The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1881-07-02
RELIGION.
Mr.. Joseph Morelaad :

RELIGION.
There is more to make life solemn
here than there is at home. 1t is not
the WEAKNESS of solitude, but the
press of a great busy, thronging
life that is Goddess, all about you,
that strikes the solemn conviction to
ones heart, "Time is passing, death
is Fastening, eternity is pressing, what
is done must he done quickly" The
lovely Nazarene is yet rejected. The
stamp of death eternal is upon every
form. The lustre of the cross shines
dimly in the West The pale cres-
cent is yet in the sky, while the star
of Confucius and the lesser lumina-
ries of Buddha and Las TZu are still
in the mid heaven. Night--as it
were the night of death-overspreads
the land, and we weak mortals rush
here and there in the darkness. with
a torch in our hands, and point to
that cross in the West, and Him who
glorilied it by his death. But men
turn back from us. They say the
light is sufficient. Confucius reigns
as of old and it is only in our dreams
that, like Constantine the Great, we
see the cross in mid-sky, and written
upon it, "In hoe signo vinces"; but
in our heart of hearts we know it
will triumph. 1t may be long time
yet. The ages may roll and ROLAND
vet the cross not conquer, but i'll
Gods own time, be it ever so long,
Jesus will he crowned King of the
Nations.
TRIP TO TsI MING cHoN.
/ promised you in my last letter
an account of our trip to Isl Ming
Chon, and although many of the mi
nor points have faded from memory,
vet will strive to give you faith
full description in the main. Leaving
Isl Nan we turned southwestward,
following the tread of the hills, al.
though Isl Ming is little east OF
south by the compass. About one
mile from the city we passed a num-
Der of
LIMErITs 81 w@
built much after the fashion Of the
pits in use in Western Pennsylvania,
having sort of trap door way lead
ing down to the centre of the pit,
where it is fired. A very good quail
ity of white lime is produced, and
the Chinese know how to use it to
advantage, 1t is brought into the
city on .
and in barrows. 1t is a picturesque
sight to meet drove of pack mules
laden in this fashion. 1t takes me
back in Imagination to the old days
in Pennsylvania that our fOrefathers
told of. when the 'Union pike" was
epar excellence" the road of the new
world, and covered wagons and pack
mules brought salt and iron to the
sturdy yeoman, who worshipped God
with their rifle pan full of the best
of dry powder.
Passing this we reached village
with a large stone wall about it, broken
in places, however. Most villages
have only mud rampant or "weizu''
about them. This had evidently
been a place of more importance a
century or so ago. In this land, where
all is old, a century is yesterday in
history. Outside the wall was
PUBLIC WELL,
where the animals were watered
This work the carter does not think
worth while to do. 1t is the bust
ness of some old toothlcss crone, OF
disabled person, to draw water for
the beasts, for which they receive q
small compensation.
Passing this we came to a
VILLAGE OF STONE CUTTERS,
where they cut all sort of stone work
common to this part of the Empire,
monuments, statues of dogs, lions
and what not, together with the more
practical articles of their trade, such
as stone troughs, stone wheels for
fur-roughing the land, stone rollers
for threshing, &c, DC. The whole
village follow the same trade, and
transmit the craft to their posterity'
This is the rule, rather than the ex-
ception, in China. One village
works silk, another straw, another
cotton, &c.
We passed one village where