'My dear Lovett,--Though I acknowledged receipt of your last
welcome epistle, I am aware I owe you a return, and here it is ...
I have thought that perhaps an account of how a Sabbath goes in
Peking might not be uninteresting, and I'll just confine myself to
to-day. Well, this morning, on getting up, I found my stove was
out. This is a very unusual thing, but it just happens once, say,
in three weeks. The thermometer was about 5 deg. The first thing after
getting dressed was not to call my servant, as you might suppose,
but to go in quest of letters. A mail had come in the night before,
but I had returned home too late last night to see it. So I went
over to Dr. Dudgeon's house before he was up, prowled about till I
found the mail, but there was nothing for me. I returned to my cold
room, and was there till the breakfast-bell rang. I board with
Edkins, and to go there is a pleasant break in the monotony.

'On coming back to my quarters I found the room full of smoke,
doors and windows open, my boy on his knees fussing about the
stove, and saying, _Moo too poo shing_--"the wood won't do." I saw
at once that that would not do for me, so I buttoned up my coat and
went out on to the great street for a walk. The street on which we
live, the Ha Ta Mun (great street), runs north and south, and a
cold wind was blowing down the road, carrying clouds of dust with
it. Through the dust, however, were visible the paraphernalia of
two funerals, one going north, the other going south. They met just
opposite our place. That going south was much the grander of the
two, and had a long procession of people carrying emblematical
devices, honorific umbrellas, drums, gongs, and musical
instruments. Ever and anon a man took quantities of paper discs
with square holes cut in the centre and scattered them to the north
wind. The papers are supposed to represent cash, and were scrambled
for eagerly by the urchins, though they could be valuable only as
waste paper. In the procession also was carried the chair in which
the deceased used to ride, his mule cart also figured conspicuous,
and then came the mourners.

'As you know, mourning garb in China is _white_, and I noticed that
some of the mourners had adopted a neat device. All Chinamen who
can afford to be warm in wi