_ And we all remember Bismarck's story of the
way mouth-washes and finger-bowls were treated at Frankfurt by those
above and below the grade of serene highness. _Toutes les vices et
toutes les moeurs sont respectables._
In 531 the barbarian King of Ts'u is honoured by being "named" for
enticing and murdering a "ruler of the central kingdoms." The
pedants are much exercised over this, but as the federal prince in
question was a parricide, he had a _lupinum caput,_ and so
even a savage could without outraging orthodox feelings wreak the
law on him. On the other hand, in 526, when Ts'u enticed and
killed a mere barbarian prince, the honour of "naming" was
withheld. This delicate question will be further elucidated in the
chapter on "Names."
It will be observed that none of the testimony brought forward
here to show that Ts'u was, in some undefined way, a non-Chinese
state is either clear or conclusive: its cumulative effect,
however, certainly leaves a very distinct impression that 'there
was a profound difference of some sort both in race and in
manners, though we are as yet quite unable to say whether the bulk
of the Ts'u population was Annamese, Shan, or Siamese; Lolo or
Nosu; Miao-tsz, Tibetan, or what.
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