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A New History of China.
DEC.
his legs, three about his neck, and six upon his hands; aud in a word, in the midst of continual persecutions. I could say much more in praise of that person truly pious, and of great reputation, did I not fear that the share which I had in his sufferings, and the strict friendship that was between us, would render me suspected of too much partiality. Father Ferdinand Verbiest at the same time wrote a learned answer to a book, or rather a satire full of mistakes and doltish ignorance, which the same Yang Kwangseen wrote against the European mathematics. Father Anthony Gouvea composed a catechism. Father John Monteiro wrote two books, the one of the Law of God, and the other of True Adoration. Father Francis Sambiesi wrote four treatises, of the immortality of the soul; of morals; of painting, and sounds, all very short and highly esteemed. I myself wrote a treatise of the resur- rection of Christ; and another of the universal resurrection Nicholas Tri- gaut, Lazaro Cataneo, Gaspar Ferreira, and Alvaro Semedo, all fathers of the society have composed dictionaries very large and very exact, and Gaspar Ferreira has written above twenty treatises upon several subjects. Father Soeiro made an abridgment of the Christian law; and father Nicholas Lon- gobardo, who died but a few years ago in this court, fourscore and sixteen years old, has written several godly treatises, besides a treatise of earth- quakes, highly esteemed by the learned of this empire. In short, there have been a great number of other books written concerning the Christian reli- gion, and of all sciences and subjects which amount in all to above five hun- dred tomes printed, besides manuscripts. There is printed in China a cata- logue of all the fathers that ever traveled into the country to preach the gospel; wherein are also the names set of all the books which they have written. From whence I conclude, that so many books could never have been translated and written in a foreign language, and in so short a time fourscore and thirteen years], had not the language been very easy so that it follows that the Chinese language is more easy to learn than any other; and that it is withal very elegant, very copious, and very expressive; since it wants for no terms to explain and unfold the subtleties and mysteries of theology, philosophy, and the rest of the sciences." pages 78-82.
Our author concludes his chapter on the language, with the first paragraph of the first article of the commentary which he had made upon the works of Confucius; i. e. he gives the original of the text of Confucius, with both a verbal and free translation of the same, adding also a free translation of the commentary. This translation, with Magaillans' remarks, we subjoin.
"The method for great men to learn, consists in three things. The first is to unfold the rational nature: the second is, to reform mankind; and the third to stop at the sovereign good.
"As to the first, the rational nature is the heart of man, for the Chinese make no distinction between the understanding and the will; but attribute to the heart whatever we attribute to those faculties. The heart is a substance
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