ntly burning day and night. The
most famous temple in the city is that of the Five Hundred Gods,
containing that number of gilded statues of Buddhist sages, apostles,
and deified warriors. In some of these sacred structures composed of
shrines and miniature temples, among other seeming absurdities we see a
number of sacred hogs wallowing in their filth. Disgusting as it appears
to an intelligent Christian, it has its palliating features. The Parsee
worships fire, the Japanese bows before snakes and foxes, the Hindoo
deifies cows and monkeys; why, then, should not the Chinese have their
swine as objects of veneration? We may destroy the idols, but let us not
be too hard upon the idolaters; they do as well as they know. The idol
is the measure of the worshipper. The punishment of crime is swift and
sure, the number of persons beheaded annually being almost incredible.
Friday is the day for clearing the crowded prison at Canton, and it is
not uncommon on that occasion to see a dozen criminals beheaded in the
prison yard in eight minutes, one sweeping blow of the executioner's
sword decapitating each human body as it stands erect and blindfolded.

One is jostled in the narrow ways by staggering coolies with buckets of
the vilest contents, and importuned for money by beggars who thrust
their deformed limbs in his face. It is but natural to fear contagion of
some sort from contact with such creatures, and yet the crowd is so
dense that it is impossible to entirely avoid them. Under foot the
streets are wet, muddy, and slippery. Why some deadly disease does not
break out and sweep away the people is a mystery.

Philanthropic societies are numerous in the cities of China. Indeed,
they are hardly excelled by those of America or Europe. They embrace
well-organized orphan asylums, institutions for the relief of indigent
widows with families, homes for the aged and infirm, public hospitals,
and free schools in every district. As is the case with ourselves, some
of these are purely governmental charities, while others are supported
by liberal endowments left by deceased citizens. There are depots
established to dispense medicines among the poor, and others whence
clothing is distributed free of cost. It must be remembered that these
societies and organizations are not copied from Western models. They
have existed here from time immemorial.

No one has ever been able to trace any affinity between the Chinese
language and that of an