400 CHINESE LITERATURE
leisure, indulge with the scholars of the district in literary recreations. I formed, in fact, a literary club ; and, leasing a plot of ground for cultivation, devoted the returns therefrom to the annual Confucian demonstra- tions and to the payment of a regular professor. Thus the true doctrine was caused to flourish, and these supernatural doings to disappear from the scene ; the public tone was elevated, and the morality of the place vastly improved.
"When the Brigadier-General and the Lieutenant- Governor heard what had been done, they very much commended my action, saying: ' Had this sect not been rooted out, the evil results would have been dire indeed ; and had you reported the case in the usual way, praying for the execution of these criminals, your merit would undoubtedly have been great ; but now, without selfish regard to your own interests, you have shown yourself unwilling to hunt down more victims than necessary, or to expose those doings in such a manner as to lead to the suicide of the persons implicated. Such care for the fair fame of so many people is deserving of all praise.'"
Although not yet of the same national importance as at the present day, it was still impossible that the foreign question should have escaped the notice of such an observant man as Lan Ting-yuan. He flourished at a time when the spread of the Roman Catholic religion was giving just grounds for apprehension to thoughtful Chinese statesmen. Accordingly, we find amongst his collected works two short notices devoted to a considera- tion of trade and general intercourse with the various nations of barbarians. They are interesting as the un- trammelled views of the greatest living Chinese scholar
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