Perhaps it is just as well that we do not all receive identical impressions from reading the same book; yet it cannot be but with some feeling of Teeppointivent that one sees an author's work imperfectly represented by his reviewer.
And such a reflection naturally arises in the mind of one who, fresh from the living pages of Archdeacon Moule's "New China snd Old" caste his eye over review of that work which lately Appeared in the columns of the North-China Daily News, That review, doubtless, was written in commendation of the work in question; written with the facile pen and the best wishes of a well-known fellow labourer, but, nevertheless, though carrying " weighty subscription it fails to represent any other than a partial view of the object and intention of the author. The general reader will certainly not admit that the hole (book) is made subservient to the Missionary Question." He will rather confess his enjoyment in reminiscences dehtfully told, and in the lucid explanation of customs and superstitions which hitherto had been to him but as "chaos ud old night."
Tt was, of course, well-nigh impossible for the author wholly to divest himself of his character and office when writing about "things Chinese," but there is too much internal evidence tw prove that. tie book was not to give missionary information, but to describe Chinese life and thought and customs, as they appeared to one who had thoughtfully studied the subject, and' had experienced all of which he had written: in fact, to interest the general reader and not so' much the restricted missionary community.
An author writes usually not only wit Aetinite object in view, but that his book may be read by the largest circle possible, To limit that circle to the small number peculiarly interested in the well worn missionary question is to paralyse the author's best efforts.
Presuming, then, that the author's object was not particularly to touch the missionary, let us see how far it succeeds in interesting the general reader. First and the record of more than episode of the Taiping and how nearly the Manchu dynasty was overthrown by that rebellion, Then follows an account of the reouperative und cohesive qualities of the Chinese, the nature of Celestial politics and of the future power for good or fur evil of the great nation among whom we live.
With much that is written of Shanghai the general reader is possibly fully acquainted, but the chapter describing the great port which fur the present, at any rate, is our home is one worth more than merely cursory perusal.
It is reported to have been once said by a ey ical member of the cloth that half the foreign residents in China went through their term of expatriation with their eyes t. This is rather a wholesale denounces mont, but it assuredly possesses a stratum of troth, How many foreign residents, for instance, know anything of the country life of the natives; of the peculiarities of the Chinese marriage ceremonial, of the etiquette expected at a Chinese dinner, of the influence of the local authorities, of the nature and rotation of the crops, of the birds and flowers of the neighbourhood? All these and a hundred kindred subjects find full and pleasurable treatment at the hands of the Archdeacon.
Again, there is a more or less general impression that three religions are dominant in Ohina, Buddhism, Taoism and Confciauism; but how far they are in common agreement, in what way they differ, how far they affect Chinese life and which is the more potent are questions which the reader will find clearly solved in the pages of the book before us. Above and beyond these lighter enquiries comes the consideration of the grave question of ancestral worship, the solid fortification against which the united forces of Christianity appear, e0 far, to have battered in vain, Aucestor worship is not tolerated by Roman Catholic Missions in China, nor would it be permitted by any of the Protestant holding. And yet there are not a few, including the Archdeacon himself, who are desirous of arriving at some via medi+, some modification of the observance which should offend no susceptibilities, But the general reader will, perhaps, be found to incline to the proposition that "ancestor worship is not essentially idolatrous; that it implies merely a reverential and affectionate rite in memory of the departed, whom we desire to serve in their absence as though they were still present." Anyhow he will fud in those. pages both sides of the question most intelligently argued.
The superstitions of the Chinese are as numerous as the sands of the sea shore, Their maintenance ix as inexplicable as their origin. Féngshui, ghosts, witchcraft, and the thousand incidental horrors born of these ghoulish imagine influence the thoughts an practical men of the world. ow Chin a are capital; treated by the author of Ni the wherefore of these things Ola."
But perhaps the most interesting chapter in the volume before us is that on the language and literature of China, There be nothing new in this for the ry reader, but for the lay seeker after instruction and information & capital general idea of the vast subject may be found in" nutshell, In conclusion, the Archdeacon is not to be held altogether blameless for introducing into his arguments the opinions of sume half dozen missionaries whose reputations, with one exception, are, after all, but local, and whose influence naturally is but limited, Far better to have stood alone in the treatment of subjects of which he is an acknowledged mastd hoped, then, that New China and Old" will not generally be held to be merely narrative of mission work and plans, but rather an attempt to enlighten the reading public upon matters which so long have been for them shrouded in mystery. The book is well worth reading, it is well illustrated, and it entitles its' well known and well liked author tu our appreciative thanks,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.