I ■ n • I Yirt ff ft ■iF.(P$ \ i^i I 44 v 4? (/J? IJly tff ■* k r^V-J^JlLl |genesee evangelist. Whole fc T2L PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY. MARCH 8. 1860.. Sttitv. For the American Presbyterian. TO IYIIOTHER. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.” Ah, yes! I know the way . Is oft limes very weary—not a ray Of God’s own blessed sunlight seems to shine Upon this path 1 this tear-stained path of thine. Then all the world is drear! Doubt and temptation!—dark distressing fear— Rude, rugged roughness; for thy bleeding feet;. Sad sorrow’s stormy tempests ’round thee beat. In tby great grief alone, List’nlng the wild wind's wailing, mournful moan! That tearful sound of sighing for the past, Its precious dreams, oh God I too bright to last. I know, for I have dwelt Where came that dreary darkness that is feltl 1 know It all—the suffering, piercing pain! - That cry of anguish o’er love’s broken chain. I know the withering blight— The eager soul-sick longing for the light 1 That aching void! the crown of thorns, all, all! Alone! Oh Christ, the worm-wood and the gall! Oh! broken-hearted ond! Listen, ’Us but the echo of His tone— “ Eloi! Biol 1 lama sabacthani! ” Forsaken! oh, my Father! Why, oh why 1 Thou holy Son of God, Tears for the painful pathway Thou hast trod I Nearer to Thee! oh sinless, suffering one I Hera we can say—“ Father! thy will be done.” Not now a weary way— Ilis voice, His hand, His counsel day by day! With Thee, oh Christ, our willing steps we bend— Bl ight heaven of joy, our home is at the end! India. For the American Presbyterian. NO MORE. Sweet friend, the paths which we have loved, By forest, glade, and shore. Where oft at sunset we have roved, Shall greet our steps no more. The raceway by whose grassy brim The tall gray willows bent— While from beyond the Bequest’s hymn Made music as we went. The leaves that danced all tremblingly, In summer’s merry mood; Foie flowers that lifted starry eyes, Beneath the grave old wood. The level whence some cheerful tone Shouted across the wave; And rocks, from lofty vine-wreathed throne, Their mystic answers gave.' The foamy sheet that leaped the ledge, Falling where wild flowers grew; Decking each snowy petal’s edge With drops of silver dew. Moss-pinks beside the river-swells, While high as eye could torn, Were crags o’erhung with crimson hells, And fringed with plumy fern. The mount whose green and graceful dome Such hidden meaning wore; Bearing aloft, through sun and gloom, Its changeless word “ No more.” No more, where night-swung branches nod, Shall heart commune with heart— Life’s checkered paths must still be trod, But thou and I apart. For the American Presbyterian. LETTER FROM CHINA. OONPUOIUS. In the petty kingdom of Lu in the fmodern provinoe of Shantung, China, there appeared about 2408 years ago, a personage whom the Chi nese delight to honor more than 'any other man. Confucius was born, according -to the commonly received chronology, 649 or 550 years before Christ, or about the time that Gyrus the Great became King of Persia. He was contemporary with Ezra and Pythagoras. During his life the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity to the land of Palestine, Greece was invaded by the "hosts of Xerxes, and Egypt was conquered by the forces of Persia; all memorable events in his tory, and marking the era of the Chinese sage. 'Hie father of Confucius was a district magis trate. DyiDg when his son was three years old, he committed the superintendence of his educa ion to his mother. She seemed to have taken uit oare to fnstill into his youthful mind a love study and a profound regard for morality. ”ing his childhood and youth, Confucius was ’.rtable for his peculiarly grave behavior, and his ardent attachment to the precepts and .orns of more ancient times. He was not ac mied to engage in the sports and plays com among boys of Ms age, but preferred to spend time in the study of moraland political science, was greatly respected by bis fellow townsmen account of the extent of his learning and the •aordinary features of his character. At the , age of seventeen he received an appointment a subordinate office in the revenue department his native state. He began first to attract the attention of the lie os a Reformer. He had become enamored h the maxims contained in the ancient writings traditions of his country, and/ ashamed of the seracy of his own times, he earnestly endea -d to revive the usages of .former ages-both by jcept and by example. On the occasion of his iher’s death when he was twenty-four years he showed the sincerity of his professed ai lment to the customs of a more rmnote an uity by conforming to them in all that related mourning for the death of parents. He imme tely resigned all his employments under govern it for the purpose of mourning for his mother ie years, according to ancient customs. This )m had gradually been discontinued. Bat ing to the influence of the example and precepts the sage, it has since his time become the iblished and universal practice among office iders in the Jarneo Land. . This period of irning he spent in close application to study. Soon after its completion, he visited, by invita one of the princes of a neighboring kinig / hut unwilling to remain long with. Min,:he rned to Lu, his . native State, where he'set self up as a teacher, at the age of thirty, stly afterwards he received a seoond invitation isit the Court of another prince; but on ar ig there he found that curiosity, and not a lor liis maxims, had procured the invitation, therefore hade adieu to the prince, and tra sd for several years in other provinces or king aecompanied by some of his meat attached pies. - t the age of forty-five ho returned to his own l ry, and there, under the patronage of his own BY EtJLALIE, prince, became first a judge, and then chief officer of his native kingdom. He administered the duties of his station with much zeal, strictness, and im partiality, prompted, it would seem, by a sincere desire to do gdpd to his countrymen. His sense of order and justice was, indeed, the occasion of his ruin and degradation from office. For it is related that he urgently advised his prince to take -up arms against a certain usurper. Hearing of this, the' usurper sent to the prince of Lu a con ciliatory present, consisting of thirty most beauti ful horses, magnificently caparisoned; a collection of valuable curiosities, and; twenty; most accom plished courtesans. This present had its desired effect on the mind of the youthful prince, and the stem Confucius was dismissed from his councils. He retired with his disciples to a neighboring State. From this time, he wqs not uniformly popular and welcome, nor was be at all times free from personal danger at the hands of his enemies. Sometimes he was the .objeet.of applause; at other times, the subject of persecution on account of his principles. His conduct and his sayings during this period of his life often remind one of the G-reek philosopher who obtained the sobriquet of “dog,” from the caustic and churlish nature of his remarks, and who used to say, in relation to. this circumstance, “ Other dogs bite their enemies, but Imy friends, that I‘ may save them.” Con fucius, indeed, sometimes compared himself to a dog driven from his kennel. “I have,” said he, “ the fidelity of that animal, and I am treated like it. But what matters the ingratitude of men? They cannot hinder me from doing all the good that has been appointed me. If my precepts are disregarded, I have the consolation of knowing in my own breast that I have faithfully performed my duty.” But it is impossible to notice, in this brief sketch, even the principal events in the life of this singular and remarkable man. Let it suffice to add a few more particulars. He returned from his travels and sojouruings abroad to his native province at the age of sixty-eight. He spent the balance of his life in completing the literary works which he wished to hand down to posterity, and in teaching a large and devoted company of pub lic and -private scholars. It is said that his prose lytes or disciples amounted to three thousand men, of whom seventy-two were particularly dis tinguished for their affectionate devotion to him, and for their practical conformity to his teachings. When his books were finished, hd called bis fol lowers about him; and dedicated them to Heaven, as the last important act of his life, imploring that they might be of great benefit to his countrymen. A few days before his death, It Is related that he walked slowly about the house, leaning upon the top of bis staff, and crying out, as if aware of his approaching end, and of the greatness of his cha racter, and the value of Ms instructions:— “ The mountain is crumbling, • ;■ -ThestrongbeamiSyielding,. ■ ThS sage is withering like a plant.” Confucius died at the age of seventy-three. It is said that the authentic history of the • “Flowery Land” extends little, if any farther' back into antiquity than the rimes of Confucius. He collected and recorded all the traditionary, stories* which he deemed credible, relating to pe riods antecedent to his age. An effort was made by the notorious prince who built the great wall on the northern boundary of China, to destroy all the writings of this sage. In a vain attempt to evade the order and save the books they possessed, History mentions that more; than four hundred literati were buried alive, and the books they de signed to preserve were consigned to the flames. But most, if not all of the compositions of Confucius escaped destruction through the zeal of the learned. These and their commentaries have most largely •contributed to make the Chinese mind, and the’ Chinese literature, and the Chinese government what they are at the present day. Probably no uninspired man has ever exerted* on so large a mass of mankind, a greater and more marked influence than Confucius. The laws and fhe usages of the middle kingdom for near a score of centuries, have been professedly modelled ac cording to the maxims he inculcated and enforced in his books. The great fundamental principle illustrated and enjoined throughout his practical writings is.simply subordination to superiors. It is the obedience to this principle rendered by the Chinese in the various relations of society which has kept the Chinese Empire together, and has moulded the character of its immense population from the days of Confucius to the present time. A child should obey, his parents, a wife her hus band, a subject his prinee. This principle of subordination to superior authority he elucidated and applied to all the most important departments and relations of society. He has, indeed, left to posterity no such productions as the Iliad, or the iEneid, or the orations of Demosthenes or Cicero. If he had, men of modern times, and living in occidental lands, Would doubtless accord him greater honor as a genius, and his writings would be more acceptable, and oftener read by foreigners. But had he written such works he would have had little or no influence over his countrymen;' and in nothing is his knowledge of human nature more evident than in his selection of means to attain the object he sought. The subjects of his discourses to his followers, as well as the themes which he discussed iu his books, are these which have a most important and practical bearing in a political as Well as social point of view, and which the experience of two centuries showed to be sin gularly adapted to meetUhe approval of the Chi nese mind, and to satisfy Chinese wants. Confjicius is universally, regarded among the Chinese people, as a being worthy of divine honors, and accordingly divine honors are -actually paid him by the tfficers of government all over the Empire in the spring and autumn of each year. He is styled “ The Most Holy Ancient Teacher,” and “The Holy -Duke.” pis name is mentioned only with the prbfoundest-veneration by all classes among the * hundreds; of millions of the Middle Kingdom. His memory is cherished as thcori gihal author of polite and olassical literature, and as M the perfect man.” Hisffiaxims and instrue-; tions are esteemed as beyond comparison; more important, reliable, and complete, than the maxims and instructions of men in foreign lands. A mis sionary relates that in the year 1835 he and his "companions met, on their entrance-into a village in the native province of Confucius, two elderly men who declined to receive their'tracts, saying: “ We have seen your books, and wither desire nor approve them. In the instructions of our Sage we have sufficient, and they are far superior to any foreign doctrines you can briny.” Perhaps an adequate idea of the regard and veneration with which the Chinese remember Confucius may be gathered from the following poem, found in the sacrificial ritual:— " Confucius! Confucius! How great is Confucius! Before; Confucius there never was a Confucius! Since Confucius there never has been a Confucius! Confucius! Confucius! How groat is Confucius! ’ ’ Pope, in his “Temple of Fame,” makes men tion of the Chinese sage in the following honora ble and eulogistic terms:— “ Superior and alone Confucius stood, Who taught that noble seience, to be good.” With respect to thereliginus opinions of the Most Holy Ancient Teacher, little favorable or praise worthy can be. said. On the subject of spiritual worship of invisible beings he does not profess to be able to give any instruction. He candidly confesses his • ignorance about the gods. He i openly admitted that he did not know much about them, nor did he recommend their worship. They were above his comprehension. He preferred to confine his instructions to .subjects connected with this life and this world. The obligations of man, according to him, consisted solely in obey ing bis sovereign, and in doing good to his coun try, friends, and family. He enforced his pre cepts by no pretended divine sanctions. They were merely the teachings of reason, experience, and expediency, and depended for their authority on no superior being. “Not knowing even life,” said he, “bow can we know death?” Some times, however; Be seemed to think and talk as though he had been sent by Heaven to revive the maxims and enstoms of more ancient ages. For instance, on one occasion, when in special peril of his life, be remarked: “If Heaven means not to obliterate this doctrine from the earth, the men of Kwang eart do nothing to. me.” One feature of the writings of Confueius de serves particular and honorable mention. He never applauded nor deified vice. Unlike Greek and Homan classical writings, his pages are not marred with obscene descriptions and licentious allusions. While they contain much that is good and unobjectionable; still, it must be admitted, there is much in them to be reprobated. Such; for example, is his precept to a son: “not to live under the same heaven” with the slayer of his father, meaning, “exercise.the /‘law of revenge/ and pursue him unto death.” He made altogether too much of the virtue of filial obedience. The sage seems to have been nothing better than a moralist. Some think they have abundant reason from his writings to pronounce him au Atheist or a Fatalist. Whatever may have been his real religious character, he most undoubtedly had a very high standard of moral conduct. On a certain occasion he was questioned whether there was any me word which taught the be havior proper to observe at all times and at all places? —‘WilHftJt' the “word “ shir”- aoswertbe purpose?” was his. reply. He explained it in this manner:—“ Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you.” It is remark able that he expressed in the form of a negative proposition, what is a great approximation to the sentiment which our Saviour expressed in the form of an affirmative one, when he uttered the Golden Rule; —“ Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them.” But it is time to bring this sketch to a conclusion. Let it suffice to warn the reader against supposing that the Chinese, to any great extent, conform in their practice to the high moral standard of their e lassies. While multitudes of the literati in every province are able to repeat, memoriter, a'large portion of the writings of Confueius without hesi tation and without mistake, probably few, if any, strive seriously and heartily to reduce them to practice. They are studied principally as the standard of style, and, as furnishing sentiments and language which they are to incorporate iu their literary compositions at the established ex aminations; not as the standard of morals and of religion by which, to the exclusion of other sys tems, they are to regulate their conduct. .The Writings of Confucius are a grand and stupendous failure so far as the practice of their best moral sentiments is concerned. The present condition of this empire, considered with regard to the in fluence, or rather the want of influence, of the maxims and examples of this sage over the lives and the hearts of his professed disciples, exhibits a most conspicuous instance as well as.a most con vincing proof of the incompetency of moral pre cepts and of human wisdom to make men happy, sincere, and virtuous. Sinim. “ Fulichau, Dec., 1859. For the American Presbyterian. ” GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE OF lOWA. Our new Republican Governor, Samuel J. Kirkwood, -of lowa City, aM'our iSfeutenant- Governor, Nicholas J. Rusch, of Davenport, were duly inaugurated at the opening of the Session of the Legislature, last month; and both branches of the Legislature are now well at work.. ' Mr. Kirkwood is not a member of any Church, though his father died at lowa city in commuffion with the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Kirkwood’s connexions attend the Methodist Church, where the Governor, when he attends anywhere, it is believed, usually accompanies her. Mr. Rusch is a native of Germany, and educated as a Lu theran, which connexion he continues. They are both men of high moral worth, and ill their sta tions with dignity, commanding the respect of all parties. Mr. Busch has especially disappointed many of his opponents in his ready command of English; and tact in the chair, as President of the Senate, by virtue of his office. Mr. Kirkwood, in his Inaugural, has touched .upon the case of John Brown at Harper’s Perry, condemning his acts, hut commending his “ disin terested” motives, and plabing him in the same category- with Crittenden, of Cuba, and Andre, of Great Britain, with this difference—that Brown was aiming at the liberty of the colored race. Mr. Kirkwood also recommends Colonization in Central or South America, of the free blacks, — Mr. Blair's scheme, of St. Louis, ’Mo. He com mends African Colonization by the way, but deems it inadequate to the necessity of the free colored” people, driven out of the free and slave States alike, and'without a resting place in our country. These moral topics, together with the Liquor Laws, have engaged considerable attention, and will claim the action of our Legislature—Bepub lican in both Houses—more or. less till the close of the session. I- Governor Lowe, on retiring-front Chair, by the election of the people, has been ex-, altcd to the station of Chief Justice of our Supreme Court. Lieutenant-Governor,, Faville* retires to private life. Both have reared, from the chair of State with much, honor aqd approbation of the people at large. ;. «■ r Thus, one political wave.s fter another Tolls over, our young State, with over, is hundred thousand souls to be agitated'and tosspdt without -rest, since the National and State elections such quick succession. When .Will the, world, be at. rest? When will men gettime to prepare for the world to come? Are political men- to be’only stayings to the great edifice, of. h.uman society to be taken down, at death, "as no longer useful? When shall.our “Senators bps,as at. the first, and our counsellors as at, the . haye more action than our fathers, .blit less more running to and fro, bpt -np great knowledge or wisdom from S. S.- H-. ■; XNDII. SIGNS OP PEOQRESS. Messrs. Editors: —By tfioge whp are waiting and praying for the of India, I am often asked if there are any/jndications of progress —particularly if there ar.i any change? in the policy of British rule which show a more friendly disposition towards Christianity and native con verts. - All such changes are very slight, and hesita tingly made, and yet to tb'd observant"eye of the missionary, some are transpiring,"which present themselves to the hopeful as bright fore shadowings of better thing? td come. , The British Government is doubtless feeling its rule more firmly established, in India than ever before, and is showing Ims. xleferen qg, to the wicked superstitions and rites of-the people.* Though bands of rebelsWilbsubsist in the limits of Nepaul and some -other.border territories, .yet their strength-and broken, and. through out British territory the straggling parties of free booters are being ferreted destroyed. For a year-past the strongest .'rebel band in Western' India , have been the and the, last mail brings report of their complete destruction. The brief despatch of' the officer in pursuit of them says: “I have the pleasurp’.to report that I came up with the rebel BheefJfyhis. day, at noonand succeeded in shooting and.cutting up the gang to a man.” ■ ' \fi .. • Sadly shaken as British prestige was two years ago, throughout India, it isidoubtless stronger and more effective now than ej/er before. Conscious of this, and somewhat ineebsed perhaps in view of the fact that past efforts to ooueiliate the people by yielding to their foolish and wicked supersti tions have proved a failure the British rulers are evidentlyTelaaring their -conciliate: by improper concessions, and are adopting a policy more impartial and just. : In illustration of this view, 1 may mention: 1. They are relaxing their rigid proscription of the Christian Scriptures in their government schools. Heretofore, teachers and'professors in their schools and colleges have been required to be silent at all times on the subject of Christianity, and not to explain anything in 'the Bible-even if their Hindoo pnpils desired it. This requisition for silence is now limited to school hours. I grieve to say there is scarcely any Christian truth in the text hooks allowed in their schools; and still more to note the fact that “ The (present) Director of public instruction would have no objec tion to introduce a set of books from which every Christian allusion had been effectually weeded.” Still there is cause for joy that the former rigid interdict of the Bible and Christianity has been slightly relaxed, and we may thankfully accept it as an omen of better things in the near future. 2. Another point is the admission of' low-caste pupifa into'some of these.schools. This is a step more decided and aggressive than the other, because it conflicts more severely with the caste notions of the Hindoos. Only a short time ago one of my own pnpils, a nominal Christian of the Mahar caste, sought ad mission to one of these schools, but was refused. An English officer feeling the injustice of this re fusal, appealed in behalf of the'Christian lad to the highest officers of the British Government. His appeal was in vain. The Government grati fied the Brahmins, and excluded the Christian youth from the Sfchool. Now, in the English Government school at Ahmednuggur, a regulation has been adopted, ad mitting pnpils of any and dll castes without dis tinction. A Mahar boy was recently admitted, and although most of the high caste pupils took offence and left, the Government has strictly .ad hered to its. rule;.and the Brahmins must waive their .'prejudices or