The same solemnities are required on these occasions as if the monarch were present; no seats are allowed in the sacred place; every one who repairs there, takes with him a cushion upon which he sits, cross-legged, on the ground. So much is done for _absent_ majesty. Among the principal officers, who exercise authority in the city of Canton is first, Tsung-tuh: this officer is styled Leang-kwang-tsung-tuh, or the governor of the province of Kwang-tung and Kwang-se. He is clothed with high authority, and in many cases independent of all the other officers within the limits of his jurisdiction; usually, however, he acts in concert and confers with them who like himself, have been sent hither from the capital. He has no power to originate or carry into execution any law or regulation, without the sanction of the emperor, and is required to act according to precedents and existing statutes. In certain cases pointed out by law, he can, with the concurrence of foo-yuen, inflict immediate death. New regulations are frequently proposed to the emperor by the governor and his council; when these have received the imperial sanction, (which they generally do,) they have the force of law. The governor is ex-officio, an honorary president of the supreme tribunal at Peking, and occasionally, a member of the imperial cabinet. His commands are most peremptory, and his authority can never be slighted or resisted with impunity. The responsibilities of his office are great: he is accountable to the emperor for the good management of all affairs in the two provinces; the prosperity of the people and the fruitfulness of the seasons are also items in the vast account which he must render to his sovereign: he is required to make a faithful report of every calamity which may come within the pale of his jurisdiction, whether occasioned by fire, pestilence, earthquake, or famine, to the emperor and the supreme tribunal, under penalty of being dismissed from office. Any real or supposed deficiency in his capacity, subjects him to the most severe punishment. The late governor of the province, Le, may be adduced to prove this fact, who, during the last year for the “untoward affair” of Leen-chow, was deprived of all rank and honours, chained, imprisoned, condemned, and sent into banishment. In case of fire breaking out in the provincial city, and consuming more than ten houses, the governor is fined nine months’ pay; if more than thirty houses are consumed, he forfeits one year’s salary, if three hundred are destroyed, he is degraded one degree.