Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 56 (Color Image)

0056	Among the Celestials : vol.1

32 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. I.

there seem to be many topics quite as good as

geography and the weather, and one hears

long, well - thought - out, and well - expressed

arguments on philosophic and moral subjects,

freely interspersed with quotations from their

classics. The philosophising Chinaman is per-

haps rather too celestial, rather too much above

ordinary mortals, and certainly shows too little

interest in the common everyday affairs of this

world : but he is an interesting man to meet at

home, and, mingled with the irritation which

his superciliousness so often inspires, I had a

feeling of real regard for a mart who can aspire

to such a lofty standpoint as the Chinaman

looks to, and in his case I felt that the seeming

superciliousness was not all simple self-conceit,

but that he had in him the pride engendered

by belonging to an empire which has stood

intact for thousands of years, and which was

approaching civilisation when we ourselves

were steeped in barbarism.

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