Star.
London, England, 1823-07-14 00:00:00

LIBERTY OF THE PRESS IN GJIINA.

DANGERS ATTENDING AUTHORSHIP IN CHINA, IL-
LUSTRATED NT THE FATE OF WHANG-SEE-HEOU,
WHOSE CRIME IS THUS SET FORTH IN THE REPORT
01 HIS JUDGES.
44 We find," say they—" 1. That he has presumed
to meddle with the great Dictionary of Kahg-hi;
having made an abridgment of it, in which he has
had the audacity to contradict some passages of that
excellent and authentic work. 2. In the preface to
his abridgment, we have ' seen with horror, that he
has dared to write the little names (that is, the primi-
tive family names) of Confucius, and even of your
Majesty—a temerity, a want of respect, which has
made us shudder. 3. In the genealogy of iris family
and his poetry, he has asserted that he is descended
'from the Whang•tee.
" When asked why he had dared to meddle with
the great Dictionary of Kang-hi, he replied—That
Dictionary is very voluminous and inconvenient ; I
have made an abridgment which is less cumbersome
and expensive.
" Being questioned how he could have the auda-
city to write in the preface to This Dictionary, the lit-
tle names of the Emperors of the reigning dynasty,
he answered—l know that kis unlawful to pronounce
the little names of the Bmperors. I introduced them
into my Dictionary merely that young people might
know what those names were, and not be liable to
use them by mistake. I have, however, acknowledged
my error, by reprinting my Dictionary, and omitting
what was amiss.
6g We replied, that the little names of the Emperor
and of Confucius were known to the whole empire.
He protested that he had long been ignorant of them ;
and that he had not known them himself till he was
30 years old, when he saw them for the first time in
the hall where the literati compose their pieces in or-
der to ob•ain degrees.
44 When asked how he had dared to assert that he
was descended from the Whang-tee, he said :—lt was
I
a vanity that came into my head. wanted io make
people believe that I was somebody."
If there were in these three charges anything really
reprehensible according to the broad principles of
universal morality, it was the fabrication of an illus-
trious genealogy. This imposture,•censurable in any
case, might have been designed to make dupes, and
perhaps to form a party ; but the Judges of Whang-
see-heou attached less importance to this charge than
to the ether two. They declated the author guilty
of high treason on the first charge, and• pronounced
this sentence:—
" According to the laws of the empire, this crime
ought to be rigorously punished. The criminal shall
becut in pieces, his goods confi .cated, and his chil-
dren and relatives above the age of sixteen years put
to death. His wives, his concubines, and his children,
under sixteen, shall be exiled and given as slaves to
some grandee of the empire."
The Sovereign was graciously pleased to mitigate
the :eve' ity of this lenience, in an edict to this effect.
" I favour Whang-see-heOu in regard to the nature of
his punishment. .He shall not be cut in pieces, and
shall oily have his head cut off! I forgive his rela-
tives. As to his sons, let thesis be reserved for the
great execution in autumn. Let the sentence be exe-
cuted in its other points: such is my pleasure."

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

- 111611 COURT OF ADMIRALTY, JULY 12.

THE FLORA.

This was an application by.llr. LUSTTINGTON, on
behalf of Captain Casern, of the Flora, for a monition
under the following circumstances:.—The ship Flora,
on her voyage to the port of Lima, with a valuable
cargo, including, a considerable qtiaotity of quicksil-
ver, was captured by Lord Cochrane's squadron, and
carried into Valparaiso. Subseqwently to her cap-
tuie, however, the Captain managed to get possession
of the quicksilver, and to tranship it into a vessel
bound for England. For this action he was impri-
soned in Lima for about tilt ec months, and at the end
of that time liberated. The quicksilver being at pre-
sent on the high seas, and hourly expected to arrive,
' Captain Casein prayed the judgment of the Court to
grant its monition against the vessel and her Master,
in order to save his salvage claim hereafter.—Mo-
nition granted.