The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-04-26 00:00:00

Should. But let us not be discouraged, humli!el
by the past. Let us remember the power of Christ: a 71.1 tha
promises made to thebeliever's prayer: "Whatsoever," ha says,
:Ye shall ask in my ;tame, that will I do." John xiv., 13.
" He giveth to all men liberally aam
nd upbraideth not." Jes
ij 5. "Ask and ye shall recevie, that your joy may be fa:l."
John xvi, 24.

The Treasurer next read a statement of the collections
Made in Liverpool and its neighbourhood on behalf of
the Church Missionary Society.
The Rev. FREDERICK F. GOUGH, M.A., missionary
Teem China, was the first speaker. He moved the first
resolution, which was to the effect that the report now
read be adopted and printed for circulation. In that
report one interesting item, which he had observed
with sincere pleasure, was the increase in the collec-
tions. When he said so, it was proper, he should also
state that he liked to see that increase, not from
mere love of the money, blat because of the fact, that
it indicated the existence in their hearts of a deepened
interest in the glorious work of extending the truths of
Christianity. (Hear, hear.) They could not forget,
however, that the wealth and population of the town were
an the increase. The question had occurred to his mind,—
Did the increase in the collections for the C !lurch Missionary
e.Seeiety, during the last year, correspond with the mate-
rial progress of Liverpool ? That was a question which
he, of course, could not answer,Thut he merely threw it
out as it occurred to his mind. But there were other in-
teresting items in the report which he could not now refer
to, although they might suggest many an interesting topic.
lie would occupy a portion of their time, having only re-
cently returned from China, with details concerning the
state of that far-distant land. He would confine himself
'ebiefle to such particulars as had come under his own eye,
and in which he himself had been permitted to take a part.
They were not to suppose, for a moment, that what
he had to say referred to the whole of China; his
subject included only a very small fragment of that
Country. He rejoiced, however, that, though very little
lahad
d been done, comparatively speaking, that heathen
n, which had been so long hermetically sealed against
the admission of the Gospel, was now opened, and a
Way provided for the introduction of © truth, which
would eventually cover the whole world. It was now
three and a-half years since he first left England for
China. The voyage thither, as the most of them was
Probably aware, occupied four or five months, in the
ordinary
e,eetruek
Way, by going round the Cape. He was espeel-
zedn
ilninedanism,
during that voyage with the beautiful islands
Zt,boe sea—those islands where there was no religion but
and no place of worship but mosques
r.
.eathen temples ; where there was not a single
Be.eahviiosuhra.n missionary—not one individual to testify to the
He prayed that those numerous islands of the
sea, so lovely and attractive to the eye of the pilgrim on
the sea, might not be forgotten or neglected by Christians
at home. (Hear, hear.) The field of missions to which he
was about to direct their attention was the city of Ningpo,
in which he had laboured. He merely made a passing
allusion to the immense districts of Shanghai, Canton,
and Hong Kong; in particular to the vast population in
which the only Christian missionary was the Rev. Dr.
Walsh. Why was he left alone ? Because the Chris-
tians at home did not come forward to the work. Hence
did it arise that the solitary missionary must be left with
all the discouragements and difficulties of his strange
Position—a weak-handed instrument for so great a work
....as that which the missionary to a heathen land undertook.
Ningpo was situated about 900 miles from Canton. It
lay upon the banks of a river at the distance of twelve
miles from the coast. It was situated in the midst of a
large plain, surrounded on every side by hills and lakes;
the scenery, in fact, bearing a close resemblance to that
?r Cumberland. The mountains were not lofty, but at
~Ene same time, he believed, were as high as those of
Cumberland. The city, of course, differed widely in its
"Chief features from an English town. The streets were ex-
'se vehicles in use accounted for their narrowness ;and
'mere were unfortunately no sanitary commissioners to
ensure cleanliness. ( Hear, hear.) With regard to the houses,
e.they were never more than two stories in height, in gene-
;f: !hey were only one. Eve the majority of the Man-
e:rots resided in habitations of a single story. With
if:Peet to the people themselves, they were no t barbs-
n the common acceptation of the term. They were
had Ised and polite to a very considerable extent. They
"t the comelicated machines that were to be found
o -
and Pieration in England ; but they had very many clever
wh. Ingenious contrivances of a mechanical kind, with
I!°4 many of the audience were to a certain extent ac-
aulted. As to their politeness, it more resembled what
might be seen in Paris than that which they were accus-
tomed to find in England. This he illustrated by speci-
ern,.en,s of the common Chinese conversation, especially the
',7ocK phrases in everyday use among the middle and
upper classes of Chinese society. (Applause.) With
Nerd to their spiritual state, which was the main point
they had to consider, he must make one general remark
before he entered into details. In China, and especially
In that part of it where he lived for the spice of more
than two years, he found that the upper and educated
classes were, to a very great extent, atheistic, whereas the
females were invariably the victims of the gloomy and
repulsive system of superstitution which prevailed. They
worshipped the gods out of fear and dread, not from. d
love.
Not unfrequently their devotions were dictated by a e-
-sire for some temporal good,—for offspring, or wealth, or
honours. If you ask what form of doctrine prevails in
the country, the reply was that there were three,—the
doctrine of Confuscius, of Bhuilda, and a third the disci-
ples of whiter might beralled the Rationalists of China. The
educated class of the people an affected to be the disciples of
Confuscius, and look up to him as the author of their doc-
trine, and of whom they make a boast ; though they did
not call him God, yet they worshipped him, and sacrificed
to him. They looked up to him as the great head and
leader, not of their religion, for it was unworthy of the
name, but of their doctrine. The books of Confuscius did
not contain anything but the most indistinct notion of a
-Supreme Being. They contained, however, many admir-
able ethical maxims, among which there was one that had
never probably been heard in any other heathen land.
From a passage in a book which, to a certain extent,
resembled Boswell's Life of Johnson, in that it was writ-
ten by a disciple of Confuscius, who recorded most slavishly
the sayings of that great man, it appeared that on one
Occasion he was asked if he could include the whole of
duty in one word ? He gave one word, which,
ee„'ne translated, meant, " What you would not have
others to do to you, do it not unto them!' It
vils a very remarkable circumstance that this saying
The° been put forward in a very prominent manner.
spea
ryker next proceeded to notice the position of
e liters or educated class of the Chinese, who were
the most proud and bigoted class of men, perhaps, who
ever existed upon the face of this earth. He referred
ra re especially to those who were acquainted with, and
*ho made their boast, of the writings of Confuscius. The
rue account of the creation of the world which was to be
intelligence
in Chinese literature, was one which excluded the
extreme of a Creator. It was to this effect. They say
that
there existed a certain principle called the great
from which emanated two other principles, the
enerative p u
principles of nature, and that these rodced
heaven and earth. This was the way in which they ig-
nored the existence of an intelligent Creator, and by their
;Plel, unhappy system reduced their disciples to the lowest
`ehelaths of idolatry. He next proceeded to detail the baron of of the disciples of Bliudda, producing a great num-
neer
, of the idols in daiiy use among the unfortu-
-2eo victims. The first he produced was one which
ei'leht be found in every shop in Ningpo : it was a
;Zan figure with a piece of silver in its hand, and
his p the
Pkeeper not only gave it accommodation in re-
Mises
but also burned incense to it regularly every
4-uorni
and ng and evening, for fear that he might lose his trade
India fall into poverty. Bhuddism had been imported from
into China. It is related that one of the Emperors
‘g China saw in his sleep the gigantic figure of a man.
e•
Consulted the learned men of the land, who told him
eee t saying in the book of Confuscius, that there were
kite men in the West. Ambassadors were at once dis-
patched on a mission of discovery ; and instead of going to
s29thle, and it was then the very time of our
arour's appearance upon earth, they arrived in India,
and from that land brought back the idolatry of
senudda. He showed the Bhuddist idol of the .Holy
el,other, as they call it, to which the poor women of
China were especially devoted, and related an anecdote
ta connexion with it which powerfully illustrates the crafti-
iss and subtlety of the Papal missionaries who have
been sent out to China. One of his neighbours, a poor
and ignorant woman, came to him and told him that she
'was about to be baptized in the Roman Catholic Church ;
and upon inquiry he ascertained that the only preparation
Which had been specified for her, was the committing to
Memory of a liturgy to the holy mother,—(hear, hear,)—
the very idol which she had been accustomed to worship
all her life. The god of small pox—Jupiter of the Pan-
ther—and other idols were then shown in succession—
the speaker presenting to the view of the audience
what required no explanation, namely, the beads in-
troduced by the Romanist missionaries. (Hear, hear, and
applause). The Bhuddist priests are distinguished by their
shaven heads, by the peculiar colour and cut of their
apparel, and also by the vow of celibacy which they take
atentering the priesthood. They live in monasteries,
yr,;tareeeive the offerings of the poor women who come
carinZlar• What he related might almost appear a
operationise the
of Romanism ; out he had witnessed it in
in
that part of China where he lived, in which
side be Was a large number of nunneries—for they
by no 'other name—in which females re-
and o' like the priests have taken a vow of celibacy,
in th who devote themselves to certain duties performed
e runner 7ievr of the erY. (Hear, hear.) He next passed to a re-
tie Rationalist body, who are not so numerous as
e_ anuddists, and who profess to work by magical arts,
iinauutit thus to drive away the evil spirits rears,
professed raan and who likewise, for many rears,
enotAsed to be in possession of the of im-
-1alltY• With regard to the treatment of their
seo missionaries, he mentioned that for a period of six
c° letha
re he and a dear friend of his had dwelt in a Chinese
teetilleurlitY numbering about 100,000 inhabitants ; and
leuoring the whole of their stay, they had only been
ce,l"el on one occasion, and then it was by a Roman
atTolic, He stated that the missionary was able to teach
Preach in the Chinese language after a year's acquaint-
3,ce with it, though, of course, it took ten or twenty
age to obtain a literary knowledge of the tongue ; that
lower classes of the people were always willing to be
to obtain
dressed or instructed; that it was found more difficult
eitelebtaie a hearing from those in the middle or upper
ear's of society ; that in Ningpo therewere several converts
pogreat prornise—one of whom, a devoted tailor, had been ap-
eral,,lltd a catechist. The speaker likewise stated, that it
his intention to return to China, to resume the work of
,;angelizing the benighted population of that vast country,
10n as his health became properly re-established.
see The Rev. J. C. RYLE, Rector of Helminghain, Suffolk,
• °Tided the resolution. He said that, unlike the last
raker, he had never been out of the country, and con-
Zirntly had not had any experience of the Heathens
to ban Arr. Gough had alluded to. All he could do was
gr,,'lng before them a few facts illustrative of the pro-
-81,7.1 of the Society. He was aware that he was now
ee,atclne, in a peculiarly business-like town, where the
the", of figures was more especially felt
them, therefore,
edleneures he was about to lay before would not he
tilt
their value in a town like Liverpool. Knowing
pilt he was coming down to Livervool as one of the de-
e_
,ation from the Parent Society, he thought he could not
better than go to the offices of the Church Missionary
f c'ectletl- in London, which he did the other day. He,
b°olhunatel found that a committee meeting was then
held, and that the report which was to be brought