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and fell alternately. His hands and feet were nailed to the wood, and, being thirsty, a sour and bitter drink was given him. When he died, the heavens were darkened, the earth shook, the rocks, striking against each other, were broken into small pieces. He was then aged thirtythree years. On the third day after his death, he again returned to life, and his body was splendid and beautiful. He appeared first to his mother, in order to remove her sorrow. Forty days after, when about to ascend to heaven, he commanded his disciples, in all a hundred and two, to separate, and go everywhere under heaven to teach, and administer a sacred water to wash away the sins of those who should join their sect. Having finished his commands, a flock of ancient holy ones followed him up to the celestial kingdom. Ten days after, a celestial god descended to receive his mother, who also ascended up on high. Being set above the nine orders, she became the empress of heaven and earth, and the protectress of human beings."

There appears, upon the whole, some ground for supposing that the legend of Fokien province, concerning the Queen of Heaven, may have had its origin in the Romish accounts of the Virgin Mary, since the title by which the Chinese designate their goddess is Teen-how Neang, “Our Lady the Queen of Heaven." On the other hand, the Chinese at Canton, who are fond of finding parallels and resemblances of the kind, give the name of the Virgin (in conversing with Europeans) to their Budhist idol Kuân-yin; and in the same way apply the name of Kuân-yin to the Romish idols of the Virgin. To every saint who has a church at Macao they contrive to give a name, founded on some supposed analogy in their own idols. St. Anthony they call "the fire god." There is nothing in the Romish worship at that place, or in the character of the priests, that is

calculated to give the Chinese a very exalted idea of this corruption of Christianity. In the former, they witness graven or molten images, processions, tinkling of bells, candles and incense, exact'y resembling their own religious rites; in the latter, a number of ignorant and idle monks, professing celibacy, but with indifferent moral characters, shaving their heads and counting beads very much after the fashion of the Budhist priests. A few Romish missionaries still make converts of the lowest and poorest Chinese, who occasionally appear at the churches and receive each of them a small donation of rice, for which reason they are sometimes called in Portuguese "rice Christians."

The curious resemblance between the practices of Budhism and the Romish church goes still farther. Dr. Milne, whose zeal and talents accomplished much in a little time, but whose labours were cut short by an untimely death, supplied the following observations to the 'Chinese Gleaner:"*"There is something to be said in favour of those Christians who believe in the magic powers of foreign words, and who think a prayer either more acceptable to the Deity, or more suited to common edification, because the people do not generally understand it. They are not singular in this belief. Some of the Jews had the same opinion; the followers of Budha, and the Mahomedans, all cherish the same sentiment. From the seat of his holiness at Rome, and eastward through all Asia to the cave of the Jammaboos of Japan, this sentiment is espoused. The bloody Druids of ancient Europe, the naked gymnosophists of India, the Mahomedan Hatib, the Hoshâng (Budhist priests) of China, the Romish clergy, and the bonzes of Japan,-all entertain the notion that the mysteries of religion will be the more revered the *Vol. iii. p. 141.

less they are understood, and the devotions of the people (performed by proxy) the more welcome in heaven for their being dressed in the garb of a foreign tongue. Thus

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the synagogue, the mosque, the pagan temple, and the Romish church seem all to agree in ascribing marvellous efficacy to the sounds of an unknown language; and as

Gateway of Budhist Temple near Canton.

they have Jews, Mahomedans, and Pagans on their side, those Christians who plead for the use of an unknown tongue in the services of religion have certainly a host, as to number, in support of their opinion. That Scripture, reason, and common sense should happen to be on the other side, is indeed a misfortune for them, but there is no help for it.

"The sacred language of the Budhists is called 'The language of Fân,' which is the name of the birthplace of Budha. It is totally unknown to the Chinese generally, and the priests themselves know nothing of it, beyond the sound of a few favourite words and phrases. There are, it is true, glossaries attached to some of their religious books, which are designed to explain these technical shibboleth; but the definition is sometimes given in other technical terms equally unintelligible, and from their general ignorance of letters very few of the priests are capable of consulting such helps. Among them there may now and then be found a scholar, and some have written books, but as a body they are extremely ignorant. Beyond the stated and occasional lessons of their Liturgy, which they have learned to repeat by rote, they have very little knowledge of books, and many of them cannot read. As a sect, however, they profess to cherish the most profound veneration for the language of Fân. They ascribe miraculous effects to the use of the written character and of the oral language, and consider both to be of celestial origin. To the repetition of the bare sounds, without regard to the meaning, they attach the highest importance; hence they occasionally go over the same words hundreds and thousands of times. I once asked a priest, What advantage can you expect to derive from merely repeating a number of words, with the sense of which you are entirely unacquainted?' His answer was, 'True, I do not know the sense-it is

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profound and mysterious; yet the benefit of often repeating the sounds is incalculable; it is infinite!'

"Let us now attend for a moment to the sentiments of the Malays on the same subject. Their religious opinions are derived from the Korân, the principles of which they profess to imbibe, and daily observe its ceremonies. No language but the Arabic is allowed in their public religious services, and, though there be not one in a hundred. Malays that understands it, they tenaciously stick to it, and consider worship as profaned by the use of any other. Let them speak for themselves. The Arabic language possesses superlative glory in the Islam religion, and no other can be allowed in the Mahomedan mosques. If prayers be offered in the Malay, Javanese, Buggis, Bornean, Hindoostanee, or other languages, they are rendered profane and useless. The Arabic is that in which the Mahomedan faith was first given. The angel Gabriel was commanded by God to deliver the words of the Koran exclusively in Arabic to the prophet Mahomed.''

But to return to Budhism. The paradise of Fŏ includes those circumstances of sensual indulgence which the founders of most false religions have promised to their votaries; but unlike the elysium of Mahomed, no houries are to be supplied to the saints of Budhism, for even the women that are admitted there must first change their sex. "The bodies of the saints reproduced from the lotus* are pure and fragrant, their countenances fair and well formed, their hearts full of wisdom, and without vexation. They dress not, and yet are not cold; they dress, and yet are not made hot. They eat not, and yet are not hungry; they eat, and yet without pain, irritation, and sickness, and they become not

are not satiated. They are

*The lotus is a favourite type of creative power, and representations of it perpetually occur in connexion with Budhism.

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