cloth, manufactured by themselves. They have naturally beards, but they generally pluck up the hairs, though fome leave muftaches.

The flings which they use in the chace of horfes, cattle, or oftriches,

have a ftone fixed to each end, and fometimes a thong, with a third stone, is faftened to the middle of the other: thefe, with amazing dexterity, they fling round the objects of the chace, be they beafts or oftriches, which entangle them fo that they cannot ftir. The Indians leave them, I may fay, thus tied neck and heels, and go in purfuit of fresh game; and having finished their fport return to pick up the animals they left fecured in the flings.'

Their commerce with the Europeans has corrupted them greatly, taught them the vice of dram-drinking, and been a dreadful obftacle to their moral improvement.'- The ve nereal diffemper is common among them. They do not fpeak of it as an exotic diforder, fo probably it is aboriginal.'

In refpect to religion they allow two principles, a good and a bad. The good they call the Creator of all things; but confider him as one that after that never folicits himself about them. He is ftyled by fome Soucha, or chief in the land of ftrong drink; by others Gauyara-cunree, or Lord of the dead. The evil principle is called Hueccave, or the wanderer without. Sometimes thefe (for there are feveral) are fuppofed to prefide over par ticular perfons, protect their own people, or injure others. Thefe are likewife called Valuchi, or dwellers in the air?

They have priefts and priefteffes, juft fuch jugglers as thofe of all other barbarous nations.

The Puelches have a notion of a future ftate, and imagine that after death they are to be tranfported to a country, where the fruits of inebriation are eternal; there to live in im mortal drunkennefs, and the perpetual chace of the oftrich.'

The skeletons of their dead, after the flesh and intrails have been burnt, if perfons of eminence, are tranfport

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