ingenuity may be reckoned much superior to any thing which has hitherto been exhibited in that art in Europe. A convex lens is among the usual appendages to the tobacco pipe. With these they are in the daily habit of lighting their pipes. Hence the great burning lens made by Mr. Parker of Fleet-Street, and carried out among the presents for the Emperor, was an object that excited no admiration in the minds of the Chinese. The difficulty of making a lens of such magnitude perfect, or free from flaw, and its extraordinary powers could not be understood, and consequently not appreciated by them: and although in the short space of four seconds it completely melted down one of their base copper coins, when the sun was more than forty degrees beyond the meridian, it made no impression of surprize on their uninformed minds. The only enquiry they made about it was, whether the substance was crystal; but being informed it was glass, they turned away with a sort of disdain, as if they would say, Is a lump of glass a proper present to offer to our great _Whang-tee_? The prime minister, _Ho-tchung-tang_, in order to convince us how very familiar articles of such a nature were to him, lighted his pipe very composedly at the focus, but had a narrow escape from singeing his sattin sleeve, which would certainly have happened had I not given him a sudden push. He seemed, however, to be insensible of his danger, and walked off without the least concern. Indeed, in selecting the many valuable presents relating to science, their knowledge and learning had been greatly overrated. They had little esteem for what they could not comprehend, and specimens of art served only to excite their jealousy, and to wound their pride. Whenever a future embassy shall be sent to Pekin, I should recommend articles of gold, silver, and steel, children's toys and trinkets, and perhaps a few specimens of Derbyshire spar, with the finest broad-cloth and kerseymeres, in preference to all others; for in their present state, they are totally incapable of appreciating any thing great or excellent in the arts and sciences.