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9 fJM fl <> 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