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and ruling planets, and in fact, every event may be safely foretold, though it generally does not take place."

The cycle of the Chinese consists of sixty years. Their year commences from the nearest new moon to the fifteenth degree of Aquarius, which sign the sun enters in January. From this, spring commences, while summer begins at the fifteenth degree of Taurus; autumn at the fifteenth of Leo; and winter at the fifteenth of Scorpio. Their year consists of twelve lunar months, some of twenty-nine, and some of thirty days. It is also divided into twenty-four terms. Every fifth year, they have an intercalary month, in order to adjust the lunations with the course of the sun. Each month, moreover, is divided into three decades, and neither the days nor the months have names, but are counted first, second, third, etc. The Chinese day, like ours, begins at midnight, and is divided into twelve hours, for which the signs are borrowed from the cycle.

What the Chinese know scientifically of astronomy appears to be owing partly to the instructions of the Mohammedans, but chiefly to the Jesuit missionaries attached to the Astronomical Board. Their knowledge, however, is still very imperfect. Astrological observations, vain and fallacious though they be, better suit their genius and their tastes. The emperor is, in truth, the great patron of astrology; for he will not undertake anything except he is first assured that it is in accordance with the starry heavens; whence it is natural that the Chinese should prefer the cultivation of astrology to that of astronomy. The mysteries of astronomy and astrology are wielded

as an engine of power over the ignorance of the people. The government has declared it death to publish a counterfeit or imitation of the Imperial Almanack, and it countenances the extravagancies of the populace during the observation of an eclipse, and the terror caused by the appearance of a comet. When an eclipse occurs, the emperor goes through sundry ceremonies, and affects to consider it as a warning to him for some maladministration.

In geometry they are very deficient; and, by a natural consequence, they have no correct notions of geography. But for the Jesuits, they might even now have represented their country as the centre of a circle, studded round with foreign nations, as they did anciently. Taught by them, under the patronage of the enlightened Kang-he, they have laid down every province separately on the spherical projection, with lines of latitude, calculated from the equator, and meridians of longitude. But these maps are inaccurate; and as for every thing external to their own country and Tartary, they scarcely give it a thought. They possess a rough map of the two terrestrial hemispheres, supplied them by the Jesuits, which is their only work on general geography.

The foregoing will tend to show that the Chinese are not distinguished for scientific knowledge. Many instances, however, might be adduced, in which the Chinese appear to have been the anthors of many useful inventions, without the previous possession of any scientific clue. Thus, in the science of mechanics and machinery, without any theoretical knowledge, they apply all the mechanical powers, except the screw, with consi

derable effect. In navigation, also, it seems clear that they first discovered the use of the compass; and, without knowing anything of optics, which treat of the convergence and divergence of rays of light, they use both convex and concave glasses, or rather spectacles of rock crystal, to assist their sight.

In many instances, however, it may be suspected that the knowledge of inventions ascribed to the Chinese was borrowed from the European missionaries. The Chinese seem to be, indeed, creatures of, and adepts in, the art of imitation. They have been known to attempt copies of European telescopes; but science being requisite in the construction of these instruments, they failed. In the kaleidoscope, however, they succeeded to a marvel. One of these having reached Canton, it was imitated, manufactured in vast quantities, and sent up the country under the name of wánhua-tung, the tube of ten thousand flowers."

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Proud boasters as the Chinese are, therefore, of human knowledge, and which they distribute under the three heads of Heaven, Earth, and Man, they have yet much to learn even in the arts and conveniences of life. Their national pride and ignorance prevent them from acknowledging, or even discerning this; but the fact is self-evident to every enlightened reader of their history. How, then, is their improvement to be effected? The spirit of the Chinese is borne down by superstition, slavish custom, and oppression; it therefore must come from Europe: and shall it be denied them? Shall those who have derived from

"the true and only God,

And from the faith derived through Him who bled

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MANUFACTURES, ARTS, AND SCIENCES.

Upon the cross, a marvellous advance
Of good from evil; as if one extreme
Were left, the other gain'd;"

deny the blessings which they experience unto others sitting in total darkness, and going down to the grave by thousands upon thousands daily, without God, and without hope in the world? That were a blot upon the Christian character never to be effaced. The light of Christianity must be diffused throughout China; the cost may be great, but the achievement of raising that nation from a state of moral and mental degradation will be so glorious, that, compared with it, the gold and silver spent will appear as things of nought. Let Christians pour out bountifully of their abundance, that the reproach of the heathen may not fall upon them in the day of judgment. Freely as they have received the word of life, so should they freely give to those who stand in need of the blessing.

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INTERCOURSE WITH THE ANCIENTS.

ALTHOUGH the Chinese are an essentially agricultural people, and although their policy has ever been to live secluded from the rest of mankind, yet history relates that some of the treasures of their country very early found their way into the distant parts of the earth. This is more especially the case with reference to the article of silk. After silk was known in Europe, it was always represented as coming from some remote country, and this country has been subsequently mentioned

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