which he renders Te "the Majesty of Heaven," Part 1. vol. 1. page 236; "Divine Ruler." page 329; "the Supreme Sovereign," page 495; Supreme Ruler," page 571; "Heaven's Sovereign," page 505; "the Most High, Ruler," pages 523, 866; and "the Most High," page 675. In the same page he says, that Te or Shang-te is expressive of the most high God; and in page 863, he renders Te directly by "God." It is evident then, that Morrison did not think that Ruler would make sense in every instance, and that something more was necessary to express the full idea of the Chinese writer in certain passages. It is allowed, that when one meaning of a word will not make sense, we must do the writer the justice to suppose that he meant to convey some other idea by it, rather than set him down for a fool. We contend that the word Ruler alone will not adequately express the meaning of the authors in the passages cited; but that some other term is necessary in order to express the full sense; we find that according to Kang-he, the word Te is one of the names of Heaven, or the Divinity, and that it was applied (though improperly) to certain human rulers, who were supposed to imitate Heaven in virtue; when therefore we meet with cases in which the exigencies of the passages require us to translate it by a term expressive of Divinity, we are not doing violence to the language, so to translate it. We also see, that when the word Te is used with reference to a class of invisible and divine beings, it does not undergo any change of meaning, but is used in its natural sense, when translated God.

But it seems, that it cannot be denied that the word Te is used for beings called gods; only the force of the argument drawn from such use is sought to be weakened by saying, that the word Melech is used with reference to Jehovah in the Hebrew Scriptures; and as we should not translate Melech by God in the Holy writings, so we should not tradslate Te by God in the Chinese classics. To this we reply, that the word Melech is never used in the sense of God in Scripture, as Te undoubtedly is in Chinese. The Chinese ascribe to Te the acts and attributes of God, and speak of Te as forming and shaping all things, as well as conferring a virtuous nature on mankind. But the Hebrew Scriptures never speak of Melech as the former of all things, nor as having made man upright. Kang-he says, that Te is one of the names of Heaven and that Shang-te is Heaven, which was the term by which they were in the habit of expressing the Divinity but the Hebrews never said, that Melech was one of the names of God, nor that it meant God. The Hebrews were under a theocracy, and thus God was frequently called the king of Israel,

and the king of Jacob; David also calls Jehovah, his King and his God, and Christ is the King of kings, and Lord of lords; but it is evident, that the word King is employed, in all these instances, only with reference to God, and not in the sense of God. There is not an instance in the Hebrew Scriptures, of the word Melech being used in the same way that Te is used to mean God in the Chinese classics. Again, when the word Melech is employed with reference to God in the Scriptures, it is always coupled with some other word, which defines its application: while on the other hand, Te is used in the Chinese classics, in the sense of God, without any other term in connection to define its import, and to shew that the other term means the being which this only refers to. The cases in which the word king occurs in Scripture with reference to God, accompanied with another term which does mean God, are the following: 1 Sam. 12: 12. Psalm 5: 2. 10: 16. 44: 5. 29: 10. 98: 6. 44: 4. and 145: 1. Isa. 33: 22. 43: 15. Jer. 46: 18. 48: 15. 51:57. In all of which instanees it would be improper to translate the word King by God, because there is another word in the sentence meaning God, and stating definitely to whom the word Melech refers: shewing that the term was not used in the sense of God, but in its proper meaning of king. In the Chinese classics, on the contrary, all things are said to get their forms completed from Te: Te is the first of all: and sincere thoughts in man are ascribed to the virtuous nature bestowed by Te, with many others in all which instances, Te is used alone, as meaning the being who does those things, in which way Melech is never used in the Hebrew Scriptures.

It appears then, that Te is used for Heaven, or the Divinity, for Shang-te or the most High God as far as the Chinese knew him; for the five Tes, called also Shang-tes, who presided over the elements, for Kwan-yu, the god of war, and for a variety of gods who are worshipped by the Taouist and Buddhist sects; so that we might justly consider it as generic for God in Chinese but it is objected, that in all the above cases, the invisible being to whom the title of Te is given, is a ruler among the class of beings to whom he belongs, and therefore the word should be rendered ruler and not god. As well might one argue, that El when applied in the Hebrew Scriptures to the Divine Being, to the idols of the Gentiles, and to earthly monarchs, only means that the beings referred to are mighty ones, or heroes; and that therefore, in all the 250 instances in which El is used in the Hebrew Scriptures, it should be rendered hero, and not God; which would deprive us of one of the most notable appellatives for God in

Scripture, and weaken the force of many arguments brought in defence of the Divinity of Christ. All translators have, however, translated El by God in all those instances where it is evidently used for God, and only rendered it by words indicative of might and power, where they thought it necessary; while an inspired penman has assured us, that Iinmanuel means, God with us.

Another objection to Te, is, that it has been used from the highest antiquity, and still is, the title given to the ruler of China. We have before shewn, however, from the Imperial Dictionary, and from the preface to the Shoo-king, that only five individuals, during all the classic age, were called Tes, on account of their supposed imitation of Heaven in virtue, and it was not until the sages were dead, and the books were burned, that Tsin-che-hwang (B. C. 203) arrogated to himself the title of Hwang-te, of which class, he consider

Che

ed himself the first, and therefore styled himself hwang-te, the first Hwang-te. This title of Hwang-te, however, when applied to the Emperor, in the state ritual, is always put lower down than the word Te alone, which is applied in that document solely to the Supreme in the estimation of the Chinese. It might be thought by some, that Hwang-te is a higher title than Te, because it means "Great Ruler," while they think, that Te simply means Ruler:" but to this we reply, that the Chinese is a language of phrases, and that when a phrase is once established by custom to signify any particular idea, it always stands for that idea, without reference to the words which may be employed to compose it; thus Hwang-te always means Emperor, while Te alone is frequently em ployed in the sense of God. We may remark further, that the addition of a character to constitute a phrase in Chinese though separately signifying something more elevated or refined, does not always add intensity to the combined phrase. Thus tsing, means fine, pure, essential, and Shin, as we hope to shew in the sequel, signifies spirit; wben combined therefore, they would seem to mean pure essential spirit, whereas it is well known that the words in combination mean nothing more than the animal spirits. If, however, Shin meant God, then the two characters combined, ought to mean the pure essential Divinity. We have before observed, that the five emperors of antiquity were denominated Tes, on account of their virtues; that the tyrant of Tsin assumed the designation of Hwang-te, which was continued by the Han dynasty. At that period, however, the practice of assigning to deceased emperors, the Meaou-haou, or an

cestorial designation, commenced; from which time, departed monarchs were regularly honoured with this title, when enshrined and worshipped in the ancestorial temple; and historians speaking of the kings who reigned from that dynasty downwards have called them, after their decease, Tes. But previous to the decease of an emperor, he is not spoken of in state papers as a Te; we have looked through several volumes of Peking gazettes, and find the terms generally applied to the Emperor, to be Hwang-shang, Shingchoo, or Shang, but we have not met with the word Te alone, with reference to a living emperor in documents soberly worded. It is true, that in the Peaou chang, which are adulatory addresses, or petitions, sent up to the Emperor, he is sometimes styled Hwang-te, or even T'e; but it is evident, that such phrases, are used simply as compliments, in the same, way as James I. is called in the preface to our Bibles, "the most High and mighty Prince," and "most dread Sovereign"; while in sober writing no one would think of applying that title to him. The same is the case with the Chinese Emperors, in regard to Te.

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With reference to the word Te being sometimes applied to a living emperor, we may observe, that t'heen is also used in the same signification; for in the Urh-yay, vol. I. page 8, we read, that one of the titles of the Emperor is t'heen, Heaven, or the Divinity." In Bridgman's Chrestomathy, 558, we find the phrase Hwang t'heen, Imperial Heaven, which is equivalent in Chinese to the most High God, applied to the emperor. In Abel's narrative of Lord Amherst's Embassy, page 208, the edict issued after his departure, condoles with the ambassador, saying, "Your good fortune has been small, you have been unable to lift up your eyes to the face of Heaven, (i. e. the emperor.)" So also the Imperial throne is called theen wei, Heaven's seat; the Imperial considerat'heen gnan, Heaven's favour, or Divine grace, (as Morrison has it;) and the Imperial family, theen keuen, Heaven's inmates; Imperial troops, t'heen ping, Heaven's soldiers, or the army of Heaven; the Emperor's pay is called t'heen luh, the emoluments derived from Heaven; the Imperial presence, t'heen yen, Heaven's countenance; the Imperial dynasty, t'heen chaou, Heaven's court. Morrison says, that an Imperial messenger is called, rather presumptuously, i t'heen she, the messenger of Heaven. The Emperor himself, they call

tion,

t'heen tsze, Heaven's Son Martin says, because the Chinese take Heaven, God, and the Supreme Godhead to be all one, therefore the Son of Heaven, is as much as to say, the Son of God. Not only is the Emperor called Heaven or God; but he is actually worshipped during his life-time as a divinity. The ceremony of the Ko-t'how, as it is described by Abel, page 81, is a specimen of this. "At the further end of a room, was placed a screen, before which was a table covered with yellow cloth, and supporting a vessel of smoking incense, the whole, symbolical of the presence of his Chinese Majesty; all around this sacred emblem, carpets were laid for the accommodation of his faithful votaries; at a given signal, the mandarins fell on their knees, and, inclining their heads, knocked them three times against the ground, and then arose." Sir George Staunton, in his account of Macartney's Embassy, in describing the same ceremony before the Emperor's throne, speaks as follows: "The throne was ascended by steps, and above it were the Chinese characters of glory and perfection; tripods and vessels of incense were placed on each side, and before it a small table as an altar, for placing offerings of tea and fruit to the spirit of the absent emperor. Among the many names given to his Imperial Majesty, he has one which corresponds in sound, as well as in written characters, with that given in China, sometimes, to the Deity; doubtless as an attribute of power, residing almost entirely in the person of the sovereign, whose dominion they consider as virtually extending over the whole world." Believing the Majesty of the Emperor to be ubiquitary, they sacrifice to him when absent; it cannot therefore be surprising that they should adore him when present. The adoration or Ko-t'how, consists in nine prostrations of the body, with the forehead touching the floor, which is not only a mark of the deepest humility and submission, but implies a conviction of the omnipotence of him, towards whom this veneration is made." Again he describes "a feast which was expressly devoted for rendering solemn and devout homage to the Supreme Majesty of the Emperor. The ceremonial passed in a vast hall, in which were assembled the princes and great officers of state; at particular signals, every person present prostrated himself nine times, except the Ambassador and his suite. He to whom this awful act of adoration was made, in imitation of the Deity, kept himself the whole time invisible." Thus also, throughout the provinces, whenever a decree is received from the Emperor, incense is burned, and the mandarins bow and prostrate themselves before a tablet inscribed with the words