Should an error take place in their almanac, and an expected eclipse not occur, the royal astronomers are not disconcerted--far from it; they discover in their error reason for rejoicing; they then congratulate the Emperor that "the heavens have dispensed with this omen of ill-luck in his favour." For eclipses forebode disaster, and every thoughtful Chinaman who has heard of the present rebellion of the Japanese must attribute the reverses caused by the revolt to the eclipse of April 6th, occurring immediately before the insurrection.
Tongchuan is one of the most charming towns I have ever visited; it is probably the cleanest city in China, and the best governed.

Its prefect is a man of singular enlightenment, who rules with a justice that is rarely known in China.

His people regard him as something more than mortal.

Like Confucius "his ear is an obedient organ for the reception of truth." Like the Confucian Superior Man "his dignity separates him from the crowd; being reverent he is beloved; being loyal he is submitted to; and being faithful he is trusted.

By his word he directs men, and by his conduct he warns them." For several years he was attached to the Embassy in Japan, and he boasts that he has made Tongchuan as clean a city as any to be found in the empire of the Mikado.