ON ITEMS OF CHINESE ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY. 71 



The tortures which ai'e aUuded to in China and mentioned in 

 onr newspaper reports are sometimes such that we should hesi- 

 tate to pronounce tortures ; there is flogging and brutal usage, 

 no doubt. But there are tortures administered by the law for the 

 purpose of extracting confessions, to which we should give no 

 other name ; punishments the infliction of which we should not 

 knowingly tolerate an hour in any country over which we 

 exercise jurisdiction. There is, for instance, the use of a kind of 

 boot, among other tortures, where three pieces of wood are brought 

 to Lear on the two feet and ankles. This is a punishment that 

 was sanctioned by the third emperor of this dynasty, himself a 

 verj great lawyer, a public servant, who took immense pains with 

 his work, but who was a cowardly man and with a very great 

 tendency to severity. But even he, when these systems were sub- 

 mitted to him, observed, in his decree giving sanction to their adop- 

 tion, that they should be resorted to with great caution, for 

 though they might be useful in getting out the truth, yet if tbey 

 were applied too harshlj^, there was no falsehood that might not be 

 extorted by them. 



I see that hundreds of millions are credited with the ability to read 

 and write sufl&ciently for the ordinary purposes of life. I should 

 flinch from giving quite so large an estimate as that, but the pro- 

 portion of these millions is enormous. I should say, too, instead 

 of reducing the occupations of life to two categories, viz. : — those 

 connected with the mandarin class and those relating to trade, we 

 should divide them into four, that being the Chinese partition. The 

 Chinese divide the whole population into scholars, agriculturists, 

 handicraftsmen, and merchants. Trade is put last and you must 

 notice that agriculture is put second. Not only in ancient times 

 did the Emperors plough in public and the Empresses weave silk, 

 but to this time, once a year, the Emperor ploughs a limited piece 

 of ground in the temple of the Spirit of Agriculture, while the 

 Empress also spins or weaves, to show the respect of the dynasty 

 for these ancient pursuits. 



I think I must hasten to the end. There is a belief expressed 

 in the Paper that " the gradual introduction of literature, which 

 tends to explain the science and leading features of social life in 



