years-under Christian Instruction long before he embraced Christianity-had long since avowed, his intention of becoming a Christian; and has disregarded caste, so far as respects eating. 2. Lutchmuneeaa Brahminee Woman, 16 years of age, Wife of David Thakoor-first heard the Word from Ruth, the Zemindar's Wife; and has heard the Gospels and joined in prayers performed by our Schoolmistress, who visited them weekly, and has for some time past been learning the Catechism with several others-was forcibly taken away by her mother to Benares-was since brought back; when she made a good confession of her intention to embrace Christianity, before many who were present on the occasion. 3. Matthew Runjeet-a Gosaen, about 45 years of age-first heard the Word and received some Christian Tracts from me in Hinduwee, more than three years ago about six weeks before I returned to Calcutta in November, he came in quest of me; and, being informed of my expected return, Nicodemus detained him till my arrival: he then avowed his determination to embrace Christianity. On examination, I found that he was not ignorant of the Gospel; and, consequently, that he had read our books. He said that his family would join him, He then returned to his village, eleven miles distant, and brought his wife and two children; who attended all the Means of Grace in the Church Premises, both before and during our absence at Goruckhpore. I now found that he had made very great progress, and had read through all the Tracts which we gave him, and reads the Hinduwee Testament very fluently. He is an humble, quiet, sedate character. 4. Phoolea-his Wife-a fine young woman-modest, humble, and meekabout 25 years of age-has been making a regular progress in reading, and in learning the Catechism and the Prayers, since she came among us; and is constantly with the Schoolmistress, who also resides on the premises-is highly spoken of by all who know her. 5. Ann Rutnee-daughter of Matthew and Phoolea Runjeet, about seven years of age-remarkably promising. 6. Betsy Rutnee-sister of the above, aged three years. 7. Gungua-Widow of Rummun Loll, a Convert who died eight months agoabout 30 years of age. At his baptism she was a persecutor; but we trust that the grace of God has subdued her spirit and renovated her mind, so that her associating with the Christian Women here and her attendance on the Means of Grace have been blessed to her. Shehas been importuning me, for the last three months, to baptize her; and has made pleasing progress in learning to read, and has got off the whole of the Catechism and Prayers. 8. Adam Churn a Hindoo Youth, about 16 years of age-has, for several years, been under the Means of Grace, and long since broke through caste, and has of late made good progress in learning to read and in getting off the Catechism-conducts himself with great credit, and renders a good account of his faith in the Saviour. His employer speaks well of him as a Christian. 9. Moses Moses-a Child, about two years of age-has been with us the last ten months. His unnatural mother, a Hindoo of low caste, went about from house to house offering him for sale; and though we promised to feed and clothe her, with the child, if she remained, she refused, and was determined to get rid of the child. The child has been taken care of ever since by one of the Native Christian Widows, and is becoming a fine boy. These Nine were devoted to the Lord from Heathenism. never heard these things before, and appear disposed to attend to what we can say; but these crowds are not the places to meet them for such purposes. Went, with Charles, to the usual place of concourse. Here many thousands may have been daily, and hundreds of persons who can read, who have perhaps never seen a copy of our Gospel or Tracts. There is more work of this nature to be done here in a day, than at Chunar in a month. Here, books are eagerly sought after-there, they are dreaded, lest they should make the readers Christians: here, they seem as if their systems had nothing to fear-there, to read our Gospels is to be branded with the opprobrium of Christian: here, they are disposed to accept a challenge-there, they flee from it. Several learned Mussulmans came for books, and received Genesis and Single Gospels: the Teacher, also, of a Hinduwee School brought seven or eight of his scholars, who read fluently, for Tracts: they chiefly called for the Memoir of Tajkhan. -The harvest is great-very great; but the Labourers are few-very few, compared to what is to be done in this extensive city, where the God of this World seems to reign with undisputed authority; but his strongholds appear to be accessible, in every direction. But Labourers-Labourers-Labourers! devoted pious Labourers are abundantly wanted. May the Lord of the Harvest thrust such forth! Amen! A Suttee rescued. June 16, 1828-Crossed the Ganges, and proceeded to Mirzapore: re-crossed, and arrived at a Christian Friend's, a Military Officer, being 20 miles. In the evening, as soon as the heat permitted, rode out with two pious Officers to a village, about two miles distant, to see a Woman, who had, through the humane interference of the Officers of the Corps, been rescued from the grasp of those who would have imbrued their hands in her blood by casting her upon the funeral pile of her husband, from which she had escaped. As we approached, the whole village came out to see us; so that, though we had a sight of the Woman, we could not speak to her: her father-in-law, however, said that she was restored to her caste &c. June 18-Went on to the Suttee's village, in order to ascertain the real state of things. We found that the bribe of 200 rupees, offered by the generous Officers at the pile, to restore her to her caste and privileges, was too powerful for the indigent old couple to resist: they have, consequently, admitted her into the family; having, as a matter of form, laid out six or eight rupees in her purification, by feeding the Brahmins. In the course of the day, however, the sepoys told me, that it was not possible that she should be re-admitted into caste; the Shasters having made no provision for this. They also said, that the circumstance of the Woman's escaping from the funeral pile was the greatest disgrace which could be entailed upon Hindooism —that they had hoped to shew their European Officers the power of Hindooism; but were never so ashamed in their lives, as when she escaped. A Suttee consumed. Sept. 25 at Mirzapore-Lieutenant C., my host, received a Note from the Magistrate of the District, informing him of a Suttee to take place, and requested my assistance. We hastened to the spot; and found the victim, a young Brahminee Woman, about 20 years of age, and every thing ready for her destruction, on the banks of the Ganges, adjoining the Registrar's Premises: it was truly gratifying to see the worthy Magistrate all anxiety and concern for the safety of the poor creature; exerting himself, as became a Christian in his situation, to the utmost of his limited authority: nor could I refrain from doing my part, so far as words and reasonings were concerned, but without avail. She was blind to all reason, and under the influence of strong delusion-apparently elated with pride, and determined to brave the excruciating pain which awaited her. Her deportment, in the eyes of the Natives and those acquainted with her, was not that of a modest young Hindoo Female: she betrayed a spirit of bravado, not at all consistent with the solemnity of the event; and spoke as if she would have the credulous multitude believe that she was endowed with the gift of developing past events of many generations regarding herself. She told the people that she had previously ascended the pile four different times, at such and such places, and should do so again and again. The pile, with the corpse and a layer of logs on it, was raised hardly more than four feet. The fire was applied, and the pile was burning about a quarter of an hour ere the woman was permitted to approach it; when, all of a sudden, as if fortified by the Wicked One and in spired by the Father of Lies, she arose, and with a loud voice cried-" Victory to Suttee Mata!" which was instantly responded by the blood-thirsty multitude: reaching forward upon the pile, she instantaneously turned upon her back, and held her hands closely pressed over her face; remaining motionless, as if void of feeling, till she was deprived of power to extricate herself, which, indeed, she evidently determined to avoid. Thus she lay on this bed of fire, till her whole frame began to blister and her limbs to quiver, and she was literally roasted to death! A more horrid sight was scarcely witnessed in India before, notwith standing the diabolical cry issuing from the thousands of Heathens-" Victory, Victory to Suttee Mata!" In an instant, they rushed forward like so many fiends broken loose from the bottomless pit, and every individual snatched up a log or a bamboo, and seemed to vie with one another in being the foremost to participate in the murder of this human victim! All the Christians present must have felt as if thunderstruck at this shocking spectacle. During the time, many painful thoughts crossed my breast-such as, "Satan has obtained a triumph- his kingdom seems to be taking deeper rootAlas! what are we doing! What are the Bible and Missionary Societies doing, in comparison to what they ought to do, toward the deliverance of these captives from the iron grasp of the lion that is devouring them!"" Oh that the defenders and advocates (these must not be considered as improper terms) of the Suttee System, and the Governors and Rulers of India, had been present, to see this terrible sight! It would speak louder than all that has ever been said and written against it. It would tingle in their ears, and haunt their imaginations, till they had washed their hands from the blood of these victims, and for ever wiped off this stain of national guilt-every obstacle would give way, like a slender piece of cotton-thread before the fire; and an immediate deliverance from Sutteeism would be proclaimed throughout the land. May this longedfor day speedily arrive, ere the Lord is stirred up to requite it by future signal judgments! Sept. 22, 1828-We heard great and wonderful things respecting the Suttee, of what she had foretold, &c. Thus are these deluded creatures ready to believe every lie! Another Suttee rescued. I Sept. 26-I was informed that a Suttee was about taking place, at Turnbull's Gunge, three miles from Chunar. hastened to the place, with Charles Doss and Christian Tryloke. The whole of this populous village had already collected on the banks of the river. The victim was a Young Woman, 16 years of age: she was seated by the corpse of her husband, with a string of beads in her hand, and her face toward the sacred stream. The pile was raised five feet from the ground; and was about seven feet long and four wide, supported by strong stakes and cross poles, evidently intended to prevent the possibility of her escape, if she should attempt it. Seeing this, I pointed it out to the Police Officer, who, being a Mussulman, instantly rectified it. I now approached the Woman, and addressed her to this effect-" Why do you destroy yourself?" "My Takoor," was her reply. "This perishing corpse is not your Takoor. Your Takoor has left its tenement of clay: he is no more your Takoor, nor have you any relation to him now that he is dead. He came into the world alone, and is gone alone. Wait till you are also called away. Do not fly in the face of your Creator, and deprive yourself of the life which he has given you. In order to avoid the lesser evil, you ensure to yourself eternal destruction by committing suicide." To all this, and much more, she seemed to listen with attention; and one here and there in the crowd (who were also all attention) seconded what was said, and acknowledged the truth of all. The Christians present did what they could to dissuade her, nor was the Thanadar behind in his duty to prevent it. The sun being set, the people, having fasted during the whole day, now unitedly pressed to be permitted to commit the corpse to the flames; and that she might, notwithstanding, afterward devote herself to the pile with some relic of her Husband, as soon as authority to do so should be obtained. To this she agreed; and then retired, the crowd following her. Observing that some of her Relations suggested the idea of destroying herself if she retired, I suspected that they would not be wanting in administering what would cause her death; and inti mated to the Police Officer the propriety of having none but Mussulmans to guard her, keeping the Hindoos as much aloof as possible till the appointed time should come. This was acceded to, and we left them at five in the evening. However, thinking that a favourable opportunity served to speak to her during the night, I set off again to the spot at ten o'clock, determined to remain there during the night on coming up, I was somewhat pleased to find her preparing to bathe: yet she still moved about like one deprived of her senses. I then addressed her as before-when, all on a sudden, as if the spell was broken by which she was held, and she had returned to her right mind, she gave vent to her feelings with tears and lamentations bewailing her lord, she said, that she should now have been in Paradise-that all were her enemies-who would now protect her? how should she drag out a whole life from her sixteenth year?-she had no children to beguile her days &c. I told her, that if none of her Relations would protect her, she might send to me, and I would see that justice was done her. I also got the Police Officers to offer their services, in the event of her being oppressed; and she seemed somewhat eased. It was now universally allowed that the danger was passed, and that no apprehension remained; and I returned home, thankful for what had taken place, as this seemed in a great measure to make up for the defeat sustained and felt at Mirzapore. The guards also soon retired. Christian and his wife Ruth also came some hours before day, and found all well. Next morning, the people were heard saying, that the Padre's persuasion, and the bewitching powers of the Bengalee whom he brought with him, deprived the Woman of her Sutya. Many impre. cated curses upon us; while others spoke more reasonably, and appreciated the deed. In view of these scenes, Christianity, mere nominal Christianity, compared with Hindooism, is as a beautiful and stately palace to a slaughter-house flow. ing with gore. Oct. 2, 1828-I sent the Schoolmistress yesterday, to see how the poor woman was who was preserved from the flames: on her return, she said that it was with great difficulty that she could obtain a sight of her, and that she appeared nearly starved to death: in consequence, early this morning I went to the spot, and was solemnly assured by the people, that, during the night, she had been sent to Mirzapore, to spend a few days with her friends; though others said she was not gone. Apprehending lest they might yet cause her death, I got the Police Officer to make particular inquiries; which he did, and, in the course of the day, informed me she was still at the village, doing well. It is truly astonishing to see what a depth of lying this people have fallen into: the most respectable, wealthy, and attentive to their religious ceremonies, seem to think as little of a deliberate falsehood, as of taking a draught of water. Condemnation of Caste by a Native The Native Christians of the South of India, who retain attachment to Caste, will do well to listen to the manly strain in which a Native Convert of Chunar writes on the subject to his Brother, still a Heathen: If our forefathers did well, it is wise and right to follow them: if ill, it is wrong. As to finding the way of God without losing caste, I esteem caste of no worth in this world, except the caste of those who fear and love God, and desire to esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the world possesses, As a man of sense, know, that caste is of man's making; and, when he dies, that will not ensure him happiness with God, who has made of one blood all the nations of men. If Hindoos, Mussulmans, and Christians be all the same, why be angry that I have become a Christian? In that case, I am the same as when I was a Hindoo. But this is not true. Let me beg of you to read the New Testament without prejudice; and there you will know, for yourself, that Jesus Christ is the only true way to Heaven. My be coming a Christian was my own act. I was not seduced by Mr. Bowley. Though I be as a fool in age, God gave me wis dom to see that the way of sin is not the way to heaven, and therefore I forsook it. this place, and to shew him the necessity of seeking some other way of salvation. He seemed afraid to encounter our books; as it is gone abroad, that there is a bewitching power attending them, and that those who read them will have their minds changed, and they will lose caste, and become Christians. There was one old hard-hearted man, who tried to make a ridicule of the whole, though he pretended to argue at the same time; and I had as much as I could do to keep him within bounds. As we sat with our book before us, upon an elevated spot by the way-side, the people beheld us with su spicious looks: many laughed and sneered, as if they saw through all our wily arts to deceive and lead them astray, and seemed to think themselves too wise to be drawn into the snare, and yet hun dreds read and accepted of Tracts. Charles read to crowds; and Christian plainly told those who spoke of salvation being among the Hindoos, that there could be no deliverance but by Christianity. -It is truly painful to see to what lengths the Hindoos are carrying the re presentations of Ram's wars with Rawna, the Giant, or Prince of Ceylon. Hand some boys are selected, to act the part of Ram and his Brother; while Rawna and his army are set forth in the uniform of the Governors or Europeans. Rawna and his troops seem to be considered as monsters and cannibals. At Benares, they dress out Natives in European Uniform, with marked white faces. Here, at Chunar, they get a guard of European Soldiers, as well as Sepoys: the Soldiers they had to defend Rawna's fortress &c. The design of these things is perfectly understood by the Natives; but of all the Europeans, from the highest to the lowest, not one individual seems aware of this, otherwise it surely would not be permitted for a moment. The ostensible reason assigned to obtain a European Guard is, probably, that they are required to keep the peace; but Natives answer for that purpose on other occasions, and would suffice on this also. My Pundit was speaking in great glee, on mentioning the circumstance. This is but one instance of many, which shew that European Gentlemen and others may be in India for an age, and yet be ignorant, from the want of intercourse with the people in general, of the views and designs of the Natives. * - Kurrum Messeeh and Christian The went to the people who were assembled, at three miles' distance, to witness the feats of Ram; and Christian engaged himself with a Cuveerite Gooroo, and a great crowd collected around to hear the dispute. As usual, they flew off to the Vedant System of semi-atheism, which our friends did not fail to expose. next day they accompanied me to the place, where from 10,000 to 12,000 persons assembled: many stood to argue, both Hindoos and Mussulmans; but soon shrunk aside from the only Way of Salvation. Religion, so far as the heart is concerned, seems almost totally renounced by both classes: all appear to rest satisfied with the mere external part of their systems, leaving God and piety no space in their hearts. They are asleep on the lap of sin: and if the thunders of the Law of God ever arouse them to listen and to put perhaps a few questions, the tidings of Salvation through Christ alone seem to freeze every rising hope of being saved; the barriers which intervene, and which are, humanly-speaking, insuperable, repelling them back into their original state of listless apathy: só that a constant reliance on the mighty power of God to crown our feeble efforts with success, and a deep and abiding sense of the danger to which immortal beings are exposed so long as they are without the knowledge of the Saviour, are indispensable to perseverance and diligence in Missionary Labours. A Saad, whom I had frequently seen at Mirzapore, said that he had been at the assembly of the Saads at Futtyghur: many thousands of his brethren were collected, to whom he read from the Hinduwee Testament which was given him to read to those of his sect at Mirzapore. The people admired all that they had heard, and prevailed upon him to leave the book for the use of the people at the head-quarters of the Saads. I found, from the questions which he put on the Epistles, that he had been in the habit of reading the Testament. I now gave him another Testament for the Mirzapore Station, with several Tracts which he had not seen before. It is pleasing to reflect, that the institution of these Fairs, by the device of the Wicked One to perpetuate Idolatry and false religions, are turning to the greater diffusion of the Gospel of Peace; inasmuch as people come to these Annual Meetings from all parts of the country, and receive the Gospel at them, which, for fear of the |