The throne is not strictly and necessarily hereditary, though the son of the emperor generally succeeds to it. The emperor appoints his successor, but it is supposed that in doing so he will have supreme regard for the best good of his subjects, and will be governed by the will of heaven, indicated by the conferring of regal gifts, and by providential circumstances pointing out the individual whom heaven has chosen. Of course in the case of unusually able men, such as the second and fourth rulers of the present dynasty, their influence is more felt than that of less energetic rulers; but the throne of China is so hedged in with ceremonials and so padded with official etiquette that unless its occupant be a man of supreme ability he cannot fail to fall under the guidance of his ministers and favorites. In governing so large a realm, of course it is necessary for the emperor to delegate his authority to numerous officers who are regarded as his agents and representatives in carrying out the imperial will. What they do the emperor does through them. The recognized patriarchal character of the government is seen in the familiar expressions of the people, particularly at times when they consider themselves injured or aggrieved by their officers, when they are apt to say, “A strange way for parents to treat their children.”
The government of the empire, omitting the regulation of the imperial court and family, or the special Manchoo department, is conducted from the capital, supervising, directing, controlling the different provincial administrations, and exercising the power of removing from his post any official whose conduct may be irregular or dangerous to the state.
There is the Grand Cabinet, the privy council of the emperor, in whose presence it meets daily to transact the business of the state, between the hours of 4:00 and 6:00 A.M. Its members are few and hold other offices. There is also the Grand Secretariat, formerly the supreme council, but under the present dynasty very much superseded by the Cabinet. It consists of four grand and two assistant grand secretaries, half of them Manchoos and half Chinese. The business on which the Cabinet deliberates comes before it from the six boards or Luh-pu. These are departments of long standing in the government, having been modeled on much the same plan during the ancient dynasties. At the head of each board are two presidents, called Shang-shu, and four vice-presidents called Shi-lang, alternately a Manchoo and a Chinese. There are three subordinate grades of officers in each board, with a great number of minor clerks, and their appropriate departments for conducting the details of the general and peculiar business coming under the cognizance of the board, the whole being arranged in the most business-like style.
Newly Married.
Young Lady of Quality.
CHINESE LADIES.
The six boards are respectively of Civil Office, of Revenue, of Ceremonies, of War, of Punishments, and of Works. In 1861 the changed relations between the empire and foreign nations led to the formation of what may be called a seventh board styled the Tsung-li Yamen, or Court of Foreign Affairs. There is also another important department which must be mentioned, the censorate, members of which exercise a supervision over the board, and are entrusted with the duty of exposing errors and crimes in every department of government. Distributed through the provinces they memorialize the emperor on all subjects connected with the welfare of the people and the conduct of the government. Sometimes they do not shrink even from the dangerous task of criticising the conduct of the emperor himself.