Page:"Round the world." - Letters from Japan, China, India, and Egypt (IA roundworldletter00fogg 0).pdf/138

 that amor patriae which, while not blind to our national faults, would at least never parade our soiled linen before our neighbors eyes.

Oae class of Americans wherever I have met them seem to cherish a deep love and affection for their native land, the Missionaries. There seems to be very little social intimacy between them and the merchants. They give no expensive dinner parties nor entertainments, but devote themselves quietly to their blessed work. They are sometimes refered to sneeringly by their money-making countrymen, whose conduct, as an illustration of christian morality, is not always a bright example to the heathen.

These small communities of Europeans are subject to rules of etiquette as inexorable as the laws of the Medes and Persians. The gentlemen in society being far more numerous than the ladies, it is considered proper for a stranger to call on any or all the ladies without special permission, or even an introduction. If considered an eligible acquaintance, the husband of the lady returns the call, the new-comer is invited to dine, and considered as admitted to terms of social intercourse. If not considered a desirable acquaintance, his call is simply ignored. The Hong Kong club excludes every person who sells goods by retail. He is not considered by the snobs here a gentleman, no matter how extensive his business or how great his wealth or culture. A. T. Stewart, if residing here, could not become a member of this woud-be aristocratic and very exclusive club, which is the only one in the place. The thermometer way stand at 120° in the shade, but a black dress coat must always be worn at dinner, whether ladies are present or not. I was told that in some of the bachelor hongs, as the dwellings attached to the large mercantile houses are called, it is not considered the thing to appear at breakfast even except in full dress. Such snobbishness carries its own penalty and is a subject of ridicule to strangers from every other country than England, instead of impressing them with the wonderful exclusiveness and high breeding of society here.

The streets of Hong Kong are more cosmopolitan than any others I have seen in China. A regiment of red-coated Sepoys from India is stationed here and I frequently meet the soldiers in the street. They are tall, firm looking men, dark complexion, Asiatic profile, keen black eyes, and have