Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1905-02-23

peak is never visable is in plain
view. The various tinted spots and
streaks at its apex, the streak OF
blue encircling it,. the perfect color
Of the sky In the background are i'm.
comparable. Any artist would rave
over il. The suns rays rejecting
in the phosphorescent water OF Ma
Mia Bay cause streaks OF various
shades TO spring forth. Perhaps
some of you have seen Q sunset in
the the Rocky Mountains? II so,
well il is an excellent comparison.
The sky after the glorious. sun has
sunk from view behind the horizon
still sheds streaks Of rich sparkling
color On the clouds. The mountain
gradually grows darker and the
streak OF blue encircling Ii fades
away. The sky loses its color OF
gold and leaves nothing but dark
clear shade of orange. The noun.
tain shows up perfectly with this
shade in the background. Presen-
tly that also fades from sight and
the twinkling stars sparkle every
where. The heavens seems like one
large diamond brooch. The even
ing star sinks slowly behind the
horizon. In tho morning the far
famed Southern Cross is plainly visi-
BILE. This Is a much noted forma-
tion in the Starry Kingdom. IL
has four stars which resemble q
cross, and can only be seen in south
ern countries.
To watch the stars twinkle here
is something wonderful; quite fre-
quently one will shoot clear across
the vast expanse Of the sky and
sometimes you could almost say you
saw where it fell. The moon | be-.
lieve never ceases to pour forth its
flood OF light. Every night since
have been here its glorious rays
pour forth brilliantly and the night
is almost like the day. 1t seems to
be more powerful here than In our
own country, that is to say IL seems
that it is lighter here at night with
a I moon than in the States with q
full moon.
Chinese Literature.
Chinese literature is the most vol
luminous of literatures, besides be-
ing the most important in Asia. Its
reference is TO a nation whose his
tory is little known, especially y in au-
cient times. 1t shows the peculiari-
ties OF the people who for centuries
were unknown to the remainder Of
the world.
The birth OF their language is un.
known, but it is in all probability
the oldest language spoken to-day.
The alterations in the past centuries
are few ifany, which fact only serves
TO draw the contrast between Chi
nese andother languages. The pur-
est Chinese spoken Is at Nankin the
former capital Of the country also
in the Court and society. 80
One OF the differences existing be-
tween the written and the spoken
is this,-the written does not gen.
orally express the sounds of the
words. but the ideas OF object, con.
sequently- the alphabetical charac-
ters are ideographic aud not phone.
tic.
The Chinese language belongs to
the first branch in the "Classifics-
tion OF Languages''-the Monosyl-
Liable.
Their progress in Science has been
developed but little, still they have
some works of no mean value. Their
historical and geographical works
are interesting and probably the
most successful they have. China
has had more dynasties than any
other nation and every dynasty has
its Official record of events, and be-
ing the possessor of II histories
gives her q brilliant and accurate
account Of everything up TO the third
century Before Christ.
Their dramatic powershave never
attained any success. The 100
plays Of the Yueu Dynasty is the
most valuable. Some have been
translated into other languages and
played on foreign stages. THE Or
phsn Of China" which served as the
nucleus OF Voltaire's $ tragedy Of that
name is one Of the best. Chinese
are lovers Of historical as well Is
moral romances founded on reason
more than imagination. They are
more skilled in the details than the
conception OF the works.
Japanese Literature.
Japanese literature is classed
among the isolated languages. The
early centuries in Japan the written
and spoken languages were identica
but later on Il grew different. II