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 COPVRIGIIT DEPOSrP. 
 
THE GREAT BLUDMA, KAMAKURA, JAPAN. 
 
ETCHINGS OF 
 THE EAST 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN M. MOORE, D.D., Ph.D. (Yale) 
 
 Nashville, Tenn. ; Dallas, Tex. 
 
 Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South 
 
 Smith & Lamar, Agents 
 
 1909 
 
•H6 
 
 Copyright, 1909, 
 
 BY 
 
 Smith & Lamar. 
 
 CI. A ^; ■-■- ^- • ' 2 ^ 
 
 AUi 19 1909 
 
A WORD IN STARTING. 
 
 As a member of the editorial staff of the Christian 
 Advocate (Nashville) the author of this volume, ac- 
 companied by his wife, made a journey around the 
 world in 1908. The chief object of the journey was 
 to visit the mission fields in Japan, Korea, China, and 
 India for the purpose of making some study of the 
 people, the methods of missionary work, and the re- 
 sults of missionary labor. Official permission was 
 granted for this long absence from the editorial office 
 with the understanding that each week a letter relat- 
 ing to what was seen should appear in the Christian 
 Advocate. The letters were written in hotels, mis- 
 sionaries' homes, and, for the most part, on ocean 
 steamers. Seldom was a letter finished within many 
 miles of the place where it was begun. Careful, pains- 
 taking work was impossible. The letters appeared in 
 the Christian Advocate just as they came first from the 
 pen. When the last letter of the series was published, 
 the statement was made that the articles would not be 
 issued in book form. The requests for the publica- 
 tion became so numerous that finally the writer con- 
 sented to send forth to the reading public the letters 
 just as they appeared in the Christian Advocate. 
 They are published with the earnest hope that some 
 new interest in the non-Christian peoples may be 
 awakened and that some new missionary effort will be 
 put forth as a result of the reading of these letters. 
 
 This great journey would not have been possible 
 
 (iii) 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 The Great Buddha, Kamakura, Japan Frontispiece 
 
 Opposite. 
 
 Japanese Girl in Street Costume 17 
 
 Playing the Koto 22 
 
 Young Women in a Social Game 22 
 
 In the Temple Grounds, Nikko 30 
 
 East Honganji Temple, Kioto 40 
 
 Japanese Schoolgirl in Tennis CostiJme 49 " 
 
 Japanese Cooking School 57^ 
 
 Stroll by the Lake 68 
 
 The Bund, Nagasaki 71 
 
 The Jinrikishas and Sikh Policeman, Shanghai 75'' 
 
 A Chinaman Setting Type 84 "^ 
 
 Type Foundry, Publishing House 84 ^" 
 
 The Tea Restaurant 93 
 
 Bound Feet 93 
 
 Sampans in a Canal 106 "■' 
 
 Monument to a Widow 130 '^ 
 
 Small Temple with Typical Roof 130 ' 
 
 Malay House in Singapore 158 
 
 Street Scene in Singapore 158 
 
 Before the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, Rangoon 164 
 
 Elephants Piling Timber at Rangoon 168 
 
 Hindu Temples — Bathing in Ganges at Benares 190 
 
 Taj Mahal, Agra 211 
 
 (vii) 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Opposite, 
 
 Mohammedans at Worship (Women Behind Cur- 
 tain), Delhi 219 
 
 The Personal Servant 231 
 
 Morning Tooth-Washing 231 
 
 The Sweeper 231 
 
 Climbing the Great Pyramid 253 
 
 Plowing in Palestine 262 
 
 Mount of Olives 278 
 
 The Holy Sepulcher 284 
 
 Three Jews in Jerusalem 290 
 
 Going to Market in Palestine 301 
 
 Herod's Temple Colonnade, Samaria 316 
 
 Tabor, the Mount of Transfiguration — 316 
 
 Mary's Well, Nazareth 320 
 
 The Shepherd and His Flock 325 
 
 The Bedouins in Their Tent 333 
 
 (viii) 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Over Land and Sea. 
 
 FROM Nashville to San Francisco, a distance by the 
 railroad of two thousand seven hundred and fif- 
 teen miles, in four days and four nights, lacking two 
 hours and losing five hours in making two train con- 
 nections, is the record for this Editor in January, 
 1908. They did not do it so when the "forty-niners" 
 rushed to the western coast when the gold fever 
 burned in many veins. A half century has brought 
 wonders to the world through these United States, 
 and what another fifty years will produce in this 
 country no man is now able to prophesy. Such mar- 
 velous inventions have been given to the world that 
 now the question is, not "Will we ever fly?" but, 
 "When will we fly?" We have done almost every- 
 thing else imaginable; and flying is not half so won- 
 derful as seeing through wooden walls by means of 
 the Rontgen Ray, or sending messages to the wide 
 world without even a wire to carry them. This is 
 the day of scientific and mechanical wonders, and 
 this great country of ours is the place where many 
 of them are brought to perfection. 
 
 The States of Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and 
 Kansas are more or less known to me ; but Colorado, 
 New Mexico, Arizona, and California were entirely 
 
 1 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 new and furnished sights which entertained me very 
 much. I read of the deserts of i^frica when I was a lad, 
 and I have seen something of a desolate land in some 
 parts of Mexico; but the desert of Arizona was even 
 more desolate than I had thought was possible in any 
 part of this country. A full day's travel in that 
 dreary waste made me ask myself: "Will man ever 
 make this place blossom like the rose?" In many 
 places once considered desolate man has given soil 
 and moisture and received fruits in return^ but will 
 he ever redeem the American desert? The swamps 
 have been taken from many sections ; the overflowing 
 and destructive streams have been confined to their 
 channels ; the hills, with their steep inclines, have 
 been covered with vineyards, gardens, and luxuriant 
 fields ; the arid lands have been irrigated ; and we 
 may well expect that the day will come when this 
 earth of man's shall become in every spot a feeder of 
 its masterful inhabitant. This planet, with man as 
 its master, will, when man comes fully to himself, have 
 no waste spots or waste forces. The true man is a 
 producer; and when he puts himself into the world, 
 the harvests are certain. 
 
 The gold mines of California are not all in the 
 mountains, although only there the yellow metal may 
 be found. Gold-mining is the work of adventurers 
 and speculators. Neither the men who go into the 
 mines nor those who handle the certificates for the 
 ore can make a State that has the right to be called 
 a commonwealth. California's highest treasures are 
 in her plains, her golden sunshine, and her health- 
 giving atmosphere. All the southern half of this 
 wonderful land is one vast garden, hemmed in by 
 
 2 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the mountains and the sea. Fruits and flowers, fill- 
 ing the vast plains of this richly endowed State, have 
 made the world almost forget that California ever 
 produced gold. I shall never forget the day's travel 
 in the Joaquin Valley. The fields, with their first 
 signs of the coming spring, the industrious landmen, 
 with their great plows and harrows drawn by four, 
 six, and eight horses, the distant Sierra Nevadas, 
 with their snow-covered peaks, filled the day with 
 continual delight. The approach to the great city of 
 the Coast increased the interest of this great moving 
 picture. 
 
 San Francisco will some day be a great city. Its 
 population with that of its three neighbors, Oakland, 
 Berkeley, and Alameda, now reaches 500,000 to 700,- 
 000 people. But this is really a heterogeneous mass. 
 The spirit of the community is not healthful to the 
 highest interests of society. The enterprise is very 
 largely financial, and the thought of getting rich quick 
 occupies the mind of a majority of those who come 
 here. The growth is too much after the manner of 
 the eucalyptus. But the importance of the port, the 
 beauty of the surrounding country, the richness of 
 the fruits will make San Francisco a center for in- 
 creasing multitudes. The Church is the most neg- 
 lected institution in California of all those that make 
 a great people. Greed and godliness are not compan- 
 ionable, and greed came first and has never retired. 
 Many of the leading citizens left their religion east 
 of the Rockies, or else they have grown up here from 
 the stock of the early days, when religion was vir- 
 tually unknown. But the people have no ear for bar- 
 ren creeds or doctrines of any sect or sects. They 
 
 3 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 are open to the appeals of Christ's Christianity, but 
 they will not try to pronounce the shibboleths of any 
 denominationalism. Sectarianism or sectionalism has 
 no attraction for a people of cosmopolitan sentiment. 
 Only the pure gospel, presented in an intelligent way 
 and in harmony with the day of information and en- 
 lightenment, can reach such a people as this. The 
 Church of the great West will be free of all sentiments 
 that make and maintain sects. 
 
 Dr. C. F. Reid has been doing something worth 
 while in the five years that he has been out here. 
 He has inaugurated and now maintains two missions 
 for the Japanese and two for the Koreans. I visited 
 the Japanese missions — one in Oakland and one in 
 Alameda. The one in Oakland is cared for in a hired 
 house. It has a reading room, where many young 
 Japanese men come. It has a Students' Club, com- 
 posed of the young men in the high school and col- 
 lege. Chapel exercises are held during the week. 
 The one in Alameda has a pastor, a kindergarten 
 with thirty children, and a night school with twenty- 
 four pupils. The Church has about twenty members. 
 An elegant home was recently bought for $8,500. 
 The house needs about $1,000 expended in improve- 
 ments to give it full equipment for the needs of the 
 mission. There are about eight hundred Japanese in 
 the vicinity of this mission ; and with the kindergar- 
 ten and the night school, there will be furnished an 
 easy access to this needy people. Dr. Reid has a Ko- 
 rean mission in San Francisco, and one in Sacra- 
 mento with about fifty members. His work as our 
 first missionary to Korea gave him a great love for 
 these immigrants from the little kingdom. 
 
 4 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 California offers the Church a fine opportunity for 
 finding an open door into China and Japan. There 
 are now 10,000 Japanese in California, and the num- 
 ber is increasing. The number of the Chinese is 
 now decreasing. The work now done for these peo- 
 ple at our doors is being supported by the Woman's 
 Home Mission Society. The Church will be wise 
 in any efforts that it may make for the Christiani- 
 zation of the Japanese, Chinese^ and Koreans who 
 now abide in our country. 
 
 Balboa made a great discovery when he brought to 
 the world's notice the Pacific Ocean. However, he 
 gave the great sea its name from a mountain peak 
 before he had tried its waters, else the pleasing name 
 might never have been employed. The Pacific has its 
 ups and downs, with which those who sail even in its 
 largest ships are compelled to sympathize, and which 
 they occasionally imitate. Of such experiences one is 
 apt to grow sick. Those who passed through the 
 Golden Gate on Thursday, January 30, 1908, for des- 
 tinations beyond the sea were soon wondering if the 
 passageway was only a golden gate to those who en- 
 tered from the sea, and not for those who sought the 
 highway of the deep. Anyway, many passengers were 
 in their cabins without a desire for food when the 
 gong sounded for the evening meal. The uncertainty 
 in certain localities continued for two days before the 
 fair weather brought quiet to the sea and the suffer- 
 ers. The Psalmist seemed to have known of the life 
 on the ocean when he wrote : "They that go down to 
 the sea in ships, that do business in great waters : 
 these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in 
 the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy 
 
 5 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount 
 up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths : 
 their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to 
 and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at 
 their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their 
 trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 
 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves there- 
 of are still." 
 
 The steamships take different courses across the Pa- 
 cific Ocean from the United States to Japan. The 
 distance from San Francisco to Yokohama by one 
 route is 4,525 miles. Our steamer (the Mongolia, of 
 the Pacific Mail Line) took a southern route, sailing 
 by the Sandwich Islands. The distance from San 
 Francisco to Honolulu is 2,089 miles, and from Hon- 
 olulu to Yokohama, 3,950 miles; the total distance 
 per this route is 6,039 miles. The latitude of San 
 Francisco is practically thirty-eight degrees; that of 
 Yokohama is about thirty-five; while that of Hono- 
 lulu is about twenty-one, which gives it a place below 
 the Tropic of Cancer. The two days previous to our 
 reaching the Hawaiian Islands we were able to sit 
 on the deck of the steamer without wraps and often 
 in light clothing. This was much more pleasant than 
 the severe gales in the more northern latitudes. The 
 real delight of a sea voyage is in the sea breeze ; but 
 when it is cold and the passengers are closed in their 
 cabins, the ship becomes a prison and the voyagers 
 are afflicted rather than benefited. The motion of the 
 ship on a quiet sea is not unpleasant, but the rolling 
 and the plunging have no fascination except for the 
 daring and undisturbed sailor. 
 
 The steamer Mongolia is a large, smooth-sailing 
 6 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 but slow ship. The speed from San Francisco to 
 Honolulu was fifteen knots an hour, or eight or nine 
 knots less than that of the fast vessels on the Atlantic 
 Ocean. The ship has a tonnage of 13,600, although 
 the company advertises it at 27,000 tons. It has a dis- 
 placement of 27,000 tons. It is to be hoped that our 
 American steamship companies can maintain a fine 
 service on the Pacific Ocean, as travel to the Orient 
 will be greatly increased in the next ten years. The 
 Mongolia might increase its attractiveness by sustain- 
 ing a small orchestra for the entertainment of its pas- 
 sengers, as do the Atlantic steamers, or by offering 
 such diversions as would break the monotony of a 
 long day. 
 
 Many of the passengers felt very keenly the dis- 
 grace of the gambling which was conducted by mem- 
 bers of the ship's crew. There is always card-playing 
 in the smoking room of an ocean steamer, and betting 
 on everything on which men can bet; but when it 
 comes to running a roulette wheel every day and 
 "chuck-a-luck" stands by the dozen continually, many 
 passengers feel that such things should not be al- 
 lowed. It is true that those who own these wheels 
 and dice games are Chinese, but they are in the em- 
 ploy of an American ship company. Many well- 
 dressed men and women patronized these games, and 
 mostly to their sorrow. The sailors spent every odd 
 moment and odd coin at these tables of chance. The 
 company defends its course by saying that the Chi- 
 nese laborers must have their gambling diversions, or 
 else they will not serve, and it wants the Chinese labor- 
 ers because of their capabilities and their satisfaction 
 with moderate wages. Be that as it may, a steamship 
 
 7 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 company that not only tolerates but even encourages 
 such procedure will some day suffer. 
 
 Twenty-two hours in Honolulu were not sufficient 
 to see all the interesting sights of that beautiful little 
 city. Our steamer arrived at noon on Wednesday, 
 and left at ten o'clock Thursday morning. The rest 
 from the sea voyage was very acceptable. It was 
 good to have a dinner on land at the elegant Young 
 Hotel. After a few minutes' walk from the hotel, 
 we found ourselves at the gate of the old lolani Pal- 
 ace, now the executive and legislative building of the 
 Territory. I was glad that I could visit the throne 
 room, now the hall for the territorial Legislature. 
 Its regal splendor has departed, but the new order 
 of government has in no way decreased the impor- 
 tance of the large chamber. On the walls are hung 
 the portraits of the kings and queens of the islands 
 for the last hundred years, with the portraits of Na- 
 poleon III. and King Philip, the friends of the reign- 
 ing family in their times. The Senate chamber is a 
 small room of the old palace, as is the Governor's 
 office. On the opposite side of the street is the large 
 modern building for the territorial courts. The for- 
 mer Queen Liliuokalani lives in an elegant home near 
 the palace at the expense of the government. 
 
 Politics on the islands cannot be different from pol- 
 itics on the mainland. The small spoils of office are 
 earnestly sought in all countries. The natives usually 
 vote with the party that has given them the most 
 booty. Here in Hawaii they want work, and the poli- 
 ticians try to hold themselves in power by supplying 
 their desires. At present the natives are mostly Re- 
 publicans. They hold the balance of power, for there 
 
 8 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 are less than ten thousand white people on the islands. 
 The natives have about thirty thousand. The number 
 of natives is decreasing at a good rate. The Japanese, 
 with their 70,000 people, furnish half the population. 
 The Chinese number about twenty to twenty-five thou- 
 sand, and the Koreans about five thousand. But the 
 white man is in control, as he always is wherever he 
 consents to live. He usually settles all race problems 
 according to his own whims. The large valleys, with 
 their 700,000 tillable acres, are owned for the most 
 part by the white men, as are the large industries, 
 whether agricultural, manufactural, or commercial. 
 
 Captain Cook was the first Anglo-Saxon to see this 
 chain of islands. He saw them first January 10, 1778, 
 and called them Sandwich Islands in honor of his 
 patron, the Earl of Sandwich. He met his death on a 
 second visit at the hands of the natives whom it was 
 claimed that he betrayed. About 1790 a chief of the 
 island of Hawaii, named Kamehameha, conceived the 
 idea of making an island empire. He beat in battle 
 the kings of Maui, Molokai, and Oahu. In routing 
 the forces of Oahu he drove them over the great cliff 
 of Nunano Pali. This great precipice is visited by all 
 tourists, and is considered the view-point for as fine 
 scenery as can be found in the world. Kamehameha 
 the Great established the ruling line, which held power 
 until 1874, when Lunalilo was elected to the throne. 
 At his death, in 1891, he was succeeded by his sister, 
 Liliuokalani, who was dethroned by the revolution of 
 1893. A repubhc was established July 4, 1894; and 
 the islands were annexed July 7, 1898, as a Territory 
 to the United States. A fine bronze statue of Kame- 
 hameha I. stands in front of the judiciary building. 
 
 9 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 There are eight inhabited islands in the group, the 
 largest being Hawaii, from which the group takes its 
 name, with an area of 4,015 square miles. The sec- 
 ond is Maui, with 728 square miles ; and then comes 
 Oahu, on which Honolulu is situated, with 598; 
 Kauai, with 547; Molokai, on which is the leper col- 
 ony, with about 1,600 lepers, with 261 square miles; 
 Lanai, with 138; Niihau, with 97; Kahoolawe, with 
 69 square miles. The total area is 6,449 square miles. 
 The islands are mountainous, and on several are large 
 volcanoes which are for the most part now extinct. 
 The valleys are very fertile, and produce the various 
 tropical fruits and harvests. The banana and cocoa- 
 nut are seen in profusion in Honolulu. The pine- 
 apple grows to a very large size. The orange grows, 
 but not so well as in California. Raw sugar is the 
 principal product, its export value for the last year 
 having been $26,860,000. About $100,000,000 is in- 
 vested in the sugar interests, which employed last year 
 45,000 men. The exports for fruits last year amount- 
 ed to $400,000; for rice, $147,000; and for coffee, 
 $145,000. 
 
 A good school system is in operation, which pre- 
 pares pupils for our American colleges. There is a 
 good Territorial Normal School, which trains teach- 
 ers. Oahu College was founded sixty years ago by 
 missionaries. There are about two hundred Churches 
 in the islands. The Congregationalists are the lead- 
 ing denomination. Rev. Hiram Bingham, a mission- 
 ary of the Congregational Church, who died in New 
 Haven, Conn., November 11, 1869, at eighty years, 
 preached the first sermon in Honolulu April 25, 1820. 
 The first church was brought from New England by 
 
 10 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ship around Cape Horn and set up. The Httle wood- 
 en building still stands near the Kawaiahao Church, 
 which was built for the natives and dedicated July 
 12, 1842. This church was built of coral, which was 
 brought by hand out of the sea; and in it the royal 
 family, as well as the great body of the natives, have 
 worshiped for these sixty years. The worship is con- 
 ducted in the Hawaiian language, although the pas- 
 tor is an American. Churches for the natives, the 
 Portuguese, the Japanese, the Chinese, and the Ko- 
 reans are supported by the Congregational Church. 
 On Wednesday night while in Honolulu I had the 
 pleasure of attending services in the fine Central Un- 
 ion Church, which was built a few years ago at a 
 cost of $130,000. It and the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, the small Episcopal Church, the small Chris- 
 tian Church make the list of the churches for the 
 white people in the islands. The speaker of the even- 
 ing was Bishop David H. Moore, of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, who had just closed the annual 
 session of the Hawaiian Mission. His Church has 
 forty-five stations in the islands among the natives, 
 the Japanese, the Koreans, and the Filipinos. The 
 missions among the Chinese are conducted by the Con- 
 gregationalists. The Bishop gave an excellent ad- 
 dress on the Orient. I was greatly interested in the 
 mission of his Church for the Koreans, and visited 
 the large mission here in Honolulu. 
 
 A car ride or a stroll through the city will reveal a 
 world of floral beauty. Every yard is a flower gar- 
 den, and every home a conservatory. The richest col- 
 ors and the choicest clusters are found on every side. 
 The banyan tree, the cocoanut tree, the banana plant 
 
 11 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 full of bananas, the immense palms, the mangoes — all 
 interested me very much. A visit to the aquarium 
 gave me an opportunity to see the finest collection of 
 variously colored and formed fish in the world. A big 
 shark twelve feet long, a turtle three feet across, a 
 case filled with octopi — all attracted the attention of 
 the visitors. I felt glad that they and I did not move 
 in the same social circle. 
 
 Honolulu is a delightful place in which to spend a 
 few weeks or months. The cloud-topped mountains 
 are always in view. The temperature is never uncer- 
 tain or unpleasant. The waters offer perennial bath- 
 ing. The hotels and even market places are always 
 in holiday attire. The flower sellers are always sitting 
 in the streets. The Chinese quarters always have a 
 bad odor. The coachmen and the automobilists are 
 always ready to make the tourist suffer. Great is Hon- 
 olulu. It was pleasant to see and delightful to remem- 
 ber. The circumstances imder which we spent the 
 twenty-two hours made us thankful for the kind prov- 
 idence that brought us into its waters. 
 
 12 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 The First Touch of Japan. 
 
 THE long voyage of eighteen days from San Fran- 
 cisco to Yokohama did not grow monotonous, 
 although there was nothing to look out upon except 
 the boundless wateres. To be sure, the stop of twen- 
 ty-two hours at Honolulu and the sight of the Ha- 
 waiian Islands for other ten hours brought some re- 
 lief to those who were weary of the watery wastes. 
 Only one vessel of any description was sighted during 
 the entire voyage, and that was near San Francisco. 
 How different is travel on the Atlantic Ocean, where 
 vessels are passed every day and often several times a 
 day! The Pacific Ocean has not yet become a high- 
 way of traffic, and will not soon become so important 
 in the world's commerce as her sister sea. While the 
 absence of vessels may lessen the interest of a voyage, 
 yet it insures greater safety, as the majority of dis- 
 asters at sea are due to collisions in times of fog or 
 storm. We had no fogs and few clouds. The journey 
 for the most part was made under clear skies, with 
 full sunshine by day and bright starlight or mellow 
 moonlight by night. The fullness of the day was 
 hardly more gorgeous than the glory of the night. 
 But that does not mean that the sea was always quiet. 
 A disturbance in the sea does not pass with the local 
 storm. The great swells that try the very ribs of the 
 iron vessels may have had their origin thousands of 
 miles away. The currents of the ocean may have dis- 
 
 13 
 
ET'CHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 turbances that they do not transmit to each other. 
 The navigator has his difficulties and must be ever 
 upon the alert. If the men who run the railroad trains 
 in the United States were half as careful as the officers 
 of a ship, the accidents in which so many thousand 
 lives are lost would be greatly decreased. Eternal 
 vigilance is required of those who sail the seas, and 
 as a result the percentage of lives lost is almost noth- 
 ing as compared with that of the railroads. We had 
 storms as well as quietness, but journeying mercies 
 were ever manifest. 
 
 We went to sleep one Sunday night, and when we 
 awoke it was Tuesday morning. A passenger had ex- 
 pected to celebrate his birthday anniversary on that 
 Monday; but there was no February lo, and his ex- 
 perience was unique. So February, after all, will have 
 only twenty-eight days for us this leap year. But we 
 felt that we had gained something, as previous to that 
 Sunday we were doing everything after the rest of 
 the world, whereas by dropping out that day we got 
 in front and now eat, sleep, and employ our time be- 
 fore those at home. The passengers who cross the 
 Pacific Ocean from Japan to the United States have 
 two days with the same name. Our watches had to 
 be turned back about thirty minutes each day, and in 
 crossing in the opposite way they would be turned up 
 that much. 
 
 Religious services were conducted every Sunday 
 morning at 10:30 o'clock by some minister among the 
 passengers. A goodly number of the passengers at- 
 tended the services, while others continued their card- 
 playing and games just as they did on other days. The 
 captain did not attend a single service, and neither 
 
 14 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 did any officer or member of the entire crew. Serv- 
 ices on this Hne of steamers must be provided by the 
 passengers. Yet the officers and other members of 
 the crew were able to attend the entertainments which 
 the passengers furnished on different afternoons and 
 evenings. It is true that the captain, according to 
 report, read the burial service while the passengers 
 were asleep one midnight when a Japanese who had 
 died that day in the steerage of consumption was 
 buried at sea. 
 
 "To-morrow morning we shall see land," and every 
 heart beat with joy. The sea had been boisterous, and 
 before the morrow came we had the heaviest storm of 
 the entire voyage. But the morning dawned in a 
 calm, and all eyes were gladdened with the sight of 
 Japan. We had seen a few sea gulls, some flying fish, 
 and two sharks, but the land on the eastern side of 
 the world was what we had made the long voyage to 
 see. At noon we dropped anchor at the quarantine 
 boat in the Yokohama harbor. We had passed the 
 navy yard on our left, and had passed between the 
 two forts which had been built at the mouth of the 
 harbor. These forts mean strong defense against any 
 foreign foe. Soon the physicians were on board. The 
 officers and crew were lined up and faithfully inspect- 
 ed. The cabin passengers were called to lunch; and 
 as the harbor was quiet, and everybody for one time 
 was able to be at the table, there was no trouble about 
 inspection. People that could eat heartily the meats 
 and vegetables that had been out eighteen days from 
 San Francisco surely were in good condition. Before 
 I had finished my lunch letters from Dr. H. M. Hamill, 
 our Superintendent of Sunday School Teacher-Train- 
 
 15 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ing, who has been, with his wife, holding institutes 
 for four months in Japan, from Rev. S. E. Hager, the 
 presiding elder of the Kobe District, Rev. Thomas H. 
 Haden and Rev. W. K. Matthews, of the Kwansei 
 Gakuin, and Rev. C. B. Moseley, of Yamaguchi, were 
 handed me ; and the gracious, cheery words of wel- 
 come to Japan put a new warmth into my heart. 
 With such letters on arrival, it did not seem so dread- 
 ful to put foot on a foreign soil. Before I had fin- 
 ished my letters our good ship had passed inside the 
 breakwater, and was fast coming to its place of per- 
 manent anchorage. The harbor was literally covered 
 with "sampans," the little boats which the coolies bring 
 out to land baggage. Before the passengers could go 
 down to the little steam launches to be taken ashore, 
 a body of fifty or more merchants came on board the 
 ship. Many of them, were tailors for men and women. 
 They would take measurements and make a suit of 
 clothes at very reasonable rates, and deliver the suit 
 in twenty-four hours, or before the vessel left the har- 
 bor for other ports. The Yokohama merchant tailors 
 are largely patronized by travelers in the East. The 
 fact is, the Yokohama stores are widely known as 
 carrying the best goods in all lines that can be found 
 in the East. The ladies are always glad of an oppor- 
 tunity to go shopping in Yokohama. 
 
 We had no such trouble in the customhouse as trav- 
 elers usually have in entering the United States. No 
 self-respecting person is proud of our tariff laws and 
 the manner in which duties are collected at our ports 
 of entry. As we had decided to go at once to Tokyo, 
 which is only eighteen miles away, our first experience 
 came in transferring baggage and our own precious 
 
 16 
 
JAPANESE GIRL IN STREET COSTUME. 
 
ETC HINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 bodies. There is no transfer company in Yokohama, 
 but a vast company of men who will transfer any- 
 thing on a cart or on their backs. So the trunks and 
 bags were piled on a cart, and a coolie paced off. 
 The coolie's reputation for reliability is so great that 
 we had no concern. We took our first ride in a jin- 
 rikisha. That was a novel experience, riding in a two- 
 wheeled baby buggy drawn by a pacing Japanese. My 
 feelings of self-importance were somewhat tempered 
 by the reflection that if the coolie could lift his shafts 
 over his head or drop them at his feet I would be in 
 the dust. But the coolie is reliable, and he can make 
 good speed. There were no horses and drays in the 
 streets — only people. Other jinrikishas passed and 
 carts of various kinds, all drawn by men. The tele- 
 phone company's cart passed with instruments, lad- 
 ders, and wires. One man passed with a telephone 
 pole as large as any used in American cities on a two- 
 wheeled cart. He was drawing it by a rope which 
 was thrown over his shoulder. Another man, who 
 had drawn a telephone pole, was being assisted by 
 three other men over the incline at a bridge. The 
 strength of these little men is truly remarkable. The 
 jinrikisha men will take a man a distance of fifty miles 
 across the country in a day. They never walk and 
 seldom run, but they trot at a gait which they can 
 keep up for ten hours in the day. Although Tokyo 
 is crossed in every direction by the electric street cars, 
 there are in the city thirty thousand jinrikisha men, 
 which is ten thousand less than before the street cars 
 came. The Japanese have not learned to use the horse. 
 In Tokyo there are a few carriage horses, but almost 
 no draught horses. The draught horses that I saw 
 3 17 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 were not valuable. Only one horse is hitched to a dray, 
 and instead of being driven he is led. It is very 
 doubtful if the horse will ever be used extensively in 
 this country, as the introduction of steam motors will 
 obviate the necessity for using horses. 
 
 Railroad travel is somewhat cheaper here than in 
 the United States. There are three classes in the 
 tickets and coaches. The majority of the people travel 
 in the second class at a rate of a cent and a half a 
 mile. The accommodations are practically as good as 
 those of the first class. The third class is used largely 
 by the poorer people. The coaches are entered on 
 the side, as in England, but the apartments are larger. 
 The baggage is checked as in the United States, but 
 the amount that is carried free is less. The trains are 
 comfortable, but the luxury of the American sleeper 
 is unknown. Greater precaution is taken in running 
 trains than in the United States. The tickets are 
 punched by the gateman on entering the train and 
 taken up by the gateman at the station where the pas- 
 senger leaves the train. On the street cars a receipt 
 is given when the fare is paid and taken up when the 
 passenger leaves the car. This system in handling 
 traffic is European rather than American. 
 
 On landing at Yokohama we went at once to Tokyo, 
 not because Yokohama, the chief seaport city of the 
 empire, with its population of 326,000 people, was un- 
 worthy of consideration; but because Yokohama is 
 cosmopolitan, while Tokyo is distinctly Japanese. The 
 Yokohama hotels, banks, business houses showed 
 clearly the marks of the foreigner who had settled 
 there to make money. Many of the large buildings 
 were modern and Western in their architecture. On 
 
 18 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the principal streets the signs on stores and offices 
 were printed in EngHsh. Some quarters of the city 
 are built up with residences of foreign style. But 
 Tokyo is thoroughly Japanese, and whatever changes 
 it may show are due, not to the incoming of foreign- 
 ers, but to the new ideas of the native people. It is a 
 most interesting city. Its two million people will fur- 
 nish entertainment and instruction for a company of 
 tourists for a much greater time than was at my dis- 
 posal. 
 
 Nothing makes a traveler feel more helpless in a 
 strange land than his utter inability to make himself 
 understood or to understand anything that is said to 
 him. However, it was a matter of surprise to me to 
 find at every railroad station some official who could 
 speak and understand sufficient English to answer any 
 question regarding trains and baggage to assist any 
 nervous traveler. I did not ride on a street car in 
 Tokyo on which I did not find some passenger who 
 understood some English. The universal kindness of 
 the people in assisting the bridle-tongued, white-faced 
 American was a matter of common comment in our 
 party. The officials on the street cars and on the trains 
 were always ready to aid the passengers in making 
 changes and in finding their destinations. The Amer- 
 ican car men and trainmen might become much more 
 serviceable did they manifest the same spirit as the lit- 
 tle men in this land. But the American is satisfied 
 with his own method of doing things, and even with 
 his own restricted, sloven speech ; while every Jap- 
 anese lad wants to learn the English language to 
 please those who seek assistance. The boards of edu- 
 cation have put English into the course of study of 
 
 19 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 all their schools, and it is surprising how many Jap- 
 anese speak English and speak it quite well. 
 
 I spent only one night in a hotel in Tokyo, and that 
 in a hostelry for foreign customers. The Japanese 
 hotel, with its peculiar food peculiarly prepared and 
 the floor for a bedstead, a roll of blankets for a bed, 
 with no fire by which to be warmed and only a thin 
 wall to separate him from the outside world, would 
 not delight an American on a cold night with its pen- 
 etrating atmosphere. A condition of temperature is 
 imaginable when such an inn might be sought for the 
 experience, but February is not a good time to ex- 
 periment with native beds and else in Japan, While 
 the night in the Tokyo hotel was not unpleasant, yet 
 the invitation which came the next morning from that 
 fine-souled, big-hearted manager of the Methodist 
 Publishing House, the Rev. David S. Spencer, to be- 
 come guests in his home was not to be declined at 
 such a time and in such a place. Twenty-five years 
 ago he came to Japan as a missionary of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, and his fund of information 
 was adequate to any demands. What a joy to the 
 two weary pilgrims the stay in his home was ! In 
 many places tourists are compelled to seek the homes 
 of missionaries to find the accommodations for food 
 and sleep which their lifelong training demands. The 
 accommodations of any Oriental country will not sat- 
 isfy Occidental people. 
 
 The visit of our party (consisting of Rev. Cort- 
 land Myers, D.D., the pastor of the Baptist Temple in 
 Brooklyn, his wife and son, and my wife, Mr. Stewart, 
 and myself) to some of the thickly settled quarters of 
 the city under the direction of Rev. Charles Bishop, 
 
 20 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the Cashier of the Methodist Publishing House, gave 
 us the first introduction to Japanese Hfe. At first it 
 seemed strange that none of the houses had been paint- 
 ed. The Japanese wants to see the natural wood in 
 his house. When the weather destroys the house, a 
 new one is substituted; and that is not a difficult mat- 
 ter, as the residences and most of the stores are built 
 of wood. The walls have the thickness of one plank, 
 and the doors are often no more than screens covered 
 with tissue paper. The doors are not hung on hinges, 
 but slide in grooves. In front of the front door is 
 usually a double gate which moves in a groove, I did 
 not enter any homes, as I had no invitations, but I 
 saw into several where the doors and even the front 
 wall were pushed back so as to let in fresh air and 
 sunshine. There are no chairs, as the people always 
 sit on the floor. There are no beds, as they sleep on 
 the floor. There is no dining table, as the Japanese 
 do not gather about a common board, but each has his 
 individual platter, which stands on legs about five or 
 six inches high. But each floor is covered with beau- 
 tiful, clean matting. The partition walls are screens, 
 and they can be moved so as to make one large room 
 or several small ones. The whole system of Japanese 
 homes renders house-cleaning and housekeeping a 
 matter of little drudgery. The Japanese home might 
 at first seem severely barren, but after a time it be- 
 comes beautiful in its simplicity. 
 
 The stores interested me fully as much as the resi- 
 dences. I went to the largest department store in 
 Japan, on the leading street in Tokyo. At the door I 
 was shown a large doormat. I used it vigorously. 
 Then a porter picked up my feet and drew on over 
 
 21 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 my shoes cloth shppers. I stepped up on a floor 
 raised about twelve inches, and proceeded to the coun- 
 ters to do business. The same kind of beautiful, sim- 
 ple, clean matting covered the floor of the store as 
 that which was in the residence. The salesmen and 
 salesladies were uniformly polite. I bought nothing, 
 but I took a lesson in keeping clean the public build- 
 ings of a city. The little store had no cloth slippers, 
 as the keeper expected the customer to remove his 
 shoes if he entered. There is no door to the little 
 store. The floor is raised about eighteen inches, and is 
 covered with clean matting. The merchant sits on the 
 floor, or, more properly, on his feet, and keeps his 
 hands warm by the little charcoal fire in the brazier, 
 a little vessel about eight to ten inches high and ten to 
 twelve inches in diameter. He has no fireplace or 
 stove in his residence or store. The customer comes 
 into the store, slips off his sandals or wooden shoes, 
 kneels, and sits down on his feet. The merchant rises 
 to get the goods wanted, and the two sit on the floor 
 until the sale is made or the customer leaves. When 
 night comes, the merchant slides in the screen which 
 makes the front wall of his house, and then lies down 
 to pleasant dreams. In this may be seen something 
 of the simple life. Who will change it or substitute for 
 it the inconveniences which come with the manner of 
 living which the American has adopted? 
 
 The parks which we visited would do credit to any 
 city in the world. In one we found a zoological gar- 
 den which contained more wild animals than can be 
 found in most cities in our country. In this same park 
 was a large museum in which were very fine collections 
 of all kinds of ores, minerals, stuffed birds and ani- 
 
 22 
 
PLAYING THE KOTO. 
 
 YOUNG WOMEN IN A SOCIAL GAME. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 mals. The curios and relics were as interesting and 
 instructive as any which can be found in most mu- 
 seums. The interesting thing to this sight-seer was 
 the fact that such a museum with such rich collections 
 could be found in the capital of this empire, which is 
 known as a heathen nation. But it is true that many 
 people would have to revise their understanding of the 
 word "heathen" should they visit Japan. Japan is a 
 non-Christian nation, but it is not lacking in cultured 
 and educated people. 
 
 In this same park are two trees which were planted 
 in 1869, one by Gen. U. S. Grant and the other by 
 Mrs. Grant, when they made the tour of the world. 
 The Japanese are fond of trees and flowers ; and how- 
 ever small their yards, they always find a place to 
 plant a shrub or a flower. It is strange that they 
 should be enemies of grass. They sweep their yards 
 with bamboo brooms, and no grass is given a chance 
 to grow anywhere. Their devotion to the tree is car- 
 ried to such an extent that on a principal street there 
 is a small shrine which had been built in honor of a 
 very old tree. A cherry tree will be allowed to stand 
 for years without bringing any fruit if it presents its 
 rich wealth of blossoms when the springtime approach- 
 es. A people who love the beautiful so passionately 
 must be the possessors of the capacity for beautiful 
 lives. 
 
 I .cannot make mention of the signs of enterprise 
 and progress which are so evident in Tokyo. The 
 excellent electric street car system, which reaches all 
 parts of the city, is only three years old. At present 
 an elevated railroad track is being built through the 
 heart of the city to connect the various railroad sta- 
 
 23 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 tions in the city and to give the railroad a connection 
 from the northern to the southern ports of the empire. 
 The city has employed a large company of men who 
 are filling one of the great moats which ran through 
 the important parts of the town. By this work many 
 streets will be straightened, new car lines opened, and 
 some new enterprises inaugurated. Tokyo has all the 
 evidences of progress. It is one of the most inter- 
 esting cities in the world to-day, and its interest will 
 increase as the Japanese come more and more in pos- 
 session of their native powers. 
 
 24 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 NiKKo THE Magnificent. 
 
 ON our first morning in Tokyo we had the good 
 fortune to look from the west window of our 
 room upon the glorious summit of snow-crowned Fuji- 
 yama, the sacred mountain of the Sunrise Kingdom. 
 Many pilgrims in the summer, between July 15 and 
 September 10, climb its peak as an act of devout wor- 
 ship. It is the highest, the most beautiful, and the 
 most famous mountain in Japan. It is 12,500 feet high. 
 The traveler is never out of the sight of beautiful 
 and entertaining mountains in this fascinating coun- 
 try. The scenery in many sections is as charming as 
 in any country in the Old World. The valleys are 
 never broad, and the surrounding mountains give 
 them a peculiar charm. 
 
 With a glimpse of Fuji and a view of the robust 
 hills and the praise of Nikko the Magnificent con- 
 stantly ringing in the ear, is it any wonder that we 
 set the earliest day possible to visit the far-famed place 
 of gorgeous temples? Rev. Dr. Cortland Myers, 
 Mrs. Myers, and the son, Cortland, of the Baptist 
 Temple, in Brooklyn, were as anxious to make the 
 trip as were the three tourists from Nashville. A 
 jollier company could hardly have been found than 
 that which took the six-o'clock train that February 
 morning. The change of trains at Akabane, a station 
 in Tokyo, gave us an opportunity to see how the Jap- 
 anese women regarded the American women. When 
 
 25 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 a tall woman with auburn hair and one of average 
 height and healthy build (the one clad in black, with 
 a white wing on her hat, and the other in blue, with a 
 hat of elegant plumes) stepped out on the platform 
 among a hundred Japanese men and women, the two 
 critically observed parties in the crowd were from 
 America. The native women, with low stature, black 
 hair, no head covering, evidently had never seen wom- 
 en of such height, figure, and dress; and they were 
 interested, if not pleased, with the exhibit of that 
 fresh, bright morning. The customs, habits, and dress 
 of an American woman are as strange and entertain- 
 ing to a Japanese as those of a Japanese are to an 
 American. 
 
 The day was fine ; and instead of the expected chill 
 which we anticipated on approaching Nikko (two 
 thousand feet high), there was the genial warmth of 
 a generous sun. From the car window the mountains 
 were glorious in their suit of brown ; while the fields, 
 with their springing crops, were as entertaining as a 
 new babe. The joyous spirit of the company never 
 abated. Although we had abundant lunches prepared 
 by our friends in Tokyo, yet Cortland and this writer 
 thought they would try a Japanese lunch which could 
 be bought at almost any station. The boys at the 
 station sell these lunches, fruit, and newspapers at 
 reasonable rates, and they cry their goods in most 
 musical tones. The courtesy of the boys and the rea- 
 sonable price of the articles struck the American trav- 
 eler as unusual. But the lunch did not please the 
 American palate, and it had the power of continuance. 
 There is no censure of the Japanese because he likes 
 the things which his people prepare. He learned his 
 
 26 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 tastes when he learned his language, as does every 
 other man. 
 
 The train stopped suddenly. We asked no ques- 
 tions, as no one would have known what we said. 
 The sense of dumbness when traveling alone, where 
 no one can understand you or you him, is rather de- 
 pressing. The country people began to come from the 
 fields to see the train. On examination we found that 
 something was wrong with the engine. The engineer, 
 the fireman, and the three guards all gathered about 
 the engine, but none knew what to do. The engineer 
 seemed to be about thirty years old ; the guards, less 
 than twenty. There is no conductor, as trains are 
 run by the station masters, they issuing orders, start- 
 ing trains, and taking tickets when the passengers 
 leave the train. The flagman was sent to the nearest 
 station, and after nearly two hours an extra engine 
 came and we went on our way rejoicing. But the 
 utter helplessness of the trainmen at such a time im- 
 pressed the travelers, as did the smallness of the 
 engines in comparison with those used in our own 
 country. While we waited we gave some natives a 
 good chance to see some real live Americans, and they 
 improved the opportunity. 
 
 The ninety miles were out, and we were in Nikko. 
 Into jinrikishas we climbed, with two men to each, 
 and in a few minutes we were at the Kanaya Hotel. 
 We will not soon forget the kindness of Mr. I. Kan- 
 aya for his many courtesies. He spoke an elegant 
 English. He was busily engaged in putting in a pri- 
 vate electric light plant. About forty men were draw- 
 ing up the steep hill the 7,000-pound dynamo on a 
 two-wheeled cart. Man is the draught horse of Japan. 
 
 27 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Baggage-transferring, merchandise-draying, and all 
 kinds of hauling in town and country are done by 
 human muscles. Mr. Kanaya said he employed about 
 one hundred men at forty to fifty cents a day. That 
 young Japanese has the manner, the enterprise, and 
 the outlook of a young American. From his yard he 
 showed us as fine a scene as one would desire. Cas- 
 cades, rippling, laughing waters, were four hundred 
 feet below us, while the wooded hills stood out sub- 
 lime on every side. After a glimpse at the little wood- 
 en hut which Shado Shonin built twelve hundred 
 years ago, we hastened to the scenes beyond the 
 stream. It was not necessary for the guide to say, 
 "There is the Sacred Bridge," for its picture was too 
 familiar. But it is a new bridge, built only five years 
 ago. The one which had stood since 1638 was swept 
 away in 1902 by a great flood. No one was allowed 
 to cross the bridge except shoguns and the pilgrims 
 twice a year. The privilege of crossing the bridge 
 was extended to General Grant in 1869, but he de- 
 clined. Was this declination out of respect to Japan 
 or America? 
 
 Before we reached Nikko we saw the noted Cryp- 
 tomeria Avenue, which is ten to twelve miles long 
 and lined on each side by these princes of the forest. 
 The temples of Nikko in all their gorgeousness could 
 hardly surpass in interest these magnificent members 
 of the pine family. Many of them towered more than 
 three hundred feet ; and their straight, clean bodies 
 gave them a military bearing which made them the 
 proper imperial guard for the tomb of the mighty 
 Shogun. Looking from the highest hill through this 
 magnificent forest down to the splashing stream dash- 
 
 28 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ing over the stubborn bowlders gave a thrilling sensa- 
 tion which one visitor to Nikko will never let fade. 
 It is no wonder that this region seemed to the old 
 Buddhist priest, Shado Shonin_, such as gods and other 
 supernatural beings would naturally choose for their 
 place of abode. Nature worshipers will surely have 
 their hearts warmed in such scenery as this. A more 
 fitting resting place for a king could not be found; 
 and the son of leyasu did a great filial service when 
 he carried out the dying injunctions of his father, the 
 great First Shogun, to build for him a mausoleum on 
 this magnificent hill. 
 
 After a climb of several hundred feet up the wind- 
 ing thoroughfare we were soon ascending broad stone 
 steps between two rows of cryptomerias. The granite 
 torii, twenty-seven feet high, which are made of two 
 columns, with two crossbeams, indicated that we were 
 entering a Shinto temple. These torii are sacred to 
 the birds. As we passed under these bars we were 
 before the great Temple of Yakushi, which is named 
 in honor of the patron saint of leyasu. Such mag- 
 nificence in decoration is to be found only in the 
 greatest temples and palaces of the world. The archi- 
 tecture is of the gorgeous Oriental type, and must be 
 seen to be appreciated. The gate to the temple, the 
 half dozen small temples, the great Buddhist pagoda 
 (one hundred and five feet high), the rich bronze 
 lanterns, and the sublime cryptomerias all made a 
 scene so brilliant and so thrilling that it is no wonder 
 that the Japanese have been saying: "Do not say 
 magnificent until you have seen Nikko." 
 
 But finally we came to the last gate to be entered 
 before we went into the temple. "Shoes off !" "No." 
 
 29 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 "Yes, shoes off !" "No." "Visitors must remove their 
 shoes if they want to enter the temple." We yielded. 
 The guide without our knowledge had brought from 
 the hotel six pairs of cloth shoes to save us from too 
 great exposure. After the pedal difficulties had been 
 removed and the tickets (which cost forty cents each) 
 had been presented, we left our overcoats and hats, 
 according to orders, and started into the temple. The 
 half dozen priests that we had seen in the temple 
 yard when our trouble with our foot coverings began 
 were now in the temple and incanting prayers with 
 good, healthy voices. Some Japanese visitors with 
 us fell to their knees, but the Americans reverently 
 looked and listened. The ever-present blocks of mat- 
 ting, or tatami, as they are called, covered the floor, 
 and rich screens were everywhere in evidence. The 
 magnificence in paintings, carvings, and wrought 
 bronze and gold objects was evident everywhere. The 
 temple was worthy of the great Shogun, but the per- 
 formance of its priests seemed solemn mockery. Gild- 
 ed superstition must pass before golden truth. We 
 passed out of the great temple to the little temple, 
 where a girl with 3. red dress and a Avhite hood gave 
 a sacred dance after a coin had been thrown upon the 
 mat in front of her. She was very graceful in her 
 movements, but she produced no convictions except 
 that of her own folly. We passed on through the 
 gate over which is the carving of the sleeping cat by 
 Hidari Jingora, which is considered one of the finest 
 works of art in Japan. We ascended two hundred 
 stone steps, passed through a walled avenue lined by 
 cryptomerias, and reached the beautiful bronze tomb 
 of the great Shogun, leyasu. 
 
 30 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 The mausoleum of lemitsu is not much less magnifi- 
 cent, but the Buddhists have appropriated it in part. 
 The visit to other objects of Nikko would have had 
 greater- interest had we not been satiated by what we 
 had already seen. The memory of this day in the most 
 beautiful place in Japan will always linger in the 
 minds of the six Americans, who so thoroughly en- 
 joyed magnificent Nikko. But Nikko is not in her 
 true glory except on the first and second days of June, 
 when the great annual festivals are held. The pil- 
 grims gather then in great numbers ; and the sacred 
 palanquins, containing the divine symbols, are borne 
 in the procession. Ancient costumes, masks, and 
 armor are donned by the villagers, old and young 
 alike. But of that display this pen will probably never 
 write. Nikko the Magnificent has charms for all who 
 appreciate the sublime and the beautiful. 
 
 31 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 Tokyo the Imperial and Other Cities. 
 
 THE capital city of a nation always has an attrac- 
 tion for a traveler which no other city can pos- 
 sess. Tokyo to-day is not only the imperial city of 
 the Sunrise Kingdom, but it is also in many respects 
 the capital of the Orient, whatever the enemies of 
 Japan may say. The political, industrial, and social 
 movements in Japan create more interest and are 
 watched with greater concern and closer scrutiny than 
 those of any other nation of the Eastern Continent. 
 The world has asked to be kept informed as to what 
 is going on in Tokyo. It is the center of an empire 
 of 48,000.000 people. It is a great city, although its 
 little wooden one- and two-story houses would not in- 
 dicate it. A few cement structures are now being 
 built, since the earthquake in San Francisco has shown 
 that such buildings are not so greatly affected by the 
 earth movements as those of brick and stone. The 
 small, light houses were less dangerous where earth- 
 quakes were frequent. But the busy hive always ex- 
 cites interest and admiration, and things are moving 
 in Tokyo. 
 
 It is true I did not see the Emperor nor even his 
 palace. I did see the moat one hundred to two hun- 
 dred feet wide, filled with water, which surrounds the 
 palace. But the trouble it would be to get into the 
 palace was not such as I felt inclined to take. Even 
 the wild ducks and wild geese settled on the Empeior's 
 
 32 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 side of the moat with a seeming sense of safety, as 
 though they knew that imperial instruction had been 
 given that they should never be molested. I felt a 
 little skeptical as to the Emperor's divinity, as I would 
 of any other man's who kept a harem with a dozen 
 wives. However, I rejoice with the Christian world 
 that the Crown Prince has only one wife. Better 
 days for social consistency are coming in Japan with 
 the heir to the throne a monogamist. 
 
 I was not able to get any war news in Tokyo, al- 
 though I saw some soldiers. The fact is, there are a 
 great many soldiers in Japan, but not as many as there 
 are in Russia, Germany, Italy, France, and England. I 
 found no one in Japan who was able to think of any 
 reason or excuse for a war between Japan and the 
 United States. One gentleman, who has a reputation 
 for his good judgment and his general knowledge of 
 the Japanese, said that Japan to-day would be one of 
 the first nations of the world to take international 
 difficulties to The Hague. This country is now 
 deeply involved and absorbed in working some great 
 industrial plans. The only people who seem to want 
 war are the yellow journalists and a few military gen- 
 tlemen in both countries who seek fame on the field 
 of blood. It is true that the leading Japanese are of 
 high spirit, and they resent any indignities which may 
 be shown their nafion or any of its citizens ; but the 
 desire of the people is for peace. It is to be devoutly 
 hoped that this nation will not be disturbed in its plans 
 for peace and prosperity. The people are now strug- 
 gling under a great war tax on almost everything. 
 Even the railroad and street car tickets are taxed. 
 This is a time for peace in Japan, and only the grossest 
 3 33 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 indignities or the most glaring injustice will provoke 
 this enterprising nation to a declaration of war. 
 
 Through the kindness of Dr. Spencer a visit to the 
 Houses of Parliament was made. Parliament was not 
 in session that day, but a view of the legislative halls 
 and the committee rooms was worth while. The pres- 
 ent buildings are of wood, but plans have been al- 
 ready adopted for the erection of more pretentious 
 edifices on a more commanding site. However, the 
 present halls are not discreditable. They have demo- 
 cratic simplicity, and are by no means without artistic 
 taste. The legislative halls are not greatly different 
 from those at Washington except that behind the desk 
 of the President of the House of Peers is the alcove 
 in which is the throne from which the Emperor speaks 
 at the opening and the closing of a session of Par- 
 liament. 
 
 The various embassies are located near the Houses 
 of Parliament. Some of the legation buildings are 
 quite palatial and are pointed out as places of special 
 interest. The building for the United States govern- 
 ment is of wood and not wholly creditable to our 
 nation. It is democratic, to be sure, as it should be; 
 but it might well be more representative of our coun- 
 try and more respectful of the country in which it is 
 located. Many of our foreign offices have been put 
 where only men of wealth can hold them. This condi- 
 tion is to be deplored. But there is a middle ground 
 upon which a great republic like ours can stand. The 
 legation in Japan has claims for better accommoda- 
 tions. 
 
 The business interests of Tokyo seem to be in- 
 creasing rapidly. The number of large new business 
 
 34 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 houses is growing, and some of the firms are opening 
 large department stores after the pattern of those in 
 America. The Japanese loves the dollar almost as 
 much as the American, and he has found that it can 
 be obtained only by adopting the ways of the com- 
 mercial world. The foreign merchant complains that 
 the Japanese are wanting in commercial integrity. 
 Their contracts do not bind them as contracts bind 
 the merchants of the Christian nations. It is claimed 
 that a Japanese business man will break a contract 
 if he can make money by so doing. This character- 
 istic of the Japanese is affecting very materially his 
 prospects in the commercial world. This national 
 failing may be due to the fact that all business with 
 outside nations was formerly carried on by pirates. 
 It was for centuries considered unworthy of any high- 
 class gentleman to deal in commerce with outside peo- 
 ple. So those sterling traits of commercial character 
 were not developed, and the nation has yet to learn 
 the true meaning of business integrity. But new 
 Japan will learn the business code of morals. The 
 schools of commerce which have been established will 
 help to bring faithfulness into all business dealings. 
 Merchants from Christian countries do not always 
 realize that Christianity has built for them a code of 
 morals which could not be expected in non-Christian 
 countries. Christian principles and high business 
 ideals will help to correct some defects in the Jap- 
 anese commercial world. 
 
 One of the highest privileges which our party en- 
 joyed was a visit to the celebrated private museum of 
 Mr. Kihachiro Okura. Dr. D' S. Spencer has known 
 Mr. Okura for many years, and through him this 
 
 35 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 unusual privilege was secured. This collection of Ori- 
 ental art is perhaps the finest to be found in the world. 
 Mr. Okura accumulated great wealth during the war 
 with China, and he wisely spent a part of it in secur- 
 ing the most valuable and representative works of 
 art which could be found in the Orient. He bought 
 the old Shiba Temple, with its superior collections of 
 figures, altar pieces, rich ceilings, and magnificent 
 doors. He secured in Tibet many images, in China 
 many rare articles, and in Korea the best specimens of 
 its former treasures. Bronze, gold, silver, and lacquer, 
 carvings and artistic handiwork on swords, coins, 
 chests, are all to be found in this rare collection. Mr. 
 Okura erected by the side of his residence a large 
 three-story building especially for these art treasures. 
 When we entered the museum, we were met by a bright 
 Japanese lady, who spoke excellent English, and who 
 acted as our guide. It developed that twenty years 
 ago she was a pupil in the school conducted by Dr. 
 and Mrs. Spencer. She is a Christian woman. She 
 showed our party every courtesy. After visiting the 
 museum we were given a view of the beautiful garden 
 and then invited into the residence of Mr. Okura and 
 shown his large drawing-room and entertainment hall. 
 In the conservatory we were served with tea and made 
 to realize more fully the extreme kindness of the 
 wise millionaire who has done his city an abiding 
 service by establishing this valuable museum. 
 
 Tokyo has many poitits of interest. Inability to 
 speak the native language kept me from securing an- 
 swers to many questions which arose in my mind as 
 I caught glimpses here and there of Japanese life. I 
 was everywhere impressed with the fact that the Jap- 
 
 36 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 anese are awake and are at work building a strong- 
 nation after the pattern of the great world powers. 
 Armies and navies are receiving great attention, as 
 in the countries of Europe ; but no less interest is 
 shown in the things of education, commerce, and no- 
 ble citizenship. 
 
 The ten largest cities in Japan are Tokyo, with 
 2,000,000 people; Osaka, with 1,000,000; Kioto, with 
 385,000 ; Yokohama, with 330,000 ; Nagoya, with 300,- 
 000; Kobe, with 290,000; Nagasaki, with 160,000; 
 Hiroshima, with 125,000; Sendai, with 102,000; and 
 Kanazawa, with 100,000. There are fifteen other 
 cities having a population of more than 50,000. Of 
 the first ten, I visited all but two. The people of Japan 
 do not live in the country, but in the cities, towns, 
 and villages. When we realize that the whole area 
 of the islands is only 150,000 square miles, or less than 
 three-fifths of Texas, and that the total population is 
 almost 50,000,000, it can easily be seen that the towns 
 and villages are very close together. Yokohama is 
 only fifteen miles from Tokyo, Osaka is only twenty 
 miles from Kobe, and Kioto is only twenty-seven 
 miles from Osaka. 
 
 After five days in Tokyo and the surrounding coun- 
 try, we took the express train — the best train in Ja- 
 pan — one morning for Kobe, and traveled the three 
 hundred and seventy-five miles in thirteen hours and 
 ten minutes. We traveled in the second-class coach, 
 as its accommodations and comforts were practically 
 as good as those in the first-class coach except that 
 in the first-class coach we would probably have been 
 alone. If one wants to see a country, it is well to go 
 where the people are, if he can do so with comfort. 
 
 37 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 The tickets cost $i.8o each. However, to ride on the 
 express train, it is necessary to secure an express train 
 ticket, which for this distance amounted to fifty cents. 
 Then there is a war tax of ten cents on each ticket. 
 So the tickets cost $2.40 each for the three hundred 
 and seventy-five miles. The coaches on this train were 
 made like an American street car, except that the up- 
 holstery was as good as that found in the American 
 railway trains. In the dining car we were able to get 
 beefsteaks, ham and eggs, and other articles at small 
 cost. Apples and oranges could be bought at any time 
 for one cent each and sometimes cheaper. The sleep- 
 ing cars are used only at night. They are not so com- 
 fortable as those in America, but they meet the de- 
 mands of a country no larger than Japan. 
 
 The scenery between Tokyo and Kobe is exceed- 
 ingly beautiful. For many hours the train runs at the 
 base of Mount Fuji. A cloud that day kept us from 
 seeing the summit of the sacred mountain, but its 
 rugged sides were for some time in full view. The 
 little fields tucked away in a mountain side, the 
 thatched-roofed cottages in the cozy corners, the care- 
 fully kept little orchards of orange and pear, the 
 patches of wheat and barley, and the bedded rows 
 for the various crops all held the attention of the 
 traveler as long as the day had light. The hills and 
 the mountains, the rushing streams and cascades, the 
 kaleidoscopic combinations of nature and human hand- 
 iwork made the reading of books impossible and filled 
 the mind with pictures which the years will not re- 
 move. A trip to Hiroshima a few days later fur- 
 nished a similar experience. Japan is reputed to be 
 most beautiful in April, when the cherry blossoms are 
 
 38 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 out, or in October, when the chrysanthemums are in 
 their full glory; but the truth is, this little country is 
 always beautiful, and the traveler is doubly paid for 
 every journey that he makes in this fascinating land. 
 
 We alighted from the train in Kobe on Saturday 
 night, and were met by Rev. Thomas H. Haden and 
 Rev. M. Hori. Fortunate is any man who is given 
 the privilege of entertainment in the delightful home 
 of this missionary professor. Mrs. Haden, so well 
 known to the former students in Wesley Hall and 
 known now as the sister of Miss Florence Conwell, 
 received us in her gracious way, and we were once 
 more at home ; and our conversation was of Nash- 
 ville and the good friends we had left behind. As I 
 stepped from the train, Rev. Mr. Hori invited me to 
 preach the next morning in his church. I did not 
 know how to decline the invitation, nor did I know 
 how I was to preach to a Japanese congregation. 
 But at the proper hour on Sunday morning I was in 
 the pulpit with an excellent audience before me. The 
 pastor introduced me, although I never knew what he 
 said, and I began my discourse. I spoke a few sen- 
 tences, and then let Mr. Hori translate them for the 
 congregation. Then we repeated the performance. 
 By the time he had finished his Japanese I had almost 
 forgotten what I had said. I was anxious to say 
 something that was worthy of my congregation and 
 at no time repeat my thought. It is told that once 
 an interpreter said in Japanese, after the speaker had 
 finished a paragraph, simply: 'The same that he said 
 before." With such interpreters some addresses would 
 be greatly shortened in the Japanese form. But I 
 counted it a pleasure and a privilege to speak to that 
 
 39 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 intelligent Japanese audience. At the close I was will- 
 ing to say of my discourse as I never said of any other 
 that I have made — that it was a "great effort." 
 
 Rev. S. E. Hager, the presiding elder of the Kobe 
 District, was in Kioto on that Sunday ; but he had 
 sent a message that he would remain there Monday if 
 we would come. Rev. W. A. Davis, the missionary 
 in Kioto, is on his way to America, and so this was 
 an opportunity to see the old capital and in many ways 
 the most interesting city in Japan with the aid of one 
 who knew the interesting places. When we arrived, 
 not only was Mr. Hager at the station, but Rev. Y, 
 Tanaka, the pastor, was ready to accompany us. He, 
 like Mr. Hori, has never been in America, but he 
 speaks English well. At once we went to the West 
 Hongwanji, one of the greatest and most famous 
 Buddhist temples in Japan. We removed our shoes 
 and made a thorough inspection of this great place 
 of worship. After seeing the West Hongwanji, we 
 went to the East Hongwanji, which is perhaps the 
 richest temple in the empire. The great beams and 
 columns indicate the great outlay of money and labor 
 that was required to erect such a magnificent edifice. 
 The great Buddhist faith is not dead, if we may judge 
 from these temples and others which we have seen. 
 In one of these temples Count Otani, of the House 
 of Peers, preaches a Buddhist sermon once a month to 
 large audiences. Buddhist priests are conducting 
 schools for boys and for girls in many cities. In 
 Kobe a new temple is now in process of erection, and 
 one in Hiroshima is being repaired and greatly en- 
 larged. Buddhism will not evacuate Japan Avithout a 
 death struggle. Christianity has already aroused it to 
 
 40 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 a new activity. The future Buddhism will appropri- 
 ate Christian truths, but it will not lightly surrender 
 its dominion over the people. 
 
 I cannot speak of all that I saw in Kioto, but I must 
 mention Doshisha University — that institution which 
 was founded in 1875 by Joseph Hardy Neesima. Rev. 
 Tasuku Harada is now the President. He is a grad- 
 uate of the institution and also of the Yale Divinity 
 School. Until his election to the presidency one year 
 ago he was a pastor. He is a man of strong evan- 
 gelical faith, and is a wise leader for his people. Rev. 
 Sidney L. Gulick, D.D., is a member of the faculty. 
 No Christian institution in Japan has had a finer rec- 
 ord than Doshisha University. Of its 868 graduates, 
 319 are in business, 174 are doing educational work, 
 91 are in the ministry, 28 are government officials, 15 
 are editors, and 5 are physicians. In addition to these, 
 5,000 students have been connected with the schools 
 and are now scattered throughout the land, doing their 
 work, for the most part, in a way to prove the power 
 of the Christian influence here received. Very few 
 students remain through the course without becoming 
 Christians. This institution is rendering a great serv- 
 ice for Christian education. 
 
 I visited the Imiperial University and found an in- 
 stitution well equipped and doing the work similar to 
 that done by State universities in America. The de- 
 partments of Literature, Science, Engineering, Law, 
 and Medicine have large faculties of well-trained uni- 
 versity men. The institution is only ten years old; 
 but it has 1,500 students, a library of 150,000 volumes, 
 and a score of buildings. The Imperial University in 
 Tokyo has four thousand students and very fine build- 
 
 41 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ings. I met there the Professor of Anatomy, who 
 graduated in medicine in Germany. While he could 
 not speak the English language very well, yet by the 
 use of German he gave me a fine insight into the 
 work of the institution. Japan has looked well after 
 the higher education of her people. 
 
 The visit to the cloisonne and damascene factories 
 was instructive as well as interesting^. That delicate, 
 artistic work shows the sensitive talent of the Jap- 
 anese for the production of the beautiful. A piece of 
 cloisonne begins with the metal base. After a cover 
 of enamel and a laying on of the net of copper wire, 
 it is burned. Then more enamel, extra wire figures are 
 put on, and the article is burned again. This process 
 continues through six burnings, when the object is 
 turned out the thing of beauty that it always is. A 
 cloisonne factory does not mean great buildings and 
 fine machinery, but a group of Japanese artists, mostly 
 women, seated on the floor and each doing his or her 
 own work with a care and an interest which only 
 artists can show. The Japanese sense of the beautiful 
 is seen not only in the pottery but in the silk fabric 
 embroideries which are manufactured in Kioto. The 
 stores which have these charming articles are a con- 
 tinual temptation to the traveling American. Kioto 
 has many attractions. It was the capital of the em- 
 pire until 1868, when the throne was restored to the 
 present dynasty. Because of its silk and pottery man- 
 ufactories, its prominence as a Buddhist stronghold, 
 and its former position in political afi'airs, Kioto will 
 always be one of the most interesting cities in the 
 empire. 
 
 Rev. W. R. Weakley met us at the railroad station 
 42 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 when we arrived in Osaka, the second city of the na- 
 tion. In his home we had delightful entertainment. 
 Dr. and Mrs. H, M. Hamill were holding a Sunday 
 School Institute in Osaka, and were being entertained 
 by Mr. and Mrs. Weakley. We had soul-warming as- 
 sociation. The whole party visited the old castle, the 
 churches, the old temples, and the great bell which has 
 just been completed. This Shotoku bell, made as a 
 memorial to Prince Shotoku, is 26 feet high, 54 feet 
 in circumference, 16 feet in diameter, one foot seven 
 inches thick, and weighs 114 tons. Ninety thousand 
 people contributed 150,000 pieces of copper mirrors 
 and 120,000 yen in money. Thirty tons of copper 
 bullion was consumed in making it. This is the largest 
 bell in the world. But the bell, the temples, and the 
 castle were not as interesting as the busy, narrow 
 streets of this great city. Osaka is the great manu- 
 facturing and commercial center of Japan. 
 
 43 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 The Educational System of Japan. 
 
 THE emphasis which Japan is putting on the edu- 
 cation of her youth is worthy of great praise. 
 Every traveler is impressed by the insatiable thirst for 
 knowledge which the Japanese manifest on every ac- 
 . count. The business and professional men read the 
 daily newspapers just as men in America. At the rail- 
 road stations, along with the vendor of fruits and 
 lunches, is the news agent Vv^ith his books and period- 
 icals. It is no uncommon thing to see the jinrikisha 
 man reading the morning or evening paper while he 
 waits at his stand for the call of a customer. The 
 Japanese are fast becoming a well-informed people. 
 They are mentally alert, and are never better pleased 
 than when they are told something new. 
 
 It is very true that Japan is spending many times as 
 much money for her army and navy as she pays for 
 the education of her youth, but what nation is not do- 
 ing the same thing? That the teachers in her schools 
 are compelled to live on small salaries while the lead- 
 ers of her fighting forces have munificent incomes is 
 an indictment that might be sustained against many 
 countries. But that the country has an excellent 
 school system no one can doubt. The foundations 
 of the system were laid by Dr. G. F. Verbeck, a mis- 
 sionary of the Reformed Church in America ; and 
 Dr. David Murray, who for several years was Super- 
 intendent of Educational Affairs, completed the or- 
 
 44 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ganization of the system practically as it stands to- 
 day. There were teachers and schools before Dr. Ver- 
 beck, but there was no system. However, this early 
 education, especially among the feudal military class, 
 helped to create a profound respect for learning, and 
 the introduction of modern education by foreign ad- 
 visers was easily accomplished. 
 
 By an imperial decree regulations relating to uni- 
 versities, middle schools, and elementary schools were 
 promulgated in 1869. In July, 1871, the Department 
 of Education was established, and all affairs relating 
 to education were brought under its control. It issues 
 instructions, approves and compiles text-books, lays 
 down courses of study, and prescribes rules of or- 
 ganization down to the minutest details, both for the 
 schools that are in operation and for those that are 
 considered necessary to complete the system. This 
 Department of Education consists of the Minister of 
 Education (who has a seat in the Cabinet), the Vice 
 Minister, and fifty or sixty officials. "The business of 
 the Department is distributed among the Ministers' 
 Cabinet and the Bureaus of Special School Affairs, 
 General School Affairs, and Technical School Affairs. 
 The Ministers' Cabinet is divided into six sections, 
 each having its appropriate work — namely, official 
 staff business, public documents, treasury, compila- 
 tion, architecture, and school hygiene." The empire 
 is divided into five districts, and to each district is 
 assigned an inspector who is supposed to make one 
 complete round each year, observe, and report to the 
 Department. The Department also has the assistance 
 of a Superior Council of Education, which was or- 
 ganized in 1896, and which meets once a year to dis- 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 cuss questions submitted by the Department. It has 
 sixty or seventy members, inchiding high officials, 
 inspectors, the presidents of' the imperial universities, 
 the directors of the most important public and private 
 schools, and other men of learning and experience in 
 education. In this way the Department knows not 
 only what is being done but also what the leading 
 educators of the nation think should be done. 
 
 Besides the national support which is given to edu- 
 cation, there is a local support and administration. 
 The empire is divided into forty districts, or states, 
 and each district into smaller districts, or counties, 
 and each county into what might be called townships. 
 With the governor of a ken, or state, rests the ulti- 
 mate right to fix the number and the location of 
 schools, to make provision for their maintenance, to 
 appoint the teachers and directors, subject to the rules 
 of the Department of Education and limited by the 
 willingness of the local assemblies to grant funds by 
 taxation. He acts directly with the schools of the 
 middle grade ; but in case of elementary schools he 
 merely approves the decision of the executive officers 
 of cities, towns, counties, and townships. The state 
 and counties have their inspectors, as does the De- 
 partment. The affairs of the school are administered 
 by a director, who has complete control and respon- 
 sibility and does little or no teaching. 
 
 There are five grades of schools : the ordinary ele- 
 mentary schools, higher elementary schools, middle 
 schools, high schools, and imperial universities. The 
 ordinary elementary school covers four years, and is 
 compulsory. Two years of the four of the higher 
 elementary schools are also compulsory. The middle 
 
 46 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 school corresponds to the last year of the American 
 grammar school and three years of the American high 
 school. The subjects taught are morals, Japanese, 
 Chinese, English, history, geography, geometry, trig- 
 onometry, botany, zoology, physiology, physics. The 
 high school corresponds more nearly to the last three 
 years of the German gymnasium or to the last year of 
 the American high school and the first two years of 
 the American college. The high school has three 
 courses of study: one preparatory to the college of 
 law and literature in the imperial universities, one to 
 the college of science, engineering, pharmacy, and 
 agriculture, and one preparatory to the college of 
 medicine. It was originally intended that the courses 
 in medicine, pharmacy, law, and engineering should 
 be the prominent feature of these schools ; but the 
 general culture courses have increased in popularity, 
 and the time for them has been extended. In other 
 words, the demand for general knowledge has given 
 the high school more the nature of the American col- 
 lege. The imperial universities have the departments 
 of law, medicine, engineering, literature, science, and 
 agriculture. In the Tokyo University, in the depart- 
 ment of law, there are thirty professorial chairs and 
 1,500 pupils; in medicine, 28 chairs and 600 pupils; 
 in engineering, 29 chairs and 550 pupils ; in literature, 
 21 chairs and 500 pupils ; in science, 22 chairs, with 
 200 students; in agriculture, 23 chairs and 425 stu- 
 dents. The Imperial University at Kioto, which is 
 only ten years old, has 1,500 students and a superior 
 faculty. A third university will soon be built at 
 Fukuoka, where a good school of medicine already 
 exists. 
 
 47 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 The primary common school education is practical- 
 ly free. In the higher elementary school the fees on 
 the average are thirteen cents a month ; in the middle 
 school, fifty cents to one dollar a month; in the high 
 schools and universities, $12.50 to $18 a year. 
 
 A large proportion of the teachers are men. Of 
 the 70,000 teachers in the ordinary elementary schools, 
 only 13,000 are women. In the higher elementary 
 schools twenty-two per cent are women. In the mid- 
 dle and high schools all are men. In the girls' high 
 schools sixty-five per cent are women. In the normal 
 schools ten per cent are women. When women are 
 employed, it is largely for the classes in sewing and 
 feminine lore for girls. One reason for this state of 
 afifairs is the backward condition of the education of 
 women in Japan. Another is the early marriage, 
 which takes place at about the age of twenty. A 
 third may be found in the social conditions, which 
 limit the social relations between men and women 
 and make the employment of young women in the 
 middle schools unadvisable. But the number of wom- 
 en employed in all the schools is constantly on the in- 
 crease. 
 
 The salaries of licensed teachers in the primary 
 grades fall between five and fifteen dollars a month, 
 while in the grammar grade they fall between eight 
 and eighteen dollars a month. In the middle schools 
 the salaries range from $17.50 a month to $1,000 a 
 year, and the average salary is $250 a year. In the 
 college and university grade the salaries are some 
 higher, but they do not exceed $1,250 a year. The 
 President of Tokyo Imperial University receives 4,- 
 000 yen, or $2,000, a year ; and the sixty-one highest 
 
 48 
 
JAPANESE SCHOOLGIRL IN TENNIS COSTUME, 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 professors in that institution average less than 2,000 
 yen, or $1,000, a year. But it must be kept in mind 
 that the cost of Hving in Japan is much less than in 
 America, and so it may be that the teachers are not 
 seriously underpaid. However, the teacher in every 
 country is the poorest paid of all the public servants. 
 
 The school buildings are one-story, unpainted, unat- 
 tractive wooden structures. In most places no provi- 
 sion has been made for heating the rooms in winter. 
 The absence of fire is in accordance with what the 
 children have been accustomed to at home, as there 
 they have no more than the small brazier. But while 
 the rooms have low ceilings and few decorations, they 
 are M^ell lighted and well ventilated. There is always 
 a room for the teachers when they are off duty, a 
 room for maps, specimens of various kinds of ap- 
 paratus, and offices for the principal and his clerks. 
 In the higher schools there is a visitors' reception 
 room. Although the Japanese have no chairs in their 
 homes, they have desks in their schools just as other 
 people. The blackboards, maps, globes, and charts — 
 all these school aids — are now made in Japan. Just 
 as in America, libraries are not found in all their 
 schools ; but they are increasing. As yet there are 
 only about one hundred public libraries in the empire. 
 School physicians inspect the buildings and the pupils 
 regularly. 
 
 It was my privilege to visit an elementary school in 
 one city. The little buildings and the beautiful play- 
 grounds covered the entire block, and all were inclosed 
 by a high fence. I visited a girls' high school in Kobe, 
 and was surprised to find that such excellent facilities 
 had been provided. The sewing rooms in the girls' 
 4 49 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 school, with their tables one foot high and the girls 
 sitting on the floor at work, were very interesting. 
 Japan may not have put up buildings like those in 
 America, but the schools of the country will excite 
 the wonder and admiration of any person who knows 
 what has been accomplished in the last two decades. 
 Not only do the Japanese have these regular schools, 
 but they have schools of commerce, industrial schools, 
 normal schools, and technical schools. The normal 
 school at Hiroshima that I visited is doing as good 
 and thorough work as most of the State normal 
 schools in America. The commercial school at Kobe, 
 with its five hundred pupils, might well be copied by 
 Americans. In it are taught not only the languages, 
 mathematics, history, and geography, but the princi- 
 ples of business and the various kinds of fabrics and 
 raw materials. The museum is filled with specimens 
 of all kinds of cloth, ribbons, wire, coal, building ma- 
 terial, and all articles that are bought and sold. Two 
 Christian Americans are members of the faculty of 
 the institution. 
 
 The educational system has an excellent foundation. 
 That the schools of Japan are as efficient as those in 
 America could hardly be expected, but only a few 
 years will be required to bring them to a grade as 
 good as those of any country. The future defect of 
 the nation will not be in the schools. The whole coun- 
 try is fast going to the extreme of intellectualism ; 
 and while morals are taught in every grade, from the 
 first to the last, in the high schools, yet the danger is 
 in the lack of spiritual vitality. Japan is getting the 
 world's knowledge, but her greatest need she has not 
 yet realized. 
 
 50 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mission Work in Japan. 
 
 YISITS to Kobe, Kioto, Osaka, and Hiroshima 
 gave me some insight into the work of our mis- 
 sion in Japan. Of the thirty-eight grown people con- 
 nected with our mission, I saw twenty-one. It was 
 a matter of sincere regret that I could not accept the 
 invitation of Rev. C. B. Moseley to visit Yamaguchi 
 and also to spend some time in the Matsuyama Dis- 
 trict. But journeying editors who have only a lim- 
 ited time for a visit to many lands cannot always do 
 as they are inclined. However, I saw enough of the 
 mission to appreciate what has been accomplished and 
 what is now being done. Southern Methodism has 
 not been idle during its twenty years in the Sunrise 
 Kingdom, and its contribution to the Christianization 
 of the country has been entirely creditable to the de- 
 nomination. 
 
 The delightful entertainment in the homes of Rev. 
 Thomas H. Haden and Rev. J. C. C. Newton, D.D., 
 on the campus of the Kwansei Gakuin, gave me a 
 fine opportunity to investigate thoroughly the work 
 and discover the needs of that institution. A finer 
 location for a school — on the slope of tlie mountain, 
 commanding a fine view of the great Kobe harbor — 
 could hardly be imagined. The imperial government 
 showed its appreciation of the location by building 
 its great Higher Commercial College on the adjoining 
 lots. The very fact of this government school being 
 
 51 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 a neighbor has not only increased the value of our 
 property, but it has given our institution a prominence 
 in the eye of the public authorities ; and at the same 
 time it has provided our teachers with an excellent 
 opportunity to touch with religious instruction some 
 of the brightest young men in Japan. Prof. W. K. 
 Matthews, of the Kwansei Gakuin, has a large Bible 
 class composed of the students in the Commercial 
 College. Our teachers are often invited to lecture to 
 the five hundred students of that institution in their 
 fine auditorium. But the very proximity of our school 
 to this makes it imperative that the work done by 
 our institution be of the highest order. Shoddy work 
 in mission schools in Japan now means their retire- 
 ment ; for if there is anything of which a Japanese is 
 judge, it is a school. As a result of that fact, many 
 missions have been compelled to erect new and more 
 commodious buildings and equip them with libraries 
 and apparatus of the very latest and best kind. A¥here 
 the Churches in America have failed to understand 
 these conditions, a crisis in the work of their missions 
 has been almost certain. 
 
 When I stood before the two hundred boys in the 
 chapel of the Kwansei Gakuin and saw the earnest, 
 honest look on their faces, I felt that I Avas in Bell- 
 buckle or Spring Hill. Dr. Y. Yoshioka, the Presi- 
 dent, introduced me, and I tried to say some honest 
 word to those fine young men. I spoke rather seri- 
 ously, because speaking through an interpreter is seri- 
 ous business. But Prof. H. Yoshizaki was very faith- 
 ful in translating into the vernacular the short talk of 
 the visitor. It is a matter of regret that we have not 
 a college to which our young men can go after they 
 
 52 " 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 complete the course in the Kwansei Gakuin; but col- 
 leges are expensive in America, and cannot be support- 
 ed without an endowment. Yet with some teachers 
 supported by the Board of Missions it would be en- 
 tirely possible to maintain a very satisfactory college 
 in Kobe. I believe that it should be done. 
 
 Dr. J. C. C. Newton, the Dean of the Theological 
 Seminary, says that he needs a new building for his 
 work, and he is right. At present the seminary is 
 conducted in the Kwansei Gakuin. He needs not only 
 a building, but an equipment of a library, maps, and 
 charts. The preachers who are eventually to evan- 
 gelize Japan must be made in Japan and out of Jap- 
 anese young men. The missionary is always a for- 
 eigner, and can never appeal to a Japanese audience 
 with the same force as a native. In the first place, 
 the language is in the way ; and in the second place, 
 the whole temper of an Anglo-Saxon is different from 
 that of an Oriental. Then the young men should be 
 trained in Japan because when they are sent to Amer- 
 ica they find new conditions and they are compelled 
 to learn too many things that a Japanese preacher 
 does not need to know. Frequently a Japanese in 
 America is taught away from his people instead of 
 being trained for them. A theological school in Amer- 
 ica exists to train men for the American pulpit and 
 for American audiences. The Japanese preacher is 
 to be prepared for a wholly different work, and can- 
 not get in an American theological seminary what he 
 really needs as a preacher for his own people. The 
 cases are not infrequent where young Japanese have 
 returned to their country more interested in Greek 
 roots, Hebrew consonants, Old Testament criticism, 
 
 53 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 or New Testament introduction than in the evangeh- 
 zation of their own lost nation. Japan needs evan- 
 gelists and not critics, preachers of the gospel and not 
 lecturers on archaeology. The danger of the Chris- 
 tian ministry of Japan is just here. The foreign- 
 trained professors of theology are too apt to em- 
 phasize the things that belong to scholarship instead 
 of that which equips men for effective, practical serv- 
 ice in the ministry. The preacher, the evangelist, the 
 man who knows the richness of the Christian faith 
 and experience is the need of the hour in Japan. 
 Shall we not equip such men for this ripening field? 
 
 This does not mean that we are to lower the grade 
 of scholarship in a Japanese theological school. That 
 procedure on the part of the Church would be sui- 
 cidal, for Japanese ministers have that insatiable thirst 
 for knowledge which is characteristic of their people. 
 The Oriental mind is philosophical in its bent, and its 
 eternal "why" must be satisfied before there is a 
 possibility of advance. But the minister in every 
 nation must feel the burden of responsibility for the 
 practical soul life of his people, and men who have 
 accepted Christianity first intellectually must be con- 
 stantly taught the importance and the method of prac- 
 tical evangelism. A Japanese ministry thoroughly 
 equipped — practically as well as theologically — in 
 Kobe would become a mighty force in the Christiani- 
 zation of that rich and most populous section of Japan. 
 Only $10,000 would give the institution an equipment 
 which would put it in position to do the work which 
 is so urgently needed. Is there not some man or some 
 woman or some family that will give that $10,000 
 and build a memorial to themselves or some loved 
 
 54 
 
ETCHINGS uF THE EAST 
 
 one? The institution might well take the name of 
 such a donor. Dr. VV. R. Lambuth v/ill be glad to 
 furnish any information regarding the school and to 
 confer about any gift for its further establishment. 
 
 Palmore Institute has done a wonderful work in 
 Kobe. That prince of travelers, the big-souled editor 
 of the St. Louis Christian Advocate, who is always 
 full of suggestions for the furtherance of the king- 
 dom of God, saw an opportunity for a great mission- 
 ary night school in Kobe. He gave some books for 
 a library and the missionary authorities gave the name, 
 and Palmore Institute began its career. No more 
 effective missionary agency has operated in Kobe 
 than this night school which has been conducted for 
 many years in some convenient building near the cen- 
 ter of the city. The Board of Missions has recently 
 bought the home in which Dr. J. W. Lambuth first 
 lived and taught when he opened the Japanese Mis- 
 sion, and on that same lot the first permanent home 
 for the Palmore Institute is now in course of erec- 
 tion. The location is central and not far from our 
 Central Church. Rev. S. A. Stewart, the principal, 
 is superintending the work on the building in the day- 
 time, and at night he conducts the classes for the 
 Institute in the Memorial Bible School for the one 
 hundred students from the business men of Kobe. 
 The tuition fees pay the running expenses of the in- 
 stitution. 
 
 Lambuth Memorial Bible School is doing excellent 
 work in training Bible women. Miss Maud Bonnell, 
 with Miss Garner, Miss Spivey, and Miss Blount, will 
 see that women who leave that institution are well 
 equipped for their important v/ork. The teachers and 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the young women who are being trained have mothers' 
 meetings, cooking classes for the women of the city, 
 and conduct three Sunday schools. While mission- 
 aries are being prepared, missions are being con- 
 ducted. 
 
 A gentleman in Tokyo said to me : "The greatest 
 school for girls in Japan is in Hiroshima." When 
 Miss Gaines introduced me to her five hundred girls 
 that morning in the chapel after I had been shown 
 something of the work which the school was doing, 
 I was fully convinced that the gentleman in Tokyo 
 was at least not far wrong. In the three kindergar- 
 tens Miss Cook, the superintendent, reported an en- 
 rollment last year of more than two hundred chil- 
 dren. About seven hundred girls touched by this 
 school every year is a record of which Southern 
 Methodism may well be proud. The new building, 
 with its spacious class rooms and commodious chapel, 
 did not come too soon; and it has been of inestimable 
 value in holding the golden opinion of the community. 
 But the building is now full to the limit. The insti- 
 tution needs the full block of ground, and the wise 
 Secretaries will surely secure the extra quarter as 
 soon as it is offered for sale. The school must have 
 the government recognition of its Teachers' Training 
 Department if it is to attract the class of women who 
 wish to teach. The fine normal school in Hiroshima 
 makes the recognition doubly important. The Boards 
 at home should not withhold any support which the 
 Principal finds is necessary to secure this recognition. 
 A school that has made the record among the young 
 v/omen of Japan that the Hiroshima Girls' School 
 has made should be kept at the very highest point of 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 efficiency. The Mission Boards may not be able to 
 maintain many schools in Japan, but those that they 
 do maintain must be of the highest rank. The Kobe 
 College of the Congregational Church has seen this, 
 and has recently put up one of the finest school build- 
 ings in Japan. 
 
 Rev. W. J. Callahan and his cultivated wife made 
 my stay in their home exceedingly pleasant. I was 
 given an opportunity to visit the beautiful garden of 
 the old daimyo (which is one of the attractions of 
 Japan), the new Buddhist temple which is being built, 
 the Imperial Normal School, and the Fraser Insti- 
 tute (which has just been built by Mr. H. W. Fraser, 
 of High Point, N. C, at a cost of $3,800). I spoke 
 to a company of fifty men in the night school. I saw 
 the old church and the lot on which the new church 
 is to be built. I saw the cooking class, composed of 
 the wives of some of the leading men in Hiroshima, 
 which Mrs. Callahan has in her home once a week. 
 In Kioto I visited the temporary church building and 
 the fine lot on which a new church, to cost $6,000 to 
 $7,000, is to be built. That church is greatly needed, 
 and Rev. W. A. Davis, who is now in America, should 
 be heard gladly for that cause. Buddhism has its 
 great stronghold in Kioto, and the proposed building- 
 is absolutely necessary to the prosecution of the work 
 which has been so auspiciously begun. Rev. Mr. Ta- 
 naka is doing a fine work for his people in Kioto. 
 Some Church in the South might assume the whole 
 responsibility for building that church just as the 
 Church in Danville, Va., under the pastorate of Rev. 
 E. H. Rawlings, assumed the entire responsibility for 
 the new church in Osaka. By the way, those Dan- 
 
 57 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ville Methodists should know that the lot on which 
 their church is to be built is one of the finest in the 
 most enterprising city in Japan. When I fully real- 
 ized what those Danvillians were doing, I lifted my 
 hat and said to Rev. W. R. Weakley: "No Church 
 in America could have done a nobler thing than to 
 build this West Osaka Church." Has Richmond, 
 Norfolk, Lynchburg, Atlanta, Louisville, Memphis, 
 St. Louis, or some other city a Church that will do 
 for Kioto what Danville has done for Osaka? Write 
 to Dr. Lambuth about it, and cheer him and the mis- 
 sionary in charge by telling them that the new church 
 will be provided for. 
 
 I must mention the meeting with some Japanese 
 laymen of Kobe. They are planning a new and more 
 commodious church house. A good list of subscrip- 
 tions has already been made. One man, Mr. Naka- 
 mura, the Sunday school superintendent, has sub- 
 scribed i,ooo yen, or $500. I was greatly impressed 
 by the interest and affection with which they spoke 
 of their church. I must mention the fine evangelistic 
 work which is being done by Rev. M. Akazawa in 
 Osaka. The friends who assisted him in America will 
 not have any cause for regret. Rev. M. Matsumoto 
 is almost indispensable to the work in the Theological 
 Seminary. Yet he is such an excellent evangelical 
 preacher that I would almost covet him for the pas- 
 torate. He fits well anywhere. Rev. K. Mito is a 
 superior leader in the Sunday school work. Let me 
 say here that Dr. and Mrs. H. M. Hamill have been 
 well received and highly appreciated throughout 
 Japan. The Sunday school interests will be greatly 
 advanced by their visit. I regretted that I did not 
 
 58 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 see Rev. J. T. Meyers, the presiding elder at Hiro- 
 shima, but he and Professor Nishimura were in the 
 midst of a great revival among the Japanese in 
 Wonsan, Korea. They were preaching to audiences 
 of several hundred and having conversions at every 
 service. Of the work of Messrs. Moseley, Waters, 
 Demaree, and Wilson I had excellent reports. How 
 gladly would I have spent a fortnight with them ! 
 The footprints of Dr. Wainright and of Rev. W. E. 
 Towson are seen in many places. Their labors in 
 Japan will not soon be forgotten. 
 
 Missionary work in Japan was never so essential 
 to the salvation of that sprightly people as it is to- 
 day. In many ways the missionary work there was 
 never quite so difficult and so delicate as now. The 
 Japanese in their coming to themselves politically 
 and commercially may be inclined to be a bit heady 
 ecclesiastically, but that will not give genuine Chris- 
 tian men and women, apostles of the gospel of the 
 cross, any reason for decreasing their efforts. The 
 boy as he verges into manhood is apt to show an 
 inclination to throw off parental authority and de- 
 cline parental advice, but the wise father and mother 
 do not because of this withdraw their help and coun- 
 sel from him. The Japanese are not children; but 
 they have not reached their religious majority, wheth- 
 er they know it or not. The great body of their peo- 
 ple have never been touched by Christianity, and nev- 
 er will be if the weak Japanese Christian Churches 
 are compelled to carry on alone the work of evan- 
 gelizing their nation. The Churches of America and 
 Europe may be compelled to surrender their eccle- 
 siasticism in Japan; but if they cannot learn to be 
 
 59 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 missionaries without being ecclesiastics, the future of 
 Japanese Christianity will be distressingly uncertain. 
 The call of the empire for missionaries of the type of 
 St. Paul, who would be "all things to all men to win 
 some," was never so great as to-day; and fortunate 
 indeed is the Church that can send them. 
 
 Methodism in America has not lost a mission by 
 the organization of a Methodist Church in Japan. 
 Have not the missionary Conferences been discussing 
 the question of self-support for a decade? Then why 
 doubt the wisdom of organizing a native Church 
 among a people whose ability for organization and 
 leadership is recognized by all who know them? The 
 organization of a native Church came earlier than it 
 would otherwise have come had there not been a 
 manifest need of a United Methodism in this country. 
 Southern Methodists, Northern Methodists, and Ca- 
 nadian Methodists are divisions which do not properly 
 exist in a foreign land. So union was inevitable 
 among a body of Christians who had no reason for 
 being separate and every reason for being united. 
 The desire for a Japanese Church did not grow out 
 of the ambition to control so much as out of the nat- 
 ural wish for union. If the Japanese had the unholy 
 ambition to take matters into their own hands and 
 exclude foreigners from the controlling body, then 
 the need for further missionary work is very mani- 
 fest. 
 
 The Methodist Church of Japan was organized last 
 May by the authority of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
 the Methodist Church of Canada. The commission- 
 ers from these Churches were present and had much 
 
 GO 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 to do in forming the policy of the new Church. Dr. 
 Y. Honda was elected general superintendent, and 
 the Methodism of the Island Empire was given an 
 autonomy. Who would suppose that such action could 
 be taken without there being the necessity for many 
 readjustments? The Mission Boards in America still 
 hold their properties and control as well as support 
 their missionaries. Complications under such condi- 
 tions are almost inevitable, but surely the spirit of 
 Christ will bring a satisfactory adjustment. Human 
 nature, whether American or Japanese, whether cler- 
 ical or lay, here as elsewhere may become quite re- 
 bellious and self-assertive if it is not divinely con- 
 trolled. The saints are not all of one race, and not 
 all of one race are saints. The Christian spirit will 
 bring unity and articulation in all the Japanese work, 
 but not in one year or two years. Adjustments re- 
 quire time when strong-willed men are to be handled ; 
 but they will come if all parties will let the spirit of 
 the Master teach, guide, and control. 
 
 That man who thinks that Southern Methodism 
 has lost her mission in Japan because a Japanese 
 Church has been organized surely has not deeply con- 
 sidered the conditions that exist. The day of count- 
 ing converts may have passed ; but shall a nation of 
 48,000,000 people, of whom only 65,000 are Christians, 
 be left in heathenism because a body of Christian men, 
 acting according to their best wisdom, form a Church 
 in which there is unity and self-government? The 
 nation is going mad on intellectualism. The great 
 school system will in a few years drive away the 
 superstitions of the temples. Shintoism can have no 
 power as a religion with an intelligent people. Bud- 
 
 61 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 dhism has no message for the spiritual life. Science 
 and philosophy will undermine with the intelligent 
 people the religions of the nation. The two horns 
 of the dilemma in two decades or less time with the 
 vast numbers of the Japanese will be Christianity or 
 agnosticism. Shall Christian nations open the way 
 for learning and commercial ascendency, and then 
 decline to keep burning the light of eternal truth? 
 The religious conditions of Japan cannot remain as 
 they are if this people is to establish and maintain a 
 genuine, noble character. 
 
 Who does not know that the social life of Japan is 
 woefully immoral? The divorces are so numerous as 
 to make one almost ask, "Why have marriages at all ?" 
 Such a condition exists among the nonreligious ele- 
 ments of American societ}^ If social inconstancy is 
 common among many Americans whose lives have 
 been built on a Christian basis, what is to be expected 
 among a non-Christian people? The Japanese trader 
 does not know the binding force of a contract. His 
 v.'hole life and character have been built on a religious 
 basis which does not regard social or commercial in- 
 tegrity as essential to proper conduct. Only Chris- 
 tianity can correct such grievous crookedness in the 
 lives of any people, however brilliant and however 
 powerful they may otherwise be. The obligations 
 upon the Churches to send missionaries can never be 
 discharged until the evil things that are correctly 
 charged against Japanese character have been re- 
 moved. 
 
 Japan is awake, and her people are alive. They 
 liave appreciated learning, and are seeking it. They 
 have found the value of commerce, and they are using 
 
 62 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 it. They will adopt the things that will make them 
 strong. They can see the worth and truth of Chris- 
 tianity; and when they do, they will accept it. But 
 a man cannot change his religion as easily as he does 
 the style of his shirt or the architecture of his house. 
 Religion deals with the inner nature, and time is nec- 
 essary to bring about the desired results. No nation 
 can be made Christian in a day. The work done so 
 far is mxagnificent, but the day has only dawned. The 
 Japanese are intensely patriotic, for which they should 
 be honored; but their patriotism centers in a religious 
 system of which the Emperor is the head. Keeping 
 alive their patriotism may keep alive their Shintoism. 
 Then Buddhism is awakening and offering opposi- 
 tion to Christianity. New temples are being built 
 and new schools established. Christianity must win 
 its way by strenuous efforts, and the Churches at 
 home must help as never before. Christianity can 
 enter with enlightenment, while superstition must re- 
 tire. With the opening of Japan to the light of civ- 
 ilization there comes to Christianity the greatest op- 
 portunity in its history. My plea to all Boards of 
 Missions is to increase the evangelical forces which 
 they are sending to Japan. The day of the medical 
 missionary in Japan has passed, as the schools of medi- 
 cine in that country are sending out well-equipped 
 physicians, and the cities are building hospitals as 
 fast as they will be used. The teacher is not needed 
 so much, as the colleges and universities are gradu- 
 ating men continually who are thoroughly capable 
 of teaching in any institution. But the preacher with 
 the message of life has a high mission. The emphasis 
 in some missions may be put on the school or the hos- 
 
 63 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 pital, but in Japan it must be put on the evangelical 
 work. The Sunday school is soon to be the highest 
 agency for missionary work in Japan. The children 
 may be collected any Sunday in large numbers, and 
 Bible schools may be promptly organized and con- 
 ducted. The little ones may yet lead the nation into 
 Christianity. The great work of missions has just be- 
 gun in the little land beyond the sea. 
 
 64 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 Taking Leave of Japan. 
 
 JAPAN is a land of beauty. Its outside may be 
 seen in a few weeks ; but its spirit, its thought, its 
 purpose, its possibihties can be known in part only 
 after long months of observation and study. The lit- 
 tle nation has already surprised the world by its 
 sprightliness, its resourcefulness, and its powers of 
 endurance. Its victory over China in 1895 was un- 
 expected, and its complete rout of Russia in 1905 
 was a world marvel. Up to that time the best stu- 
 dents had not known of the intense patriotism of the 
 Japanese, while the great body of intelligent people 
 did not realize that Japan harbored the thought that 
 the big bear had taken from them what was rightfully 
 their own in Manchuria. Just as the children of Ger- 
 many had been taught that Alsace-Lorraine belonged 
 to them, so the youth of Japan had been taught that 
 Port Arthur was theirs and eventually they must take 
 it or die in the attempt. The Japanese will not suffer 
 an indignity, and they are as sensitive to an insult as 
 a Kentuckian. 
 
 That the Japanese want to control the commerce 
 of the Orient, no one who has given the matter any 
 thought can question. There are other nations that 
 would like to do the same thing. But Japan has gone 
 to work in earnest, and other nations are alarmed. 
 Korea is under her control. More than 200,000 Jap- 
 anese are already in Korea. Every new enterprise in 
 5 65 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Korea is owned by the Japanese. The railroads are 
 owned and controlled by them. The towns which they 
 control are being cleaned just as the towns and cities 
 of Cuba were cleaned by the United States. The fact 
 is, Japan is beginning to do for Korea what the 
 United States did for Cuba, whatever may be her mo- 
 tive. If Japan continues her work in Korea for ten 
 years, a wonderful change for good will take place. 
 But who knows what is Japan's plan in Korea? The 
 little man is silent here, as he was when the newspaper 
 correspondents sought his plans in the war with Rus- 
 sia. Some correspondents are mad with Japan yet 
 because they were not allowed to plan the battles and 
 report them before they took place. What is Japan's 
 plan in Manchuria? The little man is silent. But 
 he believes that he won something in Manchuria in 
 1905 which has not been deeded to him. It may be 
 that he is taking possession of what he thinks is al- 
 ready his own. 
 
 The war debt made in 1895 was hardly settled un- 
 til the enormous burden of 1905 was laid on the little 
 people. The knowing men were saying that Japan was 
 staggering under her debt, and that she must rest. But 
 the military and naval enlargements continued. The 
 railroads were bought. Great public buildings were 
 planned. A great merchant marine was built. The 
 whole Eastern sea is covered with the flag of the ris- 
 ing sun. The Eastern steamship companies are say- 
 ing: "The Japanese are taking our trade." The In- 
 land Sea is theirs. The traffic in China Sea down to 
 Hongkong and on to Singapore is fast going to Japan. 
 The Yang-tse River is carrying Japanese boats up to 
 Hankow, at the heart of China. Good lines of steam- 
 
 66 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ers are on the Pacific and the Indian Oceans. The 
 government saw that the hope of building up a mer- 
 chant marine was in subsidizing her ship companies. 
 The subsidies are such that no companies can com- 
 pete with the Japanese ships. The wise men are say- 
 ing a financial crisis in Japan is sure to come in the 
 near future. But the silent man continues his enter- 
 prises and somehow keeps up his credit. It does seem 
 that the ambition to control the commerce of the East, 
 if that is his ambition, has some show of being satis- 
 fied. At any rate, the Japanese is the liveliest man 
 in the Orient, and laziness has no place in his consti- 
 tution. He has done so many unusual things that 
 China has begun to take notice. He excites my won- 
 der, but I do not understand him. I have no prophecy 
 for his future. 
 
 After seeing the enterprise of the Japanese upon 
 the land and upon the sea, after examining his supe- 
 rior educational system and learning something of his 
 insatiable thirst for knowledge, I am more and more 
 astounded at his religious observances. The visit to 
 the Asakusa Temple, in Tokyo, where the worshipers 
 swarmed, gave me some idea of their crudity of reli- 
 gious ideas. This is one of the most largely patron- 
 ized temples in the empire. The worshipers went into 
 the temple, bowed down at an altar place, threw their 
 coins into a large place with a rough grating, then 
 clapped their hands twice and muttered something. 
 The priests are ignorant, not respected, and incapable 
 of delivering a message. Shintoism has no preachers. 
 Some worshipers bought sticks of incense and burned 
 them. Others bought grains to feed the pigeons that 
 they considered sacred. In this temple was an image 
 
 67 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 which was rubbed by the hand, and the worshiper 
 rubbed that part of the body where she had a pain or 
 infirmity. The head and stomach of the poor image 
 showed signs of much wear. In Osaka I saw an old 
 woman fishing out of a pool on a stone turtle's back 
 a piece of paper on which a prayer was written. The 
 water in the pool flowed from a fountain that had a 
 stone turtle's mouth for a spout. In Kobe, on the 
 mountain side, I saw a waterfall in front of a little 
 temple in which the image was that of a fox, under 
 which worshipers would stand undressed in the dead 
 of winter. Who would expect such superstition in 
 such an intelligent country as Japan? Even the Bud- 
 dhist temples, with all their magnificence in some 
 cities, have nothing that would satisfy, it would seem, 
 a people that studied science, built merchant marines, 
 and exhibited such force in battle and in commerce. 
 Surely Japan is in the dawn of a new day. What 
 will the Christian nations say to this new sister of 
 such rare promise? Has Christianity taught her na- 
 tions how to act toward the self-centered, vainglorious, 
 yet precocious and promising young maiden who is 
 born of non-Christian ancestry? These are days of 
 questionings in the Orient, but the man who can fur- 
 nish information that really informs has not been 
 found. The only man who knows much about the 
 trend of things is the newspaper reporter, who gives 
 to the reader what he wants. The American will 
 often find his newspaper very comforting. 
 
 I regret that I could not remain in Japan to see the 
 cherry blossoms, the pride of the Japanese. But had 
 I seen them, I would not have been satisfied, because 
 I could not see the chrysanthemums. However, I 
 
 68 
 
STROLL BY THE LAKE. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 saw some plum blossoms. They were beautiful. But 
 Japan to me was all beautiful. The women were 
 beautiful, to be sure — a la Japanese. The jinrikisha 
 boys excited my admiration. The farmers delighted 
 me. The farms were no larger than the average 
 American garden, but they were highly cultivated. 
 The soil of Japan is, of course, poor. Even if it were 
 originally rich, it would have been worn out a thou- 
 sand years ago. So the fertilizer is a necessity. The 
 offal from the barn and the home is the chief fer- 
 tilizer. With the seed it is poured into every row. 
 The farmer, with his two buckets on a bamboo pole, 
 irrigates and fertilizes continually. He cultivates well 
 all his crops. He even hoes his wheat. He plows one 
 cow. His plow has one handle, and is used only in 
 breaking the land. The little farms are separated by 
 a lane of grass ten to twelve inches wide. Some of 
 them are bedded so as to be a foot or more higher 
 than those adjoining. The hillsides are terraced as 
 far up as the soil can be used. So the whole country 
 has the appearance of a large number of gardens. 
 Why should not such a country be beautiful? 
 
 I saw no idlers in Japan and very few beggars. It 
 is true the carpenter pulled his plane and his saw, but 
 he did his work. The tailor held his cloth between 
 his toes, but that made him only the more skillful. 
 The sign painter hung up his sign in English as "The 
 Sign Boarder," but he showed enterprise. The mer- 
 chant said that he sold "Boots, Shoes & Co." The 
 English may not have been elegant, but it was prac- 
 tical. The people who sold and the people who 
 bought do not expect to abide by the list price. The 
 story is told that when the railroad came an old man 
 
 69 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 asked the ticket agent the price of a ticket from 
 Osaka to Kobe. When the price was given, he asked 
 for a reduction; and when it was denied him, he de- 
 cHned to buy, but took his seat until the time for the 
 next train. As the trains went every hour, he repeat- 
 ed his action every hour until the end of the day, and 
 then bought his ticket. But of course the leading 
 merchants have adopted the custom of the one price. 
 But whatever may be the faults found with the peo- 
 ple as a whole or with a certain few, there are in 
 every community men of sterling integrity in business 
 and in all the activities of life. The number of gen- 
 uinely true men in Japan is constantly growing; and 
 with the growth of a true Christianity there will come 
 the growth of a strong, noble national character. 
 
 But good-bys must be said. Not only was Japan 
 fair to look upon, but the friends that we met made 
 the going like a home-leaving. First there was that 
 home in Tokyo with Rev. and Mrs. D. S. Spencer 
 and the kindly attention of Miss S. J. Vain. In Osaka 
 Rev. and Mrs. W. R. Weakley did not spare them- 
 selves to give us every comfort and make our visit a 
 delight. In Hiroshima Rev. and Mrs. W. J. Callahan 
 and that boy, Will, made life worth living ; while Miss 
 Gaines and her assistants added good cheer. In Kobe 
 we found in the homes of Rev. and Mrs. S. E. Hager, 
 Rev. and Mrs. Thomas H. Haden, and Dr. and Mrs. 
 J. C. C. Newton sweet rest and refreshing associa- 
 tions. So, when on that Sunday evening we pushed 
 out in the launch for the steamer while our friends 
 waved us good-by from the wharf, there was a feeling 
 like unto sadness. But when we settled in our cabin 
 there were sacred memories of all that had come to 
 
 70 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 us in fair Japan. These many memories we shall ever 
 hold as the treasures taken in the long journey. 
 
 When we awoke on Monday morning we were sail- 
 ing the Inland Sea, and for one whole day we looked 
 upon as fine scenery as can be found in all the world. 
 The Rhine and Lake Lucerne were repeated with in- 
 creased emphasis in this beautiful sea of the Sunrise 
 Kingdom. At five o'clock in the afternoon v/e passed 
 through the straits at Shimonoseki. It was here that 
 the treaty of peace between China and Japan was 
 signed a dozen years ago. It was only a few miles 
 from here that Admiral Togo destroyed the last hope 
 of the Russian fleet. The morning found us in the 
 harbor of Nagasaki. We went ashore for the day, 
 and visited the interesting points in this historic city 
 of 161,000 people. It is here that Roman Catholicism 
 first planted the banner of the cross ; and had the mis- 
 sionaries been more anxious to establish the kingdom 
 of our Lord than the imperialism of Rome, Japan to- 
 day might be a Christian nation. The Romanists 
 were driven out three hundred years ago, but to-day 
 45,000 of their communicants in Japan are to be found 
 in this vicinity where they first proclaimed their faith. 
 
 71 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Shanghai, a Modern City. 
 
 THE Yellow Sea acted very ugly the two nights 
 and the day that we were sailing its waters. 
 Many of the passengers were so upset by the way that 
 things were going that they kept to their cabins. 
 When, however, the medical inspector aroused us at 
 six o'clock in the morning of the second day, all were 
 able to report perfect health. The sight of a quar- 
 antine station always has a health-giving influence. 
 The physician at the Chinese port of Shanghai was 
 not a Chinese but an American of the Irish type. We 
 were reminded that we were entering a country where 
 the foreigner is ever in evidence. Our good steamer 
 did not go to the dock in Shanghai, but anchored at 
 Woosung, ten miles from Shanghai, and we reached 
 the city by a launch coming up the Huang-po River. 
 The trip of one hour and a half was full of interest; 
 and we had our first view of the Chinese junks and 
 sailing vessels, and also of English, German, Austrian, 
 and American war ships in Eastern waters. The 
 Americans were quite enthusiastic, if not hilarious, 
 when they came under the folds of Old Glory. This 
 is the only time that the Americans had seen their flag- 
 on the waters of the Eastern sea ; and while there was 
 rejoicing at the sight, yet there was a sadness that 
 the Stars and Stripes were known to the Orientals al- 
 most entirely as the colors of a battle ship and seldom 
 as those of vessels of peace and commerce. A little 
 
 72 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 world travel would convince the American people that 
 they are making a mistake in not establishing a cred- 
 itable and competent merchant marine. Too much 
 emphasis has been put on the navy as compared with 
 that given to merchant vessels. A great number of 
 battle ships will not compensate for a lack of vessels 
 that can be used as transports in time of war. Amer- 
 icans cannot travel far in American vessels and have 
 the comforts which travelers require. The govern- 
 ment at Washington would do well to consider the 
 question of a strong world-wide merchant marine and 
 the steps that should be taken to secure it. England, 
 Germany, and even Japan can teach America some 
 lessons in this important matter. 
 
 As the launch steamed up to the wharf we received 
 salutes and friendly greetings from Dr. and Mrs. J. 
 B. Fearn and Rev. R. A. Parker. Mrs. Dr. Fearn 
 had been a passenger with us on the Mongolia on the 
 trip across the Pacific Ocean. So at once we were 
 wheeled off in jinrikishas to the hospitable home of 
 these good friends in the old Trinity mission house, 
 which was built forty years ago by Dr. Young J. 
 Allen. The historical associations of the place, the 
 cheerful, glowing fire in the room set apart for the 
 comfort of the travelers, the gracious ministrations 
 of the hostess, the untiring kindness of the host took 
 away the strangeness of the land and its people and 
 gave us a home feeling which one seldom gets in 
 world wanderings. But the English language does 
 not furnish words sufficiently strong to express the 
 heartiness and the richness of the welcome, the full- 
 ness of the entertainment which the missionaries have 
 shown us everywhere in these Oriental lands. They 
 
 73 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 have been mouth, feet, and hands in this whole East- 
 ern travel. Without them the tourists would be help- 
 less and comfortless, and they would be compelled to 
 retire without any adequate view of the country. 
 What the missionary is doing- for the tourist to-day 
 he has done for the merchants, the traders, and the 
 promoters in earlier days. He .is sometimes spoken 
 of in disrespectful terms by these same men to-day, 
 but the shame is not the missionary's. What the mis- 
 sionary has done for China in opening up the way for 
 V/estern learning and Western enterprise, as well as 
 in the establishment of schools and other institutions 
 of the present-day world civilization, cannot be esti- 
 mated in any values which the traders possess. The 
 day is coming when China will learn that the "for- 
 eign devil" is not the missionary, for he is in reality 
 the foreign friend. It is true that the political mis- 
 sionary occasionally slips into China just as the po- 
 litical preacher occasionally exhibits himself in the 
 home pulpit; but neither of them has a permanent 
 position in the ministry, as the gospel of Jesus deals 
 with a kingdom not of this world. The missionaries 
 who have helped China most are those who have con- 
 sented to preach the gospel and to give their time and 
 talents to those enterprises which have for their ob- 
 ject the Christianization of this great country. 
 
 Shanghai is a great city of little more than fifty 
 years' history, but China has had very little to do 
 with its making. The old Chinese city inclosed with- 
 in its ancient walls has about 150,000 people. The 
 Shanghai outside of the walls has about 800,000 peo- 
 ple, of whom 14,000 are foreigners. The jetty where 
 we landed from the launch is in the French conces- 
 
 74 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 sion. Within this French concession, which is con- 
 trolled by the French government, there are about 
 150,000 people. The international concession, which 
 has a municipal government under the control of the 
 representatives of the foreign landowners, has about 
 500,000 people. The British predominate among the 
 foreigners, and so the city government is largely Brit- 
 ish. English policemen and the well-known Sikhs of 
 India patrol the streets and keep the peace. The 
 Sikhs are very rough in the handling of the Chinese, 
 and are greatly feared by the natives. They are tall, 
 black, full-bearded, with vicious eyes, and dressed in 
 heavy long coats. There are also some Chinese police- 
 men who work with the Sikhs. The English police- 
 men in their London garb take a general oversight of 
 the city. 
 
 Shanghai, with its practically 1,000,000 people, is 
 the great distributing point for the foreign commerce 
 of China, Japan, and Korea. Many of the 14,000 
 foreigners, mostly English, are the representatives of 
 large commercial establishments in Europe and Amer- 
 ica. It is true that there are 5,000 or 6,000 Japanese 
 here, but they are here in their own behalf. They are 
 building a fine Buddhist temple on one of the principal 
 streets, and they have erected a school building for 
 their children which would do credit to any city and 
 which is a fine model for the Chinese. The streets 
 of this foreign Shanghai have good width and are 
 kept cleaner than the streets of any other city in 
 China, although that is not saying much, as the streets 
 of the Chinese cities are proverbially unclean. The 
 business houses are mostly two-storied, but in some 
 of the business sections there are a number of large 
 
 75 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 buildings four, five, and even eight stories high. The 
 architecture of these buildings is largely English. The 
 morning that we arrived the first street cars began 
 to move. The streets along which the cars ran were 
 crowded by the people, who wanted to see this dread- 
 ful engine of destruction made by the "foreign devil." 
 For two days the cars ran regularly; but no passen- 
 gers were taken, as the authorities thought the people 
 should become somewhat accustomed to them before 
 they were allowed to ride. When they were opened 
 for trafific, they were crowded to the utmost on every 
 trip. Some accidents happened, but not as many as 
 the Chinese expected, as the}^ had circulated the re- 
 port that the cars were to kill at least one man a day. 
 The cars run only in the territory of the foreign con- 
 cessions. The fact is, the streets of the native cities 
 are not as wide as a street car, and consequently cars 
 can never run in them except that a roadway is bought 
 and prepared. But the Chinese approve and enjoy 
 these institutions of the foreigners after they learn 
 that they are for good and not evil to the community. 
 Many of the wealthy Chinese who have come to 
 Shanghai have built large foreign houses for their 
 families and furnished them after the manner of for- 
 eigners. Some of them have introduced foreign cook- 
 ing into their homes, and some wear foreign clothing. 
 But these are always exceptions to the general rule. 
 The Chinese are glad to get the protection of the 
 foreign city, for in their own cities they have police- 
 men only to scare away the thieves rather than to 
 arrest them. So Shanghai is becoming the center 
 for wealthy Chinese who desire to escape the private 
 thieves and the public grafters of the interior. 
 
 76 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 I called on the Hon. Charles Denby, the United 
 States Consul-General and the son of the late Mr. 
 Charles Denby, who was the Minister of the Unit- 
 ed States to China for several 5''ears and who is 
 known to the Christian world as a great friend of the 
 missionaries. The Consul-General was very kind, and 
 took time to show me the building in which the con- 
 sulate is located. On the first floor is the American 
 post office, where letters and other mail matter could 
 be sent to the United States under the same rates that 
 exist in the United States and with the same kind of 
 stamps. I was shown two prisoners in their cells 
 whom the United States marshal was to accompany 
 to the United States. The cells were two dark rooms 
 of an old residence, with some iron rods across the 
 one window. Any enterprising prisoner could break 
 jail in a few hours' time. The fact is, breaking jail 
 is the usual pastime of these American lav/breakers. 
 When the authorities want to hold a desperate char- 
 acter secure, they borrow a cell in the jail of the 
 British consulate. The cells in the American con- 
 sulate are not only insecure, but they are also uncom- 
 fortable and unworthy of a great country like our 
 own. Many of the consulates in Shanghai are in 
 their own buildings, which have been built to meet 
 their needs ; but the representatives of the United 
 States are compelled to rent what they can find and 
 make themselves as comfortable as the conditions will 
 allow. Shanghai, the doorway into China, should 
 have a building that will be representative of our 
 great country. 
 
 On my first day in Shanghai I called on Bishop 
 J. W. Bashford, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 
 77 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 who was making preparations to leave the next day 
 by way of Siberia for the United States to attend the 
 General Conference of his Church in Baltimore in 
 Ma}^ He has done a great work during his quadren- 
 nium as presiding bishop in this district. His admin- 
 istration has given great satisfaction to the mission- 
 aries of his Church, and his brotherly spirit has won 
 for him an enviable place among the missionaries of 
 all Churches in China. There can be no question that 
 the plan of assigning him to this field for a quadren- 
 nium has proven to be exceedingly wise. He has 
 learned the field, the men, the people, the conditions 
 in four years, and has been able to give his Church a 
 competent administration. The inadequacy of admin- 
 istration through a flying visit of even the wisest 
 men has been fully demonstrated. The missionaries 
 of China have given Bishop Bashford a hearty wel- 
 come back for a second term. His residence now is 
 in Peking, while Bishop Lewis, of his Church, resides 
 in Foochow. 
 
 I was very glad to see the International Institute of 
 China, the educational institution of which Dr. Gil- 
 bert Reid is the President. While the object of the 
 Institute is to impart instruction and extend enlight- 
 enment by the maintenance of a first-class school for 
 young men of the higher families, yet its larger aim 
 is to promote harmony between Chinese and foreign- 
 ers and between Christian and non-Christian Chinese. 
 EflForts are constantly made to promote a friendly in- 
 tercourse between the educated men of the higher 
 classes and to break down the barriers which now 
 separate the Chinese and foreigners. The member- 
 ship of the Institute includes high officials and literary 
 
 78 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 men of all China and many of the leading foreigners 
 in China and some citizens of the United States. Sev- 
 eral receptions in honor of certain distinguished vis- 
 itors have been held which contributed largely to the 
 establishment of good feeling in the Chinese toward 
 the foreigner. The school has about one hundred 
 young men from the best families of China. There 
 are no distinctively Christian exercises held for the 
 pupils. Only two of the young men are Christians. 
 In fact, the Institute is not a Christian institution, 
 but an institute to promote harmony between the Chi- 
 nese and the foreigners. Excellent buildings have 
 been erected. The results of this work must be bene- 
 ficial in the end to the cause of Christianity. An 
 afternoon in the home of Dr. Reid and his Southern 
 wife, who was formerly Miss Reynolds, of South 
 Carolina, was one of the delights of our visit to 
 Shanghai. 
 
 Shanghai is well supplied with excellent educational 
 institutions. The municipal public school for the for- 
 eign children is equal to the demands upon it. The 
 Southern Baptists have a fine educational plant; the 
 Episcopalians have their St. John's College, which 
 has done very fine work for the Chinese; the Pres- 
 byterians have their institutions. Our own Anglo- 
 Chinese College has always been recognized as one of 
 the best schools in the city. My first view of China 
 was not what I would have had at any native city, 
 but I was able to see in Shanghai what the foreign 
 influence really is wherever it has full sway. Of that 
 influence I shall not now speak. 
 
 Rev. John W. Cline and his cultured wife, of the 
 Anglo-Chinese College/ made us feel much at home 
 
 79 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 with them four da3^s of our sojourn in Shanghai. 
 They Hve in one of the houses of the compound, Rev. 
 Joseph Whiteside (in the absence of Dr. A. P. Par- 
 ker) in the second, Mrs. Young J. Allen in the third, 
 and Dr. W. H. Lacy, the Manager of the Publishing 
 House, in the fourth. On this same plot of ground 
 stand the Publishing House and also some flats which 
 have been built as an endov/ment of Soochow Uni- 
 versity. On the opposite side of the street is the 
 campus with the buildings of the Anglo-Chinese Col- 
 lege. All this land is now quite valuable, as it has 
 come to be near the center of the city since the re- 
 cent developments in Shanghai. Before many years 
 it may be a wise business action to sell this fine prop- 
 erty on which the school stands and buy elsewhere at 
 a lower rate. The question of disposing of the Anglo- 
 Chinese College altogether and putting its value in 
 the Soochow University has been frequently discussed. 
 The Anglo-Chinese College has had a fine record, and 
 its constituency is now giving it splendid support; 
 and its enrollment of two hundred young men should 
 surely be some argument for its continuance. Its 
 former pupils form a fine body of workers for Meth- 
 odism in lower China. The institution would likely 
 do just as well on less expensive ground, and the 
 extra amount of money which the present property 
 would bring could be used to assist Soochow Uni- 
 versity or to equip more fully the Anglo-Chinese Col- 
 lege. President Cline and Professor Whiteside and 
 their corps of Chinese teachers are kept very busy 
 with this important school. I had the pleasure of 
 preaching to a great audience in the chapel on my 
 last Sunday through the interpretation of Prof. H. L. 
 
 80 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Zia, the Sunday school superintendent. I never 
 preached to a more inspiring audience. 
 
 I was fortunate in getting a glimpse at the excel- 
 lent building of the McTyeire School for Girls and its 
 fine body of more than one hundred girls. Miss Helen 
 Lee Richardson is a worthy successor of the founder, 
 Miss Laura Haygood, The institution is reaching 
 young ladies from the best families, such as the 
 grandnieces of the late Li Hung Chang and nieces 
 of the Chinese Minister, Wu Ting Fang. The influ- 
 ence of such an institution, with its strong evangelical 
 Christianity, can hardly be estimated. There is al- 
 ready need for enlargement. The beautiful Moore 
 Memorial Church, the only satisfactory church that 
 we have in China, with the possible exception of the 
 one in West Soochow, stands on the same lot with the 
 school. The pastor of the school is one of the strong- 
 est Chinese preachers that we have in the Conference. 
 
 The most imposing building used for Christian 
 work that I saw in the East is the new Young 
 Men's Christian Association^ which was completed 
 in October, 1907, at a cost of about $150,000. The 
 valuable lot on which it stands cost about $100,000, and 
 was donated by the Chinese. In all the conveniences 
 and facilities for Christian work it stands the equal 
 of the best in America. It conducts a regular day 
 school also, in which there are one hundred and 
 eighty young men. The Chinese General Secretary is 
 Mr. S. K. Tsao, who will be known to the Methodists 
 of the South as John Marshall, the son of the late 
 C. K. Marshall, one of our first Chinese preachers. 
 He is as fine a specimen of Christian manhood as 
 one is apt to find anywhere in the world, and his use 
 6 81 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 of the English Inagtiage would persuade any listener 
 that English was his mother tongue. Methodism has 
 furnished some of the best workers for this Young 
 Men's Christian Association. There are seventy Stu- 
 dent Young Men's Christian Associations in China, 
 and about forty organizations in cities. The Associa- 
 tion in Canton is erecting a $100,000 building. The 
 work of the Y. M. C. A. in China is very encour- 
 aging. 
 
 Shanghai is becoming a center for publishing in- 
 terests in China. The Presbyterian Press does $250,- 
 000 worth of business every year. The bookstore and 
 the general offices are in the center of the city, but 
 the manufacturing department is out where real es- 
 tate is cheaper and where expenses will be less. Rev. 
 George F. Fitch, D.D., is the Manager of the Pub- 
 lishing House. He has labored twenty-five years in 
 China. Three of his sons are already preaching the 
 gospel in Chinese, and the fourth is now in college 
 preparing himself for the same work. Such mission- 
 ary families must have very great influence on China. 
 The two hundred employees of the Presbyterian Press 
 assemble every morning at 7 130 o'clock for religious 
 services before they begin the work of the day. Why 
 should not a Church institution begin the day with 
 the reading of the Bible and with prayer? It is not 
 to be wondered at that the Presbyterian Press is a 
 great missionary agency in China. 
 
 The Chinese Commercial Press is the largest pub- 
 lishing house in the empire. It has branch houses in 
 twelve cities. The three men who compose the com- 
 pany were trained in the Presbyterian Publishing 
 House. They are Christian men, and two of them 
 
 S2 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 are sons of a Presbyterian Chinese minister. The 
 capital of the concern is $500,000 gold. The sales- 
 room is on one of the principal streets downtown, and 
 employs seventy men. The printing establishment is 
 out some distance, where the company owns six acres 
 of land. The new publishing house is two stories 
 high, 450 feet long, and 65 feet wide. It has recently 
 been finished at a cost of $70,000. The large ware- 
 room, or "go-down" as it is called in the East, cost 
 $16,000. The publishing department employs six 
 hundred men. There are thirty-five presses as large 
 as those used in our own House in Nashville. Eighty 
 men are employed by the company in translating books 
 into Chinese and in compiling books for schools. They 
 have facilities for stereotyping, electroplating, litho- 
 graphing, and for doing anything that comes in any 
 printing and publishing establishment. The only for- 
 eigners employed are Japanese, and they are engaged 
 in the art department. With the establishment of 
 such an institution must come a new era in the schools 
 and in the general reading of China. A competitive 
 concern is now being organized. It is to be hoped 
 that the competition will administer to the life of both 
 institutions. 
 
 I was, of course, very much interested in the Meth- 
 odist Publishing Plouse, the joint concern of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, South. The Manager, Rev. W. H. Lacy, 
 D.D., received me most cordially and showed me in 
 every detail the house and all the departments of the 
 work. The house and lot are owned by the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, South. The house was built 
 about five years ago on the old mission property which 
 
 83 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 faces on Woosung and Ouinsan Roads. The Board 
 of Missions of our Church sold the lot to the Book 
 Committee. The Publishing House is controlled by 
 a Publishing Committee. The concern is under con- 
 tract to pay our Book Committee five per cent on its 
 investment in the house and lot as rental. If the 
 house is enlarged or a new building is required, our 
 Book Committee must furnish the fimds. Already the 
 Manager is calling for an additional building, but a 
 new warehouse just completed has enabled him to 
 make room for the machinery by giving him a place 
 to store a large stock of paper. The plant, consisting 
 of the machinery of the press room, bindery, com- 
 posing rooms, and foundry, is estimated at $62,000 
 Mexican, or about $30,000 gold. The stock on hand 
 consists of paper and ink, $25,000 Mexican, $11,500 
 gold; merchandise, $4,800 gold; foundry material, $1,- 
 800 gold; bindery material, $1,400 gold. The average 
 business per month is about $4,800 gold. The num- 
 ber of persons employed is about one hundred. The 
 capital of the concern is $120,000 Mexican, or about 
 $56,000 gold. 
 
 One evening, in company with two gentlemen, I 
 visited the opium-smoking resorts. We went into 
 three or four very large establishments, and found 
 them all filled even at so early an hour as eight o'clock 
 in the evening. Two men were in each booth lying 
 down with a lamp between them and with long- 
 stemmed opium pipes in their hands. Many of them 
 were business men who had come in to smoke socially 
 and talk business. Many showed that they were al- 
 ready in the coils of destruction. The crusade against 
 opium that is sweeping the empire has come none too 
 
 84 
 
A CHINAMAN SETTING TYPE. 
 
 
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 TYPF FOUNDRY, PUBLISHING HOUSE, 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE. EAST 
 
 soon. In another part of the large establishments 
 were restaurants where there was much smoking and 
 tea-drinking. An orchestra of Chinese musicians 
 made boisterous music for the entertainment of the 
 throng of four or five hundred people in the building. 
 Gayly dressed public girls, fourteen to sixteen years 
 of age, were led around by their body servants. These 
 girls were kidnaped when small, innocent children by 
 emissaries of these houses whose mistresses sell them- 
 selves and these guileless babes into the captivity of 
 hell for the small pittance of a few dollars. But this 
 sight can be seen nowhere in any native city of China 
 and only in that part of Shanghai which is under Eu- 
 ropean and American rule. Doors of Hope are being 
 opened for these unfortunate girls, and some are being 
 rescued. It is a pity that Judge L. R. Wilfrey has not 
 the power to wipe out this disgrace as he has that which 
 once attached to that object of the street that called 
 herself the "American girl." The foreign settlement in 
 Shanghai has said in regard to the opium crusade that 
 it will not stop the sale of opium until evidence has 
 been produced that it has been stopped in the native 
 cities. Foreign settlements too frequently lead in vice, 
 but follow in virtue. That is why missions rarely suc- 
 ceed where the number of foreigners is large. The 
 Christianity that is to save China must come from the 
 center of the empire to the ports, and not from the 
 ports to the center. That Church is wise that founds 
 its missions far from the track of the foreigner. 
 
 There were many other events in those last days 
 which were intensely interesting, but I cannot speak 
 of them at this time. I must make mention of a most 
 pleasant call on Dr. Timothy Richards and his asso- 
 
 85 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ciates, Rev. W. A. Cornably, Rev. David McGillray, 
 of the Christian Literature Society, and of Dr. Rich- 
 ards's call on me. He has great comprehensive ideas 
 for the East. He wants three missionary colleges 
 established — one in America, one in Europe, and one 
 in the Orient — for the study of comparative religion. 
 He says that "missionaries who do not know Chinese 
 thought and who are not carefully trained in com- 
 parative religion and the science of missions are in 
 China like an army armed with bows and arrows 
 marching to meet one armed with Catling guns." But 
 his proposal cannot be discussed here. On Sunday I 
 dined with Mrs. Young J. Allen and enjoyed the sweet 
 fellowship of her home, made sacred by the great life 
 of her noble husband. In the afternoon I stood at 
 the graves of Dr. Allen, Mrs. J. W. Lambuth, Miss 
 Laura Haygood, and others whose names are written 
 on the broad page of the history of Christianity in 
 this country. 
 
 86 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A Visit to the Missions. 
 
 TT"7"HEN a man has the privilege of going up the 
 VV Yang>-tse River from Shanghai to Nanking 
 with Rev. George A. Stuart, M.A., M.D., the Presi- 
 dent of Nanking University, he will act wisely if he 
 takes it. Dr. Stuart has been in China for twenty- 
 four years, a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, and has done almost everything from run- 
 ning a hospital and riding a Chinese circuit to pre- 
 siding over a great educational institution. He has re- 
 cently resigned the presidency of the university to 
 become the editor of the Methodist Advocate at Shang- 
 hai, succeeding Dr. A. P. Parker, and to translate 
 some theological works into the Chinese language. 
 Our steamer left Shanghai at midnight, and when we 
 awoke the next morning, I found that we were on a 
 very comfortable British steamer that plies between 
 Shanghai and Hankow, a distance of four hundred 
 miles. There are two lines of British steamers on the 
 great river ; also a French, a Japanese, a German, and 
 a Chinese line. They carry first-class, second-class, 
 and steerage Chinese passengers, and in a special apart- 
 ment the foreign passengers. The captain and sev- 
 eral of the officers were English, the food was famil- 
 iar, and the company was of my own Anglo-Saxon 
 or Anglo-Celtic blood. (There is Irish in the most 
 of us and often in the best of us.) Traveling on the 
 greatest river in China, and yet without the semblance 
 
 87 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 of strangeness — who could have expected it? The 
 foreigner gets the best of everything in China — except 
 a bargain. I was shown the utmost respect by the 
 Chinese everywhere. It is true that I was called a 
 "foreign devil" a few times ; but the language in which 
 the sentiment was expressed produced no jar on my 
 sensibilities, and I would never have noticed the op- 
 probrious title had a missionary not called my atten- 
 tion to it. The white man's face and bearing, his man- 
 ner and dress count for something among the other 
 races of the world. Shall he abuse this heaven-given 
 privilege? Surely the white man owes his brethren 
 in colors more than he may expect of them. 
 
 After thirty hours' travel the distance of two hun- 
 dred and five miles had been covered, and we were at 
 the dock in Nanking, the ancient capital, and for many 
 times, of the empire. In official documents it is not 
 proper to call the city Nanking, as the syllable "king" 
 means capital, and the government acknowledges only 
 one capital. So the Chinese call it Kiang Ning Fu, or 
 Kiu Ling, and even other names. What a motley 
 throng met us at the wharf — carriage drivers, rick- 
 shaw pullers, wheelbarrow pushers, Chinese hotel run- 
 ners, beggars, and hardly a decent-looking man in the 
 whole lot! I saw that I had at last reached China. 
 A tourist will get a better idea of Europe than of 
 China by seeing Shanghai. In fact, I slept in France 
 or in England the nights that I was in Shanghai ; but 
 when I lay on the good missionary's bed in Nanking, 
 I was within a great city wall with locked gates. 
 Nanking has been a walled city since the fifth or 
 sixth century before Christ. The walls of to-day have 
 an elevation var3ing from forty to ninety feet, are 
 
 88 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 from twenty to forty feet in thickness, and are twenty- 
 two miles in circumference. A large portion of the 
 inclosed area is vacant, but the inhabited part has a 
 population of 500,000 people. The Taiping rebels 
 wrought havoc with the city during their occupation, 
 from 1853 to 1864. They reduced it to a ruinous con- 
 dition, destroyed its famous pagoda, the Porcelain 
 Tower, and swept away the last vestige of the old 
 palace of the Ming kings. I visited the place of the 
 imperial palace, made a circuit of its walls, and went 
 to the celebrated mausoleum of the Emperor Hung 
 Wu, the founder of the Ming dynasty, who died in 
 1398. How vain is the glory of man, and how fragile 
 his greatest works of stone and brass ! Gray was right 
 when he said : "The paths of glory lead but to the 
 grave." The stone elephants, sheep, horses, unicorns, 
 warriors, and priests which lined the sacred avenue 
 to the tomb of the great in their mute solemnity give 
 testimony to the ultimate desolateness of him whose 
 immortality rests entirely upon the material things of 
 this world. Man may live and continue to live — not 
 by what he possesses or by what he pretends to be, 
 but by what he is. When will he learn this lesson in 
 which the whole world is an instructor ? 
 
 On the way from the wharf to the city, a distance of 
 four miles, we passed the American consulate. I gave 
 the stars and stripes my best greetings. Everywhere on 
 each side of the highway I saw mounds two to three 
 feet high and more or less round. On inquiry, I found 
 that they were graves. Wherever I went in China — at 
 every roadside, on every hillside, at every riverside — 
 there were graves. The boy who thinks that ghosts 
 are in every graveyard would do much running in Chi- 
 
 89 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 na. Unbiiried coffins may be seen from almost any 
 highway. The Chinese must have a lucky place for 
 their dead and a lucky day for the burial; and unless 
 these are found, the burial does not take place. It hap- 
 pens often that a coffin containing some member of the 
 family is kept in the home for many months. The cof- 
 fins are made of wood, four to five inches thick, and in 
 them is placed unslacked lime, and then they are her- 
 metically sealed. So there is no danger to the home 
 or the community if the dead remain for months or 
 even years unburied. In the case of small children, 
 the bodies are often tied up in a bundle of straw and 
 left unburied in some out-of-the-way place. I saw one 
 on the walls of Huchow. The bodies are also placed 
 in the baby towers. It is said that formerly undesired 
 live children were destroyed by being put in the baby 
 towers. I saw the baby towers in Nanking, but there 
 was no indication that they are being used at present. 
 However, in Shanghai while I was there some friends 
 found that they are still in use. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church may well be 
 proud of their imposing and well-appointed school, the 
 Nanking University. I was glad of the privilege of 
 addressing without an interpreter the two hundred 
 young men who were gathered there from the sur- 
 rounding provinces. The school year in China closes 
 the first of February at the Chinese New Year. The 
 beautiful campus of some fifteen acres and the half 
 dozen excellent buildings for administration, chapel, 
 instruction, and students' home give the university a 
 most excellent plant. The policy of the administra- 
 tion has been to employ laymen for teachers in the 
 various departments and reserve the missionary 
 
 90 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 preachers for the direct work of preaching. The girls' 
 school is in the adjoining yard. It has about seventy- 
 pupils. The ground and the money have already been 
 secured for a more satisfactory new building. The 
 Philander Smith Memorial Hospital is nearer the cen- 
 ter of the city. It was very gratifying to know that 
 Methodism has such a well-equipped humanitarian in- 
 stitution in the heart of that great commmiity. Dr. 
 Robert C. Beebe, after his twenty-five years as a med- 
 ical missionary in Nanking, wields an influence for 
 Christianity which seldom comes to any man. The 
 Presbyterians and the Disciples also have strong mis- 
 sions in Nanking. Surely this great population will 
 yet hear the gospel and come to know the Lord of 
 life. Dr. Stuart not only took me into his own home 
 and gave me the benefit of the gracious kindness of 
 his wife and three children, but he even sacrificed his 
 time to serve as my guide through the city. After 
 visiting the missions we went to the Imperial Con- 
 fucian Temple, one of the three in the . entire empire. 
 We found it closed and the gates locked. But this 
 was no surprise to him, as he knew that the temple is 
 opened for worship only once in three years, when the 
 Emperor, in person or by proxy, comes to worship. 
 When the keeper let us in, we found that dust, cob- 
 webs, and the usual signs of neglect were everywhere 
 in evidence. There was nothing in the great temple 
 except some tablets to Confucius and to some mem- 
 bers of his family. That is about all to be found in 
 any Confucian temple. Confucius was a great sage 
 and moralist, but he founded no religion — only a cult. 
 The three fundamental tenets of Confucian thought 
 are the fundamental unity which underlies the variety 
 
 ' 91 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 of the phenomena of nature ; the existence in the midst 
 of all change of an eternal harmonious order; and 
 man is endowed at his birth with a nature which is 
 radically good. Confucianism can never generate or 
 maintain any spiritual life. The personality of the 
 Divine Being is a conception which is entirely foreign 
 to Confucianists. The fact is, it is right here where 
 the trouble wuth all Oriental religious thought is to 
 be found. The Oriental cannot get out of pantheism. 
 This may account in a great measure for the belief in 
 demonology which dominates China. The pagoda, 
 with its five, seven, or nine stories, is a monument to 
 the belief in spirits. The pagoda protects the town; 
 for the spirits, on leaving its top, must go in a straight 
 horizontal line, and consequently they will pass over 
 the city, as the pagoda is always higher than any build- 
 ing-s in the city. In front of a house which faces an 
 open lot, opposite the doorway, is a brick wall ten 
 feet wide and as high as the eaves of the house. The 
 spirits coming from the vacant lot will strike the wall 
 and be turned down the street and be prevented from 
 entering the house. The cure for such superstitions 
 is intellectual enlightenment and a proper conception 
 of the Divine Being such as Christianity alone will 
 furnish. Confucianism and Buddhism may support 
 schools and thereby banish the superstition, but they 
 have no adequate conceptions to offer. Enlightenment 
 on their plan means agnosticism in the end. 
 
 The stroll through the narrow, ten- foot, greatly 
 congested business streets was full of exciting interest. 
 The stores all open out on the street. Some of these 
 looked very beautiful, while others seemed barren. 
 The fact is. th.e Chinese merchant must be entreated 
 
 92 
 
THE TEA RESTAURANT. 
 
 BOUND FEET. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 to show his goods. He will usually bring out what is 
 asked for, but he is not there merely to show goods. 
 Shopping here is a little difficult for the American 
 women. Is there anything quite so fascinating to an 
 American woman anywhere in the world as shopping? 
 Back of all these shops are the homes of those who 
 keep them. It is no trouble to see the Chinese at 
 their meals, as their table is set in the place of busi- 
 ness. They have no tablecloths, no napkins, no knives ' 
 and forks, no spoons, no plates, no sauce bottles, no 
 pitchers or pots. Bowls and chopsticks are their uten- 
 sils in eating ; while the common bowls, with cut meats, 
 vegetables, delicacies, each person eats from with his 
 own chopsticks as he may be inclined. The tea houses 
 are prevalent on every street. The Chinaman does 
 not drink water; but he must have his tea at every 
 hour in the day, if not oftener. That means he wants 
 boiling hot water for his tea leaves in a cup. The 
 keeper of the tea house has an open place, with bare 
 tables and bare benches or wooden stools, and kettles 
 of boiling water on a furnace. The customer for a 
 few cash (one-hundredth of a half cent) gets his cup 
 filled, and he sits and drinks. The most of the busi- 
 ness of a Chinese city is transacted in the tea houses. 
 The restaurants are not greatly different from the tea 
 houses except that on the furnace, besides the boiling 
 water, are articles of food being cooked. The furnace 
 is in the front of the room, and so the cooking is in 
 full view of every passer-by. After seeing the cook- 
 ing and the usual surroundings I was content to save 
 my appetite for the missionary's table. 
 
 After a two days' sojourn in the ancient capital on 
 the Yang-tse, I took the steamer for Chinkiang, a 
 
 93 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 beautifully located city of 300,000 people, fifty miles 
 below Nanking. The railroad has since been opened 
 from Chinkiang to Nanking. Much work has been 
 done on the railroad between Nanking and Tien-tsin. 
 When the road is completed, there will be a direct 
 line from Peking to Shanghai by way of Nanking. A 
 road is also being built between Shanghai and Hang- 
 chow. It will connect with a road that is to be built 
 between Canton and Hankow. A road already exists 
 between Hankow and Peking; so in three or four 
 years Canton, Shanghai, and Peking will be connected 
 by rail. When Canton is connected with Calcutta, and 
 Bombay with the new road through Persia, travel in 
 Asia will be more interesting and more pleasant than 
 it is to-day. 
 
 When the steamer anchored at Chinkiang, I was 
 met by Rev. W. C. Longden, the presiding elder of 
 the Chinkiang District of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, and taken ashore in a sampan and on to his 
 hospitable home. After tea (everybody has tea in this 
 country at four o'clock in the afternoon) we visited 
 the Girls' School, the Woman's Hospital, and the 
 street chapel and church of his denomination. The 
 half hundred girls of varying ages greeted me in their 
 assembly hall with a beautiful song of welcome sung 
 in my own vernacular. That w^as followed by the 
 "Hallelujah Chorus," marvelously well rendered. The 
 smaller children did their feats in song and recita- 
 tion, and the exercises closed with the "Kentucky 
 Babj." When I told them that Kentucky furnished 
 my birthplace and the "kinky-heads" and "banjo" 
 some early associations, they smiled their surprise and 
 delight. The voices were the best that I have ever 
 
 94 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 heard in a school of that size, whatever may have been 
 its grade or nationaHty. Why should I not have con- 
 gratulated the Principal, Miss Grace A. Crooks, and 
 thanked the little friends who entertained so charming- 
 ly? Miss Lucy H. Hoag, M.D., showed me the Wom- 
 an's Hospital and told me of the 5,400 cases that were 
 treated there last year. This institution furnishes the 
 Bible woman or hospital evangelist fine opportunities 
 for preaching the gospel. The women will enlarge 
 their plant and with it their work in a short time. 
 Good fortune occasionally comes to the missionaries 
 and their labors. The lot which the school and hos- 
 pital owned had in it a very ugly ravine. Thirty 
 thousand famine sufferers came across the river from 
 the North, and the railroad came up from the South 
 at the same time. The railroad wanted dirt removed 
 from its right of way, the school wanted its lot filled, 
 and the sufferers wanted bread. The distributing 
 committee said to the sufferers: "Put the railroad's 
 dirt on the missionary's lot, and we will furnish the 
 bread." And it was done. All parties were helped, 
 and injustice was done to no one. The philanthropist 
 made no beggars in this case. The fine location of the 
 school and hospital on the hill overlooking the city 
 and the river, the proximity of the mission home, the 
 pleasant surroundings give these institutions of Meth- 
 odism a fine outlook. The church and the chapel in 
 the center of the city are meeting with gratifying suc- 
 cess. Every kindness was shown the Southern broth- 
 er by the faithful missionary and his family, and the 
 leaving the next morning had with it the sincere hope 
 that the visitor and the visited might some day meet 
 in their native land. 
 
 95 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 My first travel by railroad in China was between 
 Chinkiang and Changchow, a distance of fifty miles. 
 The coaches have apartments for first-class, second- 
 class, third-class, and coolie-class passengers. No 
 one can ride in the lowest class unless he wears the 
 laborer's garb. The rate for first-class passengers is 
 two cents a mile ; for second-class, one cent a mile ; 
 and for third-class, one-half cent a mile. It is seldom 
 that any one purchases a first-class ticket, as the 
 coaches for the second-class passengers are more com- 
 fortable than any coaches in America excepting the 
 Pullman. The railroad is able to declare a good divi- 
 dend each year at these rates. The road was built 
 by the English, and then taken over by the Chinese 
 with the agreement that the English corporation 
 should receive five per cent on their investment. The 
 Chinese complained at its cost, but the English in- 
 sisted that railroads were costly institutions. The 
 }'Oung Englishmen who are employed as guards often 
 kick and cuff the Chinese at the stations as though 
 they were so many animals. They hide behind the 
 exterritoriality clause, and know they are secure in 
 their foreign protection. As a result of this kind of 
 action on the part of employees, the Chinese manage- 
 ment of the road is retiring the foreigners as rapidly 
 as possible. 
 
 After a two hours' ride through a level country 
 with farms and graveyards on every side, I alighted 
 in Changchow, a city of 200,000 people, and was cor- 
 dially received by Rev. J. C. Hawk, who took me at 
 once to his home. Wherever I have gone since land- 
 ing in Japan, six weeks ago, there has always been 
 some one to deliver me to the train or boat and some 
 
 96 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 one to receive me at my destination. The experience 
 is novel, but by no means unpleasant. This was my 
 first contact with our ovv^n mission work outside of 
 Shanghai. Rev. R. A. Parker, who is in charge of 
 the work in Changchow, was in Shanghai seeing his 
 brother, Dr. A. P. Parker, off to America; but he and 
 his family and Miss Ella D. Leveritt came up in the 
 afternoon. I saw the city, its narrow streets, its in- 
 teresting shops, its ancient wall, and its great temple. 
 The missionary was recognized by the Buddhist priests 
 in the temple and shown every courtesy. We were 
 admitted to the living rooms of the priests and made 
 welcome to every place that we chose to enter. But 
 Buddhist priests, as a rule, are ignorant men. Many 
 of them do not know even the origin of their own 
 faith. Were they converted to Christianity, they 
 would necessarily be wards of the Church, They 
 were taken as children into the temple, have always 
 lived there and performed a perfunctory temple serv- 
 ice, and would be helpless if turned out into the 
 world.- They could not be teachers of Christianity. 
 They receive very little consideration or respect from 
 the people, and are only used in the ceremonies which 
 certain occasions demand. Buddhism may have some 
 teachers in China, but the priests do not hold that 
 position. The temple — one of the finest in the em- 
 pire — is filled with numerous immense statues of the 
 Buddha. Behind the altar is a gigantic piece of 
 stucco work, fifty feet high and thirty feet wide, in 
 which are figures representing the various stages of 
 life in which a man may live, according to the teach- 
 ing of Buddhism. It is an ingenious work, hardly 
 artistic, but instructive to the devout, who blindly 
 7 97 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 grope after the truth of life and the hope of a blissful 
 destiny. 
 
 Changchow is a prefectural city — that is, the capital 
 of a large district. Our missionaries are the only for- 
 eigners in the city. At first they received the oppro- 
 brious title of "foreign devils ;" but now more consid- 
 eration is shown them, and the outlook of their work 
 is quite encouraging. Changchow needs a plant con- 
 sisting of a church building, a school building, and a 
 home for the missionaries. They live in a Chinese 
 house — the only missionaries of our Church in China 
 who are not furnished with a comfortable foreign 
 house. But these faithful men and women are will- 
 ing to deny themselves the comforts of a foreign 
 home in order to secure a suitable church for their 
 work. At present they hold all religious services in 
 a small chapel which is nothing more than the recep- 
 tion room of a Chinese house. The Holston Confer- 
 ence has subscribed enough money to purchase a lot. 
 Who or what Church or what district or what Con- 
 ference will build a memorial church in Changchow 
 at an expense of only $5,000 to $7,000? The Cen- 
 tral Church in Shanghai was built several years ago 
 by the late Mr. L. R. Moore, of Kansas City. Has 
 Changchow such a friend? The future will fully 
 demonstrate the wisdom of such an investment of the 
 Lord's money. 
 
 Again I was delivered to the train with ticket in 
 hand; and I bade good-by to the dear friends in 
 Changchow, the memory of whose kindness will lin- 
 ger as a benediction. The forty-five miles were soon 
 traveled; and I stepped from the train at Soochow, 
 to be received by that faithful missionary, the beloved 
 
 98 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 physician, Dr. W. H. Park. According to the reck- 
 oning of the Chinese, he became an "old gentleman" 
 less than a 3^ear ago, when they celebrated with elab- 
 orate ceremonies the fiftieth anniversary of his birth. 
 But he is not an old man in any sense of the word, 
 and his twenty-six years as a missionary in China 
 have prepared him for even more distinguished serv- 
 ice in the next quarter of a century, which it is ear- 
 nestly hoped may be granted him. The station is a 
 mile from the gate of the city, just as most of the 
 stations on this road, and the missionary compound 
 is outside of the wall on the opposite side of the city. 
 So, as the streets are too narrow and rough for jin- 
 rikishas, the only hope of comfortable travel was the 
 sedan chair. That was my first experience in the 
 chair borne on the shoulders of two or four men. 
 It was rather disturbing to my democratic spirit. 
 There is too much of the Old World spirit in being 
 borne by other men. It was bad enough to be drawn 
 by a man in a jinrikisha ; but when it came to being 
 carried on the shoulders of men whom Christianity 
 has taught me to call brethren, the whole democratic 
 nature, with its training of three free American cen- 
 turies, absolutely rebelled. But I rode on the men 
 and my conscience, and was soon welcomed to the 
 home of Dr. Park by his wife, the daughter of that 
 great sainted missionary. Dr. J. W. Lambuth, and sis- 
 ter of the efficient Secretary of the Board of Mis- 
 sions. A talk at the prayer meeting of our own mis- 
 sionaries on Saturday night and a sermon on Sunday 
 afternoon to an audience composed of the missiona- 
 ries of the Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Meth- 
 odist Churches gave me an opportunity to meet all 
 
 99 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the servants of the Christian Church in Soochow. 
 While the results of the missionary labors in this 
 great city of 500,000 people are not extraordinary, yet 
 they are gratifying. 
 
 I was greatly pleased with our plant in Soochow. 
 Dr. W. H. Park and his colaborers have built up a 
 hospital which is a great credit to our Church. He 
 and his staff treated more than 20,000 cases last year 
 and performed about three hundred surgical opera- 
 tions. He has associated with him some most ex- 
 cellent Chinese physicians whom he has trained. He 
 has calls continually to the best families in Soochow. 
 By this outside practice he makes fifteen to twenty- 
 five dollars cash a day, which he turns over to the 
 hospital fund. Friends of the hospital among the 
 Chinese send in each year several hundred dollars in 
 donations because of their interest in the work of 
 healing which the hospital is doing. Some buildings 
 have been erected with the funds which have come 
 in through these channels. The reception room for 
 the patients or visitors who are waiting to see pa- 
 tients is a chapel, and the chaplain preaches to the 
 people while they wait to be served. The mission- 
 aries use the opportunity of preaching privately which 
 the wards afford. Practically what is said of Dr. 
 Park's hospital can be said of the Mary Black Memo- 
 rial Hospital, which adjoins it. That Kentucky wom- 
 an, Dr. Margaret H. Polk, is doing a great work, and 
 her hospital is a heavenly blessing to the sick women 
 of Soochow. The Bible women do for the patients 
 in the woman's hospital what the chaplain and preach- 
 ers do in the other institution. Only a vacant lot 
 separates this hospital from the old First Church, 
 
 100 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 which should be supplanted by a new First Church in 
 keeping with the surrounding buildings as well as 
 with the needs of the large and growing congrega- 
 tion. Just beyond the church is the Laura Haygood 
 School for Girls. The two new buildings are very 
 beautiful; and the third, which is in course of erec- 
 tion, is just as beautiful. There are about sixty young 
 women in attendance. The fine plant has equipment 
 for doing a great work. 
 
 Soochow University has an elegant and commo- 
 dious main building, with excellent class rooms well 
 furnished, good laboratories, comfortable offices, and 
 as good a dormitory as is possessed by any institution 
 of our Church. There is a pressing need just now 
 of more dormitory facilities, as the rooms will accom- 
 modate only two hundred pupils and the enrollment 
 reached two hundred and thirty-three last year. Ap- 
 plicants for admission must be denied because of the 
 lack of room in the dormitory. Boarding in the city 
 is impossible, and so the attendance must be limited 
 to the dormitory space. The homes for the Presi- 
 dent and two professors are entirely satisfactory, but 
 there is need for homes for other members of the 
 faculty. The campus is not large, but very beautiful. 
 The friends of Dr. Park have recently built a water 
 tower on the campus ; and as soon as some funds are 
 furnished to lay the pipes, the University, the Laura 
 Llaygood School, and the two hospitals will be sup- 
 plied with good artesian water. The institution is in 
 high favor with the Chinese, and it is recognized by 
 foreigners and natives as one of the best institutions 
 in the empire. At the recent commencement, when 
 the first graduate was given his degree, the Viceroy 
 
 101 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 sent a personal representative from Nanking to speak 
 words of appreciation. The government will un- 
 doubtedly give the institution public recognition as 
 soon as the President lays its claims before the Vice- 
 ro3^ If the proper high standard is maintained, Soo- 
 chow University will soon hold an enviable place in 
 the esteem of the higher classes of China. With such 
 a plant the Church has a right to expect great re- 
 sults in its work of Christianizing the Chinese. At 
 present only twenty of the two hundred young men 
 are Christians. This gives a large field for the mis- 
 sionaries whose primary object is the conversion of 
 these young men to Christianity and a personal faith 
 in Jesus Christ. No superiority of equipment or in- 
 struction can atone for any lack in the results of the 
 true missionary labors. The Church may well rely 
 on the men who now have this important matter in 
 charge. 
 
 The Davidson Memorial Industrial and Bible School, 
 in the western portion of the city, is doing a mag- 
 nificent work. About eighty girls are in the School, 
 and many of these support themselves entirely or in 
 part by their work in the Industrial School. Forty 
 women of mature age spend each day in the work- 
 room in making fine embroidery and doing other high- 
 grade needlework. These women are paid wages, and 
 the school sells the articles made. Each morning 
 these women have a Bible lesson, and as a result the 
 most of them are now Christians. Day schools are 
 conducted in the neighborhood in connection witli this 
 institution. The West Soochow Church adjoins the 
 school, and its three hundred seats are taken at the 
 services each Sunday. The institution and the Church 
 
 102 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 are meeting with most gratifying results in this com- 
 munity. Most of the people who are reached are poor, 
 but with just such persons Methodism and Christian- 
 ity had their beginning. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has seven- 
 ty-two missionaries in China, counting the twenty- 
 two wives and the three women who are employed as 
 special teachers in our schools. Of the seventy-two, 
 thirty-one live in Soochow, fifteen in Shanghai, eleven 
 in Huchow, ten in Sungkiang, and five in Changchow. 
 The five cities are quite accessible to each other, as 
 Soochow and Changchow are on the railroad that runs 
 north from Shanghai, Soochow being fifty-three miles 
 from Shanghai, and Changchow being only fifty miles 
 from Soochow. Sungkiang is only twenty-five miles 
 from Shanghai, and the two cities are connected by a 
 railroad. Canals connect Huchow with Soochow and 
 also with Sungkiang and Shanghai, and the distance 
 of eighty and one hundred miles can be covered by 
 the launches in eight or ten hours. So the v/ork of 
 our mission is in a compact territory and has very 
 few physical difficulties in the way of travel. The 
 Conference has, besides the eighteen missionary 
 preachers, twenty-two native preachers. Some local 
 Chinese preachers are also emploj^ed by the presiding 
 elders. Every congregation in China has a Chinese 
 pastor. The missionary puts the responsibility of ev- 
 ery work on the native as soon as possible. This 
 seems very sensible. The sooner the Chinese feel that 
 the responsibility for the conversion of their people 
 must depend upon them, the quicker will Christianity 
 reach the great empire. The Chinese are naturally 
 tlie best pastors and preachers for their people. It is 
 
 103 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 very gratifying to know that some of those who now 
 fill the pulpits are regarded by the missionaries as 
 strong preachers, and their sermons are heard with 
 as much interest by the foreigner as by the native. 
 
 The presiding elders occupy an important position in 
 China, as they are really the superintendents of all the 
 points and preachers in their charges. They are the 
 leaders in the missions, and have very much to do with 
 the progress of all evangelistic work. From the mo- 
 ment I reached China till I set sail these men showed 
 me every courtesy and were always glad to talk of the 
 great work committed to their hands. They took 
 charge of me at their points and showed me fully the 
 work of the missions. Dr. J. B. Fearn was kind enough 
 to offer to accompany me from Soochow to Huchow, 
 thence to Sungkiang, and on to Shanghai. Of course 
 I accepted his offer because I was glad to have the 
 benefit of his fellowship and I wanted to see all our 
 missionaries in China — and I saw them. 
 
 On Monday this Shanghai presiding elder appeared 
 at the missionary compound in Soochow on a donkey 
 — a six-foot-two-inches, two-hundred-pound man on a 
 three- foot, inconsequential son of stupidity. I mount- 
 ed the mate, and we rode off, much to the merriment 
 of the good missionaries who were out to bid us fare- 
 well. A man will ride anything in China, from a "one- 
 hoss shay" to a wheelbarrow. However, a trotting 
 donkey three feet long will give satisfaction quickest. 
 We dismounted at the Customhouse, an institution 
 that is controlled and administered everywhere in 
 China by the British government. England has her 
 way of collecting debts in the Fast and at the same 
 time furnishing employment for a vast army of her 
 
 104 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 sons. The Britisher is in evidence everywhere in the 
 Orient, but he is seldom known to break down from 
 overwork. He thinks the American's strenuosity is 
 "very funny." While we stood talking to a young- 
 Englishman, a small Japanese launch steamed up from 
 the Japanese concession, a half mile below. The Jap- 
 anese have learned the tricks of the foreign nations, 
 and so at the close of the China- Japan War they de- 
 manded concessions. Japan is losing the friendship 
 of some nations by copying their tricks in the Orient. 
 She has had examples in almost all that she is doing 
 over here, and her aptness as a pupil has alarmed some 
 of her competitors. Even her steamers are plying all 
 the rivers and canals in China that are open to other 
 nations. The launch was escorted by a Chinese gun- 
 boat to protect the passengers from the bands of 
 pirates that have recently been committing outrages 
 on the canals that we were to travel. Sometimes the 
 canals are only twenty-five to thirty feet wide, and 
 robbers would have no trouble in boarding the small 
 boats. While the gunboat might have been consid- 
 ered an object of ridicule, yet its presence under the 
 circumstances was by no means despised. The launch 
 not only carried passengers, but it towed a barge with 
 accommodations for passengers and a half dozen pri- 
 vate house boats. We took the best accommodations 
 on the barge, which were called first-class ; while many 
 Chinese were in or on the other part of the barge. 
 As the banks of the canals were not more than five 
 or six feet high, it was very easy to stand on the 
 barge and see the whole surrounding country. The 
 farms and the graveyards were on either side. In- 
 stead of having great fields in those level tracts of 
 
 105 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 land, the acres were divided into garden plots and 
 farmed minutely for two crops a year. At many points 
 we found the farmers dredging the canals for muck to 
 put on their little farms. The canals furnish the fer- 
 tilizer and the water for irrigation. The Grand Canal, 
 running as it does from Tien-tsin to Southern China, 
 has furnished, with its great network of smaller canals, 
 the greatest facilities for travel, for marketing their 
 products, and for meeting the requirements of their 
 homes and their industries to the vast millions of this 
 great country. 
 
 At five o'clock in the afternoon (the Chinese eating 
 time) on the center table in the cabin were placed 
 bowls of vegetables, cut meat cooked in a stew, and 
 other dishes ; and each passenger was supplied with 
 a bowl of rice and two chopsticks. The two China- 
 men and the presiding elder crossed chopsticks in the 
 common bowl ; but the stranger remembered that good 
 Mrs. Park had prepared for him a lunch of agreeable 
 American cooking, and he chose the cold supper rather 
 than the uncertainty in the warm one. The Chinese 
 do not use butter or lard in cooking, but an oil made 
 from millet and beans. This gives all food a strange 
 flavor. They put in other seasoning which is not al- 
 ways agreeable to the palate of the foreigner. When 
 night came on, Dr. Fearn brought out two handbags 
 and took from them two beds, which he threw on 
 the bunks. We slept comfortably until one o'clock, 
 when we reached Huchow, where we transferred to 
 the house boat of Rev. J. L. Hendry, in which we 
 concluded the night's repose. 
 
 The missionaries had learned of our coming, and 
 had come from their evangelistic labors on their cir- 
 
 106 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 cuits. . Rev. T. A. Hearn, the presiding elder, is lead- 
 ing a most successful campaign in the Huchow Dis- 
 trict. He baptized and received into the Church a 
 score the week before our arrival. Rev, J. L. Hendry 
 and his wife had returned from a two weeks' service 
 from which twenty-five were received into the Church. 
 Rev. E. Pilley was meeting with similar success on 
 his circuit. The fact is, the reports of these brethren 
 thrilled me as nothing else which I had heard or 
 seen in China. The Huchow District was organized 
 six years ago with a few members at Huchow, and 
 now the district reports more than i,ooo communi- 
 cants, or more than one- fourth of the entire Chinese 
 membership. Its progress has been made almost en- 
 tirely through the evangelistic work. By the "foolish- 
 ness of preaching" St. Paul expected the world to 
 be converted to Christ. In China the greatest ingath- 
 erings have been in those provinces (especially Che- 
 kiang and Fu-kien) where the emphasis has been laid 
 upon the evangelistic work. The majority of our mis- 
 sionaries in China are in educational work; and some 
 of our men who have felt the call to preach and are 
 regularly ordained ministers have never had the priv- 
 ilege of doing regular ministerial work any more than 
 preachers who are teaching in any of our Church 
 schools are given that privilege. This is due to the 
 fact that the schools had to be cared for; and after 
 they received the indispensable number of men, there 
 were not many left for the evangelistic work. The 
 work of the schools is as much- missionary and is as 
 necessary as the preaching, but no more so. The edu- 
 cational force should not be diminished by a single 
 man ; on the contrary, it should be increased. But 
 
 107 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 there can be little doubt that the evangelistic- force 
 should receive reenforcement until it is at least as 
 strong- as the educational force. Some of the Church- 
 es are solving this problem in part by employing young 
 laymen for the schools and thereby releasing some of 
 the preachers for the evangelistic work. In our Soo- 
 chow University we have five 3^oung laymen as teach- 
 ers. The question as to how these matters should be 
 adjusted, no man, unless exceedingly wise, on a visit 
 of three weeks would be able to decide ; but that the 
 Church at home should send out to China at once a 
 half dozen men for the evangelistic work or for the 
 schools, so that men might be released, there can be 
 very little doubt. The reason that they have not been 
 sent already is that the Church has not supplied the 
 funds. The Board cannot supply men unless the 
 Church contributes the money. The man who can 
 preach the gospel in Chinese to-day has the highest 
 privilege given to man in these opening years of the 
 twentieth century. The man who has a genuine mes- 
 sage and can deliver it with power will have as sym- 
 pathetic and appreciative an audience in China as he 
 will find in the United States, and the results of his 
 preaching will be just as gratifying. 
 
 My visit to Huchow was full of interest. Besides 
 the preachers mentioned, whose courtesies and the 
 kindness of whose wives were greatly appreciated, I 
 found A/[iss Clara E. Steger, Miss Emma Steger, of 
 Missouri, Miss Mary Lou White, of Virginia, and 
 Miss Lochie Rankin, of Tennessee, all enthusiastic 
 over their work. I felt like making the full quota of 
 Chinese bows to Miss Rankin, the first missionary of 
 the Woman's Board. She is busily engaged in her 
 
 108 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 loved employ — that of conducting a girls' day school. 
 Many a wayfarer has found the Vv^ay by the torch 
 which she has kept lighted. The young women are 
 happy in their beautiful home, built by the ladies of 
 the Tennessee Conference ; while they have every con- 
 venience and comfort in the elegant school building, 
 built by the women of Virginia. The Woman's Board 
 has built wisely and well everywhere in the China 
 Mission, and the work of their schools is prosperous. 
 The boys' school, under the principalship of Rev. W. 
 A. Estes, needs a building very much. Huchow should 
 have a church building at the earliest possible moment. 
 If the plans of those who have labored in this city of 
 100,000 people are carried out, we will soon have a 
 great plant in one of the most fruitful sections in 
 which we have work. The people are responsive to 
 the gospel. When I arrived, I was told that a meet- 
 ing had been arranged for the afternoon, when I 
 would meet some of the people. I supposed that the 
 missionaries would be present and a few Chinese help- 
 ers. To my surprise, when I arrived I found the 
 chapel crowded with more than three hundred Chi- 
 nese. Rev. T. A, Hearn acted as interpreter, and I 
 spoke as long as regard for my patient audience 
 would allow. The attention and order were as good 
 as would be secured in a mixed audience of men, 
 women, and children in America. I left Huchow 
 feeling greatly encouraged with the outlook of our 
 work in China and with the determination to do what 
 I could to send more evangelists to this great field. 
 
 The Huchow presiding elder Is building a new "eld- 
 erage," and he had to go to Shanghai for material. 
 So Dr. Fearn and I got into his house boat with him, 
 
 109 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 and we were towed down the canal to Sungkiang, 
 where we stopped for a day. Rev. H. T. Reed aroused 
 us from our comfortable slumbers, and we went at 
 once to his home for breakfast and then to the boys' 
 school which he is conducting. Out of the sixty boys, 
 twelve have already signified their intention of becom- 
 ing ministers. This is very encouraging, as the men 
 who are in the end to reach China are the Chinese; 
 and unless our schools supply the ministry, we can- 
 not hope for an}'^ great advancement of Christianity. 
 The old Buffington College produced most of the 
 Chinese preachers now in the Conference, and its 
 work can never be too highly appreciated. The lack 
 of ministerial candidates in our two principal schools 
 is the chief cause for discouragement regarding our 
 future work. However, the missionaries are all awake 
 to this condition, and they are making special efforts 
 to secure men for the ministry. The boys' school at 
 Sungkiang is doing fine work. Principal Reed is be- 
 ing assisted by Rev. George R. Loehr. Miss Waters, 
 Miss King, and Miss Peacock are delighted with their 
 beautiful new Susan B. Wilson Girls' School. Mrs. 
 Gaither is busy with her work in the Bible Woman's 
 School and with the superintendence of the new 
 Hayes-Wilkins building, which is in course of erection. 
 I greatly enjoyed my visit to Sungkiang, and was 
 much pleased with the outlook of the work there. 
 We had planned to leave in the afternoon on the 
 house boat for Shanghai, to be rowed by the oars- 
 men ; but Dr. Fearn reported that a work train would 
 leave about two o'clock for Shanghai, and that he 
 had secured permission for our traveling on it. We 
 hurried to the station, but found that the train was 
 
 110 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 not going, but that a hand car would take a civil en- 
 gineer to Shanghai, and that we could go along. We 
 went — four hours, twenty-five miles, cold, damp, 
 home. All was well. 
 
 Ill 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 The Chinese in Life and Customs. 
 
 THE American's ignorance of China brings no 
 blush to his cheek nor twinge to his conscience. 
 He may know that the modern Chinaman can boast 
 of a history that antedates Babylon, Nineveh, Egypt, 
 and Israel ; yet that history, as a rule, makes no ap- 
 peal to him. The names of emperors and dynasties, 
 generals, statesmen, and literary celebrities, cities, riv- 
 ers, and provinces have no place in his mind, and he 
 thinks of them as unpronounceable and as not meant 
 to be remembered by him. So China and the Chinese 
 do not take hold on the A.merican mind, and conse- 
 quently not greatly on the American sympathy. The 
 laundryman and the coolie on the Pacific Coast fur- 
 nish to most Americans their conception of the great 
 people of the Orient. The United States has forty- 
 six States and some Territories, diflfering in size, prod- 
 ucts, climate, and inhabitants. China has eighteen 
 States or Provinces in China proper, three States in 
 Manchuria, and also Mongolia and Tibet. The eight- 
 teen States vary in size from 36,670 square miles to 
 216,480 square miles, and in population from 5,142,- 
 000 to 69,000,000. The whole population of the Unit- 
 ed States could be put in Texas, and the population 
 would be no more dense than that of Szechuen, the 
 largest Province of China. China proper has an area 
 of 1,532,420 square miles and a population of 407,- 
 331,000 people. A native of China proper only is 
 
 112 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 called a Chinese. When it is remembered that the 
 railroad is still limited to a thousand miles, that travel 
 on the great rivers by steamer will reach only a small 
 territory, that travel by canals must necessarily be 
 slow, and that there are no public roads in the em- 
 pire, one can readily see that several months would 
 be required to reach any very large part of this in- 
 teresting country. Notwithstanding certain restric- 
 tions to communication between different parts of the 
 empire, the Chinese may be said to be a homogeneous 
 people. The habits of to-day were in large measure 
 the habits of these people two thousand years ago. 
 The fact is, Chinese history is uninteresting because 
 it is not a record of progress or regress. The wars 
 and conquests may give the people new rulers ; but 
 the conquerors have always been assimilated by the 
 conquered, arid China remains the same. Any radical 
 changes made in the customs of life or government 
 would be a gross impeachment of the revered ances- 
 try. So when any section of China is thoroughly 
 studied, a very good idea of the whole people and 
 their habits of life may be obtained. However, that 
 does not mean that one may get a full understanding 
 of the Chinaman. The Chinaman is understood fully 
 only by himself, and there is some doubt as to his 
 ability in that direction. 
 
 Captain Brinkley, the distinguished editor of the 
 Japan Mail at Yokohama, has said: "No other nation 
 with which the world is acquainted has been so con- 
 stantly true to itself; no other nation has preserved 
 its type so unaltered; no other nation has developed a 
 civilization so completely independent of any extra- 
 neous influences; no other nation has elaborated its 
 § 113 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 own idea in such absolute segregation from alien 
 thoughts ; no other nation has preserved the long 
 stream of its literature so entirely free from foreign 
 al^uents; no other nation has ever reached a moral 
 and national elevation comparatively so high above 
 the heads of contemporary states." The Chinese have 
 always divided the universe into two parts : the heaven 
 above, and China, or all under heaven. The Emperor 
 has always been the son of heaven. The contempt for 
 foreigners which the Chinese have manifested and 
 which they manifest yet in many quarters — for for- 
 eigners are only tolerated and never welcomed — is due 
 to their conceit as to their own position in the uni- 
 verse. To admit foreigners to any consideration was 
 indeed a grievous concession for these Celestials. 
 When General Gordon defeated the Taiping rebels 
 at Changchow and Soochow after they had been emi- 
 nently successful against the Chinese, Li Hung Chang 
 realized for the first time that foreigners had some 
 elements of superiority. The hardest lesson which the 
 Chinese have been compelled to learn is the quality 
 of the foreigner in some things and even his supe- 
 riority in certain other things. 
 
 The Chinese do not want to take lessons from the 
 foreigner, and their cry to-day is : "China for the Chi- 
 nese !" China may thirst for Western learning, but 
 she desires to drink it from her own fountains. She 
 is willing to build railroads and inaugurate modern 
 enterprises ; but she prefers to have them owned, con- 
 trolled, and run entirely by Chinese. The concessions 
 which have been made to British, American, or Ger- 
 man companies have been or are being bought back, 
 so that the foreigner may not have any interest in her 
 ' 114 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 great commercial enterprises. The same spirit is ex- 
 hibited in a degree toward the Christianity which for- 
 eigners are trying to propagate. There is no serious 
 objection to Christianity in itself; but the Chinese re- 
 gard it as a foreigner's religion, and they are inclined 
 to cling to the religion of their own country. The Box- 
 er movement was not aimed at Christianity except so 
 far as it was the religion of the foreigner. There is 
 no country in the world to-day that would be more 
 open to Christianity than China if the foreign feature 
 could be eliminated. But on account of this age-long 
 sentiment against foreigners, the greatest obstacle to 
 the progress of Christianity in the Celestial Empire 
 is the fact that its propagators must be foreigners 
 until a native ministry is produced. The benefit of 
 such an institution as the International Institute, 
 founded and directed by Dr. Gilbert Reid, whose pri- 
 mary object is the promotion of fellowship between 
 foreigners and high-class Chinese, can be readily seen. 
 This condition will explain the wonderful work which 
 has been done by Dr. Young J. Allen, Dr. Timothy 
 Richard, and their associates in their Society for the 
 Diffusion of Knowledge. The Young Men's Chris- 
 tian Association is also accomplishing inestimable good 
 by relating the young men of China with the young 
 men of other nations. Anything that will break down 
 the sentiment against foreigners will clear the way for 
 Christianity and at the same time open the door for 
 the learning of the present day. 
 
 China is suffering greatly from misrule. The gov- 
 ernment is defective in very much, and bad in its 
 whole system and administration. From a financial 
 standpoint it is the greatest system of graft which the 
 
 115 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 world has ever known. The head of the government 
 is the Emperor, who is the appointee of his prede- 
 cessor. Every Emperor is apt to appoint his son, but 
 he may appoint some one else. All places in the em- 
 pire are at his disposal. Viceroys are appointed over 
 certain territories which may comprise one, two, or 
 three provinces. There are seven or eight viceroy- 
 alties in the empire. Over each of the provinces is 
 appointed a governor. Over a circuit in a province 
 is placed a taotai. The circuit is composed of two, 
 three, or four prefectures, and the prefectures are 
 made up of magistracies. The magistrate, the prefect, 
 the taotai, the governor, and the viceroy make up the 
 five grades of appointments. There are thirteen hun- 
 dred magisterial districts, one hundred and eighty pre- 
 fectures, eighty circuits, eighteen provinces. The 
 magistrate of a district is invested with both criminal 
 and civil functions ; he is the keeper of prisons, the 
 overseer of public roads, the registrar of land, the 
 famine commissioner, and the officer of education. 
 No official could perform duties so numerous and so 
 varied without assistants, and so he has a large staff; 
 but he is held responsible for the performance of all 
 duties. In criminal cases the magistrate is the court 
 and the jury, as well as the prosecutor. If the accused 
 can show sufficient financial reasons why he should 
 not be severely dealt with, the magistrate dismisses 
 the case ; but if no finances are forthcoming, the mag- 
 istrate hears the accusations and passes sentence. In 
 case of criminal ofifense the prisoner is made to sub- 
 mit to excruciating tortures until he confesses his 
 guilt, and then he is taken out and beheaded. In civil 
 suits the magistrate hears one side and receives what 
 
 :i6 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 is given, and then hears the other and receives again. 
 He then hears the first side and receives, and then 
 hears the second side and receives. His decision is 
 usually reserved until, in the language of the auc- 
 tioneer, "they are all done," and he hands down his 
 decision much as does the auctioneer. Cases may be 
 appealed to the prefect and retried. He, however, 
 seldom renders any decisions, but shifts such duties 
 to the first assistant department magistrate. 
 
 The administration of the central government is in- 
 trusted to two councils, the Grand Secretariat and the 
 Grand Council. The first has four members, two Man- 
 chus and two Chinese, with one Manchu and one 
 Chinese secretary. As aids there are ten learned men 
 from Hanlin College, with about two hundred secre- 
 taries. The members of the Grand Secretariat sub- 
 mit to the Emperor all papers relating to the affairs 
 of the empire, keep the seals used by the departments, 
 and are the officials whom the Emperor most frequent- 
 ly consults and in whom he chiefly confides. They 
 deliberate on the affairs of State, declare the imperial 
 will, and aid the Emperor in governing his subjects. 
 The Grand Council has five members and about sixty 
 secretaries. They are chosen from the members of 
 the Grand Secretariat, the presidents of boards, and 
 the principal officers of all the courts in the city. Be- 
 fore this body the heads of departments appear when 
 the Emperor is to be consulted. It has really super- 
 seded the older body in business importance. Under 
 the two councils there are six administrative boards 
 — the Civil Board, Board of Revenue, Board of Rites, 
 Board of War, Board of Punishment, Board of Pub- 
 lic Works. The Civil Board has jurisdiction over the 
 
 117 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 official class — or mandarins, as they are called — ap- 
 pointing and discharging them, regulating their duties, 
 pay, promotion, the assignment of work, and the 
 granting of leave. The Board of Revenue collects the 
 money from the provinces and selects the Manchu 
 women who are eligible for the imperial harem. The 
 Board of Rites has the supervision of the ceremonial 
 and ritual observances which form the distinguishing 
 feature of the national character. The ceremony for 
 feast days, the cut of a court jacket, the etiquette 
 relating to subjects of a military or civil character 
 are all described in the fourteen volumes which form 
 the statutory law of the board. No act or omission 
 will bring a Chinese official under censure so quickly 
 as carelessness in official ceremonv. The Board of 
 War should be among the first in importance, but the 
 empire has done very little in preparing for defense 
 against external foes. The board appears to be pow- 
 erless to organize an effective army. This is due in 
 large measure to the peculiar autonomy of the prov- 
 inces, each having its own military organization, 
 which it supports and controls according to the will 
 of its own officials. There is no uniform system. 
 There is an absence of cooperation. In the China- 
 Japan War China expended large sums on the army 
 and navy; but they were wholly ineft'ectual, not be- 
 cause military material was wanting in the Chinese 
 character, but because there was no organization, no 
 rall3dng point in the military system, no one directing 
 mind, no confidence of the soldier in his superior 
 officers. China must be unified before she can ever 
 defend herself against any attacking force ; and that 
 means that a new form of central government must 
 
 118 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 take the place of the present incompetent, unsavory, 
 despoiHng system. 
 
 The Board of Punishment might be called a court 
 of appeals. It works all changes in the written law 
 and the supplementary enactments, prepares all new 
 editions of the penal code, regulates prisons, and col- 
 lects fines on jailers and others. The duties of the 
 Board of Public Works are miscellaneous, but they 
 are not well discharged. No city in the world is in 
 a worse sanitary condition than Peking, where the 
 board sits. It is easy to see in traveling that no at- 
 tention is given to the repair of the highways by 
 land and water. The Grand Canal, the greatest mon- 
 ument of Chinese skill and industry, has been neg- 
 lected to the extent of greatly impairing its useful- 
 ness. The masonry has fallen away, and the granite 
 blocks have been boated away and sold. The roads, 
 bridges, and canals have been shamefully neglected 
 during the two hundred and fifty years of the reign 
 of the Manchurian dynasty. The whole empire suf- 
 fers through the idea that each province is an inde- 
 pendent tinit. The central government refuses to in- 
 terfere, except when in a critical mood, with the edu- 
 cational, fiscal, penal, judicial work, or any piiblic 
 improvements in a province. As the provincial offi- 
 cials are concerned only for themselves, the public 
 works are all entirely neglected. Bridges, roads, and 
 such works are private and depend entirely on the 
 liberality of some public-spirited citizen. 
 
 When the viceroy wants money, he makes demands 
 of the governors, the governors make demands of 
 their taotais, the taotais of the prefects, the prefects 
 of the magistrates, and the magistrates of the head 
 
 119 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 men of the villages and any citizens whom they may 
 desire to fleece. The village is often composed of 
 one family, but usually of a few families. The head 
 man is responsible for what takes place in the village. 
 If a criminal outrage is perpetrated in the village, the 
 whole village is responsible and must suffer for the 
 offense unless the malefactor is produced. The rea- 
 son that American authorities have had trouble in 
 finding criminals among the Chinese on the Pacific 
 Coast is that they have not used the Chinese method 
 of finding them. The magistrate usually asks for 
 what money he wants or the equivalent in produce, 
 and usually gets it; for in case the head man fails to 
 produce the amount that is desired, he loses his posi- 
 tion or is accused criminally and made to suffer. 
 Sometimes the magistrate finds a rich man who he 
 thinks should divide money with him, and levies on 
 him for what he wants. In case the rich man objects 
 seriously, he is accused of some criminal offense, tried, 
 and brought to punishment. As the magistrate is 
 court, jury, and prosecutor, he is fully able to handle 
 any case. Many rich Chinese are moving into Shang- 
 hai to-day to get protection from these magistrates. 
 The Chinese seldom make any show of their wealth 
 for fear the magistrates will make exorbitant demands. 
 A'Vhen the prefect sees that the magistrate is making 
 money too fast, he squeezes the magistrate and gets 
 a good sum. The taotai keeps his eye on the prefect, 
 and in due time asks for funds ; and the governor is 
 awake while the money is being passed, while the 
 viceroy seldom suffers from a diminished treasury. 
 , A Chinese gentleman told me of a general who was 
 supposed to have a certain number of soldiers when 
 
 120 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 he had less than one-twentieth of that number. The 
 general was paid the money for the keep of the entire 
 number, but he put nineteen-twentieths of it in his 
 own purse. In Changchow a prefect built a fine school 
 building at a cost of $130,000, with accommodations 
 for one thousand pupils. He was removed, and his 
 successor made no provision for carrying on the school. 
 There are always opportunities for a "squeeze" in 
 putting up a building, but very little in carrying on 
 a school. Schools are almost impossible under such 
 a system of government. These officials, whose whole 
 thought is how to get money and who are moved after 
 very short terms to other districts, will not do much to 
 build up a school system, A school depends wholly 
 on the whim of the man in office for its support, and 
 it may be terminated abruptly at any time. A govern- 
 ment that depends on such a system is almost helpless 
 in its efforts to build up a great educational system. 
 
 The "squeeze" is one thing to be expected in all 
 walks of life. The cook in the kitchen buys all the 
 food for the family and then charges the family prices 
 that will allow his commission. If the man or woman 
 of the house does the buying, nothing is saved, as the 
 cook can always buy at cheaper rates ; and, besides, 
 the merchant knows that the cook will in due time 
 appear and demand his commission on all that comes 
 to the kitchen in which he works. The laborer always 
 wants something more than the regular tariff. The 
 Chinese cannot believe that missionaries are doing all 
 their work for them because they love them. They 
 think the "squeeze" will come in somewhere. So they 
 often report that the missionaries are kidnaping chil- 
 dren or arranging for some raid of the foreigner. 
 
 121 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 In China everybody "squeezes" somebody, and the 
 man who gets the most money is the greatest win- 
 ner in Hfe's game. 
 
 The great diflference between the progress of Japan 
 and that of China may be explained by the fact that 
 Japan has a mighty central government and every cit- 
 izen is a patriot, while the Chinese do not love their 
 government, and they have no interest in the Em- 
 peror, whom they regard as a foreigner, or any of 
 his appointed officials. They know them only as tax- 
 gatherers. No great reforms can be brought about 
 except through the officials, and men who have to ad- 
 minister through a corrupt and corrupting system can 
 hardly be expected to be great leaders in public re- 
 forms. A system of education that would eventually 
 bring sufficient enlightenment to the people to make 
 them see the present corruptions will not be strongly 
 supported by officials that seek to prevent their own 
 overthrow. To be sure, there are some officials who 
 exhibit much virtue and public spirit ; but they are 
 greatly in the minority, and all they inaugurate for the 
 public good may be completely destroyed by a corrupt- 
 ed successor. So China is in the clutches of a bad 
 government, and nothing short of a revolution will 
 bring relief. Is a revolution in sight? Some steps 
 have been taken which indicate progress, but the on- 
 ward march is not rapid. A leaven has been intro- 
 duced, and it is to be hoped that a new China is in 
 the forming. 
 
 I saw in Nanking the old examination halls with 
 their 23,000 booths, now deserted. As many as 25,000 
 candidates for degrees or certificates that are neces- 
 sar}^ for official appointment were examined in Nan- 
 
 122 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 king at one time. The examinations dealt almost en- 
 tirely with quotations from the Chinese classics, the 
 beauty of the character writing, and with the elegance 
 of a literary composition. It frequently happened that 
 a young man's teacher would enter a booth and pass 
 the examination for him, signing his name. Degrees 
 were bought outright. But the old regime has been 
 done away, and the examinations are held in Peking 
 when they are held at all. The old system was seen 
 to be worthless. I asked Dr. Timothy Richards, Dr. 
 Reid, and others what had been substituted for the 
 old examinations, and they answered promptly : "Noth- 
 ing." The old system was judged inadequate, and 
 the government has been incompetent to produce in- 
 stitutions that will give what is wanted. Young men 
 must be sent by the government to Japan, America, 
 and Europe. The mission schools have accomplished 
 much, but they cannot meet the demand in an empire 
 of 400,000,000 people. China once had 15,000 stu- 
 dents in the schools in Japan; but she does not like 
 Japan, and the boycott which she instituted on account 
 of the Tatsu Maru incident led to her recalling many 
 of her students from Japan. She does not like to 
 send her young men to America on account of the 
 treatment which the Chinese have received in the en- 
 forcement of our disgraceful exclusion laws, which 
 were made in answer to the demands of the labor 
 unions of California. We might to-day be molding 
 the leaders of China had we been more far-sighted. 
 American interests in the Orient can be best furthered 
 by America showing a more friendly spirit toward the 
 Chinese than she has shown before, and in that way 
 win back the student body that would be glad to come 
 
 123 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 to our institutions. China needs help in educating her 
 leaders, and America needs help in furthering her 
 commercial interests in the East. It must not be un- 
 derstood that China has no schools. She has one uni- 
 versity, eighteen high schools, 184 middle schools, and 
 3,000 to 5,000 primary schools ; but what are these 
 with a population of more than 400,000,000 ? The edu- 
 cational system is modeled after the Japanese, but it 
 has no such efficiency as the system in Japan. There 
 are not teachers enough for the schools that exist. 
 There is a great opening in China for foreign teachers 
 who are willing to give themselves to the great work 
 of educating this great people. 
 
 At Soochow, through the kindness of Dr. and Mrs. 
 W. H. Park, I had the privilege of visiting the home 
 of a wealthy Chinese in company with other friends. 
 We went in sedan chairs. The coolies bore us along 
 a narrow street, some twelve or fourteen feet wide, 
 with walls on either side about nine feet high. Sud- 
 denly they stopped and turned through a doorway in 
 the wall, across the first court, and let down the chairs 
 in a reception hall. Servants met us and bore in our 
 cards. We passed through a doorway into a passage- 
 way, and after walking about thirty feet we were met 
 by Mr. Yang, his wife, his son, and other members 
 of his family. There are forty persons in his house- 
 hold and two hundred rooms in his house. There was 
 no handshaking, as the Chinese do not shake hands; 
 but there was very much bowing, and in the bow the 
 hands were held together just as if they were cold 
 and efforts were made to warm them, and they were 
 brought up near the level of the upper chest or, in 
 case of extreme politeness, to the level of the face. 
 
 124 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 This multimillionaire, the controller of the pearl fish- 
 eries in Ceylon, and his sweet-faced wife received us 
 di^ssed in plain clothes. The Chinese never don fine 
 clothes when receiving for fear they would be better 
 dressed than their guests — a bit of modesty that might 
 become some American hosts and hostesses. We were 
 shown into a court in which there were a fountain, 
 some flowers, and a cliff made with subterranean pas- 
 sages. We passed then into a reception room, which 
 was decorated with Chinese drawings, some elegantly 
 carved wood, a large number of beautiful marble slabs, 
 and the usual number of reception chairs. From this 
 room we went out into another court in which there 
 were beautiful pots of flowers and an elaborate cement 
 cliff with intricate passages. All the courts and the 
 floors of the reception rooms were covered with the 
 dark brick with which the houses are built. The 
 houses of China for the most part have only brick 
 floors. After the court we went into another recep- 
 tion room with large pewter lanterns, the most ex- 
 quisitely carved pieces of wood, and many Chinese 
 decorations. Here we were served with tea. The 
 cups had no handles, and they had covers that re- 
 sembled saucers, except that they were small enough 
 to fit into the cup. These covers keep the tea warm. 
 When drinking the tea, one presses down the side 
 of the cover so as to let the tea come where it may 
 be sipped. After the tea we were shown across a 
 court into a small reception room which was deco- 
 rated in white (the color for mourning) and in which 
 there was a small altar. This was in honor of Mr. 
 Yang's mother, who died a few months ago. We 
 were shown into Mr. Yang's bedroom, also into Mrs, 
 
 125 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Yang's bedroom, and into the private boudoir which 
 adjoins each room. The beds are elaborate affairs. 
 They are very much hke the elaborate top beds of 
 the colonial days except that they are closed in on 
 three sides and beautifully draped curtains hang at 
 the side where the entrance is made. The apartments 
 of the various members of the large family are in 
 the different parts of this great two-story house, and 
 they are kept according to the wish of the occupants. 
 A son, when he marries, does not set up a house of 
 his own, but he lives in his father's house. The wife, 
 the concubines, the children of all, the famiilies of all 
 live under one roof, and the father — or in case of his 
 death his eldest son — is head of the entire household. 
 Often, in the country, a whole village has in it only 
 one family, and the head of the family is head of the 
 village. It is the law and order of the family which 
 has kept China in a compact state during all the 
 changes which have come in the national govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The day before I left Shanghai I had the privilege 
 of attending a wedding in company with my wife and 
 Rev. and Mrs. J. W. Cline. The wedding was to take 
 place at five o'clock. We arrived a little past that 
 time, but the wedding had not taken place. Rev. J. 
 B. Fearn, the presiding elder, was present to offi- 
 ciate. The brother of the groom and his wife and his 
 mother are Christians. We were cordially received 
 and given the seats of honor in the reception room. 
 The groom was dressed in the gaudy garments of an 
 official which he had rented for the occasion, follow- 
 ing the custom of all bridegrooms. The bride had 
 been sent for, but she had not come. While we waited 
 
 126 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 we were shown the bridal chamber with its beautiful 
 bed, its full quota of house and kitchen furnishings, 
 and various fruits and candies, with some beautiful 
 wedding gifts. We waited an hour, but the bride did 
 not come. We were shown the large book with red 
 pages, on which were written in Chinese the names of 
 all the gifts which the groom's family had made to 
 the couple and to the bride. A bookkeeper was kept 
 busy in an adjoining room adjusting all accounts. 
 "The bride is coming!" We waited. The announce- 
 ment was made several times, but about seven o'clock 
 she came — that is, she was brought .in on an elabo- 
 rately decorated sedan bridal chair, borne on the shoul- 
 ders of four men. A half dozen large Chinese lan- 
 terns on poles were carried in front of the bridal chair, 
 while a company of a dozen or more men were in at- 
 tendance, piping, ringing bells, and making all the 
 noise possible. The arrival of the bride was an- 
 nounced by the explosion of several packs of fire- 
 crackers. The heavy chair, with its precious contents, 
 was borne into the reception room. The groom was 
 brought and stationed before the minister. Five wom- 
 en servants accompanied the bride to see that she 
 was properly cared for in the ceremonies. Two of 
 them lifted the curtain of the chair sufficiently to 
 adjust the bride's headgear, and then threw back the 
 curtain and assisted the bride to step out. She stood 
 before the minister and beside the man, whom she 
 had never seen and by whom she had never been seen, 
 to whom she was to be married. A heavy red veil 
 covered her face, through v/hich she could not see or 
 be seen, and gaudy garments enveloped her body. 
 The ceremony was read in Chinese. The servants as- 
 
 127 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 sisted the bride to the bridal chamber. Her veil 
 would not allow her to see, and her bound feet would 
 not allow her to walk up the steep stairs unaided. 
 The groom followed the bride, and when they reached 
 the chamber they sat on the side of the bed and 
 looked toward each other for a few minutes. Then 
 the groom came below. The servants changed the 
 bride's hats, or rather helmets, which required much 
 time, as they virtually made the hat by using pearl 
 pins. We went in to the Chinese feast, consisting of 
 shark fins, bird's-nest soup, pigeon eggs, and many 
 meats. I was very, very polite, and ate nothing. We 
 went below to see the tricks of a juggler who always 
 performs at weddings. The room was crowded with 
 people from the street. After we left, the bride was 
 borne back to her parents' home, and at two o'clock 
 in the morning she returned to her husband's home. 
 She will live in her husband's home one month, and 
 then she will go to her parental home for a month, 
 when she will return to her husband's home to stay. 
 
 The marriage is more of a financial matter even 
 than it is in certain families in New York where counts 
 are bought and millionaires are sold. Every man's 
 wife in China is bought for him. The man must get 
 married and have sons, or else there will be no one 
 to burn paper at his grave, and that will be an eternal 
 disaster. The "go-between," or matchmaker, is em- 
 ployed to find a suitable wife for a man's son. Nego- 
 tiations are entered into, and if the proposals are sat- 
 isfactory the proper present in money is taken from 
 the man with the son to the man with the daughter. 
 In due time other presents of money are sent. When 
 the young man's family is ready for the marriage, the 
 
 128 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 time for the marriage is set. The bridegroom's fam- 
 ily sends the bride her trousseau. All the household 
 furnishings are provided. On the day appointed the 
 bride is sent for, and frequently while the guests are 
 assembled in the groom's house the bride's family 
 make other demands for money before they will let 
 her go. So it frequently happens that the marriage 
 of a son will involve himself and his family in debt 
 which is not removed for many years. One of our 
 missionaries tells of a man who cried out at the funeral 
 of his wife : "It will just break me up to have to get 
 another wife !" But when a man gets a wife, she is 
 his, or rather his family's. She calls his mother "moth- 
 er," and serves her as a slave. She is virtually dead 
 to her own family. She loses her name, and is known 
 only as the wife of her husband. Her highest joy is 
 to be the mother of sons. In case she is childless, she 
 adopts a son. She will always be her husband's legit- 
 imate wife, although he may choose for himself one or 
 more concubines whose children are known as her 
 children. When her husband goes from home on 
 business — as often happens — she stays at home while 
 he takes with him a concubine. The wife can never 
 be dethroned. If both husband and wife desire to 
 dissolve marriage on account of incompatibility of 
 temper, a divorce may be secured. The divorce may 
 take place if the wife beats the husband, -if the mar- 
 riage contract contains false statements, or if the wife 
 has one of the seven faults (barrenness, sensuality, 
 want of filial piety toward the husband's parents, 
 loquacity, thievishness, jealousy, and distrust) or an 
 incurable disease. But none of the seven faults will 
 justify a divorce if the wife has mourned three years 
 9 129 
 
ETCHINGS' OF THE EAST 
 
 for her husband's parents, if his family has become 
 rich since their marriage, or if the wife has no parents 
 living to receive her back again. The widow who 
 never marries is highly honored, and many beautiful 
 monuments are erected in China to the women who 
 did not marry the second time. 
 
 The Chinese are bound down socially and reli- 
 giously by their ancestor worship. The first thing that 
 a bride is asked to do is to worship before the an- 
 cestral tablets. In the temples when the priests are 
 conducting worship bowls of food of all kinds are put 
 on the altar for the departed spirits, and paper cov- 
 ered with a sort of material that looks like tin foil 
 is burned that the dead may have currency to pay 
 their bills. The people believe that the dead remain 
 in this world haunting their tombs and their former 
 homes and sharing invisibly in the life of their living 
 descendants. All the dead become gods in the sense 
 of acquiring supernatural power, but they retain the 
 characters which distinguished them during life. The 
 happiness of the dead depends upon the respectful 
 service rendered them by the living, and the happi- 
 ness of the living depends upon the fulfillment of 
 pious duty to the dead. Every season, good or evil, 
 the harvests plentiful or scant, floods, tempests, earth- 
 quake, or tidal waves are the work of the dead. All 
 human actions, good or bad, are controlled by the 
 dead. The whole family life is involved by these be- 
 liefs. The Chinese fear beheading because they be- 
 lieve that they would be compelled to be headless in 
 the next world. Funerals are often so expensive as 
 to involve the family in a debt for years to come. 
 A man may live a worthless life, but he must have 
 
 130 
 
MONUMENT TO A WIDOW. 
 
 SMALL TEMPLE WITH TYPICAL ROOF. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 full honors at his funeral or else he will bring trouble 
 to the family. Ancestor worship, with its mass of 
 superstitions, is the great obstacle to the progress of 
 Christianity among the Chinese. Superstition can be 
 banished only by the enlightenment that comes with 
 education and the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus 
 Christ. Confucianism can bring no relief, as it was 
 out of its teachings that ancestor worship sprang. 
 Taoism is a kind of nature worship which easily leads 
 to a belief in demonology. Buddhism can help very 
 little with its belief in the transmigration of souls. 
 Mohammedanism has 30,000,000 adherents, but its 
 life of sensuality and bloodshed can give very little 
 comfort to peace-loving Chinese. China needs edu- 
 cation and Christianity. Education may help to drive 
 away her darkness, but only Christianity can bring 
 the sun that causes life to appear. The school, the 
 hospital, the Church are the three institutions that 
 China needs to-day. 
 
 There are many characteristics of the Chinese which 
 are of great interest to Anglo-Saxons. The Chinese 
 are polite to the letter, economical in the extreme, and 
 industrious beyond one's expectation. They do not 
 work fast. They have an utter disregard of time, and 
 seldom keep an appointment on time. They exhibit 
 an absence of nerves, and seem to be indifferent to 
 comfort or convenience. They possess strong phys- 
 ical vitality. They are patient and persevering, and 
 are usually content and cheerful. They are gamblers 
 by nature, or at least of long training. The lower 
 classes are noted for their dishonesty. One man who 
 has lived many years in the country said that articles 
 that could be easily borne away had to be removed 
 
 131 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 from the guest chamber. There is no danger so long 
 as the "face" is involved; but when there is no prob- 
 ability of detection, honesty is not considered essen- 
 tial. In transactions the Chinese possess a fine talent 
 of misunderstanding, while indirection is a species of 
 brilliancy. Sincerity is not always detected. Quar- 
 rels in the streets are quite common, and regardless 
 of sex. Fights are not frequent, although the occa- 
 sional pull of the queue adds interest to the broils. A 
 blow in the face would be an insult which could scarce- 
 ly be wiped out. In a mass of people reared in igno- 
 rance mutual suspicion would be expected. There 
 seems to be a total absence of all public spirit. The 
 filth of the street and the dilapidation of public build- 
 ings cause no one any concern. That the streets are 
 filled with beggars is looked upon as natural. No 
 effort is made to give a city pure water. The boiling 
 of the water in the tea has been the salvation of the 
 Chinese. The Chinaman asks only to be let alone. 
 The ways of his ancestors suit him. He is respectful 
 of law, and he honors letters. He is the descendant 
 of a great people, and he has perpetuated an empire 
 that was in full glory before the foundations of Rome 
 were laid or the great history of Greece was produced. 
 He possesses stability and has the capacity for great 
 service in the world. His country has served the un- 
 numbered millions for millenniums, and yet its vast 
 mineral deposits have never been touched. He has be- 
 lieved that the great dragon possessed the interior of 
 the earth, and he has been afraid to molest him; but 
 he has begun to realize that the dragon will move if 
 the wealth that is hidden in the earth is Avanted. But a 
 new day for the Chinaman has dawned. 
 
 132 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Commerce and Christianity in China. 
 
 LESS than a dozen years ago there were no news- 
 papers in China excepting the Peking Gazette, 
 no telephones and no telegraphs except those between 
 some treaty ports which foreigners had erected. There 
 are now in the empire about two hundred newspapers, 
 telephones in several cities and some long-distance 
 lines, and a telegraph system which is operated under 
 the Post Office Department. The postal system is of 
 recent origin, and has been established under the direc- 
 tion of Sir Robert Hart, the British Supervisor of 
 Customs and until recently the Inspector General of 
 the mail system of China. The only way of com- 
 munication which the Chinese had was by miessengers, 
 and they were not employed to any great extent. The 
 people did not know that there was a world outside 
 of China, and they were not concerned to know what 
 was going on in their own country. When the war 
 was on between China and Japan, some natives asked 
 a missionary what and where the rebellion was. Re- 
 bellions are of constant occurrence in all the provinces, 
 and so many people of the empire never knew that 
 their country had ever been in deadly conflict with a 
 foreign power. Missionaries who wear the native 
 garb are sometimes asked from what province they 
 have come. The great masses of the more than four 
 hundred millions of Chinese are totally ignorant of 
 everything outside of their own local communities. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 China has no common language. Her written lan- 
 guage, Wenli, is never spoken, and the spoken dialects 
 are not written. The native of Soochow cannot come 
 fifty miles to Shanghai and understand his fellow- 
 countrymen. Almost every city has its dialect. This 
 is a great barrier to all mission work, and really to 
 all progress in China. The coming of railroads and 
 the circulation of newspapers printed in the most wide- 
 ly used vernacular will help to give China a language. 
 A modified Mandarin will likely, in the course of a 
 few scores of years, become the language for a greater 
 part of the empire. The scholars of China will per- 
 form a tremendous public service by bringing the peo- 
 ple of the various provinces to the use of a common 
 tongue in speech and in print. 
 
 The only piece of money which I found was taken 
 at its face value was the Mexican dollar. Shanghai 
 dollars could not be used in Nanking, nor Nanking 
 dollars in Soochow. In having a Mexican dollar 
 changed into small coin, I received eleven ten-cent 
 pieces. At the post office I offered forty cents in coins 
 and received only thirty-two cents in stamps. China 
 has no currency, and each city has its own local money. 
 The money market fluctuates daily. For each Amer- 
 ican dollar I received two dollars and twenty cents in 
 Shanghai. A month before I reached Shanghai Amer- 
 ican dollars were worth only two dollars local cur- 
 rency, while three months before they were worth only 
 one dollar and seventy-five cents. The traveler never 
 knows what his money is worth, and he is forever in 
 the clutches of a money changer. When a silver dol- 
 lar falls below the price of the silver that is in it, the 
 Chinese banks buy the dollars and melt them into sil- 
 
 134 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ver bullion. In one bank I found large bars of silver 
 bullion, or ingots, which are used as currency. In 
 parts of Mongolia silver does not find acceptance, but 
 payments are made in brick tea, the required quantity 
 being broken off the brick. Small silk handkerchiefs 
 are another popular form of currency, and a store of 
 them will carry a traveler farther than any number of 
 Mexican dollars. China is in great need of common 
 currency, but it will be hardly possible so long as the 
 central government remains weak and the provinces 
 have a practically independent government. 
 
 The first national bank of China owes its origin to 
 an imperial edict which was issued just ten years ago. 
 There is now an imperial bank at Shanghai, one at 
 Tien-tsin, and one at Hankow. But as the central 
 government has not the confidence of the native mer- 
 chants, the imperial bank cannot be a rival to the 
 foreign banks that are doing business in China. These 
 foreign banks, which may be found at all the treaty 
 ports, declare large dividends. The native banks are 
 local enterprises for the facility of merchants and 
 traders, and they receive deposits for which they pay 
 from five to eight per cent per annum. The shortest 
 period of a deposit is six months. The depositor is 
 given an interest book, and he may draw his interest 
 by the month or by the quarter. These banks some- 
 times issue a limited amount of notes, but these would 
 have no wide circulation unless the bank has a good 
 standing. They do not issue more than they can read- 
 ily redeem in silver coin or copper cash, as a rival 
 house or an evil-minded person might spread a rumor 
 as to their stability and thereby cause a rush. There 
 is no limit to their financial responsibility for the bank, 
 
 135 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 as the Chinese think that to Hmit their capital or lia- 
 bilities would destroy their financial standing. The 
 status of a bank is ascertained by watchers, who are 
 employed by banks and commercial houses, and whose 
 sole business is to make daily visits to the banks and 
 closely observe their dealings and financial conditions. 
 The banks loan money at a high rate, and they make 
 money in discounting bills and in their dealings in 
 bills of exchange. They have no palatial banking 
 houses and no iron vaults, as they keep on hand very 
 little money. Loans are not made on real estate ex- 
 cept in the foreign settlements, such as Hongkong, 
 Shanghai, and Tien-tsin. In some provinces the bank- 
 ers have large warehouses in which they stow grain, 
 beeswax, medicinal herbs, and other stuff deposited 
 as security by their customers. These banks make 
 large profit also by handling silver. They buy from 
 brokers whose business it is to purchase from shops 
 and money changers silver dollars of a low standard 
 or not passable at the full rate. These dollars are 
 bought at a price far below the value of the silver in 
 them, and they are melted, and "shoes" of silver are 
 made. Mexican dollars that have been chopped or 
 clipped or have no standard ring in them in this way 
 furnish a good source of profit. When the foreign 
 trade was concentrated in Canton, one bank made 
 $100,000 in one year from this source alone. 
 
 The banks of the Shansi Province enjoy a semi- 
 governmental character in that the money due from 
 the provinces to the central government passes through 
 them. The Shansi bankers for a thousand years have 
 been the most numerous and most influential in the 
 empire. They form a kind of g-uild. and have very 
 
 136 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 strict regulations regarding interest, speculating, and 
 clearing house. They own for the most part the banks 
 of exchange of the countr}^ One can travel over 
 China with a letter of credit from one of these banks. 
 The exchange banks do not loan money on land or 
 houses, and the most of their loans are made to local 
 banks, who loan to merchants on personal security. 
 
 The Chinese have high regard for promptness in 
 business. They are merchants by nature, and appre- 
 ciate the fact that successful business demands order 
 and respect for established custom. The foreigner 
 likes to do business v/ith a Chinaman because his word 
 is thoroughly reliable. He will stand by his contracts. 
 Herein he differs from the Japanese, whose disregard 
 of all commercial agreement is proverbial in the East. 
 With the Japanese war has always been honorable, 
 and the Samurai, the most honored class, have been 
 fighters ; while merchandising has been considered a 
 kind of piracy. With the Chinese war has been re- 
 bellion and commerce the avocation of the most re- 
 spectful classes. If political and military China were 
 as well organized as commercial China, there would 
 be some hope of progress in the great empire. While 
 the 'central government is invertebrate, the commerce 
 of the country is well organized and is directed b}^ 
 expert and competent business men. China cannot 
 contend in arms with a foreign foe, but through her 
 guilds she can by means of the boycott drive the 
 business interests of any foreign nation from her do- 
 main. America has felt her boycott, and Japan has 
 realized that the gim and the sword are not the 
 only weapons of national defense. The guilds, or 
 merchant unions, as they would be called in America, 
 
 137 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 control very largely the business of the country. The 
 guild houses are usually the most palatial buildings 
 in a Chinese city. They contain not only a hall where 
 the members meet, but also rooms set apart for the 
 lodging of high officials when traveling and for schol- 
 ars en route to the metropolitan examinations, and 
 places also for theatrical performances. The officers 
 of a guild are the general manager and a committee 
 who are elected annually. The permanent secretary 
 is a scholar of literary rank, and is paid a salary. It 
 is necessary for the secretary to be a scholar of literary 
 rank that he may have official standing and because 
 the delegate of a guild has access to the official class. 
 The membership of a guild is limited to thirty, and 
 the junior members of a partnership are not allowed 
 to attend the meetings. The revenue of the guild is 
 derived from a self-imposed tax on commodities sold 
 by the members. There is a monthly inspection of 
 the books of every establishment connected with the 
 guild. The inspection is made by clerks of various 
 firms in rotation. In case of disagreement between 
 members about money matters, they must submit the 
 disputes to the guild for arbitration under penalty of 
 expulsion. Regulations regarding the minutest de- 
 tails — weights, measures, storage, recovery of stolen 
 property, payments of bills — have been duly adopted. 
 The combination reaches with its influence every trade 
 interest that is common to its members. Its decisions 
 are implicitly obeyed under the pain of a heavy pen- 
 alty. The inner workings of the guilds are not gen- 
 erally known, as they are not discussed in public. 
 They exercise not only a domineering commercial au- 
 thority, but they have a powerful influence by virtue 
 
 138 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 of their compact organization on political, religious, 
 and social questions. To incur the displeasure of a 
 guild means religious and social isolation and com- 
 mercial ruin. 
 
 The Manchu dynasty is responsible for the policy 
 of exclusion which is in practice throughout the em- 
 pire, as well as for the continual antagonism to the 
 introduction of foreign goods and foreign ideas. The 
 Manchus gained their mastery of China through the 
 name of trade expansion, and they fear that some for- 
 eign nation may overrun them in the same way. The 
 European as a trader is distrusted, and not without 
 some reason if the actions of the early Portuguese and 
 Dutch traders may be taken as criteria. Exclusion 
 affects not only the foreign trader, but also the Chi- 
 nese who come from other provinces or even pre- 
 fectures. A Chinese will not undertake to start a new 
 industry in a strange province until he conciliates local 
 prejudices by interesting some natives of the district 
 sufficiently in the enterprise to have them take some 
 stock. Foreigners who wish to succeed in China must 
 learn to maintain the local interest. With no local in- 
 terest considered, the trader will soon find the local 
 markets barred to his products and the prices of raw 
 material and labor increased so as to make business 
 impossible. There are unions among all classes. There 
 is a uniformity in the prices prevailing throughout a 
 town or district. The cost of commodities is the same 
 in all classes of stores, as the prices are fixed by the 
 local union. The combine may be new to Western 
 civilization, but not to China. 
 
 The Chinese merchant has three pay days, one of 
 which is the Chinese New Year (about February i), 
 
 139 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 and the other two four months apart. Up-country 
 merchants pass over one pay day. So the seller may 
 have to wait four months and one day or eight months 
 less one day for payment. Cash transactions are prac- 
 tically unknown to Chinese merchants. Payments are 
 often made in goods of native or local production plus 
 a cash balance for the middlemen. Payment may be 
 made in "shoes" of silver. The middleman, or the 
 go-between, is very necessary where a people love bar- 
 gaining as do the Chinese and will spend hours, days, 
 weeks, and even months in the preliminaries of a con- 
 tract. The go-between's occupation is that of seeking 
 where the best bargains can be secured for him who 
 wants to sell, as well as for him who wants to buy. 
 He has numerous patrons, and he holds an important 
 position in the trading world. Often he confines him- 
 self to a particular line of goods and acquires an 
 expert opinion. He is paid a commission on all trans- 
 actions which he brings about. He wields a great 
 power in developing or in crippling the trade of the 
 merchants of China. 
 
 The pawn shops of China are definite commercial 
 undertakings, and are among the high classes of busi- 
 ness with which a wealthy Chinese gentleman may be 
 connected. They are recognized by the governments, 
 central and provincial, and are taxed and registered. 
 The owners cannot refuse to advance money to any 
 amount on reliable security, generally sixty-five to 
 seventy-five per cent of the value of such security be- 
 ing the pawning limit. The security cannot be sold 
 under eighteen months, and by mutual consent the 
 time of redemption may be extended to three years. 
 The pawn shop may lend on standing crops of rice, 
 
 110 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 millet, tea, cotton, on land revenues, on house rentals, 
 on shop accounts, fittings, merchandise, as well as on 
 personal possessions, such as wearing apparel, per- 
 sonal ornaments, or household goods. Only very 
 wealthy men can be proprietors of pawn shops. Usual- 
 ly they are at the same time bankers, large grain mer- 
 chants, or large salt merchants. The government 
 makes deposits with the pawn shops. A pawn office 
 is one of the best places to get money changed, and 
 one can safely travel on letters of credit issued by 
 the pawn shops. These pawn shops usually have the 
 finest and most imposing buildings in a Chinese city. 
 They are largely patronized by all classes of people. 
 
 The Chinese are unquestionably the business men of 
 the East. They know how to do business, although 
 their methods may be practically those of one thou- 
 sand years ago. The foreigner may teach them some 
 lessons, but he will find that when he deals with one 
 man he deals with a vast army of men and any un- 
 just dealing will eventually meet severe penalty. 
 "Face" would compel the Chinese merchant to fulfill 
 his contract, even to his ruin, as to lose "face" — 
 which would happen should an agreement be broken 
 — would involve his entire future and that of his fam- 
 ily in the community in which he lives. The China- 
 man may not always be an honest man, as it is well 
 known that many of the people are very dishonest; 
 but any contract that involves "face" will unquestion- 
 ably be kept. The matter of "face" is that which 
 makes the great difference between the merchants of 
 China and those of Japan. The Chinese may not show 
 the nervous enterprise of some other wonder-working 
 people, yet they exhibit that solidity and commercial 
 
 141 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 integrity which will make them the dependable people 
 of the Orient for many years yet to come. 
 
 Some sympathetic appreciation of the peoples of the 
 Orient is absolutely essential to any fruitful labor 
 among them and for them. The Anglo-Saxon differs 
 from the Oriental as much as the Oriental differs from 
 the Anglo-Saxon, but the Anglo-Saxon has put all the 
 mysteriousness with the Oriental. He does not seem 
 to realize that he is as far from being a mathemat- 
 ically demonstrated proposition as is the brother in 
 colors. The European and the American have made 
 grievous blunders in their efforts to reach the Chi- 
 nese, the Japanese, the Koreans, and the Hindoos be- 
 cause of their lack of appreciation of the Oriental 
 spirit. Because the Chinese have no flocks, no herds, 
 no carriages, no pretty farmhouses, no meadows, no 
 farms except the garden plots, no parks, no pleasure 
 grounds, no trees in the yards would be no reason 
 for thinking they have no ideas of beauty or home 
 comforts. They may have no science, yet they have a 
 great literature, a noble history, and a profound phi- 
 losophy. Their religious ideas are rooted in their 
 deepest convictions, and they have come to them 
 through long centuries of worship and worthy think- 
 ing. The orthodox Confucianist would consider it as 
 arrogant an assumption to suppose that anything c®uld 
 be added to his religious wisdom as a Christian would 
 for one to claim that an appendix could be added to 
 the New Testament. Missionaries are accustomed to 
 allude to the material well-being and political ascend- 
 ency which have come to their countries through 
 Christianity. When one speaks of the power and 
 wealth of the Christian nations, the Oriental only 
 
 142 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 asks : "What has that to do with religion ?" He looks 
 on Christianity as an instrument of depredation ; and 
 since the people of the East have come to believe that 
 commercial exploitation and conquest are the chief 
 end of the Western governments, they cannot look 
 upon the religion that gave them such a spirit and 
 power with any degree of toleration. They prefer 
 their rapturous and loving worship, their renunciation 
 and self-surrender and comforting contemplation to 
 any religion of self-assertion and national or racial 
 aggrandizement. 
 
 The benefactor of the Orient must be one who has 
 first been a student of the customs, conditions, and 
 spirit of the peoples. Too many missionaries have 
 gone blindly into their work and proceeded as though 
 they were altogether right in their habits of life and 
 way of thinking, and that those to whom they were 
 sent were altogether wrong. Narrow, provincial 
 Christian bigots can never find any point of contact 
 with narrow, provincial heathen. Men must proceed 
 in all thinking from the known to the unknown; and 
 unless Christian teachers can find some truth in the 
 Oriental's religion, the Oriental will likely never find 
 any truth in their Christianity. The approach to truth 
 is different with different people, and the habits of a 
 lifetime — yea, even of the life of a race — will make 
 channels through which alone the members of that 
 race can receive truth. The missionaries who have 
 been able to open the way for Christian truth have 
 been philosophers who understood the underlying prin- 
 ciples of Eastern mental life and conduct. Many 
 Western people never see in Christianity anything 
 more than a round of ceremonies and ordinances be- 
 
 143 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 cause Christianity is Oriental in its origin and its 
 whole spirit of worship is Oriental and their habit of 
 life and thought is anything but Oriental. The reli- 
 gious teacher who is sent to evangelize the Orient 
 needs a knowledge of Oriental philosophy, Oriental 
 religion, and the Oriental character more than an ac- 
 quaintance with Greek roots and Hebrew consonants. 
 The Church should furnish different equipment for her 
 missionaries to that which she has usually given her 
 pastors for the home land. The missionary may well 
 study the political, social, and religious conditions of 
 the country to which he goes, and the peculiar tem- 
 perament of the people so far as their literature and 
 philosophy exhibit their spirit. Buddhism, Confucian- 
 ism, Taoism, Shintoism may be studied in the schools. 
 In fact, a thorough course in comparative religion 
 would be of the greatest value in any attempt to un- 
 derstand the religious life of the people, and pastors 
 at home as well as the missionaries would be more 
 competent to propagate Christianity if they knew the 
 real teachings of other religions. Buddhism and Con- 
 fucianism cannot be judged any more from what one 
 may see in the worship of ignorant people than Chris- 
 tianity can be judged by the demonstration at a negro 
 camp meeting. It is hardly fair to our missionaries 
 to compel them to learn everything about the religion 
 and habits of a people after they have reached the 
 field. 
 
 Missionaries in China and Japan are sometimes ac- 
 cused of saying that the native preachers want to push 
 them out. I do not believe that this sentiment is ex- 
 pressed by many missionaries. Surely a missionary 
 that understands the Oriental mind and Oriental phi- 
 
 144 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 losophy and who is appreciative of what has been ac- 
 compHshed by the people that he serves will never fail 
 to have a place of influence in the countries where he 
 is giving his life. When a missionary becomes dry, 
 uninteresting, unappreciative, and economical with his 
 energy, the chances are that he will become undesira- 
 ble on the mission fields just as such a preacher be- 
 comes unacceptable at home. Missionaries may lose 
 or even lack the spiritual glow and the religious zeal 
 that is necessary to great spiritual movement, and the 
 Church may die on their hands. Religion that is sim- 
 ply scholastic may have a very intellectual integrity 
 and yet at the same time be uninspiring and nonpro- 
 ductive. Missionaries who are deeply spiritual, thor- 
 oughly consecrated, energetically active, and widely 
 conversant with the Eastern mind and its thought will 
 always be in demand. The Church has been fortunate 
 in having many such laborers in its foreign fields. 
 
 Christianity is making healthy progress in China 
 and Japan. It is true that the number of communi- 
 cants is not large, but the achievements of Christianity 
 cannot be estimated by the membership of the Church- 
 es. In China missionaries are at work in five hundred 
 and sixty cities. The precautions which are observed 
 in admitting members into the Churches, if observed 
 in the United States, would cut down the number of 
 accessions to the Churches until the Churches of Amer- 
 ica would show a decrease every year. These precau- 
 tions are necessary because of the political conditions. 
 Men have sought membership in the Churches as a 
 protection against unscrupulous officials. A mission- 
 ary may make an appeal for a person who is accused 
 of misdemeanor or crime to a higher official than the 
 19 3-45 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 magistrate, and his appeal may be heard because of 
 the fear of the foreign government of which the mis- 
 sionary is a subject. The magistrate may lose "face" 
 if the accused is released by a higher official. The 
 Chinese have learned of the possibility of protection 
 by virtue of being a member of the foreigner's Church, 
 and many have united with the Church to secure this 
 protection. So the missionaries have been compelled 
 to act very slowly in the reception of members. The 
 present membership of the Churches does not repre- 
 sent the real strength of Christianity in the empire. 
 
 The work of the medical missionary in China is not 
 yet finished, as not many Chinese physicians have 
 learned much medical science. It is very gratifying to 
 know that a few men, some of whom had their train- 
 ing in mission hospitals, are very skillful. In Japan 
 the native physicians are as good as the foreign phy- 
 sicians who would go out as missionaries, as in most 
 cases only young, inexperienced men go as mission- 
 aries. The school in China still has a great field, while 
 in Japan the very fine educational system has made it 
 necessary for mission schools to be of the first class 
 or cease to exist. The greatest problem in both coun- 
 tries is the call and equipment of native preachers. 
 The greatest lack in both countries is that of evan- 
 gelistic work, or what in America would be called the 
 work of the ministry. The missionaries in Korea 
 have always put the emphasis on preaching, and the 
 wonderful fruits which are to-day being harvested 
 have demonstrated the wisdom of such procedure. 
 Missionaries of ever}'- denomination are quite ready 
 to say that the need of all the fields is a larger evan- 
 gelistic force. But as I said in a previous chapter, the 
 
 146 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 only way to increase the evangelistic force is to in- 
 crease the missionary force, as the schools and hos- 
 pitals cannot spare any workers from their present 
 corps. The schools are indispensable and must be 
 strongly manned, but the Church must rally to the 
 call of the field for more laborers in the evangelistic 
 work. 
 
 Christianity will not win China in a generation, and 
 any extraordinary movement toward the acceptance of 
 the Christian doctrine could scarcely be expected. The 
 acceptance of Christianity must necessarily mean a 
 great social and political regeneration in China. A re- 
 ligion that would affect conduct and establish high eth- 
 ical standards must begin with national as well as per- 
 sonal regeneration. A government that maintains it- 
 self by graft and upholds the whole system of the 
 "squeeze" and that in no way frowns upon gambling 
 and that has no conception of the sovereignty of the 
 individual must feel the force of a powerful public 
 opinion before it recognizes the principles of a Chris- 
 tian nation. The great masses of the Chinese live in 
 the darkness of frightful superstitions. Christianity 
 could not be appreciated to any extent by such people 
 until they become somewhat mentally enlightened. 
 Christianity will never have a real chance in China 
 until the government establishes and maintains a com- 
 petent school system. Mission schools have accom- 
 plished wonderful results, but they can never be nu- 
 merous enough nor sufficiently equipped to meet the 
 demands for education in such an empire. A mission 
 school is a missionary agency; and when it fails to 
 make converts to Christianity, it may be closed so far 
 as the Church is concerned. To be sure, the institu- 
 
 147 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 tions of the Church in the non-Christian lands are 
 humanitarian, yet their primary object is the conver- 
 sion of the people to Christianity. With an incom- 
 petent and corrupt government, with no educational 
 system to reach even a small percentage of the people, 
 with practically no humanitarian institutions, with no 
 science of healing, with gross superstitions that are 
 founded on a doctrine of demonology, with a fearful 
 belief in ancestor worship permeating the whole na- 
 tional life, with few means for spreading enlighten- 
 ing information, and with a fanatical opposition to 
 the foreigner, China offers many obstacles to the prog- 
 ress of Christianity within her borders. But the 
 "promises of God are sure," and the Christian's duty 
 to send the missionary was never plainer than it is 
 to-day. Knowledge of the difficulties should stir the 
 Church to send large reenforcements. Marvelous 
 achievements have already crowned the labors of the 
 missionary. China will some day be ready to hear 
 the message of the Christ. The Christian Church has 
 the light for the world, and she should keep it burn- 
 ing in every place until every man shall find the way 
 of life. 
 
 Korea is an open field and invites tlie missionary 
 with great promises of rich harvests. But Christian- 
 ity in Korea must be of the Korean's type. The 
 characteristics of the Korean and his nation will nat- 
 urally modify more or less the Christianity which 
 may be expected in the Hermit Empire. Japan is a 
 challenge to-day to the Christian world and to the 
 faith of the Christian Church. The people are in- 
 quirers after truth, and the government is equipping 
 its subjects for world's citizenship. Christianity has 
 
 148 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 no opposition ; but, on the other hand, it has been in- 
 vited to present its case, supported by its argument; 
 and the promise has been made that it will be duly 
 considered. It is true that ordinary men, intellectually 
 or spiritually, cannot accomplish very much in the 
 missions of Japan; but men who know and can ex- 
 pound and defend Christianity and who understand 
 Oriental and Christian philosophy and who have spir- 
 its like the Master's can perform a world's service in 
 the mission stations of the Sunrise Kingdom. If the 
 first work among the native Christians has been prop- 
 erly done, they will welcome all laborers from the 
 home field who can really assist in planting the ban- 
 ner of Christianity in the high places of their enter- 
 prising nation. Japan wants preachers of the gospel 
 of Jesus Christ who can give the bread of life to the 
 people and who can lead them by the light of their 
 own lives into the experience of genuine salvation. 
 
 The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, may have 
 a just pride in her missions in the Orient and in the 
 men who have undergone great personal sacrifices to 
 bring success to Christianity in those lands. But no 
 man can visit these various stations without feeling 
 that Southern Methodism should enter twice as many 
 doors as she has entered. The work is cramped at 
 every point by the lack of funds. Churches should 
 be built, some school buildings erected, some schools 
 for ministers established, and new fields opened; but 
 the money is not at hand. When will the Church 
 awake to its opportunity in these Eastern lands ? The 
 missionaries are doing all that could be expected of 
 them. They need help and the help of the men in 
 authority. Why has the Church at home considered 
 
 149 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 that all its general superintendents should live within 
 the bounds of the territory in the United States, and 
 that a mission field upon which is spent a quarter of 
 a million dollars annually should be administered al- 
 most entirely by authorities who are seven thousand 
 miles away and who cannot communicate with the 
 field in less than two months ? No business firm would 
 adopt such a policy. Our Church instructs its Col- 
 lege of Bishops to send a general superintendent to 
 China, Japan, and Korea once in two years, and that 
 for a visit of only two to three weeks in each coun- 
 try. For the rest of the two years the missionaries 
 must depend entirely upon the mails for instructions 
 and for plans. If the College of Bishops had the 
 authority to designate one of its number who would 
 make his home in Shanghai four years and superin- 
 tend the whole field of China, Japan, and Korea for 
 a quadrennium, then it would appear that the Church 
 meant to give the Orient as thorough a general super- 
 intendency as it gives the field at home. A bishop who 
 would live on the field for a quadrennium could ad- 
 minister the work continually with zeal, intelligence, 
 and force. By the present plan the bishop in charge 
 of these missions is burdened with duties of the Church 
 at home as soon as he returns, and he cannot give the 
 foreign field the attention which it deserves and really 
 requires. The work in China should have to-day vig- 
 orous support from one in authority who is intelligent- 
 ly alive to the needs of the field. The wonderful de- 
 velopment in Korea puts great responsibility upon the 
 missionaries there. They need a superintendent with 
 episcopal power who can direct in conserving the great 
 results of the work. The problems that constantly 
 
 150 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 arise in the missions in Japan because of the new 
 conditions incident to the formation of the Methodist 
 Church of Japan should have prompt attention from 
 one who is the authorized representative of the Church. 
 Many adjustments are naturally necessary, and the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has too great in- 
 terests in Japan to allow important matters at any time 
 to drift until proper action can be taken by the author- 
 ities in America. The missionaries in these fields 
 whom I have consulted are greatly in favor of a 
 bishop being assigned to the Orient for four years at 
 a time. They rightly feel that this work warrants 
 such consideration from the Church. The assignment 
 may be made by the College of Bishops or in any way 
 which the Church through the General Conference 
 may adopt. If I were asked what I considered the 
 greatest need of our missions in China, Japan, and 
 Korea, I would surely say a resident bishop, and the 
 wisest and the most forceful administrator in the 
 whole College. I would not discount in any sense 
 the remarkable work which has been accomplished 
 through the present plan; but if we are to progress 
 at a worthy speed in the future, a resident bishop 
 would be a powerful factor. 
 
 151 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Touching Britain in the Orient. 
 
 WHO would think of reaching English soil In a 
 two days' voyage from Shanghai, the foreign 
 capital of the Orient? At midday of March 24 our 
 good steamer, Prinz Ludwig, lifted anchor at the 
 mouth of the Hwang Po, and on the morning of 
 March 27 we awoke to find ourselves at the dock in 
 the harbor of Hongkong, the finest in the Far East 
 and one of the finest in the world. A pretentious 
 youth was once passing various criticisms on China 
 and the Chinese, and his less loquacious but better in- 
 formed fellow-traveler asked him if he had traveled 
 much in China, seen Peking, Hankow, Nanking, and 
 the great interior. The youth confessed that he had 
 seen only Hongkong. "Why," said the older man, 
 "you have not been in China; Hongkong is not in 
 China, but is owned and controlled by the English 
 government." In 1841 the hilly island of Hongkong, 
 eleven miles long, two to five miles wide, and twenty- 
 seven miles in circumference, was ceded by China to 
 Great Britain. The British have built upon it a great 
 city with a population of 325,000 people, the real name 
 of which is Victoria, although it is commonly known 
 as Hongkong. The government of the island is sim- 
 ilar to that of most English possessions. The Gov- 
 ernor Is appointed by the authorities in London, and 
 is responsible for the government of the Island. He 
 is aided by an executive council composed of five offi- 
 
 152 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 cials and two unofficial members of the community. 
 The legislative council is presided over by the Gov- 
 ernor, and is composed of the officer commanding the 
 troops, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, 
 the Registrar General, the Director of Public Works, 
 the Harbor Master, the Captain of Police, and six 
 unofficial members, one of whom is elected by the 
 Chamber of Commerce and another by the justices of 
 the peace. The other four, two of whom are Chinese, 
 are appointed by the Governor. The government of 
 the colony is very largely in the hands of the Gov- 
 ernor, as the various officials who compose the coun- 
 cils and governing bodies are his own appointees. 
 
 How beautiful is Hongkong, nestled in the narrow 
 space between the mountains and the sea ! The city 
 is only two to four blocks deep and skirts the harbor 
 for three or four miles. Two of the main streets, on 
 which now stand some of the city's finest buildings 
 and the finest in the East, have been taken from the 
 sea. These buildings of four or five stories in height, 
 with colonnades on the streets, give the tourist a most 
 pleasing impression upon his introduction to this East- 
 ern city. Immediately behind the few business streets 
 are the public gardens filled with the most luxuriant 
 flowers and shrubbery, while the entire hillside shows 
 the hand of the skilled landscape gardener. Former- 
 ly the island was destitute of foliage, but now the 
 young forests planted by the government furnish a 
 beauty which is unexcelled even by rare and rich 
 Honolulu. The houses, large and handsome, rising 
 tier upon tier from the water's edge to a height of over 
 five hundred feet, along with the ample gardens of 
 rich tropical foliage, give the city of Victoria an ap- 
 
 153 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 pearance of magnificence which no traveler will soon 
 forget. The mountains rise rapidly until they culmi- 
 nate in Victoria Peak at a height of 1,823 feet. A 
 cable car carries passengers up a distance of more 
 than one thousand feet, and then the chair coolies will 
 be glad to do the rest for a reasonable sum. However, 
 a fine road leads from the train station to the summit 
 and offers as fine views of the hills and the harbor as 
 human eyes ever feasted upon. From the summit the 
 view of the harbor, which is as notable for its beauty 
 as for its safety and capacit}^ is one of the mental 
 treasures with which no traveler would willingly part. 
 
 On the Victoria Peak is a flagstaff from which the 
 approach of mail steamers and other vessels is sig- 
 naled. The Hongkong harbor cannot be entered with- 
 out the knowledge of the militar}'- as well as civil au- 
 thorities. The garrison is about five hundred feet be- 
 low the summit. It consists of three companies of 
 royal artillery, one company of royal engineers, one 
 battalion of infantry army service corps, royal medical 
 corps, four Indian infantry battalions, four companies 
 of native artillery, one local company of native engi- 
 neers, and a volunteer corps of one troop of mounted 
 infantry, two companies of garrison artillery, and one 
 company of engineers. The approaches to the harbor 
 are strongly fortified. The city possesses a small 
 squadron for harbor defense. An excellent navy yard 
 is in the harbor. Hongkong is the English Gibraltar 
 of the East, and will be the base for any operations 
 which England may be called upon to institute in 
 maintaining her position among the nations of the 
 Orient. 
 
 The voyage from Shanghai was extremely pleasant 
 154 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 not only because of the smooth sea^ but because of the 
 perceptible change in the climate. The biting- atmos- 
 phere of Japan and China during February and March 
 made the voyage to the South all the more desirable. 
 Overcoats, heavy underwear, and chilly sensations the 
 thin-blooded Southerner was glad to be rid of, even 
 if the other extreme was only a few days away. The 
 maximum temperature for Hongkong is ninety-four 
 degrees, the minimaim thirty-six^ and the mean is sev- 
 enty-one. The mean rainfall is eighty-six inches. 
 While the natural productions of the island are few 
 and unimportant and nothing is grown except a little 
 rice and a few vegetables, yet the rains furnish nu- 
 merous streams which water the well-kept city. The 
 equableness of the climate, the beauty of the homes, 
 the hills and the harbor, the accessibility to China and 
 the Eastern lands make Hongkong a desirable place 
 for a residence. Of the 325,000 people, 310,000 are 
 Chinese; but they appreciate the government under 
 which they live. The city has four daily English 
 newspapers, two weeklies, and eight native papers. It 
 has large manufactories, among them being three large 
 sugar refineries, a rope factory, a glass, a soap, and 
 four match factories, a feather-cleaning and packing 
 establishment, cotton mills with 55,000 spindles, a pa- 
 per mill, and a brewery. The value of the property 
 of the city is about $9,000,000. The annual trade of 
 the port, imports and exports, reaches $250,000,000. 
 
 The day spent in this beautiful, enterprising city 
 was a joy to the travelers on their way from China to 
 India. It was a matter of sincere regret that we did 
 not have time to go to Canton, ninety miles away, and 
 get a view of the greatest city in Southern China and 
 
 155 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the one from which America is suppHed with her Chi- 
 nese population. But the clock struck five, the coarse 
 whistle sounded its farewell, and the ship throbbed 
 with life and movement. Such a din of bursting fire- 
 crackers all over the harbor I had never heard. A 
 dozen launches steamed by the ship, and the noise was 
 deafening. Chinese colors were waving from boat and 
 barge, from shore and sea. On inquiry it was found 
 that a Chinese gentleman, with some of his wives and 
 children, a retinue of servants and attendants, had come 
 aboard our steamer and was leaving Hongkong for 
 Penang, to which he had been appointed Consul Gen- 
 eral for his government. This Chinese custom of cel- 
 ebrating any special event in the life of a fellow-citizen 
 is very beautiful. The Chinese will always touch oft 
 a few firecrackers when he desires to show honor to 
 his friends. 
 
 From Hongkong to Singapore the v/ater was as 
 smooth as a lake and the breezes as balmy as the 
 tropical sun and a beneficent sea could make them. 
 The ship's company had worn off the strangeness, 
 and the fellowship was genial. Among the passengers 
 was a Russian general from Vladivostok, whose nu- 
 merous death sentences passed upon soldiers in his 
 court-martials made him choose the long journey by 
 a German steamer in preference to the uncertain travel 
 on the Trans-Siberian Railway. His kindly face and 
 gentle demeanor in no way indicated the harshness of 
 his decisions which his record had confirmed. At 
 Hongkong we received the Registrar General of the 
 island, who was going home for a rest. Quite a large 
 number of clerks and minor officials who had done 
 service in the East, several traveling representatives 
 
 156 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 of business firms, and some gentlemen of commerce 
 were passengers. During the day these gentlemen 
 went quite negligee and exhibited at different hours 
 the various articles of their summer wardrobe. One 
 young Englishman told me that he did not bring many 
 clothes, and that he had only nine pairs of "breeches." 
 I liked the term. These English youngsters and the 
 rest of these Eastern travelers would come to the 
 "dinner" table (they have lost supper entirely in places 
 of pretension) in their dress suits. Wherever we trav- 
 eled in the East the Englishman would don his dress 
 suit for his evening dinner. It is told on the English 
 that if a man is camping in the jungles he will lay 
 aside his all-day suit and put on his dress suit to sit 
 down to his evening meal, even if he eats absolutely 
 alone. I admire his zeal, but question his judgment. 
 
 Singapore harbor was reached at noon, but the ship 
 did not pass quarantine and get to dock until five 
 o'clock. The day was not "middling" warm but "blaz- 
 ing" hot. Only six days previous we boarded the 
 Prinz Ludwig wrapped in overcoats and incased in 
 flannels. It was then a matter as to how much we 
 could put on, while now it was how little could we 
 leave on. The natives had evidently long ceased to 
 debate the question, as they were enveloped only in 
 sunshine and a loin cloth. A Turkish bath with its 
 steaming process is always ready for those who dis- 
 embark at Singapore. But this city is only one and 
 one-fourth degrees, or less than ninety miles, from the 
 equator, and its climate is ahvays equably hot. More 
 than 200,000 people live there, a large percentage of 
 whom are Chinese. The natives are Malays, black 
 and shiny ; but they have been driven to a subordinate 
 
 157 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 place in society because of their physical weakness, 
 their mental incapacity, and their temporal incompe- 
 tency. There are two to three thousand Europeans. 
 The government officials and the regiments of soldiers 
 are English. The Governor's residence is an elegant 
 building delightfully located on a promontory and sur- 
 rounded by a luxuriant garden through which there 
 are beautiful drivewaj^s. The garrison occupies a 
 choice section of the city, and is well furnished for 
 the comfort of soldiers and officers. The streets of the 
 city are broad, and in certain sections they are over- 
 arched by the branches of great trees. The district 
 that is filled with the native shops is wanting in al- 
 most everything except filth and persistent odors. The 
 botanical gardens are the finest to be found in the 
 East. The beds of orchids and ferns cannot be excelled. 
 The richness of tropical vegetation can be seen in 
 these rare gardens. In the tall trees untamed monkeys 
 play with their native abandon while the songsters 
 chant their chords never heard by those who live in 
 the more northerly climates. In another part of the 
 city were the great cocoanut plantations whose har- 
 vests bring wealth to the island. The grace of the 
 cocoanut palm, the kindly expanse of the traveler's 
 palm, the full v^^ealth of the betel nut tree, the laden 
 stalks of the banana, the occasional appearance of the 
 nutmeg bush all made this visit to the tropics a per- 
 fect delight. We forgot the dirty, sloven, ramshackle 
 huts of the natives and the squalor and unseemly looks 
 of these black sons of the tropics in our sight-seeing 
 and in our ecstasies over the joys which the white 
 man has brought to Singapore ; but we found a man 
 and his associates who had not forgotten these needy 
 
 158 
 
MALAY HOUSE IN SINGAPORE. 
 
 STREET SCENE IN SINGAPORE. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 people. He is a missionary whose zeal never lessens, 
 whose body seems never to tire, and whose labor is 
 given without stint for the benefit of these whose 
 minds and hearts are darker than their bodies. 
 
 Just before leaving Shanghai I met Bishop W. F. 
 Oldham and Bishop J. E. Robinson, of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, who gave me letters of introduction 
 to their missionaries in Singapore, Rangoon, Calcutta, 
 and various cities in India. So, arriving in Singapore, 
 I telephoned Rev. W. T. Cherry, the Manager of the 
 Publishing House, and inquired for information as to 
 a proper place to spend our two days in Singapore. 
 His prompt reply was : "Come up." We went "up" 
 and on to his home, and there we spent two as delight- 
 ful days as ever came to travelers in a foreign land. 
 Canadian-born were the missionary and his wife, 
 trained in the Northern schools, yet no Southerners 
 could have given us larger hospitality and more joyful 
 entertainment. They helped us to see Singapore. The 
 new press building is almost completed. It is a fine 
 structure, located on one of the most desirable streets 
 in the city. It will be a center for all the work on the 
 Malay Peninsula and on the surrounding islands. Mr. 
 Cherry is not only the Agent of the Publishing House, 
 but is presiding elder of the district and pastor of the 
 Malay Church. The work among the Chinese in Sin- 
 gapore is exceedingly encouraging, while the Church 
 for English and Eurasians is self-supporting. Bishop 
 Oldham has his home in Singapore, and exercises epis- 
 copal jurisdiction over the Philippines. The Church 
 in educational and evangelistic work is to be congrat- 
 ulated upon its results, but it is really now only at the 
 threshold of its opportunity in that section, 
 
 159 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 We changed steamers at Singapore and took the Pal- 
 atana. It was a poor craft, but the passengers kept 
 up fine spirits. In thirty-six hours we anchored in the 
 harbor of Penang, another island belonging to Great 
 Britain in the colony known as the Straits Settlements, 
 which comprises Singapore, Penang, the Keeling Is- 
 lands, the Binding Islands, the province of Malacca, 
 and the province of Wellesley. They have formed a 
 British colony since 1867, previous to which time they 
 were administered as a presidency of the Indian Em- 
 pire. They have a government similar to that of 
 Hongkong, issue their own money, and attend to their 
 own affairs. Penang has a population of about 100,- 
 000, most of whom are Chinese and many of whom 
 are quite wealthy. The residences of some of these 
 Chinese merchants are veritable palaces, while their 
 fine horses and carriages and automobiles enable them 
 to make the usual exhibit of those who make preten- 
 sions to financial aristocracy. A ride by the tram 
 (everything is tram east of the Atlantic Ocean) to 
 the Chinese temple gave an excellent view of the 
 finest cocoanut plantations in the world. They fur- 
 nish the source of wealth in the Straits Settlements. 
 The drive to the botanical gardens gave a good view 
 of the magnificent public and private buildings, as 
 well as the slovenly hovels and the filthy shops which 
 can be found in Penang. The Chinese Buddhist tem- 
 ple is a marvel in its beauty and adornment. On the 
 way out we saw several carriages carrying barrels of 
 silver paper (joss money) to be burned in the temple 
 for the use of those departed. On the altar in the 
 temple stood large bowls of choice viands of which 
 the spirits partook while the priests chanted and of 
 
 160 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 which the priests partook after the worshipers de- 
 parted. But a great Light has come into the world, 
 and the darkened nations shall yet see Him who giveth 
 life and showeth men the Father. 
 
 When our steamer, Palatana, left Singapore we ex- 
 pected to have only a few hours in Rangoon, the cap- 
 ital of the province of Burma and one of the most im- 
 portant cities in the East. But travel by ship is less 
 certain than travel by rail, as the entrance into ports, 
 the interviews with the customs officer, and the trans- 
 shipping which is necessary give the traveler occasion- 
 ally more time at some places than he would desire. 
 However, time would not hang heavily on any tourist 
 in Burma and its metropolis. The crowded condition 
 of the jetty prevented our ship from coming to the 
 dock for several hours ; but the ever-present sampan 
 was ready to take us ashore for one anna (two cents) 
 a person, and so we were soon comfortably quartered 
 in the hotel. It was eleven o'clock in the morning, 
 and the heat was intense. Our safety demanded that 
 there be no exposure at that time of the day or up 
 to four o'clock in the afternoon to the vicious sun- 
 shine. The heat in the shade may be endured ; but the 
 direct beams of the blazing sun upon a white man's 
 head, neck, and back would soon fell the strongest 
 with a severe sunstroke. The white residents take no 
 chances with Rangoon's sunshine. The Burmese and 
 the other races who now live in Rangoon are more 
 able to endure the sunshine than the Europeans or 
 the Eurasians, as the mixed race in which there is 
 European and Asiatic blood is called. A traveler from 
 America will find these Asiatic people of the lower 
 classes simply or sky clad. In the passing throng on 
 11 161 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the streets or among the keepers of stalls in bazaars 
 or laborers in the market places the bar^ black back 
 is as common, if not more so, than the coat, the shirt, 
 or the native toga. In the hotels and also on the 
 steamers the table and chamber servants may have 
 on their immaculate white garments, but their feet 
 know not the restrictions of a calf's skin or a kid's 
 pelt. The carriage drivers, as well as the laborers 
 on the streets, have never been troubled with fashions 
 in shoes or even the fastening of shoe laces. Occa- 
 sionally a leader of the ultrasocial set will take to 
 the ways of his white associates and, although he has 
 no hat and his toga may leave his legs bare, he will 
 put on his feet, with stockings, a pair of glistening 
 patent leather "pumps" and spread over his lofty head 
 a black umbrella, a thing which furnishes little pro- 
 tection in tlie burning rays of the tropical sun but 
 great satisfaction to his exalted feelings. But the 
 strange thing about the people of Rangoon, the capi- 
 tal of Burma, is that the large majority of them are 
 not Burmese. The streets were filled with people one 
 morning, and I asked a resident of Rangoon, whose 
 kindness to us will not be forgotten, to point out the 
 Burmese, and he could find only one. in the large com- 
 pany. There were many Tamilese from Lower India, 
 some Indians from Madras, some from Northern India 
 provinces, and Mohammedans, but the Burmese were 
 not numerous anywhere. The country is filling very 
 fast with people from India. This is due in part to 
 the fact that India is crowded and the overflow must 
 seek other lands, but it is due more to the well- 
 known disinclination of the Burmese to give them- 
 selves to any strenuous labor. The men of Burma 
 
 162 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 are lazy, and they depend in a large measure upon 
 their women for their support. The women are the 
 moneymakers. I was told of a Burmese who was a 
 clerk in some business establishment at sixty rupees 
 (twenty dollars) a month while his wife had a mer- 
 cantile business of her own and drove in the after- 
 noons in one of the best turnouts of the city. Her 
 husband was permitted to accompany her on her 
 drives. The men are inclined to consider themselves 
 gentlemen of the kind who frown upon labor. This 
 element in the character of the Burmese may lead to 
 the peopling of his country with a more enterprising 
 and strenuous race. 
 
 Burma has been an English province under the 
 Viceroy of India since January i, 1886, when King 
 Thebaw was dethroned and sent to a small city south 
 of Bombay, where he still lives under surveillance. 
 Previous to this time England owned several districts 
 of Burma. In fact, she had been gradually acquiring 
 the territory of Burma for many years by the con- 
 quests which were made when small principalities 
 would harass the English forces. Since 1897 the prov- 
 ince has had its own Lieutenant Governor, whose resi- 
 dence is in Rangoon. The old capital of the country 
 was Mandalay, which is a city of 200,000 people about 
 four hundred miles from Rangoon. Occasionally the 
 Lieutenant Governor makes his residence for a few 
 months in Mandalay. So Burma has its own pro- 
 vincial government and its own army. Government 
 buildings and buildings for the courts are superior 
 to most of the State buildings in our own common- 
 wealths. The army in Rangoon consists of three or 
 four regiments, with a force of artillery. The can- 
 
 163 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 tonment, the arm}^ post, is one of the most beautiful 
 and best-kept parts of the city. 
 
 Burma has an area of 236,738 square miles, and has 
 a population of about 11,000,000 people. Eighty-eight 
 per cent of the population are Buddhists in religion. 
 Every Burman is supposed to spend a certain part of 
 his life as a monk, whether he adopts the sacred call- 
 ing ultimately or not. The monks are the schoolmas- 
 ters of the countr}', although many of them are too 
 ignorant to be teachers of any merit. The shaven 
 head and the 3^ellow robe are the marks of the sacred 
 order, and they -may be seen in any collection of peo- 
 ple. Because of the number of Buddhists in Burma, 
 the pagodas and monasteries form the chief objects 
 of interest throughout Burma. The finest pagoda in 
 the world and the most venerable and most universally 
 visited of all places of worship in Indo-China is the 
 Shwe Dagon Pagoda, in Rangoon. Its sanctity to 
 Buddhists is due to the actual relics of Gautama and 
 three Buddhas who preceded him which it contains. 
 Countless pilgrims come to worship not only from 
 Burma but from Siam, Korea, and Ceylon. I must 
 say that I v/as wonderfully impressed by its magni- 
 tude, its magnificence, and the deep religious atmos- 
 phere with which it is invested. It stands on a hill 
 or terrace 166 feet high, 900 feet long, and 685 feet 
 wide. This terrace is ascended by several flights of 
 granite stairs which are housed in and along which 
 are the various stalls for the sale of gold-leaf flowers, 
 pictures, and the elements which the pious offer. The 
 stairs lead to a broad open space covered with flag- 
 stones, which runs all round the pagoda, and which is 
 left free for worshipers. The pagoda is a solid stone 
 
 164 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 pile with a circumference of 1,355 ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ octag- 
 onal base, and a height of 370 feet. It tapers to a 
 circumference of about fifty feet at the top, which is 
 surmounted by the usual gilt ironwork "umbrella." 
 This "umbrella" cost $250,000, and was presented by 
 a king. The rare jewels which stud this umbrella 
 are estimated to be worth more than $1,000,000. The 
 whole pagoda has been covered with gold leaf. What 
 this immense structure has cost, no one could even 
 roughly estimate, but several millions of dollars would 
 be required to replace it if it were destroyed. It was 
 constructed by voluntary labor, and the subscriptions 
 in money and jewels flowed in from all parts of 
 Burma. 
 
 The original pagoda was erected in 588 B.C., and 
 was only twenty-seven feet high. It has been cased 
 with outer coverings until it has reached its present 
 size. It has not been changed in size and shape since 
 1564. On the outer edge of the platform there are 
 many small pagodas, while about the great pagoda are 
 high stone altars and single low stone chapels in which 
 are figures of Buddha. Some of these figures are 
 beautiful pieces of marble. In the four chapels are 
 colossal figures of Buddha^ and in one there is a re- 
 clining statue that is worthy of notice. The worship- 
 ers fall upon their knees in the open space, looking to 
 the immense towers, or on their face before some 
 image and pour out their souls in prayer. Mendicant 
 priests strike triangular metal gongs, which give out 
 sweet tones and call for the attention of those inclined 
 to bestow alms. The enormous bell, which is said to 
 weigh forty-two tons, hangs where it may be seen 
 by the worshiper. When the English captured Ran- 
 
 165 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 goon, they made an attempt to take the bell to Cal- 
 cutta as a trophy; but by some mishap they lost it in 
 the Rangoon River. The English engineers failed in 
 their efforts to raise it. The Burmans begged that 
 the sacred bell be restored to them if they could re- 
 cover it. They secured it after mighty efforts, and 
 bore it in triumph to the pagoda. 
 
 The visit to the great Shwe Dagon Pagoda and to 
 the Soolay Pagoda impressed me with Buddhism as 
 has nothing else which I have seen in the Orient. 
 The worship is indeed pitiable. These darkened mil- 
 lions are groping after the truth, and they are seeking 
 for a merciful God for their burdened lives. Such 
 devout people need and have a right to the pure, sim- 
 ple gospel of Jesus Christ. I wanted to preach to 
 them and tell them the sweet story of the wonderful 
 love of God. Surely a great Church in a rich land, 
 with all the comforts, conveniences, and even luxuries 
 of the religious life, will not shut up its sympathies 
 until these poor people have seen the light which has 
 come into the wofld. Thousands of dollars should be 
 going to these lands where now only tens are sent. 
 It is a matter of great comfort to know that Chris- 
 tianity is making excellent progress in Burma. There 
 are more than ten thousand Christians in Rangoon, 
 and more than 150,000 in the province. When I re- 
 membered that Adoniram Judson came to Rangoon in 
 July, 1813, and labored in Burma for almost forty 
 years, I felt that I was on ground consecrated by 
 the most sacrificial of lives. At the time of his death, 
 in 1850, while making his journey to the beloved 
 America, the native Christians numbered 7,000, while 
 at present the number of communicants in the Baptist 
 
 166 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Churches in Burma is about 55,000. I visited the 
 Baptist Press, a magnificent establishment with fine 
 equipment. I found the prices charged for books, 
 post cards, and such material as travelers would want 
 above those charged by other firms. Too frequently 
 publishing houses fail to draw custom by allowing the 
 prices to be cut by other firms in the community. A 
 Church ought to be able to do business as cheap as, 
 if not cheaper than, the competitive firms. The won- 
 derful success which has attended the missionary work 
 of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Rangoon and 
 vicinity should be exceedingly gratifying not only to 
 the workers but to the Church at home. The new 
 brick church for the English congregation has been 
 completed at a cost of about $25,000. The buildings 
 for the Burmese Boys' School have been completed. 
 The Girls' School for Eurasians has just closed its 
 session. The attendance reached about two hundred 
 pupils. The students from the Girls' School recently 
 took the first honors in the government public exami- 
 nations for teachers. The institution has a high stand- 
 ing in the community. The evangelistic work for the 
 various tribes and for the Chinese is showing excellent 
 results. It is remarkable how large amount of fine 
 property has been secured by the mission without the 
 assistance of its General Board of Missions. Meth- 
 odism in Burma is in its infancy, but it gives promise 
 of healthy growth. 
 
 The principal commercial industries of Burma are 
 those connected with the rice and timber trade. Gold 
 and silver have been found in small quantities in some 
 parts of the country, fine marble is worked near Man- 
 dalay, and coal is mined in Upper Burma. Petroleum 
 
 167 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 is obtained in large quantities in some sections. The 
 Standard Oil Company is well known in Burma. In 
 the lower part of the country agriculture is the main 
 employment of the people. Cotton and tobacco are 
 extensively grown, but rice covers four-fifths of the 
 total area in cultivation. The soil is lavish in its yield 
 and requires but little labor. The chief articles ex- 
 ported are rice, timber, hides, petroleum, and precious 
 stones. The forests have made the timber dealers 
 rich in recent years. Through the influence of a fel- 
 low-traveler and a well-known business man of Cal- 
 cutta, our party had the privilege of visiting the large 
 Bombay Lumber Mills in Rangoon and seeing the 
 elephants at work. They were drawing heavy logs, 
 piling heavy timbers with their trunks, and doing much 
 heavy work. A timber man told me that he had forty- 
 seven elephants in his logging parties. He gave me a 
 photograph of five elephants drawing a log that 
 weighed five tons, and also one of an elephant carry- 
 ing a heavy log on his tusks held in place by his trunk. 
 The rider indicates by the tap of his heel or of his 
 stick or by the tone of his voice what he wants done. 
 The elephant is very useful in the forests, but machin- 
 ery is displacing him in the mills. 
 
 Rangoon has a population of 250,000 people, and 
 its trade is surpassed by no Indian cities except Cal- 
 cutta and Bombay. Its annual private sea-borne trade 
 is about $90,000,000, of which three-fifths is export. 
 More than 1,000 steamers clear its port every year. 
 It has an electric light plant, a good water system, 
 and an electric street railway. The street cars are 
 patronized only by the natives, as the foreigners have 
 some fear of disease germs. The business houses of 
 
 168 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the firms controlled by Europeans are large and well 
 built. The shops of the natives are small, although 
 they are on the first floor of two-story houses. The 
 bazaars which are owned and leased by the govern- 
 ment are busy places, and they bring excellent reve- 
 nues to the city. The streets are of good width, and 
 are as well kept as could be expected where there is 
 no rain for seven months in the year, and where the 
 only sprinkling which they receive must be done by 
 men from two buckets carried on their shoulders and 
 which sprinkle through long bamboo spouts. The 
 streets were necessarily dusty on the first of April, 
 as the rains do not begin until about the middle of 
 May. The streets, the grass, and the flowers showed 
 the need of water. However, the public park inclos- 
 ing the lakes is a place of great beauty. A drive 
 through the grounds, as well as through some of the 
 principal streets in the late afternoon, gave us an op- 
 portunity to hear the military band, see many of the 
 most beautiful homes and clubs, and to get some idea 
 of the high social life in the Burmese capital. 
 
 While only 80,000 of the 250,000 people in Rangoon 
 are Burmans — 90,000 are Hindoos and 50,000 Moham- 
 medans — yet they are not without interest. Physically 
 they are short and thick-set. The men wear long hair 
 and little or no beard. They are flat in feature, and 
 show some resemblance to the Chinese. The women 
 are more or less attractive in looks, and are not se- 
 cluded as in India. They go to market, keep shop, 
 and take their full share in social and domestic affairs. 
 Both sexes are well clad and " delight in gay colors 
 and silk attire. Caste has no place among the Bur- 
 mans. The deadening effect of the climate and the 
 
 169 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 richness of soil and exuberance of vegetation may ac- 
 count for their indolence and love of ease. The future 
 of the Burmese cannot now be anticipated, but schools 
 and Christian Churches will bring to them high ideals 
 and prospects of a stronger life. 
 
 170 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 The First Touch of India. 
 
 THE voyage from Rangoon to Calcutta was made 
 in an elegant turbine wheel steamer with a ton- 
 nage of only nine hundred tons. While it was by far 
 the smallest steamer on which we sailed, yet it was the 
 fastest. It had no trouble in making sixteen knots 
 an hour against a strong gale, while the large liners 
 on which we had traveled made only fourteen and 
 fifteen knots. Steamships are usually run at their 
 economical speed — that is, at that speed which en- 
 ables them to make the voyage at the least expense. 
 If a steamer is rushed, the consumption of coal will 
 diminish the profits of the traffic ; while if they go too 
 slow the extra time consumed will increase the ex- 
 pense of the passengers and the crew, and the amount 
 of coal will be increased by the length of the voyage. 
 The beautiful little Lunka was built for the mail serv- 
 ice between Rangoon and Calcutta, and her econom- 
 ical speed is sixteen to eighteen knots an hour. Her 
 captain, the son of an English clergyman who lives in 
 Stratford-on-Avon, was the most cultured and genteel 
 officer that we have encountered on our entire jour- 
 ney. The rectory, the parsonage, and the manse have 
 given to the world a very large percentage of the 
 most effective and most genteel members of society. 
 Preachers' sons will compare most favorably with the 
 sons of the men of any other profession. 
 
 The Lunka danced like a cork when it came in con- 
 171 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 tact with the swells from the western coast, and the 
 last evening the passengers were more inclined to their 
 cabins than to the dinner table. The promise that the 
 early morning would bring peace to the troubled waters 
 was fulfilled about noon ; and a genial, smiling com- 
 pany began to emerge from their various hiding places, 
 and the usual question, "Where have you been?" was 
 passed around. From the sea we entered Hugh River, 
 which is one of the most treacherous streams in the 
 world. It shifts its channel almost daily, and the 
 special pilots make every voyage with the greatest 
 precaution. This stream has engulfed many a vessel. 
 The suction power of its quicksand will usually draw 
 under any steamer before relief can be brought. 
 Lightships, lighthouses, and buoys mark the channel 
 the entire ninety miles from the sea to Calcutta. Nu- 
 merous and well-built forts along the banks speak de- 
 fiance to any intruding foe. The Saturday's sun went 
 down in glory; and our good steamer came to anchor 
 in sight of the capital city of India, and we were com- 
 pelled to be content in midstream till morning. The 
 officers who sit at the receipt of custom had closed 
 their doors, and entrance into the city other than 
 through them was not possible. At sunrise we were 
 steaming to the wharf, only to find that the condition 
 of the tide would not allow us to dock. The customs 
 officers soon courteously examined our luggage with- 
 out trying to prove that we were liars and thieves. 
 (The customhouses and custom officials who have the 
 most unsavory reputation in all the world have float- 
 ing over them the Stars and Stripes.) We were taken 
 to the shore on a steam launch, and soon our carriage 
 stood at the door of the Thoburn Methodist Episcopal 
 
 172 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Church. Here Bishop J. M. Thoburn labored for 
 many years, and after him Bishop F. W. Warne. The 
 membership is composed of Americans, Europeans, 
 and Anglo-Indians whose sympathies are more Eng- 
 lish than Indian. No service for the natives is ever 
 conducted in this church. Although we arrived at 
 nine o'clock, yet the Sunday school and the preaching 
 services had been concluded, and only a few people 
 lingered in the vestibule for the usual prolonged social 
 greetings. The Sunday school is held at seven o'clock 
 in the morning, and is follov/ed by the preaching serv- 
 ice. The people return to their homes and have break- 
 fast at half past nine or ten o'clock. The evening 
 service is held at six o'clock, after which the people 
 return home for their dinner. The heat in the midday 
 compels the white people to stay within thick-walled 
 houses. All habits of life must be accommodated to 
 the climate. When people arise at six o'clock or ear- 
 lier, they have their light breakfast in their rooms and 
 before they dress. This breakfast consists for the 
 most part of tea and toast. The duties of the day are 
 entered upon at once. At nine thirty, ten, or ten thirty 
 o'clock breakfast is served. Work in the home or in 
 the office then begins. Business men of the white race 
 do not open their offices until ten o'clock. At two or 
 three o'clock another meal is served which is called 
 "tiffin." Business houses and offices close at five 
 o'clock, and dinner is served at half past seven or 
 eight o'clock in the evening. The social duties are 
 discharged in the late afternoon. Tourists must do 
 their sight-seeing before ten o'clock in the morning 
 and after five o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 Calcutta is a great city of one million people, and as 
 173 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the capital of India it holds a prominent place in the 
 social and political life of the Orient. The Governor 
 General, or Viceroy, as he is more frequently called, 
 has his official residence here, and the offices of the 
 government call here the most influential men that are 
 connected with the life of the empire. The great pal- 
 ace for the Viceroy, the Municipal Hall, the High 
 Court, the post office, the secretariat, the mint, and 
 the home of the Lieutenant Governor impress the 
 tourist with the imperial cast of the city. In these 
 great buildings will be found the portraits or busts of 
 such distinguished persons as Queen Victoria and the 
 Prince Consort, Warren Hastings, the Duke of Wel- 
 lington, Dr. Alexander Duff, Sir Henry Russell, Lord 
 Cornwallis (who served as Governor General of India 
 after some humiliating military experiences in Amer- 
 ica), Bishop Reginald Heber, and other notable men. 
 In the center of the city is the famous Maidan, oi' 
 esplanade, which is nearly two miles long and one 
 mile broad. The residence of the Viceroy faces it on 
 the north, while Belvidere, the residence of the Lieu- 
 tenant Governor, is at the southern end. On the west 
 side is Fort William, and on the east side is the Im- 
 perial Museum, whose Indian treasures are exceed- 
 ingly interesting and valuable. The Eden Gardens 
 form a part of the esplanade. They are very beau- 
 tiful, and furnish the meeting place for the high social 
 set for their evening greetings. In the season from 
 November to February one can see here any afternoon 
 and evening the exclusive social uppertendom of Cal- 
 cutta. The fine equipages, the superb display of mil- 
 linery, and the intoxicating music make a scene well 
 worth one's attention. But the heat had scattered offi- 
 
 174 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 cialdom and uppertendom, and we saw the ordinary 
 doings of those who imitate those who do well. The 
 gardens did not deny us the joy of their beauty. I 
 was not admitted to the Viceroy's mansion, although 
 he was away in the mountains at Simla. Of course 
 the house was palatial, with its elegant breakfast room, 
 dining room, throne room, council room, and ball- 
 room ; but what interest could those places have for 
 a wandering Methodist editor with strong democratic 
 instincts and with more sympathy for the poor, igno- 
 rant subjects of every land than for the display of the 
 world's highest aristocracy? One may see much of 
 palaces in Europe ; but only in India can one see the 
 subject people from whom have come great philoso- 
 phies and influential religions, and who may yet be- 
 come the teachers in the deep things of human life. 
 
 St. Paul's Cathedral is a stately pile of Hindoo- 
 Gothic architecture which was erected more than sixty 
 years ago at a cost of $250,000. The Bengal Club 
 now occupies the house in which Lord Macaulay lived 
 when he was a resident of Calcutta. Fort William, 
 which was completed in 1773 at a cost of $10,000,000, 
 does not occupy its former site, as it was moved by 
 Lord Clive after the battle of Plassey in 1757. The 
 old site is now occupied by the great post office 
 building. It was in this fort that the one hundred and 
 forty-six persons were thrown into the one room 22x14 
 feet on June 20, 1756, and out of which only twenty- 
 three persons were taken alive the next morning. The 
 place is known as the Black Llole of Calcutta. The 
 Black Hole has been filled and covered with cement 
 and fenced with an iron railing, and is now in the 
 alley between two buildings. In the street where the 
 
 175 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 dead bodies were piled in a ditch by the order of the 
 Indian Governor now stands a beautiful marble obelisk 
 which was erected by Lord Curzon to take the place 
 of the one which was originally erected by Mr. J. Z. 
 Holwell, the principal survivor of the tragedy. The 
 unfortunate death of the victims of the Black Hole 
 provoked Lord Clive to battle, to the great disaster 
 of the Indian Governor. 
 
 Not far from the Black Hole, on what is called 
 Dalhousie Square, is the old Mission Church, which 
 was built by the celebrated Swedish missionary, 
 Johann Zacharias Kiernander, who began his work in 
 Calcutta in 1758. I visited the old church and read 
 its many tablets to the memory of many faithful la- 
 borers in this field. I sought for Duff College, the 
 culmination of the work of the great Scotch mission- 
 ary. The institution is not meeting with the success 
 which is due its honored founder. It is soon to be 
 united with the School of the General Assembly, and 
 the two will occupy a new building in the northern 
 part of the city. But the most sacred pilgrimage 
 which I made while in Calcutta was a visit to Seram- 
 pore, the scene of the labors of William Carey. I ar- 
 rived at eight o'clock, and found Dr. George Howells, 
 the Principal of Serampore College, in his office, busi- 
 ly engaged with some plans for the improvement of 
 the institution which was founded by Carey and his 
 associates. Dr. Marshman and Dr. Ward, in 1818. 
 I was in the building in which Carey lived, and saw 
 the room in which he died. I went through the mag- 
 nificent college building which he erected, and looked 
 upon the instructors' chairs which were occupied by 
 these great men in their work. The old pulpit is pre- 
 
 176 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 served in the library, as are the short crutches which 
 Dr. Carey was forced to use in his last days. The 
 first Bengali Bible published, which he translated, is 
 on the shelves. Not far away is the little Danish 
 church house in which these missionaries preached, 
 and near by is the pagoda which Henry Martyn oc- 
 cupied while he was translating the Bible into Hindu- 
 stani. On my way to the train I stopped at the little 
 cemetery and uncovered my head at the graves of 
 Dr. Carey and his three wives, Dr. Marshman, Dr. 
 Ward, Rev. John Mack, and the child of Adoniram 
 Judson. On Carey's tomb, according to his instruc- 
 tions, have been carved the words : "A wretched, poor, 
 and helpless worm, on Thy kind arms I fall." India 
 has no more notable tombs, however much she may 
 have built of marble and precious stones, than these 
 in Serampore. But Serampore is as pathetic as in- 
 spiring. In the little city there is a very small Chris- 
 tian community, while the college has only a hundred 
 boys of grammar and high school grade, with a dozen 
 candidates for the ministry. There is a charter for 
 a college departmient, but no pupils of that grade. Dr. 
 Howells is a brilliant man, and the English Baptists 
 are anxious to make the institution worthy of its great 
 founder ; but success does not come. A plan has been 
 proposed for making Serampore College a great in- 
 terdenominational theological school. It is the only 
 missionary institution in India that has the charter 
 right to grant degrees. The theological schools may 
 be as good as those in England or America, but they 
 cannot confer degrees on their graduates. Serampore 
 College has that right under its old Danish charter; 
 and if it were made a great degree-conferring, inter- 
 12 177 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 denominational theological school, it might have a 
 large place in the missionary work of- India. The 
 plan is being favorably considered by the missionary 
 bodies of the empire. Surely something should be 
 done to preserve Serampore with the sacred treasures 
 which the Church universal feels have been deposited 
 there. 
 
 Of all the interesting places in Calcutta it would be 
 difficult to speak, while to give my first impressions of 
 the people might not in the end be just to them or 
 creditable to me. It is very easy to hand down dog- 
 matic opinions on little observation, but the English 
 writers have done so much of that after a few days' 
 sojourn in America that an American may well re- 
 serve his verdict, as Rev, Abe Mulkey says, "until the 
 evidence is all in," But one can pass opinion on the 
 fine Bengal tigers that are in the zoological gardens, 
 and on the leopards, elephants, lions, hyenas, monkeys, 
 birds, and reptiles which were captured near Calcutta. 
 It was a strange sensation that came over me when 
 I learned that I was really in the home of these fero- 
 cious beasts. It came to me that I was far away from 
 the home of my childhood, and then the mind wan- 
 dered over the seas. After that I went to the Botan- 
 ical Gardens not so much to see the flowers and the 
 almond trees and the royal palms — although they were 
 very beautiful — but to examine the famous banyan 
 tree. When I saw it, I found that it was a small 
 forest which had sprung from one sprout. It is one 
 hundred and thirty-eight years old. The circumfer- 
 ence of its trunk five feet from the ground is fifty-one 
 feet, while the circumference at the crown is nearly 
 I, GOO feet. Its height is eighty-five feet. It has four 
 
 17^8 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 hundred and sixty-four aerial roots actually rooted in 
 the ground. A root will spring from any branch ; 
 and if it connects with the ground, it will go in and 
 become as any root. So the one tree has become 
 a beautiful grove:, and the long branches are sup- 
 ported by roots which now resemble living posts. 
 This is perhaps the greatest wonder in the whole tree 
 family. The banyan is a sacred tree among the Hin- 
 doos. 
 
 The tourists who had "done" India said that by all 
 means we should see Darjeeling, a city and suburbs of 
 160,000 people in the Himalaya IMountains, about four 
 hundred miles north of Calcutta and very near the 
 border of Tibet. So after a few days in Calcutta we 
 made ready for the journey to the far-famed cit}^ It 
 is one thing to float gently into a foreign city and be 
 landed by the kindness of fellow-travelers in the 
 homes of friends ; but when it comes to a stranger 
 making his first railway journey in India, some new 
 experiences may be expected. The train was sched- 
 uled to leave Calcutta at five o'clock in the afternoon, 
 and if all went well it would arrive in Darjeeling at 
 one o'clock the next day. Tickets were secured at 
 the city office, and our names were registered. I did 
 not know why the names were taken, but I found out 
 later without being told. Our host asked us if we 
 had bedding. I had to confess that all v/e had was 
 in America. So pillows, rugs, blankets, towels, and 
 linens were brought for us and rolled into a bun- 
 dle. The "gharry" (the carriage, by grace) was at 
 the door; but the driver did not move from his seat 
 to aid us with our suit cases, the bags, and the bed- 
 ding. His caste, or position in society, would not 
 
 179 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 allow him to perform so menial a service. But two 
 coolies were at hand, and the luggage (no baggage in 
 this country; all luggage) was piled on the gharry, 
 and we were off for the train while good wishes were 
 waved by the host and his wife. Station coolies by 
 the half dozen rushed for the four pieces of luggage. 
 We later felt a little embarrassed at our small amount 
 of baggage, as men, women, and children, whites, 
 blacks, and tinted, all take with them from six to fif- 
 teen pieces of luggage. They pile it all in the car 
 with them, trunks and all, and sit on the space that is 
 left. The coolies knew what to do, and we followed 
 them. They went direct to the coach that was painted 
 white and black and which was divided into compart- 
 ments for first- and second-class passengers. The 
 white color in India is very attractive to those who 
 may not know what ingredients may be mixed up in 
 or with the less certain colors. The filth of India 
 would be very valuable if some ingenious Yankee 
 would invent some method of using it as a fertilizer. 
 But travelers cannot be too squeamish, or else the trip 
 will be cut short. The coolies put us in our train, and 
 shortly we were moving at a good speed. 
 
 The afternoon was very warm, the windows were 
 open, the hot winds burned our faces, and the thick 
 dust wrought havoc with eyes, ears, and mouth. But 
 we were traveling for information and not for pleas- 
 ure, and so why complain? The compartment was 
 about eight feet long, and had scats along either side 
 and one running parallel through the center of the 
 car. A woman and her four children occupied one 
 seat, a gentleman and his luggage occupied the one 
 on the other side, while this traveler and his wife took 
 
 180 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 lessons from the center. If confession must be made, 
 the situation was not pleasing, and the prospect of 
 an early change was the chief encouragement to en- 
 durance. Promptly at eight o'clock we were informed 
 that the Ganges River had been reached, and that we 
 must take bed and baggage and board the waiting 
 steamer. The information came not in spoken words, 
 but with the clatter of coolies' tongues as they thrust 
 their turbaned heads, black bodies, and bare shanks 
 into our presence and clamored for a chance to carry 
 the luggage to the steamer. Two men were chosen 
 and loaded, and we rushed through the sand to the 
 steamer Parisian. A few pice (one-half cent pieces) 
 satisfied the coolies, and we turned to the table laden 
 with the usual dinner in India. I say laden, although 
 the dinner was served in courses, as are all meals in 
 India. Of course chota hasari is brought to one's 
 room about six to six-thirty in the morning, and con- 
 sists of tea and toast and a bit of fruit. But breakfast 
 at nine-thirty or ten o'clock, tiffin at two or three 
 o'clock, and dinner at eight or eight-thirty o'clock are 
 served in courses. How the people work and live with 
 meals at such hours, I cannot see. They say, "This 
 seems to be the best hours for out here ;" but the truth 
 is, the custom is not indigenous, but it was imported 
 with the government. But the meal, or the dinner, 
 was well received after the physical exercise which 
 the train furnished. The fish was touched lightly, as 
 its past associations were not known. The mutton 
 was good. Much mutton is eaten in India if one may 
 judge from the usual bill of fare. However, I must 
 confess that I saw a great many goats and very few 
 sheep in India. The chicken was far from the "yellow 
 
 181 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 leg" of which the poets or else so frequently write 
 and speak. But the Mohammedans served us right 
 well for two rupees ; and we arose to look out on the 
 waters of the holy Ganges, which we were crossing. 
 No sooner was the landing made than the grand rush 
 of the coolies put life into the listless passengers, and 
 in a few minutes we were at the train searching for 
 the cars in which we would spend the night. Placards 
 bore our names, and the game was as interesting as 
 finding one's place at a dining. There was much dis- 
 turbance and loud noises, the coolies having the as- 
 sistance of the women and some men. But trains in 
 India are never in a hurry about leaving a station, as 
 the station master must see that every passenger is pro- 
 vided with the accommodation to which his ticket en- 
 titles him before the train is dispatched. In case there 
 is not room, he must put on extra coaches. Some 
 cars are divided into small compartments with only 
 one long seat across the car and a bunk which can be 
 let down like a berth in an American sleeping car. 
 These compartments are for two persons, and are 
 convenient for a man and his wife. Usually the com- 
 partments have the three long seats and two bunks to 
 be let down, and they will give sleeping accommoda- 
 tions for five persons. The Editor and his wife got 
 into adjoining compartments, and had no trouble in 
 discovering the use of the bedding which our host 
 had provided for us, for the car was bare. The agent 
 at Calcutta had reserved lower berths for us by wire, 
 and our names were on the placards. The night was 
 pleasantly spent, and the morning found us at Siliguri. 
 What could travelers do in stuffy Pullman cars in 
 India? B}^ the present system each passenger can 
 
 182 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 have a comfortable bed at night, if he brings it, with- 
 out extra cost; and the fresh air which he breathes 
 will counteract all evil influence which may be occa- 
 sioned by flying sand or other creatures. 
 
 Siliguri, fifty miles from Darjeeling, was reached at 
 six o'clock. The coolies cared for the luggage while 
 we had chota hasari. What a dwarf railroad is that 
 which takes the passengers from Siliguri to Darjeel- 
 ing, with its track only two feet wide and its cars 
 large enough for only eight persons and high enough 
 only for those who sit! The luggage could not be 
 taken into the car, but had to be put into the parcel 
 van. The height of the car from the ground would 
 not prevent a child from stepping out at any time. 
 The engineer is not allowed to run the train at a 
 greater speed than seven miles an hour. There were 
 times when it seemed that this order had been totally 
 disregarded, for the turning of short curves when the 
 passengers were looking over a precipice more than a 
 thousand feet high made all movement seem rapid. 
 The first seven miles were made over a practically 
 level road, but through a great jungle in which hunt- 
 ers find the elephant, the tiger, the leopard, and other 
 ferocious beasts. On the return trip great torches on 
 the engine gave the forest a spectral lighting which 
 produced "creepy" feelings with the Americans, espe- 
 cially as a fellow-passenger insisted that the lights 
 were to scare away the beasts. He also told of a 
 tiger who a few years ago got on the track, and the 
 train was compelled to stop and await the pleasure of 
 his Bengal highness. However, we saw nothing ex- 
 cept a few harmless monkeys doing their feats in their 
 native woods, and I felt no disappointments, as I had 
 
 183 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 no desire to see tigers or worse. A strong iron frame 
 adds to the beauty of these enemies of human flesh. 
 
 The mountain scenery the entire fifty miles is un- 
 rivaled in its beauty and grandeur. The little train 
 climbed continually and crossed its track many times 
 in the ascent of a mountain. Some complete loops 
 were made in a distance of a few hundred feet. In 
 several places the reversing station was used. The 
 train would stop in its climb, open a switch, back up 
 the incline a few hundred feet, stop, open a switch, 
 and move forward. By this operation the train would 
 be Hfted twenty to thirty feet above its first position. 
 Not only did the superb mountain scenery entertain 
 me, but I was greatly interested in the immense tea 
 gardens that cover these great mountain sides. No 
 finer tea is to be found in the world than that of Dar- 
 jeeling and its district. Many Europeans have be- 
 come very wealthy through the tea industry. The tea 
 bush is a shrub not more than two feet high, with 
 thick branches heavily leaved, and has a circumference 
 of four or five feet. The leaves that are plucked for 
 the market are only the two that have just budded 
 and are only a few days or a week old. These leaves 
 are taken by laborers, and in the course of ten days 
 other new leaves will have taken their place and be 
 ready for plucking. The leaves are dried and rolled 
 and passed through four to six processes before they 
 are ready for the market. The green tea that is so 
 well known in America is rolled only once. The people 
 in India do not understand why any one should use 
 the green tea. As I have no taste for the concoction, 
 I could furnish no explanation. 
 
 Darjeeling, at a height of more tlian 7,000 feet, is 
 1S4 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 as exhilarating- in its ozone as it is intoxicating in its 
 sublimity. We forgot the intense heat of Calcutta on 
 these mountain heights. We had been told that from 
 Darjeeling we would see the highest mountain peaks 
 in the world. Mt. Everest, towering 29,000 feet, and 
 graceful Kinchin junga, with its 28,156 feet, are the 
 attractions which Darjeeling offers to tourists. Un- 
 fortunately for us, a dense haze hid from us these lofty 
 summits, and we were forced to join the great major- 
 ity who visit the mountain city for the superb moun- 
 tain view and who come away without a glimpse of 
 the snow-capped peaks. If we may believe those who 
 have been blessed with the views from Darjeeling and 
 Tiger Hill, no grander or more thrilling sight is per- 
 mitted to man than a clear view of Mt. Everest and 
 Kinchinjunga. But fully as interesting as the moun- 
 tains are the mountaineers, and in them v/e were not 
 disappointed. Here India and China meet, and the 
 Tibetans and the Bhoutans are the sturdy mountain 
 tribes that are represented in the hill capital of the 
 Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. The habits of these 
 rugged folk may be surmised by the warlike relics 
 which are sold in the curio shops, while the athletic 
 bodies of the street laborers showed the influence of 
 their mountain life. They have more characteristics 
 of the Chinese than of the Indians. Religiously they 
 are for the most part Buddhists. The Christian mis- 
 sionary finds them as accessible as any other people 
 to whom he may speak. But mountaineers in Asia, 
 as in America, need only the advantages which the 
 school and the Christian Church can bring to make 
 them leading citizens in their respective countries. 
 Darjeeling is the summer resort not only for the 
 1S5 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Lieutenant Governor of Bengal and his attendant offi- 
 cials, but for the high social set that seek to escape 
 the heat of Calcutta and neighboring cities. Wherever 
 Englishmen congregate in the East will be found all 
 the accommodations for their outdoor sports. Exer- 
 cise in the open air, with walking, riding, driving, 
 hunting, and games of all kinds, keep the sons of 
 Edward in good physical condition even against the 
 evil habits which their thirsts have too frequently cre- 
 ated. The visit to Darjeeling was full of intense in- 
 terest because of the unrivaled scenery which the haze 
 could not hide, the novel experiences on the baby 
 railway, and the fine lessons in traveling in the British 
 Empire, and because of the glimpse into the life of the 
 people of the Himalayas. 
 
 186 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Benares and Lucknow. 
 
 BENARES is a twelve hours' ride by the fast mail 
 train from Calcutta, and most of the journey is 
 made at night. It is situated on the left bank of the 
 sacred Ganges River, in the most fertile section of 
 India. The broad rice and indigo fields fill the great 
 valley, and the population of the entire section is very 
 dense. One-fifth of the 300,000,000 people of India 
 live on one-twentieth of its area, two-thirds live on 
 one-fourth of the land, while three-fourths of the 
 country is sparsely settled. The people are very large- 
 ly agricultural, and it is estimated that ninety per 
 cent of them live in the villages. They are compelled 
 to sustain themselves by the fruits of the soil ; and 
 when for lack of rain or other cause the harvests are 
 cut short, a famine must result and thousands and 
 even millions of them die. In the last twenty-five 
 years about 20,000,000 people have died in the famines. 
 One of the great problems before the English govern- 
 ment in India is how to prevent famines. The rains 
 are dependent upon the monsoons, which are the winds 
 that come from the southwest, bringing the moisture 
 of the sea. The moisture is precipitated when it comes 
 into contact with the dry, cold atmosphere of the 
 mountains of the north. These monsoons break in 
 June and continue for six or eight weeks, after which 
 the harvests are possible. The rains in the late fall 
 or early winter insure the grain harvests in the early 
 
 187 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 spring. But scarcely a year passes that does not re- 
 cord the faikire of crops in some sections and the con- 
 sequent famine as a result. The tourist who sees In- 
 dia in November will think of it as a garden spot, 
 but one who sees it in the last half of April can un- 
 derstand what the word "famine" means. Such a 
 parched, desolate land I had never before looked upon. 
 There was no sign of grass or other vegetation except 
 an occasional cluster of trees. The farmers were not 
 trying to break the soil, but were waiting in the great 
 dust and the intense heat for the coming of the mon- 
 soons. How much does India need China's great 
 canal, with its wonderful network of waters ! The 
 government has already done much in this direction, 
 as it has built 7,000 miles of main-line canals and 
 27,000 miles of distributing canals, which furnish wa- 
 ter to about 12,000,000 acres, most of which is in the 
 United Provinces and in the Punjab. Besides the area 
 irrigated by the government canals, it is calculated 
 that about 18,000,000 acres are irrigated by means of 
 tanks, wells, and lakes. It is claimed that the area 
 irrigated by one means or other in India is greater 
 than that in the entire rest of the world. Nevertheless, 
 India has more sufferers from famine than all the rest 
 of the world, and the only hope of making famine 
 impossible is in irrigation, which can come only by 
 canals. The government has set itself about the task 
 of providing a great canal system, and it is to be hoped 
 that the presence of England in India will be justified 
 in all the ages by the system of irrigation which she 
 gave the country, if by nothing else. By irrigation 
 and the use of fertilizers after the manner of the Chi- 
 nese and Japanese India may remove her poverty and 
 
 188 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 provide for herself the comforts and accommodations 
 of a worthy national life. But no people can rise high 
 in the scale of intelligence or morality until they can 
 get rid of the dirt and filth which poverty imposes. 
 
 The holiest, dirtiest, most revolting city in India is 
 Benares, the Mecca of Hinduism. The drought had, 
 of course, discounted its usual appearance ; but it hard- 
 ly seemed possible that anything beautiful — vegetable, 
 animal, or psychical — could grow in that place. The 
 business streets are only alleyways, the shops are dirty, 
 cramped booths, and the places we will call homes — 
 although the word does not apply — are disreputable 
 in appearance. It must be remembered, however, that 
 Indians do not need large business houses or com- 
 modious dwellings, although the rich may have both. 
 The shopkeeper will close his place of business and 
 lie down on the sidewalk in front and sleep, without 
 pillow or covering, until morning or until he is unduly 
 disturbed. In many instances, as in China, he may 
 have his family in another city, to which he will go 
 at the end of the season ; and even if his family is in 
 the same city, his apartments may be in a different 
 house from that of his family. One Hindu gentleman 
 invited my wife to go with him to see his wife and 
 family. He could not invite me, as the women are 
 not allowed to see or be seen by other men than their 
 husbands or brothers or fathers. After that visit he 
 invited us both to visit his apartments, which were in 
 a house on the opposite side of the street. The wife 
 prepares the husband's meal, but she is not allowed 
 to eat it with him. The men and boys of the family 
 eat, and after them the women and girls. When the 
 woman walks or drives in the street, her face is veiled ; 
 
 189 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 and in driving or riding in the chair the doors of the 
 carriage are closed and the curtains are drawn and 
 she is hid from the world. The woman is a prisoner 
 in her own home. The only hope of doing missionary 
 work among the women is in women missionaries en- 
 tering the home to teach fancywork or on some other 
 pretense. This is called "zenana" work, and through 
 it some intelligent women have achieved good results. 
 Women of the laboring class are not bound by these 
 social restrictions, but may be seen at any time. 
 
 Benares is a city of temples and ghats, and to it the 
 devout make sacred pilgrimages, as do the Moham- 
 medans to Mecca, The Hindu believes firmly that the 
 Ganges has divine qualities, and that its waters will 
 cleanse from sin and insure entrance into the heavenly 
 world. So he bathes in this stream, drinks its water, 
 hopes to die on its bank and have his ashes borne 
 away on its bosom. The ghats (pronounced "gots") 
 are steps which lead from the top of the bank down 
 into the river. In the early morning in Benares the 
 whole riverside for two miles is covered with people 
 who come for their bathings. They enter the stream, 
 dip themselves three times, pour water on their heads, 
 lift the water with their hands, drink a small amount, 
 and worship the stream and the rising sun. Some of 
 them are very devout in their worship, while others 
 are as some worshipers in the Christian Churches in 
 the United States. They wash their garments before 
 leaving the stream, and skillfully dress themselves 
 without exposure. The women have a section reserved 
 for them, but nothing separates them from the men, 
 although they may come to the river in a closed car- 
 riage. As the worshipers leave the river they usually 
 
 190 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 stop to have the priest, who sits under a large bamboo 
 umbrella, put the marks on their faces and foreheads 
 which will indicate the caste to which they belong. 
 Hinduism is the teacher and supporter of caste. The 
 Mohammedans, the Parsees, the Buddhists, and the 
 Sikhs are all free from that disgraceful bondage. But 
 as there are more than 200,000,000 Hindus in India, 
 the caste system may be said to be national. 
 
 The Hindu wants to die on the left bank of the 
 sacred Ganges. Should he die on the right bank, his 
 soul would be lost in the next world. By the side of 
 the bathing ghats are the burning ghats, where the 
 funeral pyres are lighted. The sight of these was far 
 from pleasant. The bodies of the dead are first taken 
 to the river, the feet dipped in the stream, the bottom 
 of the feet and the palms stained red with some sacred 
 juice, spices thrown upon them, and then the little pile 
 of wood into which the body is placed is lighted. 
 Every Hindu considers it a calamity if he has not a 
 son to light his funeral pyre. The attendants have 
 some ceremony, but there is no sign of grief on any 
 face. Hinduism does not develop keen sensibilities. 
 However, the act of cremation on the banks of the 
 sacred stream and the final resting place on the bosom 
 of Mother Ganges give the bereaved an assurance 
 which casts out all grief. It is said that often the sick 
 who are wealthy are hastened in their departure as 
 they await the summons on the banks of the river. 
 But the whole custom and faith are grewsome and 
 exhibit the darkness of heathenism. The government 
 cannot interfere with their use of the water of the 
 Ganges for bathing or drinking, however great the 
 danger of disease, as any Interference would be con- 
 
 191 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 sidered restrictions upon worship. A young officer 
 told me of a case of a Hindu who was attacked with 
 cholera the day previous. He gave him the usual 
 stimulants, which brought relief; but at once the man 
 walked to the Ganges and drank its waters. In an 
 hour he was dead. Through ignorance and supersti- 
 tion thousands of people die in India every year in 
 the use of what they call holy water. 
 
 Much of the same worship is carried on at Calcutta 
 as in Benares, as the Hugli River is a branch of the 
 Ganges after it enters its delta. The river Jumna, on 
 which Agra is situated, is also considered sacred. 
 Some sacred wells are to be found in various parts of 
 the empire, and the water in them is as vile as one 
 will ever see. Stagnant pools, green from long stand- 
 ing, are used for bathing. A public health department 
 would find much to do in India, but ignorance and 
 superstition must first be driven away before any 
 measures could be successfully enforced. However, 
 all the worship is not dangerous to public health ; but 
 much of it is revolting to fine sensibilities. I visited 
 the Kali Ghat, in Calcutta, and so avoided the one in 
 Benares. I saw a young kid offered to bloodthirsty 
 Kali, the wife of Shiva. The pilgrims buy the goats 
 at a small price, and the priests cut off the head and 
 take the fresh blood and put it upon the forehead of 
 the person making the offering. The pilgrim is al- 
 lowed to take the body of his goat and eat it. Kali 
 is the goddess of destruction, and she can be appeased 
 only by frequent bloody offerings. Her idol is suffi- 
 ciently revolting to draw from any devotee any sacri- 
 fice. The scene about the temple dedicated to her is 
 most disgusting. The priests are so importunate as 
 
 192 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 to pass from the state of beggars to that of highway 
 robbers. They held the pilgrims in their arms until 
 they surrendered the last pice. The whole Hindu 
 priesthood is a debased fraternity for extracting 
 money. The priests are ignorant and even vicious, 
 and are real social vultures. The Durga Temple, in 
 Benares, which is dedicated to bloodthirsty Kali, was 
 interesting because it is full of monkeys. The priests 
 fed them in our presence, and then asked us to pay 
 the bill. The high priest, who would pass for a gar- 
 bage collector, came from the high altar of Kali to 
 ask for backsheesh. According to the census takers, 
 there are four million beggars in India. Judging from 
 the specimens which we saw, we are inclined to think 
 that some were overlooked. Those who do not beg 
 are, always on the receiving hand. 
 
 Our guide took us over the usual river route, and 
 pointed out all the ghats, temples, and famous build- 
 ings. Many of the Maharajahs have palaces on the 
 banks of the Ganges with fine bathing ghats reaching 
 into the water. The Maharajah of Benares lives in a 
 palace on the opposite bank of the river. He seems to 
 be taking some risk in living on the right bank. All 
 the Maharajahs of the empire have palaces in Benares, 
 which they occupy during the great religious festivals. 
 We visited the one owned by the Maharajah of Vija- 
 yanagrum, but found nothing distinctly Indian except 
 the manifest desire to imitate European people. We 
 visited the cow temple, and saw the beautiful fat ani- 
 mals that seem to be enjoying their heavenly state. 
 In Calcutta I saw a number of holy cows on the street. 
 They lay on the sidewalks, ate from the grocery stalls, 
 and lazily v/andered through the streets without mo- 
 13 19S 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 lestation. The guide showed us the old Juggernaut 
 which was once drawn through the streets of Benares 
 by sacred elephants, and in which rode the Maharajah 
 and the priests. Before its wheels persons would 
 often throw themselves and be crushed to death. 
 Such a death insured entrance into the world of bliss. 
 I saw also the Golden Temple, with its gilded spires; 
 the Nepalese Temple, with its indecent carvings, the 
 expression of degrading Hinduism. In Calcutta I saw 
 the faithful worshiping Shiva by pouring water from 
 the holy river on his iron head, by putting choice flow- 
 ers on his iron nose, and by fanning with a palm leaf 
 his iron face, while a priest muttered prayers and re- 
 ceived pice. 
 
 Such is practical Hinduism as it works itself out in 
 the public worship of India's millions to-day. Its 
 superstitions are gross, its conceptions debasing, and 
 its practices revolting in the extreme. It not only 
 stultifies the mind and heart of the people, but it im- 
 poses a system of caste which is degrading to the 
 majority and extremely burdensome to all. Hindu- 
 ism as a system of religion is a mixture of cult and 
 philosophy. Its practical working, however brilliant 
 may be some of its teachings, can never be regenera- 
 tive, edifying, or sanctifying. If India is ever to rise 
 to a just state of commendable living and thinking, 
 she must have a revolution in her religious life. The 
 Christian world should not be content for the present 
 state to continue, but should increase the missionary 
 forces until this dark heathen land shall feel the throb 
 of a genuine Christian life. There is much to be said 
 of Hindu philosophy and Hindu thought, but Hindu- 
 ism as practiced is the rankest heathenism. The force 
 
 194 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 that will correct this vile condition must come from 
 without and drive Hinduism to acknowledge its fail- 
 ure as a _ religion. India must have Christianity to 
 save her from the destruction that her heathen dark- 
 ness v/ill inevitably bring. 
 
 Of course I was interested in seeing in Benares the 
 fine, expansive buildings of the Central Hindu Col- 
 lege, the institution over which Mrs. Annie Besant, 
 the theosophist, presides. About two to three hun- 
 dred Hindu young men are students in the school. 
 But theosophists are as much in the haze as the Hindus 
 are in the darkness. The unoccupied society women 
 who are spending their hours in theosophical clubs 
 and are indulging in their idle and ignorant prattle 
 about Hindu philosophy ought to send a delegation to 
 investigate the temples, the ghats, the priests, and the 
 practices of Hinduism. 
 
 It was a great relief to turn aside from the holy 
 things of Benares to the secular. The ornamental 
 brasswork which is met with all over the world is a 
 specialite of Benares. The skill with which these fine 
 pieces of brass are produced is truly remarkable, while 
 the carving which is done on ivory is worthy of high 
 admiration. The shawls, the silks, and the choice 
 embroidery which are produced in the dirty hovels 
 of Benares compel the most disgusted tourist to utter 
 some kind words about the people of the holy city. 
 Much of the spinning is done in the streets, the warp 
 is prepared in the alley, while the looms are in nar- 
 row rooms with dirt floors. Yet the fabrics that are 
 produced receive the admiration of all lovers of the 
 beautiful. Factories in India, as in China and Japan, 
 do not mean great buildings, but usually small rooms 
 
 195 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 in which workmen sit on the floor and with deHcate 
 instruments produce that kind of article that their 
 ancestors for generations produced before them. Hea- 
 thenism does not mean artistic inefficiency. 
 
 The leave-taking at the hotel in Benares was very 
 affecting, and citizens of that holy place showed un- 
 usual interest in our departure. We saw a number of 
 people, friends indeed because friends in need, whom 
 we did not know existed. We had no sooner paid 
 our bill in the hotel office than they swooped down 
 on us like vultures who scented a subject from afar. 
 "I am the table boy," said the bushy-bearded man clad 
 in white, with high-built turban. The modest tip was 
 bestowed. 'T am the room boy," said the next old 
 gentleman in white raiment and with black feet; tip. 
 "I am the water boy ;" tip. 'T am the sweeper ;" tip. 
 'T am the punka puller ;" tip. "I am the bootblack ;" 
 tip. 'T am the man who drove the carriage yester- 
 day;" the bill had been paid, but — tip. "We are the 
 coolies," said the three men who had put our six pieces 
 of hand luggage on the gharry ; tip. 'T am the bear- 
 er" (he had brought the hotel bill to me) ; tip. All 
 wanted more than I had given, and expressed their 
 emotions in broken English. They always want more 
 and say so. When I arrived at the station, three 
 coolies took the luggage and put it on the train, for 
 which they were paid by the railway company; but 
 tips they must have. The gharry man, after I paid 
 his regular tariff, asked for his tip and received it. 
 Just here the guide said modestly : "And now my pay." 
 He received it, and the car door closed, not to be 
 opened any more to expose us to the affecting fare- 
 well of our newly found friends. But such is India, 
 
 196 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 a country of beggars and tiptakers, as well as of 
 scholars, poets, and religionists. The white man has 
 everything done for him that another person can do, 
 and the native expects full compensation and back- 
 sheesh in return. Even the station master on the rail- 
 roads has favors for travelers when the ring of rupees 
 falls on his ears. The native may receive only half so 
 much from a native for a piece of work as from the 
 white man and with that be satisfied ; but to the white 
 man he turns with pleading tone and calls for more, 
 if not in compensation, at least as backsheesh. But the 
 poor fellows need all they get. 
 
 We took the mail train at Benares at eleven o'clock 
 in the morning for Lucknow, the city so intimately 
 connected with the events of the Sepoy rebellion. The 
 journey was the most uncomfortable which we had 
 in India because of the intense heat. The thermome- 
 ter registered io8 degrees, and the hot winds almost 
 blistered the face. On getting into the coach all the 
 windows and screens were closed except a window 
 on either side of the car in which there were straw 
 mats, which are called tatties. By pressing a button 
 water ran down on the straw tatties and saturated 
 them. On the outside of the windows were screens 
 which caught the air, which was driven through the 
 tatties by the force of the running train. The moist 
 atmosphere rendered the air in the coach somewhat 
 comfortable. We took lunch in the dining car, which 
 was similarly cooled, while the punkas, which are 
 fans made of a pole from which hangs heavy cloth, 
 and which are pulled by a man, kept the atmosphere 
 moving. In the hotels punkas are provided, and a 
 man sits on the outside of the room, and by a rope 
 
 107 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 through the wall he keeps the fans going all through 
 the night. However, frequently heaviness possesses 
 the eyes of the punka puller, and the sleeper arouses 
 with the unpleasant dreams of suffocation or other 
 disasters. The experience of the day's travel from 
 Benares to Lucknow was sufficient to convince the 
 tourists from the South that only in the night should 
 people travel in India during the month of April. 
 Frequently passengers of European blood are taken 
 from the train overcome by the heat ; but these, as a 
 rule, are men who have indulged too immoderately in 
 the use of whisky and soda water, the favorite drink 
 of Englishmen in India. They claim that the water 
 is bad, and consequently they drink liquids that will 
 destroy germs. This traveler, who drinks nothing but 
 water, carried with him an earthen water bottle, called 
 a serai, filled with water which had been boiled by 
 missionaries, and which these peculiar bottles kept 
 cool. He had no trouble in getting missionaries to 
 fill his serai, which would hold a gallon of water. 
 
 On arriving in Lucknow, we drove at once to the 
 residence of Rev, C. L. Bare, the President of Reid 
 Christian College of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 What a joy to find ourselves in that comfortable home, 
 kept cool by its very thick stone walls and the ever- 
 moving punkas, and to have the sweet fellowship of 
 this faithful missionary and his devoted wife! After 
 an hour's rest, Dr. Bare announced that Founder's 
 Day was being celebrated at the Isabella Thoburn 
 Girls' College, and asked if I cared to attend the ex- 
 ercises. I was indeed glad of the opportunity to see 
 something of this excellent institution, with its band 
 of two hundred girls. We found the yard filled with 
 
 198 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 as happy a company of girls and visiting schoolboys 
 as ever assembled on a campus. The faces of the rol- 
 licking throng were Indian, but the language and 
 the dress were English. The exercises were enter- 
 taining, and the singing of Miss Thoburn's favorite 
 song, "The Home of the Soul," was very affecting. 
 From Benares to Lucknow, from heathen to Chris- 
 tian light — what a transition! One woman who was 
 educated in the school had returned to these inter- 
 esting exercises of her Alma Mater. She spoke ex- 
 ultingly of the new church which the native Chris- 
 tians were building in her town. When the day for 
 laying the corner stone came, the government official 
 of the district found that he could not attend to that 
 duty, so the officiary of the Church invited this edu- 
 cated Christian woman to perform that service. The 
 graduates of the school are in great demand as teach- 
 ers in the schools of India, while the educated young 
 Indians seek their hands in marriage. Miss Thoburn, 
 the sister of Bishop Thoburn, performed a great serv- 
 ice for her Church and for India when she founded 
 this institution. The original building was occupied 
 previous to 1857 by the Prime Minister of the king- 
 dom of Ouhd, and his council room is preserved in 
 ' the present commodious building. Miss Nichols, the 
 Principal, has secured the house on the opposite side 
 of the street and now occupied by the deaconess home 
 to be used for the "purdah" girls — that is, girls of 
 the higher classes, who must be veiled and not seen 
 of men. She will put a tunnel under the street to 
 secure a closed passageway for the girls. It is to be 
 hoped that while they come in through closed sub- 
 terranean channels they will linger to see that light 
 
 199 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 which will enable them to walk out at the front door 
 into the open ways of God's great world. Only Chris- 
 tianity can remove purdahs from the faces and minds 
 of the women of India. 
 
 Reid Christian College (named for the Rev. John 
 M. Reid, D.D., deceased, once the Secretary of Mis- 
 sions for the Methodist Episcopal Church, who gave 
 the money for the main building) had its beginning 
 in 1866, but was not established as a college until 
 1888, when the Rev. B. H. Badley, D.D., was Prin- 
 cipal. Its superb site on "Residency Hill," which was 
 consecrated in 1857 by the blood of those who fell 
 in the mutiny, was obtained as a gift from the gov- 
 ernment. The grounds include about thirty acres, 
 and are exempt from all taxation. The location is 
 high, and commands a wide view of the entire city 
 and of the historic "Residency," which is only a few 
 hundred feet away. The annual enrollment reaches 
 550 to 600 young men. The graduates of the college 
 are able to pass the examinations of Allahabad Uni- 
 versity, with which the college is affiliated, and re- 
 ceive their academic degrees. The Commercial De- 
 partment has the indorsement and support of the pro- 
 vincial government. In fact, the government has 
 been very free in its contributions to the support of 
 the institution. At present one of the professors of 
 the school, a son of the founder, is making a system 
 of shorthand for the Oudhi language, the dialect of 
 the province, at the request of the government. Very 
 few schools in India are meeting with larger success 
 than Reid Christian College. 
 
 Lucknow is the center of Methodism in the north- 
 ern and central provinces of India. Bishop F. W. 
 
 200 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Warne has his official residence here. The Publish- 
 ing House is one of the largest and most successful 
 in the East. Last year the concern made a contribu- 
 tion of $8,000 in missionary literature to the missions 
 in its territory and cleared $1,300 besides. Meth- 
 odism is meeting with unprecedented success among 
 the people of this section. For the most part they are 
 of the lower castes, but it is found that Christianity 
 elevates the people of India until som.etimes an edu- 
 cated man from the lower caste is called on to teach 
 the children of the higher castes. Nothing is affect- 
 ing Hinduism more than to see that Christianity lifts 
 its adherents into better stations in life. Sons of 
 sweepers, who by the caste system would always be 
 sweepers, have been known to rise to positions of 
 clerks, with the usual increase in salary. Jesus Christ 
 is no respecter of persons, and missionaries may well 
 follow his example in their labors. 
 
 Lucknow is fifth in size among the cities of India, 
 and has a population of about 275,000, of whom three- 
 fifths are Hindus. Religion is the basis of division 
 among Indians. Hindus, Mohammedans, Parsees, 
 Jews, and Christians are religious designations, al- 
 though in the case of the Jews and Parsees they may 
 refer to racial extractions. The natives of India are 
 Indians. Lucknow, by reason of its parks and gar- 
 dens, excellent streets, and fine houses, is one of the 
 most attractive cities in the empire. The shops are 
 exceedingly interesting, and especially to those who 
 admire the Indian silverware. The various articles 
 are sold at reasonable figures if the amount of silver 
 which they contain is taken into account and also the 
 time consumed by a skilled workman in making the 
 
 201 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 highly ornamental article. In other cities of India, 
 and especially in Agra, Delhi, Jeypore, and Madras, 
 there are many factories which turn out this beautiful 
 ornamental silverware. 
 
 To all who are acquainted with the history of India, 
 and especially to all English people, Lucknow has 
 the keenest attraction because of its position in the 
 mutiny of 1857. The old "Residency" is as sacred 
 to the historian as Thermopylae or Waterloo or Vicks- 
 burg or Port Arthur. In the world-renowned "Resi- 
 dency" a force of nearly 3,000 English and natives, 
 including 547 women and children, were confined for 
 eighty-six days amid the terrible heat of Jul}', August, 
 and September; and they endured the most deadly 
 sieges ever recorded in the annals of war. The fire 
 upon them was almost constant, and the entire hill 
 became bloody with the victims of the besiegers and 
 the besieged. When relief reached the garrison, on 
 September 25, 1857, more than 2,000, or two-thirds 
 of the original force, had perished. The gallant Sir 
 Henry Lawrence fell in the early days of the siege. 
 On the slab that marks the resting place of the great 
 Christian soldier, a devout member of the Baptist 
 Church, are the words : "Here lies Henry Lawrence, 
 who tried to do his duty." Who would not uncover 
 his head in the presence of such hallowed dust? With 
 great interest I visited the various points of attacks, 
 the positions of intrenchment, the line of approach of 
 the besiegers and the relief. The old Residency, 
 which was the home of the English official, was ex- 
 amined from cellar to garret. Baillie Guard, Dr. Fay- 
 rer's house, in which Sir Henry Lawrence died, the 
 old cemetery where the church stood, and where mon- 
 
 202 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 uments have been erected to the memory of those 
 who fell in the terrific siege, Vv^ere visited with a sense 
 of reverence. Every foot of the ground seemed 
 sacred, and the recital of the events of the siege made 
 vivid the awful events of the memorable Sepoy re- 
 bellion. The entire territory from Lucknow to Cawn- 
 pore and from Cawnpore to Agra and Delhi furnished 
 the great battlefields for the bloody struggle, and to- 
 day supplies the historians with incident for the record 
 of the great mutiny. England will take no chances 
 again with her native troops, but will hold them where 
 they will do service for the empire and no injury to 
 the governments. 
 
 Lucknow was the brilliant capital of the kingdom 
 of Oudh until 1856, when the kingdom was annexed 
 by the British government, and the reputation of its 
 splendor filled the whole of India. The Mohammedan 
 rulers built palaces, mosques, and tombs that still add 
 grace, beauty, and magnificence to the famous city; 
 and the tourist of to-day will be richly entertained 
 by visits to these superb pieces of architecture. The 
 great mosque is very commanding in its proportions 
 and its general aspect. The outer gate, which leads 
 into the grounds, is as fine a piece of ornamental work 
 as one will find in such structures in all India. The 
 approach to the mosque is by a flight of expansive 
 steps. The broad, open court, the tall minarets, the 
 marble-covered worshiping places combine to impress 
 even the casual observer with the dignity and rever- 
 ence of the place. Just beyond the mosque are the 
 beautiful Victoria Gardens. The superb statue of the 
 late Queen and the Empress of India, built on the old 
 palace grounds, has recently been unveiled. It hon- 
 
 203 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ors the citizens of Lucknow, as well as the memory 
 of the great woman. The tombs of some of the rulers 
 are also in the grounds of the palace, and they ex- 
 hibit rriuch barbaric splendor. The Kaiser Bagh is 
 the great palace which contained the immense harem 
 of the king. In its extensive court are also the build- 
 ings in which the king held his councils and from 
 which he ruled his country. But these are the relics 
 of a day which has gone, never to return. The future 
 may bring its changes for the present state of things, 
 but the old regime can never be restored. India's 
 new day may not have completely dawned, but the 
 midnight of the old is fully passed. Such an insti- 
 tution as Channing College, with its magnificent build- 
 ings and liberal equipment, located on the choicest 
 grounds in Lucknow, is the symbol of the new time. 
 The new learning will liberate the people from the 
 ideas that made the old kingdom of Oudh possible. 
 A new light, even the Light from the star that the 
 wise men of the East saw, will yet permeate the mind 
 of India, and this dark people shall come into the con- 
 sciousness of their own powers and possibilities. 
 
 204 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 The Capitals of the Moguls. 
 
 AGRA holds a strong place in the esteem of the 
 world, not so much because it is one of the 
 largest cities of India, having a population of 200,000, 
 nor because it was once the capital of the nation and 
 the abode of kings, but because of some extraordinary 
 pieces of architecture which it possesses. The world 
 cares very little about Shah Jehan or his famous 
 grandfather, Akbar the Great ; but it does bow itself 
 in admiration before the great works of art which 
 these men had produced for the adornment of their 
 halls of government, places of residence and houses 
 of worship, and the tombs in which their ashes rest. 
 The things that live in this world and which humanity 
 will always treasure are those which exhibit thought 
 and feehng and manifest high psychic qualities. Art 
 is not an imitation of nature, but the expression of the 
 soul of man. A beautiful landscape is not a cluster 
 of trees -and an expanse of fields and sky, but a cluster 
 of ideas and a far vision into the deeper meaning of 
 God's world. Architecture is not a massive pile of 
 sandstone and marble with towers and domes, but the 
 expression of symmetry, unity, thought, and the feel- 
 ings and will of a great soul. Agra has a message 
 in stone for every spirit that is capable of receiving 
 it, and it is because of this message that tourists will 
 endure the hardships of severe travel to spend a few 
 
 20.5 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 days in the Fort, at the Taj Mahal, about the tomb 
 of Akbar and the majestic ruins of a once proud city. 
 
 We lost no time in reaching the Fort on the morn- 
 ing of our arrival, although the night's travel had not 
 been pleasant. Changing trains in the wee hours of 
 the day is not an agreeable exercise even in America, 
 and much less in India. But chota hasari gave us a 
 brace, and the hope of a sleep in midday an inspira- 
 tion. So before seven o'clock we entered the world- 
 renowned Fort, which was built by Akbar the Great 
 more than three and a half centuries ago. The walls 
 and flanking defenses of red sandstone, with a height 
 of about seventy feet, make an imposing appearance, 
 while the entrance through the superb Delhi Gate 
 gives the traveler the sensation of passing back to the 
 feudal days of great castles and barbaric fortifications. 
 While the walls of the Fort would not resist long the 
 present powerful missiles of war, yet the ugly-mouthed 
 cannons which to-day speak defiance to an approach- 
 ing foe would be able to hold in check for some time 
 an invading force. The Red Jackets were greatly in 
 evidence, as are the British military forces everywhere 
 in India. Our first stop was at the Pearl Mosque, 
 which was built by Shah Jehan in 1648 to 1655 at a 
 cost of $100,000; but it could not be produced to-day 
 in America for five times that amount. We ascended 
 the lofty double staircase and entered through the fine 
 gateway of sandstone into the surpassingly beautiful 
 courtyard, which measures 234 feet in length and 183 
 feet in width. The marble tank in the center, thirty- 
 seven feet square, is for the worshiper's ablutions. 
 The mosque proper is 149 feet broad, has a depth of 
 fifty-six feet, and is lined with marble throughout. A 
 
 206 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 marble cloister runs around the sides of the court, 
 over which are the most exquisitely carved archways. 
 In the mosque are 570 marble slabs which furnish as 
 many places for as many men worshipers ; while on 
 the sides are slabs for the women, who can look into 
 the mosque only through a beautifully carved marble 
 screen. There are no images, no decorations, no 
 seats — nothing except a marble stairway and plat- 
 form, three feet high, upon which the priest occasion- 
 ally stands to read parts of the Koran. The whole 
 worship lasts only a quarter of an hour, and consists 
 of prayers muttered with the face of the worshiper 
 turned toward Mecca. The same prayers are usually 
 said at five stated times in the day wherever the wor- 
 shiper may be at the hour for worship, but they have 
 much more virtue if they are said on Friday in the 
 mosque. While I saw many of the faithful bowing 
 in the temple, I saw also the soldier at his sentinel 
 post at the close of day get on his knees and put his 
 forehead in the dust. The Mohammedan never neg- 
 lects his duty to pray. In that he might be a worthy 
 example to many followers of the Christ. 
 
 The beauty of the Pearl Mosque sharpened the de- 
 sire to see the palace of the great Shah Jehan, which 
 stands only a few feet away. The palace of red sand- 
 stone, with its numerous apartments, graceful arches, 
 and majestic colonnades, in which the great Akbar 
 lived, would be imposing were it not eclipsed by the 
 adjoining marble palaces of his grandson. Words are 
 inadequate to a proper description of these specimens 
 of architectural splendor. Marble ceilings, marble 
 floors, marble walls, marble doors, marble thrones, 
 marble bath, all enriched with the most delicate and 
 
 207 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 elaborate carvings of flowers and figures, give a mag- 
 nificence that surpasses the work of one's imagination. 
 The frescoes and mosaics add a beauty and a rich- 
 ness that are fairly intoxicating. The splendid draw- 
 ing-room, the superb galleries supported by great col- 
 umns of purest marble, the open court, the Audience 
 Hall, all adorned in regal splendor, make a scene so 
 glorious that man passes with regret and returns in 
 memory with delight. But before we left the great 
 palace and all its splendid treasures the guide took us 
 to the small marble room adjoining the Queen's apart- 
 ments, in which the proud Emperor Shah Jehan spent 
 the last seven years of his life as a prisoner while his 
 ambitious son ruled the nation — a sad but natural se- 
 quel to his own selfish and autocratic life. He suf- 
 fered that which he had inflicted on his own father 
 and from a son who had been trained in the tactics 
 of his own school. We stood in the little octagonal 
 tower in which he was taken to die at his own request, 
 from which he could look out on the great Taj Mahal, 
 the superb monument which he had erected to the 
 memory of his much-loved Mohammedan wife. No 
 ruler has left in India so many enduring works pos- 
 sessing genuine architectural worth as Shah Jehan, 
 who reigned from 1627 to 1658. 
 
 Quite satisfied with the morning's sight-seeing, we 
 returned to the hotel for breakfast. We had scarcely 
 finished our meal when Rev. G. W. Guthrie, of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, called and gave us a 
 very cordial invitation to go to his home. The invi- 
 tation was gladly accepted, for hotel fare in India is 
 poor at best ; the cooking peculiar to the country is 
 not appetizing to an American. The fact is, the food 
 
 208 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 at the hotel consists chiefly of fish, of which one may- 
 well be careful ; mutton, which has its shortcomings ; 
 fowl, which is never fat; and potatoes, upon which 
 one can always rely. The bread is probably home- 
 baked; however, it had no internal or external evi- 
 dence that it was not imported. As to beefsteaks, 
 good butter, biscuits, corn bread, and such substan- 
 tials, they are totally unknown in the Orient. In the 
 missionary's home we found comfort, convenience, 
 companionship, and complete satisfaction for the 
 physical man. Not only did we have excellent help 
 in finding the interesting features of Agra, but also 
 an opportunity to look into the work of missions as 
 it is done all over India. 
 
 As soon as the rays of the vertical sun would allow, 
 we went in the afternoon to the exquisitely beautiful 
 tomb of I'timad-ud-daulah, the Persian high treasurer 
 of Emperor Jahangir and the grandfather of Shah 
 Jehan's wife, the lady of the Taj. The tomb is in a 
 beautiful garden, and stands on a platform six feet 
 high and one hundred and fifty feet square, and is 
 itself sixty-nine feet square. At each corner is an 
 octagonal tower, and on the terrace of the roof is a 
 pavilion twenty-five feet square. The center room, 
 measuring twenty-two feet square, contains the tombs 
 of the great man and his wife, made of yellow-colored 
 marble. The marble latticework of the passages ad- 
 mitting light to the interior is very fine. The whole 
 of the exterior and much of the interior is of white 
 marble with beautiful inlay work. The inlay work is 
 the earliest known in India. Agra is famous to-day for 
 the very fine inlay work which is done there. The 
 tomb is really a gem of rare architectural symmetry 
 14 " 209 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 and beauty. From it we went direct to the Taj Mahal 
 to look upon its wonderful architecture and catch its 
 beauty with every ray of the sinking sun. Those who 
 have seen it oftenest say that the best time for a first 
 visit is late in the afternoon. 
 
 Mumtaz-i-Mahal was married to Shah Jehan in 
 1 615, and died in 1629, and was buried, till the mau- 
 soleum was built, in the garden where the Taj stands. 
 She was the mother of seven children. She was the 
 Emperor's favorite wife. He had also a Hindu wife 
 and a Christian wife. This was his Mohammedan 
 wife. Sentiment has it that the tomb was the ex- 
 pression of the Emperor's deep affection for his wife, 
 but there can be no doubt that the thought of his own 
 glory and honor had something to do with it. Such an 
 affection would be truly wonderful where woman holds 
 so subordinate a place. Even to-day the show of affec- 
 tion is by no means a characteristic of the people of 
 India. They dispose of their dead with little show of 
 emotion, while the great famines or scourges of dis- 
 ease are looked upon as a divine means for making a 
 better chance for those that live. Plague, cholera, 
 and starvation bring no terror except to those within 
 their clutches. Marriage is a matter of contract, and 
 a wife is but a creature through whom man may per- 
 petuate himself and his honor. That there is affection 
 among the people of India, one must admit; but that 
 the Taj Mahal had no other inspiration than the love 
 of Shah Jehan for one of his wives, one has the right 
 to question. However that may be, the great mau- 
 soleum is one of the greatest and finest pieces of 
 architecture which the mind of man ever conceived 
 or the skill of workmen ever produced. Shah Jehan 
 
 210 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 has the credit for the majestic structure, but the 
 honor is not his any more than St. Peter's is the 
 work of the emperor or the pope under whom Mi- 
 chael Angelo labored. It is said that the Emperor had 
 the eyes of the architect put out for fear that he 
 would produce some other building that would surpass 
 the Taj. While I am not able to substantiate the state- 
 ment, yet I am prepared to believe it, for such is the 
 spirit of the selfish kings who ruled their 'nation for 
 their own glory and impoverished their own people 
 for the gratification of their personal desires. The 
 sovereignty of such willful rulers exhausted India and 
 brought the people to poverty, to ignorance, and to 
 helplessness. The world to-day has a new thought 
 and a new plan for the heads of nations. 
 
 Whatever may be one's thought as to the Emperor's 
 motive for building the Taj Mahal, there can be no 
 question that it is the crovv^n of Oriental architecture 
 and a masterpiece among the works of man. One can 
 readily believe that it required 20,000 men twenty- 
 two years to construct such a work of art when one 
 examines the delicate and beautiful traceries in marble 
 which are to be found in every part of the great tomb. 
 The noble structure, S3mimetrical in outline and com- 
 manding in proportions, presents an exquisitely beau- 
 tiful and faultless picture as one gets his first view 
 from the great sandstone gateway. There is an outer 
 court 880 feet long and 440 feet wide, while the Taj 
 garden makes impressive the approach to the tomb. 
 From the gateway to the broad marble terrace is a 
 long artificial lake, with a paved walk on each side 
 and lined v/ith flowers and foliage of every kind. In 
 the quiet lake is a soft reflection of the great building. 
 
 211 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 The central marble platform, on which the tomb 
 stands, is eighteen feet high and 313 feet square; 
 while the first platform is 1,000 feet wide, 400 feet 
 deep, and five feet high. The tomb itself measures 
 186 feet on each side, the corners being beveled off 
 and recessed into a ba}^ In the center of each side 
 is a splendid deep bay sixty-three feet high. The 
 height of the walls and parapet over them is 108 feet. 
 At each corner rise marble domes, while in the center 
 soars the great central dome to a height of 187 feet, 
 while the metal pinnacle adds another thirty feet. 
 The dome rises eighty feet above the pavement, and 
 is fifty-eight feet in diameter. Under the center of 
 the dome, inclosed by a trellis screen of white marble 
 — the acme of elegance in Indian art — are the tombs 
 of the Emperor and his wife. These are not, however, 
 the true tombs, as the bodies rest in a vault level with 
 the surface of the ground, covered by plainer tomb- 
 stones placed exactly below those in the hall above. 
 
 Facts such as these are not difficult to record, as 
 they are set down in language that all can read. But 
 the beauty, the sublimity, the majesty of the Taj 
 Mahal can be expressed only in the emotions of the 
 soul for which there is no language. There is not a 
 discord in this whole symphony in marble. New 
 graces come with the changes at early dawn, in the 
 falling day, or even the mellow moonlight. The gar- 
 den and the long walk, the minarets and the dome, 
 the delicately sculptured ornamentation, and the in- 
 laid precious stones all impress the visitor with the 
 strange beauty and extraordinary fascination of this 
 superior work of architectural art. Perhaps a more 
 beautiful and precious style of ornament in architec- 
 
 '212 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ture is not to be found in all the world than in the 
 wreaths, scrolls, and frets of the Taj Mahal. How 
 strange that such a masterpiece of human art, such 
 an achievement of human skill, such a conception of 
 the human mind should be found in India, the home 
 now of poverty, ignorance, and superstition ! A peo- 
 ple that can produce such works and that can give to 
 the world the literature of the Vedas should yet feel 
 the throb of true national life and rise to the achieve- 
 ment of greater things than are accredited even to 
 their ancestors. 
 
 A drive of six miles brings the tourist to Secun- 
 dra, the location of the tomb of Akbar the Great. 
 The mausoleum has four stories, three of which are 
 of red sandstone, and the fourth is of white marble. 
 A massive cloister runs arotmd the lower story. In 
 a plain marble sarcophagus in the vault is the body of 
 the great Emperor, the real founder of the Mogul 
 Empire ; while on the flat roof of the grand edifice 
 is another tomb of Akbar with the most elaborate 
 carvings of lilies, ferns, palm trees, and flitting but- 
 terflies. This tomb is exceedingly beautiful. The in- 
 tense heat prevented us from making the trip to 
 Fatehpur-Sikri, the site of the ruins of the once fa- 
 mous city. But we saw enough in Agra to be greatly 
 impressed with the magnificence of the ancient capital 
 of the Mogul Empire. 
 
 The most impressive scene which I had the privi- 
 lege of looking upon in Agra was not connected with 
 the magnificent Fort or the unrivaled Taj Mahal, but 
 with a band of natives in a village on the outskirts 
 of the city. The village had no illumination save that 
 of the myriad stars. Our carriage was met by a com- 
 
 213 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 pany of boys, who with lanterns conducted us across 
 the uneven lots to a place where a company of about 
 seventy-five men, women, and children was engaged 
 in Christian worship. Two dim lanterns gave the light 
 for the audience, one of which was hung on the eaves 
 of the house by which the preacher stood. As the 
 mud hovel, with its thatched roof and no windows, 
 was no higher than the black-skinned preacher, he 
 had all the light which the lantern would give. The 
 audience was seated on the ground ; but the seats 
 were comfortable, as they were made of sand warmed 
 by the day's vertical rays. Such singing as came from 
 that dusky, sky-clad throng I have seldom heard. 
 Not only the words, but also the music was native 
 and fascinating in the extreme. Those naked boys 
 and sparsely clothed girls would put to shame by their 
 full, hearty musical singing half the Sunday schools 
 in America. The native preacher was heard attentive- 
 ly while he read and expounded the Scriptures. The 
 earnest prayer met with hearty response from several 
 faithful saints in the audience. The missionary was 
 told that some adults and some children were present 
 to be baptized. The adults arose, repeated the Ten 
 Commandments and the Lord's Prayer, and answered 
 the questions propounded in a baptismal service. 
 Three grown men, one woman, and nine children re- 
 ceived baptism. A more impressive scene I never 
 looked upon, and one worth the entire journey to India 
 to see. This is the way Christianity begins ; the 
 school, the college, the after years of noble service 
 will show how it ends. The last in caste may yet un- 
 der Christianity be first in the wisdom and power of 
 this great Oriental people. 
 
 214 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Delhi is a city of rare attractions, and will hold the 
 traveler several days by the numerous objects of inter- 
 est which it is able to present. In the first place, the 
 railroad station is one of the largest and finest in In- 
 dia. Then its streets are broad and beautiful, lined in 
 many sections with great trees of luxuriant foliage. 
 The shops are for the most part well kept, and the 
 wares usually are of excellent quality. The carving 
 of ivory and the artistic fashioning of silver and brass 
 give a distinctive feature to the native stores. But 
 the tourist finds the highest interest in the points made 
 famous by the rule of the mighty Moguls or by the 
 bravery of the victims of the mutiny. The Sepoy re- 
 bellion had its beginning in 1857 in Meerut and Delhi, 
 and on account of the size and importance of the lat- 
 ter city it saw some of the severest contests of the 
 entire struggle. Ludlow Castle, the Mutiny Monu- 
 ment, the St. James Church (whose dome cross was 
 pierced by many bullets), the Cashmere Gate (the 
 place where Nicholson fell)^ the position of the old 
 magazine which the brave Lieutenant Willoughby ex- 
 ploded were all visited with a sense of patriotism. 
 
 As at Agra, so at Delhi the first morning was given 
 to the great fort and palace which was built by the 
 Emperor Shah Jehan 1638-48. Entering the Lahore 
 Gate, we passed under an imposing archway which 
 makes a noble entrance to the grounds of the old pal- 
 ace. Where this vaulted arcade ends in the large 
 open court were massacred fifty Christians in 1857, 
 while in some of the adjoining rooms some govern- 
 ment officials were murdered by the mutineers. From 
 these scenes we were ushered by the old guide, who 
 conducted President Grant, Bishop Phillips Brooks, 
 
 215 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 and other such Americans through the old palace, into 
 the magnificent Public Audience Hall, a large building 
 of red sandstone open on three sides, and with many- 
 massive pillars elaborately carved. We were attracted 
 to the marble throne, eight or ten feet high, whose 
 rich marble canopy is adorned with mosaics in pre- 
 cious stones of flowers, fruits, birds, and beasts. A 
 Florentine artist, who has been engaged the last three 
 years in renewing the inlay work of the recess of the 
 throne, is just completing his work, and the throne is 
 now as beautiful a piece of art as one will find in 
 Delhi. From here we passed into the Hall of Private 
 Audience, where kings, princes, and nobles were re- 
 ceived. This pavilion, open on all sides, is built wholly 
 of white marble inlaid with precious stones. The im- 
 mense columns of marble, with graceful arches, are 
 richly ornamented with inlaid flowers and birds of 
 precious stone. The silver ceiling was removed by 
 the Mahrattas when they captured Delhi. Neverthe- 
 less, the hall possesses a beauty which is unsurpassed. 
 The veteran guide pointed out the famous Persian in- 
 scription on the cornice, which, translated, says: 
 
 If heaven can be on the face of the earth, 
 It is this ; O ! it is this ; O ! it is this. 
 
 The hall has many historical connections, and has been 
 the scene of many brilliant functions. In January, 
 1876, the Prince of Wales (now the King of En- 
 gland) was given a ball in this hall by the army of 
 India on the occasion of his visit ; and in honor of his 
 coronation a second ball was given in January, 1903. 
 But the hall is scarcely more magnificent than the 
 royal marble baths, the eMquisIlely beautiful lattice- 
 
 216 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 work in the queen's apartments, and the rich carvings 
 in the royal chambers. The little "Pearl Mosque" of 
 white and gray marble, with its beautiful bronze door 
 covered with rich designs, made a place of worship 
 for the ro3'al family which was as charming as it was 
 sacred. Surely an emperor who planned so exten- 
 sively for his own aggrandizement and who has left 
 so few great works which he constructed for the good 
 of his people needed a place of prayer near at hand. 
 Not palaces but institutions mark the greatness of a 
 mighty sovereign. 
 
 The present Delhi is the tenth city of that name, the 
 first having been founded before the Christian era. 
 The extensive ruins of the other nine cities lie south 
 of the present one and cover an area of forty-five 
 square miles. Each king who desired to build a cap- 
 ital according to his own design would have destroyed 
 the city that he found. A visit to these ancient ruins 
 will bring one to the splendid tomb of the Emperor 
 Humayun, the father of Akbar the Great, and the 
 great fort in which he died, and to a large number of 
 mosques and mausoleums, all built of costly material 
 and constructed with splendor. But one tires of the 
 tombs, even though they contain the treasures of the 
 dead centuries, and turns instinctively to the people 
 that live and to the institutions that have to do with 
 the present status of civilization. Delhi is one of the 
 most interesting cities of the Orient, whether it be con- 
 sidered from the standpoint of the great Mogul cap- 
 ital or the storm center of the mutiny or the people 
 who now infest its streets and carry on its business. 
 But however ridiculous the change, I was glad to turn 
 from the splendid marble palaces to the great caravan 
 
 217 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 of homely, lazy camels that awkwardly drew them- 
 selves through the streets, or to the barefoot woman 
 with a half dozen anklets on each ankle, two silver 
 rings on the great toe of each foot, a burden of brace- 
 lets on each arm, enormous rings in each ear, while 
 a nose stud or a large gold ring ornamented her facial 
 promontory. The men often attract attention by their 
 inordinate affection for earrings, toe rings, silver belts 
 and necklaces. Then the motley throng, with the tur- 
 baned, white-sacked Mohammedan, the Hindu with a 
 red spot in his forehead or three stripes across his 
 brow or yellow and w4iite paint about his eyes or the 
 little tuft of hair waving in his crown, or the high- 
 classed Brahman with his cotton string which marks 
 his highness whether he appears on the streets clothed 
 or otherwise, and all the various costumes or lack of 
 them, make a scene of which one seldom tires. As 
 one passes a stream one finds the great laundries of 
 the Indian city. They are called "dhobies." But one 
 experience with a dhobi robs one of all regard for him 
 or his spelling. He brings the clothes to the river 
 bank, and takes his stand in the water, knee-deep. His 
 washboard is a stone slab three to four feet long and 
 two to three feet wide, and with grooves across which 
 will occasion sufficient friction to remove dirt, buttons, 
 or anything else. He takes a garment, dips it in the 
 water, and, taking hold of one end, he thrashes it 
 against the stone until it shows the desired change. 
 Women usually find the changes in their well-beaten 
 garments, while men find ruffles and fringes on their 
 new collars and shirts. Starch is used sparingly, and 
 the garment soon returns to the dhobi or the tailor. 
 
 218 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 The native makes life for the tourist in India very 
 interesting. 
 
 Afer a drive through the streets of Delhi it is well 
 to stop at the Jami Musjid, the most famous mosque 
 in India and the largest in the world. On Friday of 
 each week 4,000 people gather at one o'clock within 
 its courts to pray. It is not unlike the great Pearl 
 Mosque in the fort at Agra ; but it is much larger, 
 has two noble minarets, and is designed to produce a 
 pleasing effect externally. It is raised on a lofty base- 
 ment, and its three noble gateways are approached by 
 grand flights of steps. The quadrangle is 325 feet 
 square, in the center of which is a marble basin and 
 fountain where the worshipers devoutly wash their 
 hands, face, and mouth before they enter the place 
 of prayer. Around the quadrangle runs a stone clois- 
 ter fifteen feet wide. The mosque proper is 200 feet 
 broad and 90 feet deep, into which the visitors could 
 enter only after they had slipped cloth covers over 
 their shoes. Each marble slab in the floor was marked 
 by a black border and formed the kneeling place for a 
 single worshiper, while the marble stairway in the 
 center by the recess in the wall furnished the pulpit 
 for the priest. In the corner of the court is a pavilion 
 from which relics of Mohammed the prophet were 
 shown us. We looked upon the impress of his foot 
 in marble, a pair of his slippers, and upon his one red 
 beard, and turned away, doubting. 
 
 Mohammedanism is strongest in Northern India, 
 Bengal being the home of more than 25,000,000, the 
 Punjab of 12,000,000, and the United Provinces of 
 7,000,000 of the 62,000,000 Moslems in the empire. 
 The Mohamimedan reign in India began about lOOO 
 
 219 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 A.D., and continued through eight dynasties till 1761. 
 The powerful line of conquerors were the Mongols, 
 of which Tamerlane was the first, although Baber, 
 his grandson, was the first to hold the title of em- 
 peror. Akbar the Great, the grandson of Baber, 
 reigned from 1556 to 1605, and was the greatest sov- 
 ereign that India ever had, although his grandson. 
 Shah Jehan, is more noted for the splendor of his 
 reign. Auranzeb undermined the dynasty by attempt- 
 ing to impose the Moslem faith upon the Hindus, and 
 the Mahrattas arose as the new Hindu power. The 
 domination of the Mohammedans in India was cruel, 
 as it is and always has been everywhere. For many 
 centuries India has had no unity or sense of national- 
 ity, and genuine patriotism is unknown among the 
 people. The bulk of the population is indifferent as 
 to what power rules India so long as opportunity is 
 given to live peacefully and with little struggle. Great 
 Britain could not hold India were it not for the igno- 
 rance and poverty of the masses and their utter lack 
 of national spirit. It has always been true that lead- 
 ers of native soldiery can be used to maintain the 
 authority of the government in control. India was 
 won for England by armies four-fifths of which were 
 native troops, and two-thirds of the forces in the gar- 
 rison to-day are natives. England has made a very 
 small outlay in men or money to win and to hold the 
 empire of India. A weak, lazy, indifferent people ask 
 only for small taxes, few demands, and large benefits. 
 It is very doubtful if such a people is capable of self- 
 government. The rulers of the native provinces, when 
 left alone, seem utterly incapable of governing for the 
 betterment of the people. They seek only personal 
 
 220 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 aggrandizement and barbaric display. The Indian 
 shows very few qualities that would make him capable 
 of being a world citizen. 
 
 The form of administration of the British govern- 
 ment in India is not radically different from that in 
 the colonies. The supreme authority, subject to the 
 control of the Secretary of State for India, is vested 
 in the Viceroy and his council of six members, who 
 are the Commander in Chief of the Army in India, 
 the Secretary of the Department of Home and Reve- 
 nue, the head of the Department of Public Works 
 (which includes railways and irrigation), the Secre- 
 tary of Finance, the Chief Justice, and the Secretary 
 of the Military Department. Under the Home Depart- 
 ment are the Departments of Justice, Police, Prisons, 
 Education, Public Health, Asylums, Local Govern- 
 ments. Commerce, excise, and stamps of all kinds 
 are subject to the Financial Department. The Postal 
 and Telegraph Departments are administered by two 
 Director Generals under the control of the supreme 
 government. The army, which consists of about 80,- 
 000 British troops and 170,000 native soldiers, with 
 22,000 native reserves, 16,000 imperial service troops 
 furnished by the native States, and 30,000 European 
 and Anglo-Indian volunteers, is under the control of 
 the Commander in Chief and under the direct orders 
 of Lieutenant Generals commanding the Bombay, 
 Madras, Bengal, Burma, and Punjab Army Corps. 
 The resignation of the high-spirited, keen-visionedj 
 superior Lord Curzon from the viceroyalty was due 
 to the supreme command of the army of India being 
 in the hands of the Commander in Chief rather than 
 in the Viceroy's. 
 
 221 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 At the head of each province is a Governor, a Lieu- 
 tenant Governor, or a Chief Commissioner. The Gov- 
 ernors of Bombay and Madras are appointed by the 
 government at London, as Bombay and Madras are 
 still presidencies, as is Calcutta, according to the rights 
 vested in the old companies that formerly controlled 
 . them. The Governors of Bombay and Madras are as- 
 sisted by a council of two members ; and in these gov- 
 ernments and those of the Lieutenant Governors of 
 Lower Bengal, the United Provinces of Agra and 
 Oudh, the Punjab, and Burma is a provincial legis- 
 lative council with powers to deal with certain limited 
 classes of legislation. The legislative council of the 
 Governor General includes the members of the execu- 
 tive council and a number of additional members offi- 
 cial and nonofficial. The majority of the nonofficial 
 members are selected by the Viceroy. Among the 
 nonofficial members are several native gentlemen, but 
 their votes are too few to control legislation. There 
 is a native council, but its resolutions are no more 
 than advisory. The Englishman claims the owner- 
 ship of India, and the Indians are to be governed and 
 not to govern. It is true that there are some districts 
 governed by native rajahs or maharajahs, but always 
 with the assistance of a British councilor, whose advice 
 is never disregarded. Many of these maharajahs have 
 considerable wealth and live in barbaric splendor, but 
 their days of real power have already had their sunsets. 
 
 The provinces are divided into districts over which 
 are commissioners. These districts are divided into 
 smaller territories over which are magistrates. Each 
 magistracy is composed of a certain number of vil- 
 lages for whom a headman is responsible. With this 
 
 222 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 system the whole empire is readily reached by the 
 general government. The management of the local 
 concerns of municipalities and district boards is large- 
 ly in the hands of members of the native community 
 selected or elected. A large number of the magistrates 
 and subcollectors are natives. It seems to be the policy 
 of the government to employ the native people in the 
 administration affairs as far as possible. But of the 
 150,000 people in India who are British-born at least 
 three-fourths are connected in some way with the gov- 
 ernment. While the whole system is utterly foreign 
 to the thought and training of an American, yet no 
 casual observer can fail to be impressed with the won- 
 derful achievements which the British government has 
 brought about for the good of the Indians and which 
 would have been impossible under any native govern- 
 ment. The cities have good systems of waterworks. 
 The parks and public buildings and the good streets 
 in certain sections have all come by British rule. 
 Large military post^ are maintained in the great cities, 
 and facilities for travel have been provided and are 
 managed by the government. It is true that India 
 has paid the bill in every case and usually without the 
 opportunity of sanctioning the outlay, yet there has 
 been no waste of resources. However, the day has 
 already arrived when the natives are demanding great- 
 er rights in the management of their national affairs. 
 An outsider cannot fail to view this movement with 
 great interest, as it may possibly be the first stages of 
 the awakening of a nation whose history has not been 
 wanting in literature which has won the admiration of 
 all scholars, nor in philosophy which has affected the 
 thought of the world. 
 
 223 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 It is claimed that "taxation in India is lighter than 
 in any other civilized country in the world." Never- 
 theless, it is true that the government is very ex- 
 pensive. The Viceroy receives a salary of $100,000 a 
 year, the Lieutenant Governors of $50,000 to $60,000 
 a year. British standards of life must be maintained, 
 and salaries must be sufficiently large to tempt com- 
 petent men to a life of exile. So salaries are high — 
 the best paid to civil service officials in the world — 
 and the pensions are ample. The great army of civil 
 servants and the large bodies of troops must be sup- 
 ported by the native treasury. But the worst feature 
 of it all is that the foreign occupation crushes the 
 native spirit, for a native is always servile in the pres- 
 ence of the v/hite Anglo-Saxon. The only force that 
 will lead to the development of the people is a meas- 
 ure of self-government. Great Britain can well afford 
 to have Indians in her House of Commons. If she 
 cannot bring the Indians to the capacity for self-gov- 
 ernment, she may well ask what has been the benefit 
 of her long years in the East. India is no place for 
 forage ; and if it is held by the British crown only 
 for political and industrial gain, then one may ask, 
 How much better is her ultimate outcome than that of 
 the mighty Moguls ? Her schools must make men and 
 not merely official servants. Her institutions must 
 build up a great national spirit, as well as afford tem- 
 poral comforts. England has her problems in India, 
 and the world awaits the solution. 
 
 224 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Jeypore, Ahmedabad, and Bombay. 
 
 ONE night's travel brought us from Delhi to Jey- 
 pore ; and by half past six o'clock in the morning 
 we were on the streets of the latter interesting city, 
 being entertained by the ever- fascinating panorama 
 of Indian life. The market places were alive with the 
 vegetable venders sitting on the ground with their 
 small bags or baskets of commodities at their sides. 
 No sale, however small, was made without much bar- 
 gaining. The asking price is a variable in the mind 
 of the seller, while the selling price is the resultant of 
 two Oriental forces meeting on the plane of a pice. 
 Nothing is bought or sold in the market without the 
 scales ("balances") being used. The word of an Ori- 
 ental does not weigh much, and consequently he is 
 compelled to use the standards in delivering his goods. 
 But that great street, broad and clean (for India), 
 thronged with people of all the castes known to a 
 Hindu, clad in all the costumes known to the Indian 
 mind, made a scene which any man may well cross 
 the oceans to look upon. If life is to be seen in India 
 at its fullest and keenest, the observer needs to visit 
 the bazaars. Now, a bazaar is not a large department 
 store, such as Wanamaker's or Marshall Field's, but 
 a street lined and even filled with what might be called 
 booths, at which things known and even dreamed of 
 are sold. In Rangoon the municipal government has 
 built a large markethouse, in which there are stalls at 
 15 225 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 which merchants of all kinds sell their wares ; but in 
 India the bazaar is simply the market place in the 
 street, which is lined with shops and filled with the 
 most interesting mass of humanity that ever man at- 
 tempted to study. The booths (for such are almost 
 all the Indian stores) are eight to ten feet wide, six 
 feet deep, and six feet high. The floor is raised about 
 two feet above ground. The customer stands on the 
 outside in the street, for there are no sidewalks, and 
 the merchant sits on the floor and shows his goods, 
 makes his prices, and says : "How much you give me ?" 
 The number of witnesses to any bargain or even bar- 
 gaining would be sufficient to establish the truth of any 
 statement in any court; for if there is anything that 
 Orientals enjoy, it is the bargaining in a bazaar; and 
 they flock to the side of every purchaser as birds to 
 a shock of grain. One can get no idea of the worth of 
 an article from the price that is asked. Only yesterday 
 I saw a lady purchase for one dollar and a half a fan 
 for which ten dollars was asked, while a shawl for 
 which thirty dollars was demanded sold for ten dollars. 
 In India bargaining is necessary in all trading, and 
 those who do not know the art pay for their igno- 
 rance. 
 
 Jeypore, a city of 160,000 people, is the capital of 
 the province of Jaipur in the great section known as 
 Rajputana; and the present chief is His Highness 
 Maharajah Dhiraj Siwai Sir Maddho Singh, G. C. S. 
 L, G. C. V. O. By the permission of the British Resi- 
 dent, whose influence at the court is greater than that 
 of the Maharajah himself, we visited the Maharajah's 
 palace, with its beautiful gardens and pleasure grounds 
 adorned with playing fountain, artificial lakes, fine 
 
 226 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 trees, and flowing shrubs. The marble halls for pub- 
 lic audience and the magnificent chamber for pri- 
 vate audiences might have been more impressive had 
 we not so recently looked upon the splendor of Delhi 
 and Agra. The apartments for the Maharajah, his 
 courtiers, and his wives are gaudily furnished after 
 modern foreign patterns. The building is wanting in 
 the elements of good architecture. The royal stables 
 were extensive and were filled with two or tliree hun- 
 dred fine horses, many of them being Arabian steeds, 
 while others were from Australia and England. For 
 State occasions the native monarch uses a half dozen 
 fine elephants, or a half hundred if need be, to trans- 
 port his dignity through the streets of his capital. 
 The ro3^al carriages were numerous and of all shapes 
 and sizes, with decorations suited to all the numerous 
 functions for which an Indian prince would need a 
 carriage. The Maharajah keeps his soldiers, levies 
 his taxes, builds such public works as he desires, and 
 carries on a provincial governmicnt under the advice 
 of the British Resident. The Rajahs in the Rajputana 
 are the most powerful in India, and they have been 
 strongly felt for many centuries in the government of 
 India. While the Maharajah of Jeypore seems to be 
 the royal head of an independent government, yet the 
 suzerainty of the English government is readily and 
 freely acknowledged. 
 
 Jeypore is spelled "Jaipur" in India, and received 
 its name from its famous founder, Maharajah Siwai 
 Jai Singh, the celebrated royal astronomer who built 
 unique observatories at Benares, Muttra, Delhi, Ujjian, 
 and Jeypore. The Observatory is not a building with 
 a firmly set tower and large movable instruments such 
 
 227 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 as are used to-day; but it is a large, open courtyard 
 full of curious and fantastic instruments designed by 
 him. It was erected in 1718-34, and has been recently 
 restored by the present Maharajah through the agency 
 of Lieutenant A. Garrett and Pundit Chandradhar 
 Galeri. There are instruments for reading altitudes 
 and azimuths, for determining celestial latitudes and 
 longitudes, and for finding times, movements, and dis- 
 tances in the heavenly worlds. Among the acts of 
 this old ruler who loved the celestial science was an 
 order to secure the translation in Sanskrit of Euclid's 
 "Elements," the treatises on plain and spherical trig- 
 onometry, and Napier on the use of logarithms. Jai 
 Singh has a high place in the world's list of great 
 astronomers. These Hindu rulers may have been 
 wanting in many qualities that present-day sovereigns 
 ought to show, yet they have been patrons of learning. 
 The Maharajah College in Jeypore has an attendance 
 of 1,200 to 1,400 3^oung men, and compares favorably 
 with the other colleges of British India. It is affil- 
 iated with the Calcutta University. Public instruction 
 is making considerable progress in this principal State 
 of the Rajputana. 
 
 As we came into the street from a shop, we found 
 a small cart with a red canopy to which were hitched 
 two sleepy-looking bullocks. In the cart were two or 
 three children, and others in gaudy dress were climb- 
 ing in, while a company of women were engaged as 
 though they were interested in some social function. 
 In front of the bullocks were a dozen men and boys 
 fantastically dressed, with strangely shaped musical 
 instruments in their hands. 'A wedding," said the 
 guide, and then we peered the more earnestly. In 
 
 228 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 climbed the groom, a boy of ten or twelve years, at- 
 tired, as much as the occasion demanded, in scarlet, 
 with some Hindu spots between his eyes and three 
 priestly stripes across his brow, the advertisement of 
 a Brahman, The red juice of the betel nut was on his 
 lips. He seemed listless, with no interest in the occa- 
 sion in which he supposedly was to be the chief actor. 
 He was as much interested in us as we were in him, 
 and so there was no embarrassment for either party as 
 we gazed at each other. After him shortly came a 
 little girl, seven to ten years old, with garments of 
 scarlet and gold and the red head cloth drawn down 
 over her face. That was the bride. Her child's curi- 
 osity, however, made her lift her veil to look out at 
 us, and as she did so we looked in at her. Anyway, 
 her husband had his back turned to her, and so no 
 family trouble was caused. When the cart was filled, 
 the "band" struck up some native noise and the mar- 
 riage procession, made up of a company of gayly 
 dressed women and all the elements to be found in 
 an Indian street, moved on to its domestic destination. 
 The husband and wife, by the laws which the British 
 government has enacted, will not be allowed to live 
 together until the wife reaches the age of twelve years. 
 Should the husband die, the wife would be a widow 
 for life, her head would be shaved, and she would be 
 treated as the most abject, despised person living, be- 
 ing deprived of many kinds of food and being com- 
 pelled to fast weekly. She would be looked upon as 
 having committed a grievous offense. There are 26,- 
 000,000 widows in India, of whom 400,000 are less 
 than fifteen years old. There are 9,000,000 wives in 
 India tmder fifteen years of age. The worst mis- 
 
 229 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 fortune that can befall a woman, according to the 
 belief of a Hindu, is to remain unmarried, as her 
 social status and religious destiny depend upon her 
 husband. So marriage has become a mercenary trans- 
 action, and usually takes place when the bride is a 
 helpless babe. Sometimes a child is married to an 
 old man if he is a caste higher. He concedes the priv- 
 ilege for money. He may have other wives, as polyg- 
 amy prevails to a large extent in India. In case of 
 a wife's death^ he can marry as often as he desires. 
 Formerly the widow was burned on the funeral pyre 
 with her husband, but the British government has 
 abolished by law that barbarous custom. Womanhood 
 is not appreciated in India. Among the Hindus the 
 wife is under the mother-in-law. The Mohammedan 
 is a hard, dictatorial lord. Among the Buddhists the 
 highest hope of a woman is to be reborn a man. Only 
 Christianity gives woman her true place as man's com- 
 panion. 
 
 The homes of the wealthy natives are capacious and 
 frequently have accommodations for two hundred per- 
 sons; but the houses of the middle and lower classes 
 are gloomy and unattractive. Usually they are dirty 
 and are in every way poorly kept. There is little or 
 no furniture, no floor but the earth, no chimney, only 
 small windows, and they set high ; white cows, buffa- 
 loes, bullocks, and their accompaniments are accorded 
 a full share of the domicile. The crude bedstead is a 
 small frame eighteen inches high, six feet long, and 
 three feet broad, bound together by grass cords. A 
 blanket makes up the whole quota of bedding. The 
 cooking vessels are earthen, while a few brass cups 
 and plates, an earthen water jar, and one knife make 
 
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ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 up the tableware. The rules of caste keep things 
 clean. These rules are : Only persons of the same 
 caste may eat together ; meals must not be cooked ex- 
 cept by a person of the same caste or by a Brahman ; 
 no man of inferior caste may touch the rations or en- 
 ter the cook room ; no water or liquor contaminated 
 by the touch of a man of inferior caste can be used, 
 except water from rivers or public tanks ; articles of 
 dry food are contaminated only if they pass through 
 the hands of an inferior caste buttered or greased; 
 cow's flesh, pork, fowl, and similar meats are for- 
 bidden. The caste rules also declare that intermar- 
 riage between castes is impossible, change of occu- 
 pation is forbidden, and an ocean voyage and crossing 
 the boundaries of India are not allowed. 
 
 Ahmedabad, once the greatest city in Western In- 
 dia and now considered by many critics as one of the 
 most beautiful in the empire, is three hundred and 
 ninety miles from Jeypore and three hundred and ten 
 from Bombay. It has a population of 190,000, and is 
 known as a great industrial center. One is struck with 
 the blending here of the East and the West, for along 
 with the tall chimneys of cotton mills and the flour 
 mills will be found some of the most perfect speci- 
 mens of Mohammedan architecture to be found in 
 India. The city is surrounded by great plains of rich' 
 black soil, on which the cotton grows plentifully and 
 luxuriantly. Many wealthy Hindus, owners of the 
 great mills, have immense palatial homes on some well- 
 kept, broad streets which may be called boulevards in 
 comparison with the narrow, lanes of the old part of 
 the city. The carriage driver was able to show the 
 good speed of his Indian pony on the broad thorough- 
 
 231 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 fare ; but in the old quarters he gave loud warning of 
 his coming, and the people lined up on either side to 
 allow us to pass. In these streets we touched upon 
 many homes of those who were confined by lowly cir- 
 cumstances to the little cells where fresh air is un- 
 known, and where all they look upon is the great 
 stream of passing humanity. 
 
 The mosques, temples, and odd ruins are bewilder- 
 ing in their number. The traveler scarcely leaves the 
 railway station before he sees two lofty minarets 
 among the trees, from which the mosque has prac- 
 tically disappeared. A few minutes brought us to the 
 Jama Mas j id, which is one of the most beautiful 
 mosques in the East. The open court, the tank where 
 the faithful bathe, and the cloisters all bring to mind 
 the temples seen before. From here we went to the 
 tomb of Ahmed Shah, the great ruler who gave the 
 city its fame, and who died in 1441. The mausoleums 
 of himself, his son, and grandson show the artist's 
 hand and the splendor of the emperor's reign. Near 
 by is another building which contains the tombs of 
 Ahmed's favorite wives and also the tiny tombs of a 
 dog, a cat, and a parrot. The Tin Darwazah, or 
 Three Gateways, is of stone richly carved, and was 
 built by Ahmed ; while the Bhadr is a handsome en- 
 trance made by Ahmed Shah into an octagonal hall of 
 great elegance. Adjoining this structure is the Sidi 
 Said's Mosque, which is noted for two of its win- 
 dows, which are filled with delicate stone tracery of 
 tree stems and branches beautifully wrought. A critic 
 has said : "There are some exquisite specimens of 
 tracery in precious marbles at Agra and Delhi, but 
 none quite equal this." But of the Queen's Mosque 
 
 232 ~ 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 and other tombs there is no need that I should write. 
 However, mention must be made of the Hathi Singh 
 Temple, which was built in 1848 for a million rupees 
 by the sects called Jains. It is a beautiful structure, 
 with a style of architecture peculiar to that religious 
 sect. The entrance is from a courtyard surrounded by 
 a corridor, where shoes were removed before the rich- 
 ly carved portico was mounted. Every part of the 
 temple was paved with colored marble. Passing- 
 through the corridor, which extends entirely around 
 the temple, one looks through iron gratings to the 
 beautiful images which the faithful worship. The day 
 happened to be a festal day, and the gold, silver, and 
 precious stones were found in profusion on these mar- 
 ble images. The Jains are found only in India and 
 number only about 1,400,000. Their founder was a 
 contemporary of Gautama, and their faith is not great- 
 ly unlike Buddhism. They have twenty-four saints, 
 and each is known by a symbol. They consider bodily 
 penance to be necessary to salvation, and believe that 
 even inorganic matter may have a soul. They carry 
 their regard for animal life to the extreme. They 
 will not kill anything, not even insects. They main- 
 tain hospitals for cats, dogs, decrepit horses, diseased 
 cows, and such other animals and even insects as can 
 be provided for. In Ahmedabad in many streets will 
 be found little stone houses richly carved and built on 
 stone pillars twelve feet high for the birds who may 
 care to live in them. As a people they are wealthy, 
 intelligent, and progressive. In the eradication of 
 birds or animals th'at may carry any dangerous disease, 
 they are great obstructionists ; but in the industrial 
 
 233 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 enterprises which build up a community they are al- 
 ways in the lead. 
 
 A visit to the Wells of Dada Hari, just outside of 
 the city, not only let us view a unique and strange 
 structure that required some skill in engineering, but 
 it gave us an opportunity of seeing a large number 
 of gray monkeys on the fences and in the trees, run- 
 ning at will and feeding upon what they find. They 
 are seldom hungry — a thing that cannot be said of 
 all the people that we have seen in India, for it is 
 estimated that 60,000,000 people in this countr}^ con- 
 stantly suffer hunger. It is no wonder that disease 
 commits such ravages. But when it is known that 
 common laborers make only five to six cents a day, 
 it is no surprise that there is hunger. The insane pas- 
 sion for jewels is responsible somewhat for many a 
 hungry body. The Hindus must have rings in their 
 ears, their noses, on their fingers and their toes, brace- 
 lets on their arms, anklets on their feet, and all sorts 
 of gaudy attire, even if there are children without 
 clothes and suffering from the lack of bread, or, more 
 properly, millet or rice, for nine-tenths of the people 
 live on rice and curry. Millet of many kinds is a com- 
 mon article of diet. The wheat for the lowly is not 
 prepared in the great flouring mills, but by women sit- 
 ting on the ground turning one stone upon another, as 
 in Bible times. What the apple, is to America the 
 mango is to India ; while bananas, pineapples, lemons, 
 limes of many kinds, the jack fruit, and durian grow 
 in profusion. Nevertheless, many millions suffer, and 
 the cry of famine is ever heard in the land. 
 
 Bombay, with its million people, is a great city and 
 in many ways the most beautiful in India. Its build- 
 
 234 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ings rival those of many imposing English cities, while 
 its streets in the European quarter cannot be discount- 
 ed. The street car system is the best to be found in 
 the East. The ^ great Victoria Railway station is the 
 finest station in India and one of the finest in the 
 world. The style of its architecture is Italian Gothic, 
 with some Oriental modifications in the domes. It 
 cost $1,500,000. The municipal building, with its tow- 
 er two hundred and fifty-five feet high, can be seen 
 from all parts of Bombay, and is also a fine piece of 
 Gothic architecture. The University Hall, with the 
 university library and clock tower, are very imposing 
 structures ; while the magnificent Elphinstone College 
 would attract attention in any community. The post 
 office and the telegraph office, in modern Gothic style, 
 are credits to the great city. The old Cathedral of 
 St. Thomas, built in 1718, is a historic structure, and 
 in it may be found many tablets erected to the memory 
 of important personages who have lived and died in 
 Bombay. The Royal Alfred Sailors' Home, with ac- 
 commodations for one hundred men, is a beautiful 
 edifice and one dedicated to a noble cause — the care 
 of those who sail the sea. Of the Victoria and Albert 
 Museum, the various fine hospitals, the Victoria Gar- 
 dens (with their thirty- four acres), the numerous med- 
 ical schools, the mint, the immense Court of Justice, 
 the Secretariat, and other such excellent public build- 
 ings it is not necessary that I should speak. One 
 cannot fail to be struck with the superior architecture 
 which is to be found in the European quarter of Bom- 
 bay. No city in. India offers such driveways in the 
 evening as Bombay. Queen's Road, along the beach, 
 is the meeting place of the various people of the beau- 
 
 235 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 tiful city. The road is deservedly popular as a drive 
 because of its beauty and the view which it affords. 
 On the one side are high trees reaching far over the 
 road; on the other are young palms which break the 
 line of brown grass reaching to the sea. From half 
 past five to eight o'clock every evening the sight here 
 is a gay one. The imposing span and fine victoria 
 and scarlet liveries, prancing horses and shabby car- 
 riages, rats of ponies with carts to match, the bullocks 
 and their slow-moving vehicles, handsomely dressed 
 Europeans, Parsee ladies in brilliant saris, and a vast 
 throng of pleasure seekers make up a scene to be 
 found nowhere else in the world. From Queen's Road 
 the drive leads up Malabar Hill, from one side of 
 which we had a magnificent view of the great city, 
 and from the other side we looked out upon the roll- 
 ing sea. We visited the "Hanging Gardens" on the 
 ridge, the typically tropical spot of Bombay ; and from 
 there we looked across Back Bay to the roofs and 
 domes of the city and the great black masses of tall 
 palms, and then we turned our faces to the west and 
 watched the flaming red sun drop like a ball into the 
 glorious sea. We did not wonder that hundreds of 
 Parsees, the followers of Zoroaster, sat in humble 
 worship before this stirring scene. 
 
 On this same hill, where the wealthy have built their 
 palatial residences, are the "Towers of Silence," where 
 the Parsees dispose of their dead. There are less 
 than one hundred thousand Parsees in India, but 
 eighty-five per cet of them live in Bombay. They arc 
 the bankers, the merchants, the commercial magnates 
 of Bombay, and for the most part they live in ex- 
 cellent homes and many of them in great palaces. 
 
 236 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 They are called the "Jews of India" because of their 
 capacity for accumulating wealth and because of their 
 racial exclusiveness. They came from Persia, where 
 they were persecuted. During the American Civil 
 War they made immense fortunes in Bombay in their 
 dealings in cotton. They are loyal to the British gov- 
 ernment because, it is claimed, their commercial in- 
 terests compel them to uphold the governlnent that 
 will insure the continuance of their prosperity. They 
 dress well, and their women present the most beautiful 
 costumes to be found in India. They worship the 
 sun, and regard fire, the earth, and other natural 
 elements as sacred. They consider the dead body as 
 unclean, and so to burn it would be to pollute the 
 fire, and to bury it would be to pollute the earth ; so 
 they expose it to be disposed of by vultures. I visited 
 the "Towers of Silence" in company with Rev. C. B. 
 Hill, my host, who had secured the permission. There 
 are five towers, one being private, one for suicides, 
 and the other three for the public. They are cylin- 
 drical in shape, and the largest is two hundred and 
 seventy-six feet in circumference and twenty-five feet 
 high. At eight feet above the ground is an aperture 
 in the wall about five and one-half feet square through 
 which the body is taken by the carriers, who are born 
 to that profession. The towers are within an in- 
 closure containing 100,000 square yards, which is en- 
 tered by a gateway at the top of a flight of eighty 
 steps. At the Parsee funeral the bier is carried by 
 four "carriers of the dead," followed by two bearded 
 men and a large number of Parsee mourners in white 
 robes walking two and two. Prayer is said at a little 
 stone building by the temple in which the fire is ever 
 
 237 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 burning. The two bearded men are the only persons 
 who ever enter the tower. In the center of the tower 
 is a well four feet in diameter. The space , between 
 the well and the outer wall of the tower is divided into 
 three sections by two circular walls. Grooved iron 
 grating covers the space within the tower. On the 
 grating over the outer section of the tovv^er the bodies 
 of men are placed, over the middle section the bodies 
 of women, and over the inner the bodies of children. 
 The bearers leave the bodies unclothed on these sec- 
 tions, and in less tlian an hour the vultures leave noth- 
 ing but the skeleton, which is left to bleach in the sun 
 and the wind till it becomes perfectly dr}'. The fluids 
 pass down the grooves into the well, which allows them 
 to flow through charcoal into the earth. The bones 
 under the tropical sun in a few months crumble, and 
 the bodies pass into the elements from which they 
 came. The gruesomeness of the burning ghats of the 
 Hindus is hardly so repulsive as this disposal of the 
 dead by the wealthy Parsees through the agency of 
 common vultures that blacken the trees of Malabar 
 Hill. 
 
 After this contact with the great flock of buzzards, 
 I was glad to get back to our apartments and the 
 noisy clatter of the most impudent crows that can be 
 found in the world. Every city in India is literally 
 alive with these black chattering creatures. They are 
 as numerous as the English sparrows in our American 
 cities. As the scavengers of India they perform a 
 most beneficent service, and without them every city 
 would be in grave danger of malignant diseases, for 
 the Indians themselves are too lazy to clean awa)' 
 their filth. Even in the case of plague and cholera 
 
 238 
 
ETCH I.N GS OF THE EAST 
 
 they will not observe the rules of the municipal boards. 
 While I was in Bombay the daily death rate from 
 bubonic plague was eighty-six, which is the lowest 
 that it has been for several years. More than 5,000,000 
 people have died of plague in India in the last decade. 
 The medical men say that the disease is propagated 
 by rats and fleas. The fleas from the dying rat find 
 a new home on a human being, and with his bite he 
 transmits the plague germ, from which in most cases 
 death ensues. The natives will not always aid in ex- 
 terminating the rats, as their religious regard for life, 
 through their belief in the transmigration or reincar- 
 nation of the soul, will prevent them from destroying 
 dangerous vermin. The Jains are the wealthy grain 
 dealers in Bombay, and they would by their religion 
 be more apt to erect hospitals for the sick rats than 
 they would be to join in any effort to exterminate 
 them. The Europeans are a little reconciled to these 
 conditions, as the plague is almost entirely confined 
 to the natives. 
 
 Bombay is on an island eleven miles long and three 
 to four miles wide, in latitude 18 degrees, 53 minutes, 
 and 45 seconds. Its climate is quite equable, the aver- 
 age temperature being seventy-nine degrees. Its har- 
 bor is one of the best in the East, and offers a beau- 
 tiful scene as a ship approaches the dock. The port 
 is crowded with the vessels of all nations, excepting 
 possibly the United States, which has practically no 
 merchant marine for any waters. The Stars and 
 Stripes are unknown in the Orient. The world cruise 
 of the fleet may give other people the opportunity of 
 seeing the beauty of Old Glory. No true American 
 can be proud of our lack of a merchant marine, which 
 
 239 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 would mean as much to us as the most formidable 
 navy. The export trade of Bombay is the largest of 
 any city in India. The empire exports annually in tea 
 $28,000,000; in wheat and flour, $38,000,000; in rice, 
 $63,000,000; in jute, raw and manufactured, $70,000,- 
 000; in cotton, raw and manufactured, $115,000,000. 
 From my window in Bombay I could count one hun- 
 dred cotton mills, while the entire presidency reports 
 about four hundred mills. India is a great agricultural 
 country, but the people have not accumulated wealth 
 by their farms. Of the 738,000,000 acres, fully one- 
 third are poorly cultivated, while 140,000,000 tillable 
 acres are unused. The natives are poor farmers. 
 They do no deep plowing, and they are too afraid of 
 being made unclean if they use fertilizers. Their 
 plows are the old crooked beams that were used a 
 thousand years ago, while the slow-moving bullock is 
 the only animal used on the farm. The Indians never 
 invent anything nor improve what they have come in 
 possession of, and consequently not only their farming 
 implements but all their ^workmen's tools are as old as 
 their traditions. Lumber is sawed by two men, one 
 standing on the log, which is elevated on a frame, 
 and the other standing on the ground ; and they pull 
 the saw back and forth through the log. The sweeper, 
 who is the son of an age-long line of sweepers, car- 
 ries his bunch of bamboo canes as did his fathers be- 
 fore him. The water carrier has strung over his 
 shoulder the leathern bag — the skin of a goat — filled 
 with water, which he pours from the neck into a 
 basin ; or if he is sprinkling, he pours into his hand 
 and with a swing sprinkles on the ground. He learned 
 his trade a thousand years ago. The barber stops 
 
 240 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 with his customer ; they both sit down on the ground, 
 and the operation is begun and painfully pursued until 
 the required amount of hair from face and head has 
 been annihilated. When the Indian is asked why he 
 does so and so, he simply replies : "It is the custom." 
 
 The people of India differ widely in their intellec- 
 tual gifts. The people are not from a common ances- 
 try, but from a mass of tribes, races, and tongues. 
 There are one hundred and eighty-five different lan- 
 guages spoken in the empire, and sixteen of them by 
 more than 3,000,000 people. The Hindi or Hindu- 
 stani is spoken by 97,500,000 people, the Bengali by 
 /| 4,000,000, the Telugu by 20,700,000, the Marathi by 
 18,200,000, the Punjabi by 17,000,000, the Tamil by 
 16,500,000, the Rajasthani by 11,000,000, the Kanarese 
 by 10,300,000, the Guzerati by 10,000,000. The Tamil- 
 ese boast of their literature, while the Bengali orators 
 acquire a marvelous command of English style as 
 speakers. But ignorance and low morality are inevita- 
 ble among the lower castes and the hill tribes who 
 have never had an opportunity for study. Of the 
 150,000,000 men and boys in India, only 15,000,000, 
 or ten per cent, can read and write. Of the 144,000,- 
 000 women and girls, only 1,000,000, or one in 144, 
 can read and write. At present twenty-two per cent 
 of the boys of school-going age attend some school, 
 while the percentage of girls is two and one-half. 
 The demand for education is constantly increasing, 
 and the government is being called on to provide 
 primary schools for the people. Some fine colleges 
 have been established in different cities, such as El- 
 phinstone College, in Bombay, and Channing College, 
 16 m 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 in Lucknow. The government has estabHshed five 
 universities at Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Allahabad, 
 and Punjab; but they give no instruction and confer 
 degrees only on examination. The mission schools 
 that maintain a creditable course of study have the 
 indorsement and the support of the government. But 
 as yet it could hardly be said that India has an edu- 
 cational system such as exists in America or even in 
 Japan. How soon a demand for such a system is 
 pressed upon the government, one could scarcely say, 
 but the time is evidently approaching. 
 
 While the great majority of the people of India are 
 poor and ignorant and have little concern for any- 
 thing beyond a bare sustenance of life, yet there is a 
 great body of men in almost every community who 
 are beginning to show the awakening of a certain 
 national spirit. Many of them have been educated in 
 the schools and colleges which the government has 
 established and maintained. They read the books 
 and newspapers which bring them the Western learn- 
 ing and the thought of the outside world. They pub- 
 lish eight hundred papers in their own languages, and 
 some of them have a daily circulation of four or five 
 thousand. In Bengal there has arisen what is called 
 the "Swadeshi" movement, which has for its object 
 "the industrial regeneration and economic salvation" 
 of India; and this mxovement has spread to most of 
 the provinces of the empire. Its effort is to arouse 
 the natives to inaugurate and maintain enterprises to 
 encourage other natives to give support to these native 
 enterprises. The members are called upon to patron- 
 ize native shops and buy native goods. There can be 
 no doubt that there is a political side to the move- 
 
 242 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ment. The Indians feel that they should have a great- 
 er share in their government than they have previously 
 had. Their education has been in the line of prepa- 
 ration for government position, and consequently the 
 educated men have not been turned to professional 
 lines. The new role which Japan is novv^ playing has 
 inspired the Indians to some efforts for themselves. 
 The Europeans who live in India confess that a new 
 era seems to be dawning and a new national life is 
 budding. Certain officials view the movement with 
 some alarm, while others are inclined to say that no 
 good thing can come out of India. That the indus- 
 trial, intellectual, political, and even religious condi- 
 tions in this country will soon undergo some change, 
 there seems much room for believing; but what will 
 be the extent of this change, no one can now prophesy. 
 Some of the definitions which newspapers have given 
 of the Swadeshi movement are : "The Swadeshi move- 
 ment is the awakening of a new spirit of national- 
 ism;" "The Swadeshi movement is the child of dis- 
 content of modern Indians under their present state 
 of dependence — a discontent perfectly healthy and 
 legitimate, and due to causes which England herself 
 set at work;" "The Swadeshi movement is the unfor- 
 tunate excrescence of the marvelous growth of the 
 people in the consciousness of their own importance 
 and in their desire for higher and better things." 
 These definitions from Hindu, Mohammedan, and 
 Christian gentlemen show that a patriotic impulse is 
 behind the movement, and that a new national con- 
 sciousness is beginning to be developed. The world 
 will watch with interest the developmicnt. 
 
 There are many encouraging features about mis- 
 243 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 sionary work in India, and at the same time there are 
 drawbacks and great obstacles. The poverty and ig- 
 norance of the great masses, the caste system which 
 is so tenaciously held to by the upper classes of the 
 Hindus, the seclusion and illiteracy of the better class 
 of women, the social and religious pride of the Mo- 
 hammedans, the fearful intolerance of the wealthy 
 Parsees and Jains make difficulties for the missionary 
 which are practically insurmountable. An Anglican 
 bishop, in writing of the work among the higher 
 castes, says : "I very much doubt whether the average 
 for all India would amount to twenty converts a year 
 from this particular class among all denominations of 
 the Christian Church." Yet there are 3,000,000 na- 
 tive Christians in India, of which 1,250,000 are Prot- 
 estants. The converts have been made to a very great 
 extent from the lowest Hindu classes. The statistics 
 show a remarkable increase of native Christians dur- 
 ing the last decade. The Methodist Episcopal Church 
 has now 150,000 communicants in India, and their 
 converts last year numbered 16,000. Their work is 
 thoroughly organized into five Conferences, and has 
 the constant supervision of three resident bishops 
 whose superintendency is of incalculable benefit. The 
 American Presbyterian Church is also meeting with 
 very great success. The English societies are making 
 very little progress. This is due in part to the fact 
 that they have given their attention almost wholly to 
 the higher castes. Christianity has always begun wtih 
 the lowly. It was so in the days of Jesus and his apos- 
 tles ; it was so in Rome ; it was so with Methodism 
 when John Wesley preached to the miners. God 
 chooses the weak things of this world to confound 
 
 244 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the wise. The caste of India is to be broken from 
 below as the lower classes are Christianized, educated, 
 and become the teachers of the upper castes. That 
 work is already in progress. Methodism in India is 
 progressing on true apostolic lines ; and if her work 
 continues another half century as it has gone the last 
 ten years, India will be a new land and Christianity 
 will be the religion of the people. Of course the 
 English officials and the English planters and mer- 
 chants will speak slightingly of the work of the mis- 
 sionaries because only the lower classes are reached. 
 It is well known that the Englishman in India is more 
 often a hindrance than a help to the cause of Chris- 
 tianity. This is the statement of an Englishman : "The 
 political movements of the last thirty years have in- 
 juriously affected the attitude of the educated classes 
 toward Christianity by concentrating their thoughts 
 and aspirations on political aims, and still more by 
 widening the gulf between Indians and Europeans. 
 It might have been thought that as English education 
 spread a class would arise who would become more 
 and more in sympathy with their English rulers. Un- 
 happily, it has not been so. The educated in India 
 have steadily become more critical of their English 
 rulers and more distinctly opposed to English influ- 
 ence. And true though it may be that Christianity is 
 essentially an Eastern religion, still to India it comes 
 as the religion of the West and the religion of the 
 English conqueror. A growing opposition, therefore, 
 to the English government involves of necessity a 
 growing opposition to the Christian Church." 
 
 The colleges are not making many converts to Chris- 
 tianity, and the thought of the missionaries is now to 
 
 245 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 make institutions to educate the children of Christian 
 converts and to train native evangelists for the great 
 work of preaching the gospel to the people. One man 
 speaks of a certain institution in Madras as "the finest 
 missionary college in India, with a splendid staff of 
 able and devoted missionaries," and says the number 
 of converts in the last forty years has been a mere 
 handful. By the education of the children of persons 
 converted by the evangelists, the work of the evangel- 
 ist is conserved as Christianity becomes a great power 
 among the very people who will eventually redeem In- 
 dia. Bishop Whitehead, of Madras, says : "I can see 
 no evidence of any movement toward Christianity in 
 the higher ranks of Hindu society at present, nor any 
 hope of it in the immediate future. On the contrary, 
 the educated classes seem to me farther off from the 
 definite acceptance of the Christian faith than they 
 were when I first came out to India, twenty-three 
 years ago." Yet he believes that the hope of reaching 
 the people is through the missionary schools for the 
 children of Christians and Christian dormitories at 
 the State schools as a means of reaching the upper 
 classes. While the lower classes are coming to Chris- 
 tianity by the thousands, it would seem that there is 
 something to be said for the plan now being discussed. 
 But while it is becoming more and more certain that 
 the mission schools in India must be primarily for the 
 sons and daughters of men and women who have 
 been converted to Christianity, yet the educational 
 work for the high-class Hindus and Mohammedans 
 cannot be abandoned. Through these institutions, 
 usually of high grade, the light of Christian truth is 
 being diffused through the higher ranks, and the up- 
 
 248 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 per society is being prepared for an acceptance of 
 Christianity. The state institutions are by their nature 
 unable to affect the moral and religious life of their 
 students, and the government is feeling the need of 
 the mission schools to assist in building up a new 
 character in the young men who are to enter the pub- 
 lic service. So, on the whole, the field of the mis- 
 sionary in India is gradually broadening, and his work 
 is deepening. The leaven of the gospel cannot per- 
 meate this great lump in a day or even in a genera- 
 tion, but there are signs of promise in the national 
 sky, and this kingdom will yet become a kingdom of 
 our God and his Christ. This is no time for retreat, 
 but for reenforcements, and they so numerous that 
 India may feel the tread of the hosts of the Lord. 
 
 247 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 Coming Up into Egypt. 
 
 THREE thousand sea miles is the distance from 
 Bombay to Port Said. As the distance by land 
 miles would be fifteen per cent more, the distance for 
 a railway train would be three thousand four hundred 
 and fifty miles. We wished often for a train, as the 
 steamers on any other sea than the Atlantic Ocean 
 seldom make more than fifteen miles or knots an hour, 
 while the usual fast train makes twice that distance. 
 On the Atlantic, where the competition is so great, 
 and where the demand for rapid travel is so urgent, 
 the ships have been built with special regard to speed ; 
 and consequently the large steamers make twenty-two 
 to twenty-five knots an hour in their sail between Euro- 
 pean and American ports. In the Eastern waters time 
 is not such an important element, as the pace of the 
 Orient could hardy be called strenuous. 
 
 Our steamer, the Koerber, was quite comfortable, 
 and was the most steady boat on which we have had 
 passage during our entire trip. While the company 
 owning the ship is Austrian, the crew was Italian. 
 The language gave us no trouble, as we made no effort 
 to understand it, but insisted on every one speaking 
 and understanding English. The peculiarity of the 
 American — and for the most part the Englishman — is 
 that he seldom learns any language but his own imless 
 it is that of some foreign country in which he lives. 
 I did not find a German an}-v.hcre in the East that 
 
 2is' 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 could not speak some English and usually some other 
 European language besides his own. The same was 
 true of the Italian, the Frenchman, the Russian, while 
 the Austrian and the Pole spoke three to four lan- 
 guages freely. The American and the Englishman 
 require other nationalities to address them in the Eng- 
 lish language, whatever may be the country in which 
 they travel. There ma}^ be an explanation for this con- 
 dition, but the reader is left to his own. 
 
 We had on board a large number of English exiles 
 who were returning to their native land. Of course I 
 do not mean that any of our passengers had been serv- 
 ing sentences for some misdemeanors ; but if living in 
 India for mone}^ or for political honor is not suffering 
 exile, I mistook the implications of these Britishers 
 who were on their "way home" for a year's furlough. 
 Some of them were tea planters, some civil officers, 
 some wives of officials ; but the large proportion of 
 them were military gentlemen who are sacrificing their 
 lives for what they evidently think is the salvation of 
 India. In the company were a major general, several 
 captains, and so many colonels that I would have 
 thought that I was in dear old Kentucky had those 
 Englishmen not spoken their own language with what 
 people once called a "brogue," but which is now po- 
 litely referred to as an "accent." It is indeed strange 
 how the pronunciation of the language by the English 
 has become corrupted since the Americans separated 
 from them. The majority of the army officers see 
 very little good in the Indians. One man expressed 
 it as his opinion that England was very short-sighted 
 In taking India when she might have taken China just 
 as well, and consequently would now have a country 
 
 249 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 that is worth owning. There can be no doubt that 
 many of these officers consider the day of England's 
 full occupation of Tibet as close at hand, while her 
 present operations on the borders of Afghanistan with 
 the rebellious Mohammedan tribes may precipitate a 
 campaign that will involve the territory in that dis- 
 trict. England is approaching the heart of Asia from 
 the south. 
 
 Our good steamer reached Aden after a five days' 
 delightful voyage across the Arabian Sea. Those wa- 
 ters are seldom rough except during the monsoons in 
 June and July, and then the fury of the waves is ex- 
 hausting on the best sailors. Of course Aden belongs 
 to the English. We landed in Shanghai on the Eng- 
 lish concession ; we went ashore at Hongkong, a Brit- 
 ish colony; we stopped over at Singapore, a British 
 possession ; we visited Penang, a British settlement ; 
 we spent a few days in Burma, a British province; 
 we traveled a month in India, the British Empire. Of 
 course Aden belongs to the English, and its barren 
 crags are covered by British fortifications, while the 
 most prominent section of the town is occupied by the 
 barracks, the home of the British soldiers. But what 
 shall I say of Aden? What could any one say who 
 wanted to be polite and at the same time truthful? 
 It is said that Lord Curzon while Viceroy in India 
 had a regiment of rebellious troops that he wanted to 
 punish, so he stationed them at Aden for two years. 
 The only point of interest in Aden is the Tanks which 
 were built by King Darius, and which were discovered 
 a few years ago by some laborers who were digging 
 a trench. But the Tanks have no use, although they 
 have been put in good repair ; for they have been filled 
 
 250 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 only three times in ten years. The annual rainfall in 
 Aden is only three-fourths of an inch. But Aden has 
 an excellent harbor, and its position at the mouth of 
 the Red Sea gives it a place as prominent, if not as 
 important, as the Straits of Gibraltar. One caterer, 
 realizing the importance of his city, named his hostelry 
 the "Hotel of the Universe." If we may judge from 
 the number of ostrich feathers which are sold by the 
 native venders to the passengers on board the steamer, 
 Aden must have the most productive ostrich farm in 
 the world. On close inspection, however, some pur- 
 chasers found that their articles bore the stamp: 
 "Made in Germany." But the great reduction which 
 the venders make in their prices gives the purchaser 
 the impression that he or she has made a great bar- 
 gain, and the illusion seldom disappears until after 
 the steamer sails. 
 
 The Red Sea is not red, but as blue as the ocean 
 and sometimes as rough. We were fortunate in get- 
 ting enough breeze to keep us comfortable, and not 
 enough to disturb the motion of the ship. We were 
 frequently in sight of land — which by its color likely 
 gave the name to the sea — while other travelers of 
 the deep were often on our horizon. The sunsets were 
 glorious. On the morning of the last day we passed 
 Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the great command- 
 ments- from God. Just as the day was dying in the 
 west we crossed the pathway of the Israelitish hosts 
 as they fled through the miraculously opened sea from 
 their hostile Egyptian pursuers, and we came to anchor 
 at Suez v/hile the western sky was ablaze and the wa- 
 ters of the harbor smiled in their beauty. We entered 
 the Suez Canal by moonlight, and lingered long enough 
 
 251 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 on deck to see something of the great work of the 
 distinguished French engineer. The morning found 
 us more than half through the eighty-two miles of the 
 canal, and our eyes rested upon the great deserts 
 which stretch out on each side. We anchored once 
 for four large ships to pass us. The channel is not wide 
 enough for ships to pass each other except at these sta- 
 tions. At ten o'clock we were in Port Said, and at five 
 o'clock in the afternoon we were in Cairo, the gay capi- 
 tal on the Nile, 
 
 The change from the depressing conditions of the 
 Far East to the dazzling scenes of Egypt's great city 
 was so great as almost to produce a shock. At first 
 there was the feeling that we had returned to civiliza- 
 tion, but as the days wore on there was some question 
 as to the genuine worth of what we beheld. The glitter- 
 ing is not always golden. As far as the social world is 
 concerned, Cairo is a second Paris. A half dozen of its 
 hotels are without superiors in the great resorts of the 
 world. During the season, which extends from Decem- 
 ber I to May I, Cairo is filled with the rich and aristo- 
 cratic members of society of Europe and America. The 
 prices for services of all kinds and for the articles in 
 the shops are exceedingly exorbitant. The slightest 
 service, even to the word of direction in the streets, 
 calls for a fee; and every native who can speak fifty 
 words of English will offer himself as a dragoman (a 
 guide) at twelve to thirty shillings a day. The past 
 season has been very poor, as the financial stringency 
 in America and Europe greatly reduced the amount of 
 travel. Plowever, we found a guide at the pyramids 
 
 252 
 
CLIMBING THE GRKAT PYRAMID. 
 
ETC K INGS OF THE EAST 
 
 that made $1,750, notwithstanding the dullness of the 
 
 season. 
 
 Speaking of the pyramids recalls our visit on Tues- 
 day afternoon and the rich golden sunset which left 
 a glow in our hearts like the gorgeous tints in the 
 sky. Many things have been written of the Great 
 Pyramid, which is 451 feet high, 755 feet long on 
 each of the four sides, and which covers an area of 
 thirteen acres, and most of them are true, at least for 
 the writers. But the old pile of Cheops, upon which 
 have fallen the favor and the fury of more than thirty 
 centuries, must be seen to be appreciated. It is rough, 
 and its great stones, instead of standing out sharp, 
 have crumbled sufficiently to show the marks of their 
 extreme age. I might have been pushed up by three 
 Arabs over the jagged stones of the jutting corner 
 to the summit, where I would have trembled with 
 fatigue and dizziness from the extreme height ; but for 
 such an experience I had no desire. From the sum- 
 mit, a few feet square, those who are able to com- 
 mand their powers will have a fine view of Cairo and 
 the surrounding country. The interior of the pyramid 
 contains several dark chambers which formerly held 
 the bodies of the king and members of his domestic or 
 political household. The gigantic pyramid is a great 
 tomb, undoubtedly, as is the smaller pyramid that 
 stands by its side and the numerous pyramids which 
 may be seen in the Valley of the Nile near the old 
 capital of the Pharaohs. 
 
 Is the Sphinx a colossal image of the Egyptian 
 deity Harmachis, the god of the morning? ^ The 
 arch^ological students seem to think so; but if so, 
 beauty was not counted essential to a deity in those 
 
 253 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 days. The image was hewn out of the rock cliff which 
 juts out here from the desert plateau, and the various 
 strata are seen in the neck and the head. As the body, 
 which is 140 feet long, and the paws which are at the 
 base of the figure, which is 70 feet high, are hid in 
 the sand, I could make no observation. As the sand 
 of the desert is continually drifting, the work of ex- 
 cavation would be scarcely worth while. The pyra- 
 mids and the Sphinx are on a barren hill in the midst 
 of a great plain stretching in every direction. They 
 have no beauty or comeliness ; they express no archi- 
 tectural design; but they betoken the mystery of life 
 and man's eternal peering into the distance to find its 
 meaning, and at the same time his insatiable thirst for 
 his own immortality, even if only by a monument of 
 stone. In the one man has said, "What is the mean- 
 ing of it all?" and in the other, "I will to live for- 
 ever." Is it any wonder that the archseologist who 
 declared that the pyramid was a tomb was equally 
 confident that a temple would be found in the neigh- 
 borhood? After a little excavating the temple was 
 found as predicted; and its great granite columns, its 
 superb chambers and alabaster floors are objects of 
 admiration to every visitor to the pyramids of Gizeh. 
 The man who seeks the meaning of life and follows 
 the natural desire for immortality is sure to express 
 his feelings in acts of worship. 
 
 Some one said that he would not go to the p}ramids 
 — which are six or eight miles from the city — on an 
 electric car, as the ride on the car would take away the 
 sentiment of the trip. Well, we went on the electric 
 car, and were g.ad to do so, and were delivered in 
 good sentimental condition only two hundred yards 
 
 254 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 from the base of the Great Pyramid. We could have 
 done the rest on foot, but the novelty and experience 
 of a camel ride on the plains of Egypt are worth 
 something. So we had those great beasts of burden 
 kneel at our sides, receive us, arise, and proceed on 
 the way. The lunging of a rising or kneeling camel 
 sometimes tries many muscles of the rider, while the 
 motion of this "ship of the desert" sometimes causes 
 a rebellion like unto that known best at sea. 
 
 The most interesting person that I saw in Cairo 
 was Rameses II., the Pharaoh of the Oppression. It 
 was really next to seeing Moses. The old monarch 
 little thought that after thirty-three hundred years he 
 would lie a mummy in a great museum and be looked 
 upon by the thousands who know his deeds and hold 
 him in remembrance because of his connection with 
 God's chosen people, whom he oppressed. But Ram- 
 eses was a great ruler, and some of the most magnifi- 
 cent relics of the Egyptian civilization were the works 
 of his reign. Near the sarcophagus which contained 
 the mummy of Rameses was one which contained the 
 mummy of Meneptah, who was the Pharaoh when the 
 Egyptian host that was following the Israelites was 
 destroyed in the Red Sea. For many years it was be- 
 lieved and taught that that Pharaoh was drowned 
 with his army, although there is no statement in the 
 fifteenth chapter of Exodus to that effect. The schol- 
 ars say that the mummy which I saw in the Museum 
 of Antiquities is the mummy of the Pharaoh of the 
 Exodus, and I am in no position to deny their con- 
 tention. 
 
 The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities was formerly 
 in the old Gizeh Palace; but it has been removed to 
 
 255 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the new building on the east bank of the Nile, which 
 was completed in 1902 at a cost of $1,000,000. The 
 priceless collection here will aid any student to some 
 appreciation of the great people who lived in Egypt 
 2,500 to 4,000 years ago. Their superb pieces of stat- 
 uary, their magnificent architecture, and their superior 
 masonry offer a severe rebuff to the conceit of many 
 peoples of this showy age. A traveler in Egypt to- 
 day continually asks to be taken from the glitter of 
 the Khedive to the gold of the Pharaoh. The Caliphs, 
 the Mamelukes, the Ottomans, and the Khedives may 
 have been not without honor, but the glory of Egypt 
 belongs to the ages that preceded them. It is true that 
 the tombs of the Caliphs and the tombs of the Mame- 
 lukes furnish some very fine specimens of Saracenic 
 architecture, although they are for the most part in 
 ruins. A visit to them is exceedingly interesting, but 
 not so much so as a visit to the Citadel, the great 
 Cairene Acropolis, with its mosques, palace, prison, 
 barracks, and arsenal. The Citadel is filled with sev- 
 eral regiments of British soldiers. England is the 
 guardian of Egypt also, and receives good fees for her 
 service. It is here that we find the beautiful Alabaster 
 Mosque, which bears the name of Mehemet Ali, the 
 builder. Its proportions are imposing, the decorations 
 of the interior are rich, while in architectural design 
 it is the copy of the great Church of St. Sophia at 
 Constantinople. The tomb of Mehemet Ali is in the 
 southwest corner. The two tall, slender minarets are 
 lofty and elegant. Behind the church is shown the 
 wall from which Emil Bey rushed his horse when he 
 made his escape when Ali massacred the Mamelukes. 
 From this spot one may secure a very fine view of 
 ' 256 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the city, with its five hundred mosques, its numerous 
 cotton mills, its beautiful parks, and its great business 
 houses. 
 
 Did I find the place where Pharaoh's daughter found 
 little Moses in his little craft on the Nile ? The guide 
 was quite confident that he was pointing out the place 
 in the rear of the palace on Roda Island. The keeper 
 of the old Coptic Church showed me the spot where 
 Joseph and Mary rested when they stopped in their 
 flight from Herod. While I had no feeling of mathe- 
 matical certainty about the place, yet there was a de- 
 vout sensation at the recital of this sacred tradition. 
 It is in this neighborhood that one may see old Cairo, 
 with its streets so narrow that neighbors may touch 
 each other from the upper windows. The ancient 
 odor, the congregation of men in the streets, the cry 
 for backsheesh on every hand, the fellowship of dogs 
 and goats, fleas and flies all satisfied me that I had 
 reached the old city and that the modern Paris was 
 several miles away. Speaking of flies leads me to 
 say that the flies of Cairo are the most numerous, the 
 most friendly, and the most attentive of any that I 
 have ever seen. The men in the street carry fly 
 brushes made of hair and fine fiber. But the fly and 
 the crow are the city's scavengers. 
 
 But it is not in my mind to write any more of Cairo, 
 as its great relics, its historical associations, its modern 
 gayety, its Mohammedan government and British pro- 
 tectorate, its new system of irrigation, its growing 
 school system are all more or less known to the read- 
 ers of this day. After a visit to India much that one 
 sees in Egypt is not strange. However, here one sees 
 Moslemism in the ascendancy, and its assertive pride 
 17 257' 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 and religious fanaticism are quite distasteful to an 
 American Protestant. Of ancient Egypt one cannot 
 learn enough, while of modern Egypt one with quiet 
 habits may soon grow weary. The city that tourists 
 see most is a vanity fair. The sidewalks of many 
 streets are so filled with tables about which those who 
 eat and drink make merry that travelers must walk in 
 the streets. The vender of all sorts of wares, fabrics, 
 and confectioneries, the juggler with all manner of 
 tricks, the wandering musicians with all classes of in- 
 struments pass from table to table, from company to 
 company, from street to street, trying to secure sale 
 of their goods and service. Life in Cairo, as it is in 
 all cities which become resorts, is subject to many 
 perils. Cairo is a beautiful city with a million inhab- 
 itants; but the glory of Egypt is in her great fields 
 along the Nile, while her crown is in the works of 
 the great people who built Luxor, Thebes, Memphis, 
 and left the marks of a high civilization. 
 
 258 
 
CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 Going Up to Jerusalem. 
 
 TRAVEL in Egypt is so fearfully expensive that 
 this wanderer was glad when the Friday came 
 on which he was to start to Palestine. The train left 
 Cairo at eleven o'clock. At three-thirty we were in 
 Port Said, and at six we were setting sail in a small 
 Russian steamer for Jaffa. To our joy, twenty-five 
 of the passengers were Americans, most of whom 
 were teachers in the Philippine Islands, who were on 
 their way to America, and who had stopped over at 
 Port Said to visit Jerusalem and Cairo. The "Amer- 
 ican" language resounded through that steamer that 
 night. At six o'clock the next morning we awoke to 
 find our ship anchored in the waters which Jonah 
 made famous when he took the ship to Tarshish. The 
 Turkish medical officials delayed us five hours in land- 
 ing by their slow action in carrying out the quaran- 
 tine regulations. They took backsheesh too, as do all 
 Turkish officials on all occasions and in all places. 
 Backsheesh is the only passport which will admit tour- 
 ists without question to any place o£ interest in the 
 Sultan's domain. We were glad to pass through the 
 dangerous reefs in the Joppa harbor and to get safely 
 through the customhouse to the hotel for a greatly 
 delayed breakfast. At two o'clock we were on the 
 train with tickets reading: "Joppa to Jerusalem." 
 What sensations those tickets awoke ! Joppa, where 
 Solomon received his cedar from Tyre which he used 
 
 259. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 in building the temple ! Joppa, where Peter had that 
 wonderful vision in which he heard a voice saying: 
 "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou com- 
 mon !" I saw the reputed spot on which the house 
 of Simon the tanner stood, where Cornelius found 
 Peter. It was in Joppa that Dorcas lived and died. 
 They showed me the traditional spot of that upper 
 chamber where Peter called this holy woman back to 
 life, and the tomb in which her body was eventuall}- 
 laid. One may be skeptical as to identical spots, but 
 that it was in the ancient city which occupied the same 
 position as the present busy seaport that these early 
 disciples lived and labored there can be no question. 
 At last the hopes of the years had been realized, and 
 I was treading upon the holy soil made sacred by 
 those who knew the Lord. 
 
 Jaffa (the modern name of the ancient city) is by 
 no means without interest. Its dirty streets and 
 dwarfed market places, its small buildings and poorly 
 kept public institutions do not indicate that no busi- 
 ness is transacted and that commerce is dead, but only 
 that Jaffa is a city of the Orient. The business man is 
 there, and he knows how to make a bargain, as a little 
 testing will show. He does not trade like an Ameri- 
 can, but he knows all the tricks of the Eastern trades- 
 man. The great camel trains bring here from the 
 country and the interior great quantities of produce 
 for the foreign market. Oranges, lemons, olive oil, 
 wine, and wool are brought here for shipment to Eu- 
 rope ; while the imports of cotton goods, cloth, coffee, 
 rice, sugar, and tobacco make their entrance through 
 the Jaffa port. About six hundred steamers and more 
 than a thousand sailing vessels call at Jaffa every 
 
 260 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 year. Damascus only surpasses this city b}^ the sea 
 as a business point in Syria. The 45,000 inhabitants 
 — ^of whom 30,000 are Moslems, 10,000 are Christians, 
 4,000 are Jews — live as comfortably as any people in 
 that country. 
 
 The suburbs of the city and the whole surrounding 
 country are covered with orange groves which yield 
 a yearly income of a quarter to a half million dollars. 
 The Jaffa oranges are noted for their richness, juici- 
 ness, and delicacy of flavor. The apricot orchards are 
 not much less numerous, while the pomegranate, the 
 lemon, the date, and the olive are extensively grown. 
 I ate the fruit of the sycamore tree, and liked it. It re- 
 minds one somewhat of the haw, although it is much 
 larger and more juicy. The tree is quite different from 
 the tree of the same name in our country. The fruit 
 is very highly prized by the people. A drive through 
 the Jaffa of to-day in the month of May will give any 
 visitor a most favorable impression of the fertility of 
 the soil of that section, the richness of the products 
 which are grown, and the industry of the people who 
 inhabit the country. 
 
 The distance from Jaffa to Jerusalem is fifty-three 
 miles by the railroad, and the cost of a ticket is three 
 dollars first-class or one dollar second-class. The best 
 is not good, and the next best is fearfully uncomforta- 
 ble. The schedule time for the journey is three and a 
 half hours, but the proverbial indifference to time 
 among Orientals is frequently fully exemplified in the 
 Palestine railroad officials. However, a slow train is 
 best for sight-seeing, and sight-seeing was our busi- 
 ness that day. So while our little locomotive tugged 
 away, pulling us across valleys and over mountains, 
 
 261 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 our guides pointed out to us the places of interest as 
 we passed them. Our hearts leaped with sensations of 
 delight as we broke from among the orange groves of 
 Jaffa into the broad fields of the beautiful Valley of 
 Sharon. Of course the first thing we asked to see was 
 the "rose of Sharon." Our guides were very accom- 
 modating, and pointed out this choice flower; but un- 
 fortunately they disagreed in their selection, just as 
 others had done before them. However, the beautiful 
 red flower resembling the poppy is most commonly 
 known as the rose of Sharon. Those who know best 
 the flora of the country are slow to say what the rose 
 of Sharon is or was. But there could be no question 
 as to what the guide meant when he said that the great 
 field of grain was "corn." The Englishman who was 
 in the party insisted that is was corn, but the Amer- 
 icans knew that it was wheat. The grain that the 
 American calls "corn" is known as "maize" by ev- 
 ery other people, while the word "corn" is used by 
 Easterners to designate all small grain. As the train 
 sped on we passed not only fields of wheat but patches 
 of potatoes, tomatoes, tobacco, cotton, beans, peas, on- 
 ions, cucumbers, and other vegetables known in our 
 own land. The growth everywhere seemed such as only 
 good, fertile soil would produce. The fig trees, the olive 
 trees, and the grapevines were abundant and showed 
 promise of a good yield. One is always surprised in a 
 strange country to find so many things like those he 
 has always known in his own land. The similarities 
 invariably attract his notice before the dift'erences. So 
 the vegetables, fruits, grains, flowers, birds, and the 
 animals of Palestine surprised me by being so similar 
 to what I had so often seen in the various parts of our 
 
 262 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST. 
 
 great country. The fact is, "seeing the country" of 
 this old world is rather monotonous business. The 
 human footprints only can give glory to any land and 
 add any peculiar interest to the products of any soil. 
 The Valley of Sharon is no more beautiful and no 
 more fertile than many another valley, but the Philis- 
 tines and the Israelites in their age-long contests for 
 control of it gave it a value above the measure of any 
 nation's currency. The Man of Galilee and his for- 
 bears have attached an interest to the wheat fields of 
 Palestine which belongs to no other land. The Holy 
 Land is holy not because of the strangeness of its 
 products, but because of the revelations which have 
 come to the world through its people. 
 
 We had gone only a short distance when we were 
 awakened from our meditations as the guide said: 
 "Here on the right is the traditional place where Sam- 
 son let loose the three hundred foxes with firebrands 
 tied to their tails in the standing corn of the Philis- 
 tines." From this place, as we looked to the south, we 
 saw the great fertile plain that stretched to Ekron, 
 Ashkelon, and Gaza and the cities of the stubborn en- 
 emies of the Israelites. The shrill whistle of the en- 
 gine pierced the air, the train came to a standstill, and 
 the guard called out : "Ludd." Ezra called it Lod, and 
 the disciples knew it as Lydda. Peter "came down to 
 the saints which dwelt at Lydda," healed ^Eneas of the 
 palsy, and went from there to Joppa and raised Dorcas 
 from the dead. According to tradition, St. George, 
 who slew the dragon, is buried here, and the Mo- 
 hammedans hold that their prophet taught that Christ 
 will at the last day slay the Antichrist at the gate of 
 Lydda. Another two miles brought us to Ramleh, a 
 
 263 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 town of 7,000 inhabitants, which is supposed to be 
 the site of Arimathea, the home of Joseph, the rich 
 man who gave the body of the crucified Jesus its 
 resting place. The tradition, however, dates back 
 only to the thirteenth century. Napoleon once had 
 his headquarters here. The most interesting and re- 
 markable object in the place is the old tower, which 
 probably dates back to the time of the Crusaders. The 
 town bears to-day no evidences of its former glory, 
 while its wretchedness is extreme. 
 
 Leaving Ramleh, after a distance of two miles we 
 came to Gezer, the town which Pharaoh burned, and 
 which Solomon rebuilt after his royal father-in-law 
 had slain the Canaanites and presented it to his daugh- 
 ter, Solomon's wife. The excavations by the Pales- 
 tine Exploration Fund Society have brought to light 
 cave dwellings with flint implements, numerous Egyp- 
 tian seals, and articles of jewelry which belonged to 
 the twentieth century before the Christian era. The 
 periods of the Canaanites and of the Jewish city were 
 clearly distinguishable. A little to the west of Gezer 
 lies Akir, now a Jewish colony of Rothschild, but for- 
 merly the site of the ancient Ekron. Here we left 
 the- plains and began to come upon the great plateau 
 known as the Shephelah, or low hills, where the land 
 was less fertile and the crops less numerous. As we 
 approached the mountain range, on a high hill on the 
 south were shown the ruins of ancient Beth-shemesh, 
 while on an opposite hill across a deep ravine was 
 Zorah, the boyhood home of Samson. The cave "in 
 the top of the rock Etam," where Samson hid himself, 
 was pointed out. The thirteenth to the sixteenth chap- 
 ters of the book of Judges were read with peculiar in- 
 
 264 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 terest after passing through this country, and the 
 rugged character of the might}^ Samson was better 
 understood after seeing his mountain home. 
 
 No railroad in the world passes through a more in- 
 teresting country than the short line from Jaffa to 
 Jerusalem. After crossing the Valley of Sharon and 
 passing through the sand hills of Ekron, it runs up 
 the Vale of Sorek — or the Wady es Surar, as it is 
 now called — and its defile through the Judean range 
 on to the plain southwest of Jerusalem, which the 
 best authorities say probably represents the Vale of 
 Rephaim, which was the boundary between Judah and 
 Benjamin. It was in this valley that the Israelites 
 and the Philistines had their great struggles, for it 
 was by this pass that the archenemies of the chosen 
 people always endeavored to reach Jerusalem. There 
 was no shorter road into Judea from Ekron, Jamnia, 
 and Ashdod. After the ark had given trouble to Ash- 
 dod, Gath, and Ekron, it was up this valley that the 
 "untended kine of Beth-shemesh dragged the cart be- 
 hind them with the ark upon it, 'lowing as they went, 
 and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; 
 and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto 
 the border of Beth-shemesh.' " The Kirjath-jearim, 
 where the ark rested until David took it up to Jeru- 
 salem, was evidently in this same community. One 
 needs only to see this narrow pass through the moun- 
 tains to understand why the Israelites were able to 
 defend themselves so nobly against the attacks of the 
 more numerous enemy, and why during the time of 
 the Maccabees and the Crusaders the severe engage- 
 ments took place among these same hills. This was 
 the natural approach to Jerusalem from the maritime 
 
 265 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 plains, and to capture it meant to gain access to the 
 capital city. It was not only the scene of severe, 
 bloody struggles, but it was the home of warlike peo- 
 ple, as well as the lurking place of wild beasts with 
 which Samson, David, and others contended. To trav- 
 erse such a defile stirs the blood of every tourist. 
 
 As we slowly ascended the hills of Judea by a very 
 steep grade, we were entertained not only by the bold- 
 ness of the scenery, but also by the vine3^ards which 
 covered the terraced mountain sides. In the days of 
 Israel's great prosperity it is quite probable that the 
 hills for the most part of the entire country were sim- 
 ilarly terraced, and that large communities were sup- 
 ported by these mountain products ; for the soil of the 
 hills is still fertile, and will bring forth a harvest when 
 given the proper attention. As we reached the plain 
 we found again all the crops of the Sharon, although 
 we had made an ascent of more than 2,000 feet. The 
 guide pointed out the country residence of the Greek 
 Patriarch of Jerusalem^ and said that the devout 
 Simeon had his residence on this site. But we were 
 almost listless ; for our faces were toward Jerusalem, 
 and every tourist was anxious to catch sight of the 
 sacred city. In a moment, as we reached the hilltop, 
 the glorious sight was caught, and from there to the 
 railroad station we were eager for a view of all we 
 passed or approached. The station is located outside 
 the city in what is known as the German colony. We 
 were met b}' the proprietor of our hotel, and soon we 
 were comfortably settled in our room, from which we 
 had a full view of the inclosed city. 
 
 "Beautiful for situation is the city of the great 
 266 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 king" is a sentiment which every visitor will heartily 
 indorse, whatever may be the point from which the 
 city is seen. One can readily understand why the 
 Psalmists found it so easy to fall into poetry at the 
 thought of their honored, revered, and much-loved 
 city. A more glorious sight never greeted my eyes 
 than that of my first evening, when in the gathering 
 twilight I could see the stern gray walls, the outlines 
 of the Tower of David, the Mosque of Omar, the 
 Tower of Antonia, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, 
 the buttresses of the Damascus Gate, the place of the 
 Gordon tomb, and beyond the Mount of Olives, 
 crowned with its great tower, and farther still the 
 Mountains of Moab beyond the Jordan. There' was 
 a solemnity in the scene that made the soul turn to 
 God and the heaven that seemed watching so near at 
 hand. The deep-toned bells rang out from the various 
 places of worship the earnest call to prayer, while the 
 shrill voice of the Muslim in the minaret added the 
 unusual note to this grave harmony. In the midst of 
 the meditation in the failing evening light, the great 
 orange moon, larger than all the moons that I had 
 ever seen, more golden than any that I had ever 
 known, climbed fromi behind the Moab Mountains into 
 the somber sky and measured itself by the works of 
 man on the Mount of Olives. In less than an hour its 
 glory had fallen upon the city of David, and there lay 
 before me in the hush of that gorgeous night the un- 
 disputed site of the most memorable scenes ever en- 
 acted in the history of the human race. Is it any won- 
 der that more than once during the night sleep re- 
 leased, its grasp for a few moments, so that the trav- 
 eler might again and again see the shifting of the 
 
 267 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 shadows and catch new visions of the world's holy- 
 city? 
 
 The morning brought a new beauty and a new 
 splendor when the sun sent his heralds of day up over 
 those eastern hills, and when, full-orbed, he flooded 
 the city with light. The atmosphere of that bright 
 May morning was balmy, although a sirocco had been 
 blowing the day before. Before nightfall vv^e learned 
 the meaning of that dry, parching east wind which at 
 times comes sweeping up from the desert along the 
 Jordan and the Dead Sea. It brings with the with- 
 ering heat a fine white sand, which is as irritating to 
 man as it is destructive to vegetation. But the cool 
 mountain air of the nighttime leaves Jerusalem fresh 
 in the opening of a new day. 
 
 Fortunate indeed is that individual who has the 
 privilege of a visit to Jerusalem, the holy city of the 
 ancient Israelites and the religious capital of the 
 world. From the standpoint of commerce, learning, 
 political power Jerusalem may be insignificant in this 
 generation ; but from the standpoint of human hope 
 and destiny the old city is possessed of an interest 
 which neither time nor conditions can ever abate or 
 destroy. The foundations of the world's institutions 
 are laid upon corner stones which were quarried from 
 the deposits of this holy place. The hidden wealth 
 of man and his world is being constantly revealed by 
 the light which is maintained by the flow of truth 
 from this ancient reservoir of heaven-wrought civili- 
 zation. Mt. Zion is an eternal hill no more ancient 
 in history than it is secure In the devotion of all future 
 generations. Jerusalem may suffer yet the ravages of 
 many barbarous hands and be many times razed to 
 
 268 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the earth, as in the past; but it can never perish so 
 long as man inhabits this planet. To see this sacred 
 place is to come in touch with the two eternities be- 
 tween whose peaks man walks in hope to the end of 
 his day. To spend a fortnight in the ancient city is 
 to have communion with the divine through the 
 means by which the holiest revelations have come to 
 man. 
 
 Jerusalem lies in practically the same latitude as 
 Savannah, Ga., Montgomery, Ala., Jackson, Miss., 
 Waco, Tex., El Paso, Tex., and the southern bound- 
 ary line of California. It is 2,550 feet above the level 
 of the Mediterranean Sea, from which it is distant 
 thirty-five miles. Its height above the sea level gives 
 it the benefit of a mountain atmosphere ; and that, as 
 a rule, insures pleasant nights in the hot season. The 
 temperature has its extremes, but it does not fre- 
 quently fall to the freezing point. In winter the 
 weather is colder than it is on the plains, while in 
 summer the heat mounts higher and is more trying. 
 The observer reports that in "fifteen years there was 
 an average of thirty-eight days on which the ther- 
 mometer was above 90 degrees, on twenty-eight oc- 
 casions from 100 to 108 degrees, and an average of 
 fifty-five nights on which it fell under 40 degrees, with 
 one hundred and seven descents to or below freezing 
 point." Ice is sometimes formed during the night, but 
 it does not last through a day. Snow has fallen in 
 half the seasons, but usually in small quantity and is 
 soon melted. However, there have been heavy snow- 
 storms in Jerusalem, and the drifts have lain in the 
 ravines for two or three weeks. It never rains in 
 Jerusalem in July, and scarcely ever in June, August, 
 
 269 
 
ETCHINGS OFTHE EAST 
 
 and September. In May and October it occasionally 
 rains, but then only in small showers. Yet it rains as 
 much in Jerusalem in a year as it does in London — 
 about twenty-five and one-fourth inches. A fourth 
 of the rain falls in January, while large portions come 
 in December, February, and March. In November 
 and April the rainfall is not heavy. The rainy winter 
 and the dry summer are common to all Syria ; but the 
 seasons are more capricious in Jerusalem, on account 
 of its elevation, than in other parts of Palestine. It 
 is very readily understood why tourists are instructed 
 to visit Palestine in April and May if they wish to see 
 the country in its best condition. In the summer 
 months the heat is exhausting and the fields are 
 parched ; in the winter the rain makes travel very 
 uncomfortable, if not impossible. In April and May 
 the vegetation is at its best, while in October and 
 November the land is desolate after the summer heat. 
 Those crops only are possible which can be matured 
 through the moisture of winter rains, and consequent- 
 ly the harvest time is more apt to be in the beginning 
 of the summer than in the opening of the autumn. 
 
 While Jerusalem is situated on a hill, on three sides 
 of which are deep valleys or ravines, yet it is sur- 
 rounded by higher hills which inclose it on every side, 
 and which leave only a small outlet, and that toward 
 the southeast. "As the mountains are round about 
 Jerusalem, so are thy mercies round about me." The 
 writers on the topography and foundations of ancient 
 Jerusalem have had no trouble in locating the walls 
 on the three sides; for the Valley of Hinnom on the 
 west side and extending around on the south side 
 meets at the southeast corner ot the city the Valley 
 
 270 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 of Kidron, which extends along the east side. The 
 declivity on the three sides is so abrupt and so de- 
 cided that the wall has always been on or near the 
 place which it now occupies. So the position of the 
 north wall has always determined the position and 
 the size of the city. At present the wall of Jerusalem, 
 which was built about 1540 by the Turkish ruler Sulei- 
 man, has a circumference of two and a half miles, 
 while the greatest distance across this inclosed city is 
 only three- fourths of a mile. Outside of the city, west 
 and northwest, a large community has been built up 
 in the last few years. Here will be found all the Euro- 
 pean and American residences of the city. 
 
 The population of the present city is about 60,000, 
 of whom about 7,000 are Moslems, 40,000 Jews, and 
 13,000 Christians. The Christians are divided as fol- 
 lows : Four thousand Roman Catholics, 6,000 orthodox 
 Greeks, 800 Armenians, 200 United Greeks, 150 
 Copts, 100 Abyssinians, and 1,400 Protestants. A 
 bitter war rages continually among the sects of the 
 native Christians, and peace is kept only by the iron 
 hand of the Mohammedan police official. As a result 
 of this contention, all Christians are held in contempt 
 by the orthodox Jews and the Mohammedans. Mis- 
 sion work can make little or no advancement among 
 the Mohammedans of Palestine because of the ill feel- 
 ing which the sects of native Christians continually 
 manifest among themselves. It is also true that some 
 of the Protestant missionaries who make themselves 
 most conspicuous are exceedingly fanatical. We 
 found one man who had felt himself called of God, 
 according to his statement, to come to Jerusalem and 
 demonstrate the gift of tongues as a special evidence 
 
 271 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 of the Spirit's present dealing with believers. Had his 
 sanctity been commensurate with his ignorance, his 
 spiritual power with his brazen effrontery, his actual 
 achievements with his pretentious claims, there might 
 have been some sympathy for him in his delusion. His 
 "gift of tongues" was a mechanical babble which was 
 no more intelligible to himself than to his hearers. 
 He was a veritable cheat, a fraud, a deadbeat. But 
 residents of Jerusalem told me that he was only one 
 of a class which come to Jerusalem continually with 
 their inane and insane pretenses. One can never fully 
 appreciate the apostle's warning against "every wind 
 of doctrine" until he has visited this city. In several 
 cities of Palestine there are missionaries supported by 
 American funds whose chief message is a declaration 
 of belief in the early physical coming of Jesus to 
 Jerusalem to assume the government of his kingdom. 
 Jerusalem, the somber city, without amusement and 
 with a religious tinge on everything, is to-day the 
 home of the grossest superstitions, the wildest fanat- 
 icism, and the deadliest formalism which are known to 
 the religious world. Whether with the Jew, Moham- 
 medan, or Christian, native or missionary, religious 
 sanity and toleration have been thrown to the winds, 
 and each, with his mind closed to outside influences, 
 pursues the bent of his own narrow, ill-informed, and 
 prejudiced mind and looks with contempt upon all 
 who are going another way or giving expression to 
 another thought. In no place in the world is truth 
 more apt to be crucified than in Jerusalem ; and when 
 the Lord Christ shall have indeed enthroned himself 
 in the people of the city, the day of the millennium 
 will be surely at hand. 
 
 272 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The World's Holy City. 
 
 JERUSALEM the Golden will be a very compact 
 city if it is fashioned after the ancient capital of 
 the Israelites, and the gold in the pavements will not 
 be seen if the streets are no cleaner than those of 
 the Jerusalem of this day. There are two chief streets, 
 one beginning at the Jaffa Gate on the west and the 
 other at the Damascus Gate on the north ; and these 
 intersect in the middle of the town and divide it into 
 four sections. The northeast section is occupied large- 
 ly by the Moslems, the southeast by the Jews, the 
 southwest by the Armenians, and the northwest by 
 the Grgeco-Frankish people. However, there are mem- 
 bers of each of these classes that can be found in all 
 these sections. The streets are narrow — never more 
 than twenty feet wide, and often not more than ten 
 or twelve — poorly or badly paved, crooked and ill- 
 kept. After a rain they are excessively dirty. There 
 is very little reason why there should be dust, for 
 cobblestones cover them for the most part and no heavy 
 wagons ever pass through them. To be sure, the 
 chalky limestone is easily worn into dust even by the 
 heel of man, but a little sweeping would keep that 
 away. But the present "Jebusites" are not noted for 
 their overflowing energy and their twentieth century 
 enterprise. 
 
 Many of the streets of Jerusalem are vaulted over, 
 and consequently they may truly be called blind al- 
 18 273 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 leys. Space is left in the vault for sufficient light 
 from the sky to make the way bright enough for use 
 in the daytime. At night the lamp or lantern is quite 
 necessary in many streets, as the street lamps are not 
 numerous. One often feels that he is traversing a 
 subway or some subterranean passage as he makes his 
 way through Jerusalem over the rough streets, with 
 no sidewalks whatever and underneath the houses in 
 which the people live. The Master's injunction to his 
 disciples, "And let him that is on the house top not 
 come down into the house," when they saw the "abom- 
 ination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet," 
 is well understood when it is seen how easily one 
 could step from roof to roof and get out of the city 
 before an enemy in the street could find him. The 
 houses are built entirely of stone, and inclose a court. 
 The rooms are grouped around the court, and each has 
 its own entrance. The passages and staircases are left 
 open to the air, which is poor enough at best in such 
 a closely built city. The roofs are usually flat, so as 
 to permit use in the summer for sleeping, and yet they 
 have sufficient slant toward the court to turn all the 
 rain water into the cistern which is in the center of 
 the court. Jerusalem has no wells and only one spring, 
 and must catch its own water when it falls in the win- 
 ter. The water of the cisterns is quite wholesome if 
 the cisterns are kept clean. The one spring in Jeru- 
 salem is the Virgin's Fountain, which is in the Valley 
 of the Kidron, on the east side of the city. It has 
 been identified by the scholars of to-day as the Spring 
 of Gihon, where the followers of David anointed Sol- 
 omon as king. There is a subterranean passage which 
 connects the fountain with the Pool of Siloam, and 
 
 274 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 which is 1,700 feet long, although the direct distance 
 between the fountain and the pool is about 1,090 feet. 
 Here, according to a tradition that does not antedate 
 the fourteenth century, the Virgin once drew water 
 and washed the swaddling clothes of her Son. It is 
 sometimes called the Fountain of the Steps, as one 
 descends sixteen steps to a level space, and then four- 
 teen steps to the water, which fills the basin, eleven 
 feet long and five feet wide. The spring is intermit- 
 tent, and the water flows in the rainy winter season 
 three to five times daily, in summer twice, and in the 
 autumn only once. This interesting phenomenon is 
 explained as follows: In the interior of the rock the 
 water collects in a natural reservoir. This reservoir 
 is connected with the outer basin by a siphon-shaped 
 passage, which, acting by a natural law, empties the 
 reservoir into the basin whenever the water in the 
 reservoir reaches the highest level of the siphon-shaped 
 passage ; and then, after the reservoir is emptied, time 
 must elapse before the reservoir can be refilled and 
 before another outflow is possible. The subterranean 
 passage which connects this spring and the Pool of 
 Siloam was likely constructed by Hezekiah. "And 
 the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and how he made a 
 pool and a conduit, and how he brought water into 
 the city, . . . are they not written in the book 
 of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?" In this 
 way he deprived the enemies who attacked Jerusalem 
 of water, as there were no other springs and the cis- 
 terns of the people were within the walls. The Pool 
 of Siloam, fifty-two feet long- and nineteen feet wide, 
 is now outside of the wall, south of the temple area, 
 but evidently in ancient times it was within the walls. 
 
 275 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Excavations have revealed near it parts of an old wall, 
 a paved street, a bath house, and the remains of an old 
 basilica. 
 
 No sooner had our early breakfast been finished on 
 our first morning in Jerusalem than we took a car- 
 riage for a circuit around the northern side of the city 
 to the Mount of Olives on the east. Of course we did 
 not drive through the city, because that is impossible. 
 The streets are too narrow, too steep, and too well 
 filled with people. After passing through the modern 
 settlements on the west and north of the city, in which 
 may be found one-fourth of the population of Jeru- 
 salem (it being estimated that one-half of the popula- 
 tion of the city lives without the walls) and where the 
 buildings are of modern syle, we came out on the ridge 
 which extends around the city on the north side to 
 the Mount of Olives on the east side. A finer pano- 
 rama and a more thrilling sight no one ever beheld 
 in an ancient city nestled among eternal hills, from 
 which the generations for thirty centuries have looked 
 with admiration, awe, and adoration. The Master's 
 sympathetic words would not leave for a moment: 
 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have 
 gathered thy children together, and ye would not." 
 With mingled sensations of sorrow and delight, of 
 oppression and exhilaration, the Mount of Olives was 
 reached, and we dismissed the carriage and began our 
 excursions about this sacred hill. The ravages of 
 the centuries have made uncertain many places about 
 Jerusalem, but of this mountain which Jesus loved 
 there can be no doubt. The traditions which designate 
 certain spots are not always trustworthy, but that the 
 places which are approximate to those where these 
 
 276 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 great events happened have been pointed out cannot 
 be denied. The Russian Christians who are of tlie 
 Orthodox Greek faith have a handsome church on the 
 summit of the Mount of OHves, which vs^as erected 
 after the design of an old church the remains of which 
 were found here. This is held by them to be the spot 
 from which the Ascension took place. We went into 
 the church, which was filled with worshipers, and en- 
 gaged in spirit in the services which were in progress. 
 After four months of heathenism and the long-con- 
 tinued contact with the uncongenial worship of arro- 
 gant Mohammedanism, my heart was strangely 
 warmed as I heard even in a strange tongue the name 
 of my Lord and saw the adoration of faithful men 
 and women at the appearance of the cross, the sacred 
 symbol of a sacrificial salvation. I forgot that they 
 were Greek Catholics and I a Protestant, but with 
 unpent tears I stood and worshiped with that unfa- 
 miliar throng as they sang the praise of God and the 
 glory of his Christ. From the six-storied Belvedere 
 Tower by the church I had a magnificent view not 
 only of Jerusalem, but of the surrounding country 
 and even of the Dead Sea on the east, Bethlehem on 
 the south, and the great Judean Mountains on the 
 west. However, one is able to see the Dead Sea from 
 the summit of the hill without the aid of the tower. 
 The atmosphere is usually so clear that the blue waters 
 seem to be quite near, although they are fifteen miles 
 away and about 3,900 feet below the level of the sum- 
 mit of the Mount of Olives. 
 
 A small village covers the summit of this eastern 
 hill, the Moslem population of which is somewhat fa- 
 natical, and visitors are sometimes pelted with stones. 
 
 277 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 The boys in the streets may become familiar in order 
 to extract purses from the pockets of unsuspecting 
 persons. One offered himself to us as a guide, but 
 he was required to keep at a proper distance. He 
 took us to the Chapel of the Ascension, a site long 
 accepted by tradition as a place from which Christ 
 was caught up from his disciples. The footprint and 
 the print of the staff are in the rock; but as these 
 prints have been variously described in the last six 
 or eight centuries, one may be allowed to reserve his 
 credulity for other exacting demands. However, the 
 scene of the Ascension has been located on the Mount 
 of Olives since the days of Constantine. Not far from 
 the Chapel of the Ascension is a Carmelite convent. 
 Coming down the mountain toward Jerusalem, about 
 halfway one finds the traditional spot where Jesus 
 "beheld the city and wept over it." Farther on down 
 the hill one comes to the Church of St. Mary Magda- 
 lene, a Greek house of worship, surmounted by seven 
 bulbous gilded domes and lavishly adorned, which was 
 built in 1888 by the Russian Czar, Alexander HI. 
 Near it is the garden belonging to the Greeks which 
 they claim is Gethsemane. Just below the church is 
 the Garden of Gethsemane, which is owned by the 
 Franciscans, and which is usually considered the real 
 spot of the agony. The garden is surrounded by a 
 wall, and contains an irregular square about seventy 
 yards long. There are eight venerable olive trees in 
 the garden, and they are said to date from the time 
 of Jesus; but here again one may be allowed some 
 mental reservation. But that the real Garden of Geth- 
 semane was in this neighborhood all scholars are prac- 
 tically agreed. On the road leading from the Garden 
 
 278 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 is a chapel which is said to cover the burial place of 
 Mary, the mother of Jesus. This public highway leads 
 across the brook Kidron, usually dry, by one of the 
 places where Stephen is said to have been stoned, on 
 up the hillside of St. Stephen's Gate. 
 
 To enter St. Stephen's Gate in the east wall, on 
 coming up from the Valley of Jehoshaphat, or, more 
 properly, the Valley of Kidron, after a visit to Geth- 
 semane and the Mount of Olives, one is compelled to 
 run the gantlet which the begging lepers have main- 
 tained for many 3^ears. A beggar in Jerusalem is by 
 no means an unusual sight, and a traveler who had 
 just made a journey through China, India, and Egypt 
 was not unacquainted with the appeals of mendicants ; 
 but the leper was a new creature in this society. These 
 men and women of the "unclean" class were not in- 
 clined to keep a respectful distance, but they would 
 thrust their handless stubs into the very faces of pass- 
 ers-by and cry out for backsheesh. The hand from 
 which a finger or fingers were gone or an arm from 
 which the hand had fallen had not the appearance of 
 repulsive sores, but rather that of healed stubs from 
 which a member had been amputated by the surgeon's 
 knife. The more repugnant cases were likely not seen 
 by the foreign visitors. 
 
 The present wall of Jerusalem has eight gates, oiie 
 of which (the Golden) has been closed for many cen- 
 turies. On the north side is Herod's Gate ; northwest, 
 Damascus Gate ; west, New Gate and Jaffa Gate ; 
 south, Zion Gate and Dung Gate; east, Golden Gate 
 and St. Stephen's Gate. The Damascus, Jaffa, and 
 St. Stephen's Gates are those most used, as they con- 
 nect the chief streets of the city with the three great 
 
 279 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 highways which lead from the city. The Golden Gate 
 in its present form dates from the seventh century 
 after Christ, although this is the reputed place of the 
 gate through which Jesus made his triumphal entry 
 into Jerusalem. In 8io the Arabs built it up with 
 the exception of a small opening. At the time of the 
 Crusades the gate was opened for a few hours on 
 Palm Sunday, and a great procession with palm 
 branches entered from the Mount of Olives, led by 
 the patriarch of Jerusalem riding on an ass. The 
 Mohammedans have a tradition that on a Friday (their 
 holy day) some Christian conqueror will enter by this 
 gate and wrest the city from them. I confess that my 
 experiences with the present authorities and citizens 
 in Jerusalem and Palestine increase in me the desire 
 to see this tradition become a historical fact before 
 many years shall have passed. If there is a more 
 offensive and exasperating people on earth than these 
 same Ishmaelites, I am very glad that in all my jour- 
 ney I was not forced to meet them. The "milk of 
 human kindness" is not delivered in the communities 
 where they predominate. One may sit in his comfort- 
 able library in Europe and America and conclude that 
 the zeal and the efforts of the Crusaders were of the 
 highest folly, but a few days in Jerusalem will be suf- 
 ficient to warm the blood of any earnest man and pre- 
 pare him in spirit for just such contests as those fol- 
 lowers of the cross religiously entered. 
 
 The Gate of St. Stephen is regarded by those who 
 accept the tradition as the gate through which the 
 first martyr went to his death. The native Christians 
 call it the Gate of Our Lady Mary because the road 
 leads down into the Kidron Valley to the traditional 
 
 2S0 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 tomb of the Virgin. The doorway on the north side 
 of the street within the gate leads to the Church of St. 
 Anne, which occupies the traditional site of the home 
 of the parents of Mary and the room in which the 
 mother of Jesus was born. Farther on is the Fran- 
 ciscan Chapel of Scourging, and the attendant can for 
 a small coin show the hole in which rested the column 
 to which the Galilean was bound. However, the place 
 of scourging has been shown in several localities in 
 the last few centuries. A few feet away on the south 
 side of the street is the site of the ancient Castle of 
 Antonia, the south side of which opens out on the 
 Haram Ech Sherif, which incloses the temple area. 
 This is one of the most interesting localities of Jeru- 
 salem, as it was the real center of activities in the time 
 of our Lord and not far from the place of Israel's 
 greatest glory. The Via Dolorosa begins here, and 
 the fourteen stations where the cross rested while 
 Jesus was on the way to the place of the crucifixion 
 are marked by tablets and usually by chapels. On the 
 opposite side of the street from the Castle of Antonia 
 is the Convent of the Sisters of Zion, which in all prob- 
 ability covers the site of Pilate's judgment hall. The 
 very stones of the old pavement are in the place which 
 they occupied when Jesu-s was tried before the Roman 
 Governor, and it is highly probable that these stones 
 were pressed by the feet of the Nazarene as he passed 
 out of the hall on the way up to Golgotha. From here 
 the twenty-seven steps were taken which are now in 
 the chapel near the Church of St. John Lateran, in 
 Rome, and over which the faithful Roman Catholics 
 go on their knees while they offer their prayers. In 
 
 281 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 this same convent the sisters show a pedestal which was 
 found on this site, and upon which it is claimed that 
 Pilate sat when proclaiming a law or passing sentence. 
 One cannot fail to be impressed with this place and be 
 made to feel that this is really the spot where Jesus 
 stood when the people cried : "Crucify him !" The 
 street in front of the convent is crossed by the Ecce 
 Homo Arch, which is supposed to mark the spot where 
 Jesus stood when Pilate said : "Behold the man !" Part 
 of this arch is inclosed within the convent and may be 
 seen over the high altar of the little chapel. 
 
 The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built over the 
 traditional site of Calvary and the new tomb of 
 Joseph of Arimathea, in which the body of Jesus was 
 laid. The distance between the Ecce Homo Arch and 
 the church is not more than four hundred yards, but 
 there is no direct street that connects the two places. 
 The street from the Arch descends a little more than 
 one hundred yards to the street from the Damascus 
 Gate. Here is the third station, where Jesus sank 
 under the cross, and near by is the reputed site of the 
 rich man's house where Lazarus begged. The street 
 runs southeast for one hundred yards, and at its in- 
 tersection with the street leading west up the hill is 
 the station where Simon the Cyrene took the cross. 
 Near the seventh station the traditionalists claim that 
 Jesus passed out of the city. On every Friday after- 
 noon a Franciscan priest walks the way of sorrow and 
 stops at each of the fourteen stations to offer prayers. 
 The church is in no sense attractive in appearance, as 
 it is hemmed in by other buildings. On the side front- 
 ing the street there is an open court or quadrangle, 
 
 282 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ■which is paved with yellowish stone slabs, and which 
 is filled with traders and beggars. Here the Orthodox 
 Greeks gather for their ceremony of foot-washing. 
 The chapels on the right or west side of the quadrangle 
 belong to the Greeks. On the left side the most im- 
 portant building is the Monastery of Abraham, which 
 covers the spots where Abraham discovered the ram 
 and where he was on the point of sacrificing Isaac. 
 Within the door of the Church, immediately in front, 
 is the tomb of Philip, the English Crusader. Of course 
 I wanted to visit the tombs of Melchizedek and Adam, 
 and that privilege was granted me by the courteous 
 attendant. I saw also the rocky chambers which the 
 guide said were the tombs of Nicodemus and Joseph 
 of Arimathea. I saw the spot to which tradition points 
 as the place where Jesu-s appeared to Mary Magdalene 
 on the morning of the resurrection. The Greeks have 
 a chapel dedicated to Longinus, the soldier who, ac- 
 cording to a fifth century tradition, pierced the Sav- 
 iour's side, and whose blind eye was brought to its sight 
 by some of the spurting fluid from the Crucified's side. 
 But my incredulity robbed me of any thrilling sensa- 
 tions on seeing these places, so sacred to many people. 
 Even the Holy Sepulcher itself lost some of its sacred- 
 ness by being surrounded by these objects whose tradi- 
 tions repel more than attract thinking men. The Chap- 
 el of the Holy Sepulcher is in the rotunda under the 
 dome, and is twenty-six feet long and seventeen and a 
 half feet wide. It was reconstructed of marble in 1810. 
 From a kind of antechamber the visitor enters the 
 Angels' Chapel, eleven feet long and ten feet wide, in 
 
 the middle of which is a stone set in marble which is 
 
 283 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 said to be that which covered the mouth of the tomb. 
 Theie are fifteen lamps in this chamber, five belonging 
 to the Greeks, five to the Latins, four to the Arme- 
 nians, and one to the Copts. Through a low door one 
 passes into the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher, six and 
 a half feet by six feet. From the ceiling hang forty- 
 three lamps, four of which belong to the Copts and 
 the rest to the other three sects. If one of these lamps 
 were to disappear, there would be a religious war in 
 that holy place. They are counted several times a 
 day by the Mohammedan guards, who are stationed in 
 all the churches which cover these traditional sites to 
 prevent the priests of the various faiths from coming 
 into deadly conflict. The whole Christian world suf- 
 fers in shame for the prejudice and intolerance of 
 these ignorant and ill-spirited followers of the lowly 
 Man of peace. The tombstone, covered by a marble 
 slab, is used as an altar, and mass is said there daily. 
 A Greek priest is on duty, and he officiates for any 
 pilgrim who wants holy water or the blessings from 
 the representative of the Church. 
 
 Under the same roof, only a few feet from the re- 
 puted sepulcher, is Golgotha, which is reached by a 
 flight of steps ascending fifteen feet. Some one asks: 
 "Is this really the site of Calvary and the tomb from 
 which Jesus arose? Did all those sad, sublime events 
 in our Lord's suffering for the salvation of man take 
 place on that high ground?" Who knows? Dr. 
 George Adam Smith in his latest great work on Jeru- 
 salem says: "But, after twenty-seven years' study of 
 the evidence, I am unable to feel that a conclusion 
 one way or the other is yet possible or perhaps ever 
 
 284 
 
THE HOLY SEPULCHER. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 will be possible." Calvary and the tomb were with- 
 out the wall, but where was the wall ? At present they 
 are in the center of the inclosed city, but who can say 
 where the wall was that Titus destroyed in 70 A.D.? 
 All the explorations and excavations have failed to 
 settle that question. General Gordon found a tomb 
 and a garden northwest of the Damascus Gate which 
 he claimed must be the real sites, but his claims have 
 been discredited by all scholars. When all the evi- 
 dence is considered, the Christian world will likely be 
 content to regard the present place of the Holy Sepul- 
 cher as the probable place of these great events. 
 
 If we accept the tradition which dates back almost 
 1,600 years, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher covers 
 the most sacred spots in Jerusalem — the place of the 
 crucifixion and the tomb in which lay the body of the 
 Saviour of the world. The place which must be next 
 in interest is the Dome of the Rock, the spot where, 
 according to tradition, Melchizedek offered sacrifice, 
 Abraham brought his son as an offering, and the 
 Ark of the Covenant rested, and the spot without 
 doubt where Israel made her offerings through many 
 centuries. The Dome of the Rock was in the Temple, 
 even in the Temple which Solomon built; and now it 
 is in the center of the temple area, which is in the in- 
 closed Haram Ech-Sheriff. Jerusalem has within its 
 walls an area of two hundred and nine acres, of which 
 the Haram Ech-Sheriff contains thirty-five acres in 
 the southeastern Corner, The Mohammedans are very 
 fanatical about this territory, and will permit no one 
 to enter the inclosure — for it has a special wall around 
 it 1,600 feet long on the west side, 1,530 feet on the 
 
 285 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 east side, 1,024 feet on the north, 922 feet on the 
 south — without a permission and a guard from the 
 g-overnment. So we had to secure before entering 
 the proper permit, a detailed officer from the city 
 poHce force, and a kawass, or soldier, from the Amer- 
 ican Consul representing the United States, dressed in 
 full Turkish uniform and bearing a sword ; and led 
 by these defenders, we entered the inclosure. 
 
 While the building over the Dome of the Rock is 
 called the Mosque of Omar because of the tradition 
 that he built it when he took Jerusalem, yet it was 
 probably built by the Saracen ruler in 691 A.D. The 
 building is octagonal in shape, each side having a 
 length of sixty-six feet. The lower part is covered 
 with marble slabs, and the upper part with richly col- 
 ored porcelain tiles. The interior is 175 feet in diam- 
 eter. It has two cloisters separated by piers and col- 
 umns which are marble monoliths and differ in form, 
 height, and color, which indicates that they have all 
 been taken from older edifices. By large Byzantine 
 blocks they have been brought to the same height. 
 Upon the second series of supports, consisting of four 
 massive piers and twelve monolithic columns, rests the 
 dome, which is ninety-eight feet high and sixty-six 
 feet in diameter. The interior of the building is dark, 
 but not so dark as to destroy the richness of the colors 
 on the columns and the decorations, nor the brilliancy 
 and beauty of the fifty-six stained-glass windows. But 
 all else loses interest before the bare, rugged, unhewn 
 piece of rock, fifty-eight feet long and forty- four feet 
 wide, and which stands four and a half feet above the 
 surrounding pavement. There is strong evidence that 
 here was the great altar of burnt offering. The Mo- 
 
 28G 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 hammedans have a legend that Mohammed ascended 
 to heaven from this rock, and that when he did so it 
 started to follow him, but was held down by the angel 
 Gabriel, whose finger prints in the rock are shown. 
 According to this legend, the rock has remained sus- 
 pended in the air; and because the pilgrims were 
 afraid it might fall and crush them, the authorities 
 had supporting walls built, and that left a hollow- 
 sounding cavern underneath. The cave under the rock 
 is reached by eleven steps on the south side. Excava- 
 tions, when they are permitted, may show that a cis- 
 tern is under the rock. In the cave were shown places 
 where Abraham, Elijah, David, Solomon, and Moham- 
 med were accustomed to pray. Had one the necessary 
 amount of credulity, he might see and hear some won- 
 derful things about this sacred rock. The guide insist- 
 ed on showing us the footprint of Mohammed, his 
 banner, some of his beard, and a marble slab in which 
 there were three nails. Formerly there were nineteen 
 nails, but the devil has driven sixteen into the stone; 
 and when the rest disappear, the world will come to an 
 end. 
 
 There are other buildings in this area, but they have 
 interest only as places of Mohammedan worship and 
 because of their Mohammedan legends. The Aksa 
 Mosque, which is two hundred and sixty-four feet 
 long and one hundred and eighty feet wide, has inter- 
 est because of its great age. It is claimed that God 
 brought Mohammed from Mecca to this place in one 
 night. There is a probability that this was originally a 
 basilica erected by the Emperor Justinian. The inte- 
 rior of the building, with its nave and triple aisles, pre- 
 
 287 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 sents a striking appearance. This in indeed the Mo- 
 hammedan cathedral of Jerusalem. While visiting the 
 mosque, a funeral procession approached; and on in- 
 quiry, we found that the dead man was no less a per- 
 son than the President of the Mohammedan congrega- 
 tion of Jerusalem. The bier was borne on the shoul- 
 ders of men who changed so rapidly that no man could 
 be a bearer more than a few feet. The Syrians have a 
 belief that they can expect to be borne to a grave only 
 if they aid in bearing the bodies of others. So if a fu- 
 neral procession passes, the laborers in the street will 
 leave their work long enough to bear for a few feet at 
 least the body of the dead, whether or not they know 
 who the dead may be. The professional mourners 
 were in evidence just as at the time of our Lord, and 
 their wailings were distressing in the extreme. 
 
 The south side of the Haram rests upon massive 
 vaulted substructions which date from a very early 
 period. They are called Solomon's stables, although, 
 they may have been erected in the Arabian period on 
 the site of some earlier constructions. At the time of 
 the Crusades the Frankish kings and Templars used 
 them as stables for their horses. The stones are evi- 
 dently ancient. There are thirteen galleries, the vault- 
 ing of which is borne by eighty-eight piers arranged 
 in twelve parallel rows. They extend 273 feet from 
 east to west, and 198 feet from north to south. The 
 series on the south side terminate in a triple gate, 
 which indicates that there were three great ways com- 
 ing up from Solomon's palace to the temple. There 
 are various passages and courses here which have not 
 been excavated. While exact spots cannot with cer- 
 tainty be pointed out, yet one may be sure that here 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 he stands on "the Ophel/' the hill of Zion, and in the 
 center of the "city of David." Here lived and wor- 
 shiped the great kings of Israel who made glorious 
 the record of the chosen people. But it is all in the 
 hands of a bigoted, fanatical, semibarbarous race, by 
 whom the Jew and the Christian are alike despised. 
 Near the southern corner of the west wall the Jews 
 assemble daily and in great numbers on their Sabbath 
 and cry out in bitter wails for the rescue of their 
 Jerusalem from the Saracen's hands. 
 
 At this celebrated wailing place of the Jews the wall 
 is sixty feet high, and the part exposed is 150 feet 
 long. The lower courses of the wall consist of huge 
 blocks, and the manner of their dressing indicates 
 their great age. The weeping Jews kiss these stones, 
 thinking that they belong to the ancient wall about 
 the temple, and they give loud expression to their grief. 
 The men will sit there for hours, reading their He- 
 brew prayer books. On Friday evening they chant 
 the following litany. The leader says, "For the palace 
 that lies desolate," and the people respond, "We sit 
 in solitude and mourn." The leader, "For the palace 
 that is destroyed;" response, "We sit in solitude and 
 mourn." The response is the same after each state- 
 ment of the leader: "For the walls that are over- 
 thrown," "For our majesty that is departed," "For 
 our great men who are dead," "For the precious stones 
 that are burned," "For the priests who have stum- 
 bled," "For our kings who have despised Him." An- 
 other antiphony is: "We pray Thee, have mercy on 
 Zion." Response : "Gather the children of Jerusalem." 
 Leader : "Haste, haste, Redeemer of Zion." Response : 
 "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem." Leader: "May 
 19 289 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 beauty and majesty surround Zion!" Response: "Ah, 
 turn thyself mercifully to Jerusalem !" Leader : "May 
 the kingdom soon return to Zion !" Response : "Com- 
 fort those who mourn over Jerusalem." Leader : "May 
 peace and joy abide with Zion !" Response: "And the 
 branch of Jesse spring up at Jerusalem." 
 
 One can scarcely visit a place in Jerusalem where 
 his sympathy for the desolate Jew is not aroused. The 
 temple area and the adjoining territory, the most 
 sacred place in the world to the Jews, associated as 
 it has been with every individual and event that had 
 to do with the glory of Israel and the establishment 
 of a true religion, is now fanatically held by the fol- 
 lowers of Mohammed, and its sacred spots have been 
 desecrated by the legends of this vicious man of bat- 
 tle. Travelers must be guarded not only in this sec- 
 tion of the city, but also in that portion where David 
 is reputed to be buried. A visit to this part is inter- 
 esting, as here many authorities have located Mt. Zion. 
 It is near where the poet king is said to be buried, out- 
 side the present Zion Gate, that tradition has put the 
 house of Caiaphas and the upper room of the last sup- 
 per and the scene of Pentecost, and here Peter denied 
 his Lord. Here also is the site of the house of John 
 surnamed Mark, where the earliest Christians assem- 
 bled. Here now are the burial places of the Arme- 
 nians, the Latins, and the Greeks. Adjoining the 
 building which covers the traditional tomb of David 
 is the church which is built on the plot of ground 
 which was given in 1898 by the Emperor of Germany 
 to the German Catholic Society. 
 
 But I was glad to turn from tliis section, where the 
 usual reverence of the Moslems — here manifested for 
 
 290 
 
THREE JEWS IN JERUSALEM. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the tomb of David — is accompanied by outbreaks 
 against Jews and Christians. I went to the Church 
 of St. James, the old convent church of the Armenians, 
 which contains the traditional prison w^here James, the 
 brother of John, was beheaded by Herod. I saw the 
 three stones which were brought, one from Mt. Sinai, 
 one from the Jordan where the Israelites crossed, and 
 one from Mt. Tabor, the scene of the transfiguration. 
 The faithful pilgrims by the thousand kiss these sacred 
 stones. From here I went into the dirty, ill-odorous 
 section of the Jews. What could such a people do 
 with Jerusalem if they had control of it? They are 
 willing to live in dirt and employ themselves only in 
 petty trading. They live largely by the gifts of the 
 Jews in Europe and America. If Palestine ever blos- 
 soms as a rose under the labor of the Jews, a new 
 class must supplant those whom I saw. The Jew has 
 been ever since the days of Joshua or even Abraham 
 a man who sought a land of milk and honey, and then 
 went in and took it from those who had made it val- 
 uable. The pioneering that would be necessary to 
 bring Palestine to its former glory will likely never 
 be done by the Jews. But notwithstanding the filth 
 and the narrow, congested streets, one felt safe in the 
 midst of this inoffensive people. The old synagogue 
 was especially interesting, as I had never before seen 
 the priests with their phylacteries on their foreheads, 
 nor the worshipers sitting in the sanctuary with their 
 hats on. The "sons of the prophets" were studiously 
 scanning the Talmud and giving themselves diligently 
 to the search of the Scriptures. The Benjaminites, 
 with their long locks falling down by their ears, were 
 everywhere in evidence. 
 
 291 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 While no other city in the world could have the 
 same interest to a Christian or even a Jew, yet a long 
 residence there would hardly be desirable. No one 
 who has breathed the free air of America and Prot- 
 estantism would be willing to endure the rule of the 
 rough, overbearing Moslem, nor the intolerance of the 
 narrow, dogmatical, un-Christlike Christian sects. The 
 littleness, selfishness, and prejudice which Jesus con- 
 demned in those who were his contemporaries are 
 characteristics of the people who to-day occupy Jeru- 
 salem. To find the sacredness which Paul, Jesus, 
 Hezekiah, Solomon, and David gave to the ancient 
 city one needs to clear away much rubbish and push 
 aside the profane work of many accumulating cen- 
 turies. Yet there is glory in the old place if the in- 
 vestigator will go to its heart. 
 
 292 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 Bethlehem^ Hebron, Jericho, and Jordan. 
 
 BETHLEHEM is five and a half miles south of 
 Jerusalem, and is easily reached by carriage, as 
 the road is excellent. Leaving the Jaffa Gate, the 
 first place of interest after crossing the Valley of Hin- 
 nom is the St. John's Eye Hospital. The white lime- 
 stone dust and the glaring sun make eye troubles very 
 common in Jerusalem and Palestine. A short dis- 
 tance from the hospital on the east side is the Mount 
 of Evil Counsel, where Judas bargained with the 
 Pharisees, and where later he hung himself. Farther 
 on we came to the well from which the Magi drank on 
 their way from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Mary also 
 rested here. At the distance of three miles we came to 
 the summit of the hill, or the saddle of the hill, from 
 which one looking north can see Jerusalem and looking 
 south can see Bethlehem. On the left of the road is a 
 large stone in which is a depression which, tradition has 
 it, was caused by the body of Elijah, who is said to 
 have slept here one night. Here also is a well from 
 which the Holy Family drank. After a ten minutes' 
 drive we came to the "Field of Peas," so called from 
 the legend that Christ once asked a man what he was 
 sowing, to which he replied : "Stones." The field pro- 
 duced peas of stones, and some of them are still there. 
 Such are the legends one finds everywhere in Pales- 
 tine. 
 
 The whole district about Bethlehem is well culti- 
 293 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 vated. The hillsides are carefully terraced, the olive 
 orchards show that they have been well cared for, 
 and the fields indicate that they are in the hands of 
 an industrious people. The fact is, the Bethlehemites 
 are the most industrious people to be found in Pales- 
 tine. The view from the great ridge highway was 
 fascinating. The Dead Sea could be easily seen. As 
 we approached Bethlehem we had a fine view of the 
 fields of Boaz on the slopes to the east of the town, 
 which Ruth gleaned just as the women of Syria glean 
 after the reapers to-day. The tomb of Rachel was 
 reached a mile and a half from Bethlehem. We were 
 fortunate in finding the Jewish priest who has charge 
 of it in the little building which covers the tomb, which 
 is revered by Moslems, Jews, and Christians, and 
 which is in all probability the real tomb of Jacob's 
 much-loved wife. Just beyond the tomb the road di- 
 vides, one leading to Hebron and one to Bethlehem. 
 On the west of the main road lies the country where 
 Saul, the son of Kish, was reared. We turned our 
 faces to David's town of Bethlehem, which, as seen 
 from this point, is exceedingly picturesque, situated 
 on a hill and surrounded by rich valleys with their 
 vineyards, olive orchards, fig orchards, and fields of 
 golden grain. Here one is able to see what cultiva- 
 tion will do for Palestine. 
 
 Bethlehem is a city of 8,000 Christian people, with- 
 out a Jew and with no more than a dozen Moslems. 
 It is the cleanest place in Palestine. Our business in 
 Bethlehem was to see the Church of the Nativity, and 
 to that we went at once. The tradition which locates 
 the birthplace of Jesus here in a cavern dates back to 
 Justin Martyr, in the second century. I have no rea- 
 
 294 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 sons for not accepting this tradition. The khan, or 
 inn, is usually built about a cave, so as to provide 
 shelter for the horses, cattle, and sheep. The shep- 
 herds usually keep their flocks in caves at night, that 
 they may have not only shelter, but also that they may 
 more easily be protected from the wolves and jackals. 
 At the birth of Christ "there were in the same country 
 shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over 
 their flock by night." A man who has lived in Pales- 
 tine eighteen years says that the flocks were likely in 
 the caves when the shepherds received the heavenly 
 admonition of the birth of the Lord. About ten min- 
 utes from the place of the Nativity is the Field of the 
 Shepherds, in the middle of which is the Grotto of 
 the Shepherds. But the chief place of interest is the 
 "manger" in which the Saviour was laid because there 
 v/as no room for him in the inn. The old church, 
 which dates back almost to apostolic times, is charac- 
 terized by a beautifiil simplicity. It is claimed that 
 Hadrian destroyed a church which stood on this sacred 
 spot, and that Constantine erected here a handsome 
 basilica. It seems practically certain that some parts 
 of the present structure belong to the Justinian period. 
 The Greeks, the Latins, and the Armenians have bviilt 
 their chapels about the Chapel of the Nativity, which 
 is held in common. The Greeks have an elegant chap- 
 el, and the Latins have just erected a fine chmxh and 
 convent. These sects are fiercely intolerant of each 
 other, and Moslem soldiers stand guard day and night 
 to prevent any outbreak. In the Chapel of the Nativ- 
 ity burn fifteen lamps, of which six belong to the 
 Greeks, five to the Armenians, and four to the Latins. 
 These are counted by the guards each time there is a 
 
 295 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 change in those who officiate in this chapel. As I 
 stood in that sacred place where the Saviour was born 
 and looked upon the recess where the manger is said 
 to have been and realized the fearful intolerance of 
 these who claim to be followers of Him who was an- 
 nounced with "good will toward men," I was made to 
 feel the awful sinfulness of human religious prejudice. 
 Yet I realize that there are Protestants who exhibit a 
 similar spirit toward those who do not accept their 
 beliefs and interpretations. Are these keepers of the 
 sacred places in the Holy Land Christians? I went 
 away from the Church of the Nativity asking myself 
 the question: "What is it to be a Christian?" The 
 Moslem is not the only man who is fanatical in his 
 intolerance. The Jews in the Master's day had their 
 Pharisaical leaders, Palestine and Rome show what 
 Christians may become. Protestantism may well be on 
 its guard. 
 
 Eight of us left Jerusalem one morning at six 
 o'clock in two carriages, and reached Hebron, the old 
 home of Abraham, after a drive of twenty-three miles, 
 at ten o'clock. It was a fine drive over a first-class 
 road, with most interesting scenery on all sides. We 
 had gone over a part of the same road when we went to 
 Bethlehem ; but that is a road which one would be glad 
 to travel once a week, across the beautiful Plains of Re- 
 phaim, where David fought the Philistines, over the 
 hill from which one can see Jerusalem and Bethlehem, 
 and along that superb highway from which one gets 
 such splendid views of the fields of Boaz, the pictur- 
 esque hills of the city of the Nativity, and the charm- 
 ing site of Zelah, the birthplace of Saul. The olive 
 
 296 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 and fig orchards and fruit gardens of the Bethlehem 
 community were even more beautiful on the second 
 visit than on the first. 
 
 About two miles beyond Bethlehem we came to 
 Solomon's Pools, situated in a valley at the back of 
 an old castle, and which serve as a reservoir for the 
 old aqueduct that leads to Jerusalem. The pools are 
 three reservoirs standing on different levels, the one 
 draining into the other. The upper pool is 381 feet 
 long by 228 feet wide by 25 feet deep. The middle 
 pool is 423 feet by 159 feet by 38 feet deep. The low- 
 est and largest is 582 feet by 148 feet by 48 feet deep. 
 These reservoirs are hewn in the rock and lined with 
 masonry. About 200 feet above the upper pool is a 
 fountain from which the water is conducted to the 
 pools by an underground aqueduct. It is thought by 
 some that this fountain is fed by an artesian basin. 
 In the Songs of Solomon we have the statement: "I 
 made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees. 
 . . . I made me pools of water." From this pas- 
 sage many would prove that Solomon's Pools were 
 made by Solomon, and the guides and conductors of 
 tourists will insist that they were without doubt made 
 by his order; but George Adam Smith says that the 
 two lower pools were likely made by Herod, and the 
 upper by some ruler in the preceding century, and that 
 there is no evidence that any of them were built be- 
 fore the exile. But they are great and ancient reser- 
 voirs, and have served Jerusalem for two' thousand 
 years. Some years ago Baroness Burdett-Coutts of- 
 fered to repair the aqueduct and restore it to Jerusa- 
 lem, which would have cost her about $250,000; but 
 
 297 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the Turkish officials, true to their character, actually 
 demanded a bribe or backsheesh, as they do when any 
 house or public improvements are put up, before they 
 would permit this benevolent woman to do this benevo- 
 lent act for the benefit of the people of Jerusalem. 
 The baroness became justly indignant and withdrew 
 the proposition. This is but another illustration of 
 the contemptible character of the Turk. 
 
 The journey from Solomon's Pools is not particu- 
 larly interesting, as the cultivated area is limited and 
 tlie hills are rugged and barren. We saw the place 
 where Jonah is said to have been buried, and we 
 stopped a moment at the spring where Philip baptized 
 the eunuch, and visited some fine rock tombs and large 
 caverns near the spring. Immersion at this place 
 would have been practically impossible. If the run- 
 ning streams vv^ere as few in the days of the apostles 
 as they are now, the immersionists were compelled to 
 go to the river Jordan or use a pool. The baptistry is 
 truly apostolic if the immersionists' contention is cor- 
 rect. But this aside; Hebron is the subject. There 
 is no hotel in that town of 20,000 people ; but that did 
 not disturb us, as we had our lunch with us, which 
 we ate in the home of the American missionary, whose 
 kindness we greatly appreciated, and whose observa- 
 tions were quite illuminating. Before doing so we 
 visited the cave of Machpelah, which was purchased 
 by Abraham from the sons of Heth, and in which were 
 buried Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Leah, 
 and also, the Moslems say. Joseph. The Christians put 
 Joseph's tomb near Jacob's well by Sychar. We did 
 not see the cave or the tombs because the fanatical, un- 
 
 298 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 lovable Mohammedans would not allow us. Except- 
 ing the tomb of Mohammed and the black stone at 
 Mecca, the tomb of Abraham is the most sacred place 
 in all the Islam world. The tomb is inclosed with a 
 large mosque with high walls about it, 220 feet by 
 159 feet. Within are dervishes, saints ( ?), and guard- 
 ians. We were allowed to ascend only five steps of 
 the twenty or thirty that lead to the shrine. Only two 
 Christians have ever entered this place, so we were 
 told — one the present King of England when he was 
 Prince of Wales, and that probably because Turkey is 
 continually under obligation to England. But back- 
 sheesh will work wonders, and a letter from the Gov- 
 ernor of Jerusalem will be regarded. We ascended 
 the hill behind the building and secured a good view 
 of the top of the mosque. In reality we could have 
 seen very little of real interest for Christians had 
 we entered, for these patriarchs have long since gone 
 into the finest dust. So we lost nothing and gained 
 in our righteous contempt for the Moslem. All 
 through the streets we had to have a guard to prevent 
 boys from pelting us with stones. There are no Chris- 
 tians and only 1,500 Jews in the place. The mission- 
 aries have fifty children in their schools ; but the con- 
 verts from Mohammedanism in Hebron are unknown, 
 and they are almost unknown in Palestine. The Prot- 
 estant missionaries have had in some places converts 
 from the orthodox Greeks, and the Roman Catholics 
 have made a few converts from the Greeks ; but that 
 is about the extent of the results so far of missionary 
 labors in that land. 
 
 Hebron will always have interest as the ancient Kir- 
 299 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 jath-arba, the home and burial place of the patriarchs, 
 and as one of the cities of refuge which were given 
 the sons of Aaron, Here David was first made king, 
 reigned seven and one-half years, and was anointed 
 king of Israel. Here Absalom had himself proclaimed 
 king, and here we saw the pool over which David's 
 young men hung the murderers of Ish-bosheth, the 
 son of Saul. This pool is 84 feet long, 54 feet wide, 
 and 27 feet deep ; and about it were gathered crowds 
 of idlers, and in it splashed swimming boys, while 
 from it water v/as taken in jars for use in the homes. 
 The glass manufactories are usually visited by tour- 
 ists. Here bottles are made which pilgrims and some 
 natives buy to protect them from the evil one ; but the 
 largest output is in glass bracelets, which are worn 
 throughout Palestine. Water bottles from goatskins 
 are also made here in large numbers. The town is 
 unattractive, as it is a mass of masonry with narrow, 
 dirty streets and with no verdure anywhere. But the 
 old town is interesting, as we know that it stands upon 
 the same site which it held in the days of Abraham, 
 and it has escaped the ravages of war. The fields 
 round about were given to Caleb for his inheritance. 
 We went out into the Vale of Eshcol and saw the vine- 
 yards from which to-day are taken bunches of grapes 
 eighteen inches long and which weigh eight to ten 
 pounds. We visited the old oak of Mamre. the tradi- 
 tional oak of Abraham. It is twenty-six feet in girth, 
 shows its great age, and is beginning to decline. 
 It will in a few years fall, and the young tree by its 
 side must in the future centuries take its place, as it 
 perhaps has taken the place of another which once held 
 
 300 
 
GOING TO MARKET IN PALESTINE. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the honor of sheltering the father of the faithful. A 
 day in Hebron and its charming vicinity was most de- 
 lightfully spent, and the return to Jerusalem in the 
 evening was made in the glow of fond recollections. 
 
 We left Jerusalem for Jericho early in the morning 
 and drove — as do all others who go to Jericho, as 
 there is no other way — around the north side of the 
 wall past the Damascus and Herod Gates, down the 
 steep hill into the Valley of Jehoshaphat or the Val- 
 ley of the Kidron, down the valley to the cross- 
 ing of the ravine, over by the Garden of Geth- 
 semane, and round the south side of the Mount of 
 Olives. From that hillside we had a fine view of the 
 Pools of Siloam, the place of Solomon's palace, the 
 field of blood bought by Judas, the Hill of Evil Coun- 
 sel (where the Master was sold), and the Valley of 
 Hinnom. The whole mountain side is covered with 
 graves. On the south side of the Mount of Olives we 
 began to skirt the deep ravine that leads from Jerusa- 
 lem to the desert about Jericho. On the east side of 
 the Mount of Olives we came into the village that 
 covers the site of ancient Bethany. On our return 
 we stopped here for an hour and visited the tomb of 
 Lazarus, the traditional site of the home of Mary and 
 Martha, and the house of Simon the leper, where 
 Mary washed the Master's feet with her tears and 
 dried them with her hair. Lazarus may never have 
 lain in the tomb into which we went, and the two sis- 
 ters may have had their home in another plot of 
 ground; but here in this locality, with these rugged 
 hills and narrow valleys, the friends of Jesus evidently 
 
 lived, and there is a sacrednes-s in the place which time 
 
 301 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 does not affect. The Moslems have made Lazarus one 
 of their saints, and have built a mosque in the commu- 
 nity to his memory. Beyond Bethany a short distance 
 stands a Greek chapel in which is a stone which marks 
 the -spot where Martha met Jesus when she told him of 
 her brother's death. 
 
 "Jordan is a hard road to travel" if one is coming 
 to Jerusalem, as it is all uphill; but going from Jeru- 
 salem to Jericho is all downhill, a distance of fifteen 
 miles. Jerusalem is 2,550 feet above the level of the 
 sea, and the Dead Sea is 1,300 feet below the level of 
 the Mediterranean Sea; so the declivity amounts to 3,- 
 850 feet, or about three-quarters of a mile. It is 
 downhill all the way except a short rise as one ap- 
 proaches the Samaritan Inn. The government has 
 built a fine carriage road, and the hotel men and tour- 
 ists' agents of Jerusalem keep it in good repair. It is 
 cheaper to repair the roads than their vehicles. The 
 country is rugged and rough, there being no vineyards 
 or gardens and only occasional fields of grain and len- 
 tils. There are good herds of sheep and goats. There 
 are no villages along the way, and the Apostles' Spring 
 and the Samaritan Inn furnish the only stopping 
 places. The spring took its name from the tradition 
 that the apostles drank here, and the new inn from 
 the belief that here stood the inn where the Samaritan 
 left the man referred to in the parable. This wild 
 country has always been infested by robbers, and 
 to-day no traveling party is safe from the attacks of 
 Bedouins unless a Bedouin guard has been secured 
 to accompany the party. The Bedouins of that sec- 
 tion are now under the control of a rich sheik, and he 
 
 302 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 insures protection if one of his men is employed. Our 
 Bedouin was paid a good fee; but when he bade us 
 good-by on our return, he insisted on shaking hands 
 with the men of the party, and he Hngered until each 
 one deposited in his hand an extra shilling as back- 
 sheesh. 
 
 The road beyond the Samaritan Inn became steeper 
 and rougher the farther we went. The hills about us 
 became more rugged. At a certain point the carriages 
 were stopped, and the passengers got out and walked 
 up to the edge of a great gorge several hundred feet 
 deep and sublime in its ruggedness. This was the 
 channel of the Brook Cherith, and the crag pointed 
 out was the reputed resting place of the prophet 
 Elijah when he was fed by the ravens. We drove a 
 mile or so farther, and then the declivity became so 
 great and the road sO' dangerous that we stepped from 
 the carriage and completed the journey down to the 
 plains on foot. But it was from this point that we 
 had an unusual view. The plain of the Jordan 
 stretched out before us like a map. On the southern 
 end was the smooth blue water of the Dead Sea. At 
 our feet were the sites of ancient Jericho. In the plain 
 was a tree which marked the site of the ancient Gilgal, 
 where the Israelites first camped on this side of the 
 Jordan, where the last manna fell, where the taber- 
 nacle was set up, where Samuel judged the people, 
 where Saul was made king, and where he disobeyed 
 God and lost his kingdom. Beyond was the cluster of 
 green shrubbery that traced the course of the Jordan, 
 and beyond the Jordan were the mountains of Moab 
 and Gilead, with the peaks of Nebo and Pisgah promi- 
 ses 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 nent on the sky line. Jesus came down this rugged 
 hill when he went to the Jordan to be baptized, and 
 all who came and went between Jerusalem and Jericho 
 and the country beyond Jordan were forced to make 
 their way up this same depression through which we 
 had come. The Arabian hosts that swept up from the 
 desert always came over this road. While we stood 
 looking out upon the plain and the desert beyond, we 
 had only to look behind us to see the tower that crowns 
 the Mount of Olives. 
 
 Entering the plain, we came to the site of the Jeri- 
 cho of Herod, which was the Jericho of the New Tes- 
 tament. Here is now a pool 564 feet by 471 feet which 
 formerly belonged to a system of conduits which once 
 irrigated this district and made it a paradise. The 
 date palm, the pomegranate, the orange, and other 
 tropical fruits grew luxuriantly in the plain. As Jeri- 
 cho is 820 feet below the level of the sea, the climate 
 is always warm, and after May i it is exceedingly hot 
 and enervating. Mark Antony presented this district 
 to Cleopatra, and she gave it or sold it to Herod, who 
 embellished it with palaces and made it his winter 
 residence. He died here. From his palace he could 
 see the prison of Machserus, some twelve miles away 
 on the east -shore of the Dead Sea, in which John the 
 Baptist was imprisoned and where he was murdered to 
 satisfy the whim of his niece and stepdaughter. In 
 twenty minutes we were in the little village of the pres- 
 ent Jericho, with its squalid hovels and its three hun- 
 dred dirty, lazy, degenerate inhabitants. We found 
 comfortable rooms in the hotel with a Greek proprietor, 
 but the food and water which we ate and drank had 
 
 304 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 been sent down the evening before by the proprietor 
 of our hotel in Jerusalem. However, before we ate 
 we drove out a mile to the spring where Elisha "went 
 forth to the spring of the waters, and cast salt in 
 there. ... So the waters were healed unto this 
 day." By an aqueduct the water from this spring 
 is carried to all parts of the village, and by it Jericho 
 and its gardens are made an oasis in the desert. A 
 few yards north of the spring is the reputed site of 
 the Jericho whose walls fell when Joshua and his hosts 
 blew the rams' horns. During the last year, by the 
 permission of the Turkish government, scientific ex- 
 plorers have done some excavating in this mound 
 which has been pointed out for many centuries as the 
 site of the ancient city. Most gratifying results have 
 already been obtained. Fallen walls have been found, 
 and the mud bricks are declared to be of Canaanitish 
 origin. The explorers are inclined to believe fully 
 that this is really the old city wall which Joshua at- 
 tacked after entering the land of Canaan. The re- 
 ligious world will await with great interest the con- 
 clusions of these archaeological explorers. A visit to 
 the spring and these excavations with the exposed an- 
 cient walls impresses the tourist that he is looking on 
 scenes of early Bible times. 
 
 The three hours' rest in the hotel in the middle of 
 that extremely hot day was altogether too quickly 
 passed; but as we wanted to visit the Dead Sea and 
 the Jordan and spend some time at each place and then 
 get back to the hotel by seven o'clock, it was neces- 
 sary to begin our journey by three o'clock, as it is 
 some six or seven miles across the plains to th^ Dead 
 8Q 305 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Sea and there is no road. The traveler who gets 
 caught by a heavy rain in tliis plain will have great 
 trouble in continuing his journey, as the sand, with 
 its mixture of salt and gypsum, makes a mud with- 
 out a bottom. But we had no fear of rain that day; 
 and after passing the tower which marks the site of 
 the sycamore tree that Zaccheus climbed that he might 
 see Jesus, we took direct line across the sandy desert 
 to the Dead Sea. In an hour we were on its shore, 
 and in a few minutes some of us were enjoying a 
 bath and a swim in its oily, bitter, briny waters. Sink- 
 ing was impossible ; but swimming was difficult, as the 
 feet were greatly inclined to seek the surface, while 
 the head, with its bones, was drawn to the water. 
 One can lie on the back and float without any trouble. 
 The water contains twenty-five per cent solid sub- 
 tance, seven of which is common salt. The chloride 
 of magnesium gives it the nauseous, bitter taste, while 
 the chloride of calcium makes it smooth and oily to the 
 touch. Fresh eggs float with one-third above the sur- 
 face. There is no kind of life in the sea, and even 
 sea fish will die speedily. The Dead Sea is forty-seven 
 miles long, with its greatest breadth ten miles. It is 
 hemmed in by sharp, precipitous mountains as far as 
 the eye can see from the northern end. A small steam 
 yacht is now used on its waters by the company which 
 has a large salt factory on its shore. A large amount 
 of salt is extracted from its water every year. The 
 mouth of the Jordan is about three-fourths of a mile 
 from where tourists usually visit the lake. After a 
 two-mile drive, we came to the ford of the Jordan 
 where the Israelites are supposed to have crossed into 
 
 305 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 Canaan, and where Elijah divided the waters by the 
 stroke of his mantle. Here also it has been claimed 
 that Jesus was baptized, although many students of 
 the land put that place farther north. It is here that 
 the pilgrims come for their bath in the Jordan. The 
 stream is not more than one hundred feet wide and 
 about ten to twenty feet deep, but it has a treacherous 
 current, and many persons have lost their lives in try- 
 ing to swim across it. The water has a yellowish- 
 brown color and a peculiar taste. It contains numer- 
 ous fish. Its banks are covered with tamarisks, wil- 
 lows, and poplars. In the rainy season the stream 
 overflows its banks. Were the Jordan and the Dead 
 Sea disappointing ? No. A more interesting, instruct- 
 ive, and enjoyable trip one can scarcely have. We 
 turned our faces toward Jericho with a song of praise 
 in all our hearts. We passed near the Monastery of 
 St. John the Baptist and through the site of ancient 
 Gilgal. We looked to the abrupt, rugged mountain 
 behind Jericho and a little to the northwest, and there 
 was the reputed place of the temptation, in which is 
 a grotto where Jesus is said to have spent his forty 
 days. We saw on the roadside the sidr tree, the thorns 
 of which were made into the crown that the crucified 
 One wore. We saw also a hyena lurking in the bushes 
 in a ravine. The Bedouins in their tents were con- 
 spicuous in several places. We came to Jericho as 
 the red sun bade us his day's farewell, and we found 
 rest for our weary bodies. We were on our way to 
 Jerusalem at four o'clock the next morning, and by 
 noon we were at home after one of the most memora- 
 ble journeys of a lifetime. 
 
 307 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 From Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee. 
 
 FROM Jerusalem to Nazareth the distance in an 
 air line is about sixty-five miles, but by the road 
 and the trail it is not far from eighty. There is 
 a good carriage road as far as Lubban, about twenty 
 miles from Jerusalem ; , but the rest of the journey 
 must be made on horseback or on camels. We made 
 the trip to Lubban in four hours, and there we took 
 horses (Arabian steeds they were, although they re- 
 sembled Texas ponies) and proceeded to Nablus, the 
 ol-d city of Shechem, where we spent the night. The 
 next day we .covered the distance from Nablus to 
 Jenin, and the third day we arrived in Nazareth soon 
 after noon. Three days of more difficult and exhaust- 
 ing travel none of us ever want to see, and yet the 
 entire journey was so crowded with exciting interest 
 that we scarcely felt the fatigue until we halted for 
 the rest; but then the weary joints and strained mus- 
 cles made due complaints to which we were com- 
 pelled to listen. 
 
 Our carriage, containing four tourists, the drago- 
 man, and the driver, left Jerusalem at six o'clock in 
 the morning, passed the Tomb of the Kings north- 
 west of the city, and then turned north over Mount 
 Scopus, the mountain on which Titus and his army 
 camped when besieging the city, and from which one 
 gets in the morning hours a glorious view of Jerusa- 
 
 308 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 lem nestled among the hills. In a few minutes we 
 passed Nob, where David took the showbread, and 
 then Gibeah, where Saul tarried when Jonathan made 
 his raid. Here are the ruins of a large building which 
 was probably erected by the Crusaders. After two 
 miles, on our left we saw the ruins that mark the site 
 of Mizpeh, where Samuel judged the people of Israel. 
 In less than two hours we reached Ramah of Benja- 
 min, where Samuel was born and buried. It now has 
 about fifteen families. In a half hour we came to 
 Atarath Addar, which marked Ephraim's border line. 
 After crossing a ridge which forms the watershed be- 
 tween the Mediterranean and the Jordan, we came to 
 Beeroth, a village of t,ooo people, nine and a half 
 miles from Jerusalem, which is supposed to be the 
 place where Joseph and Mary missed Jesus when he 
 was among the doctors. The country here is very 
 beautiful, the fig trees and olive trees are numerous, 
 and the vineyards are luxuriant. 
 
 At a distance of nineteen miles from Jerusalem, on 
 a hill to the right, is the site of ancient Bethel, where 
 Jacob had his vision and where Jeroboam set up 
 shrines for idolatrous worship. The stone which Jacob 
 used as a pillow is, according to tradition, the stone 
 which is in the seat of the coronation chair in West- 
 minster Abbey, on which every ruler of England since 
 Edward I. has sat when receiving the crown of En- 
 gland. This stone is said to have been taken to Ire- 
 land by early Christian missionaries, and then to Scot- 
 land, where it was used in the throne of the Scottish 
 kings for centuries ; and then finally, in the reign of 
 Edward the Confessor, it was taken to London, where 
 
 309 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 it has since remained, and where it may be seen by any 
 visitor to Westminster Abbey. Bethel occupies a con- 
 spicuous place, the hill on which it stands rising sev- 
 eral hundred feet above the plain. There are several 
 ancient tombs, marble columns, pieces of dressed 
 stones, some with inscriptions and others with evi- 
 dences of elaborate carving; and near the summit is 
 a circle of large blocks of stone, where, the Moslems 
 say,' Jeroboam built his shrines. But this well-authen- 
 ticated spot has not been marked by the Christians as 
 have other places in Palestine. 
 
 Shiloh is about an hour's ride from Bethel and on 
 .the right of the highway. No place in Palestine was 
 more closely connected with the religious life of the 
 Israelites than Shiloh. Here the tribes received their 
 allotments, here the sanctuary was set up, here Samuel 
 was called, here Eli died, here Abijah lived, here the 
 prophets were trained. The Mohammedans have here 
 a small mosque, but the Christians have built no mon- 
 uments to designate this sacred place; but all visitors 
 to Palestine will visit Shiloh with great interest. Only 
 a short distance farther and we came to Lubban, the 
 ancient Labonah, where the carriage road ends and 
 where we mounted our horses for the long sixty-mile 
 ride to Nazareth. The horses were not good travelers, 
 and the small English saddles were not satisfactory for 
 a long, hard journey. Although the horses were shod 
 with a steel shoe which covered the entire foot, yet 
 they were sure-footed in climbing the rocky hills and 
 in making their way through the narrow defiles which 
 were not unusual in crossing the various mountain 
 ranges. It was here, after crossing a high range of 
 
 310 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 hills, that we entered the beautiful rich plain of Mukh- 
 nah. We passed near the disputed tombs of Eleazar 
 and Phinehas. At the end of our journey across the 
 plain we came to Jacob's Well, one of the well-authen- 
 ticated spots in Palestine. The broad, fertile plain 
 was covered with ripe, golden grain or with plots of 
 potatoes or other vegetable products. There were 
 some spots that were not being cultivated, as they were 
 left idle for rest. There were no fences anywhere; 
 but the great fields were divided into small plots by 
 rows of heaps of stones which are known in the Bible 
 as landmarks, and which could be removed only by 
 incurring curses. The lands for the most part do not 
 belong to individuals, but to the villages. All the peo- 
 ple live in villages for convenience, company, and pro- 
 tection. At a certain time of the year the lands be- 
 longing to a village are distributed for the year to 
 the various families of the village, and a family must 
 cultivate its allotment for the year or else have no 
 farm. Sometimes it happens that a family will have 
 a very fertile strip of land for one year, and the next 
 year the same family may get the poorest strip. A 
 man may move from his native village to another, 
 and he may sell his right in the village for a number 
 of years ; but he cannot sell the land. The village may 
 sell its land, as some villages have done, to rich in- 
 dividuals who now are getting large land interests in 
 Palestine; but the sale is not easily consummated, as 
 there are so many people to be consulted. The vil- 
 lages often have their farm products in common, and 
 large village granaries may be seen in the town. The 
 private granaries are usually in the homes, and the 
 
 311 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 women draw out at will what grain they need for 
 grinding. The women do practically all the grinding 
 in their private apartments or courts. One stone lies 
 on another; the upper stone has a hole in the center, 
 through which the grain is poured, and a handle some 
 ten inches long, which is driven in a hole near the rim ; 
 and by this handle two women sitting on the ground 
 turn the upper stone and grind the grain. The 
 meal runs out at a groove on one side into a basin. 
 The picture of the last day as given by Matthew, "The 
 two women grinding at the mill, one taken and the 
 other left," would have the same meaning in Palestine 
 to-day as in the days of Jesus. "When the sound of 
 the grinding is low," it is night or there is sorrow or 
 distress, and at all other times there is the constant 
 murmur of the mill in every home. Why do they not 
 have steam mills as the people of Europe and America ? 
 Who can answer the whys of Palestine or the Orient ? 
 Jacob's Well is in an open field; but recently it has 
 been inclosed by some Greek priests, who have an 
 altar at the cistern. An old basilica, which was prob- 
 ably erected in the fourth century, once covered the 
 cistern; and remains of the old sanctuary, with its 
 columns, are quite numerous. As soon as we ap- 
 proached the well the priests rushed from their clois- 
 ters into the crypt of the Crusaders' Chapel, which 
 now covers the opening, and began reciting their 
 prayers or else (I did not understand what they said, 
 and was not sorry that I could not). One lighted a 
 candle and let it down some sixty to seventy feet. The 
 cistern is lined with masonry, and is seven and one- 
 half feet in diameter. There was no water in it. It 
 
 312 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 is usually dry in summer. Here Jesus had that mem- 
 orable conversation with the Samaritan woman. Two 
 hundred yards to the north and across a slight depres- 
 sion in the land is the village called Sychar. In the 
 valley between the well and Sychar is the tomb of 
 Joseph, according to the belief of the Christians. The 
 Moslems claim that the mummy of Joseph was taken 
 to Hebron to the cave of Machpelah, and they will 
 not allow the tomb at Sychar to be opened. As Jesus 
 looked to the east, north, and south from the well he 
 saw the fields "white unto the harvest" if he saw them 
 in the month of May. Looking to the west, he and 
 the woman saw Mt. Gerizim rising abruptly before 
 them ; while on the north of the pass running east and 
 west was Mount Ebal, Through the pass, a quarter 
 of a mile away, they could see Shechem, now the city 
 of Nablus. Pointing to Mount Gerizim, she said: 
 "Our fathers worshiped in this miountain." The 
 Samaritans have always worshiped there, and the only 
 Samaritans in the world worship there to-day. How- 
 ever, their number has decreased until there are now 
 only one hundred and sixty of them. The intermar- 
 riage of relatives is fast bringing about the extinction 
 of the race. The men are handsome and six feet or 
 more tall, while the women are blondes and beautiful. 
 They are hated by Jews and Moslems alike; but they 
 continue their same manner of life, following strictly 
 and literally every order of worship and sacrifice 
 which is to be found in the Pentateuch. They have 
 in their synagogue a copy of the Pentateuch, which is 
 one of the most ancient manuscripts in existence. Al- 
 though it was not found until the seventeenth century, 
 
 313 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 yet the Samaritans claim that it was written by the 
 grandson of Aaron. The best experts locate its origin 
 shortly after the beginning of the Christian era. A 
 manuscript is shown to visitors for two francs a per- 
 son, but the original is not often seen. The Samari- 
 tans claim that Mount Gerizim is the scene of Abra- 
 ham's sacrifice, and Dean Stanley said: "Beyond all 
 doubt, Isaac was offered on Gerizim." Dr. Thomson 
 shared this opinion. The Holy Place is on the eastern 
 extremity of the mountain. But little more than ruins 
 now mark the sacred place of these Babylonians. 
 
 We spent the night in a comfortable German hotel 
 in Nablus, the successor of the ancient Shechem. It 
 is a city of 25,000 people, and is the most populous and 
 important commercial city between Jerusalem and 
 Damascus. The inhabitants are all Moslems except- 
 ing 1,000 Christians, 200 Jews, 150 Protestants, and 
 160 Samaritans, and they are as fanatical and bar- 
 barous as the Mohammedans of Hebron. They have 
 eight large mosques, and among them the finest in 
 Palestine. No tourist would feel safe in the town alone. 
 But the city is in one of the most beautiful spots in 
 Palestine. There is an abundant supply of water in 
 the community, there being twent3'-seven springs, and 
 water is the most essential element for this country. 
 The town is solidly built of stone ; the streets are nar- 
 row, crooked, dark, and dirty ; the bazaars are in the 
 streets that are arched and vaulted and consequently 
 gloomy and damp ; the shops are well stocked, and 
 trade is usually brisk in many ways. It is the liveliest 
 city in Palestine. But to this tourist it had its greatest 
 interest not because of its great soap factories, its 
 
 314" 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 fine market, and its busy bazaars, but because here 
 Jacob bought his farm, here on Mount Gerizim and 
 Mount Ebal the blessings and curses were read ac- 
 cording to the order of Moses (Deut. xxvii.), here 
 Joshua called the tribes together in his old age and 
 commanded them to choose whom they would serve, 
 and here for centuries the kings of Israel were 
 crowned, Shechem, Samaria, Nablus — different names 
 of a great and sacred locality. 
 
 The day's journey of twenty-three miles from Nab- 
 lus to Jenin was very exhausting, as there was much 
 mountain-climbing, with many rough and narrow trails. 
 We left Nablus at six o'clock, and arrived in Sebaste, 
 the old city of Samaria, in two and a half hours, 
 Nablus is on the watershed of the country, and we 
 passed to the Mediterranean side, and for almost an 
 hour we had a good road through a beautiful valley; 
 but we left this road, which leads to Haifa, and took 
 the trails across the hills. We passed through a nar- 
 row valley to the hill on which Samaria is situated. 
 We visited the old Crusaders' Church, which marks 
 a traditional site of the burial place of John the Bap- 
 tist, but which has been converted into a mosque, I 
 went into the Baptist's tom^b. We then rode up to the 
 summit of the hill through the old colonnade which 
 Herod erected in honor of his emperor, and then 
 around the hill on the north side to the excavations 
 which are being conducted by some professors of Har- 
 vard University, Isaiah compared this hill to a crown. 
 From it one gets a magnificent view, the Mediter- 
 ranean Sea, Mount Carmel, and the Mountain of Gilboa 
 all being visible. The surrounding valleys were glori- 
 
 315 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ous in their fields of grain. The explorers have dug 
 out the foundations of a fine old building, probably a 
 place of worship. They have found some interesting 
 walls on the west side of the crown of the hill. The 
 colonnade is sixty feet wide, with three driveways, 
 and it is one mile in length. On the north side of the 
 hill are other ruins of columns which evidently mark 
 an old hippodrome. At the time of Flerod the Great 
 Samaria was evidently possessed of great splendor, 
 and as a capital for many kings of Israel it was known 
 among the nations. 1 aq world will watch with great 
 interest the archaeological excavations which are being 
 conducted by the Harvard professors. For location 
 Samaria could not be excelled. 
 
 We descended the hill on the north side and pro- 
 ceeded across the valley about a mile wide; and when 
 we ascended the hill on the other side, we had an ex- 
 tensive view of Samaria and the charming surround- 
 ing country. We crossed the ridge and descended to 
 the narrow valley that leads to the Plain of Dothan, a 
 country made famous by the sale of Joseph, or more 
 properly by their casting him into a pit which is here 
 pointed out. Here also Elisha was surrounded by 
 Syrian soldiers, whom he smote with blindness. The 
 plain is very beautiful, as are all these valleys of Pales- 
 tine, hemmed in as they are by the treeless but grass- 
 clad and flower-bedecked mountains. From the hill- 
 top overlooking Dothan one sees one of the largest 
 olive orchards in Palestine. We here passed over the 
 border between Ephraim and Manasseh ; and following 
 a narrow ravine, we soon came to Jenin. 
 
 The night's rest at Jenin was quite refreshing, al- 
 316 
 
Herod's temple colonnade, samaria. 
 
 . -SI*' 
 
 TABORj THE MOUNT OF TRANSFIGURATION. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 though the fatigue from that exhausting day did not 
 leave for a week. To reach Nazareth we had seven 
 hours' travel; and so we set out in the gray dawn at 
 five o'clock, and by continuous travel, with an hour's 
 rest at Nain, we reached Nazareth at one o'clock. On 
 quitting Jenin we entered at once the wonderful Plain 
 of Esdraelon, the battle ground of the centuries and 
 the finest fields in the kingdom of Israel. For two 
 hours we rode across this great plain, when we came 
 to Jezreel, the city of Ahab, the city where Jezebel 
 met her awful death, the city that contains Naboth's 
 Garden, the place of Jehu's furious driving. On the 
 east of the city, a short distance away, is the Moun- 
 tain of Gilboa, where Saul and Jonathan were slain. 
 On the north side of the mountain, just east of Jez- 
 reel, is the ravine where Gideon chose his three hun- 
 dred valiant warriors ; and farther east is Endor, where 
 Saul visited the witch. The Syrians are still super- 
 stitious and believe in fortune-telling and communica- 
 tion with the spirits of the dead. From the hill of 
 Jezreel we had a magnificent view, seeing on the south- 
 west Megiddo, on the west the wall of Mount Car- 
 mel, on the north Little Hermon (a mountain whose 
 name is due to Jerome's mistaken interpretation of 
 the eighty-ninth Psalm), and on the east beyond Jor- 
 dan the country of Jabesh-gilead. One leaves this 
 spot with regret. As we passed down the slope, we 
 found the villagers — men, women, and children — by 
 the scores, even by the hundred, reaping the v/heat 
 and gleaning the fields. The men were reaping with 
 their sickles, the women and children were gleaning 
 every last head of wheat left behind by the reapers, and 
 
 317 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 boys were taking the bundles on donkeys to the thrash- 
 ing floor. The grain is tramped out by the oxen and 
 the donkeys, and the chaff is separated from the wheat 
 by the wind when the mass is thrown up just as in the 
 days of the Master. When the wheat is sold, the 
 buyer gets for a bushel all he is able to put into the 
 measure. So he heaps up, shakes together, presses 
 down, and puts in as long as a grain will lie on. If 
 he does not get good measure, it is his own fault. 
 
 The hour's ride across the plain to the opposite hill- 
 side, where we came to Shunem, was exceedingly en- 
 joyable, for the rich grain everywhere was cheering 
 to one who had so recently crossed the parched land 
 of India. I had been told that Palestine was greatly 
 disappointing; but to my surprise, I had never found 
 a more fascinating country. There are no trees, be- 
 cause the government officials tax heavily the people 
 for every tree that they possess. So they keep as few 
 as possible, and they are usually olive or fig trees, 
 which produce a revenue. But even without the trees 
 the rich, fertile fields, the picturesque and grass-car- 
 peted mountains, the narrow and wild ravines had a 
 peculiar fascination for me. From Shunem we looked 
 back on Esdraelon, Jezreel, and Gilboa with delight, 
 while we were glad to come into the town of that 
 good woman who entertained the prophet Elisha, who 
 restored to life the son who had died of sunstroke in 
 the fields upon which we were looking when he went 
 out to the reapers. From Shunem we went around the 
 west end of Little Hermon, and after an hour we came 
 to Nain, where the Lord raised to life the widow's son. 
 The few wretched clay huts were uninteresting, but 
 
 318 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the small Franciscan chapel gave us shade for an 
 hour's rest. Mount Tabor, the mount of transfigura- 
 tion, was in full view. We rode across the Plain of 
 Nain in a half hour, and then ascended the hill; and 
 after a short distance on the other side we came to 
 Nazareth, the end of our long horseback journey. The 
 rest of the half day and the night in that city that 
 knew the childhood, youth, and young manhood of 
 our Lord seemed the rest to which he invited all men 
 when he said : "Come unto me . . . and rest." 
 
 Nazareth would be attractive to any visitor, even 
 had it never been the home of Jesus and his mother, 
 because of its beautiful location on the mountain side, 
 with the high hills about it and the superb view which 
 can be had from its heights. Many of the buildings 
 are tasteful, with dazzling white walls around them, 
 while the green framework of cactus hedges, fig trees, 
 and olive trees makes a sight most pleasing. The 
 town has a population of ii,ooo, of whom 4,000 are 
 Moslems, 4,000 Orthodox Greeks, 1,000 United 
 Greeks, 1,500 Latins, 200 Maronites, and 250 Prot- 
 estants. Many of the women are quite beautiful ; and 
 when they are dressed in their gay embroidered jackets 
 and their foreheads and chests are laden with their 
 coins, they make a very attractive appearance. The 
 district is comparatively rich, and the town shows a 
 decided thriftiness. Evidently the same could not 
 have been said of the place when Jesus lived there, as 
 it must have been a small village of mean reputation. 
 But the town is greatly enlarged ; and although it may 
 occupy a somewhat different location from that of 
 Jesus's time, yet here the carpenter's son came to his 
 
 319 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 manhood, and the points of real interest are those with 
 which his Hfe was concerned. The visit to the church 
 which covers the site of the Virgin's home, where she 
 received the annunciation that she was to be the 
 mother of the Messiah, took on a sacred meaning. 
 Through the monastery, within which is the Church 
 of the Annunciation, we had to pass to reach the place 
 of Joseph's carpenter shop. It, too, is covered by a 
 chapel. Not far away was the traditional site of the 
 synagogue in which Jesus preached. But the only place 
 of which we felt certain was Mary's Well, which is the 
 only spring that the town possesses. Mary and her son 
 must have come here with their jars for water. The 
 motley throng which gathered about the spring in the 
 evening was quite entertaining to the visitors, and es- 
 pecially as the girls and women trotted away with 
 the jars of water on their heads unsupported by their 
 hands. The mount of precipitation, from which the 
 throng tried to throw Jesus, is east of the town, and 
 from it one may have a magnificent view of the whole 
 Plain of Esdraelon, with Endor, Nain, Jezreel, Little 
 Hermon on the south. Mount Carmel on the west, 
 Great Hermon with its snow-covered peaks on the 
 north. Mount Tabor, the basin of Tiberias, and the 
 country beyond on the east. From the hilltop back 
 of the town, on which the English Protestant Girls' 
 Orphanage is situated, the survey of the Valley of 
 Nazareth and the surrounding country is gorgeous. 
 One leaves Nazareth, with its hills and its valleys, its 
 beautiful homes and gardens, its sacred spots and holy 
 atmosphere, with a sense of regret ; but, after all, per- 
 haps it is best not to remain until the halo fades away. 
 
 320 
 
MARY S WELL, NAZARETH. 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 The morning sun flooded the valley with golden 
 light as we took the carriage for our four hours' drive 
 to Tiberias; and as we climbed the hill east of the 
 town, we looked back upon the beautiful little sacred 
 city and went away with a picture richer in color, 
 finer in execution, and more precious in meaning than 
 any we had caught before in all this fascinating land. 
 After a short distance we came to the road that leads 
 up to Mount Tabor, which must be ascended on foot. 
 It is 1,846 feet high, and when seen from Nain it has 
 the form of a dome, but from the northwest it has the 
 appearance of a truncated cone. On it are the ruins of 
 an old castle and of a Crusaders' church. The Greeks 
 and the Latins have churches, and both claim that the 
 actual spot of the transfiguration is within their church. 
 The view from the summit is very extensive. The 
 natural view was sufficient to make Peter want to 
 build tabernacles here ; and when the divine glory was 
 added, it is no wonder that he wanted to take up a per- 
 manent abode. But we continued our journey, and 
 in two hours we were in Cana, where the first miracle 
 — that of turning the water into wine — was wrought. 
 We saw the big stone jars that Jesus used, so the 
 Greek priest told us between the prayers which he 
 muttered when we went into his church; but our 
 credulity was not equal to such a test. In the Latin 
 chapel which occupies the site of a church of the Cru- 
 saders (which in turn succeeded a church that prob- 
 ably dates back to the third or fourth century) w« 
 saw what the priest claimed to be the remains of an 
 old synagogue. Here, we were told, the miracle took 
 place, and we were shown a copy of a jar which was 
 21 321 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 taken from here and which is preserved now in some 
 Roman Catholic cathedral as the water jar that Jesus 
 used. While the arguments were not convincing, yet 
 I greatly enjoyed the sight of the remains of the old 
 synagogue. The site of the house of Nathanael was 
 also pointed out. The little, dirty village contains 
 about eight hundred people, half of whom are Mos- 
 lems. The children ran after us with laces for sale 
 and with a general cry for backsheesh. The village 
 in Palestine is nothing more than a collection of mud 
 huts without windows except small holes, and without 
 floors and without chimneys. They are covered with 
 straw and mud. The house usually has one large 
 room, which is used by the male members of the fam- 
 ily and for the reception of strangers. In case the 
 owner is wealthy, a room is built above this, called 
 the upper chamber, and is reserved for an honored 
 guest. Adjoining the large room one or two rooms 
 are built for the women and girls, where they live and 
 do their cooking, washing, and other work. The 
 natives spend most of their time in the summer on 
 the roofs of their houses, where booths are built of 
 weeds and cane, in which the members of the family 
 sleep. As there are no fireplaces, the fire is made in 
 the center of the large room ; and the smoke from the 
 burning wood often becomes so dense that one can 
 scarcely see across the room, and of course the eyes 
 of all present must sufifer. In the cities the brasiers 
 are filled with charcoal, and the people sit around 
 them and warm their hands. Bedsteads, tables, chairs, 
 and sofas are never used in the villages and very sel- 
 dom in the cities ; but rich, beautiful rugs are thrown 
 
 323 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 on the floor, and the people sit on them, folding their 
 legs in tailor fashion, and lean against heavy bolsters 
 lined against the walls. In the homes of the wealthy 
 mattresses, which are kept in alcoves especially built 
 for that purpose, are spread on the floor for the in- 
 mates and guests to sleep on ; but the poor and the la- 
 boring classes have no such luxuries, and are com- 
 pelled to sleep on their straw mats, with their coats 
 spread over them or under them, and with anything 
 for a pillow which comes to hand. Jacob found a 
 comfortable stone. The coat, fashioned like an army 
 officer's cloak, is very heavy, and is worn in summer 
 to keep off the heat and in winter to shield from the 
 cold, while it becomes a mat or a bed which even a 
 paralytic could take up and then walk; and as a rug 
 it is ever in evidence, while thrown under the feet of 
 honored visitors it serves to show the highest esteem 
 and to give a royal welcome. At the door of one of 
 these humble huts in a village we saw a woman with 
 her baby in her arms. It was wrapped in swaddling 
 clothes, just as was Jesus when he was laid in the 
 manger. When a child is born, it is immediately 
 plunged into a bath of salt brine ; and after being well 
 massaged, it is powdered with very fine salt and 
 wrapped in swaddling bands. Every time the child 
 is washed and its clothing changed the body is pow- 
 dered with fine salt. This is kept up until the child is 
 weaned. Salt is the chief ingredient in the medicines 
 of the country. It is said to eradicate even the tenden- 
 cies to disease. 
 
 The home is the man's castle ; for so long as he is 
 in his own home, no one can arrest him and no power 
 
 323 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 can bring him out. If a man were to force himself 
 into a home where there were women, or were he to 
 be caught there, he would be killed, and the man who 
 did the killing would not be liable to the law. In the 
 cities men are not allowed where women happen to be ; 
 and should a man come upon women who by some 
 chance did not have the veil over their faces and 
 looked at them, he would be liable to an assault by any 
 man present. Of course the Christian and Jewish 
 women may be seen at any time. In the villages the 
 women do not wear veils, as they must labor outdoors ; 
 and a stranger may address them, inquiring for di- 
 rection to some place or even asking for a drink of 
 water, but he cannot tarry for a conversation. In the 
 times of Jesus there was evidently a law forbidding 
 men to converse with strange women, and he bade 
 the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well to call her hus- 
 band. The women and girls do not eat with the men 
 and boys of the family ; but after these lords have eaten, 
 what is left is removed to the women's apartments, and 
 there these subdued souls satisfy their hunger, A 
 woman is not amenable to religious or civil courts ; 
 and should she steal or commit murder, she is pun- 
 ished as a young child who knew no better. The 
 woman holds a very humble place in all Oriental coun- 
 tries. The reader will pardon this digression. 
 
 We had a good road from Cana to Tiberias over a 
 level plateau. We crossed the Crusaders' battlefield, 
 where the Christians were defeated by the Moslem gen- 
 eral, Saladin, in 1187. Here we saw some fine herds 
 of sheep and goats. The shepherd led his flock. Every 
 sheep or goat in his herd has a name and knows its 
 
 324 
 

ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 name ; and when the shepherd calls its name, it comes. 
 There was not a day that I spent in Palestine that I 
 did not hear the shepherd's call and see his sheep obey 
 his call. We passed near the mountain from the side of 
 which Jesus is reputed to have delivered the Sermon 
 on the Mount: For nearly an hour before we reached 
 Tiberias we had a full view of the Sea of Galilee and 
 its surrounding hills. We descended an abrupt hill 
 to the town of Tiberias, and were soon comfortably 
 quartered in a German hotel. The Germans are the 
 hotel keepers throughout Palestine, and can always be 
 relied on to give comfortable entertainment. But Ger- 
 man colonies are being planted in many parts of the 
 Holy Land, and rival in size and influence the Russian 
 colonies. The people from these two European coun- 
 tries are beginning to make new conditions in this an- 
 cient land, and the civilized world may well rejoice at 
 the growth of this influence. 
 
 Tiberias surprised me by being dirtier and filthier 
 than any place that I had seen. The population of 
 5,000 is twoi-thirds Jewish of the Russian and Polish 
 variety. There is nothing there for them to do, which 
 is not displeasing to them, as they are very glad to 
 depend entirely upon the Israelite Alliance of Europe. 
 However, they are as orthodox as they are filthy and 
 lazy, and have reputations as students of the Talmud. 
 It was here that the Hebrew Bible, now universally 
 accepted, was written. The Jerusalem Talmud came 
 into existence here, and the Mishna was here first 
 published. Here St. Jerome studied the Hebrew lan- 
 guage. While it is noted for the Hebrew scholars 
 that have lived here and is now one of the four holy 
 
 325 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 cities of the Jewish faith (Jerusalem, Hebron, and 
 Safed being the other three), yet Tiberias at the time 
 of our Lord was considered unclean for a Jew. Herod 
 Antipas, the murderer of John the Baptist, built the 
 city. The hill was crowned with a picturesque castle; 
 the slopes were covered with temples, palaces, and 
 other public buildings ; the streets were wide and well- 
 paved; and high walls three miles in length inclosed 
 the city. But a burial place was disturbed in laying 
 the foundations, and that made the place unclean for 
 the Jews. There is no record that Jesus ever visited 
 the town, although it was not more than six miles 
 from Capernaum, and the fact that it was Jewishly 
 unclean may account for his not visiting the place. 
 The population then was made up largely of adven- 
 turers, beggars, and any foreigners whom Herod could 
 induce to come. It was a Grseco-Romish city, with 
 its race course, amphitheater, and such un- Jewish in- 
 stitutions. The glory of the Herodian city named for 
 his emperor has departed, and now its chief fame is 
 that the king of fleas lives here. Throughout Syria 
 Tiberias is notorious for these friendly pests. 
 
 We had for our dinner that day some very fine fish 
 which had that morning been caught in the Sea of 
 Galilee. This famous body of water is still noted for 
 its fish of many varieties which live here in great 
 quantities, although they are taken in large numbers 
 to satisfy the demands of the people who live on or 
 near the shores. How beautiful is this little lake about 
 which the Great Teacher lived so much of his three 
 great years ! It is thirteen miles long, and its greatest 
 width is six miles, while its greatest depth is 137 to 
 
 326 " 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 157 feet, according to the season, the depth varying 
 with the rains. Its surface is 680 feet below the level 
 of the Mediterranean. The water has a light blue 
 color. Its taste is not disagreeable. The natives drink 
 the water. The surrounding hills are of moderate 
 height, and the scenery, enlivened by a few villages, 
 is quite pleasing. In the spring the banks form a 
 veritable paradise, as the low soil is very fertile. In 
 summer the heat is intense, and the vegetation is sub- 
 tropical; and just after the first rains fever is quite 
 prevalent. A sail on the waters of this quiet lake was 
 a thing greatly to be desired ; and in the afternoon, with 
 four good boatmen and a satisfactory English-speak- 
 ing guide, I set sail for Tell Hum, the probable site of 
 ancient Capernaum, which was about seven miles away. 
 The lake was quiet for two miles while we were be- 
 hind the overhanging hills above Tiberias; but when 
 we passed Magdala, the home of Mary Magdalene, 
 and the mountains gave way to the Plain of Gen- 
 nesaret, the strong winds from the west swooped down 
 upon us and our boat dipped water. The boatmen 
 lowered the sails somewhat, the ballast of heavy stones 
 was moved to the west side of the boat, and the six 
 of us sat on that same edge. Still the boat skirted 
 the water, which occasionally poured in, and which a 
 boatman busily bailed out. I understood perfectly the 
 record in the Gospels of that storm which made the 
 disciples afraid, and which the Master rebuked into 
 peace. When we came to Tell Hum we were unable 
 to land, as there was danger of being dashed against 
 the black basaltic stones; but we found a harbor a 
 little to the west. With the guide I went to Tell Hum, 
 
 327 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 which may mark the place of Capernaum or that of 
 Chorazin. The geographers and archaeologists have 
 not been able to agree on the sites about the Sea of 
 Galilee, but there is strong argument in favor of Tell 
 Hum being Capernaum; and the German Franciscan 
 monk who is conducting the excavations there felt very 
 confident that the splendid ruins which he was bringing 
 to light were none other than those of the old syna- 
 gogue in which Jesus preached in the city of Caper- 
 naum. The ruins are interesting, and show that once 
 they were parts of an elegant building which was con- 
 structed of white stone which did not come from that 
 section, as there the stone is all black volcanic basalt. 
 The Franciscans have it in mind to reconstruct on this 
 ancient foundation a building on the plan of the origi- 
 nal. Two miles east is the mouth of the Jordan; and 
 a short distance up the river is the site of Bethsaida 
 Julias, where the 5,000 were miraculously fed. Some 
 authorities put Capernaum near the mouth of the 
 Jordan, where there was once a quay and a busy town. 
 Two miles west of Tell Hum is the site of an ancient 
 town, where there are some quaint old water mills, and 
 this the guide pointed out as Bethsaida. I went ashore 
 and started up the hill to some rocks in an open field, 
 from which I hoped to get a fine view of the lake and 
 the various points of interest. The guide cautioned 
 me about going into that "desert," as there were dan- 
 gerous scorpions, snakes, and insects. A "desert" in 
 that country means a piece of land that is not culti- 
 vated, that has been deserted. While definite locali- 
 ties could not be pointed out, yet here before me and 
 within a distance of a few miles were the scenes of the 
 
 328 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 greatest life that the world has ever known or will 
 ever know. The country on this north and northwest 
 shore of the lake gradually rises and forms the most 
 beautiful location imaginable for the numerous towns 
 and villages which were here at the time of Jesus. A 
 mile northwest of Bethsaida the mountains rise to a 
 considerable height; and just behind them is the 
 Jewish holy city of Safed, with a population of 30,- 
 000. The Jews regard Safed as holy because they 
 believe that from here the Messiah is to come. The 
 Sea of Galilee is girdled by an almost continuous belt 
 of ruins, which shows that in the time of our Lord the 
 whole coast was practically covered with city walls, 
 houses, synagogues, wharves, and factories. The great 
 road from Damascus to the southwest came along the 
 north and northwest shore and passed on just west of 
 the mountains above Magdala, out by the Mount of 
 Beatitudes, where the great Sermon was preached, and 
 then on near Mount Tabor to the southern country. 
 The Mount of Beatitudes was near the great highway, 
 as were Magdala and the cities in which Jesus spoke 
 to the multitudes. As we sailed in the shadows of 
 the evening to Tiberias we had a fine view of the 
 country east of the lake, of the land of the Gergasenes, 
 of the place where the swine into which the cast-out 
 demons went were driven, and of the reputed sites of 
 the ancient Gamala and Hippas. The next day we 
 sailed to the southern end of the lake to the railroad 
 station to take the train to Damascus. It was then 
 that we saw the wild country of the Gadarenes. It is 
 unsafe to-day to go into the country on the east shore 
 of this peaceful lake, as the Bedouins are robbers and 
 
 829 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EASt 
 
 have no respect of persons. While the twenty-four 
 hours gave us full opportunity to see what there is to 
 be seen about the Sea of Galilee, yet they passed all 
 too quickly for one who wanted to dwell in quiet 
 meditation amid these suggestive and stimulating 
 scenes. 
 
 330 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Damascus, Baalbek, Beirut, Alexandria. 
 
 WHEN one, leaving the Sea of Galilee, turns his 
 face toward the east and begins a journey into 
 the land beyond the Jordan, he turns his back upon the 
 real Holy Land and enters a country without that 
 sacredness which attaches to those places that are 
 associated with the life of our Lord and the labors of 
 the men who made Israel. The Palestine that we 
 love lies west of the Jordan, although Moab, Jabesh- 
 gilead, and Damascus have a prominent place in the 
 history of the chosen people. The whole of Palestine 
 has an area of only ii,ooo square miles, and its popu- 
 lation would be doubled if the Jews of New York 
 City would some bright day all go to the land of their 
 fathers. But they are not going, and neither are the 
 thrifty Jews from any land. Of the 700,000 people 
 in Palestine, about 90,000 are Jews, 550,000 are Mo- 
 hammedans, and 60,000 are Christians. The Chris- 
 tians are mostly Greeks and Latins, although there are 
 Armenians, Maronites, and some other small sects and 
 a few Protestants. From the standpoint of race the 
 population of Syria, which is about three million, con- 
 sists of Syrians, Arabs, Turks, Jews, and Franks. 
 There are not many Franks. The Syrians are the 
 descendants of those who spoke Aramaic at the time 
 of Christ, with the exception of the Jews. They are 
 the real native people of the country. Many of them 
 
 331 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 have remained faithful to the Christian faith, while 
 others have embraced Mohammedanism, The Arabs, 
 v^hether settled or nomadic Bedouins, come from the 
 desert country and are follov^rers of Mohammed. The 
 Turks are not numerous, and are said to be inferior 
 intellectually to the Arabs ; but they compose the large 
 part of the governing class. As officials they are, vi^ith- 
 out doubt, very corrupt; and the publican of the days 
 of our Lord was no more harsh than his successor 
 of this day. They have a system of government very 
 similar to that in China and other Oriental countries, 
 and the "squeeze" is always to be expected. A German 
 who built a hotel in Tiberias said that he had to pay 
 six hundred francs (one hundred and twenty dollars) 
 backsheesh to the officials for permission to continue 
 his work from time to time. The money of the coun- 
 try was hard to understand; but French money was 
 acceptable in most places, and I avoided the Turkish 
 coins. The language of the country is Arabic, but 
 many of the people speak French. I did not at any 
 time enjoy coming in touch with the people. 
 
 The journey from the Sea of Galilee to Damascus, 
 thence to Baalbek and on to Beirut, was made by rail. 
 We boarded the train at Semak, at the southern end of 
 the lake, a few hundred yards from the mouth of the 
 Jordan, at 9 130 in the morning, and arrived in Damas- 
 cus at five o'clock that afternoon, making a distance 
 of one hundred and fifty-five miles. This was by our 
 time. They reckon differently. This railroad, which 
 connects Haifa and Damascus, is two hundred and 
 eight miles long. It runs from Haifa southeast through 
 the valley at the foot of Mount Carmel, into the Plain 
 
 332 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 of Esdraelon, along the valley at the foot of the moun- 
 tain on which Jezreel is situated, north of the Moun- 
 tain of Gilboa, and on to the river Jordan, where it 
 turns north and runs along by the river and crosses it 
 at the Sea of Galilee, where it turns east and passes up 
 the rocky gorge of the river Yarmuk into the moun- 
 tains of the wild country east of the Jordan. The 
 rugged scenery could hardly be excelled. We passed 
 within a short distance of the ancient Gadara, which is 
 near the famous hot springs of that name. After two 
 hours' travel, we came up on the great plateau of the 
 Hauran, the famous wheat country of Syria. That 
 whole section is very beautiful and looks like a great 
 prairie as compared with the most of Palestine. This 
 soil here is very fertile and produces splendid crops 
 with small cultivation. The black basalt stones indicate 
 the volcanic disturbances which once shook the land. 
 The people are almost entirely Mohammedans. The 
 Bedouins may be seen in many sections. These are the 
 direct descendants of the half-savage nomads who have 
 inhabited Arabia from time immemorial, and who for 
 the most part are of pure Arab blood. Their dwellings 
 are the portable tents made of black goat's hair, which 
 are impervious to rain, and which they move to suit 
 their convenience or cleanliness or to meet the needs 
 for pastures for their immense herds of sheep, goats, 
 and camels. They live largely on bread and milk and 
 occupy themselves very much with war with other 
 tribes over pastures and wells. They have little or no 
 religion, although they know more of Mohammedanism 
 than anything else. They give the settled peasantry 
 much trouble which the government tries to keep down,^ 
 
 333 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 but the tardiness of the officials usually results in the 
 peasantry paying the sheiks of the Bedouins blackmail 
 to escape further disturbance. The entire Bedouin 
 population numbers 40,000 to 50,000 souls. 
 
 Damascus is the oldest city in the world and the lar- 
 gest in Syria, with its population from 200,000 to 250,- 
 000. More than three-fourths of the people are Mos- 
 lems, while there are only 8,000 Jews and 750 Protes- 
 tants ; and the rest are mostly Greeks, either orthodox 
 or united. The city is 2,266 feet above the sea, and is 
 surrounded by mountains on three sides. The beauti- 
 ful Abana River (now called Barada) supplies the 
 water from the mountains that makes the famous gar- 
 dens surrounding this ancient but now modern-appear- 
 ing Oriental city. The streets and the bazaars would 
 have great attraction for one who had not visited Cairo 
 and the cities of India and China. The bargaining that 
 is necessary for a foreigner to make a small purchase 
 at a reasonable price is too great to make shopping 
 very entertaining. The Westerner's average ignorance 
 of what Oriental goods are really worth makes him an 
 easy prey for these sharp traders. The Syrian with his 
 red fez and his flowing robe or European suit, the wom- 
 en with their covered faces and garments of solid col- 
 ors, did not furnish the attraction to one who had vis- 
 ited other Moslem countries that they have for those 
 fresh from European or American civilization. Damas- 
 cus had its greatest interest in its great street called 
 "Straight," in the chapel belonging to the Latins that 
 covers the site of Ananias's house, the leper hospital 
 that is built on the ground where Naaman had his 
 house, or th^ city wall where Paul was let down 
 
 334 
 
E T C H I N G S OF THE EAST 
 
 through a window in the basket. And these places I 
 visited. I went into the great mosque, saw the tomb 
 of Saladin, strolled through the suburb of Meidan, 
 watched the coppersmiths at their work, and from the 
 minaret of the mosque secured a fine view of the city. 
 The Damascans are very proud of their city. It is now 
 connected by a railroad with Mecca, by another with 
 Haifa, and by a third with Beirut, At no distant day 
 Damascus, the metropolis of Syria, will be situated on 
 a great trunk line connecting India and Persia with 
 Constantinople ; while a short line built from Jerusalem 
 by Nablus and Jenin to some point in the Esdraelon 
 near Jezreel will give Damascus direct connection with 
 Jerusalem and Joppa and thereby bring it within twen- 
 ty-four to thirty-six hours' travel of Egypt. No man 
 can prophesy what a decade will bring forth in these 
 Oriental countries that are awaking from their long 
 Rip-Van-Winkle slumber and are asking themselves 
 why they cannot become an active factor in this day's 
 civilization. The marvelous development of a nation- 
 al spirit among all the peoples of the East is the won- 
 der of these opening years of the twentieth century. 
 The Young Turks have made their demands, and they 
 are winning with their plans ; and the Young Persians, 
 the Yo-ung Chinese, the Young Indians, and the Young 
 Egyptians have been charged with the same spirit, and 
 the day of new events and new conditions is beginning 
 to dawn. Damascus has been touched by the spirit of 
 the times, and her institutions, industries, mode of life, 
 and plans for future development are becoming con- 
 formed to the life that has come to them from Europe 
 and America. 
 
 335 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 The railroad from Damascus to Beirut runs up the 
 beautiful valley of the Barada, climbing a steep incline 
 and meeting the fascinating stream as it pours its sil- 
 very waters over the numerous falls and rocky shal- 
 lows. The gardens were rich in their beauty. Mount 
 Hermon, rising in two peaks to about 9,050 feet and 
 perpetually snow-capped, was in full view for several 
 miles. We had it before us that entire afternoon while 
 we were crossing the plateau of Hauran. It is a ma- 
 jestic mountain, and can be seen from many parts of 
 Palestine. Crops are raised on its sides as high as 
 5,000 feet; and the forests, in which there are foxes, 
 wolves, and other wild beasts, extend even nearer the 
 summit. After two hours we came to the junction 
 where the railroad leads to the north to Baalbek and 
 on to Aleppo. Not to have visited Baalbek would 
 have been a great mistake, for the ruins of that place 
 cannot be surpassed in interest, beauty, and sublimity 
 by anything to be found in Egypt, Greece, or any other 
 nation of the world. Baalbek means ''the seat of 
 Baal," and so the wonderful ruins of the magnificent 
 temples likely have something to do with the worship 
 of Baal. Legendary history claims that Cain was the 
 founder of the city, and that he built the first fortifica- 
 tions here after he slew his brother Abel. Another 
 claim is that Nimrod, the great hunter, was one of the 
 early settlers of the place. A still more interesting tra- 
 dition is that here the people who would build a tower 
 to heaven had their scriptural Babel. Abraham, patri- 
 archs, prophets, judges, and kings have their names 
 connected with the place. As it was halfway between 
 Tyre and Palmyra, it unquestionably held a prominent 
 
 336 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 location and was a famous city in the ancient times. 
 The Phoenicians and Canaanites were worshipers of 
 Baal, the solar deity, and to them is credited the erec- 
 tion of the splendid structures of Baalbek, whose ruins 
 are now marvelous in the eyes of all visitors. How the 
 walls were built and how the great temples were 
 brought to their completion, the best archaeologists and 
 engineers have not been able to say. Is it any wonder 
 that engineers are puzzled when in the outside wall are 
 stones, laid so closely that a needle cannot be inserted, 
 which are 64 feet^ 6^ feet 8 inches, and 63 feet in length 
 and thirteen feet in the other two dimensions? Each 
 measures more than 12,000 cubic feet and weighs more 
 than 1,000 tons. Stones measuring 30 and 35 feet in 
 length and 12 to 13 feet square are common, while 
 those 20, 22, and 24 feet by 13 feet are almost the rule. 
 How were these immense blocks taken from the quar- 
 ry and lifted to their places in the walls? Did the an- 
 cients make an incline of earth and roll these stones to 
 the places and then adjust them? Marvelous is the 
 work, however it may have been done. The quarries 
 from which the stones were taken are not more than a 
 mile from the town; and they show that they were 
 worked for other buildings than the temples, and per- 
 haps from them stones were sent to Palmyra and Da- 
 mascus. At the quarry is a stone 70 feet by 15 feet by 
 14 feet which is estimated to weigh 1,500 tons, and 
 which was evidently too large to be moved. 
 
 The two temples, the Great Temple and the Temple 
 of Bacchus, which stand upon the massive substruc- 
 tions, were erected in the second century of the Chris- 
 tian era under the reign of Antonius Pius, They are 
 22 337 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 wonderful structures, and are gigantic examples of 
 ancient architecture. Massive columns with Corinthian 
 capitals, rich alcoves adorned by the most delicately 
 carved fretwork, magnificent friezes and pleasing cor- 
 nices, great walls and extensive ornamentations all 
 make a show of superb architecture such as one sees 
 nowhere else except in the ruins at Luxor and Thebes 
 and on the Acropolis of Athens. The Temple of Bac- 
 chus is said to be one of the best preserved and most 
 beautiful antique buildings in Syria. While it is not so 
 massive as the Great Temple, yet in ornamentation, 
 great columns, and stately corridors it is unsurpassed. 
 The ravages of the Turkish soldiers and the Arabs, 
 who have been allowed a free hand for centuries in 
 their work of destruction, and the great earthquake 
 which fractured the ponderous columns and walls in 
 1759, have brought the magnificent work of the ancient 
 architects to greater ruin than would have come in the 
 natural wear of the centuries. But Baalbek has an 
 interest in its ancient pile which few places of this 
 world can rival. 
 
 When I went to the railway station to take the train 
 for Beirut, I found that the Governor General of the 
 province, who has his capital in Damascus, had been in 
 the city, and that his car would be attached to my train. 
 He came to the station before his car was ready, as it 
 was to be connected with the train that came down 
 from Aleppo. He was not different in appearance from 
 what one would expect in a Turkish official. He was 
 a man of medium size, with dark hair and beard, with 
 the features of one of forty-five to fifty, and with an 
 expression of a serious, capable official. When he 
 
 338 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 passed, his subjects did not remove their red fezzes 
 (they never raise them for anything at any place — at 
 the table, in the drawing-room, in the presence of ladies 
 or potentates) ; but they bowed very low with the full 
 swing of the arm, which is extended with the palm of 
 the hand upward. The salutation in the swing and 
 sweep of the entire body is indeed quite impressive, and 
 is more pleasing than the stiff bow which i-s the custom 
 in polite circles of Europe and some Asiatic countries. 
 The Governor had a large retinue of attendants in uni- 
 forms and adorned with glistening swords. The only 
 high official in the world who is willing to be a civilian 
 and dress as such and have no military accompaniment 
 is the American. In speaking of salutations, I am 
 minded to say that salutations in Palestine are very 
 tedious and cannot be quickly performed. The greet- 
 ings are hearty and are continued. Each person usually 
 kisses his hand as he brings it back from the swing. 
 The parties often embrace. "Peace be with you" is 
 repeated a number of times. Jesus said to his disciples 
 when he sent them : "Salute no man by the way." They 
 would not have gone far if they had met many people 
 and saluted each one according to the Oriental custom. 
 The journey from Baalbek to Beirut required about 
 six hours. As Baalbek is about 3,900 feet above the 
 Mediterranean and Beirut is on the shore, the train, 
 after crossing the Lebanon Mountains, had to make a 
 considerable descent. The mountains still held snow 
 in their ravines, the gulches were sublime in their rug- 
 gedness, and the fields that filled the narrow valleys 
 were beautiful in their products. The rapidity of the 
 descent at times gave one an inclination to nervous- 
 
 339 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ness ; but the narrow plain was reached, and soon we 
 were in Beirut, a city of 120,000 people, the northern 
 port of Syria, and the chief commercial place of the 
 country. It is beautifully situated on St. George's Bay, 
 has a mild climate because of its sea breeze, and is sur- 
 rounded by luxuriant gardens. Here the Moslems 
 number only 36,000, and so the Christian element pre- 
 dominates. There are 2,100 Protestants here; but the 
 Orthodox Greeks will reach 45,000 and the Maronites 
 28,000. Over one thousand steamers enter the harbor 
 annually, while the sailing vessels will number 2,500. 
 The city has more interest to me because of the Syrian 
 Protestant College, which is located here, than for any 
 "other reason. I counted it a high privilege to meet not 
 only the President, Dr. Howard S. Bliss, but his hon- 
 ored father, the Rev. Dr. Daniel Bliss^ who is really the 
 founder of the institution. Though he has passed his 
 fourscore years, yet he has lost no interest in this great 
 institution. The school has more than 800 pupils and a 
 faculty of seventy-five members. The medical school 
 does first-class work, and its clinics in the hospital 
 would do credit to the medical schools of America. In 
 the student body may be found 100 Egyptians, 100 
 Greeks, seventy Armenians, and the rest are Syrians. 
 In religion 300 of the students are Orthodox Greeks, 
 100 are Mohammedans, 100 Roman Catholics, and 150 
 are Protestants. The converts to Protestantism are 
 never made from the Moslems, but usually from the 
 Orthodox Greeks. No institution in the East is doing 
 more for the country in which it is located than the 
 Syrian Protestant College is doing for the Syrians. It 
 is sending out physicians and teachers that will bring 
 
 340 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 in a new era in their country. One evening I attended 
 a presentation of Shakespeare's "As You Like It" on 
 the campus by the students of the college, and was de- 
 lighted with the performance. Their pronunciation of 
 the English language and their interpretation of the 
 great dramatist were admirable. The mission work in 
 Beirut and Northern Syria is done largely by the 
 Presbyterian and the United Presbyterian Churches. 
 While the results have not been large, yet the mission- 
 aries feel encouraged and are hopeful of greater things. 
 But the time of my departure from Syria was at hand ; 
 and after two nights and a day in Beirut I left for 
 Alexandria, taking a steamer that would touch at Haifa, 
 Joppa, and Port Said. It was not clean nor comforta- 
 ble, but it was going in the right direction. In the aft- 
 ernoon we passed Tyre, and an hour before sunset we 
 came to anchor at Haifa, at the foot of Mount Carmel. 
 The next morning we awoke to find ourselves at Joppa, 
 where we spent the day, and where the traveling com- 
 panion of the world journey, coming down from Jeru- 
 salem, met me. The next morning we were in Port 
 Said, where we spent some six hours ; and in the aft- 
 ernoon we set sail for Alexandria, where we landed 
 safely the next morning at eight o'clock and spent 
 the day. 
 
 Alexandria, once famous for its schools of philoso- 
 phy and theology, is now known as the great commer- 
 cial metropolis of the kingdom of the Khedive. Could 
 Alexander the Great look upon this splendid city, which 
 boasts of him as its founder, he would be surprised to 
 find that practically nothing that he designed for his 
 magnificent capital is now in existence. Neither Mace- 
 
 341 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 donia nor Greece could lay claims to what one may at 
 this day see in Alexandria; for great merchants have 
 taken the places of great scholars, magnificent business 
 houses have supplanted costly libraries, and modern 
 commercialism has hushed the voice of world-renowned 
 scholarship. But Alexandria, with its 400,000 inhab- 
 itants, is a great city according to present-day stand- 
 ards. It has many fine broad, well-paved streets, and 
 its buildings will compare favorably with those of most 
 European cities. Into its splendid harbor enter great 
 ships with their cargo from the ports of the world, and 
 out of it go the vast rich exports of Egypt. While this 
 Egyptian metropolis is a modern city, it yet lays claim 
 to some ancient ruins, Pompey's Pillar, a large round 
 monolith of red granite nearly one hundred feet high, 
 still stands on a commanding site. Recent excavations 
 have revealed ruins of a great temple and some superb 
 statues of Egyptian rulers and sacred animals. Cleo- 
 patra kept her magnificent Needles here, but the gen- 
 erosity of the old Mehemet made New York's Central 
 Park and the banks of the Thames the present resting 
 places of these famous obelisks. The faithful Copts can 
 show the traveler what they claim was the resting place 
 of St. Mark's bones for eight hundred years and point 
 out some locality in which Athanasius, the defender of 
 the faith, lived, or where Apollos, Paul's eloquent con- 
 temporary, was born ; but they have no credible infor- 
 mation. The ancient remains of Alexandria are too 
 meager to excite much interest, and so the tourist must 
 satisfy himself with what he sees of the modern city 
 and the present-day people. 
 
 The interest and delight with which one visits the 
 342 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 ruins and remains of ancient Egypt are intense. The 
 dead and mummied Egyptian gives pleasure and in- 
 struction, but his live and present-day descendant whom 
 we met combines in a most irritating manner the ma- 
 jority of the faults of his Oriental ancestors and his 
 Occidental associates. The wealthy tramps of Euro- 
 pean and American society who spend their winters in 
 Cairo and other parts of Egypt have spoiled by their 
 large fees the serving public in the most interesting 
 places in the land of the Nile. Egypt is the most ex- 
 pensive country which tourists now visit ; and the serv- 
 ice which the swarthy- faced, long-robed, red-fezzed na- 
 tives render is as limited as they can make it. But 
 where is there an Oriental that a traveler can trust? 
 Honesty and truthfulness are not constant in the moral 
 code of the East. Bargaining and the multiplying of 
 words are common everywhere in the Orient, and a 
 bargain holds nowhere (except in China, where the 
 "face" is involved) if the Oriental by disregarding it 
 finds a way to make capital. The recital of the expe- 
 riences of those who were caught for a fee of twenty 
 francs when three had been agreed upon to deliver the 
 party from the steamer to the wharf made me cautious 
 in transshipping in Alexandria. The boatman agreed 
 to deliver us and our baggage upon our outgoing 
 steamer for a certain sum. When, in declaring that a 
 competitor who had asked five times that amount had 
 no license, he produced his own license, I took it and 
 placed it in my pocket, telling him that I would return 
 it when the contract was fulfilled. We had no trouble, 
 as the return of the license was an essential matter to 
 him. It is by no means unusual for a boatman to hold 
 
 343 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 his passengers upon the rocking surf until his demands, 
 however exorbitant, are met in cash. However, in 
 some American and European cities we not infrequent- 
 ly find such highwaymen on our carriages. In every 
 country but our own the city authorities universally 
 establish a tariff for carriages; and the customers can 
 demand this schedule before entering a carriage or on 
 leaving it, and pay the driver according to the legal 
 rate. Without a legal tariff the use of carriages in the 
 Orient would be impossible, as the bargaining neces- 
 sary tO' secure one would consume too much time, and 
 the demands on leaving it would necessitate the inter- 
 position of the police. Even as it is, frequently tour- 
 ists are forced by illegal charges of the carriage driv- 
 ers to seek the protection of the police, and especially 
 is this true in Cairo. But such treatment may usually 
 be expected in those countries where the rich and the 
 pretentious have congregated for their pleasures, as 
 their reckless expenditures have brought the natives to 
 look for large fees from visitors. 
 
 When the fine German steamer lifted anchor at noon 
 on that June day and took its course to the northwest 
 across the Mediterranean Sea for Italy, we breathed a 
 sigh of relief, for the burden of the Orient was left 
 behind. Whether in the far East or the near East, no 
 man can travel in the Orient without a depression of 
 spirit and the continual sense of a human burden upon 
 the heart and mind. Between Europe and America 
 there is a great sea in a sense other than that of water, 
 but between them and the rest of the world there is 
 a great gulf. Steam, electricity, and a common intelli- 
 gence may abolish the sea, but the gulf is fixed by crea- 
 
 344 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 tion ; and though it may be bridged, it can never be re- 
 moved. "As far as the East is from the West" is a 
 distance unmeasurable if these terms designate the peo- 
 ples who are native to these realms. Kipling, after a 
 long residence in the Eastern lands, wrote : 
 
 O, the East is East, and the West is West, 
 
 And never the twain shall meet, 
 Till earth and sky stand presently 
 
 Before God's great judgment seat. 
 
 The Asiatic is the product of his own countless cen- 
 turies, and into the fabric of his nature have been 
 woven tissues which are unknown and unknowable to 
 the European or his American descendant. The very- 
 constitution of his mind is so different from that of his 
 European brother that even the exchange of their dis- 
 tinctive ideas is hindered by the lack of a common me- 
 dium. The European often pities him in his lot and 
 marvels that he is not concerned about changing his 
 conditions. But the truth is, his conditions were not 
 imposed upon him, but rather they issued from him, 
 and in them he lives and moves and has his being. As 
 yet the West has been unable to make him see any bet- 
 ter way, and he marvels that any Western people would 
 essay to be his teacher. The Westerner has too often 
 ignored the content of the consciousness of the Orien- 
 tal, and as a result his labor at a transformation in his 
 brother has failed. Kipling said also : 
 
 But there is neither East nor West, 
 
 Nor border, nor breed, nor birth, 
 When two strong men stand face to face. 
 
 Though they come from the end of the earth. 
 345 
 
ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 When the strong man of the West recognizes the 
 strong man of the East and each concedes to each the 
 rights and worth which he represents, then the possi- 
 bihty of intercommunication will be more certain and 
 the two hemispheres may be united. 
 
 The four days necessary to bring us from Alexandria 
 to Naples soon passed pleasantly away, for we had a 
 quiet sea and a very agreeable company. True, we had 
 some princes and princesses of the Egyptian realm, but 
 their royal conceit relieved us of their presence. A sheik 
 from the land of Goshen, who had conceived the idea 
 of distributing some of his ready coin in London and 
 Paris while he paraded his pretentious importance, was 
 much in evidence and gave a splendid exhibition of 
 the Egyptian Arab at his self-conscious best. In the 
 night of the third day we passed through the Straits of 
 Messina, between Italy and Sicily, and early in the next 
 morning we steamed by the volcanic island of Strom- 
 boli. Just as we rose from lunch on the last day we 
 passed the island of Capri and entered the Bay of Na- 
 ples, correctly styled the most beautiful bay in the 
 world. On our right lay Sorrento and Castellamare 
 and their charming surroundings ; while in front of us, 
 behind the city, stood out against the deep blue sky the 
 solemn gray peak of Mount Vesuvius, at whose feet 
 crouched its victims of Pompeii and Herculaneum. On 
 the left Ischia and her small sister islands stand in a 
 line like maids in waiting. "What is so rare as a day 
 in June ?" What would the poet have written had that 
 day afforded a slow sail into the beautiful, beautiful 
 Bay of Naples when the sun was in his glory, the sky 
 in its own Italian blue, and the hills and the valleys, the 
 
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 orchards and the gardens were riotous in their wealth 
 of fruit and flower ? We were in a strait betwixt two : 
 whether to abide upon the ship in a harbor so gorgeous 
 in its setting or to go out into the city that offered a 
 home feehng even in its strangeness to those who had 
 wandered in lands so distant from their own in thought 
 and life. The luxury of landing at such a time was 
 eagerly seized at the first lowering of the gang plank, 
 and in a trice we were driving away to our hotel. Aft- 
 er several months spent among the kimono-dressed 
 Japanese, the gayly gowned Chinese, the sky-clad Ma- 
 lays, Burmese, and Hindus, and the long-robed Eg3^p- 
 tian and Syrian, we were in good condition of mind 
 to appreciate real clothes, fashioned after our own. The 
 Asiatic occasionally endeavors to show his sympathy 
 for We-stern civilization by donning the apparel of the 
 European or American, but somehow when he endeav- 
 ors thus to exhibit his regard for Western ways his 
 dress is out of keeping with his life and thought. In 
 Japan among those in full native or foreign garb we 
 saw men who had discarded the native kimono for a 
 knit suit, white hose, low shoes, and an overcoat. It 
 wa'S not unusual to see persons wearing a mixed suit 
 of Japanese and foreign clothes. Mixing the Oriental 
 and the Western is a habit in that land. In China there 
 is little mixing of clothes, as the native garb does not 
 admit of such procedure. In fact, foreign dress does 
 not appeal very strongly to a Chinaman. In India the 
 mixture was very common, and one often saw men clad 
 in their tunic, which left their limbs for the most part 
 bare, with a neat sack coat worn over the tunic, low 
 russet shoes or patent leather "pumps" on the feet, and 
 
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ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 the head uncovered. Nakedness and clothes were 
 rather informally distributed over the bodies of these 
 sons and daughters of the tropics. To be ushered from 
 such a motley throng into a land of full suits, elegant 
 footwear, and becoming headgear was indeed an ex- 
 perience which excited rare pleasure. Again and again 
 we were compelled to exclaim : "What handsome men 
 and beautiful women this Italian metropolis can pro- 
 duce !" One member of the party had never seen any 
 Italians except the immigrants in America, and was not 
 prepared to find in Naples auburn-haired blondes as 
 well as brown-eyed brunettes. Soft, clear complexions, 
 noble physiques, and queenly forms were not expected 
 in this city of Southern Italy. But the consciousness 
 that we had really passed from the East to the West 
 in crossing the Middle Sea between Alexandria and 
 Naples was the most distinctive and highly prized gain 
 in coming into the fair city which was once the gay 
 capital of the stout little kingdom of Naples. 
 
 Here I take my farewell of my readers. The jour- 
 ney through the Orient was exceedingly interesting and 
 highly profitable. Many of the experiences were se- 
 vere, and no one could wish for a repetition of them. 
 For instance, travel through India in April is hazard- 
 ous; for the heat is intense, registering io8 to no de- 
 grees Fahrenheit in the shade, and dealing death to an 
 American in the sunshine unless the head is protected 
 by a thick pith helmet. The water is never safe unless 
 boiled by a trustworthy person. Stimulants are dan- 
 gerous. Travel in India should be undertaken only 
 in the four months beginning with November. Japan 
 offers at all times unusual attractions for the traveler, 
 
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ETCHINGS OF THE EAST 
 
 while China will interest any student of a great and 
 stalwart people. Egypt furnishes the real antiquities 
 for the sight-seer, but the land is full of pests like unto 
 those that came as plagues in Pharaoh's time and oth- 
 ers that possessed the land since that day. Palestine 
 is indeed the Holy Land, and for a clergyman or a 
 Bible student it offers unparalleled scenes and unsur- 
 passed interest. Every minister who can visit this land 
 of our Lord should by all means make the trip. A 
 journey among the Orientals, even if hurriedly made, 
 will give one the pulse beat of the nations of the Far 
 East just at this time when the national consciousness 
 of every country is fast awaking, and this will be in- 
 valuable in the study of the present movements of the 
 Asiatic peoples. 
 
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