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D e s p o t ic .
fanftity of.hi's perfon. All this refults primarily from the fenfe
of filial duties, early imprinted on the hearts o f his fubjedts as
the firft and greateft point o f religion, and objedts of the cognizance
o f the magiftrate. If a fon is incorrigible by a parent, the
parent takes him before the judge, who feldom fails to bring
him to a fenfe of his duty. Filial refpedl, fays Confucius, in his
Auking, a book on that \4ery fubjedl, is the foundation o f all
virtue, and o f the wife government of the empire.
C hildren are treated by the parents with the utmoft rigor ;
the doctrine o f obedience is inculcated with the greateft feverity,
fo that it becomes ever after habitnal: but as this refpedt towards
their fuperiors is attended with fear and meannefs, fo
deceit and fraud become the charadteriftics o f the Cbinefe nation.
T he fame refpedt to thofe in a higher ftation pervades all ranks
of people; hence the Cbinefe are the moil ceremonious of mankind,
and the very loweft orders full of the moil profound artificial
civility.
T he emperor has the difpofal o f all offices, nay, even of the
lives and fortunes o f every fubjedt. Nothing is done, o f any
moment, from one extremity to the other o f this vaft empire,
without his knowledge ; in criminal cafes .the calendar of pri-
foners convidt are laid before him, with a ftatenjent of their
crimes; thefe lifts are returned to the refpedtive judges, with
the fentence affixed to each name, be it of death or free pardon.
The lefler puniihments are left to the pleafure o f the magiftrate.
T h e defpotifm o f the emperor is founded upon law and
cuftom ; not exprefled, yet fully implied, it feems admitted that
a he
he can do no wrong 1 but it is oh the principle that the ftate is a
vaft family, that Tiyen, i, e. the Supreme Being, hath placed hirn
on the throne, in order that he may be a father and a mother to
his people* In confequence o f this, a ftrong fenfe o f his duty is
continually before his eyes. The mandarines and princes o f the
blood are at liberty to remind him o f any faults he may fall into;
and even the people, i f they find him negligent, are as ready to
become tumultuous as in any other country. The grand fecret
o f government in the emperor is the unremitting attention paid
to the condudt o f the mandarines and other magiftrates, who are
carefully watched, and moft feverely puniflied on every failure
-of duty, He himfelf is perpetually anxious to confult the
good of his fubjedts, and to avoid incurring their hatred or
contempt.
T here is no country in which the filial duties are carried to
fueh a length. “ A veneration for fathers,” fays Montefquieu*,
“ was necefiarily connected with a fuitable refpedt for all who
“ reprefented fathers, fuch as old men, mafters, magiftrates,
“ and the emperor. This refpedt for fathers, fuppofed a return
•“ of love towards children, and confequently the fame return
“ from old men to the young, from magiftrates-to thofe who
“ were under their jurifdidtio.n» and from the emperor to his.
“ fuhjedts. This formed- the rites, and thefe rites the general
■ fpirit of the nation,”
A p a r r ic id e is extremely rare,in this empire:, whenever it
happens, the whole province ¡is in alarm; the relations are pu-
niihed, and the mandarines depofed, as it is prefumed it muft
* S_pir.it' of Laws, vol, .¡.p. 433.
Ill* N ha VSF
i l ia l D u t ie s .