The Translator of the History of the Pirates ventures to affirm, that the Chinese system of government is by far the best that ever existed in Asia; not excepting any of the different monarchies founded by the followers of Alexander, the government of the Roman Prætors and of Byzantine Dukes, or that of Christian Kings and Barons who reigned in various parts of the East during the middle ages. The principles of Chinese government are those of virtue and justice; but they are greatly corrupted by the passions and vices of men. The greater part of their laws are good and just, though the practice is often bad; but unfortunately this is generally not known to the "Son of Heaven." It is the interest of the Emperor to deal out justice to the lowest of his subjects; but, supposing it were possible that one man could manage the government of such an immense empire, who either could or would dare to denounce every vicious or unjust act of the officers employed by government? The Chinese themselves are a clever shrewd sort of people; deceit and falsehood are, perhaps, more generally found in the "flowery empire" than any where else; but take them all in all, they rank high in the scale of nations, and the generality of the people seem to be quite satisfied with their government; they may wish for a change of masters, but certainly not for an entire change of the system of government.
There has existed for a long period, and still exists, a powerful party in the Chinese Empire, which is against the dominion of the Manchow; the different mountainous tribes maintain, even now, in the interior of China, a certain independence of the Tay tsing dynasty. The Meao tsze, who were in Canton some years ago, stated, with a proud feeling, that they were _Ming jin_, people of Ming; the title of the native sovereigns of China before the conquest of the Manchow. It is said, that the whole disaffected party is united in a society--generally called the _Triade-Union_--and that they aimed at the overthrow of the Tatars, particularly under the weak government of the late Emperor; but the rebels totally failed in their object both by sea and land.
It has been falsely reported in Europe, that it is not allowed by the laws of China to publish the transactions of the reigning dynasty. It is true that the history written by the official or imperial historians is not published; but there is no statute which prohibits other persons from writing the occurrences of their times. It may be easily imagined that such authors will take especial care not to state any thing which may be offensive to persons in power. There is, however, no official court in China to regulate the course of the human understanding, there is nothing like that tribunal which in the greater part of the Continent of Europe is called the _Censorship_. Fear alone is quite sufficient to check the rising spirits of the liberals in the middle empire. The reader, therefore, should not expect that either the author of the "History of the Rebellions in the Interior of China," or the writer of the "Pacification of the Pirates," would presume to state that persons whom government is pleased to style robbers and pirates, are in reality enemies of the present dynasty; neither would they state that government, not being able to quell these rebellions, are compelled to give large recompenses to the different chiefs who submit. These facts are scarcely hinted at in the Chinese histories. The government officers are usually delineated as the most excellent men in the world. When they run away, they know before-hand that fighting will avail nothing; and when they pardon, they are not said to be compelled by necessity, but it is described as an act of heavenly virtue! From what we learn by the statements of a Chinese executioner, we should be led to form a bad opinion of the veracity of these historians, and the heavenly virtue of their government; for it is said, that one Chinese executioner beheaded a thousand pirates in one year.[6]