INDIA. MISSION AT MIRZAPORE. THE operations of the Society at Mirzapore were commenced in May, 1838, by the Rev. R. C. Mather, who has continued his labours there to the present time. Mirzapore is a newly-erected city: it was built under the direction of an European magistrate, and, from the wideness and regularity of the streets, affords great facilities for preaching in the open air. It is distant from Benares about thirty miles, and is considered the most important commercial mart in northwestern India. The city is divided into six districts, and contains a population of more than sixty thousand inhabitants, who are principally engaged in trade and commerce. On this account it holds, in the estimation of the Hindoos, the same exalted position in regard to trade, as Benares maintains with reference to religion. From the generally crowded state of its bazaars, the respectable appearance of the inhabitants, and the superior character of the houses, it strongly resembles the best part of Benares; but the great trade that is carried on gives it a still more busy and animated appearance. On commencing his labours at this station, Mr. Mather found the people remarkably disposed to listen to the Word of Life, while they exhibited no ordinary candour in judging of the conflicting claims of their own religion and those of Christianity. Our brother has devoted from the first a large portion of his time to preaching in the public bazaars. He had not been long at the station when he succeeded in establishing a regular Hindoostanee service. Those who placed themselves under his ministry made rapid attainment in scriptural knowledge. The first convert was baptized by him in February, 1839; others were added from time to time; and about two years ago the native believers were formed into a church. Among other means of usefulness which have been successively brought into operation, the most prominent and useful are the orphan schools, the lithographic printing establishment, and the theological class for the instruction of native young men with a view to the christian ministry. Each of these branches of labour is replete with encouragement and promise. From the orphan schools, several of the more advanced pupils have been received into church-fellowship; others are evidently under the influence of divine grace; and all are advancing in general and religious knowledge. The press has issued great numbers of christian books for general circulation amongst the Hindoo and Mussulman population; while affording beneficial employment to several of the orphan boys. None of the native students have actually entered on the Missionary work, but from the progress they have made, there is good reason to hope that some of them, after due preparation, will become able and devoted labourers in the Gospel. Two native evangelists, distinguished for piety, talent, and ardour, have joined the Mission from Benares, and the services they render, especially as itinerant preachers among the surrounding population, are found extremely valuable. A suitable place of worship, which had long been greatly needed, was lately erected at Mirzapore. "The opening for the English service," observes Mr. Mather, "took place on Sunday the 21st of August, and the opening for the native service on Sunday, September 11. On occasion of the former, a collection was made to defray the expenses of the fittings, and a sum amounting to 330 rupees (337.) was received. For the native service, our native brother, Mirza John, composed three original hymns. On this occasion, our brother, Narapot, of Benares, was present, and we were all mutually delighted with our common fellowship in the Gospel, and the signal mercies connected with the event. "I have the pleasure to enclose a lithograph of the building, executed and printed at Mirzapore."-Page 37. CHINA. Ir is our gratifying duty to congratulate the readers of the Missionary Magazine, on the termination of war both in China and in India. In both these fields of recent conflict, the martial power of our country has proved victorious; and most earnestly we pray that the triumph of British power may be followed by the brighter triumphs of British benevolence, in the early and peaceful introduction to the inhabitants of both nations, of our knowledge, our liberty, and, above all, our religion. In the issue of the awful conflict with China, the Members of the London Missionary Society have felt the deepest concern, and they will be gratified to receive the following Address of the Directors, just issued, on the happy occasion of peace with that mighty empire. ADDRESS Of the Directors of the London Missionary Society, to the Members of that Institution, and the Christian Public of Great Britain. CHINA, with a population estimated at a third portion of the human race, has for ages been shut against the progress of knowledge and the blessings of the Gospel. From generation to generation, the boast of her despotic rulers has been, that the laws and customs of China alter not; and, to preserve inviolate an assumption equally irrational and impious, nations the most enlightened by science and distinguished by religion have been denounced as barbarians, with whom no intercourse might be held but on penalty of death. Under the terror of this cruel prohibition, the unknown millions of China have continued from time immemorial ignorant of the only true God-worshippers of idols -victims of debasing superstitions—and slaves to vice. Over these countless multitudes of immortal fellow creatures, excluded from the light of life and the hope of salvation, the Church of Christ has long mourned; and prayer to God has been made without ceasing, that He would open in China a wide and effectual door for the entrance of the truth and the triumphs of his Son. By a course of events which no human sagacity could foresee, and which Omnipotence only could overrule for good, God has proved himself the hearer of prayer! The horrors of war and the desolations of the sword have ceased, and peace has been established upon honourable terms, and (as we trust) a firm basis, between China and Great Britain. The extension of intercourse secured by the treaty to the principal ports of China, though primarily intended for the interests of commerce, cannot but prove favourable, and highly favourable, to the efforts of Christian benevolence; while the cession to our Government. of an Island on the borders of the Empire, must afford, to the servants of Christ, great facility, no less than security, in their various efforts for making known his salvation to the perishing millions. The friends of truth associated with the London Missionary Society have long regarded China with peculiar interest and deep solicitude; and for a period of nearly forty years, the successive Directors of that Institution have steadily prosecuted preparatory measures for her intellectual and moral improvement, assured that He who hath given to his Son the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession, would never exclude the largest empire, and the strongest hold of idolatry, from the triumphs of his mercy.. These self-denying and arduous efforts have been undertaken by holy men of God, many of whom now rest from their labours, but their works follow them,men whose memories are held in veneration by the Church of Christ, and whose names will be hallowed by the future generations of that land of darkness for which they lived and died. The labours of these devoted Evangelists have included the instruction of the young, the composition of appropriate Christian tracts, and, above all, the translation of the Sacred Scriptures into the Chinese language: they have also employed the power of the press with great efficiency; but, amidst their multifarious exertions, the preaching of the Cross has been the aim of their lives, and the glory of their ministry. Since China has hitherto been inaccessible to those who have sought her salvation, these efforts of Christian mercy have been confined to the British and other European settlements nearest to her shores, as Java, Penang, Malacca, Singapore, and Macao. To these settlements, multitudes of Chinese have constantly resorted for purposes of commerce, and with them our missionaries have enjoyed unrestricted intercourse. These strangers have listened with attention to the faithful proclamation of the Gospel; they have thankfully accepted portions of the Sacred Scriptures, and numbers have returned, bearing that imperishable treasure to their native land. And although we are denied the gratification of ascertaining the full amount of blessings that has resulted from these varied and long-continued operations, faith can rejoice in the promise of her God; "For as the rain and the snow cometh down from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater; so, saith Jehovah, shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth : it shall not return unto me void, but it shail accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing to which I sent it." But the time has come when the friends of Christian missions can no longer be satisfied to carry on the war with Chinese ignorance and idolatry at these distant out-posts. The voice of God to his Church is as distinctly uttered by his Providence as though we heard it from the Holy Oracle, "Behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. Go forward !” The Directors of the London Missionary Society are sensible that a weighty responsibility is imposed on them to meet, as God may give ability, this solemn call with promptitude and vigour. They are thankful that the number of their faithful missionaries, who have acquired the difficult language of China, is greater at the present moment than at any former period. They are also happily enjoying the vigour of health; while two of their number, by their medical science, blended with Christian benevolence, have already conciliated the regard and won the confidence of many of the Chinese to whom they have had access. And anticipating the happy termination of the recent conflict, our devoted brethren have urged on the Directors the duty of advancing to China, and are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of every post for the requisite instructions. Impelled by such considerations, the Directors of the Society assembled on the 8th ult., for the prayerful and mature consideration of the claims of China, and the result of their solemn deliberations is expressed in the following resolutions, unanimously adopted on that occasion: I. That with feelings of ardent thankfulness to the God of all grace, the Directors of the London Missionary Society review the measures commenced by their honoured fathers, nearly forty years since, and prosecuted with undeviating constancy by their successors in office, for the introduction of the blessings of Christianity into the empire of China;-with recollections of hallowed pleasure they record the names and labours of Drs. Morrison and Milne, and their faithful Coadjutors, who, amidst gigantic difficulties and discouragements, persevered to the end of their course in their work of faith and labour of love for the salvation of China;-with devout satisfaction they contemplate the accomplishment of that mighty enterprise, devised and principally accomplished by the disinterested and indefatigable Morrison,-the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the language of the many millions of that idolatrous empire ;-nor can they fail justly to appreciate that invaluable production of his persevering literary toil, the Chinese Dictionary, by which the future acquisition of that difficult language has been so greatly facilitated ;-and, finally, with peculiar pleasure the Directors reflect, that in the later years of the Society's operations (guided and stimulated by the example of their predecessors) the gratifying duty has been assigned to themselves of sending forth a goodly band of faithful missionaries, who, by laborious and persevering application, are now qualified to make known to the Chinese, in their own tongue, the wonderful works of God. II. That reviewing these protracted preparatory labours, sustained by humble hope and persevering prayer, the Directors cannot but invite the Church of Christ throughout the world, and the friends of the London Missionary Society in particular, to unite in grateful adoration to the God of Missions for the termination of war with China, and for the greatly enlarged facilities, secured by the Treaty of Peace, for the introduction of the multiplied advantages and spiritual blessings of Christianity into vast and populous regions, sealed for past ages against the servants of the only true God, and for the bright prospects presented to our confidence, of the ultimate conversion of China to the faith of Christ. III. That, impelled by a sense of the additional obligations thus imposed by the providence of God, the Directors solemnly pledge themselves to employ all practicable means for increasing the strength and efficiency of their Chinese Missions, and for adding to the number of the labourers already in the field; fully assured that such enlarged efforts will be sanctioned by the unanimous concurrence of the Society's friends, and generously sustained by their zeal, liberality, and prayers. In accordance with the sentiments thus deliberately expressed, the Directors have already adopted measures for the removal of the Anglo-Chinese College from Malacca (distant about fifteen hundred miles from China) to the Island of Hong Kong. To that station the printing-presses and various missionary apparatus will also be transferred; while a part of our missionary brethren will be located on the island, and the remainder will proceed to such of the Chinese cities opened for commerce by the treaty of peace, as may appear most eligible. The Directors, however, are not only anxious that the brethren already in the field should be employed with the greatest measure of efficiency, but, deeply sensible of the inadequacy of their present resources to meet the opening prospects, they have determined to adopt the best measures for sending forth, during the ensuing two years, TEN OR TWELVE ADDITIONAL MISSIONARIES FOR CHINA, with a view of entering upon stations which the present limited number must leave unsupplied. In adopting these practical measures, which still fall fur short of the urgency of the occasion, the Directors cast themselves with confidence on the generous support of the Society's faithful friends. The expenditure of the institution has for several years exceeded its receipts, and the outlay required in strengthening and extending the Chinese missions will involve a very considerable increase. Yet the Directors cannot apprehend from their constituents the charge of imprudence or presumption, although they may somewhat transgress the precise rules of arithmetical calculation; on the contrary, had they remained inactive, or had they done less for an object of such magnitude, they would have dreaded the charge of coldness and apathy at a moment when ardour and exertion were loudly demanded. A SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION, to meet the enlarged and unavoidable expenditure contemplated, has already been commenced, to which the Directors most earnestly invite the liberal contributions of their friends: they intend to adopt forthwith the best means for presenting the claims of China to the Christian public in the metropolis and throughout the country; and humbly trusting in Him whose glorious kingdom they are anxious to extend, they anticipate the support of his willing people and the sanction of his Holy Spirit. ARTHUR TIDMAN, Signed on behalf of the Directors, J. J. FREEMAN, J. ARUNDEL, Secretaries. LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY. SPECIAL MEETINGS ON BEHALF OF CHINA. A DEVOTIONAL SERVICE will be held at Surrey Chapel, on Tuesday Evening, January 3, 1843, at Half-past Six o'clock. The Rev. H. F. Burder, D.D., will deliver an Address, on Thanksgiving for Peace with China, and the Facilities afforded by the provisions of the Treaty of Peace for the introduction of the Gospel into that vast Empire. A Second Address will be delivered by the Rev. J. MORISON, D.D., on the claims of China for earnest Prayer and extended Exertion, on behalf of China. A PUBLIC MEETING of the Members and Friends of the Society will be held at Exeter Hall, on Tuesday Evening, January 17, at Six o'Clock, to adopt measures for strengthening and extending the Society's Chinese Missions. INDIA. THE CHARAK POOJAH IN BENGAL. We have from year to year urged upon It surely needs but to be known, that, at this pandemonium of a festival, thousands of all ages, and some of both sexes, are cut and lacerated in various parts of the body with the rudest instruments; that death not unfrequently ensues; that the people who suffer are of the lowest class; that it is contrary to the Hindoo shastras, and is looked upon by many as mere amuse ment. On the question being put to the representatives of a village, "Why do you have the Charak?" the reply was, "To gratify our women!" not for religion's sake. No. What a monstrous state of morals must pervade that community where such barbarities are practised to gratify the females! And these are the amiable and kind Hindoos. Surely these things need only to be known to awaken the Christian Church to a sense of her duty. The Government have an establishment for the suppression of Thuggee, and who complains-who talks of interfering with the religious prejudices of the Thugs? and yet it is a religious order, sacred to Kalee, the very same idol in whose honour the Charak is performed. And what is the difference between the two? The poor unwary traveller falls a victim to the artful Thug; the infatuated and intoxicated Charak victim falls a prey too often to the abettors of the Charak. Both make their poojah to Kalee, and is not one murder as well as the other? Whatever it may be in the opinion of man, of this we are sure, it is so in the sight of God. A correspondent of the Durpan states, that a child was stolen from its mother and offered to Kalee during the last poojah! |