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JOURNAL AND MESSENGER.
THE FAMILY JOUBNAL-NBWS-POLITIOS- LITERATURE—AGRICULTURE—DOMESTIC NEWS, Etc.—PRICE $2.00 PER ANNUM.
GEORGIA TEL APH BUILDING
ESTABLISHED 1826.
MACON, FRIDAY. APRIL 7, 1882.
VOLUME LVI-NO 14
THK SEX TOY'S REPLY.
"Tell me. gray heeded old sexton," I said.
"Where in this field are llio wicked folks laid ?
1 hare wandered the quaint old churchyard
through
And pondered the epitaphs old and new.
But on monument, obelisk, pillar or stone,
1 read of no erll that men have done.”
The old sexton stood by a grave newly made,
With his chin on his hand, and his hand on
And I falurky the gleam In his eloquent
eye
That his heart was instructing his lips to re*
ply.
"‘Who is to judge when the sonl takes flight?
Who is to Judge ‘twlxt the wrong snd the
right?
Which of us mortals dare to aay
That our neighbor was wicked who died to
day?
"The longer we live, and the farther wo need,
” * I MM
Thu better we learn that humanity's need
Is charity's spirit that prompts us to find
Rather virtue than vice In the hearts of
kind.
our
■"Therefore, good deeds wc Inscribe on theso
stones.
The evil men do, let It lie with their bones,
1 have labored as sexton these many a year.
Rut I never have buried a bad man here."
CHINA!
M.ECTVRE by presibext ax-
gel, OF MICRIGAX VXIYElt-
SITY, CHIEF COMMISSIOXER
TO CUIXA.
The Usd or Ah Sln—His Customs,
Habits, Dally Life-—An Interesting
Sexless of tbe Great Vsksssa
nation.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gen
tlemen—I owe my sincere thanks
to the Detroit alumni of the university for
,b. SMW .sah .be, gnsrf » S3SSuT XSEZ
of meeting them, and so many of their
fellow-citizens of Detroit. I owe my
thanks to you for ti e very courteous man
ner in which you have presented me to
this great audience. I remember with
social delight that or the last things which
happened before I lelt the country was a
he doss not see bis wife and family, and
In his ordinary intercourse with the men,
it is Impossible for him perhaps to ever
solve that strange enigma, the Chinese
character. Almost the only thing you
can be oositive of when you seek to learn
from a Chinaman what are his feelings
and prejudices and what are the grounds
of them, Is that the answer which you
will get will not be the true one. [Laugh
ter.] He is by nature iby, evasive, elu
sive of all inspection and all d agnosis, so
that those who have been there there the
longest will, I think, agree iu bearing this
testimony, that they are never quite sure
that they fathomed all tbe depths ef the
Chinese character. A man who, it seems
to me, is the best qualified man that I
know of in China to speak on this sub
ject, told me that after living in intimacy
as close »s a foreigner could have tor forty
years with them, he had sometimes flat
tered himself that he understood the prob-
blem, but just as he was flattering him
self thus In complacency, some new depth
opened, had yawned at his feet, and be
found there was something further that lie
had never known before. In what I shall
say then to-night I shall not attempt to
dogmatize. I freely admit I may be In
error in some particulars. All that I
promise is that I shall give you faithfully,
as far as time allows, my impressions and
opinions upon certain points after the
most careful observation and study which
I could give during fourteen months’ resi-
nence at the capital, with perhaps fully
average opportunities for careful observa
tion.
I find some difficulty in endeavoring to
group iu any rupric or category the many
things which I would like to ssy. If any
one has come here expecting an eloquent
rhetorical disqusition, I sincerely (trust he
will disabuse his mind of that impression.
President Angell then said ha would
first briefly speak concerning tbe indus-
man. It might be safely said that as a
rule tbe Chinaman was industrious, ac
cording to bis standard of industry, which
was not a very high oue according to our
notions. The oriental notion of industry
was a very different ono from ours, one
which included the idea of great modera
tion of movement and deliberation, with
very frequent pauses for rest, for sleeping,
meeting which the partiality and friend-
ship of these same alumni and of other ordinary life of the workmen. Tbe orien-
citizens of Detroit prepared for me—a
meeting at which they sent me forth with
their blessing and benedintion, which has
abed a joyful light upon my pathway
around the world. It is indeed fitting,
as it is indeed pleasant to me, to come
back here first of all to make report of
aome of those things which I have seen in
that straDge land on tbe other sido of the
globe.
Whenever we hear the woM China pro
nounced I suppose most of # think first
of all ot a group of paradoxes. We re
call what we have read in our school
books ot the strange customs of that re-,
markable land. We remember how wei
have read that white is worn instead of]
black for mourning; that people begin to
read at tbe end of tbe book instead ot tbe
beginning, and read from the .right hand
to the left instead of from left to right;
that the women wear trousers and the
men wear petticoats, and an indefinite
number of other odd things. But, my
friends, when we consider the vastness of
that empire and tbe pecnliarites of its
people, we shall find that there is a great;
field for earnest and serious study. Call
to mind, if you please, at the outset, that
the territory of China, including all its:
provinces, contains five millions of square
miles; as nearly as possible twice the en-'
tire domain of the United States, includ
ing Alaska; that it stretches over thirty-
eglit degrees of latitude, ficm within
eighteen degrees of the equator to within
ten degrees of the Arctic circle; that it;
oovega seveuty degrees and more of IoDgi-i
tude, from the Pacific ocean to the very-
heart of Central Asia. Remember that it'
comprises within this Area chains of
mountains as tong and as Iof y as the An
des and the Rockies; many of their peaks
capped with perpetual ice and snow; fer
tile plains as broad as the prairies of 11U-;
nois; Im >erial rivers, one at least of which:
rl'. a tbe Amazon and the Mississippi;;
c t fi0*l sod iron, of silver and gold;
tty Of ’roduct of the soil, of the
r .To TiT .r, from those of the
thus. efth arctic zone; that in
staple jtol lets of the world,
tea,it is absolutely unapproached,
ber, too, that however ..much ot
co we have to make for the ex
travagant estimates of oriental computa
tion, it still remains true that somewhere
from 850,000,000 to 400,000,009 of popula
tion are in China; that notwithstanding
all the diversities of dialect and temper,
they are essentially a homogeneous peo
ple. Romember, too, that they ha*e a
history which without question traces far
ther back than that of any other nation,
unless perhaps the Egyptians by an ex
ception; that they have a literature re
markable for its voluminousness, and for
tbe purity of iu style. These people, In
deed, are almost equally remarkable for
their Industry, their frugality, their mer
cantile shrewdness and the scholarship of
those who are educated at all. It Is, I
believe, the only government on the face
of tho earth that U absolutely adminis
tered by scholars, and none but scholars.
The greenest laurel which they entwine
Is not around the brow of the warrior, but
upon the brow of the scholar. A man
who perhaps has wielded a power over
that 2,300 years greater than was ever
wielded over any otaer nation for an
equal period, was a simple man, who,
when he came to die, laid upon tbo altar
before him bis last great work and prayed
that heavea would accept it, and that be
might be known simply as tbe “teacher
Confucius.” [Applause]. A nation like
this is worthy of seriourand earnest study
from every thoughtful and intelligent
man. '
I find myself somewhat embarrassed In
attempting to speak upon so vast a theme
in a single hour, so many memories come
-crowding upon me. It is also extremely
difficult, if not impossible for any other
man to ever understand so thoroughly
another nation that he can speak upon it
with unqualified assurance of never mak
ing a mistake. In the case of China
there are peculiar difficulties. In tbe
first place, tbe language is au almost in
superable obstacle in tbe path .of the in
vestigator. For, although it is not diffi
cult to learn enough colloquial Chinese to
talk with servants and with tradesmen, it
is almost impossible even with tbe work
of a lifetime to master the language so
thoroughly that you can uuderstaud all
the delicate and subtle allusions of its
scholars in their writings and |u their
speech. The missionaries and the inter
preters who have lived thirty or forty
years in China never attempt to write a
paper of any length or of any importance
without submitting it fo tbe careful revi
sion and practical rewriting of a China
man; and no missionary and no interpre
ter, however long he may have been in
China, never falls to always at his side a
Chinese teacher to instruct him daily in
the study of the language. Ik is practi
cally impossible for a foreigner to master
it as a Chinaman masters it. Then, it is
very difficult for us to speak with confi
dence about the Chinese, because it is im
possible for us to get very near to them or
into tbe veiy secret of their lives. The
foreigner is never invited to tbe house of
a Chinaman. If. by any chance, he ever
finds himself in the house of a Chinaman,
tal does not think it sensible to be in
hurry; and be lives up to his creed with
the utmost fidelity. To Western people
it would seem as though iu Asia the one
thing which was absolutely of no ac
count whatever was time. Tbe China-
roan never walks more than two miles an
hour, except tbe chair bearers, they walk
rapidly. He never walks for exercise,
and wonders why any one can be so fool
ish as to do it. Tbe workman, however,
in bis plodding way turns out considera
ble of a result. He has no Sundays and
perhaps twenty or thirty holidays in the
year. These are the only systematic in
terruptions of his work. For tbe most
part bis tools are of the simplest and most
clumsy character, and to a Western man
it would seem imposssble to do any work
with them at all. Everywhere apparent
ly tbe industrial conveniences and appli
ances of the Chines are just what they
were many centuries ago. The people
appareatly have no desire for anything
more improved. In many parts ot China
there are no roads whatever except bridle
paths. In the north of China tbrre are
roads, but they have not been repaired in
hundreds ot years; they have been allowed
to be worn first by beasts and vehicles
and next by the streams which pour
throngti them iu the rainy season, so that
they are anywhere from lonr to ten feet
below tbe surface of tbo surrounding soil,
and in the wet season it is necessary to
abandon them entirely and travel in the
fields. Near Pekin there are two or three
stone reals made with large blocks of
stone perhaps from one to two feet square.
Apparently, however, they have not been
touched in two hundred years and the up
heavals of tbe forest and the wear of the
carts have reduced them to a terrible con
dition. Holes a foot deep, stones turned
up edgewise, pools of mud where the
stones have been thrust out are visible
everywhere, still It does not occur to the
Chinese, with all their frugality, that it
would be cheaper to repair these roads
than to suffer the continual annoyance of
broken harness and vehicles. Tbe chief
vehicle which they have Is a cart without
springs drawn by a mule. This is not
used simply to carry burdcus,bul to trans
port passengers. It is the ordinary vehi
cle tu which people are transported from
place to place when they use any vehicle.
These carts are kept for hire all over the
[city of reking as hacks and carriages are
kept here. You take one of these and
climb in over the shafts right behind the
tail of the animal. Then you sit down
right on the bottom of the cart, there is
no seat; and it will be edifying for you to
see the foreign ladies trairung themselves
iu this mode of transportation as they go
out to dinner parties with their dinner
dresses. Yet nothing is too difficult for a
woman on the way to agood dinner, and
this is achieved with great success, the
gentlemen escorts sltiing upon the shafts
with their legs hanging over. [Laugh
ter.] You will sec tbe diplomatic.corps
going to dinner in that style almost any
day.
China is crossed by a great system of
canals, yet they have never learned the
system of putting in our canal locks. Of
course there are dilieretices in level,
which they overcome by making inclined
planes of stone up wnlch they pull the
boat by windlasses when they are pulled
up at all. Tbe difficulties of such a pro
cess, however, are sogreat that the usual
practice is to unload the cargoes of the
boats whenever any considerable incline
is reached, cany them to the top and load
them on another boat. In a canal which
runs through the city of reking, fifteen
miles in length, there are five of these in
clines. Millions of pounds of rice go
through the canal every year, and yet ev
ery pound is loaded and unloaded five
times In the course of these fifteen
miles. - -
THE CHINESE MERCHANTS
carry on their business with a degree of
success which defies comjretltion by all
foreigners who establish themselves in
these Eastern ports. Almost all tbe re
tail trade of Shanghai, Hong Kong and
the other ports where foreigners are have
fallen into the Lands of Chinese mer
chants. The reason for this is because
the foreigner carries gd bis trade in our
wesreru ways, with his large, fine bnild-
ings, his expensive clerks, and with other
habits of western style, spending more
upou the'most trivial things than the Chi
nese merchant does upon his whole busi
ness. The latter sleeps upon his counter
and probably spends less in tLe course of
a year than some of our western clerks do
(upon cigars, horses, brsndy and soda,
etc.
Great as is the desire of these people to
carry on commerce their foreign trade is
very small because they desire to purchase
so little from the rest nf the world. Their
foreigu trade Is not tv from $2(Xi,000,000
a year. They number eight times as
many as we do. yet our foreign. trade is
about half as large again as that of China
with Its 850,000,000 people.
We all know that the Chinese have
been distinguished for their inventions
and discoveries in the centuries that are
past. After all discussions on the sub
ject I tbink we may credit them with hav
ing discovered tbe magnet, linen paper,
gunpowder, and printing Irom wooden
blocks at a very early period, and bank
ing was certainly in use in China Ion
before it was in Italy. They discovered
the blessings of paper money oven
IBEDEEMABLK PAPER MONET
from over issue hundreds of years before
we did. [Laughter and applause.] Yet
singularly enough China has never been
prevailed upon to establish a mint. The
government has no proper coinage of
money in our sense of the term. They do
cast a little copper cola worth about a
sixth of a cent, but these coins arc so easi
ly imitated that they are eoustantiy coun
terfeited by coins of iron. Ono can see
that with a coin which has a value of
only abodt a sixth of a cent it would be
necessary to carry a csrt load of it when
one has any considerable expense to in-
car. Itha3 therefore become necessary
for.tliem to use paper money which was
issued by private banks, and which also
has only a mere local circulation. The
"cash” which the imperial government
issues in Peking is not current thirty
miles away from the capital, and the pa
per money issued in reking does not cir
culate outside its walls. It is thetefore
necessary to transact business almost
wholly by bullion. Efforts have often
been made to induce tbe government to
introduce a more practical system of
money, but all efforts have failed.
Continuing, President Angell said:
I wish to 9peak a few words upon
THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE CHINESE,
and some traits of character of the peo
ple. Strictly speaking there is no society
in our sense of the term. I have already
remarked that we are never invited to
their houses. Even officials never are in
vited to the house of any Chinaman. If
we were invited, as I have said, we should
see nobody bat the man himself. The
wife has indeed a hard and narrow life.
A Chinaman may marry ono, two or more
wives, and have concubines. The first
wife is the wife by pre-eminence. Accor
ding to ail accounts this system docs not
lead to happy domestic results. Marri
ages are generally arranged when the
parties are mere children, and by their
parents when the children do not know
each other. They are arranged by a class
of professional women called go-betweens
who have that for their trade and make it
a business. You can judge whether the
Chinese are altogether peculiar in this
regard. It is said they succeed admira
bly. Sometimes the marriages take place
when the parties are but children. I re
member I know one lad in one of the mis
sionary schools who came crying to his
teacher one day. When asked what was
the matter, no said bis father had sent for
him to come home and be married, very
much to his regret, as lie was a boy of but
fifteen. When the children are married
at this age, they do not live together gen
erally until three or four yean older. The
wife generally becomes
THE DRUDGE OF HER MOTHER-IN-LAW.
[Laughter.] She is the slave of her hus
band we might almost say, so far as the
legal relation goes. The women are not
educated except in one case in a hundred
thousand. The Chinamen do not wish
them to learn to read or write. When
yon ask him the number of bis children, 1
am told he does not count his girls at ail!
Before a woman is married she is
known as the daughter of so-and-so. Af
ter she is married until a child is born,she
is known as the wile of so-and-so, and if
she has a boy, she is known as the mother
of so-and-so. She is always In a state of
extreme subordination, and missionary
women who do gain access to them tell me
what we might suppose that owing to
their extreme ignorance, their horizon is
very limited and their conversation al
most wholly confined to the pettiest scar-
dal and gossip imsgiuabie. We hardly
expect anything else. There can scarcely
be any society ia any proper sense ot the
word where this Is the home.
All channels of communication are
lacking, which are necessary for a high
standard of intelligence and a high grade
of society. There are no newspapers,
telegraphs or railroads, and no possibility
of conveying accurate news to tbe great
mass of the people. A majority of them
are in ignorance not only ot things in
other countries, but of things in their own
countiy. I have been assured by a gen
tleman who ought to know, that there are
millions of men in China to-day who do
not know that the French ever captured
Pekin, if they bavj heard that they have
been there, they suppose that they went
there to pay tribute to the emperor, and
if any of them have heard that there was
any fighting, it has been said that they
ascribe it to the Canton coolies who went
up with the English troops. Numerous
illustrations might be given of this; it
comes from the tact that there are no
means of disseminating news through the
empire.
President Angell said that one of the
things to which the Chinese attach the
greatest importance is politeness. The
word “li” (pronounced lee), which Is
their word for poli.eness, is forever upon
the lips of a Chinaman. If you can per
suade him that anything is contrary to
,‘li,” you will change his course of con
duct if anything will change it. The peo
ple are taught It from the very day of
their birth. Yet their ideas of politeness
are so far different from oars that they
continually indulge themselves in many
things which according to our notions
seem very far from polite.
Speaking of
THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
in vogue in China, President Angell
said:
Unless one nnderstands something -of
the educational purposes of the Chinese
be cannot possibly understand the people.
They probably have the same system
which they have have had for more than
2,000 years, both in respect to the subjects
taught and in respect to tbe methods of
education. The whole substance of what
is taught may be said to bo found in
what they call the four books and the five
classics, nine books made up of ethical
maxims of history and of odes, all inten
ded togive moral and intellectual train
ing to the people. Tbe great purpose of
all education in China is to train men for
public life, for holding public office. The
moral aim oiThis education in these sub
jects is to teach them as children toj,be
obedient to their parents, as citizens and
subjects to be obedient to their superiors,
as children to pay divine honors to their
ancestors. The intellectual aim of this
education is to teach those children to
commit to memory tbe whole of those
nine books and to believe that all human
wisdom practically is contained in them;
that the sum and substance, the consum
mation and perfection ot all human phil
osophy are there and only there; that
knowing that it is not necessary to know
much of anything else. N ever was there
a system belter calculated to accomplish
these results. I will very hastily tell you
tbe course through which a lad goes iu
order to get his education. He generally
starts for school about the age of seven.
A lucky day is chosen by the soothsayers.
He goes to the school boose, which is
often a very obscure attie, and there
prostrates himself before the tablet of Con
fucius, makes hie obeisance to his teacher
and is from this time forth for about five
years kept in one constant and uniform
drill. The teacher repeals the sound of
words, the meaning ot which tbe boy does
not know and is not told. He is made to
repeat them after the teacher and to make
characters indicating the word by tracing
it through paper. For five years, every
day In tho year except holidays, from
o’clock in the morning until necriy dark,
the boy is kept doing that same interest
ing thing. Ths drilling is done aiond
and the school is as noisy as a ward cau
cus. At tho age of about twelve the boy
is permitted to hear some of the words
translated by bis teacher, and is taught
to compose little essays out of these
words in imitation of tbe style of the
classics. So it goes on with nothing
more than the instruction of these books,
in composition iu imitation of these
books, always bearing in mind tbe exact
stylo of these books, and so far as possi
ble the language therein contained. It is
the particular art of the Chinese in writ
irig not to be original. That is the last
thing a Chinaman thinks of. They use
tbe words which are in these books, and
by new combinations of tbe same words,
write on in the style of the old masters.
This system of teaching I need hardly
say above all things else cultivates tbe
verbal memory. I doubt If any peopio in
the world ha7e such verbal memories as
the Chinese, and I must confess that con
trary to ail our expections, it seems to de
velop their reasoning powers. The Chi
nese—and any man will believe who
crosses swords with them in argument-
are excellent logicians when they cbooee to
be. They are not lacking in brain pow
er in any respect. They are a gifted na
tion and an acute nation, but certainly
their system of education is lacking in
some very important particulars according
to oar ideas. Themau who has passed
tbe most brilliant examination at Peking
may bo quite innocent of any considera
ble knowledge of geography outside of
Chins, and perhaps iuside of it. He will
not know anything of the western mathe
matical and physical sciences. He will
know very little of arithmetic; for that
they think is the business of shopkeepers
only, and nothing at all of higher mathe
matics. Here let mo correct a false Im
pression, which has gone out very widely
in this country, that the Chinese at a na
tion are highly educated. It is a very fa
miliar remark among us that China is a
nation of people every one of whom
knows how to read and write. No state
ment could possibly be more wide of tbe
truth than that. In the first place, not
one woman in a hundred thousand can
read and write. In tbe next place, so
far as I can learn, not more than one in
ten or one in twenty of the common cool
ies can read and write in any proper sense
of the term. The scholars themselves are
a choice, select race, but a very large pro
portion of tbe people are not educated at
all.
The aim of the euucaiion is, as I have
stated, political. Every one of these
men who goes up to examination goes
with the hope of holding public office.
No one who is a scholar has any other am
bition. They could not understand why I
should resign my commission to come
home and go into my present vocation.
The whole trainlug of these men has been
in that one direction, and the consequen
ces are extremely important. The men
who do not gain the highest honors in
China become teachers. The others
become office-holders. There are all over
the country thousands of men who have
passed at these examinations who are
waiting for vacancies. They are called
expectant judges, expectant mayors, etc,
In this respect they are very much like
the throng that I saw down at the White
House the other day. [Laughter.] There
are so many down there that I thought
President Arthur might do very well to
imitate some of the governors of the prov
ince of China who, while I was there, sent
petitions to tl.e imperial governor not to
send any more expectant candidates down
into their provinces, as there was already
a hundred waiting for every office they
had. But inasmuch as these men do
hold ail tbe offices and do admister all
public affairs, do control all the thinking of
the empire, and inasmuch further as every
oue ol these men does believe that all
wisdom and all knowledge that is worth
having is found iu tbe four books and five
classics, and there is nothing beyond it
that is worth desiring, you will under
stand why it is that China does not move
an inch, that China stands where she did
2,000 years ago so nearly. These people
are all living with their eyes turned back
ward over their shoulders for their ideal.
Not ono of all these millions of people
looks forward for his ideal. Certainly
there is much to be learned from this. I
think nowhere in the world have we so
impressive a picture as we have in China
of the power of education to make a na
tion homogeneous, to dominate it abso
lutely from its circumference to its center,
and at the same time we have nowhere so
instructive and eloquent a warning that
education may be so conducted as simply
to arrest, petrify and stereotype the civili
zation of a nation and keep it forever
where it was two thousand years ago.
[Applause]. Let us remember that it is
not education alone that we want, but
that education which is open-eyed and
open-hearted, and that sweeps over the
whole horizon in search of truth. [Pro
longed applause].
The man who does that best Is the great
est scholar. Having been at school until
about the age of 16 or 17 the boy is allow
ed, if he chooses to go up to the public
examination in his district where he will
be examined with some hundreds of oth
ers, and where one or two per cent will
be allowed to pass and receive the honors.
If he succeeds in this he is allowed after a
time to go up to the examination of tbe
whole province where there will be per
haps a thousand present and where be re
mains for nine days; one or two per cent
pass there. If success attends the stndent
at this examination, he is after a while al
lowed to go up to Peking, where an exam
ination ia held once in three years. At
the examlnotion which was held just be
fore I got there, there were 13,000 who
came up from all parts of tho empire as
candidates for examination. Tbe exami
nation hall looks to all the world like the
fair ground ot a Michigan agricultural or
cattle exhibition. There is a high fence
all around It. To be sure there Ts a tem
ple or two and some tablets which I do
not remember to have seen at the Michi
gan fairs, hut so far as tho arrangement
for stndents is concerned it Is exactly tbo
same as it is for cattle and sheep. There
is a long row of little sheds about six feet
high. The partitions are about three feet
apart. There is nothing under the sun
in theso compartments except a bench—a
little board fastened into the wall on
which tho man sUs while another board
is put before him upon which he puts his
books and his food, for he stays there three
days. The dpor* are shut and pasted up.
Every one vrao goes in is examined from
top to toe and hit clothing tamed inside
oat to see if has uo illicit aids with him.
In spite of all precautions there is a good
deal of cheating done, althongh it is visit
ed with very severe penalties. Jtut before
I was there it was suspected that
one of the officials who was charged with
tho conduct of the elimination had allow
ed bis son, who was oue of the candidates
lor examination, to receive ot what was to
be tbe question to be asked. Complaints
were made, he was convicted and his
head was cut off. Yet pardoxical as it
may seepi, it is possible in some parts of
China Id buy literary degrees, I am sorry
to say. When this man haa passed the
highest examination, his fame is celebrat
ed aa was that of the conqueror at the
Olympic games. Carrier pigeons take
his name back to bis native village. Tbe
whole village turns out in celebration and
the man is famous all over the empire.
His name Is added to tbe long list which
for 600 yean has been cut on the great
stone tables before the temple of Confu
cius—a triennial catalogue in the stone of
the great examination at Peking.
THE CHINESE SYSTEM 07 GOVERNMENT
President Angell spoke at some length
upon the political situation of things in
China. He said the government is an ab
solute but paternal monarchy. It is an
absolute monarchy tempered by a distinct
ly recognized ideal of the responsibility
of tbe emperor to heaven for the prosperity
of the realm and for the justice of hu
rule. It is tempered also by the not urn
frequently exercised power of rebellion on
tbe part of the subject against unworthy
and tyrannical governors.
The emperor is considered the incarna
tion of the state and the son of heaven.
His peison is sacred. The present emp?
ror is a boy only 10 or 12 years old. He
is never seen by foreigners and very sel
dom by Chinamen. Whenever he goes
out the streets are cleared and the win
dows closed. If there is a flood, a famine
or a drouth, he goes to the temple to do
works of penace. The Chinese cabinet
are often counseled by tbe two empresses,
the mother and aunt of the emperor.
They are never seen when consulted, be
ing concealed by a curtain. So It has
been wittily said that China is at present
governed by a baby and two old women
behind a curtain. [Laughter.] This is
not true, the cabinet advisers are very able
men. Tbe provinces, 18 In number, are
governed by viceroys or governors who
are appointed by tbe emperor; they rale
for three years and no one ia ever appoint
ed to his own province; it is supposed be
might show favoritism if this were done.
These viceroys or governor have almost
absolute power Iu their provinces. Presi
dent Angell spoke in high terms of the
Viceroy Li Hung Chang, as one of the
most liberal-minded men in China, who
had done much to introduce new meas
ures and customs. He said that there is
an immense amount of corruption in
official circles. It is astonishing that!
government which is so corrupt goes on
so smoothly. The great weakness in the
Chinese system of government is In the
conflict between the imperial and the
provincial branches. The imperial gov
ernment is not strong enough tq enforce
its edicts in all parts of the empire. It
calls for money or men and they are not
famished. The Chinese are not a milita
ry people.
Under able leaden they fight bravely,
but they are not well generated, and so do
poorly. The Chinese judicial system is a
barbarous one. Human life is valued
very cheaply. One of the most celebrated
military leaders, TsoTsung Tang, was
once criticising the methods of the Rus
sian government in dealing with the nihi
lists. He said there was a similar insur
rection in one of the Chinese provinces,
but that there was no trouble Iu suppress
ing it. They cut off the heads of 3,400
men iu two weeks and had no trouble af
ter that. The Chinese army is very poor
ly equipped, many of the imperial troops
ate armed with bows and arrows.
THE FUTURE OF THE CHINESE.
In conclusion President Angell said:
I fear, in spite or all our desires, that
we must expect only a very slow change
in tbe condition of that ancient empire.
As I have said to you, they are men who
look backward and not forward. They
have such an invincible pride in their sys
tem of learning, such insuperable opposi
tion to all chaDge that I do not see any
immediate prospect of important innova
tions. What will be the future ot the em
pire who can venture to predict? That It
will have an important part to play in the
history of tbe world no man can doubt.
Tbe Chinaman has great talent. He has
also great patience. He has what the ra
cing men call staying qualities. He is tare
to hold out to.the end. When this general,
Tso Tsung Tang, bad the conduct of the
campaign on the western frontier, in or
der to come to tbe field of action be bad
to cross great deserts. He could not
transport his provisions across them and
so he planted colonies of Chinamen on all
the little oasss and in all the fertile val
leys. Hera he raised crops of wheat and
millet for two or three years, and when
his gardens were growing and his crops
raised, then wa went forward and won his
victories. This is a perfect typeef the
Chinese way of advance. They are never
going to recede; and should it ever hap
pen they should, under the pressure of
war from outside, become a military peo
ple, which is possible, and should they
take arms of precision, which in that case
would be certain, I do not see why they
might not sweep over the whole of Asia
and even thunder at the gates ol Europe,
hut 1 deem tins extremely improbable,
and iu our time impossible. 1 believe
that they will long go on with very mod
erate and slow changes, leading that
same quiet, industrious, frugal life, look
ing with the same sublime contempt upon
alt your wisdom and mine, up to all wes
tern philosophy and western invention,
and with the same fond love for their own
system of learning which they have cher
ished from time Immeorial. Unless this
faith in the infaiibllity of Confucianism
can be broken up I do not see where our
Innovations can have much effect. There
fore it is that I say, looking at this subject
coolly as a philosopher ana not simply as
Christian man, it seems to me that the
one hope of changing China rapidly ia that
tbe gospel of Christ, the Christian philos
ophy which does open all eyes to progress,
shall dispel this unvarying faith in the
old and unchanging Confucianism of
the past. If this difficult change can
ever come, China has undoubtedly a great
future before her. [Prolonged applause.]
EMBRACING A SPIRIT FORM.
■re. Hall, the Had!are, fa ths
samara Cl at baa, wad a riauwal
Da wax fa Ere. Haifa.
••You may quote me as saying that
saw the pretended materializing medium,
F*wrwM«4V«* Hiarei tUDUlUIU^
Mrs. Hull, exposed as a fraud on Sunday
fouling to tbe Paint.
Comment is often made on the curiosi
ty of all people in tbe agricultural dis
tricts, but it is only right and proper that
an honest farmer who is addressed by a
perfect stranger should weigh tbe subject
well before giving away valuable infor
mation. The other day a Detroiter who
was engineering a hone and buggy over a
muddy highway met a fanner rnd called
oat:
“Do you folks fly when you go to
town? ”
The farmer put down the rail he was
lifting, took a chew of shorts, and ad
vancing nearer ho calmly inquired:
“Want to sell that horse?”
“No.”
“Want to buy a mate to him V*
“No.”
“Want to trade that buggy for a good
wagon ? ”
‘•No.”
“Buying butter to ship ?”
“No.”
“Speculatin’ in ’tatera? ”
“No.” “
“Anything new in Detroit ? ”
“Haven’t heard of anything.”
“Traveled very far to-day f ”
“About twelve miles.”
“Going to the city to-night ?”
“Yes, if I can get there. Now, then,
do you folks out here along the line of
this infernal river of mud fly when you
go to town ?”
The man looked all around, heaved a
sigh, broke off a twig to pick his teeth
before answering:
“Stranger, what kind of a flying ma
chine are you peddling, and what are
your very lowest figures for cash ?”
night last,” laid the theatrical manager,
J. H. McTicker yesterday, when a repor
ter asked his version of an occurrence that
baa created a good deal of remark
among believers in spiritualism.
“Tbe way it occurred* was this,” con
tinued Ur. McVicker. “A company gath
ered at a private house by invitation to
see some marvellous materializing phe
nomeua to be produced by Mrs. Hu!!,
who has been for some time astonishing
many visitors at the house of Mr. Hatch
in Astoria.
“The only gentlemen visitors present
were J. B. Sammis, secretary o? the Rob
ber Cushion Axle Company; Dr. Collins
and myself. There were eleven ladies.
Most of the parties were spiritualists
and believers In materializing manifesta
tions. I was invited by Ur. Sammis, and
so far as I know there was no Intention
to attempt any exposure. Jurs. Hull was
attended by ber husband, a very gentle
manly person. I am free to aay 1 had
not much faith in her ability to produce
materialized spirits.
“The seance was held at the house of a
lady who was not suspected of any collu
sion. The spectators sat in a frontjparior,
and a curtain was stretched across a door
way leading to a small back room in
Rich there was a lounge. It was pre
tended tbst tbe medium would lie o l this
lounge while the materialized spirits ap
peared outside the curtain.
“When these so-called spirit forms ap
peared in the doorway they polled aside
the curtains and fixed them carefully
back, so that the spectators could see a
form lying on the lonnge. The light in
our room was rather bright, but In the
back room whe-e tbe iouuge was it was
dim.
This made me suspicions from the first
I was satisfied not only that the form on
the sofa was not that of Urs. Hull.efcut 1
distinctly recognized her features iu the
so-called ‘spirit forms.’ But I did not
wish to make a scene, so 1 said and did
nothing.
“The alleged spirits beckoned the vari
ous members of the party to approach,
and asked whether they recognized any
relatives. If the spectator asked, ‘Is it
mother ?’ or is it aunt ? ’the spirit always
answered ‘Yes.’ One young girl said she
recognized tbe spirit of her mother. She
was permitted to give the spirit form a
fond embrace. I was myself called up,
but was wholly unable to recognize the
“All the materialized forms were those
of females. A lady present said she rec
ognized one of the materialized forms as
that of Mra. Hull with a set or false teeth
taken out. Some of us noted a suspicious
reappearance of theaame pieces of illuston
worked with cretonne that partly con
cealed tbe.Iace. Others noted that tbe
gloves and other attachments of the dif
ferent spirits were similar.”
Finally one of the spirits beckoBed to
Dr. Collins, who was sitting in the most
distant pat of the room. What followed
the appearance of Dr. Collins is related
by Mr. Sammis:
“Tbe medium made no objection to our
sitting quite near and approaching the
spirit. Dr. Collins advanced closely as
others had done. When he got near
enough to see he became satisfied that the
spirit was Mre. Hall. He reached out biz
arm to embrace tbe spirit, and as soon as
he got a firm hold of her around the waist
he whirled her out into the middle of the
room amid the astonished sdectstora.
Mrs. Hull screamed, and her husband,
who had been sitting beside the curtain
apparently taking no part in the perform
ance, suddenly sprang forward and grip-
tied with Dr. Collins, seeking to release
lia wife, bat the Doctor is a strong youDg
fellow, and held on until the lights were
tinned up.
“You don’t understand the laws gov
erning these these things,’ shouted Mr.
Hull, as he peppered the Doctor.
“ *We understand that this is a fraud,’
replied the Doctor, holding Mrs. Hall
tight iu one arm while he defended him
self with the other.
"Tho struggle was brief, and Mrs. Hull
soon got free and ran for her quarters be
hind the curtain, but I intercepted her,
and called upou some of the ladies to go
and see what was ou the lounge. They
did so, and found that, insterd of Mrs.
Hull, there was a coat dummy made of
the blankets supplied to her to prevent ber
from catching cold while she was in her
alleged trance. There My they fouud a
large part of the spirits,minding the il
lusion veil, the cretonne and other famil
iar attachmedts.
“The exposure was perfect, and from
beginning to end Mrs. Hull bad nothing
to say. Sne was pale, nervous and fright
ened. Her husband was panting and ex
cited,and vigorously insisted that tbe com
pany did not know tbe laws governing
this thing.
Mrs. Hull is about rorty-eight years
old, of medium height and slight build,
ana has dark eyes and a pale face. She
has become noted foj her msterialieatians
and held manv seances at Astoria. Some
of her exhibitions were given before Hen
ry Ward Beecher. She is apparently in
ill health, and after the exvosure was the
picture of desolation and despair.”
MtareBeblad the ——.
Those awkwanl-looking supernumera
ries know a good deal about actors and ac
tresses, and have their favorites, just as
the public does, though their likes and
dislikes are apt to nave nothing to do
with art, but rest wholly upon personal
grounds. It does not matter a straw to
tham whether one be exalted iu the king
dom of Thespis or not: if one is kind and
social—or say, rather, patroniziug—that
is all they ask in return for their Infinite
good-will and their cheering applause
when, on off nights, they are passed up
front
Now, there is Lotta. She is just as
greats favorite behind the scenes as in
front. She comes in with a smile and*
nod for every one. She isn’t assuming in
the least *ud returns a kind “Thank
.you!” for every little service. Of course,
all this is quite irresistible to the boys,
who are only too happy to serve her, and
some sort and cunning fellows get in her
way just to be asked to meve aside. The
“supes”ofthe Wale ut used to be bead
OTer heels in love with her. They present
ed her with that elegant banjo—rosewood
iniaid with pearl, and said to have coat
over $100—that she uses ill her plays.
She was the recipient, also, ot many beau
tiful devices in flowers at their hands.
All these marks of devotion Lotta of
course reciprocated. All the old fellow*
are gone from the Walnut now, so she
doesn’t receive such tokens any - more.
She is accompanied everywhere by ber
mother, and she doesn’t require any fur
ther protection. Her mother is quite a
match for the average man.
Petite—even more so than Lotta her
self—black-eyed, gray-haired and quick
iu her movements, she locks like an older
edition of the popular little comedienne.
She is methodical and bual uess-like, and
has decided opiuions upon certain subject*,
particularly upon tbe irreproaphabllity of
her daughters character. Lotta spent
some time in a French convent, perfecting
her education, and she speaks French
fluently, though with au imperfect accent.
Raymond’s a jolly good fellow. No alia;
not a bit. They say his real n*m» ia
O’Brien. He was quite poor until be met
with the urtIMxl
with tbe “Gilded Age”—golden age to
him. He ia a great favorite Iu the West.
Thejsupers like him because he haa not
forgotten that he was always 'so prosper
ous. It make's a great difference whether
one’s memory be good in that respect or
not—not with supernumeraries, but
with wry body.
Bo|X, Edwin Booth, nearly fifty years
old^Koped, with thoughtful face and
deep black eyes and hair dark as night
and touched with sliver. His distinguish
ing characteristic ia quiet dignity. There
here been many sorrows in his life, and
many triumphs. He looks much like
one’s ideal clergyman. He doesn’t have
much to say. Not because he can’t. Ob,
no! He too, has a little bit ot temper
way down somewhere, but he is too lofty
to talk much. There is always a little
gossip floating about in tbe “super” room,
and the fellows who go to makeup'erowd*
and armies and Roman Senators at twen
ty-five cents each performance, with first
night’s salary off for the captain, knows
good deal more about the real elements
of dramatic stars than tbe folks wbo see
them through theatre telescopes ever
learn.
•as Facts A beat Alligator* ■
They Were la tbe OmS Old Days.
Vicktburg Herald.
The passenger who was rnhnlng down
the big river for the first time in bis life,
secured permission to climb up beside the
pilot, a grin^old grayback, who never
tola a lie.
"Many alligators in the river ? ” in
quired the stranger, after long look
around.
“Not s* many now, since they got to
abootin’ them lor their hides and taller,”
was the reply.
“Used to be lots, eh ? ”
“I don’t want to teti you about ’em,
stranger,” replied the pi let, sighing heav
ily.
“Why?”
“’Cause you’d think I was a-lyin to you
and that’s something I never do. I can
cheat at cards, drink whisky or chaw
poor terbacker, but I cannot tell
ie.”
“Then there used to be lots of them,”
said the passenger.
“I’m most afeared to tell you, mister,
bat I’ve counted ’leven hundred alligstgrs
to tbe mile from Vicksburg c’lar down to
New Orleans. That was years ago, be
fore a shot was ever fired at ’em.”
“Well, I don’t doubt it,” replied 'he
stranger.
“Aud I’ve counted 3,459 of ’em on one
sand bar,” continued the pilot. “It looks
big to tell, but a government surveyor
was on board, and he checked them off as
1 called out.”
“I haven’t the least doubt of it,” said
the passenger.
“I’m glad o’ that, stranger. Some fel
lers would thiuk I am a liar, when I’m
telling the solemn truth. This used to
be a paradise for alligators, and they
were so thick that the wheels of the boat
killed on an average of thirty to the
mile.”
“Is that so 2-”
“True as gospel, mister I I used to
feel sorry for tbe cussed brutes, ’tause
they’d cry out e’en most like a human be
ing. We killed lots of ’em as I said, and
we hurt a pile more. I sailed with one
captain who alius carried a thousand bot
tles of liniment to throw over tbe wound
ed ones.”
■ “He did?”
“True as you live, he did. I don’t
’spect I’ll ever see such (autoher, kind,
Christian man. And the alligators got to
know the Nancy Jane, and to know Cap
tain Tom, and they’d awim out and rub
their tails agin the boat an’ purr like cats
an’ look up an’ try to smile!',
■ “They would?”
“Solemn truth, stranger I And once
when welgrounded on a bar, with an op
position boat right behind, the alligators
gathered around, got under her stem
and jumped her clean ovrr the bar by a
. ___ ig
rat I never told a lie yet and I never
shall; I wouldn’t tell a lie for all the
money you could pile up aboard this
boat.”
There was a painfc.1 pause, and'after
awhile the pilot continued:
“Ouringfnes gin out once, and a crowd
ofalligatorstooka tow line arid hauled
us forty-five miles up the stream to Vicks
burg.”
“They did.”
5.“And when the news got along the rlv
erthat Captain Tom wa* dead every alli
gator on tbfe river daubed his left ear with
mud as a badge of mournin’ and lots n ’
’em pined and died.”
The passenger left the pilot-honse
with the remark that he didn’t doubt the
statement, and the old man gave the
wheel a turn, ana said:
“That’s one thing I won’t do for love
nor money, and that’s make a liar of my
self. I was brung up under tbe teachin’
of a good mother, and I’ll slick to the
truth, if this boat don’t make a cent.”
AGRICULTURAL ATOMS.
FOR TUB EYES OF BOX EH T
SOXS OF TOIL.
■«M«e4 Ffsa •as-af-tbe-Way Heafca
la Oar Exchanges, Dreoamt I’p aa*
Fftssalsd far laspaeUaa.
Bemen County New. Cotton plant
ing commenced last week and is now go
ing on at a lively rate.
Sweet potatoes planted two weeks ago
are coming np splendidly. ^
The past winter was tbe dryest we
have had in several yean.
Aa a general thing,there Is a good stand
of corn and it 4 ia growing finely.
We learn that rust has made Its ap
pearance in several fields of oats, in the
vicinity of Nashville, but to what extent
we are not able to tell.
Small grain haa been sown in great
quantity along the line or the Savannah,
Griffin and North Alabama road; and
also from Newnau to Atlanta, snd the
crop is promising in appearance.
We saw a fanner sell a batch of fifteen
dozsn egg* to one of our merchants thia
week, and an additional evidence of hia
being the right kind of a granger was that
he was smoking a com cob pipe. Now,
in order to smoke cob pipe* a man must
have the com cobs about his crib.
Mr. Leonard Parker, living out near
Andersonville, says he has four acre* of
wheat oftbe early Rainey variety that la
about w*Ut high aud in full bead la
dough state. He thinks it will be ready
about the fifteenth of April, or probably
earlier. He calculates on making about
sixty bushels from his patch.
Cultivators, with two and four plows,
are becoming popular with Thomas
county farmers, ray* tbe Thomasville
limes. With the latter the work of four
mules and two bands is dona with two
mules and one hand. Just aak Rev. J.
R. Butler about it. Labor saving ma
chines are tbe salvation of the Southern
farmer. They should get them as rapidly
as possible. ,
The wheat, rye and oat crops in north
Georgia are doing finely. A large acre
age has been planted, and with favorable
seasons these crops wilt tnm out finely.
The indications for a good fruit crop at
present are fine, although some peaches
were killed by the recent frosts. Farmer*,
are now busily engaged in planting com.
OATHS OF ALL XATIOXS.
So
So
TIm Terms oMtaths la F* relga Uf-
IslsUvs AsssakUst.
The following sammary of tbe forms
ofoathinusein foreign legislative as
semblies is extracted from the reports re
ceived at tbe British foreign office in New
York:
Bavaria—I swear • • • So help
me God and hia holy gospel.
Denmark—I promise and swear • • •
So help in9 God and his holy word.
Greece—I swear in tbe name of the holy
and consubatanilal and indivisible trin
ity. ✓•
Hesse-Darmstadt—I swear • • ‘
help me God.
Saxe-Coburg and Baden—I swear,
help me God.
Holland—I swear. So help me God.
Portugal—I awear on the .holy gos
pels.
Prussia—I awear by Gcd, the almighty
and omniscient. So help me God.
Saxony—I awear by Almighty God.
Servia—I awear by one God and with
all that is according to law mutt sacred
and in this world dearest. So help me
God lathis and that other world.
Spain—After swearing the deputy on
tbe gospels, the president says:
“Then may God repay you, but if you
fail, may he claim it from yod.”
Switzerland and Norway—I (president
or vice-president only) swear before God
and hia holy gospel • • • I will be faith
ful to this oath aa sure as God shall save
my body and sonl.
Switzerland—In the presence of Al
mighty God I swear • * • So help me
God.
United States—I do solemnly swear.
So help me God.
In Bavaria, non-Christians omit the
reference to the gospel.
In Holland and tbe United Stales affir
mation ia optional.
In Prussia and in Switzerland affirms,
tion is permitted to tboM who object on
religious grounds to the oath.
In Belgium and Italy tbe adjuration is
used without any theistlc reference.
In France and Roomania, the German
Reichstag and for deputies in Sweden and
Norway, neither oath nar affirmation ts
The LeConte trees in Thomas county
are casting a goodly portion of their
young fruit. The late cold winds were
rather too much for the yonng pears. If,
however, one-tenth of tbe blooms pro
duce fruit, a fine crop will be realized.
Col. Boyd is probably tbe largest plan
ter In southwest Georgia. He runs sev
enty plows on his various plantations.
He informs a Dawson editor that the
ilantlng interest in the vicinity of Leary
s further advanced than be over knew it
at this season of the year.
Farmers about Thomasville are busy
preparing their cotton lands. Com is
generally reported as doing well, and
much ot it has been sided. We were un
der the impression that less guano was
being bought this season than for several
years past, but from talking with some of
our dealers we learn that the sales have
been perhaps fully as large as last year.
Quite a number of brands are on the
market, and very nearly or quite all have
fouud purchasers.
The Indian Springs Argus says: We
heard one of our farmers aay he wouldn’t
use a pound of gaano this year. He says
bo has used it every year since he has
been farming except one, and he had
more clear cash that year than any other.
After psyiDg up he bad five hundred dol
lars cash in his pocket, and be hat never
bad over one hundred dollars in cash in
hand afterpaying expenses when he used
fertilizers. This a very poor Inducement
to cuntinue its use, and we think he ia
showing b's wisdom by letting it alone.
Tbe merchants of Sumpter tell us that
their cash sales are better than for the
same time last year, but that their credit
sales amount to compaiafiroiy nothing.
Even those who have made arrangement
for goods on time are not taking advan
tage of it, and it takes a good deal of
persuasion to sell them goods at all But
very little corn and bacon is being sold.
This is a most favorable sign for tbe fu
ture condition or our country. There
seems to be a spirit of seme independence
in the hearts of oar farmers.
If tbe farmers of this section would
give more attention to raising their meat
at home instead cf buying Western-raised
bacon on time at such enormous prices,
the; would soon find themselves better off
and growing more prosperous, and there
would be less demand for mortgages. The
Increased demand for these “iron clad
clinchers,” presents a rather uninviting
prospect for the future.
Spalding county has as much fine farm
ing land to the square mile as any coun
ty in Georgia, and her agriculturists are a
lot of men who seem to know their busi
ness and are in improving circumstances.
Now that the fence law will soon go into
effect still greater improvements will be
certainly made, and the county will
gradually loom up and sit on the top limb
of the old tree of Georgia, and wink at her
sisters wbo are yet some years behind her
in agricultural pursuits. Spalding is
solid.
The gallant and heroic fight now being
made by our noble fanners to pull through
the year without again running into debt
above that which their actual necessities
demand, is truly admirable. No longer is
seen that disposition to ran into debt re
gardless o! consequences. Nor does this
disposition obtain altogether because our
farmers cannot procure the credit as in
former years, but there seems to pervade
the minds of our farmers almost univer
sally an unflinching determination to
fight the battle through purely upon prin
ciples of economy and rigid self-abnega
tion.
Tbe heroic women, the wives of our
farmers, wno are lending the weight of
their moral support to their husbands in
tbe conflict, are no less to be praised than
our noble men. Many are tbe good and
noble wives and daughters of Terrell
county,wbo will forego the usual para-»
phernalla or spring and summer dress
this year and make out with the old In
order to assist husband and _ father suc
cessfully through this unusually hard
contest.
Thrice noble women! How we do hon
or you. But for the heroic women of our
land to cheer us on and sustain us in the
days of our adversity life would hardly
be worth the llviug. God bless the dear,
Loble women ! We long to see the day
when they shall be surrounded with all
the luxuries and comforts that a well-
conducted system of /arming wiil bring.
Farmers, if we bkve sometimes given yog
raps and hard licks, it has not been be
cause we ioved you less, but because we
loved your prospects more.—Dawson
Journal. . ..
An acre of average land prepared the
same as for cuttou* will m*ke
fifty bushels of grouud peas. These are
now worth $1.00 per bushel, and rarely
sell for leas. U will take three acre* of
the same land to make a bale of cotton,
which bnugs only fifty dollars. In other
words, one acre in ground peas will make
m much as three scares in oottoft The
peaa find aa ready sale ia Savanna* aa
cotton. • . A'ii
mmmmb
iiii im iiwimtfinriiTnf iiiim fiN
