But, probably being again confronted by that “if,” he seems to hang his head, halt, and ponder, for he writes:—
“Hopes, like joys and promising children, grow into regrets, or wither and die.”
SCENE IV.
FIRST “DISCOVERY.”
SIZING UP AH SIN, AND LU.
The sage Oseba, after locating China on the globe, threw a view of the map of the Empire on the wall. He explained that this country “embraced” 4,000,000 square miles of the surface of Oliffa, and contained about 400,000,000 “souls,” or nearly one-third of all the Outeroos. But this includes the Mandarins, who are not supposed to have “souls.”
With amusing speech, he reviewed the history, the social, political, and industrial conditions of this “peculiar” people.
It was in China that Oseba became first acquainted with the aggressiveness, the pretentiousness, and the real power of the European or Occidental Nations. As a race, these “foreign devils” were taller in stature, stronger of limb, and lighter in complexion, and they had better opinions of themselves than the Orientals. Conceit is a strong factor in all these mighty games.