ceeded by the clear light of Gospel Truth. Trusting in the Lord, we take courage; and believe that our labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Mr. Trimnell, at Baddagame, details the following

Conversation with a Buddhist-Christian.

The conversation which I had this afternoon, with a man whom I met while going to call on the people in their houses, shews how these poor people deceive I asked themselves, and are deceived. him, "Of what Religion are you?" A Buddhist, and a Christian." (A very common reply; meaning, that they are Buddhists, but have received Christian Baptism from the Government Proponents.) I asked him, if he ever thought of a future state, or of what would become of him after death. He said, that he did, a little." How do you expect to be saved? Are you seeking salvation ?" "If I have a true faith, either in the Christian or the Buddhist Religion, I shall be saved."

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"That is not the case: if you have a true faith in Christ, you will be saved; but not, if you have faith in Buddhism. How can Buddhu save you? What is the way of salvation in Buddhism ?" As there are many ways of salvation in the Christian Religion, so are there in the Buddhist."-"That is not true: there is but one way of salvation in the Christian Religion, and none whatever in the Buddhist. But tell me some of the ways in Buddhism, by which you expect to be saved ?" If I make great and expensive offerings to Buddhu and his Priests, and do good things, I shall be saved.""Is that the way of salvation, in the Buddhist Religion?" He would not make a decided reply.-"If," said I, “making expensive offerings to Buddhu and his Priests can obtain salvation and the pardon of sins, what must poor men do for salvation, who are not able to make large offerings ?" 'Men must give according to their abilities; the rich, much, and the poor, little."- Can you expect salvation for this? If you had incurred the Governor's displeasure, and, for breaking the laws of the Country, were sentenced to suffer punishment, do you think, that by making a wooden image of the Governor, worshipping it, presenting rice, oil, and flowers to it, and feeding and clothing those who took care of it, that you would escape the punishment which the laws that you had broken required you to suffer ?" He waived the

question: but I kept him to it; and he said, "No, I should not expect that.""My friend," I said, you are a sinner against God, the Creator and Governor of all things: you have broken His Laws, and are condemned to suffer in Hell for your sins: do not think that you can obtain salvation by making images, and presenting offerings to them and to the Priests that attend them. If you have no better way of salvation than this, your soul will be lost." He replied: "It is written in the Books, that, if we make offerings, read the Books (Discourses of Buddhu), and cause them to be written, make bridges and roads, and do the like good things, we shall gain great good to our souls."-" If you had committed murder, and should read a book which I had written, in which it was declared that persons who had broken the laws of their country, if they would present offerings to an image representing me, should escape all punishment; would you believe that book? should you expect to escape punishment ?" "No," he replied." Nor should you believe the things you find in the books of your Priests, without well considering them.' He said, he had as much reason to believe what the Priests said, as what the Ministers of Christ said." If I owed you a pice (a small coin), and should give you two, one good and one bad, and desired you to choose the good and return the bad to me, would you not examine them both ?" " Yes."-" And if you were not able to decide yourself which of the two was the good one, would you not inquire of some one who could tell you?" Yes."- My friend! two Religions are before you—a true and a false Religion. It is your duty to examine them both; and if you find that you are ignorant, as you certainly are, you should pray God to enlighten your understanding, and to lead you into the right way. If two pice, one good and one bad, were put into your hands, if you chose the bad, the loss you would sustain would be very trifling; but if you reject the true, and embrace the false Religion, the loss of your immortal soul will be the consequence."

"

Mr. Trimnell thus notices his Answer to Objections against the Goodness of God.

Another person made a great many objections against the goodness of God; or rather to our doctrine, that God is good; and asked, "Why did God make

man with wicked hearts ?" I shewed him, that that was not the case; that God made man, at the first, perfectly holy, and happy; and that our universal sinfulness was through the first sin of the first man.He asked, "Why did God cause men to be obliged, with trouble, to labour in the fields to get a living?" I told him, that it was part of the curse denounced against the first man, for his wilful disobedience, that he should eat bread by the sweat of his brow. "And why,” said he, “has God made some persons poor and afflicted, some blind, some lame, some deaf and dumb? Why did He not make all men alike? And why, if God has power to convert the hearts of all men, and to turn all Buddhists to Christianity, why does He not do so?" I told him, that God could do all things; that nothing was impossible with Him; that He could have made all men in the same state and circumstances; and that He could, in one day, convert the hearts of all men. But why it had not pleased Him to do so, I could not tell.-I asked him; whether the Governor of this Country did not do many things, the reasons for which he did not make known to his subjects; and whether it was not just and right for him to do so. He said that it was so. I then said, "If it be just and right for the Governor of this Country to do so, how much more so is it for the Infinitely-wise and Almighty Creator and Governor of the world?" I told him, that the proper thing for us to inquire after, was, not why God has done this, and why He has not done the other, but, Is there any way by which we, who have sinned against God, can obtain salvation. A person who had broken the laws of the Country, and was condemned to die, would not be inquiring why had the King done this thing and not done another thing; but he would inquire, Can I be saved? Can I obtain the King's pardon ?'—and I again pointed to Him who had suffered and died for sinners, and begged him to pray to God to enlighten his mind.

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

MR. George, of Trincomalee, gives the following

Affecting Instance of Heathen Fanaticism.

We are not called, in this part of the East, to witness the heart-sickening scenes which the funeral pile, the Ganges, and Juggernaut present; yet, as the religion of the Heathen in the northern part of

Ceylon is purely Brahminical, the Aborigines, when they emigrated from the Continent of India, brought with them their religion-its prejudices, follies, and cruelties. This is a presumptive evidence of that which has been traditionally stated, that this part of the island was once the theatre of human immolations; and although the horrifying practice does not exist now, yet the same ferocious spirit which has identified itself with all the diversified forms and gradations of Idolatry continues still to shew itself, in innumerable modes of self-torture.

A few months ago I witnessed a strange and degrading scene. A fine Young Man, apparently about 25 years of age, being prompted by a chimerical imagination and the false insinuations of the Priests, resolved to render propitious the Goddess Ammen, and thereby obtain great advantages. With these hopes he submitted to a most torturing ceremony, as the goddess to be honoured is supposed to be of a sanguinary temper: she is said to have murdered her own child, and to have drank its blood. To please this demon, he first discoloured his body with paints and saffron, so as to look terrible; and, having partaken plentifully of narcotics, he proceeded to walk round the temple upon slippers studded with nails, which pierced his bare feet: after which he was supported, while he stood on one foot, on the point of a pole about six feet high, called "calloo"-the name and form of an iron instrument, used formerly by the Tamulians in putting to death malefactors, by impaling or spitting them. After this, an iron hook, at least five inches long, with two prongs more than an inch in circumference, was thrust through the skin and muscles of his back, and a rope about forty yards in length was attached to the ring of the hook: this was held by two men, to prevent the wretched man from destroying himself or others; for if he were to get loose, they said, he would run into the fire or water, or commit murder, or whatever the spirit of the goddess, by which he was inspired, might prompt him to do in this way, the infatuated man was led round the neighbourhood. The applause of the multitude, the impulse of his own deluded mind, the stimulating effects of the narcotics, and the excruciating pain which he endured from the hook, made him quite frantic: so that he would frequently, with almost inconceivable agility, bound forward the length of

his rope, and attempt to escape; but was prevented by the men who held it. His back was thus lacerated by the prongs of the hook; and the blood occasionally flowing from the wound, and mixing with the paints on his body, made him appear, when in his gesticulations, the most demon-like one could possibly imagine. During this ceremony he was an object of the greatest awe, for the people imagine such a one to be possessed of a supernatural influence; and that all whom he blesses are blessed, and whom he curses are cursed: hence they scrupulously avoid offending him, and to obtain his blessings are very liberal in their offerings to the Brahmins.

The Committee remark on this

case:

This wretched instance of Pagan Fanaticism presents a most affecting view, not so much of the besotted individual who was the principal in the spectacle, but of the MULTITUDES who witnessed it with RELIGIOUS AWE! Can degradation of intellect and feeling sink lower? Can Satan revel more malignantly in the ruin of immortal man, and his utter alienation from God? How great the charity to raise these prostrate spirits!-to dispel this gloom from an absurd imagination! --and to administer that truth of the Gospel, which at once exalts the mind, purifies the affections, and fixes the hope of man upon the Living and True God!

Mr. Osborne, in speaking of the establishment of a Female School at Batticaloa, thus describes the

Degraded State of Native Females. The first thing which attracted my notice, relative to this subject, was that of the Men being employed in the work which in England is done by the Women, and the Women in that which is there done by the Men. Soon after my arrival at Point de Galle, I went to the house of an English Gentleman; and, on entering the verandah, saw a brawny man sitting on a mat, making ladies' muslin-dresses: this appeared to me so feminine, that I could not forbear expressing my astonishment, at seeing a hand, formed for hard labour, employed in adjusting the trimmings of a lady's dress; while I had passed several delicate females in the streets, who were engaged in a drudgery better suited to the athletic mantua-maker in the verandah, than to them. I have also frequently been grieved by seeing poor slender females Dec. 1830.

bending beneath the heavy loads of fruits, rice, &c., which they were carrying to the market, while stout and indolent men were walking before them at their ease: not unfrequently, the poor woman, besides the load upon her head, has had her infant astride upon her hip. After she has sat all day in the Bazaar to vend her goods, and her husband has been enjoying his betel and tobacco, she takes home what she has not sold-then, first, prepares rice and curry for her lord and master; and when he has done eating, and not till then, is allowed to refresh herself. Washing, ironing, and clearstarching, are all done by the men, as the lighter work; while the women are sitting at the mill, or working in the fields.

It is, however, a still more painful fact, that the females have seldom any religious instruction bestowed upon them; and are but very occasionally seen engaged in the worship of their gods: except at the time of their annual festivals, when they venture among the crowd, to present their little ones to the frightful Idol, as he passes in the sanguinary car ; or to gather up the flowers, which, having first been presented to the Idol, have been thrown out of the car, and then rolled over by the Devotees; and which they carefully preserve and dry, and pulverize, considering them as most potent and saving remedies in all diseases. Seldom or never do we see the female even marked with the sacred ashes; while the man appears nearly covered with them, and which he is careful to procure from the temple at a considerable expense: his forehead is daubed with these ashes, that he may have wisdom for the day-his breast, that he may have health-his arms, that he may have strength- and his back, that he may be sheltered from danger; but no such marks of devotion appear on the female. This, to us, may be considered as no great privation, if we look at the nature of their superstitions; but when we consider that it is regarded by them as an honourable distinction, it shews the awfully neglected and degraded state of the sex. It may be necessary to remark, that this description applies particularly to the Malabars, the worshippers of Brahmah, among whom I resided.

Mr. Hardy states the following particulars of the

in this neighbourhood is the more necessary, as the inhabitants are in all things too superstitious; and appear more attached to the degrading ceremonies of Heathenism, than in any other part of Ceylon which I have yet visited. The beating of the tomtom is nightly heard, accompanying the voice of the Yakadura, while he chaunts the praises of Devils!

A banian-tree stands within a few yards of the spot chosen for the building of our Chapel. A person supposed to be afflicted by an Infernal Spirit was brought to this tree, a few days ago: part of his hair was wrapped round the head of a cock, which was nailed to the tree. The head of the fowl was then severed from its body, and the portion of hair cut from the head of the man; the people supposing that the Demon would leave the person afflicted, and take possession of the tree.

The grand aim of the people is, they say, to cheat the Devils: to move them to compassion, they consider to be impossible. Among other methods used by them to effect this purpose, is the making of an image of clay, supposed to represent the person afflicted: this image is buried, as if it were a real corpse, while the sick person is conveyed to some other place; and the deluded people imagine that the Devil, supposing the person to be really dead, will, in consequence, leave the house, and search elsewhere for victims on which to exercise his hate.

Some of their ceremonies are as disgusting as this is absurd. A Devil-dance, which was celebrated a few weeks ago and continued several days, was concluded by one of the dancers laying himself on the ground, while a stone was laid upon his breast, and a fire kindled on the top of it: a human scull was then brought, filled with contents not unsimilar to those of a witch's cauldron, which were permitted to boil for a considerable time on the fire.

Polynesia.

Sandwich Islands.

AMERICAN BOARD OF MISSIONS.

FROM a variety of communications which have reached this Country, we extract the following details relative to the work which is so successfully proceeding in these Islands.

The Rev. Hiram Bingham, in a Letter of March 30, 1830, addressed from Oahu to the Directors of the London Missionary Society, gives the following view of the State and Prospects of the Mission.

Improved Condition of the Natives. It will give you pleasure to know, that the bad effects, in this quarter, of the illdesigned reports which have been put in circulation respecting this Mission have been, like the spirit which dictated them, SMALL; while the good which they indirectly accomplished, in giving fresh nerve to the arm of the faithful Soldiersurprising, not fatally, the sleeping Sentinel- rousing to action the supine Friends of Missions-and engaging many in their favour who had been Hostile or Indifferent, has been, and will be, comparatively GREAT.

The enemy predicted Civil War, Poverty, and Famine, as the speedy and certain effects of our influence at the Islands. Instead of these, Peace pervades our borders-Commerce floats safely around our unbloody shores-Trade, since our arrival, has increased 500 per cent; 140 ships are annually supplied with refreshment; and the humblest peasant sings a far more cheerful song than when our work began.

Until lately, the enemy claimed the right of unrestrained and privileged licentiousness, and was not ashamed to fight for it: now, a thousand Christian Marriages are annually solemnized; and that institution is so guarded and regulated by the Civil Authority and the influence of Religion, as to promise great advancement in the order, purity, and happiness of domestic life. Nay, the abomination and desolation, Infanticidethe disgrace and ruin of Polynesia, the shameless boast of foreign corrupters— is utterly proscribed by written laws, which are likely to have as much efficiency in the Sandwich Islands, as similar laws and prohibitions have in any other Country.

We are happy to see some improvement in dress-in the style and accommodations of native habitations, Schoolhouses, and Places of Worship-and in various useful arts, which we have endeavoured to encourage. We are pleased to see a growing attention, in some of our metic, and Geography. It is presumed Schools, to Systematic Writing, Arithwe might gain some attention if we were

disposed to lecture on the Principles of Natural Philosophy, and on History: and, perhaps, some little advantages might be secured, should we spend time to speak of the theory of earthquakes, thunder, rainbows, water-spouts, tides, eclipses, trade-winds, &c. All these things the Natives of the Sandwich Islands may learn; and what they learned of these would, if they kept free from vanity, help them to understand the Gospel but every thing in its season.

Labours of the Ministry and the Press.

We have come to a race of men, who already know enough of this world to provide, in some good measure, for their temporal necessities, who but lately were lost in spiritual ignorance and spiritual death. In prosecuting our work, our chief reliance has been on the Word of God, which is always quick and powerful; and which, we have good reason to believe, has been emphatically so in respect to this Nation.

This we endeavour to preach, in dependence on the aid of the Spirit, to our large Congregations of 3000 to 4000 hearers; and from house to house, and from village to village. Waiving those more abtruse and metaphysical points by which the Household of Christ appears often to be divided, we choose texts and subjects which afford the most impressive and affecting views of the sinfulness and helplessness of men-the wisdom and goodness of God—the freeness and fulness of His grace in Christ-the character, suffering, death, and exaltation to glory, of the Son of God, our Saviour-the nature and necessity of repentance and faithand the duties, consolations, and rewards of a life of godliness.

With the same view, we translate and publish successive Portions of the Scriptures, and multiply pages of Evangelical Tracts, as the Lord is pleased to prosper us.

The Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are translated and printed, and in the hands of the people: Romans is in the Press: 1 Corinthians is translated, and 25 Psalms: the largest portions of the First Three Books of Moses are also translated and published.

Our different Printed Works amount to about 700 pages 18mo, besides small Elementary Tracts not devoted specially to Religion. Copies of our Publications have been so multiplied, that our printing at this Station amounts, in the aggregate, to 10,140,000 pages; besides the large edi

tions of several Tracts, and of Matthew, Mark, and John, printed for us in America.

We purpose, God willing, to finish the Translation of the New Testament by the 1st of June 1831-to add 50 more Psalms -and to prepare copious Tracts from Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and Judges.

We have in hand a Geography, an Arithmetic, and Elements of Music. For the Maps that are projecting, and perhaps for the Music, we may feel the need of a Lithographic Press.

In carrying on our common printing, two small Ramage presses, worked by native hands, will, with neatness and ease, throw off daily 32,000 pages. These pages are disseminated in every part of the Islands, and afford the means of instruction to 900 Schools, which, at an average of 50 each, contain 45,000 learners. This number is, doubtless, within bounds, if we include all that have learned with those who are now learning to read. Influence of the Gospel on the Natives.

Besides the moral and religious instruction imparted from the Pulpit and the Press; and that given to the common people, by the means of no less than 900 Native School-Teachers (incompetent indeed, but useful), together with the personal efforts of the Chiefs generally, and the Headmen, who are friendly; also of the Tahitian Teachers, who are doing good; we are required to converse daily with those who throng our houses to confess their sins-to speak of their love to the Word of God-to tell their fears, their wants, and difficulties-and to ask for the Bread of Life.

Multitudes on the different Islands have PROFESSED to believe on Christ, and to love and obey His Word. Multitudes have actually exchanged a vicious for an apparently moral life—have expressed a desire to devote themselves to God-and actually attend on the various forms of Religion; though faithfully cautioned, from time to time, to place no reliance on forms without sincerity of heart: we may safely say that there are many thousands of this sort. Take, for instance, the Village and Valley of Honoruru alone: here are 1137 men and 1500 women, whose names are registered as Members of a Prayer-Meeting, making an aggregate of 2637; yet not one to forty of these are Members of the Church.

In all the Islands we have baptized but about 200, on the profession of their