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CHINESE RELIGIONS AND INSTITUTIONS. • 165
every way, in the country tlian in the cities ; and that, just
so far as traders and foreigners generally exercised any influence,
it was in tendency demoralizing.
CHINESE BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS,
Churchmen are inclined to boast of their charitable asylums
and reform-institutions as proofs of the divinity of the
Christian religion. When premises are assumed, erroneous
conclusions quite naturally follow. I^Tany hundreds certainly,
and in all probability thousands, of years before the
Christian era, China not only had her universities of learning,
but her public charities and extensive benevolent institutions.
And though China is, intellectually and nationally,
in her dotage now, these have not ceased to exist. Not only
every city, but every country village of any importance, has
its free school and orphan-asylum. Some wealthy citizen
leading the enterprise, others unite in raising funds, which
are often increased from the government treasury.
" In Hang Chow," says the Rev. Mr. Nevius, " I found, in
connection with a variety of benevolent institutions, an asylum
for old men, which had about five hundred members."
It was my good fortune to visit one foundling-hospital.
By diligent inquiry I learned that there were many societies
for the relief of aged widows, and also for cripples, but
none for the insane, and for the plausible reason that it
is among the marvels of the country to see or hear of an
insane person.
Charity-schools are very common in China. And then
there are numerous medical hospitals, where medicines are
administered to the poor gratuitously. " There is a society
in Suchow," writes the missionary Nevius, " for the suppression
of the publication and sale of immoral books." The
mandarins contributed largely to this establishment.
I was repeatedly informed by hunters and travelers that
in the interior of the country the people were exceedingly
hospitable, bringing tea and rice to the roadside to refresh