as was devised to meet the requirements of
the case. First an arm was chopped off, then the other; the two legs
in the same way. Two slits were made transversely on the breast, and
the heart was torn out; decapitation finished the proceedings. Now, a
slight gash only is made across each collar-bone, and three gashes
across the breast in the shape of the character meaning _one
thousand_, and indicative of the number of strokes the criminal ought
properly to have received. Decapitation then follows without delay.
The absurd statement in the Shanghai _Daily News_ of the 16th January
last, that this punishment "is the most frightful inflicted, even in
any of the darkest habitations of cruelty, at the present day," is
utterly unworthy of that respectable journal, but only of a piece with
the general ignorance that prevails among foreigners generally on
topics connected with China and the Chinese. At the same time, it may
fairly be pleaded that the error in question was due to
disingenuousness on the part of the translator from the _Peking
Gazette_ who, mentioning that such a sentence had been lately passed
upon two unhappy beings, adds that, "they have been publicly sliced to
death accordingly, with the usual formalities,"--which certainly might
lead a mere outsider to conclude that the horrible decree had actually
been put into execution. We may notice in passing that this so-called
"lingering death" is now almost invariably coupled with the name of
some poor lunatic who in a frenzy of passion has killed either father
or mother, sometimes both. Vide _Peking Gazette_, two or three times
every year. This is one of those pleasant fictions of Chinese official
life, which every one knows and every one winks at. In nine cases out
of ten, the unhappy criminal is not mad at all; but he is always
entered as such in the report of the committing magistrate, who would
otherwise himself be exposed to censure and degradation for not having
brought his district to estimate at their right value the five[*]
cardinal relationships of mankind.

[*] Between, (1) sovereign and subject, (2) husband and wife, (3)
parent and child, (4) brothers, and (5) friends.

Under the present dynasty the use of torture is comparatively rare,
and mutilation of the person quite unknown. Criminals are often thrust
into filthy dungeons of the most revolting description, and are there
further secured by a chain; but except in very flagrant cases,
ankle-