Yesterday's papers announced that the Hallelujah Chorus was to be
performed in the English Cathedral this morning at eight o'clock.
I had been so long out of the region of music that I rose early
and went to church. The Japanese and Chinese music grated so on my
ears, I longed to hear an organ once more. I enjoyed the service
very much. The music was well performed, and as for the sermon--I
had to be back for breakfast, you know. It was specially pleasing
to see at church the detachment of British soldiers, the more so
as they were Highlanders. My heart will warm to the tartan. One
strange feature I shall not soon forget. Several soldiers, in
their scarlet uniforms, sang in the choir. I scarcely ever see
soldiers without being saddened by the thought that the
civilization of the race is yet little better than a name when so
much must still be done to teach millions of men the surest way to
destroy their fellows; but I take hope from this omen--these
mighty men of war engaged this morning chanting the seraphic
strains which proclaim the coming of the better day when there
shall reign "on earth peace, good-will toward men."
Whatever old China may be doing, young China is progressing, for I
saw in the park this morning several youthful Celestials, with
their pigtails securely tied and out of the way, hard at cricket
and baseball. Nor were they "duffers" either, although our wee
Willie and his nine could no doubt, in the way of a "friendly"
inning or two, show the lads a sweet thing, especially in the
"underthrow," for which my little nephew, I hear, is famous.
We are all creatures of prejudice, of course, but I could not help
being somewhat shocked on Sunday, as I strolled about the
Cathedral, to see some thirty odd sedan chairs on the one side,
and I suppose as many on the other, each with two, three, and some
with four coolies in gorgeous liveries in attendance, all waiting
the closing of prayers, lying in the shade, and some of them
improving the opportunity to enjoy a quiet gamble with dice this
fine Sunday morning. It did not seem to me to be quite consistent
for some of my Scotch friends who stand so stoutly for Sabbath
observance to keep so many human beings on duty, say three for one
who worshipped, just to save them from walking a few short squares
to and from church, for the town is small and compact. But custom
has much to do with one's prejudices, for, after all, how is this
worse than to roll in one's carriage to our Fifth Avenue temples?
Yet this never struck me as so much out of the way before, and I
think, unless the future Mrs. C. seriously objects, we shall walk
to church as a rule--when we go. Really, three men kept at work
that one may pray seems just a shade out of proportion.
I astonished Vandy this morning by getting up early; but I did not
care to explain the reason for this phenomenon, which was that I
had to catch the Canton boat to send a note back to Ah-Cum asking
him to get me certain additional curios after all. While at Canton
I had manfully resisted the temptation, but the thought of leaving
China without the treasures proved overwhelming, and now my only
fear is lest Ah-Cum should fail me. I confessed to Vandy, after we
had had a glass of good wine at tiffin, and I shall not soon
forget his quiet smile. "You've got it bad, haven't you?" 'Twas
all he said, but you should have heard the touch of infinite pity
in his tone. Yes, I have got it bad, I know, but to-morrow we
shall escape from this old curiosity shop forever.
The fire-bell rang just after we retired, and from eleven o'clock
until now (two this afternoon--fifteen hours) a disastrous
conflagration has raged, often threatening to consume the entire
settlement; indeed, nothing could have saved it but the splendid
conduct of the 74th Highlanders. They were everywhere, and fought
the fire the whole night long. The singers of the morning were the
intrepid firemen of that tempestuous night. It was only by blowing
up row after row of buildings that the flames were confined to one
district. I saw the brave fellows march into the buildings upon
the edge of the swirling flames to lay the fuse. A moment after
their return the bugle would sound; then came the explosion, and
the men were off to another building to repeat the work. All was
done by bugle call, with military precision. Ten thousand times
more "glory" in this march to save than in all the charge at
Balaklava. Had equal pluck been shown on the field of battle, the
flag of that splendid regiment would have blazoned with another
war-cry. Let them place this record on their banners, instead of
the name of a city destroyed: December 25th, 1878. Hong Kong
_Saved!_ They have no prouder triumph to commemorate, even in
their glorious history.
I have not yet mentioned that slavery, in its mildest form, exists
in China; but the children of a slave are free, and custom, which
is all-powerful there, requires a master to give up his servant if
the latter can repay the amount originally paid for him; and those
who own a woman-servant are expected to provide a husband for her
when she becomes of age. The purchase of boys and girls is, as a
rule, confined to those who wish in this way to be provided with
servants who shall become part of the household and can be relied
upon. In no case can a master or mistress require a slave to
engage in any disreputable calling unless the purpose for which
the sale is made is clearly set forth, in which event the cost is
fully doubled. Without special provisions in the bill of sale, it
is understood that the servant is to perform a servant's ordinary
duties and to be fairly treated, and to be required to do no wrong
thing.
The firing of firecrackers caused me to speak to our boatman one
day, as I was annoyed by the noise, having always had a dislike
for sudden explosions. "Why don't you worship something good and
beautiful," I said; "some god that would detest such things as
firecrackers?" "So we do," said he, "in our hearts, but this is
not worship; it is sacrifice to the bad gods, so they will be
pleased and do one no harm." "But won't the good god be displeased
and do you harm?" "No, the good god would never harm any one." His
words were, as near as I can recollect them, "He no do badee; no
can; always likee he; much goodee; by-by kill bad Jossee may be;"
and so they go, good lord, good devil; no saying into whose hands
one may fall, as the sailor had it. I gave it up, as the business
woman came on board and took command, the husband going off to his
work elsewhere. This woman Susan--Black-eyed Susan, as we have
dubbed her--and her bright young sister-in-law continue to
interest us more and more, they are such active, intelligent
women. The girl is ornamented with bangles and heavy anklets, and
her earrings are of blue-bird feathers; her hair is banged, and
everything about her evinces the care of really good, respectable
people. I told Susan if I were a boatman I should try hard to save
money enough to buy her sister-in-law, and asked her price. "No
sellee you; sellee goodee Chinaman two hundred dollars." This was
said as a great boast, as the ordinary price for one in her
station is only ninety dollars. Our guide turned up his lip in
scorn and whispered to me, "She talkee with mouthee too muchee;
ninety dollar plenty." Perhaps he had his eye upon the maid for
his son. If so, I put in a good word for her, telling him I was
reputed one of the best judges of young ladies in America, that I
could tell their qualities at a glance, and that it was certain
she would make an excellent wife; and, what I thought would weigh
as much with him, I added that for a business woman who could
please travellers and get lots of money I did not believe she had
her equal in Canton. One always likes to help on a match when he
can, and something may come of this; who knows?
I wish to bear my testimony to the grand work which is going
forward at various places in China by means of the medical
departments of missions. There are fourteen hospitals of this kind
in the country, and patients from all parts flock to them. In
diseases of the eye unusual success seems to have been achieved,
and stories are told of mandarins almost blind who have been
restored to sight; and in dealing with cutaneous disorders, which
are very common, the doctors have also done wonders. A small
mission hospital established in the Island of Formosa only a few
years ago has already treated ten thousand patients, and I am
informed that the Canton establishment numbers its beneficiaries
by the hundred thousand. Whatever objection the people make to
missionaries, doctors are ever welcome, and regarded as
benefactors. Nor must we forget that the entire credit of this
indisputably grand work is wholly due to those who consider it a
sacred duty to endeavor to force their religious views upon the
consideration of the Chinese. One can hardly find terms strong
enough to speak fitly of the good missions are performing in this
department of their labors; and while upon this subject we should
remember that it is also to missionaries alone we owe almost all
we know of China and its literature. Even Confucius was given to
the world in English by a missionary. I take special pleasure in
saying all I justly can for those who are so universally decried
throughout the East. With scarcely an exception--indeed I do not
remember one--every European or American engaged in the East
speaks disparagingly of missionaries and their labors. I believe,
myself, that trying to force religious views upon those who only
tolerate them because the cannon stands behind ready to support
the preaching is not the better way, and that many more converts
would be made by "the word spoken in season" by ministers of the
European congregations now scattered throughout the East, and by
doctors and others with whom the natives are daily brought in
contact, if the paid propaganda were withdrawn; but this should
not prevent us from crediting the missionaries with the collateral
advantages which are now flowing from another branch of their
efforts. They are on the right track now; the M.D. is the best
pioneer of the D.D. There is another powerful lever at work in the
_Herald_, a weekly paper published in Shanghai and
distributed throughout the Empire. It is obtaining an immense
circulation. It gives each week an epitome of the most important
events occurring in every country, and America, I saw, headed the
list. A Mr. Allen, formerly connected with missions, is the
publisher, and he is probably doing more to revolutionize China
than all others combined.
China, as everybody knows, grows a great deal of tea, but few are
aware how great a proportion of this indispensable article she
produces, and how much of it she uses herself. Here are the
figures I see printed: Total production of the world, 1,300,000
net tons; China's portion, 1,150,000 tons, being about nine times
more than all the world beside. But what is more wonderful is that
China uses 1,000,000 tons per annum, and exports only 150,000
tons. But every one in China, upon all occasions, partakes of the
cup which cheers and does not inebriate. Neither sugar nor cream
is used in it; a little tea is placed in the cup and boiling water
poured over it and it is drunk immediately. The strength of the
tea is drawn in a few moments after the water is poured upon it.
The coloring matter leaves it later. It is therefore a great
mistake to use a teapot and allow tea to remain in it, and equally
to use either sugar or cream--at least such is the verdict of
those here who should know best. We quite agreed with them, and
recommend our readers to try the Chinese plan, always provided
they are so fortunate as to have a good sound article of pleasant
flavor. With most of the tea found in England, and especially so
with that generally used in America, the sugar and cream are no
doubt necessary to drown the "twang." A Chinaman would put this
practice on a par with putting sugar in Chateau Lafitte. Tea is
the wine of the Celestial. A mandarin will "talk" it to you as a
gourmet talks wine with us; dilate upon its quality and flavor,
for the grades are innumerable, and taste and sip and sip and
taste as your winebibber does--and smack his lips too. We are told
of teas so delicate in flavor that fifty miles of transportation
spoils them.
It is popularly supposed that a small-footed woman must be one of
rank, but this is an error. It is a matter of family ambition,
even among the poor, to have in the family at least one such
deformity. Gentlemen marry only small-footed women, and their
child might make a good match. If large-footed, this would be
impossible; but such hopes are sometimes doomed to disappointment,
or after marriage reverses may ensue; and so it happens that many
small feet stamp about in poverty and try to eke out a living
under disadvantages from which their less genteel neighbors are
free. The most remarkable feature in the streets is the total
absence of women of any class except such as drudge alongside of
men, and even these are not numerous, for man appears to
monopolize most of the work, at least in the cities. Occasionally
we pass a sedan chair, or one passes us, closely covered up, which
no doubt contains a lady of position compelled to visit some
temple or relative; but I do not recall seeing in China any woman
in a costume above that of the working classes, so jealously do
Chinamen sentence their ladies to seclusion. A curious
illustration of this occurred on our passage out. On our ship was
one of the leading Chinese merchants of San Francisco with his
wife. Rather than have her seen, even among the few cabin
passengers, he engaged a portion of the steerage, had it closely
boarded up and confined her in it, and she was never seen by any
of us during the entire voyage. He and she took their meals
together in the box. It was said that now and then at night she
was carried secretly on deck for a breath of air; of course with
her small feet she could not walk.
The steerage had to be fumigated at intervals and every soul was
ordered on deck before the process began. This necessity had
evidently not been taken into account by the exclusives, and much
difficulty did our good doctor encounter with them. The husband
declared that rather than be exposed to the gaze of the crowd, his
wife would run the risk of being fumigated to death. The operation
was postponed until a small cabin could be provided and the veiled
beauty taken secretly to it.
A Chinese woman in China would hold it disgraceful to expose her
face to a strange man. Queen Victoria, sober, sage matron and pink
of propriety as she is reputed, would not consider a lady properly
dressed for her levee--where the more strange men to gaze the
better--who did not expose her face and neck and shoulders to full
view. Education, my boy, education! all things right and all
things wrong within a very wide range of affairs. Chinese women
pinch the feet, ours pinch the waist, and each pities the other
for their woeful lack of knowledge and their wickedness in marring
God's image--and for their bad taste, which is, I fear, equally
heinous to the female mind.
Our visit to the Celestial Empire is now at an end. We sail at
noon by the French mail steamer Pie Ho for Singapore, fourteen
hundred miles south. The more we see of China the greater it
grows. A country much larger than the United States, with eight
times the population, and not one mile of telegraph or railroad in
it, in many districts not even one mile of public road broad
enough for anything wider than a wheelbarrow--and yet a reading
and writing people, a race of acknowledged mental power, with a
form of settled government the oldest in the world--how
inconsistent all this seems to us! But the reason for this
paradoxical condition of affairs is, I think, that the unequalled
resources of the country, which give to the people every necessary
of life and almost every luxury, encouraged them in early days to
eschew intercourse with the poorer lands around them, and then
their superiority as a race to all their neighbors led them quite
justifiably to conclude that all beyond were outside barbarians.
They rested content with the advanced position attained, and as
each successive generation copied the past, change became foreign
to their whole nature, and in this path they have stubbornly
persisted until the once inferior races of the West have far
outstripped them. Among these outside barbarians must be ranked
our noble selves, for it isn't one thousand years, let alone two,
since our ancestors were running about dressed in skins and eating
raw flesh--perhaps eating each other, as some allege--as ignorant
of their A B C's as of the theory of evolution or the nebular
hypothesis, when these Chinese were printing books and sailing
ships by the compass. If my English readers will not be too
greatly startled at the illustration, I will suggest that the
conduct of China and its results suggest a danger for them which
their statesmen should not be slow to perceive and remedy. England
once stood as much in advance of other Western nations as China
did in comparison with other lands, and she has apparently rested
till now with equal complacency in the belief of her superiority.
It is fast passing away. The English-speaking race throughout the
world no longer looks to the parent land for political guidance,
for instance, where Britain once reigned supreme. What English-
speaking community would now study her antiquated political
devices, her throne, her church and state, her primogeniture and
entail, her hereditary chamber, unequal representation, or lack of
representation rather, except that they might surely learn how to
avoid them! Over the day when all English-speaking people turned
instinctively to my native land for political example "Ichabod"
must be written. They now look elsewhere, follow other ideals, and
have adopted other ideas of government and the rights of man.
It is not too late yet, however, for England to regain her proper
place in the race if she will only wake up, rub her dear old eyes,
and see what the youngsters are about. "There is life in the old
dog yet." The world is not done with the glorious little island,
nor the island done with the world either. But no nation can
indulge in a very long sleep in these days of progress the world
over. England must remember,
"_To have done_, is to hang
Quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail
In monumental mockery."
Recent events have undoubtedly awakened the foremost minds of
China to the fact that they have been asleep, not twenty years
only like our Rip, but twenty generations. They have recently
begun to build steamships, a line of telegraph is authorized,
postage stamps are being printed, and, best of all, for our
comfort, at the principal cities there is generally at least one
dealer who adheres to fixed prices for his goods. A daily paper is
now published in Chinese at Shanghai, and the English school there
is well patronized. All these things convince me that at last
Western civilization is making an impression. The inert mass
begins to move, and China will march forward ere long. The most
convincing proof of this is found, perhaps, in the fact that the
government appropriated in 1872 nearly two millions of dollars to
maintain a hundred and fifty students in the United States. These
are to be educated in our colleges and afterward employed
officially at home. No action could prove more conclusively that
China is at last awakening from her long centuries of repose.
But without railroads the material resources of the country can
never be thoroughly developed. I fear this will be among the last
features of our civilization which China will adopt, although the
most important for her progress, because, as before mentioned, a
railway cannot be built without desecrating graves by the
thousand, and this every true Chinaman would view with horror. Our
guide, although a remarkably intelligent man, and favorable to
improvements of all kinds, took his stand here, inflexibly
opposing the introduction of railways. No matter what material
advantages might accrue, nor how much money he might be offered,
no earthly consideration would induce him to disturb his
ancestors, who have lain in one place in uninterrupted succession
for nearly seven hundred years. If my friends Messrs. Garrison,
Field and Pullman, who have so skilfully managed to give us
elevated railroads without disturbing proprietary rights below,
wish to enhance their fame, let them ask a concession in the
Celestial Empire for railroads "topside," guaranteed to dodge
every grave, and I do not doubt their success. Such inborn
superstition as is here depicted dies hard, but it must pass away
with the spread of knowledge; it will, however, take time.
Nevertheless, China has a great future before it, as it has had a
great past, and instead of having passed her climacteric, I
predict that she is destined to reach a position of paramount
importance in the Eastern world.
* * * * *
TUESDAY, December 26.
The Pie Ho is a magnificent ship, and we are delighted at getting
under the auspices of a French cook once more, after the
experiences we have had in Chinese cookery. No doubt about the
preëminence of the French in regard to human food. Whoever sends
the raw material, the French send the cooks. The _table
d'hôte_, now common in England at the hotels, and the French
service found in private houses, all so very different from the
practice even since I began to revisit England, show how rapidly
the world is bowing to the French cuisine.
We are scudding along before the monsoon, the temperature that of
June, an agreeable change from Hong Kong, where the nights have been
chilly. We are out of the region of cold weather now for the
remainder of our travels. We reached Saigon, the capital of the
French settlement in Cochin China, at six this morning, after
sailing forty miles up a branch of the Cambodia. Lower Cochin China
belongs to France, and is under the rule of a colonial governor,
French troops being scattered through the provinces. It is a
low-lying district, celebrated only for growing more rice than any
other part of the world. Our ship took on large quantities of it for
France, but this is exceptional, the scarcity of freights being
everywhere so great that steamers are glad to get anything to carry.
The Saigonites are the lowest specimens of humanity we have yet
seen--miserable, sickly-looking creatures, and without the faintest
regard for cleanliness. Their long, coarse black hair hangs over
their shoulders in thick, tangled masses which apparently have never
known a comb. Every one chews the betel-nut without intermission,
young and old alike, and this so discolors the teeth and mouth as to
render them extremely disgusting. We drove about the town for a few
hours, but it was so hot we were compelled to return to the ship.
This is the God-forsaken-looking region about which France is now
disputing with China. I cannot but wish that every deputy had been
with me during the few days of my visit, that he might see what kind
of a land and what sort of human beings his country expected to
derive credit from by superintending.
What I have said previous to the foregoing paragraph was written on
the spot, and therefore I cannot be accused of being prejudiced by the
recent action of France, which has caused me, as its well-wisher,
much sincere regret. Any power acquired by France over this portion
of the world can be but illusory--wholly so. The importance even of
Saigon is so small that it offers no inducement to any of the
regular steamers to call as they pass. The French line alone visits
it under a subvention from the home government. A few poor French
people manage to exist after a fashion by trading with the ignorant
natives, and a few soldiers and a ship- of-war give some semblance
of French authority. But just as certain as the sun shines, should
any considerable commerce arise in Cochin China, the English will
absorb nine-tenths of it, and this by a law from which there is no
escape.
When the French people forced the government to withdraw from
Egypt they gave us reason to hope that Herbert Spencer's law,
which creates pacific principles in proportion that power is held
by the masses, had received a significant vindication. Let us hope
the republican element will ere long put its veto upon foolish
interference in Tonquin.
The night we spent at Saigon the French governor gave a grand
ball, five hundred invitations; but out of all this number how
many ladies, think you? Society here musters but thirty-five,
mammas and grandmammas included, and only three young ladies.
Think of it, ye belles of Cresson, Newport and Saratoga (Cresson
first, Mr. Printer, is quite correct)! fifteen officers in
dazzling uniforms for every lady!
We have on board several English merchants and one American, who
are taking a run home for a visit. The latter regrets that his
countrymen should be induced to drink green tea abominations, and
I console him by stating that a reform is surely near at hand.
These gentlemen agree that the American cotton goods are taking
the market and driving the adulterated English goods out. The
trade is increasing so fast that it was welcome intelligence for
them to be advised by the last mail that another large mill in
Massachusetts was being altered to make exclusively Chinese goods.
I congratulate my friend Edward Atkinson upon this result. But is
this new business to be permanent? I think not. The day is far
distant, I hope, when either labor or capital in America will have
to be content with the return obtained in a populous country like
Britain; and unless we have superior natural advantages we cannot
hope to compete with her. In cotton manufacture for the East we
have not any advantage, as I find that the cheapest way of
reaching China from New York is to ship via London. England can
bring the raw cotton from New Orleans or New York, and send the
manufactured goods to market for certainly not more than the cost
of transportation from the American mills to market, and therefore
England can retain that trade whenever she adopts the latest
improvements in mode of manufacture; and this she is as certain to
do as the sun shines, and probably to improve upon them.
* * * * *