are other persons to be courted by the parties in a suit, who arrange the gifts and bnng the ease before their superiors. In a Chinese court no oaths are administered to the witnesses, and the truth, or some convenient substitute for it, is only disclosed under the dread of punishment, or by actual torture. Should money flow freely from the friends of an offender, truth and justice, it is said, run a fearful risk of being shunted to the wall, and crime condoned. Poorer culprits, who have no rich allies to aid them, frequently come worst off. In dealing with these offenders, virtue, justice, and purity assert themselves in the righteous judge. Penniless pilferers are bambooed, caged, triced up by the thumbs, or suspended by cords, while lying lips are beaten to a pulp, as a suitable lesson to the deceitful and dishonest pauper. I have in my possession a photograph, which I took in Amoy, of a poor and therefore profitless thief, who was strung up by the thumbs until the flesh rotted from the bones. He had been a bungling robber, and, unfortunately for himself, had nothing in him of the daring burglar, who could share his rich booty with conniving detectives. It is an easy task to write about one's impressions of the imperfect administration of justice, gathered from one's own experience in the country and from books. I have no doubt however that any native official thoroughly acquainted with Chinese law and its administration could, with equal ease and honesty, point out many advantages which their system offers in dealing with the criminal class of their countrymen, and be able to prove that it is quite common to find judges, and magistrates, actuated in the discharge of their duties by a simple desire to do what is deemed right, according to the usage of their land. The people dread their courts of law, and call their prisons hell. The following is a description from a native source of the duties which a magistrate and his subordinates may be required to perform during a season of local tranquillity. The underlings of the Yamun, or magistrate's office, found it expedient to foster a dispute between two peaceably-disposed neighbours named Hang and Chang. The quarrel at length broke into open hostility, and Hang was advised by these underlings to prosecute Chang; Hang therefore paid them a small fee, and proceeded to the Yamun dressed in his best attire. Hang, having bribed the gatekeepers, was admitted to the presence of the magistrate, who received him with marked courtesy, and informed him that he had heard of his renown as a man esteemed among his neighbours for his lovingkindness and filial piety. Hereupon Hang craved pardon for the liberty he had taken in coming before a man of such transcendent virtue and wisdom, assuring him how the thought, that one of such rare qualities should be so poorly paid, had caused him weary days and sleepless nights. Hang further begged as an honest citizen to lay a gift at the great man's feet. This was too much for the magistrate, who replied with an air of scorn, "Never, Hang, never! My wants are few. Your kind intention is sufficient. But stay; should you wish to share your savings with the poor, leave the present, and I will divide it among my many charities. Is there anything I can do for you in return?" Hang then stated his case. "Ah!" said the irate judge, "Chang— you say Chang assaulted you? That arch-disturber of the peace shall be speedily brought to justice." Chang, who had been posted up in all that passed at the interview, proceeds to lay his complaint, and the fees and presents bestowed by him exceed those of Hang. Chang in his turn is received with marked respect, and informed that the official eye had long rested on and sought out the vile haunts of Hang, who was a dangerous and desperate ruffian. Chang's virtues were extolled, and his presents received in the same spirit of resignation. A day was appointed for the trial, Hang confidently expecting to find Chang a manacled prisoner, while Chang felt sure of gazing upon the fettered Hang. But the merciful judge informed them of the bitter regret it caused him to think of such a feud existing between two distinguished citizens, and advised them to save their good name, and settle the difference between themselves. The fees and presents were not returned, and, strange as it may seem, the needy poor remained as needy and as poor as ever.
THE CANGUE.
THE cangue, or collar of wood, is one of the lighter punishments of China, inflicted for minor offences, such as petty theft. The nature of the crime, as well as the name and residence of the delinquent, if he has any, are inscribed in prominent characters on cards, and fixed to the cangue. The wearer is usually located in front of the house or shop where the offence was committed, and is forced to depend for food on the charity of passers-by as the imposing dimensions of the wooden encumbrance prevent him feeding himself.
THE CAGE.
CRIMES of the worst order are sometimes punished by starvation in a cage (see No. 14) so constructed that the prisoner has the choice of either suspending himself by the neck to relieve his toes, which just touch the board, or of standing on his toes to relieve his neck. During my short visit to Foochow a murderer was executed by this process, his cage being exposed on the great stone bridge across the river Min. His crime was one of a most revolting and fiendish type. He had murdered a litfle girl, mutilating her to a fearful extent in order to secure the gold bracelets and bangles with which his victim had been adorned. The people were forbidden to minister to his wants with even a drop of cold water, so that he became maddened with agony, and strangled himself in his wild ravings at last.
