



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.

China is a very ancient nation; and has, at the present time, a
vast population,‑‑probably twenty or thirty times as many people
as there are in all the United States of America. If there are,
then, _three millions_ in the United States to be gathered into
the Sabbath schools, and there Sabbath after Sabbath, instructed
in the Holy Scriptures; there are here in China more than _sixty
millions_, of the same age, who know not even that there are any
Sabbath, or any Sabbath day, or any Holy Bible.

You can now, dear children, from these few facts, estimate how
many there are in China who need the Bible; and how much there
is to be done, how many missionaries and Christian teachers will
be wanted, before all these millions of immortal beings shall have
the word of God, and be as blessed and as happy in their
privileges, as you now are. You, truly, enjoy great privileges,
because you have the Holy Bible, and can, every day, read of Jesus
Christ: and if you believe in him, you will have great joy and
comfort, and when you die, go to heaven and be forever with the
Lord. But O, what do you think will become of all these poor
heathen children, who have no Bibles, and who have never heard
of the name of Jesus? In the fourth chapter of Acts, you read,
that, "_there is no other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved_."

The Chinese are idolaters. Their fathers, and their grandfather,
for hundreds and thousands of generations, have been idolaters,
and worshipped idols of wood and stone which their own hands have
made. These idols are very numerous; as numerous, the Chinese
themselves say, as the sands on the banks of a great river.

The Chinese are divided into three religious sects. The Confucian
sect; the Taon sect; and the Buddha sect. I will now tell you
something about each of these three.

The _Confucian_ sect is composed of the _learned_ men of China,
who are in their disposition and character like the proud and
self‑righteous pharisees, mentioned in the New Testament. They
call them the _disciples_ of Confucius. They adore and worship
him; they have a great many temples dedicated to him; and they
offer various sacrifices to him, as the children of Israel did
to Jehovah, the true God, in the time of Moses. Confucius was born
538 years before Christ. His disciples relate many strange
stories about their master. But he taught them nothing about the
true God and Jesus Christ, and nothing about the soul after death.
_Life and immortality were not revealed to him_. His disciples
are as ignorant as their master was. They neither know nor
acknowledge the eternal power and Godhead, so "clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made." Professing
themselves to be wise, they become fools, and like the Romans,
"changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like
to corruptible man, and to birds, and four‑footed beasts," &c.
&c. I wish you to read the last half of the first chapter of Romans,
and you will have a good account of the disciples of Confucius.

Taontsze, which being interpreted, means _old boy_, was the
founder of the _Taon_ sect. His followers to this day call him
the supreme venerable prince; and relate many curious stories
about him; and say that he was an _ignorant good man_.

The religion of _Buddha_ was brought from India, and became a
common religion of China, probably, about the time, or soon after
the crucifixion of our Savior. Both this religion and that of the
Taon sect are dreadfully wicked, and full of abominations; and
their priests are the most ignorant and miserable people in China.
I will tell you more of these hereafter.

Besides these three sects, there are some Roman Catholics, some
Mohammedans, and a few Jews, scattered in different parts of
China.

Since I have now commenced, I wish to write you several short
letters; and this I will try to do, if God our heavenly Father
gives me time and strength. Earnestly desiring that he will give
you all good things, I remain,

                  Your true friends,
                                E.C. BRIDGMAN.

______

LETTER II.

_Canton_, (_China_,) _Oct._ 19, 1831.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,‑‑In the first letter, I told you something