his peers, in China; while examination by torture is generally employed; and the criminal is punished on his own confession.
The last tribunal is that of works, to which is committed the care of public buildings, the excavation of canals, the embankment of rivers, and the construction of bridges and locks. Any one who considers the immense trouble and expense necessary to maintain some of the above, with the ruin and devastation sometimes consequent on neglect in this department, will see, that a branch of public service of such importance ought to be placed under a separate board of management.
In addition to the above tribunals, there are other public offices, to which important affairs are confided. Such as the colonial or foreign office, for the superintendence of the extensive districts, which, by the annexation of Tartary to the empire, have been brought under the imperial sway. There is also the public censorate, the officers of which are appointed to oversee the affairs of the whole empire, and are allowed to reprove the sovereign, or any of his officers, without being liable to punishment. Full liberty is given them to descant on the general affairs of government, though not to interfere with the private concerns of the monarch; and they are frequently sent into various parts of the empire, to inspect and report on the conduct of some of the highest officers of state. Such an institution as this, where the expression of public opinion is generally suppressed, is certainly of great value, and indicates the wisdom of those statesmen who established, and the magnanimity of those rulers who endure it.
In addition to this, we have the grand national college at Peking, the members of which are all the
