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THE CHINA REVIEW,
Student-Interpreters with the Cantonese dialect, whilst studying the written language under Dr. Legge's tuition at Oxford. The Pekingese dialect, being so much simpler in sounds and tones than the Cantonese, will materially diminish the first difficulties of the beginner, and when the Students theu arrive in Hongkong all they have to do is to continue, to some extent, their studies of the written language, for which they may always retain the use of the Pekingese dialect in reading, and to give the greater part of their time to a practical study of the Can- tonese Colloquial, for which, in their case, two years would be ordinarily sufficient. Bat they should spend the greater portion of these two years in Canton and afterwards each should be required to learn one other dialect in addition, either Hakka or one of the Fohkien dialects. This is not expecting too much of them, for it is no more than many gentlemen in the English Consular Service in China have, to my knowledge, actually achieved.
The Student Interpreters' scheme might also be improved in its application. One of the Student Interpreters might be used to organize and superintend a distinct de- partment for documentary translation. In his case there would be no need to expect of him acquaintance with more than one dialect, but he should possess a thorough acquaintance with the written language, its classical as well as its documentary or business style, and especially with Chinese shorthand writing. He should be supplied with a competent and sufficient staff of educated native writers, and thus superin- tend the Chinese issue of the Government Gazette, the translation into Chinese of all Government notifications or ordinances re- ferring to the Chinese population of Hong- kong. All documents requiring translation for official purposes should be translated or correctness of translation be certified by him, and all Chinese petitions presented to the Courts or to the Government should be re- quired to pass through his hands for examin-
ation, translation or report. This measure would be a material relief to the Courts and to all departments of the Government Ser- vice. Another of the Student-Interpreters, specially distinguished for proficiency in at least two dialerts, able to speak well or at least able to understand very well, should have the general direction and superinten- dence of all the Court interpreters for the several Chinese dialects. He should sou that the native interpreters continue their study of the English language when at leisure, supplying the Magistracy, the Summary Jurisdiction Court, the Supreme Court with suitable interpreters, and in all important cases he should appear in Court himself to watch the interpretation, boing invested with power to interfere, if necessary, and to correct mistranslations or omissions, Fie need not be expected to conduct the inter- pretation in person, unless he should himself prefer to interpret both questions and replies or the replies alone, which he would be sure to do, when necessary. In this manner the native interpreters would soon learn to interpret properly, unsuitable men could be got rid of, specially qualified men would find it their advantage to exert themselves to improve their knowledge of English and to enlarge their acquaintance with other Chinese dialects than their own, whilst in all important cases justice would be far more likely to be meted out equally to Chi- nese and foreigners, if a properly qualified Interpreter General watched the interpreta- tion and thus ensured its accuracy and integrity. In Chinese cases, in which no foreigner is concerned, it would materially save the time of the Court or at any rate that of the Jury, if the examination and cross-examination of Chinese witnesses were conducted out of Court, in the Registrar's Chambers or in the Interpreter General's Office, through competent interpreters su- pervised by the lnterpretor General, when all the evidense could be quietly and surely written down, read over to the witnesses and verified. This evidence might then be
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE.
read to the Jury, nuless it be considered preferable to have, in purely Chinese cases, no Jury at all, but to let the Judge decide the whole case on the pleadings, written examinations, and after hearing Counsel. This, I am informed, was the way in which all cases in Chancery, even in England, were managed till lately.
As to the Board of Examination, in which the Interpreter Goneral would naturally have a seat, all that is required, in order to improve the practical usefulness of this Bourd is to extend its application to all future candidates for employment in the Civil Service, including all natives seeking employment as Interpreters, and to attach a fixed increase of salary to the final certi- ficates of the Board, For natives or for-
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eiguers seeking employment as interpreters the Board would have to devise a special course of study by adding, as originally con- templated by the Board, a third Standard to the two Standards already in use. There is really nothing to hinder the Colonial Gov- vernment making it compulsory for every Government officer to stady Chinese and pass the examinations of the Bourd and in short to adopt a system akin to that in vogue in the Civil Service in India, by eliminating dunces, unable to learn any dialect apart from English, and encouraging by a gradu- ated scheme of increase of salaries the study of the native dialect which, though not absolutely necessary to every Government office, will inercase the efficiency of each.
E. J. EITEL.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW OF THE CHINESE
EMPIRE.
[We note with deep regret that since the Manuscript of the subjoined essay, which had been read before the Missionary Conference in Canton in Jane, reached us, the author's useful career was prematurely brought to a close by protracted illness and somewhat sudden death on 17th July 1877. In him the Canton Missions have lost an efficient speaker and a valuable worker.-E. China Keview.]
In a previous volume (II., p. 230) of the Review may be tound an article on the "Ad- ministration of Chinese Law," in which a short survey was made of the Criminal Code, or the Tai Tsing Lat Lai
. In continuation of the same general subject, it is now proposed to call attention to the Tai Tsing Ui Tin,, or the Col lected Statutes of the Manchu Dynasty. An Examination of the work will show that it might be called The Constitutional Law of the Chinese Empire. As was found in the ease of the former work, so this book, while founded upon the ancient classics and old traditions, is in its present form com- paratively modern--being about a century
old, dating not much before the Declara- tion of the Independence of the United States of America. A similar work was compiled by the rulers of the Ming dynasty, about a century before Columbus discovered Ame- rica. This was doubtless the model of the work now in hand. Brief notices will be found of both, in one of the volumes of the Chinese Repository and in Mr Wylie's Notes on Chinese Literature. The subject is referred to in the Imperial Preface aud Ode, with preface, translations of which are given below, from which it may be seen that the Original Edition was printed with type. The copy used in this review, is a cheap edition printed on blocks, bound in
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