. The awakening of China . residence ofan imperial covirt; and the provincial capital stillretains many signs of imperial magnificence. TheWest Lake with its pavilions and its lilies, a pleasancefit for an emperor; the vast circuit of the citys wallsenclosing hill and vale; and its commanding site onthe bank of a great river at the head of a broad bay—all combine to invest it with dignity. Well do I re-call the day in 1855 when white men first trod its were the Rev. Henry Rankin and myself. Thoughnot permitted by treaty to penetrate even the rind ofthe melon, as the Chinese call t
. The awakening of China . residence ofan imperial covirt; and the provincial capital stillretains many signs of imperial magnificence. TheWest Lake with its pavilions and its lilies, a pleasancefit for an emperor; the vast circuit of the citys wallsenclosing hill and vale; and its commanding site onthe bank of a great river at the head of a broad bay—all combine to invest it with dignity. Well do I re-call the day in 1855 when white men first trod its were the Rev. Henry Rankin and myself. Thoughnot permitted by treaty to penetrate even the rind ofthe melon, as the Chinese call their empire, to adistance farther than admitted of our returning tosleep at home, we nevertheless broke bounds andset out for the old capital of the Sungs. On the waywe made a halt at the city of Shaohing; and as we werepreaching to a numerous and respectful audience inthe public square, a well-dressed man pressed throughthe crowd and invited us to do him the honour oftaking tea at his house. His mansion exhibited every. PROVINCE OF CHEHKIANG 23 evidence of affluence; and he, a scholar by profession,aspiring to the honours of 4he mandarinate, explained,as he ordered for us an ample repast, that he wouldhave felt ashamed if scholars from the West had beenallowed to pa?s through his city without any oneoffering them hospitality. What covutesy! CouldHebrew or Arab hospitality surpass it? Two things for which the city of Shaohing is widelycelebrated are (i) a sort of rice wine used throt^houtthe Empire as being indispensable at mandarin feasts,and (2) clever lawyers who are deemed indispensableas legal advisers to mandarins. They are the Phila-delphia lawyers of China. As we entered Hangchow the boys shouted Wo tseilai liao, the Japanese are coming —^never having seena European, and having heard their fathers speak ofthe Japanese as sea-robbers, a terror to the Chinesecoast. Up to this date, Japan had no treaty withChina, and it had never carried on any sort of regularcommerce
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