of his successeor, determined him to make these offers to father Ricci. The circumstance was favorable for obtaining information of their Pentateuch; and the chief readily consented to give them the beginning and end of every section; they were found perfectly conformable to the Hebrew Bible of Plautin, except that in the Chinese copy there were no vowel points.

'In 1613, father Aleni who, on account of his profound knowledge and great wisdom, was called by the Chinese themselves, the Confucius of Europe, was commanded by his superiors to undertake a journey to Kaefung foo for the purpose of ascertaining what could be gained from this discovery. He was the fittest man in the world to have succeeded in it, being well skilled in Hebrew. But times were changed. The old chief was dead. The Jews with readiness showed to father Aleni the synagogue, but he never could prevail on them to show him their books. They would not even so much as withdraw the curtains which concealed them. Such were the feeble beginnings of this discovery, which fathers Trigault and Semedo, and other missionaries, have transmitted to us. Learned men have often spoken of them, sometimes very incorrectly, and have always expressed a desire of further information.

"The residence afterwards established by the Jesuits at Kaefung foo excited fresh expectations. Nevertheless fathers Rodriguez and Figueredo wished in vain to profit by this advantage. Father Gozani was the first person who was at all successful in his endeavors. Having an easy access, he took a copy of the inscriptions in the synagogue, which are written on large tablets of marble, and sent it to his superiors at Rome. These Jews informed him, that there was a Bible at Peking, in the temple, where were kept the king, or canonical books of strangers. The French and Portuguese Jesuits obtained permission from the emperor to enter the temple and examine the books. Father Parennin was present. Nothing of the kind was found. Father Bouvet said, that they saw some Syriac letters, and had every reason to believe that the master of the pagoda gave bad information to the Jesuits in the course of their search. It would now be very difficult to obtain admission into this library; and every attempt hitherto made by father Gaubil has been unsuccessful. He never could understand what these Hebrew and Syriac books were. In the interim, a Tartar Christian, to whom he had lent his Hebrew Bible, assured him also that he had seen books written in the same character; but he could not tell him what these books were, nor what might be their antiquity. He only declared to him, that it was a thora, that is to say, a book of the law. While the Jesuits were making these fruitless researches in Peking, the Jews, less reserved than the Chinese, gave voluntary information of their different customs to father Gozani; and by the beginning of the century, he was enabled to publish an account as circumstantial as could have been expected from one who was not acquainted with the Hebrew language. This account is published in the eighteenth volume of the Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses."

In a letter to a member of the society of Jesuits, dated at Kaefung foo, in Honan, Nov. 5th, 1704, J. P. Gozani thus wrote:

As to what regards those who are here called tiao-kin-kiao, (Teaou-kin keaou, or the sect that plucks out the sinew,') two years ago I was going to visit them, under the expectation that they were Jews, and with a view of finding among them the Old Testament. But as I have no knowledge of the Hebrew language, and met with great difficulties, I abandoned this enterprise for fear I should not succeed in it. Nevertheless, as you remarked to me that I could oblige you by obtaining information concerning this people, I have obeyed your orders, and have executed them with all the care and precision of which I was capable. I immediately made them protestations of friendship, to which they readily replied, and had the civility to come to see me. I returned their visit in the li-pai-sou (le-pae sze), that is in their synagogue, where they were all assembled, and where I held with them long conversations. I saw their inscriptions, some of which are in Chinese, and the rest in their own language. They showed me their books of religion, and permitted me to enter even into the most secret place of their synagogue, where they themselves are not permitted to enter. There is a place reserved for the chamkias (chang keaou), or chief of the synagogue, who never enters there unless with profound respect. They told me that their ancestors came from a kingdom of the west, called the kingdom of Juda, which Joshua conquered after having departed from Egypt and passed the Red Sea and the Desert; that the number of Jews who came out from Egypt was about six hundred thousand men.

"They assured me, that their alphabet had twenty-seven letters, but that they commonly made use of only twenty-two; which accords with the declaration of St. Jerome, that the Hebrew has twenty-two letters, of which five are double. When they read the Bible in their synagogue, they cover the face with a transparent veil, in memory of Moses, who descended from the mountain with his face covered, and who thus published the Decalogue and the law of God to his people. They read a section every Sabbath day. Thus the Jews of China, as the Jews of Europe, read all the law in the course of the year. He who reads, places the ta king on the chair of Moses. He has his face covered with a very thin cotton veil. At his side is a prompter, and some paces below a moula, to correct the prompter should he err.-They spoke to me respecting paradise and hell in a very foolish manner. There is every appearance that what they said was drawn from the Talmud. I spoke to them of the Messiah, promised in the Scriptures. They were very much surprised at what I said to them; and when I informed them that his name was Jesus, they replied to me, that mention was made in the Bible of a holy man named Jesus, who was the son of Sirach; but they knew not the Jesus of whom I spake to them."

A few remarks concerning Jews now in China, may be found on pages 8 and 44 of our first volume. The great probability that the Karens of Burmah are a remnant of the ten tribes of Israel, will excite new interest on this subject and lead to further research.

NOTE. The above epitaph was shown to us in manuscript, and we are happy in giving it publicity in connection with our own remarks concerning him whom it commemorates.

ART. IV. Obituary notice of the Reverend Robert Morrison, D.D., with a brief view of his life and labors.

DIED at Canton, at 10 o'clock on Friday night, August 1st, 1834, the Reverend Robert Morrison, D. D., in the 53d year of his age.

Our hearts are touched with grief at the departure of this eminent servant of God. Though accustomed for months past to hear him say, My work is done," we were yet slow to regard the words as prophetic of his speedy removal from this world. Pain and weariness had been his constant portion for many days, the result in part, of his multiplied labors and his early habits; yet the announcement of his death fell on us almost as though he had been cut down at once to the grave. His alarming debility and prostration of strength, during the past and present summers, had forewarned him that the close of his earthly labors was near; but no symptoms of immediate danger alarmed his friends, till the day, and almost the hour of his dissolution. The disease which had preyed on his frame, had unobservedly undermined his constitution, and irritated probably by exposure to rain and heat on his passage from Macao to Canton, removed him, as in a moment, from our sight. After his arrival at this place about a week previous to his decease, he left his house but two or three times, thougn he continued to attend to his official duties, almost till the day of his death. While suffering great weakness and pain, his mind was graciously kept clear and calm; his hope in the Lord whom he had served was steadfast; and his faith in the words of Scripture, which he often repeated, was firm to the last. A few hours before his death, he was engaged in fervent prayer to God for himself, that his faith might not fail; for his absent family, that they might be provided for and blessed; and for the Chinese mission, that double grace might rest on his younger brethren, and success attend their work While means were devising for his return to Macao on the morrow, an earlier release was, by the all-wise God, destined for his servant;-that night he was gently removed from the ills of life, and for evermore exempted, we trust, from sorrow and pain.

His mortal frame, which for some days had been rapidly but almost imperceptibly sinking, thus suddenly gave way under the heavy load of suffering and pain by which it had for weeks been racked. Hitherto no very alarming symptoms had appeared, and even the outward glow of health had continued. In the course of Thursday night, indeed, he had felt a shortness of breath, which seemed for a time to threaten speedy dissolution; but from this he recovered. Throughout the whole of Friday, he labored under a high fever. In the evening, while the physicians were yet around his bed, the last ebb of life was apparent. Death laid his cold hand upon him, but the sting of death had been removed; and after about

twenty minutes spent in silent effors to restore declining animation, his spirit returned to God who gove it.

The next day at evening, his body was carried from his house in Canton to the river-side, followed by Lord Napier and the resident foreigners. From thence, attended by his eldest son, Mr. John Robert Morrison and a few of his friends, it was conveyed to Macao, where it was interred on the fifth. The burial was attended by all the foreign gentlemen of that place and a few native Portuguese. The service of the Episcopal church was performed on the occasion by the Reverend Edwin Stevens, seamen's chaplain in the port of Canton. His remains now rest beside the sleeping dust of Mary, his first wife, whom he had laid there thirteen years before.

We mourn in him the loss of a good man, who has worn out his life in labors for the good of his native country, of China, and the world. We mourn the loss of a man of stern integrity and public spirit, a tried and faithful friend, and more than all to us, the first and most experienced of Protestant missionaries to China. But the church of God and the friends of the gospel which he served during life, are not alone in their regrets for his departure. It was not, however, his disposition to seek, nor his lot to gain, the favor of the world, farther than it was secured by his uniform goodwill, his undoubted integrity, and his indispensable usefulness. His talents and great industry need no eulogy from partial friendship; for his works praise him. In extent of knowledge, he was undoubtedly the first Chinese scholar living; in efforts to make this language known to foreigners and chiefly to the English, he has done more than any other man living or dead; and in making known our holy religion to the Chinese, no one has done more. He lived to see all the chief objects on which were spent his labors and life, either accomplished or in the way of accomplishment, and was then taken away. In the midst of his life, but not of his works, he was called hence; his plans were completed, though his days were not full.-The termination of his earthly course naturally suggests that we cast a glance at the beginning and progress of the race which our departed friend has ruu. It may and it must encourage a similar spirit in others, who are depending on God and the talents which he has given them, to behold the very successful course of one who in early life was unknown and unpatronized as themselves.

ROBERT MORRISON was of Scottish descent, but born at Morpeth in the north of England, on the 5th of January, 1782. He was blessed with pious parents who early instilled into his mind the principles of that religion which was his guide and joy in life, and his hope in death. He appears however, to have lived nearly sixteen years, without hope and without God in the world. But about the age of fifteen, his mind became deeply impressed with religious sentiments, which led him to reading, meditation and prayer. After alarming convictions of his sin and fear of the wrath to come, he was brought to rest his soul in Jesus Christ for salvation. He then found inexpressible happiness in committing to memory daily one or more