Return to Peking in the Spring.—Visit to the Mandarin.—Interview in his library. Explanation of the family friendliness, that he and his daughter are Christian converts.-Joyful meeting with Loo A-Lee.They are members of the Russian Church.-Custom of courting and betrothal in China.

HEN spring came round, the wintry aspects of Tien-tsin and the garrison disappeared more rapidly than they came. The ice broke up, and presented a fine sight as it went crashing down the rapid river. The snow disappeared from the wide plain under the rays of the sun, which soon became uncomfortably hot in the middle of the day, so as to induce dangerous illnesses among the troops. Nevertheless, the change in the season was right welcome to all, as it opened up navigation, and they were again in communion with the outer world.

Among the first arrivals were the ministers of Great Britain and France, appointed to establish in person their respective legations at Peking, which had been only temporarily formed after the conclusion of hostilities in the autumn of the previous year. During the winter those in charge had selected suitable residences for the embassies. The building chosen for Mr. Bruce (brother to Lord Elgin) was the palace of the Duke of Leang, originally an imperial residence, and rented to the British Government, in perpetuity, at five hundred pounds a year, no rent to be paid for

BRITISH AND FRENCH EMBASSIES AT PEKING. 117

the first two years, owing to the extensive alterations and repairs it required.

As it came within the duties of the Royal Engineers for some of them to superintend these alterations, Captain Gordon was applied to for several of his most skilled sappers. I was only too glad to volunteer my services, as

it afforded the long-wished-for opportunity of visiting the mandarin and his daughter at Peking. I took my departure from Tien-tsin with several comrades, along with the secretaries and attachés of the legations, under an escort of mounted troopers and Sikh cavalry, who preceded the ministers as far as Tung-chow.

It may be supposed that I often thought of Loo A-Lee

during the long and dreary winter at Tien-tsin. Not only was this the case, but I wondered why I had been so kindly received by her father and kindred. I had not seen any of my newly-made Chinese friends since the night of the. family feast, on account of my receiving orders next day to proceed with the advanced guard to Tien-tsin. The more I pondered over the friendly, nay, almost brotherly reception given to me on that occasion, the more I was puzzled to find out the cause of so much kindness. It is true I had rendered some service to the family in protecting one of its most beloved members under circumstances of danger and distress. But this alone could scarcely account for the manner in which I had been welcomed by the mandarin and his household. I knew that the Chinese, especially among the official classes, were most exclusive in admitting visitors to the female apartments, even among their own countrymen, far less any foreign barbarian? Perhaps it may have been, from a fear of further dangers overwhelming the city itself, that my protection might be obtained in saving his house from plunder, that the mandarin showed me so much consideration. If so, now that there are no grounds for such fears, I may possibly be denied admittance to the house and the object of my affections.

After so long an absence, I knocked at the gate of the mandarin's house with some trepidation. The keeper promptly opened it, and in answer to the question if his master or mistress were in, he replied in the affirmative, and shortly returned with the mandarin, who received me in the same kindly manner as formerly, and invited me into his bureau, or library, where he conducted his official duties.

This apartment did not differ from others in the style of

BOOKS AND LIBRARIES IN CHINA.

119

Ranges of

architecture, but it was differently furnished. shelves lined the walls, relieved at intervals by elaborately carved bookcases of sandalwood, sapanwood, and ebony. These were filled with books upon all subjects, ancient and modern, necessary for the literati to study in passing through the competitive examinations, which require the student to be specially learned in the classic books of Kong-foo-tsze, whose name the Jesuits Latinized into Confucius. Like other anomalies among the Chinese as compared with Europeans, a library and its contents differ in their arrangement from ours. We print on both sides of the leaf, they only on one; we page our books at the top, they on the margin; we place our notes on the text at the bottom of the page, they at the top; we read the sentences horizontally from left to right, they perpendicularly from right to left; we mark the title of a book on the back of the binding, they on the margin of the leaf; and in our libraries we set our volumes upon edge, while they pile them on the side.

After the complimentary salutations were over, the Mandarin, or, as I shall in future name him, Meng-kee, proceeded to inquire how I and my brethren in arms had passed the winter at Tien-tsin. Many other questions were asked by him, concerning the new relations between the Allies and the Chinese Government, which raised my suspicions that I was being made a tool of by an astute official to elicit secret information regarding the movements of the British forces. Among other matters he inquired particularly if any intelligence had reached us, after the opening of navigation, as to the movements of the Taipings. On this head I had no reason for withholding information, and had gleaned a good deal from the Shanghai and Hong Kong newspapers brought up by the mails.

During this conversation, the mandarin assumed so serious and anxious an expression of countenance, different from his usual equanimity, that I resolved to question him on my part, to ascertain, if possible, the reasons for his inquisitiveness, and if it was his intention to make use of my information against our armies.

"Be not afraid, honourable sir," Meng-kee replied; "I am greatly interested in what you say, but not a word of it shall be used to injure you or your ever-victorious army. I am more a friend,” he added, in a subdued tone of voice, "than I dare almost to tell you."

Now, I thought, I shall get at the mystery of all that has puzzled me in my intercourse with the mandarin and his daughter, and so I replied: "Honourable sir, I accept the sincerity of your words, that you do not intend to do me any harm; but I am impressed with the belief that there is more than what is apparent in your manner and that of your daughter towards me, who am a stranger and a foreigner fighting against your government, that you should show me so much attention and kindness."

"In saying these words, valiant sir, you have penetrated into the secrets of our hearts, and it is only proper that I should explain." Upon this Meng-kee rose from his seat, and walked across the room to one of the book-cases, which he unlocked, and out of its most secret recess brought forth a goodly volume. Then he laid it on the table reverently before me, saying:

"There, Christian sir, as you can read the characters of our language, you will see that I cherish the doctrines of your sublime faith, and my daughter also, as set forth in that book, and that is why we honour you and sympathize with your country." On looking into the volume, I saw