Directory_and_Chronicle_1841 — Page 619

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Sacred Instructions of the Ta Tsing Emperors.

Nov.

and instead of proving a blessing would entail new hardships upon the natives, he took care to make sufficient provision himself, so as not to exact supplies from the neighboring cities, an endeavor in which he never succeeded.

Having studied mathematics, he tried to apply his knowledge to the management of the Yellow river, the imperial caual, and the Hwae ho. To discourse upon this subject was his especial care; but though this may be considered as out of place, yet the reader will find on perusing the two volumes on this subject, that the emperor was well acquainted with hydraulics. All art, however, has been put at defi- ance in restraining the inundations of the Hwang ho, and the famed industry of the Chinese, with the multitudes that have set to work to strengthen the dykes, has been of little avail. Kanghe did not des- pair of ultimate success, and therefore cheered up his officers, and gave them the most minute directions, how they might effect in a scientific manner, what sheer brute strength and the force of numbers could never accomplish.

Like all mortals, Kanghe was occasionally vain, and plumed him- self upon the great benefits he had conferred upon the country. Above all he taxes his memory with the many instances of having remitted imposts, when by some means or other the people could not pay, or the soldiers had devoured the produce. We forgive him this little variety, for he wished to render his reign popular, and to leave lasting traces of his benevolence. Though these arts of considerate kindness may long ago have been forgotten, they still live in these panegyrics upon himself.

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In giving instructions to his generals, he asserts, that national contests ought to be engaged in with the utmost humanity, (we should have thought it far more advisable not to commence them at all,) and to realize this point, he makes suitable suggestions. It would be a happy thing if the celestial soldiers would conform to these rules, but they seem to give the text a meaning the opposite to which it was intended to convey. The same desire which dictated these di- rections to the military, made likewise ample provision for their com- fort. The army is to be stinted in nothing, the arrears are not only to be paid, but the private debts of the soldiers liquidated, and money paid in advance. This was the liberality of an emperor, who, well aware that the spur of the Mantchou hordes had taken possession of China, wished to encourage the conquerors to maintain their ground. In two different orations he praises the faithful and brave, who sacrificed themselves for their country, and shed their blood in the emperor's cause.

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