penances and supplications they may procure for his worshippers the forgiveness of their sins; and to observe five precepts, viz. to kill no living creature, to take nothing that belongs to another,—to commit no act of impurity,―to utter no falsehood,—and to drink no wine. The practice of these duties is enforced by threatenings of future punishment, especially of transmigration into the bodies of dogs, horses, rats, serpents, &c. The number of temples dedicated to Fo is altogether incalculable, and they exhibit great variety, in respect of sacredness, magnificence, &c. They are open night and day for the reception of the votaries of the god, before whose image is placed a table furnished with flowers and perfumes; he is also accommodated with a fire fed constantly with odoriferous wood. They also contain images of birds, beasts, and creeping things, to symbolize the various transmigrations of this supposed deity. It need hardly be added that Fo is the Buddha of the Hindoos.

None of these different systems can be said to be the prevailing creed in China; or, what is more remarkable, can be found pure and distinct from the rest. The greater part of the Chinese have no decided opinion on the subject, and are either complete atheists, or, if they acknowledge a Supreme Being, utterly ignorant in what view he ought to be regarded; while they all combine with their peculiar sentiments the multifarious superstitions of the more popular sects. Of all these tolerated and established religious persuasions, the emperor is the supreme head: without whose permission not one of them can enjoy a single privilege or point of pre-eminence; and who can diminish or increase, at his pleasure, the number of their respective temples and priests.

The existing worship of China, then, is a confused mixture of superstitions, of which individuals receive and observe just as much as they please; and those parts of it, which the government seem to uphold, may be viewed rather as political than religious institutions. The emperors reserve to themselves the privilege of adoring the Tien, but they equally sacrifice to the spirit of the earth, the sun, or the moon, and attach themselves more or less to the notions of the Tao-tse or of Fo. While the reigning Tartar family acknowledge more particularly the faith of the Grand Lama, they nevertheless perform the established sacred rites of their predecessors, and repair to the festivals which the kalendar prescribes. And, while the literati study the doctrine of the Tien, they are as superstitious as unbelieving, and are found with others in the temples praying to the idols.

There is only one temple consecrated to the Tien in the whole empire, called Tien-tan, or the eminence of heaven, and it is situated in the Chinese division of the city of Pekin, where the emperor offers a sacrifice at the winter solstice, consisting of oxen, hogs, goats, and sheep. The Tee-tan, or eminence of the earth, is also situated in the Chinese city, and is covered with green tiles; where the emperor, in like manner, sacrifices to the earth at the summer solstice. On the Ge-tan, the altar of the sun, he sacrifices at the vernal equinox; and on the Yue-tan, the altar of the moon, he sacrifices at the autumnal equinox. These rites are performed with the greatest solemnity, the tribunals and every public office are shut, and business of every kind suspended.

Besides the temples to Fo, whose immense numbers we have already noticed, numerous small chapels are to be seen in the country and villages, dedicated to the different spirits that preside over the land, the water, the mountains, &c. The dragon is held to preside over the air and the moun

tains, his figure is one of the imperial insignia, and the emperor alone has the privilege of wearing a dragon with five claws embroidered on his robes. The temples contain a vast number of different idols, some of which are of a colossal size, and these are generally placed at the entrance. They represent various genii, or guardian spirits, whose respective attributes are expressed by certain emblems. Some of these are 30, 50, 60, and even 80 feet in height: some of them with four heads, and a multitude of hands and arms. The divinities in the interior of the temples are of smaller proportions, and in various postures; some with the heads of animals, others with horns on their foreheads; some reclining, others sitting crosslegged upon flowers or cars; but all are represented as very corpulent, which the Chinese regard as a very honourable quality. In short, they have divinities of all possible shapes, and so numerous, that some of the temples contain five hundred of them.

Besides those places of public resort, the Chinese have always an altar in their private dwellings, and a few small idols, before which they burn gilded papers, especially at the new and full moon; and there is generally placed upon their door the name or figure of the idol Men-shin, who is a kind of household god, and who is represented with a club in one hand, and a key in the other.

The priests, officiating in these different temples, are either the followers of Tao-tse, or of Fo, the latter of whom are called Ho-shang; but both are generally denominated by the name of Bonzes; and indeed they resemble each other so nearly in their appearance and functions, that they are scarcely distinguishable. The bonzes of Tao-tse are generally devoted to celibacy, and associated in convents like the Romish monks. They wear a long robe, with large sleeves, and without a neck. They never shave their heads, but collect their hair upon the crown. In performing their worship, they move in procession round the altar, on which the sacred flame is kept burning, chaunting in recitative, and bowing their bodies as they come in front of the altar, while gongs and musical plates are sounded at certain intervals. In their dresses, altars, images, incense, bells, candles, chaunting, &c. they bear a striking resemblance to the Catholic exhibitions ; and one of the missionaries, much hurt at the similarity, makes the following observations on the subject; "There is no country where the devil has so successfully counterfeited the true worship of the Holy Church. These priests of the infernal spirit wear long loose gowns, exactly resembling those of some of the fathers; they live in temples, like so many monasteries; and chaunt in the same manner with us.' They sacrifice to their idols a hog, a fowl, and a fish; and then observe a multitude of ceremonies, incantations, mystical rites, and magical practices, which frequently vary according to the fancy or skill of the actors. They act also the part of fortunetellers, in which they are sufficiently expert, representing the figure of their chief in the air, causing the pencil to write the oracular responses of itself, showing the figures of persons in a basin of water, &c. They attend at funerals, to drive away evil spirits; profess to cure the sick by their incantations or intercessions; and pronounce a benediction upon the ships, when first launched into the sea. They run about the streets lashing themselves, as an expiation for the sins of their votaries, and collecting money as the price of their services. The priests of Fo live in a state of celibacy, and in large convents, which the Chinese call Poo-tala, which is the mode in which they pronounce the word Boodha-alaya, that is, the habitation of Buddha.

The bonzes are generally regarded with contempt, as persons who deprive their country of that personal labour, which is counted in China as a sacred duty; and it is only persons advanced in life, or of the lowest class of people, who join in their society. Hence it is their practice to purchase young children to learn and to perpetuate their system; and to attract the greater respect and confidence, they employ every possible mode of acquiring riches, and securing reverence. When consulted with respect to the most fortunate spot for building a house or erecting a sepulchre, they have generally a secret understanding with the proprietor of the ground, which they pronounce to be the most desirable, and share with him the price of the purchase. To secure the protection of the emperor or chief mandarins, they place them among the number of their divinities; and to draw the populace to their temples, they announce prodigies of various kinds, and threaten dreadful transmigrations to those who neglect to bring offerings, and to secure the benefit of their prayers. In these offerings, animal victims are now rarely seen, on account of the great scarcity of sheep and the value of hogs; but fruits and roasted fowls are the principal gifts. Even these, however, are seldom left for the idol or the priests, but are carried away by the worshipper, after the invocation has been performed; and, in their stead, a sum of money is given to the bonzes of the temple. In these acts of devotion, it has been remarked that the Chinese appear to be actuated rather by a dread of some evil in this life, than the fear of punishment in another; that they perform their sacred rites more with a view to appease an angry deity, and to avert impending calamities, than from any hope of obtaining a positive good; that they rather consult or inquire of their gods what may happen, than petition them to accomplish or avert it; that a Chinese can scarcely be said to pray, but while he may be grateful when the event proves favourable, is petulant and peevish when it is adverse. They hold the different idols in more or less estimation, according to the favours which they are supposed to have conferred upon their votaries; and when, after repeated applications, their suit is not granted, they abandon the spirit of that temple as a god without power, or perhaps pull down the edifice, and leave the statues exposed in the open air. Numbers of temples are thus seen in ruins, their bells lying on the ground, their monstrous idols standing unsheltered, and their bonzes wandering in quest of alms or a more fortunate asylum. Sometimes the fallen deity is treated with the utmost outrage and contempt. "Thou dog of a spirit," the enraged votaries will say, we lodge thee in a commodious temple; thou art well gilt, well fed, and receivest abundance of incense; and yet, after all the care bestowed upon thee, thou art ungrateful enough to refuse us necessary things!" Then, tying the idol with cords, they drag it through the kennels, and bespatter it with filth. But should they happen, during this scene of vengeance, to obtain, or to fancy that they have obtained, their object, then they carry back the insulted divinity to its place with great ceremony, wash it with care, prostrate themselves before it, acknowledge their rashness, supplicate forgiveness, and promise to gild it again, upon condition that what is past be forgotten. Sometimes those, who have found all their gifts and worship unavailing, have brought the idol and its bonzes to a solemn trial before the mandarins, and procured the divinity to be dismissed as useless, and its priests to be punished as impostors.

Every trouble in China is attributed to the influence of some evil spirit, which every one's imagination frames to himself, and which he places,

as it pleases him, in an idol, an old oak, a lofty mountain, or at the bottom of the sea. These mischievous spirits are considered by some as the souls or purified aerial substances of animals, such as of foxes, apes, frogs, &c.; and these creatures are supposed to have the power, after living a certain number of years, to divest themselves of the grosser parts of their nature, and, after becoming pure essences, to take delight in tormenting human beings, especially by exposing them to diseases. Hence, in time of sickness, the principal remedy is to send for the bonzes, to banish, by their noises and incantations, those malignant spirits.

In every possible circumstance of life, the Chinese implore the protection and aid of some deity. Should a countryman be about to raise some large stone, or to attempt any work in which he might be in danger of receiving some injury, he places a small stone upright, surrounds it with two or three candles, burns two or three gilded papers, and then applies to his labour with perfect confidence. When they have any dread of losing their children, they consecrate them to some divinity; and, in this view, they pierce the ear of the child, and suspend from it a small plate of copper, silver, or gold, with the name of the tutelary spirit inscribed upon it; or they simply tie the hair of the head on each side into the form of a small tuft, which indicates that they are devoted to some god, who will preserve them from accident and misfortune. They pay great regard to lucky and unlucky days; and the government even publishes an annual kalendar, in which, among other matters, the favourable moments in that season are properly marked. Midnight is always a lucky point of time, because in their opinion the world was created at that hour. But, of all their superstitions, the two following are the most prevalent, and form the chief object in their various acts of worship in the temples. 1. The calculation of their destiny, which they call Sooan-ming, and which is generally done by blind musicians, who go from house to house, playing on some musical instrument, and offering their services for a little money : whose art consists chiefly in astonishing their hearers by speaking learnedly of the position and influence of the stars, and in describing the proper idol to whom sacrifices must be offered, or the bonze whose prayers must be secured. 2. The securing a good influence, and fortunate exposure, in building their habitations or sepulchres, which is called Fong-shooy, or 'wind and water.' Upon this depends every one's success and happiness in life; his natural abilities and genius, his advancement to honours, his commercial prosperity, good health, a numerous family, are all ascribed to his house or his burying-place having a happy situation, and his thus possessing a lucky Fong-shooy. They are constantly employed in devising means to render this circumstance or influence favourable. Much depends upon having the doors of their habitations placed under the protection of a proper spirit, arranged in a proper order, or constructed in a proper form. A round door is fortunate, and there is generally one at least in every Chinese dwelling. It is bad to have two doors directly opposite to each other, as the evil spirit in that case more easily enters. When this cannot be avoided, they put up screens of wood to stop the genius in his progress, or form their doors in the shape of a fan, a flower, a leaf, which all contribute to bewilder the malignant spirits, and to make them afraid to leap over. Should a neighbour build a house close to another, but not upon the same plan, or should there be any corner or slanting of the roof, so placed as to cross that of the other, this is enough to occasion desolation and distress to the proprietor, who lives in constant apprehension of

some malignant influence. Should a lawsuit fail to relieve him from the adverse encroachment, his only resource is to raise on the middle of his roof an enormous figure of a dragon, in baked earth, darting a furious look upon the fatal angle, and opening its mouth so as to swallow the offending object: this removes all apprehension, and restores the tranquillity of the household.

Christians.] During the seventh century, about the year 635, a few Christians of the Nestorian sect passed from India to China, and were tolerated by the government nearly two centuries, under the designation of priests of Ta-tsin. But in the year 845 they were proscribed by the emperor Voo-tsong, at the instigation of some of his favourite bonzes; and, after suffering a severe persecution, appear to have been completely extirpated. In the beginning of the 13th century, a number of Christians of the Greek church, who had followed the army of Genghis-Khan, entered China along with the Tartars under Kublai-Khan, and received from that emperor a grant of a space of ground within the walls of Pekin, for the purpose of erecting a church. Marco Polo, the celebrated Italian traveller, who visited China about this period, accompanied three missionaries of the Dominican order, who were sent from Venice to Pekin, at the express desire of Kublai-Khan; but, whether from a want of encouragement or of zeal, they returned in a short time to their native country with no small degree of wealth, acquired chiefly by trading in their progress through the East. About the middle of the 16th century, Francis Xavier, at the head of a company of Romish missionaries of the order of Jesuits, reached the island of San-Shian on the coast of China, where he died in 1552; and, after a communication was opened with India by the cape of Good Hope, a number of Romish priests passed into China to propagate the faith. In this view they took care, in the first instance, to render themselves useful to the government as interpreters, astronomers, mathematicians, and mechanics, and in general found means to acquire wealth and respectability. The Portuguese, particularly, who hold the highest stations in Pekin, are in possession of good estates and country seats; and the Jesuits, before the dissolution of their society, were a very rich and powerful body in China. These missionaries, however, especially the Portuguese, are said to be extremely jealous and illiberal towards each other; and it was in a great measure owing to their frequent dissensions, that the Christians in China have been so severely persecuted. The most inveterate of these contests took place between the Jesuits and the Dominicans; the former of whom, by assimilating their opinions and practices in a great degree to these of the Chinese sects, and by professing that they came only to restore the ancient religion of the country to its original purity, when first delivered by their great philosopher Confucius, began to gain immense numbers of followers, who were half Christian and half Pagan in their sentiments and manners. The Dominicans, upon their arrival in the country, at once condemned these compromising arts, excluded these mixed proselytes from the number of Christian converts, and prohibited their followers among the natives from observing any of their ancient rites, especially from practising that fundamental national duty of sacrificing to their deceased relatives in the hall of Ancestors. The Franciscans adopted the sentiments of the Dominicans; and represented the conduct of the Jesuits to the Pope in such a point of view, that he sent out a bull to China, forbidding all the Catholic missionaries to permit the union of any idolatrous ceremonies with those