The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-09-25 00:00:00

THE CHINESE LANGUAGE.

• The inducements to study the Chinese language at the
pr ~e,tit trine are nttmerotia, and such as Cannot escape
the notice; nor fail to interest the attention
414 men. • It is in vain' for tis no* to fold our arms. and:
kick back •-t-O the time when the -vvlioie world was of 'one.
vetch, and sigli oVerthe fully of those who caused the
Almighty to come. down itidii[iteasure and ;confound
their :language and' scatterthein'abroad upon the face of
thieirth. All the tribes of our-race in their long separ-
ntion from one another have often been in perplexities
and distresses, and as if the natural ills which. flesh is
heir to were not enough, they have, fiendlike, or ra-
ther man-like, Set Upon each other, and the great and
pciwerfur ones of the earth bitVe often, employed- their
energies in, human butchery, and gloried in their suc-
cess. But God has made of one blood all the. nations of
inert. And surely as the knowledge of Him istefill the
whole earth, and peace become universal, so surely will
China be brought into the family of nations; to associate,
to syrnpatliie, and. to act with them. So great a ciiange,
however, cannot be created- without efforts, and these
nIUSt be pot forth by the men: of Christendom. The ad-
vatitap,•,,es which. will result from such a change will be
numerous; and hence, the strong inducements to learn
the language of this peap:e. Whither we regard the
subject in a commercial, political, literary; or religious
point of view, there is, we think, no foreign language
tvhich holds out to the.people of the west so many con-
siderations.for•studying it as the Chinese.
_ _ .

Every one who is at all aCqUainted with China knows
that the commercial relations between this country and
the rest of the world stand,on a very bad footing. We
do not deny that the trade under all its embarrassments
is highly lucrative ; but it might be made vastly more
productive. Let the whole of Europe be placed under
the sway of one man, and all the foreign commerce be
restricted to. Cadiz ; then the people of the west would
be able to judge of _the policy' of the Chinese e pire.:
and:the trade is not cnlv restricted to an extreme port of
the-Country, but is chiefly in the hands of a few indivi-
duals and subject to regulations that cannot endure the
light. Wp will not 'undertake to enumerate. the many
petty anpc.yanees and illegal impositions to which it is
exposed. Now, in order to remove these evils, and to
place a most important branch of commerce on a good
foundation, at once permanent and' secure, access must
,be had to the sources of authority, Except Russia, none
Of the nitions of the earth have any fixed relations with
China: But why, on' that account, do they stand at, such
an awful distance. from he! ? Why may not the ships of
Europe and America visit the Chinese waters, sail along
the coast, and enter the ports and rivers of this wide em-
pire ? Are not such waters the highways,of nations ?
Have the nations sold, or forfeited their birthright ?' On
what principle, then, 'or for what reason, are their ships
when they approach these shOres, except at a given
point, to be instantly driven away ? The means hitherto
employed to negotiate with the monarch of this land
have utterly failed, and recourse must be had to others
and what shall they be Not eit ords, nor bayonets,
ner yet navies, unless they are prepared with means by
which they can make known fully their wishes and their
purposes. Witness, for example, the means— consist-
ing of men and books—with which Lord Amherst was
furnished in hit visits to Amoy, •Fuchow, Ningpo, and
Shanghee. Let the presi be Made to speak, until the
Chinese shall understand. the character; the wishes, the
rights, the purposes, and the Strength of foreigners, then
they may condescend, nay, be glad to negociate.
What is requisite, therefore, in order to, establish pro-
per commercial and political relations with the Chinese,
is made to depend in no small degree on a knowledge
of their language, Hence:arise the strong inducements
to learn the language, and study the literature and the
laws of this nation. &It there are other still weightier
considerations which urge us to seek fOran acquaintance
with the Chinese languag,e,, that thereby we may gain. a:
knowledge of their manners and customs, and their mo-
rals and religious systems. Let a decree go forth, and
let it be executed through the whole of Europe or Ame-
rica, or both, that every. temple of the Most High shall
be thrown down, that every, copy of the Holy Scriptures
shall be destroyed, and all the ordinances of our holy
religion annulled and forgotten ; let superstitions come
and every species and accompaniment of idolatry ; an,d
let the whole_ multitude of the people and the rnleis boW
clOwn and worship wood and stone : then the lands of.
Cbriztendom would become like pagan *China ; and Eng-
land, Scotland, Prance, Germany, and America would
be enveloped in thicker darkness than,they, were fifteen
hundred years ago. Aid. how.have those lands, now
so highly favoured, of heaven, been brought to their
present enlightened and elevated state? By what in-
strumentality are they at the present time urged on with
such amazing velocity in the march of improvement ?
By a variety of causes, no doubt; but letters have
formed the grand media by which science and divine
truth have been made to shine, on these nations. Viewed
in this light, a knowledge of the Chinese langnar rises
into an importance and gathers around it an interest
which no pen can ever describe.—Chinese Repository.