ss mechanical. The third stage consists of
belles-lettres and essay writing. Only a few ever reach this stage, and
the purpose of this advanced work is not intellectual development, or
even the accumulation of knowledge, but to prepare for a position under
the government, which can be reached by no other means. Even in these
last two stages of study memory is the principal faculty brought into
play. Without great exercise of this power the vast amount of material
can never be mastered.

=Higher Education.=--There are no high schools, but men who have taken
degrees gather about them young students, who are to devote themselves
to study, and give them instruction in the Chinese classics and prepare
them for the State examinations for degrees. Great attention is paid to
style, and in order to cultivate a good style, students are required to
commit to memory many of the productions of their classical authors.
They write a great many essays and verses, which are criticised by their
teachers. The attention is confined solely to the Chinese classics. The
educated Chinaman is usually ignorant of any field of knowledge not
embraced in his own literature.

There is in the royal library at Pekin a catalogue consisting of one
hundred and twelve octavo volumes of three hundred pages each,
containing the titles of twelve thousand works, with short extracts of
their contents. These works treat of science, medicine, astronomy, and
philosophy, while history has an especially rich literature. The Chinese
knew how to observe the heavens four thousand years ago, and yet were
unable to construct a calendar without the help of the Europeans. They
invented gunpowder, the mariner's compass, porcelain, bells, playing
cards, and the art of printing long before they were used in Europe, yet
they lacked the ability to use these inventions as instruments to their
advancement.

China is divided into provinces which are subdivided into districts.
Candidates must pass three examinations in their own district and those
who are successful receive the lowest degree, that of "Budding
Intellect." Many thousands enter for this degree, but only about one per
cent succeed in attaining it. The possession of this degree does not yet
entitle the holder to a public office, but most of those who have
secured it become teachers, physicians, lawyers, etc. Once in three
years there is another examination for the second degree, called
"Deserving of Promotion," cond