106 Corovougitna, PREVARIOATIONS OF THE CHINESE SAGES. Lessons from the Chinese Classics— Mendacity of Confucius mid Mencius —lnfluence rf Their _Example and Instruction on Their Disciples—Du plicity of Chinese Character Accounted . for—The Chinese a Nation of Liars. Ma. EDITOR :—With your permission I will present your readers with a lesson from the Chinese Classics : Joo . Pei wished to see Confucius, but Confucius declined on the ground of being :sick. When the bearer of the message went out at the door, Confucius took his harpsichord and sang to it that: Pei might hear him.—Conf. Analecta : 17, `2O. • As Mencius was about to go to court to see the King, the King sent a present to him, with this message : " I was wishing to come and see you, but I have got a cold and may not expose Myself to the In the morning I will hold my. court. Ido not know whether you. will give me the opportunity. of. seeing ~you , there." Mencius replied: " Unfortunately I am unwell and not Able - to : go to Court." . . `nit day he went. out to pay a visit of condolence` to some one of the Tung knoll 'fainilY, When Kung-Siin-Chow said to' dYesterday you declined going to: to-day's Court, on the ground of being unwell; and: to-day you aro going to pay a visit of condolence. May this not lie _regarded as improper?": ." Yester day," said Mencius, ." I 'was unwell; today I am-better. Why. 'should not liay this visit . ?" lii the meantime the. King sent a meSsenger to inquire, about his Sickness, anal also a physician. Mang Chung reL., plied to theta : "Yesterday, When- the Rings 'order came, he Was 'feeling a little unwell; and could not go to the court. TO-day he 'Was- , a little better and -.hastened to go to court. I.do-not know whether he can have reached it or not." Having said, this, he . sent several men to look, for., on the way ~ - A nd say"to 'theM - : "I beg .that, before you return hOthe you will go to the.. court". • 'On'this, 'Mencius felt 'himself obliged to '..gil to King Chore's (name of a private perabii); and . there , atop' the night. King said to - him :' "In the: family there • is the relation of father andson. • Abroad, there is the relation of prince .and minis-: tor. These are the itwo great relations among men. Between father and son the ruling principle .is kindness. Be tween prince and minister the ruling principle is respect. I have seen the respect of the King to . you, sir, but I have net seen in what way you show respect to him." Mencius replied :" 0 ! what words aro these ? There is no' Man of Tze, that respects the King' as - irinch as I do !" King said : " - Not so. - You were certainly going to the 0 rt, but when you heard Alie King's • o 4 . der, then you did not carry your purposes out. This does seem as if it wore not in accordance with the rule of propriety." Mencius answered him : " How can yoU give that meaning to my conduct ? A prince 'Who is to accomplish great deeds will certainly have ministers whom he does not call to go to him. When he wishes to consult with them he goes to them. .The-prince who does not honor, the virtuous and delight in their ways of doing to this extent, is not worth having to do with."—The Works of :Mencius, Book 2d, part 2d, chap. 2d.. • In the last paragraph, Mencius gives the clue to his mendacious words and his insincere conduct. It was that he felt slighted by the King not calling on liiin bUt sending a message, hinting in a round about way that he would like to have Mencius call on him at his court. Notice the steps: First, Mencius pre tended to be sick as soon as he learned that the King had sent for him to attend at his court the following morning, though he was just about setting out to go to court; secondly, Mencius justifies his course, when, instead of going to the court, ho goes to pay a visit of condo lence; thirdly, his son or nephew, when the King sent a physician, with kind inquiries about the health of Mencius, fabricates a falsehood in order to get his master out of a`ny seeming disrespect to the King, and secretly sends off mos sengors to find him and tell him what had been done ; fourthly, when a high officer of the court with whom Mencius spent the night instead of going to court, belabors him for his disrespect to his prince, 'Mencius stoutly contends that ho respects the King more than any one else in tho land; and fifthly, he intimates as the justifying and sufficient cause of all this falsehood and prevarication that the King, if he really wished to see him, should have first taken the trouble to make him a call. Mencius all the while did not believe that the King was too ill to pay him a visit. Commentators say that his course and conversation on the subject after his first falsehood, were all designed to let the King understand that he was not really too unwell to go to court, but that he had not gone only :because he would not be called onto do so. It was not the polite way of treating a teacher of his attainments and virtues ! In like manner when Joo Poi was told ho could not see Confucius because he was sick, it was - because Confucius was unwilling - to receive a visit from him ;,his sickness was all a pretence to be rid of:the unwelcome caller. Confucius taking his harpsichord and playing on it while Joo Pei was still within hearing, shows this. The Chinese Classics say a great deal about the beauty and the importance of the virtue of "sincerity." But the men dacious words and the insincere conduct Of the two greatest Chinese teachers of antiquity, Confucius and Mencius, seem to have produced a more profound im pression and influence upon the minds of the Chinese at the present day than do all they have said about sincerity. Their example goes far to prove them selVes to be insincere in their words as their conduct. I have not seen any literary man, who was not a Christian, who did not - approve and justify the mendacious. language of Confucius and Mencius, on these occasions, by referring to their seeret motives and reasons, on the Jo- - suitieal principle that the end justifies the' means. They meant to attain a good end by what they said and did. The Chinese seem to think it per fectly justifiable to fabricate falsehoods, to .make pretences, to act insincerely inasmuch as their great teachers did so, and justified 'their: own conduct. The people of the -present age db not regard it possible to be better than the sages of antiquity. ACME they are trained from th.eir, early infancy in the belief that what the " Classice teach, and what the sages did are the infallible standards of life.. They are educated to deceive, to cheat, to pretend one thing while mean ing another Is. it any wonder that the Chinese are a nation of liars' and de colter:l? It would be strange, if. they were anything. else but dissemblers and prevaricatbrs, with : the example and the instructions of the sages held up, so constantly befora.them. Owing to the depravity of the ,heart, they remember. and practice the evil; and the deceptive, and the false,' While , they ignore the many sayings Eifid Maxims found in the Claisie,S which arc - good: and correct, if only explained and illnstrated a reference to the plug, teachings and the perfect example of Him who was without sin. The disciples of Confucius and Mencius practice -and justify prevarication and deception. How different is the con duct and character of the true disciple of Jesus I With him, referring to the example and instruction of his divine master and teacher, TRUTH and SINCERITY arc cardinal virtues, worth something more than to be mere high-sounding themes. They may not and do not regard them as useless and worse than useless when Fitt in operation in every day life. : FIJH CHA.II, October; 1863 LETTER FROM MOUNT LEBANON. BRAMDTM, Mt. Lebanon, Feb. 16, 1864 DEAR EDITOR :—Wc rejoice in the enlargement of the AMERICAN PRESDY xERrAN, and accept all your salutations to its readers for the, new year. We thank you for sending it to us in our distant home on the mountain. The Lord will reward you, and soon. make us rejoice..together in the promotion of, a great and interesting work of His grace in this upper'-district of Mount Lebanon. The means and institutions of that grace have been opened in Syria by various Protestant nations. We have the missions of. the A. B. C. F. M., of England and Prussia, of the Presbyte- . riau, Reformed and . United Presbyte rian churches, at Beirut, Sidon, Jerusa lem, Damascus, Tripoli, Latakia, Anti och and Aleppo. We have the Prussian Institute for Orphans at Beirut, costing $30,000, employing ten sisters and . teaching and training 150 pupils; and the Patriotic Institute, having nearly the same number of pupils and teachers. We have the Protestant schools - under the supervision of Mrs. Thompson and Miss Watson, containing two or three hundred pupils. Evangelical churches have been organized at different points. The mission press at Beirut and a new press at Damascus are sending forth thousands of volumes from month to month. And the light of a new morning is spreading over the tops of the moun tains, over the hills and plains of Syria and Palestine. And above all these institutions and means of. grace, the Lord has established, for a wonder in the Ottoman Empire, the Christian government of Mount Lebanon. Of the forty provinces in the empire, this mountain alone has a Christian Gover, nor, His Excellency Davon Pasha. Amid such means and influences, under such a government, liberal in its policy, and efficient in its administration, all the friends of Christ and of Protestant missions may hope well for Lebanon. It is the largest of the sacred moun tains, the key of Syria. From the times of the crusaders it has been known as the mountain of the Druses. Greek, Greek Catholic, Maronitc, Syrian and Latin churches have been built and extended to hundreds of villages. But in all its 400,000 inhabitants, none have yet arisen to found and raise the first PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 1864. evangelical Protestant church. A church has indeed been organized at Abeih ; and from different quarters also we have at this point gathered about forty brethren and sisters to the breaking of bread and Christian fellowship. But what are these without a church or pastor among so many myriads of perishing souls on the mountains? May they be as a few scattering drops before an abundant shower of infinite grace and love. • Our native friends, however, have determined to build a house for the worship of God at Bhamdun, and con tributed about $3OO for •this purpose. But they need help and funds to the amount of $BOO to effect this important object during the present year.- I am much interested to see the house built and to have our native brethren do it, aided by the Syria MisSion- and other friends, • The Lebanon schools have numbered, 24, occupying 20 villages, and 'giving employment to 38 teachers and assist ants, and instruction to more than 1500 pupils during the past year. For, one visitation we require to spend twenty days or four weeks, and pass over two, hundred miles, when we have most ex cellent opportunities to declare all the words of this life and the unsearchable riches of Christ. They give us , a right, as well as, impose a duty, to visit from , village to village and, from house to, house. All communities have an interest in these schools; all classe.s ask for the schools and weleiniie the. inigsio . nary to their houses and tents. I am happy to state that Bhamdun has furnished teachers for Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut, Sook el Ghurb, Shim lain and some other places;' and has from thirty to forty pupils- at their studies, in Beirut, Sook el Ghurb, Shinilain and Abeih. The beginnings have been small, but none should despise the day of small things . ! tc.For an, handful of corn in the earth, upon'the top of - the 13101111W1p3, shall have the fruit thereof shalleince Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth: His name shall, endure forever'; His name shall be continued as long as the sun ; and men shall be blessed in Him ; all nations shall all Him blessed.." But this is not the place of our rest. Of more than thirty persons admitted to Christian fellowship' in connection with this post since 1848, we , have been called during the Vast weelLto folloW our oldest member tonic' d"rave. His departure \vas gentle inid tranquil as the sun sinks down behind the western horizon at the close of the day. His age was 77 years, and he was gathered to his people" The week of prayer was' 'observed hero and at Beirut ; and . the present, condition and prospects of our beloved country arc daily rememberedin_prayer by the missionary band in. .Syria.÷ Heaven. blesS and prosper the people and Government of the United States of America, and perpetuate our National Union and peado. • I , Very respectfullY WILLIAM A. BENTON. A WORKING MAN ON THE PULPIT AND THE PRESS. A working-man requesting a sermon on a text which had engaged his atten tion, thus gives his views of the power of the press and the pulpit, from the workshop stand-point. WO commend them to the attention of preachers. The letter contains a discussion of the Sab bath question and the milk business, which we may perhaps reproduce. R. P. I desire to say a few words in extenu ation, or justification for thus asking you at all to preach on any text, when I can read the Bible for myself. I take it, that notwithstanding the command "Search the Scriptures, &c.," that other command "go ye into all, &c.," while it authorizes and sanctions the devoting and training of a standing order or class of men to preach the Gospel, it also im plies, that preaching, more than reading, is, even in our day of cheap editions, the most effective in proclaiming salva tion to men—to the masses. You print a sermon and working men may read it, but, in a majority of cases, in a way that inspires little or no action or inter est—you preach it, and there is a fervor in the livincr 6 voice that the dormant spirit cannot withstand. I speak from my own and from experience among the classes of working men whose la borious physical exertions, especially open air labors, incapacitate them, in a great degree, for the study of subjects, in print, that tax the judgment and at tention. To all who may be classed as sedentary, whose business is more irk some than laborious—and thereby less disqualifying them for thinking and reading, the printed page is indeed a boon comparatively denied the others. The Sabbath sermon is emphatically the working man's best Bible, and it seems to me a great priVilege that whilst his lot in life deprives him, in a measure, the reading and study ofthings pertaining to his everlasting peace, he can in Sabbath sermons, equal, at least, , his superiors in station , in experience of zest in thinking done for him. ENGLISH PURITANISM AVENGED, If one of the old Puritan Non-con formists of England—a man of the stamp of Howe, Owen or Baxter—could rise from his grave and study the aspects of the Established Church, as they present themselves to-day, with what surprise and astonishment would he contrast the present with the past ! Two centuries have wrought out what may well be re garded as a providential retribution. A most iniquitous subscription was en forced upon the Puritans then. To-day, ecclesiastical courts are engaged in set ting aside the restraints which subscrip tion imposes on the teaching of errors fatal to Christianity itself. Then the Non-conformist only asked to be relieved from terms which a scripturally enlight ened conscience abhorred. Now, the effort is made to dispense with every obligation to which, not the Christian disciple, bat the most latitudinarian of Neolog,ists can object. In one case subscription was objected to in the interest of Christianity itself . Good men, whose doctrinal soundness, and submission to the authority of reve lation no man questioned, could not de clare " their unfeigned assent and 'con sent to all and everything prescribed and contained in the book of Common Prayer, &c.," for in this case they must approve the Apocryphal lessons, and profess full faith in the story of Bel and the Dragon, to say nothing of rites and ceremonies. The largest liberty they claimed was, release from forms and professions, to which Scripture and their own conscience forbade assent, and which even their persecutors admitted to' be indifferent, except as enjoined by human authority. But now the very descendants—ecclesiastically—of those who imposed a yoke which our fathers were not able to bear, find it galling to their own necks. If it binds them to even a consistent profession of Christianity, it is a tyranny which the' courts arc called upon to overthrow. There are men in the English Church to whom this is a sore grievance. They, have no sympathy with the Essayists and Reviewers. They regard the Bishop of Natal as scarcely entitled to' the Christian name. We have no reason to question their sincere adherence to sound doctrine. And yet not a few of them have inherited the exclusiveness of the Episcopal intolerance of two cen turies ago. The forms and dignities of the church have been idolized. The Christianity of the Prayer-book has been elevated above the Christianity of the Bible. Religion has had to be cas socked and robed according to the ru bric to secure recognition. What is this, but a repetition and endorsement of that exclusiveness which two centu ries ago excluded the Non-conformists ? And how sharply is it now rebuked ! Thoughtful members of the English church must sorrowfully forecast its destiny. If we may judge from the re cent decision in the case of the Essayists and Reviewers, the Bishop of Natal has but to tarry his appeal to England, to secure the reversal of the sentence of his metropolitan. The barriers of the sub scription are broken through. The walls are thrown down. Ere long it may be difficult for the establishment to vindicate its title to the Christian name. And what does England need at such a time as this ? Parliamentary securi ties or protection ? The policy of the state was well expressed by the more vigorous than graceful reply of Lord Thurlow to the application of Dissenters for relief more than a half century ago. He gave them to understand that he eared not a straw for the doctrines of either party, but one was uppermost and he meant to keep it so. The mere politician is farthest removed from a martyr. Put the church in his hands, and it is only a pawn in the game he plays. What England needs to-day— what the establishment needs, is more of the Puritan leaven—rejected and cast out two centuries ago. The hope of the English church to-day is not in the abili ty or learning which she can command to produce elaborate and annihilating answers to neologists and infidels—not in State patronage that overloads her piety, like David in Saul's armor, with a cumbrous splendor, or makes her hateful as a burden on national finances, but rather the piety of the old "Clap ham sect"—the Romaines, - Peres' New tons, that at the close of the last century introduced new elements of vitality and saved the church from death by sheer exhaustion of vital force—or, better still, of just that class of men who had religion enough to feel the obligation of subscription itself—to whom the form was not a farce, and of whom it might be said, they feared an oath. How strangely would the words of Chilling worth for instance sound to-day, with his scrupulous conscience, declaring— "lf I subscribe, I subscribe my own damnation I" Wordsworth might apos trophise Cromwell's Secretary : , g Milton thou shoulds't be living at this hour; England hath need of thee." But with more pertinency might even stricter churchmen than Wordsworth apostrophize the men whom the church ostracised. He might invoke the memo ries of men like Baxter and Bates—who if he had conformed "might have had any bishoprick in the kingdom"—of Owen and Charnock and Fiavel, nay of the great cloud of witnesses who have been waiting for centuries to give in their testimony, and whose words will be believed at least to-day. They " should be living at this hour." Eng land "has need" now of what she once spued out and rejected. Unless such men can be found to uphold the stan dards of evangelical truth,the Establish ment is doomed. The state cannot and will not save it. Recent events indicate that the feeble security for sound doc trine which subscription has hitherto afforded, is taken away, and wo cannot anticipate its restoration. The proper arms of evangelical truth are all that will be left to the church in her own de fence. If unprovided with these, her fate is sealed. KOLAPOOB MISSION. MY DEAR BROTHER -NEARS :—Your last notice of our Mission was in May 14, 1863. In the Lord's great mercy we have been spared- tn-prosecute our work another year ; and while our hearts are full of gratitude to God; we would aldo gladly send our thanks to the dear friends in America . who have kindly helped us support the Mission. The subscriptions • from Philadelphia the past year, to September 4, 1863, are as folloWs, viz : Missionary Association of First Inde pendent Presbyterian Church, $5O 00 Missionary Association of Clinton Street Presbyterian Church, 50 00 Missionary Association of the Western Presbyterian Church, 75 00 Interest, 1 50 Ladies' Society for Educating Heathen Youth, .125 00 Total, $3Ol 50 • From other places to same date : Newark, N. J., $142 09 Craneville, N. J., 43 00 ---$lB5 00 Monroe, Michigan, 50 00 Three Rivers, " 10 00 Bra:ttleborougb, Vermont, 5 00 Castleton, 65 00 - West Rutland, " 76 00 - 146 00 Springfield, Mass., 22 00 lowa Falls, lowa, 5 00 Columbus, Ohio, 15 00 Clinton, N. Y., 10 00 Syracuse, ," 50 00 Glens Falls, " 13 00 Greenbush, " 20 00 NOW York City, 25 00 Flattsburg, N. Y.; 15 00 Malone and vicinity, N. Y., 448 20 Friehds rill please bear iri mi. - Ad - that any sums paid. to Rev. Dr. Campbell for us since September 4, 1863, have not yet been acknowledged to us, and may we ask our subscribers, with this fact in view, to examine the above acknow ledgments very carefully and see if any sums have been sent which have failed to reach us, and also if any sub scriptions remain unpaid which ought to havo.been. sent. Those who help us and pray for us will feel kind interest in knowing that our labor has not been in vain in the Lord.- Three'. idolaters have been hopefully converted and added to our little band of believers, which at the close of the year numbered eight native communicants and four baptized chil dren. Our preaching services have been well attended, though the audiences diminished Somewhat at the date of these baptisms. Tell the dear children and youth of the Sabbath schools that we value their interest, and the subscriptions they send us are accomplishing a blessed work. Our schools are the right hand of our power and influence among this people —a most effective agency in making known, both to young' and old, the blessed truths of the gospel. Would that all the dear children who help us could see two or three hundred of our pupils, with their dark faces but bright eyes and speaking Countenances, as they listen to the story of Christ and His disciples, of Joseph, David and Daniel; or hear their sweet •voices as they repeat the same Bible lessons and sing the same Christian hymns, (in Marathi, of course,) which stir their own hearts with holier thoughts and purposes as they gather in the favored churches and. Sabbath schools of that Christian land. Our work _of distributing Christian tracts and books goes on with interest, and of Bibles and books of all kinds, we put in circulation, during the past year, 2312 copies, or 169,827 pages. The Dairy man's Daughter, which Mrs. Wilder translated some years ago, we have also revised and' sent to press, for a new edition. Our help for this tract and book work , came from the " London Religious Tract Society," and as your type last year made us say that Society " sent us two hundred boobs," let me now correct it by saying it sent us 250 rupees. This sum has allbeen expended, and at present we are without means for this department of our work. One of your Sabbath schools—Rev. Mr. Shepherd's—has taken stock in our chapel, and will be glad to know it is in progress. They sent $lOO, which just paid for - the site. The corner stone was laid on the Ist instant, and though the contributions sent for this work are nearly expended, we are building the stone walls as fast as we can, hoping the Lord will incline some who love Christ and His work to send us means to finish them and cover it in before the heavy monsoon rains come to wash them down and spoil our labor. If able to complete the chapel, it will furnish us an audience room 50 by 32 feet inside, for Sabbath services and our larger gatherings, with a front verandah 36 by 11 feet for an open zyat, or preach ing place for smaller audiences:: We are aware -this- would be d very small church in T'hiladelphia, but if we live to complete it we shall thank God and. take courage, 'and shall call it the First Presbyterian Church of Kolapoor. God grant it may become' the birthplace of many precious souls. With best thanks to the friends who have helped us thus far, and hoping they will pray for a larger blessing on our *work, believe Die, in the service of the gospel, yours sincerely, R G. WILDER XOLAPOOR, India, February 9, 1864. ' , „.1,, 1 igifflaStmo. HOLLAND. EMANCIPATION OF SLAVES IN THE The following is an extract from a recent letter from the Hague. It will be seen that the experiment of conduct ing the plantations by paid instead of slave labor is working satisfactorily : The last news received from the Dutch colony of Surinam, reports a most favorable development of "the re cently inaugurated policy of ernancipa tion. The freed slaves have concluded contracts with the Government and with private planterS, and the discon tents which arose from the obstinacy of the latter have been suppressed by the compromise which they made with the Government in relation to the wages for plantation labor. Last week, too, a very important treaty was concluded between the American and Netherlands Governments, by which it is arranged that the colonial authorities of Surinam shall receive such of the emancipated American slaves as may be willing to work on their plantations. To these the American Governmint will afford considerable facilities for emigrating to the Dutch West India possessions, where they will be cordially welcomed —the g reat difficulty with the planters being that of finding syth laborers as are required for devel6ping the east re sources of the fertile colony of Surinam. Two thousand plantation laborers had already been induced to leave Demarara, in consequence of the higher wages of fered in the Dutch settlement ; while a decided improvement has taken place in the market value of the sugar plan tations. It is inferred that a very large number of the freed slaves of the South ern States of America will avail them selves of the facilities offered them to make engagements with the Dutch planters. Such, indeed, is the extent of territory in Surinam awaiting culti vation, that were all the slaves of the Southern States able to avail them selves of the facilities now offered them, they would find abundance of remuner ative labor in that luxuriant and pro crressinc, settlement. 581 20 $1315 70 REOENT DISTURBANCE OP A GRAVEL BED CONTAINING HUMAN REMAINS. A curious geological fact, bearing on the recent discussion on the antiquity of man, was mentioned at a Bible meet ing held in the west of Scotland the other day, by the Rev. Mr. Munro, of Campsie. In the year 1440—more than 420 years ago—the Lady Mary, daughter of James 111. of Scotland, and married to Sir Wm. Edmonstowne j of Dunteath, who, by the way, was her fourth husband, died and was buried in what is now the centre of the parish church of Strathblane. About 250 years after terwards, her descendant, Archibald Edmonstowne, who was killed at the memorable siege of Londonderry, was buried in her grave. About twenty years ago, while the parish church was under repair, this grave was opened at the request of the present proprietor, a lineal descendant of these personages —Sir Archibald Edrnonstowne. And now comes the curious part of the story. About five feet below the surface the workmen came upon the skeleton of a man, doubtless that of Archibald Ed monstowne. But on digging down wards they reached, not the skeleton of the Princess, but a deep bed of rough gravel, which appeared so obviously- to have been undisturbed, that they gave up the search for the remains of the body. They were e_ncouraged, however, to persevere; and two or three feet fur ther down they came upon the skull, but they were obliged to remove several large stones before they reached to the bones of the skeleton. The question is, how came that gravel and these stones there ? They must have come since the burial of the Princess, though there is neither record nor tradition of any in undation in. the district. Yet, if this gravel has been drifted into Strathblane within the lagt 500 years, why not also at Abbeville, where the gravel is not smoother or with fewer indications of having been disturbed ? THE iniquities of good men will find them out, but good men will find out their iniquities.— Willison. .DIITCII COLONIES
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