did not know.

As for writing, it is impossible. Even if unaided one did manage to
compose anything, it would be the work of a tyro and would never pass
muster with literary Chinese, while the penmanship would be laboured
and coarse, for the manner of holding the pen or brush is quite
different from our own, and if not acquired almost from infancy the
knack comes with difficulty when bones and sinews are more firmly
set.

With regard to mastering what is called the running character, which,
by way of illustration, may be said to correspond to our shorthand,
the thing is not to be thought of.

To apply a general test, no European would ever have the slightest
chance of passing even the lowest of the literary examinations.

One may well ask what is the reason of this inability to reach the
attainments of even a moderately well-educated Chinaman.

No European can give his whole time from earliest childhood to the
undivided study of Chinese, and even if he could, I very much question
if the unattractive nature of native literature would satisfy his more
versatile brain, while the absence of social intercourse between the
two races removes the greatest of all incentives to perseverance.

On the other hand, the Chinese are saturated with a hereditary
instinct for their own language and literature, which instinct,
besides assiduous cultivation for thousands of years, is fostered from
infancy by their surroundings, and is so exactly suited to their
patient, phlegmatic temperament that it comes to them as naturally as
the air they breathe, and even if unable to read but a few characters
in a phrase, they will arrive at the meaning as surely as a well-bred
hound will follow a trail.

And so it follows that although Europeans of most brilliant intellect
may devote long years and infinite labour to the study of Chinese,
lacking this native instinct, they can never attain to that ripened
and fluent knowledge which is a heritage of the Mongol race alone.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: MISSIONARIES.]

What to say anent missionaries?

In England alone the proselytising spirit is strong, and every parish
subscribes liberally to missionary funds in order that labourers in
the vineyard may not be wanting, and that the ends of the earth may
know the tidings of joy.

Most European residents in China are adverse to missionaries and
express their opinions with such vehemence as to generally obscure
criti