duties levied by the government, at different passes between that port and the countries where it is grown. This is one of their main reasons for confining the European ships to Canton; for if we obtained the teas nearer to the places of growth and manufacture, all that was saved in the price to the purchasers would be lost in the transit duty to the revenue. Besides these burthens, and the profits of the Hong merchants, are to be reckoned the regular and irregular charges levied by the Hoppo, or chief commissioner of customs. This officer is always a Tartar favourite of the Emperor, selected from one of the three tribes about the court; and as many of them are distinguished by their number and not by their name, a former Hoppo of Canton (in 1828) was styled "His Excellency Seventyfour. It is the business of the Hoppo, in addition to amassing an immense private fortune from the European trade in the course of four or five years, to remit to Peking annually 1,470,000 taëls, or Chinese ounces of silver, and to make three presents to the Emperor; one in the fifth moon, another on his majesty's birth-day, and a third at the end of the year.1 The whole amount to about 800,000 taëls in value, and consist principally of European articles obtained from the merchants. the foreigners are those who ultimately pay these charges, the government has none of its ordinary scruples to restrain exaction.

As

The civil and statistical work,2 abstracted by Dr. Morrison, after stating all the sources of income, proceeds to give the items of expenditure. It begins with the salaries and allowances in silver, grain, and silk, to the princes and nobles about the court, which have already been noticed in the eleventh chapter.3 The officers of government receive both pay and allowances, the pay being often a mere trifle, but the allowances on a liberal scale. The legal emoluments of the governor of a province are 15,000 taëls, or 50007., in silver, the value of which is much higher with them than with us. The treasurer of a province, who collects and remits the land-tax, &c.,

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has 9000 taëls. After paying the court, the civil service, and the army, the Board of Revenue has to issue relief to those districts of the empire which have suffered from drought, inundation, locusts, or earthquakes. The various sources of regular income appear to be inadequate to the necessities of the state, and hence the need of resorting to unacknowledged fees and assessments. "His present majesty on his accession," observes Dr. Morrison, "ordered all fees to be discontinued; but he did so by the advice of a novice. All the governors of provinces immediately memorialized, and declared the orders utterly impracticable. The Emperor them turned round, confessed his inexperience, censured his adviser, and revoked the order."

It has been observed before, that the Tartar soldiers are paid, in part, by grants of land. In western Tartary parties of military, of 800 or 1000, are settled down to cultivate the waste lands, serving at the same time to control the native population. They generally produce grain enough for their own subsistence. Soong-ta-jin (the conductor of Lord Macartney) recommended that each man should have a piece of land given him as a perpetual inheritance; but the government objected, on the ground that he would neglect martial exercises to cultivate his private farm; and that region (they added) was too important to entrust to undisciplined troops. The Chinese troops settled towards the Russian frontier, from the Saghalian westward, are generally agriculturists. To a station on that river some criminals were sent, to be coerced by the regular troops, and to work for them. They behaved well, and the Emperor Yoong-ching (the third of the Manchows) forgave their crimes, and granted them lands. He remarked on that occasion, "It may be seen from this occurrence, that, if criminals have a path of self-renovation opened to them, there is reason to hope they will reform their vices and become moral."

Some mode of increasing its regular income has of late attracted the serious attention of the government of China. In a Peking gazette,* dated the 11th October 1833, there appeared the result of deliberations between the several

Chinese Repository, vol. ii. p. 430.

supreme boards, and that particular one which has especial charge of the revenue. They had formed a committee of ways and means, and the object was to increase the income for current expenses, because, during the last few years, the outlay had exceeded the receipts by more than thirty millions of taëls. They were, in short, employed upon the great problem of government, which has been thus defined,-" à prendre le plus d'argent qu'on peut à une grande partie des citoyens, pour le donner à une autre partie." The defalcation is attributed, and with apparent reason, to the suppression of two rebellions among the Mahomedan Tartars, adherents of Jehanghir Khojah, and to the inroads of the Meaou-tse, north-west of Canton. But, besides these sources of expense, there has been an unprecedented train of calamities in the shape of deluge and drought, making it necessary to remit large amounts of land-tax in different provinces; while the repairs of the Yellow River, and its neighbouring streams, drained both the general and provincial treasuries. Expense was thus increased, at the same time that income was diminished.

The expedient that has been adopted for raising money, being directly contrary to what may be termed the leading principle of the Chinese system, that of eligibility to office by learning and talent alone, may perhaps be considered as boding ill to the present rulers of the country. The rank of Kiu-jin, which qualifies for employment, and, by the fundamental law of the country, should be attainable by no other road than that of approved learning, has been lately sold for money, as offices in France were under the old régime. But so opposed is this to the universal sentiment of the empire, and to the expectations of the proper candidates for employment, that a short limit is set to the period of its exercise. On the occasion in question, the term was restricted to about nine months. The system is considered altogether bad. Many of the old purchasers remain unemployed; and those who get into office, having bought their places, deem it but fair to repay themselves as fast as possible from the people.

Various other expedients have been proposed; some were for opening the mines; some advised raising the price of salt; others recommended that rich merchants and monopolists should subscribe for the wants of the state. It has been already mentioned, that one or two of the Hong merchants obtained the decoration of the peacock's feather for contributing a round sum towards the military operations against the mountaineers. The present government of the country is evidently hard pressed for means, and would be distressed by any unusual draft on its

resources.

Although, as we have before endeavoured to demonstrate, the very different condition of China, in respect to wealth and prosperity, argues a system of government much superior to what prevails under other Asiatic despotisms; although, as long we are to judge of the tree by its fruits, a large share of good government must be the general rule; it is evident that the rule is not without its exceptions. The Emperor-the theoretical father of his people does not find it so easy openly to impose new taxes as his necessities may require them; and his power, though absolute in name, is limited in reality by the endurance of the people, and by the laws of necessity. Our own country has proved the fact of the largest amount of direct taxation being levied under a limited monarchy, and through the delegates of the people themselves; and the English House of Commons has done a great deal more than the Emperor of China could probably attempt with safety. He is therefore obliged, to a certain extent, and on particular occasions, to let functionaries pay themselvesthe worse possible form of taxation. The real amount, levied in this manner from the people, becomes greater than the nominal, and the excess is incalculably more mischievous than if fairly and directly obtained. In reference to this system and its consequences, the Chinese have a saying, that "the greater fish eat the smaller; the smaller eat the shrimps; and the shrimps are obliged to eat mud." It may be presumed that the expulsion of the Tartars is the only likely way to a remedy.

THE government of China issues no other coin than the base metal Tchen, composed of copper and zinc, with perhaps some lead, and in value considerably less than the tenth part of a penny. On one side is the title of the reigning Emperor, with two words denoting "current value," while the reverse bears a Tartar inscription. In the centre of each of these coins is a square hole, through which they are strung together by hundreds to save counting, and in this state look something like strings of sausages. Many years ago, a specimen of a single coin having by some

chance been dropped in an unfrequented part of the United Kingdom, the person who picked it up carried the mystery to a learned antiquary, who having written a long essay on the subject, in which every conjecture was hazarded but the true one, a representation of the strange coin, with the essay appended, was published in a standard work of some eminence. With a view to diminish the chance of such a mistake for the future, a fac-simile of the coinage of one of the Manchow Emperors is here given:

The curious, as in other countries, make.

collections of the ancient copper coin, in the order of succession of the reigns under which they were issued. It is said, however, that there are fabricators of these, as well as of numerous other antiques, of which the Chinese are so fond. A series, mounting up beyond the Christian era, has been brought to England; and if a string of tchen taken

1 It appears that the white shells called cowries have been, and perhaps still are, in use as a medium of exchange about the provinces bordering on India and Ava, particularly Yun-nân. They are called by the Chinese hae-fei, "fat of the sea," and three of them seem to have been exchanged for one copper coin.

at hazard be examined, it will often be found to contain some coins of an ancient date. During former periods of Chinese history, money seems to have been made of other materials besides copper, being coined into a great variety of shapes, with symbolical figures of various animals. So greatly has the current coin of the reigning dynasty been debased, compared with its nominal value, that the greatest difficulty is experienced in repressing the practice of forging it. In the Peking Gazette for June, 1821, there is the confession of a convicted forger, who declares that, "being in great want, he, in concert with a former acquaintance, agreed

on a plan for counterfeiting old worn-out tchen by casting lead, which being smuggled into circulation, they were to share the profits. They procured a stone and made a mould for the coin, and, their instruments being ready, they hired an empty apartment attached to a temple, and there coined upwards of 7000 tchen; but, soon after putting these in circulation, they were seized with all their tools."

In the same year there appeared a curious paper from the viceroy of Fokien to the Emperor, being "A report concerning the depreciation of the current tchen in comparison with silver bullion, requesting the imperial assent to a temporary suspension of the coinage, with a view to prevent needless waste. In the provincial mint (for it seems there is one in each province) the average coinage of ten days had been 1200 strings of tchen (each string containing 1000 or ten divisions of 100 each), and therefore the total coinage of one year averaged 43,200 strings (or 43,200,000 tchen), the use of which had been to pay the militia of the province. In order to procure the copper and zinc required for coinage, officers had been regularly deputed to Yun-nân and Hoo-pě; and it was calculated that the expenses of transmission and coinage, added to the cost of the metal, had amounted, on an average, to 1 taël and 261 parts (in silver) for every 1000 tchen. But the present market value of fine silver, in exchange for the coin, was only 1 taël weight for 1240 tchen; this difference being added to the above, the total disadvantage amounted to more than 500 parts in each taël, and the annual loss in the province to 20,000 taëls." To understand this, it must be observed that 1000 tchen ought to purchase or represent 1 taël of fine silver, but that more than 1500 were now required for that purpose, including the first cost of the coin to the government.

The viceroy then alludes to an inconvenience arising from the bulk of the base metal coin, in comparison with its value; in which respect it somewhat resembles the iron money of Sparta. "The province of Fokien," observes the Chinese functionary, "being on the borders of the sea, its distance from some other provinces is great; and the merchants who resort hither with their goods,

finding it inconvenient to carry back such a weight of coin, exchange it for silver as a more portable remittance; in consequence of which silver and copper coin have become very disproportioned in their relative values; the former rising, and the latter falling to an unusual degree. It has always been the rule (he adds) to pay the militia in coin, at the rate of 1000 for a taël of silver; but now, a taël of silver in the market being worth 1240 tchen, they experience serious loss from this when they exchange their coin for silver, with a view to the more ready transmission of their pay to a distance.” The remedy proposed by the viceroy was, that the mint should be shut, and all father coinage suspended; the militia receiving their pay in silver, until the relative values of silver and tchen approached nearer to a par.

The only coin of the country being copper, it follows that all transactions, beyond mere daily marketing and the lowest class of payments, must be carried on by a weight of silver, of which the taël expresses one Chinese ounce, divided decimally into 10 mace (in the language of Canton), which are still farther divided into 10 candareens-the names of weights and not coins; so that 10 copper tchen should, in exchange, equal 1 candareen of silver; 100 should equal 1 mace; and 1000 should pass for 1 taël; though, from the paper before quoted, it seems the exchange varies between copper and silver. It has appeared impossible to establish a silver coin in the country, from the unconquerable propensity of the people to play tricks with anything more valuable than their base copper money: indeed we have seen that they forge even that. On the introduction of Spanish dollars in commerce, they were at first found to be so convenient, that the coinage of dollars in imitation was for a time allowed; but, though these commenced at a higher rate than the foreign dollars, they soon sank greatly below the standard, while the foreign coin preserved its wonted degree of purity. 1 The manufacture of imitationdollars, being now prohibited, is still carried on to a considerable extent. Some are alloyed with lead, while others are made of base

1 Chinese Commercial Guide, p. 64.

metal and coated with silver. The Spanish dollars imported at Canton very soon become punched into such a state, with the private marks of all those through whose hands they pass, as to be saleable only by weight. The fraudulent Chinese even introduce bits of lead into the punch-holes, and none but freshly imported dollars can ever be received but with a very strict examination, called shroffing.

The smallest payments in the interior, if not made in the copper tchen, are effected by exchanging bits of silver, whose weight is ascertained by a little ivory balance, on the principle of the steel-yard. The astonishing inconvenience of such a system might have been expected to lead to a silver coinage; but it still continues, and in this want of a circulating medium may perhaps be sought the real cause of so much being effected by barter, as well as of the payment of a considerable portion of taxes and rents, and other obligations, in produce instead of money. Those payments to government, which are not made in kind, are in silver of a prescribed rate of fineness. This is cast in stamped ingots of one and ten taëls in weight, of which ninety-eight parts in one hundred must be of pure silver, the alloy being therefore only two per cent. The Sysee, as it is called at Canton, paid in exchange for opium, and sent home in considerable quantities to this country, is of the same description of bullion; and as it was found, on assay at the Bank, to contain a considerable admixture of gold, which the Chinese had not been able to detect or separate, it has proved very profitable to the importers, raising the premium on Sysee in China to five or six per cent. With the imperfect means that exist there, of ascertaining the real quality of the barsilver received in exchange for opium, it is only surprising that it should have turned out rather above than below the stipulated value.

Besides the inferior grade of pawnbrokers, there are in every considerable town a respectable class of what are called "money-shops," approaching in some degree to our private banking establishments. Officers charged with the collection of the revenue deposit with these the receipts on account of taxes and

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duties; and the money-shop is paid by a liberal allowance for waste, in melting and reducing the silver to the quality of government Sysee, for the purity of which it is responsible. "Taxes are generally handed over to them by the government; mercantile duties are frequently paid into their banks by the merchants from whom they are owing; and the banker in such case gives the merchant a receipt for the amount, accompanied by a certificate that it shall be paid to government within a certain period. The refined silver is cast into ingots, and stamped with the name of the banker and date of refining. Should any deception be afterwards discovered, at whatever distance of time, the refiner is liable to severe punishment.

From private individuals these banks either receive deposits drawable at will, in which case no interest is allowed; or they take money at interest not exceeding twelve per cent., in which case some days' notice must be given before any portion can be withdrawn. They do not appear to differ materially in any respect from similar establishments in Europe; but there are no chartered or privileged banking companies. Paper money has formerly been issued by the government, but is not now known."1"

Allusion was made, in the first chapter, 2 to the paper money issued by the Mongol conquerors of China, as mentioned by the Arabian traveller, Ibn Batuta, who states that all the silver coin had vanished from the circulation, and been melted down, in consequence of the depreciation which took place in the paper from over-issues. Marco Polo gives the following distinct account of the same paper money: "In this city of Kambalu is the mint of the grand Khan who may be said to possess the secret of the alchymists, as he has the art of producing money by the following process: he causes the bark to be stripped from those mulberrytrees, the leaves of which are used for feeding silkworms, and takes from it that thin inner rind which lies between the coarser bark and the wood of the tree. This, being steeped and afterwards pounded in a mortar, until reduced to a pulp, is made into paper, resem

1 Chinese Commercial Guide, p. 66. 2 Vol. i. p. 7.