, a knife and fork lay beside the chop-sticks, and last but not
least, the Mandarin, to add to our pleasure, ordered his servants to
bring out the gramophone, which during dinner poured forth a selection
of London street songs and Chinese theatrical music. Conversation was
drowned, and we were able the more to observe. In place of
scroll-decorated walls, brilliant paper met our gaze at every turn,
white enamel basins and bowls replaced all the flowered china on which
we had lavished so much admiration. After dinner we were not offered the
water pipe, but cigarettes, all expressing surprise that we could refuse
so foreign an indulgence. The Chinese proverb to the effect that "A
wayfarer does not repair the inn nor the Mandarin his official
residence," was for once in fault--the workmen had been busy! We spent
a very pleasant hour with the family after dinner, receiving as on
former occasions the utmost kindness and courtesy.

The classical writings of Mencius were for a time excluded from the
schools as teaching reverence for kings and rulers, a doctrine not to be
tolerated in the most republican of republics.

The friendly attitude of some of the leaders of the revolutionary
movement towards Christianity lent colour to a widely spread impression
that republican government necessitated a change of religion. Some
favoured the Protestant, some the Roman Catholic Church, others
preferred the "No-god society," which gained many adherents as being
more modern.

Even the Church was affected by the prevailing craze, and the wearing of
the queue and non-observance of innovations was regarded as sin by the
ignorant and superstitious. I heard a new convert warned by a Church
member that sickness in his home might well be due to his rooted
objection to calendar changes.

This attitude of mind, happily for us, lasted only a few months, but it
was followed by another serious danger when the question of introducing
the Confucian Ethical Code as a state religion was brought forward. This
would have imposed limitations on Christians, Mohammedans, and others,
the alternative suggestion being that Christianity should be given this
status, in which some saw far greater perils. Meetings of the Chinese
Protestant Church forwarded petitions to the Central Government,
protesting against both proposals and craving only religious liberty,
and the danger was averted.

The habit of revolution is a pernicious disease of the human mind, and
on