THE GREAT UNPROGRESSIVE PEOPLE 357 



venturing an opinion as to the right or wrong of the matter, I 

 may say without fear of contradiction that the dispute much 

 retarded the spread of the Roman Catholic Church. Since then 

 missionaries have worked with much earnestness of purpose. 

 But it may safely be said that the body of the people have not 

 either through the missionary or the trader felt the impact of 

 European ideas. Kang, the great Chinese reformer of to-day, 

 has proposed revolutionary changes : he wishes that there should 

 be an efficient police, sanitation, good roads, an improved system 

 of cultivation, that the taxes should be honestly paid into the 

 imperial treasury. The last proposal is revolutionary indeed. 

 No wonder the Mandarins are up in arms ! The young emperor, 

 now deposed, lent a ready ear to all these suggested reforms, 

 but the mandarins are ready to fight tooth and nail against them 

 each and all, and the masses of the people have never heard of 

 them. The movement that seems, as far as I can judge, to make 

 most headway is the movement against foot-cramping. The 

 piteous cries of the children during the weeks of the most 

 painful stage of the process contend against the deep-rooted 

 conservatism of the Chinaman, and there seems to be some hope 

 that this abomination will in time become a thing of the past. 

 Moreover the recent vice of opium-smoking that plays havoc 

 with great numbers may eventually be productive of good. 

 People will not engage a servant who " smokes," though they 

 themselves indulge in the drug. It is evident that opium is felt 

 to be a serious enemy and the necessity of combating this com- 

 paratively new evil may help to rouse the nation out of its 

 lethargy. 



Thus the artillery of new ideas and new influences is trying 

 to batter the strongest citadel of conservatism that the world has 

 ever seen. Here and there the outer wall has been scratched 

 or chipped, it can hardly be said that a breach has been effected, 

 though the near future is big with possibilities. Whatever the 

 issue, there is good ground for my present contention. The 

 Chinese have lived secluded from the rest of the human race, 

 hence their long stagnation. On the rare occasions when 

 an idea from outside has penetrated to them, they have set 



