ASIA 111 HUME NISBET CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE WASON CHINESE COLLECTION ARTHUR PROBSTHAIN, Oriental Bookseller 41 at. Russell Street' British museum, ' LONDON. W.C. U«|fc UUt Cornell University Library DS 508.N72 The drai on and the chrysanthemum 3 1924 023 523 438 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023523438 THE DRAGON AND THE CHRYSANTHEMUM Gates of the East THE DRAGON AND THE CHRYSANTHEMUM BY HUME NISBET, Author of "Bail Up," "A Colonial Tramp," &c, &c, &c. Justicb, Truth, Rbason, Toleration, Fraternity. DE LA ROCHE, 37, ESSEX STREET, STRAND, LONDON, W.C. 1908. CONTENTS, part jfirst. FROM ENGLAND TO CEYLON. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER II. "Adieu to England." The " Moldavia "—Effects of Tilbury— Advance of the P. and 0. Company — Church Service — Captain Gordon — Remarks on Clergy as Readers, and the Exhilarating Effects of Gregorian Chants — a Hint for Future Treatment of Diseases. CHAPTER in. Passengers. Fellow Passengers — The Two Smiths — My Handsome Widow — Matrimonial Reflections — Gibraltar — Marseilles — and Strom- boli, CHAPTER IV. A Scheme. The Colonial Bishop — Nilakantha Goreh's Evidence— A Sug- gested Scheme for New Code of Morality— Self Investiga- tion. CHAPTER V. Stories. On Decorum— Ripe and Unripe Egos— A Fair Tip in Tuft Hunting— Mild Revenge— A Normandy Amazon. CHAPTER VI. Red Sea. The Gentle Whistler— A Hasty Impression— Port Said and Adieu— Reminiscences of "Tooting"— A Mystery— Un- expected Weather in the Red Sea— A Vivisecting Sister- Concerning the Rack. CHAPTER VH. Missionaries. Exeter Hall— The Kind of Evangelists sent to Convert the Heathen— The Heathen?— Extract from the Gist of Japan." CHAPTER VIII. MISSIONARIES AND THEIR WAYS. Missionary Martyrs — The Sabbath Breaker Rebuked — Duty of Philanthropists — Th« Lincboo /Maissaojre — Thie Zealous Missionary — Salvation Mary — Eoman Priest Murderers — A Little Home. CHAPTER IX. Rook Facts About Missionary Enterprise. Traits of the Chinese — Why Missionaries are not Popular in the East — Some Evidence of their Failures — Reasons Why a Japanese Prefers his own to our Creed — Financial Facts. INTERLUDE. part Seconb. FROM COLOMBO TO SHANGHAI. CHAPTER I. Colombo. Tea Planters, etc. — Professional Etiquette — A Thorough Dis- guise — Mark Twain's Little Joke. CHAPTER II. En Route. New Friends — On Pride and Peace — A Warm Musical Seance — I Escape the Enemy — Gratuitous Slander. CHAPTER III. The Tropics. A Talk with Denshaw Mistry — Colonel Furse — How to Pre- pare for the Tropics — On Diet — A HaTd but Necessary Law — The Straits and Penang — My First Rickshaw Ride — The Bee and its Lesson. CHAPTER IV. Curious Characters. My Afreet Friend — Effects of Latitudes — On Impressionist Drawing and Painting — Lady Sex-Writers — Singular Morality. CHAPTER V. Singapore. The Deralict — Sharks — Gates of tlhg East — Singapore — First Glimpse of the Chinese at Work— Kindly Hosts— The Faith Cure. CHAPTER VI. "Chinese Painted by Themselves." Family Life — Religion and Morality — Marriage — Divorce — Woman — Classes — The Literary Class — Journalism and Public Opinion— Education — The Working Classes — Odes — Pleasures — European Society — East and West — The Arsenal of Foo-Choo. CHAPTER Vn. Hono Kong. Opinions of Commercial Men — Things Chinese — Hong Kong Harbour — Comparison with Other Famous Harbours — What Australians Lack as Yet — In Defence of Log-Roiling and Self-Advertisemenlfc — Putting on "IFrillsl" — A Superb specimen of Israel in America. CHAPTER VIH. Festivities. From Peak Hill — New Year's Day at Hong Kong — Night Festivities — Jinrikshaws and Sampans — The Theatre — A Walk with Denshaw Mistry — Father Christmas. CHAPIER IX. Canton. The River — Captain MacGinty— My Guide — Streets and Shops — A Disaster — The Water Clock— Prison and Execution Ground — Criminals — "Temples— Five Storied Pagoda — City of the Dead — Fantan. CHAPTER X. "The Holy Grill." Her Captain and Passengers — A Pleasant Voyage. CHAPTER XI. Shanghai. The Monsoon— The Russian Transport— Benefit of Humour— The Day Before a Riot— The Willow-Pattern Tea Garden- Starved to Death. INTERLUDE. REMARKS ON CHINA. pare UblrO. JAPAN. CHAPTER I. Muji. An Apology — Appeal and Warning — Towards Japan — Muji — The Only Way to Appreciate Properly Japan — Things Japanese — The Israelite Moses — A Tea-House— and Geisha Perform- CHAPTER H. MXTJI. The Return from Muji — Fight with the Current — A Crane Ascent — Rack Experiences — The Captain's LectuTe and Penance — The Inland Sea. CHAPTER III. Yokohama. Anthropological Snapshots of Japan — Japanese Art and its Worshippers — Kobe, Yokohama — The Club Hotel — The Man Best Able to Appreciate the Spirit of this Remark- able Country. CHAPTER IV. Tokio. Explanation— Japanese j Honesty — Maraoka, my (Guide — The Court House— The College— No. 9— Tokio— The Hotel and Road to it — The City — The Yoshiwari — Japanese Traits — Temple of Sheba — Mikado's Palace Grounds — The Bazaar — The Museum. ILLUSTRATIONS. Gates of the East The Russian Transport Shanghai The Inland Sea - The Derelict By the Author By the Author By the Author By the Author By the Author 2>eWcatton. Ifrom 1bnme to Smalltt, witb gratituoe for ber mern? jests ano gentle wags. ERRATA. Page iv. of Contents, Chapter iv., line 3 :— read YoshivrSiia for Yoshiwari. Pages 32-33 : — read write and print for writes and prints. Page 53, line 34 -.— read ' atavists 'for ■' avatists.' Page 61, line 23 : — insert it after tearing. Page 72, line 3 : — read European /«- Euuropean. Page 76, line 32 : — read hinchoo for Linchow. Page 84, line 18 : — read hair for heirs and Isaac for Joseph. Page 91, line I : — insert a comma before and after Potent Philanthropists. Page 102, line 20 : — read ' Champagne ' for ' Champaigne.' Page 107, line 20 : — read succuba. for secuba. Page 108, line 30 : — delete with after trifle. Page no, line 24 : — read Buddha, for Buddhi. Page 131, line 20 : — insert was wired by the Editor of the magazine ; "was it . . . " after Next day I . . . Page 132, line 4 :—read worlds^r world. Page 135, line 35 : — read kimonos fit kiminos and crying for carrying. Page 141, line 1 1 ; — insert by telling me after infliction. Page 157, line 6 : — read Is iifor It is. Page 175, line 36 : — read and for ad. Page 177, line 16; — read Gargantuan for Gergantian. Page 180, line 36 -.—read Rapalloyir Repallo. Page 183, line 3 : — read loud for loed and (line 32) peal for peel. Page 190, line 7 : — read Alassio for Alasso. Page 191, line 8 : — insert in which after manner. Page 191, line 19 : — read Denshavr fir Dinshaw. Page 197, line 32 ; — read cloths for clothes. Page 202, l'ne 19 : — read Cangue for Caugne. Page 212, line 36 : — read sybarites for sabyrites. Page 221 : — read Note "Dfir Note B. Page 226: — read Note Efor Note. Page 232, line 3 of heading : — read Muji/or Moji. Page 233, line 24 -.—read Taoist for Taouism and (line 26) Buddha for Buddhi. Page 255, line 3 -.—read Okakura-Yoshishaburo for Orakura-Yoshiasburo Page 236, line 15 -.—read Afreet for Afrete. Page 245, line 8 : — read Japanese for Jepanese. Page 254, line 28 1 — read Muji/«- Moji. Page 258, line 28 : — read hypocrisies for hypocracies. Page 258, line 34 : — Voltariany&T- voltarian. Pag-e 260, line 15 :— read Yoshiwara/or Yoshiwari, (line 5) read camellia for camilia, and (line 30) read taste/or tatse. Note A., Evolution, line I -. — read slowly for slow. Index, in section D. :— rarf Denshaw Mistry/«- Denshaw Mystry. Index, in section L. : — read Latitudes, effects of fir Latitudes affects of. Index Y. sect. : — read Yoshiwarayi»" Yoshiwari. THE DRAGON AND THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. Chapter I. INTRODUCTION. A HUMAN rolling stone may not gather much moss in ■l*- the shape of funds or closely attached friends but it will decidedly get mouldy and rusty if it takes too long a rest anywhere. I find this peculiarity in my own case, as a human stone that has done some rolling since first detached. Every decade a restlessness and discontent preys upon me, which signifies that I shall have to go on the ' trek or Walloby Track ' before I can again taste peace or pleasure. Short trips do but brief good in the matter of rubbing off this poisonous mould which checks growth ; the resting place becomes like a clotted flock mattress to a bed-ridden invalid, too weak to make a move for himself ; too slug- gish to ask help in the lifting ; who can only lie and peevishly grumble at discomforts of his own making. The vague unhappiness grows and spreads until from being an easy-minded, I become a decidedly unpleasant companion, and carking friend. I abhor the idea of making the necessary preparations; to pack up is ob- noxious ; Biscay Bay with its horrors looms like nearing nightmares ; and lastly, but not leastly, the thought of the unknown companions who must share my cabin and ocean transit fills me with dismay. But the inner orders to march thunder at me and force me out of my torpidity. With heavy groans of regret I begin to roll up my ' swag ' and prepare for the unknown. Every ten years this tyrannical master-spirit kicks me from comfort to discomfort, and forces me off to be buffeted by the blasts, nipped by the frosts, and scorched by the fierce suns, until I have done the needful penance of leagues; after which I may look forward to another spell of rest. I mention this at the start of this present pil- grimage ; not as an excuse for inflicting the results on my contented readers, who find the pleasures of home and friendship sufficient for their desires, but, if possible, to gain the sympathy of my fellow victims to the fever of this cureless complaint, which, like malaria, never entirely leaves the blood of the rover. Writing one's travels has become rather a thankless task to the professional word-painter now that transit is so easy, eventless, and comfortable. One needs some excitement to stir the blood and make the ink flow, and there is but small chance of being moved, even by hunger, on board these magnificent ocean hotels. The daily routine of luxury and lack of care or danger press heavily upon our souls, not to mention other internal organs. We know that we are approaching from many former visits to each of the landmarks. We bathe, dress, eat, talk — ah ! yes ; we talk, during the intervals between eating and sleeping, and as we are mostly respectable, easy-placed and decently bred people, fancy becomes crushed and numb before the vapidity of those saloon conversations on board a great ocean liner. We talk 'Golf,' ' Bridge,' ' Polo,' and politics from the House of Lords' point of view, and con- found, unanimously, all Nonconformists, Free Traders and Socialists. The deadliness of such topics cannot be gauged by the inexperienced. Of course, between the rising and the sleeping we do other things, such as getting sea-sick in the Bay, through which all must pass to reach warmth and sunshine. We smoke, also, a great deal and drink a little — it is not respectable to drink much at the present period of the progress of society. If there are nice women on board we make ourselves agreeable to them, flirt dis- creetly if they are spinsters, and a trifle more recklessly if they are married, and safe. We also do a flutter at the cards and drop some gold and silver, or pick them up, play idiotic games on deck during the day and more sentimental ones at night, get up concerts and dances, and waltz as closely round the seventh and tenth commandments as social discretion and respectability will permit us to get. Likewise, there are occasions when we can become even vulgarly angry, and find that glowing incentive to action which the robust old reformer, Martin Luther, said always inspired him to work. He said : ' I never work better than when I am inspired by anger; when I am angry I can write, pray, and preach well, for then my whole tempera- ment is quickened, and my understanding sharpened.' Without going into the question of the ' understanding being sharpened ' by anger, we must agree with Martin as to the temperament being quickened by this ardent passion. Personally, I must also confess that if I had not been at times roused up by this emotion during my pere- grinations eastward on this tour, I should have precious little more to interest my readers than any other of the enlarged diaries and chronicles of small beer published as travels. I trusty however, to be able to awaken a languid interest, now and again, by my observations. Not much, I fear, for everyone possessed of means sufficient to travel have been there, written about it, or exhausted it in conversation. I am also of opinion that few people now are capable of getting up much interest about any subject- Only charges of dynamite could do this, and the smartest writer cannot make explosive bombs out of paper and ink. In the sphere where I ruminate at present my friends generally can afford to circumnavigate the globe in search of health or change from the dreary monotony of their daily small excitements. They can nearly all write and talk cleverly enough of what they have read and seen, for they generally read and form conclusions first, and look afterwards through the borrowed spectacles. Therefore, the independent observer who leaves the guide-books till his return gets often taken at a disadvantage by these smart and glib repeaters. In the present instance, however, I had read a consider- able number of travellers' books before venturing " East of Suez, where no ten commandments are." I did this because it was new ground to me, albeit so much trodden by others, and I wished to avoid writing what had already been so often written about, and hunt after what little patches may have been left. I felt almost as sure that I should find something to tell about that had not yet been over-written, or written about purposely to mislead, and I fancy that I have in some measure not been altogether disappointed, and trust that my readers in the following pages may find some things he has not yet read about the mystic East ; or, if he has, that a fresh, colouring has been given to it. My intention before starting was to look at things with my own eyes, and think about them with my own brains, while fixing my understanding upon the pros and cons. Yet, remember that prejudice ever accompanies the most honest of opinions and relation of facts. I do not mean to insinuate that my eyes are more penetrating, or my understanding more unbiased than the E's and IPs of others, as the reverse is my case. As I advance in years, I find, to my sorrow and regret, that I do not grow nearly so broad mentally as I tend to do physically, alas ! in spite of all my strenuous efforts to increase the one and reduce the other. As age approaches, intolerance and harsh judgment increases towards the fail- ings and follies of my kind, almost in the same proportion as the adipose tissues, until I am inclined to conclude that it is not the lean but the corpulent judge who is most severe on the poor culprit. I try, of course, by private discipline to correct these growing evils ; that is, by taking my judgment to task, with the assistance of Thomas a Kempis, Jeremy Taylor, and other sages who have left us such salutary precepts for self-examination, also by diet- 5 ing according to the advice of Banting and other authori- ties. But the results, so far, are not completely successful. Therefore, I humbly warn my reader to be on his guard, and sift for himself my opinions and honest strictures, as I have tried my best to sift those of others equally honest, and possibly less prejudiced. On one point, however, I can most solemnly assure my reader. My understanding has frequently been quickened, as was that of the great German reformer, and when I come to those parts where it was so I may mention it as my excuse for perhaps undue warmth of expression. Of all the books and compilations that I perused previous to starting, I must here state that I feel most indebted to a small work, written for private circulation by a friend, the wife of Commander Orme-Webb, of Cleve- don ; and my obligation is not only for many side-lights that more important travellers are so apt to forget to mention as too trivial, but also, I think I may say without exaggeration, the preservation of my life, as I shall now relate. I had selected and packed up what clothing I considered needful for a tropical and semi-tropical journey, discard- ing all heavy and cumbrous articles as useless ; when, just a few days previous to my embarkation, the Commander lent me this book, from which I learnt how exceedingly cold the latter portion of the journey was, and how glad Mrs. Orme-Webb had been in the comfort of her cosy furs and heavy woollen clothing. This nearly belated informa- tion made me re-pack my trunks with what I had discarded. And exceedingly glad was I also, as well as deeply grateful to this clever and observant lady when afterwards I was able to enjoy a temperature of 35 degrees below zero, which, otherwise, would certainly have nipped this book before it was even in the bud — a consummation not at all desired by the author, however much it may have been by his friends. Chapter II. THE ' MOLDAVIA.' Adieu to England — Effects of Tilbury — Advance of the P. and 0. Company — Church Service — Captain Gordon — Remarks on Clergy as Readers and the Exhilarating Effects of Gregorian Chants — A Hint for Future Treatment of Diseases. LEAVING England, and the most beautifully-tressed ■woman in the world (at Tilbury), I was eccentric and old-fashioned enough to possess myself of a slender strand which the wintry blast had loosened. It did not strike me at the time as at all peculiar for an elderly husband to use his blunted teeth to confiscate this gleam- ing treasure, although afterwards, when I was told about the incident by one of my saloon fellow travellers, as some- thing comic, it did seem just a little bit emotional and steeragy to the refined and unemotional observers. Passengers who use the saloons of these great ships do not often indulge in the crude sentiments of the steerage, or, at least, do not express them so openly. Repression is considered to be the sign of superior breeding and genteel deportment. Surely Tilbury Docks is the most dreary of all ports for the exile who is leaving his native land. There are hotels and boarding houses, but from the station to the ship's deck a drab tone of unleavened dejection seems to brood constantly and depress the spirit woefully. This may be because it is the place of departure, the port Jl farewells and tears. On such wintry days, as I passed through Tilbury, nothing could exceed the atmosphere of damp, dirt and gloom. On each visage spread the same sullen discontent, only shifted now and again by a forced and false air of cheerfulness as passengers and friends lounged aimlessly on the deck and listened to the rusty clamour of the cranes as they swung the luggage about. However, this mental misery comes to an end at last, as most suffering does. Human nature in its morbid moments fancies itself much worse off than it really is ; as evidence of this, ye, who are not overburdened with bile, the root of pessimism, look backward on your lives and compare the vanished joys with the vanished sorrows and say honestly which impresses you mostly ! Which looks the most vivid and enduring in colour? And yet, do you know, the pleasures were so tender and delicate, and de- pended so much upon their perfume and bloom, that they appeared at the time as evanescent as the prismatic tints of a rainbow, the fragile bloom on a grape, or upon the wing of a butterfly. It is not the fault of the P. & 0. Company if we are pessimistic even at Tilbury. The four million sterling which they have laid out in steamships during the past three years has not been wasted. The ' Moldavia, ' 9,500 tonnage, and of 14,000 horse-power is, without exception, the most sumptuous ocean liner I have as yet sailed in, and her commander, Captain Gordon ; one of the kindest and most heroic of men. When I recall the dear old ' Parramatta,' in which I visited Australia in 1886^ with its 4,759 tonnage, and 4,500 horse-power, and which I justly considered then so splendid, I am spell bound at the stride this premier company has taken in twenty years. It is as marvellous as the gigantic strides in other direc- tions of our ever-green, old-young world, now that it has woke from its long torpor of centuries, during which science and inventions were anathematized as demoniac snares and curses, and investigators and inventors treated over-warmly for encouragement. We are more economical now with our fuel, and use it to make machinery go instead of heretics. I was lucky enough to have a cabin to myself, mid- ship; therefore, after waving my hat and handkerchief to the loved ones drifting from me on the tender, I went to the bar and had a ' preventative,' then to the sorting of my effects while I was able to do so, after which I took my stand against the rail on deck to watch passing effects 8 and be ready for future developments. It is only ordinary- prudence for a passenger who has not been on the sea for some time to arrange his baggage as soon as he possibly can after he ships. With these obscure hints I shall try to leave the unpleasant subject as severely alone as I can after this. I had been there before, and when one has, like the modest warrior, he does not boast of victory in the donning of his armour. It was a cold day, this 22nd of December, yet the Thames and Channel are always interesting with their varied shipping, no matter how often one has seen them. At every moment, and on all sides, some striking and picturesque object greets the eye. Barges with tawny sails, larger vessels heaving up bulging spreads of white and grey sails in exquisite variety of tones ; liners vomit- ing black, brown, and snowy clouds from their funnels, with the sky and water delicious in their tarnished silver shades. Through dreaded Biscay Bay, which, though breezy, was wonderfully placid for it. Of course, the ' Moldavia ' took the waves so exactly that nothing short of a gale could have shaken her steady gait. On the 24th we sighted the Spanish coast, and had a good, bracing day, while the cold was perceptibly decreas- ing. It being Sunday, and no parson yet on board, the commander officiated, and conducted the church service with such decorous elocutionary effect that I have not heard excelled, and but seldom equalled, in English churches by professionals. The 116th, 147th, and 118th Psalms he read so beautifully that they clung to my memory. I mention this reading for a special reason to be explained later on. How it is that so many of our bishops, rectors and vicars, and the majority of curates read the church service so badly, when they do not sing or intone them in a manner that must make the angels squirm (that is, if angelic ears are not already past all sense of melody by the Salvationists' outbursts) has always puzzled me. The words they use are crammed with dramatic possibilities to a reader who cared to give the slightest attention to their significations, poetic expressions, and Oriental imagery. But the majority of our clergymen drive over the prayers with the most indiscreet hurry, as if the main object was to get done with a disagreeable task, make a teeth-jarring, sing-song sound through their noses, and utter the lessons like first standard school board boys. Surely, since so little is expected by logicians from these reverend gentlemen, we might reasonably expect to get a small amount of rudimentary elocution or intonation, with some- thing approaching to tone — if it be hopeless to expect music or anything awe-inspiring in these barbaric and diabolical Gregorian chauntings. Surely there is no need to make an Inquisition torture out of a dreary and ridi- culous innovation. But we quickly found that Captain Gordon was a first- class, all-round man as well as a capable commander. In appearance he resembled closely Lord Charles Beresford, and was an expert boxer and teacher of the noble art, the fame of which deeds had travelled beyond the service of the P. & 0- He likewise played cricket like a professional, and was most generous, both in his personal help and properties, which he lent to make things cheerful and happy. I returned from Japan with a wretched little cur of a captain, who did the reverse in every way to the genial and stalwart Captain Gordon, the consequence being that we were about as depressed and wretched a set of unfor- tunates as anyone could fancy of melancholy shades in Hades. A captain has it in his power to produce a great deal of pleasure or discomfort as he may be inwardly con- ditioned by Nature. But what made the kindness and urbanity of Captain Gordon the more wonderful was that all the time he was suffering the most acute and constant agony from a tooth that had been driven into his cheek- bone by a fall while fishing, before he left England. It 10 was as heroic as St. Laurence on his gridiron joking about the condition of the sacred grill. It is doubtful if the Dominicans ever invented more acute agonies than neuralgia and toothache at their best period ; in fact, although many inventions of Holy Church may appear to read worse, it is impossible for man to be able to inflict more torture on his brother man than Nature can, much as he may wish to be worse and more depraved than he is. When a certain point is reached, and toothache reaches the limit, the victim ceases to suffer more. Either madness or unconsciousness supervenes. When a man has plunged into the gulf of depravity, he may wallow about among the unsavoury mud, but after he is saturated completely he must either get out and try to wash or else remain and choke — his limit is reached, and his powers of further self- hurting lost. While on this subject, let me put down an idea that has occurred to me in the thinking out of the last sentence, as it may be of future utility to humanity, and might be forgotten if I let it slip. It has been demonstrated that every seven years a human being renews himself, i.e., disintegrates and casts out every atom, and builds up the physical from fresh ingredients. If this be so^ as we have no reason to doubt, why should not diseases, physical and mental, inherited or incurred, be eradicated by a seven years' course of atomic treatment? That is, the disinfecting of the dis- charging atoms and the imparting of proper resisting power to the new atoms which are replacing the old. For example, say a child, or man, has inherited from his parents or ancestors consumption, madness, or that species of degeneracy which produces criminals, why should not our hospitals, asylums, and prisons be transformed into sanatoriums where patients are kept under strict medical observation and treated specially for each special disease for seven or fourteen years, and sent out mentally, morally, and physically cured? The medical profession 11 is occupied at present principally alleviating, and the penal settlements punishing; whereas, if the rebuilding theory is fact, complete immunity might be hoped for if such a system could be enforced. A hardened criminal, after repeated convictions, and varying sentences, gets fifteen years' penal servitude, and is considered a hopeless case. During these fifteen years nothing is attempted, medically, to eradicate his lawless or vicious propensities. Yet, if treated as a patient in- stead of a pariah, and given minute but regular doses, adapted for his special case, from the day of his incarcera- tion until his release, it strikes me that such a prolonged course might destroy the evils of heredity in all cases of human evils. This would mean, of course, much patient chemical researches and labcxra,tarial experiments, previously and that medical students would have to take the place of keepers and warders, but it would be a new field for our youngsters, who at present are overcrowding the medical market, and seems to hold out a golden promise for afflicted humanity in the future. In the case of Captain Gordon, that tooth-root driven into the cheek-bone meant the most acute of toothache with- out relaxation until he reached Melbourne or Sydney, where he could have an operation performed. The heroic man was too sturdy a Briton to take any sedative, or let his suf- ferings inconvenience anyone else- He did his duty ch-ji:- fully, both as a sailor and socially as a host, and neither com- plained nor showed the slightest trace of irritation. It was only by accident, through my trained habit of observation, that I learnt the secret and got the account of the accident from him. A sudden unconscious spasm of the nerves in the midst of a quiet laugh over a smoke-room yarn set me on the track of his bravery and endurance. It is bracing to meet such heroes, although I wish he had been less of a Spartan, with the aids which science has given us, to tide over such emergencies. As the day advanced, it grew finer and calmer, so that walking was comfortable, and as the deck length was eight 12 times round one mile, and not too many passengers were as yet up, exercise was easy. At five o'clock p.m. we sighted the Spanish coast and had a fine, warm sunset, which was decidedly inspiriting after the gloom of England. On Christmas Day the sky was clear, with sunny flecked waves. We had the customary festivities and gastronomic trials to the minister of the interior, but the tables were not much patronised by the fair section. I suppose the majority thought they ought to have been confined to their cabins, and imagination helped them to keep up the conventional delusion. Chapter III, PASSENGERS. Fellow Passengers — The Two Smiths — My Handsome Widow — Matrimonial Reflections — Gibraltar, Marseilles, and Stromboli. MOST of the passengers turned out on Boxing Day, before we reached Gibraltar. Then I saw that we carried a considerable number of gay and pretty birds en route for Egypt in search of health and pleasure- Reader : Permit me here to put down a few timely words of my claim to your indulgence. When an author sits down to describe what he has seen and heard he cannot possibly do so properly by slurring over all the details, i.e., without putting in shadows and half-tones as well as lights. I know that Queen Bess, the imperious, insisted on this being done with her portrait, but the results were not satisfactory to either the peerless model or the- poor painter- Now, my object in writing these travels are, firstly, to interest you ; secondly, to amuse you, if I can ; thirdly, to bring places and people vividly before you, with as light and as few touches as possible, so that you may be able to 13 see them, photographically, without any vagueness, obscurity, or uncertainty ; fourthly, to do what good I can to my kind at large, i.e., humanity, white, yellow, brown, or black. Therefore, the first principles to keep in view are Truth, Fidelity, and Individuality, my own as well as yours. Now to manage this rather hard team with any hope of success I must not permit myself to be hampered by any fears of offending friends or critics. If I see a point to seize upon for the exercise of a IrTEle playful badinage I ask any who may fancy they are the objects of my fun tn grin and bear it, as I have to do full often, owing to my own many foolish and ridiculous idiosyncrasies — I am informed by those who ought to know me well, that in my quick changes and vanities, opinions, moralities, virtues, vices, and other human failings, I am the most inconsistent Of men, and a most uncomfortable person to live with at times. Believe me, however, I am sincere and unashamed in my varying moods and resolves ; quite as ready to make myself the butt for raising a laugh when I do a foolish thing as I am to laugh over a comic incident in "thers ; indeed, I think it amuses me more when someone else sees it and relates it about me than when I point it out myself for the amusement of others. In this sense I am utterly lacking in dignity. I also find it much more comfortable to confess a fault committed, to having it pointed out to me, which always makes me feel ashamed and mean, as well as penitent. I try, also, always to look at things with my own eyes, without using the spectacles of others, however good and trustworthy they may be, and express them with my own words, colours, and technique. If my way is not popular, if it is even erroneous, I cannot help it. It is of my own I am giving, which I consider has more value than if I gave borrowed goods. Thus if I think I see mistakes being perpetrated or weaknesses condoned, I must point them out as they appear to me. If these mistakes seem to verge over the limits of H my idea of honesty, morality, or right, i.e., if I think they are a positive evil or danger, I must expose them, no matter what personal pain they inflict. In these aims I am influenced by the following principles : to disguise the personality while I raise a laugh, if it is only a foible and not likely to hurt others, and to speak out plainly, without cover, if it is a vice tending to do harm. In such extreme cases I give data and names, because I feel convinced that all immorality and untruth are double-edged and poison- coated swords, which kill the users as surely as they kill the victims struck. Therefore, it is a sacred duty, not to be evaded, to get at that deadly weapon and break it if I can. Therefore, I say honestly that you may depend upon me to tell what I personally saw and did not merely read about if I do not acknowledge other sources ; that I will not exaggerate more than I can help ; and that I shall always disguise my characters, unless I am making definite charges for their own good, as well as for the benefit of others. Laugh with me or at me as you please, for, like the immortal Falstaff, I wish to be not only witty myself but the cause of wit in others. In this latter attribute my genial critics have generally ' scored ' over me, for I never attempt what is called literary style, fine or erudite work. I am contented with simplicity, earnestness, and directness. In this short trip between London and Port Said I managed to get a considerable amount of quiet amusement from my fellow passengers, as well as learn some wholesome lessons in humility and self doubt. One young gentleman attached himself to me, that is, he took me in hand affectionately, as a wise son might a foolish and simple old father, and was so nice and amiable in giving me the benefit of his worldly experience and up- to-date smartness that I felt, and still feel, deeply grateful. He was a charming boy, who was going for the first time on the grand tour, backed by a wide knowledge of London life as taught in the music-halls, and refreshed my jaded memory on things almost forgotten. I shall call him 15 Horace Merchant-Smith, Horace for brevity. He had recently been left, by the death of a successful father, very well off, and, as he had no longer any necessity of sticking to office work, he was going to enjoy his future, and had fixed upon Cairo as the starting point. Being quite con- fident of h's innate abilities of pleasing and sure of his natural discernment not to be taken in by man or woman, also satisfied with his deportment and wardrobe, he was thoroughly happy, and exhaled such an atmosphere of satis- faction, pleasure in existence, and good temper that it was quite impossible to be morose or cynical when near him, or to think upon him afterwards with any other sensations than those of admiration. He used to tell me when he had done or said anything smart, always sure of my appre- ciation. He also came to me for sympathy when in any way slightly uncertain or ruffled. I took care never to disappoint him in either demands, as his company did me much good. There was another gentleman on board, also of the same clan ' Smith,' who was also double-barrelled. I call him John Mandeville-Smith, because his ancestors had never been in commerce, and he carried the burden of a county family's pride upon his slender back. He was also an amiable, if haughty and reserved, gentleman. One morn- ing Horace came to me for sympathy, which I was able to give him cordially, with a little modest advice. It appears that finding himself alone on a part of the deck with the conservative Smith, and wanting to be friendly, Horace observed guilelessly : ' I think we both bear the same surname — perhaps we are related in some way. What do you think?' Mandeville-Smith looked through half-closed eyes at poor Merchant-Smith and drawlingly answered : ' I'm demned if we are I ' It was not kind, but perhaps necessary, as they were both going to Cairo, yet it crushed poor Horace, who asked me what I thought of the bounder's 'cheek.' I admitted that it was cruel, and added gently : 'But you must 16 not either mind or resent it, because, you see, Horace, you introduced yourself to him ; he did not seek you out. In future it will be best for your dignity not to offer friend- ship over readily.' Personally, not having any dignity, nor family preju- dices, I reflected what a strange peculiarity, not to call it weakness, this family, i.e., county, pride is, and how it destroys the instincts of humour — or, shall we say, Chris- tian consideration and balance in human breasts. Why should one pride himself on being better or nobler than his brother because, through the accident of birth, he possessed ancestors who were drones instead of working bees of the great hive? Of course, being a pure matter of heredity, like cancer, gout, and insanity, it is a disease not possible to cure in one generation, and most difficult even to keep within endurable limits. The ladies were in force, and some of them beautiful. Most of them were lively and well-bred, and, after Biscay Bay was passed, made bright colour patches of the deck and saloon. Several of them interested me, and made me rejoice that women were created and fashion invented. It would have been a drab world with saints only in it. There was one handsome and dashing young widow, going on a speculative tour to Egypt, who took me into her con- fidence almost from the first instant of our meeting. With business frankness she stated her intentions and claimed my aid as mentor and adviser. Having studied a few of my romances, she decided that I knew quite enough for her purposes, which were to get into society and secure a life partner without any undue loss of time. Her late husband had been a retired brewer, and mayor of his native town, and left her more money than she could spend herself, so she wanted someone to help her in the agreeable task. She had worn weeds for ten months, but had replaced them with flowers for the present occasion. She told me that I would just have suited her had I been free, as she loved artists and authors, but since that was out of the question 17 how would I advise her to go to work without any shilly- shallying. She was tall and finely developed, with merry blue eyes, good colour, dark hair, and redolent in robust vigour- She also took champagne at tiffin and dinner without undue affectation or reserve. When not coaching her as to minor conventionalities to be observed she seemed to enjoy my little dinner anecdotes very much, for she laughed so loudly and so often that I was forced to deal them out sparingly, for the comfort of those near us. But with that charming inconsistency of her sex, although indulgent towards me, she could show withering severity at times when such virtuous displays seemed almost unnecessary. To give an instance of this inconsequence : — There was a young man opposite us at table who, having been subdued and rendered innocuous by a careful religious training, and so long the companion of Anglican curates, that he closely resembled one himself in his clerical manner and innocent jokes. One night, when she had just finished telling me a story over which I had to cough a good deal, this guileless youth put to her a conundrum : — ' Do you know what made the cruet stand? ' She raised her head and glared at him so stonily that the poor fellow became quite confused and flushed crimson. ' No, sir, I do not,' she replied in icy tones. ' He ! he ! Because it saw the Apostle spoon.' Unhappy youth. His doom descended upon him sud- denly, as with stately severity she remarked : — ' Don't you think, young man, that such a joke ought to be kept for the smoke-room ? ' I almost collapsed myself at that rebuke, and could have wept for the young fellow's anguish of consternation, much as I disliked his general style. I think we all pitied him, until someone managed to change the subject and terminate his abject explanations and her implacable resentment. When this good lady asked my advice re getting into c 18 society I pointed out a princess who sat at the Captain's table, and told her to get friendly with her if she could. As for the future husband, I said that would not be difficult with her fortune, face and figure. "Put up at the best hotel in Cairo, and tell the landlord exactly what you want. Also show him your bank-book, and promise him a commission when the fly is trapped. He'll get you something from the Army, I have no doubt, with plenty of good blood.' This was the kind of advice which the dear soul wished to have ; not exactly what I should have liked to give her, as I thought her far too good and kind to fling herself away on an adventurer, however blue his blood, or fine-sounding his titles. She was too good for such rank and withered weeds ; for she was giving too much for the paltry bargain — i.e., beauty, perfect health, magnificent physique, womanhood at her best, for she was in her first zenith twenty-nine or thirty — the age when woman has just stopped growing physically, yet still retains untouched floods of simplicity, affection, hopes and illusions, even while she fancies herself blase with experience. Then her body has reached its perfection and her mind is still plastic to the stamp of the man, to be carved into loveliness or trampled out of shape. Her impulses were all natural and generous and her education completed with sufficient refinement to adorn her own sphere, where happiness might be reckoned upon as fairly sure, if only that late husband of hers had been wise enough to leave her less money. For what was she longing to sell all these? Possibly for a man who would be kind and appreciate her intrinsic worth as a woman, and who would not make her too miserable in the training, for the cold and unsympathetic place to which she so foolishly aspired. This was possible yet not too probable. What was most probable would be a meagre, discontented, and impoverished waster or hanger-on, who would accept her as a necessary burden, sneer at her social mistakes, grumble at her efforts to please his caprice and get at his atomic 19 heart, gracelessly spend her fortune, play the dirty traitor, and generally drag her through the mire, all the while thinking that he had lowered his dignity by giving her his besmirched name. I gave her the advice she desired be- cause I felt sure she would accept no other, and what I advised was better than if she had entrusted the commission to one of her future master's own kind. Yet I felt sad to see her aim so low. But her training, native wits, strength and temper encouraged me to think she'd be able to hold her own in the coming conflict, if her choice turned out a half-dried worm. The remote possibility also comforted my reproachful conscience with the hope that my charming and impulsive widow might peradventure find a grateful and good man who would make her a happy and satisfied wife. Everything depended on the coming man. We went ashore at Gibraltar, which I need not describe, as it is so well known, and must be a dreary place to stop longer upon than in passing. My buoyant friend, Horace, was with us and cheered us all with his flippancy. An old Oxford, don also accompanied us part of the way, and interested me with his erudite converse, but the only part of it I now remember was his advice about some native wine. He said it was rather heady but good, but as it tasted like thin, sour sherry I did not take sufficient to test its heady qualities. Horace, however, finished the bottle, but the only difference I noticed in him was that he grew quieter and more chalky, and complained of pains after- wards under his vest. One Moorish cripple, however, in picturesque rags, whom I mistook for a mendicant, gave me a lesson in hauteur and politeness. He declined my proffered coin with a superb gesture, and when, abashed, I offered him a cigar, he held up a half -consumed cigarette to signify that he was already supplied. I then lifted my hat, to which he responded with a most lordly inclination and a grace- ful wave of his hand. Afterwards I met him in the wine shop, where we touched glasses gravely, he payin.g for his sherbet and I for my wine, and so he seemed appeased 20 while I felt meek. Horace expressed his amazement loudly at me taking any notice of the beggar, but I don't think the Moorish gentleman understood English, as his face did not alter its solemn expression, and his brown hand did not seek his deadly-looking knife. Free-born Britons are rather embarrassing at times when they first go abroad. We touched at Marseilles, where I did not go ashore, as I had been often there before. Several young men, how- ever, went, and returned after some hours highly excited over their experiences. At all the other ports of call the game batch sampled the pleasures, and appeared satisfied with the results. After these expeditions, however, they generally missed breakfast next morning and passed sombre days. I agreed with the prudent Horace when he remarked sagely : ' It ain't worth the candle, and the tipple aboard is much safer.' We had a storm next day and kept well out of 6ight of land, and at night passed Stromboli, which was, for the first time in my experience, not flaring — a disappoint- ment to those who had not seen it before. "Vesuvius for the time was having all the play, so I suppose had drawn the supplies from its neighbour. Chapter IV. A SCHEME. The Colonial Bishop — Nilakantha Goreh's Evidence — A Suggested Scheme for New Code of Morality — Self Investigation. ON the second Sunday morning we had service with a dif- ference from the last. Then it was conducted by Cap- tain Gordon and done with elocutionary effect and reverence. This time it was bossed by a Colonial Bishop with a voice like a rusty saw ifisping a nail, who rushed it over as if it were an unplea^nt task and cut out the Psalms ruthlessly. This professional and ordained cond"ctor of Divine 21 Service had come on board at Gibraltar, but what colony- he was appointed to control and direct spiritually I did not hear. All I learnt about him was that he was an extreme Anglican in his views ; therefore, one of the worthy favourites of such lawbreakers as some of their Lordships, the Bishops of England.* It was by accident that I found myself nest to the harmonium and just in front of this bishop, which rather confused me, as I have never been able to find my way about the prayer book — an awkwardness which is apt to give a poor sinner away before the more expert saints. I had learnt sufficient, however, to get the length of the Psalms without betraying my little secret of ritual ignorance. But to my consternation, while turning the leaves confidently in the direction of the Psalms, that awful voice grated out harshly : ' The Psalms are not given at sea.' I closed my prayer book with a smack and clapped it upon the table with a bang. Then I leaned back in my chair, and, folding my arms, examined this colonial Bishop critically, my embarrassment gone with a flash. Last Sunday we had the psalms beautifully read by the Captain ; why did this man say that they were not given 1 I determined to find out whether he was an honest man, before tiffin time if I could. Meantime I studied the specimen before me and took no further interest in the service- He had a long and sallow face, with black eyes placed closely together, prominent, hard features, except the lips, which were so thick and purply-red that they showed vividly under the heavy moustache ; these, with a long John Knox shaped beard were, like his lank and straggly hair, jet black, with a few silver threads showing. He had a narrow, lined, and low forehead with large out- standing ears, and wrinkled, long, thin neck. He was tall, but shambly built, with knuckly hands, square pointed, * Doubtless these law-breakers consider themselves to be honourable men, also important dignitaries. It is so difficult to separate Truth from Tradition where interests come in. 22 and feet like those of a policeman. The first general impression which he gave me was that of an unbending and bigoted Calvinistic pharisee, to whom sympathy, charity, and affection were strangers; a closer scrutiny, however, showed me that he was capable of other human emoti'ons less: trustworthy and noble.. If his mental and histrionic capacities had been equal to his natural weaknesses he might have acted Angelo in 'Measure for Measure,' or made a worthy interlocutor for the Inquisition. He wore an air of implacable righteousness that gave me spine-shivers while in his proximity. After release I went to one who knew and asked him if it was the custom to omit this part of the service at sea, and he replied emphatically : — ' Certainly not ; I never heard of such a thing. Why do you ask V I informed him, at which he merely shrugged his shoulders and remarked : — ' Ah ! he is a colonial Bishop.' As if that explained the difficulty. I walked away reflecting. Was a colonial Bishop not expected to tell the truth among his other colonial duties ? Was this deliberate and publicly uttered falsehood a sudden and unresisted impulse to escape from a tiresome portion of this self-imposed duty, or was he so accustomed to equivocation and evasion that he uttered the lie unconscious of its magnitude and uselessness 1 He might quite as easily given some more plausible and less convictable reason for shirking the Psalms. Who were the colonists he was going to preside spiritu- ally over ? I knew the most of them, and if rough in their manners and dealings, honesty and truth-speaking are qualities which they generally respect and practise. Stealing and lying are two vices which they discourage energetically by doing personal damage to the practitioners. Now if this had become an unconscious habit with this ordained exponent I wondered how the church members of his appointed diocese would regard him when he was preaching to their children about the sin of Falsehood, and what influence he was likely to have over men and women who considered a liar to be a meaner object than even a thief.* From this narrow point I got into a vein of broader speculative reflections and gradually evolved a scheme defining and grading Christianity. It was a fine morning, and the white crested waves dancing round and bracing wind invigorated and cleared my brain. I thought about the sad effect experience had produced on the pure and philosophic mind of Nilakantha Goreh, as related by Professor F. Max Muller in his second series of ' Auld Lang Syne.' This singularly gifted and cultured Hindu gentleman, who, after closely studying his native religions, had chosen Christ without the aid or knowledge of any missionary teacher, entirely from his own conclu- sions and self study. The words of Prof. Muller are as follows : — ' Though he assured me that nothing but a deep con- viction of the truth of Christ's teachings had induced him to change his religion, he told me that he was in great anxiety and did not know what to do for the future. What he had seen of England, more particularly of London, was not what he had imagined a Christian country to be. His patron, Dhulip Singh, had placed him at some kind of missionary seminary in London, where he found himself, together with a number of what he considered half-educated and narrow-minded young men, candidates for ordination and missionary work. They showed no sympathy and love, but found fault with everything he did or said. He had been, as I soon found out, a careful student of Hindu philosophy, and his mind had passed through a strict philosophical discipline .... The fact was he stood too high for his companions, and they were evidently unable to understand and appreciate his thoughts. He did not use words at random, and was always ready to give a definition of them whenever they seemed ambiguous. And yet this * Possibly this Colonial bishop honestly considered his lies to be veiled truths, and strictly necessary. It is hard to keep from excusing ourselves, as it is easy to accuse others. 24 man was treated as a kind of nigger by those who ought to have been not only kind but respectful to him. He waa told that smoking was a sin, and that he never could be a true Christian if he abstained from eating meat, particu- larly beef. He told me that with the greatest effort he had once brought himself to swallow a sandwich containing a slice of meat, but it was to him what eating human flesh would be to us. He could not do it again .... He had evidently dreamt of a Christian country where everybody loved his neighbour as himself ; where everybody, if struck on the right cheek would turn the other also ; where every- body, when robbed of his coat would give up his cloak also. All this, a!s we know, is not the fashion in the streets of London, and what he actually saw in those streets was so different from his ideals that he said to me : ' If what I have seen in London is Christianity, I want to go back to India; if that is Christianity, I am not a Christian.'* Knowing from experience in my own dealings with pro- fessing and orthodox Christians the difficulties of this per- plexed Hindu, the idea or scheme occurred to me : — Why should not Christians draw out a code of rules, limitations, grades and titles to suit the modern necessities of our ancient Creed, and let each other know what rank we claim to take, practice, and be judged by in our profession, instead * Such conclusions were foolish and weak on the part of this Indian Christian, and prove utter lack of logic. ^Reflection, reason, and research must be the guides of a sane mind on spiritual as well as mundane questions ; not reasonless impulse, nor the conduct of others. It is a question of truth, not ex- ample, nor sentiment. Eternity is too serious a problem for irresponsible emotion. Yet we must also judge the qualities and actions of those who profess to be teachers, not as to funda- mentals, but on their own merits, or demerits, as men. A tract lies before me while I write, entitled, "The Salvation Army and its Work," by C. Cohen. This tract makes definite charges about public donations being misused. If true, the responsible head of this concern should be prosecuted ; if false, the author should be. These charges should be publicly refuted by proofs. No institution appealing to charity can, with impunity, refuse in- vestigation. No honest man nor firm can afford to treat such direct charges with silent contempt. 25 of using the vague and misleading title Christian, i.e., how much or ihow little Christianity we are prepared to pledge ourselves to act conscientiously to in our daily lives and transactions, defining them in such a manner aa this on our cards and headings of letters, etc. : — ' John James, three-quarter Christian,' 'half Christian,' 'quarter Christian,' 'no rank Christian,' i.e., promising nothing, or sympathiser with Christianity only, as they are willing to pledge their reputation and obligations. We might define our positions thus : — Captain Christian, C.C., i.e., for three-quarter Christian; Lieutenant or L.C. for half-grade; Sergeant or S.C. for quarter; no rank, i.e., private or believer only, N.R.C. or P.C ; and for sym- pathiser only the letter S might do. This would silence the carping of Atheists, define our positions exactly, let our neighbours know the limit of trust to give us, and be common honesty towards our Divine and unapproachable Founder, for I think we may all admit that it is impossible for any modern man, however wistful, to call himself plain C, i-e., Christian. I shall now begin my classification by analysing my own claims for a letter or letters of credit and pledge. To get, however, at a fair reckoning I should have to add to mine the opinions of my friends and enemies, leaving impartial judges to decide where I should be placed- I shall do my best to be honest, but of course I cannot be expected to be quite impartial or unprejudiced. CHRISTIAN QUALIFICATIONS OF THE AUTHOR. (According to his own Estimation.) I begin with the most primal and physical attributes, shared alike by man and beast; the appetites and lower passions. Respecting appetites. During my past life, i.e., through youth and early manhood, I think I may say that, like the wise Socrates, I have been able to listen to the voice of Reason and resist the temptations of Vice, and live 26 honourably to myself and others as Christ commanded. In eating and drinking, also, I have been able to guard myself when I found habit degenerating into vice and threatening to hurt my body, which I value more than transitory indulgence, or my mind, which to me is my heirship to a mighty kingdom of incorruptible and unend- ing delight. But I have not that nobler and more heroic command of my impulses to walk sedately in moderation. My inclinations must be chained and kept prisoner or they will run amuck at the full gallop. They cannot gentlv amble along the pleasant meads of life. Fortunately, aware of this early in life I was able to take them by the throat and cage the wild beasts. Now, as the infirmities of age begin to steal upon me, I find what were once Titanic tasks become easier year by year. I claim no merit in this, however, as I regard it as a pure accident, the acci- dent of heredity, having been born with a cowardly rather than a heroic strength of will. I regard the moderate mor- tal as many degrees above me in spiritual rank, and honour him accordingly. Social obligations, i.e., 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' Here, like the Prince of Den- mark, I may admit that ' I have been indifferent honest ; but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me.' I have tried to pay my debts promptly and in coin or kind, nor do I think I could be so base as to take advantage of that rogues' pro- tection, the statute of limitations, if I considered the debt to be a just one. I have always done my work for the work's sake, and not for the wages only. I have not cherished revenge for wrongs done to me, and it is no effort to me to praise my injurer for any good work he has done, and give him not only bread and water but beef and beer when at my mercy ; indeed, to do justice to my enemy is a selfish enjoyment, while to do him favour, or to pour ' coals of fire ' on his head gives me rather a sensation of priggish meanness than magnanimous pleasure ; while to remember an injury is a positive detri- 27 ment to my peace of mind and the serenity strictly neces- sary to my pleasure of living ; therefore, I prefer to wipe it away and cover it with memories of kindness. This is in a sense selfishness also, and by no means to be placed to my credit as a virtue. I also can bear in mind what is otherwise due from me regarding trusts and points of fidelity and honour. But if I have not broken my pledges or actually pilfered, I have coveted ofttimes, which, according to Christian ethics, is almost as bad. I am proud, far past the limits of intolerance and sin. I am censorious on the failings, ignorance, and incapacities of others to the ex- treme bigotry of pharisaism. I am unduly conceited about my supposed gifts and virtues, and find it extremely difficult to regard them with the proper Christian spirit of humility as what they really are, only accidents of heredity. I am vainly devoted to my body, and love to adorn it and keep it dainty and clean with perfumes and other toilet accessories. I can be charitable as well as merciful after I am first served with luxuries and my masterly instincts are gratified. To be Christian I ought to think of my brother first. I am fond of books, pictures, music, good tobacco and other unnecessary aids to enjoy- ment, and might quite easily gratify my cravings before considering my brother's necessities. I could not cheer- fully sell all I possessed to give to the poor; indeed, I should be inclined to advance as many arguments against doing so on economic and humanitarian principles as any pious Bishop could do. But I should not use them as Christian arguments, only arguments of expediency and worldly wisdom versus Christianity. I am easily moved to wrath, and destructive while so possessed ; therefore, in- considerate to others. I am inconsistent in my pursuits and hasty in my judgments, all unchristian attributes- If constant in my loves and friendships I am exacting and unduly jealous ; failings more excusable before than after the Dispensation. I could forgive a treason, but I can never again trust the traitor once I am convinced of his 28 infidelity; thus I am implacable, which is decidedly anti- Christian. If a man struck me I -would knock him down if I possibly could, and if I could not I couldn't possibly train myself to turn the other cheek. I should sooner retreat and not give him the chance of a second blow, nor would I feel in the slightest degree obliged to him, rather the reverse. If a man took my coat I would not give him my cloak. I should try my utmost to get my coat back again, or take something else from him as an equivalent. Yet I could go two miles with him instead of one, to please him rather than myself, if I wasn't too busy over something that I considered more important. Respecting the higher demands of our Creed, which none of us can act literally up to, Faith, I hold reserva- tions which my Reason will not permit me to quash, much as I would like to stifle it. For example, there are actions related in Scripture which I must think have got in by mistake and through ignorance, also miracles which could be of no benefit to humanity ; therefore, as our Divine Founder lived, acted, and died solely for the benefit of humanity, I cannot but conclude that these must be fictitious, or at least must be regarded as Eastern allegories and not historical, because they contradict his perfect character and infinite Wisdom. To doubt any part of Scripture is unchristian according to our accepted dogma. There are countless vices lying latent within the dark cells of my mind, like dried roots of poison plants. Vices which are not dead, but which could easily become sturdy weeds if properly nourished. There are contradictions also, as well as inconsistencies, which simply appal me, as a philosopher, to contemplate. Uglinesses which my microscope reveals where I had flattered myself lay only beauty ; other insects look better when magnified than man, he becomes hideous outside and in under the lens. We could not love each other if we were much bigger, unless we had shorter sight. We loathe our neighbour when he grows bigger than ourselves. I am not strictly truthful nor sincere, although I fancy 29 I more often speak the Truth than many of my neighbours, yet often I do so all the more readily and candidly because I feel sure I shall not be believed. That is Jesuitical, and no one can be more unchristlike than a Jesuit. The late Cardinal Newman had the mind, heart and aspira- tions of a Jesuit. I am also bitter in expressing Truth sometimes, the foregoing sentence proves this, also my recent strictures on the Society of Authors, etc, and I am neither penitent nor ashamed of these unkindly moods, which shows that I am not at all charitable to bigotry and treason- Most of my friends declare that I am the most irrespon- sible of optimists and jesters, and that I am quite incapable of being serious about anything. My most intimate say that my chief fault is levity, and that my very eyes are always laughing as they look out on life — perhaps it was an expression of this sort that aggravated Faust so often with Mephisto. One lifelong observer asserts, however, that I am the saddest man he has ever seen. I have seasons of miserliness and avariciousness that disgust even myself, and fits of prodigality that frighten horribly. As a sinner, fools and children rebuke me by their superior wisdom. As a saint, I am as unbearable as Calvin must have been. At times I covet so greatly other people's goods, such as books, etc., that often the desire becomes almost irresistible to commandeer or ' grab,' if I cannot persuade, or purchase. If up to now I have had the tardy grace to replace these borrowed articles, the desire to keep them has been in me, and only the abject meanness of the action, after troubled reflection, has kept the wish from becoming deed. Yet who knows when I may give way under a strong enough temptation and immunity from discovery 1 If I am the most trusting of men up to a point, yet when once my doubts are raised no trouble or research seem too great or ignoble to deter me from following the trail like an Apache or a sleuth hound. I simply must satisfy my ruthless curiosity. I am false, for I can laugh, smile, and play the villain with a heart bursting with rage, hatred, and pain. Yet at times, to buy surcease and momentary comfort, I never count the cost in credulity; then I resolutely pull the cap over my eyes and stuff my ears with cotton wool. In a word, I am both faithful and unfaithful to all the articles, which is perhaps the epitome of men in generaL And yet, on summing myself carefully up, I think that I am able to pledge my adherence to the two commands given by Christ to the Scribe in Mark, 12th Chapter, and verses 30 and 31 : — ' Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength, and thy neighbour as thyself.' Indeed, I love my neighbour more than myself, as that would be but little, for only that some things and desires chain me to my weak body, and the possible pain of dying deters me, I would not much regret the giving of it back to its mother earth. I now think that I have, honestly, told you all that I can about the Author; what remains is unrevealable, because unwordable ; what I have shown is only as the segment of a circle. There are intricacies which I know but cannot describe ; deeper depths, and I hope higher aspirations also, which I am only able to guess vaguely about. What I feel so do you, reader, and acknowledge, also, if you reason the matter out and care to be honest to yourself. Now friends, critics, and enemies, help me to classify myself, as I want you to classify yourselves respecting our right to be regarded as Christians. It seems to me that P.C. i.e., private soldier in the Christian rank, is almost too high a grade for me to aspire to. What do ye think 1 What a beatific condition society would be in if we could only cultivate and practise the angelic quality of candour respecting our own peculiarities and weakness, and consideration towards others with whom we come into contact. For instance, if we were in earnest and desired to keep free from temptations, as professing Christians pray each Sunday, we should, after stating our spiritual 31 rank, give such timely warnings as the following. The fashionable dame might say to her hostess: — 'I am free from disease of kleptomania as far as trinkets and articles of vertu are concerned, also I play fairly at Bridge, etc. But it is utterly impossible for me to keep from playing the traitress with my friends' husbands ; therefore, if you have any fears respecting yours pack him off while I am with you.' The fair kleptomaniac or card-cheat might make the same frank confession of her uncontrollable im- pulses, then her friends would be saved from all unworthy suspicions. Gentlemen, also, might state their special idiosyncrasies, more the result of exclusive breeding than culpable instincts. Surely any reasonable-minded person would be able to find hundreds of excuses for the moral and ethical obliquity of a Bishop or a Dean, and put the defi- ciencies down to the correct cause — their theological training and the demoralising influences of their false environments. The weak-minded curate who desired to be kept in the right path might easily make the following appeal to his Vicar or Rector : — ' I am by inclination a quarter Christian, and aspire to rise in the ranks, but unkind Nature has cursed me with a fatal fascination over the softer sex, also with emotions that force me to yield to their sympathies; therefore warn all mothers and daugh- ters from me, between Church service. I can be true to my vocation if not tempted by Satan in petticoats.' The merciful Vicar or Rector might then take the pious dames and comely maidens under his protection, if old and strong enough, and leave the unattractive spinsters of the parish to this embryo saint. The merchants and tradesmen could do the same with their customers by saying : ' I want your custom and so shall serve you as honestly as I can, but I mean to retire as soon as possible ; therefore, don't expect me to educate your ignorance or protect your simplicity.' That would be "fair warning, and a clear enough hint for ignorance and simplicity to go to some school and learn. But such a 32 trader ought to wait until lie has retired and can afiord to walk straight before he takes Church or Chapel duties upon him. When one sees a venerable looking tradesman handing round the plate, he is disposed to think of thip man as one to be trusted during the week also, and these are some of the causes of our Creed being discredited by the enquirer. People are apt to think that profession and good intentions are sufficient qualifications for taking part in Religious rites and duties. Also that the taking such offices qualify them for Paradise. I shall now run rapidly over some of the different pro- fessions, businesses, trades and classes with the Christian measuring tape. I take the Clerical first, as, after Royalty, they take precedence in worldly functions, and as I am the King of my own domain after we must come, accord- ing to social etiquette the prelates of the Church. To Prelates and other ordained Christians. The clergy in general run counter in so many ways to the express and definite directions and commands of the Divine Founder of the religion which supports them, that the difficulty is to discover where they obey exactly one of the clearly given rules laid down for their special guidance. Jesus Christ spoke in a general sense to all future followers, without classification, and, as we know from His distinct utterances, condemned ruthlessly any seeking after money. St. Paul, as the first of Bishops, went more minutely into details and specially denounced a teacher of Christ's mission working for filthy lucre, giving as his reason lest they bring shame upon the Gospel by selling it. He asks : ' Did I make a gain of you, by any of them whom I sent unto you 1 . ■ ■ . Labouring night and day because we would not be charge- able unto any of you.' It seems as impossible to reconcile such orders and examples with the princely establishments and salaries of our Archbishops and Bishops, or the worldly influences they use to purposes decidedly anti-Christian. When such prelates as my Lord the Bishop of Peterborough writes 33 and prints such statements as the following, they cannot possibly say that they are advocates of the principles taught by Jesus Christ : — ' It is not possible for the State to carry out, in all its relations, literally, all the precepts of Christ, and that a State which attempted this could not exist for a week. The proper place for anyone who maintains this is in a lunatic asylum. Morality and Justice were not created, nor even revealed, by Christ.' (From the 'Fort- nightly Review,' January 1890.) As a statesman, lawyer, lord, or pagan, I might agree with this author on the reasonableness of these words, but they are decidedly anti-Christain, and Bishops are paid princely incomes to support, not to contest the truth of Christianity. If these tenets are only fit for lunatics to follow literally, they are useless for sane people, and such men as this Bishop have no right to call themselves Christians, nor the inconsistent creed they practise any other than its real name, ' The Creed of Expediency,' and themselves dealers in Monopoly. As for the lower orders of the Churches, do they give a fair equivalent for the wages received ? Following such leaders, are they teaching and practising what Christ com- manded ? Have they any authority to call themselves Christians of any rank, and, if so, what rank could they honestly claim? As for those Romanising vow-breakers and conspirators, who are living lies, and asking their con- gregations to connive at their duplicity, they can have no place even among the worldly ranks of the socially honour- able. They can only be classified among the needlessly abandoned, who, lost to shame, sell their honour for the wages of infamy and ease. The wealthy and favoured by fortune must practise some Christianity in spite of themselves. More, when they give their own time, as well as money, to help the poor ; less when, through indolence, they do ii through agents. Yet while one luxuriates in a mansion, and another starves in a hovel, surely they cannot expect to rank high as followers of Christ. Let them label themselves as their ideals have been carried out. To Capitalists and money hunters -who make fortunes by extortion and oppression, a special Creed must be found, as there is no possible place for them in the ranks of the Moral, or the Pure. They are the unmoral pagans of civilisation, and ought to openly defy their own gods and not perplex the world by any pretences. To professional men of all kinds where it is possible to be moral, but impossible to be Christian — create sects as the ancients did, but do not hang on the fringe of a Creed which has nothing to do with your work. Be honest in your necessitous dishonesty. To merchants and tradesmen. You can be Christian to a certain extent, but the more you are, the smaller your worldly profits must be. Measure yourselves honestly, and proclaim how far you are prepared to endorse and practise the precepts of your Creed, so that men dealing with you may know how far to trust you, and when to begin to look after their own interests. To be even quarter Christian, there must be no trade devices nor tricks, no labelling of articles that are not above suspicion — no advan- tage to be taken over innocence. Expediency is the reverse of Christianity, although, at times, it is allowable in social ethics, and to pose as a follower of Christ and practise the Religion of expediency is to be a hypocrite, and a hypocrite is a scoundrel. To workmen and manual labourers. According to the way you regard your work you are entitled to claim the highest rank man can hope for. If conscientiously, and not alone for the wages, then you have fulfilled all your earthly obligations. If with contentment and faith, then you are indeed captains, and as far above an archbishop as an angel is above a worm. If honestly, and without either contentment or faith you are still men, whom the Creator must honour, because His Creation, the world, has more need of you to carry it on than it has of the others. As for the hopelessly poor and outcast. The vilest of 35 them may well be called P.C Privates in the ranks of Christ's army, because they are sorely tried and grievously afflicted through no fault of theirs. As for the patient and cheerful under such conditions, they may well rank as cap- tains, for they have been called ' Blessed ' by the Master, without conditions attached. Their Birthright of Misfor- tune has exempted them from all obligations. But to professing Christians I would say : if you cannot yourselves obey, literally, the commands of Jesus Christ, and would desire those purer and more intensely earnest races out- side of its pale, who take religion literally, to respect our Keligion, and not to regard it as an empty farce, without meaning, give up the fining and imprisoning of those among us who do try to follow literally His teachings, and obey the commands He gave so definitely, as the clear- duty of His people. Let us be logical, and face facts, if we cannot be consistent. Chapter V. STORIES. On Decorum — Nemesis — Ripe and Unripe Egos — A Fair "Tip" on Tuft Hunting — Mild Revenge — A Normandy Amazon. MY poor friend, Widow Croesus, took my advice regard- ing the Princess and came a cropper, getting a fore- taste of what spread in front, if she continued her present pursuit after social position. Then she came to report her defeat, and was generous enough not to reproach me, which I considered most amiable and superior on her part, as certainly I deserved reproach. I give the tale of woe in her own words : ' I don't think much of that Princess. Yesterday I spoke to her, and she conversed with me quite affably for more than an hour without showing the least trace of pride. But last night when I went into the music saloon after a 36 little turn on deck to settle dinner, she cut me dead in the rudest possible way. It is true,' she added reflectively, after a slight resentful pause, 'that my hair may have been slightly dishevelled, for I was having a bit of fun with some of the boys on deck which she saw as she passed once, but I was doing no harm, and was behaving quite ladylike.' I already knew the simple soul well enough to vouch that she would do no harm to anyone, for there was no vice in her generous, good-natured heart ; yet her account showed me she had put her foot in the conventional pie heavily. I therefore told her as gently as I could where the mistake had been. ' Tou see, my dear friend, innocent larking is not allowed, if publicly done, in the Princess's set. Tact is their religion, as it is often their principal covering. Tou may do any unsanctified thing you like, under the rose, but you must cultivate decorum as it is understood, according to their code.' ' That's hypocrisy, and I hate hypocrisy,' she said hotly. ' So do I, but I am not trying to get into society — you are,' I replied. ' I can do what I like quite openly, since I only care for my own approval, but with you it is dif- ferent.' ' I don't see it, and I intend to do just what pleases me, so long as there's no harm done. I can afford to enjoy myself since I am free.' ' Yes, you can be comparatively free so long as you stick to the old order of things, which I consider the best by a long chalk. But you are not free, if you want to change your present condition and sphere.'* I was smoking a pipe, for she liked the smell of tobacco, * There is no absolute: liberty in Nature. Personally I con- sider myself a free man, as far as man can be free on earth, who still cares for his kind. I am not bound by sect nor politics. I am careless of censure or applause. Success and society have no attractions for me. I am disillusioned, yet optimistic. I can afford to be honest, as far as I can see and test truth. 37 although far too womanly and refined to smoke herself. As I puffed, I watched her handsome, overcast face, and pouting moist, ripe lips, and wished that some bold and wholesome specimen of male humanity could get hold of her at that moment and dominate her, for her future good. But, like the police, such assistance was not at hand when most needed. I felt sure she would only take the hard well- trodden highway that wealth always takes, wlien left to drive — the road that leads to heart destruction. I felt helpless and therefore kept silent. Suddenly an idea struck her and she brightened up. ' I know what the matter is. All the rest of the ladies have brought maids with them, which I forgot. Next time I go from home I'll bring my lady's maid with me.' ' Yes, ' I murmered, ' not a bad idea.' Then the cynical imp got hold of me, and I added : ' And if the worst comes, you'll always have a woman to talk with.' We parted first rate friends at Said, and she went on hopefully to Cairo. I trust, like the Queen of Sheba, she had all her desires, and that they comforted her for what she had left behind. Nemesis, the goddess of retributive justice, followed the Princess in her journey and paid her for that ' snub,' although she also was too kind a personage to have intended more than a gentle correction to her more natural sister. This lady was going to Benares and asked me for an introduction to my old friend Mrs. Besant. When I met her after her return to London, she said : ' What a remarkably rude person your friend Annie Besant is, Mr. Nisbet. She received me most uncivilly, and said, when I spoke of you : ' Yes, I know Hume Nisbet, but I don't wish to know you,' and showed me to the street. I laughed when I heard this and remembered my wealthy widow's lesson. There are so many kinds of exclusiveness and castes on this best of all possible worlds. This Princess was a magnificent woman, and honoured me very highly while on board. We have grown to be warm friends since, therefore I know she will not mind a 38 little jesting from her Bohemian admirer. She was tall and superb in figure and carriage, with radiant complexion, plentiful golden tresses, and eloquent blue eyes ; her pearls were almost priceless, and her heart warm, generous, and free from any of those ludicrous affections of puerile dig- nity, as Princesses and Duchesses can afford to be, but which the ordinary daughters or wives of Lords and Baronets cannot always. Ramakrishna, the Bramah sage, wisely observes, that the ripe Ego thinks : ' Nothing is> mine — whatever I see, feel or hear — nay even my body is not mine. I am free and eternal.' Princesses and Duchesses are generally ripe Egos ; at least, those I have dared to approach have been so; i.e., free, and, I hope, Eternal also. 'The sole dif- ference between a Duchess and a coster woman lies in the quality of material — (here the Duchess is better and finer) ; and the quantity of clothes they wear when fully dressed — (there the coster lady scores),' observed another Sage gone since to a sphere where there are crowds of the souls he trifled with, and knew so well. The haughty, but recently created Aristocratic Egos have not had time to ripen, therefore they put on ' side,' and think : ' This is my title, my money, my house, my room, my child, my wife, and my body.' While they think this they may be lighting their cigarettes with the fire, or crushing under their feet one of the tribe of worms, that will contradict these thoughts, according to which conclusion, concerning the immediate future, they prefer the Crematorium or Mother Earth. This particular Princess I think about with respect, because she had suffered grievously, as only impulsive and affectionate women can, when disappointed, and abused by depraved and cowardly men. This, and her unspoilt in- stincts, drew large cheques on the bank of my rather con- served affections ; the cashier of which was likewise rather sickly at that time, being raw, and aching from recent hurts, since healed; where otherwise her social position might have repelled me. 39 And yet, once I was accused of having a tuft-hunting disposition, while as matters turned out at that time I seemed to justify the loathsome charge. Let me tell you about it, as it is against myself a joke I love to play best, for it can offend no ona But first, I must relate a humorous incident which occurred yesterday, to appease my literary critic, which of course naturally I'd like to do, if possible. I saw on a railway book-stall a new sixpenny edition of my latest work of fiction, ' Bail up,' which I was about to buy, when the boy attendant showed me one by another author, saying earnestly : ' Take this one instead, sir, it is a hundred times better than the one you have in your hand. Come, take a fair ' tip.' ' I took the fair tip meekly, but what my conclusions were after reading it I shall keep to myself. There are limits to self-confession, after all. In my last chapter I did not mention among the list of my faults or weak- nesses my feeling towards critics in general. I do so here with an apology, because I cannot quite (place their qualities, as virtues or vices, but I incline to regard them as belonging to the category of selfish, yet venial pleasures. Honestly, when my critic seems to have glanced over what he has criticised, I am beholden to him for his severity, and try to prove my gratitude afterwards by correcting the errors he has pointed out. When the critiques are ob- viously and ignorantly malicious, i.e., meant to damage, and not to correct, I am ignoble enough to feel a certain mean joy in having discovered a baser nature than my own. To find pleasure in the self-exposed degradation of another is about as vile an impulse as humanity can ex- perience, and I am ashamed of my own serenity. It would be far less culpable to entertain Rage, Scorn, and Hatred, than this unholy consolation. Now for my tuft-hunting story: When the ' Himalaya ' made her trial trip to Cherbourg, I was invited, with a number of other pressmen, to join the great ones from the City and the West. We had a fairly 40 representative gathering of men who had pushed their heads from the crowd, in Science, Invention, Literature and Commerce, as well as dignitaries who had been born to occupy the grand-stand of life- Sir Thomas Sutherland was as discriminating as he was ideal as a host. To give some idea of the gastronomic entertainment, it is quite sufficient to tell that after the trip was over I heard several Aldermanic City magnates say that they never had such first class feeding in their lives. It was three days of Rome at her most luxurious, brought up to date with modern refinements. • We had more delicious faring than peacocks' tongues. We had wit also, as well as victuals. Soon after we had started, I went to the smoke- and-bar room, where I thought I might find some of my own kind, and sure enough I found several of my friends samp- ling the P. and 0. liquids. They greeted me as usual, kindly, and invited me to partake. ' We were speaking about you, Humus, before you entered, and Moxen insisted that you were a most in- veterate tuft-hunter.' ' How did he make that out ? ' I asked placidly. 'You being on board at all, as you don't represent any paper here.' ' I am supposed, at present, to represent bound up fiction, not fiction distributed in sheets,' I answered modestly. 'Just so, that's where your "cheek" comes in, and almost cloaks your other offences,' replied one of my bosom friends. When brothers love one another they usually use endearing terms to each other. ' Now I admit the cheek,' I said, ' although it was not of my soliciting, but I dispute the other two in toto. I am a conservative democrat,' I added loftily, 'and hate a Lord as much as ' 'Thomas Moore,' interrupted a rude young journalist. If he had been older he would have given something fresher as a comparison. ' Exactly, ' I retorted. ' But why drag in an antedilu- 41 vian poet 1 Wouldn't some one more modern do just as- well — among the Socialists, for instance V ' Burns 1 ' asked one of my tormentors. ' Bobbie or John ? ' queried another. ' Who said John 1 ' I cried scornfully. ' He is the work- man's friend and I respect him. He may, in the dim and far future, wait upon the King; but he will never sit with the Lords.' ' Who knows ? ' murmured my accuser. ' Stranger things have come to pass than a Lion among Goats. I have seen before now Honesty playing the Thief, and all the while thinking herself a Catcher. But to prove my accusation, ' said the friend who had made the unjust charge, ' I bet you five pounds that you cannot go the length of the deck and" back without speaking to one of the titled toffs.' I looked at my friend dubiously, until he produced' a note for the amount, then I said promptly: — 'Done. Will the first one addressed do?' 'Yes.' I passed out, sketch book in hand, while they crowded to the door and watched me. There was a group of gentlemen round Sir Thomas, whom I resolved to steer clear of, for I meant to have that five-pound note if only to punish my maligner. Half- way between this group and myself stood a fair-haired, robust, and fresh-coloured fellow, with a golden moustache, smoking a cigar and wearing the match to my own suit. I put him down as Sampson, the Editor of the ' Keferee ' : why I could not say, as I had only once seen that gentle- man afar off. Sure of my man and that five-pound note* I went straight for him, and, taking my stand, commenced to sketch a passing barge. We had quite an interesting conversation about art, as he spoke first, and informed me that he also sketched. After I had finished my sketch I returned in triumph to the smoke-room to claim the bet. I was greeted with a burst of derisive laughter. It appears that this first acquaintance was the largest card on board — the Marquis of Lome. I forked out the shiners 42 regretfully and sadly. The Foxes had trapped poor Brer Rabbit. At dinner that night we had some clever speeches, but I think that of a French Diplomat was the smartest. He was a native of Normandy, and, after eulogising England and Englishmen, finished up with this double-edged com- pliment. 'Yes, gentlemen, we are proud of your great achieve- ments, and justly consider England to be the very finest of our Colonies.' I had my revenge the next morning on the dear brother who had won the wager. Early I went again to that fatal smoke-room to find a wan-Visaged, despondent crowd, every moment being augmented by other disconsolates, who had dined well if not wisely the night before. Sir Thomas, not yet up ; had, through some oversight not at all customary with him, neglected to give any special orders to the Bar-keeper ; and the rule then was to keep it closed until after breakfast. Now just imagine, my male and experienced readers, for we had none of the restraining sex with us, forty or fifty gentlemen; with full purses, waking up dry throated, after a convivial evening, and not being able for love nor money to procure a reviver. The barman was there, but he had a stern sense of duty and was obdurate. Many plans were dis- cussed and abandoned as futile, until one shouted when they saw me enter : ' Here, Nisbet, you have some inventive abilities despite your barrenness of style and lack of grammar. Can you not think of some feasible way of raising a drink ? ' I thought. The ship's doctor had been my companion at table and we had grown quite intimate during the evening. That gave me an idea, so I said : 'If any of you can conscientiously feel ill, I might get some brandy through an order from the doctor.' ' We are all pretty nearly at death's door,' they shouted. ' Yes, but to get the order I must specify the complaint. 43 Now, if some of you had the stomach-ache, I could send for some laudanum and brandy.' I glanced towards my maligner, who at once dropped into my little trap. ' That is exactly how I feel,' he said, squirming. Recur- ring spasms — ' ' That will do.' I scribbled a short note to my last night's friend, which a steward carried to his cabin. A few moments after the boy appeared with an order to the barman for a bottle of brandy in one hand, and a phial of laudanum in the other. While the cork was being pulled from the brandy bottle, of which I took possession, I counted 25 drops from the phial into a glass. ' I don't want Laudanum, the brandy will do,' protested my journalistic friend. ' You cannot have the one without the other,' I replied sternly. 'Is this not right, gentlemen?' 'Quite right,' answered the thirsty conclave. 'Drink it down like a man, Moxton, and let's get at the bottle.' After a struggle, and offer to return the bet if I'd let him off, my friend sacrificed himself for the common weal and despatched it, saying that this drug always cooked his goose. Then, giving him the first and largest dram ; I doled that precious bottle round the company in homoeo- pathic doses. The benefit was merely momentary, if at all felt, so that when our host appeared, they were once more drooping and most appallingly depressed. Sir Thomas sat down, after bidding us all good-morrow cheerfully, and beckoned me over to his side. During our conversation he looked round, and observing the woeful faces asked me, in a whisper, what ailed them all, the sea being perfectly still and the air fresh and balmy. I bluntly told him the reason, on which he sprang up, at once apologising for his omission and ordering the bar to be kept open day and night. From that moment my sins were forgiven, and only my advocacy remembered with gratitude — by all save one. This unfortunate, ever ii afterwards prefixed a strong adjective to my name, when he mentioned it or spoke to me. I think the most savage notice I had on my next romance was from his pen ; also, I have never dared to tell this story before, as he promised to murder me if I did. Now, however, since the poor victim has gone, I fervently trust, to where no more doses of laudanum can be required, I am fairly safe unless his ghost feels revengeful enough to trouble me. Before we ship from the ' Himalaya * to the ' Moldavia ' permit me to tell you one more experience I had at Cher- bourg on that occasion, and where I had to sacrifice a little pleasure for the general good. This, I think, may also be remembered in my favour by those who were in it. After having seen, through the favour of the Diplomat, the Arsenal, with the submarines, etc., our party drove in three large brakes to the noble Chateau of a well-known sporting Marquis. His lordship was at the races when we arrived, but had prepared for our entertain- ment- Here we had some famous Malaga wine, which I ■was passing over, when Sir Thomas advised me so earnestly not to miss it, as it was the best in the world, that I took a glass, and certainly, if black, it was comely and, like Eve's apple, 'the best I had tasted,' as Adam has recorded in his diary, according to Twain. As we were returning through the park, we passed the noble Marquis and his party, who exchanged pleasant greetings, and then our troubles commenced. We had come one way and were going back by another to Cherbourg. After driving over four or five miles of beau- tifully-kept ground we got to a lodge at the crest of a hill, with a quarry on one side of the narrow path and close, brambly thicket on the other. A locked gate was in front and a strongly-built Norman woman, the keeper, with her keys at her side guarding it and refusing us passage. She had received no instructions from the Mar- quis and her duty was, as she understood duty, to prevent us from passing. We were in a fix. She was a formidable female and incensed to boot- We could not turn the 45 carriages with that deep quarry on our left side, and the hill was too steep to back. I was in the second brake, as the first one held our magnates, and other prominent public personages, includ- ing, I think, one of our most famous Generals. Yet that Daughter of the Republic held them all at bay. They spoke softly to her and tried dulcet flattery in vain. Then a noble Lord took his hat and collected gold from us, which he gallantly offered to her. But she was incorrup- tible; indeed, at the insult, she became savage and flung hat and contents over the precipice. Then all stood non- plussed. ' Lock her inside the lodge and take her keys ! ' I shouted, happily ignorant of the peril of making such a suggestion. The Lord told me solemnly that they dare not commit such an outrage on a French citizen. 'I'll do it, and take the risk,' I said, jumping down. ' We must not see it done, ' they replied, irresolutely. ' Then don't look,' I cried, advancing on the foe warily. They took my advice and, like the indulgent policeman, looked the other way. Now occurred about as stiff a wrestling tussle as ever I had in my life. I was fairly strong and agile, but if all Normandy women were like this one I'd rather seek permission before attempting any endearments. She did not notice my approach, until I had got behind her and seized her round the waist, then it seemed as if I had embraced a mad bull. She writhed, stiffened, kicked at my shins with her heavy heels, and used her talons on my hands and arms till they were flayed, she got somehow at my throat also, tearing my collar, tie, and shirt, and rugging tufts out of . my short beard, but I managed to save my face by pressing it to her back. I don't know how long the battle lasted, but like as in Joshua's extremity, the sun seemed to stand for hours. At last I got at the bunch of keys and flung them against the gates. Then someone opened them while I hung to my ■captive like grim death, and the carriages passed through. ' Come along, Nisbet, quick ! ' I heard someone shout 46 outside from the last brake, while the other two rolled away. Come on ! Forsooth, I was about done up, yet she was as fresh as ever, and twice as vicious. Her teeth had met in my arm and I wanted to take as much of my own flesh with me as I could. We were both by this time in the bramble thicket, she above and me beneath, when, making a grand effort, I pushed her from me deeper into the thicket, and while she was extricating herself I scrambled through the gate. But I did not get off without a parting shot, for just as they were hauling me up Madam sent a large stone at me, hitting me fairly on the small of the back and driving the remnant of strength out of me- The pain of that last smack remained with me many days. We escaped, however, and then my sacrifice came. We had been invited to a public dinner that night, but it was decided that I should be smuggled at once on board and kept there a prisoner until we were free of French water. This was done in the dusk, after we had driven down a steep hill road for about ten miles without a level. Then the Doctor took me in hand and mended my many wounds. They were all much obliged to me, they told me, when we were steaming towards Cowes Eegatta, and the matter had been satisfactorily arranged with the authorities. But while I ruefully touched my sore places, I thought upon the fine Bepublican Norman ladies with mingled emotions. I wondered also what became of the noble Lord's hat and contents. There must have been thirty- five sovereigns in it. Perhaps Madam Gate-keeper found it after she recovered her breath, and that it salved her ruffled feelings and torn sleeves. I trust so — indeed, I feel almost morally sure that she was consoled for my brutal assault and the insult to her great country. 47 Chapter VI. RED SEA. The Gentle Whistler — A Hasty Impression — Port Said and Adieu — Reminiscences of " Tooting " — A Mystery — Unexpected Weather in the Red Sea — A Vivisecting Sister — About the " Rack." I WAS sitting in the music saloon, not far from the piano, writing a letter to my beloved, to be ready for the post next day at Port Said, when a poet entered gently and, placing himself at the instrument, played and whistled a low-toned impromptu refrain. I had not before heard the human whistle with the piano, and could not have believed it possible for it to do what it did then, and what Orpheus is credited with doing with his pipe, tamed the savage beasts, and transported me for ten minutes into a flower-spangled, perfumed Paradise, where Love, always beautiful, was young and true as she was tender. I woke with a void, that before had been an ache. ' I trust I do not disturb you, Mr. Nisbet,' I heard a caressing voice say softly and languidly. A well-trained voice it was, that struck my ears, and a finely-bred face and figure that filled my eyes. As the delicate hand touched the tiny up-turned moustache, and the slender foot rested on the pedal, I recognised a gentleman. After a few moments' conversation I discovered a brother Author. During the hours that remained before we parted we foregathered. He had rather tired, grey-blue eyes, and a disturbative cough which was sending him to Egypt. I suggested a cure for Asthma, as I thought it might be that affliction, having a similar bark myself and know- ing what caused it. But he answered a little less gently that it was only a nasty cold, from which I concluded that he considered asthma to be a prosaic and elderly trouble, therefore I took back my untactful sympathy with his share of my complaint. We exchanged books. He said he liked portions of mine very much before we 48 jparted, and I think he was honest in his expressions. I told him also honestly what I thought about his work : i.e., refined, and delicately expressed, but decidedly risky. He shrugged his shoulders, smiled and said it was a relation of facts, which made me feel sad for our world. Yet I believed him, for I knew that he was not a reckless man, because I had watched him playing 'bridge,' lose with fine disregard, and leave off when he had enough bad fortune. When I see a man play cards as intently as he did, for a succession of nights, then be content to look on for the rest of the time, I know that man will not do, nor say, rash things. The stakes were pretty high on board between London and Port Said. One German Count, who was travelling with a pretty French bride, and who belonged to so ancient a family that he considered the Kaiser to be a mere parvenu, stuck like a Spartan at the table all the way, and was cheerful through it all despite his unfailing losses. He bestowed upon me the very best cigars and the biggest I had ever smoked. He kept each hermetically sealed in a glass case, and grew them on his own estate in Havannah. When I asked him why they were so long and thick, he laughed boyishly, and told me that it was because his doctor had ordered him to smoke only three cigars per day and that he always obeyed doctor's orders. I met a man, when I was at the Charing Cross Hotel, who impressed me most unfavourably because he seemed to have a personal animus to me ; he regarded me, while there so fixedly and unpleasantly. I felt certain that he was a reader of my books whom I had unconsciously offended, as I sometimes do strangers. I saw him next on the ' Moldavia,' and for two nights he looked at me in the same uncomfortable fashion. On the third night, unable to endure that hostile regard any longer, I broke the ice and discovered, to my profound surprise, that he was a great admirer of my work, felt a strong desire to •get acquainted with me, but did not know how to begin, 49 being shy, or as he put it flatteringly ' awed ' at being with the live author. Since that time I have not felt so cock- sure as I used to be of my thought-reading powers- He very quickly got over his 'awe,' as most people do with me, and told me candidly that he could not have believed that the writer of all those books could look such a commonplace chap, and be so free and easy. He was a tea-planter in Ceylon, in an up-country estate, and I suppose being so isolated, had thought my stories more interesting than he might had he lived more in the world. We became fast chums; indeed, he soon dominated me completely, keeping a place always vacant for me beside him in the smoke-room. Out of simple gratitude I did my best to amuse him, with what I could remember of the ' chestnuts ' I had gathered at that most social of London Clubs, the ' Yorick.' He was a countryman of my own, and said, when we parted at Colombo, that the only weakness he had discovered about me was my lack of appreciation for the ' wine ' of our native land. He excused me, however on this score, when he heard that I had lived mostly out of Bonnie Scotland and that my infirmity was that of Michael Cassio : ' I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking.' There were a goodly gathering of Caledonians, supple- mented by Hibernians and some other nationalities, in the smoke-room on ' Auld Year's Nicht.' Owing, however, to one of my frequent untimely ascetic moods, I had taken a vow which must be kept, as even rash vows ought to be. I therefore disappointed them all, as at such times I am neither so witty myself nor am I the cause of so much wit in others. However, we managed to be fairly representa- tive as the hour neared midnight. Even though I was restricted to Apollinaris Water, The New Year was not ushered in ' dry-footed.' Port Said at last, after a good heaving on the 1st of January, 1906, and only one letter from my long and, perhaps, I may say, only male friend left, William Kenton, 50 poet and mathematician, of Ambleside. What I felt, at having no other letters, I need not say to those who have longed in vain. I had written the night before : — " What shall the mail bring to-morrow ? What may it not bring to me? Tidings of joy or of sorrow ; It is fast crossing the sea." Alas ! it had crossed ; but, with the exception of this one short missive, nothing for me. I knew, of course, what had happened exactly as if I had been there ; for I had full confidence in one writer -who never yet failed me. The letters had been written in good time and posted all right, only posted by a careless servant, who had missed the post. And the worst of this small blunder was, that until I reached Yokohama, seven or eight weeks longer, there wasn't a chance of me getting another, for we took the mails with us after this point. Did I curse 1 No. I was too coldly sick for violence. I only leaned over the ship looking at the sharks and shivered. When disaster has come, I cave in, and wait for coming strength to- endure. I pushed thought into the channel of Friendship, and let it drift backward on the ebbing tide, until it reached the beginning. There I floated, until the tide began to flow again towards the present, recognising the meeting- stages as my light shallop passed them. I could do this with impunity ; for the other passengers were occupied with their packets, and it saved my soul from the sin of unmerited bitterness. ' Tears ago we had met and parted after a short pause together, my gifted friend and I. He was too proud and well off to degrade his rare gifts by selling them, or hunting after notoriety. I was too needy to help myself, or keep my small talents from defilement, therefore I had to push, while he waited serenely. But he knew me better than most people from the first, and believed in me. This was the secret of a most unequal and, as some said, a most incongruous friendship, which has endured all the years. 51 We have not met often, and sometimes in most un- expected places, yet he is my only male friend ; i.e., the closest I ever had, and the one who has done me most good. One other, who loves me, often tells me that I have missed the best of life, through wandering too much and working too hard — friends. She should know, for she has many, whom her goodness and kindness have won. But it is too late now. Looking on at life may be a lonely pastime, yet one grows attached to the solitary ledge, as an old canary does to its Bar. Long ago my friend wrote a song about me, since published among other songs of his. Vanity and senti- ment force me to insert it here. It may not be about me, after all, now. Indeed, I think it must have been about some one else, or if of me, before I had bitten too deeply into the apple of knowledge. I can laugh still, of course, and make foolish jokes, too. . I am generally considered buffoonish, rather than serious-minded ; also optimistic to the verge of weariness, if sometimes slightly cynical and unbelieving. Yet I don't think my friend would write the following song about me now : — A SONG OP COUBAGE. From Songs Uy Wiixiam Benton. (T. Fisher Unwin.) AuthoT of 'Oils and Water Colours' (Greening and Co.), 'The Logic of Style,' ' Outlines of English Literature ' (John Murray), Etc., etc., etc., etc. Friend, whose honest laughter Makes the roof-tree ring, And the whole night after Sing. You, whose spirits tandem Drive dead heats with time, Moralise this random Bhyme. Up and make thee merry, While the wine is red, And let dead men bury Dead. 52 He who weeps for mischance. Save he mend endeavour, Shall discover his chance Never. All the ages show it, All the sages show, Painter, singer, poet Know. His own way who carveth Is the man who rules ; Hunger only starveth Fools. Not for love of glory Sweat thy hour at noon; Thou shalt live in story Soon. Morning for tuition, Noon for work and will, Evening for fruition Still. In an hour at farthest Thou shalt see it come ; Autumn brings her harvest Home. There. When so many of my compeers are blowing their larger trumpets so lustily, may I be pardoned for tooting my little tin one thus far ? Particularly after having confessed my faults so candidly, and also since this encouragement was composed about another per- sonality, long since passed away and forgotten ?* Yet, whether or not, it does not matter to me greatly, as I know, from previous experience, that I am sure to be censured for impudence, as for modesty, by the superior persons who hold the rod. I have become abandoned and *While reading these proofs, the tidings come that I shall meet my friend no more on earth. "In loving memory of William Ronton, of Randapike, Ambleside, who entered rest at Bourne- mouth, 16th July, 1907. Aged 57. 'Until the day break, and the shadows flee.' " (See Appendix.) 53 reckless in my old age, and feel like the hardened and impenitent burglar : ' I glory in my wices and wish I could be wuss.' Port Said wore the same old look; bright sunshine laving the houses and streets ; gay-coloured robes and brown skins, and the familiar forced merriment, and wicked avaricious eyes of twenty years before. The only novelty I found this visit was cold, instead of blistering heat. I went ashore, without an overcoat, to see our Cairo-bound birds depart, and regretted that carelessness exceedingly, for I shivered the whole time I was on the railway platform, and said farewell with teeth rattling like an accompaniment of castinets. At last they were off and I could return and get warm, the prevaricating Bishop, to patronise Palestine, after Egypt ; my fascinating widow to win her man ; the rest, to play the same old game they had played in England. Society resembles Mary with her little lamb. It takes its own pastimes, and rudenesses with it, wherever it goes. One singular mystery, however, impressed me here, that I can never explain. There was a dance on deck the night we passed quiescent Stromboli, when appeared a strange little man faultlessly costumed, neatly shaped, about the size of General Tom Thumb, who waltzed like an angel, and looked like an aging fairy from the land of the Aztecs. Most of the ladies danced with him, and carried him round with the utmost indulgence; also he had several strange and fine gentlemen, who hovered near, and obeyed his imperious beck or call with the servility of well-trained waiters. Someone told me that he was either a Prince, a Duke, or a Count, possessing fabulous wealth, large estates and a pedigree of the most ancient in Europe. However, that was not the mystery, as we may find the same type of ' avatists ' everywhere plenti- fully scattered about, also the most lovely women smiling upon such, their sweetest. The mystery lay in his abrupt appearance, and disappearance, with his troupe. I saw him, for the first and only time, with a splendid girl 54 nearly three times his height gliding round the deck, while this humanised ape patronised her most offensively, after which I did not see him nor his attendants again. They were with us that one evening. They were not with us as we passed into the Canal. ' Quo Vado? ' The cold weather continued through the Suez Canal, and until we had reached the Gulf, and were into the Red Sea; so cold that we were forced to sit inside, and even there, with warm gloves, overcoats and rugs. I never had such an experience the dozen times I have come through. When it is cold in such places, it seems more biting than our home winters, and pierces the thickest material- As we advanced into the Red Sea proper, however, it became a little more like its old self, and I had to do some fanning at my fair Princess, who, being full- blooded, as ladies of this rank should be, felt it more than did the others. We were fast friends by this time, so that I was permitted to place her chair, and do other small and gallant duties. She read my fortune also from my hand, and predicted a very long life, which did not appear so desirable a boon as it might have done thirty years ago. Still, it may give me more leisure for reflec- tion, if I am permitted to sit quietly down, i.e., if the world does not get over fast and crowded. As things are advancing, however, it does not look likely that our aged will have much leisure for meditation, with motors to skip clear of on the earth, flying machines to duck, in the sky, and domestic servants as well as offspring to support and pension. I think humanity of the future shall have to return to the patriarchal, and Boer systems, and beget while young what they are likely to require in the way of helps when they get too old to do for themselves. It would not seem so unjust as to have to make heirs of other people's children; at least, being our children instead of other people's, they'd have a chance of getting something out of what industry has gathered. There were also a specialist and his wife travelling to Ceylon, and to whom I am indebted for much medical information, 55 as well as medical advice. He did not admire motors ; in fact, I think he held the opinion that killing a hooligan motorist was a meritorious act, instead of being murder, and that the remover of the nuisances ought to be rewarded for his patriotic conduct. I held firmly, however, while so far agreeing with him, that a fowling piece and small shot should be used, not a rifle and exploding bullet. After leaving Babel Mandeb, or the Gate of Tears, we entered upon the longest part of the voyage, where we were compelled to amuse each other, therefore dances, concerts and fancy dress balls were the order for nights. During the day the delicious air, and dancing blue waters, were enough, with an occasional page or two of reading, between spells of happy slumber. The Princess dis- tinguished herself as a costume actress at the fancy dress ball and flattered me for my behaviour. What she said on that occasion, I dare not write here, but it was nice enough to report to my beloved. The male bird usually lays aside his modesty when displaying his plumage to his hen. It was here, also, that a dire calamity occurred, which I could not shake quite off until I reached Hong Kong. A lady authoress had come on board at Said and introduced herself. The first evening I felt flattered by her interest in my affairs; but after a forenoon of persistent probing I staggered away faint, and moist with prostration. She was one who, in her thirst for knowledge, knew no more pity than a vivisector, and when she had caught me, she pinned me down regardless of my agony, and prosecuted her study patiently and minutely. Fortunately, for my health, she preferred the top deck, which I carefully avoided after that unholy forenoon, and until we reached Colombo, so I was able to avoid her. But on the next ship — the 'Delhi' — there was no escape, and I had to do what the Commination service terms — 'Godly discipline and open penance for my notorious sins.' I brought several books with me, for although most ships have libraries, yet the fresh ones are always mostly 56 in use, and the ones to lend I have generally read. But one morning I did get hold of Sir Frederick Treves' ' Other side of the Lantern,' which I found decidedly interesting and useful, not only from his own crisp, fresh, and keenly observant remarks but from the well-chosen quotations, from other observers, which he somewhat lavishly uses. This book refreshed me by its exactitude, lightness and suavity, as my evil passions had been somewhat roused by two works I had read previously : to wit, ' The Secret History of the Oxford Movement, 'by Walter Walsh, and 'The Jesuits,' by Theodor Griesinger. These I had brought with me, with Fox's ' Book of Martyrs ' to make me feel lively, if I got livery on the voyage. They are all three close reading, yet rousing to a robust Protestant, even if they do tend to make him somewhat impatient at the goai>like gambolling of the Ritualists. It is whole- some to feel a little Martin Lutherish in these degenerate times. After Sir Frederick's gentle work I turned to Master Fox, for a change, and had just finished the curdling account of a ' Rack ' examination, when the good young man of the cruet conundrum came forward, and sat beside- me. He somehow suspected me of inwardly laughing at his pious proclivities and always put on extra dignity when near me, but this morning he was lonely, and wanted someone to talk with. I started the ball. ' I am a most arrant coward. Are you ? ' ' Certainly not,' he said, bridling up. ' I think I can hold my own with any one.' ' Could you stand the " rack " ? ' I asked abruptly. ' What do you mean ? ' I placed my book on his knee at the place open, and said : ' That. I have been reading about a heretic having his joints torn out of their sockets, without caving in. Now if it had been me, I should have recanted at the first turn of the screw- Lord ! what heroes these old martyrs must have been.' 57 He looked down at my book and then shook it from his knee as if it had been an adder. ' I wonder at you reading such an infamous book,' he cried wrathfully, rising up, and preparing to move on. ' In the first place, it is a pack of lies, and in the second, even if it wasn't, the sacrilegious wretches richly deserved, all they got.' ' Never mind whether it's true or not,' I said gripping his arm. ' But, tell me, do you think you could hold your own against the rack, as they are supposed to have done ? ' ' In a good cause I'm sure I could.' Uttering which noble sentiment the brave Anglican stalked proudly away. I admiringly watched his satisfied strut, and then remembered the last time I had that book in my hands reading. It was in a railway carriage coming from London where I had bought it at the martyred Kensit's book- depot. My companion then had also been an Anglican — a vacuous curate not long ordained and fresh from Oxford. He had been ordained by the pious Bishop of London, i*ho likes to ordain the faithful and persecute ajl heretics. Why he had ordained this young fellow,, aad so many of his like kidney I cannot fathom, for this- ore looked and acted like a congenital idiot, as [the- majority of such creatures do, when they do not resemble' narrow-browed, heavy-jowled, ring fighters. He protested bleatingly at the book also, calling it a vile book, as he had beV taught at Oxford. In face and figure he resembled a starved and decadent hooligan, with fishy eyes, shapeless nost, hanging, imbecile mouth and receding chin; all' theidifference lay in his clothes, clerical hat and collar. He also smoked vile tobacco out of a foul pipe, and yet he was >ne of the ' ordained ' to preach, to confess, and to pardon women, nearly as silly as himself. ' ^ou must know really that it is pure falsehood,' he- lisped weakly. ' Pure falsehood, to defame good people. Suren you cannot believe that pious Catholics ever per- secute! heretics.' I Jlanced at the little book he held, protestingly,. 58 between his stub-nailed fingers and thumb as he leered persuasively at me. It was 'The Key of Heaven,' the Roman prayer book, and he had just finished ' The thirty days prayer to the Blessed Virgin.' I knew the book, and the part where his finger kept the place, for I have the habit of noting details as I go about the world — a sort of Sherlock Holmesy, Conan-Doylish gift, or trick, inherited doubtless from some Calvinistic forbear, I expect. Also, I had done that thirty days myself in my salad days. According ta clerical custom, Ee had taken upon himself to interrupt my reading, after he had finished his own childish duty. ' Are you a Catholic 1 ' I asked, though he had at the first coming in told me all about himself and his paltry desires. 'Yes ! but not a Roman. Yet I love to be fair to all men.' ; g| ' Then why not be fair to Fox 1 ' ' Ah, he was a fraud. Surely a reasonable man like you cannot take in such palpable fables 1 ' ' I fear I must,' I replied gently. ' Indeed, I am of opinion that we have more satisfactory evidences of the truth of these pretty tales in our Museum than we have about Pharaoh's host crossing the Red Sea. You shoild know that these pious gentlemen of the Inquisition were not able to take their ' tools ' with them when they 'went to — heaven ; therefore we have the instruments to look at, and they were clearly not made for agricultural purposes.' ' All a mistake — a sad mistake,' he murmured, turning once more to his Roman prayer book for comfort. This bleating Bacillus was a fair specimen »f the debilitating microbe, or bacterium papistelli, which the late Cardinal Newman introduced, and nurtured at Cxford, and which since has pervaded England, like the Infuenza, reducing to moral wrecks her formerly wholesome-ninded sons and daughters. The humanised result of congenital decline, which is considered good enough to confess 59 women, above sin, and capture the Lord God of Heaven and Earth for Sunday handling.* At this time I got another book from the ship's library, which I must quote from and make a few remarks about, before proceeding on our voyage, whether in doing so I ■offend a section of the public or not ; for I feel it laid upon me as a stern duty from which I dare not shrink. This book was by a Lutheran Missionary about Japan, and entitled, with the sublime modesty of the missionary, 'The Gist of Japan.' Chapter VII. A CHAPTER UPON FOREIGN MISSIONS AND EUROPEAN MISSIONARIES. Exeter Hall — The Kind of Evangelists Sent to Convert the Heathen — The Heathen — Extract from ' The Gist of Japan.' THE ignorance displayed by the directors of Exeter Hall concerning the work they profess to do is — simply, abysmal. This decision, I think, must be agreed to by every impartial traveller who Has seen the woeful effects of their prodigious folly- on foreign fields. In the first place, they go on the assumption and pre- sumption that there is work to be done, and that they are qualified to do it, i.e., that they are going to open out virgin lands, and feel quite capable of cultivating them. *A11 clearly and earnest minds must instinctively shrink from, and desire to exterminate the verminous breed of priesthood, which has made religion impossible to the pure and logical seeker after truth, probity, and morality. The Creator does not re- quire human interpreters, neither the patronage, nor assistance of debased, ignorant mercenaries, and place-hunters. A micro- scope will reveal more of Infinity than a myriad mendicant preachers. A telescope, more of Immensity, than all the divinity colleges. For the complete emotional gamut, any other insect will serve as well as a sentimental curate. What is seen and felt may be phenomenal, the rest is unfathomable mystery. He who pretends to know is a charlatan ; those who pay are fools. 60 In the second place, they send out men and women evan- gelists, who are about as adapted to the supposed require- ments as an ignorant labourer would be if sent to dispute- with Mozart or Wagner about the theories of classical compositions. The primal and leading idea that rules their actions seems to be, that all races, not European, are benighted heathens, and that all heathens are uncultivated savages who are incapable of reason, otherwise, of course, they would not be heathens; but have learnt instead to- speak broken English and sing Sunday School hymns. So they send out teachers possessed,of the limited intel- ligence of curbed children; the education of school board trained coalheavers ; the tact of a Salvation Army Captain, and the arrogance of a Bishop. Men and women, whose- knowledge of their own religion is less than skin-deep ; who know nothing about ethics ; who have the crudest and most superficial conceptions about morality ; utterly lack- ing in logic or spiritual intuition ; crammed to the gun- wale with narrow bigotry, irredeemable ignorance, in- curable superstitions, and cast-iron intolerance. Men and women, too, useless to fill the commonest post of daily life, where any skill may be required, or too lazy to be any- thing else except missionaries, according to Exeter Hall r or — tramps ; who are unread in any other literature except the mental pabulum provided at Sunday Schools and' revival meetings, and having the most rudimentary know- ledge of their own Bible, without any idea as to its his- torical data or spiritual meaning. Such poor tools are sent forth to be used, having, possibly in some instances a slight training in the lan- guage of the people they are going among, although, as- was the case with Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier, no other linguistic equipment than their own mother tongue, and certainly, in the majority of instances, not even a glim- mering understanding of the creeds they are expected to overthrow, or the people they are going so hopefully to 'convert' (?). Some few, I admit, have zeal, blind faith, and earnestness in the benefit of their mission ; but these 61 •qualities are more than over-balanced by their profound ignorance and unteachable prejudices. I fear I am well within the limit when I say that the majority go forth with the fixed intention of bettering their own worldly condition, .and that the minority are not very long before the hope- lessness of the work forces them to go over to the side of the majority and consider their own moral welfare before the future welfare of the unconvertible and benighted hea- thens. When once firmly established on the appointed fields, their principal aim seems to be to help on the laudable work by hoodwinking the benevolent public, begging for more supplies, and supporting the missionary societies by fictitious tales and falsified accounts. I assert this with deep regret, without prejudice, and from personal observation, backed by the unsolicited accounts of other -experienced and unbiased observers of their methods abroad, as well as from significant sidelights which can be .gleaned by the experienced from their own printed testi- monies. For what are they sent? To inculcate dogma, organised by the most infamous, ruthless, and unprincipled authori- ties that history has ever recorded ; to preach a doctrine, the professors of which are now tearing to pieces as fraudu- lent ; to force a faith that has no trustworthy foundations. And to whom? To races who have possessed ethics of morality, and spiritual theories thousands of years before Christianity was born ; who are past masters in sophism, argument, theologyj and subtle deductions ; who had civili- sation in its purest, highest, most refined aspects, ages before the ancestors of these uncouth simpletons had emerged from savagedom and cave dwellings ; who are at the present time countless stages beyond them in doctrinal education and soul-intention. When Europeans converse together, their subjects are about eating, drinking, legal or illegal sports ; the ways of men and women, sexually, or the drivel called politics, ■aggression, or crime. When Orientals converse, none of these subjects are touched upon; their words are used to 62 discuBS the mysteries and ramifications of spiritual matters. Europeans go to church, but veto religion as matters of conversation. They profesB a code of ethical morality, yet consider anyone practising it literally to be only fit for the asylum or the prison. Their spiritual directors, the Bishops, hold these views also, while the magistrates put them into practice by fining and imprisoning those who attempt to follow the orders of their Founder. Orientals rigidly practise what they profess, and honour the believer who succeeds in living nearest to their lofty ideal. When a new missionary appears among these subtle, yet tolerant inquirers, they come to hear his views and listen with respectful attention. Then when he thinks they are convinced they gently put a testing question to him, to which generally he replies either arrogantly or with fatuous confidence. The Oriental enquirer does not laugh, nor treat him with the open contempt his victim deserves. He merely rises sedately and walks away satisfied. He has spread a little honeyed trap, and the foolish fly has dropped into it, so he is left there, all unconscious of his exposure among the honey. The cleverest of the European evan- gelists sent are easily trapped and winged with two soft questions. If, however, we were to send out some of our most able theologians, perhaps they might be able to keep the Oriental brains interested to the extent of three or even four leading queries, but no longer, because we are hardly far enough advanced in our esoteric spirit training yet, even in our most doctrinal colleges, to cross weapons with those astute brains, sharpened by hereditary influence, and constant sophistical training. These subtle and earnest students also by no means neglect the study of Western literature, if our missionaries neglect theirs, and they are fully aware of the numbers of differing sects among the Christian cult. I have heard one thoughtful Hindoo prudently suggest as follows : — ' Considering the uncertain and much disputed data of Scripture, which is your only authority for the personality of God in His Incarnation, would it not be wise to worship 63 Him as the Creator, rather than as the Father and Son, in case you unwittingly commit blasphemy and break your firBt and seventh commandments? In this, however, your ignorance may be a fair excuse for His infinite justice and mercy to pardon the offences, if peradventure you have thus offended.' This bombshell was mildly and suggestively placed so as to explode in its own due season, yet it was powerful enough to smash a whole creed, far less an isolated mission. And this is only a poor example of some of the mild ways they have of trapping the poor and guileless missionary who tackles them, only conscious of his European superiority of mind, morals, and spiritual acumen. But, apart from these considerations, and allowing the sadly handicapped missioner the credit of having both dis- interested zeal, genuine and unshakeable faith, there are other tangible dangers and evils to be gravely considered. In a scheme of faith and proselytising, the financial side is not the one to be scrutinised most adversely, although that must also count a little? Doubtless the weakly philan- thropic and irresolute, as well as those who may have led rather doubtful lives, and imagine that they may be able to effect a timely soul-insurance before quitting the scene of their shortcomings, are among the principal patrons of mission societies. Also kindly and credulous folks who have not travelled far, and are ready to believe whatever is told them by missionaries and their reverend agents on platforms, or printed for their perusal in prospectuses and propagandist papers and church magazines, etc. These moneyed classes do not miss the donations so cheerfully given, and they do a limited amount of good in so far pro- viding for the support and comfort of these missionaries, agents, secretaries and treasurers, etc., with their wives and children, where otherwise they might have had to take the risks and uncertainties of ordinary workmen and un- skilled labourers. That is, their trustful charity furnishes good and certain salaries for adventurers, with little or no actual labour, where, without these means, their meagre 64 .abilities and imperfect training would have compelled them to work and live much harder than they need do as missionaries and missionary promoters and agents. Saving seen the missionary in his adopted home in various lands, we can no longer believe his highly-coloured and sensational accounts of his daily privations, hardships, and heroic sacrifice for the Cause. Nor, do I think, can the unprejudiced reader do so either when, he reads the follow- ing quotation from one of themselves, in which he gives in iull his piteous case. Of course I cannot expect the wilfully blinded to concur in this, however. The extract which I give is from a work entitled ' The •Gist of Japan,' by the Rev. R. B. Peery, A.M., Ph.D., of the Lutheran Mission, Saga, Japan. It is true that this martyr represents one of the mission- ary societies which, I may add, have of recent years been the most direct cause of much disturbance throughout China and Japan ; yet our own English missionaries in these coun- tries have not been far behind the Americans in that lack of tact and aggressive behaviour which makes the spirit of Cain revive wherever they are practised. In relating the private life of the missionary, this reverend and unsophisticated gentleman writes (I have added a few protesting notes, bracketed en route) : — Private Life op the Missionary. ' Missionaries are men of like appetites, passions, hopes, and desires with those at home. They long for and enjoy the comforts and amenities of life. They have wives and children whom they love as devotedly, and for whom they desire to provide as comfortable homes as the pastor at home. ' There was a time when missionaries were called upon to forego nearly all social pleasures and submit to endless discomforts, but that time is past. The mission home to- day is frequently as comfortable as that of the pastor in America. It is right that the standard of living in the home lands should be maintained by the missionaries 65 abroad, and that they surround themselves with all avail- able pleasures and conveniences. There is no reason why a man should lay aside all pleasures and comforts so soon as he becomes a missionary.' (When a man works at marketable work, there is no reason to abstain from what comforts he can afford. But when he is the recipient of charitable donations, there are many reasons against self-indulgence — particularly a mis- sionary who professes to choose a life of self-sacrifice.) ' Those who live in the foreign ports in Japan have nice, roomy houses modelled after Western homes. Many of them are surrounded with beautiful lawns and fine flowers, and are a comfort and delight to their possessors. Most of the missionaries who live in the interior occupy native houses, slightly modified to suit foreign taste. By build- ing chimneys, and substituting glass for paper windows, the native houses can be made quite comfortable, though, they are colder in winter and do not look so well as foreign ones. The writer has lived in such a home during most of his residence in Japan, and has suffered little inconvenience. Some of the wealthier mission boards have built foreign houses even in the interior, and to-day there are a good many such scattered over Japan. ' This is one of the many reasons why a missionary should be a married man. The single man cannot create this model home, which is to teach the people by example what Christian family life should be. In this respect Catholic missions are deficient, the celibacy of the priests precluding family life. ' The mission home should be a Western home trans- planted in the East. It may not become too much Orien- talised. It should have Western furniture, pictures, musical instruments, etc., and should make its possessor feel that he is in a Western home. It should be well sup- plied with books and newspapers, and everything else that will help to keep its inmates in touch with the life of the West. The missionary may not be Orientalised, else he will be in danger of becoming heathenised. 66 ' In order that the missionary may be able to build up such a home it is necessary that he be paid a liberal salary. While living in native style is very cheap, living in Western style is perhaps as dear here as in any country in the world. Clothing, furniture, much of the food, etc., must be brought from the West ; and we must pay for it, not only what the Deople at home pay, but the cost of carrying it half-way round the world, and the commission of two or three middlemen besides.' (All who live in the East incur the same costs and expenses out of their wages.) ' Especially is it wise that the boards give their men an allowance for children. The expenses incident to a child's coming into the world in the East are very high. The doctor's bill alone amounts frequently to more than 100 dollars. Then a nurse is absolutely necessary, there being no relatives and friends to perform this office, as sometimes there are in the West. The birth of a child here means a cash outlay of 150 to 200 dollars, to pay which the mission- ary is often reduced to hard straits. ' The allowance is also necessary to provide for the future education of the child. As there are no suitable schools here, children must be sent home to school at an early age. They cannot stay in the parental home and attend school from there, as American children do, but must be taken from childhood, put into a boarding school ; and this takes money. Now, no missionaries' salaries are sufficiently large to enable them to lay up much money, and unless 1 there is a child's allowance there will be no money for his education, in which event the missionary must sacrifice his self-respect by ask- ing some school or friends to educate his child. He feels that if anyone in the world deserves a salary sufficient to meet all necessary expenses without begging, he does ; and it hurta him to give his life in hard service to the Church in a foreign land, and then have his children educated on charity.' (Why take up the life of a missionary if he objects to charity ?) 67 'All mission boards should give their men an allowance for each child, unless the salary paid is sufficiently large to enable them to lay aside a sufficient sum for this purpose.' (No other profession or business does this with their employees.) ' The health allowance is also a wise provision, because the climate is such as often to necessitate calling in a physician, and doctors' bills ,are enormously high. If the missionary is not well he cannot work ; but if he is left to pay for medical attendance himself out of a very meagre salary, all of which is needed by his wife and children, he will frequently deny himself the services of a physician when they are really needed. ' The work of the missionary is most trying, and the demands on his health and strength are very exhausting. The petty worries and trials that constantly meet him, the rivalries and quarrels which his converts bring to him for settlement, the care of the churches, anxiety about his family, etc., are a constant strain on his vital forces, in order to withstand which it is necessary that he should have regular periods of rest and recreation. Nature demands relaxation, and she must have it, or the health of the worker fails. ' It is customary in Japan for the missionaries to leave thedr fields of wcmk during the summer season and spend six weeks or two months in sanatoria among the mountains or by the sea-shore. Here their work, with its cares and anxieties, is all laid aside. The best known sanatoria in Japan are Karuizawa, Arima, Hakone, Sapporo, and Mount Hiezan. In most of these places good accommodations are provided, and the hot weeks can be spent very pleasantly. Large numbers of missionaries gather there, and for a short time the tired s isolated worker can enjoy the society of his own kind ; his wife can meet and chat with other housewives, and his children can enjoy the rare pleasure of playing with other children white like themselves. These resorts are cool, the air is pure and invigorating, and the missionary returns from them in September feeling fresh 63 and strong, ready to take up -with renewed vigour his arduous labours.' (Other quite as arduous workers, if not more so, have to be satisfied with a fortnight or three weeks' holiday at most.) 'It is objected to these vacations that they take the missionary away from his field of work, and that so long an absence on his part is injurious to the cause. This is partially true, but a wise economy considers the health of the worker and his future efficiency more than the tem- porary needs of the work. The absence of the foreign worker for a short period is not as hurtful as one would at first glance suppose. A relatively larger part of the work is left in the hands of the native helpers in Japan than in most mission fields, and these evangelists stay at their posts all through the summer } and care for its interests while the foreigner is away. The same need of a vacation does not exist in their case, because they are accustomed to the climate, and they work through their native tongue and among their own people. ' The need of this missionary vacation is so evident that we need only give it in outline. In the first place, the unfavourable climate makes a change and rest desirable. As I have already stated, the climate of Japan is not only very warm, but also contains an excessive amount of moisture and a very small per cent, of ozone, and is lack- ing in atmospheric magnetism and electricity ; hence its effect upon people from the West is very depressing. Besides the climate, the missionary's work is so exhaustive and trying, and its demands upon him are so great, that a few weeks' rest are absolutely necessary. The same reasons which at home justify the city pastor in taking a vacation are intensified in the missionary's case. ' Not least of these reasons is that the missionary may for a while enjoy congenial society. Many of us spend ten months of the year isolated almost entirely from all people of our own kind. The Japanese are so different, that we can have but little social fife with them.' 69 (A missionary has to expect isolation, also his converts should be his social life.) ' With all the care and precaution that can be taken, with systematic rests and vacations, there soon conies a time when it is necessary for the missionary to return to his homeland, to breathe) again the air of his youth, and to replenish his physical, mental, and moral being. All the mission boards recognise this and permit their men in this and other fields to return home on furlough after a certain number of years. The definite time required by the different missions before a furlough is granted varies from three to ten years, the latter period being the most general. But this has been found to be too long, and fail- ing health usually compels an earlier return. Some boards have no set time, but a tacit understanding exists that the missionary may go home at the end of six or eight years. ' At the end of the prescribed period the missionary family is taken home at the expense of the board, and is given a rest of a year or eighteen months. During this time, if the missionary is engaged in preaching or lec- tio, ing for the board, as is generally , the case, he is paid his full salary. If he does no work he is sometimes paid only half his salary. This is very hard, as the salary is just large enough to support him and his family, and their expenses while at home are almost as great as while in the field. If the salary is cut down, the pleasure and benefit of the furlough are curtailed. ' . . . Over 90,000 dollars have been expended in Japan by one mission alone in distracted efiorts to regain the health of its missionaries. ' The facilities for itinerating in Japan are excellent. Most of the important points are easily reached by rail or water. But in general, on an itinerating tour, the mis- sionary has little use for the steamers and railways. The points he wants to visit are not on the great thorough- fares, but are in out-of-the-way places. There is, however, a good system of roads, and the jinriksha, which is everywhere found, is easily capable of carrying one 40 or 70 50 miles a day. This little cart resembles a buggy, except that it has only two wheels and is much smaller. The seat is just large enough to accommodate one person. A small Japanese coolie between the shafts furnishes all the neces- sary motive power. These are very convenient and com- fortable little conveyances, and are the ones in ordinary use by missionaries in their itinerating work.' (In England a man would be summoned for cruelty to animals, if he drove a horse 40 or 50 miles a day, even on a good road ; yet this pious friend of the benighted heathen cheerfully speaks of driving a man such a distance over the rough and hilly ground of Japan.) ' A second principle inherent in the very nature of Christianity which hinders its progress in heathen lands is its exclusiveness. Our religion is among the most intolerant in its attitude toward other faiths. We believe and teach that " there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," than the name of Christ. While acknowledging that other religions contain grains of truth, we must affirm that, as religious systems, they are false. Christ sent forth His apostles to make dis- ciples of all, winning them to the Christian faith. And the aim of the Church to-Hay is, not to cultivate brotherly love and communion with other religions, but rather to exter- minate them and make Christians of all. She can brook no rival. Her adherents must give their allegiance to her alone. ' Christianity not only claims to be the only religion, but she can offer no hope to those outside of her pale. While the Bible does not demand that I teach the Japanese that their ancestors are surely lost, it certainly gives me no ground for assuring them of their salvation. We all revere our forefathers, but none so much as the Oriental. He pays periodical visits to the tombs of his ancestors ; he worships his father, and commemorates the day of his death by mourning. A heaven from which his ancestors are excluded has little attractions for him. Often does the Shintoist say : — 71 ' " I would rather be in hell with my ancestors than be in heaven without them." ' (This Calvinistic evangelist appears, from the fore- going, to have rather a different conception of what missionary responsibilities, sacrifices, and work are to what the first Christian missionary, St. Paul, had, when he wrote to the Corinthians and Thessalonians the fol- lowing words : — ' Neither did we eat any man's bread for naught ; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you. For even when with you, we commanded that if any should not work, neither should he eat.' ' What is my reward, then 1 That when I preach the Gospel, I may make the Gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the Gospel.') Chapter VIII. MISSIONAKIES AND THEIR WAYS— continued. Missionary Martyrs — The Sabbath-Breaker Rebuked — Duty of Philanthropists — The Linchoo Massacre — The Zealous Mis- sionary — Salvation Mary — Roman Priest Murderers — A Little Home. THIS American Lutheran writes honestly of what the home and salary of a missionary ought to be if matters were conducted properly for the missionary in this best of all possible worlds; he also complains pathetically that they get no longer holiday than two out of each twelve months to recruit them for the heavy strain of the other ten months. He also describes the climate as being most trying to missionaries. Now there are numerous Europeans in professions, commerce and trade, throughout Japan, who have to work much harder, and endure greater mental, as well as physical strain, than the poor missionary has to do, 72 and who do not get a society to look after their wives and children either; they must do that for themselves. These Euuropeans manage to rub along year in, year out, with from one to three weeks' holiday at most, at the sea-side, yet they do not complain, and all appear as healthy and comfortable as Europeans do in other parts of the globe. But then the mercenary wretches are labour- ing purely and simply for commerce, and not posing as serving the Lord, and working for humanity. These laity are working for their living and supporting by their own hands their families, not living on charity donations. This may account for the difference between the feelings and endurance of these sons of man. Mr. Peery has such an interest in the spiritual welfare of the poor heathen, that he leaves them to jog along as they best can with native teaching, while he takes his ease at the sea-side for two months at a stretch, and seemingly considers his employers, the charitable public, have no real cause to grumble at his apparent neglect of his sacred and self-seleoted charge. Observe this generous gentleman considers that only European missionaries can possibly feel the strain, and that the native teachers have no need of any rest or change from their light toil in the vine- yard of the Lord; i.e., the toil must be light to them, although back-breaking and brain-fagging to him. I should like the reader also to notice how this self- sacrificing and considerate friend of the poor benighted heathen writes about itinerating trips into the country in jinrikshas, and of driving the jinriksha-man at the murderous rate of forty to fifty miles per day, and because the missionary is comfortable, seems to think that the energetic fellows going so well, and being so spry, must be equally comfortable and happy between, the shafts. Jinriksha-men are willing fellows as a rule, and" will do their utmost to please customers. But it is owing to such customers as this Evangelist that these driven slaves so often drop dead between the shafts. As a sample of unconscious, ingrained, and unadulterated depravity of 73 selfishness, blended with the most graceless ingratitude, and lack of consideration for others, permit me to recom- mend to the pious reader the Reverend Mr. R. B. Peery, A.M. 2 Ph.D'a book ' The Gist of Japan.' It contains a profound moral lesson as to how cultivated vice may grow into fixed habit. Of course this misguided author has not got near to the gist or pith of Japan. He has not even touched the bark of the right tree, for he has been at the wrong end all the time ; he has been whittling away at a dead log, planted by narrow bigotry and mean preju- dice, and decorated with paper buds. However, this dis- play of bounce and vanity is a detail not worth mention- ing. The reading of it braced me up wonderfully for my present task, I can assure my readers, and made me think about duty towards dusky as well as white humanity. As a rule, reports from the mission fields are generally a good deal edited, home-prepared, and artistically im- proved upon by the secretaries, before they can meet the eyes of the benevolent subscribers, and unwary public. Funds might not come in so readily if they were presented in their crude form, with the actual results given, unadorned. That Mr. Peery's have been printed as they are must be accounted for, that he was on one of his well-earned holidays, and out of natural vanity passed the proofs, without the aid of his wiser protectors. I can- not otherwise account for the naive expressions of his natural and unrestrained impulses, i.e., his Rosseau-like candour, and lack of reason in these most illuminating self-revelations. THE REBUKED SABBATH-BREAKER. A Missionary Fable. Not long after I had left New Guinea, I picked up a Sunday School magazine in which was printed the follow- ing good little story for naughty little boys and girls. It was headed: 'The Rebuked Sabbath-Breaker,' and I quote it from memory : — 74 'There was a very wicked man who kept a store at Port Moresby, and who constantly worked on the Lord's Day, and made a noise during church time. One Sabbath, the native teacher, who was a stalwart if dusky Christian, rebuked this notorious sinner, and made him ashamed. He said : " How is it you white fellows set such a bad example to us black fellows who try to be good." And that shamed sinner hung his head, and dared not hammer nails again on Sunday at Port Moresby.' Now, observe the word ' stalwart ' is used to denote that this native Christian could have knocked the abject store-keeper into smithereens if he had liked, while ' dusky ' is added in the kindly spirit that Pecksniff used the ad- jective poor to Tom Pinch, to signify the wide difference between the renowned narrator and this humble follower. When I read this short and pretty tale, I wondered if there was any groundwork of truth in it, and I tried to find out. The only store-keeper who had up to that time been at Port Moresby was my friend Mr. Andrew Goldie, naturalist, one of the most plucky and most considerate of men, although not popular at the Mission stations. I therefore sent the story to him, as he was still on the spot, asking for information. He replied that it was an unadulterated lie without a fraction of truth about it. He added that he should like very much to see either a dusky or white teacher interfere with him or his affairs ; they would be sorry for having done so. I met Mr. James Chalmers in London and asked him about the story. He, however.only laughed, and said that he knew nothing about it, but guessed it likely to be one of the Reverend Mr. Lawes' little fables, as he was in the habit of drawing his morals from familiar objects near at hand. Now, here was a despicable slander run nearly, if not quite, to earth, and genially termed a fable by a misr sionary whom I had every reason to respect otherwise, for his general manliness and integrity. Are such inventions the rule, or the exception, in missionary stories for the 75 young and innocent 1 is the query that will keep forcing its way into my unwilling mind. One would like to know, for the sakes of Truth and common honesty. The traveller hears many sad stories, not so much about the sufferings, as about the insincerity and unreason as well as uncharity and selfishness of missionaries abroad, and the unmistakeable danger they are, by their misdoings, to the peace of nations, the prosperity of commerce, and the safety of law-abiding traders and residents in these far-off countries, as well as to the dignity and respectability of the religion which they outrage and degrade. It is well that our amiable philanthropists should know the truth of these disturbances and massacres that are the cause of these recurring outbreaks which occupy so much of our Navy's time, and waste so much of our country's revenue to suppress. Whenever the missionaries produce massacres, they at once call in the aid of the warships to venge themselves upon the people to whom they have come to teach the love, forgiveness, and benevolence of the Saviour of Mankind. It is right for the rich to spend their spare cash as they please, so long as it is not for the purpose of intro- ducing dynamite into foreign states to blow up the orderly citizens. Then it becomes a crime against society. From what I have seen and heard, the ingredients of disturbances are much more freely and frequently sent out from these salvation-dispensaries, than are the healing medicines of Peace, Charity, and Goodwill. The cultured races of India, China and Japan are the most tolerant towards outside faiths in the world past and present, yet in spite of their long-suffering patience and charity, they have sacred ideals and institutions which they revere, as Christians do theirs, and being Only human after all, even if more philosophic, than we are, at times they do resent and punish outrages and ingratitude with senseless arrogance , when these go beyond human limits. It is also right for men and women to cherish an ideal, and be zealous and in earnest in the spreading of it, 76 so long as they do not attempt to force their ideals upon unwilling hosts. But if their earnestness and zeal de- generates into bigotry, and become positive outrages and dangers to the people who tolerate their presence, it is not wise nor proper philanthropy to provide such with the means of carrying out their persecutions ; when the money might be more usefully spent in educating these ignorant bigots to comprehend the true meaning and ethics of religion. It is also neither good, kind nor wise to spend money, to the ethical damage of men or women, or to waste their energies in profitless undertakings, when they might be made useful in other directions. The system that teaches men and women to live on charitable doles and donations, instead of by honest labour, must always be open to reprobation, as it teaches them to become falsifiers of figures and facts, while it deprives them of that spirit of independence which is the only stamp of manliness. We do not look for truth from mendicants. There have recently been riots and massacres in China, and after careful enquiry, I have found that these have been almost invariably caused by the stupidity, arrogance, injustice, and untimely interference of the missionaries, Protestants and Catholic. In some cases by their own irreverence, and contempt for native laws and institutions, and at times by atrocious infamies and crimes. I quote a few isolated instances which are public property in the East, although misrepresented, or suppressed, by mis- sionary publications. These I gathered from public court reports, naval officers sent to punish the natives, and other eye witnesses who were independent, unprejudiced, and honourable men. The Linchow Massacre, (Described/ in the China Overland Trade Report for November 13th and nth, 1905. Also by spectators.') From this account it appears that a Dr. Machle of the American Mission at Taoi-Yun-Pa, near the village of Ho-Tsom-Pui, to the west of Linchow, had, in defiance of 77 the Article 8 of the Tientsin Treaty of 1858, rushed upon a crowd of 300 Buddhists who were holding the festival of the first day of the tenth moon (28th October), and sacrilegiously laid hands on and damaged the sacred image of a Joss carried by the procession, insulted the head priest by knocking off his head-dress and otherwise mal- treating him, also taking from them some of their crackers and bombs. This Article 8 says : ' The Christian Religion, as pro- fessed by Protestants and Roman Catholics, inculcates the practice of virtue, and teaches man to do as he would be done by. Persons teaching or professing it, therefore, shall alike be entitled to the protection of the Chinese Authori- ties, nor shall any such, peacefully pursuing their calling and not offending against the laws, be persecuted or inter- fered with.' It must also be observed that the site upon which the mission station, with its Church House and two hospitals, were built, had beeni granted by the Chinese Government. It is said that the missionaries and the villagers were on: very bad terms together ; also to behave disrespectfully or sac- rilegiously to a Joss appears to be such an unthought crime in the eyes of the Chinese that there is no legal injunction extant, nor any legal penalty provided. After the perpetration of this unthought-of outrage, the crowd rose to a man, in their virtuous wrath, and soon increased to over 2,000. Fortunately for Dr. Machle, he had taken time by the forelock before the crowd re- covered from their first consternation, and made his escape, taking with him as his companion a Miss Patterson and leaving behind his wife and daughter, also a Mr. Peale and his wife and a Miss Chestnut. Dr. Machle and his friend escaped the fury of the mob by hiding in a cave all night up to their necks in water. But the others were ruthlessly murdered, and the mission burnt out. The Over-Zealous Missionary. Another instance happened which did not terminate so 78 tragically owing to the protection the officiating priest gave to the culprit. A missionary, fired doubtless by holy, if imprudent zeal, entered a temple during service, and commenced smashing the sacred images. The priest, however, seized the iconoclast., and pulling him behind the altar, before the enraged devotees could get at him, kept him safely locked in his cell till night, when he returned him to the mission house, with injunctions for his friends to look after the poor demented man in future, in case he got into trouble when no charitable person was near at hand to protect him. Salvation Mary. A Salvationist female profaned a temple, during ser- vice, by getting upon the altar and behaving uproari- ously with a tambourine, and shouting out blasphemies against the gods. Her sex and evident insanity saved her life with the tolerant devotees. They took her home also without molesting her. How would a Christian con- gregation be likely to treat a Buddhist if he entered one of our churches, and committed the same kind of sacrilege, during service ? Roman Priest Murderers. Another instance occurred lately — of fiendish ferocity and duplicity worthy of mediaeval times. Indeed, I don't know if the case is yet settled re the avengers. Some Roman Catholic priests invited the Chinese Governor of the town, where their mission was located, to dinner, and after vainly trying to get him to give them some con- cession, of money or land, which he could not grant because of its illegality, stabbed him in the stomach mortally. Afterwards they sent quickly to the Magistrate to say he had committed suicide. But the victim recovered con- sciousness befqre death and denounced his murderers, writing down how the crime had been committed, with the names of the culprits. On this occasion the people again rose and did some just retribution, according to the unwritten law of Judge Lynch. 79 A Little Home. At Shanghai I was told that a generous collection had been sent out to erect a new church and mission house. After the buildings were completed the missionaries acknow- ledging the donation added: 'We have now raised a spacious edifice to the Lord, and with the few remaining stones have managed to build a little house for ourselves besides.' My informant said that the buildings were there to prove that the little house was a large mansion, and the church about the size of a small barn, which had used up the few stones left after building the spacious mission house. 'Although,' he added sardonically, 'the little church was quite big enough for all the converts they had, or were likely to have, there.' These few examples out of many may show to the reflective reader the kind of self-sacrificing, sensible, and noble Evangelists which our Churches and Mission societies waste so much printed matter and postage stamps imploring help of the public to support and extend. Chapter IX. ROCK FACTS ABOUT MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. Traits of the Chinese — Why Missionaries are not Popular in the East — Some Evidences of their failure — Some Reasons Why a Japanese Prefers His Own to Our Faith — Financial Facts.* THE branches recognised as beneficial in missionary en- terprise are the medical and the educational through- out India, China, and Japan. But it is not true, as Mission advocates assert, that they introduced hospitals, schools, and benevolent institutions, as these were all flourishing in the days of Confucius over five hundred years B.C. throughout China, and have Been since. Nor can they take the credit of introducing western medicine * Note B. Missionary data 80 and modes of cure, as these had also been in use before the missionary arrived. Yet generally, and until they make themselves offensive, the secular teachers and medi- cal practitioners are welcomed everywhere, however much their doctrine and manners may be abhorred., The Chinese are an honest and just, as well as a tolerant race ; also kindly natured, strong and faithful in their friendships, and when treated fairly will not be easily prejudiced. Their own moral ethics are lofty acid deeply philosophical, and they are ready to accept all that reason approves of as good for the proper conduct of life. They are courteous, and have a sensitive sense of the obli- gations of hospitality, as their written byei-laws prove: — ' The Missionary ought to be treated courteously, like other foreigners, thus showing that we are a civilized nation, and missionaries ought to be more honoured, as they have come such a distance to exhort us to morality.' Holding such benevolent sentiments as the above, which I have taken from Mission reports, how comes it that the Chinese nation, to a man almost, regard all Christian missionaries who have lived with them with bitter and unrelenting hostility and hatred 1 I learn from the same Mission reports that they are acute reasoners, also that the prohibition of Missions was not on religious, but on socfal and political grounds solely, to prevent disputes, law-breaking, and dis- turbance. From the following authorities I cull a few rock facts for the use of such readers as may be in doubt as how best to spend their surplus money. These opinions have been circulated publicly in print for several years, and, as they have not been contradicted, we may assume them to be true : — Admiral Richards, in one of his communications to the British Government in 1892, wrote: — 'It seems to be the special aim of Missionary societies to establish themselves outside treaty limits ; and, having done so, they are not prepared to take the risks which they voluntarily incur, 81 but, on the contrary, are loudest in their claims for gun- boats, as their contributions to the Shanghai Press suffi- ciently demonstrate. It appears to be necessary, after the lessons taught by occurrences, that some understand- ing .should be arrived at with regard to Missionary societies in China. It seems altogether unreasonable that the societies should exercise absolute freedom in going where they pleaBe, and then that their agent® should look to her Majesty's Government for protection.' Dr. Dillon wrote: — 'All the Chinese ask of Europe is to Tae let alone ; or at least that missionaries who thrust themselves upon them shall respect their customs and institutions.' Mr. Little says: — 'In Ichang the Bibles that are dis- tributed broadcast are largely used for the manufacture of boot soles,' and, further, 'that no respectable Chinaman would admit a missionary into his house.' Also: — "The circumstances under .which missionaries claim the right to settle in all parts of China are of a piece with missionary " sharp practices " in other directions. The treaty of 1859 between China and Great Britain gives British mis- sionaries the right to settle in certain areas. The French treaty, concluded at the same time, has the same provi- sion for French subjects. But a supplementary conven- tion was drawn up a year later, and a clause inserted, without the knowledge of the Chinese signatories, giving French missionaries the right to settle anywhere. The- Chinese Government submitted to this fraudulent trans- action because it was not strong enough to resist. Thus the French claim the right to settle anywhere on the' strength of an act of deliberate fraud, and English mis- sionaries claim the same right because the French do- lt is a fine lesson on the nature of missionaries as " moralisers." (From 'Tang-tse Gorges,' pp. 234-5.) This: author also adds, that he ' doubts that China will ever be Christianised.' Miss Kingsley says of West Africa : — ' The evil worked G 82 by y what •we must call the Missionary party is almost incalculable.' Canon Isaac Taylor labelled the Tiighly-coloured accounts of the societies as ' so many pieces of deception practised on the British public' Sir H. H. Johnson, in his '' British Central Africa,' says : ' They are all so much " gammon " to encourage the British public to find funds.' Mr. W. G. Caine, M.P., said : ' Educated India is looking for a religion, but turns its back on Christ and His teach- ing (as presented by the Missionary. As far as turning the young men they, the missionaries, educate into Chris- tians is concerned their failure is complete and unmistakeable.' The Reverend Mr. Stone, dealing with the low standard of Christian living among the native preachers in India, writes that ' he is distressed at the ignorance of some, and the utter lack of earnestness in others.' Sir W. Temple said of the Hindu : — ' These people have considerable intellect, they are not easy to reason with, and cannot possibly be talked over.' The London Missionary Society reluctantly admits : — " We have little to record in the way of success among the high castes. The more successful work is among the lower castes who live in the outskirts of the city. These poor and degraded people who work as coolies in the streets are ready to receive teachers. They may not always be so, as the Government is talking of giving them education.' Mr. Gillispie, of the Irish Presbyterian Mission at Ahmedabad, in a pamphlet published in 1896, declared that the agents employed by the Salvation Army are often men of evil reputation, and those who join suffer both spiritually and materially from the change. That Mr. Booth-Tucker reports 25 families regularly at work whereas he found only one. That at Gugerat the Army claimed 75,000 ' adherents' and 10,000 enrolled soldiers, whereas he only knows of one man there who could be called a genuine convert. He knows Gugerat thoroughly, and chal- lenged them to produce 100 real converts. In Paneh 83 Mahala Mr. Tucker reported 3,000 members, bub be failed to find one, also tbat the parade of Salvationists before General Bootb, on one of bis Indian tours, was secured by selling red jackets at a quarter their value, and promising food and clothing gratis on future occasions. I could produce many more authoritative names and evidences as to the evil effects of missionary enterprise, but I abstain, for three reasons, i.e., from mercy, for I hold no brief against Christianity, if I do against swin- dlers, robbers, and incapables trading under its name to defraud the British public, and lead profitless and ignoble lives for the sordid sake of existing comfortably; and who bring the Faith into disrepute among the nations whom they trespass upon and wrong ; from pity for my readers, who may be already bored with these pitiful details, and from some consideration towards the author of 'Foreign Missions: Their Dangers and Delusions,' Mr. C. Cohen, to whose patient and deep researches I am indebted for much data outside my own experience. I now give a few of the numerous reasons, from the published work of a cultured Japanese, why he prefers his own Faith to ours. The author is called Oertse Yuempe, and his book ' The Worthlessness of Christianity ' was published (by Watts and Co.) in 1904. 'The advantages that have been derived from Chris- tianity in England, in addition to the wars, and massacres, and martyrdoms, are : — 1. A confused and erroneous notion of ethics. 2. A barbaric marriage service, which is almost ridicu- lous. 3. A practice of repeating what is not believed, bare- headed and with great solemnity, thus creating a portentous aptitude for decorous lying. 4. A State Church supported by involuntary contribu- tions from unwilling victims. This is the parent of a similar practice among London, county, munici- pal, and district councils. Also among boards of guardians. S4 5. Foreign missions. These include a sad waste of money, the cost of punitive expeditions, the damage to industrial markets, the contempt of all scien- tists, and the disgust of all philosophers. 6. The alliance of Convention and Christianity with Christianity and Convention. A fearful mesalliance. 7. The Irish priests, and a Christian dispensation for agrarian outrages. 8. The practice of making men dishonest by law, and driving them into a system of lies and subterfuges, to escape the fines and penalties. The old church rates, followed by their offspring, compulsory cow- pox and compulsory education, are computed to have made liars of all brave men, who are also poor. ' Jacob, an idol of the Church, has sometimes been blamed for marrying two sisters without waiting for the funeral of the first. He also robbed Esau of his birthright by counterfeiting his heirs and deluding Joseph. The first,, notwithstanding the Church, is not essentially wrong ; the second is. I now ; to finish up this missionary study, quote from some of the results of Mr. C. Cohen's most instructive work ' Foreign Missions,' who has gone into the financial figures as far as he could. Although, as he says, this has been difficult owing to the unreliability of many of their statements, financial and general, still, from some of the balance sheets he has managed to give some rather start- ling results; such as, after carefully calculating up the cost of each doubtful converted Jew, he finds that they work out at about £1,100 per head, each one represent- ing a year's labour of six well-paid converters. ' Unfortunately, so far as the number of the converted is concerned, one is compelled to depend upon the mis- sionary returns ; and, with whatever reservations these may be taken, we can at least feel assured that these under- estimate neither the quantity nor the quality of the work done. It has also to be borne in mind that these reports do not meet the eye of the general public as they leave 85 the hands of the agents abroad, but only after they have passed through those of their London superiors, who naturally take care that nothing of a too unfavourable character shall appear. 'The annual expenditure of the whole of the mis- sionary agencies of Great Britain is roughly estimated at about ome-ani-a-half milJujOins sterling. Of these societies the Church Missionary Society comes first, with an income for 1899-1900 of £404,906, and an expenditure of £367,268. These sums, however, do not include moneys raised and expended in the missions, which form no incon- siderable item, and about which no very clear information is given. There is appended to the financial statement a very cautiously worded certificate from a firm of accoun- tants, who confine themselves to the curiously empty state- ment that the balance-sheet is in agreement with the books of the C.M.S. Payments to missionaries is included under so many different heads — salaries, allowance for house, conveyance, education of children, etc. — that it is impos- sible to make an exact calculation ; but it cannot be less than £500 per head, and is possibly more. The collection of funds runs into an item of £25,843 4s. 7d., and their administration to £15,917 15s. 2d. Nineteen clergymen receive between them £5,432 6s. 8d., an average of just over £284 each, as "association" secretaries, and whose sole duty, so far as I can discover, is to preach a missionary sermon once now and again. The agents in the society's employ abroad, white and coloured, number 8,077. We shall see the nature of their performances later. 'Next in size comes the London Missionary Society, with an income of £150,168 14s 10d., and an expendi- ture of £171,903 19s. 7d. The foreign secretary receives £800 per year, the secretary £500, and the editorial sec- retary £400, which prove that these agents do not work for the love of the cause only. The retiring allowance for secretaries seems to run to £200 and £250 — as good terms as the best paid business secretaries ever get. This 86 society employs about 5,665 agents, and there is the same difficulty in finding out the cost per head as I have pointed out exists in the case of the C.M.S.' In India. ' I have placed under the heading of " agents " mis- sionaries, teachers, medical missionaries, etc. All help in the work of evangelisation, and we have to reckon their united efforts in estimating the results. In speaking of expenditure I am referring to the sums transmitted from Great Britian only. ' For the year 1899-1900 these latter (agents) numbered 3,424, Europeans and natives, and there was sent out for their support £113,630 17s. 6d. These 3,424 agents bap- tised during the year 8,423 people. Out of this number, however, 5,978 were children, and there is nothing in the report to indicate whether they are the children of existing Christians, of the adult converts, or simply children that have been baptised without their parents. 'Comparing the report for 1900 with that for 1896, we note that the total increase of communicants only num- bers 3,631, which, instead of giving us even 1,836, just about half the number, or 918 per year; or, in round figures, each convert represents an expenditure of £110 of English money and the year's labour of four missionaries, and these latter backed up by numerous charitable agencies such as schools, dispensaries, etc. 'Benares, with a staff of 27 agents, had 23 fewer communicants in 1900 than it had in 1895. ' The London Missionary Society has in India 1,844 agents, for whose support there was sent out, during 1899, the sum of over £47,000. In the report for 1896 the church members were returned at 9,809, and in that for 1900 at 10,998 ; there has been a consequent gain of 1,189 in four years. This gives us an average growth of 297 per year, without allowing for the increase of births over deaths; or, to look at the matter from another point of view, each additional church member represents the work 87 of six missionaries for twelve monthSj and an expenditure of £158 per member. ' At Berhampur there are forty-six members after seventy-six years' work. And tbe result of four years' labour, with a present staff of forty-eight agents, has been eight members^ — one convert to every twenty-four missionaries per year. ' Here, then, are the grand results in India of four of our principal missionary societies. They have maintained in round figures over 8,900 agents, have sent out from Great Britain in solid cash over £215,000, and have secured an increase in the native Christian community of about 2,500 persons. And, meanwhile, the bare increase of births over deaths among the non-Christian population must number at least a million per year. Instead of making progress they are actually, in proportion to population, losing ground.' China and Japan. ' According to the annual statement for 1899, the China Inland Mission has been evangelising China since 1854. Since its commencement, forty-six years ago, it claims to have baptised 11,495 men, women, and children. As a matter of fact, the total number of "communicants in fellow- ship " is returned at 7,895 only ; so that 3,600, a fairly respectable proportion of the whole, must rank as back- sliders, or doubtless figure as "converts" of some other society. During 1898 the 1,525 agents baptised 1,164 people, including children of existing converts. This would give us an average of four missionaries for every three baptisms, and an average cost of £45 10s. 6d. per baptism. ' Taking the societies in the order of extent of opera- tions, the Church Missionary Society comes next with a staff of 576 agents, and an expenditure of £31,321 6s. lid. The returns are given for three districts into which the work is divided — South, West, and Mid-China. In the first-named 314 agents baptised during 1899 744 adults and 343 children — a surprisingly large proportion of the latter. 88 In Mid-China 162 agents baptised 276 adults and ninety- six children. In West China forty agents baptised six adults and two children, forming a grand total of 1,026 adults and 411 children as the result of the work of 576 missionaries for twelve months. 'As the figures stand, and counting all as genuine, we should have the unusually large total of nearly two con- verts per missionary. But the society says nothing of losses, a by no means inconsiderable item, and is thus in the position of a business that takes no notice of bad debts in balancing accounts. ' At Canton there are 253 church members after ninety- three years' work. At Chiang Chiu, although there has been a " marked improvement in the attendance and greater eagerness to hear the doctrine," there has only been an increase of fifty-two in four years with twenty-five agents at work, the members numbering 357 after forty-eight years' work. At Shanghai there are 450 church members, including Europeans, after fifty-seven years' preaching. At Pekin there are 291 members, after twenty-one years' work with a staff of twenty-five. ' Japan is, perhaps, the most hopeless case of all, since the societies have to face an educated opposition that is fully alive to the nature of European culture, and quite as fully opposed to the Christian religion. Tbe principal English societies are the C.M.S. and the Society for ihe Propagation of the Gospel. This last-named body had, in 1889, seventy-nine agents, who baptised seventy-three adults — less than one per missionary, without reckoning losses — and received from England £2,812 9s. The C.M.S. , which operates on a larger scale, had in Japan in 1896 206 agents; in 1900 241. The figures for the various years are as follows: — In 1896 206 agents baptised 292 adults; in 1899 249 agents baptised 296 adults; in 1900 the baptisms numbered 461. So much for the gains, now for the losses. In 1896 the communicants numbered 1,646; in 1900 they are returned at 1,916. This gives us an increase of 270 in four years, or an average of 89 sixty-eight per year ; the 270 costing over £50,000. The losses seem more severe in recent years. Thus, in 1900 the communicants actually decreased by 117, which, when added to the 461 adult baptisms, gives a total decrease of 578. ' In the face of these figures there is small wonder that the reports have a somewhat pessimistic tone. The 1899 report sorrowfully admits that, "as a rule, the upper and moneyed classes stand vigorously aloof from Christianity." ' The Rev. A. B. Hutchinson also reports : " There is a constant lapsing or drifting away from our ranks. This fading of the Christianity of individuals and families is one of the saddest features in the story of missions in Japan." ' . .. I think it will be seen by any reader, not wilfully sell- blinded, that the men and women who are sent out as missionaries now on the foreign fields, are not the kind likely to convert any thinking heathen to Christianity, or do any useful work among them.* The labourers needed must be stronger-headed, broader- minded and better educated, as well as of more hero™ mould Not hirelings, thinking upon their wages a*d personal comforts, nor intolerant bigots. Not undesir- ables sent out in bulk to be a menace and a danger to Governments, and objects of ridicule and _ scorn to the races governed, but men capable of reasoning and with proper understanding of the true principles of tiuw Founder. Also men who are able to appreciate and learn from those they desire to help-if any such para- gon canT found and selected from the gross masses now crowding the already highly cultivated fields. Through all these Faiths which they would make per- fect runs the imperishable and unrootable sentiment of fiHalXotion J their ancestors, a beautiful sen timen Xch no dread of future punishment can destroy, i.e., if * Note B. 90 the teacher cannot promise salvation to the ancestors, they will never accept salvation for themselves, and to attempt to make converts on such terms is labour and money thrown away. Reason must also be appealed to, and Morality in its highest ethical sense. They will not blindly accept mysteries of doubtful origin, or of pur- poseless effect. Finally, the educated are better acquainted with our literature than the majority of the present mis- sionaries are, and they have no early training to control 1 or bias their reason. They know how we are divided and all about our controversies, and are not likely to accept, without conviction, what so many of us are so wildly disputing. Therefore, like Mr. Little, I have grave doubts about the abilities of even our greatest theologians to convince them, and so, until we have settled our own differences in Faith, I am of opinion that our benevolent good people should spend their surplus cash among our own poor and degraded, and leave, for the present at least, the more moral heathen to work out his own lofty ideals and wise efforts to salvation. INTERLUDE. CONCLUSIONS re FOREGOING FACTS AND' REMARKS. TT appears to me, from the former facts stated, that as> -*- a nation we are wasting our philanthropic energies and surplus funds where they are not required nor wel- comed; that our home produce of hard-up, benighted heathen requires our attention vastly more than does the heathen abroad ; also that our own houses need, at the present time particularly, a great deal of sweeping and garnishing before they are on an equality with the houses abroad ; and that we have been hitherto trying the hopeless task of extracting motes from other peoples eyes with broad beams in our own. 91 Give money aid Potent Philanthropists freely, for Mammon may be made the most potential friend to the poor, but do not give it blindly because your agent can put Reverend before his initials ; all are not reverend nor reverent, nor even ordinarily honest, who often use this decoying, prefix to draw the simple into their snares. Try to trust these agents as you would any other business agent with your capital, not as you would consider it culpable in legitimate business to trust, i.e., without pre- cautions and proper modes of checking and scrutinising accounts. Try to remember that Reverend gentlemen have been transported before now for pretty bad lapses from honesty and trust. Also that they are only fallible mortals and creatures of heredity and environment, therefore not impervious to temptation. Our home-bred savages and British made heathen are hungrily and imperiously crying for what you are recklessly casting away on strands where life conditions are much easier thanl in England. And as they sob and cry, wail and gnash their teeth, they are perishing morally and physically by hundreds of thousands, and their souls are passing to the great beyond — a ceaseless procession of protesting ghosts against our follies and mal-manage- ment of our own kin. Keep the missionaries where they may be made useful, and their actions somewhat better supervised than they can possibly be where you are at present sending them. Treat them also as we would treat other business agents, and not with fatuous credulity. If they are acting honestly they cannot object to have their account books properly audited. Only fraudulent rogues prate about pride and dignity when asked for details and credentials. England has now come to the pass, religiously, which ancient Rome came to politically in the fifth century a.d. We require all our legionaries and funds- at home to repel the nearer foes. At home, where Charity ought to begin. With this well-meant advice I end the first part of 92 these travels. Hitherto we have been passing old ground ; already described in my former book, ' A Colonial Tramp,' and which do not change rapidly, such as Port Said, Suez, and Ceylon — twenty years or so do not alter much the home of the Pryamids — therefore, I have only made a few obser- vations on them ee route. But, in the second part, I sail over fresh seas, as far as I am concerned, and mean to be as alert and observant as I possibly can. I shall aim at being less amusing, but much more serious in my descriptions. Possibly I may succeed in imparting new impressions ; probably I shall fail — for it is not given to every one to be original — yet all may be industrious, painstaking, individually independent, and, if keen-eyed, see some things whch may have escaped the less alert, if more highly gifted. On two points my readers may trust in me implicitly "these are: 'I will a plain, unvarnished tale deliver' — in my traveller's history — and, if I at times ' extenuate,' I shall never prevaricate, nor set down augiht in malice.' Up to now I have done my best to be amusing, concern- ing social ' fads ' and insincerities, also the weaknesses of Bitualism and Missionaryism. But I intend to be in deadly earnest when dealing with China and Japan. I am going to write what I saw with my own eyes, and heard with my own ears, as they impressed me personally during my flying visit, without any previous bias or acquired glamour of sentiment or poetry. If the artist in me forces me to use my pigments, as well as my pencil, realism will be my stern aim. When painting ' facts ' I hate to give them the appearance of Christmas cards. Note. — Since writing above, the author has read Mark Twain's satire on the Congo atrocities ; and from that evidence considers missionaries with kodaks may be of real service to humanity in the Congo Free States. King Leopold II. of Belgium already supplies the crucifixes and other Bomish rites, as he does the moralities of commerce and civilisation ; being a most Christian monarch and patron of charity. Of? PART SECOND. FROM COLOMBO TO SHANGHAI. COLOMBO. Chapter I. Tea Planters, etc. — Professional Etiquette — A Thorough Disguise- — Mark Twain's Small and Unappreciated Joke. I MANAGED to pick up a considerable number of kindly friends during the passage to Colombo, where- we parted, to meet again — when? And I don't think I made any ill-wishers on that liner. True, my Anglican acquaintance considered me a bit of a mocker, yet I dare- say comforted himself with the thought that I was sure to be punished hereafter for my want of respect, and this, with his contempt for my credulity in believing evil of the holy Inquisition, added to an acquired weakness of char- acter, prevented him from more than mild distaste. The authoress also had not relinquished hopes of subduing me, for she still smiled expectantly upon me when our glances- met. There were several genial Ceylon tea planters, who warmly invited me to visit their estates on my return. I felt sure of the sincerity of these invitations and how hospitably I would be entertained by each and all of them, because their characters in this respect were well known to me, and if I did not take advantage of their kindness it was from lack of time. I knew that if once tempted it would not be possible for me to get away before I had gone the round of the delectable island, and spent weeks- 94 *itih each planter. Therefore, I promised vaguely at some future time to break a journey. I have never yet met a churlish tea planter, hard as their struggles have been of late years. I also had a pressing invitation to go to Siam from its kindly Consul, but this also I was forced to resist. I live in hopes of doing so, however, some time * Colombo is to me crowded with pleasant memories of the different races who live there. To winter there, as my friend the medical specialist intended, would be the acme of enjoyment and rest, even although it is not quite safe to linger too long in the sun, and there are such uncomfortable things as cobras and mosquitoes about. Talking of this gentleman, he gave me a capital plot for a future story — I get any number of real incidents from people, which they consider must make good novels, but they have either been used before, or else seldom appeal to my dramatic sense. This plot, however, in its semi-tragic development, seemed fresh ; at least, I had not read any- thing exactly like it before. It was lold by my innocently asking the specialist's opinion as to medical professional etiquette, which simple question, to my astonishment, evoked an outburst from him as forcible as had been his philippic concerning motors. I had thought all doctors quite endorsed this law with approval, if not with pride. 'Pro- fessional etiquette,' he disgustedly snorted. 'It is the curse of our profession, making sneak- ing charlatans of honest men. It shackles our best inten- tions, curbs our knowledge, and forces us to stand helpless when we ought to expose a bungler, because he is on the medical list and has his degrees. It is the same sort of honour as that which is supposed to hold among thieves. It is a relic of the days when the practitioner, like the parson, was treated the same as a domestic servant, and was not permitted to sit with his patient, if his patient was a gentleman. In fact, it is the sa me kind of etiquette ' * Note C. 95 that rules the kitchen and servants' hall and prevents these gentry from revealing the peculations of a brother or sister servant. Nothing more than a reminder of former degradation and a premium to dishonesty.' I expressed my amazement that he should hold such strong views, but he replied vehemently : — ' Every self-respecting doctor holds them also, but has to submit, more or lesSj to that and other esoteric charla- tan inflictions and tricks of the profession. Our tyrannical Faculty Guild compels us, and we can only grin and bear it.' 'Would you stand by and see a man or woman in danger through mismanagement if you could prevent it by your interference- 1 ' 'It would be unprofessional to interfere, and if I can now do so, since! am a recognised authority in my own line, I dared not before I was in my present position. If I had I should have been censured and tabooed by the faculty, if not disqualified.' ' It seems outrageous,' I said. ' In any other line of business or profession a man is at liberty to show up ignorance or incapability. Indeed, he would be only considered as doing his simple duty to expose the charlatan. Should it not be more the duty of an honest practitioner, when life, limbs, or health are concerned?' ' It should, but it isn't. Let me tell you of a case in point that happened only recently, which I know, although I was not consulted, or the results might have been different. It should make quite a good romance, but it would never be regarded as fact. I tell you this story so that you, as a novelist, may help where I, as a practitioner, ■cannot, to break these galling and degrading fetters from my necessary and exacting profession.' He told me the story, which was one I can only trust is uncommon, of a country practitioner who evidently had mistaken his vocation, for which he had no more qualifica- tions than have many so-called cooks and clergymen. One of those sportive sparks, who dress themselves with stiff 96 collars and cuffs, affect flashy vests, loud neckties, and showy jewellery, who have the general air of commercial travellers or ' turfites.' The kind of medico one sees in small country towns and seaside resorts, who have managed to pass by the skin of their teeth, who dash about in dog carts with smart trotters, or vermillion painted motors, and who look exactly what they are : empty-headed, supercilious jackanapes; yet who consider themselves fine, infallible fellows, with whom the female portion of humanity must be ready to fall infatuated victims to their irresistible fascinations. The kind of superior dudes to be seen, along with the vacuous country curates, hanging about garden and lawn tennis gatherings, playing golf, or carrying flowers and baskets of fruit to their most interesting patients, and slaughtering people wholesale through their incapacity. This frippish ass had reduced one of his patients almost to a condition of imbecility by his bungling, and then frightened the wife nearly into the same condition by telling her that her husband was going insanet, and when at last the afflicted man consulted two other doctors, and showed them the medicine he had been taking, they at first con- demned the treatment as suicidal, under the impression that he had been doctoring himself, but when they learnt that a brother practitioner was the culprit, they turned round on their own words and backed up the defaulter, like- wise shaking their heads solemnly about the sanity of any man who declined to allow himself to be killed decently and professionally. ' That was surely vile on the part of these two doctors? r I remarked. ' Merely an instance of professional etiquette,' answered the specialist, sardonically. ' And how did the drama terminate? ' I asked, thinking about the domestic harmonies thus ruthlessly disturbed. ' Oh, tamely, tamely ; as most of these affairs wind up. The husband asserted himself at last, and persuaded the- wife to remove from the baneful influence. I expect how- 97 ever, judging from other similar instances, that the wife still believes in her husband's insanity, because three medical duffers told her he was, and when he chances to show a bit of temper, as all husbands do at times, tells him tearfully to be careful lest he goes mad again. He must have been insane, of course, to "Blame such a dear, clever, good, and well-dressed doctor. And, if the man is fond of his little woman, and not a surly bear, he will laugh pleasantly, and agree with her cordially, that he fancies he was rather mad at the time with her dear, good, clever doctor, and also can remember feeling some sort of un- reasonable contempt for those two consistent colleagues of the kind and infallible man.' ' He didn't thrash or kick the licensed humbug, did he? ' ' No. The licensed humbug prudently kept out of reach of his fist and foot." ' The ladies would never believe me if I wrote this out, and they would all persuade their men-folk not to do so either,' I said. ' I don't suppose they would. The public never do credit the truth. It is fiction they like best, nicely done up,' drily answered the narrator. Then, adding as an after thought: — ' Civilised husbands who are sensible, and value peace, have to grin and bear many customs and institutions apper- taining to civilisaton, which, if introduced to their cave- dwelling ancestors, would have produced — " clubs." Male advisers, spiritual or physical, for women are two of these tolerated, but not loved, institutions. Anthropologically speaking, I should say that the spiritual was the pre- decessor of the physical medicine man.' He was a plain speaker, this specialist. After a few more savage puffs at his weed he broke out again with : — 'We are a race far from being civilised yet, my friend. We oan hardly pretend to much civilisation while men doctors are allowed to attend upon women, which is an outrage on propriety that the lowest-grade savages would not tolerate. When we get more refined, men will look H 98 after men when they are sick, and women attend women. Sex modesty demands this; also that unquenchable and fierce jealousy which glows in the inmost heart of every real man who loves and owns a woman.' ' But men are stronger and steadier of nerve,' I mildly answered. 'Bah! Look at our young medical students of the present day. The cigarette smoking, morphical, or drunken neurotics who now fix M.D. to their door plates, and compare them as to strength, coolness, deftness, and nerves with women practitioners. You wouldn't hesitate long in deciding who are the best fitted to be doctors as well as nurses.' I have introduced this conversation to serve, if possible, the pwrpose for which it was told to me, at the same time stating my conviction that the large majority of medical practitioners are as lofty in principle as they are self- sacrificiBg, hard-working benefactors to suffering humanity, and that only a very small minority are dishonest or unworthy of their noble and devoted calling. We had a merry parting from the 'Moldavians,' who were going to Australia. But I regretted that I had not gone ashore with the other migrators instead of waiting to look after my baggage, as after I had taken my place in the tug I had a couple of hours to sit amongst the coal barges and the clouds of fine jet dust. One hour I sat alone quite unconscious of the effect on myself, watching the active Singalese carrying the coal haskets. Then a grave old gentleman joined me, with whom I had often conversed during the voyage out. I nodded and smiled to him cheerfully, but he merely acknowledged my friendly salute curtly, and sat silently and sombrely beside me. I felt a little hurt at his undue show of ' si'de ' ; I was surprised also when, after a few moments of silence, he asked : — 'Are you going on with us in the " Delhi "?' 99 I was under the impression that he knew this already, yet pleased to break the wall of icy reserve, I replied : ' Of course, Mr. Stevens.' He started at hearing his name, then regarded me with a little more interest, but with no signs of recognition. Then I began to fear that, as he had been ashore, he must have had a slight sunstroke and lost his memory. His next question convinced me of this. ' Did you come out with us 1 ' 'Yes.' 'Saloon?' 'Yes.' ' Singular ; I do not remember seeing you on board the "Moldavia."' ' Poor old fellow,' I thought, ' I must speak to the doctor of the " Delhi " about him as soon as we get there.' A few moments more, however, a light dawned upon my troubled mind, as I saw his face quickly take on the tints of a negro minstrel, and recollected that I had been sitting there for an hour amid the coal dust. At last we got away, by which time he was also unrecognisable. When I reached the ' Delhi ' I went straight to the bath- room, and looked at my face in the glass ; then I no longer wondered at the old man's stiffness. I couldn't recognise myself, nor could I have imagined that 1 could be so repul- sive as an Ethiopian. I was black, but, alas ! not comely. I went for that hideous visage first in the basin with soap and water, and after five or six rinsings out and fresh filling, I got the bulk of it off. Then I had a bath while the bath-man shook and brushed my clothes, after which I felt a little less ashamed, as I sought out my steward and cabin. I had not far to go, for I was located almost opposite the bath-room, and by good fortune had a deck cabin again all to myself, which is a rare comfort to a man who likes solitude. The 'Delhi' was a fine ship, 8,090 tonnage, and 8,000 horse power. Captain Gordon came on board to wish us bon voyage, also several of the officers, and as they sailed 100 before us we all yelled ourselves hoarse cheering as they steamed past us into the darkness. These ocean partings make the gravest grow like rowdy school boys. That night I stood, with some others, watching the lights of Colombo and the vessels reflected in the waves with a bright star-filled sky overhead. We could not turn in until we had made a start, which was long after mid- night. The chief engineer was a marvellous teller of stories, speaking a End of Newcastle Scotch, and calling himself a ' Cockney.' He had spent much of his life in the Orient, and kept us well entertained, until a message was sent out from the fair authoress that we were disturbing her slumbers, so we were forced to whisper for the rest of the time. I rather wondered at this lady wanting to go to sleep, with such a wealth of adventure and information so freely given to her, thirsty as she was generally for items, and which she never could have acquired through cross- questioning. Perhaps, however, she had exhausted herself probing people ashore that day ; or objected to us being happy. I had observed before a decided talent in her for saying disagreeable things to those about her when they were enjoying themselves. And this reminds me of a little story about Mark Twain, which I had at first hand, and which I trust may not have been printed before. The narrator had sat next to him at dinner while he was entertained at one of the Lady Authors' Clubs in London. She said : — 'I had heard so much of Mr. Twain's spontaneous humour, but I must' say I was disappointed, for he only spoke once to me the whole time and that was to ask a question and to make a meaningless remark after my answer.' 'What did he say?' I asked. ' He appeared frightened at the ladies, and whispered solemnly, 'Are all these authoresses?' I answered, " Oh dear no. I am not. I never published a line." ' ' " Let me kiss that lily hand," he said quickly, with 101 what seemed a tone of relief. Now, I fail to see any humour in such a silly remark. Do you 1 ' I laughed softly, while I wondered if it could be true that the fair sex cannot appreciate wit, unless it is made very plain to them. Chapter II. EN ROUTE. New Friends — On Pride and Peace — A Warm Musical Science! — I Escape the Authoress — Gratuitous Slander. • T HOPE you don't object to sit next to a coloured X gentleman ? ' said the chief steward to me next morning, before breakfast. ' Certainly not,' I replied, then asked : ' What is he? ' ' A Parsee.' ' Then I hope he won't object to sit next to me.' The dining-room of the ' Delhi ' had one long centre and a number of small tables on each side. It was at one of these I sat and it held six chairs. Five of us sat here, one chair being vacant, that on the left of the Parsee gentle- man, while I occupied the top. Whether any other pas- senger had declined this vacant chair I know not, and trust not. Yet one never can tell what stupidity or rudeness a free-born Briton may descend to when he goes abroad. Racial and family pride are peculiar as well as savage and repulsive vices. Yet, like vanity and horse-radishes, they are hard to uproot and destroy. I grow the wretched weeds myself in my own private garden, therefore can speak with authority. We are all brothers and sisters, of course, I know, descended from the same old original 'Molluse, greatgrand- child of the aristocratic and mighty first Atom, by way of the ring-tailed ape, or Adam ; or, as the scientific house- keeper so aptly observed : ' We all descend from Dr. Dar- win.' Yet there are some of these dear kindred whose room 102 we would prefer to their company, and with whom alliances would be a big sacrifice to a properly emancipated serf, such as flunkeys, waiters, ' hupper '-servants, and lords, when they insist on the privileges, traditions and per- quisites of their ' classes.' I chanced to take a long voyage at one time with two females who had the legal right to prefix their names with ' Lady.' One was the frosty-faced, lanky daughter of an impecunious Earl, and the other had it from her husband's rank. For two months these foolish and mean wretches stuck to their own dreary company, refusing to recognise their fellow passengers and surround- ing themselves with a chilly atmosphere of ridiculous dignity. The Earl's daughter when asked to contribute, as the other passengers had done, to a donation to the ' Sea- men and Firemen's Widows' and Children Fund,' angrily asked the chosen treasurer how he dared to address her for such a purpose, and was not abashed when he replied that he feared she might have felt insulted had she been passed over. The other brought with her some vile goose- berry labelled ' Champaigne ' and kept the deck steward fetching and carrying the bottle to and from the pantry, where it was laid on ice, after she had taken her small methodical glass. She measured each bottle when it came, and went to see that nothing had been abstracted during the intervals, and made each last so long that the contents positively rotted before the bottle came to its acrid end. She likewise made a furious to-do about paying for ' cork- age.' Dame Nature had also been unkind to these unfor- tunate degenerates of heredity by denying to them come- liness, personal attractions, and good taste. Their sharp noses were red, their visages pinched with discontent and penuriousness, their thin lips compressed, their figures angular and bony, while they dressed themselves badly, besides showing their silly contempt of their ship-mates by wearing their shabbiest gowns. Now, I would not call such creatures adornments to any society, or sisters any man in search of happiness would care to make nearer and dearer relatives out of. Yet they were both married, though now 103 travelling alone. Perhaps the absent husbands found it better so for comfort and domestic harmony. Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ came into this world to teach socialism and universal brotherhood, but the savage races were not prepared to unite, so they crucified Him and His immediate followers. For two thousand years since, the tenets of universal brotherhood have been ex- pounded from churches and pulpits, while the expounders have supported ' castes,' and other racial principles. That race-feelings still prevail among civilised (?) as among savage tribes prove that mankind is not yet nearly ready for redemption. I firmly believe in this kind of socialism, and also that it will be universally adopted in time, for it alone can destroy such preposterous follies, which are merely tribal prejudices, and restore the proper balance of society. To end war for ever mankind must be united as one kindred, not divided into rival races. True socialism aims at achieving this universal brotherhood, which will mean the millennium. But when statesmen, priests, and soldiers reason otherwise they are only looking after their own class interests, and their logic is that of the monopolist and fighting savage, or ' Toa.' As for native lands, or fighting for crowns, it does not matter how we are to be kinged or called. ' Native and patriot of the earth,' should be sufficient for the most fervent patriotic enthusiast — until we are allied with worlds beyond. Yet, until such blessed conditions are established, i.e., until racial hatreds, with the causes, king-craft and caste-craft, are abolished, there must be war and rumours of war, and while these exist the country and enlarged tribe are safest who are the best pre- pared against surprises and the most likely to enjoy longer peace. For one tribe to disarm or reduce its power of defence while other tribes are increasing their forces is simply suicidal. The Parsee on my left interested me from the first; afterwards, when we grew more ultimate, I learnt to love him for his beauty of character, gentleness, and purity. 104 Denshaw Mistry was his name, and his work lay in Hong Kong to which he was returning after a visit home to Bombay- I stall write about him later on, as he did me much kindness and good and returned my affection with sincerity. On my right sat a young Scotchman going to a post in Manilla; he was a son of a minister of the Established Church of Scotland, and imparted a good deal of informa- tion concerning the private affairs of this confraternity, which, being private, I kept as a ' rod in pickle.' But this I may reveal without infringing confidence, my informa- tion wasn't the least like the petty incidents told by Ian Maclaren or Dr. Barry ; in fact, it made the ' Little Minister ' appear like ' Peter Pan,' a fairy tale without a realistic touch about it. David was a candid youth, fresh coloured and sharp, but he was going to escape from the iron control of home rather than with any great hopes of enjoying life in Manilla. The gentleman next to him was Colonel Furse, the nearest approach to my ideal of a Christian that I have yet met. We were much together on board, for endurance and courage such as his is magnetic. Also we lived in neigh- bouring rooms at the hotel in Hong Kong while I was there, and I was looking forward to a longer and a closer friend- ship after we got back from our journey — but, alas ! it was not to be. He passed away at Yokohama and his body was brought home, to be laid beside the Sodger Boys he had loved in Aldershot- He had a long and honourable service behind him in India and elsewhere, and had written several books on the art of war. When I asked him where he had learned his toleration and Christianity, two qualities not often to be met combined, he said : ' From my mother. I find it difficult to write lightly when I recall Colonel Furse, yet as amusing incidents seem to occur wherever I go, and a few happened while with him, I'll try to forget that I've lost a friend for earth-life and think of him as still within postal range. The man at the bottom of the table was also an interest 1UD ing study. He was an agent of some kind for the Stock Exchange, his head-quarters being at Marseilles, and for eight months every year he travelled constantly over the Orient ; the other four he rested at home. What he did I do not know, although he explained the work to me elaborately, but it was like an explanation in abstruse mathematics to a man who had never got beyond simple addition. I comprehended as much after Ee was finished as before. In my own mind I had put him down as a secret agent of Government, for the same reason that Eve named the dodo, because he looked like it. Possibly he was. He was a great reader of novels and knew mine thoroughly, as he knew most things, and was a first rate dinner conversationalist, having seen and observed so much. His face was rather waxy and sallow and his eyes a nonde- script and expressionless blue that never gave themselves away, but his laugh was spontaneous and genial and he jerked out a heap of up-to-date news in short, abrupt sentences, like telegraphic messages, where words were silver, even golden-priced sometimes, and therefore had to 6e carefully selected and used sparingly. We had got under weigh about two o'clock a.m., and next morning were hugging the coast of Ceylcn the spicy, the distant mountains swimming softly in vapours, fine headlands of abrupt peaks and half-revealed valleys. Then the quicksilver sun appeared in a lemon space and the hills were veiled. Fishing boats and catamarans glided over the dancing ocean like nautilus fleets. By and by, as the day advanced, the mountains again appeared, and gradually grew more solid. Then we could trace lap beyond lap of green forests and brighter-hued hill- sides and fields, the middle distance ochrish-grey and the farther folds of azure haze. About midday 1 made a pencil sketch of Adam's Peak from the shelter of the upper deck, for it was too sultry to sit under the awning above. The authoress, moreover, was up there, which held me to the main deck. During the afternoon, while still sketching, the 106 sapphire sea became rougher, while a strong but moist wind blew over us without any other effect than making us limp and dank within our light flannels. The ship com- menced to pitch heavily, which, added to the muggy atmos- phere, made most of us more or less sick. The sun sank mellow and soft amid banks of vapour. All that night we rolled along and I had to hold on to the side of my bunk to keep from falling over. In the morning it was finer, but the sea was still rough and the weather exceedingly hot, so that I was glad to get into the bath alley and put on my pyjamas. During the afternoon Denshaw Mistry invited me to his cabin in the lower deck near the pantry to hear some Persian music on one of the ancient Indian instruments. I went, and as he was rather sensitive to ridicule he carefully closed the door, the port- hole being already screwed down, as the waves dashed over them. I have been in hot quarters before, but this beat them all, and made me realise what it must have felt in the Black Hole of Calcutta during the Mutiny. My gentle entertainer, Denshaw, being an Indian, did not seem to heed it much, although he also perspired profusely. He sat on his bed trumming the strings and shrilling strange sounds and words in a voice that broke from keen falsetto to abrupt bass discordancy ; I leaned back in his chair gasping and torpid with anguish unutterable. At last, feeling sure of taking heat apoplexy if I stopped there any longer, I thanked him faintly and staggered to the open. When I looked at my throbbing f?use an hour after- wards it was like a boiled beet-root and swollen almost to bursting point, I kept a wet towel on my head for the rest of that day, and ever after wore a large red-coloured cotton handkerchief, steeped in water, turban-fashion. This Oriental termination made me a great object of interest to the Indian seamen, and a subject of some amuse- ment to my own kind, yet it was too comfortable to aban- don during the hot weather for a little derisive chaff, much more so than my pith helmet, and I didn't at all mind 107 being dubbed ' Nisbet sahib.' At nights we carried our mattresses to the deck and thus were able to sleep. The indefatigable authoress stalked me down several times, in spite of my wily attempts to evade her, and drove me desperate. It had come to be generally understood by this time how mortally I feared her, and everyone did their utmost to help me. When I could no longer endure my oabin, being on the wrong side for any wind, I used to place my deck chair outside the bath alley. Here I drew in a supply of ozone, keeping my eyes on the watch for her approach. If she was on the way someone would generally sing out as they passed : — ' She is coming, Nisbet. She'll be round the corner in another minute.' Then I'd dash into the bathroom and wait there tremblingly until she had passed, when I was again informed that the danger was over for the time. But sometimes I became absorbed in my book, notes, or sketch, then she caught me and made up for lost time and sucked my brains like the secuba until I felt, as Balzac describes so vividly, ' a dried-up houseworm.' She was an appalling woman, who would go far and trample down many obstacles in the attaining of her purpose. Yet let us give the lady her due. She was respectable even to conventionality in morals and religion and reverenced the missionary. Personally not uncomely she likewise knew how to dress, which is a much more attractive gift than that of mere tactless beauty. Her observances also as to decorum were correct, that is, she kept to the orthodox bounds of well-bred insolence and ' sang froid ' which is considered quite proper now. No one could ever have accused this lady of friskiness nor frivolity. She was too savagely in earnest for light- ness. She was propriety personified, a virago of virtue. A perfect dragon of decorum. The man must have been a very bold, as well as an exceedingly bad one, who could have dared to approach her except with the deepest of respect. I used to dream about her sometimes and suffered then 108 horribly. I cannot remember her shape or features, as I was never bold enough to look at her straight in case she hypnotised me. At last, driven beyond endurance, I grew reckless and wanton. One day when she had squatted beside me before I was aware of her proximity she began reproachfully :— 'Wherever do you hide yourself, Mr. Nisbet. I have been hunting for you everywhere.' ' In the bathroom,' I answered rudely. ' What a curious place to sit in all day. I wanted you most particularly.' ' What for? ' sullenly, for I saw several of the passengers watching us and laughing. ' We are getting up a progressive whist party and I have taken the liberty of putting down your name. Tou play whist, of course 1 ' ' No, madam,' I replied grimly. 'I am not at all social nor gentlemanly in my habits. I neither play cards, fish, shoot, hunt, golf, take a hand at tennis, nor in any way make myself useful to society.' ' Oh ! ' she replied rising and preparing to move off. ' What an extremely difficult person you must be to enter- tain.' I admit that she had the best of me in this encounter, also that it was unpardonably rude on my part. I am not usually so, because I like best to circumvent unpleasantness by unconsciousness or evasion rather than by insult. But I was sorely beset ; besides, I had been warned against her as a slander-loving and spiteful person, with whom it was not safe to trifle with. Also, I had known one instance of what she was capable of since we had been on board which seemed somewhat of an excuse if not a justification. A young man joined us at Marseilles who was rather bumptious and lumpy and whom we called the cub. He was going to take a responsible post at Singapore and had never been from home before. He was a Baptist and a con- stant attendant at chapel and Bible class, a strict abstainer, and as free from original sins as a strict mother and a 109 Nonconformist pastor could make him. In fact, he was just a trifle too unsophisticated in the world's wicked ways to trust so far without fear. His consequential airs were put on mainly to cover natural bashfulness. I quickly discovered all this and also won his confidence when I told him I knew his beloved pastor. But he was a bois- terous, healthy boy, massively built and perfectly candid about his antecedents and ready to take a hand in any fair game and stand good temperedly both chaff and rough and tumble. The authoress tackled this guileless youth, and after getting all the information she could out of him she went about telling everyone that he was an American and a frightful scoundrel who had been in prison for robbing his employer, and sent out by his friends to prevent him from disgracing them any further. 'I know all about the blackguard,' she said, quite decidedly; 'he dare not return to his native country, for the conditions are that the sup- plies will be stopped as soon as he lands there.' This most unmerited and groundless slander was told me by several whom she had informed, also by the youth himself, who had heard her relate it, unconscious at the time that he was the object of her malignancy. I should have heard it also had I not kept her so well at bay, there- fore I trust the reader will pardon me for my rudeness to a woman. After this she left me severely alone, but what she said about me I did not enquire. Something tasty and richly flavoured I have no doubt. Yet I should not have insulted this dragon of virtue had she withheld her envenomed sting from that most inoffensive young cub who was going so buovantly into the unknown battle of life. 110 Chapter III. THE TROPICS. A Talk with Denshaw Misfcry— Colonel Furse— How to Prepare for the jTropics^— On Ditft- A Hard but Necessary Law— The Straits and Penang^-My First Kickshaw Ride— The Bee and its Lesson. JANUARY the sixteenth we reached the dolarums and had some rich cloud effects, the atmosphere stiflingly close, so that lying on deck chairs was exertion enough with'the filling and emptying of pipes. The ocean was oily and still, while shoals of flying fish skimmed the surface. I was much too languid to read, therefore welcomed my Parsee friend, Denshaw, and his companion, a Hindu doctor attached to the Sepoy regiment at Hong Kong. Together we passed some pleasant hours conversing religion, theirs and mine. It is nearly always about religion that these philosophic people speak when they are together; noti heated discussion, but to the Straits of Malacca, and getting distant views of the north-west coast of Sumatra, passing Achin and Pulawav Island, with misty mornings and hot. clear nights. The Southern Cross and other constellations blazed out brightly. The land also was bold and picturesque. I began to be industrious with my pencil now. Of course, in these latitudes travellers expect to find trying weather, naturally, and make preparations accordingly, or at least they should if they desire to pass through them with a modicum of comfort. It is not the change of raiment which makes the difference so much as the change of habits. I prepared myself early for the tropical encounter bv eating and drinking as sparingly as possible, eschewing such luxuries as ham, bacon, butter and oHier heatpro- ducing foods, also limiting myself to one dish only at each meal. This single dish system I have continued with gre it advantage to health and comfort. Of course, I don't state my regime as a rule, for everyone is differently constituted, therefore must take what agrees best with them. For breakfast I took one helping of fish, or one egg, or a piece of fowl, with dry toast and tea. For tiffin a biscuit, a little stewed fruit cold, and a small Apojlinaris water, without ice. I avoid ice always as much as possible and never touch it in hot latitudes. Tea in the afternoon with biscuit or cake without milk or sugar ; I use saxin to keep down as far as I can my obnoxious adipose tendency. At dinner I took one helping only of meat, beef, mutton, or fowl, but never veal or pork, with a little vegetable, but no potatoes, a crust or biscuit did instead, with another bottle of natural water to wash them down. Nothing more until 6 o'clock tea next morning. Albeit a fairly heavy tobacco consumer, I seldom suffer from thirst, so that, as a rule, I never tasted fluid between meals. I am aware that animals must drink a certain amount of fluid each day, particularly in hot countries, but I fancy that I imbibed the necessary amount in the tea and Apollinaris. The consequence of this restricted diet was 113 that I never felt so hot as other more lavish eaters and drinkers looked and said they were i while despite my breadth and thickness I felt light, and seldom rose with a bad taste in my mouth. It was rather monotonous I admit, but I have learned not to consider whaf is placed before me greatly, although at one period I was fond of cooking for others, and have been told I was passable at this fascinating work. The momentous and much-advertised modes of reducing corpulency may, I think, be put into a nutshell. There is only one sure method, but thai; requires such will force and self-sacrifice, with patience, such as some could not endure. It is this : First, study what foods disagree most with you and contain fattening qualities and avoid them ; secondly, weigh your food, after finding out how little is required for nourishment, and stick rigidly to the exact and smallest amount. In this way anyone may lose one pound per week — but not everyone can be happy in the losing. After we had left the torrid and approached the frigid zone I stoked, however, for all I was worth at heat pro- ducing dishes, without any consideration for the inches I was adding to my waist, my main endeavour then being to keep out the penetrating cold. , The power of being able to abrogate or indulge is merely a gift of heredity, which a man has no more reason to boast about than he has of having been born wealthy or noble. If my ancestors had not given me a healthy body and a certain force of will, as they bequeathed to me a few other qualities, I could not regulate life as I do to make it a series of experiments. Of course, we are glad to be grate- ful to our ancestors for some things when we can. Being one of the lucky fortu'nates bom with balance, instead of inordinate and resistless desire, I have been able to draw up and retire before going over the precipice, yet I have often been extremely close to the edge. Close enough to feel dizzy as I looked down. I think if a man wishes to feel really free he must learn to force himself to do without in the midst, of plenty and keenest desire. Then, if Fortune I 114 should ever leave him bankrupt, want cannot be so great an affliction. The captain of the * Delhi ' was a quiet and able com- mander, who did his duty conscientiously and encouraged passively the passengers to enjoy themselves. The officers also were good tempered, orderly and contented, if not quite so cheerful as I had seen them on previous voyages. I noticed also that they did not mix with the passengers as they were used to do formerly. When I enquired why I was told of a new rule of the company which prohibited any intimacy. It seemed hard lines for these smart and gay young sparks to be curbed in this way and not permitted to do more than, like the Peri, look on from the outside during their hours off duty. Hard on some of the ladies also, wasting their sweetness on the ocean air. I promised to speak to Sir Thomas Sutherland on my return and do what I could to get the ban removed. But when I saw him and heard the reason of the prohibi- tion I could not help approving. The stem rule had been enforced after the wreck of the ' China,' a loss due mainly, if not entirely, to the fatal fascinations of the gentler sex. Now the ladies have to confine themselves to rather tame flirtations while on the ocean wave, while Jack has to be constant to his lass ashore. Formerly it was not so. The nights, as we neared the Straits, were weird and electric in effects. Strange shaped clouds rushed up from the horizon, illuminated with rapid pulsations of wild fire, and darting out constant discharges of forked lightning which roused thrilling emotions as we wafched, like a Walpurgis Night, depicted on the stage by the late Sir Henry Irving. Lividly, yet softly, the clouds lay as if motionless over a sullen plain, while above the space glistened with bright stars, and blazing planets. There seemed a sensation of Fate hanging heavily upon us as we leaned over the side smoking and brooding. Next morning we passed through the bold, rocky ' Gates ' and gilded towards Penang, with a grey, cloudy sunrise and 115 bottle-green sea. Picturesque fishing junks, with their mat sails and bulky hulls, moved about in all directions and detached reeds rose out of the waters. Then the mist dispersed as the sun rose higher and more golden, giving the cane i -jointed sails Turneresque tints, and while we still gasped with pleasure at the radiant glory of it all the anchor dropped and we were there. Penang is the oldest of the Straits Settlements, and is separated from the Malay Peninsula by width of from two to five miles. It is fiat near the coast and hilly towards the centre, the highest peak, called Mount Elvira, is 2,384 ft., latitude 5 deg. 24 min. north, longitude 100 deg. 21 min. east. Its length is fifteen miles and its breadth nine. The chief products are nutmegs and cloves, said to be the finest in the world, also cocoanuts, ginger, and rice. The population is mixed, as might be expected. European, Chinese, Malays, and Tamils, also a considerable number of the four races evenly and unevenly blended. Morality is not severe on this island. It is told that a tiger once upon a time swam across the Straits attracted by some- thing unusual, and carried away the only severe specimen packed carefully inside, and that it was a young man fresh from Exeter Hall. Since which time Penang has not been visited by any more tigers. The island is administered by a Kesident Councillor, and the name of 'Baffles' is honoured. There is a hotel called after him, which, how- ever, I did not patronise, but others who did informed me that they preferred the ship tiffin. We lay a considerable distance from the shore and had to be taken to the wharf in a small tug. Here I had my first rickshaw ride, and felt horribly ashamed of seeing a man between the shafts. But after a very short time I felt more ashamed for myself at finding how quickly this proper shame at another man's degradation wore off, while an ancient Koman-Pa^rician-like hauteur began to pervade my being, like the effects of a glass of adulterated whisky. Before long I was acting like the othe* tyrants round me and imperially pointing with extended finger the direction 116 I wished my slave to take ; then I knew {hat my degrada- tion was complete, and my Eastern education fairly begun. We passed along streets of Chinese and English shops and avenues lined with palms. It was hot and dusty and my slave's bare, copper-tinted back glistened with perspiration, while every now and then he tossed aside his black tresses and turned to me slanting, dangerous looking, enquiring eyes. At last he ran me into the courtyard of a hotel, and dumping me down in the sunshine dropped limply himself in the shade. I took the hint, and went inside to rest and smoke another cigar. After I had paid off my human beast I stopped to watch a new kind of bee posing above a scarlet flower. It was small, with black wings, and the lower half of its body also of sable velvet, while the upper half was deep orange colour. As I watched it I reflected on the habits, order and govern- ment of bees in general, and compared them with our own. I had been lately reading a book written by a military gentleman, Major Stewart Murray, and entitled ' The Future Peace of the Anglo-Saxon,' with this strange device, if peace was to be the aim, on the cover : ' Think Kacially ; Cling Together.' The thought occurred to me that a finer motto than this might more surely secure the peace of the world in the future. It would be: 'Think Universally; Cling To- gether.' To any thoughtful student of past history and observer of passing events the future stands clearly enough defined, whatever war or political oppositionists may say. That is the merging and unity of nations into one people, and government by the workers and producers, as the work- ing bees govern in their hives. Kings, Dukes, Lords, Churchmen, and other puppets of State-stages must eventually dance to the tune of the fiddlers, while the fiddlers must be the supervised servants of the workers. The long night of superstition is breaking fast, and already the first signs of dawn are showing through the paling stars. 117 There need not be any sudden overthrow in political, social, nor religious matters. As + .he workers are educated their feudal fetters drop, for they are already worn thin and rusted to the core. In the future it will not Be possible for masters such as the Russian Czar and his corrupt Grand Dukes, or the German Kaiser, with his spiritual and temporal aids, to dominate freemen. In the future these tyrants must lay aside the rods and try cajolery— as long as the freemen workers care to be cajolled, no longer. The secret of England's present supremacy is that the subjects rule their king, and make use of pageant and ceremony as stage accessories, as they would use such for any other entertainment, to amuse them ; and they do not grudge good actors adequate wages to play their parts to the best of their abilities, whether in the roles of monarchs, churchmen, statesmen, or popular military heroes. Melo- drama is fast going out of fashion with the real controllers of the earth, the workers, as they advance in their educa- tion and knowledge of things as they really are. And it does not matter much whether the actors and buffoons who amuse them are by birth German, English, Russian, French, Italian, or Japanese. They will have to play to please their audiences or else— be dismissed. Thinking freemen are wearied of supporting conditions that have no termination, but only accumulate evils. War implements are getting too expensive and large and do not last long enough to justify the expenditure, nor do they affect the purpose of their purchase. There must be a limit reached, or earth and ocean will not be able to hold them in time. War grows in magnitude too rapidly. It will kill itself by congestion, or destroy humanity. To the most ordinary reasoner this fatal termination can only be a question of time, or — amputation. War advocates, as inculcators of peace, are only tem- porisers. The remedies they produce are stop-gaps and alleviators, not cures. Sedatives to give momentary sur- cease from the pain of the cancer which can only be cured 118 by removal. War cannot be ended this way— only increased in horror and magnitude. These antiquated racial appeals are primeval and of the stone period. Only savages consider tribal interests when the question of humanity has to be discussed, i.e., their village or their chief. As man advances in civilisa- tion he increases his village and circumscribes his chieftain. One chief is like another and could not exist without the support of the workers, unless he became a worker also. Circumscribed, they can be all as harmless as drones. With powers unlimited they become dangerous enemies to communities, as wasps and hornets in the hive of bees — they can be either wasps or drones, as they are treated— all after the honey. Workers have first claims from workers. Their wants should be studied first and supplied before the honey is scattered. To teach mere truths more missionaries and schoolmasters are wanted to those who have been hitherto suppressed and kept in ignorance by their preachers and their tyrants. This is the new religion of earth, that Jesus Christ came to teach and was crucified for us on Calvary, not theological definitions of Hades. The creed is easily learned. It is simple, short, and is contained in the beati- tudes. Modernised it reads thus : — 1. Think universally, not racially. 2. Decline to fight. It is wiser to change a country than to lose a comrade. Better to lose a king than to lose a life. 3. Let the makers of war fight their own battles ; that will be less expensive and more satisfactory than building great ships and murderous guns or tearing the workers from their fields, shops, and families. Teach the races, white, yellow, brown, and black, to know this simple cure for war. 4. Cultivate the friendship of mankind, not its fear and hatred. We want peace, not power, and must seek it with friendship, since it only retreats before fear, as old systems have proved. When the workers decline to get themselves slaughtered 119 the commanders will have to carry their own banners and beat their own drums. If they cannot agree who is to be the star mummer, they can fight mummic stage duels and leave the audiences to imagine armies, after which the audience can decide by vote if the best fighter is also the finest actor, and if he is not then he can be dismissed and another put into his vacant place. It will be simple, effectual, and inexpensive. Aerial's band encircles the globe now, so that communi- cation will be easy between the different centres. Diplomats and statecraft will be as unnecessary as monopolists and rulers are. The sums now spent uselessly on destruction will help to Build civilisation, advance commerce, science, art, and general prosperity. Also to suppress crime and control criminals. It may be a work of time to remove ignorance, but this is a more glorious field for mission work than the teaching of theoretical dogma, and self-protecting precautions can be taken until these truths are universally accepted, which it must be eventually by those most interested in peace — the workers. Then it will be as impossible to make a war as it is under the present system to avoid one for long, because the races will have no special country nor king to fight about. Humanity has only one race. The other races are those of the beasts, birds, fish, and insects. Separate countries and racial patriotism are obsolete relics of primeval and mediaeval times, and the proper names for such patriotism is savage hatred and narrow jealousy. Man is man's brother patriot, and earth is his birthright. The spot he was born upon, or buried under, is no more to be regarded than separate houses in a village. The time is fast approaching for parochial patriotism to be despised and a wider range of vision to be taken. Animals, in their natural state, give us object lessons in eating and drinking. Insects teach us how to govern economically and wisely. 120 In the future the workers, by general consent, will refuse to leave their work to shoot at a working comrade to please the caprice of their amusers, who only want to starve them both. They will take what God gave them in whole and not be satisfied with only a tithe. That portion will be good enough for the drones, who only amuse the working bees by their antics. The working bee deserves the best of the honey, not the non-productive drones. And if these drones become a burden too heavy and troublesome to endure, then the bee-workers will teach the men-workers how to keep them within limits. The Bees know how to govern properly. God taught them. He never errs nor alters his progressive systems. Nature is always working. That is how peace will be produced in the future, by unity, not by thinking racially. I read my notes to my experienced war-trained friend, Colonel Fursej and he was forced to agree with me from the ultimate and humanitarian side of the question. As an old soldier, however, he considered that until such ideas were generally accepted, England, as the most beneficial power, should guard her privileges and responsibilities, and not leave herself in a position to be suppressed and con- quered. I agreed with him there. He also pointed out that Peace Conferences between rulers and their representatives were sheer follies and waste of words : ' As well ask a queen bee to interfere in the settlement of the drones because she had married one of them.' Everyone who keeps bees knows what becomes of that chosen drone. Get a universal conference of the workers to decide the question and, like Othello's, the soldier's occupation will be gone for ever. Formulate a grand missionary enterprise on the lines of Christ's immortal mission, ' peace and goodwill on earth,' and the swords shall become ploughshares. The recent frightful conflict between Russia and Japan is not conclusive, as everyone knows. It has only created greater greed and more bitter hatred and rendered necessary more extravagant and ruinous expenditure and prepara- 121 tions for further bloodier carnage. Only the people can stop their riders from wading deeper in gore with as fruit- less results. Peace must be sought by some other way than those already beaten hard. It is the workers who need peace the most, who must find that new path. Chapter IY. CURIOUS CHARACTERS. My Afreet Friend — Effects of Latitudes — An Impressionist Draw- ing and Painting — On Lady Sex- Writers — Singular Morality. WE picked up a most extraordinary passenger at Penang. He was a young clerk of some kind, but what his line was I never enquired, shipping of some sort I faney but whatever it was it must have been an occupation where no intelligence was necessary. He was the first human being I had ever seen at large who seemed to have absolutely no brains inside his small cranium. He must have been unique even in these tropical regions, where the grey matter that generates thought gets dried up as the liver swells, for I never saw a human specimen of exactly the same type. I find him also somewhat) difficult to describe without weary- ing my reader. Let me try to do it briefly, if I can, so as to let you see some reflection of what interested me so greatly. In figure, up to the shoulders he was tall and well pro- portioned. This could be seen by his movements, for he walked and moved with lithe grace, which showed that he was well set together. His feet and hands also were shapely and the correct size for his legs and arms. From his shoulders, however, his neck rose like a thick, long, stiff column, and only terminated at the crown of the head, that is, from the back. And as he had close cropped hair and no beard nor moustache, this singular, almost straight line from behind was the more remarkable. He 122 was dark and sallow complexioned, and suggested, by the shape of his features and brown eyes, a mixture of Malay blood. But what struck me at first glance was his resemblance to something I had seen before. After a good deal of mental puzzling I got it at last. It was the picture of an Afreet which I had often looked at as a child in Lane's "Arabian Nights." I dubbed him "Afreet" on the spot, and for a time assiduously cultivated him, to define, if possible, his mental defect. At last I was forced to the conclusion that originally born devoid of back bumps and with but light brains, for his head was disproportionately small for his body, residing in this torrid clime had withered and mumified what was inside the skull, until the contents resembled a parched pea inside a shrivelled pod. He was not an idiot, although reasonless. He had instincts, as an inoffensive animal of the sheep order has. Being human and partly trained, these instincts tended towards a kind of morality, and to some extent also a religion ; that is, about as much orthodox piety as a Sunday school training imparts to an unthinking mind. He smoked very moderately 3 and had all an animal's dislike to intoxicants, was cleanly in his habits, and scrupulous in tne dusting and brushing of his clothes — indeed, a speck of dust on his navy blue suit seemed to worry him more than necessary. He could behave himself at table as far as using his knife and fork, etc., were concerned, and he also joined in such games as cricket, dumps, and ring-throwing quite correctly. But beyond these trained accomplishments he was utterly void. He had one or two qualities nearly always to be observed in the mentally deficient, such as yawning and stretching himself frequently, an inordinate opinion of his own im- portance and satisfaction in the perfection of his behaviour and surety of his opinions. It was futile to reason, argue, or inform him upon any subject. The impressions which that dried pea of an intellect in its moist state had received were unalterably fixed as if graved on steel. In proportion to his pleasure in himself was his openly expressed disdain for others. He did not remonstrate at 123 what he considered folly, he merely expressed his opinion, using himself as an example of what should "be. For instance, on the second day of our acquaintance I was telling a little group of smokers an amusing incident, over which they were laughing, when he passed, and I saw his lip curl with silent contempt. Afterwards he said to me pityingly : ' If I were in your place, Mr. Nisbet, I would not make a laughing-stock of myself.' A ready retort leapt to my lips, but I curbed it and said instead : ' Why shouldn't I if it pleases me and others 1 ' His age was twenty-four, so that in point of difference he might easily have been my son, but this did not seem to occur to him when he rebuked me. He frequently did so as we got more intimate, for I liked to encourage him, seeing that I could do him no other good. As with his common sense so with his rigid moral principles. They were wrong who told me that the tiger devoured the only good young man of Penang. My Afreet shipmate was the other, but I think his virtue must have been too scentless to lure any more tigers across the Strait. One afternoon as I sat on my deck chair I overheard him trying to make himself agreeable to a young lady. He told her that women were all a very bad lot and that his rule was to steer clear of them as much as he could. The young lady looked very much as I fancy a tiger would have done with this tactful young fellow inside him — dissatisfied with the company. His laugh, however, was the most objectionable part about him. He burst into loud and mirthless laughter on occasions when there was positively nothing to laugh about, and continued so long that meaningless cachination that people had to stuff their ears and run from it. One could always know where he was, no matter how far off, and when he was joining in a game by the stentorian exclamations and wild burst of empty and prolonged sound. Between these exhibitions he was contemptuously silent. He was not insane in the sense of needing a keeper, nor dangerous. 124 The impression he gave was that of absolute vacancy.- My close study of this unfortunate young man convinced me, along with other impressions of natives and residents in different places, that latitude has much more than is generally supposed it has to do in the forming of mind as well as body. The latitude within which Naples and Sydney lie appear to have a decidedly degenerating influence, while north or south a few degrees, such as Genoa and Melbourne, a marked difference exists both in intellect and morals. In hotter climates still, such as north Queensland and Ceylon, Europeans do not appear to degenerate so visibly mentally, although physically they do. In the direct tropics the effects are disastrous mentally, morally, and physically. I am of opinion that any European born or living long in the tropics must become, to a greater or lesser degree, according to his original weight of brain matter, like this Afreet, incapable of true reasoning powers. Therefore these are not good places for parents to send their children. Five other factors tend to demoralise Europeans besides the devastating climate, and make inadequate the wages, however high. These are the cheapness of drink, tobacco, women, native help, and that ruinous system of giving 'chits,' or I.O.U.'s, instead of cash for articles purchased. In the East people only settle up when they receive their salaries, and get everything on credit during the interval. The results are that most young men find themselves deeply in debt when their money becomes due, and not infrequently do desperate and even criminal acts to clear themselves. We left Penang about four o'clock and had a magnificent sunset. I was standing beside the wife of a French naval captain who was going to join her husband in China. Our conversation was limited, as we were almost ignorant of each other's mother tongue, but she managed to give me one bit of information that, artist as I was, I did not before know. That was when the scarlet sun is just disappearing behind 125 the horizon the final disc of light suddenly becomes the most vivid of emerald green. For the next two days every minute of daylight was occupied taking notes of the different scenes and effects as we passed through the Straits in full view of land on both sideSj except when we were in the widest portion. I made a few impressions in colour, but mostly used my pencils, as when in the right mood a scene or effect can be done even quicker by pencil than by photography, if your tools are ready. Now, as I have made up my mind to act in this book towards my readers as frankly as it is possible for shifty man to do, and speak as plainly about things as my prudish Lord Chamberlain will permit me, without minding how much I anger those who do not like lamp- light let into the cellars where they conduct their chemi- cal experiments; that is, so long as I do no damage to one innocent soul or rub the fresh bloom from a single' grape, gathered or ungathered. Therefore, as I have uncovered my heart and mind and made a public show-case of them for the amusement, if not the instruction, of others, I shall now tell those who may be interested in sketching the best way that I have found, by experience, to produce rapid sketches. As an artist, if only one of the rank and file, who many years ago lost all desire to damage frames by sending them with their con- tents to exhibitions, I assert that there is only one way to get even the slightest hold of fleeting Nature, and that is to catch her on the wing. If you wish to elaborate, do it in the studio, by aid of your sketches and from memory. The swiftest impressionist extant cannot possibly hope to get a single phase of Nature's lightning pictures, as between one stroke and the next she has flashed a dozen effects. But, if he has his weapons ready, he may get some- thing not too false, if not exactly true. My system when doing water-colour impressions is to work on an absorbing paper, use large hog-hair brushes, 126 and only three colours, namely, yellow, red and blue. Black and white I keep also at hand for emergencies. When pencil drawing I keep a box full of pencils, from H B to 4 or 6 B.'s, all differently sharpened. The harder leads sharply pointed, the softer ones like chisels, flat and bevelled; I always prepare those beforehand, have a good stock of each in divisions, where I can place my hand on them without looking, and each as long in the exposed leads as they will bear without breaking. Then if in the mood for working I do not mind how many spectators are behind me, so long as they do not get between me and my subject, nor how much they talk, so long as they do not expect replies from me. Indeed, so completely absorbed do I become in my work, that quite unconsciously I might damage a spectator without being any more aware that I had done so, if he had been in my way, than if he had been a fly that had landed on my nose. Once I pushed a fisher-boy off a wharf into the sea without being aware of my enormity, until having finished my impression I found that his mother had been boxing my ears and using most unladylike language, whilst the drip- ping boy stood blubbering in the midst of a furious crowd of enraged matrons. Fortunately, he was a good swimmer, or perchance that hasty sketch might have cost me dearly. The salving coin, however, repaired all damages and re- stored harmony. On another occasion I pushed a big German on to his back and had to fight him for the assault. I got the worst in that encounter, as he was twice my size and weight, and a skilled boxer to boot. I begin anyhow, generally by my horizontal line to keep me straight, then I snatch up pencil after pencil, making a broad mass of shadow here and two or three rapid outlines there, or some sharp touches to define objects, leaving my high lights above, i.e., working round them. In less time than I could focus a camera the sketch is done, and as far as landscape or seascape are concerned, much easier to copy afterwards than any landscape photograph. Of 127 course, it is different with figures. These are better when trusted to the lens and plate. Truth and rigid realism are what I insist upon when drawing from Nature, as I am striving to do in these pages. I simply cannot put down what I do not see, even if senti- ment may try to persuade me that it ought to be drawn more softly. It may be different when making up com- positions 2 yet even here I like to feel that the artist or author has seen and experienced personally what he or she may depict, otherwise the work, however fine, has no value to me. By nature, I am a mocker at all humbug and pretentious decorum, as I abhor meaningless mystery and esotericism. If a man has some knowledge, why hide it or pretend to know more than he actually does? At the same time, I should suffer remorse if I thought that any word of mine caused innocency to stumble, or enlighten anyone about dark places where I have been forced to wander, but where they are never likely to go. That I consider promiscuous depravity. Now, where I blame many of our sex investigating, and so-called realistic authoresses, is their utter lack of first- hand knowledge of the subjects they so daringly tackle. The intention possibly is good, but the execution is generally as vile as it is untrue. In women's innocence or ignorance of the real mean- ings of things which they have heard vaguely about, or imagined, they write and publish words and phrases which to experienced men are too horrible for them even to mention to each other unless within a select circle. This is how a woman, like a child, thinking to make herself appear " smart " and knowing, utters and publishes matter that men could not, and so often are misunderstood by the obscene. How could a pure and self-respecting woman describe a den of infamy as it is, unless she has been in it alone. A man may go and come from it unscathed and be able to see it in its reality, but never any virtuous woman. If she has visited the dark den it has been with guides to protect 128 her, who took good care not to shock her overmuch. If she has been there alone she is not at all likely to give herself away by describing it afterwards, as men would know how she got that information. Such secondhand exposures and armchair moralists as John Oliver Hobbes, Marie Corelli, Iota, Sarah Grand, Hall Caine, and others of that popular kidney are far too good, delicate, and innocent ever to have even dipped their pretty little toes in the mud, as the startling unrealities and exaggerations they produce prove to men who have been there. If Marie Corelli had ever tasted absinthe or ever known intimately an absinthe victim, she would not have written that interesting novel ' Wormwood ' in the way she wrote it. If Iota had not been a good woman 'The Yellow Aster ' would have been different. If Hall Caine had gone into his subject thoroughly, ' The Christian ' and ' The Eternal City ' would not have been the valueless records that they are. One day I met in the Strand the infuriated husband of one of these sex-depicters. He had purchased a dog-whip and was rushing along to thrash one of the highly moral editors for saying rude words to his wife. Doubtless this outspoken editor said these words from the purest of motives. I took my excited friend for a drink and talk, and he told me the story. After I had listened I did my best to soothe the irate husband. I pointed out to him that when people publish certain principles not generally accepted they should expect to be taken literally, that castigation would only make matters worse, and, lastly, that I con- sidered his wife had sufficiently avenged the rudeness herself. It appeared that after the publication of her work that this editor had sent for her and asked if she believed the principles she advocated. She replied that she did. ' Then I suppose you practise them?' 129 ' No,' the lady replied, ' because I also believe in selection.' I succeeded in pacifying the husband, so that the editor did not see him nor feel the weight of that whip. A kindly act he owes me one for, which I trust he may remember if ever he knows about it. I have had negotiations with and interviewed this renowned reformer, who begins, I think, at the wrong end in his attempts at accomplishing the Millenium. 1 trust he will not be ruffled at what I am now writing. He ought not to be, considering that he is, what I strive to be — a philosopher — and the first principle of sages is to cultivate the spirit of immovable serenity. Yet I must write, in all integrity, that this Apostle of Purity appears to be a problem almost as extraordinary in his way of reasoning as my Afreet friend, and that remark- able friend of humanity, the Holy Czar of all the Russiae. When I saw him, at his request, in his sanctum he informed me that his spirit-guide had told him that the departed wrote my books, through me, and that I was merely a mindless medium. This moralist was a believer in Spiritualism. I replied cheerfully, ' That was all right, so long as they allowed me to have the credit, and that my "ghosts" were disembodied, and thus unlike the "ghosts" of some of my brother author mediums.' He then gave me a Crystal which had been the property of a historical personage, and told me to gaze into it patiently and tell him what I saw. Obeying his instruc- tions regarding position and light I sat for about twenty minutes gazing with patience until he lost his, and asked me what I had seen. I replied, ' Only the crystal.' ' You are denser than even I expected,' he retorted politely, and then added, 'Women are more impressional than men. Numerous ladies come here to gaze into that crystal globe and most of them see something.' ' I daresay,' I answered modestly. He then pulled from his Breast pocket a bundle of 130 letters and holding them up said, 'Can you guess what these are?' ' Not without reading them,' I answered. ' They are all from influential men to unfortunate women, and I use them to bleed the blackguards.' I looked at him in astonishment and said : — ' That is what honest men call blackmail.' ' Of course, but for a good cause. The poor creatures get the benefit.' 'I hope so, indeed. Yet I wouldn't like the respon- sibility. Does it never strike you that the writers of those letters may be the victims of harpies ? ' ' They deserve what they get for lapsing from virtue. They are all married men, with families.' I looked at this man of morality, with the strange stone-tinted eyes, and rose to go. I felt that I wanted to get out to the fresh air ; at least I wanted no more revela- tions. He rose also, and said abruptly : ' You have seen the prospectus of my new paper?' 'Yes.' ' I'll give you a test to find out if the spirits really help you. Next week is my wife's birthday.' He mentioned the day. ' I want you to write me the description of some event that happened on that day, in past ages, before news- papers were invented. I want it for my first number.' In those days I was forced, by necessity, to think twice about refusing commissions, therefore I accepted this one, and went home pondering upon it. A battle scene came into my mind as I rode on the tram- car, and dropping off at a bookstall I purchased an Ancient History and read about it. As nearly as I could arrive at dates, the event occurred during that month. I sat down and wrote my description before going to bed, and posted it the same night. In a couple of posts I received his reply, declining it with the customary thanks and asking where it was to be sent. Considering this as a commission, I did not like this mode of treatment, 131 although I did not resent it. Moralists of this kind are to be excused such lapses. Next night I dined with some literary friends. During the evening the editor of a magazine asked me to give him a contribution, and I mentioned my rejected story, which he accepted. I wrote from the room requesting this Editor to forward my MS. to the magazine. Ten days after my Editor friend wrote asking me when he might expect my contribution, adding : ' You had better hurry up the holder, for he is going to America in a few days to study the vice of that country, and I am keeping a place open for you.' 1 wrote, once more to the moral gentleman, and the manuscript was forwarded to its destination. In a fort- Light after this that new paper came out, which was to reform the Press and mark a new era in the morality of newspapers. A number of editorial iniquities were to be punished ; among others, something serious was to be done to the base wretch who sucked the brains of a poor author. It was a sublime prospectus. By chance the magazine appeared on the same day as this new baby paper, with my story in it. Next day I received a letter from the accepter calling my attention to the fact that the story and title were in the new paper also, and asking me to explain what looked like a very ' fishy ' transaction. I bought the paper and read a replica of my account, but from the opposite side. That is, I had, as a subject of one king, described the battle, while this Editor did it in almost the same words from the other side. The article was signed in his own name. I could not explain the remarkable 'coincidence' -to my Editor friend, but I wrote asking this moral Editor to explain, if he could, and adding as a postscript : ' You did not specify in your prospectus the punishment you would meet out to a brain- sucking Editor. When you have finished with "America" would you kindly put this brain-sucker in the scales and let me know wEat you are going to do with him 1" 132 I have not yet had any reply from this just Editor. Perhaps he may think of giving me one before the nations begin to disarm ; and Peace and Goodwill, with Honesty, govern this ' best of all possible world.'* Chapter V. CHINESE AT WORK. The Derelict — Sharks — The Gates of the East — Singapore — My First Glimpse of the Chinese at Work — Kindly Hosts — The Faith Cure not Effective on the Chinese. THE sunrise was glorious the next morning, like the ' Ulysses defying Polyphemus,' of Turner. All varieties of gold, yellow, purple, grey, pearly and tender to cobalt with ultramarine in the upper space, and flecks of orange, crimson and vermilion near the sea line. The waves reflected these rich colours in subdued tones, with blue, purple, russet,_ scarlet and green in the near tumble. No panorama could possibly have been richer, yet in sweeter harmony. I revelled in all that glory of colour, watching the gleams of sunlight through the translucent crests like rubies, amethysts, sapphires, and emeralds. What a lovely inheritance we nave in Nature ! Five moments of this kind of ecstasy can surely pay for a night of pain. Yet, as I watched more intently, I saw under me the bulky form of a gliding shark watching me with that malignant eye, small and piggish, steady and unblinking, cold as the pitiless glance of an Inquisitor, and patient as waiting hatred. I have shuddered before the dull stare * Doubtless this editor considers himself to be as honourable a man as I consider myself to be, despite these singular inconsis- tencies ; also much more moral and important. Life is filled with such delusions; in fact, there seems no way out of them, to Reality. Vft f ? ^&A The Derelict. 133 of a deaf adder in a glass case, yet it is not to be compared to the deadly and loathly malignity of a shark's regard. The doctor on board had a photograph of the contents of one of these monsters caught at Aden during his former voyage. I made a drawing from the photo ; and look at it occasionally when I want the ' creeps.' Among other nondescript items found inside the monster were the small white left hand of a married woman, with her wedding ring on the third finger,' and the head of a soldierly man, moustached and sun-tanned. Both were quite fresh and clear. This doctor told me that the passengers fainted right and left when the gruesome relics were dislcosed. I hate snakes, but I hate sharks more, for reasons I dare not write ; and, while protesting against vivisection as a horrible neeessity, I cannot help a savage joy at the revolting cruelty that seamen deal out to these animals when they catch them. It is the custom to fix their jaws open with a piece of wood and fling them alive into the sea. There they float helplessly, while their ruthless brothers tear pieces from them. To complete the magnificence of that Turneresque sun- rise, we steamed past a derelict which finished it as a picture. There she lay, with bulky prow on the faintly heaving waters ; a large dismantled junk, with stumps of masts and cordage trailing from them. Other junks and fishing craft were round far off and nearer, but too small to detract from the melancholy repose of that stately and abandoned hulk. As one looked at its ponderous shadow and solitary state, the sky behind grew more aerial and luminous. A melancholy object suggesting hopeless despair, amidst radiant joy; accentuated by several dark, triangu- lar, dorsal fins, floating between us and the lonely wreck. We seldom lost sight of land that day nor the next, and everywhere the junks were sailing. The water was grass green and the sky changing every moment with cloud effects and thunder-storms. Now glittering with sunshine, then suddenly gathering up darkly, with trailing drifts of rain. 134 We passed islands with light-houses on them ; watched the mainland hills and valleys, sometimes gleaming over a purple sea, sometimes dark with bright green waves in front. The boats and quaint sails also took on all colours, lights and shades. It was one long dream of changing loveliness, sunshine, vapour and shifting shadow. Then we came to the narrow portion of the Straits behind which lay Singapore. The ' Gates of the East,' a brilliant series of shifting scenery as we pass Malacca, and glide slowly towards those rugged landmarks — the Gates, rising from their verte-tinted waves. Wreaths of vapours rest upon the tops of the Malacca mountains making them seem like active volcanoes, junks, large and small, move and sweep about ; some tawny sailed, from bright golden to russet ; others like withered rose leaves ; tender, blushing greys. The waters, also, take on all degrees of subtle shadows and tints, from opalesque blue and rosy gleams, through variations of cobalt and purple, to that indefinable green — a green at parts like that of a grape to the deep translucency of tree reflected pools. There are greens that are hard and cold ; as of the emerald, and what nearest approaches to it in colour, the bottom of an old glass ginger beer bottle. Also greens that are luscious, and alluring to the painter, and tne bather — shadowy, liquid greens under cool grassy banks in mid- summer, where poets love to lie and dream. We get this kind of verdure — liquidity in the underside of the wave- lets nearest us, as our vessel glides softly through them. The hush of early afternoon chains our emotions as we lean over and passively take in the humid luminosity of the sun-filled, vapoury sky, while the tropic warmth wraps our bodies like the soft caress of a tender lover. But the sharks still display their dorsal fins, as if to read us the wholesome lesson that appearances are some- times deceitful ; and that caresses, albeit soft, may not al- ways be sincere. Still I do believe that the world is not nearly so wicked as those who live most in it are inclined to think. In fact, I am almost persuaded to endorse Mr. 135 Campbell's of the City Temple comforting theory, that it is impossible for men and women to be very wicked, how- ever hard they try. Some of them try pretty hard I know, to attain the impossible, however. I think I can believe anything, when conditions are favourable, as they were near these purply and tawny Gates of the East, for the heat was too intense for its languid victims to be. We must believe, or clothe ourselves in misery, for we can never know anything thoroughly. These abrupt and upstanding rocky islands seem dark purple in the shadows, with brown half-tones and tawny lights. But they would seem quite different in a different light, and what they are not even the cleverest geologist can know. Men and women can never quite know each other. The sex divides them — an impassable gulf. Very young men think that they know all about women, as they do about everything else. This is one of the many delusions of puberty. Time, however, tends to make a man doubtful concerning his infallibility unless he never outgrows nis youthful delu- sions. Women, even in their most victorious period, never boast about being Omniscient; they are contented with Omnipotence. It was midnight when we passed the narrowest part of the Strait, and the land looked very close as the ' Delhi ' crawled through the winding passage, with flaring light- houses in near proximity. Most of us remained on deck until we were through the dangerous portals. Next morning we moored up to the wharf of Singapore and saw before us ruddy roadways, with tramcars running over them, la white building surmounting fan-shaped trees, heaps of coal dust, anchored ships, junks and boats, also grey huts on posts like those I have seen in New Guinea ; and a small group of white-dressed people waiting to see us. I saw also here for the first time two little Japanese women in their kiminos. One was carrying, with swollen red eyes, and the other comforting her. Neither to my Western eyes appeared in the least degree attractive. I felt disappointed at this, for I had come with rather high 136 ideals, from reading the description of Sir Edwin Arnold and other admirers of things Japanese. We dropped the ' Cub ' here, and a very disconsolate Cub he looked as he stood beside his baggage. My heart went out to him with yearning. I had decided to go ashore with my friends, Denshaw Mistry and the Hindu doctor. The others went different directions ; some to order tiffin at the best hotel, and wait till it was ready there. The young Neros dashed off together to have, what they called, a good time of it, which meant the customary obscene babblings in the evening when they returned, and the sad time nest morning. Denshaw was our guide, as he knew some Mahomedan merchants in the town, so after walking to the gate we took a tramcar to the Post Office and from there walked to the warehouse. It was my first glimpse of Chinese streets, and I was greatly interested with all I saw. It was also my initiatory sniff of the Chinese perfumes which werp not quite so satisfactory. Afterwards, when I reached China proper, I marvelled at my sensitiveness in Singapore. The inhabitants were busy preparing for the New Tear festivities, redecorating their signboards and banners ; clearing out corners where useless articles had lain during the passing year, so that we had to look warily to our feet, and do our utmost to think of vanished roses, as we gingerly moved between those strange mounds and accumulations. The faces of the native pedestrians and shopkeepers were grave, and even sombre as we passed them, for this is the time they pay their yearly debts and collect outstanding accounts. The hour of festivity and freedom from care had not yet arrived. It was all exceedingly quaint and picturesque, however, to my fresh eyes, and I made my friends linger on tbe way while I looked into the dim recesses of the shops, at the houses above with their overhanging roofs, and the novel crowd ever on the move- There is no such thing ae dawd- ling in a Chinese street, although inside the shopmen sit quietly enough. It is work, however, inside and out that 137 possesses them, from the little boy or girl to the ones decrepit with age. They do not rush, as our London City men do, with straining muscles and starting eyes, nor do they slouch, as our small tradesmen do. They are just busy, each intent upon his own work, in a serious, steady fashion, that leaves them no leisure for more than a passing glance. I noted that fact before we had traversed the first street. The rag-picker went from mound to mound filling the baskets that dangled from his bamboo shoulder- pole ; stirring up unutterable smells with his stick and wearing an impassive face; lifting and stowing away things that made me giddy. The small maid trotted along, with her sedate-faced brother on her back, securely fastened inside a box. The coolies ran to and fro with their rick- shaws, on the hunt for customers. The neatly robed messengers or merchants held up their skirts daintily and manoeuvred the muck, keeping their white stockings and black shoes speckless, yet gliding along swiftly and grace- fully. They were crossing and recrossing constantly. If they paused to greet a friend by bowing and shaking their own hands; for each clasps his own hands when they shake; they only exchanged a few words and passed on. No one leaned against walls or posts ; it was the working hour of the day, and each had his or her business to attend to. A few palanquins and carriages passed with men, women, and children inside, also different kinds of rick- shaws, from barrow-like wooden structures to cushioned, painted, and awning covered machines. But beyond a wave of the hand none stopped to gossip. Here and there a stall was set up at the side of the open gutters, which ran down both sides of the streets. On these stalls I noticed various sorts of viands, some cold, some kept steaming by charcoal braziers. Men passed, carrying children on their backs, as well as women and girls. They would occasionally stop to purchase, for although many were in rags, they all seemed to have money to spend, and all appeared proud and fend of their burdens. 138 I saw cripples and objects like mendicants ■with horrid sores, some leprous-looking, but none of them importuned us as we went along. They hobbled on as if they likewise had something to do, and were going to do it. The houses above the shops were artistic treats, old, grey, tumbling about at all sorts 1 of angles ; patched with board or canvas, yet having grotesque carvings on the posts supporting the verandahs and on the eaves and lin- tels. From the open or shuttered windows hung garments drying, of blue and other faded tints. Down the sides of the shops were placed sign-boards of black, or vermilion, with bold characters deeply cut in and gilded. Banner- signs also hung outside the verandahs, and under swung gaily coloured huge paper lanterns. The pavements were bad, with muddy cavities in the spaces left by misplaced slabs, although these were sheltered from rain and sun by wide verandahs which lined the streets. The gutters were very foul, and composed of grue- some bluish slime. But as it was a hot sunny day the centre of the streets were caked and safer to walk upon than the covered arcades. It was winter time, if it is ever winter in Singapore, so perhaps the leaves were gone, for I have no memory of trees or branches in the town, yet I saw plenty of flag-staffs and poles studding the blue sky above the heavy tiled roofs, and hosts of other items during that short walk, that I must now omit from fear of boring my readers. The days of Balzacian and Zolaesque word-painting have departed, and pictures must be snap-shotted to find favour now. I have, I fancy, a faculty of seeing, almost unconsciously, items, as I go about, and remembering them afterwards, so that I could devote many more pages to this little stroll. But I also remember that human indulgence has its limits, therefore I pause. But to complete this impression I must beg your toleration while I say a few words more about the interiors of the shops. 139 These were a rare treat to me, both as painter and observer of my brother man. They seemed more like a series of hives set side by side and open to each spectator. Each hive had its complement of bees, and every bee was engaged adding to the store. Yet, although filled, the shops were not crowded. Men sat at tables and benches, working away deftly and quietly, while the finished objects of their labours filled the shelves behind. Women and children moved noiselessly about the narrow spaces, picking up debris and clearing the ground. At one end of the cavity cooking was proceeding on stores of charcoal, while sometimes one of the workers could be seen smoking his pipe and resting, or reading the paper, or lying on the bottom shelf asleep. They seemed to be working, eating, resting, or sleeping, as they felt inclined, but mostly working. There were no overseers, apparently, to urge them on or grumble at them for resting. They seemed to do just as they liked, and they seemed to like best to work. The babies and children did not appear to cry, or whimper, or quarrel. The youngest, who could not walk, sat in their boxes and seemed to be watching with observant eyes and intent faces the workers. The " children who were not doing something useful played at sedate games on the floors. I grieve to say it, but I saw some of them playing with little dice, and pieces of brass ' cash ' in front of each little hand ; also doing something remarkably like pitch and toss. Awful ! wasn't it, with their fathers and mothers present and not correcting them ? But I must say that fhey played like little gentlemen, winning or losing without a change of muscle, and without one rude remark. There were shoemakers 1 , tailors, joiners, cabinet-makers, blacksmiths, brass and metal workers, and other industries being conducted in these small places, along with the domestic duties, and taking up as little room. In other shops were bakers, groceps, fishmongers, butchers, dry and soft goods, fruiterers, clothiers, bootmakers, chemists, 140 and general stores. Home-life and working-life in a har- mony of concord, comfort, and — smells. Each little republic had its mural decorations, porcelain dishes and vases, and coloured paper lanterns; and, if the dinginess of unwashed wall and ceiling spaces was excepted; the inmates, big and little, male and female, were scrupu- lously clean and tidy in person and costume. The women also looked free, well-fed, and perfectly contented with their position. I heard no squabbles and saw no sour faces. They were fat and placid, and, like their lords, seemed to do as they pleased. Being of the lower classes their feet had been untampered with, yet that they con- sidered small feet to be an attraction, their little, neat, toe-turned pattens attested. I saw this also in that first rapid glimpse of the Chinese at home, for they were not at all averse to display their white-stockinged ankles, nor did they deny me a roguish glance from their black ob- long orbs. They could also smile and show rather pretty dimples. My friend Denshaw wore his Parsee hat and black costume, and met two or three of the same gentle sect, with whom he had a little conversation after introducing us. This permitted me to see more details while I waited. He spoke well about me to his friends, I am sure, for they looked at me benignly, and bowed deeply at the parting. At his friend's the Mahomedan merchant, we were treated most kindly, permitted to go over the premises, giving cigars to the Hindu and myself and glasses of iced water. Then, when we passed outside, there stood for our use a handsome brougham and pair of superb horses, with a liveried coachman. I felt quite ashamed to be treated in such a friendly fashion by a stranger. What made me more ashamed, however, was that Denshaw treated us during the day as his guests and would not hear of me paying my share of the expenses. When I protested and insisted, as I would to a European, I noted from his expression that I would 141 offend him, therefore submitted with the best grace I could. We had an interesting drive along avenued roads and past cultivated fields and villages to the waterworks, and then back to the ship. Our lunch consisted of an orange each, so that we arrived in good condition, and much cooler than most of the others. That night I was forced again to hear the adventures of the Colonial and British Neiroes, which spoilt the flavour of a well-spent day. Denshaw, however, consoled me some- what when I complained to him about the infliction that his religion taught men, not to evade such trials, as they were sent to strengthen virtue by passive resistance. When a Parsee cannot get away from evil company he endures it without protest. We took at this port an old Mandarin and his family who had been recalled by the Empress for some mis- dtsmeanour in his governorship. He had his suite with him, and his family consisted of two children, a boy and a girl, his wife, concubine and three nurses. What fate was in front of him I don't know, but he looked cheerful over it, and had a keen humorous face. He dined with the young parson and the children at a separate table by themselves. The suite were sea-sick, and only one appeared before we reached Hong-Kong. Nor did the lady, except once, then the young person waited behind her chair and served her. Lady Mandarin was a hand- some, tall woman, with a painted face, white and red, and pencilled eyebrows. From her I got my first glimpse of the bandaged feet, which were like those of an infant, and almost useless for walking with. But she looked pleasant and seemed on friendly enough terms with the hand-maid. After Singapore we had some rough weather and it quickly grew cold enough to put on a warmer suit. I was standing at my cabin door on the second day out. It was very rough, and the ' Delhi ' pitched a good deal when one of the suite appeared at my side. 142 ' Velly sick,' he remarked calmly, looking seaward *tolidly. I had some pills for allaying this trouble, so I got them out and gave him two. ' Sit on that chair for twenty minutes, and you will be better,' I told him with assurance in my voice- I had "tried the pills and knew that they sometimes did what was expected of them. This partly made me speak with con- fidence. I am also a strong believer in the efficacy of Faith, as a cure, for many maladies. He swallowed the pills and sat down obediently, still gazing seaward. At the end of the time fixed I said to him •cheerfully : ' Better now, are you not V He rose stolidly and answered in the same calm tones : ' No bettel, sil, thank you, ' and stalked away without another word. I looked after him, and thought : 'The Faith Cure will not work in China. Nor can Chinamen be easily moved.' Two days after this we steamed past the Gap Rock and anchored inside Hong Kong Harbour. Chapter VI. QUOTATIONS FROM 'THE CHINESE PAINTED BY THEMSELVES.' "Chinese Family Life — Religion and Philosophy — Marriage — Divorce — Woman — Classes — The Literary Class — Journalism and Public Opinion — Education — The Working Classes — Odes — Pleasures — European Society — East and West — The Arsenal of Foo-Choo. AS my flying visit to China was so cursory, and my knowledge of the language and habits nil, it would be, impertinence on my part to say one word more than what I saw superficially. Yet I think the reader would like to know something more about them and their ideas on matters in general. Therefore, I take what may well be Teckoned to be the best authority, namely, the opinions 143 of one of themselves about the cultured classes of China, and our aristocratic Westerns. The Author of the transla- tion from which I now quote is a man of the world, highly educated, and of responsible position. The kind of bar- barian of whom it is told a rash Colonial once accosted in Regent? s Park in this fashion : — ' You all belly Lightly Johnny V To which the Chinaman replied calmly : ' I do not understand this language. If you speak in English, German, French, or Italian, I may be able to converse with you.' The book is entitled ' The Chinese, Painted by Them- selves,' and the Author, Colonel Tcheng-Ki-Tong, Military Attache of China at Paris. Trusting that this gentleman will pardon the liberty I take in quoting so lavishly from his work, in consideration of the motive I have in view, I leave him to enlighten you on things Chinese. In his introduction he says : — ' It is needless to dwell upon the amazement I felt as I became more and more familiar with Western ideas. Not only the questions put to me displayed the most ludicrous ignorance, but even books pretending to describe China related the greatest absurdities. ' If they were satisfied with saying we were accustomed to eat dogs 1 , and to give our guests " serpents' " eggs and roast lizards, there would be no great harm done. Nor should I complain much if we were described as poly- gamists — there are so many of them ; or that we gave our babies — our dear little babies — as food to animals whose names I forget. There are fallacies of such a nature that it is useless to be offended at them ; merely to mention the truth is sufficient to explode them. '* * This author views life from his own class standpoint, i.e., as an educated, travelled gentleman of position, who has probably never associated with the- needy and poor. The reader, there- fore, must not expect great interest displayed for people whom the Colonel naturally considers beneath him in social rank. This tenders the evidence incomplete, yet it displays th« aristocratic Chinese. 144 Chinese Family Life. ' The family is the institution upon which is based the whole social and political edifice of China- ' Chinese society may be defined as an aggregation of families. ' The Chinese family may be likened to a co-operative society. All its members are under the obligation to live in community, and to render mutual assistance. History mentions an ancient minister named Tchang, who united under his roof all the members of his family proceeding from nine generations. This example is cited as a model we should all endeavour to imitate. ' Thus constituted i the family is a kind of religious order, subject to fixed rules. All its resources are united in a single fund, and all contributions are made without distinction of more or less. The family is subject to the regime of "equality"' and ''fraternity'" — great words, which in China are written in the hearts, and not, as elsewhere, upon the walls. ' Marriage is in China considered purely as a family institution — its sole aim is the enlargement of the family ; and a family is only prosperous and happy so long as it is becoming more numerous. It is, therefore, quite logical that the husband and wife should, for the sake of the principle of filial love, respect a union desired by their parents. ' I have mentioned " fraternity" also. This is not an empty word. Words always mean something in China, and that of fraternity ; especially among brothers, has a real significance. Fraternity is a sentiment which has its origin in the family, and draws its strength from that institution. It is therefore not surprising that in Western societies where the family is disintegrated fraternity should have lost its character. There has arisen in its place a kind of feeling resembling resignation — not Christian, I think — which, assisted by habit, has the effect of creating Ho a modus vivendi among brothers. Our manners are- altogether different. | Friendship also constitutes one of our most precious- duties; it is not a vain sentiment. We have even an ancient versified form which was formerly sung, and which defines in a simple manner the duties of friendship. This- is the literal translation : — 'By Heaven and earth, In presence of the moon and sun, By their father and their mother, A and B have sworn unswerving friendship, ' And now if A, riding in a chariot, Meets B, wearing a shabby hat, A will alight from his chariot To pay respect to B. ' If another day B, riding a fine horse, Meets A carrying a pedlar's pack, He will dismount from his steed, As A dismounted from his car.' This is plainly a practical kind of friendship, going further than the purse — that cape rounded so unwillingly by European friendship, as if that virtue were but a kind of ornament. ' Examples of friendly devotion are numerous in our national history. For example, a man takes off his vest- ment to clothe a friend fallen into poverty whom he meets on the road. This example is frequent enough not to be quoted as a rarity. I have remarked that generally in Christian countries absolutely commonplace anecdotes of benevolence are held up to public admiration. The exer- cise of the virtues is presented as a marvel. Is this from excess of humility, or is it simply a confession of weakness- T I am inclined to adopt the latter theory. ' Religion and Philosophy. ' We have no occasion to envy the West ita religious beliefs, although we do not look at them from the same standpoint. Moreover, I will not discuss the merits of L 146 religions. Man is so small seen from on high, that it matters little in what manner he honours God. God understands all languages, and especially that which is expressed in silence by the movement of the spirit. We also have those who pray with the spirit, and those who pray with the lips. They have nothing in common. We have the ideal religion which compels the spirit to enter into itself, and we have the terrestrial religion expressed by movements of the arms and legs. In a word, we know what sincerity is, and what hypocrisy. ' The ancient worship sanctioned by Confucius admitted neither images nor priests, but merely certain ceremonies forming the rules of a cultus. These ceremonies are but little noticed by minds occupied by the principles. 'Indifference is a sort of negligence attaching to spiritual things ; it is a disease which receives no medical treatment. Wherever there are men, there will be some who are different. Religious hatred, however, has no place among our national customs ; to me it is a source of amazement. I can understand that a one may hate — a person for instance ; but a religious idea — a religion !' Marriage. ' Celibacy is looked upon as a vice. Reasons must be given to excuse it. In the West one must have excuses to explain marriage. Perhaps this saying is exaggerated, but it is Parisian ; and when we speak of marriages in China, we are at the antipodes of marriage in Paris. ' To go courting is an unknown duty, and, moreover, one that our manners do not admit. In Europe, before marriage, a few weeks are given as an apprenticeship in the art of love. It is a sort of first stage, a kind of truce preceding the great battle, and the interval is filled up with fetes and great dinners. It is a charming existence, serving as preface to marriage, whose memories will become all the more precious as the years of marriage roll on. It seams evident that nobody wishes to incur the responsibilities of the projected union. They say to 147 the young people," Learn to know each other ; you have two months, and then you can say ' Yes,' or ' No.' " Do they know each other ? or rather, can they know each other ? Evidently mot. I conclude, llhen,, ithat it ib best for the parents to be the sole responsible matrimonial agents, and for the children to marry when they are told.' Divorce. ' Women, as I will show in another chapter, are as happy in China as in Europe ; but not having the idea of personality too highly developed they are not inclined to scandal or intrigue. 'Our aristocratic families are above everything aristo- cratic. They have that pride of rank which maintains decorous living, and occasions to laugh at their expense would be sought in vain. In the West the expression has been used : " I know no place where so many things happen as in the monde." That is true enough. Every- thing happens there. This kind of monde is to be found everywhere ; but I notice that in France it is ridiculous, which in China is not the case. ' Among the working classes divorce occurs very rarely. There every member of the family works to earn the daily bread, and disputes are a waste of time. The father, mother, and children, go to the fields together as in ancient times. If they quarrel, as no doubt they do some- times, they soon make it up again. After rain ; fine weather. If it happens that the reasons of the dispute become grave — when, for instance, the husband squanders the property of the community, and the wife goes to the magistrate to obtain a divorce, that officer usually refrains from pronouncing a final decision. He is the judge, and in the exercise of his discretion he waits for his admoni- tions to produce a good effect upon the culprit's mind. His prudence is nearly always clear-sighted. Finally, there is another consideration to be weighed by a wife deter- mined to seek a divorce. This is the thought of her children, and the hopes she rests upon their futur<\ In 148 China it is the mother who brings up the children ; and we shall never be civilised enough to believe there can be a more perfect education. The mother transfers her am- bition to the hearts of her children. By them she may become noble and honoured ; and when such a feeling as this resides in a woman's heart it is a force. In China we have woman a being always hoping. It is this hope she opposes, like a solid wall, to the troubles that besiege her when her husband makes her too wretched. She is patient in order that her children may by-and-by recom- pense her, and avenge her of her husband's neglect.' Woman. ' The Chinese woman is usually imagined as a pitiful being, scarcely able to walk, and imprisoned in her house- hold among the servants and concubines of her husband. This is another flight of imagination to be cut short, however much it may hurt the feelings of veracious travellers. ' There is a striking similarity between what is re- counted on this head and the celebrated definition of a lobster, which a certain dictionary solemnly stated to be a "little red fish that walks backwards." Of course it is hard to alter an opinion to which one is accustomed; but in presence of evidence, the most honest course is to own one's mistake, and resolve not to be taken in again. ' Lobsters, then, are not red, nor ever have been ; and a Chinese woman walks just as well as you or I. She even runs upon her little feet, and, to add the last drop to the story-teller's bitter cup, she goes out walking, or in her palanquin, and has not even a veil to hide her from indiscreet gazers.' ' Man and woman as members of the family have special duties, to which different systems of educatifm are adapted. Their social position is settled beforehand, and each is brought up to follow the fitting direction. Man and woman then receive a separate education. The one is occupied with studies leading to State employment ; the 149 other adorns her intelligence with useful knowledge, and learns the invaluable science of the household. ' We consider the depths of science a useless burden to women ; not that we insult them by supposing they are inferior to us in ability to study art and science, but because it would be leading them out of their true path. Woman has no need to perfect herself ; she is born perfect ; and science would teach her neither grace nor sweetness — those two lords of the domestic hearth inspired by Nature. ' The principles are essential to Chinese manners, and what distinguishes them is, that they are applied literally, like a necessity. 'Our women may be unacquainted with the ante-cham- bers of ministers and fashionable receptions, in which the European woman assumes all the seductions of her sex to charm the society of men ; but they have no need to regret the loss. Her existence has no importance from a politi- cal point of view, and the men manage their own affairs ; but cross the threshold of the house and you enter her domain, governed with an authority that European women certainly do not possess. ' They can replace their husbands in every circum- stance of ownership ; and the law recognises their right to sell and to buy, to alienate common property, to draw bills, to give their children in marriage, and give them what dowry they please. In a word they are free ; and it will be the more easily understood that this should be the case when I state that in China there are neither notaries nor lawyers, and it has therefore been unnecessary to create legal exceptions in order to provide employment for that class. ' Family life is the education which forms the Chinese woman, and she only aspires to be learned in the art of governing her family. She superintends her children's education, and is content to devote her existence to her family. If fate gives her a good husband, she is certainly the happiest of women.' 150 Classes. ' The people of China are divided into four classes or categories of citizens, according to the merits and honours that custom and the law of the land attribute to each. These classes are the literary, the agricultural, the manu- facturing, and the commercial. Such is the order of the social heirarchy in China. ' The literary occupy the first place as representing the thinking class; the agriculturists have the second rank as being the class that nourishes ; the manufacturers also enjoy great consideration on account of their industry; but the commercial class is the lowest.' The Literary Class. ' All the members of the four classes I have just men- tioned are admitted to take part in the competitive examinations which determine degrees. ' The degrees which are called in China, as in Western countries, those of bachelor, licentiate, and doctor, are not simple diplomas bearing witness to the relative extent of fknawledge in art and science. They have quite another character, inasmuch as they confer titles to which rights and privileges are attached. ' As to the degrees of licentiate and doctor, only those who intend to devote themselves to serious study and high class teaching take the trouble to obtain them. But the degree of doctor is not a distinction creating an office and embellishing a career. You may be a master of arts and doctor of science, and solicit a humble post upon an equal footing with a dunce. These anomalies I am assured are the rule ; and I find that in spit© of my repugnance I am bound to believe that such is really the case. ' Where is the recompense that should be given to assiduous work guided by a noble intelligence ? If you are poor, having for sole wealth an honourable name and the ambition to be worthy of it, can you by study alone, and its rewards, obtain a place in the State administration t ' Can you rise by the credit of your science alone 1 151 Can you require of it to obtain for you a privilege ? Can you obtain by it honours and power ? In China, yes ; in Europe, no. 'It is not, (therefore, a vain boast when I claim that our customs are more liberal, more just, and more salutary ; for the best taught citizens are the best behaved, and it is by 'the ambitious that public tranquility is disturbed. Require as a qualification to fill a high function of State, the teat of the highest merit, in the same way as tried bravery a sense of honour, and military knowledge are required of an officer in the army, and you will at once suppress the struggles on ministerial backstairs, intrigues and favouritism.' JOUKNALISM AND PUBLIC OPINION. ' If we defined " journal " exactly as the definition of a team go complex could be stated, we might say it was a periodical publication intended to create a public opinion. 'I imagine most journals would accept this definition, for it is a noble calling to create an opinion and diffuse it almost instantaneously by thousands of copies in that great and everlasting new world we call the public. I am an admirer of the European journal. It helps one to pass the time agreeably; in travelling it is a companion that follows you as if attached to your special service ; you find it everywhere, at all the railway stations 1 ; its very title is comforting to see, and in company with a newspaper one regrets less keenly the absent. I think this is perhaps the best that can be said for it. "The influence of newspapers upon opinion is not so great as might be apprehended. If one journal alone were always read, it is possible that in time — supposing the journal so consistent as always to say the same thing — it might make a deep impression upon the subscriber's mind. But the public reads so many papers of every shade of opinion that it ends by belonging to every political party at once, which is of course convenient at a change cf Ministry. 152 'Nevertheless, newspapers satisfy a requirement. Society is so organised that it has become necessary to utilise every disposable means of transmission of thought to regale it with the rumours of the world. The journal usually reports what happens ; when it is very well in- formed it says nothing more. Sometimes it risks report- ing what has not happened — under reserve ; this is the only- news that might be interesting, and the next day it is contradicted. Besides this, a newspaper has leading articles which readers of the same opinion highly ap- prove; but I am told that no one has ever seen — except perhaps in the provinces — a convert of journalism. ' Although we can hardly say that journals preach in the desert, they preach to the public, which is rather of the nature of the desert, that moving world now plain, now mountain, where nothing stands still and nothing lives, whose oases are a mirage, and which seems to exist only by the noise of the tempests stirring its sandy waves. ' In truth it is a slippery, capricious public. What pleases it to-day displeases it to-morrow ; it is never satisfied. Notice these lunatics running after newspapers every hour <3f the day ; they read ten or twenty with the same stoical air, and then groan there is nothing in the papers ! They wait for the evening paper — nothing ! to-morrow's paper — again nothing. At last some news comes — and every- body knows it before the papers. ' As to the serious articles, it seems they are never tried. They are very well written, but possess no interest except for their authors, who read them twenty times, and retail them again and again, without tiring, to those of their friends who are fortunate enough to meet them. To ap- preciate this enthusiasm, one must have seen oneself in print in the first column, seen the article in the hands of some member of this great public, seen him read it, anxiously follow the thoughts of this unknown friend — you would embrace if you dared, and tell him the author's name. He who has never known these emotions knows not 153 the part played by the journal ; it is a very useful, very precious institution — for those who write ! ' That is my opinion, which will assist in elucidating what follows. ' In China no newspaper exists bearing any analogy to a European journal — I mean a journal published under the regime of complete freedom of the press. It is a liberty which does not flourish in the Empire of the Centre, and I will add — not to appear to regret it — that there are great empires even in the West where that liberty is not absolute. But although we have neither freedom of the press nor journalism, we have a public opinion, and it will be seen later on that it is not an empty name. ' The voices of the people is called in China also the voice of God. Such is the device adorning the uncrowned blazon of all the peoples of the earth, as if they were the descendants of some ancient dynasty sprung from God Himself. This formula exists in every nation. Our four hundred millions of people are not ignorant of its: profound meaning, and the voice makes itself heard in the very centre of government counsels in cases of necessity. ' The people is in truth represented by the literary class, who go up to the capital from the provinces, and although without official title, have the right of present- ing requests in which the necessary reclamations are embodied. These requests are made in the name of the people. ' The practice may be considered a kind of representar tion without election ; the learned and literary have the honour, which they owe to the culture of their intelligence, of becoming the natural advocates of the people, and causing the voice of God to be heard. A magnificent tribute, I consider, paid to industry and perseverance, and inspiring the deepest respect for the tradition which perpetuates this custom. ' If ever China were to change her political system and adopt one of the modes of national representation in vogue among Western nations, she would remember this 154 tradition, and give the right of election and the right to be elected only to those distinguished by study and virtue. ' In former times the hordes of barbarians were like- wise encroaching, not with the object of bringing the bene- fits of a new spirit, but for the purpose of ruining and pillaging prosperous countries. The civilised people of the West follow the same method with the pretension of establishing universal happiness.' ' The inital point of their idea of progress is violence. I have the presumption to think the method is not perfect, and that it will find, at all events in China, as many oppo- nents as there are people of sense. In China, as every- where else among the human race, the struggle for exis- tence tends to happiness, and the only progress applicable is that which assures peace and combats pauperism. War and pauperism are the two scourges of humanity, and when China is convinced that the spirit of innovation, of which the Western world is so vain, with all those ingenious in- ventions whose wonders we applaud so much, possess the secret of making nations peaceable and increasing their happiness — ah, then China will join enthusiastically in the universal concert ! Those who know us have never doubted on this point.' ' But has that conviction been arrived at? What are the commercial importations into those ports a celebrated treaty has made international 1 — Firearms. We hoped for the machinery of peace, they bring us the machinery of war, and as a specimen of modern civilising institutions inaugurate standing armies. ' And they complain that we are mistrustful !' ' Well, at the risk of exasperating all who think dif- ferently, let me say, we hate with all our strength every- thing which directly or indirectly threatens peace, and excites the combative spirit in the already sufficiently im- perfect human disposition. What need have we of these wars hateful to mothers? and to what ideal can the prospect of one day arming our four hundred millions bring us 1 It is an idea of progress to turn aside public 155 wealth from the natural path pointed out by the spirit of reason, to make it contribute to the organization of every anguish /resulting from tlhe employment and abuse of force? It seems to me this is going backwards and to the bad. We shall never be persuaded to consider the mili- tary spirit an element of civilisation : quite the reverse ! We are convinced it is a return to barbarism. ' Ask a Chinese what he calls the English ; he will tell you they are the opium merchants. In the same way he will tell you the French are missionaries. It is under these two aspects he knows them, and it will easily be understood that he retains a lively remembrance of these foreigners, since the former ruin his health at the expense of his purse, and the latter upsets his ideas. I simply mention the fact; for, of course, it may after all be true that opium and new religions are irresistible steps in advance. The impartial reader will decide. ' All the foreigners who seek China have but one end in view — speculation; and what is extremely curious, all these speculators despise us because we exhibit distrust. Is not that an observation worth its weight in gold ? Distrust ! really ! how groundless ! " Our enemy," says, the universal fabulist, " is our master;" but it is likewise the man who makes a snatch at our purse under pretext of civilisation. Distrust? Why, we can never say enough ! 'We are obliged to mix together in our conception all strange people and individuals and call them foreigners. But I wish to state that we can distinguish the good from the bad; for there are foreigners who honour their nationality by the respect they show for our institutions. I am speaking of diplomatists, who charm us by their good breeding, and who accomplish tasks, often delicate, with a courtesy and tact which are the best advertisement of their civilisation j I am speaking also of literary men, who come to study our languages, and to gather from our books the instruction given by the most ancient human society in the world. These are not foreigners to us, but friends 156 with whom we are proud to exchange thoughts, and we dream sometimes of progress and civilisation with these legitimate sons of humanity, who have nothing in common with the mountebanks infesting our ports. 'Three centuries ago the writings of missionaries gave an enthusiastic description of China, Everyone, they said, is happy in this wonderful country. God has heaped"" a thousand blessings upon it ; He has given it rich fabrics, a delicious perfumed beverage, and products in abundance. ' The powerful and intelligent Society of Jesus had quickly seen what advantages the country offered, and in consequence comprehended that they must conciliate sym- pathies, identify themselves with Chinese ideas, and com- pletely cast off their European character before speaking of dogma and mysteries to this great people, who would not have understood them. In 1597 we see illustrious Italians travelling through China, teaching astronomy, physics, arts, and religion. ' " The Lazarists substituted another method for theirs. They wounded the moral habits of tht; nation, their preju- dices and beliefs. The Jesuits would have been admirable auxiliaries for European policy and commerce ; they were influential throughout China, and gradually prepared this great people to welcome and exchange riches with the nations of the West. The Lazarists compromised every- thing." ' This citation is perfectly faithful narrative. It is fair to state that wherever missionary zeal exerts itself only upon the mind, it will experience no hostility on the part of the Government. If their aim is the education of the soul by the observance of evangelical precepts, they will do well to apply them personally before they can be certain of exciting sympathy in place of mistrust. When, under the cloak of religion, they conceal suspicious designs, such manoeuvres are detested even by Chinese, and no one can undertake to defend missionaries whom a too ardent zeal has converted into political spies. ' Perhaps I have said enough to obtain some respite in 157 the opinion of those who hurl the name of " barbarian " at our heads. We are distrustful, that is all. But how can we be otherwise t ' In an age of experiment, cannot some better system than a " protectorate ■" be invented to constitute an alli- ance with distant countries? It is impossible for govern- ments to become better acquainted and prepare with one accord all those concessions that minds created to under- stand each other can mutually make ? The cause of civilisation would gain in this way what every cannon-shot tends to deprive it of. But noise and smoke are too precious, and the laurels of glory only flourish upon ruins.' Education. ' Our systems of instruction are therefore very different from those in vogue in the West, where the name is more important than the object itself. Compulsory instruction only strives after effect ; it is not a system of education. ' It is imagined that by diffusing a certain dose of education everything has been done for a people's happi- ness ; but instruction without system of education is a dead letter. It is a stream without depth ; it neither matures the judgment nor develops the nature. 'According to the Chinese method, the obligation lies in the method of instruction. The State takes heed of nothing further. ' Before making learned men, which always happens soon enough, it wishes to make good instruments o? work ; for it is not enough to be apt to learn, it is necessary to know how, and be able to learn. ' I have noticed that in Europe the State is more particularly preoccupied with making programmes than in teaching methods. I confess this appears to me logically faulty, and there are many chances that instruction thus presented, whatever the spirit of it may be, will bear but little fruit. ' Only the spirit of the instruction is in truth attended to, and it is considered satisfactory, and the end attained, if the masters leave off drawing their examples from 158 religious morality, and select them from a manual of positivist philosophy. In fact, the Government concerns itself in the system of instruction with a certain number of details which concern opinions, and the system is imagined to be perfect if it contains some of the high- sounding fashionable phrases. ' These differences of appreciation upon a subject so important as education show clearly the distance separat- ing European civilisation from ours. Our institutions have been formed to wear, and last, as we may see by reflecting with what careful wisdom they have been established. By studying them we may perceive what renders other institutions defective.' The Working Classes. ' China is a country where everything is established and ordered by men who know exactly what they ought to know, and who are paid to prevent people from creating a disturbance by ambitiously seeking to quit the condition Providence has placed them in. " It will be said, perhaps, that a Chinese is ambitious ; and in one sense this is true. Parents are ambitious to have their children well instructed and capable of presenting themselves at the examinations established by the Government to test candidates for pub- lic functions, and there are no people in the world who more ardently covet power, fortune, and place, than the Chines© who have passed their examinations with some success. This arises from the knowledge that there is no limit to the realisation of their ambitious projects. The poorest of them can aspire to the highest functions of the Imperial Government." ' Mr. Herbert A. Gille>, attach to the British Consulate, published in 1876 (Trubner and Co., London) a book, having for title "Chinese Sketches." There I find some passages I will take the liberty of quoting in their proper place. ' The preface of this work contains the following opinion : ' " It is generally believed that the Chinese nation is a 159 degraded and immoral race ; that its people are absolutely ■vicious, cruel, and in every way depraved; that opium, a scourge more terrible than gin, creates fearful ravages among them, which can only be checked by Christianity. A sojourn of eight years has taught me the Chinese are a people indefatigable in work, sober, and happy." ' In the same work, " The number of human beings suffering from cold and hunger is relatively far smaller than in England ; and in this relation, which is of the greatest importance, it must be acknowledged also tha£ the con- dition of women of the lower classes is far better than that of their European sisters. Wife-beating is unknown ; she is subjected to no bad treatment, and it is even unusual to address a woman in that coarse manner not seldom heard in European countries." ' Here, however, is a narrative I read in the report of M. de la Vernede which will terminate the demonstration I have hesitated to support with my own personal state- ments. ' "We travelled over provinces, and saw an immense agglomeration of population arrived at such density that the earth, being in certain parts no longer sufficient, they build houses and cultivate gardens even upon rafts. We saw provinces of fifty thousand square kilometres, con- taining fifty millions of people, and admirably cultivated throughout their extent. '"In Petchili, for instance, landed property is exces- sively divided, and agricultural operations are carried out upon a small scale, but the intelligence with which they are directed prevents the grave inconveniences of minute sub- division. ' " The farmhouse, shaded by great trees, seem like bouquets of flowers among vast fields of rich harvests. The abundance of lands, and the low price of labour, allow cultivation by alternate rows. ' " The soil is admirably cultivated, and agriculture returns magnificent results. ' " When one has explored the beautiful provinces of 160 China, it is hard to prevent the mind from wandering to the unhappy lands of Asia Minor and Egypt. There the desert is the rule, and cultivation the exception. The farm always seems isolated, surrounded by uncultivated spaces. ' " Travelling along the banks of the Yang-Tse-Kiang we saw clean and prosperous villages follow each other without interruption, and an active and laborious popula- tion showing by their faces and deportment they were contented with their lot. Descend the Nile a few kilo- metres ; approach an important village : we perceive hun- dreds of heaps of greyish mud far from having the appearance of having human habitations. ' " What a difference between these and the pretty vil- lages we passed through in Hupe, on the shores of Lake Poyang. ' " Economical and sober, patient and active, honest and laborious 1 , this Chinese people possesses a capability of work surpassing that of many Western nations. This is an important factor, which must not be neglected in ques- tions of foreign policy." ' Odes. ' In the odes we find pieces celebrating conjugal fidelity and connubial love. They characterise a trait of manners which I will cite out of respect of that ancient tradition : ' Outside the city gate to the East We see many handsome- women, Graceful as clouds, But be they graceful as clouds, I think not of them ; With her white robe and simple dress, I love my wife best ! Around the city walls We see lithe and graceful women, Looking like flowers of the fields, But be they like flowers of the fields, They attract not my lover ; With her white robe and rosy cheek My wife ib my only joy ! ' 161 Pleasures. ' The sparkle of intellect plays the most important part in our pleasures. Naturally there are accessories to excite, and give it wings, but intellectual vivacity itself is the great organiser of our amusements. ' Our outdoor life is not organised in European fashion. We do not seek solace and amusement away from our homes. Chinese who are tolerably wealthy are established in such a style as not to need those fictitious pleasures which in fact are a confession of boredom. They antici- pate the possible occurrence of ennui, and provide against it. They do not consider cafe's and other public places absolutely necessary to pass the time agreeably. They give their dwellings all the comfort a man of taste can desire, gardens to walk in, summer-houses for shade and flowers to charm the senses. Indoors everything is adapted for family life ; usually the same roof shelters many genera- tions. Their children grow up, and as we marry very young, we are serious at an early age. ' Woman has not the same liberty of amusement as in Europe. She makes visits to her friends, and receives theirs in turn; but these reunions are not open to men. Thus one of the causes which excite and produce the pleasures of society — that is to say, the best part of the amusement — is suppressed in the organisation 'of Chinese •society. ' Men frequently meet in parties, but they are unaccom- panied, nor do they visit ladies outside the family circle. ' The Chinese who are admitted into European society, and are present at soirees and fetes, would show very bad taste in venturing to boast of their own customs in the organisation of social relations. To speak the truth, one may compare institutions of a political character, but not social customs. They have the same privilege as tastes and colours. ' " Everyone takes his pleasure where he find® it," is a perfectly true saying, which expresses my idea; for in M 162 that case it is always found when it is sought. But it is also probable that our legislators, in diminishing as much as possible the number of occasions for men and women to meet, have acted in the interest of the family ' There is a Chinese proverb which says, " In ten women there are nine jealous." Nor are men perfect. Family concord is therefore subject to great danger. ' I have already said the institutions of China have but one aim — the organisation of social tranquillity, and to assure its realisation the only infallible principle has been to avoid giving opportunities. This is very practical. ' Everyone knows the exceptions it is unnecessary to mention. But an exception has been stated by certain travellers, in the shape of those boats called flower-boats, found in the neighbourhood of great cities, and which have been represented as places of debauch. Nothing can be further from the truth. 'The flower-boats no more deserve the name of ill-famed resorts than do the concert rooms of Europe. If the frigate which rots in the Seine at the Pont Koyal were taken down the river as far as the hills of Saint Germain, and a festive appearance given to it, which it no longer possesses, it would be the same as a flower-boat. 'It is one of the favourite pleasures of Chinese youth. Water-parties are got up, chiefly in the evening, in com- pany with women who accept invitations. These women are unmarried ; they are musicians, and it is for this reason they are invited to the flower-boats. ' When you wish to organise a party, you find on board invitations ready prepared, upon which you write the name of the artist, your own, and the hour of assembly. ' It is an agreeable way of passing the time when it is too slow. On the boats are found everything an epicure can desire ; and in the cool of the evening, with a cup of deliriously perfumed tea, the woman's harmonious voice, and the sound of musical instruments are not considered a nocturnal debauch. ' The invitations are only for the space of an hour. 163 The time may be prolonged if the woman, has no othe>' engagement, and naturally the expense is doubled. ' These women are not considered with relation tt- their moral oonduct. In that respect they may be wha?; they like — that is their business. They exercise the prO" fession of musicians or lady companions; the name doer- not signify, and they are paid for their services as one pays a doctor or lawyer. They are usually educated, and somf? are pretty. When they unite beauty with talent, they are of course much sought after. The charm of their coiir versation becomes as much appreciated as that of their art? and is turned towards those numerous subjects one likes to hear a woman's judgment upon. Verses even are sent to those who can compose them, and there are some suffi- ciently instructed to answer the rhythmical gallantries of the literary. 'As to pretending that these meetings are something different, and are the occasion of scenes of cabinet par- ticulier it is absolutely false. The foreigners who have reported these details have depicted what they hoped to see, in place of the serenades they could not understand. ' A pastime, which I think is not so general in Europe as in China, is that of which flowers and their cultivation are the motives. The women love flowers passionately, render them a veritable worship, idealise them, and draw the inspiration of sentimental poetry even from their scattered petals.' European Society. ' It has always been said of the Chinese that they are suspicious. This word has many meaning's, but is usually applied to us in an unfavourable sense. This is a mistake ; it should be said we are practical — a quality that induces us to esteem the mediumi as being the index of the best. We do not understand exceptions. Now we have no diffi- culty in concluding that in European society one must either be very much amused or very much bored. There is no medium. I should like to call the Western world the 164 Empire of extremes, in contrast to the Empire of the centre. ' This great civilisation affords us nothing but surprises, instead of a uniform condition. It is not the smooth brilliant surface of an ingot of gold on leaving the crucible ; it is an ore in which may be distinguished veins of pure gold, alloys, and dross that must be analysed to find the gold-dust it contains. The splendours of luxury represent, in our eyes, only curiosities, and not real progress. ' Thus, to give an example that may express my thought, it is the custom to say that England is a rich country "because there are great fortunes in it. To my mind that is had logic. You can only say that it is a country rich in rich people. It is, therefore, an exceptional point of view. Nevertheless, speak of the English in France, you will always be told they are rich. It is a fixed idea. We need not, therefore, be surprised that there are so many fixed ideas upon the subject of China, when at only a few hours' distance the most self-evident propositions are distorted. An observation is scribbled in a note-book, and a volume made of it. They call that assimilation. ' Woman has always the intellectual advantage in the salons still worthy of the name, and perhaps this is the reason the latter have disappeared. The men, by no means flattered at having their insufficiency shown up, have ceased to appreciate this kind of assembly, where their intellectual infirmities generally served as a target ; we must not blame them too much. It is always excessively disagreeable to be classed among ninnies or naturals by a clever woman. ' I am a passionate admirer of wit. It is the only -thing that distinguishes and suffices. One gets tired of •everything except that. When it is exhausted in others, one keeps a small personal provision of it, and it consoles in the society of a pack of people who are incapable of ■entering into your feelings. ' In France I have heard the proper pride of rank criticised as une pose. Surely, however, one must be what 165 one represents, otherwise it is no longer possible to agree upon the meaning of words. 'Only the lowest class asserts its rank. That alone has preserved its pride. In Oriental countries I have seen beggars with the air of exiled kings ; in Italy I have met ancient Csesars in ragged mantles. These fellows possessed a style perfectly inimitable. No doubt had they been compelled to put on a dress-coat they would quickly have lost that noble air which commands our unwilling respect. ' Costume has a great influence upon manners, and it is one of the notes of interrogation most strongly under- lined in my portfolio. ' What reason could there have been for the suppression of those magnificent costumes which used to distinguish all classes and all ranks 1 Was it the idea of destroying social distinctions? I fear it is distinction itself which has been the sufferer. Can a less harmonious sight be imagined than a gathering of black coats 1 ' I have had the privilege of seeing great official balls, and of being present at the storming of the supper tables. It is in the highest degree curious, and if I had not been aware of the manner in which great official society eats, I might have written upon my tablets under the heading " Etiquette " the following note : " The personages forming the highest class, when they are admitted to the presence of the Chief of the State, do not place themselves at table, but rush at it with warlike fury." This, however, is the way Europeans take their notes in travelling. ' I invite the partisans of the realistic school to turn their attention to this scene, which may be called the battle of black coats. 'First the human torrent comes leaping over all obstacles, and filling every empty space ; then by degrees becoming more closely packed together until it forms a solid mass — a veritable chaos of black shoulders surmounted by bald heads, encased in stiff collars. These heads wag with indescribable movements, showing the increased tightness of the squeeze. Then arms are raised, hands approach the 166 goal, and succeed in seizing the delicate viands so greedily coveted, which at last arrive half crushed at the mouth of the happy victor. This first success increases the appetite. 'In the foreground still undulates the sea of black shoulders. These are they who have not yet had anything > but struggle still, and keep on pushing. Further on, those who are fed, pressed against the tables, begin to execute a turning movement. Their imposing column sets itself in motion ; they push, they crush, they come forth from the battlBj bruised, tumbled, crushed — but fed. I do not mention those who remain, for there are some whose appetite is such that the servants have to ask them politely to make room for others. ' I have never been to the ball without waiting to see this battle. 'The non-official balls are society balls. But they are not so amusing ; they are cold, formal, dull. It is most difficult to find simplicity and distinction in the same society. If you are not interested in dancing, you run a good chance of being bored. Have you noticed the indif- ferent manner of all this great society 1 It is sometimes icy. The dances are silent; a few groups talk in a low voice ; the company comes and goes in and out, and dis- appears. They meet without seeming to know each other, scarcely shaking hands. Everybody seems preoccupied ; usually they are looking for somebody who is not there. That is invariable ; everyone has a person who has not come, and stays for the sake of an excuse. What a comedy is drawing-room society?' East and West. 'Most of the famous discoveries which have altered civilizations, and given birth to revolutions in ideas, have not emanated from th© nations profiting by them. ' Western nations, six hundred years back at the most, were plunged in the darkness of ignorance. Many of them were not in existence, and some, now resplendent in their renown, were but insignificant Powers. 167 ' These remarks are interesting to make ; they are especially interesting to a Chinese, who also has some title to throw his modicum of marvellous inventions into the universal balance where the services rendered to humanity are weighed. 'If it be remembered how little intercourse we have had with other nations, it will be conceded that it is at least remarkable that we should know all that we do. It is generally agreed that, with the exception of astronomy and geography, all the sciences we possess are the result of our own investigations; and while there exists no other nation upon the globe able to attribute to itself the creation of a system of civilization, to claim to have organised it- self, and, in a word, to be original, we Chinese alone can justly make that glorious boast. We have imitated nobody. Chinese civilization exists only in China. ' The civilization of the Western world is, if I may so express myself, a new edition, revised and corrected, of former civilizations. Ours has doubtless gone through many editions ; but we now find it sufficiently corrected ; and at all events we have no editor proposing a new one. ' We are accustomed to hear the reproach " why do you remain stationary ? " But if one is well off, or as well off as possible, can one be sure, by altering the present, to obtain a better future ? That is the question. " Better," they say, " is the enemy of well," and wisdom consists in limiting our desires. ' I am not finding fault with modern civilization, which I think agreeable; but is the desire of novelty a means of real progress 1 Are they on the right path who suppose that progress consists in change 1 That is a theo- retical question which would have its advocates and adver- saries, and of which I will not hazard the discussion. What I will at present confine myself to saying is that we were acquainted with gunpowder for many ages — they do us the honour of admitting that we invented powder — but it is in this we differ from our Western brethren ; we only used it to make fireworks; and but for circumstances 168 making us acquainted with the West, we should not have applied it to firearms. It was the Jesuits who taught ua to cast cannon.' ' We claim also the priority of the invention of printing. It is no longer denied that the art of typography was known and applied in China in the tenth century. Would it then be very difficult to admit that the principle of that mar- vellous invention travelled Westward by the way of the Red Sea or Asia Minor 2 I do not think so. I will say aa much of the properties of the magnet ; all the erudite works which have been written on the subject — and they are numerous — estaFlish the antiquity of that valuable dis- covery, and attribute it to us. It is stated the Araba made use of the mariner's compass at the time of the Crusades, and that the knowledge was imparted to the Crusaders, who brought it back to Europe. ' In China the knowledge of the magnet goes back to» a remote antiquity. We find it in a Chinese dictionary, written in the year 121 of the Christian era, this definition of the word " lodestone " : "stone with which a direction may be given to the needle ; " and a century later our books explain the use of the compass. ' These are questions of detail which have in themselves but a relative interest, but which warrant me in placing upon a firm basis the so much contested opinion that we are something better than simpletons when we refuse to admit the system of changes. Already we can count as ours, gunpowder, printing, the compass, and I might add silk and porcelain, which certainly are magnificent inven- tions of our industry, and would suffice to rank us among civilized nations. ' It must then be concluded that if in the order of eminently useful discoveries we have obtained a dis- tinguished position, we may also have applied the same practical spirit to our laws and institutions, and obtained sufficiently good results not to> wish to change them for the- sake of seeing what might come of it. 169 The Arsenal of Foo-Choo. ' I need not here recall the political circumstances pre-- ceding the definite establishment of social intercourse be- tween China and the Western nations. I have neither the right nor the wish. I have already mentioned that in China, well-bred people never in conversation discuss political, questions, and this book has no pretension to be aught but gossip in reply to questions which have been so often asked me. ' Neither have I the intention of stating my opinion upon the various characters of the foreigners who live in our seaports, and who for the most part cover a great ex- tension of influence. All of them import into their inter- course 'the particular genius of their race in its most exaggerated form. We are unable to' endow them with the character which would be pleasing to us, and can only hope that they may help us to make mutual relations' durable and easy.' Chapter VII. HONG KONG. Opinions of Commercial Men re Things Chinese — Hong Kong- Harbour — Comparison With Other Famous Harbours — What Australians Lack as Yet — In Defence of Log-Boiling and' Self-Advertisement — Putting on Frills — A Superb Specimen of Israel in America. HAVING given, in my last chapter, a free field to this highly cultured, and superior Chinese student of life, of the Mandarin, or upper classes ; I shall now give my own hasty impressions, of his country and countrymen. I must preface these impressions with the remark, that although I had known many fine, and one exceptional Chinaman, judging him from any standard, in my former travels through the Australian Colonies, I went to China doubtr fully, by reason of much reading about it; and left it 170 with a most affectionate regard for its natives and many of its institutions. Of course, my present impressions are only those which a somewhat keen-eyed bird takes on the wing and, therefore, must be received for what they may be considered worth. We had with us a number of Hong Kong and Shanghai gentlemen who were connected with the European interests, at these and other parts of China, who, aware of my pur- poses, gave me the benefit of their views on the different problems of the East. They were all fine fellows, because, in commerce, only the strongest and most intelligent can- didates are chosen to represent the firms in England, and elsewhere, for China, whatever the mission societies do. such would cost too much, in holidays. Business men do not care for invalids in their services. Experience also has taught them that sentimentalists and incapables are worse than nothing when dealing with the honest, but practical natives. Therefore these passengers were, physic- ally, hard as nails, and mentally, of a higher order than are usually to be met en masse. Of course their views p.re strictly utilitarian, i.e., for their own, and their em- ployers' interests, and they made no pretences that any other motives swayed them. They were generous, kindly, and social in the extreme, but they were not reasonless philanthropists, nor bigotted religionists. They were returning to duty, some from a long holi- day, some from, a short sea-run to Ceylon, and some from business rounds throughout the settlements. They were all, however, in close touch with passing events, and able to inform me about recent incidents. Without a single exception, these experienced witnesses extolled the Chinese character as being honest, fair deal- ing, and easy to get on with when treated justly, and condemned the missionaries of all denominations, as being the direct cause of our troubles in the East. Editors, medical men, naval officers, and business men to whom I spoke were unanimous on these two points, and showed no doubts nor waverings in the definite charges they made, 171 which they also proved by the most indisputable data. If, for their own protection, they were forced to resort to intimidation and violence, they deplored the harsh neces- sity while they did not blame the Chinese, but laid it all to the doors of the possibly well-meaning, but most mis- guided missionaries and the disastrous actions of these in- considerate and irrational proselytisers. It is the missionary always who makes the mess. Hong Kong Harbour has been often described, and I had both read about it and seen pictures of it; yet I was not prepared to see it as it actually is ; i.e., so ex- tensive and land-locked. I imagined it as being something different ; more quaint and less like other parts of the world. I have seen the Bay of Naples, and Sydney Har- bour; but not yet San Francisco, nor the Golden Horn. Tet none of these places at all looked like what I had expected them to look ; nor sufficiently different from each other to satisfy me at the first sight. Afterwards, of course, I acquired a taste for their individualities. From the distance, there is a sad sameness about the Earth's surface ; apart from atmospheric differences, i.e., between torrid and frigid latitudes, and even in these parts, when 'the sun shines and snow is absent; the rocks, mountains, strands and forests are much of a muchness to the careless visitor passing them. I make an exception, however, with such countries as enjoy the climatic advantages of the British Isles, and I think of England and Scotland in particular. Possibly the secret of their attraction lies in their limitation of space. Many of the other similar formations being on too vast a scale to be enjoyed comfortably. Magnify Barrowdale, in Cumberland, for instance, to the extent of the Yellow Stone Park, and I fancy much of its charm would be lost. The surroundings and atmospheric effect make the Bay of Naples, the most beautiful harbour I have ever seen, without regarding its historical and dramatic reminiscences. The Bay of Auckland I think comes next in point of artistic beauty. The third is Hong Kong. My 172 reasons for this decision are purely artistic and emotional, i.e., for colour, form, and variety. From the standpoint of utility I must give the palm to Sydney Harbour. It is a natural cliff-locked basin capable of holding all the vessels afloat easily. But, as. Napoleon observed about the miniature of Marie Theresa, ' it is not beautiful,' although I am aware that it is the' fashion to say it is, as it was doubtless the fashion in Austria to call the seoond august spouse of this brutal little- monster — perfection. The cliffs of Sydney Harbour are dirty in colour, and; in form like a cheese that has been much nibbled by rats. They line the horizon like walls with the cement worn out, and in parts broken by blasting, and showing disfiguring gaps. The Islands dotting the surface of the hard blue- waters are shapeless and insignificant, while the city at the top is unsketchable by reason of its characterless- banality of architecture. In effect, it is monotonous to the last degree ; brazen and assertive, as a harsh-featured,, badly-painted, and impudently grinning harridan. The- sun glares down fiercely from a coldly grey-blue sky, and lights up dry rocks, blackish-brown trees, and shrubs. Regimental sand-stone houses, like newly-built barracks, show above the arid gloom of the suburbs, while the rippling waters give out no changes of tint, nor reflections ; they are as wiry as the wavelets painted by Canelleto. Majestic buildings, with terraces and fountains, might redeem this metallic sameness; but the Colonials possess- no marbles nor sculptors, nor architects, as Italy had ; nor the kind of public spirit to encourage such Masters. The- men who control affairs are too deeply engrossed in en- riching themselves, while in office, to think about enriching their country. Yet if such ideas did occur to any of these adventurers, little couH be accomplished with the building material' they possess. I think that most unbiassed visitors must agree with 173 these unprejudiced remarks. The Australians will not, or there might be some hopes for their future improvement. Their sentiments run too much in the same groove, as that of the young lady who came from Toowoomba, a town- ship in Queensland boasting of some fourteen thousand inhabitants. This young lady thought that there was no city of much importance, in comparison with her own native town. She was sitting the night she landed in London, in a hotel, after dinner, beside two other ladies who had just arrived from an extensive scamper over Europe, and who were recalling the different wonders they had seen abroad. The Colonial lady, not having anything to speak about, and feeling irate that they had never once mentioned Australia, suddenly broke into the dialogue with the startling question : 'Say! Have you ever been to Toowoomba?' They stared at her for a moment and then answered together : 'Never!' ' Ah ! ' ejaculated the young Australian, in triumph. 'Then you have missed a treat in the way of splendid cities.' This is the spirit with most Australians, when they observe other institutions and countries outside their own. The harbour of Hong Kong is not like either Naples, nor Sydney, although as to colouring it combines a little of both. The mountains round are not very picturesque either in shape or colour, at least they were not on that Chinese New Year Day that we landed, although it was the only fine day I experienced while there. The general impression is roundness and baldness; a series of sugar- loaf formations, with no broken valleys, nor chasms to give them grandeur. They spread in brownish and grey rolls, with bare patches between, and thread-like road-lines winding about. Peak Hill is the highest cone which I ascended, and shall describe later on ; a tramcar line runs down its face m almost perpendicularly. There are many fine buildings on the ranges of terraces which cover this hill, while at the bottom lies the city, a line of spacious and splendid mansions, with the native houses next the harbour. In front of these are 'Godowns,' i-e., warehouses, native erec- tions, and wharfs, with swarming thousands of sampans and junks, large and small, also vessels of various kinds and nationalities. In the centre of the bay uninteresting slate-coloured warships lie anchored like a shoal of whales. It was a chilly, though clear and sunshiny day, and the water was only a trifle bluer than the war vessels, and very cold-looking. Across the harbour spread the peninsula and town of Kowloon, ten miles from Hong Kong, and also fringed with buildings, sampans, junks, and shipping, and a spread of rolling hills behind. Up and down the harbour, headlands and islands broke the sky line and drifted away from brown to purple, and indistinct grey. The atmosphere was very clear, so that we could see great distances. But everywhere, native and European, shipping crossed each other and im- parted animation to the extensive panorama. I asked my friend Dinshaw, whose honesty I was pre- pared to trust much farther than I could trust my own, which hotel he could recommend where comfort and economy were combined. He recommended the King Edward. So, getting into the steam launch belonging to that hotel, I went there first to secure a room. Several other passengers followed my example, and among others, Colonel Furse. I found the King Edward to be all that Denshaw had described, and got a nice airy large bed and sitting-room on the top flat. Colonel Furse had the one below, with a bathroom, between us. A brother Parsee was the pro- prietor, and the manager was also of the same caste, and for the ten days I lived there I was treated with the utmost consideration and kindness. The other day, wanting a change of pipe-fuel, I wrote to a London tobacconist, asking him to send me some of 175 the very finest smoking mixture lie could secure. He sent me a pound of his own mixing. Why shouldn't he? Possibly he considered his own mix- ture was the very best in the world or he would not have sent it, as I consider some things I do to be the best of their kind — but I must not say so. Why? Because it is considered' bad form for a writer, or an artist, to do what is considered quite legitimate in any other profession, or trade. Even publishers may, but authors must not, or they will be reviled and repudiated. Some authors, however, do the most blatant and brazen things in the way of self-advertisement. Things that would make even a pill manufacturer blush ; and do it with such solemnity that they manage to impress the outside public that their profound wisdom and greatness of genius rather oppresses them than is any self-satisfaction. These are masters in the art of advertisement, and are respected by Americans in consequence, who like such things done impressively. But these gramophonists do not impress the craft with their sad and wearied songs. Nor are they respected by students, despite their self-made tin haloes and sanctified airs. The workers in the same fields look at them as a Confucion might regard a painting of the sinister and squint-eyed Saint Ignatius Loyola, with a gilt halo round his crafty head. Yet, why? Why should not Bishops advertise themselves and their proteges, as much as Brewers? If we think ourselves, as some do, as great as William Shakespeare of "The Theatre," or Mr. Harms- worth, of the "Daily Mail" — (these advertisements are inserted free and unsolicited) — why is it not proper to tell the ignorant public so ? It is very handicapping when some are permitted to do what others cannot. I give up the conundrum, and submit to the anciently fixed, if unwritten law ; that mo5esty and talent are proper mates ad look well together, even although their union may not be always blessed with financial success. There were a number of our fellow-passengers who 176 turned up their noses when they heard of the King Edward Hotel, and called it, disdainfully, much too second class a " shop " for their money, yet whom I met at table there -afterwards. Among others came my obscene and smutty story-tell- ing Australian young man, who, as he had been my neigh- bour on board the " Delhi," proposed that we should share the same table. He informed me a trifle haughtily that the hotel he intended to stay at was full, which was the reason he had been forced to come to the King Edward. I had observed a difference in his demeanour as soon as I saw him on shore— a slightly wearied air of superiority, as if he intended presently to put on "frills." Such were his intentions, as I soon discovered. Whether he feared I might want to borrow from him, or was under the impres- sion that " Sugar " was a more dignified pursuit than art or literature^ I cannot say. But the " frills " were being rapidly produced, to my great delight. If he could only get them on high enough not to see me, or could wear them in such a manner as to give me T;he chance to break with him, what a god-send I'd regard these frills. He had disgusted me too much to make the prospect of longer ■dining near him an unalloyed joy. He gave me the latter •chance that night at dinner, and I grabbed at it with alacrity. We sat down to luncheon with the Colonel and another shipmate. He asked me languidly what room I had. I replied cheerfully : ' One of the attics. They are two dollars less per day than the rooms under, where the Colonel has put up.' 'Oh, indeed,' coldly. 'Having introductions to rather " toffish" swells in Hong Kong, I was compelled to take a suite on the ground floor.' I glanced at the Colonel, but he was too old a soldier to move a muscle. A very slight twinkle, however, sparkled for an instant within his faded blue eyes. At dinner my Colonial gentleman appeared in full war- paint. I. expected he would, therefore did not change my -morning clothes. Very few diners did here. The Colonel 177 -was dining with a military friend at the club, therefore -we were only three. Mr. Sugar-man gazed at us with undisguised disdain, and although he sat with us, abstracted himself entirely from our conversation, and gazed about him, as if he had not been introduced. I therefore devoted myself to the other shipmate and talked rather loudly about the pecuniary advantages of living in an attic. As soon as dinner was over, my gentleman rose and left the room without a word. "When he was leaving I said to the Chinese waiter, a little ■more loudly : 'Put me at some other table to-morrow, please.' After this I cut my "frilly" friend when we chanced to tneet. As we were going up to the smoke-room I had my first ■view of the Gergantian American Israelite, of whom I «hall speak a little about later. He stood in the hall, having just arrived, and seemed to fill it. Not a tall man, "but of such girth that I appeared slender beside him. Afterwards he said he was only twenty-two, but he appeared "to be nearer forty. Handsome in face, as most fleshy Jews are, dark eyes, and of vivid colouring. Diamonds flashed •from his fat fingers and huge pin, under five or six rolling ■chins, and fetters of gold supported heavy seals and locket in front of the bulging paunch. He was giving the porters orders about a pile of large trunks, in tones the most ■stridently loud I ever heard bellow from a capacious chest. I paused and regarded him with fascinated awe. Like this must have appeared King David, when charming Uriah's wife from his palace roof. He was superb ; tremendous, irresistible; and despite the modern disguise of a strong nasal twang, coat, vest, and trousers, loomed up as Oriental as one could possibly imagine. 178 Chapter VIII. FESTIVITIES. From the Peak Hill — New Year's Day at Hong Kong — Night Festivities — Jinrikshas and Sampans — A Walk with Den- shaw Mistry — The Theatre — Father Christmas. THE day being, for winter, exceptionally fine, I made- my way to Victoria Peak, the highest point of land, as quickly as I could. Mr. Walker, the shipmate, who occupied a seat at my table, went with me. He was a respectable young man from Leeds, who was a traveller in the hard goods line, and had been to China and Japan before. He was, therefore, able to give me a good deal of information concerning matters which I was not likely to find in travellers' guide books; therefore I cultivated him. He left on the following day for Shanghai and wanted to send a telegram to one of his customers to announce his comingj but the office was closed, it being New Year's Day. I promised to send his message off on the following morning as soon as the office was open, and he promised to purchase a special kind of Chinese playing cards. I sent the wire, which cost one dollar seventy-five cents ; but, I haven't received that special pack of Chinese cards yet. This is a mere detail, however, which I only mention in case these pages meet the eyes of Mr. Walker. Walker isn't his name, of course, but I daresay he will recall the incident and promise. I should like that pack of cards, if he can remember to purchase them when next in China. He can send them to me through my publishers. We walked to the Peak Hill railway station, and ascended by that palpitating route. It was a novel sensa- tion, going almost perpendicularly up, and swinging above the city. As one looked down upon the roofs of the lower station houses and the two narrow steel lines, the effect was inducive of serious meditation and prayer. When I stepped from the car my lower limbs were trembling, and I felt rather weak about the back-bone. After an inward 179 thanksgiving, I made a silent vow that I would walk the return journey. It is a very steep hill, studded with beautiful villas on the ridges. To the flagstaff from the top hill was a stiff climb ; therefore, after getting to the foot of the terminat- ing cone, I sat down on some steps by the side of the road and imitated the wise example of that King of Journalists, George Augustus Sala, when he went to see the Coronation of the former Czar df Russia. I sent my companion, who was younger and fonder of scrambling, to see and report what it looked like while I rested and wrote out the descrip- tion meanwhile. Like the Coronation, I knew, as the late Mir. Sala did from former experience, what the view from the peak would be like. From where I sat I was able to see all that I wanted of the extensive panorama spread round me. The air was keen ? but the sunshine made it like a balmy summer day, with reaches of headland, islands, and azure ocean melting in soft gradations of brown, purple, and cobalt, to filmy washes of pearly grey. The pedestrians who passed me were mostly Chinese, costumed in their holiday attire, gallant, yellow-faced youths attired in silks, brighthued, and brocaded with lovely designs. Their long jetty and shining pig-tails were artfully plaited and adorned at the ends with different tinted ribbons and tassels dangling below their calves. Black tight trousers, with leggings of worked silk, white socks and dainty shoes turned up at the toes, under jackets of blue, pink, dove-grey, and other colours, with loose, short jackets of different hues, gave them the appearance of very gay young birds. The ladies were also quaintly dressed in varied hues, but the males surpassed them in splendour, as it is in Nature with the birds and beasts. I thoroughly enjoyed that short rest, for I saw so much, and they all looked like fairy princes and princesses in a pantomime, and behaved themselves so prettily. No wrangling, no 'Any or 'Arriet tomfoolery, loud guffaws, nor rude remarks upon me, as I sat sketching by 180 the wayside. No words nor actions calculated to shock the most sensitive. And this was like four Bank Holidays rolled into one, when every Chinaman great and humble, big or little, male and f emale^ go on their yearly " bust." I sat there about an hour, while hundreds of giddy revellers trooped past me of both sexes, and I cannot chronicle a single swear. This is heathen China, whom the mis- ■sionaries pant and thirst to make like the 'Arrys and 'Arriets in our Christian land. Many of those who went by were of the class of our costers (there are no Hooligans in China, at least I saw none). They were of the orders of porters and wharf labourers, i.e., coolies, yet they behaved like gentlemen — better than many who think themselves gentlemen often behave among Europeans. They glanced at me in the passing ; sometimes paused •a few moments to watch my work ; but — they were in- tuitive enough not to stand between me and my subject, and they refrained from jeering criticism. They spoke in low tones and went on again without molesting me. I wonder where, throughout the length and breadth of Europe or Australia, an artist would be permitted to finish his sketch in a thoroughfare, any day in the year, in com- fort? I do not name a holiday, as that is not possible. Pushing, shoving, or leaning against, must b© expected by the artist when he opens his sketch-book. Not at all unlikely stones, clods, and mud are cast at him ; his hat is playfully knocked off, or his stool kicked from under him ; certainly at the very least his landscape blocked out by admiring or mocking spectators. I have been treated thus throughout France, Italy, and Switzerland, by German, American, and English tourists— the kind who of recent years swarm over these fair lands and confiscate vacant places in railway carriages; seldom, however, by the natives, but invariably when sketching throughout Great Britain. At Bepallo, Italy, two years ago, a German gentleman kicked my stool, easel, picture, and paint-box into the dust in his exuberance, and then cleared out, while I was pick- 181 ing up myself and my scattered materials, "Hoch 1 Hoch- ing ! !" at his merry jest. He was over six feet, well dressed, and had a number of other Teutonic ladies and gentlemen with him. I have felt extremely sorry ever since, and in spite of his mighty girth and size, that he and they made so sudden an exit before I could thank him for his courtesy, but I had my paints, etc., to think about first. Afterwards, although I sought for him long and diligently, I was not so successful as the woman with her lost piece of silver ; therefore have not been able to call my friends to rejoice with me in the result. When Mr. Walker returned we had tea at the Peak Hotel, and then began the descent. Never can I quite forget that walk down the hill. It seemed endless, and without a level grade. Down^ down, down we went with knees aching and trembling as if paralysis was coming on, when we must sink and roll the rest of the road. Our feet and ankles felt racked with the prolonged straining of the tendons, so that when, at last, we reached the gates of the Botanical Gardens, I flung myself upon the grass and refused to budge an inch farther. My companion was not so exhausted. He was young, and not so heavy. We were passed on the descent by Chinese coolies carrying sedan chairs empty and full. They seemed to make light of the journey, and I wondered ; as I lay, what Scotch spirit of economy had tempted me to walk, when at small price I might have reclined^ like an ancient Roman. Sometimes this hereditary Imp of Meanness seizes me at most inopportune moments, and assuredly the down- ward peregrination of that one thousand four hundred feet was not the time to yield to the instincts of my ancestors. The Gardens were tastefully laid out, and the open glass houses, left unprotected to the public, were well worth a visit. The Zoological section was also extremely interest- ing, and here, again, I saw the same docile and orderly crowd of holiday-makers, so great a contrast to our public at home in such places, and on such occasions. 182 While we were looking round, the distant fusilade of crackers and fireworks, as if a heavy bombardment was occurring, lured us towards the town. Therefore, hailing two Jinrikshas at the other entrance gate, we were swiftly- carried towards the crowded streets. It is difficult to give any idea of a Chinese crowd on such an occasion ; utterly impossible to define the noise of their exploding fireworks. The side streets are literally packed from side to side, and from end to end, with com- pact humanity. Queen's Road was a little freer, yet even here, as we looked in front and behind, it seemed folly to attempt getting through. Yet, the masses were so good- tempered that we managed to clear a path and see all that was to be seen. Most of the warehouses and shops were closed and shuttered, so that only portions of the sign-boards could be seen from where we sat. On the balconies over our heads were assembled other crowds of native merchants and their friends, superbly dressed in brocaded silks, watch- ing gravely the firing of their crackers. From each of the windows other heads and shoulders leaned out, all watching intently and solemnly the never- pausing display. No one smiled, nor did they display any emotion. From balconies and top windows hung long coils of crackers fastened together as closely as they could be tied, and in clusters of dozens. These strands were scores of yards long and in close lines and festoons, with but little space between, so that both sides of every street were cur- tained by them. As they burnt, they were let down from the upper windows and appeared endless. Small crackers each were, white tipped with red, that exploded like pistol shots and flew in all directions. The sums they cost must have been enormous. Thousands of these cracker-ropes were fired at the same time, and before one was finished another was let down and lit. Clouds of gunpowder smoke filled the air and nostrils, while among it darted those escaping squibs, 183 emitting flames and sparks. The streets seemed on fire. The sound of these locd repercussions was terrific and deafening. Each report kept distinct^ yet mingled to- gether in a continual roar louder than thunder and sharp as gatling discharges. I stuffed my ears with cotton wool which I had brought for the purpose, but even that pre- caution did not serve me much. The Chinese appear to be insensible to sound, as they are to smell. In the centre of the side streets slowly advanced pro- cessions of masqueraders inside gigantic masks of demons and dragons, with banners held aloft. These masks walked •on stilts, the heads vomiting flames and fireworks, which Tvere responded to by exploding fireworks from the dense masses over which they towered. Many of the crowd must have been badly burnt, for the fireworks fell among them as thickly as heavy hail. Yet they did not seem, to mind, for they still stood packed solidly, only crushing closer together to let the gilded and painted fire-showering monsters and banners crawl along. Perhaps they were also impervious to fire. It was a pandemoniacal scene. The ceaseless and ear- drum-cracking fusilade had gone on for hours already, without a pause, all over the city, and it continued without intermission all through the night and most of the follow- ing day as well. I had never seen nor heard the like in my life, and that drive through left me stunned. The sight fascinated us, however, in spite of the ap- palling din, so, as soon as dinner was over, we were out amongst! it again in our Jinrikshas. The town was now overhung with smoke, and the stars lost to view. As we moved along, the fire bells began to peel, and the crowd swept us with them towards the native quarters, ■where the houses were mostly built of wood. Passing the firei station, I saw the engines being leisurely brought out by coolies, while the firemen in their "brass helmets were getting into Jinrikshas. There was no rush. The crowd ran and we all followed them to the scene 184 of disaster. At last we reacted it and saw a cluster of houses blazing away merrily, while the mob stood round watching the destruction, as calmly as they watched the crackers going off. It was spreading rapidly and snapping up house after house, but the firemen waited coolly in their Jinrikshas, until the engines came on the scene. Then they com- menced to pour water on the outside houses as yet un- touched, leaving those in the circle to blaze. A most com- forting blaze it was that cold night ; and made a glorious display of ruddy light. The Chinese appeared to look upon it as part of the programme of the New Year Festival, and (»rta,inly it could not have been more costly than the crackers, which still thundered and roared. Like Nero, I rather gloat on a good fire, and I had nothing to com- plain about this one. It was fierce while it lasted, and when at last it sank to a rosy glow, we left the huge crater with a feeling that we had received the full worth of our money. There were no harrowing scenes ; everyone was placid and contented with the display ; yet I knew that this unusual calm was no guarantee that it had been sans tragedy. The Chinese are philosophical, and never get excited over calamities. That long night no one could sleep, for the pounding of a quartz crusher would have been like the softest sonata,, compared to this never-ceasing composition of a Satanic serenade. The buildings are palatial in Hong Kong. (I like to call this city by its native name ; as I abhor British common- places in foreign lands). Therefore, let us call it by its euphonious, if misleading title, Hiang-Kiang, which signi- fies " Sweet "Waters." The Chinese have the reputation of being past masters in the forcing of vegetables, and delicate irony. I do not intend to say much about the European residents of this, or other cities throughout my route, further than that they showed me great kindness and in- dulgence. I was made a temporary member of the 185 " Clubs " of this city and also of Shanghai, and would have had dinners and interviews galore in my honour, if I had let them have their own generous ways. But I sternly told each to " Get thee hence, Friend. I have not come to eat, drink, or play at skittles with white men, but to gaze upon the golden face of the Celestial." Therefore, if I club them together in this vote of grateful thanks, it is only because I have no room at present to mention each individually. My readers want incidents, I reckon, not advertisements. Next time I come, however, to these fair and savoury lands I shall be more prepared to enjoy myself, and partake of your lavish hospitality, likewise abide longer. At present, in my leisure moments^ I am concocting pungent perfumes in my laboratory, to be ready for my next visit to the home of " Sweet Waters." You may then be able to smell my approach. The buildings are not only palatial as to size, but beautiful in the variety and richness of their carvings. The main roads also are wide, well paved, and far reaching. Indeed, it is, taken altogether, an ideal city and site, in outward appearance. For the next two days I spent prowling round, driving about in tramcars, jinrikshas, sedan chairs, and sampans, and saw much. The weather, however, was not propitious after the first day, but settled down to fog, rain, sleet, and icy winds, so that I was forced to wear the bulk of my wardrobe, and went about cos- tumed like an Esquimaux (my roomiest suit being a rough Cheviot Norfolk jacket), went outside, and imparted a fine massive, Falstaffian appearance to me, which won me great respect among the natives. My poor friend, Colonel Furse, however, being overcoat- less, owing to that Colombian thief, was constrained to use one of my overcoats to protect him somewhat, while a new one was being made. He being of slender build, presented rather a baggy appearance, which robbed him of a good deal of his military aspect; but he was a Christian philosopher, and bore the cross meekly. The Bar Manager, who had come from Manchuria, possessed a fur-lined coat 186 and offered to sell it cheaply. It was a decided bargain, and nearer the Colonel's size, so he came to me with it on ■one morning to get my opinion upon it. It was a very good fit, fawn coloured, and heavily collared and cuffed with brown sable. I turned him about and looked all round, and then my sigh decided his doubts, for the unhappiness left his face. Somehow, in the Manager's magnificent overcoat, Colonel Furse seemed to lose every shred of dignity and respectability, and might easily have been taken for a flash Welsher on a racecourse. He removed the comfortable article, much relieved, and returned to the lighter and badly-fitting borrowed garment. I, however, afterwards bitterly regretted that disapprov- ing sigh, as it was owing to this inadequate covering that he caught the fatal cold that terminated with his death. It would have been wiser to have been taken for a horse- thief than pay such a, price for outside respectability. After my first comfortable, very hot bath in a Chinese brown earthenware dish, I proceeded upon my investiga- tion. The British shops were open, a few of the native, and all the public-houses, doing a roaring trade. Passing Kelly and Walsh's, the Smith and Son of the East bookstores, I saw a couple of my books in the window. 1 entered to purchase " A Colonial Tramp," which I beheld for the first time in paper covers. Having been introduced to the manager, he called my attention to one part, where I appeared to have made a strange error as to time. Look- ing at the part indicated, I noted, to my utter astonishment, that a large slice had been ruthlessly cut away by the pirate publisher, which made my work worthless as a guide as well as ridiculous. In one chapter I had taken the reader the length of Port Said, and the next chapter began : "In two days after this we reached Colombo." Over a fortnight had been cut out without a single note of explana- tion. I was a little indignant to see this edition, even if it had been left unmutilated, without the knowledge of the Author and Copyright-holder. But at this outrage I felt murderous, and saw red before my eyes. I bore the copy 187 away, resolved upon a scalp hunt when I reached England. Unfortunately, however, I weakly lent it to the Captain of ■"The Holy Grill" (to be described later on), and I saw it no more. Like the promised pack of Chinese playing cards, I am now waiting on another copy, so that I may take to the war-path. My wigwam has still a vacant place for the scalp of a publisher. Feeling a little sick, I went into one of the drinking hotels, and asked for a glass of brandy, proffering a dollar in payment. It was served to me by a hard-visaged, painted woman, who, pocketing my dollar, invited me into her parlour instead of giving me change. I declined politely and tasted the — poison. One taste was sufficient to prove to my experienced palate that it was both abomin- able and heavily drugged. I glanced round and saw an honest naval seaman sipping from a glass of rum and smoking his pipe peacefully. In other parts of the dirty shop were slatternly young women and disreputable white men. Then I turned to Jack Tar, and after warning him to be careful, I went forth, sans change, but with a clear ■conscience, if the beginning of a bad headache. I read a book recently in which the author, an M.A., F.R.S.S., and F.S.A., describing Hong Kong, i.e., giving a list of the distinguished people who had entertained him there, observed : ' I dined in the evening with Sir Arthur and Miss Kennedy. The Governor strongly reprobated the Coolie Traffic, saying it was the worst form of slavery. He has put down the gambling houses in Hong. Kong, and told me that when he originally came out, Lord Kimberley strongly urged him to do so at any cost.' I agree that the coolies have a hard time, but the work is of their own choosing, and they do not appear unhappy. It would be also a difficult problem to know what other slavery there would be for them to live by, as it would be for our dock slaves at home. But I am strongly of opinion that British Governors would be doing the State more service if they left Chinese "Magistrates to deal with Chinese gamblers ; and instead, 188 at a much lesser cost, supervised and controlled these European boozing dens of infamy; also let respectable landlords only have the working of these " hotels ( ?). " Such efforts might save strangers from being victimised, and his Majesty's sailor-man from ruining his constitution when taking his pleasure ashore. I think this a more useful field for Government enter- prise than interfering, "at all costs," with Chinese rights and privileges. Indeed, it seems unwarrantable impudence for people, tolerated in a country, to "put down." any custom which the owners of that country permit. These were the days when the Chinese paid friendly visits to each other ; therefore, I could only get a peep through half-opened doors into dark, or dimly lantern- lighted interiors, all nearly vacant, as the friends were gathered in inside rooms; but I saw ruddy indications through the curtained doorways of festivities proceeding, rich glimpses of glowing colour and warmth. Outside, the jinrikshas and sedan chairs were constantly passing, holding families all radiantly dressed ; the fathers and children sleek and happy, the mothers and daughters unsparingly painted with white and red, their eyebrows pencilled and their jetty tresses done up in shining puffs. At one corner in a side street I came upon a group of boys, ranging from three to six or seven years old. They were kneeling in a circle ; with heads close together, toss- ing dice, and winning or losing tiny square brass pieces with holes in the centre. I stood over them unobserved for a few moments, watching the exciting game. Then quietly I dropped a ten cent, copper piece between the heads. The effect was instantaneous ; they scuttled off like rats, leaving their dice and brass money behind in their haste. They must have thought it was the police, therefore I do not think that Sir Arthur Kennedy has accomplished his ambition in Hong Kong yet. At what price also, so far, I wonder? It was a nice run in the cars, which were well conducted by Chinese officials. As we went along I had fine views of 189 the harbour and native houses, also of friends greeting one another on the pavements. The sampans crowded the shore in thousands, looking most picturesque as they rocked about. The inhabitants of these floating houses are a class by themselves, and have little intercourse with the house dwellers. They marry, get born, live, and die on board, and generally have a free and happy existence. I boarded one and was rowed out to the open, and then the sails were hoisted, and we skimmed over the roughened waters to Kowloon. There was a good deal of skilful steering to be done, as we jpassed many stately junks and other craft en route. This was done with a long oar used by one of the two wives. The husband and No. 2 managed the rowing oars and sails. This sampan was like all the others crowding the harbour, flat-bottomed, bulky-looking, yet swift in the sailing. The woman behind me, in the stern, was robust and good-natured. She stood upright, with bare legs, and moved her body easily as she swayed her steering oar; the other woman was assisted by two children, while a baby was fastened to her back. She, like the husband, sat with their toes gripping the seat before them, and pulled strongly and steadily. None of them were attrac- tive to an English eye; they were also dressed in the cheapest of blue and patched cottons. But they were all sturdy, wholesome, and as cheerful as Venetians. I sat on a cushioned seat, with a support for my back, and a canvas awning circling round the top and sides. It was a small craft of light-coloured wood, decked in the prow end, of about ten or twelve feet long, and five feet wide, yet it was a menagerie, a kitchen, a storehouse, and sleeping quarters as well. I saw the stove with the pans cooking their meal, with a place to hold provisions. There was a dog lying on the hatch, a pig in a box hang- ing over one side, and a basket cage balancing it with cock *%& hens on the other side; also, I daresay, numbers of other animated things not mentionable in polite society. 190 Wherever they went, their home and household gods went with them. I did not see much at Kowloon to interest me, so I returned by the ferry, and after dinner went to the Chinese theatre. Here I had a surprise, for I was prepared for a weary hour or two, and instead, had a real dramatic treat, as genuine a treat as I once had at Alasso in a barn, where a company of actors from Milan were performing, who were doing the " buskers " during Lent. This was a fair-sized building, and packed from stage to ceiling with five or six thousand Chinese. It was a mighty crowd, yet they did not smell at all, as an English audience of two hundred would have done in the same space. We paid one dollar for our ticket, while the Chinese pay a few cents. But, we were accommodated with chairs on the stage, as gentlemen were in the days of Shakespeare, and also had an Irish policeman to look after us. I was interested in both actors and audience the moment I entered, and the interest kept growing until the hour for closing came. Without understanding a word the actors said, their gestures, mimicry, and delivery were so perfect and realistic that I was able to follow the drama in all its stages. The audience sat so still and attentive that it was a pleasure to watch their different expressions. No applause was given, nor expected, evidently. It was a tragedy, with a comio man to lighten the gloom ; a high-born lady with her attendants — played by men, yet even near as I was, so artistically were they got up that I could hardly credit that they were men. They did their parts naturally and quietly, with all the refined affectations; they also had the tiny feet of women, yet they acted with both dignity and pathos. The varied passions of pleasure, fear, disdain, and anger were given to the life. The comic man was very funny. Like Arthur Roberts, he evidently extemporized as he went along, and it was not long before I was aware, from the thousand of dark eyes turned from him to me and his own actions that he was 191 taking me off, and doing it well, with about as little exaggeration as Phil May could have done in his caricatures. I enjoyed this as much as one could, who had only gestures and expression to follow — they were so artistically done, with just the right touch of talent to make them ridiculous, without being buffoonish. It also amused me to see the manner the stage was used. While the actors carried out their parts in the centre, children, dogs, and people kept going on and off the stage to behind the scenes as they pleased. It was exactly as if we had gone back four or five centuries, and were taking part in a performance of that period. At about a quarter to ten o'clock our Hibernian guard said we'd better be going before the finale, so as to get out before the rush commenced. We rose obediently and walked between the impassive pack, and so, as Mr. Pepys says, 'home and to bed.' The next day Dinshaw Mistry called upon me to take me to the Parsee cemetery. As before, he paid all expenses, and again I had perforce to let him. We drove by the Racecourse and through the Happy Valley, and viewed the fine tombs, while he explained the funeral rites. A Parsee funeral is rather an expensive affair, as all the clothes of the mourners have to be destroyed, while they abluted in bath-houses provided for the purpose, and re- dressed themselves in new attire from shirt to outer gar- ments. But there is a fund contributed by the wealthy, so that this burden does not fall on the poor. Next to this cemetery stands the burning ground of the Hindoos, a bare and blackened yard that made me shiver slightly, as my sentiments are against cremation, although common sense seems to advocate it. Doctors do remarkably well in Hong Kong. Their fees are high, and in the unwholesome months their practice is large. The following day I went to lunch with an Editorial friend on the hill side, and here had a little amusing 192 adventure. While sitting in the drawing-room talking to my host and hostess, his little son came in and sat on the carpet in front of me. He sat staring solemnly, his eyes growing bigger every instant, until all of a sudden he burst out emphatically with the words : ' Why ! You are Father Christmas. And I have always thought it was Papa and Mamma who put presents in my socks, and that there was no such person.' Alas ! for the credulity of our modern children. I had on my Norfolk coat over three flannel shirts, and the same number of vests, and with my red face and white beard I fancy there must have been a certain resemblance to that fictitious and benevolent personage. I answered : ' Father Christmas, on his holidays, at present, my boy.' ' Ah ! How nice, though, to know that you are real, and that people were not telling whackers about you all the time. I shall always believe in everything after this ; the fairies and giants also, for, of course, since you are alive they must be.' ' Of course,' I answered, with a shrinking of "the heart. ' Bertie composes verse, so it is pleasant to know that the fairies are realities,' observed his mother, quietly. ' So do I,' I answered, much relieved. ' And after this I'll do as Bertie is going to do in future — always believe in the fairies.' Chapter IX. CANTON. Canton — The Eiver — Captain MacGinty — My Guide — Streets and Shops— A Disaster— The Water Clock— The Prison and Execution Ground — Criminals — The Temples — Five-Storied Pagoda — City of the Dead — Fantans. fin HE same good friend who puti me up for the Hong J- Kong Club also gave me a note of introduction to the Viceroy of Canton. ' You will have no trouble in seeing the gentleman ; I 193 shall let him know that you are coming,' he said, as he handed me the note. ' All you have to do is to telephone to his secretary when you get to Shamen, and he will send a chair and attendants to wait upon you.' I felt proud of this introduction to the Emperor's representative, and mentioned it casually to another of my numerous, new formed, and warm-hearted friends of Hong Kong. He said earnestly : ' For goodness sake don't use that letter, if you do not want to he fleeced to the skin hefore you get into the presence, and afterwards get treated to an execution for your special benefit. The Viceroy's attendants are blood- suckers, while his Excellency thinks the finest treat he can give his visitors is to order an instant decapitation exhibi- tion. Condemned criminals are reserved for such occasions in Canton.' I had begun my new career of credulity a la Bertie. I saw no reason for doubting these statements. Therefore, as I had but moderate desires on the subject of being shorn, and not the slightest wish to shorten by a single second the life of the vilest criminals, I put this letter of intro- duction sadly away, with my other souvenirs, and resolved to sneak into Canton incognito. I fixed upon a night boat for my adventure, and after another well-spent day among the sampan dwellers and Alladins of the alleys, I put money into my pockets and walked along to the wharf. Two steamers were to start that night for Canton. One, I think, an eight dollar line, which was considered the highest toned. The other was three dollars, and run by the Chinese Government. British-like — for we cannot altogether get rid of insular prejudice — I fixed on the highest priced steamboat, and was relieved to find that it was complete, i.e., filled up. Then I sought the other, and soon found myself installed in a cabin to myself on board the " San Cheng." comman- ded by a most genial and unconventional captain called M'acGinty, a native of Glasgow, and about as crammed with the kind of native information which I wanted as a 194 good egg is of nutriment. His uniform consisted of a buttonless flannel shirt, and an old pair of soiled pants rolled up at the bottoms, also without boots or socks to retard his activity while on duty. When I meet a man like that Captain McGinty, well-informed, liberated from prejudice, eagle-eyed, and " off-hand," I feel both happy and safe under his charge. It was a dark, starless night, chilly and damp. The cabin was nearly empty, but the steerage was chock-a-block with Chinese travellers, wrapped in their blankets and laid side by side like bales. The oil lamps were also smoky, dim, and far between, so that I had to feel my way ahout. A fat Chinese steward, and barman, took my dollars and gave me my pass. Then the Captain looking in, we had a glass of whisky together and a little conversation before he went out to look after the starting. That whisky was genuine " Scotch," and mellow. By-and-bye dinner was served, which was all the stomach could desire. But, what has puzzled me since, did I pay for that dinner? The Captain's stories were so entertaining that I forgot all about the bill, and I left so early on the second morning after our return, that I cannot remember. I hope I did pay. If not, and this ever reaches that genuine gentleman's eyes, I trust he will remind me, for I should not like to appear dishonourable, nor thankless. I did not make use of my cabin that night, as I wanted to see all that could be seen of this passage, notorious for pirates, and gory butcheries. So, instead of wasting time in sleep, I walked the deck, smoking, watching, and think- ing. Excepting for the customary sounds of a moving steamer, I had the deck to myself, and all the rest of the passengers were still below. On the bridge I could see the indistinct form of the captain, or mate, and I felt sure that the proper watchers were there to protect us from any sudden assault from the reckless cut-throats, who still frequently leave their heads on the execution ground of Canton. 195 There was not much to see, for although we passed land, sometimes on both sides quite near, sometimes on one side only, it was too dim for me to make out much on this dismal and dark night. Sometime after midnight I felt chilly enough to consider a glass of whisky desirable, so I went into the saloon and bar, but they were tenantless. Then I began to hunt round for the fat steward, and at last found him reclining in the arms of Morpheus. I shook him, but he made no response, not even a grunt, therefore leaving him to his repose I returned to the bar and looked round. On the shelves and at disposal stood the bottles and syphons invitingly. So, without further scruples, I selected the brand which before I hacl found so palatable, and helped myself to a glass of whisky and soda. Having done this, I replaced the bottle and placed the price of my refreshment beside it. Truly, the trust of the " San Cheng" exceeded my previous experience of bars. At daybreak we arrived at Shamen on the Pe Kiang, and brought to anchor in the midst of a flotilla of sampaais. The ancient city of Canton spread before us wreathed in mist. A dainty Chinese gentleman came smilingly towards me, dressed in a long black coat, like the one Portia wears when she is acting the advocate, and with a small cap on his head, saluted me with a low bow^ and presented his card. It was that of a licensed guide. I looked at him for a moment, and liking the refined, priestly face, gentle demeanour, and soft voice, I said, ' All right,' and left future proceedings to his management. He led me down the gangway delicately, and placed my bulky frame in the arms of a buxom sampan woman, who hoisted me into her boat, and planted me, with the tenderness of a mother to her overgrown child, upon a cushioned seat. Then she started sculling the sampan through a maze of other sam- pans, with much shouting, and landed us near the Victoria Hotel. Since I had no sleep, I asked for a bath, and while I 196 waa enjoying that, my guide went off for sedan chairs and bearers. I am sorry to admit, but it took seven bearers to carry me through the city, while four sufficed for my slender guide. We started after a substantial breakfast for a long day of sightseeing, from which I returned saturated with eye-lore. Shamen is strictly reserved for the use of Europeans who do not care to reside in the sacred and royal city. It is an island and connected with the Chinese quarter by a bridge. Across this bridge we were borne, and through the gates of a marketplace, now crowded with vendors. They showed little curiosity about us, and moved aside to let us pass willingly. Then we entered upon a maze of connecting narrow lanes, which we traversed for many hours. Both sides of every lane were shops on the base- ment, with dwelling houses of many flats above. These houses looked as lofty as some of the old habitations of Edinburgh, and being so close from side to side, a subdued light prevailed, with only narrow strips above of grey, cloudy sky. There were no entries nor passages between the houses that I could see, but only miles of connected build- ings. These lanes were so narrow that two sedan chairs could not pass each other. When we met any, one of us had to back into a shop to let the other get past. Our sedans or palanquins were not more than four feet, counting the over-lapping top, so this may give you some idea, of the streets of a Chinese town. There are no squares, except the inner and walled yards of some of the temples. Canton is a very ancient city, and the streets and houses still remain as they were many hundreds of years ago. It is, therefore, natural to accept time-stained beams, rafters, and walls; also unequal pavements and cobbled streets*; the only wonder of it all is that it can look as orderly as it does. There is a system of covered drainage, i.e., the sewers run along both sides of the narrow pavements very close to the surface and at frequent intervals, having open spaces between the thick stone slabs. The glimpses a pedestrian 197 gets of nameless horrors between his legs, as he steps over the gaps, with the odours which assail the nostrils, are much too powerful for language to describe. Imagination must utterly fail to realize their strength; even memory grows comatozed as it attempts to recall past experiences. Yet Canton is considered a clean city com- pared to some others, and more wonderful to relate, it is not unhealthy, taken on an average. Epidemics do not come often here, but if they did, what a holocaust they would produce among that million eight hundred thousand crowded population. At one part where I was getting out of the sedan to enter a shop, I took such an inhalation of full-flavoured and laden atmosphere, that I lost consciousness, and for a minute fell to the ground, striking the side of my brow against the shaft of the palanquin, and bruising my elbows and knees on the hard paving stones, the effects of which I felt for weeks after. As the guide and one of the bearers lifted me, I saw a scavenger passing, with his huge, filled pails, swinging from the shoulder-pole. I closed my eyes and once more relapsed into my swoon. This was my virgin faint ; but the cause, oh, ye gods ! was sufficient to produce coma in a camel ! and they are fairly stout-hearted over such inflictions. I felt considerably humiliated at the faint as an exhibition of weakness, and a good deal pained at the bruises. But these feelings were trifles compared to the ineffable, nauseous, and dismal disgust that filled me as I looked at my clothes and hands. The day was damp, and the street at that part particularly moist, sticky, dark- tinted, and noisome, and I had wiped up a lot. The courteous shopkeepers produced clothes to rub me down, and they did their utmost to restore my lost self-respect. Bless them all. But, as I gazed drearily along the long, narrow street, I felt that it would take more than seven times dipping in the waters of Jordan to make me clean, while only the "Happy Dispatch" could make me forget my abject and utter misery. I was the only person there, 198 however, who seemed to loathe me. Indeed, as they sniffed round me appreciatively, and patted my back encourag- ingly, as if I had become a naturalized Chinaman, and received the honourable rights of the city, I at length plucked up manhood enough to enter the shop and look at their wares. It was 1 an ivory carver's of celebrity, and he had a large and beautiful assortment of goods to show me and sell if I was that way disposed. Here, however, I must say that in this, and every other shop I entered in China, there was no importunate pressing to make me purchase, as there exists in European shops. It seemed a pleasure for them to display their work, and hear it receive its just meed of praise. The selling part was conducted without any eagerness, and when the price was named, there was not abating. I tried it once only, for I could not help bringing my country's odious custom with me. But one lesson was sufficient. The merchant gently smiled, put away the article I was trying to cheapen, and showed me something else*. I saw those marvellous ivory balls within balls, the matchless triumph of patient dexterity and consummate art. Also other rare treasures which I could only admire, as the price, although inadequate, was beyond me. I bought' a cigar-holder and a few other small, but exquisitely carved, objects. As I was there, I looked carefully round me at the workers. At one part a youth was sawing planks from a great tusk as thick as the trunk of a good-sized tree. We visited several other shops, lace and silk merchants, painters and gilders in lacquer ware, lanterns, books, and pictures on rice-paper. Gold, silver, and copper workers, jade stone designers, and other pretty occupations too numerous to mention. It was like passing through endless avenues of shops filled with all the artistic treasures of the East, while the coloured lanterns, waving brocades, laces, gauzes, and carved, gilded, and painted sign-boards made a bewildering phantasmagoria of colour, that became ex- hausting as they went on unfolding, without any rest. 199 At one part we stopped to see the renowned Watei Clock, which has kept time for eight hundred years. The attendants have gone on generations after generations supplying the tanks which feed those tireless works, with- out a lull in that prison-like building with its narrow slits of windows and worn stone stairs. I was wonderfully impressed by this show place ; also, I remember it with gratitude, as here I was able to wash my hands. The next halt was at the Execution Ground, a narrow yard used as a potters' store place, when not officially engaged. Here, on the half-dried, muddy ground, I saw five sinister patches of dark, congealed blood, and was informed that a few days before, five pirates had been beheaded. Some children were playing near these horrid, uncovered traces, and both women and men passed through carelessly. No one thought of covering them, and as the ground was well saturated, these stainfs would likely still be there undried when the next batch of criminals met their doom. There was a bench against the wall a few yards dis- tance from! where the condemned knelt. Here the Mandarins sat to see justice done. The victims kneel in a row, while the Magistrates and people look on. Then, at a given word, the executioner steps behind, grips the pigtail of each culprit, jerks back his head, and with a single swish of the sword it is off, and flung on the ground, while the body sinks beside it. It is quick work, for the headman is dexterous, and his weapon keen. A few weeks before this day, twenty-five culprits were decapitated at once. The ceremony lasted only a few minutes. He passed rapidly along the line, taking off heads a.s if they had been thistles. A photo- grapher snap-shotted the scene, and his prints show the last man laughing at the comic sight of the other heads rolling off, when his own turn came, and the next snapshot showed his head lying on the ground, with the laugh still on the mouth. I did not stay long at this place, as it was far from being savoury in its surroundings. 200 The Prison was our next stop, and here I was surprised at the liberty the captives seemed to enjoy. There was a courtyard outside leading to the street, with wide, open gates. Here all sorts of vendors were gathered with their wares on stalls, and barrows and low tables where fortune-tellers plied their trade. We entered a ramshackle door, with a crazy lock, and bars easy to remove. Inside this was the Jailor's office, like the ticket box of a travelling theatre. The Warder had a bunch of keys at his belt, but he did not use them to open or fasten the door, which was ajar when we came, and remained so on our departure. The prisoners were a sociable lot, and did not appear to be the least concerned about their fate. Yet some of them were already tried and condemned to death. They wore light and well-polished leg-chains certainly, fastened to their waistbands, which did not greatly limit their freedom of action. Otherwise they seemed free to come or go as they pleased. They were smoking, playing games, and enjoying themselves, while the Gaoler acted as steward. The rooms were rather badly lighted, and not over clean. I spoke, through my guide, to a condemned pirate, who told me pleasantly that the " Cage " was to be his mode of punishment, and that the date of the performance had not yet been fixed. He was a genteel young man, with a cheerful smile, showing his small prominent white teeth, and a little moustache carefully pointed. If he had said he was an inoffensive shop-walker I would have believed him. Yet the guide told me he was a very black sheep, who had cut numerous throats, hence the severity of his sentence.* The others were as deceptive in appearance as many criminals are at Dartmoor ; indeed, I have met heaps of unconvicted citizens far more like villains than any in * Torture is deprecated by the cultured Chinese, and only resorted to as a mode to prevent wealthy, yet atrocious, criminals from buying substitutes. In simple decapitation this can be done. 201 that prison looked. With the Keeper's permission I left some money to each of them, and was voted a good fellow by the merry company. The Cage is a form of death terrible enough to make any man go mad in the anticipation. The victim is en- closed in a close cage, where he stands upright, with his head sticking through the top bars, and three bricks under his feet. No food or drink are allowed to him. The first day he can stand easily and starve with comfort. The second day the top brick is removed and he is forced to stand on his toes. The third day another brick is taken and he passes the time half choked, and only the tips of his toes to ease him somewhat. The fourth day the last brick is taken, and he is left without any ground support, and held in position only by his chin and back part of the head. In this position he remains until death terminates his agony. The Chinese are adepts at slow torture. One told me when in Australia during the "Deeming" trial, that the English didn't know how to punish such crimes. 'If we had this fellow in China,' he said softly, ' we would keep him for five years alive, and make him wish every day that he was dead.' They have also peculiar conceptions about mercy. One engineer told me that the last time he had been in China, a coolie stoker had attacked him with his shovel and wounded him severely. For this the man had been tried at his own country's court and condemned to five hundred strokes of the bamboo. The Engineer, sorry at the severity of the sentence, which meant death, went to see the prisoner, and said on leaving, to the jailer, giving him at the same time three dollars : ' Be as kind to the poor fellow as you can.' The Jailer promised to be very kind, as he pocketed his reward. The next morning word was sent that the prisoner was dead. The Jailer had poisoned him during the night. Possibly this was kinder than kill- ing him with the bastinado. We visited the courthouse next, and in one chamber 202 examined many instruments of torture. They were all very ingenious and suggestive of the Holy Inquisition. Some might even have given fresh ideas to those benevolent inventors of different and lingering by-ways to Paradise. In one of the six miles of streets we met a policeman carrying on his shoulder a thick bamboo, of about ten feet long. This was his official baton to keep order and clear a crowd. He had also a brace of serviceable revolvers in holsters at his belt, and the guide observed that he used them promptly if a suspect offered to run. In this he resembled the American force. When they call out " Stop !" it is wisdom to do so, at once, and throw up your hands, otherwise you will be stopped for ever, with a bullet in your brains. In another street we passed a benign and patient-look- ing gentleman strolling along with a large and heavy square collar of wood round his neck. This was the "Caugne" punishment. This gentleman's misdeeds were printed on a strip of paper as a decoration to the otherwise plain collar, so that all who passed might read. This free advertisement is the part the culprit likes the least. In the corner of another street I saw a meditative, clean-shaven philosopher sitting in the " stocks " with his bare feet protruding from the holes and the picturesque record of his lapses from virtue on a board in front of him. He had quite a voluminous table of published credentials, in spite of his open and mild countenance. The Temples were our next quest. That of Wa Lum and the five hundred Genii. Weird, comical, and grotesque monsters they were, each with a votive earthenware pot in front where joss-sticks were stuck and burnt, instead of flowers. They represented the protecting spirits of the different towns and cities, and had other duties, domestic and political, to perform, for private customers as well. This Temple had a fine doorway. Then to the Confucian and Buddhist sanctuaries, which were not particularly interesting nor well cared for. 203 Worshippers came and went according to their inclina- tion. The women burnt sheets of paper in front of their particular image ; while the men kneeled, and genuflexed a number of times, and this seemed all they did in the way of worship, and they did it without the slightest signs of reverence. As we came out, a priest or priestess was always at the door holding out the hand for alms. When I learned that this was all the salary they received, I made them as happy as my limited means would permit. Going into one of these courts, I met a miserable-look- ing aad half-starved wretch in rags, weakly crawling along. My Guide informed me that this was the head priest of that temple, doing a prolonged fast for the sins of his district. I quite believed this, for he looked like a long faster, and was emaciated to the last degree. It appears that when the people have grown wearied of iniquity in Canton, they force their priests to do penance, instead of doing it themselves. This one had been existing for the past ten days on one small crust per day, and he had still twenty days to semi-starve before his erring flock would be satisfied that their evil deeds had been wiped out. I thought this a capital idea, and one tending to prove beyond dispute whether the holy men had proper qualifica- tions for their sacred calling. I thought, also, what a pity it was that we did not treat our well-fed Deans and Bishops in the same manner. I fancy there would not be so many applications for the Church if we were to follow this wise and economical Chinese custom. It was now nearing lunch time, so we were carried up to the five-storey Pagoda, which is at the highest point of the wall, and from where we could see the city and the country beyond. Having deposited us in the courtyard, my guide and I went up to the fifth storey, where we opened our sand- wiches, while the bearers sat below, gambling their dinner money. That being all the lunch they cared about. The five-storey Pagoda is a square built, large house, each flat diminishing in width, with roofed balconies on 204 each storey, back and front, The ends are plain, with sloping roof of reddish tiles. It is ancient and unfurnished, being occupied only by caretakers, and used as a Show House. The stairs are trying and the flooring very rough. From the top we had a good birdVeye view of the city and country outside the walls. These were massive and crumbly, being composed of bricks on a sand and granite foundation, twenty-five feet high and twenty thick. Watch towers stood at intervals, and there were embrasures holding very obsolete cannon. The city from this height did not look interesting — a mighty spread of dirty, red-tiled roofage, with some up- starting pagodas and towers, and bare, withered slopes between. A few leafless trees only accentuated the general bareness. The day, also, was dull and damp, and a little smoke hung over the roofs. The landscape outside likewise looked bare and desolate. A vast number of mounds dotted the hill-sides, which were graves. A short distance off, in a hollow, was a farmstead, while along the twisting ribbon of road slouched a rustic in blue blouse, and wide trousers, walk- ing in front of a flock of sheep. It was all monotonous, sad in tone and grey. After lunch we went to the " City of the Dead," where the wealthy dead reposed in polished teak coffins on tressels, inside rooms. There were two apartments in each small house. The inner held the coffin, and the outer a table spread with flowers, fruit, confectionery, and cups of tea. The Departed are supposed to live here in spirit, and feed on the spirits of the flowers, fruits, and other come- stibles. It is a poetic fancy, and no more foolish than the burning of candles to the dead ; yet I should have expected the Chinese to have been more enlightened than our European pagans. Superstition dies hard, even with the wisest. I did not see more than the outsides of the Flower Boats from a distance. But from a talk I had with my guide, I learned that the public ones were like our tea 205 gardens, innocent enough and used for picnics. The private ones similar to our house-boats, harmless, or otherwise, according to the tastes of the owner and his guests. The worst were no worse than our own shady, floating retreats, and a thousandfold freer from vice than are similar places kept up by the plutocrats of America, who strive to eclipse the most nameless vices of Rome in its vilest periods of Caligula and the Borgias. Returning, we took a peep at the outside of the many- storied Pagoda, winding up our tour with a visit to a first- class Fantan, i.e., gambling shop. We took our stand in a gallery running round the apartment where many of the players watched and staked. The table was below, with players also round it. It seemed a fair enough game, with little excitement about it, being all done in the counting. The banker placed a heap of money on the table in front of him, and the players also placed theirs against his, guessing from sight at the number. The one who counted the same number of coins as that in the bank won the lot, If none were equal, the bank swept in all. Those above let down their stakes in baskets by cords. They all played with urbanity, and lost or won with stoical indifference. The return journey to Hong Kong was almost a repeti- tion of the night before. Only as I had dinner ashore and felt tired, I went to bed, without seeing the captain. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I put out the lamp, and when we stopped, in the dark, found I had no matches. While I was scrambling about for a probable box, I upset the lamp and saturated my befouled garments with paraffin. This I did not regard as a very great calamity under the circumstances, yet not wishing to meet anyone, I slunk ashore and walked to my hotel. Hong Kong has a cough all its own in the winter. Shanghai has one of a different kind. Yet both are emphatic, and universal. Ammoniated tincture of quinine is the only medicine that somewhat relieves these appalling fits of coughing. Going along on that raw, dark morning, my loneliness was cheered by hearing this racking sound 206 from all sides, though I could not see the performers. They, however, must have known that I was passing. Possibly my approach produced these strenuous efforts from the multitudinous unseen. Eight days more, after various experiences and adventures^ which I have no present space to recount, I went on board the intermediate steamship " The Holy Grill," and proceeded towards Shanghai. Chapter X. ' The Holt Grill.' ' The Holy Grill ' — Her Captain, Crew and Passengers — Anecdote of a Pleasant Voyage. I CALL the intermediate steamer, which took me to Japan, and back to France, "The Holy Grill." I call her this name for two reasons ; first, to hide her real name, as I am going to write the truth about my sorrows and woes aboard, which is a dangerous thing to do when about a vindictive, and easily sin-pardoned people. Secondly, because this unfortunate ship was controlled by a Papistical captain. I shall try to say as little about this narrow-minded and mean little wretch, as I possibly can, although, beyond his seamanship, I can give him no praise, and I hate to have to paint a portrait with only black. He took us to our destination without mishap, and this I think must be recorded as his single merit. Napoleon Bonaparte, also a little cad and monster, did two good acts, in an otherwise blighting and obnoxious career. He cleared away all foren- sic garbage from the laws of France, and put them in terse language plain, and simple enough for the most ignorant to understand ; and he formulated a. scheme of taxation, to reach the pockets of those who could pay, and pass over those who were not able. For these couple of virtues let us say respecting the dead Corsican ogre, R.I. P. 207 Respecting this existing and more dutiful son of Rome, I can only say that I reached Yokohama alive, and also Marseilles ; but whether by the Grace of God, the good guidance of the officers and pilots, or through the super- natural interference of some special Saint of this devout Catholio Commander, I cannot tell. We got, and that was well. When I think about that small man, I feel more com- fortable when it is wintry weather, as such memories put me into the condition Martin Luther liked to be. But what humiliates and maddens me most, is that I had to basely fawn and flatter the undersized scarecrow for the sake of my vile carcase A captain is the master of the situation on board his ship ; and I wished to get back in order to write about him, and other more important objects. He was very small, thin, and harsh featured, and as he fancied himself to be like Lord Nelson, he shaved his face, and posed after the manner of our hero of that name. My dastardly crime was, that easily reading his particular vanity, I remarked on the striking resemblance between the two sailor heroes, in order to curry a little favour. Being in my savage and bitter mood, I shall not spare myself, if I spare him a little. For the first time in my life I crawled abjectly to this malevolent imp, in order to get a little comfort and safety. I was justly punished for my sycophancy, as I gained nothing by it. " The Holy Grill " was a ship pervaded by suspicion and fear, and filled with spies, traitors, and tale-bearers. What one said in confidence was reported to the captain within the hour. She was a modernized Spanish galleon of the Inquisition regime. The passengers were mostly mean and narrow-minded churls ; whether originally so, or made so by their sojourn aboard, I oannot say. Like under-clerks and small shop- keepers, they sneered cheaply, asked rude questions, dis- played narrow resentments, and ungenerous disbeliefs, as 208 clods usually do. They could use their forks and knives like respectable citizens, and that was all. The under-officers and stewards were cowed as I had never seen white men before. The first officer was an embittered and sullen, yet able and honest sailor. The head steward was a bully and a cringer ; the chief engineer a bumptious, yet currish ass, and only the coloured seamen appeared to be natural and dignified. This is the most flattering account I can, writing truthfully, give of an Ocean Liner in the twentieth century, as controlled by a Roman Catholic commander. Like Joseph Surface, he was addicted to writing moral copy-book maxims in the lady passengers' scrap-books. I was forced to see those moralities, because much of my leisure was taken up making sketches under them, to please and propitiate this detestable insect in possession, who tyrannized over his crew, licked the shoes of two conservative ladies of title, whom I have already described, and denied to his other passengers any privileges, pleasures, or comforts he could prohibit. Unfortunately, I was forced to return on this unhappy ship, as all the other vessels leaving Japan were filled up in advance for months ; therefore I had more than enough time to study him thoroughly. It seemed like escaping from Siberia, when at last I was able to leave "The Holy Grill" at Marseilles. I slipped away quietly, for there were few on board I cared to shake hands with. This is what Rome can do when in authority, what she has always done in the past, and will do again if her Ritualistic admirers succeed in their ultimate and con- sistent aims. The doctor on board was a well-informed and gentlemanly fellow. He also attended upon me care- fully and skilfully when I was hurt, as I shall relate in due course ; therefore, I have feelings of gratitude towards him. But he was a pervert to Roman Catholicism, and this ^ prevented me from trusting him too much, as a sensible man must naturally mistrust a person who believes m that he can get all his sins washed away, as he can the stains from his linen. The prudent man would like some greater self -responsibility in the man or woman he trusted. Such beliefs do not so much inculcate virtue as they com- fort vice. ; Some of the papers throughout the Straits, Ceylon, and China, mentioned my name, and what the Editors guessed my purpose was in coming Eastwards. The captain had read these notices, as he told me on my arrival on board. Therefore, I was not greatly surprised at finding myself placed at his table — a seat of honour on ships. Possibly out of compliment to me, the conversation was literary at table the first evening ; that is, the " gents " going China and Japan way, and mostly representing com- mercial firms in England, gave me their opinions about the different living authors. They drew me out a little as to my views; re my fellow craftsmen. I answered as cautiously as I could, yet was forced to give some opinions, which they brutally contradicted, as if uttered by one ignorant of such matters. I therefore drew back into ray shell, and left my profession to their better judgment. After that first experience they did not see my horns any more. They were a boorish and uncultured lot, taking them en masse, although one or two Shanghai fellows at the other tables were different. Those from England direct were the unsavory people. Afterwards, when the titled ladies came on board, I alone was removed from the seat of honour, and given a back place next to the engineer, while a Police Inspector took my place. There was no reason nor any excuse given for this gratuitous insult, and I asked none, being delighted to get away from that company. I had finished my near examination of the captain and his associates by that time. Possibly this may be regarded, by some readers, as my reason for this present account. I admit the charge. But, it is only one of countless small and greater outrages and insults which I had to endure while on this vessel. Petty annoyances some of these were, but suffi- p 210 eiently marked for others to see as well as myself. Possibly this captain did not like a " note-takin' chiel " on board. His class of moralists don't, ,'generally. But I think I am justified in my present protest, because captains have it in their power to make life for the passengers as unendurable as a warder can make that of a convict, and I write it in the hope it may reach the eye of this commander,, and perhaps be of benefit to others coming after me by making him hold his hand a little in future. I am justified also, because I am not considered a rude nor unfit person to be asked to any table ; and on other ships where I have been, both officers and passengers have given me the credit of behaving myself decorously, as a gentleman is expected to behave. I have also; associated with rather particular people, as to etiquette, although I have roughed it also more than many have done. I must finish this warm subject while in the Luther- like inspirational mood, therefore I will give a few of my special grievances categorically, instead of strictly attend- ing to time. The cases I quote were not, however, the ones that smarted most and rankled longest ; the gnat- bites were much more ruffling because they could not be protested against. But, before I resume the account of my calamities, I must record two really gratifying compliments I received on board "The Holy Grill." Three, in fact, even although they exhibit my vanity. The first was from the young American Jew of generous proportions. We had a long conversation about the Yiddish faith, and the doctor told me he had remarked emphatically when I left him, that I was one of the tribe. 'No man could know so much about us, unless he was also a Jew," were his words- The second compliment was given me by a learned German traveller, who had a beautiful, but shy, wife with him. A friend of theirs who left at Shanghai said that she had been a professional pianist of Berlin celebrity. 211 AH wished to hear her, but she would not play, the ship piano being out of tune. One night, I asked her husband if he would not persuade her to play, if only once. He said abruptly : ' That instrument is too beastly. But do you want to hear my wife play — you personally, I mean, not for the others?' I answered that I did. 'Enough' he said, and going over to her he said: 'Marie, go and play one piece for Mr. Nisbet.' She rose obediently and went to the piano without a protest. He, however, ran his fingers over the keys and turned away with a shrug of disgust. She played one piece only and had a large audience before she was done. It was superb, even on that tune- less instrument. I was greatly comforted by that pal- pable compliment, and also much impressed by her beauti- ful sense of wifely obedience. The third was paid me by the Police Inspector. He cried out as I entered the smoke room one night : ' Here comes the nice man. Do you know, Nisbet, that's what you are called by the ladies.' I am not a nice man when stroked the wrong way, but I rather liked that compliment, although it was chaffingly said. Luckily I had a cabin to myself until I reached Yoko- hama, but on the return journey I had a young jockey gentleman of Japan, who was very amiable. He had reached the age when dress was of vital importance, there- fore I had the pleasure of reviewing my own dressy ' days by watching his concern in the choosing of the costume for the day. This involved, of course, the turning out of all his baggage and covering the cabin floor with the different articles. However, they were all dainty and fashionable, and as I have a taste for pretty costumes, masculine and feminine, I enjoyed these morning' toilettes even although forced to lie on my bed to give him room. What J could not teach him ; though, was the proper way 212 to empty his wash-basin. He was rather impatient, and always shut it up, when full, with a bang, the results being that the water ran on to the floor and among my traps, instead of into the proper receptacle. He always apolo- gised for the mess, and always did it again, thoughtlessly leaving me to mop it up with my sponge. I did not mind this much, for he was a clean-skinned and wholesome young fellow. It was different, however, when a third passenger came in at Singapore. My troubles then began with a vengeance; < This was a soft, self-indulgent and most impudent young bounder, who had quarrelled with his manager and been packed home as unfit. A moon-faced, milky-complexioned, fat youth, with staring black saucer eyes and inky hair. He brought enough " traps " with him to fill the cabin and dumped them down all over, saying, cheerfully, he would sort them later on. Meanwhile there was no room for us to get in or out ; even our bunks were covered as well as his own. I finally gave him a hand, and persuaded him to pitch half of his packages overboard. But he also brought the "itch" with him, which he displayed proudly, to my horror and disgust. I could not stand that, so I sent to the captain to have the patient removed to the hospital, which was empty. Two-thirds of our passengers were children, and this is a most in- fectious disease. ■ The captain declined to have him moved. It was impossible for me to endure this infliction long, for the beast used my basin, towel, soap, and sponge more frequently than he did his own. He also, for a lark, put his dirty linen in my bag, and flung his cast-off shirts on my bed, only laughing when I protested. Among other articles it often does, both hands would have been amputated at the wrists to a dead certainty. While if you had let go, your back would have been broken on the bales below.' These risks had not occurred to me. As he mentioned Hem I grew sick, with a horror that still sticks to me and revives sometimes at night, and always when I see the monster, a ship's crane. To lose my hands would be too awful 1 a doom, for I write with my dexter, and paint with my left. The doctor came and examined my finger. W was not broken, but the tendon was strained. He painted it with iodine, and told me it would take some time to cure. It was six months before I could use it without feeling the hurt. The other aches went off in a week or two. One or two of the others came in from dinner, among whom were the young men who had been with me ashore. They roasted me considerably about my adventure, but ex- pressed no regret at leaving me behind. Since the days when duelling was in vogue, young gentlemen are much freer with their badinage than they were of yore, and don't seem nearly so considerate. Nor do they think it all a matter of blushing when they imitate that much vilified animal : the skunk. While I was enjoying their gentle laughter, and mak- ing a joke of it to amuse them, a message came from the captain that he wished to speak to me in his cabin. I went there and found a very stern and reproving little schoolmaster. He rebuked me seriously for my folly, and expressed 253 his astonishment that any man of my age had so little self-respect as to attempt to board his ship on a crane. I told him respectfully that I had not come wilfully, and that now I knew how it felt I should not attempt it again. But this explanation did not at all satisfy him. He read me a lengthy lecture, the text of which was, the great annoyanoe and trouble it would have put him to, writing letters and answering enquiries, if I had lost my useless life. I listened to him meekly, knowing the utter im- possibility of treating him to any banter. At last he wound up by saying that if I had been younger he should have considered it is duty to punish me for this dis- orderly escapade. He wasi a sensitive man, this captain, and felt most acutely for himself. I replied that I would rather he forgot my age and gave mo a punishment, or penance if it would satisfy his conscience. Then She said : ' Well sir. Your punishment will be that you give mt your word of honour you will taste no alcohol until we reach Yokohama.' I laughed at that and gave him my pledge. The punj wretch must have regarded me as one of those unfortunate degenerates who cannot resist an impulse, and that I had taken too much saki at the Tea-house, hence my reck- lessnessi; or perhaps some of my companions there had hinted this playfully to him at dinner. They were brave and noble enough to do so. Doubtless he also gave me credit for doing worse, as pious people of his kind are so apt to do. As I turned to leave him I said : ' I must thank you, captain, for your great interest in me.' Then I added, with one of my usual quick changes, which startle and sometimes annoy my friends : ' I hear that you are to have a number of children on the return voyage. Is this true?' ' Yes. Why, do you ask?' ' Oh ! nothing much, only that, if I return with you, 254 I may reasonably hope to have the benefit of their advice on my behaviour also. I have had such a host of kindly advisers sinoe I joined this happy family. Good night.' He looked at me as I left him as if he'd have been more satisfied had he ordered me " irons " instead of total abstinence. I did my penance faithfully. All the more easily as I do not care for any drink except cold water and good tea; and for the rest of the voyage gave my cabin steward a " chit" now and then to keep the barman in good countenance. On one of these occasions, one of the gentle- men present remarked slyly : ' Is this a case of broken pledges, and secret drinking, steward?' ' No,' answered both barman and steward hotly, ' Mr. Nisbet keeps his promises, only he remembers that other people have mouths, if his is closed ; which is more than some do.' ' Oh, indeed,' replied tliis honourable gentleman, ig- noring the palpable hint and walking away. The idiots on board called this gentleman the 'Bishop.' Why, I don't know, unless it was for his self-importance, stupidity, and meanness. If you look at any map of Japan you will see Muji on Nagasaki Island ; Corea lies opposite under Manchuria. It is at the Yellow Sea entrance to the inland sea, and the town of Kobe lies at the other end. For two days after leaving Moji we steamed through the most beautiful portions of Japan. This inland sea dH not disappoint me, as every hour of the day we passed a succession of delightful landscapes. It was crowded with fishing craft, and alsoi well patrolled by warships of the latest inventions, worked by turbine and coal. They passed and re-passed us constantly, most of them at full speed. On both sides of the coasts were forts and covered batteries, the gun-holes only showing at near intervals that they commanded every inch of water. Money must have been spent without any con- The Inland Sea. 255 sideration of economy, while as for any fleet getting through, it seemed impossible. OrakurarYoshiasburo, in his puerile little essay on ' The Japanese Spirit,' says very truly : ' Japanese as a whole are not a people with much aptitude for deep, metaphysical ways of thinking. They are not of the calibre from which you expect a Kant or a Schopenhauer. Warlike by nature more than anything else, they have been known from the very beginning to have had the soldier-like simplicity and the easy oontentment of men of action.' If I cannot endorse his word 'simplicity,' I can thoroughly the rest of his description of the qualities of his countrymen. They simply love war and its imple- ments, as youngsters love tin soldiers. The mountains are Alp-like, and at this season were snow-covered half way down. Films of snow rested against piles of soft clouds, showing crevices and hollows of tender violet. On the lower parts, yellows, browns, and purples intermingled with patches of subdued green. There were bays also, and small towns in flfne valleys and on the shores. Estuaries rounding cliffy headlands, islands, tree and bush covered, and double-sailed boats everywhere. The waters were mostly of a bottle-green colour, and roughened by the steady breeze. It was delightful weather, not too cold, and the sky was generally filled with summer-like and sun-flecked clouds. I sketched all the day-light, and filled many pages of my book with " bits," as my left hand was in working order, and my right good enough to steady the page. There were glorious effects, ever changing in light and shade, giving me variety, and I printed the titles as I went along, as some of the officers were always near to tell me. Sometimes we passed one of the old Shogun Castlee on the crest of a hill, or had a delightful vista of a stretch- ing inlet, the waters sleeping within the shelter of the circling headlands. 256 On the whole I found these two days pass much more quickly than most days went on board this ship. It was Sunday morning when we brought to anchor at Kobe, where a few of the passengers left us. CHAPTER III. YOKOHAMA. Anthropological Snapshots of Japan — Japanese Art and its Wor- shippers — Kobe — Yokohama — The Club Hotel — The Man who was Best Able to Appreciate the Spirit of this Kemarkable Country. I BEGIN this chapter with some anthropological snap- shots, leaving the deductions to the readers. If he be an expert, from experience and careful study he will understand what is esoteric to others. If not, still I trust that my sketches may be found interesting to the general reader, as studies from life- I cannot think of any better way of dealing with my subject' with that completeness, yet delicacy, which may render my work safe for the eyes of the most prudish, under the rafters of the most respectable family circles. In this way I think it may be done without utter failure. My motives are to instruct the student, as well as to amuse the dilettante, yet keep my pages wholesome and clean. I am an anthropologist and mind-searcher, by nature and training. I went to China and Japan for this purpose chiefly, so that I might serve, as far as I could, my fellow brothers and sisters. But I am also a lover of purity and modesty, and would sooner miss my object than call up a blush or plant an evil thought in the mind of any un- tainted human being. Yet ignorance is not innocence, neither is it bliss, nor safety. I have travelled over the world and mixed with my kind, savage and civilised, since my sixteenth year, seek- ing the knowledge which my soul desired. I knew, by 257 personal experience, the beasts and savages, and their habits, in every clime and state of society many years before I went eastwards of Penang. When a man has gone carefully over uncivilised lands, also the colonies, as well as dived into the secret dens in the smug centres of civilisation, who likewise, as a Bohemian and an artist, has fraternised with the unconventional inhabitants there- of, and the "Trilbys" of the studios, it is not presump- tuous if he says that he can pick up signs more quickly than, say, a country parson. Therefore, believe me, if my stay in those lands was short, my previous experience had prepared me to draw conclusions and make deductions from incidents more quickly than ordinary sight-seers might do. A wink or a nod often tell more to a person " in the know " than would pages of explanation to one outside. I wish you also to keep in mind that what sages of other lands have regarded as morality is not considered so in Japan any more than what painters of all ages have considered to be art is regarded as art by this people and their fatuous admirers. In fact, what philosophers al- ways considered black, the Japanese claim to be white in morality and principle. If you keep this in mind as you read on, you will understand why I only relate what I saw and heard, without explanations or reflections. 'My cabin mate was a most amiable and pleasant com- panion, who had lived for several years of his still young life in Japan, and knew a great deal about their inner life. He was at this time about thirty years of age. He, like most Europeans who have lived among them for a length of time, liked them exceedingly, and spoke enthusiastically about them, while disparaging the stiff and conventional manners of his own countrymen. But he was also passionately fond of horses, therefore had escaped deterioration too much. Yet he bore the traces of an unconscious yet per- ceptible influence, i.e., he was not exactly like a Briton in his ways of thinking and reasoning. When he dressed s 258 for dinner on the first night, I noticed something a little peculiar about his suit. The orthodox shape was there, yet it appeared in. some indefinable way different from a London-made dress suit. I think it was too neat and meagre, but not being a dude nor a tailor, I could not say what was exactly amiss. He asked my opinion upon it, and I said it was right enough. Then he told me that a Japanese tailor had made it. That explained the mystery. He knew most of the tricks of " Ju-Jitsu,'' and explained the principle of that art, likewise gave me some useful demonstrations. I had already mastered a few of the secrets, and my knowledge in anatomy made the rest easy to comprehend. I daresay I could defend myself by its aid if my antagonist did not know more, nor was quicker by practice. My opinion of this style of wrestling is that it is as brutal, cowardly, and illegitimate as the use of the revolver and bowie knife are in America* As prac- tised in China, among professionals, it is most inhuman and fiendish. In many other ways this young man was — like his dress suit — Japanese rather than English. There was an English gentleman on board returning to his Japanese home after a visit to his relatives in England. He had been an officer in the British Army, and was educated and a reader of books- He also was an admirer of things Japanese, and said that he was glad to cut off stiff conventional England and her shoddy respectability and hypocracies. But he likewise confided to me that his principal reason for living in Japan was that one could live there comfortably, while in England his income would barely keep him in gloves, far less allow him to marry a lady in his own set. He was flippantly cynical in his manners and conversation, treating all subjects in a jocular, voltarian fashion, and said that he was non-moral, rather than immoral. But at times I saw him pacing the deck like a caged tiger, or leaning against the rail with a moody and morbid expression in his dark eyes. We had a journalist on board engaged on one of the 259 English papers of Japan. He was an honest gentleman and spasmodically enthusiastic, and frightfully in earnest about subjects trifling or otherwise. But, alack 1 he had not the saving salt of the London journalist humour. He took life far too seriously for comfort, and had no sense of conversational fun. His idea of relaxation was cricket. One night we got up a discussion about Undesirable Aliens. I took the side of "painless extinction" as the most satisfactory cure. He took the high-toned moral point, and became as personal in his remarks as anyone could desire, only not in the correct way, i.e., using satire or wit. He adopted the Bible class debating society mod©, and went for me ferociously as if I were an arch- enemy of mankind. This depressed me slightly. How- ever, as the chairman and audience were unanimously on the side of my adversary, and likewise personal rather than argumentative, I became more cheerful, as I regarded their intelligent and disapproving faces, for I put their undue vehemence down to its right cause. They were- representatives of the beaten track, and he had been too- long catering for such minds to get back to reason, if he- ever had been there. I was wondering, as I listened and looked, how they would have received my justification of Judas Iscariot, whose commercial instincts were so shocked by the sad waste of the alabaster casket and its contents. That would have raised a tempest I fear. He got as virtuously angry with me as any methodist preacher could' have been, and during the time we were together, after- wards treated me with studied coldness, as a respectable- person does one who is improper. That was what Japan had either done for him, or he was the kind of cook that British residents in Japan liked best to prepare their mental pabulum. With a little more spryness, and less- conscientiousness, he would have done admirably for " The Daily Mail," which takes Romanism and divorce details, with other sensational reforms, under its wide- epreaddng wings. There was a male object who came on board at Shang- 260 hai — servile, conciliating, and obscene. He spoke with ingratiating and gentle authority about the "Spirit of Japan" as something too lovely, pure, and sweet, for brutish Western comprehension, and backed up his asser- tions with filthy particulars about customs and persons. As none of the other residents of this delectable land con- tradicted his description of the habits, while all supported him regarding the individuals, I was forced to give some credence to his apparent knowledge. He had lived long in the land, but whether his occupation was official or private, I cannot say, but he seemed well known and respected. From his appearance, after what I saw later, I should place him as one of the professional touts who wait at the door of the Yashowari Cages. In such an occupation he would be sure to have an extensive knowledge of this much written-up " Spirit." He was European, undersized, meagre, and mean- looking, as well as shifty in face and figure. Yet, he dressed as waiters and gentlemen do for dinner, and spofce grammatically enough. This abominable thing came into the smoke-room for several nights and polluted its atmosphere in a worse sense for endurance than the oil stove did. I stood one night of deadly nausea, after which, not even for the sake of investigation, could I stand another. Outside was much more wholesome, if cold. I listened to him for that one night, however, and heard nastiness enough to last my lifetime, all illustrative of the beautiful " Spirit of Japan," which we barbarians were too coarse in fibre to appreciate or understand. My flesh shrank at his proximity, and my Spirit moaned at the unconscious depth of his depravity. When I protested he said, with loathsome patronage and indulgence : 'Ah I you are like all our countrymen when they first come to Japan. You bring narrow prejudices with you which hinder your appreciation of the delicate and the 261 beautiful only to be found there. You take the English, not the Japanese, view of true morality.' 'Morality has only one form and one face, whatever side she is looked upon,' I replied roughly. ' She is not a hydra. I should compare her to a white camilia blossom in fragility. If touched she rusts and perishes.' 'Very prettily expressed indeed, quite Japanese in its grace. But altogether wrong. A woman in Japan never loses her self-respect, no matter what she does. In Japan a gentleman may also do what he pleases, and still be honoured. It is not so in England, alas ! ' ' Thank God it is not ! ' I retorted. ' There, again, you speak about God as if He were a personage. In Japan the word merely signifies a senti- ment without any serious meaning. In Japan they only worship the beautiful as it has been designed in their own art. That is the spirit you must endeavour to understand if you wish to do justice to this superior and highly cultured people.' This vocal worm then gave me some illustrations. He informed me that a dear friend of his, who was an eminent native advocate, had the sublime ambition to win the love and ruin a thousand women during his earthly pilgrimage. He had ' already reached the magnificent total of seven hundred and thirty.' ' Where does he seek these victims 1 ' I asked. 'Mostly in the Yoshiwari. He is a most fascinating fellow, and his skill in pleading serves him well with the fair ones. He must win their hearts, or he is not satis- fied. To pay for love is abhorrent to his cultured tatse.' 'I hope some of those fair ladies may love ham suffi- ciently to murder him before he goes much farther in his ideal pursuit,' I replied sardonically. He told me about another. This time an Englishman. 'In Japan he is called the "Butterfly," because he flutters so quickly from flower to flower. Isn't that a beautiful and poetic mode of describing a voluptuary?' 262 'Very,' I replied dryly. ' Yet I prefer the more homely name we give such vicious beasts.' That was how this reptile described the " Spirit of Japan," so much extolled by the late Sir Edwin Arnold and other imaginative writers about this courageous but non-moral and unscrupulous race. I must state, however, in justice to the gentleman called " The Butterfly," that I did not believe in the heroic deeds related of him, whatever his ambitions may have been, any more than I believe in the tales related of Byron and Goethe. For physical reasons, I mean, as they were all hard mental workers. No man can serve two masters properly. The lady passengers, who resided in Japan, were more like English, or, rather, Colonial women in manners than were their husbands or brothers. They were still unspoilt. I shall now give you a few quotations from a work on Japanese art by a Briton. I do not give the name of the author, nor the title of the book, because I am ashamed to expose the author of such abject and false, as well as foolish, sentiments. Yet I presume he considered himself some kind of authority on art, since it is published as a guide. The author has not been to Japan, although presumably he has studied the workmanship of these designers. But to write such servile flatteries as I quote, and place the artists on such a pedestal, above all artists, ancient and modern, is not only false, but it is depravedly ridiculous. Such artistic faddists — I was about to write "fools" only that there is more of the K than the F about them — in their desire to make themselves conspicuous, may write in this style in magazines like " The Artist " and " Studio," which aim at publishing contradictions to all accepted standards because they are traditionally accepted. But it is different when they are palmed upon the public as guide books — then they must be judged on their merits. As a trained and experienced artist, my knowledge pro- tests against such mischievous nonsense. 263 This kind of writing that I quote is purely artistic affectation, or " piffle," written and published to gull the ignorant reader, and produce a " cult " like that of the " Sunflower." It is neither original nor new, any more than is art itself. Indeed, it is a cult already moribund, like last year's fashion in hats ; only seen on the heads of rustics now. A faulty reflection of such ecoentrics, as Mr. " Whistler " who invented it, as he did the Sunflower Cult, from pure cynical impishness, and Sir Edwin Arnold, from a morbid passion for things Oriental in his poetry, and made for a brief space the fashion by such wayward and unreliable geniuses. The Japanese have brought to a high state of perfec- tion the designs they borrowed from China ; not so much in beauty of form, delicacy of handling, or richness of har- mony, as in that simplicity and directness of line which distinguished Phil May above other English caricaturists. They decide beforehand upon a line, and then draw it with one sweep. That is a trick, not high art. They play many other tricks with their brushes to puzzle the specta- tors while doing their drawings, and win the applause, which they prize as an acrobat does. This kind of work can only be classified with the clever flourishes of writing professors fifty or sixty years ago ; never for an instant to be compared to an outline or car- toon by any European master. They are clever at distorting and twisting Nature into artificial and barbarous monstrosities. Their colouring is quaint and simple, the aim being to save time and produce effects at little cost, without regard for truth. Their mental work, carving, sculpture, lacquer work and kera- mics are simple, and yet neither so good nor so fine as those of the nation they borrowed these crafts from — China. Yet they are good in a barbarous sense, I admit. But as for comparing them with the sculpture or painting of even the least of our old or modern masters, as a pro- 264 fessional and an art-trained critic, I say without hesita- tion that the claim is preposterous, and none know this better than the Japanese themselves, when able to rid themselves of their insular conceit, unwholesomely fed by such unreasoning worshippers. This is proved by the Japanese students who are now crowding into our art schools- I have written thus strongly, because I think it high time to show how the Japanese really stand in their moralities, general habits, and art. Quotations from a British Advocate of Japanese Aet. ' Their civilization is not only older than ours, but in some respects has advanced much farther than we have ever attained. In an aesthetic sense the people of Japan are cultured to a degree far beyond our Western standards, their arts are full of beauties which are too subtle, top refined, for our comprehension. ' Here, in the most civilised of all Western nations, one is dubbed a visionary and a dreamer if he hopes to see the day when the pleasures of art shall be the solace of the poor, as well as the luxury of the rich. But this happy state has existed in Japan for ages. One of the chief characteristics of the people is their love for beauty, both in Nature and art. On the public highways are notices indicating to the wayfarer the points from which the most beautiful prospects may be attained. The artisan mother in the city carries her babe out into the public parks at the festival of the cherry blossom, that its infant mind may be permeated by the beauty and fragrance of the flowers.* 'And loving beauty, they can also express it, for to learn to write in Japan is in itself a course of training in drawing. In art the European requires that everything should be stated with the utmost fulness of a tedious realism before he can grasp its meaning, but to the more *The cherry blossoms of Japan are scentless. This proves that the author has not been in that country. 265 cultured Japanese a mere hint or slight suggestion, is sufficient. The leading characteristic of Japanese art is perhaps that it leaves so much unsaid. For the Phili- stine, who bulks so largely in the West, and has to be considered and propitiated at every turn, seems to be quite unknown in Japan. What wonder, then, that with such a public their art should be somewhat above our heads. ' Doubtless the canons of European, art differ widely from those of the Far East, but these things are not essentials. All art is based on convention, in the terms of which its meaning is expressed. If we would understand Japanese art, we must accept its conventions, we must learn the language of their art and see things with their eyes. ' It is the fault of too many critics of Japanese art that they fail to approach it in this sympathetic attitude, and by such it is quite misunderstood. The mystic and beautiful Buddhist figures are tried by rules of anatomy, and the dreamlike Chinese landscapes by the laws of per- spective!. The materialist weighs the spiritual in the balance and finds it wanting. ' But we seem to be improving in these matters ; per- haps we are becoming more humble. Of late years some of our leading artists are beginning to acquire the quali- ties which Japanese art has shown so long. Who shall say that the work of such an one as Whistler, in its sen- sitive feeling for balance, in its grace of line, in the un- erring instinct which marks its spacing, and in the delicate harmony of its colour, is not essentially Japanese in style ? Whether these qualities were knowingly bor- rowed from the Japanese, or whether the artist evolved them from his own inner consciousness^ matters little. The important fact is that the qualities which mark the work of one of the greatest of our modern painters, and distinguish it from that of the vast body of his con- temporaries, are just the qualities which for centuries have marked the art of Japan. But we know that Whistler 266 ■was an enthusiastic admirer of Japanese art, and, doubt- less, he would have been the first to acknowledge his debt. 'The early Buddhist altar-pieces of Japan are marked by a sweet and dignified serenity. Unlike the Greek sculptures, they do not represent the ideal of the natural human form, but rather endeavour to express in terms of the human form an abstract or spiritual beauty. ' Many of these little ivories are exquisitely beautiful. European work, even of the best, looks weak and poor beside them. ~A special ware was used for the tea-bowls, termed Raku ware. Coarse and unsightly and rough as it may appear to the uninitiated, to the eye of the connoisseur it possesses many beauties ; its irregular shape is comfort- able to the hand, its soft glaze pleasant to the lips, and is said even to impart a flavour to the tea. 'Even were the same brilliant faculty of design the gift of the European, the amazing and unfaltering pre- cision of hand, and the limitless' patience and unceasing care required by the technical processes, place lacquer- work far beyond his scope. 'Mere prettiness appealed little to the artist, but his work has on this account the greater dignity. Even when at first sight it startles and almost repels, it soon grows on one ; the longer one looks, the stronger is its fascination.' Let us proceed upon our voyage. There was not a great deal to see at Kobe, where I was not permitted to sketch. Indeed, to get permission to do so anywhere in Japan involved so much trouble and delay since the war, that I never attempted it, but con- tented myself with purchasing photographs and curios, which I need not describe, as they are common in England. Kobe is a larger and more Colonial-looking town than Muji. It also does a considerable amount of traffic The European offices and houses take considerably from its native character ; still, there are streets decidedly Japan- ese. With small, low-ceilinged shops of various kinds, 267 curios, fish, fruit, and vegetables, and tea-houses. It was not very lively. The police also were sullen and suspicious, and watched us very closely. This may also be the effect of the late war. I noted likewise that the white residents are rather parochial, and unduly inquisitive and gossipy. They kept a close observation on one another, and spoke of their affairs as villagers do, displaying a narrowness of mind, simple conceit, and a vast amount of self-righteousness and self-defence. In this respect they more closely re- sembled Plymouth Brethren than free and independent Colonists. Above the town reared a chain of high hills, on one of which I observed an enormous anchor cut out, like our White Horse of Wiltshire. This did not impress me as an example of good taste or cultured art. Leaving Kobe early in the morning, we had at the beginning a fine mild day, with the mainland soft and misty. Later on the wind grew strong and the sea rough, yet the weather was muggy when out of the breeze, and made us all feel languid and helpless. Next day it was a gale, with rain and fog which obscured the land. As we got near to Yokohama I saw and sketched a remarkable island and fort, which proved the ingenuity of this fighting race. A fort being wanted at this part, they created an isle by dumping rocks into the deep water until they had raised it about forty or fifty feet above the surface. On the top of this foundation they built the stronghold which protects the entrance of the harbour. I had been recommended by the Princess to the land- lord of the Club Hotel. He was most attentive, and made my stay there pleasant, besides being otherwise useful and obliging in many ways. It was too early yet for dinner, so after arranging my baggage and being now at liberty from my penance and the " Holy Grill,' I went down to the saloon and sampled the whiskey. It was very good. While I was sitting near the fire an excitable and 268 restless American gentleman took the next chair and began to cultivate my acquaintance. The landlord told me later on that he was a "remittance man." That is, a gentleman whose relatives paid quarterly to keep -him away from them. He lived mostly in the bar, and went nightly upstairs to bed on his hands and knees. But he was a gentle dipsomaniac, and nefver even at his drunkest mood forgot good manners. Brains and liver had long since collapsed, yet this effect of early training remained, making him generally liked and pitied. The landlord told me that even when almost speechless, if a lady passed him on the stairs, he would make a heroic effort to lift his hat and apologise for his condition. While we were speaking, I told this unfortunate a very mild joke, and was appalled at the result. When it reached his fuddled, liquefied, gray matter, he started a laugh that rang through the saloon, and kept it up so uproariously, going from group to group repeating my feeble joke and bursting out again with peal after peal, that at last I fled horrified, leaving him still at it. I should say that this gentleman had reached the proper stage, after his appreciation of my small jest, to comprehend and appreciate the beautiful and subtle " Spirit of Japan." CHAPTER IV. YOKOHAMA AND TOKIO. Explanation— Japanese Honesty— Maraoka my Guide— The Court P°» se — The College— No, 9 — Tokio— The Hotel and Boad * ~Ti City— The Yoshiwari— Japanese Trains— Temple of Sheba— Mikado's Palace Grounds— The Bazaar— The Museum. "y ERITY is the Mede and Persian law of this work- let fabricate who may. Let us, therefore, make our final plunge before we return to our — fictions. If I write about Japan in what may appear to some, who have read only the "gushing" descriptions, in a dis- 269 par aging or carping manner, kindly remember that I was there, unfortunately, before blossom season^ and after a cruel and prolonged war, with a ruthless enemy, who spare nothing in their slow greed and barbario civilisation. Doubtless. ' When wild War's deadly breath was blown, And gentle Peace returning, Wi' many„ a sweet babe fatherless, And many a widow mourning.' It was hardly reasonable to expect prettiness in Nature, nor smiles and merriment in this afflicted and bereaved people. I desire to be just, as well as true, therefore you must take my sketches to be winter studies, framed in jet, and not pictures of Japan all the year round, nor of its people before they were menaced by this remorseless and sateless Bear of the North. We all know how heroically they fought for their lives, liberty, and land. While history endures, the names of their heroes must be blazoned alongside of those Spartan patriots who defended the Pass of Thermopylae. Their sublime devotion to liberty, with their beautiful humanity to the captive slaves of the oppressor, must never be for- gotten. Neither must their magnanimity and moderation in the day of victory over the insensate and ferocious tyrants, whom nothing can teach Humanity, Right, nor Justice, who in their state-craft deserve only the doom of annihilation. We must never forget either that they, who have now become our allies } saved us from being in the same predicament of mortal peril and despair. Therefore, if I miss out the summer and cheerful aspects which other writers have insisted upon too strongly, and reveal only the weaB places, it is because I am relating what I personally saw, heard, and inferred from observa- tion, not what others may have seen under more favour- able aspects. Also, I give these personal experiences from the sole desire to serve this brave people, and not from feelings of animosity. 270 As soon as I had settled about my room and terms with the manager of the Club Hotel, I engaged a licensed guide, by name Maraoka, to attend upon me constantly during my stay in Japan. It was so much easier, and I found more economical, than trusting my own judgment in this strange country. He was useful and honest, that is, he kept me from being swindled by others, which is all we can expect from hirelings. The first day, however, he was not available, so that I had to manage for myself, which was not so satisfactory, as I shall relate. My preliminary step was to go to the bank and get some money. I drew, as a start, ten 10-yen notes, which represent £20. As the day was clear in light, although grey and sun- less, and I had been recommended to an artist, said to be the best photographic artist in Yokohama, and whose own cards announced him to be the very best in Japan, I asked my direction and went there to change my first 10- yen note. Friends at home wanted me to be taken in Japanese dress, the customary vanity of visitors, therefore I yielded to be taken so. The terms were seven yens plain per dozen, and one yen each coloured. I decided on a dozen, ten plain and two coloured, which I paid in advance, receiving one yen change, but asking for no receipt. At this early stage I ' regarded the Japanese, as I had proved the Chinese to be, a scrupulously honest race. The manager and operator, a small-pox marked man, took my money, while a Japanese young lady booked my order at the same time, so I naturally thought that part of the arrangement was settled. He then took me to the studio and costumed me. But I afterwards discovered, when the cabinets came home, that this jocular rascal had dressed me in a female under.garment, which practical jest was about as great an insult as a Japanese joker could perpetrate on a man. 271 The cards came to date correctly,' for ■which 1 thanked the messenger. He, however, hung about the hall of the hotel all the afternoon, as if waiting for something. I was going in to dinner when, the manager came forward and told me the messenger was waiting to be paid for the photographs. I told him they were already paid. After dinner I found two more messengers from the photo studio, who politely told me I was mistaken, and that I had not paid. I explained to the manager about the one yen change which I had received, as my proof,, but he asked : ' Did you get a receipt 1 ' ' No,' I replied, ' I did not think it necessary.' ' Ah ! then you will have to pay over again. Never- pay for anything in Japan without getting a receipt.' I sent for the man who took and changed my note. He' came promptly with the other two men. I was in the bar- when they entered, and after I had explained the circum- stances to him, he looked me straightly, truthfully, and modestly in the face ; and told me that I had shown him- a 10-yen note and then put it back in my pocket. I sighed as I caved in, and paid again for my photo- graphs. Not for the loss of the money, but for this striking evidence of the Japanese spirit. I do not know whether this honourable artist was the master or not ; but I afterwards wrote my explanation of the transaction to him personally, and gave positive proofs that I had been swindled. I also offered him a loop-hole for principle, or business acumen, to rectify the injury by- telling him I would be satisfied with another dozen as compensation. But as yet 1 have received no acknowledg- ment of that olive branch. Next I entered a haberdashery shop in the same Benten Dora Street. Two English lady residents were there and' helped me to select some pretty articles of feminine attire-.. 272 They also witnessed me paying, and we exchanged cards, which purchases necessitated a return to the bank next morning, as my goods came to nine yens, which left me with the one yen photo change. I got no receipt here either, but my goods were sent to the hotel with a proper receipt inside the parcel. After this, Maraoka, my guide, took me in hand, and I had no more troubles about pecuniary matters. Maraoka, my guide and factotum, was a well-informed man, able to read and write English as well as Japanese. He told me that I must visit the great artist of Japan, whose studio was in Yokohama, and that the correct formula was to write asking permission to do this. I drew up a letter at his dictation, using the extravagant and flowing terms of admiration and titles expected. This he translated and carried for me to the renowned man. He brought me back a gracious permission. But when we reached the "studio" I found it was a shop of curios, and had considerable difficulty in getting free from the im- portunate warehouseman, just as if I had been at home. In old Shanghai I went into a similar place, only much more quaint and hospitable. The owner placed valuable .chairs for us and offered cups of tea, then showed his wares. One very ancient Mandarin robe, heavily em- broidered, caught my eyes, and the price was moderate. But I did not know the Chinese at all then, and like a cad offered him less. He merely smiled indulgently, folded the robe up, and showed me other beautiful things, but never suggested a deal. That was humbling, but worse followed when I reached England, for, like an idiot, as well as being previously a cad, I described this left- behind bargain to the feminine, interested in such treasures, and, "not to put too fine a point upon it," as Mr. Snagsby used to say ; I hear about that unusual fit of economy to this day. These Japanese exhibitors of art were much more con- siderate to my feelings ; they saved me from wanting to 273 kick myself, by their haggling, and made me feel as home- like as if I had been shopping in the Old Kent Road. We went to the Court House and listened to a case being tried. It was just like England, only more homely. Judge, advocate, and criminals wore most humorous ex- pressions, and seemed to be having a jesting tournament. The culprits were dressed in silk kimonoes, and judge and advocates were gowned in black, as at home. I asked what the crime was, and Maraoka said it was a bad case, and that the culprits were wicked gentlemen who had been caught gambling. The stakes had run to thousands of yen, and their punishment would be the stocks for a certainty. Next we travelled by jinrikshaws to the great National Seminary for young men. I fancy he said eight hundred students were learning English there. The road out was very uninteresting and miry, and although he pointed out at one place where the Sacred Mountain Fuji could be seen best-. I only had an indistinct impression of a formless and~Iighter portion of the grey sky. I never had another opportunity of seeing this famous and worshipped moun- tain. I expect I wasn't reverential enough about the " Spirit Japanese " to be vouchsafed more. The College was a large brick building, like a board school, at the end of a very dilapidated and dirty village of unpicturesque sheds. We entered the schoolroom, where I saw several hun- dred young men, varying from sixteen to twenty years of age- The teacher was a wearied, thin man, with faded blue eyes and sallow face. One young man stood up and read his lesson in the monotonous sing-song style of village school children. His text was : ' I am cock-a-doodle-do. I am a very useful bird in the farmyard.' The teacher glanced at me sideways with a fair T 274 flicker of humour in his tired eyes, and satisfied with this truism, I departed. There is a well-known establishment in Yokohama called No. 9. I went there, with my guide to protect me. We were shown into a room, with a bare table and two chairs near, and on the other side 'of the room, was a long form. It was like a workhouse reception room. Presently a native hag entered, followed by twelve or thirteen young Japanese girls, nicely done up in costume and paint. They sat in a row looking seriously at me, while I examined them, and my guide, who had for the occasion donned native costume, conversed with the bel- dame. His ordinary attire was coat, vest, trousers, hard felt hat, and doe-skin gloves. At last, tired of the solemn exhibition, I rose and asked how much there was to pay. Maraoka said : ' Two dollars would do if that was all I wanted to see.' I said it was, as I could guess the rest. No. 9 is re- nowned as being one of the most select of temples to the beautiful spirit of Japan. The duenna presented me with a card on leaving. It bore the following legend : Nectarine. No. 9. There is only one first class place for foreigners to patronise in Yokohama. Beware of other houses which have tried to imitate our sign. Very truly yours, Jbmpuro. We next had a turn at the theatre, where we took box seats. But it was sadly dull after the Hong Kong native theatre, so that I could only bear one act. That was, an apartment in the Yoshiwari, where several fast youths and Shogis were enacted getting drunk on saki. Maraoka said they were a most superior company of actors, but to me the performance was uninteresting, stupid, and buffoonish, 275 rather than realistic. Fifteen minutes watching young fellows swilling saki, and tumbling over furniture, gets rather dreary at four dollars, when we can see the same thing done much better and more humorously at any public-house for the price of a glass of " John Walker." Having now seen all that there was to be seen at this port, different from Muji and Kobi, next day, after a visit to a friend on board H.M.S 1 . 'Diamond,' condoling with the officers there on their tame existence, Maraoka bore me off to the capital. TOKIO. Alas ! for the Spirit of old Japan. If not as dead as the great God Pan, it is as moribund as the Sultan of Turkey, and Mr. Stead's pal, the peace-loving Czar. I had only one sensation at the City of the Mikado, and three at Yokohama. These were earthquakes. One I received in my bedroom while sitting writing. It upset the inkpot and spoilt some pages of a love letter, but other- wise was not very destructive. The second occurred while at breakfast the next morning, and was better and lasted longer — about five minutes — shook down a chandelier and some plates, and forced me to hold on to the table and guard my teapot and rasher. Some of the breakfasters ran outside and got damaged by falling tiles. But I had been in earthquakes before, therefore knew from the motions, from right to left, that it was harmless. When the floor begins to rise, then is the time to clear out and seek for more steadfast ground. The other was merely an attempt and a grumble. Maraoka and I drove inside a small omnibus to the station. The day was drippy and cold. The poor little pedestrians looked wretched. The station had a kind of bookstall in a corner — a shabby imitation of Wymans' at Clapham Junction. The station itself was very homelike — bare, desolate, dirty, and inartistic. In size, like a side stopping place outside Manchester. A number of shivering disconsolates were waiting on the train in British 276 and native oostumes. But misery was the principal feature, not merriment by any means. We got into a long carriage with several lumpy little women, holding large bundles in their arms, and their feet crouched under them. A stoutish native gentleman was sitting bareheaded reading a paper and smoking a cigarette. He was dressed in a new suit of Japan-made English clothes, with the folds down the fronts of the trouser-lega very pronounced, so that I concluded he was a " toff." Perhaps he was the silver-tongued, advocate the slimy one had told me about. He rested on his knee a brown leather hat-box, and when we were slowing down for Tokio, he carefully opened it, took out a very shiny tall hat, and put it on. Then he was complete, for I saw as he rose, brown kid gloves in his hands and glazed Yankee shaped boots on his little feet. He was exactly like a " howling swell " from Whitechapel. The country we passed through was mostly flat, with tilled fields and a few leafless trees, and now and again a small coppice of firs ; several little streams or canals were to be seen, with farms and groups of grey huts, and at parts stagnant ponds. But not a blade of grass. It was all variations of mud and dirty patches of rotting snow. Utterly depressing to the mind that had dreamt of the lotus and the chrysanthemum. On arrival, we took jinrikshaws and drove to the Tokio Hotel. This was on the highest elevation of the city, and kept by a Japanese, W. Kubo. It was well on in the afternoon, and still pouring. Passing through one side street I got my solitary thrill. A limited procession of heroes were returning from Manohuria and attended by a few silent and dejected children. The little warriors carried tiny paper flags in their hands, and marched along without order, straggling in groups, with open spaces between them. Men and women passed, with hardly a glance at them, and they appeared not to expect any interest. They were like boys playing at soldiers, and discomfited by the rain. Yet I 277 suppose they had done their part in the recent war like Trojans, small as they were. But the mood of popular enthusiasm had drifted from the patriots to the noble British Princely visitor of their sacred Mikado, and beggar-children only remained to follow this woe-begone procession of triumph. Such is war and popular caprice. What gave me the thrill was seeing them turn unnoticed into the principal street, and approach a flag-decorated arch, prepared not for them, but for the illustrious English Royal personage who was then on a visit to the Mikado. The tremor of the Yokohama earthquake did not quite come up to that Tokio thrill. I was told by men who had served as Volunteers in the Army and Navy during the war, that although the Japan- ese were as brave as could be desired, and impetuous in action, yet they wanted the doggedness to push an ad- vantage to its completion. . This habit of only fighting when in the mood made them forego many a victory when success was all but grasped, and not chivalrous magnani- mity as is usually supposed. They had good British and other European advisers with them, but the efforts of these experienced soldiers were futile to make them con- tinue a little longer when not inclined. Their reply to these urgings would be : ' To-morrow will do. We have done enough for to-day.' By this singular 'dosyncracy, columns of Russians were allowed to walk unharmed out of carefully prepared traps, while the Japanese watched their escape with passive in' difference. Whether this charge is true or not I am not prepared to say ; but my own experience of the Japanese art workers seemed to point this way as far as they are concerned. As the Japanese claims, as a nation, to possess the artistic temperament, if that claim is correct then I should be disposed to think the soldiers, being artists, did as other- artists. I took with me from England four ancient and valuable Japanese fans which required repairing slightly. Asking a gentleman expert in such art if he could tell me where 278 to take them, he kindly offered to take them to the best worker in Yokohama. After a week he brought them back. Two in the worst state were repaired perfectly, and two were untouched. I asked him why the artist had not done these also, and he replied : ' He was not in the mood. The inclination had left him, and Japanese will never do more than they are inclined to do.' Yet the untouched fans required so little done, while the others needed a great deal. This peculiarity may explain much of what puzzled Europe in the great war. Also, if a fixed quality, with all their courage and fearlessness of death, they could never be depended upon in European warfare nor State- craft. Although the mound was not very high on which the Tokio Hotel stood, yet it was a prodigious task to get to it. The mud on the hill road was at parts knee-deep, while heavy banks of melting snow lay on each side. Maraoka had to take off his boots and shoes and turn up his trousers in order to help the jinrjkshaw men, for there were six enlisted for my ascent. They pushed, and dragged, and jolted, while they waded among that brown slush panting loudly. At length we reached a flight of wooden steps, near a hideous god in a roadside niche, and I walked for the rest of the way, ankle deep, where I slipped from the slimy wooden outer step rails. Crossing what in summer was a garden, but now a mud swamp, I paused to look at what was said to be the finest and most extensive view of Tokio. It was still light enough to see over the city, and I beheld miles of closely packed wooden huts, unpainted and unlovely, with a few stunted and thinly-branched trees in the foreground, and nothing else except mud and patches; of soiled snow. I shivered and passed into the hotel, to be met by lowly bent backs of waiters and landlord. After dinner (poor) and a glass of the native wine, which was like watered and cheap Bordeaux, we once more pierced the mud and drove to the "Yoshiwari." 279 We had some miles to go, and it was dark and wet. The houses also were dimly lighted, therefore I did not see much en route. After passing the gates, guarded by sentinels, we reached that brilliantly illuminated village over which Sir Edwin Arnold rapturized, as the seat of feminine loveli- ness and self-respect. Five thousand fair captives are here kept in numerous cages, lining many streets, for the dereliction of male Japan, and such foreigners who can appreciate this kind of " self respect 1 " Each cage, with its bars of cane, contained twenty or thirty painted and gaily costumed females. They wore one colour as the ground work for other patterns in each cage, and each had its own prevailing tint — red, blue, green, purple, or grey. The cages were lighted up as glaringly as the booths at a fair. At the doorways of each waited touts resembling that vile wretch on board the "Holy Grill," and they were all shouting out the merits of their living wares. Inside the doorways, which divided each cage, were photographs of present and past beauties, while above were the darkened dens. The youthful slaves! for they were bonded slaves for three years, and never permitted to go outside the barrier gateways during that time. These slaves of open vice did not do anything to cover their loathsome occupation. They did not sing, nor dance, nor talk. They only sat on chairs and exhibited their charms, smoking the tiny pipes, eat- ing sweetmeats or drinking tea, with frequent yawns of weariness. The customer walked past through the deep mu,d out- side and made his selection. Then beckoning the sitter with his finger, he passed through the doorway, while she rose and left her companions. We also paused and looked at these syrens, who gav«* me exactly the same signs that European women of their sort do on the streets of cities. Signs which revealed to the experienced unutterable infamies. After a very brief ' 280 observation I leaned deadly sick against a doorway and cursed from the bottom of my soul all such rhapsodists as have called them poetic and flowery names. There was only one name for these unfortunates, and that, in its variations, is not found in any floral list. I was very silent as we walked out of that place. So was Maraoka, who asked me next day to come and Bee his daughter who was at school in Tokio. He was paternally and justly proud of this young lady's scholastic success, and I accepted this invitation as a tribute to my respect- ability. Maraoka, if still on the guide list, is a trustworthy man to go about with. He was recommended to me by the manager of the Club Hotel, and I never went wrong when I took his sage advice. Maraoka is sturdily built, willing, and not easily tired ; neither does he bend his back so often nor so low as do many of his honourable countrymen, for which I liked him all the better. I trusted him only after I had tested him fairly well, there- fore may give him this traveller's testimony with a clear conscience. He, like my late shipmates and noble cap- tain of the 'Holy Grill,' gave me good advice. I seem to own a face which tempts menials to be familiar and neglectful, as well as disrespectful ; and intimates to be patronizing. The lectures of Maraoka, however, were tact- ful and not offensive, and I learnt to like and expect them. He considered me to be a very reckless man, who required constant and watchful care. It is said that the Japanese Government keep as close a watch on the doings of any foreigner while in the country as cats do on caught mice, and that every action is minutely reported to, and filed at, headquarters. I am content to leave my character in the hands of the Japanese and Chinese police, and to my guide Maraoka, who never left me alone when out of my hotel. It is reported also that the natives of Japan are rather treacherous to the stranger within their gates, and prone, when they get a safe chance, to aggravate him into strik- 281 ing them, -when, if he lays a finger upon them in retalia- tion, that they immediately call for the police, who haul him off to prison and give him three to six months without the chance of defence or the option of a fine, their laws being devised entirely for their own advantage. With Maraoka as my adviser constantly beside me I felt per- fectly safe in this respect. Inadvertently, though, I broke the law through enclosing a letter with the presents I sent home, which might have caused me some trouble. How- ever, Maraoka filled up the descriptive sheet at the post office when he took the parcel, so that they were passed all right, while I was not questioned. After our tour round Tokio, also during a day of bitter cold and rain, I gave my jinrikshaw men a glass of native beer to warm them. This acted on them like oats on a tired horse, so that they exceeded their customary leisurely pace, and actually broke into a half gallop to the station. This unwonted agility brought upon us the severe observation of the sedate policemen, and caused the pacific Maraoka much alarm. Perhaps that was why he called me a very reckless man. I slept that night in a most luxurious bedroom, with soft silken cushions, richly carved furniture, and one land- scape tenderly tinted, and free from any affectation of perspective. Next morning I sallied forth to the honour- able bath, ushered there by a male attendant, and left, when inside, to my own devices. Perhaps Maraoka had informed the landlord that I was a strict disciple of Buddha, as I resembled him in person. While waiting for breakfast in the hall, where three dwarf trees grew in pots, I witnessed a characteristic in- terview between the landlady and the butcher boy. They commenced the order of the day with many low obeisances to each other, then business, and a dismissal of many more* deep inclinations. How that butcher lad got out of the closed door in the middle of those lowly genuflexions, or the landlady escaped the tree^pots behind her, were feats' that filled me with profound admiration. 282 I was waited upon by\a Japanese handmaid, who told me that her name was Musmee Gordon. I said it might be Musmee, but it could not be " Gordon," but as she insisted it was I gave up the puzzle. Then refreshed, we waded once more through the mud and snow, and mounted our covered jihrikshaws. Tokio that day had her oil-covered umbrellas up and her waterproofs on, for the rain and sleet came down incessantly. The little ladies pattered past us in their high wood-soled shoes, so muffled up that we could not see their pretty kimonoes. Snow, slush, and mud predominated, not one blade of green was to be seen. The huts looked dingy and the shops empty and dark, while everywhere were displayed disconsolate faces. It was not a gay Japan. We drove to the " Welcome Society " office, where I was informed that I should have to be a resident in Tokio for fifteen days before any permits could be obtained to see any of their art schools ; therefore I told Maraoka to take me where we could get in without permits. He took me first to the Temple of Sheba, the Mikado's house of worship. Outside it was a plain, time-hoared wooden house, like a big shed, with courtyards where rows of large bronze lamps stood, finely carved. Inside, ceil- ing, walls, and floors were lacquered and highly-polished, and empty of seats or other furniture. The hall was long and narrow, and about twelve to fourteen feet high, and the lighting was subdued. On the walls were dragons and other monsters in raised dull gold and blood-red. I walked round in the felt shoes provided by the attendant priest, and admired the workmanship. It was quaint and pleasant to look at, and suggestively still. But it was not impressive, although artistically and barbarously beautiful. It did not inspire reverence, although it suggested repose. There was nothing great nor grand about it. It gave me the same impression which a low-roofed, old oak corridor would have done. Nothing more. We next drove through the Mikado's palace park. The 283 dwelling-house and garden were enclosed and hidden by high walls. The grounds outside were bare and grassless as a barrack-yard. In winter no grass is to be seen in Japan; it dies each fall, and begins to grow late in the Springtime. The moat round was 1 like a canal, lapping lofty butt resses. The gateways were square and massive as prison out-gates. I could not enthuse over mud. There was too much of it everywhere, to say nothing about the sleet. We drove along the principal streets to the grand Bazaar. Tramcars passed us, in and out of which muffled ladies scrambled showing glimpses of stockingless, copper- tinted legs. The shops mostly looked European, with large plate glass windows ; along the kerbs were posts supporting telegraph and electric wires. The middle of the street was gleaming with greasy mud. We entered the Bazaar. It was a long series of stairs and winding passages crammed with counters of nick-nacks such as we see at Christmas sales in drapers' shops in London. Cro|wds were there sheltering from the rain outside, so that we had to push along in one direction. I bought lots of rubbish, and loaded my factotum, who paid and hung behind for his commission. As I stepped into my jinrikshaw I noticed that the coolie had a mouth filled with gold-stopped teeth, and thcught that money must not be so scarce with jinrikshaw men as it is with our London jehus. They don't indulge in such luxuries. Next, to the Museum, which was arranged as ours are, Glass cases of stuffed beasts, birds, and reptiles, geological specimens, ancient armour and ornaments, with one room devoted to the trophies from the recent war. In this department I spent some time, realizing as I looked at the battered and ripped-up relics some of the horrors of that Titanic conflict. It must have been terrific from its effects on these pieces of ordnance, armour, weapons, and costumes. After seeing this exhibition I no longer wondered at the gloomy 284 faces of the survivors, or the demoralization of the Russians. CONCLUDING REMARKS. A. FTER perusing these pages, I wish you to remember that it was winter time, when I visited China and Japan ; and also that I had made a solemn vow to register only what I personally observed during my short stay at each of the places. This, I trust, unbiassed readers, who know the lands, may admit that I have faithfully done, if with- out favour, yet with as little prejudicial colouring as a human being can depict anything foreign to his accustomed ways of thinking. From readers who have not been there I cannot expect either credence nor appreciation unless it be that I have interested or amused them. Possibly many may say, when they get this length, " This book seems to bring those far-off lands more clearly and definitely before us ; but it makes them more common- place and less romantic than do the charming accounts given by the poetic Sir Edwin Arnold and other admirers of Japan. The pretty 'Musmees' don't seem much different from our own servant girls. The dainty ' Geishas ' very similar to our own lady artists of the music hall stage, only neither so beautiful nor so clever. The self respecting ' Joro ' of the Yoshiwaras, only a little more openly shameless, because permitted, but not one whit different otherwise than are our own home-made fallen women." Exactly so ; despite the glamour that foolish or vicious romancers have cast over this people and their immoral customs, when looked at by eyes neither senile, nor in- fatuated. Realities never are so interesting as inventions. This is one of the melancholy effects of stern Realism. It presents things as they are, ungarnished by fancy trimmings. I regret also that I could not honestly write more 285 kindly about the missionaries. If I had done so, it must have been at the sacrifice of yeracity, which with me must ever stand before fictitious sentiment or pleasing colouring. I have read in Sunday mag&zines and other religious literature what are termed " Home Truths about Mission- aries." Generally, portraits of the authors are given, and these mostly show young and rather self-sufficient faces, not those of experienced men, or at all representative of earnest investigators. The editorial "puffs" about these youthful authors usually say : " In spite of his early age, by dint of hard work, energy, and conspicuous enterprise he has won his way to the top of his profession, and will yet go far." When such say: "I believe in foreign missionaries," it means that the writer has been hospitably treated by the missionaries, and has his way to make in the world ; not that he has studied the problem seriously. Also, how far he may yet go depends entirely upon the directions he takes. If it is to win the approval of the mission societies his path will be a safe, popular, and prosperous one. But it is not, ethically speaking, the straight and true road. His workmanship, however, is generally quite good enough for the organs that print it. If I take the opposite direction and say that I do not believe in the efficacy of foreign missions, I certainly do believe in some of the home charities, such as the Barnardo scheme, and wish that philanthropists could think so likewise ; i.e., give of their plenty to our own starving and benighted heathen first, and leave the well-fed foreign heathen until a more convenient season. Doubtless it would have been safer and more palatable on my part to have walked the well-beaten highway, and imitated such pleasant and picturesque writers as the late Sir Edwin Arnold, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., from whose work " Japonica " I give the following quotations. But if I had done so, I need not have gone and investigated for my- self. I think my imagination is strong enough, and my reading sufficiently extensive to enable- me to make up a 286 readable book of travels from my desk at home. But it would not have been the truth, which this is, as I saw it during the winter month, and after the war. QUOTATIONS FROM "JAPONICA." • "This the writer owes to the country he is leaving, where he has found a tranquility of life and of surround- ings — due to gentle and gracious manners, everywhere pre- vailing, and to a high, though unique and specialised civilisation — as conducive to pleasant study as it was restorative to a mind wearied with the haste and beat of our western daily existence. " The normal landscape in Japan is not grotesque, nor in the least unnatural, as some have perhaps imagined who judge it by the screens, the fans, and the lacquered boxes of its artists. This people loves to play with nature, dwarfing her trees, twisting them into fantastic forms, filling a little clay backyard with boulders of granite or limestone; piling up miniature mountains in a bit of a garden, and creating upon them minute forests, tiny lakes, and bridges for fairies to cross. But Japan herself, and at large, is as sane and sweet of aspect as Scotland or New England. "Along the Southern shores orange and lemon trees will be seen upon the sunny uplands, and everywhere indeed this blending of sub-tropical with temperate and frigid vegetation characterises the changeful and charm- ful face of Japan. Barley and rice, bamboo> and pines, vild weeds of England with thickets of Corsica or California are found growing side by side. " The forests and gardens of Japan have beguiled me into this discursion about her flowers. But besides her green mountains, her rice-flats, and her foot-hills, she dis- plays every variety of landscapes, many of them of marvellous beauty and picturesqueness, though not often grand and imposing. 287 " The Japanese are not in the least ashamed of the body, the ' city of nine gates,' which the soul temporarily inhabits. In summer-time there is not much of anybody concealed, especially in the country villages, where the police are not particular, as sometimes they show them- selves in the towns. This frank exposure goes with the most perfect modesty, and indeed leads to it. " No doubt in the upper and richer classes the rule is that a girl should be very carefully reared and guarded until she marries, and should then live a most exemplary and dutiful life, innocent of even the desire to stray from virtue till the day when the fire is lighted to consume her faithful flesh. But that very lady would talk about her less fortunate sisters, the musmees of the Yoshiwara, the, geishas, and the more or less permanent concubines who everywhere abound, in a way which would quickly show how different from English or American views is that of Japanese society about the relations of the sexes. This is a country where it is not only common for a girl to sell herself to public use for the sake of her parents, but also where she will be rather admired and praised than blamed for it, and her parents pitied more than — as they should be — execrated. This is a country where prostitutes are, by no chance, seen in the streets, and where such evil dis- plays as are exhibited in London or San Francisco would shock the taste and shame the modesty of everybody ; yet where, every nightfall, thousands of gaily-attired damsels sit in long rows behind the grille of the countless houses in countless Yoshiwaras. Not once in a thousand instances do even these poor joro lose their self respect, or that sustained propriety and savoir-faire which makes one say that all Japanese women alike are ladies born. " Of their dancing — which is Javanese rather than Japanese in origin — I confess myself a confirmed votary and admirer. It has not indeed the measured grace of the Indian nautch-girl,and quite ignores, of course, being Japanese, and therefore sober, restrained, and in an Asiatio way, Greek — the vigorous gymnastics of the 288 European ballet, or the violent exertions of a London ball-room. But if you love charm of changing line, rhythmical movement so conceived and executed that picture passes into picture conveying unbroken and delicate ideas ; if you know how to appreciate in the really accom- plished geisha that which, she can show you, a nameless, fleeting, subtle delight of fluttering robes and glancing feet, gliding and combining grace, music, and motion aa the figures of Choephori do on the friezes of Phidias, then you will be pleased, as you sit among the lacquered dishes of your Japanese dinner, to watch the madko dressed like flowers and waving like flowers in the wind to the strings of the koto, samisen, and the throbs of the drum." These lovely descriptions are not the least like what my impressions were of this much discussed land and nation, except in the part where girls sold themselves for their parents. That is as true as it is nauseous. I consider, after my hasty, therefore incomplete analysis of the Chinese and Japanese racial character, from the standpoint of a believer in the ethics of morality which have been accepted and practised by most other races on earth's surface, that the Japanese are a brave, hardy, but unscrupulous nation. That they are in some directions noble and self-sacrificing to an ideal, and de- voted, from the intellectual, rather than the affectionate sense , to domestic and filial duty. But, I also regard them as a devilish people, with their satanic philosophies, and callous indifference to life. That they only play with ethics, as some talented geniuses play with Christianity among us, and amuse themselves with love, morality and chivalry, as they do with nature in their art, i.e., in a passionless, dilettante, and artificial manner. When a race treats ethics and nature in this manner, it is easy for individuals to be moralists and artists, as it is all in the order of fashion and training. Japan is devoid of music, colour, and genius. It has only talent and courage. There are otiher qualities required to make a rac« 289 supreme. Qualities which Europeans possess and Asiatics do not and never will attain without losing perceptions and qualities which are their birthright. These hereditary- gifts the Indian and the Chinese still cling to, while the Japanese are trying to cast them away. Possibly by inter-marriage and blood-blending they may to some extent succeed ; but the losses on both sides must be greater than the gains. I am of opinion that if humanity sprang from one source, the separation took place too far back to be re-united inside of aeons. At the present epoch the two races are as distinctly separated as the fish and the bird classes of life. Even if they were nearer in relationship ; the Japanese are too short, self-centred and ugly, according to the European standard, to be able to win the affection neces- sary to beneficial blending of races from wholesome European women, and only wholesome and devoted wives can produce master children. Any other conditions of marriage make decadent mongrels. The Japanese wife of a European husband cannot present him with a proper offspring, as a mother chosen from his own race is likely to do, any more than can the women of India, as the half- breeds of India prove. The Chinese are also endowed with the same qualities of superiority and inferiority, that mark European and Asiatic races-. But they still retain the discrimination and wisdom to hold on to their own habits and repudiate the retarding cult of war; the continuance of which cult is only a question of time; as ignorance and superstition are. When Churches are no longer attached to States, and teachers dwell no more in palaces, then war must cease, for humanity will have nothing to fight about. Then East and West will join hands, but not mix blood, because for mutual benefits both distinct races should be kept apart, as nature and her Creator intended such to be. u 290 Then the East will teach the West refinement and the higher civilisation; and the West lend to the East the force and virility they lack. As sister and brother, in love, must they for ever re- main, for such was ordained from the beginning of time.* •Note E. The End. Printed by the Pioneer Press, Newcastle St., Tarriagdon St., London, E.C. NOTES. NOTE A. On Law-breaking Bishops, The Missing Link, and Evolution. lawbreakers, &c. * The legitimate and Protestant Church of England at present keeps in office 21 bishops pledged to support Romish rites and practices distinctly illegal, according to the Articles of the Church of England, and the laws of that country, such as Con- fession, the absolution of sins by man, and the real Body of Christ in the mass. A few, however, do not, as yet, publicly acknowledge the Pope as their head. These bishops, however, prosecute Protestants for being Protestants, and win their illegal charges in English and Protestant law courts. They sanctify ( ?) Protestant churches according to Romish rites, offer masses for departed saints (?) against the decrees of the Church which supports them, and which they have sworn to uphold and obey, and degrade the sanctuary of their pulpits by advertising sensational works of fiction written for the purpose of advocating Romish rites. THE MISSING LINK. The main difficulty regarding this vexing problem is to find the species in birds, fish, animal, or insect from which man draws the hereditary trait, of his treatment towards the female of his kind. The male lower world of life are considerate to their females, and do not abuse their superior strength, as far as 1 yet have proved. In this particular difference only can I find no trace of ancestry in man to his supposed ancestors. EVOLUTION. * How slow humanity seems to have evolved, as regards true civilisation. Thousands of years have passed since history com- menced, yet to-day we are no nearer the goal of Reason than we weTe when dropped from the cradle of Time as unreasoning infants. Century after century men go on the same course as their fathers, in respect to government and real progress. They im- prove their weapons, and alter their fashion. But they march on ; an endless procession of the same dignitaries and ceremonies, 292 along the same broad highway that leads to nowhere, closely hedged in on both sides. This hedged highway being only a wide ciTcle or Tacecourse. Individuals can do but little to turn that endless procession to a straight road. Still, one now and again may break the hedges slightly during a, lifetime of hacking. If this is done, other following may make the hole wider, until the break becomes a gate, or open space, wide enough for future genera- tions to walk through and find a straight road. Doubtless in the unwritten past many such hedged circles have existed, each one lasting longer than its successor. Doubt- less in the future many smaller circles will be made and hedged in by coming [generations, who must cling to traditions before the final goal is reached, when Reason is consulted instead of Tradition. But no man has lived in vain who has done his best while in life to break the hedge. Evolution is only a series of circles surrounding the Temple of Eeason. Still, it is good to feel that man has gradually progressed towards inner and smaller courses as he has existed, when the way to him is clearly shown. We need not despair. The outer rings are broken down. NOTE B. Missionary Data. * I make use of Mr. Cohen's data, because 1 have hitherto found the data of the unorthodox more reliable than that of the orthodox. Possibly this may be because these protesters against dogma are more closely watched by the dogmatical than their own writers are, and an error made by the enemy would naturally be more quickly discovered than would the mistakes of a partisan of the popular party. I am convinced, after proving a few of the results, that Christian missionary interference is bad for the Chinese as a nation. Japan, I think, may safely be left to take care of herself. Whether it is beneficial to the lowest grade savages I cannot decide, as civilisation generally enters either with, or quickly after, the advent of the missionary. As John Buskin wrote to me after my return from the Papuans, he supposed that between the two, Christianity and gunpowder, these nations would also soon be wiped out. The missionary first creates the trouble and then demands the guns. The charges of laxity in respect to strict probity re facts and figures, so often made against that much more bewitching sex who make life so endurable, may easily be extended to the -flock of the "unco guid," not even excluding the shepheids, Absolute adherence to the ethics of truth and honesty 293 not always regarded so stiictly within the folds as it is outside. Piety, like charity and beauty, makes quite as warm, voluminous, and convenient a surplice as it does a mantle. Therefore, for hard reason and reliability, I prefer the more accurate, if unpopular, disciples of Voltaire and Descartes, re serving my softer sentiments for the ladies and the Church. The causes whereby my preference for stern realism, re data, may be produced are either by the well-attested fact that the Church has always trained and influenced the female more than the male mind, or- because the Church is also feminine in her gender, and proves this by having disparaged her own sweet sex from the beginning, with the exception of One only. NOTE C. Commercial Interests. * Respecting the tea planters of Ceylon and their industry, it appears from what I was told, that they are seriously handi- capped and retarded by the lack of encouragement on the part of their local government. A heavy duty at present cripples their efforts. But they do not appear to object so much to this as they do to the refusal to give them the strictly needful railway extension, which alone can place them in competing with other tea-growers. They want lines from Bandarawela to Passora. The Kelaway Valley extension, and the Negombo extension, to carry their produce from the plantations to the port. It seems a pity that red tape should stand in the way of real progress in such an island as Ceylon, particularly as the Government ; has this year a surplus of over £26,600, which might be used to forward the interests of the men who principally support it, and would with these extensions be able to do so much more to advance the prosperity of this fair possession. NOTE D. " The Freethinker " Newspaper ; also on Belief and Unbelief. * I sent for the issue in question of this weekly paper, and examined it carefully from beginning to end. As I have already attested, I did not find a. single word that could be considered, $n the widest senste of our elastic language, 'indecent' or ' dirty,' therefore I consider it my duty, as a lover of justice and a British subject to say so. As a reader and lover of stern logic I admire 'The Free- thinker,' and the pamphlets and books of the editor, G. W. 294 Foote, exceedingly. I also consider his imprisonment for civilisation and the liberties of an Englishman for the 'following of an Englishman for the following reasons : — 1st. It is now generally admitted that there are no defensible, i.e., historical or legal, data, for our religion, any more than for other faiths which have existed and died. The position is exactly as if legal experts sat and discussed a case of supposed inherntance, with no positive 'evidence that any property existed to inherit. Therefore, to condemn and imprison any ratepayer or non-ratepayer for denying or insisting upon this supposed property is simply an outrage on personal liberty and common- sense. Any person reminding a. magistrate, for the purpose of prejudicing him in another case, of that outrageous, medieval and barbarous persecution, is playing exactly the same ' dirty ' trick played by the Roman Informer, who reminded Nero about St. Paul's previous convictions. I write this impartially, and as a believer in a life beyond earth, from what I personally consider evidence satisfactory to my own hopes and faith ; but I also consider that the non believer has as much legal right, or ought to have, to express his opinions as I have to hold mine. 2nd. My objections to 'The Freethinker' are not for its opinions, but for its over-earnestness in expressing its sentiments and seriousness about what seem to me of small importance. Yet when I think upon the atrocities which our religionists have com- mitted in the past, such as the destruction of the Alexandrian Library, the most honible murder of Hypatia, and the more recent diabolical Christian crimes, I can excuse this bigotry- as the natural outcome of humanitarian indignation. Personally, also, I consider that agnostic and free-thought publications are as necessary for the growth of truth in religion, intellectually, as the opposite factions in Parliament are for law and progress in social existence, and ought, therefore, to be en- couraged, sold at stalls, as are other publications, and universally read. If the fundamentals of our religion are sound, criticism can only prove them to be so. If they are not sound, the sooner people know this the better for their souls. Eternal existence is far too serious a subject to hug delusions about. Facts, not fictions, are wanted. If the devil and hell are facts, let those who teach them prove their reality. The intricacies and mysteries of creation are before us to test so far, and continue farther than man has yet gone in his probing. But nothing can be gained by reasonless faith, which is insulting to the Creator of the in- tellect and reason of the creature. Statements suppressed or boycotted only prove the weakness of the boycotte.rs. The ethics of Christianity are against persecution, and in support of uni- versal and unsectarian toleration, and charity, as its aim is truth and justice. 295 NOTE E. I can now partly afford to be indifferent, ergo, I consider that my fellow-beings should share in my privileges. Formerly, I could only afford to be silent, when I ought to have spoken. I do not think that I have ever been so dishonest as to take the side of wrong, nor in any sense advocate it. But I feel ashamed of my silences, whenever I Teflect upon the past. When we protest against wrong we do not blame the rank and file led into it. It is the officers in command we point at and condemn. It is unjust to blame children and fools. They must be trained and controlled, not judged. The difference between genius, talent, and cleverness, may be defined thus : — Genius : as the prismatic hues playing upon a soap bubble. Talent : the iridescent tints within an oyster shell. Cleverness : the colours which represent these evanescent flashes, reduced to practical uses. If a man thinks honestly, it does not take him long to decide between right and wrong. The trouble and waste of time, and mind-force, lie in considering how much wrong may be done safely — so as to keep his actions square with his conscience and soul, as well as with the world. Yet each man possesses spirit-levels for the proper squaring of his life, if he care to use them instead of the faulty ruler of sophistry. These are Reason, Eight, and Utility. Reason gauges the line from the outside, as " How would it appear done by others?" Right gauges the inner line, as " How would it feel if done to you?" Utility goes all round the building, as "How is it likely to look when done to yourself and others; in the present and in the future?" No man needs more, but he must have these lines correct if he desires his life to be an upright edifice. If this life and this world were all that a Christian, needed to consider, he might afford to dispense with spirit-levels, and use respectability and expediency as his rules; for the sake of present rewards and faith for future condonation. But there seems nothing more worthy of sympathy and pity than the abject condition of the disconsolate ghost who receives ofr- giveness and encouragement from an injured spirit. 'The general rule,' or custom, covers most lapses from morality in behaviour as it does in business. Between respectability and what is considered to be disreput- able, there are only degrees of grey to black. Custom has obliterated the white. Yet, alhough there may be distinctions between major and minor untruths, there can be none between truth and untruth. 296 There are refinements of purity and self-respect which he- spectability is not qualified to recognise. Moralities which ecclesiasticism declines to endorse. Principles which con- ventionality considers absurdities and rectitudes, which civilisa- tion has utterly destroyed. These can only be attained by the primitive mind. The unpardonable sin, in Christianised countries, is to tell the truth. Christ was not the only expounder of honesty, reviled, slain, and afterwards traded with for fraudulent purposes. Christianity has all sects, doctrines, and dogmas, with the exception of one — Christ-practice. When any one becomes a practiser, instead of only a sentimental theorist — the Church, Society and law combine to boycot, culumniate and hunt him to extinction. INDEX. A PAGE PAGE Atomic Treatment 9 Artificial Art 267 Arnold, Sir Edwin ... 136 Besant, Mrs. 34 B Booth-Tucker 82 Bacterium Papistelli 58 i Booth Gen. c 83 County Pride 16 Caine, Mr. W.G., M.P. ... 82 Colonial Bishop ... 21 Ceylon 94 Christian Scheme ... 24 "China," wreck of 114 Candour 28 Crystal Seers I2Q Critics 36 Chinese Discoveries 168 Cherbourg ... 42 Canton I96 Cohen, C 24, 83, 84 Classes 150 Cold in Suez Canal 54 Col. Furse 185 Christianity ... 70 Capt. MacGinty 194 Coolies 69 Club Hotel, Yokohama ... 270 Chalmers, Rev. James 74 Decorum ... 33 Divorce 147 Dr." Dillon 81 Demoralised Russian Officers 235 "Delhi," The 99 Duties of a Canton Priest... 203 Denshaw Mystry ... 104 Education, Chinese 157 False Impressions Family Life, Chinese 48 Fire Works, Hong Kong... 144 G 183 Gqrdon, Capt Gibraltar Goldie, Mr. AndTew 8 Gillispie, Mr 17 Geishas 74 H 82 241 Hutchinson, Rev. A. B. ... 87 Hong Kong Harbour 174 Impressionism PAGE 125, 126 Inland Sea PAGE 254 Jesuits Johnson, Sir H. H. Justice J 56 Japanese Art 82 Japonica 221 262 286 Kensit Kingsley, Miss K 57 Kobe 81 267 Linchow Massacre ... 76 Little, Mr. A. J., F.R.G.S. L , 77 Latitudes, affects of 81 124 Marseilles Martyrs Missionaries Mission Homes Murray, Major Stewart .. M c 19 Malacca 56 Marriage, Chinese... 59 Muji 65 Maraoka 116 134 I46 239 270 Newman J. H. Orientalism versus Theology N 58 National Seminary, Yokohama 272 62 Oertse Yuempo 83 P. & 0. Coy 16 Peak Hill, Hong Kong . 174 Philanthropy 75,76 Poison Houses . 187 Professional Etiquette ... 94, 98 Prison, Chinese 200 Penang Morality 115 Pleasures ... l6l Peace Seekers 117 Phil May .. ' 191 Patriotism 119, 120 Parsee Cemetery ... 191 Red Sea 47 Richards, Admiral 80 Renton, Wm 49, 52 Rickshaws ... Il6 Ritualism 56 Russian Transport. A Religions 61 Floating Hell 217 Roman Priests : Murderers 78 Religion & Philosophy, CI linese 145 s Sutherland, Sir Thomas, Sex Problems 128 G.C.M.G., K.C.M.G. Sharks 133 LL.D., & c 37, 114 Shanghai ... 232 Stromboli ... ... ... 20 Singapore ... 136 Socialism 103 Sydney Harbour . . . 176 Stone, Rev. Mr 82 Sampans ... 189 Straits 125 S hamen 196 Tilbury Docks Temple, Sir W. ... Twain, Mark Taylor, Canon Isaac Tea Planters PAGE 6 82 100 82 94. 95 Tea Gardens, Shanghai .. Tea Houses, Japan Theatre, Chinese Tcheng-Ki-Tong, Col. .. The Cage W PAGE 224 241 190 143 20 r Wa Lum ... Women, Chinese Working Classes of China 202 148 158 Water Clock Woosung River Wymans' Book Stalls 199 275 "52 Yoshiwari 278 Y Ill PUBLISHERS' NOTICE AUTHOR'S EDITION PROSE WORKS OF ART, FICTION, AND TRAVELS BY HUME NISBET Price 6s. per Vol. * 1t * These Volumes will be published at intervals, in uniform binding, for the library, and will include only the best of Mr. Hume Nisbet's work in Art, Fiction, and Travels ; carefully revised for this Edition, with Illustrations by the Author to each volume. VOLUME I WASTED FIRES Press Opinions on 'Wasted Fires.' Daily Chronicle. — ' The novel that reveals in artistic combination both the delineative art and the art of expressing character in action, is by no means frequently produced in these days. Mr: Hume Nisbet shows a high quality in his command of these dissimilar and commonly disunited excellences. His principal characters are drawn with a sure hand, and with a vitality that individualises each one with bis own distinction. At tbesamt time the author displays all his wonted powers of invention and suggestion in the fertility of resource that marks the movement of his story.' The Scotsman— 'Mr. Nisbet knows Australia well, and wields a graphic and powerful pen .' Daily Graphic. — ' Hume Nisbet's romance of Australia and England comes along with less advertisement than many another novel, but for careful workmanship and excellence of descriptive matter it is ahead of the majority. In the person of the artist hero the author has created a character well worth studying. His description of the mental and physical condition of his hero, verging upon madness through overwork, is a very powerful and striking piece of work, and would alone make the book notable.' Morning Post. — ' One cf the best he has written.' Public Opinion.— * Remind * one of Greek tragedy. It is a powerful narrative. Christian Leader.— 1 Mr. Nisbet has done striking original work both as artist and author. This book contains some clever character sketches.' Daily Mail. — 'A forcible. tale forcibly told.' Academy. — ' A powerful story — there is reality as well as realism in it.' PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. Mr. De La Roche begs to announce that having secured the copyright of the ^following 'works by HUME NISBET, he will publish them at intervals : ART BOOKS Illustrated by the Author and ether Artists (Author's Edition 6/) Life and Nature Studies. Where Art Begins. ROMANCES. Wasted Fires. Paths of the Dead. Eight Bells. Land of the Hibiscus Blossom. Mistletoe Manor. Children of Hermes. Swampers. For Liberty. The Bushgirl's Romance. The Revenge of Valerie. The Haunted Station. The Queen's Desire. The Black Drop. Valdimer the Viking. &c, &c, &c. Author's Editions - 6/- Ordinary Editions .... . . 2/6 EXTRACTS OF OPINIONS ON PICTURES By HUME NISBET. Professor John Buskin, LL.D. — "A real faculty for colour and sensibility to beauty. I have 'great hope that your gift for colour will make you an extremely popular, prosperous, and in a true sense excellent artist." Sir Noel Paton, LL.D., E.S.A., Her Majesty's limner for Scot land (on a picture of " Death " in Exhibition) : — "I admir« it exceedingly as one of the most perfect embodiments of dreary and hopeless desolation I have seen. Your powers of rapid conception, and your undoubted eye for striking and suggestive effects in black and white, peculiarly fit you for book illustrations." Glasgow Herald : — "An exhibition of the works of Hume Nisbet will be open in Edinburgh to-day. The collection includes about 150 works. The imaginative pieces are highly creditable alike in conception and execution, whilst the daring originality of treatment adopted in others will be attractive. The water colours are charming." The Daily Beview : — "Comprise a very interesting and most excellent collection. Mr. Nisbet's forte is evidently that of a colourist, but the stiffness of the lines in his Egyptian subjects lend themselves with good effect, the designs being worthy of Tadema. The Studies of the Season exhibit Mr. Nisbet's close observance and keen appreciation of Nature. The Exhibition is unique in Edinburgh." The C our ant : — "The collection is a large onej and embraces landscapes, character and imaginative subjects. This Ex- hibition is well worthy of a visit. Its chief characteristic is the originality which the artist has displayed in dealing, not only with his subjects, but in the details of his art." The Newcastle Daily Leader : — "Mr. Hume Nisbet is a Scottish artist of acknowledged celebrity, and has studied the 'Book of Nature ' in many lands." The Newcastle Chronicle : — "Mr. Hume Nisbet having already made for himself a distinguished reputation as an artist, is now making an equal reputation as a man of letters." The Chiel : — "The subject of the picture by Hume Nisbet is ' Vanderdecken,' and is treated in a weird and powerful way, very fascinating. He always excels as a colourist, and I don't know any painter who can give suehi a clear idea of a tempest." The North British Advertiser : — "His exhibits show true artistic power, and his experience as an artist gives him the title of an authority on all points of practice as well as method. His tuitional capacity is sufficiently well known, and he is familiar to patrons of art as the producer of many pictures which have shown imagination and thought as well as a command of the mechanism of pictorial representation." The Christian Leader : — "He has painted many, pictures which show imagination and thought." The Border Advertiser : — " Mr. Hume Nisbet, well known as an artist, exhibits an exquisite picture, and seems to be equally good at representing sea-scapes as more sombre subjects." The Evening News and Post : — "Mr. Hume Nisbet is a Scottish artist whose travels, in search of the picturesque, are more extensive than those of the famous Dr. Syntax. Ground which he has made his own is New Guinea, a terra incognito to other artists. His drawings are exceedingly well done. The subjects also are interesting as being novel to the public." Stirling Observer :■ — "An excellent Exhibition, although contain- ing nothing but Hume Nisbet's paintings." Star : — "Clever as Mr. Nisbet is with his pen, he is Btill more clever with his brush. His special line is landscape and seascape ; there is a wonderful dash and effectiveness, with a genuine poetic touch in his pictures." Anglo Australian Europeans' Mail : — " ' The Battle of Salamis ' is a powerful and well executed work. Others are marked by dreamy repose and charm." Vll SOME EXTRACTS OF PRESS OPINIONS ON ART BOOKS BY HUME NISBET. "LIFE AND NATURE STUDIES." The Athenaeum : — " Inspired with much sympathy for his sub- ject, and guided by native good taste." The Spectator : — "Bright and chatty, with an intense love of colour, and a touch of the didactic sufficient to impress them on the art student. The illustrations are delicate, and possess plenty of the freedom and nervousness of out- line which he urges so strongly." Atalanta : — "Mr. Nisbet has many of the combined attributes of painter and poet. His book is partly practical, but it sur- prises one also with quaint and' fascinating thoughts, some- times deep, sometimes subtle, and always beautiful." The Publishers' Circular : — "Contains the largest amount of information in the smallest possible space, and is withal endowed with the spirit of poetry." The Bookseller : — "Contains much useful information." The Morning Post : — " Marked by a feeling of intense love of Nature, and a clear insight into art." The Daily Review : — " Close observation and keen appreciation of Nature." The Scotsman : — "The unconventional mode of their expression) gives a certain freshness to the doctrines of the writer." The Scottish News : — "Mr. Nisbet is a man who thinks for him- self on all subjects ; he has, moreover, in a remarkably high degree, the power of expressing his ideas in a vigorous and' unconventional manner." Dundee Advertiser : — "His remarks invariably show exact observation." Vlll Glasgow Herald : — "Daring originality." Stirling Observer : — "Strong individuality." Border Record : — "A work of many and strong claims on the attention of artist and general readers." The Border Advertiser : — "Treated in a way that is at once striking and fascinating." Newcastle Daily Leader : — "Technical knowledge interwoven with the dexterity and skill of a master." Newcastle Weekly Chronicle : — "A book to caress and linger over. Of great practical value. The reading and study- ing will produce a Teverence alike for the subject and the author." The Kelso Chronicle : — "There is much of sober and wise instruc- tion for the student." The Western Antiquary : — "It is a treat to handle such a book as this, and a greater treat still to peruse it. He has the observing eye, the poetic imagination, and the versatile powers." The League Journal : — " It conveys many sound lessons." The Christian Leader : — " An artistic and literary Ishmaelite cf the right sort." The People's Friend : — "Mr. Nisbet is himself an artist, and he writes like a poet on his aTt." The Chiel : — "Remarkable work of this painter, poet, novelist, and* altogether extraordinary man. Steadily he has made his way into the hearts of those who love art for art's sake." Dunfermline Press : — " At times he rises to a remarkable height of descriptive powers." Ouida : — "Vigorous and original writings." Rev. W. Pulsford : — "Soul pulse through the type." Sir Noel Pat on, LL.D., R.D.A. : — "Delicate and vivid word pictures." Crown 8vo., cloth extra, 2s. 6d. LESSONS IN ART. By HUME NISBET. With. 22 Illustrations by the Author. Pall Mall Gazette : — "A readable little volume. The author has endeavoured to write out some of the strictly necessary rules and laws of drawing and painting for the use of students, so that they may be able to work at home, and spare their masters a number of questions if. they are at art schools. The book deals with drawing and painting in water and oil colour, and concludes with 'Hints on General Art.' Art students will no doubt find the little work helpful, and the general reader may dip into it with pleasure." Leeds Mercury : — "A book which merits prompt and -hearty recognition. Mr. Nisbet is himself an accomplished artist, and the book is the outcome of long years spent in the attempt to teach others the principles and laws of painting and drawing. Mr. Nisbet possesses such an enviable faculty of clear and attractive exposition that this little book is sure to make its own welcome." Scotsman : — "A very useful book for young, students. Mr. Nisbet has a knack of explanation so clear and pointed that few can fail to understand the many practical hints with which the little book abounds. The book may be cordially com- mended." Manchester Examiner : — " A most entertaining as well as instruc- tive book, that will commend itself to young and old alike. To the Author's experience as an art teacher is doubtless due the lucid manner in which he writes. The complete- ness and range of the lessons are remarkable."' Scottish Leader : — "The advice given will certainly succeed in its aim of enabling art students to work at home and 'spare their masters a number of questions.' Equally help- ful will be the example of drawing and painting with which the letterpress is relieved, and which is invariably of a high order of merit." Stirling Journal : — "With this book at hand no one need be at a loss, and may, by attending to the valuable instructions given, become not only proficient, but attain to a merito- rious position as an artist." Speaker : — "Quite one of the beet books of the kind which we have recently encountered is Mr. Nisbet's ' Lessons in Art,' a little volume filled with sound and practical advice, and charmingly illustrated. This little book possesses distinct merit, and that of a kind which is never too common in popular manuals." Saturday Review : — " The first part of the book treats of draw- ing, and is in the main practical in aim and useful as • guidance." Graphic :— "A very useful handbook for beginners." Daily Chronicle : — "A book written by a teacher who is an artist, and who fortunately remembers that he has been a student, and doubtless this is why the sympathies of his readers are promptly enlisted." Morning Post : — " 'Lessons in Art' should prove of use to both pupils and teachers." Glasgow Herald : — "As a teacher in the old School of Arts, Edinburgh, Mr. Nisbet may be credited with knowing the kind of questions which students are likely to ask, and he has here answered them in theoretical and prac- tical detail." A Plain Guide to Oil Painting AND On Painting in Water Colours. Published by REEVES & SON Ltd. Athenaeum, : — " What Mr. Nisbet has written is correct and well expressed." Art Journal : — "A plain-spoken brochure, which can be recom- mended to the more advanced student." WHERE ART BEGINS. Academy : — " Mr. Nisbet knows a great deal, and he writes very pleasantly and easily, and at times very strongly and poetically. He can tell a story well, he can paint a word- picture brilliantly, and criticise the art of others soundly and kindly. This volume is indeed in all respects the best that he has given us." Scotsman: — "A versatile worker himself, Mt. Nisbet discourses in a clear and felicitous style about photography, oil and water colour painting, decoration, engraving, etc., and his hints and reflections are in general characterised by ade- quate knowledge and unbiassed judgment. There will be only one view concerning the readableness and instructive and suggestive character of this volume, which is attrac- tively illustrated by reproductions of pictures by Mr. Nisbet and other artists. Novel Review: — "Invaluable as a, text-book to the art student, deeply interesting ,to the general reader. A delightful sequence of art theories, practice, and criticism, told in the happiest colloquial vein." Glasgow Herald : — " The book is, on the whole, pleasant read- ing. Mr. Nisbet's experience is many-sided, and, he knows how to utilise it." Philadelphia Leader: — "The book is carefully illustrated, and is an intelligent guide on -various topics which cluster in the environs of art." ON ROMANCES. "BAIL UP!" A ROMANCE OF BUSHRANGERS AND BLACKS. [Messrs. Chatto and Windut.) Scottish Leader : " Packed full of thrilling adventures and striking figures, ' Bail Up ' is in every respect a powerful novel, and the interest it creates in the mind of the reader is that of positive absorption in its pages. Mr. Hume Nisbet has proved himself a master." Whitehall Review : " Mr. Nisbet could not have chosen a better title for his delightful and entrancing story of adventures in Queensland. We cordially recommend it to all readers who love to feel their hearts throb and theiT pulses beat under the hand of a clever narrator of adventure. A capital book, which everyone who does not wish to lose a genuine treat' should read." Scotsman : " The story maintains a strong interest from begin- ning to end. Those who are fond of pictures of wild life will read the book with enjoyment." Glasgow Herald : " The story is full of plot and exciting incident, and the reader who takes it up will not lay it down until he has finished it. The scenery and character are excel- lent, and the interest is never allowed to flag." Public Opinion: "A romance of Australian life that will be enjoyed by those who like a robust story. Full of stirring interest and reality." The Colonies and India : " Exciting incident is a strong ele- ment in Mr. Hume Nisbet's new story. The story of wild, unsettled, early colonial life is typical of the times, while it possesses from first to last a virility of istyle which vivifies the reader's fascination." Manchester Guardian: "Full of clever adventures." Daily News: "'Bail Up' is a rattling story of the Never- never Land, full of life and go and adventure. The real hero is the Chinaman Wung-Ti, a, fascinating mystery man." Literary World : " The author of ' Bail Up ' may count upon % large and appreciative circle of readers. The book is essentially a novel of incident, and the incidents are all of them sensational. The interest never flags. Readers who enjoy sensational fiction may take 'Bail Up' without fear of disappointment." Academy : " ' Bail Up ' is quite the best book of its kind that has been published during the last year ot two." Star: "Probably one of the best adventure books of the season." Illustrated London Newt : " There is no doubt at all that Mr. Nisbet can tell a story, and that he has a fund of stories to tell." National Observer : " An outrageously sensational story, of surprising interest. The book is racy and amusing." "THE SAVAGE QUEEN." A ROMANCE OF THE NATIVES OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. Truth: "Realistic description of the convict and native life." Saturday Review : " Picturesque scenes vigorously presented." Scotsman : " Is always entertaining and readable. The work will certainly sustain Mr.Nisbet's reputation as a romancer." Queen : " There is plenty of exciting adventure." Whitehall Review : " ' The Savage Queen ' is a volume of stir- ring adventure graphically written and admirably sustained. From first to last the reader is literally carried along a frenzied path of excitement fascinating beyond measure." Guardian: "Life-like and lively reading." Literary World : " Mr. Hume Nisbet delineates with a firm and relentless hand the early days of Van Diemen's Land, and no one can doubt his ability to handle the material the subject supplies, and to depict with fearful vividness a seething whirlpool of vice." Publishers' Circular : " The story is vigorously written, and the interest, throughout of an exciting nature, is never allowed to flag." Academy : " He can draw oonvicts and other ruffians with considerable skill." Newcastle Weekly Chronicle : " It is impossible for any ordinary novel reader to pick up the book without perusing it to the end. The characters are cleverly drawn, the scenery is graphically depicted, and the incidents are vividly described." "THE JOLLY ROGER." Saturday Review : " Sorcery and the sea are deftly combined. Since Captain Marryat's impressive story of Vanderdecken and the fair Amine, these elements have never been handled as In Mr. Nisbet's brilliant romance of Elizabethan times. In his handling of the supernatural, the author's power is moat con- vincingly proclaimed." Daily Chronicle: "Among a number of stories of travel and adventure which will delight the hearts of the young, and indeed of older people, at this season of the year, we give the place of honour to ' The Jolly Roger.' It is a narrative full of dash and spirit. The reader is in no danger of going to sleep; all his faculties will be kept at their full tension. ' The Speaker: "A book by a man of great versatility and considerable power — Mr. Hume Nisbet. So well told, and well worth reading." The Times : " He can tell a wild story well and effectively. Strives to beat the season's record in the matter of sensation." National Observer : " Quite the best thing Mr. Hume Nisbet has yet done is 'The Jolly Roger.' " The World : " The book is one which will be absolutely devoured by boys." Pictorial World : " This is a good story of piracy, witchcraft, astrology, and heroism, which is calculated to warm the hearts of boys, old and young. There is much that is exciting in the story, and the interest is well sustained from start to finish. ' The Jolly Roger ' is likely to become a very popular book." Pall Mall Gazette : " An admirable story of sea heroes and pirates. A ghostly carrack, under a star-lit sky, makes a suggestive and picturesque frontispiece." Morning Post : " A tale of wild adventure in the early days of the seventeenth century into which Shakespeare himself has been introduced. The doings on the pirate island and the expedition in which young Bolin takes a share are vividly depicted." Observer : " A thoroughly well-told tale of sea heroes and pirates by an author of experience and skill." England : " A book of real stirring adventure and romance. A story of which it would be impossible for the most matter-of- XT fact among us to take up without a thrill of interest, or lay down without a feeling of regret. A capital book, and Mr. Hume Nisbet is certainly to be congratulated." Sunday Times : " Prom the practised pen of Mr. Hume Nisbet, who knows so well how to cater for his juvenile clientele. The doings of the sea heroes and the pirates are graphically described by this popular author." People : " A story of sea heroes and pirates which the British boy will heartily relish. We have derived -great pleasure from reading the book." Whitehall Review : " Brightly and breezily written. To such a book as this boys who revel in 'Masterman Ready,' or 'Mid- shipman Easy, ' will give a place on their shelves as a worthy compeer with those older and better known stories of sea and adventure." Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News : " Mr. Nisbet, who has, with remarkable suddenness, bloomed into a popular writer, tells here an exciting tale of the sea." British Weekly : " The adventures of the two Humphrey Bolins, father and son, are full of real interest. The story is a good one." Bookman : " A stirring story of sea heroes and pirates, with a dash of the supernatural in it. Shakespeare figures in the tale in a somewhat original fashion." Liverpool Courier : " One of the most eerie and sensational books of the season. One to make the flesh creep and the hair stand on end, for is it not full of witchcraft, piracy, and horrors ? It is sufficient to say there is hardly a page of the book without its quota of exciting incident or horror." Birmingham Gazette : " Mr. Nisbet is well known as a splendid story-teller for boys. This is the narrative of the adventures of Humphrey Bolin, father and son, and is full of incident. The evil influence of the witch, Penelope Ancrum, is powerfully depicted." Yorkshire Post : " There is excellent work in Hume Nisbet's pirate story. A very readable book." Dublin Freeman's Journal : " It abounds in thrilling situa- tions which will enchain the attention of lovers of adventure. The story is one which, when commenced, will be difficult to lay down until the end is reached." Yorkshire Gazette : " There is excellent work in Hume Nisbet' s pirate story, ' The Jolly Roger.' " Newcastle Daily Chronicle : " This is a tale over which any healthy lad may whoop for joy. Is full of magic and mystery, love and fighting, from beginning to end." Scotsman : " Brimful of incident." Plymouth Western Daily Mercury: "Mr. Nisbet has written one of his cleverest stories. A romance that will appeal very powerfully to the youthful imagination. Mr. Nisbet, who is^as clever with pencil as with pen, hais designed the illustrations." Nottingham Guardian : " From the graphic pen of Mr. Hume Nisbet we have ' The Jolly Roger,' a sensational story for boys. The narrative contains a fund of stirring incident." Sussex Daily News: "His descriptive power is remarkable; he sets forth a storm, a sunset, a battle, or a savage landscape with consummate effect ; and has many light and tender touches of great excellence." Hereford Times : " An exciting narrative which cannot fail to please boy readers." Manchester Examiner : " The book will prove a very fascina- ting one to boys." Liverpool Mercury : " A book of the most astounding adven- tures." "THE DIVERS." A ROMANCE OP OCEANIA. (Messrs. A. and C. Black.) OPINIONS OP THE PRESS. The Standard : " The story is told with much spirit, and is brimful of adventure; the characters of the Chinaman and his demoniac, cross-eyed cat, whose story is never told to the end, are full of humour and amusement." Truth : " Crammed full of exciting fare." Methodist Times : " A stirring story of the South Seas.'' Bookman : " A well-written story for boys about Oceania and adventures among the coral reefs and interesting natives of the islands where the cocoa palm waves." The World : " 'Boys like racy stories,' says Mt. Hume Nisbet in his preface to ' The Divers,' and proceeds to give them a story of that description, with lots of cannibals and treasure in it, and a good ending, which is all as it should be." The Speaker : " A capital story, racy, and with style, too." Athenaeum : " The story is one of decided interest to boys, for whom it is intended." Public Opinion : " A thrilling romance of Oceania, enriched with vivid descriptions of scenery, tales of EI Dorados, and battles with natives of the South Seas." The Spectator : " This is as good a story of its kind as we have seen for some time. The colouring is brilliant, it iB a ' Romance of Oceania,' the action vigorous, the plot well con- trived, and the characters drawn with force and precision." Scottish Leader : " A typical story for boys." The Guardian z " Possesses decided originality of treatment, as well as considerable fascination." Leeds Mercury : "A charming freshness marks ' The Divers.' " The Star : " Brightly written, and on the whole unhack- neyed." Literary World : " The South Sea Islanders are vividly brought before us in Hume Nisbet's latest romance, ' The Divers.' " Birmingham Gazette : " Assuredly Mr. Nisbet knows how to write the kind of book which boys love." Liverpool Mercury : " A book of graphic narration, with a well-conceived story and interesting characters clearly drawn. ' r Newcastle Chronicle : " We have no doubt that boys will find it wholly delightful, since it is lively in incident and vigorous in action, and deals with cruising, treasure-hunting, fighting and love-making in the South Seas." Liverpool Courier : " The whole story being one that will enthral the reader from beginning to end." The Graphic : " Plenty of sensation is afforded in ' The Divers,' where Hume Nisbet introduces us to some delightful islanders of the South Seas, and their sufferings from the slave- traders." Z XVI 11 "THE LAND OF THE HIBISCUS BLOSSOM." A YARN OF THE PAPUAN GULF. The Saturday Review : " Mr. Nisbet's pictures of Papuan life, the sorrows of Queen Ine, the pretty idyl of the loves of Kamp and Rea, the sketch of the devoted French missionaries at Yule Island, are wonderfully moving and impressive. His description of the coast scenery, the big forests, the unknown rivers, the mysterious caverns, where gold is found water-washed in natural rock-cradles, all are strangely imposing and illustrated by his pencil with excellent effect here and there. A book of marvels and adventures as exciting as any written for boys." The Athenmum : "The narrative and conversation flow on in a lively stream. The Graphic : " ' The Land of the Hibiscus Blossom ' should leave the reader better disposed to Ms 'inferior' brothers, and with a vivid impression of far-away scenes brilliant in sunlight." The Illustrated London News : "The arch coquetry of Rea, beloved of the young chief Kamo, is not a little amusing. As a story of adventures, perils, combats, and escapes, with several interesting women and girls involved in the plot, as interesting as others of its kind." The Morning Post : " There is much information on the people of New Guinea and their lovely island in this well- illustrated tale." Globe :"Men and manners, which he portrays with fidelity." Land and Water : " Our author is master of a vivid descrip- tive touch, a pretty fancy. His native love story of Rea and Kamo is very charming, almost recalling that dreamy, delightful study ot Hawaian map.vrs in Pierre Loti's exquisitely gad and poetic ' Marriage de Loti.' " Atalanta : "The descriptions are vigorous, and have an air of reality about them. The scenes have evidently been drawn from life in strange corners of the earthi The pictures bear the impress of nature, seen at first hand and described on the spot." The Newcastle Chronicle : "Those who delight in the study of character, who revel in descriptions of natural scenery, select fiction for its own sake, will find much to entrance them in Mr. Nisbet's production." The Pictorial World : " Is a startlingly modern and realistic work. As for the vignettes of native life, they are remark- ably vivid and set in descriptions of scenery that recall the best work of Michael Scott. Mr. Nisbet may be congratu- lated on ope of the most exciting books of adventure and exploration that we have read for a long time. The illus- trations, by the author, are numerous and excellent, and the strong impression of Teality conveyed by every chapter of the book makes this Yarn of the Papuan Gulf one of the most ■attractive books of the season." The Spectator : " There is a certain sense of reality about it which the most slaughterous fiction cannot attain to ; the "writer has every appearance of taking things quorum pars ipse fuit. The story is powerfully told." Information : "It contains descriptions winch for sheer lucidity and beauty would be difficult to beat, one of those .rare books which are transcripts of life and nature as it is." Society : " Graphic descriptions." Public Opinion : " These vivid impressions are among the very best that have yet come before us ! The author has the art with pen and pencil of reproducing the things he saw in ■a remarkable manner." "EIGHT BELLS." A TALE OF THE SEA AND CANNIBALS OF NEW GUINEA. Illustrated by the Author. The Academy : " ' Eight Bells ' is one of the most startling •stories of adventure, human courage, and human crime ever written. Mr. Nisbet is a master of the graphic style, and there is an air of reality about his New Guinea scenes which seems to indicate that he knows his subject, and has not got it up from Chalmers and other authorities." The Athenceum : "A sufficiently exciting narrative of ad- venture by sea and amongst the cannibals of New Guinea will be found in ' Eight Bells.' There is more of a connected •story in this volume than in many tales of adventure, but it is full of incident from first to last, and lively enough to satisfy the most exacting appetite. 'Eight Bells' is, on the whole, a well-contrived and well-written story." XX Public Opinion : " We have already written approvingly ol the work of Mr. Nisbet, both from pen aad pencil, and in the present volume he gives us a stirring tale of the sea and canni- bals of New Guinea. Adventure succeeds to adventure, and, once fairly among the cannibals, the book is in places thril- ling. Much of the book reads like facts." The Literary World : " There is a rollicking air of good nature about this story, and although not by any means prudish in its record, the tone is wholesome and carries a wise moral, a ghostly sound of ' Eight Bells ' serves as a pre- liminary to most of the catastrophes that occur. We should mention the capital illustrations that make this volume attrac- tive." London Figaro : " A capital title and excellent story. Mr. Nisbet illustrates the volume with great success. The heTO, Johnny Ducks, is an excellent fellow, and the loutish Jabez Carter is invested with a distinct personality. The march through the cave is graphically portrayed, and the finale is at once horrible and satisfactory." The Whitehall Review : " A story of Btirring adventure and hairbreadth escapes, which is profusely embellished with capital illustrations by the author, who proves himself to be ' a man of no mean parts,' as he not only is author, but artist." The Melbourne Age : " Mr. Hume Nisbet is making a hit with the sketches of Australian, New Guinea, and South Sea life, which he brings out with a rapidity which would be portentous, were not the quality on the whole so 'good. He carries a two-edged sword in the fact that he can illustrate as well as write his productions. In his last work, ' Eight Bells/ he has certainly reached high-water mark." The Scottish Leader : " Hume Nisbet has produced a story of marine adventure as wild and stirring as any ever written by Mayne Reid or Clark Russell." The Scotsman: "The tale is interesting and well illus- trated." St. James's Gazette : " There are some effective descrip- tions in Mr. Nisbet's ' Tale of the Sea and Cannibals of New Guinea,' while the illustrations, drawn by the author, are capital." Manchester Guardian : "The story is brisk and entertaining, with effective illustrations.'' The Sun : "A wonderfully thrilling story." The Pictorial World : "The narrative is exciting, and the descriptions of life on an emigrant ship, with mutiny, murder, shipwreck, and other horrors, is graphically done, while the desperate battles with cannibals form a thrilling conclusion. The illustrations by the author are excellent." Stationer and Bookseller : "A stirring tale." Queen -. " A really exciting story, the illustrations are very artistic." Shipping Gazette : " The story throughout is full of go and incident." Saturday Eeview : " A delightful book." "DOCTOR BERNARD ST. VINCENT." A Sensational Story of Sydney. The Whitehall Review : "This is a story of a very sensa- tional, not to say 'eerie,' character, and may be safely recom- mended to him who likes to sip his fill of horrors." Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper : " A convict's escape from a government hulk, and the perils 'of pursuing gaolers and sharks, opens up a tale of adventure that will be read through with eager interest." The Sun : " Mr. Nisbet has dived into the troubled waters of the ' shilling shocker,' and brought forth a success in ' Dr. Bernard St. Vincent.'" The Scotsman : " Is properly described as a sensational ro- mance of Sydney. It is written in an appropriately passionate style, and has a plot which follows the career of a villain of the deepest dye and a she-devil to match. The interest is well sustained." The People ■ " A powerful story." "THE BLACK DROP." The Scotsman: "Its startling incidents will attract many readers." Sunday Times : '" The Black Drop ' will need no further recommendation to those who have already made its author's acquaintance than the statement that it is very like his former efforts. It tells a strong story in a strong and straightforward way, and is thoroughly readable." Glasgow Herald : " The book is most interesting." Newcastle Daily Leader : " Mr. Nisbet's vivid imagination and poetic fancy enable him in his works of fiction to give that realism to his characters which rivet the attention of the leader." The Athenceum : "Mr. Hume Nisbet's pen is prolific. The' professor is represented as a, thorough impostor, but notwith- standing this, possesses a real magical, or rather a demoniacal power over his fellow-men." Border Advertiser : "A curious and fascinating book, very original in its plot and style, and of such a bold nature in regard to incidents and character that one's sense of wonder- , ment remains behind long after it has been read." Border Record : " Told in dramatic and impressive style." "THE REBEL CHIEF. The Times : " 'The Rebel Chief is nearly as good as 'Bail Up!' and better than anything Mr. Hume Nisbet has written since he first struck gold in Australia." "CHILDREN OF HERMES." From Truth : "The story is breathlessly interesting." Saturday Review : " Is well told." Scotsman : " This fascinating romance will most certainly amuse and entertain. Something prodigious are the adventures it narrates." Glasgow Herald : " The God Hermes is justified of these his children. The reader must perforce give himself up to enjoyment of the stir and hustle of the book, and the wild adventures which it records." British Australasian : " Mr. Nisbet's industry and imagina- tion are something amazing. The number of his works, the variety of his plots, and the extraordinary readiness with which he transports his characters from one distant region to another have not been paralleled in modern fiction. ' Children of Hermes ' combines all the qualities which have made his name a household word amongst lovers of adventure and on railway stalls." "A BUSHGIRL'S ROMANCE." Weekly Times and Echo : " Has the vein of passion which renders themes delightful under the touch of a true novelist, such as Mr. Hume Nisbet undoubtedly is." Westminster Review : "Is a more than ordinarily readable and well sustained story." Black and White : "This is an eminently readable story." Publishers' Circular : " Mr. Nisbet writes stories of Aus- tralian adventure full of life, character and incident." Daily Chronicle: "This is the best story of Australian Bushranging that we have had." Scotsman : " The natural scenery of parts of Western Aus- tralia is described in the book with vigour, and the tale has many incidents of adventure." "A DESERT BRIDE.' Globe : "An agreeable story of adventure." Daily Chronicle : "Mr. Nisbet's story is full of vivid pic- tures and romantic situations." Manchester Post : " The real and marvellous combine to make Mr. Hume Nisbet's ' A Desert Bride ' rather more interest- ing than the ordinary tale of adventure." Guardian : " It is a thorough adventurous romance." National Observer : " The tone of the book is good and honest." XXIV "A CRAFTY FOE.' Literary World : "Is one of the best stories we have read for many a day." British Australian : "Good wine may need no bush, but a good novel is all the better for an alluring preface. / defy any reader to glance at the preface Mr. Nisbet has written to his latest novel without being at once subject to a torturing desire to devour the book. The promise of the preface is fully ful- filled in the succeeding chapters." St. James's Gazette : "Mr. Hume Nisbet has excelled him- self in his latest volume." "THE GREAT SECRET." New Budget : " 'The Great Secret' is a powerful and fantas- tic story in which the writer has done what he could to lift a small corner of the veil which hangs between to-day and to-morrow." Scotsman : "The book is an imaginative romance." 'A DREAM OF FREEDOM. Churchwoman : "There is no question at all of the enthrall- ing interest of the book, and it deserves to be welcomed in a day when so much inferior work is widely read." EMPIRE MAKERS." Publishers' Circular : " An up-to-date adventurous story. The story is dashingly written, and will keep the reader thoroughly alive throughout." Scotsman : "Youthful readers will follow with avidity and enjoyment." BUSHRANGER'S SWEETHEART.' Public Opinion : "It is an admirable book in every way." Scotsman : "The book abounds in excellently drawn char- acter sketches. It is interesting in every page, and is entitled to a foremost place." Athenceum : "Mr. Hume Nisbet deserves credit." Saturday Review : " Unquestionably it is interesting. Mr. Nisbet has a pretty eye for scenery." Pall Moll Gazette • " Mr. Nisbet is thoroughly at home in his subject." New Review : "Mr. Nisbet has the indispensable, mysterious gift of the story teller." Court Circular : "Mr. Nisbet's tale is spirited and interest- ing." 'A LOSING GAME.' British Australasian : "Another instance of the writer's re- markable versatility." Academy : "Packed with exciting incidents." Scotsman : "The story is picturesque and sensational." Publishers' Circular : "Mr. Nisbet has not often done any- thing better than this." Literary World : "Mr. Nisbet has a lively way of describing incident." Morning Post : "We confess an honest liking for Mr. Nis- bet's fiction." "COMRADES OF THE BLACK CROSS. Vanity Fair : "A capital story of escaped convicts. Well worth reading." Literary World : "A restful change from the average detec- tive story. The inevitable detective is present, but he is a better specimen and not so infallible as the milk and water editions of Sherlock Holmes. May well be described as a rat- tling good one, and the moralities are duly served out." XXVI A COLONIAL TRAMP: TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW GUINEA. BV HUME NISBET. With numerous Illustrations. J. Henniker Heaton, M.P. : "A book no Australasian traveller should be without." The Spectator : "Thoroughly imbued with that sense of freedom peculiar to the Australian, the American Plainsman, and the Canadian. One of the most instructive and entertain- ing of modern books of travel." St. James's Gazette : "Knows his Australasia, as the young man about town knows the sweet shady side of Pall Mall, and has given us two' volumes of very sprightly and attractive travel-talk; he has too an excellent sense of humour, and his volumes are full of entertaining stories." Pall Mall Gazette : "Has been very much at different periods of his life of Australia, and .played more than one part there. One feels that one is reading the book of a man who means what he says, and says what is worthy of attention. The illustrations are foT the most part 'good, and there are many of them." National Reformer : "Of brilliancy and novelty the reader will find more than in most books of the kind. With the exception of John Ruskin, there is no finer writer of descriptive pro|e, and one capacity he has, which should even more com- mend him to the notice of the ordinary readeT aforesaid, that of racy and dramatic narration, backed by a keen observation of character and sense of humour. The three points ethno- logically which have most seriously engaged his attention aTe (1) the Will-Power of the Savage, (2) Cannibalism, and (3) the mysterious doctrine of Tapu." Black and White : "Is full of interesting descriptions, of bright anecdote, and occasionally exciting adventures. Any one who knows the South Seas can see at a glance how clearly he has caught the picturesque and dramatic side of Australian and New Guinea life. The greatest charm of the book is its unconventional treatment, both as regards its literature and its black and white sketches. The writer of this book is a keen and careful traveller, and he can make the reader see what he has seen. He has a straightforwardness and manly clearness both in writing and sketching, that lends a healthy glow to all that he says. He tells a stOTy with a dramatic touch, and speaks freely of personal experiences and matters, without the too great intrusion of the ego. It is in the region of tale- telling, description, and character-sketching that he most excels. The book should be a valuable contribution to our Colonial literature, and will no doubt add considerably to the reputation of the author of 'The Land of the Hibiscus Blossom' and 'Bail Up.'" The Graphic i "A thoroughly readable and enjoyable book of travels is a 'Colonial Tramp;' his sketches are admirable." The Daily News : " His keen observation and ready pen and pencil have preserved a most timely record of all he saw and heard. The result is a popular book of travels full of instruc- tion _ and entertainment. The chapters on New Guinea are particularly interesting, the account of the law and effects of Tapu being more lucid than any other we remember to have read." The Scotsman : " 'A Colonial Tramp' is full of bright, clever information about the Australians and their country. Em- bellished by numerous sketches of Colonial scenery from the author's pencil, full, like his chapters, of dash and cleverness." The Star : "Crammed with good things, including numerous sketches from his fertile brush." The Daily Chronicle : "His narratives are really thrilling, and there is a refreshing vigour about his style." Saturday Review : "Written in a lively and rattling style : a clever and facile artist, as well as a ready penman. He gives really enchanting descriptions of the scenery, and many of the most picturesque scenes are charmingly illustrated." Athenazum : "Lively and thrilling adventures, as well as humorous anecdotes are to be met with." Literary Opinion : "The book throughout is chatty and readable, without being frivolous — in fact, I know no book which will give the Britisher a better idea of the English Australian world than this. I have read no book with greater pleasure than ' Colonial Tramp,' which I venture to predict will be one of the most deservedly successful books ever pub- lished on Australia." Academy : "He is wanting neither in ability nor power of observation." The Review of Reviews : " Is no mere ' Globe-trotter.' He ■knows the countries of which he writes better than most men, and the reader is consequently able to get a quite unusual amount of amusement and information out of his two stout volumes, which are admirably illustrated by their author. His description is enlivened with a few delightful stones." Vanity Fair : "This is a good, valuable, and interesting addition to globe-trotting literature, and is well illustrated by ■the Author. There is much that will please a large class of readers, whether travellers, artists, humorists, spiritualists, ■-anthropologists, anthropophagists, or what not." Morning Post : "Full of activity, life and interest." " MEMORIES." With Photogravure Frontispiece; 12 whole pages, and numerous Illustrations by the AUTHOR. The Graphic : "We have before us a beautiful gift book, in Mr. Hume Nisbet's 'Memories,' with illustrations by the Author. Mr. Nisbet has composed a poem and picture for each month, and thus appeals with his thought harmoniously "to the eye and ear at the same moment. March is just now the most interesting month, and the artist-poet typifies it with a fishing-boat careering along before the wind over breeze- broken water. For the illustration we have allusion in oourse of the following excerpt — Away in town Men quake as chimney-cans fall down. Or as they feel the twinge again Of city-bred neuralgic pain. The wind blows swift o'er cliff and sea, Where fishing craft are rushing free With sails sun -lit or darkly brown, Against white clouds like eider-down. "Great care and artistic skill have been bestowed on the head- and tail pieces. For example, the poem to January is thus prefaced by a charmingly-pathetic picture of « dead bird sadly lying on its side in the snow. On the whole, this work should serve to enhance Mr. Nisbet's already high reputation." Saturday Review : "A volume of graceful verse and illus- trations by Hume Nisbet." From Modern Scottish Poets : "Mr. Nisbet has writtene several dramatic pieces, showing much thought, feeling, and power, excellent poetical pictures of Nature, full of pure and intense feeling. His command of language and imagery en- ables him to find poetry in every object around him, in every leaf, bud, and flower, as well as in the soft cadence of the brook or the loud tone of the thunder. In his professional work he unites calm beauty with attractive grace." The Hon. Roden Noel: "There is imagination as well as: tenderness of feeling in your verse." Professor John Stuart Blackie : " This is poetry, healthy and moral.*' joiiD Abingdon Symonds : " Many of the poems strike me as felicitous in their spontaneity of feeling and metrical treat- ment; of the illustrations, I particularly like 'September." ' March,' too, is very striking." Miss Emily H. Hickey: "Your 'April' touches me. There- is a bit of magic there, both in the poem and the picture." RichaTd Dowling : " Everything human in man is common- place. Genius is not merely human, and poetry is the soul of genius as fire is the soul of heat. There is, I think, genius in. your drawings ; there is, I know, poetry in your verses." "MISTLETOE MANOR." (John Long, Publisher, 13 & 14, Norris Street, Hay market,. London, W.C.) Illustrated by M. H. HAMILTON AND THE AUTHOR. Pall Mall Gazette : "Contains a great deal of seasonable reading. The illustrations are quite successful." Dundee Courier : "A bright and varied collection of tales, travels, and adventures." Aberdeen Journal : "This delightful Christmas book will certainly commend." Birmingham, Post : "Striking originality and fascinating.'' Leeds Mercury : " 'Mistletoe Manor' will be welcomed im many homes this Christmastide." XXX Lloyd's News : "A very seasonable book." People : "The stories are varied, interesting, and in some instances highly sensational. The Author and M. H. Hamilton provide some excellent illustrations." Aberdeen Free Press : "The volume, brightly illustrated, is a very readable Christmas book." Glasgow Herald : "Vivid and impressive and no chapter runs too long. The volume has a characteristic portrait of the Author, including beautiful sketches by the Author ai\d M. H. Hamilton." Nottingham Guardian : "Very entertaining, several tales and rhymes will be appreciated. Two or three would make good recitations." Workman : "There are morals and ideas hidden away, but they do not intrude. The illustrations are delightful proofs of the success which attends an author when he and his attempt to picture the scenes he describes. The book is most attractively produced." Daily Express : "There is plenty for your money in Hume Nisbet's 'Mistletoe Manor.' With astounding facility Mr. Nisbet reels off 'ghost and other stories, poems in many metres, and reminiscences of travel in his generous Christmas stocking." Scotsman : "It would be difficult to beat his latest volume, ' Mistletoe Manor,' it is done Tip in a style which proclaims the suitableness of the book for a Christmas gift." Morning Leader : "Shows a good deal of variety and imagi- nation, and reveals Mr. Nisbet as a talented draughtsman as well as writer." Dublin Irish Times : "Crisp and well told. The book is profusely illustrated and tastefully got up." Belfast Whig : "Mr. Nisbet's popularity is wide, and his admirers will find some excellent matter in the very varied contents of this book. The illustrations by the Author and M. H. Hamilton being meritorious woTk." Hearth and Home : "Hume Nisbet has a delightful way of buttonholing a reader and parting with a capital finish on the last cage. He Tattles off a number of picturesque tales, now humorous, now pathetic, with the fertility and wealth of •observation which are always to be expected from him." Publishers' Circular : "Mr. Nisbet is here at his beet, and most of us know that his ' best ' is something worth having." The Gentlewoman -. "Hume Nisbet is not only one of the few Authors who both write and illustrate their books, but he is as clever at the one task as at the other. The stories are all attractive and graphically written." Literary World : "Of the tales in Rhyme 'The False Knight' is the best. The story is powerful, and the verse sings. The prose tales are of uniform excellence. Some of them are very creepy. The illustrations are beautiful, by the Author and M. H. Hamilton." Dundee Advertiser : "A book so full of sound^ literary enter- tainment, healthy and kindly sentiment, and attractive infor- mation should find many readers. It contains a fine portrait of the writer, and a striking proof of his ability as an artist in the form of a charming vignette for title page." Cape Argus : "Mr. Nisbet has travelled far and studied many social and natural questions. As a Tesult, he has much "to impart that is of interest and value. He always writes with sympathy." Montreal Gazette : 'The tales have a range of subject in •space and time rarely met with in a single volume. The book has plenty of interest as well as variety." "VALDIMER; THE VIKING A SEA EOMANCE. Xtar : "A veritable Saga." Press and Personal Opinions on Formerly Published Verse By HUME NlSBET The Graphic.—' We have before us a beautiful gift book, in Mr. Hume Nisbet's ' Memories,' with illustrations by the Author. Mr. Nisbet has. composed a poem and picture for each month, and thus appeals with his thought harmoniously to the eye and ear at the same moment. This work should serve to enhance Mr. Nisbet's already high reputa- tion.' Saturday Reviea. — ' A volume of graceful verse and illustrations by Bume Nisbet.' From Afodern Scottish Poets. — ' Mr. Nisbet has written several dramatic- pieces, showing much thought, feeling, and power, excellent poetical pic- tures of Nature, full of pure and intense feeling. His command of lan- guage and imagery enables him to find poetry in every object around him, in every leaf, bud, and flower, as well as in the soft cadence of the brook or the loud tone of the thunder. In his professional work he unites calm beauty with attractive grace.' The Hon. Roden Noel. — ' There is imagination as well as tenderness of feeiing in your verse.' Professor John Stuart Blackib. — ' This is poetry, healthy and moral.' John Addington Stmonds. — ' Many of the poems strike me as felict- touB in their spontaneity of feeling and metrical treatment.' Miss Emily H. Hicket.— ' Your " April " touches me. There is » bit of magic there, both in the poem and the picture.' Richard Dowling. — ' Everything human in man is commonplace. Genius is not merely human, and poetry is the soul of genius as fire is the soul of heat. There is, I think, genius in your drawings; there is, I know, poetry in your verses.' On ART BOOKS. By HUME NISBET. Speaker. — ' Quite one of the best books of the kind which we have- recently encountered is Mr. Nisbet's ' Lessons in Art* a little volume filled with sound and practical advice, and charmingly illustrated. This' little book possesses distinct merit, and that of a kind which is never too common in popular manuals.' Academy. — ' Mr. Nisbet knows a great deal, and he writes very plea- santly and easily, and at times very strongly and poetically. He can tell a story well, he can paint a word-picture brilliantly, and criticise the art of others soundly, and kindly. This volume is, indeed, in all respects, the best that he has given us.' Scotsman. — ' A versatile worker himself, Mr. Nisbet discourses in a clear and felicitous style about photography, oil and water colour paint- ing, decoration, engraving, etc., and his hints and reflections are in general characterised by adequate knowledge and unbiassed judgment. There will be only one view concerning the readableness and instructive and suggestive character of this volume, which is attractively illustrated by reproduction of pictures by Mr. Nisbet and other artists.' Novel Review. — ' Invaluable as a text-book to the art student, deeply interesting to the general reader. A delightful sequence of art theories, practice, and criticism told in the happiest colloquial vein.' From Press Notices on TRAVELS. By HUME NISBET. The Spectator. — ' Thoroughly imbued "with that sense of freedom pecu- liar to the Australian, the American Plainsman, and the Canadian. One- of the most instructive and entertaining of modern books of travel. St. James's Gazette. — ' Knows his Australasia, as the young man about town knows the sweet shady side of Pall Mall. He has, too, an excellent sense of humour, and his volumes are full of entertaining stories. Press Notices on TRAVELS — continued. Pall Mall Gazette.—' Has seen very much at different periods ol his life of Australia, and played more than one part there. One feels that one is reading the book of a man who means what he says, and says what is worthy of attention.' Black and White.— ' Is full of interesting descriptions, of bright anec- dote, and occasionally exciting adventures. Any one who knows the South Seas can see at a glance how clearly he has caught the picturesque and dramatic side of Australian and New Guinea life. The greatest charm of the book is its unconventional treatment, both as regards its literature and its black and white sketches. The writer of this book is a keen and careful traveller, and he can make the reader see what he has seen. He has a straightforwardness and manly clearness both in writing and sketch- ing that lends a healthy glow to all that he says. He tells a story with a dramatic touch, and speaks freely of personal experiences and matters, without the too great intrusion of the ego. It is in the region of tale- telling, description, and character-sketching that he most excels. The book should be a valuable contribution to our Colonial literature, and will no doubt add considerably to the reputation of the author of " The Land of the Hibiscus Blossom," and " Bail Dp.' " The Graphic. — ' A thoroughly readable and enjoyable book of travels is a " Colonial Tramp " ; his sketches are admirable.' The Daily News. — ' His keen observation, and ready pen and pencil have preserved a most timely record of all he saw and heard. The result is a popular book of travels, full of instruction and entertainment. The chapters on New Guinea are particularly interesting, the account of the law and effects of Tapu being more lucid than any other we remember to have read.' The Scotsman. — ' " A Colonial Tramp " is full of bright, clever informa- tion about the Australians and their country. Embellished by numerous sketches of Colonial scenery from the author's pencil, full, like his characters, of dash and cleverness.' The Star. — ' Crammed with good things, including numerous sketches from his fertile brush.' The Daily Chronicle. — ' His narratives are really thrilling, and there is a refreshing vigour about his style.' Saturday Review.—' Written in a lively and rattling style ; a clever and facile artist, as well as a ready penman. He gives really enchanting descriptions of the scenery, and many of the most picturesque scenes are charmingly illustrated.' Athenaeum. — 'Lively and thrilling adventures, as well as numerous anecdotes are to be met with.' Literary Opinion. — ' The book throughout is chatty and readable, without being frivolous — in fact I know no book which will give the Britisher a better idea of the English Australian world than this. I have read no book with greater pleasure than " Colonial Tramp," which I venture to predict will be one of the most deservedly successful books ever published on Australia.' , Academy.— ' He is wanting neither in ability nor power of observation. The Review of Reviews.—' Is no mere " globe-trotter." He knowB the countries of which he writes better than most men, and the reader is consequently able to get a quite unusual amount of amusement and infor- mation out of his two stout volumes, which are admirably illustrated by their author. His description is enlivened with a few delightful stones. Vanity Fair.—' This is a good, valuable, and interesting addition to globe-trotting literature, and is well illustrated by the author. There is much that will please .a large class of readers, whether travellers, artists, humorists, spiritualists, anthropologists, anthropophagists, or what not. Morning Post.— '•Full of activity, life and interest. LONDON : De La ROCHE, 37, Essex Street, Strand, w.c. Printed by THE PIONEEB, PRESS, 2, Newcastle Street, Farringdon Street, London, E.C.