



Produced by Ting Man Tsao







Transcriber's Note: This e-book is based on an extant copy at
Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library,
College of William and Mary. The transcriber is grateful to the
librarians there for providing assistance in accessing this rare
fragile book. A few typos in the original text were corrected.



LETTERS TO CHILDREN.

BY REV. E.C. BRIDGMAN,
MISSIONARY IN CHINA.
Written for the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society,
and Revised by the Committee of Publication.

SECOND EDITION.

BOSTON:
MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY.
Depository, No. 13, Cornhill.
1838.

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1834,
BY CHRISTOPHER C. DEAN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

______

INDEX.

LETTER I.

Introduction; Chinese are Idolaters; Confucian, Taon, and Buddha
Sects,

LETTER II.

Temples, Priest, Priestesses and Idols,

LETTER III.

Pagodas, Idol Worship,

LETTER IV.

Soldiers; Merchants,

LETTER V.

Mechanics,

LETTER VI.

Husbandmen,

LETTER VII.

Scholars,

LETTER VIII.

Sailors,

LETTER IX.

Character and Condition of Females,

LETTER X.

Marriage Ceremony,

LETTER XI.

Beggars; Food and Clothing,

LETTER XII.

Crimes: Lying, Gambling, Quarrelling, Theft, Robbery, and
Bribery,

LETTER XIII.

Ideas of Death, style of Mourning, Funerals, &c.

LETTER XIV.

Dr. Morrison translates the Bible into the Chinese Language,

LETTER XV.

Dr. Milne; Missionary Stations,

LETTER XVI.

Leang Afa,

LETTER XVII.

Canton City; Population, &c.

LETTER XVIII.

To Parents and Teachers,

______

TO THE READER

______

This little Book contains eighteen Letters, written by Rev. E.C.
BRIDGMAN, Missionary in China, addressed to the Children of the
Sabbath School in Middleton, Mass. and published in the Sabbath
School Treasury and Visitor. Though the letters were addressed
to children in a particular Sabbath School, they are none the less
adapted to other children, and they cannot fail to interest any
one, who would see China converted to Christ.

______

LETTERS FROM CHINA.

______

Letter I.

_Canton_, (_China_,) _Oct._ 17, 1831

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS:‑‑The general agent of the Massachusetts
Sabbath School Union has requested me to write something which
I have "seen, heard, or thought of" for the _Treasury_. He proposed
that I should write in the form of letters, and address them to
you. This I shall be very happy to do, so far as I have any leisure
to write.

Some of you, perhaps, will remember what I used to tell you of
the children, and men, and women, who had no Bibles, and who were
ignorant of the true God, and of Jesus Christ the Savior of
sinners. I can remember very well what some of the little children
used to say, and how they used to look, when I talked to them about
being a missionary, and of going far away from home, perhaps never
to return. I did not then think of going so far off; indeed, I
did not know where I should go; had some thoughts of going to
Greece, or to Armenia. We do not always know what is best, but
God does, for He knows all things, and will direct all things for
his own glory; and if we love and obey him. He will make all things
work together for our good.

I am very glad I came to China, and I wish a great many more
missionaries would come here. Before I came among the heathen,
I had no idea how much they are to be pitied, and how much they
need the Bible. Now that I live among them, and see their poor
dumb idols every day, I desire to tell you a great many things
which, I hope, will make you more careful to improve your own
privileges, and more anxious also that the same blessed
privileges may be enjoyed by all other children every where.

Now, children, if you will look on your maps, you will see that
China is situated in that part of the earth, which is directly
opposite to the United States: so that when it is noon in one
place, it is midnight in the other. The two countries, you will
see, occupy nearly the same extent of the earth's surface. They
are, also, bounded on the north and south, by nearly the same
degrees of latitude. (China is situated a little farther south
than the United States.) This makes the seasons,‑‑summer and
winters, spring and autumn,‑‑and also the climate of the two
countries, quite alike. But in regard to population, religion,
and almost every thing else, they are very different from each
other