THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF TAOISM.
TAOISM is a religious system in which men are finally judged according to their merits and demerits. Rev. George Owen, of Peking, gives the following illustrations: On the credit side: "Giving a coffin to the poor counts 30; exhorting a mother not to commit infanticide, 30; saving a child from being destroyed, 50; refraining from beef and dog flesh one year, 5; destroying plates of obscene books, 300; preserving lifelong chastity, 1,000." On the other side, demerits score as follows: "Loving a wife more than father or mother scores 100; drowning an infant, 100; cooking beef or dog flesh, 100; misusing written paper, 50; for publishing immoral books the demerit is measureless." All Taoists admit that even for the best of men the score is on the wrong side. And it is said of one of their good men who lived forty-seven years that his score stood 4,973 merits and 298,000 demerits.—Sel.