CHINA. 



241 



Corrup- 

 tion. 



Govern- respective stations, and when they return ; and, in order 

 mem. to retain a stronger hold upon their allegiance, causes 



"~~{~* j * 1 their children to be educated in the imperial college of 

 Pekin. An ancient custom of the empire also requires, 

 that they shall become their own accusers, and make 

 confession of their faults; but, as it may well be sup- 

 posed, that they would be inclined to palliate and con- 

 ceal whatever affected their character, in order that the 

 emperor may know the truth, he dispatches the secret 

 inspectors from the tribunal of censors; and according to 

 the information received from them, after personal enqui- 

 ry in the district of the maiwlarins under examination, 

 the emperor punishes or rewards ; and, that these pro- 

 ceedings may have their full effect for the restraint or en- 

 couragement of others, the names of those, who have 

 been censured or approved, cashiered or promoted, are 

 inserted in the court gazette. This absolute sovereign, 

 in short, always vigilant, distrustful, and severe, looks 

 into every quarter ; exalts or degrades his grandees 

 in succession ; and it is upon the instability of offices, 

 and the desire of obtaining them, that he rests his own 

 security, and that of his dominions. The policy of the 

 Chinese emperor is to make every thing depend upon 

 himself ; to change the persons, who are in office at his 

 pleasure ; to keep up a constant mutual jealousy among 

 the mandarins ; to take care, that no one becomes too 

 wealthy and powerful ; and to be continually dividing 

 anew the immense riches and authority, of which he has 

 the entire disposal. 



This plan, however, of governing the people as a fa- 

 mily, which is the precept of Confucius, is more beauti- 

 ful in theory, than practicable in reality ; and, as the 

 sovereign is unable to see every thing with his own eye, 

 all his superintendance and vigilance are rendered una- 

 vailing, by the want of integrity in his deputies. These 

 imperial commissaries, whose function is so formidable, 

 who possess the authority of the emperor, who examine 

 the conduct of the great officers, and who have the 

 power of accusing and deposing in their hands, seldom 

 execute their orders with due fidelity. As soon as they 

 arrive in a province, all the mandarins hasten to wait 

 upon them, to anticipate their wishes, and to beg their 

 acceptance of presents. All the mandarins, entrusted 

 with any commission from the court, are nominated by 

 the ministry ; and, as soon as their term in office is ex- 

 pired, they make presents to the ministers, the princes 

 of the blood, the presidents and assessors of the tribu- 

 nals, and then sit down with the rest of their gains, in 

 full security of no inquiry being made into their admini- 

 stration. All complaints must pass through the princi- 

 pal officers, before they can reach the emperor; and 

 these persons are all so united in interest, that no re- 

 monstrance reaches the throne without their full con- 

 tent. This love of presents has always prevailed in 

 China among the mandarins ; and all the attempts of the 

 emperors to check the practice have proved ineffectual. 

 The two last emperors, Yong tching and Kien-long, 

 increased the salaries of the governors of cities and pro- 

 vinces, and expressly prohibited them from accepting 

 any gift. But both the persons who wish to receive, 

 and those who find it their \< terest to offer, a present, 

 are at no loss in accomplishing their object ; and a va- 

 luable commodity sold for a trifle fully answers the pur- 

 pose. These governors, in order to procure the means 

 of making the rich presents, which are necessary to pre- 

 serve their places, find themselves constrained to make 

 exactions frnm those who depend upon them, to com- 

 mit a multitude of extortions, and to shut their eyes to 

 the abuses of their subalterns. Thu the orders of the 



"VOI,. VI. TART I. 



emperor become entirely null ; and the boasted recipro- Govern 

 cal vigilance of the mandarins, is converted into a mutual 

 league, to secure themselves from all inquiry. It does, 

 indeed, occasionally happen, that a guilty viceroy is 

 thrown into prison, deprived of his office, and unjust ac- 

 quisitions ; but those examples only suspend the pillage 

 for a short time ; and those very disgraced mandarins 

 are soon after admitted again to favour, and sent to 

 other provinces to repair their fortunes. " The empe- 

 ror," says M. De Guignes, " makes use of his gran- 

 dees, as a sponge to suck up the riches of his subjects. 

 When the sponge is full, he squeezes it, and sends it 

 elsewhere to be filled anew. I repeat it : The Chinese 

 have a wonderful love of money. They embrace with 

 avidity every possible method of procuring it ; and it is 

 very rarely that they fail in finding an opportunity." 

 In confirmation of this remark, the same author relates 

 various instances of sponging which came within his 

 own knowledge ; of which the following may be given 

 as a specimen : " The mandarin, of whom Lord Ma- 

 cartney complains in his embassy, had been viceroy of 

 Quang-ton and Quang-see. The emperor, upon no- 

 minating him to that office, observed, I place you in a 

 city where there are many European curiosities, but 

 from which nothing is ever sent to me.' It may be pre- 

 sumed, that the viceroy, understanding these words, 

 when once he had reached his province, forgot neither 

 the emperor nor himself. The Chinese, who had occa- 

 sion to ask favours of him, could not procure admission 

 to his house, under less than a present of 15,000 or 

 20,000 piastres, (L. 4500) ; and one private individunl 

 was unable to obtain permission to see him, because all 

 that he could afford, did not amount to 10,000 piastres, 

 (L. 2250) ; but the secretaries profited by the offering, 

 and promised to speak to their master in his favour." 

 Another instance will show how the government is de- 

 ceived in the most important matters. " The Tsong- 

 too of Canton caused a number of gallics to be built in 

 179K to pursue the pirates who infested the coasts; 

 and he wrote to Pekin, that the preparation was com- 

 pleted. The emperor replied, your predecessor assu- 

 red me that there were no longer any pirates existing, 

 and the expcnce of the armament must be placed to your 

 own account." What happened ? The gallics remained 

 there ; the Tsong-too paid as he thought proper, and 

 the pirates are still in existence. The fact is, that the 

 preceding viceroy had actually caused gallies to be arm- 

 ed ; but the mandarins, instead of attacking the robbers, 

 preferred carrying on a traffic in opium ; and wrote, at 

 their return, that the object was accomplished. I have 

 myself seen forty heads sent from Hay-nan, as the heads 

 of pirates : a pretty evident proof, without doubt, of the 

 expedition having been undertaken. By no means ; the 

 greater part of these heads belonged to dead bodies dug 

 out of their graves." 



With the greatest possible show of paternal regard for O p prM . 

 the good of the people, they are miserably neglected in s ion.' 

 the points most essential to their welfare ; and in the 

 times of famine, while the gazettes are full of the empe- 

 ror's expressions of sympathy for his children, and of 

 the measures adopted for the relief of the distressed dis- 

 tricts, so many delays are practised, that the calamity it 

 generally at an end before the imperial succour arrives. 

 Sometimes these seasons of scarcity give rise to violent 

 commotions, when the starving multitudes not only rob 

 and murder, but actually devour each other. Then, in- 

 deed, the severity of the government is displayed, and 

 the supreme authorities coldly calculate the necessity of 

 putting to death a certain number of individuals, in order 

 2a 



