iniquity of the opium traffic. Chang and Lingsam are lovers,
and by a happy combination of circumstances—for marriages are arranged in China, it would seem, without much regard to the affections—become man and wife. Everything seems to promise well for their happiness ; but, unhappily, Chang has at one time imbibed a taste for the opium-pipe, and, when he is tempted, falls into the habit again. There are some who can smoke opium, as there are some who can take alcoholic drinks, without the least temptation to excess ; but Chang, a sensitive, high-strung nature, was not one of them, and the practice brings ruin into the once happy family. Great questions cannot be settled one way or the other by tales with a purpose ; but it need not therefore be denied that they may perform a useful function in the process of discussion.
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