Persia, and Greece, and Rome, not one of which ever exceeded in extent that of China eighteen hundred years ago? Have they not perished utterly? and are not even the very inhabitants of those regions now totally different in blood from those of the elder time? Nineveh and Babylon, Balbek and Palmyra, Susa and Persepolis, the Hundredgated Thebes, and Memphis, and Petra, once the seats of unrivalled opulence and populousness, have vanished, hardly leaving ruins. The wide plains of Syria and Mesopotamia are strewn with crumbling but gigantic mounds, attesting their former greatness, and the old cities of the Levant have shared in the overwhelming ruin. Tyre is a wretched village; Famia, once the royal nursery of the Seleucidian cavalry, and rearing on its marshes upwards of thirty thousand horses and elephants, now barely supports a few sheep and buffaloes; and not a wall remains of republican Aradus, of all that multitude of houses, which, says Strabo, had more storeys than those of Rome. They perished all, and why? Because they were unable to stem the invasions of the Northern hordes. And they perished utterly, because they could not protect Civilisation against the assaults of the Desert.

Now, the trials which those empires sank under, China withstood. The same assaults were made upon her as upon them; the same hordes of Central Asia which overran the empires of the West and South, had previously been repelled from her frontiers. This may be a humiliating fact for the Caucasian race, but it is not the less a true one; and the explanation of this remarkable circumstance is perhaps more humiliating still. We say truly that the kingdoms of Western Asia and Southern Europe fell in consequence of the corruption natural to long-established civilisation,—but was not the civilisation of China of a still older date? The real and startling explanation is, that freedom and social vitality then existed in China to a greater extent than elsewhere in the world. The bold and brilliant freemen of Greece and Rome were counted by tens, but

Thus

their slaves by hundreds. Freedom and energy did not penetrate below the upper classes of society, and all below was slavery and stagnation; and instead of the evil diminishing as time rolled on, the reverse was the case, the bondmen multiplying while the freemen diminished. there was no strength or vitality left in the people to withstand the rude energy of the Northern hordes, and the invading tribes which they used at one time to repel with immense slaughter, triumphed at last, because no soldiers could be raised to oppose them. Such was the fate of the classic empires-but it was not so in China. There, freedom was equally diffused. There were no castes, and no class-privileges; the whole people stood equal in the eye of the law; slavery was almost unknown, and each man plied the loom or tilled the ground, not for a liege-lord but for himself. The consequence of this happy condition of affairs was, that industry and patriotism were developed to some extent in all classes of the community; and every man, having a stake in the country, was proportionally willing to sacrifice something for the safety of the empire.

We naturally regard with contempt the military power of the modern Chinese, but we would commit a most grievous mistake were we to suppose that this inaptitude for war characterised all periods of their history. There is a period, or periods, in the history of all States at which the military spirit declines, and this declension may be said to have begun in China some six or seven centuries ago. Consequently, while other nations have been going on inventing new engines and modes of war, the Chinese have not only remained content with their old weapons and methods, but have forgotten much of their former knowledge of the art, and neglected still more of it. Their ancient books on war and strategy, as well as their old songs of the country, attest a most martial spirit in the people of former times, as well as great proficiency in the military art. Their very history, indeed, presents indubitable evidence on this point; for, on any other supposition,

it is utterly impossible to account for their continued and remarkable successes against the ever-aggressive hordes of the Steppes. In fact, it is all but established that the Mongolian people who overthrew the old Persian empire and established that of the redoubtable Parthians, was a tribe which the Chinese had previously expelled from their own frontiers; and Gibbon assigns to a similar cause the first heave of the mighty wave of invasion which, rolling westwards from the borders of China, finally submerged with its flood the mighty empire of Rome. One by one the tribes of Central Asia dashed against the frontiers of the tempting "Flowery Land," but one by one they were routed; and, driven before the triumphant armies and increasing population of China, horde was rolled back upon horde in dire confusion, till at length the East, in successive swarms, threw itself en masse upon the West. So far from the Chinese having been at all times an unwarlike race, we believe that the military spirit flourished for a longer period among them than perhaps among any other nation. Besides the necessity for its exercise, occasioned by the constant assaults from without, the numerous petty strifes between the feudal princes before our era, and the far more dreadful civil contests which ensued during the centuries when the country was severed into rival kingdoms, infused or revived a warlike temper in the people. These intestine conflicts were, on a 'grand scale, to China what the wars of the Heptarchy, of the Roses, of the Rebellion, &c. were to England, namely, a means devised by Providence for the regeneration of the people without the interference of any foreign element, which latter would have done its work rather by destroying than by purifying. They constituted an antiseptic-an antidote to lethargy and corruption; and without some such process as this, kingdoms cannot long exist in their integrity and strength. The purifying fires of affliction are as needful for nations as for individuals; and if War is a desolator, it is also a purifier; and it is a narrow mind indeed which can see in this agent

of Providence, which has been at work upon the earth from the first birth of the nations, nothing but a child of Chaos and avatar of barbarism.

Many changes, as we have seen, have come over the external aspect of the Chinese government, but, strange to say, the theory of government and the social civilisation of the people have continued unaltered since the earliest times. Twenty-four centuries have elapsed since the principles upon which these are based became stereotyped in the works of Confucius (which for the most part were compilations from works still more ancient), but they had been taught and practically acknowledged for long centuries before that period. The remarkable permanence of these principles in the national mind is to be accounted for, first of all, by their abstract excellence, secondly, by their being in unison with the peculiar idiosyncrasy of the people, — and, thirdly, by their forming the staple of an education which was most widely diffused throughout the empire. From the earliest times,-remarkable and instructive circumstance!-the education of the people was under the special care of the State; and a work written before the Christian era, says Mr Davis, speaks of "the ancient system of instruction," which required that every town and village, down to only a few families, should have a common school. Education is not only inculcated by positive precepts, but, as we shall see by-and-by, is encouraged by a competition for the highest honours; and among the countless millions of the empire there are very few indeed who cannot read and write sufficiently for the ordinary purposes of life. The great regard which the Chinese entertain for age, is even secondary to their respect for learning. "In learning," says one of their maxims, age and youth go for nothing: the best-informed takes the precedence." And wealth itself (though abundantly coveted by the Chinese for the gratifications it supplies) is looked upon with perhaps less respect than in any other country, in consequence of rank and distinction arising almost exclusively from educated talent.

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On this all-important matter of Education, the Chinese have followed a course different from all other nations, (and this is another point which we, with our Education Bills, may do well to consider.) We need hardly say how little the Chinese sympathised with the spirit of mystical speculation, so prevalent in the west of Asia, and which peculiarly characterised the intellectual development of the old empires of the Orient,-but they would even hold in contempt the comparatively practical systems of Europe. From the classic ages to the present time, the great aim of education in Europe, and now also in America, has been to enlarge the intellect of man,-to impart to him a knowledge of the physical and metaphysical worlds, and, as he advances, to enable him to peer into "all mysteries," and scrutinise the workings of nature without and of his spirit within. From the days of Thales and Pythagoras to those of Spinosa and Lamarck, the crowning point of science and philosophy has been the formation of systems more or less speculative, concerning the worlds of matter or of spirit, and the effect chiefly aimed at was to exalt the human intellect by developing its varied powers. No such educational system found favour with the practical mind of China. The system which has there existed, has been eminently utilitarian, but it is utilitarianism in its best form. It is not of that sort which exhibits itself in those schools among ourselves which style themselves "commercial," whose object is to impart merely those branches of knowledge which are calculated to advance one's material interests, and which may be used against one's fellows as much as for them. On the contrary, Chinese education contemplates man even less as an individual than as a member of society, and enjoins upon him, by line upon line and precept upon precept, the manifold duties of humanity and courtesy which he owes to his fellow-men. The object of all European systems is to enlarge man's intellect, but that of the Chinese is to mould his habits and affections. "To investigate the principles of things which are hidden from human intelligence," says Confucius,-"to do

extraordinary actions which appear above the nature of man,-in fine, to work prodigies in order to procure admirers and followers in the ages to come, that is what I would not do." He reserved all his time and talents for the discovery of moral truth, and spent his life in teaching it to others. In brief, to use the words of one of his disciples, the sum and substance of his doctrine is, "to possess rectitude of heart, and to love one's neighbour as one's-self."

A volume of suchlike excellent doctrines and precepts might be extracted from the canonical books of the Chinese, the chief of which are the Shoo-king (or Book of Books), and the Four Classics composed by Confucius and his disciples. These works, which are regarded by the Chinese with almost as much reverence as the Bible is by Christians, and which have received the sanction of generations of an immense population, form the basis of the public law; they have been explained and commented on by the most celebrated moralists and philosophers; and they are continually in the hands of all those who, while they wish to cultivate their intellect, desire also to possess a knowledge of those grand moral truths which make the prosperity and happiness of human societies. No one can peruse those monuments of Chinese antiquity without being profoundly astonished at the lofty reason and eminently pure morality which breathe throughout them; and if we turn from the rules of social to the precepts of political morality therein enshrined, we will find equal cause for admiration. The exercise of sovereignty is regarded solely as the religious fulfilment of a heavenly mission for the benefit of all. Moral limits are set to this power; and should the sovereign transgress them, then (as the celebrated philosopher Tshoo-hee, who lived in the twelfth century of our era, says in his commentary, which is taught in all the schools and colleges of the empire) the people would be disengaged from their allegiance, would overturn his power, and replace him by one who would rule legitimately,that is to say, solely for the good of all.

Its elaborate enforcement of eti

quette is another point, also, in which the educational system of the Chinese presents a peculiarity well worthy of attention. From the earliest times, the great aim of their rulers and sages was, to govern the mind through the body, to regulate the internal emotions of the people by the gentle influence of external habits. They observed that, the tempers and dispositions of all being different, something was requisite to harmonise such opposite characters, and with this view they instituted the Le, or rules of propriety in relation to external conduct. Confucius, a perfect sublimation of the national character, perfected the system thus commenced; and the Book of Rites, compiled by him, is commonly said to prescribe about three thousand ceremonial usages, and furnishes a most complete and rigid manual of national etiquette.

It will thus be seen that the people and statesmen of China are trained on a plan unlike any pursued in Europe. With us, the great subject of education is knowledge, with the Chinese it is morality. The moral and social lessons which, with us, are left to be taught in private, or to be acquired by experience of actual life, are made the first step, and fundamental principle of training in China. They prepare the youth for being a good man and good member of society, and place science only in a secondary rank. So also in regard to statesmen. Those of China are doubtless very much behind the better class of European statesmen in general knowledge, but we question if they are not superior to most of them in the practical management of men; and certainly no officials in the world are better trained in the principles, though not in the forms, of what we call constitutional government. There is an engaging simplicity in the Chinese theory of government. Still adhering to the patriarchal principle (which has so long ago given way to the feudal, monarchical, or republican in other quarters), they regard the whole nation as one family, of which the sovereign is the responsible head. If the people are happy, it is attributed to his wisdom and goodness,-if they are discontented or in want, it is held owing to his incapacity or oppression; and

VOL. LXXV.-NO. CCCCLIX.

the same principles apply to every subordinate ruler in regard to the population over which he is placed. In accordance with that thoroughly practical cast of mind which characterises the natives of China, their government judges of the merit of its officials by the success which attends their administration. It knows that a man of ability can almost always put things to rights in his district, and a sentence of removal or degradation of the governor is certain to follow continued discontent or disaster in any part of the empire.

It will naturally be asked, what was the religious system which gave birth to a morality so pure ?—and this brings us at once to the knottiest point of all connected with Chinese civilisation, and one of peculiar interest at the present moment, in consequence of the religious innovations promulgated by the leaders of the Rebellion. Some writers deny that China has a religion of its own at all, others assert that it is a mere political fiction, invented for the better government of the people. Some affirm the Chinese to be Deists, others Atheists,-some Materialists, others Idolators and superstitious. These extraordinarily diverse statements are susceptible of a much more perfect fusion than it is possible at first to imagine; and their diversity is very much owing to inaccurate information and inadequate reflection. In order to fully apprehend the religious system of China, we must ascend the stream to its source, scan carefully the moral aspect of the nation,-and then, retracing our steps, watch the various modifications which have, more or less perceptibly, supervened. Unless we do this, we shall not only fail in obtaining a satisfactory view of our subject, but shall probably find our-selves committing as great a mistake as if we were to judge of the religion of France in the days of Clovis by what it had become in the middle of last century.

Turning back, then, to the reigns of Yao and Shun, by which time Chinese history had assumed an authentic form, we find the people acknowledging and reverencing the true God under the title of the "Supreme Ruler." According to the patriarchal

E

principle, the worship of this exalted Being was confined to the Emperor, as the head of the nation; and the high sacrifices were performed on the summits of certain mountains, such places being probably selected as the natural altars of the earth. The offerings seem to have been, not expiatory, but of the thanksgiving kind, consisting chiefly of the fruits of the earth; and the whole worship resembled in many points, and especially in its absence of idols, that of the ancient Persians, as described by Herodotus. Their ideas of God did not possess that individualism and personality which so remarkably characterised those of the Hebrews; yet their "Supreme Ruler" was no mere abstraction like the Deity of Buddhism, seated on his passionless throne of the Void, and far above all interest in sublunary things. On the contrary, the early Chinese most properly regarded God as regulating by his Providence all the affairs of earth and men,-raising up and pulling down dynasties, and sending blessings and calamities upon individuals according to the rectitude or viciousness of their lives."Although the Shoo family," says the Ta-Hio, "long possessed a royal principality, it obtained from Heaven a new investiture. . . . The mandate of Heaven which gives the sovereignty to a man, does not always confer it on him for life. . . . Before the princes of the dynasty of Chang lost the affection of the people, they might have been compared to the Most High; and we may consider, from their case, that the mandate of Heaven is not easy to preserve." The Book of Verses says,-" Respect the majesty of Heaven, and you will conserve the mandate it has delegated to you." The Shoo-king says,-"Heaven, in creating mankind, has set over them princes, and given them institutions." Confucius says,-" There are three things which the superior man reveres, the decrees of Heaven, great men, and the words of saints. Common men do not know the decrees of Heaven, and consequently do not revere them." "If I have acted wrong," said the same sage on one occasion, "may Heaven reject me." "The superior man," says Mencius, "does not murmur at Heaven, nor complain

of men. . . . If a prince abandon his time to vicious pleasures, he will inevitably draw down upon himself great calamities; but, as the Book of Verses says, If the prince thinks constantly of conforming himself to the mandate he has received from Heaven, he will obtain for himself many happinesses.'" No unprejudiced reader can peruse such passages (and hundreds more might be given) without acknowledging that they contain a distinct recognition of a Supreme Ruler and a Divine Providence.

The immortality of the soul, however denied at times by the Men of Letters, is a principle in all ages practically recognised by the Chinese nation; and along with the Supreme Ruler they have always worshipped genii of the elements and the spirits of departed men. With these spirits it was anciently believed that a communication could be kept up; and in the dawn of their history, the son of the Emperor Hoang-te is said to have founded a system of magic. Among the earliest written characters invented by the Chinese, for this purpose, is one representing, not a priest, but a magician, whose self-assumed office it probably was to carry on this spiritual intercourse, and by incantations and suchlike processes to bend these genii to his service; and we are informed that there used to be persons who lived apart in mountains, in order that, by means of undisturbed contemplation, they might attain to the power of holding free converse with these shadowy beings. We make a present of these facts to our "spiritrapping" friends on the other side of the Atlantic, and briefly commend them to the notice of the general public as a curious instance of how epochs the most apart, and civilisations the most dissimilar, often concur in producing the same remarkable phenomena. In truth, alike in science, politics, and philosophy, the deep student of history ever finds more and more how much truth there is in the saying of the Hebrew Sage,that "there is nothing new under the sun."

Mysticism, in fact, has prevailed even among the unimaginative Chinese, and from its ranks proceeded the lesser of the two great master-spirits