Although the supernatural occupies a certain
amount of space in Chinese tradition, it remains
rather in the state of superstition than of
religious belief. Heaven, or the Supreme Being,
hold, with them, the place of our Providence;
they invoke it as an expression of Infinite
Power, but do not honour it either with
sacrifices or with public prayers. In short, there
is no state religion in China; the prevailing
form of worship, if we can give it that name,
consists in manifestations of filial piety,
practised in honour of Heaven, the emperor, and
parents. Nevertheless, certain solemn days are
consecrated to spirits, while others are devoted
to the carrying of offerings to the temples of
Buddha. The pagodas are the object of
frequent processions, and the tombs of ancestors
are altars around which families unite to pay
homage to dear or illustrious memories. The
bonzes and bonzesses are mendicants rather
than an officiating priesthood.

The indifference of the Chinese in matters of
religion explains the difficulty which Christianity
meets with in taking root in the Celestial
Empire. There exists no trace of its introduction
before the end of the sixteenth century, when
Father Ricci contrived to penetrate into the
interior. In 1724, the Emperor Young-tching
proscribed the new worship, not as a religion,
but as being the cause or tne pretext of secret
societies, of meetings of men and women,
contrary to law. The Tat-sin-leu-li contains the
following article (section 162): "When it shall be
discovered that persons have secretly offered
incense at the performances of prohibited modes of
worship, and have assembled their followers
during the night to instruct them in their maxims,
the principal minister of those abominations shall
be imprisoned for the prescribed period, and then
strangled. His disciples shall each receive a
hundred strokes of the bamboo, and shall be banished
for life." This is plain speaking.

Three of the principal Jesuits who were then
at the Court of Pekin having petitioned the
emperor to revise his decision, he replied: "You
say that your law is not a false law. If I
thought that it was false, who could hinder me
from demolishing your churches and expelling
you? False laws are those which, under the
pretext of inculcating virtue, fan the spirit of
revolt. But what would you say if I were to
send a troop of bonzes and lamas into your
country to preach their laws? How would you
receive them? You wish all the Chinese to turn
Christians: but the Christians whom you make
acknowledge no one but you. In troubled
times they would listen to you, and to no one
else. I know that at present there is nothing
to fear; but when vessels arrive by thousands
and tens of thousands, disorders might arise."
But the missionaries have encountered fewer
obstacles in the ill will of the government than
in the indifference of the people. Only recently
M. Hue has informed us of their disdainfully
repulsing the Roman Catholic faith.

Indifference in religious matters is not
peculiar to the people alone; it is participated by
the great men and by the head of the state
himself. The last emperor, Tao-kouang, a
short time before his accession to the throne,
addressed a proclamation to the people, in which,
passing in review all known religions,
Christianity included, he came to the conclusion that
all were false alike, and merited equal contempt.

If, therefore, Christians are persecuted at the
present day, it is on account of their private
meetings, which it is feared may degenerate into
political associations formed expressly to open
China to Occidental nations. Besides, it is a
logical effect of their religious apathy that the
Chinese should be unable to understand why we
should travel so far and encounter such sufferings
for the sake of teaching them miraculous
facts and doctrines, which are admitted by their
propagators themselves to be mysterious and
difficult, of explanation.

Pac-king, viceroy of the province of Tse-
tchouan, inquired of M. Hue, the missionary,
where he wished to go.

"We want to go to Thibet," was the reply.

"What business calls you there?"

"The preaching of the Christian religion."

"You had better go and preach it at home."

TO NICÆA, THE BIRTHPLACE OF
                GARIBALDI.

NICÆA! thou wast rear'd of those
Who left Phocæa crush'd by foes,
And swore they never would return
Until that red-hot ploughshare burn
Upon the waves whereon 'twas thrown.
Such were thy sires, such thine alone.

Cyrus had fail'd with myriad host
To chain them down; long tempest-tost,
War-worn, yet unsubdued, they found
No refuge on Hellenic ground.
All fear'd the despot.

                                        Far from home
The Cimbri saw the exiles come,
Victorious o'er a Punic fleet,
Seeking not conquest, but retreat,
Small portion of a steril shore
Soliciting, nor seizing more.
There rose Massilia.

                                        Years had past,
And once again the Punic mast
Display'd its banner; once again
Phocgeans dasht it on the main.
With hymns of triumph they rais'd high
A monument to Victory.
Hence was thy name, Ionian town!
Passing all Gallia's in renown
Firmly thou stoodest; not by Rome,
Conqueror of Carthage, overcome,
Fearing not war, but loving peace,
Thou sawest thy just wealth increase.

Alas! what art thou at this hour?
Bound victim of perfidious Power!

In fields of blood, however brave,
Base is the man who sells his slave ,
But basest of the base is he
Who sells the faithful and the free.
Bystanders we (oh shame!) have been,
And this foul traffic tamely seen.

Thou livest undetected yet,
Nor thy past glories wilt forget.