Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1873-11-28

| MISSIONARY LECTURE On WILMA
| the Presbyterian church Wednesday nlghJ
Rev. Mr.. Stuart, missionary to China, de-
livered very interesting lecture on that
country, which he thought was the coun-
try of Sinim, mentioned by the prophet
Isaiah, which is to come under the domln-
| ion of Christ. It is estimated that China
which is about the size of the United States,
| contains 400, 100000 Of inhabitants, and It's
walled cities,of which there are l 500 have
as high as 2,oOO,O 900 people in some Of them.
The country is so thickly settled, that it IS
hard anywhere to get out of sight OF the
people, so that when the missionaries OF
other foreigners, who of course are cQrlos--
tiles, try to take quiet walk IN the coun-
try crowd soon gathers around then1.-
The country is civilized beyond any other
heather nation, and they have their places
of amusement and shops and post-offices
and policemen and mechanics end, doctors
just as we debut no lawyers. Indeed 1t
is considered an offence for mdn.to act
as a lawyer, the opinion being that ne
would so draw up the papers as to put
wrong view of the matter, and prevent the
administration of justice. Instead OF law
yers there are two men attached to each
court who draw up statement OF the case,
which is given to the magistrate for his
decision. Rank is held in China by men
according to their literary attainments, the
best educated holding the highest, for
which all no matter of what class stand COM
petitive examination. Sometimes wealth
buys title, but the title gives the posses
sor no control in the government In their
address the people carry politeness to ex-
tremes, often having noisy contentious to
give each other precedence. Their hospl-
tality may be inferred from the salutation.
which is Have you had your rice to-day'
which they have instead Of our GLOW are
are you ?" the address implying that it
the visitor has not had his rice he shall
have it with the inquirer. Their filialpiety
is great and an unfilial child is a rarity
They are above all things a peaceable peo-
pie. During the lecturers residence there
he never saw a fight between men, though
sometimes he had seen men and their wives
fight. All superiority there is founded on
education, and they have in their schools
books printed over 1000 years ago, about
the time Isaiah wrote his prophecy. They
have for thousands of years understood
printing, and music, and painting, but un
like us they make no progress in any of
these things. They know the magnetic
needle but do not put it to any use. They
put their knowledge to no practical pur--
pose. They acknowledge that we have an
advantage of them in that, but say that
while they cultivate the mind and heart we
attend to material progress. But with all
this civilization they have the most degra-
ded superstition. They have a god for
everything, and the way they make god,
is to make mud image hollow with hole
into which they put snake or centipede
OF something Of that kind and then stop
the hole up and let it die there, holding
that it's spirit cannot get out, and that is
their God to which they pray for aid in all
cases. Many believe in evil and good in
fluences in the all, and their doctors or
sorcerers consult about these influences in
everything that is done from digging a
grave to building a house. The mission
aries built house on a hill near an official
quarter and some in that quarter being
sick the sorcerers said the missionary
house cut off the north wind where all the
good influences come from, The officials
went around and arrested all the Chinese
who had sold the lot to the missionaries
and one old man was whipped SO for it
that he died. The Chinese offered to buy
the house and the missionaries who had Sc
lected the location on account of its health;
thinking it might prove unhealthy for them
if they didn't sell it, agreed to the sale
The religion Of Bhudda is sort of counter
felt Of the christian religion, and the Chinese
believes, his prayer to be efcacious must be
sincere and come from the heart They be-
lleve there is always god in the air about
three feet above mans head watching the
good and bad actions Of man, and they be-
lieye in future rewards and punishment. W
They always attend to their dead and pro-
vide for their future. At seasons of the
year they burn paper clothing and counter
felt money which they believe is waited to
the dead for their use above, and it is for
that reason Chinaman in another country
stipulates to have his body sent back to Chi
ma; it is not love Of country but he wants
the paper clothes and money. They know
nothing Of the geography Of their own Or
other countries and their conceit in their own
knowledge grows out Of their superiority to
two or three little nations around them. In
concluding the lecturer said the missionaries
now had free access to the whole country
and could travel where they liked. He said
there were now 100 missionaries there, and
the conversions numbered 5000 which was
q success equal to that attending the efforts
| of ministers in this country.
THE COUNTERFEIT FRAUDs.-Th last
| dodge is a circular letter received by a