Although the ordinary Chinaman is not allowed entrance, there is no objection made to the native servant of a foreigner : my boy was with me always, and was in great glee at seeing such a place.
From Martin's " Lore of Cathay " : " When taxed with ingratitude, in neglecting to honour that Being on whom they depend for existence, the Chinese uniformly reply, ' It is not ingratitude, but reverence, that prevents our worship. He is too great for us to worship. None but the Emperor is worthy to lay an offering on the altar of Heaven.' In conformity with this sentiment the Emperor, as the high-priest and mediator of his people, celebrates in Peking the worship of Heaven with imposing ceremonies.
" Within the gates of the southern division of the capital, and surrounded by a sacred grove, so extensive that the silence of its deep shade is never broken by the noises of the busy world, stands the Temple of Heaven.
" It consists of a single tower, whose tiling of resplen dent azure is intended to represent the form and colour of the aerial vault.
" It contains no image, and the solemn rites are not performed within the tower, but on a marble altar which stands before it , a bullock is offered once a year as a burnt sacrifice while the Master of the Empire prostrates himself in adoration of the Spirit of the Universe.
" This is the high place of Chinese devotion, and the thoughtful visitor feels that he ought to tread its courts with unsandalled feet.
" Dr. Legge, the distinguished translator of the Chinese classics, visiting Peking (some years after this was written), actually ' put his shoes from off his feet' before ascending the steps of the great altar. Yet, in 19oo, this sacred spot was converted into a barracks for British troops ! " For no vulgar idolatry has entered here , this moun tain top still stands above the waves of corruption, and on this solitary altar there still rests a faint ray of the primeval faith.
" The tablet, which represents the invisible Deity, is inscribed with the name of Shang Li, the Supreme Ruler ! and as we contemplate the majesty of the empire prostrate before it, while the smoke ascends from his burning sacri fice, our thoughts are irresistibly carried back to the time when the King of Salem officiated as ' Priest of the Most High God.'