Before we enter upon this remarkable Tryal, it will not be improper to
inform the Reader of some Customs amongst the _Chinese_, which differ
from those in other Countries of _Europe_.
Those People are great Encouragers of all useful Learning; which they
endeavour on all Occasions, to turn to the Benefit of the publick in
general, and the Ease and Happiness of every individual Subject in that
vast Empire.
There are publick Schools in all the Provinces and great Cities of the
Empire, for the Education of Youth in the liberal as well as mechanick
Arts; where the Genius of the Children are carefully studied and
improved in those Arts to which Nature seems to have given them the
strongest Bent without consulting the Whim or Pride of the Parents; by
this means, it’s no rare thing to see the Son of a Nobleman drudging at
the meanest Handicraft; and that of a Peasant shining in the highest Orb
of Life.
Birth, Title, or Riches, give amongst these people no Claim to the
smallest Preferment; Merit only recommends the Man to Encouragement in
that Sphere of Life, to which his natural Genius has fitted him.
When a vacancy in any of the Offices happens, the Candidates are chosen
out of the publick Schools; and the Person fittest for the Employment
always is chosen, without Respect of Persons.
In this Country, the _Physician_ is a very considerable Office; not only
in the Emperor’s Court, but in that of all the _Mandarines_ or great
Governors and Officers of State.
Before any Man is preferr’d to the Office of Physician, either to the
Sovereign or to any of his great Men, he undergoes a strict and
impartial Examination, as to his Knowledge of the Theory and Practice of
Physick, as well as of the other Branches of Learning, which are
necessary to compleat the wise Physician.
The Examiners are not those of his own Profession; but the Great Council
of _Mandarines_; who are Men who have been found universally qualified
in all the Branches of humane Literature, before they were admitted to
be of this Council; which is the supream Council of the Empire, and some
what resembles our House of Peers, only they seem to be vested with much
higher Powers.
When the Person so examin’d is found qualified, he has a Certificate
sign’d by the President of the Court, which empowers him to practice, as
a Doctor under the Regulations which are prescribed by it; from whence,
he must deviate, upon no Account under the Pain of Death.
The Physicians, are held in great Esteem and Veneration; are there
modest in their Behaviour; of strict morals, and universal Benevolence,
most of them observe as great a Chastity of Manners, as the Clergy; and
value themselves upon their Piety and the Veneration of the Gods, whose
Worship they think it is the Duty of their Function to propagate, as
much as if they were daily at the Altar: They are Men of good Nature and
Humanity, and abound in Acts of Benificence and Charity; Opportunities
to exercise which, they covet as much as Employment in their Profession:
They dare not refuse to attend the meanest Person who calls for their
Assistance; and if a Beggar, send for a Physician, before a _Mandarin_,
he must go to the Beggar, tho’ the _Mandarin_ should be in never so much
Want of him; and the good natured Man, not only assists his Patient with
his Counsel, but supplys his Wants.
When the Physician, attends on a Patient, he enters upon a Book his
Case, with every minute Circumstance relating to the Distemper; together
with the Medicines administred and their Effects during the whole
Process; whether the Patient dies or Lives, this Book, he is obliged to
return within a limited Time, to an Office kept for that Purpose. If he
upon any Occasion falsifies the Case, or has gone out of the ordinary,
Course of Practice, if any Accident happens to the Patient he is surely
punished.
The Emperor’s Physicians are always put to Death when he dies; and those
of other Persons, are try’d by the Court of Mandarines, upon Application
of the Friends of the deceas’d, and put to death or otherwise punish’d
according to the Nature of their Crime, from whence we may judge, that
it is a very dangerous thing, to be of that Profession in this Country;
however there are but few Instances where the Physicians of private
Persons have been put to death; as a Pretence to the Knowledge of
Physick, rashness or Impudence, will not in this Country, obtain a
_Diploma_, none but Men of Merit are of the Faculty: These are obliged
to make Conscience of their Business; and dare not venture to try
Experiments; there are no Apothecary’s whose Interest the Doctor has
Occasion to consider in the _Recipe_; he prepares the Medicine himself,
and is too much interested in the Success, to give any more than he
thinks necessary; the Officinals in their Dispensary, are so few, that
you may write them all on a quarter of a Sheet of Paper; and he never
makes a Bill for his Druggs? but is paid so much a Visit, whether he
gives any Physick or not. Thus he is not under the least Temptation to
make an Apothecarys Shop of his Patient’s Belly; but carefully watches
Nature; and assists her when she is weak to the best of his Skill; but
leaves her to her self, when she is strong enough to bring about her
Designs without his Aid.
Before the present Tryal, there had not been one at _Pekin_, for near
twenty Years; which made this make a considerable Noise through the
whole Empire: The Patient happened to be the _Mandarin_ TONWIN; a Man of
great Authority, much esteemed and trusted by the Emperor; who had made
him Treasurer to his Army; by whom he was not less loved than by the
People in General; as he did Justice to the first, in their Pay, and
promoted the Interest of the last to the utmost of his Power; he was a
Friend to Mankind in General, but particularly to the virtuous, and
thought that Day Ill-spent wherein he had not given them Proof of his
Humanity and Bounty: The Death of this great Man, so universally
esteemed, was somewhat sudden; and his Physician was blamed by some,
tho’ not by the _Mandarines_ nearest Friends; however, it was wispered
about, that he had deviated from the Rules laid down by the great
Council of _Mandarines_; and by the Malice of the Doctor’s Enemies, the
Clamour became publick; in so much, that the great Council, ordered the
Register of the Case to be inspected; and the _Senescal_ was ordered to
draw up an Accusation against the Doctor; with a Copy of which he was
served and taken into Custody; and a Time appointed for a solemn Tryal
before that High Tribunal.
People were variously affected with the Preparation for the Tryal; some
thought the Doctor guilty; others thought him innocent; and this only
the Effects of the secret Machinations of his Enemies: Those of his own
Profession, for what Reason I am not able to learn, were his most open
Enemies; and thought by all to be his secret Accusers; however, the
Doctor seem’d not at all dismay’d; but hugg’d himself in reflecting on
his own Innocence, which comforted him the more, that he had not the
least Suspicion, that the high Tribunal, before which he was to be
try’d, would mix any Partiality in their Sentence. I have taken Care to
use as few _Chinese_ Terms of Law as possible; and have chose such
_English_ Words, as seem’d to come nearest to the Meaning of the
Original; and in order to make the whole more comprehensible to an
_English_ Reader, I have all along substituted some _English_ Forms,
where I could with Propriety, especially where they served to make the
Tryal more Intelligible.
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