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What I have Seen in Shanghái.
June,
was especially the case while on his journey from Peking to Canton. He was always a careful observer, and independent thinker; few men expressed their sentiments more freely, or in plainer terms than he; and for their sentiments, their learning, and their piety, few missiona- ries have enjoyed a better reputation. His opinion on this question, supported as it is by those two able translators, the Rev. Drs. Milne and Marshman, is worthy of high consideration. In his Domestic In- structor, I know he used a variety of terms to designate our adorable Creator. So did the inspired writers; True God, Most High God, Possessor of heaven and earth, King of kings, blessed and only Po- tentate, etc., were terms used by thein. The writers of the New Testa- ment used ɛog to designate other beings beside Jehovah; and so in the Old Testament, the inspired penmen have applied the name ba to idols, to men, and to the ghost of a dead man, a mere spirit: but all this, in their estimation did not render the term inadequate for other and higher purposes. Thus Dr. Morrison reasoned; did his own prac- tice, his "experience" clash with this? I rather think it did not; and since Dr. Morrison's day, it so happens that many have reasoned and acted in the same way,-not "because" he did thus, but because they believed this reasoning and acting to be correct. So it is, at present, with a very large number of missionaries, and I am among that num- ber. I am very glad this writer has published his views; and they will, I trust, be candidly and thoroughly read, and if found to be cor- rect, be firmly maintained by every one. If any people ever had "gods
many," it is undeniably so with the Chinese.
In the hope expressed on page 185, that contending parties may be led to see and feel as one man on this subject,'—I heartily join. Under any circumstances, the translation of the inspired volume is a work of difficulty. For a weak erring mortal,' says an eloquent wri- ter, 'to propose to himself to furnish, in another language, an exact representation of all that Jehovah has revealed for the instruction of mankind—nothing adding, nothing abating, nothing discoloring-is a task of most appalling magnitude.' Nowhere else in all the world, if we consider the circumstances of the case, especially the difficulties of the language, and the multitudes to whom the Bible is to be given,—is the work so appalling as here. Nevertheless it is a work that must be done; all difficulties must be overcome or removed. When the cou- vention to form the constitution of the United States, after long debates, found itself unable to proceed, you doubtless remember what that suggestion was, which is believed to have brought relief in that emer-
gency.
So in this case; I firmly believe that prayer to Almighty God