entering the forbidden ground. Ridicule and contempt, persecution and martyrdom, have been directed against their religion and its votaries, yet they still continue their attachment to it, and their efforts to promote it.*

When love to our Saviour shall transcend all minor and selfish passions, and fully possessing the heart, shall prompt to the utmost exertions to glorify his name, we humbly believe that all the barriers of Chinese misanthropy will fall. There is something irresistible in that holy ardour which counts all things nothing for Christ, and which is prepared for any sacrifices to exalt his glorious name. The prince of darkness, with all his infernal array, can never prevail against the men who rely upon their Redeemer's strength, who walk in his spirit, and who live and die in his service. As he is the ruler of the universe, and the sole potentate, upholding the world by his almighty hand, the removal of obstacles insurmountable to man is to him an easy work. A simple, steady faith in him, exalts its possessor above impediments and repeated disappointments: he knows that his Saviour will

In 1815, the late emperor, Kea-King, encouraged a persecution against the Christians. The present emperor, TaouKwang, has never persecuted them.

INTERCOURSE WITH CHINA.

19

triumph over all his enemies, and under all difficulties in the path of duty, will uphold him. In the divine promise, surer than any human covenant, that all the nations of the earth shall be given to his Lord, he reads the certain conversion of China. Armed with this faith, he is confident that the day, though remote, is yet sure, and that small efforts, in the day of small things, will subserve the cause of God. The translation and circulation of the Holy Scriptures, the composition and distribution of tracts, with occasional oral addresses to the people, are the means he would employ to promulgate the Gospel of Christ. Many thousands may read, and hear, and not understand; yet, if a few among these thousands embrace the word of eternal life, the salvation of that few is an abundant reward: for to save one soul is far more valuable than to

conquer the world. While quoting this divine truth, I am convinced that individual Christians, thoroughly penetrated with such sentiments, could accomplish more for the benefit of China, than the greatest statesmen as mere politicians. Of the former there have been few to consecrate their lives to this great object, and still fewer who have been successful in their attempts; but more will arise so soon

as the enterprise shall cease to be regarded as hopeless.

After the total or partial failure of so many endeavours to open an intercourse, a very general doubt of the success of any future attempt seems to exist. Yet exertions, prompted solely by a desire for the glory of God and the good of men, and executed with a single eye to the Almighty for guidance and strength, can never be wholly useless. The divine promise, the experience of past ages, and the present dispensations of Providence, are in our favour.

When we express our confident hope of success through the Invisible One, it is not meant to deny the difficulties of spreading the Gospel in China, but only that the successful result is foreseen through them all by the believer. The outcry against the Gospel will doubtless be very great. It must subvert a system of atheism, superstition, and self-righteous morality. The Gospel of peace will be accused of a rebellious tendency, and its preachers will undergo a persecution more severe than did their predecessors, the Roman Catholics. But whatever may befal its champions, the final overthrow of the kingdom of darkness is sure, and the ultimate result will be glorious.

INTERCOURSE WITH CHINA.

21

While representing Christianity as the only effectual means of establishing a friendly intercourse, I would not reject the efforts of commercial enterprise to open a trade with the maritime provinces, but rather regard them as the probable means of introducing that Gospel into a country to which the only access is by

sea.

JOURNAL

OF

A RESIDENCE IN SIAM, &c.

CHAPTER I.

MAY, 1831. During a residence of almost three years in Siam, I had the high gratification of seeing the prejudices of the natives vanish; and perceived with delight, that a large field amongst the different people who inhabit Siam, was opening. As long as the junks from China stayed, most of the time was taken up by administering to the spiritual and bodily wants of large numbers of Chinese. We experienced this year the peculiar blessings of our divine Saviour. The demand for books, the inquiries after the truth,