50 CHEISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. ened, men lost their sight, and for a long time they wandered without being able to find it again. " 3. Then our Tri-une God communicated his substance to the very venerable Mi-chi-ho (Messiah), who, veiling his true majesty, appeared in the world in the likeness of a man. The celestial spirits manifested their joy, and a Virgin brought forth the Saint in Ta- Thsin. The most splendid constellations announced this happy event ; the Persians saw the splendour, and ran to pay tribute. He fulfilled what was said of old by the twenty-four saints*; he orga- nised, by his precepts, both families and kingdoms ; he instituted the new religion, according to the pure notion of the Trinity in Unity ; he regulated conscience by true faith ; he signified to the world the eight commandments, and purged humanity from its pollutions, by opening the door to the three virtues. He diffused life and extin- guished death ; he suspended the luminous sun to destroy the dwell- ing of darkness, and then the lies of demons passed away. He directed the bark of mercy towards the palace of light, and all creatures endowed with intelligence have been succoured. After having consummated this act of power, he rose at mid-day towards the Truth. Twenty-seven books have been left.f He has enlarged the springs of mercy, that men might be converted. The baptism by water and by the Spirit, is a law that purines the soul and beauti- fies the exterior. The sign of the cross unites the four quarters of the world, and restores the harmony that had been destroyed. By striking upon a piece of wood J, we make the voice of charity and mercy resound ; by sacrificing towards the East, we indicate the way of life and glory. " Our ministers allow their beards to grow, to show that they are devoted to their neighbours. The tonsure that they wear at the top
- An allusion to the four great prophets, and the twelve lesser
ones, by adding to whom Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Moses, Samuel, David, and John the Baptist, they make twenty-four. f Namely, the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, fourteen Epistles of St. Paul, three of St. John, one of St. James, two of St. Peter, one of St. Jude, and the Apocalypse. | It is customary in China in the pagodas and monasteries to strike either on a bell or a piece of bamboo, to call the devout to prayer.
