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MISSIONARY OBSERVER.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE FESTIVITIES AND OBSERVANCES OF THE CHINESE NEW YEAR.

BY J. 8. HUDSON.

THE Chinese stated seasons of recreation are far more numerous than ours. The autumnal and vernal equinoxes, the summer and winter solstices, third month and third day, fifth month and fifth day, seventh month, from the 1st to 15th, ninth month and ninth day, with the birth-days of many of their deities, are some of the periods when this 'too superstitious' people practice their gross and sinful worship. There is no period however, which is more universally kept than the first day, and the first few days of the new year. On this occasion idolatry, feasting, and congratulations, become the business of all, high and low, mandarines and people. Notwithstanding this, everything and everybody have a formal, serious exterior at least, instead of that free and smiling openness which would be a better characteristic of the season.

The contrast between the last day of the old year and the first of the new, is very impressive. The exclamations which aptly characterised the impression made on my mind, as I passed through the streets of this city' wholly given to idolatry,' on my way to our chapel previous to the new year, were, what a sight! how sickening! how lamenta ble! how sinful! I met crowds upon crowds of men, almost all of them bearing on their shoulders, or carrying in their hands, the things which they had purchased for their new year feasts. The things which they carried consisted of incense sticks, paper money in the form of ingots of silver and gold, candles, new papers with the picture of the furnace-god, door-god, &c., on them, which they bought to put up in the place of the old, and many other things which aro used in the idolatry of this pagan people. Of eatables everybody carried a piece of pork at least, besides some had hams, fowls, fish, ducks, geese, mutton, cakes, biscuits, &c. All these are first offered in sacrifice to heaven and earth, before they are eaten by the people. The streets were excessively thronged by purchasers of these things, and by the numerous servants of shops going about from one customer's house to another, to demand payment for the goods obtained at their shops during the last quarter. Here and there I saw a man worshipping at the niches of the gods of wealth. On the stone grates of these niches I noticed pieces of straw and bits of string, tied by men who had made vows, of which these trifles were

the tokens. All this stir and activity is preliminary to the new year. Idolatry and debasing superstition is entwined with everything this people do. I could not but reflect that the heathen amongst whom I was dwelling, though they showed activity, life, and devotion worthy of a better cause, were in reality dead, corpse-like masses. How de. plorably ignorant of the life and immortality of the Gospel! How basely subject to falsehood and sin! Living, yet surrounded by, and in the actual performance of, that which kept their souls within the precincts of the gates of death, and would bring on them eternal misery. And this because they were totally ignorant of the liberty wherewith the gospel has made us free.' Well may ignorance have as its distinguishing epithet the word 'darkness.' 'Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people : but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee, and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.'

The first day of the Chinese new year presents a scene which astonishes one who has been accustomed to see them pursuing their business without cessation. He would think that the Chinese en masse had been transformed into one of the ever changing forms of the metempsychosis. With a few single excep. tions all the shops are closed. Trade and labour of all descriptions have ceased. The artisan who the previous evening would hardly have been recognized through the dust which disfigured him, now paces the streets in a rich red tasseled cap, and a long flowing dress of silk and fur. The aged merchant who is dressed decently always, has now a lavish expensive costume, and seems to take great pride in being followed by his sons, grandsons, and perhaps great-grandsons, in procession, to worship the idols at the city temple. The literary man who may have ob. tained the first or second degree, directs his steps to the same place, with his cap proudly decorated by the aristocratic distinction-a brass button. The very poorest, who can boast of none of these outward tokens of respectability, either pay a very short visit to the temple, or else pass the day in the enjoyment of that sleep and rest of which many were deprived the previous night. The torn papers of exploded crackers were plentiful everywhere, but literally covered the stone slabs of some streets. As regards external

appearances, closed shops, the people neatly attired, the quietness of the whole scene, the absence of indecorum, and not the slightest exhibition of levity, all combined to force the thought on my mind, that I saw in its minor external characteristics at least, the future christian Sabbath in China.

times in all. The whole is concluded by the command Thae pan, retire in order. A small quantity of incense was all I saw placed before the tablets. Such was the worship we saw paid to tablets in the dawn of the first morning in this Chinese new year. As we knew it would be performed again at the city temple, we immediately proceeded thither, after we had handed to the mandarines a few of our tracts. In the city temple, we spoke to a large crowd of people, and distributed several hundreds of tracts to the numerous idolatrous votaries who were pre

After the lapse of some time the mandarines made their appearance. The worship of these idols was a ceremony fraught with far more serious consequences than the adoration paid to Confucius. At the latter no one was present but ourselves and the inferior servants of the officers. In the city temple a large number of people were collected who were witnesses, and when the ceremony was over, imitators of the public example set them by the representatives of their sovereign. Only two prostrations and six knockings of the head were made to the idol however, thus a marked difference was shown in their political estimation of the rank and superiority of the two-the idol and Confucius' tablet.

I will now proceed to narrate the events of the day. We arose early in the morning and proceeded to the Confucian temple, near the Salt-gate, for the purpose of witnessing the prostrations of the government officers to the Tablets of Confucius and his seventy disciples. One by one, as daylight approach-sent. ed, the officers came with muffled gongs, and dumb criers, leaving their chairs without the gate. The officers assembled were, as follows, the commanders of the nine military cantonments of this city, the magistrate, the prefect, the general, and the admiral, the two last are Manchus. To the first officer that came we addressed a few words and gave tracts, but as he did not invite us into the room where they sat, we spent the time with their servants and underlings, to whom we addressed some religious instructions. By and bye a cup of tea was handed to each of the officers, who took their cups and sipped the tea simultaneously. The general and admiral were the great ones, and every thing they did was servilely imitated by their inferiors. After a mat and furs had been spread in an open court before the tablets, they came out to perform the Routow. Here again fulsome ceremony produced a ridiculous scene. The general and admiral stood mutely opposite each other for some time, neither in his excessive respect daring to move a step before the other, and the difficulty was only overcome by each tacitly assenting in the same mute way, to compromise their honour by mutually advancing a step at the same moment. There was nothing which gave me a better idea of the vulgar word sheepishness than this farce. Neither spoke, neither moved. The slavish

ceremony allowed them only the language of looks, which though of some use, was evidently a failure in this instance. It failed to give precedence to either of them, and therefore they could only advance together. They ranged themselves in ranks, the one on the right of the porch, and the other on the left. An underling then called out in a loud voice the order and the number of their prostations as follows:

The first command is Tseu wei, advance to your places. 2nd. Seu leih, stand in order. 3rd. Pae, prostrate yourselves. 4th. Kow show, knock your heads. 5th. Isae kow show, again knock your heads. 6th. Yeu kow show, again knock your heads. 7th. Hing, arise. The prostrations are three in number, and the knocking of heads is three times at each prostration, or nine

Such is the state worship of China. No reflections can add any weight to the simple statement of such a fact. The Chinese are slaves both spiritually and physically, though the thunderings of the vox populi of China are frequently more effectual for the realisation of partial liberty, than the famed constitutions of the lands of freedom. To the vox populi of China we would say, to the whole world we would say,

'Spirit of freedom, on,

And pause not in thy flight,
Till every clime be won
To worship in thy light.

Then where the mountains sink,
And where the valleys rise,
The beacon lights of liberty
Shall kindle to the skies.'

LETTER FROM REV. C. LACEY.
PASTORAL VISITS, &c.

Cuttack, August 31st, 1850. MY DEAR BROTHER GOADBY.-I informed you two months ago that I should write to you before long, and I feel disposed to attend to my promise by the mail which leaves in a few days hence. I fear you feel ere this that you have received sadly too much from me in that long letter containing some account of our journey to and from Conference: and suppose you do not complain now of the paucity of matter from me. I received

your last; and quickly circulated it. Many
thanks for all its information, for all the
interest it evinces in us and our work; and
for all the affection it breathes. It contained
a bit of something good for us all, and for
some time afterwards we all wrote and talked
about our feast. It is useful to us, and we
like to be told that our immediate friends
are still not uninterested in us,-that they
have not forgotten us,—that they still love
us and earnestly pray for us. Next to the
approval of God it is pleasant to feel that
they have the approval of his people. Their
sympathy, their good wishes, and their pray-
ers, are supporting and stimulating. Many
of those with whom I was personally ac-
quainted are gone into eternity; and most
those who now support the Orissa mission
are unknown to me. Nothing on earth, ex-
cept the work which engrosses my heart,
would be more gratifying to me than to come
over to you, and assure our friends of the
importance of their labours in the mission-
ary department-to assure them of the good
that has been done and is now doing. I
feel that I should have my energies taxed,
and should then be far below the merits of
my theme.
But I cannot come to make
their acquaintance; I cannot leave my field,
my work, or the church which is collected
around me. At present I can only ask you
to make my affectionate salutation to the
friends in Wood-gate particularly, the sup-
porters of the mission generally, and ask
them not to be weary in well-doing. They have
already reaped much, but they will soon reap
much more. The tree of life is planted in
Orissa, and its healing influence exten-
sively felt. A tract of jungle has commenced
to be cleared; but we must still labour; we
must, as the Hindoos say, root up as well as
cut off, or else what was cut will soon be re.
placed by vigorous shoots from the living
We must plough, sow, and water our
field, and then in the reaping time we shall
gather an abundant crop. A meeting of
2000 brahmins has been lately convened, to
judge and punish some young Baboos, or
rich young native gentlemen, for drinking
wine and eating beef. But they have gone
away disappointed, for the young men told
them they should still eat beef, and did not
regard any more either the Bades, the Shas.
tres, or the Brahmans. Hindooism has
been shaken to its centre. These young
men have taken refuge under the liberty of
conscience law, which has recently passed
the legislative council. I am happy to say
that christianity has to day had a very sig-
nal triumph in Cuttack. Our converts are
from many castes, from the Chandal to the
high twice-born, the brahmin; but we have
not yet had a gowra, a person of the cow-
herd caste, a very good caste in Orissa. We
have had a gowra, but then he had lost

roots.

caste before he became a christian. A very respectable young man has given up his caste, and has become a disciple of Christ. His wife has joined him, and I have now in hand a letter for his mother and sister, exhorting them to follow his example, and I suppose they will do so. To day they are all to be expelled caste, but more than this their enemies cannot do. The boast of the gowras is now at an end!

I had resolved to give you a history of my last visit to that little prosperous rural christian colony known by the term Choga, or the six villages, but properly called Udayapur; however I understand that brother Brooks has done so, and I therefore will fill up my letofter, which must be light, as this is the day of grace, the last possible day for the mail, and may perhaps write you an account of my visit to Udayapur, which I am intending to make next Lord's day. There is more simplicity and fewer forms of sin prevalent in the country than there are in the city, and religion flourishes better. Besides, the people are agriculturists, and cannot do more with hand labour than just get their rice and cloth; and this is a great advantage, for a hindoo cannot bear to get rich. In place of a visit to Choga, walk with me on my pastoral round on Friday last. I arose at halfpast five, and ere I was out of my bed-room, our friend S-, a captain in the 30th. M. N. I., and his young and pious and excellent wife were at the door. They had had their morning ride already, and had called to see how we all were, and to talk over a few matters. Captain S, is collector and treasurer of our pastor's fund, which has been very helpful to us in starting our native converts in some way by which to get their salt and rice, or their bread as we should say in England. The fresh air in this land of the sun, must be taken in the early morning, for by eight o'clock it becomes very hot. My first visit was to a poor woman in Lacey naggar, a christian village of ours. She has been bad of rheumatism for six weeks, and cannot get off her wretched floor mat. She is not a serious woman, and so a few words were directed to her. 'Bellgowri nia, or, well mother of gowry, (the wives of Hindoos are called by the name of their son or daughter if they have one, otherwise bhow, or wife; never by their name) your body is heavily afflicted with pain, but have you no thought about your soul?' 'O sir, I am a poor ignorant woman, what do I know about a soul.' I explained its capabilities to her, and set forth its danger in consequence of sin, and pointed out the Saviour, begging her to attend to these things.

My next visit was to the house of a very violent woman, who has succeeded in mastering her husband, and who had been quarrel,

ing with a peaceful and pious neighbour. I had been appealed to, and must settle the affair. I have had frequent similar appeals against the same person before, and therefore must be severe. 'Well, Lockshmee bring me your agreement for this house and land.' Lockshmee brings it me with great reluctance, and I read, 'I Lockshmee agree to pay two rupees a year for the half acre of ground which I occupy to the sahib, and if I violently disagree with my neighbours, or lie, or steal, or talk filthy language, or commit adultery; then I agree that the sahib may come and turn me out of his christian village at twelve o'clock in the day, and I will not complain.

(Signed,)

LOCKSHMEE.'

Well, Lockhi, you have been calling the wife of B. a bad woman, and a deal more : you must go out, or I shall direct your neighbours to turn you out as you have said they may. Lockhi can say nothing: her anger is now over; and her husband comes up and turns intercessor. 'Sir, every one knows your mercifulness; you are the father of us all; let there be an order passed for this noisy woman's forgiveness.' The man is a good man and a member; and Lockhi stands crying, and I am disarmed. I say, 'Well, it must be as B's wife says: if she will forgive you, and you promise to do so no more, then I am willing. The husband had been to B's wife, and had got her to forgive the woman; and so she is called in consequence. Trebane, have you forgiven this woman for so grossly and falsely abusing you?' 'Yes, papa, I have; she is sorry now, and says she wont do so any more; so please let her be forgiven. How can she be turned into the streets in the middle of the rains?' Two or three witnesses are appealed to, and Lockhi is forgiven on promise of better con. duct; and I proceed to the house of Moses.

'Well Moses, why are not you gone to work to day? Now do you mean to support your wife and family? If you dont, and shake off these idle habits, Moses, you will be ruined, and become offensive to every body. Moses, I shall set my face against you if you wont work, and therefore look out.' Moses drops his head and says, 'Sir, you are the shepherd of the church, and pray consider that I have been brought up in the boarding school; I have grown up in the shade, and how can I now work in the sun. Get me, Sir, if you please, a door-keeper's place, or a bearer's place somewhere, and then I can work.' 'Moses, nobody will have you for a bearer, and I would not if I could, get you the idle place of a door-keeper. The fact is Moses, you are fitted for nothing but day work, and that you must do. Go into my compound and work there for a month, and you will by that time have learned to bear the sun. Come Moses, mind what I

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say; it is for your good; why should I concern myself about you otherwise.' Here follows a little talk about better things with Moses' wife, in which he also is referred to, closing with a little advice.

My next move is to Society-poor, another christian village, which honours our society by having adopted its name. The first place was Mark's house. He has an old mother and a young wife. The mother is a member, and we believe a good woman; Mark is a careless and graceless lad, but his little wife is seriously inclined. Well Kousali, how do you feel your mind to-day?' 'Sir, I am very unhappy.' 'Why are you unhappy?' 'I am a sinner.' What is sin?' Breaking the Ten Commandments is sin.''Repeat them.' Here she repeats. 'Well Kousali, whom have you robbed, whom have you murdered, &c.?' 'None sir; but though I have not openly done these, I have had a disposition to do so, and God judges the heart.' 'Who told you this, Kousali?' 'Jesus Christ.' And what is the fruit of sin, Kousali?' Eternal hell.' 'And how can sin be removed Kousali ?' 'Jesus Christ died to atone for sin; he died for me, and if I believe in him, I think I shall be saved from sin.' 'Do you pray, Kousali?' 'Yes.' 'What do you think of sin, Kousali? Sir it is a very bad thing.' In this way half-an-honr was spent with Kousali; and she received instruction and encouragement. In paying such sort of visits, in which all sorts of business was to be attended to: as comforting the afflicted, censuring the idle and abusive, directing the enquirer, and warning the hardened, I spent the day till four o'clock in the afternoon, when was well tired, and called at the house of our friend adjutant Smith, to rest.

Oct. 2nd., I have no time for more now, and it is dark hour. I have just heard that the Donation has been abolished, and that there is a notice posted on the door of Jagannath's temple to that effect. The raja is to be allowed to collect a free. will tax within the temple. I fear this news is too good to be true. I have written to the commissioner to ascertain, but he delays a reply, and these letters must go. We have had a serious loss here. Our valuable and much-loved native brother Bamadabe is dead. He died like a christian; resigned to the will of God. He has been a preacher about seventeen years, and a christian about eighteen. About my own family I have not now time to tell you. I have three, and they are all at home. I am expecting some employ for the eldest, Carey, something in the way of translation of government regulations. The government have offered it to me, and I have accepted it for my son. I of course shall have to be responsible till he can do well without me. We are all pretty well; have a baptism next

Lord's-day, and so has Bailey at Khundittur. | sionaries on their frequent visits to Choga, We have twelve candidates at Cuttack, ten more at Choga, and hope to have baptisms at both places during Conference in Novem. ber. Farewell. Ever yours affectionately, C. LACEY.

A SABBATH AT CHOGA.

COMMUNICATED BY REV, J. BUCKLEY.

MRS. BUCKLEY was with me and greatly enjoyed herself. The journey was much less difficult than is usually the case in the rainy season, owing to there not having been any heavy fall of rain for several days. The sail across the Mahanuddee was very delightful; and the road through the rice fields, though there was no lack of mud and water, was not so bad as it often is, so that we reached the mount' by the time of sunset. I always visit our poor christian people here with much pleasure, and often admire what the grace of God has done for many of them. Their number has greatly increased since I first visited them, shortly after my arrival in India. Many of them, I have no doubt, 'owe their ownselves,' as it regards this life, to the blessed influence of our holy faith: the grinding oppression of the rajah, if they had remained idolators, would probably ere this have cut off many of them in the midst of their days.* The abject poverty in which they came, has given place to comparative comfort; comparative, I mean as to their former condition; for as compared with the benefits with which Providence 'loads' many of us, their comforts are still few and scanty. There is an air of comfort and cleanliness about many of their humble habitations, while here and there the little garden near the house presents a pretty appearance; and though in so large a community no general remark can be made applicable to every one, yet I think, on the whole, they are industrious and hardworking; while a goodly number, I trust, rejoice in hope of a better life beyond the grave. An unhappy proneness to quarrelling is one of the sins which easily beset a converted native; and from this our friends here are not exempt; but they are happily free from many of the noxious influences which largely affect the in. habitants of a considerable city like Cuttack. I forget whether I have told you, but I think I have not, that the small, delapidated, inconvenient, mud habitation in which, in former days, we were obliged to lay our heads, has been taken down, and a new and comfortable bungalow for the use of the mis

*A faithful recital of the exactions to which the subjects of these Hill Rajahs are subjected, would startle many of your readers.

has been erected. The landscape, as seen from the verandab, is at this season lovely: it reminded us of English scenes, and suggested pleasing thoughts of the great and good Being who blesseth the springing of the corn, who crowneth the year with his goodness, and whose paths drop fatness ;' and as on the other side of a little stream, which is much swollen in the rains, were seen lovely green fields,-it led one of us to repeat a part of one of Dr. Watts's fine hymns,

'Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood

Stand drest in living green.'

But the swelling flood' that was near us, unlike the Jordan, is unknown to song; and the fields that delighted our vision were not so lovely as those of the pleasant land,' which an unbelieving race' despised.'

The manner in which the Lord's-day was spent, realized the pious prayer with which we often hail its happy dawn,

'In holy duties let the day,

In holy pleasures pass away.' The morning prayer meeting was well attended: I counted about forty there; five or six offered prayer, two of them especially with a propriety and feeling which reminded us of the edifying manner in which we have heard plain but warm-hearted christians at home engage at the prayer meeting. I always liked a good, soul-quickening prayermeeting-and I do still; and I assure you it is deeply interesting to hear those who once worshipped stocks and stones, possessed of the spirit of adoption, cry, Abba Father, and address the throne of mercy in a manner which shews that the sacred exercise is to them not a strange thing. At half-past ten an experience meeting was held a word of exhortation, founded on 1 Peter v. 9, 'Whom resist, steadfast in the faith,' was delivered; and as the devices of Satan, and the manner in which he should be resisted, were somewhat enlarged upon, it left less time for the other part of the service, which was however of a pleasing and useful character. Pursua, the ministering brother at this place, was the first to speak. He had been in the city of destruction; but by the grace of God he had been delivered from it. Referring to the time when he began seriously to think of leaving his idolatrous connections, and uniting with the Lord's people, he said,how many fears agitated his bosom at that time; and he mentioned it with thankful. ness to the Lord that none of those fears had been realized. Since he had known the grace of God in truth, he had lacked no good thing. He daily felt his weakness much, but had recently derived much comfort from thinking of Rom. viii. 35, 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribu

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