4

THE  GOVERNMENT

49

I.  The  Court
The  Emperor  rules  by  divine  right.  He  is  no  empty
"  Dei  gratia,”  based  on  a  parliamentary  title,  or  on  election
by  a  Diet,  or  by  allied  kings  and  princes.  He  is  himself  the
Son  of  Heaven,  and,  when  he  dies,  he  “mounts  the  Dragon
chariot  to  be  a  guest  on  high.”  He  is  the  Divus  Augustus
of  his  Empire,  reverenced,  in  letter  and  in  spirit,  by  his
subjects.  He  worships  only  at  the  Altar  of  Heaven  and  the
Altar  of  Earth,  apart  from  his  reverential  worship  of  the
shades  of  his  ancestors  ;  but  he  commands  his  Ministers  to
propitiate  the  Guardian  Dragon  of  the  River  in  times  of
flood,  and  the  Spirits  of  the  Air  in  times  of  drought,  and
leaves  to  his  subjects  their  worship  of  Buddhist  deities  and
their  adhesion  to  Taoist  tenets,  or  even  to  Christian  and
Mussulman  practices,  so  long  as  they  remain  a  matter  of
religion  only.  Apart  from  the  result  of  military  usurpation,
he  is  selected  by  his  predecessor  or  by  the  Imperial  family
acting  under  such  inspiration  as  moves  a  Papal  Conclave.
He  is  usually  a  son  of  his  predecessor,  but  is  seldom  the
eldest,  the  Asiatic  practice  of  selecting  the  fittest  among
certain  qualified  princes  of  the  blood  being  followed.  Not
one  of  the  Emperors  of  the  present  dynasty  (except  Tungchih,
  an  only  son)  was  the  eldest  son  of  his  predecessor  :
Kanghi  was  the  third  son  of  Shunchih  ;  Yungcheng  (1723-1735)
  was  the  fourth  son  of  Kanghi,  and  was  driven  to
imprison  some  of  his  brothers,  and  to  banish  others,because
they  rebelled  against  him  on  his  accession  ;  Kienlung  was
the  fourth  son  of  Yungcheng.  Among  the  sons  of  the
Emperor,  one  of  those  by  the  Empress  Consort  might,
other  things  being  equal,  be  preferred  ;  next  in  order  of
choice  come  the  sons  of  the  Secondary  Consorts,  and  next
the  sons  of  concubines  ;  but  the  son  of  a  concubine  might
be  preferred  to  others,  and  all  are  equally  recognised  as  the
sons  of  their  father.  Failing  a  son,  the  choice  would  be
among  the  other  princes  of  the  Imperial  family,  but  restricted ­
  by  the  necessity,  if  possible,  of  going  a  generation
lower  in  order  that  the  selected  prince  might  be  adopted  as