When Ling was communicating to any person the signs by which messengers might find him, he was compelled to add, 'the neighbourhood in which this contemptible person resides is that officially known as 'the mean quarter favoured by the lower class of those who murder by treachery',' and for this reason he was not always treated with the regard to which his attainments entitled him, or which he would have unquestionably received had he been able to describe himself as of 'the partly-drained and uninfected area reserved to Mandarins and their friends.'

Although there exist many thousand subjects for elegant conversation, there are persons who cannot meet a cripple without talking about feet.

Before hastening to secure a possible reward of five taels by dragging an unobservant person away from a falling building, examine well his features lest you f…

When struck by a thunderbolt it is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise meaning of the omen.

In men this blunder still you find,- All think their little set mankind.

The sin forgiven by Christ in Heaven By man is cursed alway.

If we meet an honest and intelligent politician, a dozen, a hundred, we say that they aren't like politicians at all, and our category of politician stays unch…