To the Bilitor of the Norra-Cama Dany News.
-Sre,—The letter of 'A Student' on the ages of Sinologues is just the sort of thing to interest your readers. It shows as clearly as anything I have read for a long time, how "studying Chinese preserves life, and considering the unhealthy climate of numbers-of places in this country I don't "know: anything that has Lately been plea-wanter reading to me than this letter shave been 'a long time here, having originally come out with the intention of making "Fikes grettt many others, been disap 'a fortune in three or four years; and he ug 'Whave' had to'hang-on, and my health has somewhat suffered in consequence. The ixioties of life now-a-days are greater thin they were in 1863, when I arrived in "Olina, At'all: events 'aman feels them. more. Often, after the Hankow new teas have been shipped off and we are waiting for telegrams, I do feel awfully rundown, and as I can't talk about my feelings to a friend, and a doctor la no use-at.such times, Thave than very'bad days indeed. Theroare other periods in one's life: feels the effects of the climate and the other things that militate against the health of the foreigner, but I shall not allude particularly to them. Your readers will understand to what I'refer, and will, I-fancy, be as: grateful as I'am to 'A Stndout' for the ray of hope which ho -gives that la remedy may have been discovered for many of the evils which residence in China entails on thoiforeigner. It may be only.a transient deceptive ray, but then: it.may not, and it certainly seems worth while asking for some information or ideas on the aube ject from 'A Student' and. other distinguished and learned persons. Docs Studont' think that where no organic injury had been done to the constitution, a foreigner's health might be restored by a gentle course of Chinese, as phy-sikiang, in consultation with sinologues, might consider fit to prescribe? Wh man's liver is out of order at home he is often.sent to take a course of wators.at some one or other of the German baths. Now, what has struck me after reading A 'Studont's' letter is, that if one was pretty seedy here his doctor might prescribe a or Cantonese, and in extreme cases even fortnight of Shanghai, a month of Ningpo longer periods of mandarin dialect, and that these would act like the waters of the Spas on the diseased systems. When people get orts here they goto Chefoo or Japan; often incourenient toget away, and it would be much pleasanter i be put right on the spot by a mild treatment in Chinese tones, or something of that kind, 'The curative and preservative powers which Student' has almost convinced me.ro-side in the Chinese language, when studied by foreigners, would no ilks the medicines of the physician, or the healing waters fof nature, lose their effect by repeated use, They would be communicated through the mind to the diseased parte of the body, and neither these nor any other portion of the body would be affected as we know the; are now by the uso of some.mineral, an perhaps vegetable, drugs. There would, ho evil after-effects, and, the cure once completed, health and vigour would not be diminished by the strength of the.means by which they had boon re-obtained.. Thus longevity, happy, and free from the ills that float that has been medicinally treated for its ailments is heir to, might become the lot of the deeply studious foreigners who took their morning and evening Chi-nose, dream of a realization of the alchomiat's Tt might perhaps be over-sanguine to Elixir of Life by the assiduous cultivation of the knowledge of the Chinese language, but it may be possible that the existence of foreigners may be prolonged far beyond, the best authentic instances of longevity by this means. The ages of the patriarchs might be obtained again in these later days, and even exceeded, if not in our times in children. Tnstoad of having these unhappy creatures dosed and doctored, their ailments might be corrected by a fow sentences spoken to them in that Chinese dialect which the researches of science would soon proceed to ascertain to-be the most I suitable for infantile complaints. Instead of administering medicated syrups, ipecac, or the othernoxious compounds with which th sufferings of unconscious infancy are allayed, the soothing influences of a fow lines from a Sage, a poet, or a novelist might be employed. And when the faculties of the child were so far advanced at to allow commit to memory and gradually the power of reading Ohinese, it w called on to heal' itself, by perusing or repeating some sinological cure. ° Ax life advanced, the kmowledge.of Chinese mould posseas itself the power of meeting increase, and therefore the mind "would ud curing the attacks of wissaas,. if not indeed of preventing them altogether. There are, drugs.by which favors, gout, and diseases of the different organs can, hi warded off; why, therefore, should, not a perfected syatem.of. sinological.treatment achieve the samemerciful successover'these? Tam not sure whether this system which I have attempted to indicate la likely to be as sucocssfal in surgical as in medical cases, butitmay -prove to. "Dhink how.great a boon ito. mankind "it, will be if tire knife, the.sam, the forceps,.and, the other ghaally instruments.of-the. surgeon, can be made to give place to treatment by Chinese philology. A compound' fracture-set by many hours' -atudy.of K'ung Fu-tsze, a bullet-wound cured'by constant repetition of the Book of Odes, anda molarfreed'from tooth-ache by daily readings of the Peking Gazette!
'Tt is quite true that. the Sinologues to whom ' A'Student' rred'alldivd at ages which might be equalled amongypeople who never heard a -moro -eilivized language than Gaelic spoken, But how if these gentlemen had been treated from their very earliest days "according to the system Ihave endeavoured to indicate?. Had De Guignes, fils, for.instanoe, -had: hie' Srat intestinal and convulsional complaints removed according to my-ayatom, T'can #00 that he might have bean living -now in a hale and hearty.strength, instead of dying forty yoara.ago at: the eatly -ago-of eighty six, cannot take up more \of "your. valuable though I know Ihave barely suc coeded in giving a hint of the bright future for sinological humanity: which A Student" has opened on my mental'vision, But J hope Tmay be allowed to commend the subject tothe only body in 'Shanghai that I can this, of as likely: to, consider it fully, justly, and-so us to prove.ite.morita demerits, suitability or unsuitability' wants -of our raco—the Royal Asiatic Society. A paper on my suggestion, from the President, who will no doubt see the whole subject ata glance, -would be very interesting.
Mans Insama, de. '9th October.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.