_Opinion of Mr. Huc, a Christian Priest, that it is their religion
which makes Christians more fearful of death than the Chinese_, (746.)
2052. PARSON BERG and Bishop McIlvaine unjustly represent the doctrines
of futurity, held by Christians, as causing those who believe in
eternal punishment—in the horrible hell described by Josephus, and
sanctioned by the gospel, with the precarious notions of heaven
derived from the same authority—to have less fear of death than
deists, by them called _infidels_. But I have known many deists die,
and certainly I have never seen any believer in Christianity meet
death with more firmness than those who did not believe. Some of the
last-mentioned class have died of painful complaints with the most
admirable equanimity. But to illustrate the injustice of these reverend
gentlemen in their undue assumption of the superior fearlessness of
death of those persons who believe in the gospel over those who do not
so believe, I will here quote a passage from the travels of a Christian
missionary, which describes the equanimity with which the Chinese meet
death. From the work of the French missionary, Mr. Huc, it will be seen
that _death_ is contemplated with far less fearful apprehension in
China than in Christendom.
_Observations of the Missionary, Mr. Huc, to whom reference has just
been made._
2053. “In no other country than China, perhaps, could men be heard
exchanging compliments on the subject of a coffin. People (in
Christendom) are most shy of mentioning the lugubrious objects
destined to contain the mortal remains of a relation or friend; and
when death does enter the house, the coffin is got in in secresy and
silence, in order to spare the feelings of the mourning family. But
it is quite otherwise in China; there a coffin is simply an article
of the first necessity to the dead, and of luxury and fancy to the
living. In the great towns you see them displayed in the shops with
all sorts of tasteful decorations, painted, and varnished, and
polished, and trimmed up to attract the eyes of passengers, and give
them the fancy to buy themselves one.
2054. “People in easy circumstances, who have money to spare for
their pleasures, scarcely ever fail to provide themselves beforehand
with a coffin to suit their own taste, and which they consider
becoming; and, until the moment arrives for lying down in it, it is
kept in the house; not as an article of immediate necessity, but as
one that cannot fail to be consoling and pleasant to the eye in a
nicely-furnished apartment.
2055. “For well-brought up children, it is a favourite method of
expressing the fervour of their filial piety toward the authors of
their being, a sweet and tender consolation for the heart of a son,
to be able to purchase a beautiful coffin for an aged father or
mother, and come in state to present the gift at the moment when they
least expect such an agreeable surprise. If one is not sufficiently
favoured by fortune to be able to afford the purchase of a coffin in
advance, care is always taken before ‘_saluting the world_,’ as the
Chinese say, a sick person shall at least have the satisfaction of
casting a glance at his last abode; and if he is surrounded by at all
affectionate relations, they never fail to buy him a coffin and place
it by the side of his bed.
2056. “In the country, this is not always so easy, for coffins are
not kept quite ready, and, besides, peasants have not such luxurious
habits as townspeople. The only way, then, is to send for the
carpenter of the place, who takes the measure of the sick person, not
forgetting to observe to him that it must be made a little longer than
would seem necessary, because one always stretches out a little when
dead. A bargain is then made concerning the length and breadth, and
especially the cost; wood is brought, and the workmen set about their
task in the yard, close to the chamber of the dying person, who is
entertained with the music of the saw and the other tools, while death
is at work with him, preparing him to occupy the snug abode when it is
ready.
2057. “All this is done with the most perfect coolness, and without
the slightest emotion, real or affected. We have ourselves witnessed
such scenes more than once, and it has always been one of the things
that most surprised us in the manners of this extraordinary country.
A short time after our arrival in the mission of the north, we were
walking one day in the country with a Chinese seminarist, who had the
patience to reply to all our long and tedious questions about the
men and things of the Celestial Empire. While we were keeping up the
dialogue as well as we could, in a mixture of Latin and Chinese, using
a word of one or the other as we found occasion, we saw coming toward
us a rather numerous crowd, who advanced in an orderly manner along a
narrow path. It might have been called a procession.
2058. “Our first impulse was to turn aside, and get into some safe
corner behind a large hill; for, not having as yet much experience
in the manners and customs of the Chinese, we had some hesitation in
producing ourselves, for fear of being recognised and thrown into
prison; possibly even condemned and strangled. The crowd had now come
up with us, and we stood aside to let it pass. It was composed of a
great number of villagers, who looked at us with smiling faces, and
had the appearance of being uncommonly pleased. After them came a
litter, on which was borne an empty coffin, and then another litter,
upon which lay extended a dying man, wrapped in blankets. His face was
haggard and livid, and his expiring eyes were fixed upon the coffin
that preceded him. When every one had passed, we hastened to ask the
meaning of this strange procession. ‘It is some sick man,’ said the
seminarist, ‘who has been taken ill in a neighbouring village, and
whom they are bringing home to his family. The Chinese do not like to
die away from their own house.’ ‘That is very natural; but what is
the coffin for?’ ‘For the sick man, who probably has not many days to
live. They seem to have made every thing ready for his funeral.’ I
remarked by the side of the coffin a piece of white linen. ‘That, they
mean to use for the mourning.’
2059. “These words threw us in the most profound astonishment, and we
saw then that we had come into a new world—into the midst of a people
whose ideas and feelings differed widely from those of Europeans.
These men quietly setting about to prepare for the funeral of a still
living friend and relation—this coffin placed purposely under the
eyes of the dying man, doubtless with the purpose of doing what was
agreeable to him; all this plunged us into a strange reverie, and the
walk was continued in silence. The astonishing calmness with which the
Chinese see the approach of death does not fail when the last moment
arrives. They expire with the most incomparable tranquillity, without
any of the emotions, the agitations, the agonies that usually render
the moment of death so terrific.”
2060. It is remarkable that Mr. Huc cites an “_entire want of
religious feeling, as among the causes of this indifference to
death_.”[57] But it may be inquired whether that can be a proper kind
of religious feeling which interferes with equanimity at the prospect
of our spiritual birth. I can easily believe Mr. Huc to be correct, if
his entire want of religious feeling means the absence of all fear of
an eternal broiling, like that of Dives.
2061. It is the absence of that _sort_ of religion which this
_sectarian would teach_; that which consigns the great majority of
mankind to perpetual misery on account of their disbelief in Romanism.
2062. Widely different is the effect of the religion I have espoused.
It has made a prodigious change in my feelings. I look forward to death
with hope, rather than fear. (See page 32 (108) of this work for the
different effect of Romanism on my mind.)
_Conclusion of Strictures on Mr. Mahan’s Religious Errors._
2063. It will be observed that under the general head of Mr. Mahan’s
errors, I have treated of not only those which he has advocated, but
such as he sanctions by his general endorsement of Scripture. However,
I here take my leave of Mr. Mahan and his errors.