At the recent examinations for the province of Chibli one of the successful candidates was a man named Liu Tao, It was afterwards represented to the Viceroy Li Hung-chang that this individual was not a person of respectable birth, and therefore was not entitled to compete at the examination. The man and his father were therefore examined by the Tientsin Magistrate, who found that the father had been a servant in the Magistrate's Yamen in 1860, that he had afterwards resigned and bought a button of the third grade; and_ more recently he had similarly acquired for his son the rank first of literary licentiate, and then of sub-prefect: thus qualified the had competed successfully for a provincial degree. After this investigation had already been instituted, Censor addressed a memorial to the Emperor on the same matter. His complaint was, to the same effect as that trade to the Viceroy; only he added that as the man could hardly read, it was probable that he had gained his place on the examination list by some secret fraud, This memorial was sent to the Viceroy with orders frum the Emperor to make enquiries. The Viceroy therefore structed the magistrate to hold an ad tional investigation concerning the charge of fraud at the examination; but the magistrate failed to obtain proof of anything under this head. In sending a report to the Emperor the Viceroy states that the former menial position of the man's father rendered both father and son ': competent either to acquire rank by; purchase or to compete at the public exars, pations, He therefore recommends that both of them should be deprived of their official rauk, and the degree of the son be cancelled,—Leeree issued previously.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.