For a long time on the birthday of the tutelary god of the City Temple in Canton, the people have been tects tomed to visit the temple, and pass the to selves with the night lying upon the ground in order
subtle influences, with which the god is supposed to have endued the sacred grounds on that particular night. The Chinese call it the besting of the ground", but what is really expected is that, by going to the temple and staying one night in the temple courts, either sleeping or waking, the persons who are brave enough so to do will have acquired a peculiar virtue, w will help them in many ways, They believe that they thereby recuperate their enervated bodies; and son-lexs wives believe that they are invested therely with strength to conceive and bear sons.
But the mandarins, including the thi ble city magistrates, have this year said that the whole thing should be stopped, and stopped it was. Once these customs are broken, and. the peuple find that no alts follow, superstitions will fall away one after another.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.