as to what passes there, which, considering how few of them speak or read English, implies other channels of communication besides those which we supply, and respecting which I have been able as yet to obtain very little information. Among the presents sent last year to the Supreme Government by the little State of Ladeh, in Chinese Tartary, some large sheets of gilt leather, stamped with the Russian Eagle, were the most conspicuous. A traveller, who calls himself a Transylvanian, but who is shrewdly suspected of being a Russian Spy, was, when I was at Kumaoon, arrested by the Commandant of one of our fortresses among the Himmalaya Mountains; and, after all our pains to exclude foreigners from the service of the Native Princes, two Chevaliers of the Legion of Honour were found, about twelve months ago, and are still employed in casting cannon and drilling soldiers for the Seik Rajah, Runjeet Singh. This, you will say, is no more than we should be prepared to expect; but you, probably, would not suppose, (what I believe is little, if at all, known in Russia itself,) that there is an ancient and still-frequented place of Hindoo Pilgrimage not many miles from Mos. cow; or that the Secretary of the Calcutta Bible Society received, ten months ago, an application (by whom translated I do not know, but in very tolerable English) from some Priests on the shore of the Caspian Sea, requesting a grant of Armenian Bibles. After this, you will be the less surprised to learn that the leading events of the late wars in Europe, particularly Buonaparte's victories, were often known, or at least rumoured, among the Native Merchants of Calcutta, before Government received any accounts from England; or that the suicide of our English Minister (with the mistake, indeed, of its being Lord Liverpool instead of the Marquis of Londonderry) had become a topic of conversation in the "Burra Bazaar," the Native Exchange, for a fortnight before the arrival of any intelligence by the usual channels. Wisdom and Duty of imparting to the Hin doos the Knowledge of Chrislianity. With subjects thus inquisitive and with such opportunities of information, it is apparent how little sense there is in the doctrine, that we must keep the Natives of Hindoostan in ignorance, if we would continue to govern them. The fact is, that they know enough already to do us a great deal of mischief, if they should find it their interest to make the trial. They are in a fair way, by degrees, to acquire still more knowledge for themselves; and the question is, whether it is not the part of wisdom, as well as duty, to supply them with such knowledge as will be at once most harmless to ourselves and most useful to them. In this work, the most important part is to give them a better RELIGION. Knowing how strongly I feel on this subject, you will not be surprised at my placing it foremost. But, even if Christianity were out of the question, and if when I had wheeled away the rubbish of the old pagodas I had nothing better than simple Deism to erect in their stead, I should still feel some of the anxiety which urges me. Dreadful Character and Influence of It is necessary to SEE Idolatry, to be fully sensible of its mischievous effects on the human mind. But, of all Idolatries which I have ever read or heard of, the Religion of the Hindoos, in which I have taken some pains to inform myself, really appears to me the worst-in the degrading notions which it gives of the Deity-in the endless round of its burthensome ceremonies, which occupy the time and distract the thoughts, without either instructing or interesting its vo taries-in the filthy acts of uncleanness and cruelty, not only permitted but enjoined, and inseparably interwoven with those ceremonies in the system of castes, a system which tends, more than invented, to destroy the feelings of geneany thing else that the Devil has yet ral benevolence, and to make nine-tenths of mankind the hopeless slaves of the remainder-and in the total absence of any popular system of morals, or any single lesson which the people at large good to one another. I do not say, inever hear, to live virtuously and do deed, that there are not some scattered lessons of this kind to be found in their ancient books: but those books are neither accessible to the people at large, nor are these last permitted to read them and, in general, all the sins which a Soodra is taught to fear, are, killing a cow, offending a Brahmin, or neglecting one of the many frivolous rites by which their deities are supposed to be conciliated. Accordingly, though the general sobriety of the Hindoos, a virtue which they possess in common with most inhabitants of warm climates, affords a very great facility to the maintenance of public order and decorum, I really never have met with a race of men whose standard of morality is so lowwho feel so little apparent shame in being detected in a falsehood, or so little interest in the sufferings of a neighbour not being of their own caste or familywhose ordinary and familiar conversation is so licentious-or, in the wilder and more lawless districts, who shed blood with so little repugnance. The good qualities which there are among them (and, thank God! there is a great deal of good among them still) are, in no instance that I am aware of, connected with or arising out of their religion; since it is in no instance to good deeds or virtuous habits of life that the future rewards in which they believe are promised: their bravery, their fidelity to their employers, their temperance, and (wherever these are found) their humanity and gentleness of disposition, appear to arise exclusively from a natural happy temperament; from pride in their own renown and the renown of their ancestors; and from the goodness of God, who seems unwilling that His image should be entirely defaced even in the midst of the grossest error. Character of Mussulmans. The Mussulmans have a far better creed; and, though they seldom either like the English or are liked by them, I am inclined to think, are, on the whole, a better people: yet, even with them, the forms of their worship have a natural tendency to make men hypocrites; and the overweening contempt with which they are inspired for all the world beside, the degradation of their women by the system of polygamy, and the detestable crimes, which, owing to this degradation, are almost universal, are such as, even if I had no ulterior hope, would make me anxious to attract them to a better or more harmless system. Progress of Christianity and Christian Education. In this work, thank God! in those parts of India which I have visited, a beginning has been made, and a degree of success obtained, at least commensurate to the August, 1827. few years during which our Missionaries have laboured; and it is still going on, IN THE BEST AND SAFEST WAY, AS THE WORK OF PRIVATE PERSONS ALONE, AND, ALTHOUGH NOT FORBIDDEN, IN NO DEGREE ENCOURAGED BY GOVERNMENT. In the mean time, and as a useful auxiliary to the Missionaries, the establishment of Elementary Schools for the lower classes and for females is going on to a very great extent, and might be carried to any conceivable extent to which our pecuniary means would carry us. Nor is there any measure from which I anticipate more speedy benefit, than the elevation of the rising generation of FEMALES to their natural rank in society; and giving them (which is all that, in any of our Schools, we as yet venture to give) the lessons of general morality extracted from the Gospel, without any direct religious instruction : these Schools, such of them at least as I have any concern with, are carried on without any help from Government. State of Native Education under Government Sanction. But Government has, however, been very liberal in its grants, both to a Society for National Education, and in the institution and support of two Colleges of Hindoo Students of riper age-the one at Benares, the other at Calcutta. I do not think any of these institutions, in the way after which they are at present conducted, likely to do much good. In the Elementary Schools supported by the Society for National Education, through a very causeless fear of giving offence to the Natives, they have forbidden the use of the Scriptures, or any extracts from them; though the moral lessons of the Gospel are read by all Hindoos who can get hold of them, without scruple and with much attention; and though their exclusion is tantamount to excluding all moral instruction from their Schools, the Hindoo SacredWritings having nothing of the kind, and, if they had, being shut up from the majority of the people, by the double fence of a dead language and an actual prohibition to read them, as too holy for common eyes or ears. The defects of the two Hindoo Colleges will appear, when I have told you that the actual state of Hindoo and Mussulman Literature, mutatis mutandis, very nearly resembles what the Literature of Europe 3 C was before the time of Galileo, Copernicus, and Bacon: the Mussulmans take their Logic from Aristotle, filtered through many successive translations and commentaries; and their metaphysical system is professedly derived from Plato: the Hindoos have systems not very dissimilar from these, though, I am told, of greater length and more intricacy; but the studies in which they spend most time are, the acquisition of the Sanscrit, and the endless refinements of its Grammar, Prosody, and Poetry: both have the same Natural Philosophy, which is also that of Aristotle in Zoology and Botany, and of Ptolemy in Astronomy, for which the Hindoos have forsaken their most ancient notions of the seven seas, the six earths, and the flat base of Padalon supported on the back of a tortoise: by the science which they now possess, they are, some of them, able to foretell an eclipse or compose an almanack; and many of them derive some little pecuniary advantage from pretensions to judicial astrology: in Medicine and Chemistry, they are just sufficiently advanced to talk of substances being moist, dry, hot, &c. in the third or fourth degree; to dissuade from letting blood or physicking on a Tuesday, or under particular aspects of the heavens; and to be eager in their pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Immortality. The task of enlightening the studious youth of such a nation would seem to be a tolerably straight-forward one. But though, for the College in Calcutta, (not Bishop's College remember, but the Vidhalya, or Hindoo College,) an expensive set of instruments has been sent out, and it seems intended that the Natural Sciences should be studied there, the Managers of the present Institution take care that their boys should have as little time as possible for such pursuits, by requiring from them all without exception a laborious study of Sanscrit, and all the useless and worse-than-useless literature of their ancestors. A good deal of this has been charged, and in some little degree with justice, against the exclusive attention paid to Greek and Logic till lately in Oxford: but, in Oxford, we have never been guilty, since a better system was known in the world at large, of teaching the Physics of Aristotle, however we may have paid an excessive attention to his Metaphysics and Dialectics. In Benares, however, I found, in the Institution supported by Government, a Professor lecturing on Astronomy after the system of Ptolemy and Albumazar; while one of the most forward boys was at the pains of casting my horoscope, and the majority of the School were toiling at Sanscrit Grammar: and yet, the day before, in the same 66 Holy City," I had visited another College, founded lately by a wealthy Hindoo Banker, and entrusted by him to the management of the Church Missionary Society, in which, besides a grammatical knowledge of the Hindoostanee Language as well as Persian and Arabic, the senior boys could pass a good examination in English Grammar, in Hume's History of England, Joyce's Scientific Dialogues, the Use of the Globes, and the principal Facts and Moral Precepts of the Gospel; most of them writing beautifully in the Persian, and very tolerably in the English, Character, and excelling most boys, whom I have met with, in the accuracy and readiness of their arithmetic. The English Officer who is now in charge of the Benares Vidhalya is a clever and candid young man; and, under him, I look forward to Rammohunmuch improvement.. Roy, a learned Native, who has sometimes been called, though I fear without reason, a Christian, remonstrated against this system last year, in a paper which he sent to me to put into Lord Amherst's hand; and which, for its good English, good sense, and forcible argument, is a real curiosity, as coming from an Asiatic. ..... CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY. FROM the Third Report of the Calcutta Auxiliary and other documents, we shall here give a view of the NORTH-INDIA MISSION. It is stated by the Auxiliary- When the Calcutta Auxiliary was formed in December 1823, it was agreed that an Annual Meeting should be held, and a Report of Proceedings published, on the Wednesday after Whitsunday in each year. lution, the First Report was published in June 1824; but, last year (1825), owing to the absence of the Secretary from ill health, and the severe attack of illness with which the Acting Secretary was visited at the time when he was employed on a Report, it was unavoidably post In accordance with this reso The friends of the Society will be aware, therefore, that the Missionary Operations of the Committee have in no respect been interrupted, though unavoidable irregularity in reporting their proceedings has occurred. From the documents here mentioned and other communications, an account of the North-India Mission for 1824-5 was given in the Numbers for April and July of our last Volume. The Rev. Deocar Schmid, Chaplain to the Female-Orphan Asylum, was appointed, at the Third Annual Meeting, Assistant-Secretary and Collector to the Auxiliary: he writes in reference to this appointmentAs my duties in the Asylum, which for many years past have made an increasing demand upon my time and strength, do not leave me any leisure for prosecuting any direct Missionary Labours, I am, indeed, very glad that my appointment as Assistant-Secretary gives me an opportunity to make myself useful to that Society, by which I was sent out to this country, and whose cause it is my anxious desire to forward. Testimony to the Services of the Rev. Mr. Thomason. After lamenting the death of the late Mr. Maisch, the Committee add The Committee have been deprived of the services of the Rev. Mr. Thomason, by the necessity from sickness in his family of trying change of air. The services of Mr. Thomason are, however, the Committee are happy to think, not lost to the Society, as his presence in England cannot fail to prove greatly beneficial to its objects. It is a grateful duty, which the Committee pay, in thus publicly bearing their testimony to the various and important services rendered by Mr. Thomason to the Society during the period of his residence in this city: for several years, the chief conduct of the Society's affairs lay upon him; and were attended to with unremitting diligence: his skill in the sacred languages, and in the languages of this country, rendered him most efficient in the supplying of suitable School Books and Translations; while his love for the Cause led him to think no journey or labour in inspecting and examining Schools &c. too arduous. The loss of so able and indefatigable a coadjutor cannot but be deeply felt by the Committee. Grateful Testimonies to the late Bishop of Calcutta. It will be seen, from the following passage of the Auxiliary Report, in addition to all former testimonies, how warmly Bishop Heber had at tached to himself the hearts of Christians in India. The advantages arising to the Native Congregations connected with this Society, from his Lordship's considerate attention to them in the course of his visit through the Upper Provinces of this Presidency, were briefly reported in the Circular Letter of the Committee published last August. The impression made on the Society's Missionaries by his Lordship's paternal attention to them individually, may be best known from a few extracts of Letters written by them to the Secretary on hearing of his lamented death. One writes What an afflicting providence has visited us in the death of our beloved BISHOP and Father in Christ, since I last wrote to you! I cannot express to you my feelings on this unexpected and melancholy occasion. I seem to view our Church Establishment in India sitting in the ashes, disconsolate, and forsaken; her harp hung upon the willows, and in her discomfiture refusing to sing the songs of Zion. I know, that as for God, His way is perfect: err He cannot; but, in this unlookedfor dispensation, is not His path in the deep waters, and His footsteps unseen? Another thus expresses his feelings on the same afflicting event Oh Bereaved of our much beloved, zealous, and Apostolic BISHOP, who can but lament the loss which the Missionary Cause and the whole Church in India have sustained! that all concerned could feel enough their, I had almost said irreparable, loss! Methinks this dispensation calls for a day of public fasting and prayer, that the Head of the Church would be gracious unto India again, and send out such a Chief Shepherd as our departed Parent. This is the character which he reminded me of, on the day we were all together at his Lordship's table. He, alone, among all our good people, seemed untainted with the pride that is congenial to India Oh, how my mind was transported with the idea, that, if it should please the Lord to spare our good BISHOP for a quarter-of-a-century to India, what mighty changes for the better. might we not expect would take place! But all is blasted, and laid in the dust, from that quarter! We must look up to Him with whom is the residue of the Spirit. Alas! how can I forget his Lordship's earnestness in pleading the Missionary Cause in the Cathedral previous to the formation of the Diocesan Committee, and again in his own house! I have just seen and heard enough of him to feel the loss which we suffer, all my days. The Rev. Abdool Messeeh, with his usual Christian simplicity and right feeling, wrote in Hindoostanee, of which the following is a translation: It is a subject of deep grief, that yesterday I heard from Mr. Ricketts of the death of our Father and Spiritual Guide, the LORD BISHOP. On hearing it, I became almost insensible. Alas! alas! we Hindoostanee People were not worthy that he should remain among us! God hath taken him from the world! A thousand lamentations for the loss of so holy and spiritual a BISHOP. The Lord gave him to us, and the Lord hath taken him away, blessed be the name of the Lord! Woe! woe unto us! Except patience and resignation, nothing stands in any stead; for death is the way that we must all go. This world is only a place of travail and sojourn. When I think of him, my heart is ready to break, and I have no power to express in writing my feelings. My only consolation is, that his Lordship, having set us a holy and spiritual example, and being in a prepared state, has slept in the Lord Jesus Christ, and entered into everlasting rest. With these feelings of heartfelt sorrow under this great bereavement, the Committee deeply sympathize. The loss to the Native Congregations is peculiarly great, as his Lordship, in his journey through the Upper Provinces, had greatly encouraged them by his kind attention to their concerns: they were led to see that they now possessed a common interest with the European Congregations; and began to feel, that, under the many discouragements attending the profession of Christianity, they were not left to struggle without friends. The stroke has indeed spoken a loud warning, to cease from man and to trust in the Lord Jehovah alone; for in Him alone is everlasting strength. This latter source of encouragement the Committee desire ever to bear in mind, and to hope and pray that the work which had assumed so favourable an aspect, under the superintending care of their late BISHOP, may, by the blessing of the Most High, go on and increase until the little one become a thousand. General View of the Stations. The Committee remark, in May, of last year Since the last Public Meeting of this Society took place, there have been baptized at the different Stations of the Society, according to Reports received, 26 adults besides children. The number of habitual Christian Worshippers at the different Stations is about 480, besides assemblies of unconverted Natives. The number of Native Children receiving daily instruction in the Schools of the Society is 2696. In February, the Archdeacon, who had recently visited again some parts of the Upper Provinces, gives the following succinct view of the different Stations, beginning with those most distant from Calcutta: From Delhi and Meerut, we have no late distinct accounts; nor from Agra: our Native Friends are, however, pursuing their course as usual. Abdool Messeeh has remained, during the past year, at Lucknow his own inclination, I apprehend, tends to stay there; but, hitherto, the Resident also has encouraged him to do so: we are expecting an answer to Queries addressed to the Resident, in reference to Abdool's prospects there. From Cawnpore, we have no detailed information; but hope soon to hear of Peter Dilsook from the Rev. Mr. Whiting: Divine Worship, in Hindoostanee, is carried on there. At Gorruckpore, Mr. Wilkinson is doing all that he can: he promises a Report of proceedings soon. At Chunar, Mr. Bowley's labours are abundant; I fear beyond what he can long sustain: Mr. J. Landeman, who has been appointed to assist him, will be there by this time, and ease him in a measure: Mr. Bowley has lately baptized three interesting Converts; and a great door seems opened for his labours at Mirzapore, a large mart, 20 miles westward of Chunar: one of the Converts is from that place. At Benares, Mr. Adlington has recently baptized two Adult Natives, and has some Catechumens: Mr. Stewart is indefatigable in his attention to Jay Narain's School; which Mr. Adlington also attends to, besides the Native School formerly superintended by Mr. Morris: Mr. Morris is also, at present, at Benares. Mr. Greenwood has an offer of a permanent engagement in the Calcutta Grammar School; which I have, with the concurrence of our Committee, advised him to accept. At Burar, a Place of Worship is erecting; about 800 rupees having |