Directory_and_Chronicle_1841 — Page 615

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Sacred Instructions of the Ta Tsing Emperors.

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Nov.

The oration on ceremonies is one of the most eloquent. With the Chinese, ceremony is an excellent substitute for sincerity, humility, and sundry other qualifications, which some nations deem necessary to the formation of character and the well-being of society. It is Shunche's wish to inspire his officers with veneration for the ages long gone by, and to rouse his ministers to worship the manes of the departed sages, including kings and nobles, and even the Mongols who held for a time the sceptre of China. He himself, when cross- ing the frontiers of Mongolia, sent a deputation, to sacrifice at the tombs of their chiefs in order to conciliate the invisible assistance of those ancient heroes. In this sermon it is stated, that the spirits of the departed dwell at the graves, and ought to be carefully watched. .The

emperor in person once made a pilgrimage to the tombs of the Ming emperors, and finding them in ruins, he straightway ordered them to be repaired. The policy of these barbarians, from the mo- ment they invaded the Chinese empire, was to conciliate the people at large. Having scarcely any definite creed of their own, they mo- deled their religion entirely according to the Chinese tenets, and showed great regard towards the dead. All this amalgamated them with the myriads over whom they became victors by dint of the rapi dity of their movements. To give a good example, and become the leader of fashion to his nation, Shunche venerated the shades of the Ming emperors, his former foes, and was generous to them, when they could no longer injure him.

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The discourse upon the art of tranquilizing the people, may in these times of war and fighting be read to some purpose. Shunche's were perilous times. The shock given to the empire was terrific, heavy rolling were the waves, that, one after the other, swept along with irre sistible fury, and in this troubled sea the monarch stood at the helm of

The Chinese had exhausted themselves in edicts; brother- hoods and conspiracies against the intruders continued to exist, but did not effect their end,-the expulsion of the hateful Mantchous. After so many exertions, which were isolated and ill-directed, the seeming enthusiasm of the people died away. That there is no real patriotism in China, some may believe; but that there are designing persons, who, under the garb of love for their country, will draw mul- titudes after them to serve their own purpose, cannot he denied. Such figured in Shunche's time: and to render them powerless, he wrote this political sermon. He includes in his amnesty the very robbers in the mountains, and endeavors by all means in his power to attach them to his government. That these are mere words we all know;

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