(MI I N A 



-icouEU-r, iliould be examined by tuiturc. 

 ";* Thi deroind was of course also ; and, after a 



month sprnt in threat*, proclamations, .: in- 



ference* on the subject, the *ecurity- merchant wat al'ow- 

 ed to tend hit agent to all the ihipi in the river, offer- 

 ing a reward of 20,000 dollar* to ar.y person whosVixiKl 

 efre information of the individual who had struck the 

 deceased. Thu temptation, great as it was, had no in- 

 fluence upon any of the Brituh seamen, and at length 

 th* Chinese judges agreed to attends' the British fac- 

 tory, and to examine the 52 men in the ordinary way. 

 O' v selected eleven as having been the most ac- 



tive n thr scuff) , and endeavour d to prevail upon some 

 one of them to plead guilty, under an implied promise of 

 a pardon. Thu expedient also failing, it was next sug 

 grted that (he whole affair might be gut .ver, if the 

 officer* of the Neptune would depose, th.it they had se n 

 a tailor c*rryi: g a bamboo stick ovrr h-'a shoulder, "gainst 

 which, in the Hurry and confusion, a Chinesi had acci- 

 dentally struck his head. This ridiculous proposal be- 

 ing treated with deserved contempt, it wa next pro- 

 posed, that one of the sailors should bo prevailed 

 to state, that finding an attempt m de upon his pocket, 

 he had struck behind him, and might thus have wound- 

 ed the deceased. Still meeting with no better success, 

 they proceeded in their examinati' n, aid dismissed all 

 the seamen except two, Julius Czsar, and Edward 

 Sheen. It appeared, that Julius Czsar had a small 

 ctne in his hand on the day of ri.'t, but was not or, the 

 outside of the fart ry ; ana that Edward Sheen was on 

 the outside of the factory, but did not carry a stick. 

 He confessed, however, that he had a Chinese tobacco 

 pipe in his hand, the tube < f which was of bamboo ; 

 and the court therefore decided, that he carried a stick, 

 and confcquently was the culprit. A long negociation 

 then took place as to the disposal of Edward Sheen, 

 till the 'final decision up m the case should be received 

 from Pekin ; and it was at length agreed, that he should 

 be left behind in charge of the supercargoes. The fol- 

 lowing is the representation, v.hich was made of the 

 case to the supreme court at Pckm, and its decision upon 

 the matter. The viceroy of Canton states, for the in- 

 format! >n of the supreme court, that Edward Sheen, an 

 Ei glishman, being in an upper story of a warehouse, 

 which overlooked the street, and in which there was a 

 window opening with wooden shutters, did, on the 18th 

 day of the 1st moon, employ a wooden stick in an oblique 

 direction t keep open the shutter, and that, in doing 

 th'.. th- wooden stick slipped and fell downwards; that 

 Leao-a-leng a Chinese, passing at the moment, was struck 

 and wounded by the falling of the said stick upon his 

 left temple; and that, on the evening of the following 

 day, he died in consequence of the wound ; that repeat 

 ed orders had been given to the chief of the Briti-h 

 factory to deliver up the man to justice; that inn-ply 

 it was alleged, the said criminal was sick of an ague, 

 and fever, and under m--d cat treatment ; that, on his 

 recovery, he was confronted with the relations of the 

 deceased ; that, after repeated examinations, the said 

 Edward Sheen had acknowledged tin- truth of all the 

 facts hcrr stated, without reservation ; that he had 

 consequently been proved guilty of accidental homi 

 cide, and ought therefore to he sentenced to pay the 

 usual fine, to r<diem himself from the punishment 

 of death by strangulation. Upon this report the su- 

 preme court observes, " that the case appears to be 

 cor of those acts, of the consequence of which neither 

 tight, hearing, in r reflection, could have given a previous 

 riming { that the laid Edward Sheen should therefore 



be allowed to redeem himself from the punishment of 



nt of a fine (amount- 



ing to biwt L. 4, 3s.) n> th-.- n Kitum 1 - of the dece 

 t i defray t!. 'jurial, ;md then be disn. 



overned m an orderly m inner i.. his own coun- 

 This gross fabru-ati n > in mockery of justice, 



the acquiescence of the different parti- B interested in the 

 business, and the pr imulgation of such f .Isehoods in the 

 face of thousands, who could '-. n-.idicted them, 



was all procured at the expence of the security-merchant, 

 by the division of a bribe of nearly L. 50, 000. 



The revenues f the Chinese government have been 

 very variously stated by different authors ; and, as the 

 natives are all possessed frith a nxist cxu.ivagant idea of 

 the greatness of their country, they communicate to 

 strangers their own wid.- conjectures rather than exact 

 statements on the subject. H.-nee an inquirer generally 

 receives as many different accounts, a-, he contults difler- 

 ent persons. According to a n.tigh sketch . f the sums 

 raised in each province, communic .ted t < Lord M.tcart- 

 ney by a Chinese minister, tin- t >t.il annu. 1 nn oaiit is 

 about sixty millions sterling, of which. aU-.-r defraying 

 the ordinary civil and military exp i.ces. about twelve 

 millions are supposed to remain for the emperor'* pri- 

 vate establishment. But, as it wjs cl.ai!y the gre.it ob- 

 ject of the Chinese rulers to impress the British en. 

 with the m st exalted notion of the strength and re- 

 sources of their empire, tliesi acci.uuts nny e im'gmed 

 to have been considerably .itid. The calcula- 



tions of M. De frUig: mint to oi.e half of 



the Chinese bUteme.its t.> L rd M.ic .r'n-y ; a< d he con- 

 siders it as next to imp svhli > iseeruin th- exact 

 truth on this subject, bed i:t--adict 



one another even ii. t'uir i'un expositions of the matter, 

 because they are all inclined to ox.i^gerate in thcjr ac- 

 counts to 'oreigners, ai. even in writing for 

 the information of their -wn countrymen, they dare not 

 advance a. y conjectures or d (n-ls, which w.:uld be pre- 

 judicial to the credit of the mandarin*, wins.- !I>MI mr 

 and interest depend upon the real or pretended prospe- 

 rity of the empire. 



The revenues formerly arose from a capitation tax, 

 which was changed by the empe or Ycmg-tching int.> a 

 land-tax with respect to th- ptopnetors or cultivators of 

 the soil ; while it appears tint the merchant.-, art/.ms, 

 and others nut employed in husbandry, arc subject to a 

 similar assessment upon tlieir -.hops r warehouses. The 

 lard tax i' one-ten h of thi prod, ice. or rather of the 

 profit, alter deducting the expences of cultivation. The 

 lands are carefully regis:in-d, and t'leir fertility esti- 

 mated. Greai pr c aitioin are used, that neither the oc- 

 cupant be overcharged, nor the ^..vcrni nt defrauded ; 



aii ! in ill se districts whn-h have s.-verely suffered from 

 drought or inundations, th" empt-ror, if 'n any degree 

 desirous of popularity, gen-niliy r. -mitt, the publ c bur- 

 dens. In the rice districts of the south, esp cially the 

 provinces of Quang long and Quwtg-iee, there is a se- 

 cond tenth raided upon rn , because two crops of 'liat 

 grain are produced in i. There is faith 1 i -n 



excise upon salt, coal, and alm.'St every kind of mer- 

 chandise ; and a duty upon tlie manufacture of silks and 

 other stuffs. The regulations o,, tins branch of tin re- 

 venue bear a most striking rev -mhlanCe to those of Eu- 

 rn|,,- ; .md there is i" Clmi.i a by-stem of p rmits, t xcise- 

 oflu-ers, licenses to trader-, .:i.d pei .li ug^lors, 



aim 1 t ex-ctly the s.inur a- what is practised in Great 

 Brit i n. Tin- taxe, :n eein lal. s far as th-.y affect the 

 great body of the people, imy be considered as extreme- 



