portal: "Blessed be the Lord for ever: The Lord is God of gods, and the Lord: a great God, strong and terrible." There is a table on which are placed six candelabra, and an incense vase in the middle of them; and near it is a laver for washing hands. Separated from the rest of the room by a railing is the beth-el, or house of prayer, square outside and round within, where none but the rabbi can enter during the time of prayer. Rolls of the law upon tables and the Ten Commandments in Hebrew on the wall, and closets containing manuscripts, occupy the remainder of the apartment.

On entering, the people take off their shoes; and the minister covers his face with gauze when reading, and wears a red silk scarf across his breast; no instruments of music are used in the services. They observe circumcision, the passover, and feast of tabernacles, the rejoicing of the law, Sabbath, and perhaps the day of atonement; make no proselytes, and never marry with the gentiles. They use their sacred books in casting lots, and pay homage to Confucius as the Chinese do. They say Adonai for the ineffable name, and render it in Chinese by tien, and not by shangtí. They have no creed, but hold to the unity of God, and the doctrines of heaven, hell, and a sort of purgatory, resurrec tion, final judgment, and angels. Of the Lord Jesus Christ they had never heard, nor had they any prejudices against the crucifix. They worship no idols, and refuse to take an oath in a heathen temple; and pray westward towards Jerusalem. It is quite likely that they have all the canonical books of the Old Testament, but the Romish fathers were not allowed to copy them, and those who saw them were not able to read when they had the permission; these books are preserved with rigid care. Many of the books they once had have been destroyed by inundations, to which the city of Kaifung fu is subject from its nearness to the Yellow river. Comparisons were made between portions of their manuscripts and the Hebrew text, the result of which showed a complete conformity in sense, with a few verbal differences only. The time of the arrival of the Jews in China is involved in great uncertainty, but Mr. Finn sums up the evidences to show that they are Jews of the restoration from Chaldea, adducing the fact of their having portions of Malachi and Zechariah, adopting the era of Seleucus, and having many rabbinical titles and rules for slaughtering animals. He thinks

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too they belong to the two tribes, and quotes some authorities to show that they came through Central Asia-a different route from the Mohammedans, who seem for the most part to have reached China by sea. Members of this community are said to have once lived at Hangchau fu and Nanking; but the man whom Mr. Milne asked concerning them at Ningpo knew of none except at Kaifung, and of them not much beyond their existence.

CHAPTER XIX.

Christian Missions among the Chinese.

THE earliest recorded attempt to impart the knowledge of the true God to the Chinese ascribes it to the Nestorian church in the seventh century, though the voice of tradition, and many detached notices in ecclesiastical writers of the Eastern Empire, lead to the belief, that not many years elapsed after the times of the apostles before the sound of the gospel was heard in China and Chin-India, even if the Syriac tradition, that Thomas himself travelled as far as China, be not received. Mosheim, who does not credit the Apostle's journey thus far, remarks, "notwithstanding, we may believe that at an early period the Christian religion extended to the Chinese, Seres, and Tartars. There are various arguments collected from learned men to show that the Christian faith was carried to China, if not by the apostle Thomas, by the first teachers of Christianity." Arnobius, A. D. 300, speaks of the Christian deeds done in India, and among the Seres, Persians, and Medes. The monks who brought the eggs of the silkworm to Constantinople, in the year 552, had resided long in China, where it is reasonable to suppose they were not the first nor the only ones who went thither to preach the gospel. The extent of their success must be left to conjecture, but "if such beams have travelled down to us through the darkness of so many ages, it is reasonable to believe they emanated from a brighter source." No traces of their efforts have ever been found in Chinese literature, whether it was that they wrote no books, or that they have been lost; it is hard to conclude, however, that they made no use of the press to diffuse and perpetuate their doctrines.

The time of the arrival of the Nestorians in China cannot be specified certainly, but there are grounds for placing it as early as A. D. 505. Ebedjesus Sobiensis remarks, that "Salibazacha the Catholic, i. e. the Nestorian patriarch, created the metropo

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litan sees of Sina and Samarcand, though some say they were constituted by Achæus and Silas." This Silas was patriarch of the Nestorians from A. D. 505 to 520, and it is highly probable the two monks who brought the silkworm's eggs were also Nestorians. The metropolitan bishop of Sina is also mentioned in a list of those subject to this patriarch, published by Amro, and it is placed in the list after that of India, according to the priority of foundation.

The only record yet found in China itself of the labors of the Nestorians is the celebrated monument, which was discovered at Síngan fu in Shensí, in 1625; and though the discussion regarding its authenticity has been rather warm between the Jesuits and their opponents, the weight of evidence, both internal and external, regarding its verity, leaves no doubt. It has been recently carefully translated from the original by Dr. Bridgman, and published in parallel columns with the original, and a Latin and French version; the three versions differ among themselves, and Dr. Bridgman remarks in relation to this discrepancy, "that were a hundred Chinese students employed on the document, they would probably each give a different view of the meaning in some parts of the inscription." This remarkable inscription is here inserted, with a few of the translator's notes.

A TABLET [COMMEMORATING] THE DIFFUSION OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS

RELIGION OF TA-TSIN IN CHINA.

A stone tablet commemorating the diffusion of the illustrious religion in China, with a preface, written by King Tsing, a priest from the Church in Ta-Tsin [or Judea].

NOW VERILY, the unchangeably true and recondite, the eternal Cause of causes, the far-seeing and purely spiritual, the never ending and incomprehensible Being, who grasping the poles created the universe, and being more excellent than the holy ones, is the supremely honorable. This is our mysterious Trinity, the true eternal Lord Jehovah! He, determining, in the form of the cross,* to establish the four quarters of the earth, moved the primeval Spirit, and produced all things visible and invisible. The dark expanse was changed, and heaven and earth were unfolded. The sun and moon revolved, and day and night began.

As an architect, having finished the universe, he created the first man; endowed him with goodness and benignity; and commanded him

* That is, he determined to spread out the earth in the shape of a cross.

to rule the world. His original nature was entirely pure and unsullied; and his simple and uncorrupted heart was wholly free from inordinate desires. But at length Satan, by exercising dissimulation, and by throwing a gilded covering over that pure and uncorrupted nature, took away equity and greatness from the centre of good, and insinuated evil and darkness in their stead.

Hence arose a multiplicity of sects, following each other in close succession, striving to weave their legal nets: some substituted the creature for the Creator; some considered being as nothing, sinking all things in oblivion; and some, in order to gain felicity, made prayers and offered sacrifices. Others deceived mankind with a show of goodness. With wisdom and solicitude they labored hard; and their anxieties and cares were unceasing. They were bewildered and obtained nothing. Heated and scorched, they writhed in anguish. They accumulated darkness, and lost their way; and, being misguided, they were irrecoverably lost. Thereupon our Trinity set apart the illustrious and adorable Messiah; who, laying aside his true dignity, came into the world as man. Angels proclaimed the joyful tidings. A virgin gave birth to the holy child in Judea. A bright star proclaimed the happy event. Persians, seeing its brightness, came with presents. He fulfilled the ancient laws, given by the twenty-four holy ones.* He ruled families and nations with great virtue. He instituted the new doctrine of the Trinity, pure, spiritual, and inexplicable. Like a potter he formed good usages by the true faith. He established the measure of the eight boundaries. He purged away the dross, and perfected the truth. He opened the gate of the three constant virtues, revealing life and destroying death. He suspended the bright sun to break open the abodes of darkness, and thereby the wiles of the devil were frustrated. He put in motion the ship of mercy, to ascend to the mansions of light, and thereby succor was brought to confined spirits.

His mighty work thus finished, at mid-day he ascended to his true estate. Twenty-seven books remained. He set forth original conversion for the soul's deliverance; and he instituted the baptism of water and of the Spirit, to wash away the vanity of life and to cleanse and purify [the heart].

Taking the cross as a sign, [his disciples] unite together the people of all regions without distinction. They beat the wood, sounding out the voice of benevolence and mercy. In evangelizing the east, they take the way of life and glory. They preserve their beard for outward effect.

*The "holy ones" denote the writers of the books of the Old Testament. †The "eight boundaries" are inexplicable; some refer them to the beatitudes.

The "three constant virtues" may perhaps mean faith, hope, and charity.