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and older brothers, discussing the possible future vocation he might take up. Becoming a minister or missionary was considered, but that was "dependent on my becoming a true Christian, and I knew that I was not then such". He decided to put off all final decisions and become a teacher (9) "till my mind should become in a more settled condition on the great subject of religion”. Living with his older brother, George, in London in the interim, James went to hear many preachers, but was particularly impressed by the minister of Weigh House Chapel, a Mr. Thomas Binney. (Two years later, when he entered seminary and studied Chinese at the University of London, he made the extra effort to hear Binney's sermons "frequently and always to my benefit^^.) Later, he heard a message by a famous Congregational minister, Dr. Me'all, on the vow of Jacob in Genesis 28. This encounter set in motion the determination on James' part to be a "truer and more consistent servant of Christ'. These events took place in 1835 and 1836. Finally, while teaching mathematics and Latin in a school in Blackburn, James joined the Congregational Church in Blackburn. His comment on this commitment reflects his sense of duty and spiritual fulfillment: "The doing what is right always brings with it an exhilaration of spirit, and gives concentration to the powers of the mind". There is no note here of an emotionally ecstatic experience, but there is the overcoming of a deep and pressing burden of spiritual accountability. He completed this autobiographical account with the quotation of Biblical passages (predominantly Philippians 3:13-14) and with the Christian witness' simple statement; now he was following Christ, and Christ, he was assured, would not leave him. See James Legge, "Notes of My Life", op. cit., pp. 58-67.
In his eighteen months at the Blackburn school, James taught the upper class boys, who were only a few years younger than himself, mathematics and passages from a number of classical Latin sources. The young teacher later admitted that two texts he taught during this period left a deep impression upon him: Lactantius' Institutiones Divinae (Antwerp, 1539) and Boethius' Consolatio Philosophiae. The latter is particularly important because of the Augustinian commitment to which Boethius was bound: that philosophy could be an aid to and lead one on from the search for human understanding to a humble acceptance of a guiding trust in the living God. In addition, the well-structured poetic strains of Boethius may also have had a continuing impact in Legge's rendering of Chinese poetry, but by his own statement, it appears that George Buchanan's style was more often in mind as a model for translating. See "Notes Of My Life", op. cit., pp. 65-66, 72.
T
For details on Legge's Highbury College experience and first studies in Chinese, see "Notes Of My Life", op. cit., pp. 80-87, 102-105.
411
Brian Harrison has written about Legge's attitudes at the Malacca site, arguing that he was a young and inexperienced missionary who stubbornly refused to adopt an older missionary's and other administrators' attitudes toward the College. Other research has challenged this opinion, showing Legge to have been stubbornly opposed to practices which he believed were not only religiously and ethically unacceptable, but also more aligned with both the London office and the original plans of Morrison and Milne. See Brian Harrison, Waiting For China: The Anglo-Chinese College At Malacca, 1818-1843, And Early Nineteenth-Century Missions (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1979) and R. L. O'Sullivan, "The Departure of the London Missionary Society from Malacca," Journal of The Malaysian Historical Society 23 (1980), pp. 75-83.
41
See The Rambles of the Emperor Ching Tih in Keang Nan, A Chinese Tale. (Vol. 1, 320 pages; Vol. 2, 322 pages) trans. Tsin Shen, ed. James Legge (London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longman, 1843). The second work was attributed to Legge by Alexander Wylie, who [according to Dr. R. Gary Tiedemann, currently of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London] was also tutored in elementary Chinese by Legge during the latter's first furlough (1846-1847) See A Lexilogus of the English, Malay, And Chinese Languages; comprehending the vernacular idioms of the
213
and older brothers, discussing the possible future vocation he night take up. Becoming a minister or missionary was considered, but that was "dependent on my becoming a true Christian, and I knew that I was not then such". He decided to put off all final decisions and become a teacher (9) "till my mind should become in a more settled condition on the great subject of religion”. Living with his older brother, George, in London in the interim, James went to hear many preachers, but was particularly impressed by the minister of Weigh House Chapel, a Mr. Thomas Binney. (Two years later, when he entered seminary and studied Chinese at the University of London, he made the extra effort to hear Binney's sermons "frequently and always to my benefit^^.) Later, he heard a message by a famous Congregational minister, Dr. Me'all, on the vow of Jacob in Genesis 28. This encounter set in motion the determination on James' part to be a "truer and more consistent servant of Christ'. These events took place in 1835 and 1836. Finally, while teaching mathematics and Latin in a school in Blackburn, James joined the Congregational Church in Blackburn. His comment on this commitment reflects his sense of duty and spiritual fulfillment: "The doing what is right always brings with it an exhilaration of spirit, and gives concentration to the powers of the mind". There is no note here of an emotionally ecstatic experience, but there is the overcoming of a deep and pressing burden of spiritual accountability. He completed this autobiographical accout with the quotation of Biblical passages (predominantly Philippians 3:13-14) and with the Christian witness' simple statement; now he was following Christ, and Christ, he was assured, would not leave him. See James Legge. *Notes of My Life", op. cit., pp. 58-67.
In his eighteen months at the Blackburn school, James taught the upper class" boys, who were only a few years younger than himself, mathematics and passages from a number of classical Latin sources. The young teacher later admitted that two texts he taught during this period lett a deep impression upon him: Lactantius` Institutiones Divinae (Antwerp. 1539) and Boethius' Consolatio Philosophine. The latter is particularly important because of the Augustinian commitment to which Boethius was bound: that philosophy could be an aid to and lead one on from the search for human understanding to a humble acceptance of a guiding trast in the living God. In addition, the well structured poetic strains of Boethius may also have had a continuing impact in Legge's rendering of Chinese poetry, but by his own statement it appears that George Buchanan's style was more often in mind as a model for translating. See "Notes Of My Life", op. cit., pp. 65-66, 72.
T
For details on Legge's Highbury College experience and first studies in Chinese, sce "Notes Of My Life", op. cit., pp. 80-87, 102-105.
411
Brian Harrison has written about Legge's attitudes at the Malacca site arguing that he was a young and inexperienced missionary who stubbornly reused to adopt an older missionary's and other administrators' attitudes toward the College. Other research has chalienged this opinion, showing Legge to have been stubbornly opposed to practices which he believed were not only religiously and ethically unacceptable, but also more aligned with both the London office and the original plans of Morrison and Milne. Sce Brian Harrison, Waiting For China: The Anglo-Chinese College At Malacca. 1818-1843, And Early Nineteenth-Century Missions (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1979) and R. L. O'Sullivan, "The Departure of the London Missionary Society from Malacca," Journal of The Malaysian Historical Society 23 (1980), pp. 75-83.
41
See The Rambles of the Emperor Ching Tih in Keang Nan, A Chinese Tale. (Vol. 1, 320 pages; Vol. 2, 322 pages) trans. Tsin Shen, ed. James Legge (London: Longman. Brown, Green and Longman, 1843). The second work was attributed to Legge by Alexander Wylie, who Jaccording to Dr. R. Gary Tiedemann, currently of the School or Oriental and African Studies at the University of London] was also tutored in elementary Chinese by Legge curing the latter's first furlough (1846-1847) See A Lexilogus of the English, Malay, And Chinese Languages; comprehending the vernacular idioms of the
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