and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.-Luke xx. 37, 38.

THE PASSOVER.-EXODUS XII.

And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; 1 will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. -Matt. xxvi. 18-20.

For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled. A bone of him shall not be broken.-John xix. 36. See Ex. xii.

46.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.— John i. 29.

THE LAW OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.EXODUS XX.

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God; but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother; and Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.-Matt. xix. 16, 19. Parallel passage, Luke xviii. 18-20.

But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye e also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.-Matt. xv. 3-6.

See also Mark vii. 10-13.

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.-Matt. xxii. 35-40.

See parallel passage, Mark xii. 29, 30.

And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses says, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death; but ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have

THE MOSAIC LAW IN GENERAL.

Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself......(32) And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?. (44) And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.-Luke xxiv. 25-47.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.-Matt. v. 17-19.

If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.-Luke xvi. 31.

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words?— John v. 45-47.

Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?-John vii. 19.

LEVITICUS XIV. AND XII.

And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.Matt. viii. 2-4; Mark i. 44.

And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall

-e called holy to the Lord;) and to offer a acrifice according to that which is said in the aw of the Lord, A pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.-Luke ii. 21-24.

THE BRAZEN SERPENT.-NUMBERS XXV.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.John iii. 14, 15.

DEUTERONOMY VIII. 3; VI. 16; AND X. 20.

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.-Matt. iv. 4.

Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.Matt. iv. 7.

Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.-Matt. iv. 10.

THERE are many customs connected with marriage among the Chinese at Fuh Chau, which are of a superstitious and sinful nature. A brief description of some of these will be given below. An explanation—that is, an explanation which shall appear reasonable and satisfactory to the western reader, will not be attempted. For in regard to some customs, the Chinese have no such explanation to offer. They account for them, and justify their practice of them simply by saying, "They are the established customs of our people: our fathers did thus and so, and we imitate their example," which seems to be a sufficient reason to a Chinaman why he should conform to any custom, however irrational, expensive, or useless.

The pious reader will note how contrary these customs are to the spirit and principles of the Bible. The writer would regard his labour in preparing this letter as lost, if Christians at the west who may read it are not led to infer some of the numerous obstacles to the rapid spread of the Gospel in China which are connected with the established social life and manners of this people. May they be incited to a deeper and more intelligent sympathy with the native converts who encounter many similar impediments to a consistent Christian life, and may they offer up more ardent and frequent prayer for their divine guidance and support.

1. Selection of lucky days by the fortuneteller. Usually a few months, or at least a few weeks before the marriage, a fortune-teller is consulted in order to select some fortunate or lucky days for the commencement of the necessary or customary preparations.

He

decides the month, day, and hour, when the families of the bride and the bridegroom shall begin the cutting out of the wedding garments; when the bridal bedstead shall be placed in the spot where it is to stand; when the family of the bride shall commence the bed-curtains and the "longevity" pillows; and when the bride shall enter the bridal sedan-chair to set out for the residence of her intended husband. These very important and highly interesting particulars are ascertained by the fortunetellers after comparing the dates of birth of

the parents (if living) of the bride and of the bride herself, as regards year, month, day, and hour, with the dates of the birth of the parents (if living) of the bridegroom and of the bridegroom himself, in regard to the same items. The result is attained in accordance with the established rules of fortunetelling, having regard to supposed propitious coincidences between the dates of birth of all the parties and the exact times selected. These times are written out on a sheet of red paper and carefully preserved for reference. Unless this mutual comparison of birth-days should be made by the fortune-teller, and corresponding dates selected for the commencement of the particulars above referred to, each party would decline lest there should be an unlucky month, day, or hour, fixed upon. In that case success could not be expectedto attend the married pair.

2. Placing the bridal bedstead in position. When the appointed day for this ceremony arrives, which is usually only a few days, sometimes ten or more, before the wedding, the bedstead is put in the place where it is expected to stand, and then it must on no account be moved for an indefinite period for fear of ill-luck. This placing of the bedstead is attended with other superstitious acts. Five coins belonging to the reign of five different emperors, one of each, are scattered around on the bottom of the bedstead, that is, under the matting with which every such bedstead is provided. Sometimes four sets of these coins are placed under the bedstead, one set being put near or under each post. Some five or six bunches of boiled rice, made in shape like a cone, from about four to six inches in length, and covered with a certain leaf, are hung up together from the middle of the frame provided for the bed-curtains. One of these is larger than the others, and is placed in the midst of them, being called their mother. A certain square wooden vessel, gaudily painted, smaller at the bottom than at the top, and holding more than a peck, is set on the bed near its centre. In the bottom of it is put a small quantity of uncooked rice. Over the rice is then spread a piece of red paper. On this paper are arranged in a

certain order a variety of articles, among which are ten chopsticks, a small brass mirror having a handle, a pair of shears, a foot measure, money scales, a small rudely carved wooden image from six to twelve or fifteen inches high representing a young child, and a certain kind of glass lamp containing oil already burning. This vessel thus prepared is left in the centre of the bed for half-a-day, or longer, when it is removed. The object or meaning of all the above nonsensical performances is to secure or promote the prosperity of the couple after their marriage, especially with regard to having children, who shall themselves have posterity in successive generations. The five cash of five emperors, the five bunches of rice, are supposed to be good omens or prognosticators of such fruitfulness in particular, as well as of temporal prosperity and success in general. The burning lamp, though in broad daylight, is regarded as peculiarly efficacious in keeping away evil spirits.

3. Sifting four eyes. This is a very singular ceremony, affirmed by the Chinese to be universally practised preparatory to the marriage of a girl at Fuh Chau. It is performed usually about a couple of days before the wedding, in the family of the intended bride, generally by two women who are hired to assist her on the wedding day, as well as a few days before and subsequent to it, if needed. A round sieve made of bamboo splints, in diameter about three or four feet, is provided. Also a brass vessel, two or three feet in diameter and one foot in height, which is placed on a pedestal or stand, raising it a short distance from the floor. After having put in this vessel a quantity of live coals, they take the bridal garments in convenient portions, and having laid them on the sieve they hold the sieve and its contents for a moment over the brazen vessel, with a slight sifting movement. They then remove the contents of the sieve, and go through the ceremonies in a similar manner with the remainder of her clothing, and with the trunks and small articles of household furniture which the bride is expecting to use in her new home. The bearers of the sieve and contents, while thus sifting them over the brass vessel, usually ntter some sentences which are considered appropriate and propitious, such as "A thousand eyes, ten thousand eyes sifted out; gold and silver, wealth and precious things sifted in." On the sieve, during all these performances, is laid a set of chopsticks. The meaning of this part of the operation is said to be, that although so much clothing and furniture be given away with the girl and become the property of another family, still sufficient clothing and food will "remain" to the family of the bride's parents, the name for chopsticks being the same in this dialect as the word to "remain." The object of the above ceremonies is to prevent evil influences befalling the bride in her new relations and home. On the day subsequent to this "sifting," usually, the articles and furniture not needed for the personal use of the girl previous to her marriage are dispatched in procession to the house of her intended husband.

A superstitious ceremony similar to that above described as performed at the house

of the bride's parents with her bridal garments, is also performed at the house of the bridegroom's parents with the garments which are to be worn as his wedding suit. This takes place the evening before the wedding. They are sifted over the coals in a brass vessel in much the same manner and having the same general object.

4. The worship of heaven and earth, and of each other. This is considered a most essential ceremony. It is conducted in somewhat the following manner: Two candles and some incense are lighted and placed on a table which stands in the front part of the room, or in a convenient spot near the open light of the heavens. This is called "placed before heaven." On the table are also put, among other things, two white cocks made of white sugar, five kinds of seed, a bundle of chopsticks, a foot measure, a mirror, a pair of shears, and a set of money scales. Two wooden goblets, partly filled with wine and honey, and fastened together by a red silk thread about two or three feet long, are also placed on the table. When everything is ready the bride is led out of her room and takes her place by the table, on the left hand of her husband. The faces of both parties are towards the table; that is, they are facing the light from the heavens. At certain signals from the female assistants of the bride, both parties kneel down three times, each time bowing their heads towards the earth once.. They then change places, the bride standing on the right hand side of the groom, when they again kneel down three times and bow their heads as before. This is called "worshipping. the heavens and earth." They then resume their former positions, the bride standing on the left side of the groom. Turning around so as to face each other, distant about five or six. feet, they again kneel thrice and bow down their heads near the ground thrice, but towards each other. They now arise and exchange places, and perform the same number of kneelings and bowings towards each other;. then they arise and remain standing near the table. The bride is closely veiled during all these genuflexions and bowings so that she cannot see. She is aided by her attendants in all these exercises, which are performed in profound silence. One of the female attendants takes the two wooden goblets from thetable and pours from one into the other, back and forth several times. She then hands one to the groom and the other to the bride, who. continue to face each other, the goblets remaining fastened together by the red thread.. Each tastes of the contents and then the goblets are exchanged; the bride sips out of the one just used by the groom, and the groom sips out of the one just used by the bride.. One of the attendants breaks a bit of sugar from each of the sugar cocks and gives some of it to both the groom and the bride. Usually some of the five kinds of seeds which have been placed on the table are also given to the parties. The groom afterwards takes the bunch of chopsticks in one hand, and the slender box which contains the money scales in the other hand, and makes a pretence of raising up, by their means, the thick covering which conceals the head and the face of the bride. It is nothing but a form or pretence,

and he returns them to the table, or places them in a certain kind of vessel made of willow twigs, provided for the occasion. This usually concludes the ceremony under consideration.

5. The burning of large candles during the night of the wedding. It is affirmed that every family here, on the occasion of a son taking a wife, provides a pair of wax or tallow candles, about two feet high, more or less, and from one to two inches in diameter. The outside is coloured of a bright red. Sometimes on one is made in golden colour, either by the use of golden foil or a liquid preparation called "gold oil," the figure of a dragon, and on the other the figure of a phoenix. These candles are lighted some time during the evening of the wedding. They are allowed and desired to burn on during the whole night in the bridal bed-room, and as much longer as they will last.

Now there is, doubtless, no harm, or super

stition, or sin, in the simple burning of these candles. The superstition and sin consist in the sentiments held in regard to them, and the importance which is attached to their appearance and condition on the following morning. It is eminently desirable that they should not be extinguished in any manner, but should burn on till entirely consumed. Should one or both become extinguished before consumed, it would indicate the untimely and premature death of one or both of the parties. The tallow or wax should not melt in burning too fast and run or trickle down the sides of the candles. This is regarded as a bad omen, the trickling down of the material being thought to resemble the flowing of tears down the cheeks, and indicates that there will be much sorrow in the family, or that husband and wife will not live happily together. A MISSIONARY.

Fuh Chau, China.

IF history is "philosophy teaching by examples," and if to "remember the days of old, the years of former times," is a duty inculcated by Scripture authority, then is it incumbent upon us to observe the lessons of the past, and to mark those events in the history of the church of God, or of our native land, which were fraught with momentous consequences at the time of their occurrence, and have perpetuated their influence on successive generations. "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." To such a recollection are we called in the present year.

Ancient Greece had its Thermopyla, at which three hundred heroic spirits resisted the overwhelming force of Persia, when her myriads came to rob the confederated states of their land and liberty; and by that courageous band were the hosts of Xerxes withstood and defeated. England, too, has had her moral Thermopylæ in the past, which witnessed a nobler struggle than that of Greece, equal endurance, and a more sublime defeat. It was when two thousand of her true-hearted sons and faithful ministers resisted arbitrary power, and refused to bow to a yoke of spiritual bondage which a capricious monarch and a haughty priesthood had prepared to impose upon them. Let us honour their memory. Theirs was the struggle of right against might-of freedom against tyranny- of truth and conscience against the inroads of error, and the usurpations of men. More was included, more was at stake, than in any conflict the world had yet seen; and in proportion to the superiority of the principles involved, the cause at issue, and the consequences that ensued, was the

VOL. XX.

moral heroism of the encounter, and the sublimity of the result. "I paint for eternity," replied the artist when asked why he bestowed so much pains on the canvas; and so might each one of those illustrious sufferers have said, to whose interesting and affecting history in our annals we now refer.

The alliance of power with ambition, priestcraft, falsehood, or despotism, must necessarily become a mighty engine for the oppression and wrong of mankind, and for effecting a large amount of desolation among the most precious interests of the people over whom it may be permitted, for however limited a period, to have sway. It matters not what restraining qualities there may be in the character, or what alleviating circumstances in the conduct, of the individual or individuals raised to such distinction amongst their fellows in the present world as to be invested with such power; the natural exercise of it, and its certain tendency, in all cases, is to evil, evil only, and that continually. The family, the community, the nation, the visible church of God, whichever happens to be the sphere of its influence and operations, is sure to be injured thereby, dislocated, divided, corrupted; and, if some antagonist force prevents not, destroyed. Its progress is sure to be from bad to worse; its doings always inflicting deeper and deeper injury on the oppressed. And were it not that the "only wise God," our adorable Creator and Ruler, has placed in human nature a barrier beyond which its impugners cannot pass-a point at which the spirit of resistance rises up with stern rebuke to say to that power, "Hitherto shalt thou go, but no further," universal devastation and ruin would ensue. It is the same, whether it be done against a nation, or a man

D

only." Tyranny is contrary to nature. Wrong cannot always maintain its throne. Humanity will not be always oppressed and down-trodden. It will rise. It will vindicate itself. Perhaps it may avenge its injured rights; and if it be not sanctified and controlled by superior principle, it undoubtedly will. Sooner or later the day of reckoning and recompence will come. "Righteousness" alone "exalteth a nation." And till it be exercised, and till it gain the ascendancy, suffering may be great, and the sufferers many; but we may be assured of this, that in proportion to their integrity, their purity of conscience, their moral worth and religious feeling, will be their power of endurance, the firmness with which they oppose oppression, and the fervour and determination with which they throw it off at last.

These remarks would receive ample and abundant confirmation by a glance at that period of our history which intervened between the decease of the celebrated daughter of Henry the Eighth, and the consummation of that Act which has rendered the 24th of August, 1662, for ever memorable in our national and ecclesiastical affairs.

James the First, a weak and unprincipled monarch, held possession of the reins of power for about twenty-two years, as if on purpose to show to mankind how little honour a royal name could acquire, and how much evil the union of superstition, duplicity, and kingcraft could inflict on a nation unhappily subject to its sway. Charles ascended the throne with all the graces of person and the promises of youth on his side, but it was soon to throw these and all other advantages away by union with a Popish queen, a dissolute minister, and an ambitious ecclesiastic for his primate; and to prove to the world, that whatever other causes conspired, or whoever were the individuals employed to bring about his sad catastrophe and tragic end, for that dishonoured fate he had in reality none to blame so much as himself; nor to any cause can the philosophy of history so justly assign it, as to his own prevarication, obstinacy, and illegal impositions. The British people were not to be trifled with as Charles supposed. The human conscience is not to be fettered as he and his ambitious minister Laud imagined; nor are the spiritual rights of a whole people to be confiscated by one fell sweep of the pen of tyranny, like that which, in the reign of his son, signed, against protests the most reasonable and promises the most sacred, the celebrated "Act of Uniformity," the iron rule of the State-church Establishment within these realms.

one

The mighty Oliver was no more. The civil wars had passed away. That awful period of England's struggle against prerogative and misrule, with all the bitter feuds it engendered, the prevarication on the hand, and the noble principles on the other which it displayed, had come to an end, and the nation had settled down to a state of comparative repose, as much so at least as reascended arbitrary power would permit it to do. Tired of bloodshed, strife, and woe, the great parties of the land were happy to be at peace, and so would gladly have continued, had not the unsubdued spirit of pride, tyranny, and

A

falsehood still prevailed in high places. second Charles filled the throne, who, untaught by all his father's misfortunes, and unimpressed by all the mournful events which yet cast their shadows over him, indulged in every kind of lasciviousness and excess, and left the affairs of state to take care of themselves as best they might. With these predilections and tastes, he had brought, however, the insatiable love of power, and inherent regard to Popery, and an avowed determination to be revenged on all those who, by their principles or by their conduct, were supposed to have approved of the doings of the liberal party in the late reign, or suspected of an inclination towards a more spiritual religion than he and his courtiers preferred. Measures of the utmost severity were therefore concocted and proposed against the Dissenters and Puritans of the day; and however righteous and innocent they were, condemnation and confiscation shortly awaited them. Haughty ecclesiastics combined to harass them. The most rigorous statutes were enforced against them. The magistrates, for the most part men of a sycophant spirit, were but too eager to carry these statutes into effect. The gaols were consequently soon crowded with prisoners. And "among the prisoners," says Macaulay, were some of whose genius and virtue any Christian society might well be proud."

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A few steps more, and the consummation was attained! This was the construction of a Bill, and its introduction into parliament, at the instigation of the King, and the high Episcopalian party, to enforce uniformity in every punctilio of the worship and discipline of the church of England; so minute that none could evade it, and so stringent that no room was left for liberty of conscience or judgment in the matter. Its object was to narrow the door of entrance to ecclesiastical privileges, and to take care that none should come at the possession of them, or be permitted to exercise their ministry, who would not in all things acknowledge the divine right of the King to invade the boundaries of conscience, and prescribe in what terms, and by what rules, homage should be rendered to the Great Supreme. The most frivolous ceremonies were solemnly enacted by law.

The mode of divine worship was required to be as uniform as that in which the military shoulder or ground their arms on parade, or offer the appointed salute if royalty be passing by. Doctrines the most contradictory, and declarations the most heterogeneous, were affirmed to be equally true; and by solemn oath was every one required to avow that all and every thing contained in a book of human composition, written by various authors, compiled at different times, abbreviated from the Popish missal, or handed down by uncertain tradition from some of the fathers, was literally, strictly, and universally in conformity with the revealed will of God. All this, moreover, was imposed at the bidding of an earthly monarch, a fellow mortal, sitting in the temple of God, and acting as God; presiding over worship, regulating the offerings of broken and contrite hearts at the footstool of the Eternal, enacting in what terms the suppliants of His mercy should pour forth