other hand you invest the Being Whom you worship with noble attributes
and look upon Him as just and holy, a God of mercy and judgment, your
breast will be animated with grand thoughts and lofty ideals will
impel you to the performance of heroic deeds. The word Joss, which we
use for a Chinese idol or god, seems to be derived from the Portugese,
Dios, or rather it is the Pidgin English of Dios. A Joss-House then is
a Chinese idol or god-house. We are now standing before such a place
of worship. This is on the corner of Kearney and Pine Streets, and
is built of brick, and as we look up we see that it is three stories
high. There is a marble slab over the entrance with an inscription
which tells us that this building is the Sze-Yap Asylum. Let us enter.
The lower story, we find, is given up to business of one kind or
another connected with the Sze-Yap Immigration Society. This, we note,
is richly adorned with valuable tapestries and silken hangings, and
the rich colours attract the eye at once. If you wish to sit down you
can, and enjoy the novelty of the scene. For here are easy chairs
which invite you to rest. In your inspection of the place you venture
to peer into the room back of this, and you perceive at once that
there is the lounging place of the establishment. You see men on
couches perfectly at ease and undisturbed by your presence, smoking
cigarettes or opium, the Chinaman's delight. If you desire to
penetrate further into the building you will come to the kitchen where
the dainty dishes of the Chinese are cooked; but you retreat and
ascend a staircase in the southeast corner of the first room, and
soon you are in the Joss-House proper. This second story is devoted
exclusively to religious purposes. The room to which you are now
introduced is about thirty feet square, and as you look around you
perceive the hangings on the walls and the rich decorations of the
ceiling. Here are placards on the walls, which, your guide will tell
you, if you are not conversant with the Chinese tongue, bear on them