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This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. http://books.google.com HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY 1 ( 6 <s i 6 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF A FUND GIVEN BY ARCHIBALD GARY COOLIDGE '87 AND CLARENCE LEONARD HAY '08 o , ' , ,. M RETROSPECT or THE FIRST TEN YEARS or tBI PROTESTANT MISSION TO € H I N A, h (NOW, IN CONNECTION WITH THB MALAY, DBNOMINATID, TUB ULTRA GANGBS MISSIONS.) Accompanied with Miscellaneous Remarks on the Li terature, History, and Mythology of China, isc. BY WILLIAM MILNE. MALACCA: PRIN1BD AT THB ANOLO-CHIN8SB EHBSS. 1830. ^/L 7 or-, v o .7^rr.'-" s , . r r •• [ ;' ,t "' X "W university" /T i* T / •* I * t'i ~* - „. ..uefl/yjY.. ..... ., ..> J(/L2 2W' ,~i.n ir e4^„^ ^4(^^(^.^.wi^i|t m. 4f~%~$^%. .- )|1 iI< >,„ ^M^yJH. 1 \ - .. PREFACE. ' • ,..: • ,,.,, In presenting the following miscellaneous sheets ,. to the public, I seel great pleasure in acknowledg ing my obligations to a MS. compiled by my rc- '..yered friend, and senior in the Chinese Mission, the .' Reyd. II. Morrison, D. D. on the tenth anniver sary of his arrival in China, (Sept. 4, 1817.) Most • of what the MS. contained, the reader will find t ^disposed of between the beginning of the fourth and middle of the tenth section. It embraced the .principal f.icts and events relative to the Mission during the first sew years of its existence; but they are here rather difserently arranged, and interspersed with various observations. With respect to the whole book, I shall but just remark, that it was intended to be Miscellaneous ; and hence, the reader is not to expect many histo rical facts of great moment, or that those recorded are arranged with much regard to order. Again, it was designed chiefly for those who were, or were likely lo be, connected with the Ultra Ganges' Missions, and such as felt a particular interest therein; hence, it was necessary to notice some circumstances ra ther of a minute and private nature, more sully than would otherwise have been done. These, toge ther with several long digressions (which are not, however, foreign to the design of the publication) the general reader may perhaps find irksome. Fi nally, it was originally intended to embrace only theflrst ten years of the Mission; but so ne circum stance occasioned its being nearly two years in the press, which afforded an opportunity of noticing briotlv, the progress of the Mission during that time, so that, in fact, twelve years arc embraced. tV fREfrACZ. ,Tho*e who expect to fuid here, long and interest ing conversations "with the '.heathen — those who consider excellence of style and a .lucid order of • subject, as essential to a boak-^those who cannot 'how- arid then be content to digress a littjle with .the aut'hor,— and' those who :loqk for much that is new, '-—will all be disappointed.— For, the wisdom bfat- liachirig' the high importance tha'tsome^o, to what the heathen say— or to what well disposed persons among them, may bring forward in 'an occasional conversations may be justly questioned— and the to tal absence of s^uch conversations here, is to be at tributed in some measure to this. From one daily and almost solely engaged in the study of a foreign language, excellence of style in his own, is hardly to be expected: to have attempted it, in. the present • !..:'uistance, , ..' . it\would '. have ..t • been i. i r unwise. I ' • ' Malacca, January, 1820. I ' . I i . - . ' INTRODUCTION. Christianity suited to, and intended fox, all tint it ni. lsbe duty of vtaki'g it knoun recuimzfd in every age. 7 be formation of the Missionary Soeiety— * its attention directed to Chii,c. C^uRrsTrAviT*, as revealed in the Holv Scrip tures, is the only religion' u hich is in all respects adapted to the moral sratc of the whole hoi Id; hence it possesses an indisputable and untivalled claim to supersede every other. The positive de clarations of its Divine Author, prove it to be intended for the whole family of man ; and irs doctrines, precepts, and ritual all unite to declare its suitableness to the internal character, and exter nal circumstances of sinful creatures, in every itate of socicry and in every port ot the earth. 1 is doctni n rs, though in some p irticul.irs above the comprehension of man in the present infan cy of his beinu, arc yet remarkably adipt^d for the exercise of his intellectual faculties, and all- in persect conformity with the dicraes ).f sound reason. Their uneqii tiled sublimitv imparts an elevated character to the mind, which the utmost refinements of human wisdom could nrvrr pro duce. Their certainty brings the M.irld mit of that maze of endless p-rplexitics, in which the B 1 best and most enlightened of Pagan Sages wander ed, and led aster them the blinded mulritude. The powersul support which the doctrines of christianity asford to the hopes of the guilty, pa cifies the conscience, purifies the heart, and glad dens the countenance. Their greatness enlarges the soul, and raises it to God ; while their sulness and variety furnish' endless topics of thought, and exhaustless sources of pleasure. Mo(t of them are easily understood, and they are all full of consola tion to the truly penitent, and to the upright in heart. Its precepts are all simple, holy, reasonable, and usesul to man in every capacity, and in every relation of lisse; and man's dependance on the Su preme Being, his circumstances in the world, the desires of his immortal nature, and the testimony of his conscience, all prove it to be both his duty and his interest to obey. - Its ritual is' neither compsicated, expensive, nor irksome. It can be carried to all parts of the world ; and observed just as well where neither gold, silver, gems, nor materials for costly array exist, as where they arc found in the richest a bun-, dance. For it commands no un'formity of dress, either in the ministers or in the members of the church. Magnificent temple?, decorated altars, and splendid ceremonies form no part of the AVui Testament ritual. It enjoins no unisormity of lan guage in the worship ot the Deity — no vexatious peculiarities in the gait, gestures, and posture of the worshippers — no expensive apparatus in the celebration of divine ordinantes — and no tech-* nical shibboleth to characterize the doctrines and followers of Jesus. Simphcirv and utility are the characteristics of all its observances. Piety, J truth, junice, purity, peaceableness, benevolence, and usesulness of lisse, arc the only marks by which it requires the servants of God to distinguish themselves from " the world which lies in wicked ness." CHRiiTlANfTY claims the world as the sphere of its operations: it knows no other locality. Ic commands the nations togive up nothing but what is injurious for them to retain ; and proposes no thing for their acceptance but what they aic mise rable without. It cas;s no slight on any one coun try, by exalting the virtues and glory of another. It represents " all peoples and nations" as on a level in the eyes of God— as equally ofsenders against him — equ.dly subject to the decisions of his awsul justice — and equally welcome to the be- nefirs of his abundant mercy. Its moral and posi tive duties are equally binding on all to whom the gospel is made known — its falvation and privileges are open on the fame terms to all who will receive them, without distinction of age, rank, talent, or Country; — an. I its tremendous sanctions will be executed mi all who reject or abuse it, without ptrtiality, and without the pofsibility of appeal or escape. It commands nothing inconsistent with the out ward condition of nations or of individuals, to per form ; while it contains the germ of every principle necesfary to rcr.dcr tlw throne stable — the nation prosperous — ihe family happy — ihe individual vir tuous — and the foul eternally blessed. Curisti- ani iv i< theonly religion fitted for universal adop tion; and the only one capable of conducting iho kingdoms of the world to immortal felicitw It is the duty of all who expect to be faved by Christ, to do their utmost tor the extension of 4 Christian knowledge: and God is pleased to honor and to bless his servants, by making them the me diums of li is mercy and goodness to others. In every ;ige, fince the days of Jesus, the obligation to thi< duty and the v.ilue of this honor, have been felt in the church, either in a greater or les; degree. The zeal of christians, in this part of their dim , has generally been in proportion to the mea sure ot clearness with which they have seen, and to the energy with which they have selt, the truth and importance of the gospel. In the ilaikest pe riods ot the chinch, there have always been some efforts made, however seeble, to extend the know- lei'geof salvation among pagan nations. In reading several periods of ecclesiastical history, while we lament to see the lustre and glory of the christian doctrine beclouded, by the dogmas of pagan philo sophy,, and the metaphysical subtleties of the schools ; and the purity and limplicity of its wor- shipcorrupted and adulterated, by i lie admixture of Heathen rites and Popish superstitions; yet we feel pleasure to peiceive, even in the midst of these evils, the lamp of truth still burning, though dimly ; and the principle of holy zeal still acting, though seebly.

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