90

CONDITION OF WOMEN IN

[AUGUST, trated sometimes privately, in the family circle, or publicly before assembled friends. Sometimes a splendid entertainment is prepared in a temple, to which relatives, friends, and priests are invited. It terminates with the hara-kiri, which is regarded as such an honourable death as to remove from the reputation of the deceased, and from his family, any disgrace wnich might otherwise have attached to them. Sometimes the death is concealed, if it be in any way for the advantage of the family, and is then called nayboen. When the necessity for this ceases, and the time comes for the acknowledgment of the death, all screens and sliding-doors throughout the house are turned upside down, and the garments inside out. The family remain in solitude, friends charge themselves with all the details of such a time; one remaining at the street-door to receive the visits of condolence, which are paid outside the door, lest impurity should be contracted by entering the house of death. Christianity is the alone civilizing element, because it deals with the heart. In the purifying and elevating influence which it exercises within, it enables a man to act as God would have him, in the various domestic relations. It penetrates the laws of a nation and pervades its customs, so as to discountenance vicious and cruel practices, and distinguish and recommend the pure morality of the gospel. There is a national standard of right and wrong; and, although men may continue to do wrong, yet they do so under the condemnation of their conscience. A man in England may be guilty of suicide-unhappily such instances do occur but he does so in a secret, hurried manner, as knowing it to be an act of gravest criminality, from which he will be prevented should he be suspected of such a desperate intention. How different from the Japanese, who glories in it, while his friends stand round, and, so far from endeavouring to prevent him, honour him for the act. In heathen lands evil is called good. In lands like our own, blessed with gospel light, evil is called evil. National sanction encourages crime in the one, national reprobation discourages it in the other.

CONDITION OF WOMEN IN HEATHEN AND MAHOMMEDAN

COUNTRIES.

WHEN we cast our eye over the yet unevangelized portions of the earth, we are constantly reminded of the punishment which God pronounced on Eve, namely, that her's should be a state of subjection and of servitude; and we see the fulfilment of it, just as we see in Africa the fulfilment of the prophecy which, uttered as a punishment on an ungrateful and undutiful child, contained in itself the germ of all the misery and moral degradation which thenceforward became the distinguishing mark of his posterity-" Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." But as, in the one case, we see the blessed effects of the gospel in raising the children of Ham from this state of servitude, so that, instead of tyranny on the one side and slavery on the other, the people of Christ in Europe and Africa by love serve one another; so, in the other, we find the gospel raising the daughters of Eve from the state of degradation and utter worthlessness in which, in heathen countries, it finds them, and placing them in a position to glorify God, and with patience and humility to endeavour to advance the cause of that Saviour to whom they owe so much. In Him "there is neither Jew

1855.]

HEATHEN AND MAHOMMEDAN COUNTRIES.

91

nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female," for "all are one in Christ Jesus." In order to awaken in ourselves more of zeal in His service, let us consider the state of the female part of the population in heathen countries.

Whether in Asia, Africa, America, or Australia, wherever heathenism prevails, we find woman equally degraded. In Australia, "while the men walk along with a proud and majestic air, the despised and degraded women follow behind them, crouching like slaves, bearing heavy burdens on their backs, with their little one astride on their shoulders. They are the drudges in all heavy work; and after their lords have finished the repast which the women have prepared for them, these despised creatures sit contentedly at a distance, and gather up the bones and fragments which the men throw across their shoulders, as we should throw meat to a dog." In Caffreland it is the custom actually to sell them for cattle. In India they are treated as slaves. They are expressly permitted by law to be beaten they are by system deprived of education they are debarred from religious instruction; they may not join in religious worship with their husbands, and are considered by the laws as irreclaimably wicked. In China-denied the rudiments of learning; cut off from the sympathies and social intercourse of their nearest relatives; having no grounds of happiness, either present or future-the unhappy creatures not unfrequently take refuge in suicide, which is a common crime among the female population of China. Among the North-American Indians their women are said to serve as domestics, tailors, peasants, and oxen. They till the ground, carry wood and water, build huts, make canoes, and fish, and are looked upon as mere beasts of burden. The same sad tale remains to be told of the natives of the Indian and Polynesian Archipelago, and so on through the whole range of heathen and Mahommedan countries. The heart sickens at the thought of so many human beings, in the midst of present misery and unhappiness, unsustained by one bright hope for the future. The gospel is the only means of rescuing them from this position civilization will not do it, for the Chinese are comparatively civilized. Yet the Chinese ladies, with good intellectual powers, are considered unworthy of the smallest instruction. The most favourable sentiment with regard to this point, in the writings of their philosophers, is this, that since "monkeys and parrots had been taught, women might, no doubt, be instructed, if their husbands were disposed to make the experiment."

The gospel, which is "mighty through God to the pulling down of the strongholds" of Satan, can raise these poor creatures from this state of degradation in which they are, by showing them what great things Christ has done, even for them, and then, how wonderful is the change! It is like that spoken of in the book of the prophet Isaiah, where it is said, "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.' "Many examples of this blessed change we have in our different Mission fields, examples which should quicken us to more of earnest effort in spreading the gospel. It was the power of grace that gave fortitude to our female converts in Abbeokuta, when they set the example of unflinching courage in persecution, and refused, in the hour of trial, to deny the Saviour whom they had found. It was this grace that strengthened

92

MANSUK.

[AUGUST, Rasalama, the female martyr in Madagascar, so that she could say, when the queen's messenger came to arrest her, that she "was not afraid, but rather rejoiced that she was counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus ;" and afterward, having committed her soul into the hands of the Redeemer, submitted calmly to a death of torture. Surely instances like these should stimulate us to imitate the example of Him who "made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the forin of a servant," to "deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."

MANSUK.

MAGUIS TWATT-such was his name now-did not think that, because he was baptized, he might rest in peace, as if there were nothing more to be done. Mr. Budd writes" He is exceedingly diligent in seeking to be instructed in the things which make for his peace. He is not satisfied with getting some instruction in our house every day. He goes to the other houses, and asks about what he does not understand, so anxious is he to hear of the new religion he has adopted." "Maguis Twatt and another Indian remained at our house till a late hour, listening to one of our little girls reading the Cree translation of St. Matthew." "Maguis always waits after prayers to get our little girls to read to him." Maguis is still very regular in his attendance on the means of grace. I have scarcely seen his seat vacant once since he was baptized three weeks ago." Mr. Budd means, that his seat had been filled, not only on Sundays, but every day at evening prayers.

66

The

Nothing remarkable is mentioned for some time after this, but on the 4th of May Mr. Budd remarks that Maguis was coming to live nearer to him, on the same side of the river, that he might make a garden, and be nearer for prayers, &c. Before this, the old man had been obliged to cross and re-cross the river every time he visited Mr. Budd. garden made good progress, as the chief was "very industrious." In their heathen state the Indians disdain to become "troublers of the earth," and it is therefore one of the hardest things imaginable to induce them to settle down as farmers. On the 19th of May, however, Mr. Budd writes of Maguis-"I went over to see the old man's farm. He has his potatos planted, and his garden seeds all in."

A few days after this Mr. Budd left the station, to take charge of Cumberland, on the departure of Archdeacon Hunter for England. On the 23d of June Mr. Budd sent a native teacher to the Nepowewin, that the poor Indians might not be left to themselves. The men who took this teacher to his station returned on the 10th of July, and very sad news they brought. Mr. Budd writes

"To-day the two Indians who had taken up Peter Erasmus to the Nepowewin have returned, with the mournful intelligence that old Maguis Twatt, the chief of the thick-wood Indians at that place, has died since we left the Mission. He was sick not more than six days, and died on the 12th of June, about three weeks after we had left. Joseph Turner informs me that he was very quiet all the time of his sickness, and died peaceably.' His death is a great trial to me, as I always looked up to him as the main pillar of the Mission. God only knows what will become of the Mission now. It is, however, a comfort

1855.]

RIPE FRUIT IN THE JAFFNA MISSION.

93

to know that God is able of these stones at the Nepowewin to raise up another Mansuk. But still, his death is much to be regretted for several reasons. He was the first Indian who embraced Christianity. He countenanced our proceedings from the beginning, and did all in his power to assist me in my first attempts to form the Mission at the Nepowewin. He was very diligent in setting the Indians a good. example; very constant and attentive to the means of grace, and diligent in his little farm. His influence would have prevailed at last with his large family on the side of Christianity. Another cause for much regret is, that the prevailing notion of the heathen Indians, and one which keeps them firm in their heathen ways, will be confirmed that Christianity and civilization only kills the Indians, and does not benefit God never intended Christianity for the Indians-white people. Hence it is that the white people are benefited by it, but the Indians die as soon as they embrace it."

We can well understand the feelings by which Mr. Budd was actuated when he wrote these words. The Lord's people are often so circumstanced-their cherished plans interfered with, and their hopes suddenly blighted. We are tempted to say, like aged Jacob, "All these things are against me." But they are not so. Our minds are in conformity with the divine mind as to the coming of His kingdom; but His mode of procedure is very different from ours, and often seems strange to us. To reconcile us to submission, He says, "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter."

Meanwhile the first-fruits of the Nepowewin have been gathered in. The sickle has been put in, the first sheaf reaped in, and waved before the Lord. This forerunner, we believe, of many others was the most unlikely of all-one who had grown old in Indian ways, and who was, to all appearance, stubbornly prejudiced against the gospel. How often has it not changed its most violent opponents into its choicest friends. How true it is, "Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under Thee." These are glorious victories. Blessed, indeed, it is to be among the vanquished; the arrows of conviction with which the prosperous one wounds are lifegiving arrows, and He takes men captive that He may set them free.

wwww

RIPE FRUIT IN THE JAFFNA MISSION.

(Concluded from p. 83 of our last Number.)

NOR has it been only in the season of mature life that death has been found powerless to harm, because his sting has been taken away by faith in Jesus Christ, but amongst the younger members of the flock a like experience has not been wanting. The following account of two of the school-girls may be appropriately connected with that of Abraham

Two of the girls in Mrs. Bren's school died very happily, and, although they had not been received into the visible church by baptism, we have good reason to hope that they were members of the invisible church-the body of Christ, and that they are now gathered into the heavenly garner, and numbered with those "who have washed their robes,

94

RIPE FRUIT IN THE JAFFNA MISSION.

[AUGUST,

and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." The name of one was Kutty. She had learnt in our girls'-school for about four years, during which time she had made great progress, and stood well in the first class. She was also a regular attendant at the Sabbath-school and the house of God. She had a very genteel appearance and manner, which attracted the attention of all who saw her: indeed, we had expressed a wish that her parents would allow her to come and live with us, to take care of our own little girl. She seemed to have more honesty and uprightness than the natives generally, and, being favourably impressed with the truth, she tried to make it known to her parents and others. Whenever she visited a neighbour's house, and they began to ridicule her for receiving the Christian vatham (i. e. Christianity), she would with meekness silence those who opposed. She was glad of every opportunity she could obtain to converse with her teacher on religious subjects. When she was attacked with cholera, she told her father to go and inform myself and her teacher, and thank us for the favours she had received. Her father took ashes and margosa leaves, and wished her to make a vow to the heathen gods, but she refused; and when he tried to put the sacred beads round her neck, she seized them and threw them to the other side of the room. When asked if she was going to die, she said, " My God, who made me, knows all things." Her friends say she died in our religion, for she would have nothing to do with heathenism.

The name of the other was Puthu Natchan, a niece of Abraham's, who began to learn as soon as the school was commenced, being then about five years old. Her diligence, and attention to all the duties of the school, werequite an example to all the others, so that for the last two years she was called "the queen of the school," and well sustained her character. She had such a kind and amiable disposition that she was loved and respected by all, both in the school and out of it-by Christians and heathen. The latter looked upon her as a prodigy of learning, so astonishing was het progress, for her age. This is accounted for by the fact that her books were her delight and constant companions. She not only learnt correctly all the appointed lessons, but many others also of her own accord. And having learnt her lessons before coming to the school, she often assisted the master in teaching the lower classes. So great was her love for her school, that she would always go if she could walk, even though she were not well: the pain given to the mind by being absent from school was greater than the pain of her body, and oftentimes, when her parents begged her to stay at home, she would entreat, with tears, that they would let her go. One day she had fever and headache, and her mother told her she must not go to school. She replied, "As you are my mother it is my duty to obey you: I will therefore stay at home." But her mother soon perceived how sad she was, and that she would not eat, and gave her permission to go. Her answers, both in the day and Sabbath-schools, showed that the truth had taken root in her tender mind. Private prayer and reading the Scriptures was a daily practice. Once, when a Brahmin had been called to perform some family ceremony, he gave sacred ashes to all, but she refused to take any, saying, "I am not a heathen, like these, that I should rub ashes." Upon hearing this, her father grew angry and beat her. She patiently endured it, and said, "My father, although you punish me, I cannot do what is contrary to the will of God." By her kind and