THE

CHINESE REPOSITORY.

VOL. III. NOVEMBER, 1834. - No. 7.

ART. I. Portuguese in China: Contribution to an Historical Sketch of the Roman Catholic church at Macao; and the domestic and foreign relations of Macao. By A. L., KNT. Canton, China : 1834. pp. 53.

THIS little work is a continuation of a O Contribution to an Historical Sketch, principally of Macao," published in 1832, and reviewed in former numbers of the Repository (Vol. I., pp. 398, 425). The same commendation which was then awarded to the author and his book, is due in the present instance. We appreciate highly the labors of any man who devotes his leisure hours to collecting and recording historical facts, which illustrate the character and condition of man, and which, but for such labors, would soon be lost. And efforts of this kind are especially praiseworthy, when, as in the present instance, they are put forth by a veteran of threescore and fifteen years. But lest commendation of the industry and ability of our author should be construed into an unqualified approbation of all his sentiments, we will stop here and notice some of the points, concerning which our opinions are entirely different from those contained in the book before us. The frankness with which Sir A. L. publishes to the world his own views, will induce him to excuse, if any excuse is necessary, the same freedom in ourselves.

"that human inge

"It is to be lamented," he says on page 17, nuity should have borrowed from the Bible the groundwork of more than four hundred sects: each of them faithfully believing themselves to be on the straight road to heaven, with the exclusion of all such as are not within the pale of their confraternities; an uncharitableness which a miracle alone, the greatest (if any) ever wrought, may erase from the minds of prejudiced Christians. Until this unexpect

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ed event shall have eradicated the animosity that still rages among theologo-polemic combatants, may it not be reasonable to conclude with a king of Siam, 'that the true God takes pleasure in being glorified by myriads of living creatures, who praise him each in his own way.'' The few lines which we have here quoted, so far as they have any force, and they are not without meaning, seem to us designed to disprove and to bring into discredit the Christian religion and the Scriptures upon which that religion is founded. Possibly we have mistaken the meaning of our author; but if we understand him, when he says if any (miracles) ever were wrought,' he doubts that fact; and in so doing gives the influence of his opinion to destroy all the evidence in favor of Christianity, which is derived from miracles. If we are wrong in the view we have taken of his language, we shall rejoice to be corrected; but if we are right, we hope that the worthy veteran may be induced, not so much in deference to our opinion, as in regard to our best wishes, to reexamine the evidence which Paley, Campbell, and others have adduced in favor of miracles, as well as that which miracles afford of the truth and verity of the Old and New Testaments.

It is very "reasonable to conclude" that the true God takes pleasure in being glorified by myriads of living creatures, who praise him each in his own way, because we know that "in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." But where is the evidence that" a king of Siam" ever had any knowledge of the true God? Mr. Crawfurd, it is true, has represented one of the kings, as speaking of the true God: but where is the evidence that Mr. Crawfurd rightly understood, or has correctly reported, the words of his Siamese Majesty? The present king is a worshiper of idols; and in doing this he follows in the footsteps of his fathers. What Mr. Crawfurd has said may be true; we hope it is, and do not doubt his integrity in the least: but how the mind of any one can receive such an assertion, under such circumstances, as undoubted truth, and at the same time doubt the testimony adduced in proof of miracles, and doubt too the truth of miracles, seems to us unaccountable. And where is the evidence to prove that human ingenuity has borrowed from the Bible the groundwork of more than four hundred sects? And where and what is the testimony to prove that each of them faithfully believes themselves to be on the straight road to heaven, with the exclusion of all such as are not within the pale of their confraternities? If this statement of our author is true, (and he advances it as an unquestionable fact,) then there is an uncharitableness" in the world which is truly lamentable, and which must go far to prove the utter depravity of the human heart. If then, human ingenuity should borrow the groundwork of ten thousand sects from the Bible, would that prove the Bible untrue or unintelligible? Would it not rather prove the perversity of the human mind? To us, the Bible has always seemed to be a plain book, and one of the most perspicuous and easy to be understood, especially those parts of it which relate to the practical duty of man. And furtherinore, we frankly confess, that we never knew more

than one or two sects of religionists, that “ faithfully believed themselves to be on the straight road to heaven, with the exclusion of all such as are not in the pale of their confraternites;" that there are individuals among some of the religious orders of the present day, who think themselves to be the only ones in the way to heaven, we will not deny; but it seems wrong to charge against whole denominations the errors and absurdities of individuals.

Our author concludes his sketch of the Roman Catholic church at Macao with the following note and quotation:-" The striking similarity of behavior, (which assimilates to a certain degree the reforming apostles, who, by an intemperate zeal of modern missionary societies, are in the nineteenth century improperly obtruded on the world, with those of Rome, who in the seventh century, propagated in the northern parts of Germany, by any means, the principles of their doctrines,) is a sufficient apology for our transcribing from Mosheim the following:'These voyages, undertaken in the cause of Christ, carry, no doubt, a specious appearance of piety and zeal; but the impartial and attentive inquirer after truth will find it impossible to form the same favorable judgment of them all, or to applaud, without distinction, the motives that animated these laborious missionaries. That the designs of some of them were truly pious, and their character without reproach, is unquestionably certain. But it is equally certain, that this was neither the case with them all, nor even of the greatest part of them. Many of them discovered, in the course of their ministry, the most turbulent passions, and dishonored the glorious cause in which they were engaged, by their arrogance and ambition, their avarice and cruelty. They abused the power which they had received from the Roman pontiffs of forming religious establishinents among the superstitious nations; and, instead of gaining souls to Christ, they usurped a despotic dominion over their obsequious proselytes; and exercised princely authority over the countries where their ministers had been successful.' Mosheim's Eccl. His. Vol. II., p. 155. London, 1806."

By the foregoing remarks and quotation, our author indirectly affirms, or at least insinuates, that the greatest part of modern missionaries are bad men, and that the missionary societies are engaged in a system of operations which is wholly beyond their proper sphere of action. These are serious charges, demanding careful consideration; and disposed as we are to avoid controversy, we would not enter on an examination of them, did not the cause of truth require us to do so. Every careful observer of men and things, who has studied the history of the world, and is watching the progress of society in every clime, must perceive that the best interests of the human race are closely connected with the destinies of Christianity and by the wise arrangement of Divine Providence all the interests of our holy religion, especially those which regard its extension, are made to depend in no inconsiderable degree on the efforts of its professors. We care little for the merely nominal distinctions which exist among Christians; while we regard the whole church militant, which is bound together by the triple band of faith, hope, charity," as one

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community, upon which rests the solemn injunction of the world's Redeemer, to go into every part of the earth, and preach the gospel to every creature. This one community-the church militant-we regard in the strictest and most legitimate sense of the term as a missionary society; and all who are sent out by this community to promulgate the glad tidings of a Savior's righteousness, we regard as Christian missionaries. The whole history of the sect of the despised Nazarene shows that those men, by whatever name they are called, whether missionaries or reforming apostles, have always been the chief agents in extending those heavenly pinciples, which, when they take full possession of the hearts of men, make the proud humble: the cruel and savage, mild and humane; the deceitful and sluggish, honest and industrious; and in a word, they cause the haters of God and man to become true Theophilanthropists, and the sincere worshipers of the Most High.

We wish, therefore, to know whether the men who are now engag. ed as Christian missionaries in extending the knowledge contained in the Holy Scriptures are bad men, and whether they are improperly obtruded on the world by the intemperate zeal of modern missionary societies. We will not attempt to compare the Protestant missionaries of the nineteenth century with the Romish of the seventh. In bold enterprises there may be a striking similarity between the two; and in arduous labors and painful sufferings it may be that the latter have outdone the former. It is not our object here to impugn the motives or reprehend the conduct of any body of men, or even of any individual we wish merely that men and things may be seen in their true light, and be regarded accordingly. Moreover, we shall here leave out of view the Romish missions; because, in the first place, we are not particularly acquainted with their operations at the present day; and because, in the second place, it is not so much against them as against Protestant missions that the charges in question seem to be directed.

The great Founder of our religion, when he appeared among men, declared that his kingdom was not of this world; and the primitive heralds of the cross went forth in obedience to their Lord's command, not to do their own will, not to enrich themselves, nor to seek their own glory, but on the contrary to feed the hungry, to clothe the nak ed, to heal the sick, to visit the afflicted, the widow and the fatherless, and in a word, to employ every talent they possessed, in some way or other, for the benefit of their fellows of the human race. And modern Protestant missionaries have done in like manner; or at least they have taken Jesus Christ and his apostles for their patterns and though they have come very far short of accomplishing what they ought to have done, yet they have had a similar aim and endeavor. The signs of the time are as pleasing as they are striking; and it seems to us that the spirit of primitive Christians is reanimating those of this age; and sure we are that the missionaries of the present day we here include Protestants of every denomination— are doing what has not been done or attempted since the era of the

apostles. And who now are these men? They are educated men ; and in this respect they will not suffer by comparison with any other class of professional men. They are philanthropic men, who can sacrifice their own time and property for the benefit of others, and relinquish inviting prospects and easy circumstances at home, for the sake of doing good to strangers. They are laborious and enterprising men, who delight to labor, and will not shrink from difficulties. That they are perfect men, entirely free from evil passions, pride, ambition, &c., we do not contend. Yet, as they have been sent out by public societies, composed of learned, talented, and pious men, to whom they are well known, it is right to suppose that they are worthy of the office and trust which have been confided to them. And such their conduct proves them to be. This is not the age of priestcraft; nor the time for vain and idle undertakings; and were the missionaries, or a majority of them, or any part of them, bad men, we know that the societies with which they are connected would dismiss them from their service. Now and then an individual has proved delinquent, and has been removed from his trust: but-and to the honor of Christianity be it said-these cases have been very few. On the point in question, we ask no more for missionaries than is granted to other Christians; but whatever is conceded to the latter, is certainly due to the former. And any person will be convinced of the justice of this claim, if he will only take the trouble to examine one by one all the missionaries who are connected with any of the principal societies. Let him examine the missionaries of the English Church Missionary Society, or of the United Brethren, or of the London Missionary Society, or of the English and American Baptist missionary societies, or of the German missionary societies, or of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and then let him say whether the majority, in either of the instances which we have cited, are bad men.

The policy and the regulations of the several missionary societies are not the same; so that what is true of one may not be true of another; still they are so much alike, that an account of one of them will afford a tolerable idea of the character of the whole. One of these societies, and it is not the largest nor the oldest, was formed in 1812. At the close of last year, it had under its care 56 stations, 85 ordained missionaries (four of whom were regularly educated physicians, and six others have prosecuted the subject so far as to be highly useful in that department of labor), 6 physicians not ordained, 6 printers, 20 teachers and catechists, 12 farmers and mechanics, and 137 married and unmarried female assistants; making a total of 269 : it had also 39 churches, containing about 1940 communicants; 4 native preachers; 50 native assistants chiefly school-teachers; 56,000 scholars; and 5 printing establishments, at which about 66,000,000 of pages had been printed, in sixteen different languages, exclusive of the English. According to the laws of that society, no one of its missionaries or missionary assistants, shall engage in any business or transaction whatever for the sake of private gain; nor shall any one engage in transac