This benevolent arrangement not only carries out the idea of parental care, which the Chinese rulers profess to have for their numerous family, but entitles them as much to the appellation of "discreet and wise," as was Joseph in the house of Pharaoh, when he recommended a measure of a similar character to the sovereign of Egypt. The laws relating to this department also require, that the canals, roads, embankments, and bridges, should be kept in due and thorough repair. The Chinese are necessitated, by the circumstances of their country, to pay much attention to the draining and irrigation of their lands. Water, like fire, is with them a good servant but a bad master. Without it they cannot raise their produce or transport their goods; and yet, when their mighty rivers accidentally burst their bounds, or the sea makes any encroachment on their thickly peopled territory, devastation and ruin, with a fearful loss of life, are the immediate consequences. Especial care, therefore, has from the earliest antiquity been taken to prevent inundations; and the individual who first drained the waters of the Yellow River, was raised to the rank of emperor, and almost deified. The labour and expense still bestowed on this department of public service, is scarcely equalled in any other unevangelized country. Some of the embankments are strong and well constructed; and though built centuries ago, still stand the test of time, and prove of incalculable benefit to the surrounding peasantry. Their bridges, over rapid streams and broad arms of the sea, composed of solid blocks of granite, fifteen or twenty feet long, and standing erect amidst the raging tide, bear testimony to the skill and perseverance of those who contrived and completed the
