Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1846-09-18
FOREIGN MISSIONS.
LETTER OF DIR. HAPPIER.


The suboined letter from DR.. Andrew P. Hap
per, was received by Rev, w. 7. Adams of this
place the 7th of the present month, and by his
politeness we are enabled to lay it before our rea-
ders. A short letter in manuscript dated Macao,
China, April 25th, 1916, was received with the
letter published; being but little over four
months on the way.
NINGPo, January lst, 1876.
Among the visions of the beloved disciple in
the isle that is called Patmos, was one of an an
gel or messenger flying in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto
them that dwell upon the earth, and to every ma
ZION, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Rev.
IA: 6. 1t seems TO be admitted by all, that this
vision, which Immediately precedes that of the
fall of Babylon, and the establishment ofChrist' S
kingdom on the earth, relates to the missionary
operations of our own times. The flight of the
angel commenced, it may be, with the first
preaching of the gospel in the extreme West,
by such men as Eliot, Mayhem, Brainerd, and
the Moravians in America, and Hans Egede in
Greenland. From thence, stretching farther
and farther Eastward to Africa, India, Burmah
the South Sea Islands, and the Indian Archipela-
20, it has reached the doors of the Chinese En-
pire. One flight yet farther East, to the popu-
lous but unknown kingdom of Japan, and the
prophecy will have received its accomplishment
for there will then remain no great nation which
shall not have heard the gospel and the warning
"Fear God, and give glory to him for the hour
of his Judgment is come" When that farther
flight shall be taken, t is not for to say, though
if a conjecture may be hazarded, it cannot be
far distant.
Pausing here, where the flight of the angel Of
mercy is for the present arrested, let us consider
the missionary aspect of China, the laborers en-
gagged, and summary of the operations of the
Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian
Church in the U. S. A. in behalf of the Chi.
nese.
The fame of China is in all lands, but actual
knowledge respecting the country and people is
rare. She has long been a sealed book, even to
the learned, being shut out from the rest Of the
world by moral and physical obstacles, and Q
language, the study of which is a WEAKNESS tc
the flesh. Ancient she is, but her records, dc
not reach so far back as the deluge, and are wor,
thy of little confidence prior to the time of the
Hebrew prophet Isaiah: while down even to the
times of Alexander the great or the Maccabees
they are so meager as TO afford little satisfaction
to the reader. The extent of her dominion is SC
vast, that no nations except Russia and England
can be compared with her. Besides China prop
er, it includes Chinese Tartary which is nearly a,
large as Asiatic Russia and she exercises nom
inal authority over Corea, Cochin China, anC
Thibet. Her population is commonly estima
ted at three hundred and sixty millions. Ever
at the estimate of two hundred millions, which
is thought by some to be nearer the truth, it il
twice as vast as that Of the entire continent o
Africa, nearly as large as that of all the nations
of Europe, six times as great as that of Nortl
and South America, and Taou Kwang commando
more subjects than any other mortal.
The religious sects of China are chiefly three
that of CONTIGUOUS, that of Laou-tsz', or til,
sect of Taou, and the Buddhists. The first
which is the state religion, is species of refneC
infdelity, and is confined chiefly to the officer
of government and the literati. 1t is said in tn
-Four Books, Qhe bible of China,) that whel
one of the disciples of Confucius asked respec
ting the state of man beyond the grave, he re
piled "Since we are unable TO know life, hoy
can we know death!" and in another place it
said "The sage (Confucius) did not speak &
marvels, exertions of bodily strength, achieve
ments of rebels, nor of spiritS," on whic
Choo-foo.tsz' remarks, ''though it is not wron
10 ospeak of spirits, yet it is not the highest pal
of reason, nor is it a subject easy to be undel
stood, therefore we must not lightly talk abou
them" The Taou sect are but few in number
Their priests wear their hair on the back of tn
head, done up in kind of knot. The worship
pers of Buddh compose the vast mass Of the pee
pie, though this sect is more recent in its origi
than either Of the others, having been propage
ted in China about the time of the destruction {
jerusalem The number of their temples
great, and their priests, who shave the whol
head are numerous, but their worship is roun
of ceremonies and vain repetitions.
Although these three sects are nominay d
tinct, there is little real difference between then
or rather the religion of China is a mixture {
the whole. The officers of government and tn
literati pay their devotions alike in the temple
of all, imperial gifts are bestowed upon all, an
it is not uncommon to see the God of Literatur
and the Kwan Yin of the Buddhsts, enshrine
in the Taou temples. The real religion of Ch
ma, (for there are few who will not laugh at a
exposure of the folly Of idclary) is the worsh