The Georgetown news., 1855-09-13

the citizens, from the fact that it is prin-
clplc with them to turn no beggar from
their doors without bestowing aims upon
him. For this purpose the inhabitants pro-
cure great quantities of small, deprecated
coin, worth about one seventeenth part of q
cent, and give one of these pieces to every
pauper who seeks charity, but the latter
having received gift at one house is not
permitted to return to the same on that
day. The more industrious of the beggars
will thus accumulate some three or four
hundred OF these pieces Of coin in q single
day.
Provision is made by the authorities for
the disposition and final interment of the
dead pauper, but not for the poor invalid
The latter crawls or is borne to the great
temple OF the city, where are congregated
at times immense numbers Of them in every
| conceivable stage of Wretchcdness and mis-
cry.
The robbers and thieves of Canton are
exceedingly numerous, daring and cunning.
For SIX months the speaker expected to be
attacked nightly by them, and even the
watchmen hired to protect property often
cOnnive with the robbers, assist them in
procuring their plumber, and sometimes de-
camp with them. One in particular, who
was employed to guard the furniture of the
Chapel, conspired with a gang of burglars
to rob the Chapel of its chandeliers They
succeeded in removing their effects from the
building, and in the pursuit the voice of the
rascaly watchman was heard crying, "Stop
thief !"
On the water, also, petty pirates commit
serious depredations upon disabled fishing
boats and other water crafts. The fisheries
constitute an important branch of the bust
ness Of the boating population, and it is
stated that they are not only very numerous
but that the varieties are as great as are the
number Of days in the year
In reference to the excessive ANTIQUITY of
which the Chinese boast, the lecturer stated
as a singular fact that the old records of
this ancient people prove their very earliest
dates to fall within the limits of the Mosaic
chronology. We are indebted for this i'm
portant evidence to the discovery of modern
astronomy. The Chinese from their earli-
est history have been careful to note in their
calendar all remarkable eclipses or coniunc-
tlons OF the planets, and at the same time
just as carefully record the name of the En-
peror in whose reign the given eclipse occur
red. To these events they have also affixed
their own dates. There is a remarkable
conjunction of the sun, moon and several
planets recorded as having taken place al
most at the commencement of their remote
antiquity.
The renowned astronomer, Cassai, in Or
der to ascertain the facts of this record
carefully calculated back, and actually
proved that such an extraordinary coniunc-
tiOn did really take place in China, Feb. 26
eighteen hundred and twelve years before
the Christian era. This date, therefore,
falls four hundred years after the food, and
short time subsequent to the birth of
Abraham. Here are two important facts
clearly ascertained- LIST, that the Chinese
are indeed a very ancient people; I'd, that
their pretensions to an antiquity beyond
that of Moses is unfoundcd because this
very event which they themselves represent
as happening near the beginning of their i'm
mense calculations, falls far within the his
tory Il chronology of the Sacred Scriptures.
In Canton, the heather worship gods in
Vulnerable. They bow down to gods of the
sun, moon, stars, earth, &c.
During the prevalence of a severe
drought, Mandarin Chief, in order to pro-
pitiate the god, walked, very much against
his will, bare-headed and bare-footed to the
temple, there to offer up supplcation for
rain. This penance he repeated for two Or
three days, when he came to the conclusion
that he had not only walked long enough,
but that the god whom he had endeavored
to propitiate was God of Shade; where
upon he ordered rope bound about the idol,
and had it dragged into the sun. 1t is re-
lated that rain did indeed speedily follow
the act.
In Canton, the populace may worship
any god they please, but cannot worship
Heaven, under penalty Of death. The En-
peror is regarded as the vicegerent of
Heaven, and the people may bow before
him, but not to Heaven.
In the opposite and eloquent application
of his subject, the reverend speaker alluded
to the fact that in the vast dominions of
China there existed three hundred and fifty
millions of human beings who were forbid
den to worship the God Of Heaven.