of speech and criticism are
allowed to the extreme limit, and people are liable to be annoyed by
slanders and libels without much chance of obtaining satisfaction;
there you will see women wearing "Merry Widow" hats who are not widows
but spinsters, or married women whose husbands are very much alive, and
the hats in many cases are as large as three feet in diameter;[3] there
you may travel by rail most comfortably on palace cars, and at night
you may sleep on Pullman cars, to find in the morning that a young lady
has been sleeping in the berth above your bed. The people are most
ingenious in that they can float a company and water the stock without
using a drop of fluid; there are bears and bulls in the Stock Exchange,
but you do not see these animals fight, although they roar and yell
loudly enough. It is certainly a most extraordinary country. The
people are wonderful and are most interesting and instructive to the
Chinese.

Such a race should certainly be very interesting to study. During my
two missions to America where I resided nearly eight years, repeated
requests were made that I should write my observations and impressions
of America. I did not feel justified in doing so for several reasons:
first, I could not find time for such a task amidst my official duties;
secondly, although I had been travelling through many sections of the
country, and had come in contact officially and socially with many
classes of people, still there might be some features of the country
and some traits of the people which had escaped my attention; and
thirdly, though I had seen much in America to arouse my admiration, I
felt that here and there, there was room for improvement, and to be
compelled to criticize people who had been generous, courteous, and
kind was something I did not wish to do. In answer to my scruples I
was told that I was not expected to write about America in a partial or
unfair manner, but to state impressions of the land just as I had found
it. A lady friend, for whose opinion I have the highest respect, said
in effect, "We want you to write about our country and to speak of our
people in an impartial and candid way; we do not want you to bestow
praise where it is undeserved; and when you find anything deserving of
criticism or condemnation you should not hesitate to mention it, for we
like our faults to be pointed out that we may reform." I admit the
soundness of my friend's argument. It shows the broa