mation was given to the officers of government, and the crew of the junk, with their ill-gotten gains, were seized on arriving at their port of destination in Fokien. Having been found guilty by the court in their own district, they were sent down to Canton by order of the Emperor, to the Unchat-see (criminal judge,) to be confronted with the young French sailor. This trial is represented in the painting. The prisoners were taken out of their cages, as seen in the foreground. The Frenchman recognised seventeen out of the twenty-four, but when the passenger who had been his friend was brought in, the two eagerly embraced each other, which scene is also portrayed in the painting. An explanation of this extraordinary act was made to the judge, and the man forthwith set at liberty. A purse was made up for him by the Chinese and foreigners, and he was soon on his way homeward. The seventeen were decapitated in a few days, in the presence of the foreigners; the captain was put to a "lingering death," the punishment of traitors; and the stolen treasures were restored.

XXXII.

The two inner Rows of Cases.

many

arti

In our introductory notices, we stated that cles were held in reserve for want of space for displaying them. During the composition of these pages, changes have been going on continually; and now having completed the circuit of the hall, we find two new rows of cases constructed within the others, and several of them already filled. The first two contain specimens of manufactures in silk, linen, and cotton fabrics. One, near the other extremity of the saloon, on the right, is filled with complete sets of cabinetmakers and carpenter's tools.

Next to this, on the same side, is a case containing some beautiful specimens of castings, in pots and kettles of different sizes, together with a set of implements for working in iron.

But of these newly constructed cases, that which contains the greatest variety of novel articles is on the north side of the saloon, and nearly midway between its two ends. Here we have two bamboo shirts, with meshes resembling those of a very fine fishing net, and worn in summer to protect the skin from the cotton or silk with which it would otherwise be in contact; a refinement of luxury, in which we may presume the multitude do not indulge. There are also, in this case, two very elegant circular fans, one of which is made partly of bird's feathers, of gay plumage; a white silken scarf adorned with rich embroidery; a ring-shaped flat iron, containing a furnace within itself, with a handle projecting from the side; embroidered knee cushions; elegant pouches of various descriptions; and tiny books, used as a kind of amulet.

XXXIII. General Remarks on the Government and People of China.

The Chinese government is, nominally, at least, patriarchal. The authority of a parent over his children is the type of the imperial rule. The Emperor claims to be the father of his subjects. As such, he exercises supreme, absolute, unchecked power, over more than onethird of the human race. He has but to sign the decree, and any one of three hundred and fifty millions of human beings is instantly deprived of rank, possessions, liberty, or life itself. This is a stupendous system, a phenomenon

unmatched in the annals of time, and worthy to engage the profound attention of statesmen and philosophers. The subjects of the Macedonian were but as a handful compared with the teeming millions of Eastern Asia; the Roman Empire, when at its widest extent, numbered not more than one-third of the present population of China; and the throne of the Cæsars was, in the power it conferred upon its occupant, but as a child's elevation in comparison with that on which the Tartar sits. We can but glance at a few of the details of this system, and the causes which have given it stability.

1

At the head of the system stands, of course, the Emperor. His titles are, the "Son of Heaven," and the "Ten Thousand Years." Ubiquity is considered as among his attributes; temples are erected to him in every part of the Empire; and he is worshipped as a god. Yet he sometimes styles himself "the imperfect man," and his ordinary dress is far from splendid. While the grand mandarins that compose his court, glitter in gold and diamonds, he appears in a plain and simple garb. Nevertheless, no means are omitted to keep up the prestige of his majesty. The outer gate of the imperial palace cannot be passed by any person whatsoever, in a carriage or on horseback. There is a road between Peking and the Emperor's summer residence in Tartary, wide, smooth, level, and always cleanly swept, on which no one but himself is permitted to travel. At the palace, a paved walk leads to the principal hall of audience, which is never pressed but by imperial feet. Despatches from the Emperor are received in the provinces with prostrations and the burning of incense. The succession is at the absolute disposal of the Emperor. Instances have occurred, though they are rare, in which persons not con

nected with the imperial family have been named. The immediate assistants of the Emperor are

nese.

I. The Nuy-ko. This is the great council of state. The chief counsellors are four, two Tartars and two ChiBesides these, there are several others, of inferior rank, who, in conjunction with them, constitute the council. Almost all the members of the Nuy-ko are selected from the imperial college of the Hânlin.

II. The Keun-ky-tâ-chin. This is a body of privy councillors.

III. The Lew-poo, or six boards for conducting the details of public business. They are, 1. The Board of Appointments, having cognizance of the conduct of all civil officers; 2. The Board of Revenue, whose duties extend to all fiscal matters; 3. The Board of Rites and Ceremonies, which keeps watch and ward over the public morals, and is the only setter of the fashions in China; 4. The Military Board, charged with the affairs of the army and navy; 5. The Supreme Court of Criminal Jurisdiction; and 6. The Board of Public Works.

IV. The Lyfân-yuen, or Office for Foreign Affairs. Its duties embrace all the external relations of the empire. The members of the Lyfân-yuen are always Mongol or Manchow Tartars.

V. The Too-cha-yuen. This is a body of censors, forty or fifty in number. They are sent into different parts of the empire as imperial inspectors, which means spies. By an ancient custom, they are at liberty to give any advice to their master without the hazard of losing their life; but blunt honesty is not often relished by the great from any quarter, and unpalatable remonstrances have not seldom cost their authors the favour in which they had before basked.

The provinces are governed each by a chief magis

trate, entitled foo-yuen, or two together are under the government of a tsoong-to, who has foo-yuens under him. Canton and Kuâng-sy are subject to a tsoong-to, called by Europeans, viceroy of Canton. The governors of the provinces have, subordinate to them, an army of civil magistrates amounting to fourteen thousand. No individual is permitted to hold office in the province where he was born; and public functionaries interchange places periodically, to prevent the formation of too intimate connexions with the people under their government. A quarterly publication is made, by authority, of the name, birth-place, &c. of every official person in the Empire; and once in three years, a report is sent up to the board of official appointments, by the foo-yuen of each province, containing the names of all the officers in his government, and a full statement concerning their conduct and character, received from the immediate superiors of each. Every officer is held to a strict responsibility for the good behaviour and fidelity of all who are under him. Letters are held in higher esteem than arms, and the civil officers of course outrank the military. This may be set down to their credit, as it is certainly a mark of social advancement.

No man in China inherits office, nor does hereditary rank enjoy much consideration or influence. This fact is placed in a strong light by the following anecdote, related by Sir George Staunton, secretary to Lord Macartney's embassy. Among the presents for the Emperor was a volume of portraits of the British nobility. That the inspection of them might be more satisfactory to his Majesty, a mandarin was employed to mark, in Chinese characters, on the margin, the names and rank of the persons represented. When he came to the print of an English duke, from a portrait taken in childhood, and