Christian and Hindoo Benevolence contrasted.

You have heard that in India the inhabitants are divided into a variety of casts. When two Hindoos meet for the participation of food, one diligently inquires of the other, "To what cast do you belong?" He replies, perhaps, I belong to the Catre.' The inquirer then rejoins, I am a Brahmin; stand away from me.' The Catre asks another, To which cast do you belong?' 'I am a Vadri.' "Then stand away from me. The Vadri asks another, 'To what cast do you belong?' "I am a Sudri.' Then stand away from me.' We have not acted so to-day, for I perceive on this platform, and in this assembly, that we have amongst us Christians, if I may use the term, of all casts. We are met together to participate in a celestial banquet, and I find that at this table there are those who belong to the cast of Baptists. of Independents, and of Churchmen, and I find also that Wesleyans have prepared the feast. This puts me in mind of the field of Juggernaut. There was a Brahmin in Calcutta who asked a European gentleman, 'What is your order of Society in Great Britain; are you divided into casts, or do you eat and drink together according to circumstances?' The European gen. tleman replied, 'We deem it our honor to demean ourselves as brethren in the participation of food at one table, as Providence permits.' The Brahmin replied, "That appears to me to be an offence against good morals and good conduct.' The gentleman rejoined, "I think I can prove to you by a practice of your own, that you are in error. How do you act in the field of Juggernaut? Do you not eat there with the lowest cast of India? There you know no distinction of cast, but all feed at one board.' The Brahmin answered, "I can screen myself from the imputation you bring against us, for there we are in the pres ence of our GOD; there Juggernaut is in our midst, and there we can feast together.' 'Ah,' said the gentleman, and I can justify the Christian practice on your own principles, for we are every where in the presence of our GOD.'

Rev. H. Townley, a Missionary.

Cruelty of Hindooism.

With regard to this world, having seen a variety of their sufferings, I have often had that passage of Scripture recalled to my attention, "Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another God.' They practise upon themselves a variety of tortures, and abound in the perpetration of mutual deeds of cruelty and bloodshed. Hindoos meet together to have iron hooks thrust into their backs, to be drawn up into the air, and to be swung round with great velocity. You may see in Calcutta Hindoos dancing about with iron spikes run through their tongues; others with living snakes run through their sides and tongues; and endeavoring to outdo each other in those deeds of iniquity. But they do not stop in these minor acts of cruelty; but go on till they deprive each other even of life itself. Every year, thousands of them find a watery grave; others are buried alive; others are crushed to death by the car of Juggernaut;

and the most numerous class of all are put to death by the flames. It fell to my painful lot to see one woman burned alive; and the deed was committed by her own daughter, with whom I remonstrated as well as with her mother, but to no good effect. The answer the young woman made was, 'It is the custom of the country, and what can I do?' But it may well aggravate the poignancy of our sensibility, when we learn that these horrors are customary. Thus it appears by the official returns, that one widow is burned alive every twelve hours; and this, Sir, has reference merely to British India, but does not include a great number of similar victims who escape the observation of the police, or are not included in the returns. I should suppose that the real truth of the case is, that, taking the whole of India into the account, ONE is burned every FOUR HOURS. Surely, Sir, it is high time for us to be up, and doing something, to send to them the knowledge of that Gospel which says, 'Do thyself no harm.' ib.

Favorable Prospects in India.

In India God has marvellously opened door to our exertions, and no man at present has an arm strong enough to shut it. The magistracy of Calcutta surpasses the magistracy of some places in the West. I never met with the slightest opposition in India in the whole course of my ministry. The Governor-General of India, and other Governors, have repeatedly interfered in some parts of our operations; but always in a friendly manner: and since I left India, I have heard with great satisfaction, that the Government have resolved to augment the measure of their liberality with respect to Hindoo schools. It is well known that the Government have given leave to the missionaries of various Societies to administer instruction to the rising population; and lately, they have resolved to devote one hundred thousand rupees for that work; which sum (about ten thousand pounds sterling) they have given freely, to enlighten British India. I could add many things to confirm the statement of our having access to millions of pagans. I travelled, for about a month, with a converted Brahmin who had given himself to the promotion of the Gospel. We went to all the cities, and towns, and villages in our way up the river, and took our stations near market-places, and other public situations, and 'preached the gospel to every creature' who would listen, none daring to make us afraid. We delivered our tracts, which were received with considerable avidity. When we came to one village, we found ourselves in the neighborhood of an idol-temple; and even there, perceiving by the countenance of the people that they were willing to hear us, we took our station, the Brahmins and other Hindoos amounting to fifty or a hundred. One of them said, while I was speaking, 'Pray, Sir, why do not you ascend the flight of steps leading up to the idol? There you will have a better station.' I replied, 'I could not think of doing it, because, peradventure, some might disapprove.' They replied, "We shall not disapprove.' I said, "You have Brahmins among you, and if one individual disapprove, I will not ascend the stairs." "Sir,'

said they, 'we approve of it.' Thus, from a situation close to that occupied by the idol, I preached to them the cross of Christ. ib.

Claims of the Jews.

Is not the Jew as far from God as the idolatrous Hindoo, or the stupified African, who worship the God of their own invention, and not the God of Nature-the God of the Bible! How largely is our gratitude taxed by the benefits which we owe to this people! Every blessing essential to us in time or eternity, we owe to them. They preserved for us the lively oracles of God.' No Gentile dare add one word to that record of inspiration of which they were penmen. Retributive justice pleads for them-ages of scorn, derision, and persecution have rolled over their heads, and we helped on their afflictions.

Sir Thomas Baring.

Value of Preparatory Efforts.

In the commencement of any great and important undertaking, I have observed, that the universal removal of obstacles is of more consequence than individual instances of com. plete success.

Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry.

I have been asked at times, 'How many converts have your Society made?' and I have answered, perhaps peevishly, 'It matters not, whether any, or none at all! our work is going on slowly and securely; we are gradually undermining and sapping the pharisaism and infidelity of that people.'

Suppose we were residents on the banks of the Susquehanna or the Orinoco, whose mighty waters, at their periodical overflowing, convert the adjoining land into morasses and fens, and where spring fevers and adtumnal agues, desolate the habitations of men, of what avail, in such regions, were all the aid of medical or surgical skill?-Could the perriwigged shades of Radcliffe, and Sydenham, and Mead, revisit us there-could shiploads of Cortex Peruvianus be conveyed to us -how vain the relief afforded, until by proper measures we had freed the marshes of their stagnant waters, and purified the atmosphere by cutting down the noxious vegetation; thus having created as it were a new climate, we might reship our physicians and their drugs, and repose in safety in the renovated country. Just so must we patiently but actively set to work to remove the causes of the Jewish unbelief. In our pursuit of this, while we show the submissiveness and teachable spirit of children, let us not be children in impatient restlessness for the object of our desires. The jewel which we seek is deeply buried in the earth; and even when brought forth to light, may escape the unskilful mineralogist, but the experienced and scientific man will not judge hastily by external appearances, but he will cut and polish and set it off in its beauty. Such a gem is the soul of a converted Jew, and it will shine with a brighter radiance, and in a brighter coronet than encircled the brow of Solomon, even in the crown

of the true David, and 'bright as the stars for ever and ever.' Sir George H. Rose.

Importance of a Mission to Palestine.

The Palestine mission is one of peculiar interest; there is a policy in the selection of that station, for every Jew converted at Palestine will tell a hundred-fold in the conver sion of his brethren. It is like defeating an enemy in the very citadel. It is planting the standard of the cross where the cross itself once stood, and where the fountain of pardon to a guilty world was opened by the soldier's spear, and from whence salvation to Israel and Judah shall again issue forth, to the glory of God in the highest.

William Cunnighame, Esq.

I was particularly struck by the reception which your missionary Wolff, has met in Palestine; nor can I avoid expressing my surprise and pleasure at the singular fact, that the first missionaries to the Holy Land should be sent thither by the American Board of Missions; and that ministers of every church should have met on that sacred soil, and within the very walls of Jerusalem, uniting in this common cause of Christ's people. congratulate my venerable friend near me, (Bishop Chase, from Ohio, North America) at this reciprocity of blessings; that the Occidental Sun of truth is now diffusing his beams over those regions of the East, from whence, centuries since, the first rays of divine light shone forth, whilst we were lying in the "darkness of the shadow of death." That love of the land of their forefathers, which is a peculiar feature of the Jewish character, will, I think, give weight and efficacy to a mission in the very centre of their af fections; nor can I conceive any human plan more likely to conciliate their prejudices. To this, and to the establishment of a mission college on Mount Lebanon, I look forward as the source of permanent blessing to the Christian, as well as to the Jewish world. Lord Bexley.

Restoration of the Jews.

Grudge not the expense of their restoration. It is the most economical course you can take. For when they are restored to their country and their God, you will have missionary funds enough. A large part of the moveable wealth of Christendom and of the Turkish empire would accompany them home. Fast property, for the most part, they have none. They are strangers in every land. Their eyes are ever towards their own Canaan. They are always ready for their journey. Load your ships of Tarshish, spread your sails, and bear out to sea a richer cargo than ever floated on the Atlantic. I hear a voice from heaven, saying, “Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring my sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God." And as the sacred fleet comes in through the Mediterranean with the flight of a bird, an eye perched on Mount Zion descries the "sail-broad vans," like a white cloud in the

horizon, and a voice inquires, "who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?" Ay, as doves to their windows. When the poor feathered wanderers are overtaken by the tempest, or pursued by ravenous birds, how precious do these refuges appear; how earnestly do they long after the sheltering cabin. With far greater desire will this "nation scattered and peeled," this nation "meted out and trodden down," this nation which every hand has plucked and every foot has spurned, look forward to their own Jerusalem, and to the land of their rest.-When fleeing from a world in arms, from hard-hearted hate, from frowns, and injuries, and insults, how will they look forward to the valleys and glens of Canaan as so many windows of a dove, a home after all their wanderings, a rest after all their toils, a shelter from all their dangers.

And while they are waiting for the portals of Palestine to open, shall not this interesting people find an asylum with us? Let there be one spot where they shall receive the kindness due even to brutes. The injustice and cruelty which they have experienced from a baptized nation are an everlasting blot on the Christian world. Although in this unbroken course of persecution and scorn the nominal followers of Christ have been executing the divine sentence, yet, like Nebuchadnezzar, their heart meant not so: and this abuse from the Christian world has served only to prejudice the Jews still more against Christianity, and with a thicker "drop serene" to "quench their orbs." Proscribed and hunted in Europe, and Asia, and Africa, they want, in these ends of the earth, an asylum, where, under kind treatment, their hearts may be won to Christianity, and where, with an unruffled mind, they may examine its claims; where they may cultivate the sciences, and raise up able and learned missionaries to send to their brethren throughout the world. Without being brought together into one peaceful community to learn the arts of life, the science of legislation, and the maxims of political wisdom, how are that depressed people ever to become prepared to conduct their own civil and political concerns, and all the interests of a separate nation? And where in the world should this asylum be found? but in this land of freedom, this retreat of liberty, known throughout the earth as the asylum of the oppressed? We have given a refuge to the oppressed of all other nations, now at last let us open our doors to the most oppressed of all, to those from whom we received the records of salvation, who have the blood of Abraham and David in their veins, and who in all their wanderings occupy so much of the care of heaven. It will be an honor to our country to have it told through the world, that when no other region would receive the ancient people of God, they found a refuge in the tranquil shades of America. And of all places this is the most fitted. Take them home, imbue them with the spirit of your own institutions, and then send them back to kindle up the light of liberty in Asia, and to break the rayless night of despotism which now broods over one entire quarter of the globe. It is what we owe to the sacred cause of liberty by which we ourselves have been

lifted to heaven. It is only a reasonable tax for our birth-right.

Doubtless the projected establishment ought to be regulated with extreme caution, and watched over with unceasing vigilance. It is not, as its enemies would represent, to pamper indolence and hypocrisy. It ought soon to be made to support itself, except so far as it respects the education of missionaries, and perhaps, while the colony is small, the partial maintenance of a minister. The expence of the passage from Europe should be provided for them. The establishment will not long be wanted for the Jews, but while it is wanted, it will probably do good enough to outweigh a million times the value of the property, and afterwards may be sold to transport the colonists to Palestine, or be disposed of in aid of some other charity.

In this artless manner I have spread the case before you. It is enough that it stands forth in its own native form. It needs not the aid of eloquence I will make but one appeal: if ever you heard of the self-denials and prayers of Abraham for you-if ever you were refreshed by the warblings of David's harp-if ever the labors of an Isaiah for the Gentile Church, came into mind-if ever the toils and sufferings of Peter, and Paul, and John, or the sorrows of Jesus of Nazareth; by the prayers of Abraham, by the melodies of David, by the toils of Apostles, and by the sufferings of Christ, I beseech you to have compassion on their brethren. Rev. Dr. Griffin.

American Board of Missions.

FORMATION OF ASSOCIATIONS.

CONNECTICUT. Middlesex Co. Chatham. 3d Eccl. Soc. (Easthampton,) Gent. Assoc. Rev. Joel West, Prest., Warren A. Skinner, V. Prest., Diodate B. West, Sec. David Buell, Treas. 5 coll.-Ladies's Assoc. Mrs. Warren A. Skinner Prest., Mrs Diodate B. West, V. Prest., Mrs. David Buell, Sec., Mrs. Henry Strong, Treas. 5 coll. Formed Aug. 4th.

New London Co. Colchester, Gent. Asso. Gen. David Deming, Pres., Guy Bigelow, V. Pres., Amherst D. Scovell, Sec., Doct. Ezekiel W. Parsons, Treas., 9 coll.-Ladies's Asso. Mrs. Henry Worthington, Pres., Mrs. Asa Newton, V. Pres., Mrs. Elizur Goodrich, Sec., Mrs. John Isham, Treas. 9 coll. Formed Aug. 11th.

Westchester, (2d Eccl. Soc.) Gent. Asso. Rev. Jacob Scales, Pres., Cephas Cone, V. Pres., Bela Robbins, Sec. Matthew G. Warner, Treas. 5 coll.Ladies's Asso. Mrs. Jacob Scales, Pres., Mrs. Zechariah Olmstead, V. Pres., Mrs. Ruth A. Champion, Sec., Miss Sarah Cone, Treas. 5 coll. Formed Aug. 5th.

New-Salem Eccl. Soc. Ladies's Asso. Mrs. Eli Hyde, Pres., Mrs. Henry Perkins, V. Pres. Mrs. John H. Ransom, Sec. Mrs. Daniel Jones, Treas. 5 coll. Formed Aug. 10th.

Windham Co. Lebanon. 1st Eccl. Soc. Gent. Asso. Daniel Strong, Pres., Samuel Buckingham, V. Pres. Solomon Gilbert, Sec., Denison Wattles, jun. Treas. -Ladies's Asso. Mrs. Zebulon Ely, Pres., Mrs. Wil liam Huntington, V. Pres., Miss Sally Ely, Sec., Mrs. Samuel Buckingham, Treas. 4 coll. Formed Aug.

13th.

Exeter Eccl. Soc. Gent. Asso. Daniel Haynes, Pres., Charles Abell, Esq. V. Pres., Eliphalet Abell, Sec., Elias Williams, Treas, 3 coll.-Ladies's Asso. Mrs. Absalom Peters, Pres., Mrs. Williams, V. Pres., Miss Lucy Abell, Sec. 3 coll Formed Aug. 18th.

PALESTINE MISSION.

JOURNAL OF MR. FISK.

(Continued from p. 375.)

THE following extraets contain an account of Mr. Fisk's journey from Beyrout to Jerusalem.

Oct. 28, 1823. Left Beyrout for Jerusalem in company with the Rev. Mr.Jowett. After riding about eight hours on asses, we stopped for the night at Nabi Yoanas, (the Prophet Jonah.) We were welcomed by Abdallab, a Turkish dervish, and conducted to a good room, that is to say, a room, in which, by putting stones against the wooden windows and door, we were able to exclude company, and in a great measure the outer air. The only article of furniture was a mat thrown on the floor. The house was built by the Emir Beshir for the accommodation of travellers. It is near the tomb of a Turkish saint, and at the head of a fine little bay; and the place is called Nabi Yoanas, because tradition says it was here that the fish "vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." We talked with the Dervish about the Prophet. He told most of the story correctly, but added, that God prepared two trees to shelter him when he was thrown upon the dry land. We showed him the book of Jonah in the Arabic Bible. He read, kissed the book, read again, kissed the book again, and so on eight or ten times. Mussulmans often treat the Bible thus when we show it to them, thus acknowledging it as a sacred book. But they are, like the nominal Christians who live among them, more ready to acknowledge its authority by kissing it, and putting it to their forehead and their breast, than by reading it, and receiving its "doctrines, and obeying its precepts.

The next day Messrs. Fisk and Jowett rode to Sidon, which appears to have been the northern limit of the Holy Land, on the sea-shore. Josh. 19:28. On the following VOL. XX.

day they proceeded to Tyre, and took lodg ings in the Greek Catholic convent.

30. The road from Sidon to Tyre is almost a perfect level. The soil seems excellent, but, as in many other parts of Turkey, it is good land lying waste. We saw a few villages east of us; but on the plain we saw no village, and I think only three or four little miserable habitations, for a distance of near thirty miles.

31. In the morning we sold a few Psalters. The Psalter is much more eagerly sought after, than any other part of the Scriptures, because among the Christians of Syria, it is the universal, and almost the only school-book. The education acquired at school, generally amounts to no more than ability to read the Psalter.

Tyre.

South and west of the peninsula, on which Tyre stands, you see ledges of rocks near the shore, and ancient columns scattered on the rocks. The harbor is north of the town. A small harbor, in which boats lie, is surrounded by a wall. At a distance from the landing, there is a reef of rocks, which must make the entrance dangerous in bad weather, but which, by breaking the waves, forms the security of the harbor. We counted more than 100 columns lying in one place on the rocks. In that small harbor, we saw many at the bottom several feet under water.

In the afternoon our travellers set off for Acre, where they arrived by the middle of the next day. Mr. Fisk thus describes the principal mosque in the city, which, he says, "was built by the infamous Jezzar Pasha, and bears his name."

Description of a Turkish Mosque.

The mosque is near the Pasha's palaçe, which was also built by Jezzar. It resembles, in its general form, a Christian church,

39

but is without seats or pews. The floor is covered with carpets, on which the worshippers sit, and kneel. In one corner is a reading desk, and in another part is a pulpit. Stairs at two corners lead up to a fine gallery, and thence to a second, which is very narrow. In front of each gallery are places for rows of lamps. The upper gallery seems to be designed merely for the purpose of illuminating. There is a large chandelier suspended from the lofty dome, and a multitude of lamps hang about the mosque. The windows are also numerous, so that when lighted up in the evenings of the Bairam, the appearance must be splendid. The mosque, according to Mussulman taste, is ornamented by paintings, in which different colors are curiously intermixed. The execution is far from being elegant. Yet the effect is on the whole agreeable. A few Turks were present reading from the Koran.

Before the mosque is a large court paved with marble of different colors, shaded by rows of palm trees, and containing two elegant domes with fountains under them. On three sides of this court, are rows of cloisters for the accommodation of students and travellers. In one of them is a library. The effects of a late siege were visible. In several places the walls of the mosque and of the cloister had been seriously injured by cannon balls. This court with its shades and fountains is quite in oriental taste, and certainly for a hot country it is a delightful spot. My imag

ination was filled with the idea of the learned Mussulmans, in the times of the Caliphs of Bagdad and Cairo, passing their time in such places. I was dressed after the oriental manner, and fancied that in such a place, surrounded by Mussulman doctors, I could soon become familiar both with their manners and their language. Had I the faith, the wisdom, the learning, and the courage of Martyn, I might perhaps find access to such places, and tell these men, who are so wise in their own conceits, that truth which they are so unwilling to hear, namely, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

On the Conversion of Mussulmen.

My mind dwells with deep interest on the question, "How is the Gospel to be preached to the Mussulmans?" According to the established law, and a law which to the extent of my information is rigidly executed, it is immediate death for any Mussulman, of whatever rank, and in whatever circumstances, to renounce his religion. Undoubtedly God can so pour out his Spirit upon men, that they shall embrace his Gospel in multitudes, even

with the certainty of immediate death. But has he ever done thus? Has the Gospel ever prevailed where this was the case? Under the Pagan emperors, fiery persecutions were endured, and the Gospel still prevailed. But in these persecutions, it usually was only some of the principal persons, or at least only a part of the Christians, that were put to death. Perhaps, if a few conversions should take place, and be followed by immediate martyrdom, the blood of the martyrs would again prove the seed of the church, and the persecutors cease from their opposition. Possibly the bloody and fiery scenes of the first centuries are to be acted over again. Possibly some great political revolution is to open the door for the free preaching of the Gospel to the followers of the false prophet. -Yesterday and to-day sold 45 copies of the Scriptures, and a number of tracts.

Nov. 5. At half past nine we left Acre. Mount Carmel was distinctly in view on the south. See 1 Kings 19. It runs N. W. and S. E., and stretches out between the sea and the bay of Acre. "That ancient river, the river Kishon," empties at the head of the bay. See Judges 5:21; and still nearer to Acre is the Betus. I am told that the Kishon is a considerable stream even in summer. At half past 12, having crossed the plain of Acre, we came among small hills. Our muletteer not being well acquainted with the way, we went out of the direct road, and ascended a hill on which stands the village of Abilene, containing, I conjecture, 500 inhabitants. About four o'clock, we entered a fine plain, which we were about an hour in crossing. Soon after this we passed Sephoora, a village about the same size as Abilene. Josephus says, "the greatest cities of Galilee were. Sepphoris and Tiberias." The habitations have a very mean and dirty appearance. We observed three arches together, which probably belonged to a church, or some other building, erected by the Crusaders. The village stands on the side of a hill. On its summit are the walls of an old castle. In going from Sephoora we met many women carrying pitchers of water on their heads. Others were riding, or driving asses, which carried some two and some four jars of water. We soon came to a plat of green-sward, and a fountain whence the women drew the water, and where large numbers of horses and cattle were assembled to quench their thirst. One sees green-sward in this country very seldom, and but little in a place.