The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1841-01-06
VOL. 1...No. SM.


cessi9l In his researches was Pere Gozan;. whe
III a letter dated l704, thus wrOte:-seAs ne.
sdros tnose who are here called zSaokiss-Aiae
(he sect that extracts the sineW, two gears
ago was gong to visit them, under the expec-
tauon mat they were Jews, and with the hone
Vi 44oIhg among them the Old Testament bat
as have no knowledge of the HekravT Ian.
guage, and met with great difficulties, 1 aban-
aoned tins scheme with the fear ofnot succeed
ing: nevertheless, as you told me that shoald
oenge you by obtaining information concerning
TINS people, have obeyed your directions, an3
executed them with all the care and exactness
OF which was capable. Immediately made
them protestations of friendship, to which they
readily replied, and had the civilitv to rosaa f.
see me. 1 returned their visit in tbe d. r.G;-sos
that IS in their synagogue, where thew vera iii
assembled,and where held with them long eoa-
versaions.
saw their inscriptions, some of which werA
Chinese, and the rest in their OWE language.
lhey showed me their religious bsoks, and per-
united me to enter even INTO the NEST secret
place OF their synagogue, whence they khez-
selves (the commonalty) are excluded. There
IS place reserved for the chief of tho syxa-
r9gue, who never enters there except with pre-
found respect. They told me that their aAces-
toiS came from kingdom of the west, called
the kingdom Of Judah, which Joshua conquered
after having departed from Egypt, and passed
the Red Sea and the Desert; that the number ef
Jews who migrated from Egypt was about 6Oe.-
600 men. They assured me that their alphabek
had twenty-seven letters, but they eornnonAy
made use of only tWenty-tw o; which accordS
| with the declaration of st. Jerome, that the He
] brew has twenty-five letters, of which i've ara
I double. When they read the Bible in their syna.
gogue they cover the face with transparent
veil, in memory of Moses, who descended from
the mountain with his face covered and wha
thus published the Decalogue and the Law of
xOd fO GOD
! Sabbath day. Thus the Jews of China, like the
Jews of Europe, read all the Law in the course
OF the year: he who reads places the Ts-kiRS
great sacred bock) on the chair of Moses; he
has his face covered with very thin cotton
we'd; at hi side is prompter, and at some PAGES
below Mor Ia, to correct the prompter sheula
he err. They spoke to me respecting Paradise
and Hell in a very foolish way There is every
appearance of what they said being drawn from
the I'almud I spoke to them of the Messiah
promised in Scripture, but they were very much
surprised at what / said; and VIXEN informed
them that his name was Jesus, they replied, that
mention was made in the Bible of holy uaR
named Jesus, who was the son of Sirach: but
they knew not the Jesus of whom spoke
The first Pope who appears to have sent q
mission for the conversion Of the TartaEs or
Chinese to the Roman Catholic faith was Inno-
cent ". He despatched Giovanni Carpini, q
monk, through Russia, in the year 1916, to Baa-
tn Khan, on the banks OF the VOlga, from whence
/ the, were conducted to the Mongol Tartar fr :,
| Just as the Khan was about to be Install -
| Carpini was astonlshed by the display OF I'M
mense treasures, and, having been kindly treat.
ed, was sent back with a friendly letter; he wal
rather pleased than scandalised by the near TO
semblance of the rites of the Chinese Buddhist
TO the forms of Catholic worship, and inferred
from thence that they either already were, q
would very soon be, Christians. In 1888, Ru
| bruquis was in like manner despatched by St
Louis, during his crusade to the Holy Land,
with directions to procure the friendship of the
Mongols. He reached at length the court Of the
Great Khan, where, like his predecessors, he OBJ
| served the near resemblance IF the Lama wox-
ship to the forms OF Roman Catholicism, and
| concluded that it must be derived frem spuri-
Gus Christianity; perhaps that of the HISTORIANS.
| John de Corvino, despatched to Asia in 1893
| by Pope Nicholas w., was the first successful
| promoter of the Roman Catholic faith In China =
| he arrived at Cambalu (as Picking was called By
| the Tartars) and met with kind reception frem
the Emperor Notwithstanding the hostility OF
| the Jealous HISTORIANS. He was allowed to build
church, furnished with a steeple and bells, aud
| is said to have baptized SEINE thousands OF con-
verts, as well as to have instructed numbers OF
children in the Latin language, and the tenets OF
| Christianity. The news of his progress reached
| Clement v on his accession to the popedom, ard
he was ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS bishop of Cambalu,
| with numerous body of priests, who were des-
patched to Join him IN his labsrs. On the death
| of Carvlno, however, it is probable that no sue.
cessor, possessed of the same enterprise and In
dustry, was ready to succeed him; Tor the estab-
/ lishment which he had founded appears to have
! ceased, or at least sunk into insignifcance
Abundant evidence is afforded by Chinese re-
cords, that much more liberal az well as enter
pIisiug disposition once existed IN respect to To-
reign intercourse, than prevails at present. It
was only ON the conquest of the empire by the
Manchows that the European trade was limit
ed to Canton; and the Jealous and watchful
Tartar dominion, established by this handful Of
barbarians, has unquestionably occasioned many
additional obstacles to an increased commerce
with the rest of the world. We have already
noticed the Chinese junlzs, which were seen by
the Ibu Batuta far west as the coast of Mala-
bar about the end eff the thirteenth Century
Even before the seventh century, It appears
from native records that missions were sent frors
China to the surrounding nations, with vice
to inviting mutual intercourse. HE benefits OF
industry and trade have always been extolled
bv the people of that country; the contempt,
tberefore. with which the present Tartar ge-
vernment affects to treat the European icon-
merce must be referred entirely to the fears
which it entertaias regarding the influence Of
increased knowledge on the stability of its do
minion. 2 i-a
According to the Chinese books, conneres,en
its first establishment at CantoH, remained free
from duties for many years, but its increasing
Importance soon led the officers of goverzaent
to convert IT mte source OF gals- As ~ oas~
and Cochin-China at present, the Pre-empeon
of all imported goods seems at one tune to Aave
been claimed; but this did not last long, and the
trade, after having continued to Increase at
Canton. was Subsequently carried to ether ports
Of the empire. The endeavor to prevent the e1-
portation of silver appears to have been an error
All. snb;eet. as might be expected, have always
hea,, ss futile as they are at the present day.
In our next reference to this subject, We shall
continue the early history of this most remarks.
HE neople from the period of the FIRST arrival OF
the Portuguese merchants in 1916. For large
IRE indebted to a new work upon the subject. re-
Gently published in London by Mr. Davis, late
Chief Commissioner Of the English Gsvsrnmsne
ir China. d
. Nr.-- n,,ro We learn that the