“And lest your lot be hard to bear
Official pay shall ample be;
Let all who notice aught unfair
Report the case at once to me.
“The culprit shall be well deterred
In future, if his guilt is clear;
For times are hard, as I have heard,
And food and clothing getting dear.
“Thus, in compassion for your woe,
The scales of Justice in my hand,
I save you from the Yamên foe,
The barrack-soldiers’ threat’ning band.
“No longer will they dare to play
Their shameful tricks, of late revealed;
The office only sends away
Boats—and on orders duly sealed.
“One rule will thus be made for all,
And things may not go much amiss;
Ye boatmen, ’tis on you I call
To show your gratitude for this.
“But lest there be who ignorance plead,
I issue this in hope to awe
Such fools as think they will succeed
By trying to evade the law.
“For if I catch them, no light fate
Awaits them that unlucky day;
So from this proclamation’s date
Let all in fear and dread obey.”
It is scarcely necessary to add that wall literature has often been directed against foreigners, and especially against missionaries. The penalties, however, for posting anonymous placards are very severe, and of late years the same end has been more effectually attained by the circulation of abusive fly-sheets, often pictorial and always disgusting.
Journalism has proved to be a terrible thorn in the official side. It was first introduced into China under the ægis of an Englishman who was the nominal editor of the Shên Pao or Shanghai News, still a very influential newspaper. For a long time the authorities fought to get rid of this objectionable daily, which now and again told some awkward truths, and contained many ably written articles by first-class native scholars. Eventually an official organ was started in opposition, and other papers have since appeared. An illustrated Chinese weekly made a good beginning in Shanghai, but unfortunately it soon drifted into superstition, intolerance, and vulgarity.