New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-08-30
THE CHINESE BANQUET
T FANEUIL HAIL.
Speeches by Burlingame, Chas. Sumner, Caleb
Cushing, and Poem by Dr. Holiness

On Friday 1885 tho sh1aesO S""1SsJ NAV
a reception in Faneuil Hall by the city of
Boston. In the morning there was ban
quet and speeches.
All the appointments were superb. OF
the decorations at Faneuil Hall the Post
says: T.e
Over the door was the word "Welcome,"
and on the left 'Occident," surrounded by
the American flag, and on the right
"Orient,n with the Chinese flag above 1t.
From the centre of the ceiling radiated red,
white, and blue bunting to the tops of the
pillars supporting the galleries while
among the bunting, at right angles to each
other, were the American, English, French,
and Russian flags. e.,
At the banquet Hall.
As the visitor entered the hotel and
reached the hall, he was met by the spec
tacle OF pyramid Of flowers, erected with
consummate taste by Mr.. Calvin, the City
Forester. Blossom and leaf, bud and foliage
were magnifcently intertwined and COM
bined.
The table presented magnificent ap-
pearance. 1t was simply the perfection OF
elegance, rarity, abundance. They were
loaded with all procnrable luxuries from
the four quarters of the globe. The orna-
ments were an achievement. First OF ell
were flowers in all the beauty of their native
splendor and in all the splendor of their
native beauty. Then came the ornaments
of the cuisine. These were ingenious, eie-
giant and appropriate. Part we're Chinese
in design and significance, and part what
might be called American while all were
very excellent They gave to the cloth
most grateful touch and added richness to
the general effect. An interesting feature
of the ornaments were pagodas OF the
Chinese style.
OF the guests 1t is said F.;
In the centre was Mayor Shurtleff, who
presided. On bis right were Mr.. Burlin-
game, the head OF the embassy, Governor
Bullock, Teh, one of tbe Chinese interpre-
tiers of English; Senator Charles Sumner,
Hon. Caleb Gushing, General McDougal,
Commodore Rogers, of the Cbarlestown
Navy Yard and Charles G.. Nazro, Presi-
dent of the Board of Trade. On the left
were Chih-Taien, j. McLeury Brown, First
Secretary of Legation; Sun-Tajen, E. De
Champs, Second Secretary of Legation;
Fung, Chinese interpreter Of English;
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Rev. Dr. Putnam,
and E. P. Whipple. Immediately in front
of the table of the chief guests were Lein
and ling, interpreters Of French; and OPP
posite were Ewing and Tab, interpreters of
Russian Distributed about in various
parts Of the hall were General Banks, Hon.
George S. Boutwell, Hon. John Wentworth
| Commonly called "Long John, y Rev. DR..
Hill, President of Harvard College, Hon.
George S. Hillard."
Mr., BurIlnwame's Speech.
Events are more eloquent than words.
The presence here of my associates with
the sunshine of the orient upon their faces,
and the warmth of its ares in their hearts,
arouses more emotion than the most elo-
quent tongue can express. (Applause.)
| The land of Washington has greeted the
land of Confucius. applause, and cries
of "good.'l The great thoughts of the
| one have been welded to the great deeds of
| the other. Nothing can be more impress
| sive than the facts themselves The i'm
perial and republican seals have been
| placed side by side upon a great bond of
friendship forever. (Applause.") In the
presence of this majestic fact, the members
| of this embassy would be glad to rest and
be silent Butsilence you will not have; and
| there is no rest for mortals save in the grave.
Breaking the silence (which you demand
permit me in the first place to seize the
thought expressed by yourself where you
say that the physical condition of China is
like unto the physical condition of the
United States. That is true. China lies
along the Pacific as the United States lie
along the Atlantic. 1t has, as you say, the
same area; 1t has the same isothermal lines,
| it has the same system of rivers and noun
tains, or like system. The great river
| Yahgtse-K iang empties to bucketfui the
same amount of water as the Mississippi
river. The distant plains Of Mongolia an
swer to the great prairies of the Northwest.
But they are not only Ike INTO each other
in their physical aspects, hut they have like
| relations to each other in other
respects. They have like moral
relations. China is divided into provinces,
as this country is divided into States. They
hold to the great doctrine that the people
are the source of power, You vote by
ballot; in China they vote by competitive
examination. You shout when your citizen
is elected they shout when their scholar
has received his degree. They are scorn-
full of caste, and so are you. You tolerate
every faith, and 80 do they. And you pro-
coed to make law BY petition, and they
proceed by memorial. This memorial Is
recoded it is passed to the great council,
and, If 1t is approved by the government,
1t is handed over to the great secretariat,
and, if it shall find 1t agreeable to the laws,
that secretaFiat ID charged with its publica-
ton to the world. So that in China Is a
system not OF caprice, but 1t is q system Of
lava. So, also, they are like unto us come.
what in their school system. II is volun,
tary: They pay great attention to theil
scholars. They hold the office Of teacher
to be the highest lin the world. A greal
man of the Tsnngli Yamen, to-day, one o.
the greatest, perhaps the greatest scholar
there, lung Tajen, who made translation
Of Wheaton's International Law, and tool
from Mr.. Wade. the British Secretary d
the Legation, q translation which be made
Of Longfellow's : Psalm of LiFe.s the firsi
secular poem ever translated into the Chi
nese, aud placed it on fan, and sent ii b1
my own hand to the great poet, that fac
leading to q correspondence between these
| illustrioua men--I cay, Tung Tajen makes
il ever bis boast, in the Tsungli Yamen
that he was poor school teacher.
But however great msy be the physiea
resemblance, however many resemblance
may be found In other respects between
them and tbs natione Of the West; 1t Is ye
certain that we have much 10 learn from
! them. and they have much 70 learn from
us. We have to learn lrom them "a rea
pect old age; we have to leaFn from cher
sohriety; We have 70 learn from them goei
| manners; we have to Learn from d3sa
habits Of scholarship; we have 10 iearl
! from them how to cultivate Rsh; we hay
J / to learn from them much Ia relation /
agriculture; We have to learn from thss