Siam in an Arabian vessel. The circum- || common schools are taught in America. stance appeared providential as he had been The scholars are but mere lads. None are waiting a long time for an opportunity. I admitted into the college after seven years have made arrangements to accompany him, of age. Of course they need their teachers and expect to sail to-morrow morning. It all the time with them. The higher classes is rather doubtful whether Mr. Gutzlaff has are instructed by lectures. The first class not left Siam for China. His mind is fixed have been in the college about nine years upon it, and the Lord in his wisdom has and are now attending to the higher left him at liberty, as far as it regards do- branches of mathematics, natural and moral mestic obligations. He has been written philosophy, polite literature, &c. They are to, to remain, at least for a time. The found not inferior to English students. brethren at Singapore and Malacca are in Those I heard exhibit were of the lower health, and busily engaged in their respec- classes. I never saw lads who appeared tive departments. better. They read with fluency, enunciated the English language distinctly, and some of them appeared truly eloquent. To me they manifested less of the effects of training than of real genius. Bombay. JOURNAL OF MR. READ. THE journal from which extracts are here given was kept by Mr. Read while detained at Calcutta, on his way to join the mission at Bombay, and during his passage from the former to the latter place. While dining one day with Mr. Duff, of the Scottish Missionary Society, the conversation was upon the Moral Character of the Heathen. January 16, 1831. Some, not well dis posed to missions, have presumed to say that missionaries portray the native character in too dark colors. The character which Paul has given of the heathen at the time he wrote is certainly a black one. But one need not be long in this country to learn that every trait of character which is there given of them is equally applicable at the present time to the heathen in India. We❘ are assured by Mr. Duff, who has had an opportunity of gaining much knowledge of the Hindoo character himself, and of gaining still more information from others, that the moral character of the heathen is as bad as it has ever been represented to be. The darkest pictures which have been drawn, he assures us, come nearest to the truth. Mr. Ward's history of the Hindoos, he says, is the most correct account which has yet been written. Visit to the Hindoo College. The Hindoo college was founded by the ernor general of the East India Company, in the year 1821. The object of it is the instruction of Hindoo youth in the Sanscrit language, and in brahminical science and literature. An English department has since been added. The college is situated in the central part of Calcutta, and has been liberally patronised by the govern ment. The whole number of students in the Hindoo college is at present about 600. Four hundred and fifty are taught in the English language, and the others in Sanscrit. The Mohammedan college is also patronised by the government. I do not know the number of the students. It is, however, very much less than that of the Hindoo college. The latter has been rendered extremely popular of late, by introducing the English department of study, as you will see by the great proportion of English scholars. Hindoos have become very fond of learning the English language. So popular has it become that rich Hindoos are beginning to open English schools at their own expense. This has been done in several instances. Though all this has no direct tendency, or is designed to have none, to aid the cause of Christianity, still I think it may be regarded as a very favorable token of good to our Master's cause. Besides many advantages which may indirectly accrue to the cause of the true religion, it will at once throw open before the student an inexhaustible field of research. The English language contains a fountain of Christian knowledge more than centuries can treasure up in any of the languages of the east. Here the claims of Christianity may be examined, and with the influences of the Holy Spirit, many of these may be made the witnesses of God in the midst of the wicked and adulterous generation. The college is not under a strictly Christian influence. An attempt was lately made on the part of the pious teachers in the colgov-lege and the missionaries in Calcutta, to introduce into the college a weekly course of lectures on the evidences of Christianity. This was decidedly repelled by the directors. The students, also, were in the habit Religious subjects were frequently taken up of meeting together for free discussion. by them, and the claims and evidences of different religions were freely discussed. Every thing of this nature was prohibited by the order of the government of the college. The mandate is posted up on the front door, that he who passes may read that Hindoo youth are here prohibited from Jan. 18. The scholars are divided into ten or fifteen classes. The lower classes are taught in a manner similar to that in which examining and freely discussing the merits || is given in the Monthly Paper prefixed to this of the Christian religion. But will not such number, accompanied by an engraving. a course rather awaken inquiring minds to a state of more anxious inquiry? I think so; and may He who governs all minds direct them to that fountain of knowledge which is open for the purifying of the nations of the earth. Asiatic Museum. Jan. 19. Went with Mrs. Read to the Asiatic Museum. We were not on the whole disappointed. The birds and the few specimens of quadrupeds which are here exhibited are not in a good state of preservation. This I am told is owing to the climate. It is on this account very difficult to preserve any thing of the kind. The first apartment we entered contained a great variety of heathen gods, ancient inscriptions, and the like. Among other things that attracted our particular attention, was a very large wheel, which stood on one side of the room. On inquiry, I found, that this had been one of the wheels used to move the enormous car of Juggernaut. It is not more than five feet in diameter, but very large and strong. The heathen gods are of all descriptions and sizes. Some of elegant workmanship, and others of clay very shabbily wrought. Some are the likeness of men, others of beasts, and others monsters that never had existence. I saw some which had twelve or sixteen faces; others presented the most hideous visages that can be conceived. What infatuation has sin brought into our world! But this appeared in a more horrid aspect as proceeded. we In the next room we saw the native ar There is also by the side of this another shocking machine of self-torture. It consists of a sort of wooden platform, which is set full of flat irons, shaped at the upper edge like so many knives. They are set in an oblique position within one or two inches of each other, so that a man's foot might, if he stepped on them, come into contact with a large number. Their gods, they suppose, are rendered propitious by the poor Hindoos leaping from some height down upon this bed of torture, and mangling himself in this shocking manner. Seeing some iron rods standing by the railing, six or eight feet long and half an inch in diameter, I inquired for what purpose they had been used. Will you suppose it credible when I tell you that the miserable Hindoos, with the hope of gaining from their gods some peculiar favor by the mortification of the body, actually insert these through their tongues, and have been known to carry them about thus for two whole days. which the Hindoos torture themselves to All the different ways I have heard of in gain the favor of the gods, and the sacrifices which they make, are too numerous to be mentioned here. There is, indeed, scarcely any method of torture or mortification which they do not practise. Surely the tender mercies of idolatry are cruel. No one can contemplate the horrid rites of paganism in connection with the generally depraved character of all pagan nations, and still deny that they need the gospel. The museum contains small collections of shells and minerals, a collection of the native Indian agricultural and domestic mor, and all kinds of implements of war, utensils, and a fine classical, literary, mediswords, spears, guns, drums, &c. But what I refer to are the implements for self-cal, and miscellaneous library. We were torture, and self-immolation which we there well repaid for the hour we spent there. saw. These I examined with the more in terest as they have been the horrid implements of torture or death to many a benighted pagan. The first that drew our attention was the apparatus for swinging. This, in its simplest form, consists of a perpendicular post erected in the ground, on the top of which turns upon a pivot a crosspiece of considerable length. From the one end are suspended by cords two iron hooks. When a torture is to take place in honor of some god, the devotee presents himself, the end of the pole is brought down, and the hooks forced through the skin and flesh of his back; the other end of the pole is then brought down, and the devotee is thus raised in the air ten or fifteen feet, and whirled rapidly around by a man at the other end of the pole till perhaps the hold in his flesh gives way and he is precipitated to the ground. A full description of this machine, and the method of self-torture which is practised on it, VOL. XXVIII. Festival of Surusuutee, the Goddess of Wisdom. The festival of this goddess is celebrated annually. The Hindoos believe that from her they derive their learning and powers of eloquence, as well as their ability to read and write. Hence the students in every Hindoo college, and indeed all Hindoos who can read and write, endeavor to keep this festival. The worship must be performed before the image of the goddess, or a pen, inkstand, and book, which are considered as a proper substitute for the image, Jan. 20. We have seen more of paganism the last three hours than since we have been in India. For the last two days there has been a Hindoo festival. On such days every Hindoo, in whosesoever employ he may be, is free to do honor to his gods. You may judge of the inconvenience of these holidays to all classes, and of the 14 bondage of idolatry, when I inform you that the whole number of Hindoo festivals in the course of a year amount to no less than three months and four days. This may well suit the disposition of the indolent depraved Hindoos. On Tuesday, the first day of the festival, I observed, as I passed along the streets, coolies carrying upon their heads "gods of wood and stone." They were of different sizes; some not larger than children's toys, others nearly as large as a man, and ornamented in the most gaudy style. They were conveying them, as it seems, from the mechanic's shop to the houses of the several worshippers who were able to procure them. I did not observe in a single instance that the multitude in the streets paid any sort of veneration to them as they were carried along. They probably had not yet been consecrated. This, however, would make no difference with the Hindoo's conscience. They seem in reality to have no respect for their gods, but are apparently ashamed to acknowledge themselves idolaters. They have been known, within a few days past, to take a god from one of their temples and to sell it to a missionary for a single rupee. This was done a few miles north of Calcutta by a Hindoo priest. Each festival, it seems, is in honor of some particular deity. The present festival is in honor of the goddess of wisdom. Thousands of new images are made of the goddess and carried to the houses of the Hindoos, where, in private, or in a more public manner, they are worshipped during the continuance of the festival; then they are carried in pomp through the streets and cast into the holy river. This ceremony I witnessed this evening. The god was placed in a standing posture upon a platform and adorned with gewgaws, tinsel, flowers, &c. The whole was borne on the shoulders of four men, who were preceded by a priest, as I judged him to be, and a rude band of music. It was followed by a few boys, or half a dozen ragamuffins. I scarcely observed a respectable looking Hindoo in all the processions which we saw. Procession after procession were running from every quarter of the city. During the hour we remained by the river probable more than a hundred of these processions, each bringing one or more gods, came to the strand, and I doubt not but we saw more than 20,000 people. As soon as the company brought their god to the edge of the water, the music ceased, the image was stript of its ornaments, put into a boat, and rowed a few rods into the river, and thrown over into the water. They suppose that the deity which they worship during this festival takes possession of the image, and receives their adorations and sacrifices; but as soon as the days of celebrating his praises are ended, he wishes to leave his house of clay in which he has deigned to The only way through which he די can return to his fabled place of residence, they are taught to believe is the holy Ganges. Hence they cast the image into the river, and the deity takes his flight. We saw much which shows the inconsistency of idolatry, as well as the want of respect which the Hindoos show for their rites. Some of the images were too light to sink in the water. As they floated on the surface, they attracted the attention of the idle throng, who seemed to covet them, either for some little ornament on them, or as a matter of curiosity. I saw several wade into the river and rescue a drowning god and bring him to the shore. As one was wading out of the water, apparently proud of what he had rescued from the river, he was assailed by another who had as little regard to their religion. They strove for it till the frail god gave way and they settled the contest by one taking a leg, another an arm, and any one that pleased a portion of the broken idol. Can such gods sare? How absurd is idolatry! April 9, 1831. From the reports made by the church members this evening of what they saw and heard during the vacation, it appears that the heathen enjoy a great triumph in consequence of the burning of the mission premises at Manepy. They affirm that that event furnishes decisive proof that their god, Ganesa, is superior to the God of the Christians. When reminded that the Tamul temples are some times robbed, and sometimes burnt, together with the idol gods which they contain; they readily admit that such occurrences are proofs of the imbecility of their gods; but it is enough that they may now, as they think, bring a similar proof against the ability or willingness of Jehovah to protect the missionaries. The burning of the premises furnishes a very good occasion for bringing to view some important principles of the gov ernment of God, and of his dealings towards his people. 10. Sabbath. Preached from the text "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward," showing the benevolent designs of the Almighty in bringing afflictions upon persons of various descriptions. Visit of the Bishop of Calcutta to the Station. April 15. Early this morning, according to a previous arrangement, the bishop of Calcutta, with several other gentlemen, and all the missionaries in the district, with one exception, visited the station. Agreeably to appointment the members of the female boarding school from Oodooville, and of the preparatory school at Tillapally, assembled here. Before breakfast the female school, arranged in order with their sewing and books, were introduced to the notice of the company. Each scholar was required to read a small portion from the New Testament, and in turn to answer questions which the bishop proposed to them, by means of an interpreter, on the leading truths of Christianity. At half past ten o'clock we assembled in Ottley Hall (being the first time it has been occupied on any public occasion) for an examination of the members of the preparatory school, and seminary. After a few remarks relative to the origin and progress of our boarding school system, two classes were hastily examined in English spelling and the first rules of arithmetic. A schedule was then presented containing the course of study pursued by each of the four classes in the seminary, during the last three months, with a request that the bishop would have the goodness to select those branches in which he might wish to have the students examined, it being obviously impossible to examine them in their whole course, in a single day. The fourth class consisting of thirty members were first examined, half of them in construing the New Testament from English to Tamul, and the other half in vulgar fractions. The third class, twenty in number, were then examined in the first lessons on astronomy. The second and third classes were minutely examined in Scripture history and chronology. This exercise was closed by the members of the second class, eighteen in number, repeating each one a different portion of Scripture, selected by himself, proving that the great events, represented by the stone spoken of in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, "which was cut out without hands, and which smote the image," &c., will be accomplished in their time, viz. "In the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed." After a short recess, the first class, twenty in number, were examined in Euclid's Elements and in the Gospel of Luke.* A few specimens of declamation were then given on subjects relating to the Hindoo system of mythology and science, closed by an address to the bishop, pronounced by a member of the first class, (though not composed by him) in behalf of his fellow-students; the object of which was to describe in a few particulars the nature of the mental process, relating both to science and religion, through which the members of the seminary have passed, from the time of their being brought under the tuition of the missionaries to the present period. After the address the bishop expressed the gratification he had felt on the occasion, and also presented some weighty considerations to induce the students to persevere in the course on which they have entered, assuring them of his best wishes, and of his readiness to co-operate with the conductors of the seminary in forwarding their designs. Thus ended the exercises of a very busy day. On comparing this examination with those that have preceded it, two circum stances are worthy of notice as being pecu liar. One is, that a far greater portion of time than usual was spent in the examina tion of the classes in biblical studies; the other, that the bishop acted the part of an examiner in all branches to a greater extent than any other person who has hitherto visited the seminary. Before taking leave of us he intimated that it was his intention to furnish us with some memento of his visit, and of his cordial approbation of our plans of procedure. He also requested a statement of particulars relating to the destruction of the mission premises at Mane. py, saying it was his intention to use his influence in procuring subscriptions in aid of the repairs of the station. As a substitute for many remarks that might be made, expressive of our views of the character of bishop Turner, I shall only observe that his whole deportment was such as forcibly to remind us of the description of bishops drawn by the pen of inspiration. All who are interested in the welfare of Zion have, we think, cause for special thanksgiving to the great Head of the church, for appointing in his providence such a personage to preside over the interests of the infant church in India. The reflection that we are co-workers together with him in the same part of our Master's vineyard, cannot fail to quicken and encourage us in our work. This excellent prelate, of whom the missionaries speak with so much respect and affection, and who seems to have secured the love and esteem of all the friends of Christianity in India, has fallen a sacrifice to the excessive labors re * In the latter branch they were examined in acquired of him by his extensive diocese. He died cordance with a method of studying the scriptures recently introduced into the seminary, a correct idea of which may be formed by considering the following questions as specimens, viz. What are the contents of the 10th chapter of Luke? What subject is treated of in the 18th chapter? Where may we find the parable of the unjust steward? on the 7th of July, soon after his return to Calcutta from the visitation in which he was engag ed when on the island of Ceylon. Mr. Winslow remarks that the spirit manifested by bishop Turner, and his whole conduct while at Jaffne copal dignity in India, died on the 8th of July, corresponded well with the character given of a ference, which prevents the introduction of bishop by Paul, in his epistle to Timothy. Bishop the Scriptures and other religious books Middleton, the first who was raised to the epis-into native schools, arises from a very questionable culty and danger of a gradual and prudent source; and that the alleged diffiintroduction of these books are to a great extent imaginary. In view of this subject we have reason to be well satisfied with what we consider to be the leading feature in our projected college, and which is expressed in the following extract from the prospectus. "It is the moral influence which the pro April 17. Sabbath. At half past six o'clock, attended church at Jaffnapatam where one hundred and five persons, of different classes, were confirmed by the bishop. At eleven o'clock attended church again.jectors of the present seminary wish to keep The bishop preached from the text, "And primarily and most distinctly in view. Jacob vowed a vow unto the Lord." In the Should it even appear singular, they are not ashamed of the singularity of attempting afternoon I preached in Tamul at Nellore to found a college, not so much literary as from "Better that thou shouldst not vow religious; and indeed literary no farther than learning can be made auxiliary to religion. In a word, their design is to teach the knowledge of God; and developing all the important relations of the creature to the Creator for time and eternity. than that thou shouldst vow and not pay." Several natives who were admitted to the rite of confirmation in the morning were present. NOTICES OF OODOOVILLE. Seriousness among the People.-After mentioning that a number of the schoolmasters, were anxious respecting their salvation and that six individuals, including two girls of the school, were candidates for admission to the church, and that of ten or twelve others he was indulging hopes, while the seriousness of others was wearing off, Mr. Winslow, under date of April 1, 1831, proceeds— 18. Returned to Batticotta in the evening. Since the bishop's arrival in Jaffna, I have at different times had favorable opportunities of learning some of the results of his extensive observation on missionary and other kindred subjects. In view of all that I have heard, I am much strengthened in the belief of some important principles of a practical nature, which I had adopted as the result of my own experience and observation, during my residence among the heathen; particularly, that no substantial and permanent advantages can reasonably be anticipated from the diffusion of general knowledge among the Hindoos, excepting so far as it is accompanied with a knowedge of Christianity, the only system which the only wise God has seen fit to reveal for man's guidance; that consequently, schoolbook societies, proceeding on the principle of furnishing books on science and general knowledge, to the exclusion of those of a religious nature, are performing a hazardous experiment: for though there are Bible and tract societies in the country, it by no means follows, either in theory or practice, that those natives who receive supplies of books on science from the book societies will receive books on moral and religious subjects from other quarters; that when the natives become sufficiently enlightened by science and general knowledge to discover the absurdities of the prevailing system, they must almost of necessity be driven to atheism or to the worst species of deism, unless the requisite means are put into their hands for becoming acquainted with the true God and Jesus Christ his son, whom to know aright is life eternal; consequently, that native free-schools, taught by heathen school-masters, which, in conse- Schools. The female boarding-school had requence of their distance from missionary ceived two girls from families more respectable stations, or for any other reason, do not adthan those from which they were usually obtainmit of a vigilant superintendence and direct ed. The native free-schools were prosperous, Christian influence, promise little or nothing in favor of the progress of divine truth; containing 650 boys and 140 girls. Number of that that delicacy of feeling against inter-schools connected with the station was 20. Every degree of excitement produced by the proper use of the means of grace, and through the influence of the Spirit of truth, is attended with hope; as those once awakened (at least among this people) generally become more susceptible of subsequent impressions, and often, after several seasons of awakening, followed by relapses, are at length hopefully converted. A number of cases which have occurred of this character encourage us in regard to those who were awakened, but appear now to be again falling asleep; and excite the hope that many of them, especially many of the children in the schools, may be truly converted at some future period; and that the late excitement may, in their case, be a preparation for a more thorough work. In this view, as well as in looking at those who already give some evidence of piety, the recent display of divine grace calls for our warmest thanksgiving. |