2. The Hung-loo-sze, the members of which attend as masters of ceremony on court days, as well as at sacrifices, and give the word of command, "Kneel!" "Prostrate!""Rise!" 3. The Kwang-luh-sze, who are charged with the cooking of the flesh of the sacrifices, and arranging the imperial banquet given to the Mongol princes and foreign ambassadors.

The worship of the emperor consists in a recitation of a form of prayer, written upon a board, and read with a loud voice by a member of the Tae-chang-sze. The subjoined is a specimen :

"The rightful successor of Heaven's son, your minister, dares to announce to illustrious Heaven, the Supreme Ruler, that he has received the imperial decree of nourishing the people in this sublunary sphere. He thinks profoundly upon the country's welfare. Sowing and harvest are subject to difficulties, and upon them the sustenance of the people depends: he therefore hopes that Heaven will grant rain in due season. Availing himself of this lucky day, he spreads out his sacrifice in public. Whilst the dragon's eyes are upon him, he utters his annual prayer. May the August and Supreme Ruler behold this repast, which is sincerely presented. May he grant tranquillity to the millions of people, bestow splendid gifts upon all, and vouchsafe the five winds and ten rains, that there may be millet and corn, as well as the five kinds of grain. Thus these three kinds of agriculture will flourish."

The sacrifice which the emperor of China spreads before the altar is very costly. The sacrificial animals amount annually to 240 cows, 439 sheep and goats, 339 pigs, 405 stags, and 449 hares.

Divers soups and dishes are also prepared and presented to the idols, and gold and silver paper is burned before them in great abundance. It has been calculated, indeed, that the institutions for the service of the one true God in other countries do not cost more than one-eighth part of the sum which the emperor of China pays for idolatry. The gold and silver paper consumed in wanton waste before his idols alone, costs a hundred times more, Mr. Gutzlaff says, than all the money expended for Bibles, tracts, and missionary societies! This is a humbling consideration for the Christian world.

LITERARY ESTABLISHMENTS.

It is maintained by the Chinese, that their nation is the only civilized nation on earth, and that it is destined to transform the whole world. Looking at this vaunt, one might expect to find literary institutions in every nook of the empire, and to learn that its emperors were the constant and munificent patrons of learning. The history of many emperors declares, indeed, that they sedulously cultivated literature; but the actual condition of learning in China proves such a declaration to be a mere oriental hyperbole. Compared with the various courts for the maintenance of rites and ceremonies, the learned institutions of China sink into insignificance. Those con

nected with the court resolve themselves into three only; namely, the Kwo-tsze-keen, or national institute; the Kin-teën-keën, or astronomical board; and the Tae-e-yuen, or medical board; and even these are conducted in such a manner, and are so miserably deficient in sound

learning, as might make a European curl the lip of scorn, and apply to their students generally the insulting epithet of "Tyro." What, then, becomes of the boast of the Chinese, that they will one day transform the world? Some few great men have appeared amongst them: the minds of the mass are weakened and debased by their gross superstitions.

The Kwo-tsze-keen, or national institute, is an establishment for the education of the sons of officers and noble Mantchoos. They are educated at the public expense, and are instructed in the Chinese, Mongol, and Mantchoo languages. Beyond this they learn very little; and when they have passed the requisite examinations, they are either sent to the high tribunals, or to the provinces, to serve as clerks, till they receive further promotion. This is the general rule; but some pupils, who exhibit great aptitude for learning, are educated for the astronomical board, and learn the elements of mathematics.

The Kin-teen-keën, or astronomical board, belonging to the court of China, has been greatly celebrated by the Jesuits, who were admitted members of it, and who raised it to its present state. In it there are employed, one great minister, 190 mandarins, with a host of pupils and clerks. Their principal duties are, to notify to the emperor the day, hour, and part of the heavens in which an eclipse is to happen, and to prepare a calendar. Of late years, they have been enabled to do this with tolerable accuracy; but only a few are engaged in astronomical labours, or understand the science. Most of them are employed in astrological observations, and foretelling future events;

or, in other words, in imposing in various ways upon the credulity of the emperor and his court. The Tae-e-yuen, or medical board, consists of three presidents, fifteen imperial physicians, thirty assistants, forty secondary doctors, with several pupils and apothecaries. The duties of these are self-evident. They are supported for the service of the imperial palace; but it frequently happens that some of the physicians are sent to Mongolia, in order to visit a sick princess. The skill which they display in the healing art is of a questionable nature; or, if they possess such, it is scarcely made available. Law forbids them to follow their own judgment in preparing medicines. Whatever may be the nature and stage of the complaint, they must prescribe and prepare the drugs according to established rules. This, perhaps, is one of the strongest proofs that could be adduced of the unchanging manners of oriental nations. What they were of old, that they are now; and it is no stretch of imagination to affirm likewise, that they will bear the same resemblance in future years. They may be modified, but never obliterated.

Such is the emperor, and such the court of China. To a Christian, the picture affords a sad theme for his contemplation. In it he beholds one man proudly lording it over millions of subjects with a high hand; and that not only as regards their bodies, but their souls. In the crouching form of the one, the debasing condition of the other is seen. All the best faculties are prostrated beneath his withering sway. In vain are edicts issued breathing paternal love for them. “All is false and hollow." Like the priests of the oracles of antiquity, who secretly laughed at the

credulous multitude bowing at their shrines, the emperor of China, doubtless, sits in his imperial palace, and laughs at the credulity of his subjects, who bow before him as a god. He knows and feels his own mortality; and when he issues his assumptive dogmas, he cannot but ask himself this question, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?" But the time is hastening onward, when the flimsy web he has weaved, all covered as it is with the dust of antiquity, shall be removed!