from the Portuguese priests. His associate Dr. Milne afterwards observed, with reference to these traits in his character, that "the patience that refuses to be conquered, the diligence that never tires, the caution that always trembles, and the studious habit that spontaneously seeks retirement, were best adapted for the first Protestant missionary to China."

He was married in February, 1809, to Miss Mary Morton, and the same day accepted the appointment of translator under the East India Company, in whose service he continued until its dissolution in 1834. His position was now a well understood one, and his official connexion obtained for him all necessary security, so that he could prosecute his work with diligence and confidence. He maintained the esteem of the Directors, and through his life gave satisfaction to his employers; his salary, also, was sufficient to provide for his family, and enabled him to carry on his studies without much expense to the Society. He no doubt did wisely in the circumstances in which he was placed, for his dictionary could hardly have been printed, or his translation of the Scriptures and other works been so successfully carried on, without the countenance and assistance of that powerful and wealthy body. In 1810, the Acts of the Apostles were printed, and the gospel of Luke in 1812, on each of which occasions, the Bible Society granted £500 to assist in the prosecution of the work. The entire New Testament was published in 1814, about half of it having been translated entirely by Morrison, the remainder he revised from a manuscript which he found in the British Museum.

An associate, the Rev. W. Milne, arrived in July, 1813, but the Romish clergy ordered him to quit Macao immediately, whereupon he took up his residence at Canton, leaving his wife at Macao, and remained there till winter engaged in study. In 1814, he took passage in a ship for the Indian Archipelago, provided with about 17,000 copies of Testaments and tracts, for distribution among the Chinese settlers in the islands. He stopped at Banca on his route, where many of the Chinese were engaged in the tin mines, and then proceeded to Java, where he was kindly received by the governor, Sir Stamford Raffles, a man far in advance of the times in his support and patronage of missions. Through his liberality, Mr. Milne was enabled to travel over the island, and visit all the principal settlements, and distribute such

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books as he had, for his limited knowledge of their languages did not permit him to hold much oral intercourse with either Chinese, Malays, or Javanese. From Java, he went to Malacca, then a Dutch settlement, and returned to Canton in September, where he remained unknown to and consequently undisturbed by the Chinese, though a severe persecution in which Dufresse lost his life, was raging against the Christians throughout the empire. Mr. Milne, finding it very difficult to prosecute his labors in China, for the East India Company's Committee would not countenance him in any way, turned his attention to the Archipelago, and embarked for Malacca with his family in 1815, accompanied by a teacher and workmen for printing Chinese books, where he resided the remainder of his life.

The leading objects in sending Mr. Morrison to Canton, namely, the translation of the Bible, preparation of a dictionary, together with such additional labors in preaching, teaching, and writing of tracts as leisure allowed, occupied the greater portion of his time. As soon as he had acquired a moderate command of the language, he commenced a private Sabbath service with his domestics and acquaintances in his own apartments, which he never relinquished, though it did not expand into a regular public congregation during his lifetime. He always considered this as one of the most important parts of his work, and was much encouraged when in 1814 one of his audience, Tsai Ako, made a profession of his faith and was baptized. He was the first convert, and it is reasonably to be hoped, judging from his after life, that he sincerely believed to salvation. The circumstances of his death in 1818 were such, however, as to prevent his teacher from visiting him during his illness, and ascertaining his feelings on the approach of death; but a generally consistent life afforded evidence of the reality of his profession.

The compilation of the dictionary progressed so well, that in 1814, a few members of the Company's establishment in China, among whom Mr. Elphinstone and Sir George Staunton were prominent, interested themselves in getting it printed. The Court of Directors in London, sensible of the good results of such an undertaking, responded to the application on the most liberal scale, and sent out a printer and a printing office. Considerable delay was experienced in commencing the printing of the work, yet the first volume of nine hundred and thirty pages, was issued

in 1817, and the whole was completed in six quarto volumes, in 1823, at an expense of about £12,000. It consisted of three parts, viz. the characters arranged according to the radicals, according to their pronunciation, and an English and Chinese part. This work has contributed much to the advancement of a knowledge of Chinese literature, while its aid in missions has been manifold greater. The syllabic part still remains the best dictionary of the language, though if the author had devoted more attention to this portion, and to the English and Chinese part, and not added the arrangement according to the radicals, the work would have been more available and less expensive; the plan was rather too comprehensive for one man to fill up, and also involved considerable repetition.

While the dictionary was going through the press, the transla tion of the Old Testament was progressing by the joint labors of Dr. Morrison and Mr. Milne, and in Nov., 1818, the entire Bible was published. Another version had been carrying on simultaneously with this by Dr. Marshman at Serampore, which was completed and printed with movable types in 1822. A second edition of the Baptist version has never been struck off, and comparatively few copies have ever been circulated among the Chinese, its foreign costume rendering it a suspicious book in their estimation. The expenses of printing these two versions were to a great degree defrayed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, the total grants to the Independent missionaries being £6600, and to the Baptists, several thousands of pounds. Both these versions are such that a sincere inquirer after the truth cannot fail to learn it; though both of them are open to criticisms, and contain mistakes, incident to first translations, which subsequent acquaintance with the language has corrected. The principles which guided Dr. Morrison and his colleague in this work, were fidelity, perspicuity, and simplicity, and the earnest endeavor to render the sacred text into idiomatic Chinese, intelligible to common readers.*

During the years he was engaged upon the dictionary and translation, Dr. Morrison published some other works, both in Chinese and English. A tract on Redemption, a translation of the Assembly's Catechism, and liturgy of the church of England,

* Medhurst's China, p. 217. Chinese Repository, Vol. IV., p. 249.

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a synopsis of Old Testament history, a hymn book, a Tour of the World, and a few miscellaneous essays on religious subjects; of all these several publications, nearly thirty thousand copies were printed and distributed. He early prepared a Chinese grammar on the model of a common English grammar, which was printed at Serampore in 1815; and also completed a small volume of dialogues in English and Chinese, and a volume of miscellaneous information in 1817, on the chronology, festivals, geography, and other subjects relating to China, under the title of View of China for Philological purposes. The principal part of the edition of the former work was lost in H. B. M. frigate Alceste on her return to England; the entire expense of printing both of them was defrayed by the E. I. Company. Mr. Morrison accompanied Lord Amherst to Peking in 1816 as interpreter to the embassy, and the return journey through the country afforded opportunity of collecting some information respecting the dialects and inhabitants of the different provinces through which the route lay.

In 1821, Mrs. Morrison died, and about eight months after, the Dictionary having been published, he visited Malacca and Singapore, where he was much encouraged by what he saw. The Anglo-Chinese college was then under the care of Mr. Collie, and this visit from its founder encouraged both principal and students. In 1824, Dr. Morrison returned to England, and was honorably received by the great and good in that Christian land, being presented to his majesty George IV., and received the approbation of all who took an interest in the promotion of religion and learning. While in England, he endeavored to form a Language Institution for assisting missionaries in learning the languages of the countries where they were to labor, but the scheme was found to be expensive and impracticable, and the projected institution did not long continue. He published a volume of sermons, and a miscellany called Hora Sinicæ while in England; and having formed a second matrimonial connexion, left his native land the second time in May, 1826, under different circumstances from the first. During his absence, the mission at Canton was not left altogether destitute, for before his departure he had ordained a native convert, Liang Afah, to the work of an evangelist, who still continues steadfast in his profession and love for preaching the Gospel, notwithstanding his sufferings for the faith. On his re

turn in 1826, Dr. Morrison immediately revived the Sabbath services, in which he was assisted by this evangelist.

During the years which elapsed between his return and death, he was principally occupied by his duties as translator to the Company, and in literary labors. In 1828, he published a Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect in two volumes, for the use of the foreign residents and seamen in their intercourse with the Chinese. Three or four works were written in Chinese, among which a miscellany in four volumes of useful information on the plan of Chinese compends, called the Family Instructor, was the largest. A selection of Scripture Lessons on the same plan as that of the Tract Society, and a second edition of the Psalter and Liturgy, and a volume of hymns and prayers, were also issued. His last years were cheered by the arrival of five fellow-laborers from the United States, the first who had come to his assistance since Milne left him in 1814. The health of Mrs. Morrison being impaired, and her children requiring better opportunities for education than the country afforded, she left for England in December, 1833, with six children, Dr. Morrison and his eldest son remaining in China. On the dissolution of the East India Company's establishment, in April, 1834, he was appointed interpreter to the new commission, but almost before he had entered on the duties of his office, he was called away to higher service by death, August 1st, at the age of fifty-two, having spent almost twenty-seven years in the missionary work in China, and most of that time alone.

Perhaps no two persons were ever less alike than the founders of the Romish and Protestant missions to China, but no plans of operations could be more dissimilar than those adopted by Ricci and Morrison. The former desired to build up a sect, and therefore did all he could to attract the notice and win the favor of the powerful, the learned, and the rich; he made the entrance to his church easy for all, but endeavored to attract those ranks of society to come in, and bring as many of the poor as they could. When he died, thirty years after his arrival, churches of such converts were established in most of the capitals and large cities in the eastern provinces, and converts were numbered by thousands. When Morrison was sent out, the directors thus expressed their views of his labors, "We trust that no objection will be made to your continuing in Canton, till you have accomplished your great