The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-07-01
events have compelled the present write

NGilIS llttN . SpLllticAItu lllc pLtotllL "ItlSA
to study the Chinese and 10 form de-
finite opinion as to their characteristics.
We believe them to be q, people Of great
original strength, formed at a very early
period by the supermposition of a rather
thin film of white Aryans upon an ''aboris-
inal' race-in other words, a race we
know nothing about except that it was not
Aryan-which accepted from teachers of
whose names only a few survive lessons
which produced q civilization that in the
course Of 4 few generations penetrated to
the bottom, and became in reality a re-
liglon, the only one which a singularly
earthly people ever sincerely embraced. 1t
became to them what Responsibility is
to many of us English, the final rule OF
conduct, the solvent Of IDEALS the one test
to be applied to every new proposal, effort
to advance, Or novelty in circumstance. TO
the Chinese mind II is incapable OF i'm
p:ovement. the one thing to be reveEenced.
the one system which must never be aban-
doned or seriously changed. 1t probably
might have produced a better people but
that with this civilization, perhaps as
result of it, certainly following it speedily
IN order of time, came the naster-curse of
China, a congestion Of population so ter
rble that it compelled the whole popula-
ton to postpone everything, especially re-
Election and the nobler qualities, 70 a con-
tinuous struggle for the means of exist
ence as interpreted by people IN Waon
the desire for comfort and personal happl-
ness is as strong as in any European race
The result was a nation of countless mil
lions OF self-seekers, in whom passive en-
durance OF evil circumstances became the
first and most necessary quality, industry
a universal disease, the conscience an
atrophted entity. and all ideals subject to
postponement in presence of the immediate
necessity of the hour. Left by their his
tory without an aristocracy, they turned
for guidance to those who knew. as they
thought, the principles Of their ctvihZa-
ton and these men, selfish as the com
monalty, without link with the past or hope
of a future. used their elevation for per-
sonal advancement. Like the Roman
mobiles of the declining Empire as painted
in Mr.. Dll's remarkable work. they mis-
took criticism for culture. and craved
above all things for official rank and the
protection which wealth afforded them So
cety began to rot. and the degradation
was accelerated by an Eruption of bar
barians from the steppes precisely akin to
the Turks, but with no antiseptfc in Mo-
hommedanism VINO We're absorbed and
partly lost in the huge mass OF the ciVtli-
zation below them, but who brought to II
no new or nobler quality, and infused into
it q faint of their own fer0city. The mod
ern Chinaman is, therefore, the most self
only a conscience. disinclined to fight be-
cause he thinks of himself first. and utter
~ cOrruptible because money is to him
tho supreme protection, but nevertheless
strong man with a clear head for affairs,
and with strong faith though It IS in his
civilization, and not in any creed. His
most earnest hatred IS neither for the bad
nor the good, but for all who threaten or
who despise that civilization, among whom
ne reckons, nor without reason, all foreign
ers, especially the English and the Rus
slams. He fears both these. wishes i'll TO
both, and, if it were convenient. would in
fct on them mortal injury. This conven-
fence is, however. mis- first care, and 1t is
probable that though they are brave men.
the first leader who will make good
Chinese soldiers is the leader who will in
tiict torture for cowardice- 1t is their
knowledge of this reasoning selfshness in
their cOuntrymen which has made Chinese
lawgivers. who are callous like the rest
so fendlshly cruel. They try to overcome
passive resistance by intiicting unendura-
bic pain. In the ordinary details of life the
Chinaman is kindly, he is the most siren
uOus Of workers, because if he were not
the awful crowdng would crush him, and
as upright as q constituencies man of
clear brain ever is When cheating would
diminish business he never cheats. He is
the most accomplished liar in the world,
but he does rot love lying does not think
of it, rs a Hlndoo does, as a peasurablc
intellectual exercise, but lies exactly up
10 the point where, as his native shrewd-
ness tells him, lying is convenient for his
interests He is boastful as a Frenchman
is because he believes his civilization per-
feet. and being an Aslatic, and without
anything to measure himself by except
himself. his boastfulness is srandiose, and
to Europeans comic. This is not a petty
picture but it must be studied by the light
OF a concluding sentence which we believe
every experienced missionary or accom-
plshed Snologue will endorse. There is
in almost every Chinaman something i'm I
ponderable, unaccountable, not to be recll- |
oned with. which impels him TO actions !
which do not seem to rise out of his char |.
acter. He will on rare occasions suppress !
his enlightened seifishness" for a mo- |
ment, and then he is for that moment |
different man. What happens TO him no |
body knows. but it is because it does oc- |
casionally happen that those who know |
him best reject the theory that he is |
separate creation, in making whom the |,
soul had been forgotten or misIail.-The !
Spectator.
The largest carpet in the world is in J
,EI-t,