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extent. From a calculation made in the time of Asuph-ud-Dowlah, this city is said to contain 800,000 souls. It is a lively, rich, and splendid city. Some of the houses in the same street with the Nabob's palace are built in the European style, and have a grand appearance. The huge brick buildings in other parts, on account of their high walls and well guarded gates, are like prisons; beyond which nothing of the interior can be viewed. The principal streets, four or five in number, are broad and in good order; but the lanes, (very numerous) are like filthy gutters, yet pastry-cooks' and confectioners' shops are to be seen in most of them. The greater part of the city presents a confused assemblage of tiled and straw huts, and indifferent brick buildings. In general, the houses are crowded upon one another; and notwithstanding the want of room, numerous groupes of trees are every where to be seen. That part of the city which descends toward

the Goomtee, has a fine and picturesque appearance when viewed The Sepulchres of the Musulmans of note are Musjids, Eedgahs,

from the bridge.

scattered in almost every part of the city. Durgahs, and Houses for prayer, are also numerous : some of these are extensive, and very expensive buildings.

"This is literally a bloody city. Murders (the most unprovoked in some instances) are committed every week. It is a city of violence and lust issuing in the most unnatural crimes ;-and calls loudly for the sanctifying influence of the gospel to quench the rage of inordinate affections,—or the deluge of God's wrath to extinguish the violence of raging and multiplied iniquities.

"During my last short stay one of the Nabob's elephant keepers, had his head cut off, and another an arm in a dispute with a zumindar;-eight men were killed outright, and several dreadfully wounded in an engagement between two of the Nabob's battalions; a lad had his wrist struck off in a lane, and was robbed of a bangle he wore; and a woman of ill fame was plundered of every thing valuable about her house and person, to the amount of 20,000 Rupees in money, jewels and clothes, and herself stabbed, which causing her bowels to gush out, she stooped to stay them with

her hands, and then received another stab in the back; but nei The poor creature survived and recovered.

ther proved mortal.

III. Extract of a letter from an Officer in the Upper Provinces. We have travelied over eight hundred or one thousand miles since we left Lucknow, but during all this, few opportunities have offered of conversing much with the natives indeed a large pro portion of the country we have passed through was almost depo pulated by the oppression of Mahratta brahmuns, or the rapine -of Musulman freebooters: this system. I trust we have, under Providence, been the means of abolishing. If ever a war was neces sary or justifiable, the late one was so. The "Moloch of barbarity has been overthrown," and brahmunism has received a blow which will prove fatal to it, I think, in a great measure; and this is the opinion of a great number among themselves. I cannot forbear remarking, what a wonderful period that of the last six months. has been in India: it is doubtless for some important purpose that o ur empire has been thus extended, else whence such extraordi nary infatuation in those who became our enemies,—and our own very great success? I hope this change in the external condition of these countries is preparatory to improvement of a higher nature. Let those who would leave the natives to their own religion, consider what the fruit of the tree is. What would have been their state, had it not pleased the Almighty to subject them to a Christian power! Their religion, instead of being any restraint on the natural depravity of man, holds out allurements to the gratifica tion of almost every evil propensity; the character of the Mah ratta Musulman, or Pindaree, I think is the worst I know in India; I have heard of some acts of atrocious barbarity and abomination that are hardly credible. The Mahrattas themselves, here abouts, are highly debauched; and their deceit, dishonesty, &c. are very great. They are also extremely ignorant, and though all the brahmuns employed in the business of government are called Pundits, there are very few who have read any thing more than a

part of the Suruswutee grammar, and the Geeta, Doorga Puth, &c, They appear to know just sufficient of their religion to enable them to practise their tyranny and extortion. Their stories from the Bhaguyut of Krishnu, &c. were it not for the shocking consequences they produce, I should term the most despicable and childish parts of their religion. They are so very ignorant that any thing like convincing them by serious reasoning is out of the question: there are however some who appear curious to read and enquire. What a field this for your schools! May we some day see them flourishing here.

"The Musulmans have had so little influence here, that Persian is hardly known. Correspondence is carried on in the common spoken dialect of Mewar, consisting, like the rest, of corrupt Sungskrit, and some as corrupt Persian words. The Mahratta language is used by those of that nation: it is understood by some, but spoken by none of the country people: indeed, as all connection with Poona is now at an end, and the Mahratta government almost abolished here, it will probably fall into disuse entirely. The spoken dialect differs little from those of Oodoypore, Joudpore and Joypore: it is extremely barbarous in style and orthography: the common corruptions seem to be a nasal pronunciation, the substitution of h for s, z for j, &c. There are no books in it, though they have some in the Bruj language, as the Geeta, Bhaguvut, Ramayan, &c,

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"By the bye, let me mention an idea which struck me on reading a paper of Mr. Colebrooke's, that this dialect, the Bruj, should be more properly called the Kanya-Koobja, as prevailing at least wherever brahmuns of that denomination are found, The term Bruj I should be rather inclined to apply to a dialect differing from the above, and confined I think to the country about Mut'hoora, in which there are few books, and those merely stories of Krishnu and the Goopees. In the other I should include the Ramayan of Toolsee-das, the Satsuya of Beharee-Lal, and numerous others, and this is the one which I apprehend will be found extremely use ful: it is, (in addition to the places I have before mentioned,)

understood thoroughly, and read as far south as Soorooj, where I have been lately, and as far west as Oodoypore nearly.

"Infanticide is practised here: when a female child is born, they keep her without any nourishment till she dies, or stifle her by filling the mouth with ashes. The burning of women is more frequent here than in our own (upper) provinces, but I imagine less so than in Bengal. Adultery is very prevalent among the other casts; but the Rajpoot women are deterred, by the fear of being murdered. The motive for destroying their female offspring I conceive is, their aversion to humble themselves by paying the usual compliments to the father-in-law at the marriage, and their inability to expend a sufficient quantity of money. I am extremely glad to hear of your plan for instructing Christian children in Sungskrit: it will, as you say, enable them to oppose the brahmuns on their own ground, and to expose their absurdities."

IV. Of the Bheels, by the same.

"There are a singular race in this part of India whom you have not perhaps heard of, I mean the Bheels; they live in the hills and forests, and subsist chiefly by hunting and plundering travellers: they are in a very savage state, dwell in small huts made of boughs of trees, &c. eat the flesh of all animals they can get, though some of them will not kill cows. They have scarcely any religion, though they now and then perform pooja to a rough unshapen stone, under the name of Bhyruv. They have some kind of marriage ceremony, but I understand from many people, that an almost promiscuous intercourse is practised by them. They pay some little respect to brahmuns, but as they have no division of casts among them, I do not think they can be considered as a tribe of Hindoos, though they may imitate them in some things. I have not learned that they have any particular dialect of their own, although it is probable they have. They mix very little

with the inhabitants of towns and villages.

It appears to me possible that these, with the Bhugulpore mountaineers, may be the

remains of a people who have been conquered and driven to the mountains and forests by the Hindoos. Indeed, it is said that this country was subdued by the rajpoots, when they first came from Ayodhya, and invaded Mewar. Are they not mentioned in the Ramayan?"

V. Donation from the 24th Regiment to Native Schoo's. In a letter from Serjeant Worrall, of H. M's. 24th Regiment at Dinapore, dated in May last, he informs one of the editors, that," on Christmas evening, after worship, a public collection was made to be used in any way found most needful, so that it might be for the furtherance of the Redeemer's kingdom; and that after their arrival at Dinapore they gave one Hundred Sicca Rupees to Messrs. Moore and Rowe, to help forward the native schools." Our friend adds, "for the satisfaction of the minds of all, we shall be very thankful to have it mentioned in the public letters that One Hundred was collected, and that it was applied to the aforesaid use."

VI. Death of the Rev. Robert May:

This month, our long esteemed Friend the Rev. Mr. May has been suddenly removed by death. He was taken ill in a fever at Chinsurah about the 4th of August, and on the 11th was removed to Calcutta for the sake of medical assistance, where he died on the 12th at the house of the Rev. Mr. Townley. He was the next morning attended to the grave by a great number of respectable friends. We hope to give a short Memoir of him in our next Number.

VII. Reasons for giving Moral Instruction to the Native Irish through the medium of their Vernacular Language.

The following speech delivered at the Third Annual Meeting of a Society for promoting Irish Schools at the City of London Ta

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