It is a little wearing to begin the day with a harrowing experience. On a warm damp night there seems to be a conspiracy of sleeplessness. Master's "body tosses from side to side. Fitful dozes take the place of solid slumber. And when morning breaks master, instead of being at his window to salute the coming of a new day, groans to listen to the deafening twittering of the birds, and writhes under the: lugubrious chant of the factory horn. Factory horns, you may have noticed, emit a sympathetic moan with the beginning of each new day; for they have nothing to be pleased about. In these circumstances, then, it is best, when possible, that the trials of. the new day be met with caution, After all, the sun does not bounce up out of the horizon; it rises slowly and with So, also, ought mast the senses are hard bear whatever is coming, he should move softly. morning tea should be taken quietly and without unnecessary disturbance. The newspaper should be unwrapped and laid easily to hand. Death notices should be avoided so far as possible until the sun is high in the heaven:
ly murders, bomb explosion: famines, plagues, wars, earth quakes," and railway accidents should' be allowed to meet the aye while the spirit is yet sensitive. For there is always something soothing in the thought that some one else has been murdered or blown up or starved to death or smitten by plague. These things prepare you to meet the business of the day.
It is, therefore, a little wearing to begin the day with a harrowing experience. A local resident relates how, the other morning, his new coolie brought him in his tea, The evening before MacBeth had murdered sleep. It had been very inconsiderate of him. For the resident pried open his ey with the feeling that there was no rest even for the good. The first thing that caught his ey was a tarnished spoon. It is all th] very well for the apostle to Whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good repute—think on these things. How can you think on these things when the first object you meet is a tarnished spoon? The resident did some concentrated thinking about other things than those recommended, and this thoughts passed in some i explicable way to the new cool who seized the offending spoon, held it to his mouth for a few seconds while he breathed heavily upon it, and then po! ed it on his undervest, replacing it in the saucer beside the steaming cup of tea with every sign of satisfaction that cow the offence had been cleared away and that master should be lo to enjoy what the day ight bring forth. The operation had, however, been observed from the start by. the resident. His basilisk eye had taken in every part of the mancuvre—the "breathing exercises, the polishing, the undervest, everything. The plaintive wail he emitted when all was over brought the cook and the boy hot-footed to his bedside. A new spoon was procured and the new coolie despatched to his pig-run. But what was worst about the matter, as the resident complained afterwards, was that no one could tell how many the same trick had been playa before. How many times had the resident used spoons polish-in a like manner? How many pieces of silver and crockery—but the thought was too terrible' to pursue.
Probably in no country more: than in China is the adage-more true that what the eye does not see the heart does not grieve ps ies in nearly everying—cooking, washing, squeeze ing, mending,' buying,' selling, and pretending to work. "Chao pu tao," which being translated means "It's near enough" or, in "Maskee, can the most ' overworked phrases in the language. There has been a miscalculation in some engineering prosect. The arch of a bridge will not quite fit. But it looks all right, 40 let it go. It's near enough. A road. is being built and material has run short. Then fill in the foundation with anything in sight and cover it over with good material. It locke all right, so let it go. It's near enough. There is many a building which looks imposing from the outside, but from the inside resembles a hovel. But that does not matter. It' looks all right, so it must be all right, Jit is a national characteristic that outside appearances count for much more than realities The trait can easily be discerne in the manifestoes issued even in these modern times. In the old days they used to be bom-hostie in the extreme, as any history will tell you. And even now, when oriental civilization has'been toned down by its contact with western ma-ferialism, there persists a line of high fainting nonsense that causes the westerner to wonder some times whether the authors of these manifestoes are quite grown up. There are glowing descriptions of the heroism and self-sacrifice of the author, his willingness to obliterate himself for the good of his country, and a recapitulation of the many things he has already done in the interests of the nation, Then comes a denunciation: of the foe, Whose crimes are enumerated with vigour and no little colour. It does not matter that only a few weeks before the author of the manifesto has described the person being denounced in most flattering terms as a colleague and a patriot. He ignores this previous opinion and goes on to prove that the darkness of heart which is being denounced has long been known to the nation, the treachery which has proval ed this manifesto has the deepest roots, and, finally, after painting so black a picture of the foe that the only conclusion that can be come to is that the world would be a better place if rid altogether of this pest, he announces that he is prepared to accept the" repentance of the recalcitrant one and receive him back into the fold. A most illogical wind-up, but who care one takes the manifest seriously so no harm has been done.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.