CHAPTER I.

OF THE RELIGION AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE ENGLISH.

The worship of the supreme Lord of Heaven [Chang-ti], is not unknown to these Barbarians, though degraded by many Superstitions.

The purity of the divine and original Worship (as with the vulgar in our Celestial Kingdom) is too simple. About 500 or 600 years after our Confutze, in the time of the Romans, there appeared in an obscure province of their Empire a new Sect of devotees, who asserted that they had among them a Son of Heaven. This Son they called _Christ_; and those who adopted this new deity were called _Christians_. This was nearly 2000 years [met-li-ze] ago. The Sect increased and spread. One of the Emperors of the West adopted the new god, and enforced the worship of him upon the subjects of the Empire.

All the Western Barbarians derive their knowledge from the Romans; whose power, indeed, they over-turned, but whose civilization they imitated. Particularly, the Bonzes (Priests) of the new _Superstition_, joined to the Chiefs of new powers (which arose upon the ruins of the Roman Empire), preserved some remains of the ancient Learning, and enforced the new Superstition. What little of letters remained was almost entirely with the Bonzes. This event was much the same as the introduction from the Hindoos into our Central Kingdom of the worship of the Hindoo god, _Fo_; and, curiously, these events happened at about the same time.

It is to be observed that in our Illustrious Kingdom there is a tendency to superstitious observances. We have several _Sects_ [pho-ti]; but our _Literati_ merely tolerate and do not worship. A simple and pure homage to the Sovereign Lord of Heaven [Hoang-chan-ti] is an act of the Wise: and even the _Sects_ make their _Spirits_ subordinate to Him. The Western Barbarians, however, dishonour the true worship by strange "rites"--even by incredible superstitions, when the intellectual culture is considered. It is not long since, in the monstrous credulity of the people, directed by the Bonzes, it was believed that the _Devil_ (Chief of the _Evil Demons_) would enter into an individual--generally some old, ugly, and friendless woman--and, _by her_, turn the milk sour, drive the cattle mad, torture children, shrivel up the limbs, blast with the _Evil Eye_; and even plague with disease and with horrible death! And these wretched women, and sometimes men, themselves often fancying that the Devil was really in them, were seized upon, dragged through mud and mire, fearfully maltreated, and put to death by the horrible torments of fire, upon this wild accusation: and this terrible scene was not caused by a maddened rabble of the common sort, but under the lead of the Bonzes, and according to the Laws of the Land.

The great, central figure of idolatry is the Pope, who sits enthroned in Rome; and is, generally, a very old man, not always remarkable for wisdom nor virtue. He claims to be the sole vicegerent of the Christ-god, and only visible divine Head--all who do not worship him are really not true worshippers. Yet, there are many _Sects_ of this _Superstition_; and in England, the Sovereign is held to be the true Pope and Head! The English Pope now worshipped is therefore a woman--the Queen! Such a thing seemed to me to be too wild--a phantasy--I could not comprehend. I knew that this Sect--the Roman--had long ago followers in our Flowery Kingdom; and our annals show was tolerated: not, however, for the _Superstition_, but for the Bonzes, who were masters of some useful knowledge. Personally, I never knew any native devotees of the Superstition--in fact it has steadily diminished in repute, and its few and scattered adherents are very obscure. So I was, and am still, puzzled by this extraordinary _Sect_. I have read the _Creed_; a sort of verbal incantation, made by devotees in the temples.

One day, I begged of a good-natured, large-bellied, Priest to explain to me; and ventured to ask him if the _Creed_ was really an Article of Belief, or only a formal and meaningless Invocation--like some of the mummeries [phin-zi] of our Superstitious Sects. He looked surprised; but when he saw that he was thus accosted by a "_Heathen Chinee_" (as these Barbarians always contemptuously call the inhabitants of our Central Land), he merely said: "Why, you have in China our Missionaries to enlighten your darkness; have you never met them?" "No; I have heard of them at Shanghai; but they do not speak our tongue, nor do we understand them; and their teachings, even if understood, would attract no attention from the _Literati_, who would consider them as unworthy of notice as any other Superstition." "How so? our Religion is no Superstition; it is the true and _only_ true Religion, revealed by God himself to his chosen people, and miraculously preserved for all believers." "I bow before your Illustrious mind and body; but we have, and have had from time immemorial, just such pretensions; they are as old as history." "I will not argue; but look at the excellency of our divine religion!" "Where shall I look? If you mean the excellency of certain moral principles, there is nothing peculiar to your _Sect_ in them. They have been taught in our schools for thousands of years--they _are_ excellent; they show the divine in man--man is of the divine; morality comes of that." "But look at your frightful vices; at your Pagan worship--see the effects of idolatry!" "I bow to your Illustrious mind." I saw my effort to obtain any reasonable explanation was fruitless; I made my obeisance and left. What an illustration of ignorant and superstitious conceit! Vice, thousands of miles beyond sea, so dreadful; the vice at hand, defiling every corner, unseen! The only true Religion of this Priest will not see, or, seeing, he will not believe that it is Vice--or, at any rate, idolatrous--pagan Vice! I could not believe, at first, that the _Superstition_ was more than a Form, kept up merely for the advantage of the Priests. The sharp intellects of the Barbarians, applied so fruitfully to useful arts, seemed stultified, if I held to their actual belief. I doubted the honesty of the Priests; I knew the bad character of many of the Bonzes of our Superstitious Sects. Now, better acquainted with the imperfect civilization of the people, I am not moved by these ignorant and bigoted displays. Poverty, vice, and drunkenness; crimes of violence and fraud, are rife among the Barbarians. The Temples, ordered and maintained by the _Queen-Pope_, are, for the most part--especially in great cities--empty. The Sects of the Low-Caste people, despised by the High-Caste, are far more zealous worshippers, though not better _Christians_. The funds raised to support the great Temples and the Priests, are nearly all absorbed by them, and the Temples left ruinous. The lowest Castes do not worship, but curse the Sovereign Lord. Yet, our Illustrious Kingdom is called _Pagan_--_Heathen_--words implying every degradation; and our people fit only to be turned over to the endless torments of Evil Spirits!

Like our Confutze, the principles of morality and general benevolence are taught in the sayings ascribed to Christ. Yet fighting in the most brutal manner is allowed in the Schools, although the teachings of Christ, commanding Charity and Peace, are conned over in the daily lessons; and horrible Wars for the subjugation of other Peoples, incessantly waged! Still, if we may believe these Barbarians, all true religion and virtue are possessed only by them! The education of the people has been disregarded; and now, when the wisest of their great men has, with great difficulty, caused a decree to issue for the teaching of the neglected masses, at least, in some rudimental learning, the purpose is likely to fail. The Priests demand that the _Superstition_ shall be taught, and those of one _Sect_ insist that they shall lead; denouncing a differing _Sect_. Each _Sect_ denounces every other: and, so far is the contention carried, that the teaching of the people is lost sight of; the special _Superstition_ of a Sect being held by its adherents far more important than merely "Secular" teaching! It must be understood, that though, commonly, there is but little real reverence for the Supreme Lord, and less benevolence, yet, such is the hold which the Bonzes have got of the imagination (by means of the _devil and hell_, which are greatly feared), that they are a _power_. Their demands, therefore, as to the education of the people, will be respected; and the matter be left, largely, in their hands. This, owing to the bitterness existing among the Bonzes of the Sects, will cause the whole attempt to fail--to fail, as a general measure. The Lowest orders, for whom the design was chiefly devised, do not hold the Bonzes in esteem, and will not be so readily led by them, even were the Priests themselves in accord. The Sects and the Priests not only fight upon this subject; they are usually at strife upon any matter wherein their coöperation is desired. One leading rule of the _Sacred Writings_ commands, _Peace_. In respect of all who differ from them, these Sects say that the true meaning is, _War_! Each Sect dislikes and denounces every other; and the members of all damn to everlasting torments the whole human race but themselves! This place of eternal torture in "fire and brimstone" [Zan-tan-li] is called Hell [Tha-dee]!

In the ceaseless conflicts of the _Sects_, the most dreadful crimes have been committed. The chief events recorded in the annals of the Western Barbarians for many ages, and even to this time, have been only bloody wars, massacres, and vile intrigues, springing out of these conflicts: horrible crimes, again and again repeated, and under circumstances too dreadful for belief. And when I have looked into the causes of these shocking events, there seemed to be no more involved than the manner of interpreting some obscure word or phrase in the _Sacred Writings_; which to a wise man would be unimportant, however interpreted, or if never interpreted at all!

At this moment, the best intellects among the English (who boast that they are superior to all other Barbarians), are hotly disputing as to the proper mode of wearing vestments, of holding or of not holding candles, of standing and posturing, and other matters equally important, when the Priests officiate in the Temples. The most trivial thing in the _Superstition_ is esteemed of such consequence, that an error respecting it may be fatal to the "soul" [pan-tzi] in the future life! Some of the most learned fear the words and "missives" of the poor old man, who sits in Rome (already referred to), and is worshipped by most Christians out of England (and by very many in it) as the only delegate of the _Christ-god_. They fear this Pope--fear that by his connection with the _Evil One_ he will "_play the devil_" among them. And though of precisely the same Christ-god _Superstition_, merely because of a difference of opinion as to the visible "Head" of that Superstition, really believe that this poor old man (called by the larger portion of Christians, with profound worship, Pope, _Holy Father_) may, by his wicked devices, allure into his worship, and bring under his power, the English Barbarians; to the everlasting destruction of their souls!

This notion of an _Evil-one_, universal among all the Barbarians, I never well comprehended. We have in our Flowery Kingdom Sects which believe in good and bad _Spirits_; although our _Literati_ smile at such things; that is, in the vulgar forms. But the Christians assert that the Devil is too strong with men for the Supreme Lord--and the English _Sect_ say that the Pope is a very child of the Devil! To be sure, their Sect is the feeblest of all, and merely separated from the great Pope-sect upon points not touching the superstition itself, and really on selfish and personal grounds. They know that the Pope justly claims a direct and regular succession from the _Christ-God_; that he and his adherents, forming the vast majority of _Christians_ (as all the sects call themselves) are believers with themselves in all the main "_dogmas_" [ka-nti] of the Superstition; yet, none the less, they are the children of the Evil-one, and fit for Hell. And not the vulgar only, but the learned actually have a horror that the Pope may be again worshipped in England. A calamity too terrible for contemplation!

The Pope-worshipping Sect repay this hate with an equal abhorrence, and send the English _heretics_ to the awful Hell, with the same satisfaction.

All the Western Barbarians worship this new _Christ-God_, but, like our devoters of _Fo_, divided into many Sects, as I have already intimated. The benignant _Fo_, teaches his idolatrous devotees how to differ without hate. But, these _Christians_ are always at strife, bitter and irreconcilable; not as to essentials, even within the Superstition itself, (to say nothing of genuine morality), but as to things trivial and absurd. One will say, "Be baptised or be damned to the eternal Hell!" But another says, "Baptism is only a symbol, one may be saved without it." Then, "What is baptism?" Some say "The Priest must immerse in water;" but another, "No, the Priest must sprinkle the face only." Yet another, "Water is itself nothing, Priest nothing, unless before either, the baptism of the 'Holy Spirit' have occurred." To perfect the "rite," all say that the Priest must offer proper "Incantations," and generally in the Temples before the Idol. The contestants damn each other to everlasting torments for not being _truly_ baptised.

All the Sects say, "You must believe in Christ or be damned;" but do not agree as to what this _Belief_ is, and go on damning each the other for not having truly believed.

It is impossible, however, to make intelligible the countless vagaries of the Sects. They all fight under the same _Christ-God_, whom they all address, among other titles, as the "Prince of Peace" [Tchu-pe]. They all profess to follow His precepts, one of which is to love all men, even enemies (not _friends_, one of these angry disputants once said). These revered Precepts are written in the _Sacred Books_, and all the Sects swear their oaths upon these, and resort to them for the unchangeable rules of belief and practice. They all declare that the _Sacred Writings_ are so plain that a man, "though a fool, may understand," and so clear, "that he who runs may read." Yet, they curse each other to the eternal torments for interpreting erroneously. The truth is, that _the Books_ are most obscure, and differences of interpretation are inseperable from their use; the terrible thing is, that Superstition has made these differences so important. The _Sacred Writings_ are contradictory, and teeming with things indifferent, meaningless, or trivial. Written at widely different periods, by many hands, long ages ago, in an obscure and barbarous dialect, for different objects, their true meanings cannot always be rendered. But few, even of the Priest-class, can read them at all in the original. They are mainly Records of the Laws, customs and wars of an obscure and terrible race, here and there interspersed with Invocations to the Gods of that race, and with their Proverbs, or words of wisdom. This tribe, called _Jews_, revolted from their masters, the Egyptians, and fled into a desert region lying west from the Hindoos. The man who led them in this revolt was learned in the laws and customs of Egypt, and upon these he founded his own system. He declared himself to be directly called by Jah (Jehovah) to be their High Priest and Judge--that they were to obey him who received from Jah immediate instructions--that, in fact, to disobey him was to disobey Jah. That he was to lead them forth to found a new State, and that the power to announce the will of Jah alone resided with him and his successors, in this High Priesthood, and that they could only be successful over their enemies and prosper, by an implicit obedience to Jah, by the mouth of the High Priest.

This event took place in our dynasty, _Shang_; and our annals, referring to the Western Barbarians of the ancient times, make mention of some things--obscure movements of tribes, and of the great works performed by the Egyptians; and of a servile race, condemned to toil on these structures: and, possibly, this revolt of the Jews may have been contained in these references. However, the whole matter would have been lost ages ago, nor have left a trace, but for the singular circumstance that the ancient records of these Jews have in a good measure escaped destruction. This happened not by any chance; but from the fact that the High Priest, pretending to be the very mouth of Jah, made all his utterances _Sacred_; and the Priesthood, inscribing and preserving the Jewish "Rites," worship and institutes of all kinds, guarded these writings with extreme care; which the reverence of the Superstitious people enhanced. Thus these _Institutes_ of the Jews, declared to be by the Priests the very will of Jah, came to be "_Holy_" [Kan-ti]--inviolable! Now, the Barbarians regard this preservation of the Jewish Records as an evidence of their divinity, and a clear warning to man not to disregard them; and when they assert (as, by the High Priest, they constantly do), "Thus saith the Lord-God-Jah," they accept the declaration, and bow before it, as the very word of Jehovah! But we know that similar "_Sacred Writings_" are common in the East, and that these pretensions of the Priests are as universal as _Superstition_ itself; in fact, form the chief features in it.

The new Christ-God was a Jew; and, though, singularly enough, in the words ascribed to him, in those parts of the _Sacred Writings_ assigned to him and his immediate followers, there are bitter denunciations of the spirit and of the letter of much in the old, Priest-made part; and he distinctly says that his office is to give new and reformed rules; none the less, his immediate followers, being Jews, naturally looked upon him as Great High-Priest, speaking as did their ancient High-Priest (High-Priest and Christ-God)--the very "mouth-piece" [Mu-te-pi] of Jehovah! Adding to the High-Priest a _Messiahship_; for they believed him to be the mysterious _Messiah_ of their Sacred Writings, foretold by their wise _Seers_ long ages before! The great High-Priest who should deliver them from all their enemies, and lead them to a universal dominion! Very few of the Jews themselves, however, adhered to this opinion: in fact, Christ was put to a shameful death by them as an _Imposter_ [Kon-ti-fe]. And by the Jews, in general, he was and is still considered to be a misguided fanatic. The Romans at this time held the Jewish province, and continued to do so. Meantime, the followers of the Christ-God, as I have said, spread by degrees, after his death, into other Roman provinces. New Superstitions were often greedily received; the Western Barbarians had always readily adopted new gods, and new Superstitions. This idolatry was, however, held in contempt by the learned; but it slowly spread among the lower orders, and penetrated to Rome itself.

The Roman soldiery, in some instances, made it conspicuous; and, after some generations, a Roman Emperor, thinking he saw some miraculous evidence of its divine force (in the workings of his own dark imagination), forced this new Superstition upon his Empire. That Empire embraced the Western world. The Barbarians who succeeded to them adopted, largely, their laws; their worship, and their religious rites. Thus, these Western Barbarians are _Christians_; and, though they detest the Jews none the less, hold to their "Sacred Writings" as the very words of Jah--whom they also worship! This they do because they follow the few Jews who accepted Christ as Jehovah, rather than the _whole people_ who rejected him!--follow the few who accepted Christ as the Messiah-God promised in the "Sacred Writings;" and hold with them that these are the only _Revelation_ of the will of Jehovah to man! By _Jehovah_ meaning the only Supreme Lord of Heaven!

The remarkable thing is that this enormous pretension is not ascribed to _Christ_, but is obscurely announced in certain writings of the early Christian Jews. Thus these Western Barbarians, scoffing the name of Jew, accept of his ancient and ferocious god, and adopt the barbarous _rites_ of a blood-thirsty and obscure tribe of the desert, make the records kept by the Priests of the tribe _Sacred_, and curse to _Hell_ the whole Jewish race for not accepting the interpretation of _a few of their number_--the few, and only a few, worshipping Christ as the true _Christ-God_. That is, these Barbarians better understand the subject than the people into whose hands the matter was entrusted by Divine wisdom.

When one considers, then, the foundation of the great worship of the West, one wonders not at the Sects and strife. Founded in dark and cruel _institutes_ of ignorant antiquity, the attempt to engraft a better system failed, because in this attempt the Priests were still _Jews_, who, adoring Christ, adored him as Jehovah and a Jewish High-Priest. What follows becomes more intelligible, but not less astonishing. The new worship has its divine _Revelation_ from Jah, interpreted by its Priests, who introduce Christ as their great High-Priest, and the _Christ-Jehovah_ of the new worship. All are _damned_ to the everlasting Hell who do not believe these Priests, worship this new god, and accept as the very Divine _Word_ these _Jewish writings_. This superstition suited the dark imaginations of the Barbarians, and was, in truth, not unlike their own, and may have had a common origin.

The intellectual activity of succeeding ages has been mainly devoted to these _Sacred Writings_; and the disputes, as to the meaning, never-ending. Every word has been criticised. _Sects_ have been formed upon a syllable--appearing and disappearing. Now one would madly starve, another feast. Some fanatics would live in caves, some on inaccessible mountains; some tortured themselves, and held women to be unclean unless they married _Christ_. Some would only shout their invocations, others would only commune with the god _inside_. Some _would_ kneel, others _would_ stand. Sometimes a sect more wild than usual would organise vast bands of warriors, all wearing a symbol to show that they were Christians--usually a _cross_ (because the Jews put Christ to death by hanging him upon a cross); and, placing Priests at the head, would rush to distant parts to root out _pagans_. These dreadful slaughters of distant tribes were called _Crossades_ (from the symbol referred to). Some Sects destroyed society by another fanaticism; they forced men to live in caves or in dark stone chambers, shut off from all cheerful life, and from all intercourse with women; where they should constantly make invocations, lash themselves with thongs, and half-starve themselves; having skulls to hold before them, and awful paintings of Hell and devils to horrify them,--if perchance they may propitiate the _Christ-God_, Jah. Women also being driven into similar, horrid imprisonment in stone vaults, where the whole life is spent in invocations and sufferings, without so much as seeing any man.

These and numberless other things grow out of the interpretations, ever-changing, of the _Sacred Writings_; which, to the dark imaginings of Priests and devotees, seem ever to give such utterances as fit to their feelings. To the Priests they are an unfailing arsenal of power.

For many ages nearly all the Books written--mainly by Priests--were in respect of the _Sacred Writings_; called commentaries, homilies, disputations, doctrines, invocations, sermons; endless in name, and nameless.

This _Literature_ is less in repute than formerly, and immense collections of huge writings are now rotting away in the dismal alcoves of _Libraries_ [Buk-sti], as great stone buildings for keeping Books are called. This _Literature_ is rarely looked at now, excepting by the Priests and antiquaries [ol-olphoo]; much of it is obsolete in form, or in the Roman--not now so much in vogue as formerly. A large portion of the writings, and a larger portion of the "speeches" [phi-lu-tin], however, are devoted to the same subject; but the style is modern, and less obscure, though not less deformed by a dark and irrational superstition.

To my poor mind, were all these innumerable productions of gloomy and bewildered intellects--misled and crazed by a monstrous Idolatry--swept for ever away, nothing would be lost--nothing, unless the most astonishing monument ever builded by man. However, it is doubtful whether to lose even this is not better than to have _anything_ left of so monstrous a Pretension.

Whilst thus the Barbarian _brain_ wasted itself in this wretched work, and piled up its ponderous tomes of useless, and worse than useless, Literature--holding knowledge in general as vain, and _Science_, when, in Priestly interpretation, not according to the barbarous _Sacred Writings_, as a thing to be accursed--activity of body, during the same ages, did _its_ dreadful work. Directed by the Priests, one _Sect_ denounced another as _damnable_, and the stronger attempted to destroy the weaker by "fire and sword." New contentions would arise, to be crushed out by bloody execution; only to spring up again, to be again extirpated. Every _Sect_ as it appeared would fight for supremacy. All worshipped the Christ-God, and sought the same Sacred Writings; and all invoked His aid, and pointed to those Writings for their authority--to exterminate a weaker _Sect_; to deliver over whole provinces to rapine, slaughter, burning, destruction; cities in conflagration; women, children, as well as men, not merely slain, but put to death with tortures unspeakable; massacres, by treachery and surprise, of thousands and tens of thousands! To such work was the activity of body largely directed by Priests and the savage chiefs. For ages these atrocities were perpetrated. History has no parallel of horror; human nature seemed to have become possessed by the _Devil_ of the Superstition, and exceeded its _diabolism_ [pau-di-ki]. In the name of Christ, fire, slaughter, and rapine, spread over the whole immense world. Wherever the Priests of this dark superstition became powerful, everything which opposed them perished. It was a cardinal principle that men could be saved from the dreadful Hell only by the aid of the Priests, and by accepting of their interpretation of the _Sacred Writings_. The system erected by the Priests was called the _Church_, and none could be saved unless they were in the pale of _Holy Church_--unless they, in the manner directed by the Priests, performed all the rites of worship. These not merely were directed to the worship of the Sacred Writings, the Christ-God and Jah, but to the mother of God and to the Pope. In England, by and by, the Priests threw off the Roman Pope, and set up the English Sovereign, for the time being, as Pope, and put men and women to death by fire and torture for still preferring the older Idol.

Nor is this madness, this fanatical fury, wholly expended. Education has not yet raised these Western tribes into the enjoyment of a rational worship--of a rational morality--of a life, calm, tolerant, and beneficent. They have never attained the civilisation of our Central Kingdom, and to the wisdom of our illuminated Confutse.

There is morality to be found among them, and a few worship, purely and simply, the God of Heaven, and look with untroubled hearts upon the senseless superstitions. The masses are, however, still held in them; and the High Castes either hold to the prevailing idolatries, or pretend to do so. This old Jewish Worship, with its _rites_ and pretensions, fastened upon tribes by Priests and the Roman power, is still dominant in the West. In England to-day it is the same superstition, only the Queen is Pope, instead of the Man at Rome. For this the English are _damned_, as worthy of Hell-fire, by Roman Pope worshippers; and the English return the curse. A constant _Bugbear_ [Do-nki] to the English mind is, that the more powerful Roman Pope may get into England again; then, what horrors! Nor does this frightful _chimera_ alone alarm the lower people; the most learned Englishmen, and their wisest, exert their minds in writing and in preaching against this terrible thing.

To me this seemed strange--incredible. The English Barbarians are, in general, sharp enough; they are learned in many things; they can see the absurdity of Eastern superstitions; they denounce the Roman-Pope worship as worthy of _hell_; but they worship a Queen-pope at home, and the same Christ-Jah-god and "sacred writings" which the Romans worship. They believe, as do the Roman-pope worshippers, that all who do not worship the _sacred writings_ and the _Christ-Jah-god_, and accept of the Priest-_Church_, will inevitably burn for ever in fires of Hell; yet, because of the separation as to Pope worship, each regards the other _sect_ with a hatred only appeased by sending each the other to the dreadful Hell! How incredible that the human mind--the active and skilled human mind--should alarm itself and others for fear of the worship of a Pope--a man: and really think the condition of the human soul would be hopelessly wretched--if it mistook the right object of worship--the idol of Rome, or the idol of England! The intellect truly employed would be directed to the overthrow of _the superstition_ and its objects of idolatry altogether. The Roman or the English Pope--the Roman or the English _sect_--what matter? Both alike indifferent and worthless to an intelligent worshipper of the SUPREME LORD OF HEAVEN (Hoang-chan-ti). His worship is elevating, supporting a clean morality, tolerant, benevolent--a morality found wherever man is found; debased, more or less, as man be debased, or as he may be sunken in vicious or cruel superstitions.

To restore a pure worship is to help on a better civilisation among the Barbarians. Nor would a respect for the morality ascribed to Christ do other than help in the same way. The misfortune is, that that morality has been overlaid with Jewish and Priestly additions and inventions. There are some of the English _literati_ who dare to teach a purer worship, discarding the _superstition_ in its grosser pretensions; but they are not listened to.

It is difficult to understand what is accepted as _true_ by the differing _Sects_--but their differences may be disregarded--and I will refer to what all the Sects of the _Great Superstition_ subscribe to, aside from the matter of _Pope_.

_One, only God_: in three parts--each part a very God!

1. _The Judge and destroyer_ of mankind; for all are damned to Hell! This is the Jewish Jah.

2. _The Son_, begotten of Jah upon an immaculate virgin. Sent to mediate with Jah and appease His fierce anger, so that some may escape Hell--that is, those few who have "_believed in_" _and worshipped the Son_, the Father, and other things. For as to what is to be believed, form the points of endless contention, as I have hinted.

3. _The Holy Ghost_, or Comforter, whose function I have never comprehended. It appears to be a divine _Effluence_, entering into the devotee, to warm, exalt, and enlighten him; especially to comfort him and to support him in his dire conflicts with "_the flesh, hell, and the devil_" (as the Superstition reads). It is an "awful mystery" in the _rites_, and has crazed many a worshipper; for those who fancy themselves to be in the possession of this _Effluence_ feel like gods, and conduct themselves as scarcely accountable to mortal control; though others feel an absorption, as they say, into the divine nature--a notion like that of some of the fanatics of the Hindoos and of the East.

As powerful, indeed more powerful over men, is the terrible Satan--_Devil_, _Evil One_. There are many names and shapes. This monster was once (according to the superstition) chained down in hell-fire, for having raised a rebellion against Jah, who, however, let him loose again, and gave him wings to fly from his fiery prison to the world, where he should wage war with Jah, in a covert way, by his craft drawing away mankind from Jah to his worship and to his designs; that, however, he should never prevail to overthrow Jah, and the only result would be to increase the number of the countless devils of low degree already in Hell, by adding to them nearly the whole human race!--for to that torment all go who do not worship in spirit and in truth, according to the superstition. This awful strife between Satan and Jah always proceeds. The Priests say that, for "some wise purpose," Jah suffers Satan to succeed in his snares; and his victims continually fall into the everlasting place of Fire, prepared for the devil and his victims. The Priests say that this wholesale destruction of mankind was a thing predetermined by Jah, and that he created the Devil to accomplish the work; but they do not explain why the torments should be everlasting; as men are themselves short-lived, one would think a reasonable superstition might have limited the fire-torture to, say, twice the length of mortal life!

Our _Literati_ will readily recognise some parts of this horrible superstition--perhaps the main features, as Oriental--going back to the dimmest dawn of tradition, and to the early and grotesque forms of the human imagination, dark and uninstructed. The _Hell_, however, is a terrific expansion of the horrible, suited to these Strange Barbarians.

Besides these great deities, there are Arch-angels, Angels, Saints male and female, Spirits good and bad--the latter _Imps_ of Satan (whatever the word may mean), who enter into human beings, and take on the human form: in this disguise, called Ghosts, Wizards, Bogies, Witches. However, good people can tell these devilish _Imps_, and avoid them (so they be _good_, that is, true worshippers of the Idols of the Superstition); for the smell of brimstone sticks to them, and the tail and cleft-hoof--inseparable from devil-imps--will always show somewhere to _the good_. But, if unawares the Imps catch them, they are only to say _Christ_, or _Jehovah_, or call on some Saint, and the Imp will at once vanish like a vapor!

It will be seen that this Superstition is as populous with gods and spirits as are any in the East, and some of the forms more frightful and ridiculous.

There are dissentients--some, who, not dissenting to the chief gods, yet conjecture that the good and bad _spirits_ merely symbolize good and bad propensities in human nature. But real objectors are few and timid, afraid of punishment--if not here, then after death. For the Superstition so long rooted has engrafted its terrors in the very blood, and men are born with the _Horror_ in them; they can never free themselves from it. A few, however, do dissent; but, like our _Literati_, they do not care to oppose vulgar ignorance openly, nor is it safe; they feel a contempt, but repress its too-marked expression. "Why render themselves uselessly odious?" they say. The Priests, very likely, often disbelieve much of what they say; but not unlikely their emoluments (_livings_) have some effect upon their conduct, though not upon their private convictions. In our Flowery Land there is a maxim: "A common man's brain is in his belly."

I have had a High Bonze say to me, when I have suggested some objections, "Oh, we do not know anything about such things; the morality is good, and we need a devil for women, children, and the common people: it is safer to let things alone."

"But," I have rejoined, "_Is_ it quite well, in the long run, to teach falsely?"

"I do not say it is well to teach _falsely_. I said, I do not know--who does? Men more learned than I believe strongly, men wiser than I have "gone to the stake and perished by slow torture of fire," made _martyrs_ (we have no such word) of themselves, rather than deny these things. They were probably right. I simply take things as they are."

"But," I replied, "surely misguided fanaticism, of which the world is full, is proof of nothing whatever, unless of the sincerity of the madman--not always of that."

"My dear Ah-Chin, you are very quick, and no fool (I beg pardon), but you do not understand it. The Superstitious parts are mere forms; and as to the _horrors_, as you call them, I think them indispensable; they are better than the Police." (The Police are the officers who arrest offenders in the streets and public places.)

The Bonzes who talk in this way are, usually, what are derisively termed "hunting and fishing" Bonzes, not remarkable for strictness of conduct, though quite as likely to stick to the Temples, like our Bonzes; they are not likely to pull down the roof which shelters them. The Superstition is less revered than formerly, and its wilder parts are less obtrusive. Its pretensions are not moderated in terms, but the practice is more moderate. Sects do not put each other to death, at present, though so much of the old bitterness remains that no one can say what horrors might follow upon unexpected changes. Gradually wise men endeavour to drop out of sight the Jewish and Priestly creations, and, inculcating morality, take the _Christ-God_ as symbol of Charity, and his moral precepts as the basis of a moral Philosophy; or (to be less offensive to the Superstition) _Christian Philosophy_. In this way they seize hold of what is true in the Great Idolatry, and endeavour to ignore the grosser parts altogether. They hope to bring about a rational worship without violence, by a gradual disuse and forgetfulness of the irrational, and are willing to yield something to ignorance, if they can by that means, in the end, enlighten it. They allow to Christ an exalted character, large in the divine faculty, and divine as man is divine in possessing that faculty--to say, _the moral_. In this, much as we see in our exalted _Confutze_, who lived and taught long before the period ascribed to Christ, and from whom the Western tribes, doubtless, received their moral notions.

The religion of Wise men is the same at all times and everywhere. Wherever some intellectual culture exists, men will be found who understand and practise the rules of morality; and wherever this is general, there is the higher civilisation. This higher civilisation, resting upon a general morality among a people, has for its base a rational recognition of the Sovereign Lord and man's dependency and accountability to Him; _Father of men_; and Himself the source of this morality. He, _in this faculty, reveals Himself_, and shows to man _his_ sole claim to a divine relationship.

This higher civilisation does not mistake intellectual achievement as its title to enlightenment. The sharp and active brain is quite consistent with the base and low; and may be indifferent to superstitions and degrading idolatries. But the moral faculty, active and large, at once refines and exalts the intellect; then men are truly _wise_, and degrading superstitions die.

The object, then, to which the true worshipper aims, everywhere, is to bring man out of a debased into an enlightened recognition of the Supreme Lord and of this simple relationship; to teach that the human race form one family, united indissolubly to each other, and to the Supreme Lord, by the divine moral faculty, to which the intellect is subordinate; that by this they may be all truly enlightened, and worship simply and truly, with grateful and serene trust, the Supreme Lord and Father of all. This worship can never be other than beneficent. It is only the expression of gratitude; the desire for better wisdom, for still larger charity, a well-doing and serene life, at peace with itself and all beside.

To a civilisation resting upon this simple and direct worship and morality, few barbarians have any perception; their pride and gross superstitions have made it impossible.

The temples are often very grand and beautiful, built of hewn stone, with lofty domes, towers, bells, and spires. The priests are very numerous, and divided into many ranks. The lowest are the curates, who do the "_dirty_" work, as the English phrase it. They are but little better than beggars, though mentally often superior to those who half-starve them, whilst the higher ranks (by whom they are hired) live luxuriously.

The _Sacred Writings_ say that Christ was Himself a mendicant, and that his first followers were but little better; that he denounced, in bitter terms, all pride and luxury; that the true object of life was not to think of oneself, but of others; to give to the poor, help the distressed, and the like. In truth, this benevolence and the moral precepts of Christ (as I have already said) are its _salt_ [pho-zi].

I have, in the temples, heard a High-Caste Priest eloquently exalt this benevolence, and pointing out the divine charity of the _Master_ (as Christ is often called),--heard him say, "My brethren, give to the poor, help the suffering, do good whenever you can, give your all to Christ."

I have said, "This is excellent; I will talk with this benevolent Bonze." On one occasion I did so. The High-Caste had dined; I was ushered into his presence; the fruits and the wine were still before him. I approached and bowed low before him, and dared to ask, "Is your illustrious body well?" He slightly nodded, and waved me to a seat. I expressed my admiration of his benevolent morality, as shown in his exalted _invocation_ in the Temple. "Oh, that was of course; we do not rely upon morality." I begged pardon, but did not understand. He added: "Morals are well, in their way. Charity is a good thing, if the purpose be sanctified; but nobody is saved by his goodness." He saw my bewilderment. "Oh, I deplore your darkness; I grieve over the errors, too fatal, even in our Christian land." I could only bow. He continued: "When will the darkness of superstition give way, in the East, to our glorious religion? When will the worship of Christ spread over the whole benighted world?" I ventured to hint that I had called to speak my thought of his noble benevolence. "Oh, yes, we must give. But the true worship--knowledge of, and belief in, the _Redeemer_--ah! that is the only means of salvation; those are the vital things." I said, "The poor are everywhere, and need help." He looked at me suspiciously for a moment, and then brightened; he saw I had not come to ask for anything. "Yes; the Scriptures say, 'The poor ye will always have with ye,' and we cannot alter it." "I am told that your Low-Caste Priests are good men, and do nearly all the work. I know one of these who is very kind. Your benevolence is like our _Confutze_, who had a tender regard for the poor and distressed."

"Ah, our divine _Master_ taught charity; but one must go higher than that." "Pardon my poor mind, but do you _not_ really give to the poor, in your temples, as your exalted Wisdom taught?" "Ah-Chin, you mistake; but one must overlook your darkness of mind--no offence--_Society_ takes all I can spare, and I give to Curates from my revenue." "Society? I do not comprehend." "Well, no; you know nothing of the incessant calls. We must visit and receive visits; keep up equipages, servants; then there are always poor relations, and the poor Curates (these are the 'poor relations' of our order)." "But the Curates are poorly paid, I am told, and deserving." "The Curates are well enough; but more fuss is made than need be. I was a Curate, Ah-Chin, myself." "Your illustrious did not need aid, perhaps?" "Well, yes; I got Curate-fare--cold shoulders of mutton, and other colder shoulders." I saw that there was something which I was not to understand. "Pardon, but the _Society_ is not to be put before the Christ-God?" "I beg, sir, you speak not in that way. I pardon much to your darkness. Do not again profane our blessed and holy religion."

This alarmed me; I did not know what portended. I bowed very low, and humbly craved permission to take my leave. I really feared punishment--perhaps of the _Cangue_, or pan-tsee. I afterwards knew, no more than the reproof of the High-Bonze was imminent; though, had the common people caught a _pagan Chinee_ who had dared to speak, in their notion, disrespectfully of their Idols, he would be fortunate to have no worse treatment than a _ducking in a horse-pond_ [phu-it-mu-dsi-wo].

What but slow progress is to be expected when a people--even the _Literati_--are so superstitious? for the errors there, make obstacles everywhere. It is but just now that nearly the whole population of the province of Ireland (one-third of the kingdom) have been relieved from maintaining the English Idolatry, though they detested it.

The intolerance of the devotees prevents better men from reforming abuses, even in the Temples. If a Priest dare to moderate the excessive absurdities of the Superstition, he at once endangers his _Living_, and is likely to be degraded and driven forth to neglect and poverty.

I, myself, knew a Wise Priest of rank, who very innocently published some comments upon the _Sacred Writings_, wherein he showed that the statements as they stood were simply impossible. Now, as I have said, the _Sacred Writings_ are worshipped; and to doubt that they are the words of Jah is horrible--formerly punished by death, now by degradation, _excommunication_, and loss of revenue. This poor man did not express any doubt; he merely pointed out an error, which might be there _somehow_, and which he thought, in his simplicity, should be removed or explained. But the _Canon_ [ban-gwo] of the Superstition allowed of no comment of that sort as to the Word of Jehovah! and cursed out of the Temples, with his Priest-robe torn off, and his money stript from him, the daring _blasphemer_ [zw-an] must go!

This is an astonishing _Canon_; for if one allows that four thousand years ago Jehovah spoke words which were _then_ inscribed--if one allows that the Jewish Priests kept annals and chronicles, and down through different ages preserved and added to their histories--if one allows that the followers of Christ after his death recorded some things concerning his life and his teachings, and that other followers wrote letters upon these matters--yet, one must also allow that all these writings were written at different periods, for different purposes, and in different and scattered records; all in obscure and unknown tongues; that they have been copied, re-copied, translated--that there are various versions--that, in respect of their meaning, and even of their right to be called a part of the Word, the highest and best cannot agree! Yet, through all the changes of great periods of time--through darkness, and wars, and every sort of ignorant credulity--through everything! _every word_ of this huge collection of Obscure and Ancient Literature, and of an Obscure and Barbarous People, remains exactly as originally delivered by Jah! "Oh, certainly," says his devotee, "because _He has preserved them_." "Yes; but when a statement is absolutely impossible--as where 'the water covered the whole earth.'" "Oh, the _Word_ does not deal with Science." I think not; Jah was not a god of science--he was, in fact, just as ignorant as the Jew-Priests who pretended to speak his _Word_!

Yet this inconceivable _Canon_ goes further, and declares that this _Word_ is the absolute, and only, and perfect _Revelation_ of the Deity to man; that it contains the only TRUTH, and is the only way by which man, _under damnation already_, can have _any_ hope, however small, of escaping the everlasting fire of hell! Upon this _Canon_ all the Sects of the Western Barbarians erect their _Idolatries_--they call them Churches; but, as we have seen, they are for ever fighting as to the meaning of these very Sacred Writings!

Another _Canon_ is, that Christ is the very God (Jah), and that the Holy Ghost is also the very God. And to deny this _Canon_ is to go to Hell! Nor does it at all matter that one has never heard of this, nor that he could have never heard. The whole race of man before Christ was born, to this very hour, are either burning, and will surely burn, in everlasting fires of Hell, unless they have _believed_ in this Canon! And Jah contrived that all this should be exactly so; though he did also plan from all time that his Son, Christ, should go down to the world and get himself put _to death_; and thus the great Jah, appeased by the sight of his Son _dying on a cross_, should be so far softened that some would escape Hell! Only a very few; because no one could escape unless he knew, and believed, and accepted, and _was born_ into the very blood of this son! A mystery so incomprehensible, that Christians do not pretend to solve it, and are always trembling for fear that they may not have been _born again_!

How, under these circumstances, as Jah cruelly neglected to let the _Heathen_ know that they could be saved--(indeed, they suspect no danger)--the good-hearted devotees of the Barbarians employ Bonzes to go over the great Seas to the _Heathen_, to carry them the _glad tidings_! These delegates from the Barbarians are called _Missionaries_, and the Temples and devotees are full of prayers and invocations for the Salvation of the Heathen! by which is meant the worship of the Barbarians duly adopted in our Central Kingdom, and in other regions of the wide world not under the sway of these Idolaters!

But our Flowery Kingdom, from so long ago as dynasty _Whey-Song_, has known of these missionaries; and we know of some now amongst us. They are harmless enough, and quite fully understand how to adapt themselves to circumstances, and draw the money necessary to their support. The Bonzes of the Roman Sect are the wisest, and care for nothing very idolatrous; if a _convert_ will go so far as to be baptised [Wa-shti] they are quite content. They seek to be useful, and keep the obnoxious features of the Superstition out of sight.

There are also some Jews in our Central Kingdom. They have been known in some provinces from a time long before the supposed birth of Christ.

Another _Sect_ of the region of the Western Barbarians (in the Eastern parts), who worship a god named _Mohammed_--a _Sect_ merely an offshoot of the Jews, from whom they adopted the most part of their superstition, and equally fierce and intolerant--penetrated into our Flowery Land soon after its rise. It was about six hundred years ago that they established a slight hold amongst us, and are still to be found--never here in their weakness exhibiting any of the savagery of strength. In a large portion of the Western regions they were for ages as cruel and destructive as the Christians, and, in fact, waged wars with them for absolute mastery, during which all the horrors usual to those dreadful Barbarians terrified and maddened mankind. Finally, these two Sects, _Christian and Mohammedan_ (so styled), divided the whole region of the Western Barbarians among themselves! and from that time have been less quarrelsome with each other, than have the _Sects_ of the two great divisions in their intestine conflicts.

Thus, it will be acknowledged that the Barbarians are well disposed sometimes towards us,--or at any rate the devotees of their Superstition are,--and we must gratefully thank them for their sincere anxiety for the salvation of our _souls_; for our _bodies_ that is another matter. They think us ignorant, even of the ordinary rules of morality. They do not know that before Greece or Rome had appeared in history, our worship of the Sovereign Lord and our moral precepts were established, purely, simply, and that our annals show that the Grecian and Roman culture largely borrowed from ours, though not the _Superstitions_. These were derived, probably, from some source common to the Western Barbarians, likely Egyptian, and though modified by habits of tribes, retained more or less of those original traits which appear in all.

The Temples are numerous, though often quite deserted except by the Bonzes and their servants. The same revenues are taken by the Bonze whether there be any worshippers or not, and sometimes the prayers are said or sung to empty forms (seats)--not more empty than the prayers.

Next in rank to Curates come Rectors, who enjoy good _Livings_ [mo-tsi], and have fine houses and gardens. The other higher ranks, are Arch-Bishops, Bishops, called Lords [tchou], who live in stone _palaces_, and have great revenues; but Society robs them of the larger portion of this revenue,--a barbarous injustice,--leaving the poor Lords quite destitute. I was told this; but I never happened to meet with a starved Bishop.

These _Tchou_-Bonzes intermarry with the High-Castes, perform the marriage ceremony for them, wait upon the Queen with invocations to the gods--baptize royal infants; that is, sprinkle them when eight days old, in the Temples with invocations, with many ceremonies, after which they are safe from the devil and the dreadful Hell; these are the chief duties of their exalted office. As great _lay-lords_ (that is Lords not of the soul but of the clay--lay), they sit in the great Law-making _Council_; where their function is, to see to it that no law be made which in any way can injure the temples, or their own revenues and powers. One does not see that they are remarkable for the practice of the virtues which they teach; nor that they are meek and lowly followers of the Lamb (Christ-god); or that they very often "wash the feet of the disciples"--although they are commanded in the _Sacred Writings_ to do these things; and also to succour the distressed, give to the poor, and other like acts of charity. I should have been pleased to see a Bishop kneeling and washing the feet of some devotee! but I never did. They discharge those duties which they owe to Society with honourable punctuality: keeping up neat equipages, sleek horses, and pious servants; and wearing the garb of their order with a scrupulous exactness, even to the shoe-buckles.

They quote the example of the Christ-god, who, when on the world, made from common water _good wine_; and are very choice respecting this article. As to charity, they are so robbed by Society, that, what with gifts for the _Heathen_, and poor relations (for whom they are also expected to get good _Livings_ in the Temples), they have but little to spare. Then, too, "Charity begins at home" (the _Sacred Writings_ declare), and he who does not take care of himself, and those who are dependent upon him, "is worse than a Heathen" (This is again from the _Sacred_ words). For those poor and benighted creatures, sunk in dreadful idolatries, indeed, something must be put into the Missionary box!

The different _Sects_ quarrel as to particular modes of Worship in the Temples. Some will have candles lighted, to please the idols; others say, they do not need candles, and are offended by the smell. Some say, You should make Invocations kneeling; others say, standing. Some say, one should face to the East, others say, to the North. Some say, you should pray aloud; others say, silent prayers are more acceptable. And very sharp quarrels and _new Sects_ arise upon these matters. None are allowed to worship in Temples but devotees of the High-Caste Sect. All others must worship in Temples not dignified by a loftier name than _Conventicle_, _Chapel_, or the like.

I will state, briefly, what is the ceremony of Idolatry in the great _Queen-pope_ Sect. She is worshipped in the Invocations, and receives, with her children, a place in the prayers.

When the great bells sound from the high, stone towers, the High-Castes go, richly dressed, into the Temples, uncover and bow the heads to the Idol, in silence--making Invocations, silently. By the command of the Jewish _Sacred Writings_ the Seventh day (so, continuously, for ever) is devoted to the grand Worship in the Temples. This is a marked thing among the Western Barbarians--this devotion of one day in every seven to the Worship of Jah--as ordered in the Sacred Word. It is declared to be Jah's day--_Holy_-day. And it is so sacred, that there is danger of Hell to him who

"Does any work or play Upon the sacred day,"

as the mongrel verse-makers of the _Superstition_ have it! And the Priests vehemently denounce all who do not worship upon that day.

Some object to so great strictness; and the quarrel, as usual, is bitter between the strict and the not-so-strict Holy-day worshippers.

Those not-so-strict think that the poor, who work six days, should be allowed to go to the places of amusement on the seventh, and enjoy harmless recreations. The strict say they should be punished for desecrating the day by their neglect of worship; yet the poor cannot go in dirt and rags to the Temples. The High-Castes go there in rich attire, and would be incommoded by the poor--indeed, the High and Low Castes never mingle, not even in their worship. In truth, not many of any rank attend upon the Priests in worship. The devotees are mostly old women and older men, a few young people attracted by opposite attraction of sex, children and servants; a few pauper children may be huddled into a dark corner for fear of offending the idols.

The Priests face the Idol, and make Incantations, which are repeated, age after age, without any alteration; no Priest dare to make any the least change; the wrath of the gods would follow.

One peculiarity is, that the most abject _confessions_ are made, by Priests and devotees, of heinous offences--making eternal punishment fitly their due. They beg for pardon and that _salvation_ (meaning deliverance from the awful Hell) may be granted, not for any good in them, but wholly for the sake of the Son--the _Christ_. On my first attendance in a Temple, when I heard these fearful confessions and looked upon the fine women; the carefully dressed worshippers, I thought, "How dreadful, these High-Castes such wretches--incredible!"

I afterwards discovered that the _sins_ [ly-ie], the offences confessed, were merely _ecclesiastical_ (we have no term like it); nobody ever really confesses any wrong which he may have committed.

The grand act of worship is, however, the _Creed_ (here again in our Flowery Land we have no term)--an Invocation and Declaration wherein all swear, under the awful penalty of eternal burnings in Hell and torments of Satan for ever, that they believe and worship all points of the _Superstition_ with thankful hearts and undoubting minds. Repeating after the Priest, all standing, facing the Idol, uncovered, with eyes downcast and deep abasement.

The Incantations do not differ from the Invocations, only they are droned out in songs, more dismally, perhaps. The burden of both is to deliver the _true_ worshippers from "the wiles of the flesh and the devil"; to overthrow, if possible, this awful demon, and to save sinners, of whom the worshippers declare themselves, in a hundred different ways, to be chief, "_miserable offenders_" [ka-nt-lm-mbi]. These, and lofty exaltation of the _Christ-God_ and of the Father Jah, who, when He had given his word that nothing could save man from Hell, graciously allowed the Jews to crucify the Son, that in the Son's sufferings He, Jah, might let off some of the sufferings of mankind. Possibly some of the present worshippers might be among the lucky _saved_. For this _salvation_ endless praises are to be Sung in the Temples below; and for ever and for ever in the great Heavens, through the infinite eternal worlds without end.

A Hymn of Praise in which all join ends the act of worship. The Priest _blesses_ the people and invokes the mercy of the gods; and they, making due obeisance to the idols, retire in silence or to the music of the great organs.

A special act of worship, or Incantation, is always made to the _Triune-god_, that is, the _Three-in-one_, called HOLY TRINITY (_Threenity_). To omit this would, in the opinion of devotees, be so terrible a thing that no one would dare to stay a moment, fearing that, like Korah in the _Sacred Writings_, the very world would open itself and swallow them up. This _three-in-one_ seems like a _Hindoo_ god.

The Bonzes attend upon the sick and the dying, moderating their fears of damnation by insisting upon the most abject devotion to the Superstition, and intimating that, if they heartily grieve over their offences, and with undoubting minds believe in all the points of the _Creed_, then they may receive the _Sacraments_--that is, _Sacred Meats_; which having received, the devil and Hell may be set at defiance. These Sacred Meats are symbols of the very _body and blood_ of Christ--a shocking _rite_, borrowed wholly from the old, savage Jews, who held that a _Sacrifice_ must be offered up to appease the wrathful Jah on almost any occasion, and who sometimes even devoted human victims.

The Bonzes, in general, perform the Marriage Ceremonies, which they will have to be a Sacred _rite_ in their Superstition, though some _Sects_ think otherwise. However, the High-Castes do not consider a Marriage without a Bonze safe; some evil to the children, or other calamity, might ensue. Thus the Bonzes, for their services in this matter, obtain consideration and good fees [tin-tin].

After all, however, with the lowest Caste the Superstition is not much more than a _Fright_; its morality does not touch them, nor those things which refine. They have only a dim and low idea of the Sovereign Lord--debased, in so much notion as they do have, by the Jewish debasement. The devil-and-Hell part is familiar to them, and, in truth, fits well to the origin of the Barbarous tribes, and to their rude and savage character. As I have said, the Upper Castes consider this portion of their Superstition the really valuable part, in practical use. All evidence in the Courts, and every sanction, touching important interests or statements, rest upon this hold upon the fears of the common people. "Oh" (as an Englishman once said to me), "we must keep the devil and his _hot place_ in our service, I tell you, Ah-Chin; or we should have 'the devil to pay' in good earnest!"

It is very difficult to change the Superstitions of a people, because rooted in their fears; and, in a matter wherein the imagination has chief power, and nothing can be _known_, even honest men of wisdom fear radical changes; they prefer to bear inconveniences, and dread the effect of _new doctrines_ upon ignorant masses.

Priests, and the varied interests, and large establishments and revenues--in fact, a great portion of the whole community--are concerned in maintaining the Superstition, on selfish grounds, or think that their own interests are involved. The higher orders regard the _Established_ condition of things in Worship and in the State as too _Sacred_ to be touched. They denounce all who endeavour, in any faint degree, to suggest reforms, as "_infidel_" [un-ti-dsi]--a term of deepest reproach--agitators, who covertly would overthrow "our Temples, our Idols, and the Queen-Pope herself."

But they cannot wholly suppress the Thinkers; [kog-ti-te] (as the _reformers_ are called); and these honestly think that some revision may be made with safety and advantage. They are sneered at by the larger part of the _literati_, and by all the priests, as _Tinkers_. A tinker is one who mends and patches, not a real artisan; and the majority will have it that nothing in England requires mending or patching. They are also stigmatised, sarcastically, as members of a _Mutual Admiration_ Society. A society where the members laud everything written or said by any other member; and where, as the members think, all true wisdom alone illuminates the surrounding darkness. I suspect this society is a _mith_ [pho-gti]; that the true sense of the sarcasm is, that the Thinkers overrate the value of their published thoughts, and that wisdom will not die with them. Certainly, some of the thoughts which I have seen in books, though not so gross and hateful as the Idolatry, are quite as useless. Only one thing I do respect them for--they do not subscribe to the pretensions of the priest; and are really influencing the people by giving them hints of value. They do act upon the upper classes, at least, with a reforming effect.

I have not referred to obscure _sects_, of which there are many. Some of these shout and howl; some keep absolute silence; some lash themselves into a sort of phrensy, and fall down in fits, fancying that they are possessed by the _Holy Spirit_. Some will only be _baptised_ by going into a river, and there, under the Incantations of the Priest, be violently plunged all over in the water, both women and men. Still, all of these, and many others, hold to the _Sacred Writings_ and the other Idolatries: the main points are alike in all.

The Roman Pope has many devotees among the English Barbarians; and was, not long ago, the Great and only Head. But a vile and cruel king, who wished to enjoy a woman and divorce his wife, with whom he had lived for many years, and by whom he had children, quarreled with the Roman Pope, because he would not suffer this bad thing to be done; and the English Barbarians, who disliked a foreign Pope, and the fierce chiefs about this king, even some of the priests of English birth, urged him to proclaim himself to be Pope in England, and to seize upon the revenues which the Pope had received from the English, and all the lands and properties of great value, which before-time had been given to the Temples and to the Priests. This was done; this king seized upon the wealth, and threw down the worship of the Roman Pope in England, and declared himself to be the new god in England--the Pope! And the English Barbarians worshipped, and have continued to worship, this new Pope accordingly. And some who could not honestly worship the new idol, and dared to adhere to the Roman, were burnt to death! Indeed this new idolatry was not introduced into England without terrible consequences. Massacres, burnings, imprisonments, wars, horrible crimes--persecutions, destruction of families, robbing, plundering--not even to this day have all the evil consequences ceased; though this bad ruler made this change in this particular of the great Superstition more than 300 years ago.

Thus, our Central Kingdom may see how powerfully Idolatry and Superstition are entrenched among the English Barbarians. A System interwoven with the very texture of their civilization; supporting, and, in turn, supported by the State; mixed up with customs and traditions, and endeared by its connection with family interests; rich in its possessions; powerful in all the Halls of Learning, and in its influence upon the fortunes and dignities of men; boasted of for its learning, for its history, and for its refining and reforming teachings; the _English Church_ (as those Barbarians call their grand Idolatry) seems likely to stand for many generations. Yet agencies are, slowly, at work, which will remove the dark and horrible, and leave the simple and true. The Benevolence of the Sovereign Lord of Heaven never tires; and the pure worship and less corrupted morality will make way.

I hope I may be pardoned for the time which I have given to this subject; it is one worthy of deep attention. Besides, a little study of the literature and manners of the Western tribes, fastened upon my mind the impression that their History was mainly an account of the rise and progress of the Christ-god Superstition; and that, hereafter, whoever shall have the pleasing task of writing of their better civilization, will find it to be his main purpose to show the decline and extinction of that Superstition.

To wise men who worship the Supreme Lord only, and accept of His simple and direct Morality, there is, in all the broad and immense world, but a _single family_, ruled by Him. When this family recognises and worships Him, in direct and true sincerity, and practises the few and perfectly simple rules of His benevolent Morality, then it is an _enlightened_, civilized family.

The Western Barbarians do not understand nor practise this Benevolent Morality; until they do, their civilization will not be really better than a Barbarism.

We are not to suppose that a perfect morality will ever obtain, because man, being two-fold in his nature--divine and bestial--will now be ruled by the one, and now by the other part. The object of all education (discipline) is, therefore, to teach man how he may order these two parts. There is no antagonism [ha-tsi] between them, only it is indispensable that the _divine_ part should rule.

That this may be, the _intellect_ must be cultivated, not in difficulties, but in habits of thinking, of looking, or seeking out; of seeing the beauty, the order, the grandeur of the whole divine world. Thus employed it delights in itself; it feels the Mind like a bright thing, flying out to the great seas, and upwards to the everlasting stars. It loves to hear, to see, to look at and into everything. It can never cease to employ this delightful mind, thus stimulated in early youth, to exert itself; but it must be exerted innocently, benevolently.

That the subordination of mind and the animal may be secured, the Supreme, the Moral Faculty must, from the earliest years, be touched by wise fingers. Ah, how it responds, this divine part; how it, in the pure and warm glow of unselfish youth, recognises and worships with filial love its Father, the Sovereign Lord!--perceives the moral order and harmony, and loves to be orderly and obedient--early perceives that the true business of life is to preserve this order, and enjoy this peace.

Thus Man, a _moral-minded_ animal, is first of all to be taught to understand his own nature, and to develop his distinguishing faculty. This done, the bestial part rises not above its office. It, too, performs its proper and useful end; and man is not a divided, but a whole and happy being.

All education, therefore, rightly considered, aims to this _Integrity_ [Kom-fu] of a man--this secured, there are no limits to the mere objects of study or of examination.

Our _Literati_, directed many thousands of moons ago, by our exalted Confutze and Menzie, who, themselves were imbued with the ancient Wisdom, are familiar with these simple things. The Western Barbarians, mainly devoted first of all to the bestial part; to the enjoyment of the appetites and the passions; sunk in gross Superstitions, only by a few minds begin dimly to see.