CHAPTER XV.

Of all the modes by which a people that elects itself a despotic master have sought to secure themselves from the tyrannical abuse of the power they confer, none have been more extraordinary, or perhaps more efficacious, than that of the Chinese, in the institution of a tribunal of censors, who, in case the monarch be inclined to depart from the observances of the constitution, are, by the duties of their office, compelled instantly to inform him of the same, by a respectful but firm remonstrance. Nor are they to be deterred from the execution of this task through fear of the brutality of a tyrant; for there certainly is no employment on the globe that so immediately inspires those upon whom it is conferred with an heroic magnanimity to perform their duty as that of a Chinese censor ; and for any ill consequences that may attend

their reproofs, they are amply compensated by having their names consecrated in the page of history as patriotic martyrs ;* and seldom does the history of the celestial empire relate an instance of a monarch who has disregarded or dared to enforce silence upon these monitors, and yet retained his sceptre tranquilly. But that for which the emperor is powerless, his grandees are capable of effecting; and frequently the intrigues of some unconscionable minister have more power to defeat these representations than the will of the monarch to whom they are addressed.t

In common with the censors, the ministers and highest officers of the state have also the right to present similar accusations to the sovereigna power, however, that they more frequently use to inform against each other than to reprehend the conduct of their emperor. Though it has not unfrequently happened that a monarch has thus been made acquainted with the crimes of some one of his officers who has, in consequence, received condign punishment, yet more often this privilege has been made the instrument of a cabal, to procure some object of their own, generally the condemnation of a political opponent. In secrecy, one or more accusations

are prepared and presented, and the emperor, without much inquiry, generally banishes the accused, or, if the charge be light, confers upon him some inferior employment in the provinces. When this last happens, the disgrace of the culprit is usually but short. His friends unite, and accuse his enemies, in turn, and, with their fall, he returns to favour. Such is the history of most of the ministerial political revolutions of China.

We have already said that the power of Kyatsetao had excited the distrust and envy of a considerable portion of the officials of the empire. Among them, highest in rank, was Luseufu, a member of the imperial council. With the design of overawing the malcontents, the chief minister had, as we have seen, prevailed upon Oulintse to dictate an accusation against Luseufu. The charge was supported with all the weight of Kyatsetao's influence, and Luseufu was committed to prison, to be tried on a capital accusation; for though punishments in goods and person are at the pleasure of the emperor, that of death can only be awarded after a full trial, the judges being generally special commissioners selected from the supreme tribunals.

In China, the prisons are of the most miserable description. The jailers, however, like

most subaltern or superior officers of the empire, are open to bribery, and the wealthy may thus soften the rigours of their incarceration. But woe unto the wretch whose poverty cannot afford his Cerberus a sop, or who is persecuted by some powerful and rancorous enemy! In the last case, not only the luxuries to which he has been accustomed are denied him, but even the necessaries are so scantily supplied, that it becomes almost a wonder that life should continue its fellowship with the clay. Hence the merit many of the Chinese monarchs have attributed to themselves, when they or their nation having suffered from some vicissitude, they have sought to appease heaven, whom they considered as irritated against the empire, by opening all the prison-doors in their do

mains.

With heavy chains attached to his feet and round his waist, the ex-councillor sat in his wretched cell, with no other occupation than to count the time as it passed; and how tedious and interminable appear the hours that a prisoner enumerates! Many days had elapsed since he had seen the face of any of his fellows, save that of his jailer, who, with the usual arrogance of the vulgar towards their superiors when in misfortune, took delight in increasing the miseries of his prisoner's situation. Of all jailers,

Chinese are, perhaps, the worst, on account of their authority being great; for though commissioners appointed by the government visit the prisons to observe that they be guilty of no abuse of their power, yet it is not difficult to delude these visitors; and further, in China, the profession of a jailer being regarded and treated as infamous, its members are necessarily affected with a cynical hatred against those entrusted to their guardianship.

The friends of the prisoner politicly abstained from any open manifestation of sympathy, for such conduct would only have served as a pretext to involve them in the same charges. To have openly undertaken his defence would have been dangerous; and to have sought to overthrow, by a present effort, the power of Kyatsetao, would have been equally perilous, and more certainly futile.

Yet in his imprisonment he is not so completely deserted, for the chief jailer is at this moment engaged in examining an order for the admittance of a visitor, borne by one whose countenance indicates him to be an eunuch, and costume, as being high in employment about the palace. In a few minutes, the door of the cell was opened, and the visitor entered, being announced by the jailer, who immediately withdrew, as a purveyor to the palace, and by