of justification by
works, and on these posters one could read the exact return made in this
world for an act of merit, apart, of course, from the reward that will
be reaped in Heaven. In a case like this it is usually arranged that for
"gifts amounting to a certain percentage of the sums ordinarily
authorised, subscribers may obtain brevet titles, posthumous titles,
decorations, buttons up to the second class, the grade of licentiate,
and brevet rank up to the rank of Colonel. Disgraced officials may apply
to have their rank restored. Nominal donations of clothes, if the money
value of the articles be presented instead, will entitle the givers to
similar honours."--_The Peking Gazette_, August 22, 1892.

In the centre of the green stands the hollow pillar in which Chinese
printed waste-paper is reverently burnt. "When letters were invented,"
the Chinese say, "Heaven rejoiced and Hell trembled." "Reverence the
characters," is an injunction of Confucius which no Chinaman neglects to
follow. He remembers that "he who uses lettered paper to kindle the fire
has ten demerits, and will have itchy sores"; he remembers that "he who
tosses lettered paper into dirty water, or burns it in a filthy place,
has twenty demerits and will frequently have sore eyes or become blind,"
whereas "he who goes about and collects, washes, and burns lettered
paper, has 5000 merits, adds twelve years to his life, will become
honoured and wealthy, and his children and grandchildren will be
virtuous and filial." But his reverence has strict limits, and while he
reverences the piece of paper upon which a moral precept is written, he
often thinks himself absolved from reverencing the moral precept itself,
just as a deacon in England need not necessarily be one who never
over-reached his neighbours or swindled his creditors.

CHAPTER XV.

THE FRENCH MISSION AND THE ARSENAL IN YUNNAN CITY.

The most prominent structure within the city walls is the Heavenly Lord
Hall (_Tien-chu-tang_), the pile of buildings which form the
headquarters of the French Mission in the province of Yunnan. It was a
master-stroke to secure possession of so important a site. The palace is
on a higher level even than the yamen of the Viceroy, and must intercept
much of the good fortune that would otherwise flow into the city. The
facade of the central hall has been ornamented with a superb cross of
porcelain mosaic, which is a conspicuous object from the city wall. A
l