'
"'Such a device would be the pastime of one of immature years, and
could have no place in this person's habit of conduct,' replied
Ming-hi, with every appearance of a fixed sincerity. 'Moreover, the
matter is one which touches his own welfare closely, and, expressed in
the fashion which the proficient Mandarin has commanded, may be set
forth as follows: By a wise and all-knowing divine system, it is
arranged that certain honourable occupations, which by their nature
cannot become remunerative to any marked degree, shall be singled out
for special marks of reverence, so that those who engage therein may
be compensated in dignity for what they must inevitably lack in taels.
By this refined dispensation the literary occupations, which are in
general the highroads to the Establishment of Public Support and
Uniform Apparel, are held in the highest veneration. Agriculture, from
which it is possible to wrest a competency, follows in esteem; while
the various branches of commerce, leading as they do to vast
possessions and the attendant luxury, are very justly deprived of all
the attributes of dignity and respect. Yet observe, O justice-loving
Mandarin, how unbecomingly this ingenious system of universal
compensation has been debased at the instance of grasping and
avaricious ones.
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