esteem for him. His temple, which stands inside, is grander than that of Mencius, and his tomb, which, like his master's, lies in a beautiful forest, is held sacred to this day.

Satiated with sight-seeing, we now turned our faces toward Sz-shui-hien, and hastened our steps as the afternoon was far advanced, and we had fifteen miles before us; and yet we could not hurry, the whole district was so full of interest. There on the southeast of us was the Ne-kew hill, or the Ne hill, to which Ching-tsai, the mother of Confucius, went to pray for a son.

North of us are the hills among which stands one of the five sacred mountains of China, and the chief of them, viz: the Tai-shan, or Tai hill. There Shun offered sacrifices first on his great journey to survey his kingdom. The sacrifice was offered in the sacred month of the year, about B.C. 2272.

The river on whose banks our road partly lay, and on which we were impinging every now and then, was also historical; it is the Sz-shui river spoken of in the Tribute of Yu, B.C. 2210, famous for its sounding stones, which formed part of the taxes.

Arriving at Sz-shui-hien after nightfall, we had some difficulty in obtaining an entrance, but noticing no object of interest, we proceeded early on our way. On our route we visited the temple of Tse-loo, another of the disciples of Confucius; his statue interested us. His temple is now out of repair, but his memory is still fresh and fragrant.

This city, Sz-shui-hien, stands at the limit of the level country. Leaving it, the ground begins to ascend, and becomes gradually more and more rugged. We passed

several villages, and reached Woo-tai just after the sun had gone down; spending the night here amidst discomforts, we in the morning set off for the city of Hung-yinhien.

Passing on, we came in sight of another historical object, the eastern Mung hill, which is mentioned as having been brought under cultivation after the waters had been carried off by Yu, and on which, in ancient times, sacrifices had been offered, as we infer from the remarks of Confucius in the Lun-Yu. It is also famous 'as having, in modern times, called forth the poetical genius of Kienlung, who composed a piece of poetry in view of its snowclad summit, on one of his journeys to the southern parts of his kingdom. Not far from this hill is another called Yu, where Shun kept Kwan, the father of the great engineer, till he died. It was also from the valleys in the neighborhood that the famous variegated pheasants' feathers came, which are also mentioned in that sort of dooms-day book, and which were, even in those times, used for military decorations.

On the succeeding days our party passed through the Hien city of Wei, the country undulating and gravelly. Advancing, we came in sight of the Lai-chow hills, where lived the wild tribes, whom Yu instructed in the art of tillage and pasturage, nor does his teaching seem to have been ineffectual.

We next set out for Hwang-hien, which we reached in two days; we were entering that district called in old times Yu-e, the place to which the emperor Yaou is supposed, with justice, to have sent the astronomer " He," B.C. 2300, to observe the rising sun. From Hwang a short journey took us to Che-foo, the termination of our long trip.

EDITORIAL REVIEW.

REMARKS ON THE DOCTRINES TAUGHT BY THE CHINESE SAGES, AND THE INFLUENCE WHICH THOSE DOCTRINES HAVE EXERTED ON THE CHINESE MIND.

When people have been engaged in reading a book in concert, it is pleasant to sit down together and converse about it. We have been reading a synopsis of the Four Books, with a sketch of the lives of their authors and compilers, together with a variety of specimens of more modern Chinese literature. We also have access to books which portray the character and condition of the inhabitants of China at the present day; and now, perhaps, we are prepared to make a few reflections concerning the character of the sages, the nature of their doctrines, and the influence which these doctrines have exerted on the people of China.

We may remark, first, upon their Proverbs and Moral Maxims. The reader, as well as ourselves, has been struck with them. How much like Scripture some of them are! but generally we notice that they fall short of the high standard of morality which we find in the Bible. In several places we find that which at first sight may

seem to read almost like the precept,

love thy neigh

bor as thyself," but nowhere do we find the commandment, "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart."

NOTIONS RESPECTING A DEITY.

In regard to this we may say, in the first place, that they had no knowledge-at least, no clear knowledge of that God who is a being worthy to be loved with all the heart, soul, mind and strength. When they referred to heaven as the power which decrees, rewards and punishes, we are uncertain as to the nature of their conceptions respecting that power. Undoubtedly the knowledge of the true God was possessed by those who first migrated from the plains of Shinar to that country which was to become the land of Sinim; but by the lapse of time that knowledge faded out, till down to the times of Confucius and Mencius there remained no clear conception of an intelligent, personal, all-powerful deity, ordering and controlling the affairs of the universe. From what we read in their works about the Tai Kik, and the Dual Principles which first produced the different formations, and the various beings in the universe, and which, as all Chinese at present believe, still pervade all things, we are forced to conclude that the wise men of Confucius' time were in their theology but little, if anything better than pantheists; although they did believe in the existence of many spirits who might be almost ubiquitous, and who presided over their several departments: they believed also that the spirits of the dead still hovered around the places of their former residences; that they were capable of receiving pleasure or pain from what they observed in the

actions of men; that they were pleased with the proper offerings rendered to them, and displeased at the neglect of such service; and they believed that these departed spirits were able in some way to help or to injure people on the earth; and therefore prayers were offered to them, and offerings made in order to propitiate them.

THE FIRST AND GREAT COMMANDMENT NOT FOUND IN THE CHINESE CLASSICS.

Men

As we remarked above, we do not find amongst the precepts of the sages anything like that first and great commandment of the Bible which reads, "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart ;" and how could there be? We can love a personal deity that possesses attributes worthy of love; but there is nothing in the idea of an all-pervading generating principle which awakens in the breast emotions of love or adoration. may have some vague conception of an agency residing somewhere in the heavens above us, in the earth beneath us, or in the depths of the ocean, which has power to punish wickedness and reward virtue; power to benefit or to afflict men, by changes which they are able to produce in the elements of nature; but that would not be a God whom men can love. The Chinese religion therefore lacked the main element-the principal root from which all true morality must spring; for where there is not in the mind the knowledge of a God who is a being of infinite power, wisdom, justice, goodness, and truth; loving holiness and hating iniquity; and in the heart a feeling of admiration for his excellencies, with a dread of his wrath, as well as a desire for his approval and favor, we