Oliver Morton and the Fifteenth Amendment

Notes on Chinese civilization written in 1870
The general plane of Chinese civilization is below that of Christian civilization, and the general condition of the people of China and of their emigrants in California is below that of most Christian nations. There are some peoples called Christian, whose condition in regard to morals, intelligence, industry and material prosperity is below that of China, but they are not fair exponents of the results of Christian civilization. The Chinese are not savages or barbarians. They have a lower form of civilization but possess points of excellence worthy of emulation by Christian nations. Their patient industry, their fidelity to contracts and general honesty in their dealings, their devotion to their parents, veneration for ancestors, and love of home are virtues in which they excel most nations. The great body of human vices are common to all civilization and yet each has those which are peculiar to it and
Courtesy of Indiana State Library