Wuen Confucius uttered the memorable saying, that "bad government was a greater evil than a ravaging tiger," he made a statement probably forced from him by the many spectacles of misery and rapine that he saw on every side him. The depth of his sympathy—and the capacity for sympathy is the mensure of greatness—answered to the depth of misery he saw in the distracted land he loved so well; and he urged his pupils to try and feel for and with the people. Revolutions have swept o'er the "Flowery Land" since the sage spoke. Conquest and dynastic changes have altered the political aspect of the country; but we fear, if the philosopher were to be raised once more to life, he would have the same tale to tell. The people are still terribly oppressed by the bad conduct of the Government, and by the many defects in the administrative system. But it may be said, in spite of all this, they go on without loud complaints, The answer to this apparent contradiction lies in the fact that the people have found all attempts to better their estate so terribly disastrous. The risings of past years have brought nothing but rain upon the country, and rather than risk the ravages of the "Tiger" Rebellion, the masses acquiesce in the evils caused by the "Tiger" Tyranny. The peace is Kept by the many local magistrates, who give complainants a "hearing by the strict attention to the forms of justice and by the high-flown and lofty sentiments which flow from even the most unjust judges, and bedizen the walls of the most corrupt yamens. The ignorant and apathetic Chinese are slow to believe that the system in which they have been educated is a sham, and they are impressed (in spite of an inward conviction that some discrepancies exist between practice and theory) by the solemn platitudes in praise of Honour, Justice, Purity, and all the cardinal virtues, which are so gravely enunciated by the officials from the awful bench. Readers of Mr. Blackmore's inimitable novel, will recollect that the plausible thief, "Sir Counsellor Doone," produced an awe-inspiring effect on his victims, and that they found it hard to believe so wise and learned a jurist could ever put his hands in their pockets. "Sir Counsellor," in his pig-tail and button, would pass very well for a Chinese mandarin, The position of the labouring classes in China is remarkably like that of the agriculturists of Egypt. A recent writer describing the situation of the peasantry in Egypt, says, with truth, "Even in spite of the burdens they have to bear, they do make money. The wants of the labourer are small.
His food is of the simplest kind; he spends no money on drink; he requires no tael; he needs little clothing; and, in accordance with the customs of centuries, he lives, even when he is well to do, in mud huts, which even an English pauper would refuse to occupy. Thus, it is not difficult for him to lay by money, and the money thus Inid by is, for the most part, hoarded." Cutting out the sentence referring to clothes, this is a very fair picture of the Chinese countryman's position. Some exception may be taken to the statement about the housing of the agricultural poor, as certainly a Chinese cortege is as good as that of an Irishman; but in the main, the fellah and' the Chinese farmer are not very dissimilar in surroundings. And one thing is certain, the natives of the lands of the Nile and the Yangtze both save money. They are marvellously thrifty, and thrift is © national virtue which in every sense strengthens a nation. The economical habits of the French pea-sentry have enabled them to come out mantally and well in a crisis of unsurpassed difficulty. It has saved them from the evils brought about by a ruler who madly plunged them into war; and the same habit of economy gives hope for Egypt, and more than hope for China.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.