Canton, (China,) Nov. 22, 1831.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,--I have already told you about the
soldiers, the merchants, the mechanics, and the husbandmen of
China; in this letter I will give you some account of the
scholars. Among all the pagan nations, that have ever been, or
now exist, none perhaps, have been more learned than the Chinese.
But no people in the world, without the Bible, can be so learned
as those nations who have it. Those people, who read, and study,
and understand the Holy Scriptures the best, will always be the
best scholars; they will have the best taste, the best judgment,
the best understanding; and, if they obey what they read, they
will have the best hearts. Believe me, my dear children, if you
read and obey the Holy Bible, we shall be truly wise. God
himself will be our teacher: and His holy law will be our
school-master to bring us to Christ. If all people would only read
and obey the word of God, then there would be no wars and
fightings; there would be no more thieves, no more robbers, no
more murderers, no more profane persons, and drunkards, and such
like wicked persons.

But the Chinese have not the Holy Bible. They have not the wisdom,
that is from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality, and without hypocrisy. Professing themselves to be
wise, they become fools,--blasphemers of God,--boasting of
things without their measure, and their mouth speaketh great
swelling words. They call their emperor the Son of Heaven, and
bow down before him, and worship him as a divine being. They call
their empire the celestial empire. They call it also the middle
kingdom. All the people around them, even all the nations of the
earth,--the English and Americans, and all other people, they call
ignorant cruel barbarians.

I do not dislike the Chinese. I love them; but I dislike their
vices and their wickedness. There is a difference in their
character and conduct. Some are far more honest, more kind, more
upright, and better disposed than others. Usually, not always,
the most ignorant are the most wicked. The Chinese pay
considerable attention to learning. They have a great many books,
some of which contain excellent precepts, and much good
instruction. But the good, which their books contain, is almost
always mixed up with more or less that is bad, and contrary to
the laws of God.

Scholars in China are the most respectable part of the community.
Some of their scholars of ancient times, they say, were perfect
men; and so now the people worship them, and sacrifice to them.
They say, also, that "of, old families had their schools; villages
their academies; districts their colleges; and the nation her
university. Of consequence, no one was left uninstructed." They
say, also, that the schools were not intended for one class only
but for all the people;--that "if the husbandman can exert his
strength in the field; and duly attend to his duty, then he is
a scholar,"--and that, "when the soldiers all know how to venerate
their superiors, and love their relatives, then they also are
scholars." These and more like these, are the sayings of the
Chinese, of modern times. But most truly may it be said of this
people, that they say and do not. Whether all were, or were not,
instructed in times "of old," I will not undertake to determine;
but at the present time, it is far enough from being the case.
If I am able to continue these letters, as I wish, you will see,
by and by, when I come to speak of the condition of females, that
one half--the fairest half of the community, are excluded from
these schools, and left uninstructed. Besides, there are not
a few men and boys who are left uninstructed. A majority, probably
a very large majority, of the male population, above the age of
ten years, are taught to read and write. They have numerous
district schools, and some colleges; and multitudes make learning
their essential employment. But their whole system of education
is "wretchedly bad."

The Chinese language is very curious indeed; there is no language
like it in all the world. It is not at all like the English
language. They have no alphabet,--no A, B, C, and so forth. They
do not write with a pen, but use a pencil made like a small
paint-brush. Their books begin where ours end; that is when they
take a book into their hands to read, they open it at the right
hand side, instead of the left; and, beginning at the top of the
right hand side of the page, read down in columns, passing on from
the right to the left, and not from the left to the right, as in
the old English spelling-books.

Usually, boys do not begin to learn to read until they eight or
ten years old. They are then sent to school, and the master first
teaches them how to pronounce the words, and afterwards explains
their meaning. Their first school books are very short, and the
boys are required to learn them by heart, so that they can repeat
them from beginning to end. Their words are very strange looking
characters. A very long time ago, they say, that a certain man,
by observing the print of the horse's foot in the sand, and the
marks on the shell of the tortoise, first found out how to write
words, These words were so formed as to be a kind of picture of
the things which they signified. Though they have been much
changed since they were first found out, yet still they have some
resemblance to the object.

Boys always study out loud in school, which makes a great deal
of noise. When they have learned a few lessons, they then begin
to write. The paper is so thin, that they place the copy underneath
it, and then try to form the words just like the copy. Most of
the boys continue at school only two or three years. But those,
who are intended for scholars, continue many years, and are from
time to time examined for degrees, similar to Master and Bachelor
of Arts. Some men in China can get into office by paying money;
but all others, who obtain offices of government, are appointed
from among the scholars, who have received degrees: so the great
object of being scholars is, that they may get into office, and
become rulers of the people.

The learning of the Chinese is very limited and superficial. They
have scarcely any knowledge of astronomy, geography, and history.
And so of anatomy, and medicine, and chemistry, and many other
kinds of learning they are amazingly deficient. The course of
study for all children in China is nearly the same every where.
The first book the boy begins with is in poetry. This is the
meaning of the first two lines, man's beginning--nature original
good, that is the nature of man is originally good; or, more fully
as they explain them,--All men are born virtuous and good.

These are the first words, and this the first sentiment the boy
learns in school. The words are good enough, and certainly very
curious. But what shall we say of the sentiment,--the meaning of
the words? Why does God require all men, and all little children
to have new hearts? It is because all men have hard hearts,
hearts of stone, and cannot love Him. Why does He require
us all to be renewed in the temper of our minds? It is because
that as we are born and grow up, our minds are enmity against
God. Why does Jesus Christ say, Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God! Because that which is born of the
flesh is flesh,--is not virtuous and good. Farewell, dear
children. And may He, who is the former of your bodies, and the
father of your spirits, have mercy on you, and send his Holy Spirit
that you may be born again,--born of the Spirit, be renewed in
your minds, and have new hearts, and love and enjoy God forever.

I remain your true friend,
E.C.B.

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