m a definite set in China.[98] There is in Peking a
"Returned Students' Club," a charming place. It is customary among
Europeans to speak ill of returned students, but for no good reason.
There are occasionally disagreements between different sections; in
particular, those who have been only to Japan are not regarded quite as
equals by those who have been to Europe or America. My impression was
that America puts a more definite stamp upon a student than any other
country; certainly those returning from England are less Anglicized than
those returning from the United States are Americanized. To the Chinaman
who wishes to be modern and up-to-date, skyscrapers and hustle seem
romantic, because they are so unlike his home. The old traditions which
conservative Europeans value are such a mushroom growth compared to
those of China (where authentic descendants of Confucius abound) that it
is useless to attempt that way of impressing the Chinese. One is
reminded of the conversation in _Eothen_ between the English country
gentleman and the Pasha, in which the Pasha praises England to the
refrain: "Buzz, buzz, all by steam; whir, whir, all on wheels," while
the Englishman keeps saying: "Tell the Pasha that the British yeoman is
still, thank God, the British yeoman."

Although the educational work of the Americans in China is on the whole
admirable, nothing directed by foreigners can adequately satisfy the
needs of the country. The Chinese have a civilization and a national
temperament in many ways superior to those of white men. A few Europeans
ultimately discover this, but Americans never do. They remain always
missionaries--not of Christianity, though they often think that is what
they are preaching, but of Americanism. What is Americanism? "Clean
living, clean thinking, and pep," I think an American would reply. This
means, in practice, the substitution of tidiness for art, cleanliness
for beauty, moralizing for philosophy, prostitutes for concubines (as
being easier to conceal), and a general air of being fearfully busy for
the leisurely calm of the traditional Chinese. Voltaire--that hardened
old cynic--laid it down that the true ends of life are "_aimer et
penser_." Both are common in China, but neither is compatible with
"pep." The American influence, therefore, inevitably tends to eliminate
both. If it prevailed it would, no doubt, by means of hygiene, save the
lives of many Chinamen, but would at the same time make them n