It was observed in the introductory chapter that the prevalent impression with regard to the character of the Chinese people seems to be that they have no notion of honour, honesty, or courage, and that they are by nature a cruel, merciless race. This estimate is erroneous, and needs to be corrected. I do not pretend to maintain that the Chinese are free from the vices common to all humanity, and I will even admit that they possess many defects of character from which other peoples, who have made even less progress than themselves, have been found to be exempt. At the same time it is hardly fair to judge them by that code which an advanced state of intelligence and civilization has taught us to set up for our own guidance in respect to mental and moral qualities, and straightway to denounce them as weak or reprobate because they cannot fulfil all the requirements of such a standard. It must be remembered that they are at best but heathen, and that their advantages have been confined entirely to what the light of nature, and the teachings of sages long since ancient could afford; and taking this circumstance into consideration, as well as the fact of their many ages of isolation, instead of there being any ground for special condemnation against them, there is, I conceive, much cause for marvel that they hold virtue and its kindred characteristics in such high estimation, and that their standard of what is good and commendable so nearly approaches that of more privileged and gifted nations.