{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_54055/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_54055","id":"gutenberg_54055","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54055","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","China -- Religious life and customs -- Juvenile literature","Christian life -- Juvenile literature","Idols and images -- Worship -- Juvenile literature","Missionaries -- Juvenile literature","Missions -- China -- Juvenile literature"],"text":"Transcriber's Note: This e-book is based on an extant copy at\nSpecial Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library,\nCollege of William and Mary. The transcriber is grateful to the\nlibrarians there for providing assistance in accessing this rare\nfragile book. A few typos in the original text were corrected.\n\n\n\nLETTERS TO CHILDREN.\n\nBY REV. E.C. BRIDGMAN,\nMISSIONARY IN CHINA.\nWritten for the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society,\nand Revised by the Committee of Publication.\n\nSECOND EDITION.\n\nBOSTON:\nMASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY.\nDepository, No. 13, Cornhill.\n1838.\n\nEntered according to act of Congress, in the year 1834,\nBY CHRISTOPHER C. DEAN,\nIn the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.\n\n______\n\nINDEX.\n\nLETTER I.\n\nIntroduction; Chinese are Idolaters; Confucian, Taon, and Buddha\nSects,\n\nLETTER II.\n\nTemples, Priest, Priestesses and Idols,\n\nLETTER III.\n\nPagodas, Idol Worship,\n\nLETTER IV.\n\nSoldiers; Merchants,\n\nLETTER V.\n\nMechanics,\n\nLETTER VI.\n\nHusbandmen,\n\nLETTER VII.\n\nScholars,\n\nLETTER VIII.\n\nSailors,\n\nLETTER IX.\n\nCharacter and Condition of Females,\n\nLETTER X.\n\nMarriage Ceremony,\n\nLETTER XI.\n\nBeggars; Food and Clothing,\n\nLETTER XII.\n\nCrimes: Lying, Gambling, Quarrelling, Theft, Robbery, and\nBribery,\n\nLETTER XIII.\n\nIdeas of Death, style of Mourning, Funerals, &c.\n\nLETTER XIV.\n\nDr. Morrison translates the Bible into the Chinese Language,\n\nLETTER XV.\n\nDr. Milne; Missionary Stations,\n\nLETTER XVI.\n\nLeang Afa,\n\nLETTER XVII.\n\nCanton City; Population, &c.\n\nLETTER XVIII.\n\nTo Parents and Teachers,\n\n______\n\nTO THE READER\n\n______\n\nThis little Book contains eighteen Letters, written by Rev. E.C.\nBRIDGMAN, Missionary in China, addressed to the Children of the\nSabbath School in Middleton, Mass. and published in the Sabbath\nSchool Treasury and Visitor. Though the letters were addressed\nto children in a particular Sabbath School, they are none the less\nadapted to other children, and they cannot fail to interest any\none, who would see China converted to Christ.\n\n______\n\nLETTERS FROM CHINA.\n\n______\n\nLetter I.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Oct._ 17, 1831\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS:\u2011\u2011The general agent of the Massachusetts\nSabbath School Union has requested me to write something which\nI have \"seen, heard, or thought of\" for the _Treasury_. He proposed\nthat I should write in the form of letters, and address them to\nyou. This I shall be very happy to do, so far as I have any leisure\nto write.\n\nSome of you, perhaps, will remember what I used to tell you of\nthe children, and men, and women, who had no Bibles, and who were\nignorant of the true God, and of Jesus Christ the Savior of\nsinners. I can remember very well what some of the little children\nused to say, and how they used to look, when I talked to them about\nbeing a missionary, and of going far away from home, perhaps never\nto return. I did not then think of going so far off; indeed, I\ndid not know where I should go; had some thoughts of going to\nGreece, or to Armenia. We do not always know what is best, but\nGod does, for He knows all things, and will direct all things for\nhis own glory; and if we love and obey him. He will make all things\nwork together for our good.\n\nI am very glad I came to China, and I wish a great many more\nmissionaries would come here. Before I came among the heathen,\nI had no idea how much they are to be pitied, and how much they\nneed the Bible. Now that I live among them, and see their poor\ndumb idols every day, I desire to tell you a great many things\nwhich, I hope, will make you more careful to improve your own\nprivileges, and more anxious also that the same blessed\nprivileges may be enjoyed by all other children every where.\n\nNow, children, if you will look on your maps, you will see that\nChina is situated in that part of the earth, which is directly\nopposite to the United States: so that when it is noon in one\nplace, it is midnight in the other. The two countries, you will\nsee, occupy nearly the same extent of the earth's surface. They\nare, also, bounded on the north and south, by nearly the same\ndegrees of latitude. (China is situated a little farther south\nthan the United States.) This makes the seasons,\u2011\u2011summer and\nwinters, spring and autumn,\u2011\u2011and also the climate of the two\ncountries, quite alike. But in regard to population, religion,\nand almost every thing else, they are very different from each\nother.\n\nChina is a very ancient nation; and has, at the present time, a\nvast population,\u2011\u2011probably twenty or thirty times as many people\nas there are in all the United States of America. If there are,\nthen, _three millions_ in the United States to be gathered into\nthe Sabbath schools, and there Sabbath after Sabbath, instructed\nin the Holy Scriptures; there are here in China more than _sixty\nmillions_, of the same age, who know not even that there are any\nSabbath, or any Sabbath day, or any Holy Bible.\n\nYou can now, dear children, from these few facts, estimate how\nmany there are in China who need the Bible; and how much there\nis to be done, how many missionaries and Christian teachers will\nbe wanted, before all these millions of immortal beings shall have\nthe word of God, and be as blessed and as happy in their\nprivileges, as you now are. You, truly, enjoy great privileges,\nbecause you have the Holy Bible, and can, every day, read of Jesus\nChrist: and if you believe in him, you will have great joy and\ncomfort, and when you die, go to heaven and be forever with the\nLord. But O, what do you think will become of all these poor\nheathen children, who have no Bibles, and who have never heard\nof the name of Jesus? In the fourth chapter of Acts, you read,\nthat, \"_there is no other name under heaven given among men,\nwhereby we must be saved_.\"\n\nThe Chinese are idolaters. Their fathers, and their grandfather,\nfor hundreds and thousands of generations, have been idolaters,\nand worshipped idols of wood and stone which their own hands have\nmade. These idols are very numerous; as numerous, the Chinese\nthemselves say, as the sands on the banks of a great river.\n\nThe Chinese are divided into three religious sects. The Confucian\nsect; the Taon sect; and the Buddha sect. I will now tell you\nsomething about each of these three.\n\nThe _Confucian_ sect is composed of the _learned_ men of China,\nwho are in their disposition and character like the proud and\nself\u2011righteous pharisees, mentioned in the New Testament. They\ncall them the _disciples_ of Confucius. They adore and worship\nhim; they have a great many temples dedicated to him; and they\noffer various sacrifices to him, as the children of Israel did\nto Jehovah, the true God, in the time of Moses. Confucius was born\n538 years before Christ. His disciples relate many strange\nstories about their master. But he taught them nothing about the\ntrue God and Jesus Christ, and nothing about the soul after death.\n_Life and immortality were not revealed to him_. His disciples\nare as ignorant as their master was. They neither know nor\nacknowledge the eternal power and Godhead, so \"clearly seen,\nbeing understood by the things that are made.\" Professing\nthemselves to be wise, they become fools, and like the Romans,\n\"changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like\nto corruptible man, and to birds, and four\u2011footed beasts,\" &c.\n&c. I wish you to read the last half of the first chapter of Romans,\nand you will have a good account of the disciples of Confucius.\n\nTaontsze, which being interpreted, means _old boy_, was the\nfounder of the _Taon_ sect. His followers to this day call him\nthe supreme venerable prince; and relate many curious stories\nabout him; and say that he was an _ignorant good man_.\n\nThe religion of _Buddha_ was brought from India, and became a\ncommon religion of China, probably, about the time, or soon after\nthe crucifixion of our Savior. Both this religion and that of the\nTaon sect are dreadfully wicked, and full of abominations; and\ntheir priests are the most ignorant and miserable people in China.\nI will tell you more of these hereafter.\n\nBesides these three sects, there are some Roman Catholics, some\nMohammedans, and a few Jews, scattered in different parts of\nChina.\n\nSince I have now commenced, I wish to write you several short\nletters; and this I will try to do, if God our heavenly Father\ngives me time and strength. Earnestly desiring that he will give\nyou all good things, I remain,\n\n                  Your true friends,\n                                E.C. BRIDGMAN.\n\n______\n\nLETTER II.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Oct._ 19, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011In the first letter, I told you something\nabout the situation and the vast population of China, and the\nthree religious sects into which the people are divided. In this\nletter I propose to give you a short account of their temples,\npriests, priestesses, and idols.\n\n_Idol temples_ are very different from meeting\u2011houses. I have\nvisited a good many of these temples, in and about Canton and\nMacao. There is very little, if any, difference between the\ntemples of the Buddha and the Taon sects. Those which I have seen\nare brick, and usually firm and well built. A common village\ntemple occupies about half an acre of ground, enclosed by a wall\ntwelve or fifteen feet high, and consists of several houses for\nthe priests, a number of small rooms and niches for the idols,\nand an open court and alleys. Some of the temples are large,\nincluding within their outer wall three or four acres, having\nbeautiful trees and gardens, and sometimes a furnace, in which\nthe dead bodies of priests are burnt, and also a kind of tomb,\nfilled with urns, in which their ashes are afterwards deposited.\nThese are more than thirteen hundred idol temples in the province\nof Canton; and, at the same rate of reckoning, there will be, in\nthe eighteen provinces into which China is divided, more than\n_twenty\u2011three thousand idol temples_.\n\nI have never visited any of the temples dedicated to Confucius.\nThey are, it is said, distinguished from those of Buddha and Taon,\nby their dignified simplicity, the exclusion of images from all\nthe principal halls, and by substituting, in their stead,\ncommemorative tablets, bearing the names of Confucius and his\nmost distinguished disciples.\n\n_Priests_ are numerous. One temple in Peking has, it is said,\neight hundred priests. One which I have visited, _near_ Canton,\nhas more than one hundred and fifty. Those of Buddha shave their\nheads perfectly bald. They usually appear dressed in a large grey\ngown, with sleeves often a full yard wide. They live principally\non vegetables; they eat no meat, are not allowed to marry, are\nidle, and, except by persons of their own sect, utterly\ndisrespected. The priests of the Taon sect shave their heads,\nexcept a spot about the size of a man's hand, of which the crown\nof the head is the centre. This, indeed, every Chinese does. Every\nman and every boy must have his head shaved, as a mark of\nsubmission to the Emperor. This has been the custom for almost\ntwo hundred years. But, while the common people braid their hair\ninto a \"long tail,\" which hangs down to their heels, the priests\nof Taon fold theirs up in a knot on the top of the head. When they\nappear in public, they usually wear a yellow robe. They eat flesh,\nand are permitted to marry. No priest of either sect ever teaches\nin public and but seldom in private. They spend much of their time\nin devotions, which are nothing but \"vain repetitions,\" saying\nover and over again the same words, as fast as they can, hundreds\nand thousands of times. They are sometimes called to pray for the\ndead, and sometimes to go in funeral processions.\n\nPersons may become priests at any age they please; they are\nusually, however, dedicated to the service when quite young, even\nin infancy. A few days ago, in the streets, I saw a lad only eight\nor ten years old, all dressed up in his priestly robes. There are\nno priests belonging to the Confucian sect.\n\n_Priestesses_ are more wicked, but not so numerous as priests.\nThere are three sorts of these poor miserable creatures. Those\nthat belong to the sects of Buddha and Taon wear a peculiar kind\nof dress. Those of the Buddha sect shave their heads, and the\npeople of Canton call them \"women padres.\" Those of third sort\nform a kind of sisterhood, live wholly on vegetables, and dress\nlike other women. These are all very wicked, ugly people. They\npretend to sing songs to the gods, and drive away demons. There\nare other old women, still worse, if possible, than these; such\nas witches, conjurers, and necromancers. They pretend to hold\nintercourse with the dead, and give responses to their living\nkindred, telling them that their dead friends are in great\ndistress for want of food and clothing. Many of the deluded people\nbelieve them, and, by these lies and tricks, they contrive to get\nfood and clothing for themselves.\n\n_Idols_, in China, are numerous beyond all calculation. These\nidols are to be seen every where; in ships, in boats, houses, in\ntemples, shops, streets, fields, on the hills, and in the vallies,\nand along the banks of all the rivers and canals. Some of these\nidols are very large, huge monsters, several feet high. Some of\nthem are made of wood, some are stone, some are earthen, others\nare brass, iron, &c. &c. They are most commonly made somewhat in\nthe likeness of men; but sometimes they are like beasts, and\nbirds, and creeping things. There are places where these _gods_\nare manufactured and sold just as people make and sell chairs,\ntables, &c. I am going to send a parcel of them to the Society\nof Inquiry respecting Missions, at the Theological Seminary,\nAndover, where if you wish, you can go and see them.\n\nAdieu, dear children. May the Lord, in great mercy, keep you from\nall sin, and make you happy in this life and in that which is to\ncome. Remembering you often in my prayers,\n\n                  I remain, your true friend,\n                                      E.C. BRIDGMAN.\n\n______\n\nLETTER III.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Oct_. 20, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011In my letter, yesterday, I forgot to tell\nyou of some very high buildings, called _pagodas_. These are found\nin almost every part of China. They were introduced soon after\nthe religion of Buddha, in which they seem to have had their\norigin, in this country. These lofty buildings present every\nwhere nearly the same appearance; but differ in height from three\nto thirteen stories. They are usually hollow, with stairs\nascending up through the centre; and are usually built on the top\nof some high hill. They are believed, by those who build them,\nto be a defence against evil spirits, pestilence, misfortunes,\n&c. One of the finest pagodas in China, is in Nanking, and was\nbuilt about 400 years ago. It is called the porcelain pagoda. It\nis 200 feet high, divided into nine stories; and is, at the base,\n122 feet in circumference. It was nineteen years in building, and\ncost more than three millions of dollars; more than three times\nas much as the American Board have yet expended for foreign\nmissions.\n\nI will close this letter with some account of _idol worship_, as\nit is performed here, all around us, every day.\n\nThe Chinese never assemble for religious worship as Christians\ndo, who go to the house of God, there to worship him, who is a\nSpirit, in spirit and in truth. Their worship is very unholy, and\noffensive to God, and injurious to man. They have no preaching;\ntheir priests never set as public, religious teachers. Their\nworship consists of prayers and offerings, made to their false\ngods, and to their departed friends, to the sages and heroes of\nantiquity, and to their emperors\u2011\u2011both living and the dead. All\ntheir acts of worship are accompanied with a great many, and very\ntedious ceremonies.\n\nSome of the priests make very long prayers. In a temple near\nCanton, I have seen more than 50 priests altogether, at one time,\nengaged in their devotions. At the appointed hour, they assembled\nin a large hall where were a number of idols, and altars for\noffering incense, and also a drum and a bell to _wake_ up the\nsleepy gods, and make them listen to their prayers.\n\nAs soon as they were assembled, they took their places in ranks,\nand commenced their worship. One of the oldest priests acted as\nchief, and took the lead; and the others, with loud voices, all\njoined with him and chanted their evening prayers. Sometimes,\nthey all stood erect, with their hands all joined with him, and\nchanted their evening prayers. Sometimes they all stood erect,\nwith their hands clasped before them. Sometimes, in files, they\nwent round and round their altars. At one time, they all kneeled;\nand again, they all bowed down their heads, and placed them in\nthe very dust. All the time they were doing these things, which\noccupied about an hour, candles and lamps were kept burning, and\nincense was offered on the altars.\n\nThe Chinese never pray in their families and closets as Christians\nare taught to do. Individuals sometimes go to the temples to pray,\nand pay their vows, and to make offerings to the idol gods. I have\nrepeatedly seen women, sometimes with their young children,\nbowing before the altars in the temples. The Chinese observe many\ntimes and seasons, in which they make religious offerings, some\nof which are very expensive.\n\nThere are appointed seasons when the Emperor of China worships\nhis ancestors, and the heavens, and the earth, and also some of\nthe great mountains and rivers of the empire. Early in the morning\non the first day of the year, all the people worship their gods,\npraying for riches. In the spring of every year, there is an\nappointed time, when every body goes to the hills\u2011\u2011some travel\nhundreds of miles\u2011\u2011to worship at the tombs of their fathers, and\nmothers, and uncles, &c. While at the tombs, they offer costly\nsacrifices of fish, fowls, sheep, goats, swine and the like, with\noblations of wine and oil, to the names of their departed\nrelatives. On the first and fifteenth of every moon, they have\nsome special religious rites to perform, such as firing off\nthousands and thousands of gunpowder crackers, beating their\ngongs, or drums, &c. This they do to keep off evil spirits. Every\nday, especially at evening, offerings of paper\u2011\u2011a kind of gold\npaper\u2011\u2011and oil, and fragrant wood, are made to the household\nGods, to the gods of the streets, shops, boats. Indeed, there\nseems to be no end to their superstitions. And thus, alas! all\nthis numerous people are given to idolatry, and offer sacrifices\nto devils. They worship they know not what.\n\nAnd now, my dear young friends, do you think all this vain and\nwicked worship constitute _a cheap and easy religion?_ Think of\nthe priests and priestesses devoted to idleness, and to\nabominable rites and services. Think of the hundreds of temples\nand idleness, and to abominable rites and services. Think of the\nhundreds of temples and pagodas, and thousands of idols which\ncover and fill the land. Think, too, of all the times and seasons;\nall the costly offerings and sacrifices employed in this idol\nworship; and again I ask, and I wish you to give an answer,\u2011\u2011_Do\nyou think this a cheap and easy religion?_ I think it a most costly\nreligion, and most grievous to be borne. Oh, how unlike the\nreligion of Jesus Christ! His yoke is easy, and his burden light.\nBut the service of Satan is hard service. The expense of this idol\nworship must amount to many millions of dollars annually. More,\nI am constrained to believe, is expended every day, and every\nyear, by the Chinese alone, in idol worship, than is devoted by\nall the true Christians in the whole world, to the worship of the\ntrue God.\n\n_These things ought not so to be_. And if all good people could\nsee how miserable these heathens are, and could feel for them,\nas Christ Jesus commands them to feel, the things would not be\nso much longer. There would be a great change immediately. The\nBible would be distributed; the Gospel would be preached; and then\nwould the heathen cast away their dumb idols, and serve the true\nGod.\n\nAnd now, dear children, farewell. Think of these things and\nremember and pray for the poor heathen always. I hope to write\nto you again; perhaps, several short letters, but I may be\ndisappointed. Endeavoring to cast all my cares on _Him_, who\ncareth for us all, and to serve him with singleness of heart, I\nstill remain your true friend,   E.C. BRIDGMAN.\n\n______\n\nLETTER IV.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Oct_. 25, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011There is no _caste_ in China, as there\nis in India. Men may rise from the most humble stations in life,\nto the highest rank of office; the throne only being excepted.\nThe Chinese, in their books, often speak of the _soldiers_ and\nthe _people:_ and when speaking of the people, divide them into\n_merchants_, _mechanics_, _husbandmen_, _and scholars_.\n\nThe occupations of these _five_ classes, the Chinese call \"the\nessential employments.\" And they say \"that when the high heavens\nproduced men, they appointed to every one an employment, as the\nmeans of personal support. Therefore, though men naturally differ\nas to knowledge and ignorance, strength and weakness, yet none\nshould be without an employment. Having employments, all men have\na proper duty to which they should attend, both that they may be\nprofitable to themselves, and useful to the world.\"\n\nI think now, children, you will be better able to understand the\ncharacter of the Chinese, if I tell you something of these five\nclasses separately. I will remark first, however, that these\ndivisions are not exclusive. A man may be a scholar, and at the\nsame time engage in husbandry. So he may be a merchant, and at\nthe same time a scholar. Soldiers, sometimes also, I believe, are\nfarmers, or merchants, or mechanics. But usually _one_ man\nattends to only _one_ of the _essential_ employments.\n\nChina is now governed by the Tartars, a very war\u2011like nation, who\nconquered and subdued the country, and ascended the throne 187\nyears ago. It was at that time, A.D. 1644, that the _long tail_\nmentioned in the second letter, was introduced. Many of the old\npeople, it is said, were unwilling to shave their heads, and braid\ntheir hair. But the Tartars being their masters, and having the\npower, compelled them to do so, on the pain of death. Many actually\npreferred death to such a mark of disgrace. At the present time,\nin order to keep the people in subjection, a great number of\nsoldiers, many of them Tartars, are stationed all over the Empire.\nThere are several thousands in Canton. These soldiers have a few\nguns: but generally they are armed with swords and shields, or\nbows and arrows, or spears and pikes, or some other such like\ninstruments. The soldiers have very little to do; and so they\nbecome very lazy, and gamble, and steal, rob and oppress the poor,\nand often make a great deal of disturbance. And after all they\ncan do to keep the peace, the people often rise in rebellion; and\nthen they quarrel and fight, and hundreds of the people and\nsoldiers are killed. Two of three such rebellions have happened\nsince I have been in China.\n\nTo prevent mistake, I wish you to keep in mind the difference\nbetween China, and the Chinese Empire. By _China_, or China\nProper, is understood the 18 provinces, which for a long time,\nconstituted the whole of the Chinese possessions. The _Chinese\nEmpire_, as it has existed since 1644, extends on the north, and\nwest, far beyond the boundaries of ancient China, and is,\nprobably, the largest Empire in the world. The whole number of\npersons in the Empire, who are enrolled as soldiers and make the\nart and practice of _war_ their _essential employment_, is very\ngreat; amounting, probably, to two or three millions.\n\n_Chinese Merchants_ have by no means that high character, and that\ninfluence, which the same class of men possess in Europe and\nAmerica. They are ranked the _last_ of the four divisions of the\npeople, and are regarded by their own countrymen as the least\nrespectable part of the community. They are, usually, very greedy\nof gain, and often cheat and deceive; and they regard it as a very\nsmall offence to cheat and deceive foreigners, whom they usually\ncall _barbarians:_ and who, they say, come an immense distance\nacross the seas, from the northwest corner of the world, to buy\nteas, and silks of the celestial Empire.\n\nThe foreign trade to China is pretty extensive, and is continually\nincreasing. There are now at Whampoa, where the foreign ships\nunload and load their cargoes, 52 ships, and 4,000 seamen. These\nships bring tin, lead, quick\u2011silver, copper, iron, furs, cotton\nyarn, cotton and woollen cloth, and many other such like, useful\narticles. They bring also, and of late years, a very great\nquantity of _opium_. More than twenty millions of dollars' worth\nof opium were sold here last year. This is very bad, and does a\ngreat deal of hurt. Those who bring and sell the opium, and those\nwho buy it also, know very well that it is doing a great deal of\ninjury. Only a part of the foreign merchants trade in opium; the\nothers will not, because they know it is wrong, and contrary to\nthe laws of God and man. Returning from China, the ships are\nusually very richly laden with nankeens, silks, teas, &c.\n\nChinese merchants do not often go very far abroad; seldom if ever,\nso far as to India. They carry on, however, considerable trade\nwith Cochin China, Siam, Singapore, Malacca, Java; to which, and\nto some other places, they have quite a number of vessels, perhaps\nfifty, which make a voyage every year. It is by these vessels that\nMr. Medhurst, and Mr. Tomlin, and other missionaries, have sent\nmany Bibles and tracts into China. It is in one of these vessels\nalso, that Mr. Gutzlaff has gone to Peking, where he means to spend\nthe winter and preach the gospel of the Son of God.\n\nAgain, dear children, adieu. Be good children\u2011\u2011obey and love your\nparents\u2011\u2011read your Bibles\u2011\u2011believe in Jesus with your whole\nhearts, and pray to God always, then you will be happy. I will\nby the assistance and permission of God, endeavor to continue the\naccount of the Chinese people, in another letter.\n\n                  Your very true friend,\n                                       E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER V.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Nov._2, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011Having given you, in my last letter, some\naccount of the soldiers and merchants, I intend in this, to tell\nyou about the merchants, the husbandmen, and the scholars. I do\nnot pretend to give you a very complete account of these several\nclasses of persons. My desire is, however, that you shall have\nsuch an acquaintance with the every day conduct, and peculiar\nmanners and customs of the Chinese, that you may be able to form\nfor yourselves, correct ideas of their character. I should be glad\nto have you _know fully their whole manner of life_. I wish you\nto know all about them: how they live, how they think, and how\nthey act. And I wish you to know how they regard and treat each\nother, as follow citizens, as husbands and wives, as parents and\nchildren, and as brothers and sisters, &c. &c. Because, when you\ncan see them in all their daily conduct, and in all their various\nrelations, and have correct views of their character; then you\nwill know how much you ought to pity them, and will be very\nanxious, I think, to send them the gospel of God, which is able\nto make them wise unto everlasting life. I remember you have\nalready done something for the heathen, but you know that there\nis a great deal more to be done; and we must not stop till the\nwhole world is converted.\n\nNow I will tell you about the _Mechanics_. They are usually, as\nin the United States, a very industrious class of people, and many\nof them excellent workmen. It is written in one of their books,\n\"Let mechanics examine the four seasons; prepare the six\nmaterials; daily and monthly investigate the progress of their\npursuits; abide together in their own departments; and thus\ncomplete their business.\" These words which I have now quoted,\nare found in a book called the Sacred Edict of the emperor Kanghe.\nHe lived about a hundred years ago.\n\nIt is very common among the Chinese for persons of the same\noccupation to live \"together\" in the same neighborhood.\nEspecially is this the case with the mechanics.\n\nThe four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter, are to be\n_examined_ for two purposes. The one is, for the purpose of\nobserving various superstitious rites and ceremonies, which they\nvainly suppose necessary to secure success in business. The other\nis, for selecting and storing up, on _lucky days_, the \"six\nmaterials.\"\n\nThe six materials are, earth, metal, stone, wood, animals, and\nfibrous plants. Of earth they make bricks, tiles, porcelain, and\na great variety of wares. Of metals they make implements of\nhusbandry, and war, &c. Stone is used for building bridges,\nhouses, temples, and especially for making idols. These, and all\nother materials, are selected with great care, and many\nceremonies, which make the ordinary labors of this people, in many\nrespects, exceedingly hard. To\u2011day is the birth\u2011day of the god\nof fire, and the mechanics of Canton are expending thousands of\ndollars in order to secure his protection.\n\nThere are some kinds of workmanship which exhibit very little\nskill or taste. There are other kinds which are excellent. The\nChinese, it is said, make good clocks, but do not succeed in making\nwatches. Very much of their work is, indeed, good in its kind;\nand, usually, remarkably simple.\n\nThe Chinese mechanics almost always work by a pattern; and every\nthing so far as it is for their own use, must be made according\nto _old custom_. This people are very far from thinking that every\ngeneration grows wiser and wiser. On the contrary, they think that\nthe _ancients_ were, in many respects, the perfect models of\nperfection. Hence to imitate, and to be like them, is the utmost\nof their wishes. This is the case with the mechanics. Hence ships,\nboats, houses, shops, temples, furniture, and implements of every\nkind, are made just like those made years and years ago. I will\ngive you one single example.\n\nInstead of knives and forks, which they never use, they have two\nsmall round sticks, about the size of the old fashion pipe\u2011stems,\nand about a foot long. These _nimble lads_, for so they call the\ntwo round sticks, they hold in their right hand, and with a bowl\nof food in their left, raised quite up to the chin, they jerk the\nfood into their mouth with astonishing rapidity. These sticks,\nby foreigners usually called chop\u2011sticks, have been in common use,\naccording to the Chinese account of them, more than three thousand\nyears. But as children are early trained to the use of these\nsticks, perhaps there is no loss or disadvantage in continuing\ntheir use. Yet, even when there would be a great improvement, as\nin the helms of their ships, they must (because their government\ncompels them) adhere strictly to _old custom_.\n\nAccording to law, the different kinds of mechanics are all, I\nbelieve, to be enrolled in the government offices. The following\nis a specimen of those in this city. Shoe\u2011makers, twenty\u2011five\nthousand. Carpenters and cabinet\u2011makers, sixteen thousand.\nLapidaries or those who work in stone, seven thousand. Barbers\nalso, seven thousand.\n\nI must defer what I have to tell you about the husbandmen and\nscholars, for another letter. Till then, farewell. Like good\nchildren, be diligent and careful in all that you have to do;\nespecially be diligent and careful in your studies, and\ncommitting to memory the holy Scriptures. Remember that good and\nwise children will make glad their parents. So may you do. And\nmay God our heavenly Father keep you from all sin. So writes\n\n                  Your true friends,      E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER VI.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_) _Nov_. 4, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011The Chinese rulers of the present day,\nsay to their people,\u2011\u2011\"give the chief place to husbandry and the\ncultivation of the mulberry\u2011tree, in order to procure adequate\nsupplies of food and raiment.\" To impress this precept on the\nminds of the people, they add,\u2011\u2011\"if a man plough not, he will very\nlikely suffer hunger; if a woman weave not, she may probably feel\nthe cold. Of old time, the emperors themselves ploughed, and their\nempresses cultivated the mulberry; they disdained not to labor,\nin order that, by their example, they might excite the millions\nof the people to lay due stress on the radical principles of\neconomy.\" And yet again they add,\u2011\u2011\"We wish our people to exert\ntheir whole strength in agriculture. Do not love idleness and hate\nlabor; do not be diligent at first, and slothful afterwards; do\nnot, because of a deficient season, reject your fields and\nplantations; do not covet the multiplied profits of commerce, and\nchange the good old employment. Agriculture alone is the\nfundamental employment.\"\n\nI have made these quotations, in order to show you in what\nestimation agriculture is held by the emperors of China. In regard\nto \"farming business,\" they act very wisely, and set before their\npeople a good example. For a long time the Chinese have been\nregarded, as among the best, and the most ancient _tillers of the\nground_. Very many of the people are farmers. A pretty large\nproportion, I should think six\u2011eights, of the whole population\nengage in agricultural pursuits.\n\nSome notices of their implements and modes of husbandry, and the\nproductions of their soil, will serve to illustrate the\n_character_ and _condition_ of those who make _agriculture their\nessential employment_.\n\nTheir farming tools are few in number, and simple in the\nstructure. Not a wheel carriage of any description have I yet seen\nin China, excepting only fire engines, which, both foreign and\nnative built, are usually drawn on four wheels. In the north of\nChina, wheel carriages for various purposes are in common use;\nbut here, all kinds of produce and merchandize, and men and women\nthemselves, are carried, either in boats, or by human strength.\nThe sedan, in which people ride, is made quite like a chaise top,\nwith poles, like thills, extending an equal distance before and\nbehind. Only one person is seated in the sedan, and two strong\nmen stooping down take the poles on their shoulders, and then\nrising up, lift the sedan about a foot from the ground. In this\nstyle, away they go, for miles, like horses. These bearers the\nChinese nick\u2011name mo\u2011me\u2011ma, i.e. _no\u2011tail\u2011horses_. Similar men are\nemployed to carry heavy burdens. When the weight is only enough\nfor one man, it is suspended from the ends of a light, but very\nstrong bamboo pole, about six feet long, which the bearer balances\non his right shoulder. When the weight requires two or more men,\nit is suspended from the middle of the pole, which is a large round\nheavy bamboo, about ten feet long. In this way thousands of our\nfellow\u2011men are used as beasts of burden.\n\nThe Chinese use the plough and harrow, which are made similar to\nthose used in America. These are drawn by a single ox, or\nbuffalo,\u2011\u2011a very stout animal, of a dun color, well fitted for\nthe work. Their spade, hoe, and rake, and their implements for\ncutting, threshing, and winnowing grain are, also, like those\nused in the United States, and in Europe, though much more rude\nand simple. They commonly use a large pestle and mortar to make\nflour. They have also mills for grinding, but the stones used are\nalways small, and never turned by water. These mills are,\nprobably, like those referred to the words\u2011\u2011\"two women shall be\ngrinding at the mill.\"\n\nWhat I have now told you of their implements, will lead you to\nform some ideas of the modes of husbandry, which are most common\namong the Chinese. The very great variety, plenty and perfection\nof vegetable productions found among this people, give us\nfavorable opinions of their _manner_ of cultivating the earth.\nTheir lands are laid out in extensive fields, and ditches dug,\nor stones set up, usually serve for land marks. I believe they\nhave no fences, except, sometimes, around their richest\ngardens,\u2011\u2011and these not so much for a defence against the\nencroachment of beasts, as they are for a protection from thieves\nand robbers.\n\nVery little of their land is left uncultivated. Indeed some of\nthe most rich and beautiful grounds are made so by human industry.\nSometimes by embankments built up like mildams, the water is kept\nback, and acres and acres are made dry land, and rich harvests\nare gathered, where before it was all covered with water, and men\nused to drag their nets to catch fish. At other times, hard,\nsterile hill\u2011tops, terraced and covered with a rich soil, are made\ncharmingly beautiful, and very productive. Very much is effected\nby manuring and irrigation. The methods of doing the latter are\nvery curious. But of these and many other things I have not time\nto speak. Besides I am afraid you will be tired with my long\naccounts; which, indeed, are becoming much larger than I\nintended. I could by no means persuade, or allow myself thus to\nemploy a few,\u2011\u2011not leisure, hours, did I not hope, and confidently\nbelieve, that you will do something for this people. China has\nlong, _long_ been neglected. Scores and scores of laborers are\nneeded, to break up this fallow ground, to sow the good seed, to\nseek the Lord, the Lord of the harvest, till he come and rain\nrighteousness upon this people, and make them his own husbandry.\n\nYou know, my dear young friends, that God, our heavenly Father,\nis very good, that He doeth good to the evil and unthankful, and\nsendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. _God has been very\ngood to the Chinese_. Of fruit trees, _He_ has given them the rich\nbanana, the apple, peach, walnut, chestnut, orange lemon, and\nmany others. _He_ has given them figs, grapes, and many kinds of\nberries. Of vegetables, _He_ has given them almost every kind,\nthat can be named. _He_ has caused the mulberry to grow and yield\nan abundance of material for silk to clothe them. _He_ has given\nthem the _tea plant_ also, and so plenteously, that they can\nsupply the whole world with it, and make themselves rich in the\ntraffic. _He_ has given them abundance of grain for bread, and\nfor meat. _He_ has given them the fishes of the sea, the fowls\nof heaven, and cattle on a thousand hills. But, alas! _they_ do\nnot love to retain Him in their knowledge. _They_ deny his\nexistence. _They_ worship dumb idols. And, what think you, will\nbecome of _them_ when they die? Oh, happy, thrice happy is that\nnation\u2011\u2011thrice happy are those children, whose God is the Lord.\nFarewell, dear children. The Lord bless you evermore, and your\ntrue friend.\n\n                  E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER VII.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Nov_. 22, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011I have already told you about the\nsoldiers, the merchants, the mechanics, and the husbandmen of\nChina; in this letter I will give you some account of the\n_scholars_. Among all the pagan nations, that have ever been, or\nnow exist, none perhaps, have been more learned than the Chinese.\nBut no people in the world, without the Bible, can be so learned\nas those nations who have it. Those people, who read, and study,\nand understand the Holy Scriptures the best, will always be the\nbest scholars; they will have the best taste, the best judgment,\nthe best understanding; and, if they obey what they read, they\nwill have the best hearts. Believe me, my dear children, if you\nread and _obey_ the Holy Bible, we shall be _truly wise_. God\nhimself will be our teacher: and _His_ holy law will be our\nschool\u2011master to bring us to Christ. If all people would only read\nand obey the word of God, then there would be no wars and\nfightings; there would be no more thieves, no more robbers, no\nmore murderers, no more profane persons, and drunkards, and such\nlike wicked persons.\n\nBut the Chinese have not the Holy Bible. They have not the wisdom,\nthat is from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,\nand easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without\npartiality, and without hypocrisy. Professing themselves to be\nwise, they become fools,\u2011\u2011_blasphemers of God_,\u2011\u2011boasting of\nthings without their measure, and their mouth speaketh great\nswelling words. They call their emperor _the Son of Heaven_, and\nbow down before him, and worship him as a divine being. They call\ntheir empire _the celestial empire_. They call it also _the middle\nkingdom_. All the people around them, even all the nations of the\nearth,\u2011\u2011the English and Americans, and all other people, they call\nignorant cruel barbarians.\n\nI do not dislike the Chinese. I love them; but I dislike their\nvices and their wickedness. There is a difference in their\ncharacter and conduct. Some are far more honest, more kind, more\nupright, and better disposed than others. Usually, not always,\nthe most ignorant are the most wicked. The Chinese pay\nconsiderable attention to learning. They have a great many books,\nsome of which contain excellent precepts, and much good\ninstruction. But the good, which their books contain, is almost\nalways mixed up with more or less that is bad, and contrary to\nthe laws of God.\n\nScholars in China are the most respectable part of the community.\nSome of their scholars of ancient times, they say, were perfect\nmen; and so now the people worship them, and sacrifice to them.\nThey say, also, that \"of, old families had their schools; villages\ntheir academies; districts their colleges; and the nation her\nuniversity. Of consequence, no one was left uninstructed.\" They\nsay, also, that the schools were not intended for one class only\nbut for all the people;\u2011\u2011that \"if the husbandman can exert his\nstrength in the field; and duly attend to his duty, then he is\na scholar,\"\u2011\u2011and that, \"when the soldiers all know how to venerate\ntheir superiors, and love their relatives, then they also are\nscholars.\" These and more like these, are the sayings of the\nChinese, of modern times. But most truly may it be said of this\npeople, that _they say and do not_. Whether all were, or were not,\ninstructed in times \"of old,\" I will not undertake to determine;\nbut at the present time, it is far enough from being the case.\nIf I am able to continue these letters, as I wish, you will see,\nby and by, when I come to speak of the condition of females, that\none half\u2011\u2011the _fairest_ half of the community, are excluded from\nthese schools, and left _uninstructed_. Besides, there are not\na few men and boys who are left uninstructed. A majority, probably\na very large majority, of the male population, above the age of\nten years, are taught to read and write. They have numerous\ndistrict schools, and some colleges; and multitudes make learning\ntheir _essential employment_. But their whole system of education\nis \"wretchedly bad.\"\n\nThe Chinese language is very curious indeed; there is no language\nlike it in all the world. It is not at all like the English\nlanguage. They have no alphabet,\u2011\u2011no A, B, C, and so forth. They\ndo not write with a pen, but use a pencil made like a small\npaint\u2011brush. Their books begin where ours end; that is when they\ntake a book into their hands to read, they open it at the right\nhand side, instead of the left; and, beginning at the top of the\nright hand side of the page, read down in columns, passing on from\nthe right to the left, and not from the left to the right, as in\nthe old English spelling\u2011books.\n\nUsually, boys do not begin to learn to read until they eight or\nten years old. They are then sent to school, and the master first\nteaches them how to pronounce the words, and afterwards explains\ntheir meaning. Their first school books are very short, and the\nboys are required to learn them by heart, so that they can repeat\nthem from beginning to end. Their words are very strange looking\ncharacters. A very long time ago, they say, that a certain man,\nby observing the print of the horse's foot in the sand, and the\nmarks on the shell of the tortoise, first found out how to write\nwords, These words were so formed as to be a kind of picture of\nthe things which they signified. Though they have been much\nchanged since they were first found out, yet still they have some\nresemblance to the object.\n\nBoys always study out loud in school, which makes a great deal\nof noise. When they have learned a few lessons, they then begin\nto write. The paper is so thin, that they place the copy underneath\nit, and then try to form the words just like the copy. Most of\nthe boys continue at school only two or three years. But those,\nwho are intended for _scholars_, continue many years, and are from\ntime to time examined for degrees, similar to Master and Bachelor\nof Arts. Some men in China can get into office by paying money;\nbut all others, who obtain offices of government, are appointed\nfrom among the scholars, who have received degrees: so the great\nobject of being scholars is, that they may get into office, and\nbecome rulers of the people.\n\nThe learning of the Chinese is very limited and superficial. They\nhave scarcely any knowledge of astronomy, geography, and history.\nAnd so of anatomy, and medicine, and chemistry, and many other\nkinds of learning they are amazingly deficient. The course of\nstudy for all children in China is nearly the same every where.\nThe first book the boy begins with is in poetry. This is the\nmeaning of the first two lines, _man's beginning\u2011\u2011nature original\ngood_, that is the nature of man is originally good; or, more fully\nas they explain them,\u2011\u2011_All men are born virtuous and good_.\n\nThese are the first words, and this the first sentiment the boy\nlearns in school. The words are good enough, and certainly very\ncurious. But what shall we say of the sentiment,\u2011\u2011the meaning of\nthe words? Why does God require all men, and all little children\nto have _new hearts?_ It is because all men have hard hearts,\nhearts of _stone_, and cannot love _Him_. Why does _He_ require\nus all to be renewed in the temper of our minds? It is because\nthat as we are born and grow up, _our minds are enmity against\nGod_. Why does Jesus Christ say, _Except a man be born again, he\ncannot see the kingdom of God!_ Because that which is born of the\nflesh is flesh,\u2011\u2011_is not virtuous and good_. Farewell, dear\nchildren. And may He, who is the former of your bodies, and the\nfather of your spirits, have mercy on you, and send his Holy Spirit\nthat you may be born again,\u2011\u2011born of the Spirit, be renewed in\nyour minds, and have new hearts, and love and enjoy God forever.\n\n                  I remain your true friend,\n                                           E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER VIII.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Nov_. 28, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011The _sailors_, or those who live\nconstantly on the water, ought to be mentioned as a distinct\nclass. They are, indeed, a very numerous people; and, so far as\nI know, they are no way inferior, or worse than those belonging\nto the _five_ classes, of which I have already given you some\naccount. Like the seamen of Europe and America, they have been\nvery wrongly neglected. The rivers of China are very numerous,\nand several of them are very broad, beautiful and majestic. The\ncanals, also, are numerous. And, besides a number of lakes, the\ncountry, for an immense distance on the east, and south\u2011east, is\nwashed by the waves of the Pacific Ocean,\u2011\u2011forming along the coast\na great number of bays and harbors. On all these waters, vast\nmultitudes of human beings are born, and live, and die;\u2011\u2011having,\nmany of them while they live, no home but a boat, or a ship, and\nwhen they die, no winding sheet and grave but the waters.\n\nOn the north bank of one of these rivers, stand the city and\nsuburbs of Canton. The river varies in its breath. At this place,\nI should think it about forty or fifty rods wide. In another\nletter, I may tell you something about Canton. I will only state\nhere, that the buildings extend quite down to the river: and in\nmany places, even the ground has been built out beyond the former\nbank, and in some places much farther than in others, which makes\nmany nooks and corners. These, and indeed, a considerable part\nof the river, for three or four miles, seem to be almost covered\nwith boats; which are of various descriptions, and in all,\nprobably amount to not less than forty or fifty thousand.\n\nThe _tanka_ boats are the smallest and most numerous. Tanks means\nan _egg\u2011house_, and the boats are so called because they resemble\nan egg floating on the water. The smallest of these boats are not\nmore than twelve or fifteen feet long, about six broad, and so\nhigh, that a person can stand up in them. Their covering is very\nlight, and can be easily adjusted to the state of the weather.\nWhole families live in these boats; and often besides a good\nnumber of children, raise broods of ducks and chickens, which they\nlash on the outside of the boats in coops.\n\n_Ferry\u2011boats_ differ from the tanks, only by being a little longer\nand narrower, and not quite so high. There is a ferry right\nopposite to the place where I live. Four hundred dollars are paid\nfor it annually; and the ferry\u2011men, or rather _women_, who row\nand scull the boats, usually carry eight persons at a time, and\neach person's fare is _eight cash_, of which about eight hundred\nmake a dollar. The scull is a kind of long oar, balanced on a pivot\nclose to one side of the stern of the boat. This \"they make use\nof as the fish does of his tail, thrusting it out, and pulling\nit to them again, without ever lifting it above water. By this\noar, worked in this manner, not only the ferry\u2011boats, but other,\nand much larger boats, are urged forward to the greatest possible\nadvantage.\n\nIt would require a large book to give you a full account of all\nthe different kinds of boats, and ships, and the people that live\nin them.\n\nHundreds of _passage\u2011boats_ to Canton, come and go daily. These\nare something like the ferry\u2011boats, only they are much\nlarger:\u2011\u2011some of them are thirty\uff0c forty, or even fifty or more\nfeet in length. They are furnished with one very large mat sail;\nalso with oars, sculls, poles and ropes. When there is no wind,\nand the water is shallow, the boats are pushed along with the poles;\nor, if they are close along the bank of a river or canal, ropes\nare tied to the top of the mast, and the men going on the shore\ndrag the boats along like horses. The number of sailors, or\n_water\u2011hands_, the Chinese call them, vary according to the size\nof the boats\u2011\u2011say from ten to twenty, and upwards; and the number\nof passengers, from ten to one hundred, and upwards.\n\nThe _canal\u2011boats_ are large, fine, noble boats, and often carry\nimmense burdens. Numbers of these may always be seen on the river\nat Canton. They are usually propelled by the same means, and in\nthe same way, that the passage\u2011boats are.\n\nThere are also many _smuggling\u2011boats_, and government _cruisers_.\nThe smuggling boats carry prohibited goods, and such articles as\nopium. This is an unlawful and wicked business. The cruisers, or\n_soldier\u2011boats_, as the Chinese call them, are pretty well manned;\nbut not much feared, even by the smugglers, whom they are commanded\nto seize, and destroy. Indeed, the men of the cruisers will often\ntake bribes, and so let the smugglers pass; and not only so, but\nthey will themselves, also, engage in the same wicked business.\n\nDragon\u2011boats, so named from their appearance, are seen annually,\non the 17th of June. They are brought out to celebrate a kind of\nfestival; the story about the origin, and object of which, I have\nnot time to tell you. These boats are, sometimes, one hundred feet\nlong, made to resemble a great snake on the water. Well supplied\nwith drums, and gongs, and flags, and men with paddles, they make\na curious figure.\n\nThe _duck\u2011boats_, which are about the size of the large ferry\u2011boats,\nhaving balanced on each side a large square pen, or coop, containing\nseveral hundreds of ducks, are very curious objects. By letting\ndown a kind of trap\u2011door, the ducks are let out, every day, to\nget their food, and play in the water, and, sometimes, along the\nshore; and at night, they all come back and are driven into the\nboats. Thousands of ducks are raised in this way for the market.\n\nThe Chinese have, also, many large vessels, some of which are\n_soldier\u2011ship_, and others are _merchant\u2011ships_. Most of these\nare very rude indeed, and usually furnished with wooden anchors,\nand a helm or rudder of most monstrous size, awkwardly constructed.\nThe number of men in these vessels varies from forty or fifty to\nthree hundred and upwards. These merchant\u2011ships are those alluded\nto in a former letter, which go to Singapore, Batavia, &c., and\nare usually called _junks_.\n\nThe _fishing\u2011boats_ are the last I can mention. They are very\nnumerous, and of almost every size and description. When beholding\nthe occupants of these boats, I have often been reminded of the\n_fishermen_ of Galilee, whom our blessed Saviour taught, and chose\nto be his apostles. But, alas, for all these poor sailors, and\nfishermen! no man cares for their souls. Like brutes they live,\nlike brutes they die.\n\nAgain, dear children, I bid you adieu! and remain your true friend,\n                E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER IX.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 3, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011I will now, as I have desired, proceed\nto tell you about the _character and condition of females_ in China.\nAll that I can write, will give you only an imperfect idea of their\ndegradation. Women, who have been born and nurtured in Christian\nlands, and have never seen with their own eyes the desolations\nof the human race in heathen countries, can never know how much\nthey ought to value the blessings of the gospel. In Christian lands,\ncertainly in America, females constitute the most amiable, the\nmost virtuous, and the happiest part of the community. Exactly\nthe opposite is true here. They are the most ugly, the most vicious,\nand the most miserable. I do not mean that they are born so, or\nare so by nature. By nature all are alike; for God, that made the\nworld, and all things therein, \"hath made of one blood all nations\nof men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth.\" Thus saith\nGod in the Holy Scriptures. But see now what the Chinese say:\u2011\u2011\n\n\"When a man is born, he sleeps on a bed;\nHe is clothed in robes, and plays with germs;\u2011\u2011\nBut when a _daughter_ is born, she sleeps on the ground;\nShe is clothed with a wrapper and plays with a tile;\nShe is incapable either of evil or of good:\u2011\u2011\nIf she does ill, she is not a woman;\nIf she does well, she is not a woman;\nVirtue and vice cannot belong to woman.\"\n\nThese, dear children, are the words of one of the ancient _wise_\nmen of China. And the present condition of females, is in exact\naccordance with the _sentiment_ which they contain. Females are\ntreated as if they were _incapable either of evil, or of good_.\nThere are no schools for girls. Very few indeed receive any\neducation. Only here and there one, a solitary individual, is able\neither to read or to write. Such ignorance, and such degradation,\ndo not destroy _female influence_, but leave it to corrupt, and\nto be corrupted. Thus, in the very nursery, and in the mother's\narms, where the story of Christ crucified ought often to be repeated,\nand where all the first principles of our holy religion should\nconstantly be taught, the little child is left, not only\nuninstructed in all that is good\u2011\u2011but left, to follow vain\nimaginations, and a mind which is enmity against God. You, dear\nchildren, have received, and continue to receive much good\ninstruction from your parents\u2011\u2011especially from your mothers. You\nhave line upon line, and precept upon precept. It is not so with\nlittle children in China. By precept, and by example, they are\ntaught things contrary to the law of God\u2011\u2011taught to dishonor God.\nThey are trained up in the way they should _not_ go, and when they\nare old, they _do not_ depart from it.\n\nFemales in China are not like ancient mothers in Israel. They are\nnot like multitudes of excellent women now in Christian lands.\nFemales are regarded as a _very inferior part_ of the community.\nThey are often doomed to the lowest and severest labor. I have\noften seen the mother, with an infant tied on her back, laboring\nhard in rowing her husband's boat, while he sat at his ease, smoking\nhis pipe.\n\nFemales of the poorer class, are every where to be seen meanly\nattired, and usually barefooted. Those of the higher classes,\nseldom, if ever appear abroad. Whey they do go out, it is always\nin sedans;\u2011\u2011partly, I suppose, that they may not be seen, and partly,\nbecause of their _little feet_. The small foot is an odd thing.\nA Chinese historian says, \"It is not known when the bow foot (that\nis, the small foot) of females was introduced. About nine hundred\nyears ago, a certain prince,\" says the same historian, \"ordered\nhis concubine to bind her foot with silk, and cause it to appear\nsmall, and in the shape of the new moon. From this sprung the\nimitation of every other female.\" This is quite like that _fashion_\nin America, of lacing so tight as to bring on the consumption.\nIt is astonishing to what a small size their feet are sometimes\ncompressed. The toes, with the exception of the great toe, are\ndoubled under the foot, in the tenderest infancy, and fastened\nby tight bandages, till they unite with and are buried in, the\nsole of the foot. This utterly unfits them for walking, and gives\nthem, when they attempt it, an awkward, hobbling gait, like a person\ntrying to walk on his heels. Some of their feet, I have been told,\nare no more than three inches long. These are what they call the\n_golden lilies_, are regarded as the very perfection of beauty.\nI have sent one of these, or rather a model of one of these along\nwith the box of idols, to the Seminary at Andover.\n\nFemale children are often sold. And there are strong reasons for\nbelieving, that there are cases where parents drown their infant\nfemale children, in order to free themselves from the care and\nexpense of nursing and supporting them. Mention is made of this\nfact, in their books. Since I have been in China, I have not seen\nor heard of a single case. I do not think it true, certainly not\nin this part of China, that the inhabitants \"throw out by thousands\ntheir new born infants into the streets, so that they are gathered\nup by the scavengers every morning.\" But that great numbers of\nfemale children, that have been nursed and reared to the age of\nsix, eight, ten, or twelve years, are _sold_, I have no doubt.\nLittle girls are very often sold. Sometimes they are sold by their\nparents. Sometimes they are sold by robbers, who have stolen them\naway from their parents. This practice is very common in Canton,\nand in other places in the south of China. Sometimes, when they\nare sold by the parents, it is on condition, that at a certain\nage, the buyer shall procure for them a husband, and set them at\nliberty. At other times, and usually, they are sold\n_unconditionally_. Not long ago, I knew a case, where a little\ngirl, eleven years of age, was sold for _fifty dollars_.\n\nA great many of the most beautiful female children among the poor\nare sold, and carried away to be the inmates of those abominable\nabodes, of which it is almost a shame even to speak. In the Bible,\nthey are called \"the way to hell; going down to the chambers of\ndeath.\" There are many hundreds of these wicked houses in and about\nCanton. They are just like those bad boats, those floating\nsepulchres, mentioned in the last letters. A great many of the\npoor, abandoned creatures that inhabit them, become weary with\nlife, and kill themselves; sometimes three or four more in a company,\nand at one time. The Judge of Canton recently stated, that eight\nor nine tenths of the untimely deaths brought to the notice of\ngovernment, were suicides; and that six or seven tenths were women.\n\nWith this sad story, I must close this letter. I could relate many\nfacts of the same sort. But I think I have told you enough;\u2011\u2011enough\nto show you how miserably the _fairest_ half of the human family\nwill _always_ be degraded, and abused, until they have the Bible,\nand enjoy the blessings of the Christian religion. Farewell.\n\n                  Your true friends,\n                                   E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER X.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 5, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011In my last letter, I told you about the\ncharacter and condition of females in China. In this, I will give\nyou an account of the _marriage ceremony_. It will, still farther\nillustrate the character of this people, and help to cherish, and\nestablish in your young and tender minds, a strong desire for the\nsalvation of this people.\n\nTo\u2011day is the first Monday in the month. And it is now, _here_,\njust about noon. With you it is midnight, and the Sabbath has just\ndeparted, leaving all the inhabitants of my dear native land in\nquiet slumbers. Happy, happy land. Happy, thrice happy children.\nHow different here. Alas, how different! The natural darkness which\nat this hour gathers around your habitations, and the cold, northern\nblasts of winter that sweep over the hills of New England, are\nfit emblems of the thick moral darkness, and death\u2011like desolations\nthat gather around us here. Without, all is dark as midnight\u2011\u2011a\nhowling waste\u2011\u2011a desert of immortal souls. My heart aches, as I\nstand and gaze at gloomy prospects. But within, we have a little\nlight: a little fire has been kindled up. A few names\u2011\u2011two or\nthree\u2011\u2011hope to join _the concert_ this evening. It is cheering\nto think, what multitudes, as the earth rolls round will bow the\nknee in prayer before the throne of God, and continue the voice\nof fervent supplication, till you, dear children, and thousands\nand thousands of others, shall be found pleading with God. And\noh, remember China. Pray for the missionaries. Pray for the heathen\nPray for the rulers. Pray for the people. Pray for the poor\nchildren\u2011\u2011and for the uninstructed, neglected, and degraded\nfemales. Pray that they may all receive the word of God; read it;\nobey it; be sanctified through it; and thereby made fit for heaven.\n\nIn China a man often has two or more wives; and sometimes, eight\nor ten. I have heard of one man, now living in Canton, who has\n_twenty\u2011four:_ and says, he means to have a new one every year.\nOf my three boys, of whom I hope to tell you more by and by\u2011\u2011the\noldest one's father has two wives, the second one's, four, and\nthird one's father, only one. In China, as in ancient Judea, children\nare often espoused, when quite young. But they are not usually\nmarried, until girls arrive at the age of 14 or 16; and boys to\nthe age of 18 or 20 years.\n\nWhen parents wish to have a daughter married, they write on a sheet\nof red paper, the year, month, day, and hour of her birth, and\ngive the paper to a go\u2011between\u2011match\u2011maker, who carries it to the\nhouse of the intended husband, and brings back, from his parents,\na similar statement. After this the girl's father is introduced\nto the young man, and his mother on the other side, is introduced\nto the girl. Many presents of fancy articles, dresses, meats, cakes,\nfruits, and the like are then interchanged, and the marriage\ncontract is considered as _settled_.\n\nTwo, three, four or more years, or perhaps only a few months elapse,\nwhich time is usually regulated by the age of the parties, and\nthen other, and more valuable gifts are reciprocated; and another\ninterval of months, or years passes away, and then comes the wedding\nday. On that day the young man sends a sedan to bring home the\nbride. This sedan is always elegant, and often superb, costing\nseveral hundred dollars. It is made quite like those described\nin a former letter, but always so constructed as entirely to conceal\nthe person carried in it. In this sedan, the young woman is seated\nby her parents, and tears are shed both by the daughter and parents,\nas she is separated from them, and borne off in the marriage\nprocession. This is often a very long procession, sometimes\nconsisting of several hundred persons, some in the procession\ncarrying embroidered canopies; others carrying large, elegant\nlanterns; others bearing pots of incense; and others laden with\nthe girl's toilet wardrobe, bedding, furniture, provisions, cakes,\nsweet\u2011meats, &c. Among others are bands of musicians. I have seen\nin a single procession eight bands, and six or eight persons in\neach band. Some of the bands, and some of the bearers of the incense\npots and the other things, consist of boys 8, or 10, or 12 years\nold, fancifully dressed in uniform. In one instance, I have seen\na band of girls in the procession. They were six in number, neatly\ndressed, two about nine years of age, two of twelve, and two of\nfifteen. They were all on foot, immediately preceding the sedan;\nand close behind it, carried on men's shoulders, in the same manner\nas the sedan, was a sty containing a monstrous hog.\n\nWhen the procession arrives at the gate of the bridegroom's house,\nhe meets the sedan, and conducts it to an inner apartment, when,\nfor the _first time_, he is permitted to _see_ the face of his\nbride. Two or three days are then spent in festivity, and a long,\ntedious round of ceremonies, worshipping their household gods,\nthe gods of their ancestors, &c. Many of their friends call to\nsee, and congratulate them. And thus the marriage ceremony is\nconsummated.\n\nIt appears, that in all this business, the children have nothing\nto say. According to the laws and usage of the land, it is the\nchildren's duty to receive the object of their parent's choice,\nNothing in China can be more absolute than a parent's' authority.\nIn certain cases, it may, and does with impunity, take the life\nof the child. Such authority is liable to abuse; and often in\nconnexion with such a strange system of wedlock, it becomes a must\nfruitful source of dislike, deception, strife, hatred, and almost\nevery other evil passion.\n\nThe Chinese have many laws on the subject of marriages, specifying\nall the steps necessary in order to make them legal; and showing,\nalso, how and when they may be set aside, or be broken.\n\nIt has been stated on good authority, that \"Through the Chinese\nempire, there are only about one hundred family names.\" One law\nis, \"that persons of the same family name\u2011\u2011surname\u2011\u2011may not\nintermarry.\" It would be curious to know the reason of this. Another\nlaw is, that taking a second wife, after the decease of the first,\nor in purchasing concubines, the man is at liberty to see the females,\nand choose for himself. A widow, also, who is desirous of wedding\na second time, does not hesitate to show herself to the intended\nhusband.\n\nTheir laws mention seven cases, in which a man may be justified\nin putting away his wife; (1.) barrenness; (2.) lasciviousness;\n(3.) disregard of her husband's parents; (4.) talkativeness; (5.)\nthievish propensities; (6.) envious and suspicious temper; (7.)\ninveterate infirmity.\n\nThere are several other topics on which I wish to write before\nI close these letters. In the next, I will tell you about the beggars.\nFarewell. Ever and always remembering you in my prayers,\n\n                  I remain, your true friend,\n                                            E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER XI.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 7, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011\"For ye have the poor with you always,\"\nsaid our Savior, \"and whensoever ye will, ye may do them good.\"\nIn connexion with what I have to tell you about the _beggars_,\nI wish to give you some account of the _food_ and _clothing_, common\nand peculiar among the Chinese.\n\nThe proportion of poor people and beggars, and the difference\nbetween the rich and the poor, is I think, much greater here than\nin the United States. The Chinese are rather fond of dress. The\nrich, and all who can afford it, and many who cannot, usually dress\nvery well. Sometimes their dresses are rich and costly: and children\nhere, as every where else, are fond enough of fine, gay clothing.\nAnd prettier lads certainly, I have rarely seen, than some of the\nChinese boys, when neatly dressed. Sometimes, however, the little\nfellows, with their great boots, and one garment piled on another\nto the number of six or eight, or even more, and the long tail\nhanging down to their heels, and the head crowned with a long tasseled\ncap, make a very ridiculous appearance.\n\nThe _whole_ dress of the Chinese is different from ours. To begin\nwith the shoes and boots; these are made with black, brown, or\nred cloth, for the upper part, while the soles are of leather or\nwood, an inch or more in thickness, with snow white edges. They\nusually wear long white silk, or linen stockings, made of cloth;\nsometimes knit. These are drawn up to the knee, and fastened with\ngarters. Sometimes the stockings are drawn over the trowsers; at\nother times, they are made, or worn at least, like the old fashioned\nshort breeches. These three articles are usually the same through\nthe year, and vary only in quality, according to the circumstances\nof the persons, being made every where in the same _old fashion_.\n\nBeggars are often seen in the streets, in the most loathsome\ncondition, with no other clothing than a tattered pair of trowsers;\nindeed many of the laborers in the fields and shops, during the\nwarm weather, wear nothing else\u2011\u2011but in the latter case, the articles\nare of good material, and well made. Their trowsers are never\nsupported by braces over the shoulders, but always, among the rich\nand poor alike, by a girdle about the loins. To this girdle in\nfront, a small bag or wallet is attached; this is \"an indispensable,\"\nand in it, they carry cash, a small knife, &c. &c.\n\nIn America, the man who has not a shirt to his back, must be poor\nindeed. In China, the poor seldom have such an article; and not\na few, even among the gentle\u2011folks, often go without it, especially\nin summer. In which case, the only dress, in addition to shoes,\nstockings, and trowsers, is a long frock, made quite like that\nworn by farmers in New England, at haymaking. All the upper garments,\nwhether for warm weather or cold, are made in the same fashion,\nwith long, large sleeves, and without any collars for the neck.\nThese garments are sometimes short, only coming down to the\nwaist\u2011\u2011but sometimes to the knees, or ancles. They are fastened\nwith small round buttons and loops, either down in front, or under\none arm. When the weather grows cold, they increase the number\nof these garments, putting on five, or six, or eight, or even more\nat a time. Some of these garments, when made of silk, or broadcloth,\nand fastened close about the waist with a sash, make a very fine\ndress. Their shortest frocks are frequently made of fur.\n\nThe common covering for the head is a kind of skull\u2011cap; but in\nwarm weather all the people go bare\u2011headed, with nothing but a\nfan (which they always carry) to keep off the sun. They have a\ncloth or wool hat, of a conical form, like the unfinished hats,\nsometimes seen in hatters' shops. They have also a hat made of\nfine bamboo, in the same form, and yet another kind with a brim\nso broad, that it serves as an umbrella, either to keep off the\nsun or the rain.\n\nSuch is a description of the ordinary clothing of the common and\npoorer classes of people; that of the rich is usually quite in\nthe same style, but the quality of the articles always superior.\nThe rich also wear ornamental articles, as beads, bracelets, &c.\n&c.\n\nThe dress of the females is not very unlike that of men;\u2011\u2011they\nusually wear trowsers, and a folded petticoat, depending several\ninches below their frocks. Their head\u2011dress is very pretty; the\nhair is tastefully folded on the back on the head, and fastened\nby a neat brace and pin. They are remarkably fond of flowers on\ntheir heads\u2011\u2011not artificial, but natural ones. The _mourning_ dress\nis not black\u2011\u2011but white, or what approaches almost to white\u2011\u2011but\nmore of this in another letter.\n\nRice, among the Chinese, in this part of the empire, is the staff\nof life. Multitudes obtain no other food. To breakfast, is \"_to\neat morning rice:_\"\u2011\u2011this is at ten o'clock. To dine or sup, is\n\"_to eat evening rice:_\"\u2011\u2011this meal they have about five o'clock,\nP.M. When they can obtain a little salt or dried fish, a few\nvegetables to eat with their rice, and also tea, which they always\ndrink without milk or sugar, then they have \"good living,\" and\nthese few simple articles constitute the ordinary food and drink,\namong the common and poorer classes.\n\nA single kettle to boil their rice\u2011\u2011a pan to fry their fish and\nvegetables\u2011\u2011a large bowl for the boiled rice\u2011\u2011and a small bowl and\na pair of chop\u2011sticks, make up the whole of their table furniture,\nif indeed they are so happy as to have a table. But whether they\nhave or not, the large bowl of rice forms the centre, and around\nthis squat on their heels, or seated on wooden stools, they arrange\nthemselves, and receive their humble fare, with no doubtful marks\nof a good relish.\n\nFrom these poor people, the common and richer classes differ, only\nin the amount and quality of their furniture, and provisions; the\nstyle as in the case of dress, being nearly the same through all\nthe grades of society. The tables of the rich are often very\nsumptuous. There is nothing, scarcely, whether vegetable or animal,\nwhich the Chinese do not eat. Besides all kinds of fish, birds,\nhorned cattle, sheep and hogs, they eat horses, dogs, cats, rats,\n&c. Tea is used in great abundance, and is almost their only beverage.\nThey seldom drink water alone, because they think it unhealthy.\nThe Chinese are not greatly addicted to the use of strong drink;\nless, probably, than the Christian people of Europe and America.\nThis, I think, is in no small degree, owing to their constant use\nof tea.\n\nI have not time to extend these remarks; you see there is no lack\nof inquiry about what we shall eat, and what we shall drink, and\nwherewithal we shall be clothed. These are the very things after\nwhich the _Gentiles_ seek; and they seek them with their whole\nsoul, and mind, and strength. Yet great numbers live\u2011\u2011perhaps are\ncompelled to live\u2011\u2011solely by begging. In Canton, beggars are very\nnumerous. They have, it is said, laws for begging, and a head man,\nwho among the foreigners is called \"the king of the beggars.\" Men\nand women of all ages, may be seen begging; great numbers of them\nare _blind_. When they go through the streets, they carry in one\nhand a cane to feel their way, and in the other a dish or bag to\nreceive money or food, or any thing people please to give them.\nSometimes they are seen in companies, of 3, 4, 6, or 10, or even\nmore; they hollow or sing, or rather \"cry out\" as they go. One\nof their laws is, that when they enter a house or shop, they will\nnot go till something is given them. With bamboo sticks, or gongs,\nthey set up a most vexatious clatter, and in this way trouble and\nannoy people, till they give them something; and, if it be no more\nthan a single _cash_, then they must \"be off.\"\n\n                  Your true friend,\n                                  E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER XII.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 9, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011Having no fear of God before their eyes,\nthe Chinese often become very wicked and guilty of numerous crimes,\nnot only against _Him_, whose eternal power and godhead they deny,\nbut against their fellow\u2011men. This wickedness and these crimes,\nexpose them to many and very severe punishments. Lying, gambling,\nquarrelling, theft, robbery, and bribery, are among their most\ncommon vices. There are _five_ punishments; (1.) to beat with a\nsmall bamboo; (2.) to beat with a large bamboo; (3.) banishment\nto another district or province; (4.) perpetual banishment to the\nborders of the empire; and (5.) death. These five, are sometimes\nreduced to three, the bamboo, banishment, and death. It may be\nremarked, also, that these punishments are sometimes exchanged\nfor others.\n\n_Lying_, among a great majority of the population, seems to be\nregarded as a very small offence,\u2011\u2011provided the lie be not detected.\nThere are men, I believe, who will not lie; but while this great\nwickedness is disallowed of by a few, multitudes will ever and\nalways practise it; if they only suppose they shall be the gainers\nthereby. Officers of Government will tell lies to one another.\nThe people will lie to the magistrates; children to their parents;\nand servants to their masters. Instead of supposing every man to\nbe honest, until he is proved to be a rogue, they seem to regard\nevery one as a rogue, until he _proves himself to be honest_.\n\n_Gambling_ is a chief \"crying sin\" among the Chinese. They are\nnotorious gamblers. Old and young, rulers and subjects, rich and\npoor, will gamble; nor have they much regard to the time, or place,\nwhen they gamble. I have often seen them gambling in their temples.\nThousands are ruined by this sin.\n\n_Quarrels_ spring up from lying, and gambling, and other wicked\npractices, just as surely as briers, thorns, and thistles spring\nup in a rich but uncultivated soil. Their strange mode of marriage\ntoo, is a fruitful source of quarrels. As to their quarrels, it\nhas been well said,\u2011\u2011\"A Chinese would stand and reason with a man,\nwhen an Englishman would knock him down, or an Italian stab him.\nIt is needless to say which is the more rational mode of proceeding.\"\nI am not aware that the Chinese ever fight duels\u2011\u2011though in their\nquarrels, persons are often killed. They are great scolds, and\nuse the most obscene and abusive language.\n\n_Theft_ and _robbery_ are the most common among the poor, though\nit is _not_ confined to them. Among such multitudes of beggars,\nit often happens, that they cannot obtain sufficient food and\nclothing to make themselves comfortable. By gambling also,\nmultitudes are reduced to beggary and want; hence come bands of\nthieves and robbers, trained and prepared for any and every thing\nthat is evil.\n\nTheft and robbery constitute one of the greatest scourges in this\nland; and no part of the country, from one extremity of the empire\nto the other, is free and secure from this evil. Since I commenced\nthis letter, one of my boys has told me of a case of this kind,\nwhich has just occurred in the neighborhood. It is as follows;\u2011\u2011two\nmen, dressed like poor females, entered a rich man's house late\nin the evening, and wished to be lodged there during the night.\nThis privilege was granted them. When all were asleep, they silently\nput off their false dress, packed up a large number of rich articles\nbelonging to the house, and were about to escape, when they were\ndiscovered, seized, carried away to the magistrates and sentenced\nto be beheaded.\u2011\u2011Though decapitation is not the severest\npunishment, yet more than two hundred instances of it have occurred\nin Canton in a single year.\n\n_Bribery_ is very common in China; perverting just judgment, and\nscreening the guilty. This wickedness is most common among the\nrich. Almost all the rulers of the land, will take bribes. Many\ndefrauders and injurious persons, many thieves, and robbers, and\nmurderers, escape through bribes. _Money is_ seen to be, here,\n_the root of all evil_. \"A little silver physic,\" it is said, \"has\noften brought a dead man to life.\"\n\nThe immense quantity of _opium_ that is smoked here, is a most\nfruitful source of crime. Many of the practised villains, when\nthey wish to contrive new plans of wickedness, have recourse to\nthis _black commodity:_ which produces a most astonishing effect,\nin enabling the _smokers_ to frame new schemes of darkness. It\nhas been said, and by a man of sound judgment and correct observation,\n(I am sorry to say that he is an American, and an extensive dealer\nin opium,) that the \"_drug_\" is doing more to break down the\nsuperstitions of China, and to open the country to foreigners,\nthan all the efforts of missionaries. There is a degree of _apparent_\ntruth in this man's very honest remark, and I think just as much\n_real_ truth, as if he had said, \"to set fire to their houses,\nand butcher the inhabitants, will do more to break down the\nsuperstitions of China, and open the country to foreigners, than\nall the efforts of Bibles, and tracts, and missionaries.\" Whether\nit be a crime or not, to bring and sell opium to this people;\u2011\u2011and\nwhether it be a crime or not, for this people to use it, when brought\nand sold by the hands of Christians, I will not undertake to say,\u2011\u2011but\nI believe, stubborn facts compel me to believe, that _of all the\ncauses of crime,_ among the inhabitants of the Chinese empire,\nOPIUM, brought and sold at the rate of a million of dollars per\nmonth, _is the greatest_. It is nothing better, than to scatter\nfire\u2011brands, arrows, and death.\n\nSimply being put in prison, seems hardly to be regarded as a\npunishment among this people; though multitudes are imprisoned\nand suffered greatly thereby. The common instruments of punishment\nare, (1.) the _bamboo_, about the size of large cane; (2.) the\n_yoke_, a heavy plank three feet square, and thirty\u2011three pounds\nweight; (3.) the _chain_ to fasten the criminals to the block;\n(4.) _hand\u2011cuff_, large and long, made of wood; and (5.) _iron\nfetters_.\n\nSuch are some of the most common crimes, and such are the instruments\nof punishment in China. To determine the degree of criminality,\nand fix the punishment accordingly, is among most nations very\ndifficult, but the Chinese make it very easy, at least they make\nit appear so in their law books, The degrees of punishment are\ntwenty,\u2011\u2011the first ten, are with bamboo; the next eight, banishment;\nthe last two, death.\n\nFor a very small offence, amounting to the first degree of\ncriminality, the offender may receive ten blows; increasing his\nguilt _five_ times, the fifty blows, &c. These blows may be changed\nfor the yoke, the chain, the hand\u2011cuffs, &c.\n\nFor some of the larger crimes, as bribery and the like, persons\nare bambooed, and then sent into banishment. Sometimes, only from\none province to another, as from the north to the south, and from\nthe south to the north; at other times, criminals are sent a long\ndistance, to the frontiers of the empire, for many years, and even\nfor life.\n\nThe highest degrees of crime are punishable with death. The most\ncommon mode of inflicting death, is by cutting off the head, and\nthis is done by a kind of short sword. For very heinous crimes,\nthe offender is sentenced to be _cut into ten thousand pieces_.\n\nI intended to have said something to you, on the subject of _slavery_\nin China but must pass it by without a single remark. Again adieu.\n\n                  Your true friend,\n                                  E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER XIII.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 10, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011\"Then shall the dust return to the dust\nas it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.\"\n\nIn an empire so ancient and populous as China, the number of human\nbeings that have _returned to the earth_, must be great indeed;\ngreater than any man can number. For more than thirty hundred years,\none generation after another, in awfully rapid succession, have\ngone to the dead. Almost all the hills and uplands about Canton\nand Macao, which are not covered with the habitations of the living,\nare filled with the abodes of dead. In Macao, almost every rod\nof ground, which is safe from water, even to hard, rocky hill tops,\nhas some emblem,\u2011\u2011a turfed hillock, a stone, or a little enclosure,\nto remind the visiter of the sleepers below. When I have walked\nover these grounds,\u2011\u2011these abodes of the dead, thoughts have arisen\nin the mind, which you may conceive, but which I cannot express.\nO, what multitudes will rise _here_, at the sound of the last trumpet!\nWhat vast congregations will come up from these burying places,\nand stand with us before the judgment seat of Christ! Every day\nis adding to the number of this vast congregation. Death does not\nwait for his victims\u2011\u2011death does not wait till the heathen have\nthe gospel preached unto them. And unless these multitudes of the\nliving, _speedily_ obtain mercy of him, of whom they are now\nignorant, how shall they come forth to the resurrection of life?\n\nWill the heathen be saved, who never heard the gospel? I ask you,\ndear children, do _you_ think the heathen can be saved, unless\nthe gospel be preached unto them, and they _believe_ in the name\nof Jesus? It is very painful to all think, that all the millions\nof our fellow creatures, who are now ignorant of the Savior, must,\nwhen they die, sink down to hell. But how can it be otherwise?\n\"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.\"\nBut \"how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?\nand how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?\nAnd how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they\npreach, except they be sent!\" And now, dear children, I desire\nto ask again, what do _you_ think of these words, which I have\nquoted from the tenth chapter of Romans? What do you think St.\nPaul meant? He means to say,\u2011\u2011if I understand him, he means to\naffirm,\u2011\u2011in the most positive manner, by the questions which he\nasks, that the heathen, who do not hear and believe the gospel,\n_cannot be saved_.\n\nI fear that many very good people have wrong ideas on this subject;\nand do not consider and realize the awful condition of the heathen;\nfor I am persuaded, that if they did see and realize, they would\ndo very differently from what they ever have done yet; they would\nfeel and act as Jesus Christ did; they would be willing to become\npoor, to labor and toil, and even die for the salvation of the\nheathen.\n\nWith a desire that you may have correct ideas of the real condition\nof the Chinese, I have been urged on to write these letters. I\nhave stated many facts; but you will desire, I presume, to know\nsomething more about their _ideas of death, style of mourning,\nfunerals_, &c.\n\nHaving very little if any knowledge of the true God, the Chinese\nare entirely ignorant of _another world:_\u2011\u2011of heaven and hell,\u2011\u2011of\nthe joys of the one, and the terrors of the other, as revealed\nin the Bible. All their notions about the soul of man, are very\ndark and confused. Many think that the _soul dies_, and ceases\nto exist with the body. Others think that when the body dies, the\nsoul goes away and enters into other bodies\u2011\u2011birds, beasts, or\nmen. All this ignorance makes the Chinese very careless about death,\nand all that which is to come upon them. They die like the brutes.\nSuch are their ideas of death.\n\nWhen a parent dies, a messenger is sent to announce it to all the\nrelatives. A board, or a long slip of brownish white paper, is\nhung up at the door, on which is written the person's name, age,\nand virtues, &c. The children and grand\u2011children of the deceased,\nsit on the ground, and weep and mourn. Relations come in and dress\nthe corpse; and many long and tedious ceremonies are performed.\n\nUsually, after three times seven days, the funeral takes place.\nA large concourse of friends and mourners assemble; and a procession\nis formed with priests, bands of music, flags, &c. &c.\u2011\u2011all quite\nlike one of the marriage processions, which I have already\ndescribed. Meats, fruits, cakes of various kinds, are carried as\nofferings to the dead, and the procession moves on to the burying\nplace. This is always selected with great care, and is usually\na hill. Only two things, it has been said, are feared by the Chinese\nafter death, \"a watery grave, and a white ant sepulchre.\"\n\nIt is not every day, that they may bury the dead; they must wait\nfor a luck\u2011day. Many of these processions may be seen in a single\nday. Some of the funerals are very expensive. Two occurred in this\nneighborhood last summer; one of a father, the other of a wife,\non each of which more than ten thousand dollars were expended.\nThe _mourning_ costume is like a brownish white, with a perfectly\nwhite napkin around the head, and sometimes around the loins; and\ntheir shoes are exchanged for sandals.\n\nBy the death of a father, a son is disqualified for, and is obliged\nto retire from office, for three years. Great care must be taken\nto have a good burying place; and for want of such, and means to\nbury the dead, bodies sometimes lie months and years in coffins,\nunburied. There were _ten thousand_ such in Canton last year. I\nknow of one family where there are thirteen in this state.\n\nBut from the accounts of the dead, I think you will be willing,\nif not glad, to have me desist. I will do so; and, if the Lord\nwill, I desire to proceed and give you some account of what has\nbeen done for China. In the next letter, I propose to speak of\nthe labors of the Rev. Dr. Morrison, Tell then, farewell.\n\n                  Your true friends,\n                                   E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER XIV.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 12, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,\nthat though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that\nwe, through his poverty, might be made rich. You know how, while\non earth, he went about doing good; how he loved poor sinners,\nand wept because they repented not; and how he loved little children,\nand used to take them in his arms and bless them. You remember\nhow, at a certain time, he went out into a mountain to pray, and\ncontinued all night in prayer to God. And you remember, how, just\nbefore he went back to heaven, he commanded his disciples _to go\nand teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,\nand of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost_.\n\nI will now tell you what has been done to make known the gospel\nof God among the Chinese. Some have supposed that St. Thomas, one\nof the twelve apostles, came into China, and preached the gospel;\nand one man, a Portuguese, has supposed that he even passed to\nAmerica. There is no proof of all this, and nobody now believes\nit. But it is very probable, though not quite certain, that some\nmissionaries from Syria, came into China, about seven hundred years\nafter the death of Christ. Roman Catholic missionaries came into\nChina more than five hundred years ago, and have continued here\never since. At one time, they had a great many converts, but now\nthey have very few, for they have been persecuted, and most of\nthe missionaries driven out of the country. The Catholics, all\nthe time they have been in this country, have never given the Chinese\nthe Bible.\n\nThe very first thing Protestant Christians ever thought of doing\nfor the Chinese, was to _give them the Holy Bible:_ This was a\nmost excellent plan. It was first suggested by that good man, Joseph\nHardcastle, Esq. of England. He was then the treasurer of the London\nMissionary Society.\u2011\u2011But as yet the Bible had never been translated\ninto the Chinese language, and there was nobody able to translate\nit. So the Society resolved to send out a mission, and the Rev.,\nnow Dr. Robert Morrison, was the first person who engaged to go.\nHe had, for some time, been thinking on the subject of missions.\nThis was just at the time when Samuel J. Mills, and others with\nhim, in Williams College, were thinking on the same subject; and\nlike them, \"he would have gone,\" I quote Dr. Morrison's own words,\n\"to any quarter of the globe, where the people were yet without\na divine revelation.\" He once thought of going to Africa, and would\ndoubtless have gone, had the way been opened. But the Lord had\nother work for him to accomplish.\n\nOn the 31st of Jan. 1807, Dr. Morrison left England, crossed over\nto the United States, where he tarried about twenty days, and became\nacquainted with some good people in Philadelphia, from whence he\narrived in China on the 4th of September, the same year. His situation\nin China was trying enough. He was alone, without companions, a\nstranger in a strange land. At first he lived in a _godown_, a\nroom occupied for a store house, or a lodging\u2011place for servants,\nwhere he studied, ate, and slept. His lamp was made of earthen\nware, and a large Bible served for a screen to keep the wind from\nblowing it out. He lived like the Chinese; put on their dress,\nthe long frock, the thick\u2011soled shoes; let his hair grow long,\nand ate with chop\u2011sticks. Afterwards, he found that this was not\nthe best way, so he changed his dress, and mode of living.\n\nBefore leaving England, Dr. Morrison obtained an imperfect and\nincomplete manuscript copy of the New Testament in the Chinese\nlanguage. After he arrived in China, he was very diligent, night\nand day, studying the language, continually reading, writing, and\nspeaking it; and, in about three years, began to print the New\nTestament in Chinese. Soon after, he published a little tract,\ncalled, \"_The Divine Doctrine, concerning the Redemption of the\nWorld_.\" He also published a catechism. And in 1813, six years\nafter his arrival, he completed the whole New Testament.\n\nIt was just at this time, when he had been in the field alone six\nyears, that another missionary arrived to assist him. I hope to\ntell you more of Dr. Milne, in another letter. Before this time,\nDr. Morrison had prepared two books about the Chinese language,\nwritten in English, in order to assist other missionaries in\nlearning the language. He had also instructed, for about two years,\nfour orphan boys. I have not time, in a single letter, to tell\nyou all I could wish, about what he has done. He has published\nmany books, and accomplished much in other ways.\n\nIn the Chinese language, he has prepared and published the New\nTestament, and two tracts above mentioned; the largest half of\nthe Old Testament, the other half was done by Dr. Milne; an outline\nof the Old Testament history; daily Morning and Evening Prayers,\nbeing a translation of the Common Prayer Book; also, a Hymn Book;\nand, recently, a book in three or four volumes, called the _Family\nInstructor:_ making in all, about 20 vols. Besides, he has written\nother books, but had not money to publish them. The translation\nof the _whole Bible_ was completed in the autumn of 1819, and\npublished soon after.\n\nIn English, he has written and published two volumes of sermons\nand lectures; a little book about China, for Sabbath school\nchildren; he has also written a great many papers about China,\nwhich have been printed in the Canton newspapers, \"The Canton\nRegister,\" published by an English gentleman, and in the \"Anglo\nChinese Gleaner,\" published at Malacca; and others, printed in\nother places.\n\nIn Chinese and English, that is, a part of each page Chinese, and\na part English, he has written and published six quarto volumes,\nabout the size of Scott's Bible, constituting a most excellent\nDictionary; also six octavo vols. in the same style. These twelve\nvolumes have been prepared for the purpose of assisting those who\nwish to learn the Chinese language.\n\nAbout a year after Dr. Morrison came to China, the English East\nIndia Company wished him to be their translator. He complied, and\nhas ever since acted in that capacity. He thought it his duty to\ndo so, that he might, by the labor of his own hands, relieve others\nfrom the burden of supporting himself and family. This, in a\nconsiderable degree, he has done. For upwards of twenty years he\nhas received _no_ salary from any charitable institution. The\nLondon Missionary Society assist him every year in defraying a\npart of his house\u2011rent, which, in China, is very high\u2011\u2011ten or twelve\nhundred dollars annually. Being translator for the company, they\nwere willing to defray the expenses of publishing his Dictionary,\nwhich was more than \u00a312,000.\u2011\u2011And besides this, and what he has\ndone for the support of his own family, it has enabled him to give\nbetween 8 and 10,000 dollars for the promotion of Christianity\namong the Chinese; a considerable part of this sum was expended\nin founding the Anglo Chinese College at Malacca; of this, I will\ntell you more when I come to write about Dr. Milne.\n\nThe same day he became translator to the company, he was married\nto Miss Morton, an excellent and pious lady, who had a long time\nresided in India. Their first born son died the same day in which\nhe breathed the breath of life. The infant was interred on the\ntop of a little hill, at the north extremity of Macao; and in a\nbeautiful enclosure, not far from where he now sleeps, are the\nearthly remains of his mother. Mrs. Morrison died June 10, 1821.\n\nIn 1824, Dr. Morrison visited England, and returned in 1826. While\nin his native country, he married Miss Armstrong, a pious and\naccomplished lady. He has now living in China, six children; four\nsons and two daughters. His family reside at Macao, for the Chinese\nwill not allow foreign ladies to come to Canton. His eldest son,\nJohn Robert Morrison, is already quite a master of Chinese, and\nacts as translator to the British merchants in China.\n\nDr. Morrison is now fifty years old, and it is more than 24 years\nsince he came to China. The Lord has been very good to him, and\nhas blessed him, and given good success to the labor of his hands.\nHe has lived to see many and most glorious results from the very\nsmall beginnings he was permitted and enabled to make; but the\njudgment of the great day, only, can display all the effects of\nhis long and arduous labors. Every Christian prays in secret; but\nhe has often preached in secret, with his doors locked around him,\nand only one or two to listen to the sound of the gospel.\n\nNo church has yet been gathered and organized in China. Several\nindividuals have believed, and have been baptized; and the Lord's\nsupper has, occasionally, been administered. The first baptism\nwas in 1814. This man came to Dr. Morrison's house, and heard him\ntalk of Jesus, the first year he was in China. \"At a spring of\nwater,\" says Dr. Morrison, \"issuing from a lofty hill by the\nsea\u2011side, away from human observation, I baptized, into the Father,\nSon, and Holy Spirit, _Tsae\u2011a\u2011ko_. O that the Lord may cleanse\nhim from all sin in the blood of Jesus, and purify his heart by\nthe influences of the Holy Spirit. May he be the first fruits of\na great harvest; one of millions who shall believe, and be saved\nfrom the wrath to come.\"\n\nDuring much of his time in China, Dr. Morrison has preached to\nthe English and American residents. He is now with his family at\nMacao; and, during the past season, has usually had four religious\nservices on each Lord's day; a morning and evening service in\nEnglish, and a morning and evening service in Chinese. From 4 to\n20 persons have usually attended on the English, and about 15 on\nthe Chinese services.\n\nThus, my young friends, I have given you a brief account of one\nwhom God has employed in this part of the great field; and though\nhe has accomplished so much, he looks upon it all as nothing. He\nis truly a most excellent man, and I love him much. And I desire\nthat you will always pray for him; that the Lord will preserve\nhim, and bless him more and more, and all those who are engaged\nwith him in the gospel.\n\n                  I remain your true friend,\n                                           E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER XV.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 13, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011I told you in the last letter about Dr.\nMorrison, and the commencement of the mission to China. I will\nnow give you some account of Dr. Milne, and the missions among\nthe Chinese, established out of China. The missionary stations\nestablished among the Chinese, residing or settled abroad without\nthe Chinese empire, may be reckoned five in number. They are at\nthe following places namely: Malacca, Penang, Java, Singapore,\nand Siam. I wish you to look out all these places on the maps,\nand learn from your geographies all you can about them. This will\nassist you very much to understand and remember what you read about\nthe missions.\n\nThe Rev. William, afterwards Dr. Milne, with his wife, arrived\nat Macao in China, the 4th of July, 1813, just at the time as before\nstated, when Dr. Morrison had finished the translation of the New\nTestament. A day or two after his arrival, he was ordered by the\n(then) Portuguese Governor of Macao, to leave the place\nimmediately. He did so, and came up to Canton. Here he resided\nfor several months, enjoying that hospitality among the heathen,\nwhich had been denied in a Christian colony.\n\nMacao is a small town. You will see it on your maps, situated 70\nor 80 miles south of Canton. It is the only European or foreign\nsettlement in China. The Portuguese have lived there two or three\nhundred years.\n\nDr. Milne remained about six months; in the mean time, with the\nassistance of his friend, Dr. Morrison, he got 2,000 copies of\nthe New Testament, and 15,000 Christian tracts, printed in Chinese.\nThese he put on board a ship, in which he embarked with 450 Chinese\nemigrants, all bound to Java. Dr. Milne was a very active man on\nboard ship; and at Java, wherever he went, he was delighted to\ngive away tracts and Bibles. He loved to do good to all men, as\nhe had opportunity. From Java, he went to Malacca, which place\nafterwards became his home, and the seat of the Anglo Chinese\ncollege, of which he was the first principal. From Malacca, he\nreturned to China, conferred with Dr. Morrison about the mission,\nand then, with Mrs. Milne, returned to Malacca, which place was\nnot only their home, but also their _grave_. The one died in 1819,\nMrs. M., the other, in 1822. They left behind them four or five\nchildren, to mourn their loss. Dr. Milne, his wife, and their little\ndaughter Amelia, and two infant twin boys born on their passage\ndown the Chinese sea, arrived at Malacca, May 21, 1815. This was\nthe commencement of the mission at Malacca. Schools were\nopened\u2011\u2011children collected and taught\u2011\u2011books printed and\ncirculated. The Bible was read, and the poor had the gospel preached\nto them\u2011\u2011preparations were made for the college, and its foundation\nlaid, November 11, 1818.\n\nMalacca, you will see by reference to your maps, is not far from\nChina, Cochin China, Siam, and many islands where great numbers\nof Chinese reside. It is also a healthy place, and under a great\nand good government. These and other considerations induced Drs.\nMorrison and Milne to resolve on the mission, and the establishment\nof the college. At the outset, Dr. Morrison gave $4,000 for the\nbenefit of the college, and up to the present time, has been its\nchief support, and the Lord has blessed and prospered the work.\nThe number of Chinese students in the college, has usually been\nabout 30. The regular course of studies occupies six years. The\naboriginal inhabitants of Malacca and the adjacent regions are\ncalled Malays. For this people also, schools have been established\nand supported, and they prosper. Many thousands of Bibles and tracts\nhave been printed and sent out from the college, and these have\ngone far and wide, the silent messengers of the truth of God. The\nRev. Samuel Kidd, of the London Missionary Society, is now principal\nof the college. Penang, or the Prince of Wales Island, you will\nsee by referring again to your maps, is situated off the west coast\nof the peninsula of Malacca\u2011\u2011you will find it about the 6th degree\nof north latitude. It is a beautiful situation, and has a good\ngovernment. The number of Chinese is about 8 or 10,000, 14 or 15,000\nMalays. There are also Siamese and Burmese. This mission was begun\nin 1819. It has now two missionaries with their wives; the Rev.\nS. Dyer for the Chinese, and the Rev. T. Beighton for the Malays.\nThese missionaries are very devoted, and are doing great good.\nThey have a number of schools for children, where they teach them\ndaily out of the Holy Scriptures, of the way of salvation by Jesus\nChrist; and by the books which the children receive, much good\ninstruction is conveyed to the parents. But I have not time to\ngive you all the particulars of this and the other stations of\nthe straits.\n\nThe same year, namely 1819, the mission was begun in Java. The\nseat of this mission is at Batavia. The elevated island of Java,\npresents some very fine tracts of country. Batavia itself is\nunhealthy, but a few miles out of the town where foreigners generally\nreside, the country is delightful, and the climate agreeable. The\nRev. W.H. Medhurst is the missionary at the stations. He and Mrs.\nMedhurst have been very abundant in their labors, and as their\nlabors multiply, their zeal and their success increase. Mr.\nMedhurst has travelled in various parts of Java and the neighboring\nislands, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and scattering in\nevery direction the good seed of the word of God.\n\nAnother mission was commenced this same year, 1819. This was at\nSingapore, an island situated in the straits, not far distant from\nthe south\u2011eastern extremity of the peninsular of Malacca. At this\nstation, from the commencement to the present time, there have\nbeen laborers both for the Malays and for the Chinese. The Rev.\nC.H. Thompson for the Malays, and the Rev. J. Tomlin for the Chinese.\nThese missionaries have travelled and scattered abroad the word,\nespecially in Siam, where Mr. Tomlin has made two or three\nvisits\u2011\u2011where I suppose he now is with my good friend the Rev.\nD. Abeel. In the establishments of all these missions, Dr. Milne\ntook a very lively interest. He entered _into_ the business with\nthis whole soul. He expected great things, he attempted great\nthings, and he accomplished great things. At the age of 20, he\ndetermined to become a soldier to serve abroad in Immanuel's wars,\nundertaking to destroy Satan's kingdom. He prepared himself for\nthe conflict, buckled on his armor,\u2011\u2011at 27, entered on the field\nof battle, served with courage and fidelity 10 years, and then,\nworn out by useful toils and hard service, died on his post.\n\nChildren, farewell; in the next I will tell you of Leang Afa.\n\n                  Your true friend,\n                                  E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER XVI.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 19, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,--You know the goodness and mercy of our\nGod, you know how he has given his dear Son to die for us poor\nrebellious sinners, and has promised to give to Christ the heathen\nfor his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his\npossession.\n\nIt is our heavenly Father, that Being who cannot lie, who has told\nus that his word shall not return unto him void, but _shall_ prosper,\nand accomplish all his holy will. If all good people would only\ndo their duty, the heathen I think would very soon become converted.\n_When the children of God pray and labor as they ought, he always\nblesses them_.\n\nI have told you about one person who came to Dr. Morrison's house,\nand heard him talk of Jesus and of the way of salvation by the\nblood of the Lamb, and that man believed and was baptized. I have\nnow to tell you of another, who has become a disciple of Jesus,\nand is devoting all his time and strength to the service of his\ndivine Master, Christ the Lord. I am going to tell of the evangelist\nLeang Afa.\n\nWhen Dr. Milne left Canton and went to Malacca, in 1815, Afa went\nwith him as printer\u2011\u2011this was his trade. Soon after this, it was\nobserved that the truth had taken a strong hold upon his mind,\nhe was convicted by the holy law of God, saw himself to be a sinner,\npoor and miserable, blind and naked, and in need of all things.\nAnd thus he was brought to declare his determination to take up\nhis cross and follow Christ. What care was taken to instruct him\nwill be seen by the following extract from Dr. Milne's Journal.\n\nNovember 3, 1816. At twelve o'clock this day, I baptized, in the\nname of the adorable Trinity, Leang Afa. This service was performed\nprivately in a room of the mission\u2011house. Care had been taken by\nprivate conversation, instruction and prayer, to prepare him for\nthis sacred ordinance. This had been continued for a considerable\ntime. Finding him still steadfast in his desire to become a\nChristian, I baptized him. The change\nproduced in his sentiments and conduct, is, I hope, the effect\nof Christian truth, and of that alone: _yet who of mortals can\nknow the heart?_ Several searching questions were proposed to him\nin private, and an exercise suited to a heathen candidate for\nbaptism, composed and given to him to read and to meditate upon.\n\nWith respect to his former life, he says, I was never much given\nto idolatry. I seldom went to the temples. I sometimes prayed towards\nheaven, but lived in careless indifference. Although I rarely went\nto excess in sin, yet I have been occasionally guilty of drunkenness,\nand other kindred vices. Before I came hither (to Malacca) I knew\nnot God\u2011\u2011now I desire to serve him.\n\nThe following are the questions proposed, and the answers given\nat the time of baptism:\n\n1. \"Have you truly turned from idols, to serve and worship the\nliving and true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and all things?\"\nThis is my heart's desire.\n\n2. \"Do you know and feel that you are a sinful creature, totally\nunable to save yourself?\" I know it.\n\n3. \"Do you really, from your heart, believe that Jesus Christ is\nthe Son of God, the salvation of the world; and do you trust alone\nin him for salvation?\" This is my heart's desire.\n\n4. \"Do you expect any worldly advantage, profit or gain whatever,\nby your becoming a Christian?\" None. I receive baptism, because\nit is my duty.\n\n5. \"Do you resolve from this day to the day of your death, to live\nin obedience to the commandments and ordinances of God, and in\njustice and seriousness of life before men?\" This is my\ndetermination, but I fear my strength is not equal to it.\n\nOn my part, says Dr. Milne, the ordinance was dispensed with\naffection, joy, hope, and fear. May he be made faithful unto death,\nand as he is the first fruits of this branch of the mission, may\nan abundant harvest follow to the joy of the church, and to the\nhonor of Christ. Such is Dr. Milne's account of Leang Afa, and\nO, with what delight must the sainted spirit look down from heaven\nupon the disciple of Jesus, as he labors, and toils, and faints\nnot!\n\nApril 7, 1819. After prayers and many tears, the two\nbrothers in Christ parted. Afa returned to China, and not long\nafter, was married. His wife has become a believer in Christ, and\nhas received baptism. He has now living, two children\u2011\u2011a little\ndaughter of four, and a son of eleven years. The son's name is\nLeang Atih. He was baptized in infancy. He now lives with me, and\nI will tell you more about him in another letter. Atih had a little\nbrother a few months old, but last summer he died. His parents\ngrieved very much for him, because they loved him very much, and\nhe was a tender child.\n\nAfa has promised to give me a written account of himself, by and\nby. I think it will be very interesting, and when I receive it,\nI can tell you more about him. He has received a great deal of\nill treatment from his friends, neighbors, and countrymen. His\nhome is about seventy\u2011five miles west from Canton. He has an aged\nfather, whom he supports. Though old, and feeble, and grey headed,\nand oft times tenderly instructed by his son; yet, poor man, he\nresists the truth, loves his idols, and says there is no God. And\nso when the son Leang Afa, and his wife and young Atih, kneel down\ntogether around the family altar, to worship the living and true\nGod, the father, the grandfather, the old, feeble, dying man, goes\naway and worships.\u2011\u2011O how dreadful, how pitiable, he goes away\nand bows down and worships, as he himself declares, the DEVIL,\nand then comes and rails at his son, because he has forsaken the\ngods of his country! This is a great trial to Afa, but he bears\nit as he does all his trials, with meekness and fortitude. Afflicted\nand persecuted as this family have been, they feel almost as if\nthey had no home on this earth. They are poor in the things of\nthis world, but doubtless they have treasures in heaven. They live\nsometimes in one place, sometimes in another. During the last summer\nand fall, they have lived in a hired house in this city. Afa has\nbeen here to see me to\u2011day, and Atih has gone with him, this evening,\nto see the family. In the morning, if the Lord will, he will come\nback to me, then he will go about twenty miles to the east of Canton,\nto a retired place, where he, with another Christian, is printing\nthe _Scripture Lessons_; and his grandfather, and his mother and\nlittle sister, will leave the city and go to the West, to their\nown village. But the true God will protect them, says Afa, and\nkeep them all in safety.\n\nAfa is now forty\u2011four years old. More than fifteen years he has\nborne the Christian name, and toiled and suffered hardships and\npersecutions in his Master's service, and his faith and his zeal\nincrease as he holds on his way: so may it be to the end. Dear\nchildren, remember, I entreat you, Afa and his family in your daily\nprayers, and remember also, your true friend,\n\n                  E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER XVII.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 20, 1831.\n\nMY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011When I have given you a short account of\nCanton city, and told you a few things about my boys, then I must\nclose these letters. Canton is a very large city, situated in 23\ndegrees 7 minutes north latitude, 113 degrees 14 minutes east\nlongitude, from Greenwich. It is distant from the open sea, about\n70 or 80 miles, and stands on the north bank of the Jake, which\nthe Chinese call _Chook\u2011eany_, that is, the _Pearl River_. The\ncity is built wholly on one side of the river. Opposite to Canton,\nis the island of Honam, on which stands the celebrated Honam\nJoshouse. Indeed, all the way from Canton to the open sea, is part\nland and part water, and forms a great number of islands.\n\nA part of Canton is enclosed by a wall built of brick and stone,\nabout 20 or 25 feet high, and 10 or 15 feet thick. The part of\nthe city which is enclosed by the wall, is nearly square. Each\nof the four sides of the city, I should think, measures about two\nmiles, perhaps less, perhaps more. On each side, there are three\nor four gates, these are always guarded by day, and shut and barred\nby night. Foreigners may not enter the gates. On the south, the\nwall extends within about 20 rods of the river. On the north side,\nit extends to the brow of a hill, which terminates the range of\nmountains which rise and stretch along in the rear of Canton. There\nis a wall which divides the city into two parts, the north and\nsouth. The south part, is about one quarter of the whole, and has\nbeen built since the other, and is sometimes called the new city;\nbut this distinction is not necessary.\n\nThe space between the city walls and the river, and a\nconsiderable extent of the east and west sides of the city without\nthe walls, constitutes the suburbs of Canton, or, as the Chinese\nsay, the city outside, which, as to its streets, houses, shops,\n&c. is all the same as the city inside. So the Chinese have repeatedly\nassured me, and this, I believe, is the opinion of the foreigners\nhere. Usually, the streets are not more than eight feet wide, and\noften not more than four. Their houses and shops are seldom, if\never, more than two stories high, and often the top one is only\na kind of half story. The shops are built close on the streets,\nand not unfrequently project over them. When the shops are opened\nin pleasant weather, the whole front is removed; this displays\ntheir goods to great advantage. Some of these streets are very\nbeautiful. Dwelling\u2011houses and shops are seldom built on the same\nstreet.\n\nDwelling\u2011houses, and the gardens and yards around them, are usually\nsurrounded by a wall which is built close on the street, and so\nhigh as to prevent any one passing along, from seeing the houses.\nAt each end of the principal streets, there is a gate and a watch\u2011house\nbuilt above it. The gates are closed at night, and the watchmen\nkeep a constant look out, and beat with their gongs or bells the\nwatches of the night.\n\nThe _population_ of Canton is very numerous. I think, not less\nthan a _million of souls_. Many people think this number too great,\nand perhaps it is. Including those who live on the river, and all\nthose within and without the city, the number is very great. Though\nthe houses are not high, yet the people live together very thick.\nThey marry young, and live to a good old age. In the same house,\nyou will sometimes find great grand\u2011parents, grand\u2011parents,\nparents, children, grand\u2011children, great, and even great, great,\ngrand\u2011children, making in all a very great number. From personal\nobservation, I should not think that more than one tenth or one\nfifteenth part of the whole people of Canton live on the river.\nBut if to the 40,000 boats, we allow only three persons to each\nboat, we shall have 120,000 on the river, and if this is only one\nninth part of the whole population, it will amount to more than\none million. But, my young friends, I will not trouble you any\nmore with these hard reckonings; your teachers will explain the\nwhole for you.\n\nForeign merchants have for several years traded to China. Only\na few rods from the south\u2011west corner of the city walls, there\nare twelve or thirteen large buildings, or rather rows of buildings,\nand each of the rows contain three or four, and sometimes more\nhouses, built like the houses in the United States, and _here_\nwe live; in all, I suppose, about 100 persons, English, French,\nDutch, _Americans_, &c. These houses are sometimes called\nfactories, and sometimes hongs. The English have a chapel and\nclergyman, and worship on the Sabbath. While Mr. Abeel was here,\nand also since he left, the Americans have had worship on the Sabbath\nin a large room in one of the private houses.\n\nWe live very comfortably here, though cut off from some of the\ngreatest domestic and social enjoyments. No man can bring his family\nwith him to Canton. All the work about house, cookery and every\nthing, is done by Chinese men servants. The servant that was with\nme several months after I came to China, did his work well enough,\nbut did not like to read; besides, he was quite old. So I mentioned\none day, that I should like a lad that would learn to read and\nwrite. A servant of one of the gentlemen with whom I lived heard\nthis, and immediately wished me to take his little brother, then\nten years old. His name is Atsan. In a few days, he made his\nappearance, a fine, round\u2011faced, sprightly\u2011looking boy. He knew\nsomething of his own language, but not a single letter of the English.\nJust at this time, Afa came and wished me to take his little son,\nAtih; and in a few days, the boy came, poorly clothed, with great\nhead, flat nose, and crooked shoulders. His first appearance was\nnot very promising. He could read and write his own language well,\nfor a boy of his age, but knew not a word of English. I wrote out\nthe alphabet for the two boys, and they began to learn; two or\nthree days after this, they wished to introduce another boy. This\nwas Achang, fifteen years old, and had been to school about three\nyears. He had learnt also a part of the English alphabet.\n\nIn this way I became acquainted with the boys. This was a year\nago. They have done, and still continue to do, exceedingly well.\nThey read, write and recite, both Chinese and English, daily. If\nthey continue to learn as they have done thus far, they will make\nexcellent scholars. They read daily in the Scriptures. They have\nlearnt the name of Christ the Lord, and I hope ere long they will\nchoose him for their Saviour. Atih says he loves the Savior _now_,\nand prays to him every night and morning, and when I ask Atih if\nhe did not fear men would laugh at him, he answered, men do laugh\nat me, but I do not fear them that kill the body, I rather fear\n_Him_ who can destroy both soul and body in hell. And now, dear\nchildren, farewell. I beg you will not cease to pray for the dear\nboys, and all this nation, and more than this, I hope you will\ncontinue to send them the Bible and missionaries. And still more,\nI desire that some of _you_ may come here, may come as good\nmissionaries, for hundreds are now needed to preach the gospel\nto these heathen. Say, will you come? I once knew a boy, younger\nthan some of you are now, who, having read an account of the heathen,\nsuch as you have now read in these letters, desired to be a\nmissionary, and go to the heathen, and the Lord has granted the\ndesire of his heart, and now he is a missionary, laboring to make\nknown the glorious gospel of the blessed God.\n\n     Farewell.  Your true friend,\n                                E.C.B.\n\n______\n\nLETTER XVIII.\n\n_Canton_, (_China_,) _Dec_. 21, 1831.\n\nTo Parents and Teachers:\n\nMY DEAR FRIENDS,\u2011\u2011Weary and oppressed when I had finished my last\nletter, I determined to desist from writing more, but after\nreflection and prayer before God, I felt constrained to add yet\nanother. The letters have cost me considerable time and labor,\nand though short, they contain many interesting facts. I have been\nobliged to sit up late at night to write, and early in the morning;\nand more than once, while writing and contemplating the condition\nof perishing millions around me, tears have started from the eyes,\nand the breast has been agitated with thoughts too painful to\ndescribe. I once thought, as some of you may now think, that the\naccounts of the heathen are overdrawn, and their condition\nrepresented to be worse than it actually is. This is not the case;\nfar from it. There are sometimes inaccurate statements\u2011\u2011I have\nmet with such\u2011\u2011but I have never seen a description, given by\nuninspired men, which adequately portrays the misery, and moral\ndegradation, of this elegant, learned, polished, and refined pagan\nnation.\n\nThe inimitable descriptions of the heathen world, given in the\nOld and New Testament, are all exemplified here, in _living\ncharacters_. In the letters to the dear youth, who stand to you\nin the relations of sons, and daughters, and pupils, it has been\nmy object to assist you, in making known to them the present\n_condition and character_ of the Chinese. I have narrated chiefly,\nsuch things as I had either seen or heard here on the spot. Many\nof the accounts are imperfect, and the descriptions faint; and\nI am on that very account, more anxious that you should follow\nup the subject, explaining and illustrating whatever the children\ndo not easily understand. I wish you would often read to them the\n44th chapter of Isaiah, and the 1st chapter of Romans. I wish also\nthat you would collect and point out to them interesting accounts,\npublished in the Missionary Herald, and in religious newspapers,\nand books which have been published on missions. It is of great\nimportance that children be well instructed, correctly and\nextensively informed, in regard to the condition of those to whom\nthe gospel is yet to be published. Every one, whether old or young,\nrich or poor, has an interest\u2011\u2011a personal interest in this great\nand glorious work; but children have a peculiar personal interest.\nFrom the present generation of children, many hundreds, nay,\nthousands of missionaries, are to be trained up and sent abroad\nto the fields already white for the harvest. Our Lord, the Saviour,\nhas made it the privilege, and the duty, of every one who will\nbe his disciple, _to seek first the kingdom of heaven_; and he\nhas assured us that no one can be his disciple who will not forsake\nall and follow him. It will profit a man nothing, if he gain the\nwhole world and lose his own soul: and so in comparison with seeking\nto extend the religion of Jesus Christ. In comparison with bringing\nsouls from the damnation and power of sin and Satan into the kingdom\nof God's dear Son, all things also are nothing. There is to be\na great change in the opinions, and feelings, and actions, of\nChristians, in regard to this subject, else the gospel will not\nbe preached to every creature. Now hundreds and thousands of\nChristians, or rather who call themselves Christians, are saying,\n\"We have nothing to do in this business, and we can't do any thing\nif we try.\" But the time is coming, when all good people will say,\n\"We have a great work to do, for it is our business to publish\nthe gospel to every creature; and we can do all things through\nChrist strengthening us.\"\n\nIt will help to hasten this change, if we make this subject\u2011\u2011the\nsubject of missions\u2011\u2011the preaching of the gospel to every\ncreature\u2011\u2011the conversion of the whole world\u2011\u2011very familiar to our\nown minds and to the minds of others,\u2011\u2011especially to children.\nIf the Lord Jesus Christ should come down from heaven, and go round\nto each of your houses, and entering, should address you\nindividually, and say, Go ye and preach the gospel to every creature;\nyou would think this a most solemn command; one which you could\nnot misunderstand. So it would be, and just so it is now. It is\nno more your duty and your privilege, than it is my duty and\nprivilege. It is a common cause; one in which it is alike the\nprivilege and the bounden duty of every disciple of the Lord Jesus\nChrist to engage, and with his whole soul, and mind and strength.\nThe kingdom of heaven suffereth violence. The case which I have\npresented, is an extreme one\u2011\u2011a case of life and death\u2011\u2011not the\nlife of a single individual, a brother, a sister, or a child; nor\nis it the temporal life of 10,000 individuals. Oh! no. It is the\neternal life of hundreds of thousands of immortal souls.\n\nAnd now, dear friends, allow me to make in behalf of those among\nwhom I live, this one request;\u2011\u2011that you will think often of their\ncondition, and make it a frequent subject of conversation with\nyour children. I desire that you may do this, that you may be led,\nand may lead your children to desire and earnestly to pray for\nthe conversion of the Chinese.\n\nThere is no danger of thinking, or saying, or feeling, or doing\ntoo much in a work of such amazing magnitude. The danger, and it\nis very great, is all on the other side. One solitary instance\nof doing too much, has never yet been known; but on the contrary\nall have come short. You can easily imagine what would be your\nfeelings, if you should see your fellow creatures, friends and\nstrangers, sinking and drowning in the waves, and if it was in\nyour power, you would, even at the hazard of your own lives, seek\nto save them. O then, what ought to be the emotions, and what the\neffort to save, when contemplating a whole nation sinking in the\nbottomless pit? Sinking! yet they are like us, prisoners of hope.\nAnd if they hear the joyful sound, and believe in Jesus, then shall\nthey be saved. Wishing you and your children, everlasting\nhappiness, I remain ever, your affectionate friend and servant,\n\n                   E.C.B.","title":"Letters to Children","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":22235}