CHINA. 



267 



Police, gate ; but, after passing the second opening, it is neces- 

 s ,-"' sary to follow the direction of the exterior wall for a 

 considerable space, before reaching the third entrance, 

 which is placed as it were upon a line with the first. 

 The gates have no ornamental building, but are gene- 

 rally formed in the wall like a continued arch or vault. 

 Sometimes small towers are erected above them ; and, 

 in these towers, oron the outer circle of the double gates, 

 cannon are occasionally found. 



POLICE. Among the principal objects of interior administration, 



Public or general police, may be mentioned the yearly Calendar, 

 Calendar. an( j ]\.Jti n Gazette. The former is regarded with the 

 utmost attention, and one is published every year at the 

 emperor's expence. It is composed by the tribunal of 

 mathematics, and is chiefly founded upon judicial astro- 

 logy. It distinguishes the appointed days, and directs 

 the proper mode! of observing the various ceremonies and 

 superstitions, which prevail throughout the empire, and 

 which the government seems to find it useful to encou- 

 rage. 



Public The Gazette is printed daily, or at least every second 



Gazette. j a y. ? ; n t h e r orm o f a sma u pamphlet, and circulated 

 through every province of China. It contains an ac- 

 count of all the objects of administration, and enters in- 

 to the most minute details of every measure. It gives 

 the names of the mandarins, who have been raised on ac- 

 count of their merit to posts of eminence ; or of those 

 who have been degraded or dismissed, on account of in- 

 capacity or misconduct. It gives lists of persons who have 

 been convicted of capital crimes, and of those who have 

 received pardon, &c. It details the calamities which 

 have afflicted any of the provinces, and the relief which 

 has been afforded by government ; the various expendi- 

 ture of the state in supporting troops, conducting pub- 

 lic works, or supplying the wants of the people ; the li- 

 beralities and virtues of the emperor, and the remonstran- 

 ces which have been presented to him by the superior 

 tribunals, either with regard to public measures, or his 

 own private conduct. Nothing, however, it is to be ob- 

 served, it inserted in this state paper, which does not 

 proceed immediately from the emperor himself, or which 

 is not submitted to his approbation. Its chief intention 

 is to serve as an organ of government, to impress the 

 people with an idea of the great and unceasing vigilance, 

 which is exerted in promoting their welfare, and of the 

 incomparable excellence of their rulers. Hence it is in- 

 vested with the character of an infallible document, whose 

 very essence is truth itself; and it is pretended by the 

 government, that instant death would be the sure conse- 

 quence of any attempt to insert a falsehood in its pages. 

 This, however, merely signifies, that the person who has 

 the management of its publication, would be severely 

 punished, should he presume to insert any article that 

 was not officially communicated from the government ; 

 for it is known to contain accounts of measures, which 

 have never been carried into effect ; of battles, which ne- 

 ver took place ; and of victories, which were never gained. 

 Census of One of the moet ancient and peculiar internal regula- 

 the people, tions in China, is the enumeration of the people through- 

 out the empire, by families, districts, and provinces, com- 

 prehending every individual of every rank, age, and sex. 

 A second register is also kept, of all persons, especially 

 of the lower classes, between 16 and 60 years of age, as 

 the mandarins have power to call upon all who are with- 

 in that period of life, either for military or civil purposes. 

 These enumerations are made with great precision ; and 

 are remarkably useful in enabling the government to 

 know the amount of those, who may perish by earth. 



quakes, inundations, famines, &c. ; what supplies may Police, 

 be required in any district, in the event of a scarcity; and v "^"y~ *' 

 what numbers can be furnished for the army. 



There is also a public register of all the lands in the And of the 

 empire, of their fertility and principal productions, both lands. 

 in the view of collecting the tax which the holders pay 

 to government, and of ascertaining the state of agricul- 

 ture, and the sources of manufactures in the nation. 



The Chinese profess to pay great attention to the ac- state of 

 commodation and security of travellers, and to the easy roads, 

 conveyance of merchandise ; and, by means of canals, 

 they have greatly facilitated the communication between 

 their towns ; but they have neglected the construction 

 of good roads, where there is no inland navigation. We 

 are informed, indeed, by some writers, of the excellence 

 of their highways, and of the great care, which is taken 

 to keep them in a state of proper repair. We are told 

 of vallies filled up, and passages cut through the rocks 

 and mountains, to preserve the roads on a proper level ; 

 of ways broad and spacious, bordered with trees, and 

 sometimes with walls 8 or 10 feet high, to keep the tra- 

 vellers from encroaching upon the corn fields ; of cover- 

 ed seats erected on all the great roads, where the passen- 

 ger may find rest and shelter ; of temples and pagodas 

 by the way side, to which admittance may be always 

 gained during the day ; of large and commodious inns, 

 though not supplied either with provisions or beds ; of 

 towers, or watch-boxes, erected at certain intervals on 

 the great roads, guarded by soldiers, and furnished with 

 bells and flag- staffs to convey signals. But such accom- 

 modations appear to be confined to the neighbourhood 

 of the principal cities ; or the Chinese must have differ- 

 ent sorts of roads, as they have degrees of ceremony, 

 some of which only they show to strangers, according to 

 circumstances. Mr Barrow expressly assures us, that, 

 in respect of roads, they are inferior to most civilized na- 

 tions ; and that, excepting near the capital, where the 

 middle of the highway was paved to the width of 18 or 

 20 feet with large stones of granite, from 6 to 16 feet in 

 length, and of proportionable breadth, and at a few pla- 

 ces where the junction of the grand canal with navigable 

 rivers is interrupted by mountainous ground, there is 

 scarcely a road in the whole country that can be ranked 

 beyond a foot-path. This assertion, indeed, is directly 

 censured by M. De Guignes, while it is strongly con- 

 firmed, even by his own account of the matter. When 

 he sets himself to specify the spacious and excellent roads 

 of China, it is only, as Mr Barrow has said, of those in 

 the neighbourhood of the larger towns, or that leading 

 over a mountain, that he speaks. He admits, that, in 

 the province of Quang-tong, where they chiefly travel 

 by canals, there are only cross-paths to be seen ; while 

 he acknowledges in general, that the roads are not so 

 well taken care of as in Europe. He acknowledges far- 

 ther, that no means are used to preserve or repair those 

 which are made ; that the inhabitants are even allowed 

 to encroach upon them with their buildings, so as to nar- 

 row the passage extremely ; and that open wells are of- 

 ten dug in the middle of the path-way, to the great dan- 

 ger cf those who travel during night. Nay, he says, 

 ' it is true that they are not commonly paved, and cer- 

 tainly this is a great inconvenience, for, in the rainy sea- 

 son, they are either channelled by the water or covered 

 with clay; and, in the dry weather, they are filled with dust 

 to such a degree, that travellers are obliged, for the pro- 

 tection of their eyes, to wear spectacles set in leather, 

 which sits close to the skin." He finds great comfort, 

 however, in this very circumstance, that in these dusty 

 roads, the carriages rolled so very softly along ; thanks 



