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PENNY MAGAZINE.

No 64.

PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY C. WOOD AND SON, POPPIN'S COURT, FLEET STREET, LONDON.

AUGUST 24, 1833.

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ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS TO THE EAST. OUR engraving necessarily requires that we give some historical notices of Roman Catholic Missions to the East.

Christianity, it is well known, is pre-eminently missionary and proselyting in its spirit. But its genius is divinely benevolent, breathing infinite love to mankind. Its Divine Founder gave his last command to his chosen disciples, "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Ecclesiastical history shows, that, in every age of the world, as genuine Christianity has been possessed, the servants of Christ have endeavoured to disseminate their principles, and to diffuse the VOL. II.

blessings of salvation among all nations by the Holy Scriptures.

Popery also is peculiarly missionary in its spirit: but, concealing the word of God, and not allowing its heavenly light to shine among the nations, its early efforts to proselyte the heathen, have left so ne of the deepest stains upon the Christian name. Dr. Mosheim remarks, "The Spaniards and Portuguese, if we may give credit to their historians, exerted themselves with the greatest vigour and success in the propagation of the gospel among the darkened nations. And it must indeed be confessed, that they communicated some notions, such as they were, of the Christian religion to the inhabitants of America, to those parts of Africa

2 M

NIGHT AND DAY.

ALL sleeps! for drowsy darkness:
And deals his potion round,
With which, as adamantine chains.
He holds existence bound.
No light illumes the cheerless sce
Save Luna's faintest gleam,
That clouds reflect, which some
There steals a brighter beam.
No sound the list'ning ear dot}

The death-like stillness brea
Save the faint rustling of the
Or th' ocean's distant raki
Night disappears! its gloon-
Now vanishes away;
Mild beams of light illum
And speak th' approac
See yonder, where the oc
Bright Phoebus lifts h
See him majestically ris
And gild his watʼry i
How chang'd the sce
Spread cheerless s
But now all nature
Her plains with
Thus doth a burst
The Christian p
Who wings his w
The bless'd abo

Sweet truth, to
A light within
That Heav'n re
Beyond Earth
It is as 'twere t
Of morn's in
But, oh! when
What glory
Then doth ete.

Their rich i

Which ne'er-
Nor be by

O happy, hap
Such preci

Bliss that but
In shadows

Brighton.

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in, it being discovered he had people of Japan to the Christian linary punishment was inflicted dels immured him with his hands built so close that he could not him no other food than a little vening. This torment soon put lied about the beginning of the

more than a century, Japan constate of heathen darkness: but we t far distant, in which the word of translated into the language of De circulated through the land, to pulation with the true knowledge s Christ.

PT FOR ROMAN CATHOLIC IMAGES. exhibited in the Holy Scriptures, the reason of every intelligent man. ke the spirituality of its doctrines, 'ns without an examination of its true -ver they may refuse to humble theme throne of the heavenly grace, to dom and those blessings which it even of the most acute and learned, able to discover that there is any thing irrational, or unworthy of God. Mulass, having been induced to consider it ume, have been converted from their eans of a candid examination of its recepts, and have been constrained to The expression of infinite benevolence, has abounded towards us in all wisdom

l its essential peculiarities, is not Chrisrefore offensive to the reason of man : evailing infidelity in Roman Catholic ayers in a tongue unknown to the people ntiation of the bread and wine in the rand image-worship,-are an insult to etates of reason, and equally repugnant to of God. Hence the generally prevailing the population in countries professing that igion, and its rejection in proportion as become enlightened by scriptural know

t for the corruptions of Christianity, was ever more strikingly exhibited, than it is in Japan, by their annual ceremony of G ON THE IMAGES OF THE VIRGIN MARY CHILD, AND THE CRUCIFIX. This horrid takes place at the beginning of the year, in oration of the expulsion of the JESUITS. The e of copper, about a foot in height. Observ. custom is intended to impress every individual red of the Christian religion and name, and to whether there is any remnant of it left in the

It is performed in the places where the ns chiefly resided. In Nagasaki it continues 7s; the images are conveyed to the circumjacent and afterwards laid aside till the next anniverThey are so scrupulously inquisitive, that every except the governor and his attendants, even ungest child, is expected to be present. Some aid that the Dutch factors are obliged to trample cross, but this is not true. Still, how serious is tumbling-block in the way of the extension of divine Christianity!

moral and corrupt professors of the gospel incur wful accumulation of guilt, in giving such false shameful examples to the heathen. To such it is the apostle addresses himself, Rom. ii, 24, "For name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles

through you, as it is written." Should this fall into the hands of any who have brought scandal upon the Saviour's cause by immorality of life, let thein read Ezek. xxxvi, 20-23, and humble themselves at the throne of grace, in seeking reconciliation with God.

THE BEAUTIES OF CHRISTIANITY. (Continued from p. 260.)

Of Redemption.

As the Trinity comprehends secrets of the metaphysical kind, so Redemption contains the wonderful history of man's heart and destination. The one overwhelms our senses with its glory; but the affecting mystery of the other, while it fills our eyes with tears, prevents them from being too much dazzled, and allows us to fix them for a moment on the cross. We behold, in the first place, the doctrine of original sin, which explains the whole nature of man. Without this, how shall we account for the vicious propensity of our nature? Without a primitive fall, how shall we explain that sweat which fertilizes the rugged soil, the sorrows and misfortunes of the righteous, the triumphs, the unpunished success of the wicked? To be convinced of the fatal truth, whence springs the mystery of redemption, need we any other proof than the malediction pronounced on Eve, a malediction of daily accomplishment? But a God of clemency, knowing that we should all have perished in consequence of this fall, has interposed to save us. Let us, who are all frail and guilty, ask not our understandings but our hearts, how a God can die. A universal tradition teaches us, that man was created in a more perfect state than the present; if man was created, he was created for some end or other; and being created perfect, the end for which he was destined could not be otherwise than perfect. But the final cause of man has not been changed by his fall, since he has not been created anew; he is therefore, though mortal and imperfect through sin, still destined for immortal and perfect ends. But how are these ends to be attained in this state of imperfection? Thus we perceive the necessity of succour, or redemption. But in order to adjust a redemption, the ransom must be at least equivalent to the object to be redeemed; and how could man make a satisfaction, as well for his own guilt as for the rest of the human race? Heaven seems purposely to have allowed four thousand years to elapse, to allow men to judge how very inadequate were their degraded virtues for such a sacrifice. It is clear, then, that Redemption could only have proceeded from a being superior to man. Let us examine if it could have been accomplished by any intermediate being between us and God.

"Say, heavenly powers, where shall we find such love?
Which of ye will be mortal to redeem

Man's mortal crime? and just, the unjust to save?
Dwells in all heaven charity so dear?'

It was a beautiful idea of Milton, to represent the Almighty announcing the fall to the astonished heavens, and asking if any of the celestial powers was willing to devote himself for the salvation of mankind. All the divine hierarchy was mute! What indeed should have inspired the angels with that unbounded love to man which the mystery of the cross pre-supposes? Nor could any angelic being, from the weakness of its nature, have taken on itself those sufferings, which, in the language of Massillon, accumulated upon the head of Christ, all the physical torments that might be supposed to attend the punishment of all the sins committed since the beginning of time, and all the moral. anguish and remorse which the same sins must have

where they carried their arms, and to the islands and maritime provinces of Asia, which they reduced under their dominion. It is also true, that considerable numbers of these savage people, who had hitherto lived, either under the bondage of the most extravagant superstitions, or in a total ignorance of any object of religious worship, embraced, at least in outward appearance, the doctrines of the gospel. But when we consider the methods of conversion that were employed by the Spanish missionaries among these wretched nations, the barbarous laws and inhuman tortures that were used to force them into the profession of Christianity; when it is considered, farther, that the denomination of Christians was conferred upon such of these poor wretches as discovered a blind and excessive veneration for their stupid instructors, and were able, by certain gestures, and the repetition of a little jargon, to perform a few superstitious rites and ceremonies; then, instead of rejoicing at, we shall be tempted to lament, such a propagation of the gospel, and to behold the labours of such miserable apostles with indignation and contempt. Such is the judgment passed upon these missionaries, not only by those whom the church of Rome places in the list of heretics, but also by many of the most pious and eminent of her own doctors, in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.

"When the Roman pontiffs saw their ambition checked by the progress of the Reformation, which deprived them of a great part of their spiritual dominion in Europe, they turned their lordly views towards the other parts of the globe, and became more solicitous than ever about the propagation of the gospel among the nations that lay yet involved in the darkness of paganism. This they considered as the best method of making amends for the loss they had sustained in Europe, and the most specious pretext for assuming to themselves, with some appearance of justice, the title of heads or parents of the universal church. The famous society, which, in the year 1540, tock the denomination of Jesuits, or the Company of Jesus, seemed every way proper to assist the court of Rome in the execution of this extensive design. And accordingly, from their first rise, this peculiar charge was given them, that their missionaries should be at the absolute disposal of the Roman pontiff, and always ready, at a moment's warning, to repair to whatever part of the world he should fix for the exercise of their ministry. The many histories and relations which mention the labours, perils, and exploits of that prodigious multitude of Jesuits, who were employed in the conversion of the African, American, and Indian infidels, abundantly show, with what fidelity and zeal the members of this society executed the orders of the Roman pontiffs. And their labours would undoubtedly have crowned them with immortal glory, had it not appeared evident, from the most authentic records, that the greatest part of these new apostles had more in view the promoting of the ambitious views of Rome, and the advancing of the interests of their own society, than the propagation of the Christian religion, or the honour of its Divine Author. It may also be affirmed, from records of the highest credit and authority, that the Inquisition erected by the Jesuits at Goa, and the penal laws, whose terrors they employed, contributed inuch more than their arguments and exhortations to engage the Indians to embrace Christianity. The converting zeal of the Franciscans and Dominicans, which had for a long time been not only cooled, but almost totally extinguished, was animated anew by the example of the Jesuits."

But of all the Jesuits who distinguished themselves by their zealous and laborious attempts to extend the liinits of the churcb, none acquired a more shining

reputation than Francis Xavier, who is commonly called "The Apostle of the Indies," and by Pope Benedict XIV, "The Protector of the Indies."

St. Francis Xavier was a native of Navarre, in Spain, born in 1497: he was educated at Paris, and became an eminent professor in that university, where he formed an intimacy with Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Inflamed with similar zeal, he bound himself to attempt the conversion of the heathen. "An undaunted resolution," says Mosheim, "and no small degree of genius and sagacity, rendered this famous missionary one of the properest persons that could be employed in such an arduous task Accordingly, in the year 1522, he set sail for the Portuguese settlement in India, and, in a short space of time, spread the knowledge of the Christian, or, to speak more properly, of the popish religion, over a great part of the continent, and in several of the islands of that remote region."

Xavier was honoured, on entering on his missionary work, with the dignity of Apostolical Nuncio in the East, and during the voyage, and also in the Indies, he was called "holy father." It is said to have "cost him no less pains to reclaim the Portuguese, debauched with the riches of Asia, than to convert infidels." He converted the king of the island of Ceylon; and thence, after several times traversing the Indian islands, and some parts of the continent, he proceeded to Japan, where he succeeded in an extraordinary manner, assisted by other Jesuits and friars from Goa, Macao, and the Manillas. At first, the undertaking advanced with the most rapid success. Many houses, especially seventy-three of splendid appearance, with several churches and seminaries, were possessed by the Jesuits, besides what were in the possession of the Augustins and Dominicans. Their converts are said to have amounted to 600,000 persons; and they were in such favour at court, that an embassy, with rich presents, was sent to Pope Gregory XIII. The conduct of the missionaries, however, convinced the government that they had other views beyond the conversion of the people to God; and as they began to preach boldly the supremacy of the pope, it was believed they were conspiring against the state. A persecution commenced against them; and an affront which was offered to a Japanese prince by a Portuguese prelate, produced an order, that all Christians who did not leave the empire immediately should be put to death. From 1596 to 1640, persecution raged dreadfully; as the Jesuit fathers did interfere in the business of the state. Their hardships and sufferings were great many of their members were martyred. A general massacre took place, when, it is said, that besides multitudes of private persons, no less than 40,000 Roman Catholic soldiers were sacrificed to the fury of the pagan Japanese. In 1640, the Portuguese were expelled the country, and no man was suffered to be a Christian.

Millar, in the second volume of his "History of the Propagation of Christianity," remarks, "The persecution of missionaries continues to this day in Japan; for I find in the public news from Madrid, Jan. 30, 1720, the following paragraph: "We have received letters from Madraspatam in the East Indies, of the 25th of December, 1718, that advice was come to that place, that the Abbot, Baptist Lidotti, a Sicilian, died in the country of Japan, in the torinents he suffered for the Christian faith. His zeal for the conversion of infidels induced him to go into that country, notwithstanding the severe laws of that government, whereby all Europeans in general, and most particularly missionaries, are forbid coming there. He was no sooner arrived, but he was taken up, and condemned to die; he was sent to the governor of the province, and after some

small liberty allowed him, it being discovered he had converted some of the people of Japan to the Christian faith, a very extraordinary punishment was inflicted upon him; for the infidels immured him with his hands tied between two walls, built so close that he could not stir himself, allowing him no other food than a little rice and water every evening. This torment soon put an end to his life: he died about the beginning of the year 1714."

After the lapse of more than a century, Japan continues in the same state of heathen darkness: but we trust the time is not far distant, in which the word of God, which is being translated into the language of that country, will be circulated through the land, to bless its teeming population with the true knowledge of salvation by Jesus Christ.

JAPANESE CONTEMPT FOR ROMAN CATHOLIC IMAGES. Christianity, as exhibited in the Holy Scriptures, commends itself to the reason of every intelligent man. Infidels may dislike the spirituality of its doctrines, and reject its claims without an examination of its true nature: but however they may refuse to humble themselves before the throne of the heavenly grace, to implore that wisdom and those blessings which it promises, none, even of the most acute and learned, have ever been able to discover that there is any thing in its institutions irrational, or unworthy of God. Multitudes of that class, having been induced to consider it in the sacred volume, have been converted from their infidelity, by means of a candid examination of its doctrines and precepts, and have been constrained to pronounce it the expression of infinite benevolence, in which "God has abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence."

Popery, in all its essential peculiarities, is not Christian, and therefore offensive to the reason of man: hence the prevailing infidelity in Roman Catholic countries. Prayers in a tongue unknown to the people -Transubstantiation of the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper-and image-worship,-are an insult to the sound dictates of reason, and equally repugnant to the oracles of God. Hence the generally prevailing ignorance of the population in countries professing that form of religion, and its rejection in proportion as the people become enlightened by scriptural knowledge.

Contempt for the corruptions of Christianity, was probably never more strikingly exhibited, than it is still done in Japan, by their annual ceremony of TRAMPLING ON THE IMAGES OF THE VIRGIN MARY WITH HER CHILD, AND THE CRUCIFIX. This horrid ceremony takes place at the beginning of the year, in commemoration of the expulsion of the JESUITS. The images are of copper, about a foot in height. Observing this custom is intended to impress every individual with hatred of the Christian religion and name, and to discover whether there is any remnant of it left in the country. It is performed in the places where the Christians chiefly resided. In Nagasaki it continues four days; the images are conveyed to the circumjacent places, and afterwards laid aside till the next anniversary. They are so scrupulously inquisitive, that every person, except the governor and his attendants, even the youngest child, is expected to be present. Some have said that the Dutch factors are obliged to trample on the cross, but this is not true. Still, how serious is this stumbling-block in the way of the extension of pure, divine Christianity!

Immoral and corrupt professors of the gospel incur an awful accumulation of guilt, in giving such false and shameful examples to the heathen. To such it is that the apostle addresses himself, Rom. ii, 24, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles

"For

through you, as it is written." Should this fall into the hands of any who have brought scandal upon the Saviour's cause by immorality of life, let them read Ezek. xxxvi, 20-23, and humble themselves at the throne of grace, in seeking reconciliation with God.

THE BEAUTIES OF CHRISTIANITY. (Continued from p. 260.)

Of Redemption.

As the Trinity comprehends secrets of the metaphysical kind, so Redemption contains the wonderful history of man's heart and destination. The one overwhelms our senses with its glory; but the affecting mystery of the other, while it fills our eyes with tears, prevents them from being too much dazzled, and allows us to fix them for a moment on the cross. We behold, in the first place, the doctrine of original sin, which explains the whole nature of man. Without this, how shall we account for the vicious propensity of our nature? Without a primitive fall, how shall we explain that sweat which fertilizes the rugged soil, the sorrows and misfortunes of the righteous, the triumphs, the unpunished success of the wicked? To be convinced of the fatal truth, whence springs the mystery of redemption, need we any other proof than the malediction pronounced on Eve, a malediction of daily accomplishment? But a God of clemency, knowing that we should all have perished in consequence of this fall, has interposed to save us. Let us, who are all frail and guilty, ask not our understandings but our hearts, how a God can die. A universal tradition teaches us, that man was created in a more perfect state than the present; if man was created, he was created for some end or other; and being created perfect, the end for which he was destined could not be otherwise than perfect. But the final cause of man has not been changed by his fall, since he has not been created anew; he is therefore, though mortal and imperfect through sin, still destined for immortal and perfect ends. But how are these ends to be attained in this state of imperfection? Thus we perceive the necessity of succour, or redemption. But in order to adjust a redemption, the ransom must be at least equivalent to the object to be redeemed; and how could man make a satisfaction, as well for his own guilt as for the rest of the human race? Heaven seems purposely to have allowed four thousand years to elapse, to allow men to judge how very inadequate were their degraded virtues for such a sacrifice. It is clear, then, that Redemption could only have proceeded from a being superior to man. Let us examine if it could have been accomplished by any intermediate being between us and God.

"Say, heavenly powers, where shall we find such love?
Which of ye will be mortal to redeem

Man's mortal crime? and just, the unjust to save?
Dwells in all heaven charity so dear?'

It was a beautiful idea of Milton, to represent the Almighty announcing the fall to the astonished heavens, and asking if any of the celestial powers was willing to devote himself for the salvation of mankind. All the divine hierarchy was mute! What indeed should have inspired the angels with that unbounded love to man which the mystery of the cross pre-supposes? Nor could any angelic being, from the weakness of its nature, have taken on itself those sufferings, which, in the language of Massillon, accumulated upon the head of Christ, all the physical torments that might be supposed to attend the punishment of all the sins committed since the beginning of time, and all the moral, anguish and remorse which the same sins must have

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