ous
jaws like animals-- symbols of brute force which needs but to be seen
to frighten children in the dark. We are the gentler race, and we feel
instinctively the dominating power of these men from over the seas,
who all, American, Russian, German, English, seem to be cast in the
same brutal mould. Their women have long, horse-like faces, showing
the marks of passion and discontent, which they try to cover with the
contents of the powder-jar and with rouge; they are utterly unlike the
women of our race, who are taught to express no hate, no love, nor
anything save perfect repose and gentleness, as befits true ladyhood.

One has but to see a Chinese gentleman, with his easy manners,
composed, self-contained, with a natural dignity, to know that we are
better trained than the people from the West. It is because we are
true idealists. We show it in our grading of society. With us the
scholar is honoured and put first, the farmer second, the artisan third,
and the merchant and the soldier last. With them, these worshippers
of the dollar, the merchant is put first, and the man to guard that dollar
is made his equal! That is a standard for a nation! The barterer and the
murderer; let others follow where they lead.

These foreigners rate China low, who have never met a Chinese
gentleman, never read a line of Chinese literature, and who look at
you in ignorance if you mention the names of our sages. They see no
Chinese except their servants, and they judge the world about them
from that low point of view. I know a lady here who is a leader in their
society, a woman who has lived within our land for many tens of
years; when asked to meet a prince of our house Imperial, she
declined, saying she never associated with Chinese. A prince to her
was no more than any other yellow man; she said she would as soon
think of meeting her gate coolie at a social tea. How can there be a
common meeting-ground between our people and the average
European, of whom this woman is a representative and who is not
alone in her estimation of the people amongst whom she lives but
whom she never sees. They get their knowledge of China from
servants, from missionaries who work among the lower classes, and
from newspaper reports that are always to the disadvantage of our
people.

More and more the West must see that the East and West may meet
but never can they mingle. Foreigners can never enter our inner
chamber; the door is never wholly opened, the cu