The various ways Chinese of the old regime have of trying to explain amongst themselves the present unsatisfactory and unpleasant condition of their country vis-t-vis the Powers, are many, and some of them wonderfully crude. The following is a typical instance—as overheard in 1 teashop—where one conservative native endeavours to enlighten a seeker after knowledge, who has come from his village to" gaze on the bustle" of Shanghai (Coll: "Kan Nao-mang"):—First_Native—"So you want to know why we Chinese are so much under the thumb of the foreigner, eh?" Second Native—" Yes. I want to know why we cannot become superior, or, at least, equal to the foreign kingdoms. From what I have seen so far, we Chinese are just as clever and able as they ar and yet——" "Look here!" interrupts First Native, drawing forth a ten-cent ice from 2 Japanese-made imitation-leather purse, "Do you seo this? Now mark the obverse, or front, of this coin of the Emperor. Here we have our Imperial dragon, the emblem of our Empire, in the middle. What surrounds that dragon, as if encircled within the toils? Why, foreign writing. Again, take the reverse, or back-view of the coin. What do we have here? We have Manchu writing in the middle, whilst encircling it we have Chinese characters. Can you draw an explanation, a moral, from this?" Second Native examines long and curiously the ten-cent piece, nods knowingly, but remains silent, as if awaiting further "en-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.