Before Parties Can Present Their Petitions To The Viceroy,
They Must Be Submitted To The Proper Officer For Examination, Who
Sends
them back if he discovers any error; and no person may draw up any of those
writings which are
To be presented to the viceroy, except a clerk versant
in business, who must mark at the bottom that it is written by such a man,
the son of such a man: And if the clerk is guilty of any error or mistake,
he is punished with the bamboo. The viceroy never seats himself on his
tribunal until he has eaten and drank, lest he should be mistaken in some
things; and he receives his subsistence from the public treasury of the
city over which he presides. The emperor, who is above all these princes or
petty kings, never appears in public but once in ten months, under the idea
that the people would lose their veneration for him if he shewed himself
oftener; for they hold it as a maxim, that government can only subsist by
means of force, as the people are ignorant of the principles of justice,
and that constraint and violence are necessary to maintain among them the
majesty of empire.
There are no taxes imposed upon the lands, but all the men of the country
are subject to a poll-tax in proportion to their substance. When any
failure of crops makes necessaries dear, the king opens his store-houses to
the people, and soils all sorts of necessaries at much cheaper rates than
they can be had in the markets; by which means famine is prevented, and no
dearth is of any long continuance. The sums that are gathered by this
capitation tax are laid up in the public treasury, and I believe, that from
this tax, fifty thousand dinars are paid every day into the null of Canfu
alone, although that city is not one of the largest. The emperor reserves
to himself the revenues which arise from the salt mines, and those which
are derived from impositions upon a certain herb called Tcha, which they
drink with hot water, and of which vast quantities are sold in all the
cities in China. This is produced from a shrub more bushy than the
pomegranate tree, and of a more pleasant smell, but having a kind of a
bitterish taste. The way of using this herb is to pour boiling water upon
the leaves, and the infusion cures all diseases. Whatever sums come into
the public treasury arise from the capitation tax, the duties upon salt,
and the tax upon this leaf.
In every city there is a small bell hung to the wall, immediately over the
head of the viceroy or governor, which may be rung by a string which
reaches about three miles, and crosses the high way, on purpose that all
the people may have access to it; und whenever the string is pulled, and
the bell strikes, the person who thus demands justice is immediately
commanded to be brought into the presence, where he sets forth his case in
person. If any person inclines to travel from one part of the country to
another, he must have two passes along with him, one from the governor, and
the other from the lieutenant. The governor's pass permits him to set out
on his journey, and specifies the name of the traveller, and of all that
are in his company, with their names and ages; for every person in China,
whether native, Arab, or other foreigner, is obliged to make a full
declaration of every thing he knows about himself. The lieutenant's pass
specifies the exact quantities of goods and money which the traveller and
his company take along with them, and this is done for the information of
the frontier places, where both passes are regularly examined; for whenever
a person arrives at any of these places, it is entered in the register that
such a one, the son of such a one, of such a family, passed through the
place, in such a month, day, and year, and in such company. By this means
they prevent any one from carrying off the money or effects of others, or
the loss of their own goods in case of accident; so that if any thing has
been taken away unjustly, or if the traveller should die on the road, it
may be immediately known where the things are to be found, that they may be
restored to the claimants, or to the heirs of the deceased.
The Chinese administer justice with great strictness, in all their
tribunals. When any person commences a suit against another, he sets down
his claim in writing, and the defendant writes down his defence, which he
signs, and holds between his fingers. These two writings are delivered in
at the same time; and being examined, sentence is pronounced in writing,
each of the parties having his papers returned to him, the defendant having
his delivered first. When one party denies what the other affirms, he is
ordered to return his writing; and if the defendant thinks he may do it
safely, and delivers in his papers a second time, those of the plaintiff
are likewise called for; and he who denies the affirmation of the other, is
warned, that if he does not make out what he denies, he shall undergo
twenty strokes of the bamboo on his buttocks, and shall pay a fine of
twenty fakuges, which amount to about two hundred dinars. And the
punishment of the bamboo is so severe, that the criminal can hardly
survive, and no person in all China is permitted to inflict it upon another
by his own authority, on pain of death, and confiscation of his goods; so
that no one is ever so hardy as to expose himself to such certain danger,
by which means justice is well administered to all. No witnesses are
required, neither do they put the parties upon oath.
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