necessary to invent an equivalent for the word "barrister," simply
because no such expression was to be found ready-made in the language.
Further, it would be quite impossible to persuade even the most
enlightened native that the Bar is an honourable profession, and that
its members are men of the highest principles and integrity. They
cannot get it out of their heads that western lawyers must belong to
the same category as a certain disreputable class among themselves, to
be met with in every Chinese town of importance, and generally
residing in the vicinity of a magistrate's or judge's yamen. These
fellows are always ready to undertake for a small remuneration the
conduct of cases, in so far as they are able to do this by the
preparation of skilfully-worded petitions or counter-petitions, and by
otherwise giving their advice. Of course they do not appear in court,
for their very existence is forbidden, but their services are largely
availed of by the people, especially the poor and ignorant. At the
trial, prosecutor and accused must each manage his own case, the
magistrate himself doing all the cross-examination. We say
_prosecutor_ and _accused_ advisedly, for as a matter of fact civil
cases are rare in China, such questions as arise in the way of trade
being almost invariably referred to some leading guild, whose
arbitration is accepted without appeal. Now, we know of no such book
as "Laws of Evidence" in the whole range of Chinese literature; yet we
believe firmly that the intellects which adorn our own bench are not
more keen in discriminating truth from falsehood, and detecting at a
glance the corrupt witness, than the semi-civilised native functionary
--that is, when no silver influences have been brought to bear upon
his judgment. The Chinese have a penal code which, allowing for the
difference in national customs and habits of thought, stands almost
unrivalled; and with this solitary work their legal literature begins
and ends. It is regarded by the people as an inspired book, though few