The Chinese are not allowed to have it; but the
English, sad to say, sell it to them secretly. There are many opium
taverns in China, where men may be seen lying on cushions snuffing up the
hot opium, and puffing it out of their mouths. Those who smoke opium have
sunken cheeks and trembling hands, and soon become old, foolish, and
sick. Why, then, do they take opium? Many of them say they wish to leave
it off, but cannot.
MISSIONARIES.--Are there any in China? Yes, many; and more are going
there. But how many are wanted for so many people! Missionaries travel
about China to distribute Bibles and tracts. One of them hired a rough
kind of chair with two bearers. In this he went to villages among the
mountains, where a white man had never been seen. The children screaming
with terror ran to their mothers. The men came round him to look at his
clothes and his white skin. They were much surprised at the whiteness of
his hands, and they put their yellow ones close to his to see the
difference. These mountaineers were kind, and brought tea and cakes to
refresh the stranger.
An English lady went to China to teach little girls; for no one teaches
them. She has several little creatures in her school that she saved from
perishing: because the Chinese are so cruel as to leave many girl-babies
to die in the streets; they say that girls are not worth the trouble of
bringing up.
One cold rainy evening, Miss Aldersey heard a low wailing outside the
street-door, and looking out she saw a poor babe, wrapped in coarse
matting, lying on the stone pavement.
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