by the rich to the poor. But one of the most interesting ceremonies of the day is the erection of lanterns on poles above each house at nightfall amidst the thunder of innumerable cannons, gongs and drums. Being suspended in pairs and disturbed by the wind, one sees, from an elevated place, a waving phosphorescent sea, which stretches far away to the distant hills. It is an act of idolatrous adoration from a million of souls together to the orb which is supposed to reveal herself in her full during this month with more splendor than at any other period of the year.

The worship of the god To-ti has been introduced into California. His name signifies that he is a "god of the earth;" that is, one who guards the particular localities where his image is set up. It is said that the original god worshiped under this name was once a prefect named Yang Shing, who lived during the third century of the Christian era. He ruled over a department whose inhabitants were remarkable for being small of stature and delicate in their appearance. It was the practice of the emperors of that period to annually carry off several hundred of them to the palace, where they were mutilated in their persons and made chamberlains, and thus were devoted to a cruel, perpetual slavery and separation from their homes. This humane officer having strongly represented their case to the emperor, they were relieved from that oppression. Hence after death he was deified by the grateful people with the name of To-ti and worship instituted in honor of him in Taou-chau, which has spread abroad until it is now celebrated all over the empire. He is classed among the gods of happiness and of wealth. He confers prosperity

in business. His more especial care is the protection of streets and dwellings from evil spirits and ill-fortune. It is understood now, however, that it is not this same individual who is worshiped in connection with each image and in various streets, but a mere image is erected, to which they attribute the presence of the spirit of some other man of virtue and renown whom they prefer, especially of some one who may have lived in their own neighborhood.

The god of fire, Hwa-kwang, is worshiped annually on the twenty-eighth day of the ninth month by many of the Chinese in this country, in order to secure his protection of their shops and dwellings from being burned. He is commonly represented with a third eye in the middle of the forehead, with which he is supposed to be able to see a thousand miles and to watch over the welfare of his friends even in the darkness of the night.

To guard their health many worship Pin Tseuh, who was a celebrated physician of antiquity not long after the times of Fuhi, the founder of the empire. A demigod gave to him some medicine, which he was to take during thirty days, that enabled him to see the internal motions and disorders of all the viscera of his patients. He extensively exercised the power thus acquired, and gained great fame. It is declared that he was even able to raise the dead.

The women worship gods and goddesses, who they imagine protect them in their dangers, afford them help and comfort in their times of trial and grant them the objects of their desire. The images often seen of a goddess with a child in her arms are generally those of

Kwan-yan, "the hearer of cries," to whom they and some classes of men who are much exposed to danger, such as sailors, offer devout worship. This goddess was a virgin of the province of Fu-kien, who on account of her holiness was granted miraculous powers, which she exerted specially in behalf of those who were in trouble. In many points her worship reminds one of that of the virgin Mary by Romanists.

There are several rooms fitted up in San Francisco and other places on our Pacific coast for temples. They are chiefly connected with "company houses," are quite a source of revenue to some men who have the care of them, and will be zealously maintained on that account, and because the gods are sometimes those which are worshiped by the people of the district in China whence the members of the company have come.

The characteristic and favorite religion of the Chinese is the worship of ancestors and the spirits of the dead. The interpretation of this is very simple. It is but the affection and the reverence of children for parents following them beyond the veil of the invisible world and attributing to them the continuance of their willingness and power to aid. And the worship which is rendered to these spirits may be said to be just what human parents might be supposed to require, only in a more ethereal form.

In San Francisco each spring and autumn a noisy procession with gongs, drums and clarionets, having several wagons loaded with trays containing whole roast pigs, ducks, chickens and other meats, and pastry, confectionery, fruit and cooked vegetables, proceeds to the neighboring cemeteries. They are despatched from the

streets of the city and received at the grounds with the firing of innumerable crackers. The offerings are formally presented to the spirits in front of the tombs, whisky is sprinkled in the air for their refreshment, and paper money is burned and thus put into spiritualized currency such as they can use. The remainder of the day, after the public duties have been performed, is devoted to feasting and social enjoyment.

In the cities of China this festival is the most popular of all in the round of the year. It is celebrated with great fervor by all classes of people. Offerings are made by each family separately. In the court of the house there may be seen a heap, perhaps several feet in length, of various articles of clothing and common household use, generally made of paper, though sometimes of the ordinary materials, with bundles of silver and gilt paper for money. The court is lighted up with gaudily-painted candles in rows around the sides. The dwellers of every age all busy themselves in making the arrangements necessary. Hot rice and other substantials, nuts and liquor or tea, are brought out. When all is ready, acts of worship are performed. Then the pile is kindled, and the rice and liquor are thrown up into the air. Every scrap of paper is religiously gathered and burned, probably that the garments of the spirits may not be defective. The more savory articles of food, however, are not thus profusely scattered about, but after they have stood long enough for the worthy ghosts to abstract their essence, they seem still capable of affording considerable relish to the coolies and boys that scramble for them. Many of the Chinese believe that these provisions are insipid after the ghosts have satisfied their hunger, but

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some are so bold as to say that they do not notice much difference in the taste. It is not alone what is required for food and raiment that is despatched to the unseen world. Through the agency of flames, which spiritualize them and waft them up, houses completely furnished, horses, servants, sedan-chairs and numerous articles of worldly luxury or ornament, find, as these deluded people believe, access there.

The same intense feeling of attachment to kindred leads them to offer oblations to the spirits of the deceased, to make annual visits to their tombs in order to repair them, and to carry back to the burial-places in their native villages the bones of those who die away from them. Thousands of skeletons have thus been taken from California. The people of various districts of the province of Canton have formed among themselves on the Pacific coast benevolent societies whose members pay each a fee of several dollars. This guarantees the transportation of their bones home in case of their own death, and helps to do the same for those of all the individuals who have come from the same district. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been paid by these societies for coffins, internal transportation, that on shipboard and other

expenses.

These associations are purely voluntary, and may not be connected with their ui-kuns, or "companies." The following is a translation of a portion of the report of one whose headquarters was at San Francisco, styled the Chih-shin (or beneficial) Association :

"The benevolent purposes for which the Chih-shin Association was established were first put into effect in the autumn of eighteen hundred and fifty-four. The