The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1868-09-03
The Chinese EmbassyEA Predecessor TO
Mr., thnrllngame-Speech Of Senator

iAftS II NonthlnA.
The necessary result Of the present mis-
siOn will be 10 make the countries vhichit
better known to the Chinese and al
so to make the Chinese better kpoWn to
them. Each will know the other better
and will better comprehend that condition
Of mutual dependence which is the law of
humanity. In the relations among nations,
as in common life, this is Of infinite alu
Thus far, | fear that the Chinese are poor
~ informed with regard to us. | am sure
that we are poorly informed with regard to
them. We know them through the por-
oelain OF our tables, with its rlawless pro-
speetive, aud the tea chest with It's unintel-
hgble hieroPlyphics, there are two pic
lures of them IN the literature OF our Ian
guage, which camot fail to leave an inn
preston. The first is iu Paradise Lost, ~
where Milton, always learned, even in his
poetry. represents Satan as descending in
flight
--on the btren plains
ofsntcaun !, y here Chinese drive
with sails aud wind Their cany wagons light.
The other is in that admirable address on
the study OF the law of nature and nations,
where Sir James Macintosh, in words Of
Singular felicity, alludes to "the tame but
ancient aud immovable civilization of Chi
ma IL will be for MS now to enlarge these
pictures and TO fill the canvas with lie. |
do not know iii has occurred to our hon
ofed plenipotentiary that he is not the first
strano4ls Who. after soiomnins in this dis
tant unknown land, has come back
with messages TO the Christian Powers lie
Il not without apredecessor in his mission.
There is another career as marvellous as his
own. I refer 10 the Venetian Marco Polo,
whose reports, once discredited as the ia
bles of a traveller, are now recognizedamonp
the sources Of history. and Especially OF
geographical knowledge, IL Yps ia the
latter part of the far away thirteenth cen
tury that this enterprisiug Venetian in
company with his father aud uncle, Jour.
neyed from Venice, by the way Of Cohstan-
tinople. Trebizond on the Black Ses and
Asia. until they reached that golden eoun-
try known as Cathny, where the great ruler,
Kubial Khan, treated them with honor,
and employed young Polo as his ambnssa-
doE This was none other than China, and
the great ruler was one Of its Mongolian
Emperors. At last the Venetian, with his
companions. was dismissed with honors
and riches, charged with letters for Euro
peau soyereigns, rs our Bostonian hns let
ters now. There were letters for the Pope,
the King of France. The KifR Of Spain,
and other Christian princes II does not
appear TINT England was expressly desig.
mated. Her name, so great now, was not at
that time on the visiting list Of the distant
Emperor. Polo, with his companions, reached
Venice on his return in 1913 at tho very
time when Dante in Florence was meditat-
ing his divine poem, and when Roger Ba.
con in England was astonishing the age
with his knowledge. These were two OF
his greatest contemporaries. The return
of the Venetian ambassador 10 his native
city wa attended by incidents which have
not occurred among as. Bronzed by long
residence under the sun Of the East, wear.
ing the dress Of q Tartar and speaking his
native language with difficulty, lt was some
time before he could persuade his friends
of his identity. Happily there Is no ques-
ton on the identity Of our returned fellow
citizen; and surely il cannot be said that
he speaks his native language with diff
Guilty. There was q dinner given Mt Venice
rs ut Boston, and the Vcnetinn dinner, af.
ter the lapse Of nearly Eve hundred years,
still lives IN glowing description, On this
occasion Marco Polo, with his companions,
appeared first in long robes of crimson
satin reaching to the floor, which, after the
guests had wished their hands, were
changed for other robes of crimson dam
ask, and then again, after the first course
of the dinner, tor other robes OF crimson
velvet, and at the conclusion OF the
banquet for the ordinary dress
worn by the rent OF the company.
Meanwhile the other costly garments were
distributed in succession among the walters
nt the table. Then WIS brought forward
the coarse thfeadbare clothes in which
they had travelled, when, ON ripping the
lining and patches with Il knife, costly
jewels in sparkling showers, leaped forth
before the eyes Of the company, who for Il
time were m~otoniess with wonder When
at last, says the Italian chronicler, every
doubt wnB banished aud all we've satisfied
that these were the valiant and honorable
gentlemen Of the house of Polo / do not
relate this history in order 10 suggest any
such operation on the dress of Our returned
fellow citizen. Nosuch evidence is needed
TO assure us Of his identity. The success
Of Marco Polo IS attested in other ways.
From the habit of speaking of millions Of
people aud millions of money he was
known az mtIiJHi, or the millionaire, being
the earliest Instance in history OF u desig-
nation 80 common in this prosperous age
But better han millions was the Ruowl-
edge he impaired aud the impulse hat he
gave 10 that science which teaches the
shape Of the globe and the place Of na.
tions ON its face. The work, in which he
dictated ms travels, was translated
into several languages, aud after the inyen-
ton Of printing, was multiplied In
more than fifty editions. Unquestionn-
bly, it prepared the way for the two greatest
geographical discoveries OF modern times
the Cape OF Good Hope by Nasco de
Cana, and the New World by Christopher
Columbus. One of his admirers, n learned
German, does not hesitate osay that when,
in the long series Of ageA, We seek the
three men who by the influence Of then
discoveries have most contributed 10 the
progress Of geography and the knowledge
of the globe, the modest name Of the Ven
etian finds a. place in the same line with
Alexander the Great and ChIi8topher Col.
umbus. 1t is well known that the imagin-
alton OF the Genoese navigator was fired
by the revelations Of the Venetian anC
that in his mind all the countries embraced
by his transcendant discovery were nom
other than the famed Cathay, with its yari
Gus dependencies. In hie report TO til,
! Spanish soyereigls, Cuba was nothing els
than zipang, OF Japan, as described b,
the Venetian, and he thought himseI
near n great Khan, meaning, us h
says. a king of kings Columbus wa
\ mistaken. He had not reached Catha
.ror the great Kahn; but he had discovered
new world, destined in the history Of civil
~ization to be more than Cathay, aud in tn
lapse oftime to welcome the Ambassado
ofthe great Kahn. And this brings me
Mr., Mayor, to the treaty which you iuyite
mo to discuss. But | viii not now entC
Upon this topic. II you didnot edll me I
order for speaking too long, am sure
should be called to order IN another plac
Tor undertaking to speak of \ treaty whic
has not yet been proclaimed by the Pies
dent. One remark l will make, and tal
the consequences. The reaty does nj