are joined together on the breast, and bow their head a
little. If they respect a person, they raise their hands joined, and
then lower them to the earth in bending the body. If two persons meet
after a long separation, they both fall on their knees and bend the face
to the earth, and this ceremony they repeat two or three times. Surely
we may differ here with the sentiment of Montaigne, and confess this
ceremony to be ridiculous. It arises from their national affectation.
They substitute artificial ceremonies for natural actions.

Their expressions mean as little as their ceremonies. If a Chinese is
asked how he finds himself in health, he answers, _Very well; thanks to
your abundant felicity_. If they would tell a man that he looks well,
they say, _Prosperity is painted on your face_: or, _Your air announces
your happiness_.

If you render them any service, they say, _My thanks shall be immortal_.
If you praise them, they answer, _How shall I dare to persuade myself of
what you say of me_? If you dine with them, they tell you at parting,
_We have not treated you with sufficient distinction_. The various
titles they invent for each other it would be impossible to translate.

It is to be observed that all these answers are prescribed by the
Chinese ritual, or Academy of Compliments. There, are determined the
number of bows: the expressions to be employed; the genuflexions, and
the inclinations which are to be made to the right or left hand; the
salutations of the master before the chair where the stranger is to be
seated, for he salutes it most profoundly, and wipes the dust away with
the skirts of his robe; all these and other things are noticed, even to
the silent gestures by which you are entreated to enter the house. The
lower class of people are equally nice in these punctilios; and
ambassadors pass forty days in practising them before they are enabled
to appear at court. A tribunal of ceremonies has been erected; and every
day very odd decrees are issued, to which the Chinese most religiously
submit.

The marks of honour are frequently arbitrary; to be seated with us is a
mark of repose and familiarity; to stand up, that of respect. There are
countries, however, in which princes will only be addressed by persons
who are seated, and it is considered as a favour to be permitted to
stand in their presence. This custom prevails in despotic countries; a
despot cannot suffer without disgust the elevated figure of hi