The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-03-11
THE LECTURE SEASON.


a lectsre was delivered on Monday, the ON inst''
" Professor Loomis late missionary on Cnins' Inc
leeenrer said there lay question whesncr nasaonsa
ssar.c&.r ~ the result Of Divine plan or Of cir
a,-s.nces. Had each nation IN individuality pe-
..a.r "a its,lff Could for instance, the Arab be
ar.osormed into the Turk Tho language and 60
vs~,mcnt of each nation werc modified by other ma
ieos Of higher civilization, was the case in the
esropcan nations China had a civilization pecu-
hady ito own, and . government, language, aud
literature, its own. 1t maintained its original ind-
vidualities. There was every variety Of country,
Astounding in rivers aud lakes, and rich in IMMORAL
wealth end she q rich and industrious nation.
She adopted exclusive policy to all foreign ma
lions. The question might arise, whether any indi-
sdual nation had right to abstract itself from all
pthee nations Our government contemplated to
open commerce with Japan by force; and therefore
they may consider another Observation-Disclosures a ma
tion had right to do this. The origin of China
was not definitely known. 1t existed two thousand
Eve hundred years before Christ. The Emperor Chin
then attempted perpetual dynasty; and that it
might be believed that it commenced with him. he
collected together all Chinese books and burnt them
and put TO death two hundred and sixty Learned
men. 1t was to the works Of Confucius, which were
prescrved, that We are in great measure indebted
for our knowledge Of the early history of China.
1t embraced $500 900 square miles. China had two
millions more square miles than extensive coun-
try. and population of three four hundred mil
ionsneariy half the population of the globe; and this
fact had been confirmed by their statistics But they
did not recognise femaes-hence we doubled their
estimates, surprising females to equal the males in
sSmDc5 In Chinese history might be found
embraced forty-fve thousand years. 1t was be-
lcvcd that two broodng powers Matched over Chaos,
the founder OF the empire, and that he labored for
eighteen thousand years in forming it, and that
when he died, his head became mountains-hs
breath clouds and waters-his veins rivers-his
beard stars-his sweat rain-and the insects that
stuck to his body became people. Uaughter.)
The Chinesc writings have lead to tho conclusion
that Yu founded a colony the borders of the
Yellow River, and that he commenced his reign
coeyal with the Babylonian monarchy. This was
not altogether reliable, because Confucius COM
menced his history in 7i0 B. c., and the writings
being found not altogether in perfect state, the
Chinese attempted an entire correction, and there
fore. they cannot be relied on The government was
an absolute monarchy; but there were certain
peculiar restrictions-ancient usage had become a
law, and was more absolute than the monarchy
ITSELF and was inviolable by the Emperor The
present was a Tartar dynasty. In l644, China was
taken possession of by the Tartars, and one re-
markabe fact was that the conquered people
we're deereed to wear badge of servitude.
required all the Chinese to shave their heads except
small part of the back, which was made up into
cue. his was indicative OF submission the Tar
tar yoke. He passed an edict that all criminals
should let their hair grow long, so to make the
wearing of hair disrepuable and at the present day
the custom exists The Emperor was said to be
reditary: yet the Emperor could appoint his success
sor All the provinces were ruled by a governor,
who exercised the same power the emperor, and
power was so distributed among the Chinese and
Tartar governors as to act check on each other
The government was well adapted to the genius Of
the people, but the penal code was most severe
He had seen in Canton, on the execution grounds,
piles OF heads; and in some cases the executionor
commenced with the eXtremities. Some were burnt
and fsyed alive. This severity indicated barba-
rsn yet there was a high degree of civilization in
baniy and politeness They had schools and
colleges, and conferred degrees. The highest
Offices were in the gift of the Emperor, and were at
tainabe by any Of his subjects There was no aris-
tocracy in China, but aristocracy of learning,
and also of beggars. Their language was not an
alphabetical but symbolical one. There were PA
distinct clements, aud from these an extensive com
binaton was formed. The spoken language varied in
the different provinces; there eighteen different
sounds given to the same character Their litcra-
ture comprised history, philosophy. poetry, romance,
was valuable in their Ihosophy but Of science they
had little knowledge, either Of that Of medicine or
of any other. The Chinese discovered the magnetic
needle than 600 3. c., while the western ma
tions had not discovered it until the fourteenth
century The art Of printing known to the
Chinese in the tenth century. and gunpowdcr was
wall employed one-third of all the male population,
and they say it cost generation, and saved many
generations-it was 500 miles long. II now served
simply as boundary, though it had been con-
strrcted for the defence of the nation from the
Tartars. The roads in China were bad Tea was
known in China as early as the year A. d. $50.
There were two tea dstricts-the green tea and the
black tea district Small feet existed $50 b. c.. the
origin OF the fashion was not definitely known Al
though the Chinese were idolatrous, no human
sacrifices, as far as was known, were introduced.
Rites ard ceremonies, which the Emperor and officers
Of the governement obliged to pass through
constituted the national religion. The principal re-
Egion was the Buddhist religion. which founded in
India, ard had been introduced into China in the year
A. G5. The Budhiss believed that everything came
from nothing, and was tending to nothing: and they
believed in the tIarsmigration of souls. He had re-
marked the strong resemblance between the ceremo-
mics OF the Buddhist religion and the Catholic rcli-
gion This had been remarked by all travellers
They bad nonasteries and converts, affairs. holy
water, and holy virgin; and their service was in
Sanscrit, as the Catholic service was in Latin.
There was also large number Of ''Confucusts"
who woIshippcd Contucus and had several temples
The Chinese had not made any advance in civiiza-
ton Tor some years, and never would until the in
PRODUCTION Of Chrisianity. There was no strong re-
igious element in the Chinese character. When he
had been in their temples, the priests had stopped
look at him. Their Jealousy of foreigners resulted
in great degree from the crueltes they bad expe-
Tienced from them. Opium doing its fearful
work, which was introduced by Christian nation.
it was great obstacle to the introduction Of Chris
tianity, because that great evil came from Chris
tian country. There were 80 male and 80 female
missionaries laboring 10 introduce Christianity, and
their efforts were not altogether in vain
The lecturer concluded his discourse by remarking
upon the Importance 81 the missionary cause
On ItaIy-By the Rev. DIR. Baird.