They recognised that I must be a traveller of importance, despite the smallness of my retinue and the homeliness of my attire; and they acknowledged my superiority.

Had I been content with a humbler place, it would quickly have been reported along the road, and, little by little, my complacence would have been tested.

I am perfectly sure that, by never verging from my position of superiority, I gained the respect of the Chinese, and it is largely to this I attribute the universal respect and attention shown me during the journey.

For I was unarmed, entirely dependent upon the Chinese, and, for all practical purposes, inarticulate.

As it was, I never had any difficulty whatever.
Chinese etiquette pays great attention to the question of position; so important, indeed, is it that, when a carriage was taken by Lord Macartney's Embassy to Peking as a present, or, as the Chinese said, as tribute to the Emperor Kienlung, great offence was caused by the arrangement of the seats requiring the driver to sit on a higher level than His Majesty.