Napier and Watt make the passage of the Himaleh; pass the heads of the Ganges; and by way of Tibit and Kokonor make a descent into China. Junction of the North and
Lake scenery. Si-vin-cin, haranguing his
South corps.
countrymen. His elocution, and manner of delivery in
public speaking. He points out the necessity of a great
change in the celestial empire, and states the nature and
extent of that change. His works. He inscribes his name
in the first tablets of the triptych, and earnestly recommends
Selden and Somers to diffuse the principles of freedom. He de-
fines their respective routes. China is revolutionized, and the
revolutionists take Peking. The enclosures drawn around the
palaces are razed to the ground. The reign of the Manchow
Tartars ceasing, the empire is broken into ten independent
kingdoms. The ten new sceptres are given to natives of emi-
nent ability and worth.
IN four divisions widely spread, the bands
Had passed the Indus. One (whose nimble march
Napier and Watt conducted) turning north,
Now o'er, now through the Koh i Himaleh,
Sought Kobi's sandy deserts. The ascents
Of grey and dark-blue granite yielded spring
To its swift course, and, smitten by the hoofs
Of strong, high-mettled coursers, were, like roads
Of oak, elastic. Soon the Ganges' heads
Were forded, and the British tents o'erspread
The out-skirts of the desert. Only sky
And fiery suns, and, far as eye could pierce,
A flat, vast, circular on every side,
Glared all around them; till a mist was seen,
On the horizon and at noon that day,
The tired sight rested in green lanes, on trees,
And habitations. From the table-land,
This band on Tibet moving down, its toils
By ways circuitous, (so keeping clear
Of perpendicular descents) and steep
Scarce passable acclivities, pursued;
From Tibet passed to hilly Kokonor;
And dropping down the Yellow river sailed
Beneath Shi-wang-ti's wall: which north and
Five hundred leagues ascends each mountain's
And stretches picturesquely o'er its top;
On arches over broadest rivers runs;
And through the border's defiles, plains and vales.
A thousand years have twice o'er-flown its towers.
The bands whose aid Hindostan had engaged
Mean-time advanced, and following the course
The Kiang holds, on Sinim's plains arrived.
Debouching from Ki-ang-sy's mountains, cheered
We looked down from a glen, dark, narrow, wild,
On four great rivers flowing till they met,
And at a confluence formed the Poyang lake,
Re-murmuring in its shingle bed, and there
Assembled on the margin of this lake
Were thousands, Si-vin-cin's disciples. Rolled
The thunders of that sage and orator,
Far heard. His feelings, lively, strong, profound,
So varied a sonorous, tuneful voice,
The Terrible, Pathetic, and Sublime
Respired what he discoursed. So these attuned
His breath, and gave it feeling's varied notes;
As the winds modulate the ocean's voice,
When springing in the south composed gales soar,
And when the north winds rush, and when the
shrill
And penetrating east resounds. His bursts
Of sentiment, delivered unimpaired
By apprehension, tremor, doubt or rage,
In silvery, or harsh tones, came forth in all
Their native energy. The speaker's eyes,
Cool under beetling brows, at will assumed
With varying occasion various looks;
With wisdom laden, would with ease discharge
Their burden, to reseat hilarity,
Or from a mental eminence, like stars,
Seem to sit uttering silent mockery
On all who into their hid nature pryed.
By our approach made bold, his hands he raised
Exulting, and thus gave his thoughts free
"Countrymen, the time to arm is come!
This overloaded empire hath endured
Too long a time. The Central Government,
Whose whole attention should be bent towards
The welfare of the governed, only seeks
Self-preservation. The integrity
Of this unwieldy empire to maintain
From distant ages down to this late hour
The Emperors have laboured. Other ends
They discontinued to pursue. To do
Their duty to their country; to promote
Its general well being, whilst they failed,—
Trade languished; mind forgot its noble powers:
The people lost their moral weight; reform,
Adventure, enterprise, were things unknown.
A monarch's eye, the sunshine of his Court,
A legislature, each broad province needs.
The good which grows up under a king's eye.
Doth wholly perish in the mulberry shade
Of viceroys. The Fooyuen and Tsoogto
Spread out their baneful shadows, where should
The ga nh
One near me great
I state I body
The empus सोळ
Free, dependen
Set o'er each fury
Enthrone en ver
These will exte
Our county west 1260
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