tragedy of human life so near. And when in Ching-chou-fu, I
stopped to see if I could not give some relief to a woman who
was writhing in the street, I was hastily warned that if I
touched her unasked, the populace might hold me responsible
in the event of her death and perhaps demand heavy damages,
if, indeed, it did not mob me on the spot. Undoubtedly the
Chinese are often deterred from aiding a sufferer because they
fear that if death occurs ``bad luck'' will follow them, a horde of
real or fictitious relatives will clamour for damages, and perhaps a
rapacious magistrate will take advantage of the opportunity to
make a criminal charge which can be removed only by a heavy
bribe. And so the sick and poor are often left to die uncared
for in crowded streets, and drowning children are allowed to
sink within a few yards of boats which might have rescued
them. But everywhere in China, little attention is paid to
suffering and many customs seem utterly heartless.

In spite, too, of the agnostic teachings of Confucius and
their own practical temperament, the Chinese are a very
superstitious people and live in constant terror of evil spirits. The
grossest superstitions prevail among them, while beyond any
other people known to us they are stagnant, spiritually dead,
densely ignorant of those higher levels of thought and life to
which Christianity has raised whole classes in Europe and
America.

Some people who are ignorant of the real situation in China
are being misled by an anonymous little book entitled ``Letters
From a Chinese Official.'' The author insists that Anglo-Saxon
institutions are far inferior to the institutions of China. He