- A. "The swords of Sincerity and Justice."
- Q. "For what are they used?"
- A. "To behead traitors."
- Q. Which are the harder, these swords or your necks?
- A. "As our hearts are truly loyal and sincere, our necks are harder than your sword." With a loud voice the Generals say, "Pass on," and the same ceremony is exactly repeated at the Hall of Sincerity and Justice," and at the "Gate of the City of the Willows;" where, as this paper has grown to an unconscionable length, I must leave them for the present.
I am not of course blind to the fact, that the parts of the oath relating to obedience to British law, and to the Registrars of the Societies, were probably introduced in deference to the presence of official foreign visitors, though I have good reason to believe that new members are warned to obey the Colonial laws, and so keep their chiefs out of trouble.
For some years I have strongly discountenanced the use of the words "Ang-mo" or "Red haired," for "English," except in those unavoidable cases when a "freshly caught" Sin Kheh would be totally unable to understand any other term.
I have no doubt that on occasions when I have been present at meetings, special instructions have been given to the "Generals," to avoid the objectionable expression, and to use the words "Eng-kok" or "Tai-Eng-kok" for English or British, as also to give the proper titles to local Officials. It is however an unpleasant fact that the Chinese in designating foreign officials, use terms somewhat less complimentary than those to be found in the appendix to Mayers' "Chinese Government"; Inspectors of Police for instance, are called "big dogs," and the Superintendent of that body has no higher title than that of "Head of the big-dogs." Inspectors of Nuisances are called "Earth buffaloes," and so on. At the meeting above described, it was most amusing to hear the "Generals" correcting themselves when guilty of a lapsus linguæ, or to see the austere visage of a "Guardian" relax, as he called out to a "General" fresh from the jungle, "You fool! they will be angry if you say Ang mo; you must only say 'Eng-kok.' As for the candidates, the effort to comprehend such words, as the Chinese equivalents for "British Government," and "Inspector General of Police," was evidently too much for them, and seemed to be an even more severe ordeal than the drawn swords under which they had to pass.
