50 SUEGEON-GENERAL C. A. GCEDON, M.D.^ C.B.^ Q.H.P.^ ETC., 



Even to a stranger there is something in the ceremonies 

 alluded to ■\vhich is calculated to attract his respectful 

 attention, nor can the foreign onlooker avoid a hope that 

 the merits of the ancestors so honoured were such in life as 

 to deserve the veneration so manifested at the tombs and 

 temples dedicated to their memory. As to the actuating 

 sentiment of which the observances in question are the out- 

 come, it seems to me akin to that which in western lands 

 finds expression in monuments such as ornament cathedrals 

 and churches, and in more humble manner strews periodically 

 with flowers the graves of those whom we had loved. Is 

 not also the sentiment from which originated genealogy and 

 heraldry similar to that out of which spruug ancestral 

 worship in China ? 



Benevolent Institutions. 



As a result of the several codes of ethics and of morals 

 under Avhich their character as a people has been moulded 

 throughout the long period of their history, the Chinese 

 have from very ancient times manifested their sym- 

 pathy with suffering and destitution, by means of institu- 

 tions the object of which has been, to supply particular 

 classes of persons with their special requirements. The 

 gentry often subscribe towards publishing and disseminating 

 as advertisements, exhortations to the masses of the people 

 to lead a moral and virtuous life. In the larger towns 

 commemorative arches and gateways are erected in honour 

 of widows and other persons whose virtue was conspicuous. 

 While the methods of collecting the regular poor rate are 

 direct and economical, they are so regulated as to offer no 

 rewards to idlers and tramps. In some of the most im- 

 portant cities (among them Peking) some empty granaries 

 are placed at the disposal of beggars and the extreme poor, to 

 be utilised by them as gratuitous lodgings. 



In former times there existed throughout the empire 

 granaries into which a specified proportion of grain had to be 

 deposited periodically, and so a reserve kept up to meet the 

 requirements of famine seasons. In such emergencies 

 gratuitous distribution of rice and other kinds of food, and 

 of clothing took place under orders of the government. 

 Soup kitchens are established under charitable organisations, 

 and by private individuals, and to certain classes of persons 

 food is sold at cost price. In times of pestilence persons are 



