A virtue which the Chinese possess in an eminent degree is the rather rare one of gratitude.

A Chinaman never forgets a kind act; and what is still more important, he never loses the sense of obligation to his benefactor.

Witness to this striking fact has been borne times without number by European writers, and especially by doctors, who have naturally enjoyed the best opportunities for conferring favours likely to make a deep impression.

It is unusual for a native to benefit by a cure at the hands of a foreign doctor, and then to go away and make no effort to express his gratitude, either by a subscription to a hospital, a present of silk or tea, or perhaps an elaborate banner with a golden inscription, in which his benefactor's skill is likened to that of the great Chinese doctors of antiquity.

With all this, the patient will still think of the doctor, and even speak of him, not always irreverently, as a foreign devil.