Chapter 3
A Chinese proverb says,—
When sabres are rusty, and spades bright;
When prisons are empty, and granaries full;
When the steps of the temples are worn by the feet of worshippers, and the court-yards of the tribunals are covered with grass;
When physicians go on foot, and bakers on horseback,—
The empire is well governed.
It is a good proverb, and might be applied to all the States of the Old and New World. But, if there is a single one where this desideratum is still far from being realized, it is precisely the Celestial Empire: for there it is the sabres which are bright, and the spades rusty; the prisons which are overflowing, and the granaries empty. The bakers rest more than the physicians; and, if the pagodas attract worshippers, the tribunals, on the contrary, lack ne
