, 1860-01-20

t.rcs. that for such people the doctrines
"a ceremonies Of the Bones, Of the Iaa-tsc,
= the Christian religion is equally suitable
and Il is only when these latter venture to
sneak publicly in derogation Of the estab.
iisbed customs Of China, or to do any act
..rdinr to disturb that tranquility of the
ompire which CONTIGUOUS so strongly incul-
cotes. that they are restrained by law
Several Imperial DEGREES have been issued at
diNereut times on these grounds, and one
bv the Emperor Kia- Ring in 1905, which
4 nrincipally remarkable for the very vague
and confused manner in which he speaks of
,bs christian doctrines. As TO the gross
Idolatry of the Bones, which oil the man
darins regard with the utmost contempt, it
has been for ages protected by the gov
eminent, and is the religion of nineteen
tveutieths Of the population-a religion
Vbieh can alone swear in the presence of the
biz hog, and Josh, by the burning of an
OFdiuafy yellow strip of paper; on common
but extraordinary occasions the cutting off
Of o cbicken-cock's head The swearing
being limited in time only, while the burn,
ihr Of q quick paper and the Huttering aud
Hood spinning Of the cocks neck, OIL any
oue case. Such is the validity of their Oh
Iirations, that the highest authority in the
land Of California, have, by their judges of
ne supreme court, decided against the va
lidity Of an equality in Cinnamon, where II
white person was party could not be be-
lieved under oath; and as such should and
shall be received by their simple tale, as
chain Of evidence. by the good people Of
Washington Territory, oil to- the contrary
notwithstanding.
The mandarins, who are the mobiles, wise
men and governors Of the country, are,
properly speaking, of no religion, but zeal.
ous for the public good, they make the wei
fare Of the state the principal care, and
distinguish themselves by their pol.tcneSs
md virtue. "The empire of China is tue
most popuous and aouriShing on the face
Of the earth, although the individuals who
govern it have no other rule Of conduct
than the light Of pure reason and natural
morality" Let US see how this is suhstan-
tiated in the lower, the middle, and even IN
the higher ranks Of society 1t does in
deed appear that one virtue, certainly of
no mean weight in the scale of morals, pre-
SaiIs from the emperor 10 the peasant name
IL: kliaI piety but, as we hOye seen, even
this is converted by the ancient laws and
customs Of the country into the vice of nc
tual idolairy, which there is strong rea,
con to believe was accompanied, till about
century ngo, with human sacrifices. This
virtue, too, is far from predicting its natn.
raj results---paysHtai aGsctida Fhe father
may, and often does, punish his children
with q severity which in its consequences
may prove fatal and whatever the penal
code says Of the practice of infantcide, we
know it prevails to a very great extent
(Such then is nut for men of families TO
crack Parents, too, have the horrid Gus
tom Of INJECTING sexual mutilation on their
male chiidten--sometmes that they may
stand better chance Of promotion in the
Offices Of state, and sometimes that they
may sell them as slaves, Ike our old friend
King Dahoney Of Africa, and our Indian
know.nothing citizens who ruled, until twas
time 10 stop them, in Washington Terrific
~. In popular tale called The Three
Dedicated Rooms, translated from the Chi
uese BY Mr., Davis, we find a woman offer
ing 10 sell herself and all her children as
slaves, and this is mentioned casually as
mere common incident. Why certainly
these worse than slaves, in our own humane
country, should be our equals in courts aud
society, by mixing among the free, intelIi-
gent white races, without a check rain to
guide the animals. In fact, the sale OF
children by their parents seems in China to
10 the great source from which slavery is
sOpplied. Mr.. Reid, our late, and Mr..
Ward, our present minister, demonstrates
this fact by official communication to the
chief officer Of this nation at Washington
City. Many parents, too, literally sell their
daughters to prostitution, and the number
ofprostitutes from this and other causes in
China is, and for many centuries past has
been, immense, as we may see from Marco
PalO's account of KinsGi, where he says
the prostitutes where in such numbers as
he dares not to report, although he had
before mentioned that in another city there
we're no less than Eve aud twenty thousand
The lower Chinese have been accused Of
being caAnibals, and it is certain that in
the extremity of famine, which not unire-
quently occurs among them, they have eat
On dead bodies, but this is not extraordinary
under such circumstances, in men whose
poverty constantly induces them to devour
Sermin and the most disgusting food From
such people generous feelings Of humanity
cannot be expected, and they accordingly
see their associates drowning or pcrishing
from fatigue without an effort for their re-
hef Kept as these wretched people are
through life under the perpetual terror and
frequent inHiction Of eOrpor, punishment,
% the only means to make an Indian obey,
they cannot be otherwise than servilo and
cowardly in the highest degree; but these
very vices only render them more insolent
to foreigners, which they carry, when they
migrate, with them, whom they think they
may safely treat with contempt and more
dlsOrderly, when by the accidental weak.
ness Of the police, they are emboldened to
break out iuto sedition.