A.case of the Inw's delay in an aggravate form has lately been forced upon me. In the dingy, squalid court of a local ina I found an aged man, his wife, and son in object want. They lind been accused before the magistrate of a neighbouring county, and were seeking to have the cuse settled and their reputation cleared. In. the second moon of the present year they had left their little home and store in the country village where they lived, and had repaired to the country town, Here of course they had to' find lodgings in the so-called inn where I found. them, and their subsequent history hus been one of growing disaster. In the first place it cost them the price of a cow and pig to get the case before the magistrate for the first hearing. That was in the second mouth. From that time till the end of the fifth month they had been waiting for the summons to go before the magistrate for the second time, but so far in vain, Mean while the village home and store being leit unguarded, thieves had broken in and curried off every portable thing, The father broke his leg in a compound fracture, a local medico broke off the protruding bone and lete the man a cripple, unable to leave his bed. 'Then came the inevitable pawning of clothes, the solace of the opium ipe, and the loss' of heart induced by so long suspense and inaction, And still no day for the second hearing hud been announced. "Would the foreign man kindly send a word to the yamen und press the mandarin to bring the ease to an end?" that was the request made by the stalwart son who dail witnessed the accumulating ruin of his parents and himself, Itwas hard to refuse, because I knew them and their circum: stances, but it Iuy beyond my province to do this simple thing in view of our position in this land.
AFRAID OF THE FOREIGN PRESS, Speaking afterwards. with a friendly mandarin on this case I asked him what one could do in such a case and not risk the accusation that foreigners overturn the course of justice in Eh You just tell him that you have heard of such a case and urge him to hasten and is decision," was the, reply. "Bat will he listen tome?" I asked. "Ohi yes, he'll be afraid the foreign paper in Shanghai will get to know and then everybody will hear of it and he might be removed." I accepted the tribute to the all-potent power of the foreign Press and wished could believe its far-reaching fluence might penetrate even to the west of Szechuan!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.