Page:Inside Canton.djvu/95

94 thousand men to oppose, in case of need, to the five thousand soldiers at the disposition of the tséan-keoun.

"The criminal judge is, after the authorities I have just named, the most dreaded power in Canton. He judges alone, but when capital punishment is to be inflicted, he cannot pronounce sentence without the concurrence of the other chiefs of the province. Besides, such a sentence is never executed immediately; it requires the ratification of the Emperor. It is only in case of a rebellion that the viceroy and the fou-yuen can together, being perfectly agreed, cause a criminal to be put to death without referring to Pekin.

"We must not believe that the people are without resources against the exactions of the mandarins, errors of justice, &c.; the most humble inhabitant of the province may always appeal to the viceroy, who twice a month receives all petitions addressed to him.

"You see, then, in China authority is graduated like the creations of nature. In mountainous regions one usually sees a pinnacle which commands the whole country; by its side are mountains whose elevation descends insensibly, and if the eye of the traveller follows these descents he will shortly see in the plain but insignificant undulations which soon escape perception altogether. Thus it is with the authority of