fæmina. They had but one child, who died in infancy, and their union lasted but nine years, "which," says Henry, and we agree with him, "was the more to be lamented, as the influence of such a woman and of domestic life would certainly have operated beneficially, even to the last, on Calvin's character." He gives an affecting account of her last illness and death; and, for years afterward, adverts in his letters to the severity of his affliction.

In his mode of life he was remarkable for abstemiousness and frugality. He chose to be poor; refusing, on several occasions, proposed additions to his very moderate salary, and is said uniformly to have declined receiving presents, unless for the sake of giving them to the poor. From his numerous publications it is believed that he derived no pecuniary profit; and yet, as was the case with Wesley, he was assailed on all sides as having amassed great wealth. "I see," said he, "what incites my enemies to urge these falsehoods. They measure me according to their own dispositions, believing that I must be heaping up money on all sides, because I enjoy such favourable opportunities for doing so. But assuredly if I have not been able to avoid the reputation of being rich during my life, death will at last free me from this stain."

And so it was. By his last will Calvin disposes of his entire property, amounting to about two hundred and twenty-five dollars; and on the 27th day of May, 1564, being within a few weeks of fiftyfive years of age, he calmly breathed his last in the arms of his friend Beza. He was buried, according to his own request, without pomp, and no monument marks his last resting-place.

ART. IV. THE CHURCH AND CHINA.

THE great work of evangelizing the world is to be effected by the sanctified energies of the Church, directed and assisted by the Holy Ghost. We have no reason to believe that God will ever interpose in such a way as to relieve her of this responsibility. To the Church, in all past and coming time, Christ's emphatic command is, "Go preach my Gospel to every creature!" Thus did the apostles understand the command of our Lord. They "conferred not with flesh and blood," but at once addressed themselves to their task. And in the history of the Church it is a significant fact, that just as she approaches the Divine image, does her enlightened zeal for the spread of the Gospel increase. These considerations fix this duty on the Church of Christian believers. It is impossible to evade it. To

every believer in Jesus the command is given. It is at our peril that we hesitate or delay.

We have made these remarks for the purpose of introducing the subject of the present article. It has occurred to us that the present is a fitting time for calling the attention of the Church to the claims of China. The lamentable apathy on the part of many Christians in reference to this subject, the increasing desire for information on the part of others, the fact that now the Gospel may be preached here, and the facilities afforded by the position in which we have been placed by the Church, induce us to attempt the task. Our residence in this far-off land has brought us into direct contact with heathenism. The monster stares us in the face, and defies our power. Never before have we so ardently desired that eloquence which moves—the ability to utter those "words that burn." It has startled our whole being to find ourselves, fresh as we were from the land of Bibles, and Sabbaths, and Christians, placed in the midst of these teeming multitudes who neither fear nor know the God whom we love and adore. Would we had the power to write in characters of flame, on the heart of every Christian, the true condition of this people! It is our present purpose to present such a view of this great nation, as shall aid in calling forth the hearty and efficient efforts of Christians for its evangelization. What we have to say will consist of some remarks on its territory, population, and climate-its openings, prospects, difficulties, and demands, as a mission field.

I. Its territory, population, and climate.

A single glance at a map of the world will show any one the vast extent of territory governed by the present dynasty of China. From the Peninsula of Lin-Chau, lat. 20° N., it stretches northward to the outer Hing-an, or Yablonoi Mountains, lat. 56° N. From Cape Patience on the east, long. 144° 50' E., it extends to the western bend of the Belur-tags, long. 70° E. The area of this vast region is estimated by M'Culloch at 5,300,000 square miles. It has 3,350 miles of sea-coast. The circuit of the empire is 12,550 miles, or about half the circumference of the globe; and comprises one-third of Asia, and nearly one-tenth of the habitable world. The empire is divided into three principal parts: first, the eighteen provinces; second, Manchuria; third, colonial possessions. The last includes Mongolia, Sungaria, eastern Turkistan, Roko-nor, and Thibet. The second is the native country of the Manchus, the reigning family in China, and includes the territory lying east of the Inner Duarian Mountains, and north of the Gulf of Lian Yung. The first division is China proper, and is the only part settled by Chinese. "It lies on the

eastern slope of the high table-land of Central Asia, and in the southeast angle of the continent; and for beauty of scenery, fertility of soil, salubrity of climate, magnificent and beautiful rivers, and variety and abundance of its productions, will compare with any portion of the globe."* Its estimated area is nearly 2,000,000 square miles, or two-fifths of the empire.

The population of the empire is immense. Confining our remarks to China proper, as that is best known to foreigners, it has been ascertained by the last census taken by the Chinese government, A. D. 1812, that the population amounted to 362,467,183.† It must be remembered that this estimate excludes Manchuria and the colonial possessions within China proper, embracing, as we have seen, a territory of nearly 2,000,000 square miles; there live at this moment more than three hundred and sixty millions of human beingsabout one-third of the population of the globe. We know that some have doubted the correctness of this estimate, and have proposed others much lower; but as it is based on data furnished by the Chinese government for its own use, and moreover has been received by gentlemen conversant with China, as the most accurate that has been given of the population," it seems more reliable than any other. It is not, indeed, in our power to furnish direct proof of this or any other estimate; all that can with truth be said, is simply, that the one given seems to be the best sustained by such evidence as we can command. But whether or not this is the correct estimate, all agree in attributing to this country a population, the number of which is absolutely startling.

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The character of this population is most remarkable. It does not weaken this assertion, that many of the glowing accounts given by the European travellers who first visited this country, are now found to have been formed from "the stuff that dreams are made of." The foreigner who looks on these multitudes, and learns something of their character, and the student who simply reads the page of the truthful historian, are alike impressed with the wonderful character of the Chinese. The fact that a powerful and polished nation has grown up here, in a great degree uninfluenced by other governments, is one of the most interesting problems which can engage the minds of the historian and the philosopher. The Chinese possess most of the arts, and many of the refinements and luxuries of life. Their government is unique in form, and efficient in action. Populous cities cover their plains. The student, farmer, merchant, tradesman, and domestic, have their appropriate places. Many are learned in

* Williams' "Middle Kingdom," vol. i, p. 7.

† Idem, pp. 206-240.

the literature of the country; some are wealthy, the majority possess the comforts of physical life, while a few suffer from want. This, however, is the bright side of things. In connexion and mournful contrast with all this, are the moral depravity and pollutions which so fearfully abound. If the first glance presents this nation refined, intelligent, and happy, a clearer investigation will show it to be debased, bigoted, and wretched. A mere traveller, or man of business, is easily deceived on this subject. It is not till you settle down beside them, mingle in their society, look into their homes, and observe their lives, that their true condition appears. We speak advisedly and emphatically on this point, because we speak from experience.

Considerable anxiety has been felt by many in reference to the climate of China. They feared it would prove a serious difficulty in the way of foreigners labouring in this field. On this subject we will adduce the testimony of two recent and standard works on China. Sir J. F. Davis says: "Perhaps no country in the world, of the same magnitude, is more favoured in point of climate. Being situated, however, on the eastern side of a great continent, China follows the general rule, which observation has sanctioned, attributing to regions so placed an excess of both heat and cold at opposite seasons of the year, which its precise position, in regard to latitude, would not lead us to expect. . . . . Notwithstanding these apparent extremes of heat and cold, the climate must be generally considered as highly salubrious-a circumstance arising, no doubt, from the extensive cultivation and drainage."* Mr. Davis resided in China more than twenty years, accompanied Lord Amherst's embassy to Pekin in A. D. 1816, and succeeded Lord Napier as his Majesty's chief authority in China. Mr. Williams says: "The climate of the eighteen provinces, although it has not yet been represented by meteorological tables, has still been sufficiently observed to ascertain its general salubrity. Pestilences do not frequently visit the land; nor, as in Southern India, are the people deluged with rain during one monsoon, and parched with drought during the other. The inhabitants everywhere enjoy as good health, and are as well developed, and attain as great age, as in any other country. The cutaneous diseases which prevail, are owing to the dirty habits of the people, and not to the climate. The average temperature of the whole empire is lower than that of any other countries in the same latitude; and the coast is subject to the same extremes as that of the Atlantic States in America."+ Mr. Williams is a missionary

*Davis's China, vol. i, p. 125. Harper's edition. † Middle Kingdom, vol. i, p. 44.

of the American Board, labouring at Canton; and at the time of writing his book, had lived ten years in China. It would be easy to multiply evidence on this point; but the two authorities referred to are sufficient to place the subject in its true light.

It has been believed, perhaps generally, that the climate of China has been particularly fatal to the missionaries who have entered this field. How well this opinion is founded, will be evident from the following facts which we have obtained from the "Chinese Repository," a monthly periodical, published at Canton, China. Those who have the work will find it satisfactory to refer to the article. We give its substance :-From the commencement of Protestant missions in China, by the Rev. Dr. Morrison, A. D. 1807 to 1847, a period of forty years, eighty-six missionaries had entered this field. During that time twelve died, and twenty-three retired from the work. Of those who died, one had lived twenty-seven years in the field, another sixteen years, two for eight years, and the rest for shorter periods. Thus on an average, during forty years, the number of deaths among the Protestant missionaries was at the rate of one in three years. Of those who retired from the work, some engaged in other departments of labour in China; some returned, for various reasons, to their native land, and others were obliged, in consequence of ill health, to leave the field. Forty-one of the eightysix are still in China. Of these, one has been more than thirty years in the field, and still enjoys excellent health. Others have been here for twenty, ten, and five years, according to the time they entered the work. We have not the means for making an extensive comparison, but we think these statistics will compare favourably with those of any body of ministers in America or England. It should also be remembered, that as China has only recently been opened to missionaries, a great part of those referred to in the foregoing calculation laboured at other places on the coast, south of China-as Malacca, Singapore, and Batavia-where the climate is warmer and more unwholesome than in China. From these statements, we think ourselves justified in saying, that the opinion in regard to the unwholesomeness of this climate is not sustained by facts.

We have thus presented a brief outline of this great mission-field. If any tolerable idea of its importance has been conveyed, we cannot have failed to present a subject which must call forth from every Christian the deepest interest and the most enlightened zeal. With such a host of perishing heathen spread out before her, does the Church ask, Can the Gospel be sent to them? We pass, then, to notice,―

*(Vol. xvi, p. 12.)