al teaching, it is placed on record that the teacher himself failed in his integrity when personal interest was involved "He broke an oath he had sworn at a place called Pfoo, on the plea that it was a forced oath, and the Spirits do not hear such."[1] He also enjoined concealment of truth, if by that means a father or friend might escape the consequences of their own misdeeds. This touches upon a phase of national character which accounts for much official malfeasance. The cultured disciples of Confucius have not failed to profit by the few isolated passages which record the back-sliding of the Master, while the scrupulous correctness of his conduct as a whole, and excellence of his moral teaching have had little or no effect in moulding the character of his modern followers.
If the ancient rulers of China were remarkable for wisdom and probity, the morality of the modern Mandarin is mainly confined to polite phraseology and posturing. This outer semblance of virtue and integrity presents a phase of Asiatic character, with which foreigners in their Chinese experience are not unfamiliar. It is the polished husk presented to the outer barbarians with all due ceremony, and which has proved so unsatisfying as to have led to reprisals which have brought China to the verge of bankruptcy. But foreigners are not the only sufferers by such methods of official procedure. The provincial Governors enjoy a quasi-financial independence in the collection and administration of a large part of the Imperial revenue. Foreign and native trade alike suffer from the irregular mode practised in levying and collecting taxes. The policy of the provincial officials in dealing with the revenue is to retain as much as possible for local expenditure, and to
- ↑ The Chinese Classics, vol. I, p. 101.—Prof. Legge.
