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duties of the officers are not confined to this particular sphere, for in 1816 one of the presidents was deputed to receive the British embassy. The board is divided into six chambers, thus:

1. The first chamber is established for conferring ranks and titles upon the nobility, as well as officers of the Mongol tribes.

2. The duties of the second chamber are to regulate the tribute and salary of the Mongol princes, many of whom are related to the emperor by marriage, as before described.

3. The jurisdiction of this chamber extends principally to Tibet, and those tribes which, having no native chiefs, are under the control of Mantchoo officers. It is called "the chamber of demarcation and records," and it chiefly relates to spiritual affairs. Jealous as the Mongols are of spiritual authority, the emperor of China has overreached them in this particular. Thus, although they have monopolized the incarnations of Budhu,* and have three such at Pekin, and ten in Mongolia, the transmigration cannot take place without an order from the emperor. When they require another habitation for Budhu, he directs the lamas that only such a family shall have the honour of furnishing a child for the pur

* According to the notions of the Mongols, these "incarnations" are gifted with omniscience. Hence they represent them as the vicegerents of supreme power on earth, as ruling over the nations with unbounded authority, and as claiming, in right of it, the profoundest homage. But the whole arises from the most abject knavery of the lamas. The "incarnations" always consist of children, or the most ignorant men, who are only exalted to the rank of divinities that the lamas may rule the country. By the superstitions they teach they have enslaved the minds of the people, and hence obtained "the fat of the land."

pose, and this family is sure to be attached to his cause. Hence the emperor triumphs over Budhu; and to make his conquest complete, neither the lamas nor the priests can officiate without an order from the mandarins. From this cause they form a body of men entirely at the service of the government, or the emperor of China.

4. The design of the fourth chamber is for compassionating foreigners. But this must be understood in a limited sense: the Chinese government makes a distinction amongst the "barbarians." Thus, those who come under the transforming influence of the celestial empire are called Fan, or "foreigners;" while the savage inhabitants of the Chinese mountains are denominated inside barbarians; and the English, and other nations, who know nothing of the principles of civilization, outside barbarians. By foreigners, in this instance, therefore, must be understood the Kalkas, who, though not subject to Chinese sway, in the true sense of the term, are yet deemed the children of the emperor; whence he establishes for their benefit this "chamber of compassion." Their princes even receive a salary from the imperial treasury.

5. The fifth chamber is established for regulating the affairs of Turkestan; but it does not confer much benefit on that country. Of all the vassals of China, the nobles and the people of Turkestan are the most oppressed by the emperor. Hence they have become a nation of slaves and traitors.

6. This chamber has the control over the criminal jurisdiction of the Mongols. The nobles

may, in ordinary cases, judge their own people, but capital crimes can only be adjudged under the sanction of this board. Even a khan has not power over the life of his subjects, unless they revolt, when he is allowed to punish them with death. Connected with this chamber there is a treasury for defraying the expenses of the Mongol princes during their stay at Pekin.

The above comprise the institutions of the Chinese properly so called. In the provinces and colonies there are others, but they are all modelled as much as possible according to the supreme government. The six boards are clearly traceable in the institutions of the towns; and as all are dependent on the supreme courts, whether in the provinces of China, or the colonies of Mantchouria, Mongolia, Ele, or Tibet, they do not require description. It will be sufficient to say, that the whole machinery of government is one compact body, and that each part bears some resemblance to the other part.

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IN all civilized communities, whether ancient or modern, agriculture has been deemed of the highest importance. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, alike paid attention to this subject. Perhaps, however, in no nation, whether of ancient or modern times, has the husbandman been held in higher repute than in China. That country is essentially agricultural, and the cultivators of the soil rank next to the cultivators of the mind in national importance. And this is not owing to their skill, but rather to the effects

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of their labour. They are diligent and laborious agriculturists, but the science of good husbandry is unknown among the Chinese. This seems to arise from a love of those customs which their forefathers have handed down to them. As they tilled the land, so their descendants resolve to till it, and thus there is no spirit of improvement. Although the nation has existed for several thousand years, the very instruments they use are still those of primitive simplicity.

And

As in other countries, the chief instrument of the Chinese husbandman is the plough; but the plough in China is a very different thing from that with which Europeans are acquainted, or even that which many of the ancients used. -A Chinese plough simply consists of a beam, handle, and a share, with a wooden stem, and a rest behind, instead of a moulding board. all this is put together in a very rude manner. It would seem, indeed, as one has observed, that a labourer tired of plying the spade, resolved to call upon the ox for aid, and for that purpose tied his shovel to a beam: to the one end he attached the docile animal, while he held the other by means of a handle: notwithstanding, it appears to answer his purpose. His only aim is to stir up the soil, or, in other words, to form the soil, manure, and a certain quantity of water, into an equable mixture. Still, were the Chinese to work the plough upon European principles, they would, doubtless, produce more abundant crops; for their present instrument seldom cuts to the depth of four inches; so that they sow from year to year on the same soil, without being able to turn up new earth. But it is the endeavour of the

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