uninteresting way. No one can read these comments without recognizing the carefulness and research with which they have been made and the aim of the author to make the work useful and instructive. We have thus, in a few words, indicated the course followed out by Mr. Jackson, and commend most highly his labours to shed light on the incidents contained in the book and on the problems suggested by it. We regard such a commentary as this as of great value for our most intelligent native Christians, and earnestly encourage our missionary brethren to make use of it in their Bible classes, or for the private study of those more advanced in religious knowledge. We believe it would do good service among such, as akin to sentiments widely entertained by thoughtful and inquiring minds, but on which they require the light that revelation alone can give. At the close there is an attempt to give a new translation of the sacred volume, which may be of use to some who wish a simpler style than obtains in the more classical version. W. M. will affect the security of our position and empire in that continent. A good understanding with China should be the first article of our Eastern policy, for not only in Central Asia but also in Indo-China, where French ambition threatens to create a fresh Egypt, her interests coincide with ours and furnish the sound basis of a fruitful alliance. This book, which I may be pardoned for saying is not an abridgement of my original work, but entirely re-written and re-arranged with the view of giving prominence to the modern history of the Chinese empire, may appeal, although they generally treat Asiatic subjects with. regrettable indifference, to that wider circle of English readers on whose opinion and efforts the development of our political and commercial relations with the greatest of Oriental States will mainly depend. To the strictly historical narrative I have, at the suggestion of several competent authorities, added, by the courteous permission of the Times, the description I wrote in 1889 for that paper of the mode in which China is governed." Such a work as this is a sign of the times. It is a mark of the world's progress. It is an indication that China has come to occupy a place of permanent interest and significance in the minds of Europeans. Such a work was practically impossible thirty years ago for want of both writer and readers. For, until quite recently, to most Europeans, as Prof. Max Muller has said, the Chinaman was a joke; and, in the words of Dr. S. Wells Williams, "most people in Europe and America have regarded the civilization of the Chinese as but little removed from the Hottentot or the American Indian." But these wholly inadequate and unjust notions of this great empire and its people are gradually passing away, and Mr. Boulger's book, while it indicates that Europeans are coming to take a more serious and appreciative view of China and the Chinese, will do much to establish a solid basis for such views and confirm the opinion of those who have felt the injustice, not to say absurdity, of much that has hitherto passed current among Westerners with regard to this people. It is true that Mr. Boulger is not the man, perhaps, that most of us who live in China would have chosen to write a history, even a short one, of this country. He has, we believe, never been in China; knows nothing of its language and literature, and is obliged to take all his information at second hand. Hence it has been impossible for him to avoid a good many mistakes in detail that one acquainted with the language and the native histories would not have made. And yet we are bound to admit that notwithstanding the limitations under which he was placed he has done his work well and has produced a book which, while it is written in an easy attractive style, contains a large fund of information about the history of this great empire and its people with which all who are interested in the progress of the country should make themselves familiar. As stated in the preface, Mr. Boulger has written the book "with the view of giving prominence to the modern history of the Chinese empire." Hence the ancient history is very briefly summarised, and the most of the work is taken up with the modern history. The author evidently considers that the modern history begins with the Manchu conquest and the advent of Europeans to the country, as he devotes nearly three hundred pages to this period and less than one hundred to all that precedes it. In fact only ten pages are given to the really ancient history of China, viz., down to beginning of the Han, a period of time covering some two thousand eight hundred years. There are indeed abundant materials for writing the history of the early ages of this people as well as of modern times down to the end of the Ming dynasty. But they are still, for the most part, locked up in the Chinese language and await the exhaustive, not to say exhausting, labors of some one or more sinologues who shall wade through the mighty mass of the Twenty-four Dynastic Histories, The History Made Easy, &c., &c., and tell the world in plain English what the Chinese have written about their own history during the lapse of nearly four millenniums. For Mr. Boulger has evidently drawn the materials for his history, down to the beginning of the present century, mostly from the writings of the French missionaries. he says, on page 177, that "what the French were unable to attain in the domain of commerce they succeeded in accomplishing in the region of literature. They were the first to devote themselves to the study of the Chinese literature and language, and what we know of the history of China down to the last century is exclusively due to their laborious research and painstaking translations of Chinese histories and annals." But for the history of the present century our author seems to have drawn largely on the writings of Protestant missionaries and British officials in China. This is strikingly shown in the different manner of romanizing the names of persons and places. In the first part of the history proper names are romanized according to the system, or no system, followed by the French missionaries, while the names occurring in the latter part of the history are romanized according to the English powers of the letters and the system, or no system, followed by English writers. This, though it was to be expected in the case of an author who has never studied the language, is at the same time very unfortunate. For while it bodily disfigures the book it also destroys the unity of the history and is confusing and misleading to the uninitiated reader. There are other mistakes in the book growing out of the author's inability to consult original sources of information. For instance, on page 2, he says that "Hwang Ti, which means Heavenly Emperor, was the first to employ the imperial style of emperor, the earlier rulers having been content with the inferior title of Wang or prince." Our author has got the "Yellow Emperor" and T'sin Shi Hwang Ti badly mixed, though the reigns of these two monarchs were separated by a space of nearly 2500 years. Again on page 16 and also on page 26 he writes of the province of Honan as if it were a city. On page 83 the capital of the province of Kansuh, Lan-chow-foo, or Lanchou-fu, is called Lon-che-foo. Such mistakes are frequent, too frequent in fact for one's sense of confidence in the general accuracy of the book. But we need not, perhaps, lay too much stress on such slips as these. They are, after all, of minor importance, and the book may be considered reliable in regard to the essential facts of the history of China. The author writes con amore, and his evident interest in the subject must be allowed to atone for such minor inaccuracies as are not essential to the main subject, while his thorough appreciation of the country and people about which he writes will give the reader a just view of the many sterling qualities of this great people as exhibited in their past history. An article on "How China is Governed" is added at the end of the history proper. This gives a fairly clear and comprehensive view of the Metropolitan and Provincial Government of the Empire. This is followed by a Chronological Table and an Appendix containing the various treaties between England and China. A copious Index closes the volume. The perusal of this book raises many questions which, if there were space, it would be interesting to discuss, as, for instance, the question of the origin of the Chinese, the causes of their long continuance as a nation, the number of the population (see a rather remarkable statement on this subject on page 179), the opium question (about which the missionary body of China, whose opportunities for observation and the formation of correct opinions must be acknowledged to be better than those of any other foreigners in China, hold opinions entirely opposed to those expressed by Mr. Boulger), China's foreign relations, etc., etc. The book contains 496 pages, including 120 pages of Appendix and Index, substantially bound in cloth, and has the very desirable quality of lying open of itself on the desk. Mr. Boulger's first attempt at writing a history of China was, probably, not a very great success. He has, however, not been deterred from trying it again, this time on a smaller scale. The present volume will, in all probability, meet with a much wider circulation than the ponderous tomes of the previous work. A. P. P. REVIEW OF SHEFFIELD'S THEOLOGY BY REV. JOHN W. DAVIS, D.D. Systematic Theology. By Rev. D. Z. Sheffield, D.D. Dr. Sheffield came to China in 1869, almost a quarter of a century ago. For many years he has been teaching in the theological school established by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions at T'ung-chow, near Peking. The work before us is his third errors. great contribution to the Christian literature of China. His General History of the World and his History of the Church, A.D. 1 to 600, have been for some years in the hands of missionary teachers and their pupils. This work, like the others, is printed on white Chinese paper from wooden blocks in bold clear type, and is almost entirely free from typographical It is bound in paper in six thin octavo volumes, which are enclosed in a blue cloth case. In bulk it is equivalent to four or five hundred pages, like the one before my reader. The subject matter is presented in the shape of full answers to leading questions, so that it is a Chinese counterpart to Hodge's Outlines of Theology. It is written in an easily understood literary style, which combines clearness and dignity, neither marred by colloquialisms nor obscured by pedantic classical allusions.* In 1876 our author published a short Treatise on Theology), of which the present work is an enlargement. It is the autumnal fruit of study and experience continued through a score of years. author, instead of making a translation of some foreign work, has prepared a compendious treatise adapted to the wants and comprehension of Chinese theological students. Dr. Martin, of Peking, in Heavenly Doctrine traced to its Source, and Dr. John, of Hankow, in. The Gate of Virtue and Wisdom, have prepared two excellent works on the Evidences of Christianity. Dr. Alexander Williamson, lately deceased, has in The given us a valuable treatise on Natural Theology. His plan is to take a wide discursus over a given fieldastronomy, geology, botany or che * As to terms, and are used for God;聖靈 for Holy Spirit;神性 for Divinity as opposed to A, Hu manity. mistry-and lead his readers from the study of things made to the knowledge of the Almighty Maker. The missionaries of the Church of Rome have written many works on theology, as any one may see by examining Wylie's Notes on Chinese Literature. The work of Dr. Sheffield differs from all these, in that it is a systematic survey of the whole field of theology. Its scope may be seen from the Table of Contents which I give in full :— Vol. I. Introduction to Theology: eleven chapters, 1-11. 1. Sources of theology. 2. God's reasons for giving the Bible to man. n. 3. The Bible is God's revelation to man. 4. The authors of the Bible were inspired by God. 5. Agreement between modern and ancient versions. 6. Apocryphal writings. 7. Mode of transmitting the Bible from ancient times to the present. 8. Prophecy and Revelation. 9. Miracles and Revelation. 10. The Divine origin of the Bible proved by the spiritual benefits derived from it by believers. 11. The Bible is the original source of the great doctrine of man's salvation. Vol. II. Theology: five chapters, 12-16. 12. Sources of man's knowledge of the Lord of the universe. 13. God's method of revealing Himself. 14. Errors concerning the nature of God. 15. The attributes of God. 16. The doctrine of the Trinity. Vol. III. Cosmology: Eight chapters, 17-24. 17. God's creation of the universe. 18. Angels and evil spirits. 19. God's preservation and government of His creatures. 20. The decrees of God. 21. The creation of man. 22. Man's free will. 23. The sources of our judgments as to right and wrong. 24. The fall: literally, how man became drowned in sin. Vol. IV. Soteriology: twelve chapters, 25-36. 25. The incarnation of Jesus and its relation to man. 26. The dignity of man re vealed through Jesus. 27. The person of the Redeemer at once divine and human. 28. The offices of the Redeemer-prophet, priest and king. 29. Predestination. 30. Effectual calling. 31. Regeneration. 32. Repentance toward God. 33. Faith. 34. Justification. 35. Sanctification. 36. The perseverance of the saints. Vol. V. Eschatology: five chapters, 37-41. 37. Death and the future state. 38. The resurrection of the body. 39. The second coming of Jesus. 40. The judgment-day. 41. Everlasting rewards and punishments. Vol. VI. Ecclesiology: six chapters, 42-47. 42. Prayer. 43. The observance of the holy day. 44. Baptism. 45. The Lord's Supper. 46. Confessions of faith and creeds. 47. Church government. Taking up these divisions of his great subject in order the author discusses them in a didactic manner. Occasionally his tone is controversial; this is in dealing with the erroneous teaching of the Church of Rome. I will give but one illustration of his style, selecting for this purpose his analysis and criticism of Confucian mater ialism, which I translate, first presenting that which precedes the discussion of materialism.* *I use this term materialism for the sake of brevity. The full expression is "As to the way in which we come to know God, man, conscious that there is a living spirit within him, readily arrives at the thought that there is a great invisible eternal Spirit. Knowing that the construction of the universe displays a wonderful intelligence he easily traces this to an intelligent God. Seeing in the whole created world an evident unity of design he readily perceives that there were not many creators but one, self-existent and eternal, abundantly revealing in the universe His wisdom, power, benevolence and righteousness, and he sees that all men ought to honor and reverence this Creator." Proceeding with the discussion the author shows (Ch. 13) how God reveals Himself to man in His works, in His word, through His incarnate Son, in His dealings with nations and in the history of the Church. Chapter 14 deals with errors concerning God. Atheism and pantheism having been discussed he comes in the natural order of thought to materialism. This is the theory held by the Chinese literary class. 天地陰陽理氣之說,Adiscussion of heaven, earth, the male and the female principles, law and force. Compare with this the chapters in Williamson's Natural Theology on 上帝非太極 and 上 帝非理氣 (To be continued.) Editorial Comment. AN unavoidable pressure of matter this month makes it necessary to postpone the appearance of several interesting items of missionary news, as well as to prevent our noticing the trend of some recent events. We regret also that it has not been possible to publish this month the whole of Dr. Davis' painstaking and admirable review. WE are glad to hear, and we feel sure our readers will also, that Dr. Faber's Commentary on St. Luke's Gospel will be ready in two or three months' time. The work will contain 1821 outline sermons, and will be bound in several volumes. The many who have used and benefitted by Dr. Faber's valuable works will welcome this fresh result of much study, mature scholarship and ripe experience. Enquiries and orders should be addressed to the Secretary of the East China R. T. S., 13 Kiukiang Road, Shanghai. |