As the sisters left the church they all passed through the western door, so that we had a good opportunity of observing their general aspect. The impression we received here was the same as that which had previously been made upon us at the convent. A dull cold stolidity of aspect was prevalent among the nuns: few of their countenances were expressive of either intelligence or refinement. Among the throng, however, came one lovely girl, beneath whose sable coif appeared a face whose fair sad beauty spoke of early sorrow and disappointment. We followed her with our eyes as she walked slowly on with some older Béguines to one of the conventual houses; and since then we have often followed her in thought to that secluded dwelling, where she had sought shelter, as I imagined, from some sharp trial.

On leaving the church we proceeded to the opposite gate to that by which we had entered; and there we paused a moment to glance back upon the scene which we were about to leave behind us. All lay still and silent in the twilight gloom. The gate was about to be closed; so we passed hastily through it. The grey massy walls rose up darkly behind us, while the deep ditch by which they were encircled looked green and stagnant. We gazed with interest upon this miniature fortress, the abode of seven hundred women, whose simple goodness had been their safeguard during those periods of turbulence and revolution by which their country had been so long agitated. While doubtless such communities, viewed apart from any errors that may attach to their ecclesiastical system, may afford, when rightly managed, a peaceful home to many who long for quietness and retirement, I could not help preferring the "Sisters of Charity," who are more actively and nobly employed among the sick and poor. The state of our own hospitals and unions leads one to wish for the presence of some higher minds than are commonly found among the old-fashioned nurses and matrons. The Protestant deaconesses of Kaiserwerth, and the Sisters of Charity in the Roman communion, alike point to practical and practicable improvement.

Joseph the Second spared the communities of Béguines when he abolished all the other convents in his dominions.

LEWCHEW AND THE LEWCHEWANS, BEING A NARRATIVE OF A VISIT TO LEWCHEW OR LOO CHOO, IN OCTOBER, 1850, by GEORGE SMITH, D.D., Lord Bishop of Victoria. London: T. HATCHARD.

THE SEVENTH REPORT OF THE LOO CHOO MISSIONARY SOCIETY FOR 1851, 1852. Published by the Society. 1853.

LOO CHOO MISSION. Extracts from the Journal of the Society's Missionary, Dr. Bettelheim, 1850-1852. Published for the Society.

THE exclusiveness of China and Japan seems now to be near its end. In China it has already received a heavy blow, but in Japan it has been suffered to remain until now without the interference of European powers.

The present critical state of affairs in the Chinese empire leaves us little room to doubt, that whichever way the struggle may be decided, China will in consequence be more open than it is now to European traders and travellers. Should the young emperor, without foreign aid, succeed in defeating the rebels, it is most probable that he will maintain the wise policy which is so evident in his recent proclamation, and afford not the first instance of a sovereign of China, who has put in practice the admirable maxims of the country's sages. And if he should feel it necessary to call in the assistance of an European power, that power, if successful, would insist upon a freer intercourse with China as a reward. This is on the supposition that the aiding power would not be Russia, for it is scarcely conceivable that the Chinese sovereign would call in that power to his aid. If, on the contrary, the rebels should overpower the emperor's forces, and drive the last of the Mantchu dynasty back to his native Tartary, dividing his dominions, and giving China to the Chinese, then almost certainly would the new government take away the privileges extorted of late with so much difficulty from a Tartar sovereign, and restore the old state of things with extreme rigour, so that the European powers, or one of them at least, would deem it needful to interfere, and to gain so firm a footing as not again to be easily dislodgeda.

Japan has, unlike China, been long suffered unmolested to maintain its extreme exclusiveness, but now seems to be on the point of being forced to concessions, at least as great as those which China has made during the present century. The powerful republic of the west, which has of late displayed the ambition of the ancient Roman commonwealth, and met with the like success, has openly

Should the proclamations attributed to the head of the Chinese insurgents, which have found their way to England, prove to be genuine documents, it would be reasonable to suppose that a liberal policy might be anticipated from that per

But

sonage in the event of his success.
this depends upon the life of the leader,
and his power over his party, as well as
that party's success, and therefore does
not appear as probable on consideration
as it would at first sight.

declared an intention to force the government of Japan to permit American vessels to trade with its subjects, and there is little likelihood that the project will be abandoned.

While in politics, the present state and future prospects of the two empires of the utmost east shew us nought but war and discord, it is pleasant to see the progress of Christianity promising far better things than temporal peace and undisturbed tranquillity to these thickly-populated regions, whose inhabitants, in one sense highly civilized, are almost as ignorant of Christianity as the savage tribes of central Africa.

One of the most important of the eastern missions, holding a place in politics as well as in situation between China and Japan, is that established at Loo Choo. There, at the outskirts of that unknown island-empire, one might almost say within its limits, a missionary has established himself, and amid much suffering and difficulties, that would have disheartened weaker zeal, maintained his post for six years.

A committee of naval officers, members of the Church of England, judging the islands of Loo Choo to offer a hopeful field for missionary enterprize, formed in 1845 a society, which sent out the same year Dr. Bettelheim, who combines a good knowledge of languages with great medical skill, to the post which he and his excellent partner have ever since held with so much advantage to the country and credit to themselves; though we ourselves, let us observe parenthetically, would have strongly preferred clerical to lay agency according to the apostolic model."

The interesting little volume before us comprises three separate pamphlets, the first of which is an account by the bishop of Victoria of his visit to Loo Choo, in October, 1850; the second, the seventh report of the Society; and the third, a series of extracts from the journal of Dr. Bettelheim. The brief but well-written narrative of the bishop of Victoria is more calculated to afford interest to general readers than the subsequent papers, although the passages from Dr. Bettelheim's diary abound in curious matter, respecting a people as far distant from us in manners and mind as in situation. The extent and nature of the diocese of the bishop of Victoria, and the character of his visitations, carry us back to the apostolic ages. In one respect the cases are nearly parallel, the people whose regions are visited being equally sunk in idolatry. And when we look at what was done in the one instance, may we not hope that in the other divine aid will be granted to the labourers, and a plenteous harvest reaped?

After describing his arrival at the great Loo Choo island, and reception by Dr. Bettelheim, whose residence was previously a Budhist temple, which, "with that religious indifference which is universally prevalent in China," was given up to the foreigners, the bishop enters into a remarkable detail of the determined and unremitting system of espionage to which the missionary was subjected. The most curious instance of this occurs in the account his

lordship gives of an excursion, which he made on the evening of the day in which he arrived. He says:

"About an hour before sunset I accompanied Dr. Bettelheim on a walk through the town. We pursued our course through a number of streets, which generally consisted of neat walls on either side, built of coral fitted compactly together, and apparently without any mortar, presenting a clean and pretty appearance, and forming (as I was informed) a strong contrast with the poverty and filth generally existing within. These outer walls enclose little courts, which had a few shrubs and flowers, the houses themselves lying a few feet further back from the street. The houses of the poorest classes, and the few shops which we saw, were generally without a court, and opened directly upon the thoroughfares. The people generally bowed in return to any advances of civility; and some would even utter a few words of hurried reply to the addresses of Dr. Bettelheim in passing. The higher and more wealthy classes evinced less fear; but it was a rare circumstance to hear a person utter more than ten words, although they were very lavish in their bowings. They would generally remain for two or three minutes when addressed collectively; but when one individual was selected as the person addressed, there were palpable signs of alarm, and he invariably made a hasty retreat. This odd mixture of outward respect and unwillingness to enter into conversation, was the kind of reception universally experienced. But on our arrival at the large public square which formed the market-place, and in which probably two or three thousand Lewchewans were at that time congregated, and eagerly engaged in traffic, one of the most remarkable scenes took place that I ever witnessed. Here, on a large scale, there was a renewal of what had been previously observable only in detail. On our walking into the square there was a general dispersion of buyers and sellers, and we were left alone, with benches and stalls loaded with provisions for sale, but abandoned by their owners. On our proceeding to the other side of the square the same signs of a general flight appeared. A thousand persons, who just before were quietly engaged in buying and selling, retreated in one hurried mass to the opposite quarter; and there, at, about fifty yards' distance, they turned round, like a flock of sheep, vacantly staring at us. A few aged women and cripples alone remained, who were unable to escape, and who received our advances towards conversation in mute astonishment and silent terror. Not a word escaped their lips. Wherever we moved there seemed to be the same fixed determination to avoid contact; and yet there was not any mark of anger or disrespect. A few of the literary class and government officers, as they passed along, appeared to be less under the influence of fear, and exhibited less equivocal marks of defiance in the sneer which they assumed as they hurried by . . . . Along whole lines of streets leading from the market-square, we perceived the shops shut and the doors barricaded in anticipation of our arrival; and everything, as if by some mysterious power of magic, suddenly wore the appearance of solitude and desolation. A few natives running forward gave the signal to clear the way, and every wayfarer coming towards us, turned suddenly down some bye-lane, so as to take a circuitous route, and avoid meeting us. A few natives, to whom such a means of escape was not easily accessible, after apparently making a hasty calculation between the inconvenience of turning back, and the danger of being involved in trouble by meeting us, came towards us with hesitating steps. A few words of kindness from Dr. Bettelheim, instead of composing their minds, only increased their alarm; H h

VOL. I.

and they pressed their shoulders against the wall in their anxiety to pass us at as great a distance as possible. But not a word of reply could be extorted, and I soon came to the conclusion that it was not the part of kindness to encourage the attempt, and to expose them to the hazard of incurring trouble on our account.'

From this statement one might naturally infer that the conduct of the islanders sprung from religious prejudices against Europeans, as "unclean foreigners," were it not afterwards stated that for the first two years of the missionary's residence at Loo Choo there were but few difficulties of the kind. We cannot therefore, bearing also in mind the system of espionage to which the mission was subjugated, and the strenuous efforts of the native government to cause it to be withdrawn, hesitate to conclude that the government of Loo Choo, doubtless acting under the orders of that of Japan, is doing its utmost to prevent the spread of Christianity. Should not this urge us to do our utmost to support a mission that causes such fear to paganism, and thus to keep open the one entrance for Christianity into the empire of Japan.

The circumstance that "there are no Mohammedans, nor any of the Taouist or Rationalistic idolatrous sect of China in the island," and that "Budhism is the popular superstition, and forms, with the maxims of Confucius, the same kind of compound between political ethics and gross superstition as that which exerts its influence over the popular mind in China," tends to give us great hope of the results of the mission. Throughout the East, Mohammedanism and Rationalism offer the strongest opposition to pure Christianity, while idolatry is more easily overthrown. In the West it is far less difficult to teach the ignorant than to change the opinions of the credulous and the sceptical.

Our space will not permit us to quote the bishop's interesting account of the negociations which his lordship and Captain Cracroft carried on with the Loo Chooan authorities respecting Dr. Bettelheim, nor to do more than recommend to the reader's careful perusal the concise account of the inhabitants and productions of the island. The prevalence of deception, and the readiness with which any means, however humiliating, are employed to obtain an end, seem to be the most marked and disagreeable peculiarities of the national character. The former, unhappily, is markedly characteristic of Oriental nations, and especially of the Chinese, but the latter distinguishes the Loo Chooans from their neighbours, who require from the envoys of foreign nations that servile deportment which these islanders were so ready to affect towards their English visitors.

We must refer the reader to the work itself for further details of the bishop's stay at Loo Choo, and observe in conclusion that the public is much indebted to his lordship for the distinct and interesting account he has given of what he observed of the people and their country, in which he has done much to remove false im