“Yes, we trust the day is breaking;
Joyful times are near at hand;”
and he asks himself whether he is losing his confidence in the ultimate triumph of christianity, and in the sufficiency of divine power to turn the hearts of nations as the rivers of waters are turned. If he be a firm believer in the Bible, he will say that while he remembers the conquest of Canaan, especially its first great achievement, the capture of Jericho, his faith never can falter. Were not the aborigines of Canaan devoted to destruction by the Almighty, and their land apportioned to the tribes, with minute directions how to take possession of it, the very line of march prescribed, the great tribe of Judah in the forefront? And did not our Lord spring out of Judah? Has he not “upon his vesture and upon his thigh a name written,—King of kings and Lord of lords?” While, on returning to his christian ordinances at home a christian traveller in China may be less excited than he used to be there at the report of a few conversions among the heathen, because he will have an enlarged idea of the gross darkness which covers the people, he will only have exchanged his former confidence in man for a more entire confidence in God. The accumulation of difficulties in the way of the gospel he will regard only as those barrels of water which were poured on Elijah’s altar, serving to make the fire from heaven more triumphant.
SHANGHAI PORCELAIN.
I was sitting on the steamer at Shanghai conversing with a friend about the productions, natural and artificial, of that region, and I expressed the desire to find something peculiar to the place which I might take to America. In about an hour, happening to look at the people on the wharf my friend clapped his hands and said, “Here is something peculiar to Shanghai; now you can have your wish gratified.” He called a man on board who laid down before us a large basket filled with small teapots. I thought of course that he was indulging in humor at my expense, but he said that people from all parts would buy baskets and barrels of this ware; that they declared that nothing was more popular at home, at fairs, and for presents. He selected twenty-five small teapots and packed them for me in a basket, saying that if I did not appreciate them my venerable lady friends would. They were made of a material found in that region, a fine clay, brown, of different shades, some of them highly ornamented with an intermixture of green, all of them furnished with strainers and other conveniences. I brought them to America and when I say that in a few weeks only one of them remained in my possession, nothing need be added to confirm the Rev. Mr. Syle’s judgment in his selection of a representative present from Shanghai. When I add that the twenty-five articles cost a dollar and twenty-five cents, no further inducement will be necessary to persuade visitors to provide themselves with one means of furnishing friends with acceptable presents.
WORK OF THE LAW IN THE HEART.
Going into a monastery in China with a clergyman who could converse in Chinese, we saw among the inmates a woman who seemed to be ever praying, as she sat a little retired from the rest. The superior told us that she was praying all the time, being overheard frequently in the night upon her bed in supplication. He said that there was some great burden upon her mind, which she would not disclose. She was evidently not insane; and, from all that I could learn about her, I came to the conclusion that she was under conviction of sin; sinfulness, rather than any particular transgression, was the burden upon her heart. That there are many throughout the heathen world thus exercised, we cannot question; the second chapter of Romans speaks of them, among others, “with the work of the law written in their hearts.” They may be few compared with the whole heathen world; yet how interesting to think that such may be in a state of mind fitting them to accept the gospel, should it be made known to them, and that they will not perish merely for not being acquainted with it. Thus, where sin abounds, grace may much more abound, choosing its subjects independently of human instructors. ‘Thou canst not tell whither it goeth,’—this superhuman agency. This thought is some little relief to one, as he wanders about in those regions of the shadow of death, impressed by much that he sees with the reflection how true to the letter is the apostle’s description, in the first chapter of Romans, of the heathen world.
AN ARISTOCRATIC CHINESE FAMILY.
The party of young friends who called on the bride, called also at the house of an aristocratic Chinese family, with whom one of their number was acquainted. There were several young daughters and sons in the family, who all spoke some words of English. A missionary’s daughter acted as interpreter. The Chinese young ladies brought out their state dresses, which were heavily embroidered with silver and gold. They put them on their visitors, made them walk about the courtyard, following them with shouts of laughter. They then gave them cake and cups of clear tea. One lady belonging to the family smoked a long pipe, and offered another pipe, with opium, to her guests. The Chinese young ladies showed their little feet, apparently with much pride, to the visitors; three inches and a half each was the measure of nearly all the feet.