Suppose Ah-sin has annexed a silver spoon, sooner or later he must own up, for the spiritual father has means to turn even a Chinese heart inside out. After confess sion, the next step is restitution. Now if Abrsin declares that he is "uncertain from whence he conveyed the spoon, Li guan provides that he may make the "*restitution" to the poor; and if the penitent thief is poor—well, then the proceeds may go to himself! Thus all is well that ends well. With the smile that is childlike and bland Ah-sin shuffles back to the kitchen chuckling to himself: Joss-pidgin_ man plenty savee! He make spoon pidgin all right. Maskee,—that spoon all same belong my The method of the Church with the pions pilferer may be described by slightly changing the poet's words "The friends she has and their adoption tried, 'She grapples to herself with hooks of steal.'
If any restless Romaphobist calls it fat burglary as ever was committed," we dare maintain that Ab-sin has only followed the advice of the eminent doctor, Saint Liguori, who fain would teach domestic servants to watch and prey. The Sheng Sin Pao lauds Liguori's piety and says that in the West his writings are read to the boundless profit of many. Now why begrudge our poor servants a small share in these "boundless profits Let these classic passages, and a few more of even richer and deeper meaning, be translated and posted up in every kitchen.
would supply 'a long felt want." The Chinese proverb, "Other peuple's soup burns the throat," would soon become obso-Hlete, known only to a Scarborough or a mith. Ab-sin and Jumbo, their consciences mollified with Liguorian save, would night swab off their tawny hides with a dish-towel and lie down to peaceful sleep, undisturbed except, perchance, by the gambols of the fragrant cimexlectularius, At work, no sense of guilt would clog their uimblefeet. Thus, thanks to the thoughtful Liguori and his Jesuit disciples, bone lit would accrue to both servants and master. Everything would be lovely. Even the soup would become more spiritualised and refined, as it were, and our dear cook would grow dearer and dearer—no matter what rates were ruling in Smith's Market, Once a year at least, Jumbo would ' get him to the church and shrive himself,' and then make restitution, where it would do the most good, that is to himself and the priest; thus retaining his through ticket to Paradise and also helping the Roman hierarchy to carry on its alleged magnificent work tothe boundless profit" of all concerned.
That I have not tuo highly praised Saint
justable, self-regulating contrivances, and Liguar's pope-patented, flexible, all-ad-that "Tstate but the facts." one' may see by examining his writings in the library at Si-ka-wei, or by yoing to the Shanghai Public Library and reading the articles "Liguori" and " Probabilism" in the British Encyclopedia, G. L. Masoy.
June 4th.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.