33o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the sick and avert calamities, and this power he delegates to such 

 of the priesthood as command his favor. Such delegated power, 

 however, is held on sufferance, and not in fee-simple. It is not 

 only necessary that a priest gain favor with his royal highness 

 to get this power, but he must retain said favor in order to hold 

 the power. This has created a vast army of priests, who are the 

 willing tools of the high priest ; and he is thus enabled to wield 

 the most absolute and despotic sway over the minds of the people. 



The system has the most elaborated code of demonology, and 

 it is likewise patterned after the political constitution of the 

 empire. The head devil lives in the sea, and has been honored by 

 the Chinese people by being adopted as their national emblem. 

 The dragon flag, which floats from every staff, from the dome of 

 the royal palace at Pekin to the mast-head of the humblest Chi- 

 nese boat, testifies to the high esteem in which the chief devil of 

 Laou-tse's followers is held. Then the multitude of lesser devils 

 is so great that no man can number them ; and these are on the 

 track of every man, woman, and child, seeking in all methods 

 their injury. To watch the movements of this devil host, and to 

 frustrate their designs, is the province of the Taouist priests. 



Here we have a decidedly interesting state of things. The 

 very earth teeming with malicious demons ! Man everywhere 

 exposed to their attacks, and but one avenue of escape, viz., 

 through the interventions of the priests ! Is it a matter of sur- 

 prise, therefore, that this priesthood wields such absolute power 

 over the minds of the people ? They live on the fat of the land. 

 They are consulted on all occasions, and their instructions are 

 obeyed to the letter by their deluded followers. It is not to be 

 wondered at that these priests look with disfavor upon the advent 

 of Europeans ; that they fill the minds of the people with such 

 antipathy to all change from the established order. They are 

 wise enough to forecast their own overthrow with the advent of 

 a deeper intelligence. 



The priests are celibates, perhaps with the thought that, if 

 they were to prove unequal to the task of managing a wife, their 

 prestige in devil manipulation might suffer. They keep aloof 

 from the common life around them and live in mountains and 

 unfrequented and isolated places, that they may the better im- 

 press their own superiority over their fellows. 



The priests are called upon by the people when it is discovered 

 that a home or village is infested by a devil. Devils have the 

 power to materialize themselves into a piece of waste paper or 

 dirt in order to get into the houses unobserved. These devils are 

 not credited with a high order of intelligence. Chinese archi- 

 tecture is governed by this conception. The doors or main en- 

 trances are put in unexpected angles and niches in the walls, with 



