Feb. 20th-21st,—(1). The Censorate morializes. forwarding two appeals ged by Chang Chen-vian and Kwoh tien-yuan, twnauts of Government Iand 1g Grounds near Jehho, complaining of oppressive exactions on the part of the authorities, against charges on whose part of illegal conduct agai themselves they like state that in the Spi sent by the Military at Jehho made hi ce in the Hunting Ground, and gave the cultivators tenants settled on notice to remove within three days, failing which, they were warned, they would be burnt out, Upon this a thousand or more of th nbitauts came together in a state of alarm at the station where the official had taken up hi abode, there for three or official, desired and this they did in obed commands thus Jaid upon th they Jed to the people's feelings, and ed them that the officer sent by the Government would provide Unem with allotments elsewhere in compensation for the land from which of the Sacred Edict is a duty the ad performance of which is required in fulfil ment of an iluste however, has come of late to be regarded na a dead letter by provincial authorities, whose compliance with it has been merely nominal, We hereby enjoin upon the Governor of ien Fu, the Poli capital, and the Governors-General, Governors, and Literary Chancellors' of all the provinces that they do issue orders to the officials and respect, without any apr Let them also take such find necessary with referee establishment of preaching stations and other matters relating thereto. On" m We issued injunctions to the Commanders-in-chief of the forces Uroughout thd empire, and to the high provincial authorities, directing - them to mend to Our notice any officials endowed with the exact d sification of their veral gifts, the officials thus reported upon to be-pineed on Li employment, with the object of providing a reserve of dates for military trusts, The proposition which the Tutor now memorializing Us advances, to wit, that of the civilian raul their part has been described as ference with a view to their own profit. After the occurrence described above had taken place, te official delegate proceeded into the Hunting Ground, and, without raking any allotments to the di brought in a detachment of d a out by force, Wh upon the candidate military art, is in all respects impracticable, and We command thatit receive no further notice. The former injaueti high officials aforesaid are now renewed, The memorialiat's proposal that all recom: mendations laid before the Throne with reference t i tration be be distribu was done little regard to justice that a po lind influence. would receive w ting (100 mow) vf land and be registered only the p of 80 mow, whereas to an applicant without influence 80 mow would reckoned as aking. Frauds of var descriptions were perpetrated in the of the land-warrants, to such an that the registry-clerk employed, Sa T'éug-lung by name, obtai of upwards of Tle. 2,500 worth of opium. over and above the amounts placed in his hands as Govern-mont deposits by the cultivators. Other inst of rapacity and oppression are accounted; and appellants now seek redress against the misrepresentations of thei conduct upon which they have been coudemned to severe punishment and to forfeiture of their lands, The Ce in submitting this appeal, refe memorial from the late Dlilitary Lien Governor, who has described appellants as the most notorious pests of the Hunting Grounds, and has solicited their banishment to the extreme south-western frontier tu undergo military servitude.—For rescript, rejecting the appeal, seo Gazelte of 29h Taunary.
Feb. 22ud-23rd.—(Court Circular.) Mei Ki-chao, Lieutenant-Governor at Nanking, paid his respects on arrival at Peking, and had audience.
(1) A decree in answer to a nen from Pao Ting, a Tutor of the Academy of Learning, who has submitted with due respect his views on the following minent is recalled to Empresses Regent, ianned on the 27th January, 1875, in which they vite expressions ut opi a all onl relating to the public servi regard to the observation contained in a postscript Memorial, in which the Tui at, nccordi eral report, a illumination is about to be held, for h par; immense number of lanterns have been manufactured, it has to be remarised that at the present moment, whilst the obsequies of his Into Majesty and of the Empress hi pending, and the country at large has suffered under repeated visitations of flood and drought, entailing distress and upon the people, it is out of the question that the Palace, troubled day and night sith sorrow and' anxiety, should abandon itscli to frivolous amusements. Their Majesties the Empresses have heretofore already laid stringent injunctions upon Our personal attendants, and We decree it unlikely that they would venture to ats tempt a practice of this kind. What the Tutor has heard, it is evident, is an erroneous report, Let this be promulgated for the information of all, at the capital and in the provinces. (Note.—The Sacred Edict, it is well known, is a treatise on moral, political, and social obligations which was composed by the Emperor KO-sug Ili, and expanded by order of his son emperor Yung Cheng, into eight homilies in familiar language, one of which should be read on the Ist and 16th
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.