Directory_and_Chronicle_1841 — Page 614

1841.

Sacred Instructions of the Ta Tsing Emperors.

597

ly contested, and by sorne governments entirely declared null and void. The Chinese, however, acknowledge it in all its force, though they seldom reflect upon its tendency. Such expressions as the so- vereignty of the people, or giving an account to the nation, are foreign to the language, whilst the claims of the public at large for good go- vernment are fully admitted, and sufficiently commented upon. The prince has only to give an account to heaven, and not to any other power. Heaven, however, keeps on him a searching eye, and detects all his errors. It might appear that similar expressions point to some- thing more than the material heavens; such is not, however the case, and the gross pantheistical idea is in all these edicts prominently and boldly expressed.

But to return to Shunche. This ruler did not only preach from a pulpit, but likewise held very edifying discourses during his plea- sure excursions, thereby improving time and giving an excellent ex- ample to his ministers. Even from the nursery there issued a voice, that of his beloved mother, which furnished matter for a very long sermon, which is of course upon filial duty.

The transition to the use of riches is very rapid. The good em- peror makes it out, that his predecessors, the Ming princes, had taxed the blackhaired people too much, and though levying duties and imposts constitutes a part of governmental functions, still there must be economy so as to lighten the burdens of the people. Shun- che boldly inveighs against the odious usurpation of many grandees, who seized upon the people's fields to make hunting parks thereof. This speech would find few admirers in old England, and very likely would be hooted at in parliament, still it boldly maintains, that the more you extend pleasure-grounds, the more you narrow the territory for cultivating the necessaries of life. This truism has found a great many admirers, and there are, with the exception of the imperial demesnes, no parks where deer are kept, for the pleasure of the gran- dees. In this same speech, the monarch bitterly complains, that the waters were disobedient, and that droughts repeatedly afflicted the land. He therefore graciously remits the taxes, and permits the peo- ple to recover from these various calamities. Hunger, in addition to the sword, had devastated the land, and it required an indulgent fa- ther to raise the drooping heads of his numerous children. At one time he gave 40,000 taels of his own savings, and his queen did the same, which money was put into the hands of a trustworthy minister to be distributed amongst the sufferers.