360
Defense of an Essay &c.
JULY,
trying whether God will be an appropriate, or rather the appropriate rendering of it. The absurdity, of saying that means God, was demonstrated by a process of this kind. Instances were adduced, which made it plain that to say that has such a signifcation, only
affords matter for astonishment. Will Dr Boone, or any other oppo- nent of descend into this arena? Let them bring us forward passages, in which it is inadınissible to translate Shángti by God. Till they do this, I must tell them, that they only hover about the field of conflict, and are surprisingly averse to "the tug" of the battle. Here is an experimentum crucis. I have taken their metal, and put it into the crucible—may I be pardoned the play on the words—and it has turned out to be base substance. Let them take this metal and sub- ject it to the same test. If the two words do not mean God,
"
those who contend that they do are merely setting up a
man of straw." It is not asking too much of Dr. Boone and his friends, to walk up to such an object and handle it. Let them give it a push, and it will fall down at once. The slightest application will prove that it has no life in it. Why have they not done this, and adduced some specific examples in which Shángti, can not be translated God? The done doubt- fair and just way of accounting for their not having yet So, less is, that such a course has not occurred to them. Having thus suggested it to them, and shown them by what an easy process they may achieve a victory—if it can be achieved—some of them will sure- ly act on the maxim, Fas est ab hoste doceri."-pp. 26,27.
On the above, we shall only observe, that Dr. Legge wastes his labor, when he endeavors to prove it absurd to say that shin means God, as we have never contended that, by the usus loquendi of Chinese writers, it had any such meaning, much less that the word has this meaning in all cases, which is the only point that could be proved absurd by such a test. We contended that shin meant a god, gods; we furnished our definition of the sense, in which these words are understood, by heathen nations, from authors of high standing, and endeavored to prove by the tests thus furnished, that shin was the generic name of the Chinese gods: would that Dr. Legge could be induced to proceed in this orderly method in making out his proof that the Chinese Shúngti is the being we call God, or that he is truly and properly God. If he will prove that the being called Shangti, in any one of the quotations he gives us, is truly and properly God, we will admit that the Shángti mentioned in all the other passages is God too, as we have no doubt that they all refer to the same being. This is the point that Dr. Legge should have proved, and it is so clearly his