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PROSPECTS.
17
I will conclude this introductory sketch by expressing the hope that China may awake from her lethargy before it is too late, and pursue a policy of progress and enlightenment, and so banish for ever her antiquated usages and bring herself abreast of the times. The great trunk railway piercing the most populous part of the Empire, will prove of incalculable service, not only in opening new fields for commerce, but in breaking the fetters of superstition which for centuries have bound China and her people.
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