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The Morrison Collection | |
| Robert Morrison (1782-1834) |
This manuscript is held at SOAS Library (MS 347391). It comprises a strip of paper folded concertina fashion into 22 pages, each 7.8 x 8.0 cm.
The manuscript contains miscellaneous notes and jottings written by Dr. Robert Morrison (1782-1834). The entries are dated between the 26th November and 9th December 1818. However, the entries in the latter part of the manuscript are undated, and as Morrison mentions the Chinese New Year (which usually falls in February or March), it is probable that the latter part of the manuscript was written during the early months of 1819.
Most of the notes are in respect of books, in English, Latin or Chinese, that Morrison had been reading at the time. These include:
1818 Novr 26 十月二十八
Recd a Letter from Mr Milne.
S. Novr 29 十一月初二
Amor Dei & bone conscientiæ lætitia.
at Entertainments – voluptuous discourse is apt to creep in; to shut your ears is impossible; to forbid will be looked on as imperious.
Ambrose IV Couty
天最忌自滿
The term free will as objectionable is better expressed by self-sufficiency.
Novr 30 十一月初三
不與人爭
"No Parent now remains my griefs to share;
No Father's aid, no Mother's tender care"
Decr 1st 十一月初四
必有証而後人信。
不足以証吾言。
Extend this feeling to others
Decr 2 初五
Write against the ideas of the Buddhists in refusing entirely wine & animal food.
Knew a Priest who was ill professsed he would rather die than eat animal food. Mischievous tendency to make a virtue of what God has not required.
融會于心
"if man shall be called a faithful Translator for rendering ποδας ωκυς in English, Swift-footed; but laughed at, if he should translate our English word dext'rous into any other language right-handed.
Pope Note
Iliad
B.VIII
Decr 6
I am tired of Homer's "Rage & fury, blood & gore"
Decr 9
"Nothing can be conceived more hard than the heart of a thorough-bred metaphysician"
"Men of Knowledge & talent" – without the fear of God – & without the fear of man – acting in corps – is as dreadful a calamity as can arise out of hell to scourge mankind"
Vol 8 Page 56
Predjudice See 四書 No 119
Earthly minded 懷土 No 120
"Not such the sons of England ; widely they
"Despise the insensate barbarous trade of war.
"When my purse is heavier I shall feel the journey to you lighter" Arab. Tr.
The soil of oriental literature in Holland as elsewhere is barren – Latin & Greek literature receive more encouragement here – I should be more reconciled to it, if some small part of this Patronage were to overflow upon the orientalist
To Sir W. Jones
1777
"Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contravia currunt."
"and with nine circling* streams the captive souls inclose"
Line 594
*九泉 ?
The Deist affirms that when Men have transgressed the Divine Commands, repentance & [amendment ?] of life will place them in the same situation as if they had never offended – But the course of Nature contradicts the assertion ; repentance & determining to amend does not restore the debaucher to [nea..?]
"In the Philosophy of the Greeks Reason & words are denominated by one & the same term λογος" – 道
"A country cottage near a crystal flood;
A winding valley & a lofty wood"
Geor. I. L.690
The approach of New years day is to the Chinese Creditors very truly "Tristes Kalenda"*
The Kalends of January.
赤身而來赤身而去 Job. V.21
寸絲粒粟原未帶來亦携不去也。
"Some Books are to be tasted; others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed & digested"
Bacon
"The prerogative of God extendeth as well to the reason as to the will of man: so that as we are to obey his law though we find a reluctation in our will; so we are to believe his word though we find a reluctation in our reason. For we believe only that which is agreeable to our sense, we give consent to the matter & not to the author, which is no more than we would do to a suspected & discredited witness.
All colours are the same in the dark – ignorance sees no Difference in opinions which are really very Different.
Bacon's idea
萬被造物 – 必有所自始。
May the S.S. be called 天書
See 三國 Page 3d
"– Ubi plura vitent – non ego paucis offendur maculis"
How instructive the Book of Exodus to a Diffident good Missionary. – How backward was Moses. How great a reproof on the other hand is his conduct, to the self confident. He is a fool who throws away a large estate in the purchase of toys – & he is a greater fool who throws away a powerful intellect on lewd witticisms & the other frivolities of fashionable men.
不相通好豈一家之理哉
修身 cultus corporis.
人情寬以律
己而刻以繩
人此怨由生也
Quoted from Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) commentary edition of The Analects :
子曰：「君子無所爭，必也射乎！揖讓而升，下而飲，其爭也君子。」
飲，去聲。揖讓而升者，大射之禮，耦進三揖而後升堂也。下而飲，謂射畢揖降，以俟眾耦皆降，勝者乃揖不勝者升，取觶立飲也。言君子恭遜，不與人爭，惟於射而後有爭。然其爭也，雍容揖遜乃如此，則其爭也君子，而非若小人之爭矣。
《論語集注》卷二：八佾第三
Cf. Morrison's Manuscript Catalogue books Nos. 33, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 157 and 268.
Quoted from Alexander Pope's (1688-1744) translation of the Iliad :
No parent now remains, my griefs to share,
No father's aid, no mother's tender care.
The Iliad Book VI lines 522-523
Quoted from Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) commentary edition of The Analects :
子曰：「夏禮吾能言之，杞不足征也；殷禮吾能言之，宋不足征也。文獻不足故也，足則吾能征之矣。」
杞，夏之後。宋，殷之後。征，證也。文，典籍也。獻，賢也。言二代之禮，我能言之，而二國不足取以為證，以其文獻不足故也。文獻若足，則我能取之，以證吾言矣。
《論語集注》卷二：八佾第三
Derived from The Book of Rites :
魂氣歸于天，形魄歸于地。
《禮記》：郊特牲
Quoted from Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) commentary edition of The Analects. See Note 6 for the context.
Quoted from Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) commentary edition of The Analects :
子曰：「吾不與祭，如不祭。」
與，去聲。又記孔子之言以明之。言己當祭之時，或有故不得與，而使他人攝之，則不得致其如在之誠。故雖已祭，而此心缺然，如未嘗祭也。范氏曰：「君子之祭，七日戒，三日齊，必見所祭者，誠之至也。是故郊則天神格，廟則人鬼享，皆由己以致之也。有其誠則有其神，無其誠則無其神，可不謹乎？吾不與祭如不祭，誠為實，禮為虛也。」
《論語集注》卷二：八佾第三
Quoted from Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) commentary edition of The Analects :
子曰：「書云：『孝乎惟孝、友于兄弟，施於有政。』是亦為政，奚其為為政？」
書周書君陳篇。書雲孝乎者，言書之言孝如此也。善兄弟曰友。書言君陳能孝於親，友于兄弟，又能推廣此心，以為一家之政。孔子引之，言如此，則是亦為政矣，何必居位乃為為政乎？蓋孔子之不仕，有難以語或人者，故托此以告之，要之至理亦不外是。
《論語集注》卷一：為政第二
Quoted from Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) commentary edition of The Analects :
子曰：「不仁者不可以久處約，不可以長處樂。仁者安仁，知者利仁。」
樂，音洛。知，去聲。約，窮困也。利，猶貪也，蓋深知篤好而必欲得之也。不仁之人，失其本心，久約必濫，久樂必淫。惟仁者則安其仁而無適不然，知者則利於仁而不易所守，蓋雖深淺之不同，然皆非外物所能奪矣。謝氏曰：「仁者心無內外遠近精粗之間，非有所存而自不亡，非有所理而自不亂，如目視而耳聽，手持而足行也。知者謂之有所見則可，謂之有所得則未可。有所存斯不亡，有所理斯不亂，未能無意也。安仁則一，利仁則二。安仁者非顏閔以上，去聖人為不遠，不知此味也。諸子雖有卓越之才，謂之見道不惑則可，然未免於利之也。」
《論語集注》卷二：八佾第三
Derived from Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) commentary edition of The Analects :
子曰：「我未見好仁者，惡不仁者。好仁者，無以尚之；惡不仁者，其為仁矣，不使不仁者加乎其身。
好、惡，皆去聲。夫子自言未見好仁者、惡不仁者。蓋好仁者真知仁之可好，故天下之物無以加之。惡不仁者真知不仁之可惡，故其所以為仁者，必能絕去不仁之事，而不使少有及於其身。此皆成德之事，故難得而見之也。
《論語集注》卷二：裡仁第四
Quoted from Zhu Xi's 朱熹 (1130-1200) commentary edition of The Analects :
子曰：「君子懷德，小人懷土；君子懷刑，小人懷惠。」
懷，思念也。懷德，謂存其固有之善。懷土，謂溺其所處之安。懷刑，謂畏法。懷惠，謂貪利。君子小人趣向不同，公私之間而已。尹氏曰「樂善惡不善，所以為君子；苟安務得，所以為小人。」
《論語集注》卷二：裡仁第四
Quoted from Edmund Burke's (1729-1797) Letter to a Noble Lord (London, 1796) pp.176-177.
See Note 13 for the full quote.
Quoted from James Thomson (1700-1748) ?
Paraphrased from Edmund Burke's (1729-1797) Letter to a Noble Lord :
I can form a tolerable estimate of what is likely to happen from a character, chiefly dependent for fame and fortune on knowledge and talent, as well in its morbid and perverted state, as in that which is sound and natural. Naturally men so formed and finished are the first gifts of Providence to the world. But when they have once thrown off the fear of God, which was in all ages too often the case, and the fear of man, which is now the case, and when in that state they come to understand one another, and to act in corps, a more dreadful calamity cannot arise out of hell to scourge mankind. Nothing can be conceived more hard than the heart of a thoroughbred metaphysician. It comes nearer to the cold malignity of a wicked spirit than to the frailty and passion of a man. It is like that of the principle of evil himself, incorporeal, pure, unmixed, dephlegmated, defecated evil.
Letter to a Noble Lord (London, 1796) pp.176-177.
Henry Albert Schultens, Dutch orientalist, and the grandson of Albert Schultens (1686-1750), famous Dutch orientalist and professor of Oriental Languages at Leiden from 1729.
Sir William Jones (1746-1794), the famous British orientalist and pioneer of comparative philology.
Morrison is paraphrasing from the English translation of a letter from Schultens to Jones dated 6th May 1777 :
Latin and Greek literature receive more encouragement here. This neither excites my envy nor suprise; but I should be still more reconciled to it, if some small part of this patronage were to overflow upon the Orienatlists.
Lord Teignmouth, Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Correspondence of Sir William Jones
in The Works of Sir William Jones (London , 1799) vols.i-ii : vol.i p.412.
Quoted from Horace's Satires :
dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria currunt.
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Satyrarum libri Book 1, poem 2, line 24.
Quoted from John Dryden's (1631-1700) translation of Vergil's Aeneid :
With late repentance now they would retrieve
The bodies they forsook, and wish to live;
Their pains and poverty desire to bear,
To view the light of heav'n, and breathe the vital air:
But fate forbids; the Stygian floods oppose,
And with nine circling streams the captive souls inclose.
The Æneid Book VI lines 590-595.
Quoted from John Dryden's (1631-1700) translation of Vergil's Georgics :
My next desire is, void of care and strife,
To lead a soft, secure, inglorious life.
A country cottage near a crystal flood,
A winding valley and a lofty wood.
Georgics Book I line 690.
Quoted from Horace's Satires :
quanto hoc furiosius atque
maius peccatum est: paulum deliquit amicus,
quod nisi concedas, habeare insuavis: acerbus
odisti et fugis ut Drusonem debitor aeris,
qui nisi, cum tristes misero venere Kalendae,
mercedem aut nummos unde unde extricat, amara
porrecto iugulo historias captivus ut audit.
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Satyrarum libri Book 1, poem 3, lines 83-89.
Cf. Ecclesiastes Book V Verse 15 :
他怎樣從母胎赤身而來，也必照樣赤身而去；他所勞碌得來的，手中分毫不能帶去。
《傳道書》第五章：15
Quoted from Sir Francis Bacon's (1561-1626) Advancement of Learning (London, 1605) :
The prerogative of God extendeth as well to the reason as to the will of man; so that as we are to obey his law, though we find a reluctation in our will, so we are to believe his word, though we find a reluctation in our reason. For if we believe only that which is agreeable to our sense, we give consent to the matter, and not to the author; which is no more than we would do towards a suspected and discredited witness; but that faith which was accounted to Abraham for righteousness was of such a point as whereat Sarah laughed, who therein was an image of natural reason.
On the proficience and advancement of learning divine and human Book II XXV.I.
Quoted from Sir Francis Bacon's (1561-1626) Advancement of Learning (London, 1605) :
And therefore as we use to advise young students from company keeping, by saying, AMICI FURES TEMPORIS: so certainly the intending of the discretion of behaviour is a great thief of meditation.
On the proficience and advancement of learning divine and human Book II (1605) XXIII.3.
Quoted from Mao Zonggang's毛宗崗 recension of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms :
那张角本是个不第秀才，因入山采药，遇一老人，碧眼童颜，手执藜杖，唤角至一洞中，以天書三卷授之，曰：「此名《太平要术》，汝得之当代天宣化，普救世人。若萌异心，必获恶报。」
《三國演義》第一回
Cf. Morrison's Manuscript Catalogue book No. 185.
Quoted from Horace's Ars Poetica :
sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus:
nam neque chorda sonum reddit quem volt manus et mens,
poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum,
nec semper feriet quodcumque minabitur arcus.
verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit
aut humana parum cavit natura. quid ergo est?
ut scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque,
quamvis est monitus, venia caret, et citharoedus
ridetur, chorda qui semper oberrat eadem,
sic mihi, qui multum cessat, fit Choerilus ille,
quem bis terve bonum cum risu miror; et idem
indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus;
verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.
Quintus Horatius Flaccus, De Arte Poetica liber lines 351-353.
Quoted from The History of the Yuan Dynasty :
冀自今以往，通問結好，以相親睦。且聖人以四海為家，不相通好，豈一家之理哉？
《元史》本紀第六：世祖三