Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 477

1850.

Defense of an Essay, &c.

439

to render ridiculous in his off-hand way. The view may or may not be correct; and if it has, to the reader's mind, anything ridiculous in it, when correctly presented, I am perfectly willing to encounter his ridicule for holding such a view; but I think I was entitled to have my own view presented by Dr. L., when he wished to show that it was absurd, and not another view substituted instead thereof. •

The fourth view is that of the pantheists. Tien is viewed as a com- pound being, and Shin as the informing divinity or spirit. The word divinity or spirit, may be regarded as either abstract-signifying the divine energies of Tien; or concrete the spirit, soul of this compound being. Dr. Medhurst thus represents these views :— explaining a Chi- mese sentence, which he thus renders, "Shángtí is the same as Heaven; if we were to collect together [in thought] the spiritual energies of Heaven, and speak of it (i. e. the collection) we should call it Sháng- tí;" he says, "The way in which the Chinese represent it is something like the following:-Shángti is Tien, Heaven, or the Divinity. The shin or spiritual energies of Heaven, are diffused throughout all na- ture; when viewed only as producing wind and rain, such portion of the celestial energies, if personified, would be called Fung Peh the Manager of the Wind, or Yu Sz', the Director of Rain; or if viewed as guiding the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, and the vari- ous seasons, would be Luh Tsung, the Six hon red Ones. But supposing all the spiritual energies of heaven collected into one and personified, the name attached to the individual possessing in himself all celestial energies, would be Shangti.† Should it be objected that

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* Dr. L.'s misrepresentation of my view was, I have no doubt, unintentional, and arose from not adverting to the explanation given of this matter in the previous part of my Essay. Though he renders the word shin, Spirit, and ! God, yet he understands the word t'ien just as I do, and adopts substantially the same explanation of the passage that I gave, as we shall see immediately be- low I say the same, because I can not suppose that Dr. L. regards the “ Spiri- tual Being" who "possesses this supreme power," and who is the Shangtí ("Supreme Ruler") whom he believes to be " God over all," as only the spirit or soul of the compound Being Tien. Whether a spiritual Being possessing such power and dominion should be called a god or not, let the reader judge. If we are content to take Dr. L.'s opinion, we must regard this Shin as “God over all, blessed for ever."

This view seems to agree with that set forth by St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei. Lib. IV. Cap. XI.

The subject of the chapter is “De multis diis, quos doctores Paganorum unum eundem que Jovem esse defendunt." We select only a few sentences. "Quotquot libet igitur physicis rationibus et disputationibus asserant: modo sit Jupiter corporei hujus mundi animus, qui universam istam molem ex quar- tuor, vel quot eis placet, elementis constructam atque compactam implet et movel; modo sit æther, ut aërem Junonem subterfusam de super amplectatur ; ......modo autem (ne sit necesse per cuncta discune) deus unus de quo multi a poeta nobilissimo dictum putant.