On the
fall of the city in 1643 the last of the Mings hanged himself
there--after having stabbed his daughter, like another Virginius,
as a last proof of paternal affection.
From the gate of the Forbidden City to the palace officials high
and low must go on foot, unless His Majesty by special favour confers
the privilege of riding on horseback, a distinction which is always
announced in the _Gazette_ by the statement that His Majesty
has "given a horse" to So-and-So. No trolleys are to be seen in
the streets, and four-wheeled carriages are rare and recent. Carts,
camels, wheel-barrows, and the ubiquitous rickshaw are the means
of transport and locomotion. The canals are open sewers never used
for boats.
Not lacking in barbaric splendour, as regards the convenience of
living this famous capital will not compare with a country village of
the Western world. On the same parallel as Philadelphia, but dryer,
hotter, and colder, the climate is so superb that the city, though
lacking a system of sanitation, has a remarkably low death-rate.
In 1859 I first entered its gates. In 1863 I came here to reside.
More than any other place on earth it has been to me a home; and
here I am not unlikely to close my pilgrimage.
On my first visit, I made use of Byron's lines on Lisbon to express my
impressions of Peking. Though there are now some signs of improvement
in the city
[Page 39]
the quotation can hardly be considered as inapplicable at the present
time.
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