Evening Star Newspaper, December 15, 1894, Page 19

————S BUDDHIST . RELIGION The Wonderful Temples and the Queer Priests of This Sect. REVIVAL OF THE FAITH IN JAPAN Interesting Facts About Other Forms of Faith in That Country. MISSIONARY EFFORTS ae See etn (Copyrighted, 1894, by Frank G. Carpenter.) T WILL BE A SUR- prise to many to know that there is a strong Buddiist re- Japanese empire. The chureh has been stir- red up by the inva- sion of the mission- aries, and within re- cent years buddhist papers have been or- ganized, an the Jap- anese press is full of articles about relig- fous matters. A movement was started some time ago for the establishment of a Buddhist theological course in the Imperial University at Tokyo, and some of the priests would Ike to make it the state re- ligton. They even talk of sending mis- sioneries to the United States, and also to the Asiatic countries, including China and Corea and India. Last spring a famous Buddhist of Ceylon visited Japan and de- scribed the backward condition of the faith in India, whereupon some of the richest of the Buddhists took a famous image of Buddha, which was celebrated throughout Japan, and shipped it off to India, in order that it might be put In the Temple of Bud- filha Gaya, on the site where the founder of the religion had his great fight with the evil ones and conquered. This statue was 700 years old, and it was a work of fine art. One of the Buddhist archbishops of eo Prayer to Buddha, Japan went with it, and when he got there the high priest of the temple refused to let the image be put in. He had several thousand men about bim, and he was ready to enforce his refusal with bloodshed. This matter has created great excitement among the Buddhists of Japan, and some of them insist that the Hindoo priest ‘1ust be dis- missed, and they want the goverument to take up the matter. The Buddhists intend- ed the sending of the statue to be the be- ginning of a revival of Buddhism in India, and they will not jrobably let the matter rest as it is. Hundreds of Millions of Buddhists. It will be surprising to many t> know the vast number of Buddhists there are in the world. It is, you know, the chief re- ligion of Siam, Burmah, Jupan, Corea, and i« has millions of followers In China and India. There are in Japan 72,000 Buddhist tenfples, and in the city of Kioto, which is about as big as Washington, there are 8,500 temples which are devoted to this Teligion, Some of the most gorgeous tem- ples of the world are the wonderful struc- tures in which Buddha is worshiped at Bangkok in Siam, and I saw at Rangoon in Burmah the famous structure known as the Golden Pagoda, which is said to rest over several of the actual hairs which came from Buddha's head. It is a mouniain cf gold, or rather, of brick and stone plaster- ed over with gold leaf. It is bulit upon a mighty platform, and its base is about a quarter of 1 mile in circumference, and these terraces of gold go upward in beil- like stories to a height greater than that of any church spire cr any structure in this country, excepting the Washington monument. It has a base of fourteen acres, end on its top there is a great golden um- brella,to the ribs of which jewels are hung. The whole of this vast structure is plated with gold as fine as any ever put into an American tooth. It is hundreds of years old, and it has been plated again and again, and there are, millions of metel mixed with the brick and plaster of Mhich it is made. One king of Burmah Waking Up Buddha. vowed that he would give his weight in gold to this monument if Buddha would grant him something that he wanted. Bud- ted the proposition. At least, his s ame true, and when he hopped on the imperial scales it is satd that he reg- {istered 170 pounds.. The vow 20st nim just about $45,000 In gold leaf. Well, this great monument is now being regilded, and a small fortune is being put into its restora- ion. I visited temples in China which contained thousands of little gold dhas, and there fs one at Nanking which I saw Jast spring im which there were i000 gods under one roof. Some of them were very emall gods, but the priests told me that they actually numbered 10,000, and all were lated with gold leaf. During my stay in Bim some years ago, I visited one temple @evoted to Buddha, a part of which was carpeted with woven silver, and I found @ very lively monastery in Corea in which there were hundreds of monks. Through- out the whole eastern world the finest of the temples and the fattest of the priests are those of the Puddhist relizion, and though the faith may be sleeping, it is by mo means dead. I do not know whether it is due to their religion or not, but the Budahists of the east are, in most respects, kind and gentle one toward another. The Japanese people are the soul of refinement, @rd you see many old faces which you would not object to having among your e@ncestral portraits. A great deal has been written about the yourg girls ef Japan. The old women are to me quite as charm- Ing, and I have seen old couples whose ray hair and wrinkles shone with the aunty of the kindly souls within them. Japan's New Baddhist Tempte. Perhaps the finest and costliest church What is being erected in the world today fs the Higathi Hongwanji Temple, which Js now being built in Kioto. It has been a g time under construction, but it Is rap- Wy approaching completion, and when tt finished It will have cost, all told, some- ‘ing like $8,°00,000. Think of that! Bight lion dollars for a church! I don't believe Pre hove one im the United States that has vival going on in the’ 19 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1894—TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. cost as much, and I know we have none that have been built in such a curious way. A large part of it has been the work of charity. The carpenters, the carvers and other artists have come from all parts of the country, and have worked a certain number of weeks for the temple for noth- ing. It has been about fifteen years in building, and when I first saw it six years ago there were forty acres of sheds about it in which hundreds of carpenters were cutting up great logs, which had been im- ported from the Island of Formosa, into boards and hundreds of carvers were turn- ing other logs into real works of fine art. Everything was done by hand, and immense beams, such as would be a load for a team of Norman horses, were being carried up onto the top of the structure by women and men. A road about fifteen feet wide had beén built upon a scaffolding, making an inclined plane running clear to the roof of the structure, and a hundred or so men would catch hold of one of these logs nto Priest. and carry it up on their backs. There was then, and there is still, an immense scaffolding about the temple made of thous- ands of poles tied together with ropes, and these poles were of all sizes, from that of a fishing rod up to a telegraph pole. They looked very insecure to me, but I was told that they were perfectly safe, and all of the scaffolding used by the Japanese is made in this way. Think of building a structure costing millions of dollars without derricks or machinery of any kind, and you can know what these Japanese are doing there. ‘Their temple will last for ages, and there are temples in Japan which are many centuries old. Ropes of Human Hair. When I visited chis temple six years ago the logs were being dragged about from one place to another with great cabies of brownish black in which, here and there, you could see threads of white. The ropes looked very curious to me, and I asked what they were. I was told that 'they were made of the hair of women who had cut off their locks and given them for this purpose as an offering to Buddha. I was shown a vast amount of such rope, and 200,000 women cut off their hair to make the ropes for the building of this temple. This hair was of ali Finds. Here the i silky locks of the maiden were braided into the si of thi woman, and a section of the rope showed ends of iron gray, snow white and ject black. Some of the cables were as big around as your leg, and there were other ropes no thicker than a clothesti ropes have now heen all collected togeth They are wrapped up In great coiis on the portico which runs round the temple they will be kept as one of Its tr Not long ago a 5: sent to the National Museum at Washing- ton, and it may now be seen in one of the cases of that institution. Some Famous Buddhas. I found other new temples building in different parts of Japan, and I saw mag- nificent statues of Buddha being made here and there. At Kobe I.saw one which had just been completed, and which could not have cost much less than $100,000, It 1s just outside of the temple of Nofukaji, and it is an immense bronze image as tall as a four-story house, and eighty-five feet in diameter about the waist. It’ is so tall that if you stood on its shoulders, you could barely reach to the top of its ears, and the length of the face is eight and one-half feet. Each of its eyes fs a yard wide, and Besging Priests. its thumbs are two feet in circumference, or almost twice the circumference of a tele- graph pole, I judge. The god sits with legs crossed, iike a Turk, and its lap covers as much space as a good-sized parlor. This god sits on a massive pedestal, at the back of which is a door, and there ts a iittle temple inside of it. It is a wot beautiful statue, and it is only one of thousands that may be found throughout the empire. ‘Two Giants in Bronze. Japan has, in fact, the biggest Buddhas of the world. There is one in a ‘k at ra, not far from the old capital, Kioto, which is the largest. I traveled twenty- five miles in going from Kioto to Nara, and I spent a day in this center of Japanese Buddhism. The statue fs in a temple, wh is as tall as any New York flat, and you have to take your shoes off before you can go inside of it. It is on a pedestal, and there are dozens of gold gods all about it. Some of these gods are eighteen feet high, but they look like pigmies beside the great im- age which sits, with its legs crossed and his right hand uplifted, among them. There is a little fence around it, and it was um- possible for me to make my own measure- ments, but the priests told me that it was fifty-three feet in height, and that it Is made of bronze plates, which are so vast that they look like one solid mass. ‘This Buddha {s more than a thousand years old, or, at least, the material of which it is com* posed has been worshiped at Nara for that time. It wes originally made of gold and copper, about 750 A. D., but the temple containing it has been burned again and again, and it has been each time reme!ted and remade. ‘The other great Ruddha is that at Kama- kvra, which has been written about by nearly every traveler who has gone to Japan. It is another immense image. It is not so tall by six feet as that of Nara, and all travelers so far have spoken of its wonderful beauty and the peaceful content shown in its features. I went out to see tt, and looked for the peace, but I couldn't find it. I @at and gazed and studied, but its face was sad rather than joyous, and it looked like that of a man whose life has been marked with sorrow rather than pleasure, and with doubt rather than faith. I venture the sculptor who made it did not believe in the religion which he was trying to personify, or wondered at the time if, after all, he was not mistaken. Buddhist Churches With Big Incomes. Some of these Buddhist temples have enormous incomes. ‘There is one right near the new temple I have described which takes In about $290,000 a year, and this church has frequently raised in one year from ha'f a million to a million dol- lars. It is known as the Nishi Hongwandi temple, and it fs a wonder in the richness of its Interior decoration. It has hundreds of rooms walled with gold leaf, and it con- tains hundreds of ecreens painted by the old Japanese masters. A famous left- handed artist of Japan, Jingoro, did most of the carving within it, and it is celled in some places with black and gold lacquer, and its trimmings are of wonderfully carved brass. It has a bell almost as big as a small seaside cottage, and this is rung by a big log cf wood, which is hung outside ef the bell to a rope, and can be These | rfully pulled back so that it will strike the bell on the rebound, It has one audience room which takes nearly 1,000 yards of matting to cover it, and the brass lanterns which hang from’tne great rafters of this room are each as big as a hogshead. This church is one of the most liberal of the Buddhists, and during @ talk which I had with the priest I found that his views were very much the same as those of Unitarian Christianity. He was not in favor of mo- nopolizing the religions of Japan, and said there was room enough for both the Chris- tians and Buddhists to work. He spoke English fluently, and he told me that he had lived for two years in England. He was very much depressed as to the relig- ious state of Japan, and said that the bet- ter classes were lergely infidels or agnos- tics, and many of those who pretended to be Buddhists had no working faith in | them. I found him broadminded in every respect, and one thing which he said sur- prised me. This was that his sect of Bud- dhists did not believe that Nirvana meant a state of soul annihilation, but that it meant only the annihilation of all that was bad ard of the continuance and growth of all that was good in man. He told me, however, that only a few Bud- dhists were as liberal as he was, and from what I saw in cther parts of the empire I am sure he was correct. Many Buddhist Sects. ‘There are almost as many Buddhist sects in Japan as there are Christian sects in America. They all believe in Buddha, but they have different doctrines and differ- ent modes of worship. There is one sect which sell medicine and charms which will protect you against coughs, consumption, the devil or the smallpox. They sell all kinds of sand, which is supposed to make the limbs of the dead soft and flexible, so they can be easily doubled in the box-like coffins which are used by the Japanese. These are known as the Tendi sect, and they have between four and five thousand temples in Japan. The Monto sect, the Nichiren and the Jodo sect may be called the thre: most powerfgl branches of the Japanese Buddhists. The Montos worship Amida Buddha, and they say that earnest prayer, noble ‘thoughts and good works are the elements of their faith. It is to this sect, I think, that these two big tem- ples which I have described belong, and it has also immense temples in Tokyo and elsewhere. The Nichiren sect are the shouting worshipers of the faith. They are violent and noisy, and they think that all other sects except themselves go straight to hell. The Jodo sect do not eat flesh, and they insist that thelr priests should not marry. They pray without ceasing, and spend a great part of their time squatting before bells of wood and brass, on which they pound in order to wake up the gods. . Queer Temples. I could fill this paper with the curious things found about the Buddhist temples. There are little wooden gods for babies’ diseases, around which children’s bibs are tied, and there are other gods which are supposed to help babies in teething. There are some which are good for the stomach- ache, and others which will cure sore eyes. In some of the temples there are sacred ponies which you may feed with holy | ‘The Doshists School. beans at 1 cent a plate and gain religious credit thereby. These are, I think, how- ever, more connected with the Shinto tem- ples, and, by the way, there is one famous white horse at the temples of Ise which is supposed to be gifted with supernatural pewers. According to the stories current in Japan, he has a good deal to do with the warlike matters of the empire, and after the Satsuma rebellion he disappeared and did not come back for three. days. His return on the third day was, so the Japanese papers state, considered very prophetic of the success of the emperor's | cause. During the present struggle with | China he disappeared again, and, after ten days, returned looking fresh and well. The prophets of Japan state that this indicated Japan's victories over China, and that the hostilities would last three times as long as the Satsuma rebellion. Christianity ia Japan, ‘There is no part of the east where the missionaries do more work than in Japan, and they have, as I said, stirred the Bud- dhists into action. Many of the Japanese do not like the idea that their should be a field for missionary labors, and some of the people think that such mis- sion work as is done should be done by native pastors. Not long ago the question of foreign missions came up in parliament, and it was argued from one standpoint that the missionaries ought to be tolerated because they brought a great deal of money into the country. It was stated in the papers at that time that there were 650 foreign missionaries In Japan, and they averaged at least $100 per month, making a total of $65,000 per month spent by the missiona It wf thus be seen that the Christian churches annually spend in Japan at least $780,000 a year, and these expenditures, the native papers thought, ought to be encouraged, They stated that there were 4,000 Christians among the Japanese, and that there were 1,200 Jap- anese | There are Japan who | think th ir people are destined to in- troduc stianity Into China and Corea, and some favor the absorption and com- bination of the three religions of Buddhism, Old People of Japan. Confucianism and Christianity. ‘The mis- sionaries in Japan are, in reality, doing a great deal of earnest work. The field is divided up among the Catholics and the different Protestant sects, and there is, in addition, a mission of the Greek Church which has 1,700 baptized converts, and which was established by the Russians. | Phe Catholics have three bishops, sixty- seven missionaries and about 40,000 mem- bers. ‘The Protestants, unlike’ those of other countries, work, to a large extent, together, and they have good schools and good colleges. ‘The Doshisha University | which exists at Kioto, in western Japan, | is one of the finest institutions of the far east. Among its professors are men who would do credit to Harvard, and it now includes a girls’ school, a school of science and a training school for nurses, There are a number of native religious clubs, and the Young Men's Christian Association has a flourishing organization in Japan, and there is also a Young Woman's Temper- ance Union. The Hed Cross Society has been doing a great deal during the present war, going to the field and taking care of both Japanese and Chinese. Pak Ay Crurlenes a When Most Needed. From Life. Jack Gayboy: “I wouldn't live in the seventh flat, anyway, my dear.” Mrs. Gayboy: “But what difference does it make; there’s an elevator in the house?” Jack Gayboy: “That's all right, but the agent says it doesn’t run after 1’ o'clock— the very time a man needs it the worst!” ae “How are you going to spend Christmas, Uncle Jake?" “Well, suh, hit’s des ’cordin’ ter de bird. Ef he’s quiet, en doan roos’ too high, I'll spen’ de day at home; but ef he’s noisy, en I mek’ any mistakes, dey’s no tellin’ whar I'll fotch up!""—Atlanta Constitution. country | |red—or at least, w CHINESE BRIDES The Groom’s Right of Rejection on the Wedding Day. AN ORIENTAL MARRIAGE PROCESSION Crushed Feet Not the General Fashion in China. pestis THE’ EMPEROR WEDS WHEN Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. HERE 18 A z theory—this side of 2 I “far Cathay” — that Z the emperor is the only Chinaman that sees the face of his wife before their marriage. This is refuted, however, by Chinese literature, which teems with love stories, and by the love poems of China, which are as + remarkable from a as from a Mongoliav point of general view. There is ancther prevailing supposition that all Chinese women are ignorant dolls. But, as the Emperor of China never allies himself, directly or indirectly, with any foreign prince; as the family that can furn- ish him with one of his wives may gain great power; as there is no limit to an emperor's wives, except the limit placed by his own apathy—it Is more than probable that the grandees who may aspire to be- stow their daughters upon the emperor give those daughters, from whose influence they hope so much, every possible advan- tage of education. In fact, many Chinese women of the upper ranks are positively highly educated. And so it is with weddings. Although in important marriages the bride comes to the bridegroom from the strictest seclusion, in the poorer classes boys and girls grow up together, work together and fall in love with each other. Even among the richer classes, where poverty does not drive the girls from retirement, love matches are not totally uncommon, An to Small Feet. In so large a country as China, though customs may be essentially the same throughout the empire, they vary greatly In detail, and for this reason foreign ac- counts of Chinese customs differ conspicu- ously. An example of this is the popular belief in America that Chinese women of high rank invariably have little, crushed feet. In the south the ladies of rank have bandaged feet, while the peasants are large footed; but in the north it is exactly the reverse. There nearly all the field women have feet half pinched, but the feet of Pek- ing ladies of th® higher, purely ‘Tartar classes seem é¢vén of abnormal size, for the flat shoes are furnished with a patten which accentyates their flatness, Usually, howevey, a Chinaman buys his wife without having seen he! aying the parents a stipulated “wife price.” On the wedding day the bride is placed in a closed, fantastic sedan chair, which ts carried at the end of thé bridal procession. This pro- cession is as élaborate as the means of the contracting families wiH permit, and as grotesque as Chinese fancy can invent, In it are lanterns, musical instruments, fans, umbrellas, insignia of rank and covered tables, on which are a hundred and one Chinese dainties: The bearers of all these ornaments and sygibols are clad in bright ar red jackets. One bearer rides ahead of the procession, bear- ing a roasted ‘pig to heguile the evil | spirits. Evil. spirits disapprove of mar- riages, because they bring happiness—or rather, are supposed to do so—but they re so partial to pork as to be unable to ist that viand. Hence, a roast pig Is always carried, that the procession may sip by unmheeded while the demons are devouring the feast. The musicians play, the crowd shouts in. sing-song Chinese fashion, and the two bridesmaids proudiy follow the sedan chair, which is locked and the key carried by a trusted servant. Inspection of the Bride. ‘The bridegroom waits at his own gate, clad in his dress of ceremony—a remarka- ble collection of remarkable garments. ~The key of the palanquin is handed to him, he presses forward, unlocks the bridal car and looks at its contents. If he is pleased with the bride he leads her into the house and the marriage is celebrated by a simple ceremony, consisting merely of sundry genuflections before the tablets of the an- cestors. If the bridegroom ts disappointed the bride is sent back to her parents and | there is no wedding, but, in that case, he must pay to them a sum of money {identical with the “wife money.” In the vicinity of Canton a Chinaman is justified in divorcing his wife If she has larger feet than he has been led to believe, but in Peking a dis- appointment in face or figure would be the most disastrous. A marriage scene from a celebrated Foo- Chow love story sices a charming picture of a fashionable Foh-kien bride and bridal, “The attire of the bride was worthy of the oceasion. Strings of amber, cornelian and pearls In alternate rows covered her breast. Her robe was like the first blush of morning, trimmed with fragments of the moon. Her eyebrows were like the tea leaf, her like the scarlet azalea. Her numberless ornaments went tinkle, tinklo, as she walked; her shoes were shaped like While a perfume of musk «ris was freely diffused around. Wrapped in an immense red mantle and veil, with a hat as large as a mandarin's umbrella, she was boxed in a red and gild- ed hura-kian, festooned with flowers and ribbe which, being locked up by the nurse, was borne on the shoulders of four men, and, mid salvoes of crackers, posited in the hall of ancestors. By the dim light of paper lanterns, the mandarin stood there, with his son by his side, sur- rounded by the magnates of the prefecture. ‘There was a banging of drums, a too-too- ing of flageolets, a waving of wooden dragons’ heads and official insignia. “The youngest gentleman carried the roast pork, and held it aloft on a stick as the groom, with six obeisances, took from the nurse the key and unlocked the prison of his brile. Hand in hand, she still in hat and mantle, they moved along the line of family tablets, making three bows to each. Then flinging themselves down be- fore the bridezroom’s father, they solemn- ly vowed, In the presence of the dead, to be faithful till the summons of death. “After this, twolcups of wine, joined by a scarlet thread, were handed by a little child, and tha bridegroom unveiling the lady by a graceful jerk, the twain pledged each other, while music struck up again, ard there was/another discharge of crack- ers.”" 4 The Emperor's Wedding. It was my good fortune to be in Peking during the year of.the emperor’s marriage, and the recent death of the young empress recalls the gossip regarding the * royal bride, which grew, rank at that time. It was hinted that there was a great lack of enthusiasm over the selection, that the young empress was suffering from indiffter- ent health, ard there were other dispar- aging reports. ' But as it is always difficult in Peking to obtain any definite statement in regard to royal matters, and as the marriage did take place on the day se- lected by the astrologers—everything pass- ing off according to the program—these rumors were given a liberal discount. The bridal procession—very magnificent to Chinese eyes—was in the following order, and occupied almost an hour in passing a given point: Fifty outriders dressed in court robes; gold seal of empress, borne in a yellow silk pavilion; patent of investiture, borne ‘in a yellow silk pavilion; the baton of the em- peror, carried by a grand secretary on horseback; an ofticer on horseback, holding a yellow satin wrapper, raised aloft in both hands; fifty or,sixty horses belonging to the bride, dresséd in yellow trappings; um- brellas, flags, etc.; musicians carrying but not playing their instruments; a number of outriders to see that the road was clear; incense burner, with burning incense; thirty pairs of horn lanterns carried by de- | men dressed in red; twenty pairs of smaller lanterns; the car of the empress, drawn by six horses; three yellow carts; the bridal chair, carried by sixteen bearers in red robes, the chair draped in yellow silk; a high official on horseback, bearing a large lantern, with the character for “happiness” inscribed upon it; dames of honor, attend- ing upon the bride, mounted on horses, each horse being led by the husband of the lady. Escort of troops. The procession passed in «dead silence. Lanterns were placed at each side of the causeway, about ten feet apart, and below the causeway, at the side of each lantern a soldier was posted, who knelt as the bridal chair passed. ————— CHRISTMAS IN CHINA. Trees Which Are Just as Odd as Chinumen Can Make Them. From the New York Herald. The European peoples in their early ‘is tory were worshipers of the sun. In China the sun takes an inferior position, and the moon becomes the principal character. Nearly all the great events in the Chinese year have some reference to that bright satellite. New Year begins with the moon and the other great festival is that of the harvest moon in mid autumn, and here also are found two sun festivals, one in early summer and the second and more important around December 23. This is the Chinese Christmas, which has come down through the centuries from the time that the Chinese race dwelt in the fertile plains of Mongolia and Manchuria, and when the present empire was occupied by dark-skinned tribes, who long since have vanished and_been forgotten. This Chinese Christmas is known under different names. In one place it is called the festival of the Winter Sun, in another the festival of the Tree Spirits, in another the festival of the Forest Dragon, in an- other the festival of the Young Heaven, and still another the festival of the Spirits of Growing Grain. Whatever the name, it has always some connection with the win- ter’s solstice, and is the exact equivalent of our own Christmas. a It is celebrated like other Chinese festi- vals, and is a source of enjoyment to mil- lions. There is also a celebration of the Western Christmas in China by natives 0 have been converted to Christianity. These converts are of three classes—thos belonging to the Protestant missions, those of the Greek Church and those of Rome. The converts, no matter what their de- nomination, celebrate the day in good, old- fashioned style. Their preparations begin several days in advance of the festival. They first make little trees, that corre- spond to the Christmas trees of our own country. But these are very different, and are just as odd as a Chinaman can make them. The commonest form consists of a long dried branch, from which the dead leaves have been removed, and on which are fastened green paper leaves, little pieces of tinsel and fragments of scariet paper, until the affair gleams with color. It is fastened to the wall, so as to pro- ject into the room, or else placed in a heavy vase on a table in front of the fam- ily altar. Another very pretty variation is a dry branch, forked and irregular, with a mimic cobweb made of silk thread, in whose meshes are green leaves and red and gold flowers. Canton’s Famous F) Artificial flowers are larg@ty employed as household ornaments at this season. Those of Canton are famous in this re- gard, and are made with such consum- mate skill as to almost defy detection. ‘Those of Swatow and Foochow are cheap- er and much poorer, betraying their pa- per texture across a wide apartment. More common Utan either of those men- tioned are the bouquets and garlands with- out which ao Chinese house or church seems Well furnished. These floral ob- jects are purely conventional and usually consist of leaves and flowers made from colored paper, imitating the naturfl hues of the plant copied, pieces of gold, silver and red bronze tinsel and litte human figures in porcelain or composition which nestle in the paper verdure around them. ‘These combinations ot color, tinsel and statuettes are starting, and the effect chromatic in the extreme. Instead of a bouquet the elements are strung along a cord or Wire so as to produce a narrow garland, which is used iu nearly the same manner as the evergreen festoons of our own country. The bouquets and garlands are of every size and quality. Some are small enough to do duty as a boutonniere, and cost the fraction of a cent, while others are mass- es of color and brilliancy a yard in diam- eter aud three in height, costing $15 to 320, The small ones are used by children and by the very poor; those of gigantic dimensions are employed in temples and the palaces of the great mandarins. Those in general use range from three to eight inches in diameter,and trom three to twenty inches in height. Made of common pa- per and cheap Unsel, tiey cost a few cents, but when made of the best materials their price runs as high as a dollar. John Chinaman, no matter how wealthy ne may be, is economical in his ornaments, and seldom buys any bouquets or garland: which are not of the cheapest sort obtain- able. Wwers. Ghost Papers. Another important matter in the renew- al of the ghost papers. Christmas is one of the, days, or rather nights, when the wandering spirits walk the earth—good ones on benevolent and evil ones on malev- olent missions. A careful citizen always provides against the latter by affixing to the door or jamb a piece of sacred yellow paper on which a priest has written an incantation, This is warranted to keep away an army of ill-minded specters, The incantation is written with a brush, in a single character, so intricate as to sug- gest a crasy study in spherical trigonom- etry. The paper is about a foot square and is of the imperial yellow color which is consecrated to the throne and the spirit world. A ghost paper costs according to the means of the buyer. A poor coolie secures one for two ceuts, while a mandarin’s wife will pay as much as a quarter of a dollar, Zealots are not satisfied with a paper which keeps away goblins, but want a se which will attract or placate good spirits. This they paste on the wall just inside the doorway. When it is seen by a genial denizen of another sphere he feels as if he had been welcomed in per- son and generally settles down there for a term of years. But if the rain, wind or mischievous small boy tears or removes either ghost paper, great is the woe in the household. Hyen it it remain intact it may lose some virtue. For this reason it ought to be renewed at Christmas tide, so that the family may close the year in safety and happiness. Gotng Out of Fashion, Some people at this time put ghost catchers and ghost chasers on their roof ridge. These are small figures in porce- lain which serve the same purpose as the ghost papers. ‘They are going out of fash- jon in the Middle Kingdom. Of fifty new houses I have seen erected only two were supplied with these spiritual luxuries, In the past they were very popular, and could be seen on nearly every building from a temple down to a coolie’s hovel. The Chinese Christmas is a popular day for church going, especially when it falls on the fifth or fifteenth day of the moon or Chinese month. Every temple is then busy all day, and even late in the even- Ing. Women’are the chief patrons, they usually numbering ten to one man. They are eccentric in their system of worship. Instead of attending one temple, they go to any one of fifty and select the one in which, according to their belief, they will secure most readily their desire. ‘Thus a Chinese lady will go to one church or joss house when she is sick herself, and to ‘another when her husband is the pa- tient. She will go twenty miles to one famous for gratifying the philoprogenitive wishes of married women, and the next day the same distance to obiain luck in playing cards for money stakes. So far as a foreign devil can make out, there is little or no praise or thanksgivifig. There is placation and begging. The occasion has almest no relation with the service, ex- cepting that certain days are more aus. picious than others in general, and also for special purposes. Such a thing as a Christmas service, Easter service and the like is unknown. ——_reo____—. Something Subtle. From Life. T've been pondering over a very singu- lar thing.” “What is it?” “How putting a ring on a woman's third ould place you under that woman's COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON A FARCE. Written Exclusively for The Evening Star, SCENE I. Me AND MRS. JE- Z hy june, in a small, ar- tistically decorated hall, standing before a large, flat wooden box. Mrs. Jejune (eag- erly)—“Oh, Jack, It’s a Christmas pres- ent! Do open it!” Mr. Jejune (du- biously) — “ There's two dollars and a half express to pay on it first, and I've spent my last dollar.” Mrs, Jejune—“Too bad! I'll have to use the money I had kept for flowers for our Christmas dinner. But never mind! This is evidently a picture, and a picture is a permanent possession, which flowers are not.” (Runs and fumbles in a drawer, re- turning with the noney.) Mrs. Jejune--‘Here it is! Do hurry, Jack, and bring the hammer with you!” (Exit Mr. Jejune, with money; re-enter- ing with hammer and large screwdriver.) Mrs, Jejune (leaning over box, while Mr. Jejune kreels and begins to operate)—“Oh, how I.am gloating over the possibilities of this box! I hope it will turn out to be an exquisite Alexander Harrison, or a dark, mysterious Cazorn!”” Mr. Jejune (hammering)—‘‘From the weight and size, I think it must be a sec- tion of the frieze of the Parthenon! What I should like would be a tetching etching!” Mrs. Jejune—“Make haste! I can’t bear this suspense anothe: moment! (Mr. Jejune prizes up the top, and Mrs. Jejune jerks off the papers. Then they both draw out a picture, done in oils, rep- resenting a woman's figure, looking into a pool of water.) ‘ Mrs. Jejune (with acute reproach)—“Oh, who could have been cruel enough to send us this dreadful picture? How absolutely monstrous? Is that pond with those big bumps wn it intended for waves?” Mr. Jejune (laughing)—“Yes, Min, I think those are meant for breakers and billows; but they look like bolsters and pillows: Mrs. Jejune—“Well, whatever it is, water it is not! Perhaps it's an advertisercent of the mud baths at Schwallingbad, where mamma went last summer.” Mr. Jejune—"No, I think this lady is of domestic manufacture. She'd been less lym- phatic, poor thing, after suffering a sea change.” Mrs. Jejune—“O, Jack, a voyage around the world would do her no good. Do you see that one leg is shorter than the other? Lymphatic did you say? Emphatic limp would be nearer io the mark.” (Rummages through the papers and finds a letter, which she opens and reads aloud): “Dear Min: I send you with this the first painting in oils, of a young girl who has never taken a lesson in her life. I am sure you will be glad to have this first effort, not only for its own sake, but also because it is by the sale of these studies that this girl makes her living. The pic- ture is called ‘The Mirror of Venus.’ I am sure you will agree with me that my pro- lege has decided talent. “With the compliments of the season, “Yours ever, “MARGARET CALABASH.” (While Mrs. Jejune has been reading the letter, Mr. Jejune has placed the picture on a sofa, and they both step back and take attitudes of observation.) Mrs. Jejune—“O, Jack, it's a perfectly awful disappointment.” Mr. Jejune—“It's too bad, Min, but really you deserve punishment for your fatal fa- cility for friendship. You go around mak- ing yourself so fascinating that people can’t resist loading you with artistic im- pedimenta, to express their affection.” Mrs. Jejune—“O, don’t jeer at one now. I can't stand it. I feel like swearing eter- ral enmity to friendship, if this be the re- sult. Do you suppose there are women anywhere who look like that Venus? It’s just like Margaret Calabash, with her fine fren#ty for the promotion of retarded genius.” Mr. Jejune—“What are you going to say to Miss Calabesh?” Mrs. Jejune—"Heaven knows! I wish I could say my thoughts! She is a type of that increasing nuisance, the affluent wo- man who ts full of theories and eternally doing generous deeds largely at other people's expense! With her usual mag- nanimous enthusiasm, she imposes this horrible thing on us, which not only swears at everything we have, but positively blackguards them! Mr. Jejune—“I wish some one would in- treduce @ bill in the legislature making it a penitentiary offense to send a useless Christmas present. Every year we go through with the same hideous influx. If we put en evidence all the ugly things that are given to us, what would our house be? It would be a cross between a junk shop and an object lesson in Philistinism! As for this picture, it beats Aunt Martha's hand-painted screen Mrs. Jejune—That foreigner they told us of in Washington, who got an invitation to a wedding, with ‘Present at the door,’ and who wrote to ask what sort of present was desired, ought to be the pioneer cru- sader for the Christmas cross. Think of the thousands who are groaning over their presents today Mr, Jejune—"The practical question that is before us now is what to do with this picture. We can’t hang it!” Mrs. Jejune—"No; hanging ts too good for att I've been pandering. We haven't got a ing for Aunt Maria yet. pent it to her” 4 givcommenis Tr, Jejune—“But doesn’ Calabasas t she know Miss Mrs. Jejune—So she does! Jack, 1 have tt! I forgot that. Let’s pay our doctor's bill Jejune—"How? What? I understand,”” Mrs. Jejune—' don’t you know that that dear old Dr. Pulp wouldn’t send any bill when you had the grip? Let’s square up the account and send him this! He'd be sure to like it. I am certain he does not know an original Raphael from a chose and the frame is gorgeous!” r. Jejune—"I'm afraid that fA be quite the— ppeskinces: Mrs. Jejune—"O, you just leave that me. You go off now and dress for the ped ner at the Russeil’s, and Bridget will nail up the picture. I will write him the most bewitching little note, and we can leave it ourselves tonight. Two deeds single cab fare! pan iat (exeunt.) SCENE II. (Office of Dr. Pulp, the doctor standin, before the picture. Box, 4 Tie Root Pi OX, papers, etc., on r. Pulp—“Here's a new pati vengeance! Those ‘dear. young’ Jejmnes may be judges of picture frames, but they certainly know nothing of pictures and the human frame. This is a joke! To send a surgeon of my standing this deformed human mannikin! Why,I couldn't be in the room with this woman ‘half an hour with. out performing a surgical operation upon her! Let me make a note of her case. Medulla rigid, lateral curvature, chronic ascites and general marasmus! Poor thing! poor thing! She’d keep a regiment of specialists busy for a month! But what on earth can I do with her? Keep her in the house I cannot. Let me see! ‘There are a lot of people I ought to send Christ- mas presents to! Morton always sends me some useless rubbish at this time, and I'd like to pass on this ambulent diorama of disease to him! But I believe he belongs to Jejune’s club, and he might go to his house! Ah! I've got it. There are the Bumpers, worthy souls! They are the very people! Just in their new house, with everything new under the sun, and this picture will please them, down to. the ground! Mrs. Bumper will put it on a gilded easel and drape Algerian scarfs around it and I may now get the thousand out of old Bumper that I want for my hospital, once he is subjugated by the soft glance of this myopic minx! I'll order Benson to repack it and take it around to them at once. By the body of this hy- drocephalus Venus, the picture is theirs.” don’t SCENE III. (ining room of Mr. and Mrs, Bumper’s house.) Mrs. Bumper (very rigid and evidently under the influence of some strong emotion, On a chair ts the picture of “The Mirror of e with a tablecloth carefully thrown over it. Mr. Bumper reading paper, but glancing furtively at Mrs. Bumper)—“Real- ly, Thomas, I am surprised at Dr, Pulp! ——_—_————————————— | owe genes he send me this outrageous pio ure?” Mr. Bumper—“I am sure, my dear, that Dr. Pulp wished to give pleasure and not offense.” Mrs. Bumper—“He shall never darken my = — by r. mper—“Banish the picture if like, Susan, but do not banish the Goctor,” Mrs. Bumper—"I must draw the line, Thomas; it is my duty to let Dr. Pulp know that I am offended. I must draw the line here, just as I did the other day, when I told Mrs. Robinson Ray that we would never allow our daughter to make friends with girls like Netta Ray, who has left her mother’s house, you know—that fine brown stone mansion—and set up for herself in a —, with a sign outside her door just like man’s!”” Mr. Bumper—“‘Why don’t you send this picture to Miss Ray? We'd get rid of the thing and it might help the girl in her work!” Bumper—“What! Send Netta this picture, directly in the face of my argu- ments with her mother?” Mr. Bumper (rising)—“Oh, do as you like! It seemed to me a way out of the dilemma. You could write such a note with the pic- ture that it might cause the girl to give uj her newfangled notions; but suit yourself, Susan!” Mrs. Bumper (thoughtfully)—“I confess, Thomas, that what you say does give me the opportunity of making a direct appeal to Netta. I think I can make her duty plain to her. TI will go and write the letter, and James shall take it with the picture to her, at once. (Bxeunt.) SCENE Ivy. (Henrietta Ray's studio, arranged for expected company. Littles tables hold tea cups, &c. In the foreground is an easel on which rests “The Mirror of Venus. Miss Ray, in picturesque tea gown, stands expectant. Knock at door. Servant an- nounces Mr. Longworthy, who enters.) Miss Ray (advancing, laughing)—"Oh, Mr, Longworthy, so glad you came iirst! Now we can have our little shrieks over my Christmas present before the others ar- rive. Here is ‘The Mirror of Venus!’ Ad- vance and behold!” Mr. Longworthy (slowly)—“Well, I am glad you can laugh about it! It makes me feel more like weeping! We talk of our age and the art idea, &c., and yet look at this thing! Sent to you, an artist, by a positively representative woman of our city!” Miss Ray—‘Yes, and it is to meet this representative old idiot that I have in- vited you. The note she sent me with the picture is perfectly killing. She evidently thought it a succinct screed on the art question. The conceited old past parti- ciple of priggishness! She sent me this picture, mind you, and urged me to study from it instead of from a model, and beg- ged me never to divulse that the picture came from her! I asked her here tonight just to give her the rapping over the knuckles that she deserves. You must write the Bumpers up! It is people like them— Bumper & Company, Limited—that harden and kill us with their false ideas of moral- ity and their Midas touch (Knock at door. Enter Mr, and Mrs. Bumper.) Miss Ray (advancing)—“Oh, here you are, dear Mrs. Bumper! So good of you to leave your beautiful house this cold night to come to my poor little den! Here is Mr. Longworthy, the distinguished critic, admiring your beautiful present to me.” (introductions are exchanged. Miss Ray rattles along about the picture to Mr. Longworthy.) Mrs. Bumper (soto voce to Mr. Bumper) "Thomas, i consider this an outrage! You must explain our position to that man! ‘The whole thing will be out in the papers, and I'll never hold up my head again! ‘This is what comes of being broad-minded and taking your advice!” (Knock. Enter Mr, and Mrs. Jejune.) Miss Ray—“Now, dear Mrs. Bumper, here are two most artistic friends of mine—Mr. and Mrs, Jejune. I wanted them to enjoy a sight of this beautiful picture.” Mre. Bumper (bristling with rage, but, noting Mrs. Jejune’s sudden pallor, goes forward and speaks to her)—“Are you ill? Take my fan, and sit here. I want to sperk with you. A mistake has occurred— a most galling mistake-—" * Mrs. Jejune—“Mistake? Do you mean about that picture?” Mrs. Bumper—“Yes. I sent Miss Ray that picture as a moral protest. I only wish now that I had told her frankly that it had been given me by my family physi- cian—Dr. Pulp!” Mrs. Jejune (gasping)—“Dr, Pulp!" (Knock. Enter Dr. Pulp. Dr. Pulp—“Now, my dear Angelica Kaufft- mann—for that is my name for you!—how are you? And where is that remarkable picture which you wrote me such an amus- ing note about? Ah, why, there are the Jejunes! and, ‘pon my soul, the Bumpers! This is an unexpected pleasure; meeting you all under such agreeable auspices!” Mrs. Bumper and Mrs. Jejune (aside and together)—“Agreeable! Miss Ray (approaching picture and turn- ing it in full view)—“Now my little coterie is all assembled, except for one cl ing woman, whom, I imagine, none of you know. She has the delightful combination of being both artistic and philanthropic. Her. name is Miss Calabash—Margaret Cal- abash! Mrs. Jejune (clutches Mr. Jejune by the arm and whispers excitedly)—“Jack, take me home! This is too much! Say I'm dy- ing, dead—anything! Only take mo away. Look at Dr. Pulp! He has just recognized the picture. O, this is too awful; take me awry.” (.nock at door. Enter Miss Calabash). Miss: Calabash—“A thousand pardons for being late, but—" (sees picture). “Where did you get that picture?” Miss Ray—“Dear Mrs. Bumper here, sent it to me as a Christmas gift.” Mrs. Bumper (ooldly and dohantty)—"Te wes presented to me r. Pulp, ani T considered it to be a—* ares Dr. Pulp—“Take care, Mrs. Bumper; I am bound to tell you that it was given me by Mr. and Mrs. Jejune. My excuse for giving it away was—” Mrs. Jejune—"Stop, Dr. Pulp; I cannot let you go on. It was painted by a protege of Miss Calabash, given to me by her, Indeed, Margaret, I never thought—O, dear! I beg your pardon on my knees.” Dr. Pulp—“And I beg yours, Mrs. Je- june. Mrs. Bumper—“And 0, doctor—I'm sure I beg yours. It's a dreadful thing to give a present xway, and have It found ovt.” All together—“Dreadful!” (Miss Calabash frowning, and then break- ing into a laugh)—“I might as well confess the truth, Netta, and make all your friends feel more comfortable. The fact is—I'm ashamed to say so, but it’s true—the fac is this picture was a Christmas present to me! You see it was so large—and—and— (General laughter and relief). Miss Ray—“It’s too bad, Mr. Longworthy, that you should be left out in the cold, and in order that you may share in the privileges of the occasion—allow me to present you with this picture. “The Mir- ror of Venus’ is yours, with the compll- ments of the season. Curtain.) ©. F. Johnson in the Hartford Courant. Under the slighting light of the yellow sun of Octo- ", Close by the side of the car track, a gang of Da- g08 Were working; Pavsing @ moment to catch @ note of thelr Nquid ‘attan, Faintly I heard an echo of Rome's imperial accents, Broken-down forms of Latin words from the Senate and Forum, Now smoothed over by use to the musical lingua Romana. Then the thought came, why, these are the belrs of the Romans; These are the ‘sous of the men who founded the Enptre of Caesar; ‘These are they whose fathers carried the +onquer- ing cagles Over all Gaul and across the sea to Ultima Thule; ‘the race-type persists unchanged in their cyes and profiles and figures. Muscular, short and thick-set, with promincut noses, recalling. “Romanes rerum dominos, gentemque togatam.” See, Labinus is swinging a pick with rhythmical ‘motion; Yonder one pushing the shovel might be Julius ‘Caesar, Teun, decp-eyed, broad-browel and bald, a man of a thousand; Farther along stands the jolly Horatius Flaccus; Grim and grave, with rings in bis ears, see Cate the censor. On the side of the street im proud and gloomy the legions, And, as I loitered, the Celt cried out, “Warruk, ye “Full up your shovels Lnperator; Such are the changes and chances the centurler calculation. seclusion, Bossing the ‘Job, stood a Celt; the race enslaved by Sold in the markets of Rome to meet the expenses of Cuesar, Dagos:"” > Paytbro, ye hatbea! I'll dock yees a quarther. ‘This he said to the ove who resembled the great iy the dignified Roman kept on patiently dig: ging. bring to the nations. Surely the ups and downs of the world are past “Possibly,” thas I thought to myself, “the yoke oF the Tris May in turn be lifted (vom us, in the tenth genéra- ‘tion. Now the Celt is on top, but time may bring bir revenges, ‘vurning the Fenian dowa, otice more to be boned by @ Dago.””