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ary societies, has yet come to general knowledge. Is it easier to be a missionary among Hindoos, Mussulmen, Caribs, Indians, Hottentots and Tartars ?-For there your missionaries have to act on free bodies, and only on enslaved souls; but here, where body and soul are both in slavery, it is harder--no renown is to be gathered here-persecution from unchristian masters and others, await you to be called a negro-preacher, is degrading. Of course very humble missionaries are required, who will not be ashamed to go to their cabins, and prepare their hearts for persecution.

If these preliminary ideas should be thought worthy of reflection, it will perhaps be salutary if, in all prayer meetings, the Lord should be humbly entreated to open a way for the conversion of the many slaves in our country. When then the opening by the Lord appears visible, so that an attempt can be made, that idea must be set aside in the first place, that as soon as a slave is a Christian he ought to be free; Paul and Peter say no such thing; they have only to be obedient to their masters, they are freed men of the Lord. Separate meeting houses for them alone ought to be erected, and they would do it themselves in humble style-and the Lord did not despise a manger. The missionary ought not to preach in a church belonging to masters; they will not unite with a church to which their masters belong, but in uniting with another there will be no difficulty. Attempts to admit them to the communion with white people, have not well succeeded; the whites have an inherent antipathy. The missionary ought to be a white man, and have negro assistants; he need not know Greek or Latin, but ought to have polished Christian experience and zeal, and unbigotted fervour, combined with such humility as to call it honourable to be mocked at, derided and despised, for seeking for the Lord's temple, souls of whose immortality many pretend to doubt.

*

The missionary ought not to calculate on receiving any thing but food and raiment, and this will have to be afforded them, in the first attempt, by those whose heart the Lord openeth. As soon, however, as the masters find that their Christian slaves are the most faithful and obedient, they will gladly support their teacher-self-interest alone will teach them.

What a field here presents itself to view; from the Susquehannah to Orleans, and west to the Rocky Mountains! What a glorious prospect, by means within our reach, of christianizing our slaves; and thereby, and thereby only, of securing future generations from prognosticated revolutions.

It is not now necessary to go into detail; the Directors will

* We confess we see no sufficient reason for this suggestion of our correspondent; when the Lord opens the hearts of his people to provide for the ministers of his word, in any situation, we believe that they have a claim upon their fellow Christians for the ordinary comforts of life, which can be neither justly nor honourably withholden.

ED.

ind many rules necessary to be adopted respecting these people,, and they can receive information from such societies as have been most successful in governing similar congregations.

In the mean time, I shall be rejoiced if I find that Christians open their eyes and their hearts, to the immense field within their reach south of the Susquehannah.

N. C. July, 1820.

Intelligence.

A. SLAVE HOLDER..

INDIA BEYOND THE GANGES.-AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSION.

To the Corresponding Secretary. .

REV. AND DEAR SIR,

Rangoon, Dec. 8, 1819.

Being about to leave Rangoon, on a visit to the court of Ava, we feel it our duty briefly to state to the Board the reasons of our procedure.

From the opening of the zayat, last spring, till within a month or two ago, our affairs appeared to be in a prosperous state. Many daily heard the gospel; cases of hopeful inquiry frequently occurred; no serious opposition appeared-and during the little interval of quiet, four precious souls, the first-fruits of Burmah, gave evidence of having obtained the grace of God; three of whom have been baptized.

Some time, however, before the baptism of the two last, the death of the emperor, and the succession of the heir apparent to the crown, operated to give a new aspect to the religious affairs of this country. The former emperor was known to be, in heart, hostile to the priests of Boodh; and he frequently manifested his sentiments in such acts of persecution, as kept the religion in a low and declining state. On his death, the hopes of the priests and their adherents began to revive; and every discovery of the new emperor's friendly disposition, has tended to restore the religious establishment of the country to its former privileges and rauk. The change effected even in Rangoon, under our own eyes, is very remarkable.

Soon after these events began to transpire, and probably in consequence of them, our fifth inquirer, a teacher, of learning and influence, was accused before the viceroy, of having embraced heretical sentiments. The viceroy gave no decisive order, but directed further inquiry to be made. Upon this our friend went to the principal informant, who is at the head of ecclesiastical affairs in Rangoon, made his peace with him, and discontinued his visits to the zayat. This circumstance spread an alarm among all our acquaintance, and combining with the general state of things, and the prevailing expectation, that our attempts

would shortly be proscribed, occasioned a complete falling off at the zayat; and, with the exception of the teacher above named, who has lately visited us in private, and those who have already joined us, we are completely deserted.

Under these circumstances, it appears to us that there remains but one course of proceeding-to go directly into the imperial presence, lay our missionary designs before the throne, and solicit toleration for the Christian religion. By this proceeding, we hope to discover the real feelings and sentiments of the emperor. We hope to ascertain, as distinctly as possible, whether he is devoted to Boodhism, or has imbibed, in any degree, the opinions of his grandfather, and disguises them, at present, from motives of policy merely. If the former be the case, he will prohibit our missionary work, and we shall be under the necessity of leaving his dominions. If the latter be the case, and he be in any measure pleased with the Christian system, he will, we hope, give us at least such private encouragement, as will enable us to prosecute our work, without incurring the charge of rashness and

enthusiasm.

In approaching the throne, we desire to have a simple dependence on the presence and power of our Saviour, and a single eye to His glory. We have indeed no other ground of hope; we ought to have no other view. We trust, that, if the set time to favour Burmah is come, He who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working, will open a wide and effectual door for the promulgation of divine truth. But if the Lord has other purposes, it becomes us meekly to acquiesce, and willingly to sacrifice our dearest hopes to the divine will. We rest assured, that in either case, the perfections of God will be displayed, and desire to be thankful, that we are allowed to be in any way instrumental of contributing to that display.

We commend ourselves and the mission, in the present solemn crisis, to the sympathies and prayers of our fathers and brethren, and the Christian public, and remain, Rev. and dear Sir, your devoted servants in the Lord, A. JUDSON, Jun. J. COLMAN.

Rev. Dr. Staughton.

POLYNESIA. SANDWICH ISLANDS.

The isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.-Is. li. 5. For several years past, the Sandwich Islands have presented objects of great curiosity to the inquisitive philanthropist. Since a Christian mission from this country to these islands has been contemplated, and especially since the sailing of the missionaries last October, a general interest has been felt with respect to every thing, which relates to the civil polity, and present condition of the natives, as the reception of our brethren might be much affected by these things.

When the Thaddeus sailed, intelligence had not been received of the death of the old king Tamaahmaah, though such an event was considered as likely to take place soon. The life and activity of this man, his acquisition of property and power, and the order and subordination which he had enforced, have for many years attracted no small attention in Europe and America, and his name frequently appears in English reviews. We have conversed with many captains and others, who had been long and particularly acquainted with him. They unite in declaring, that he was a man of extraordinary talents; and that, with superior advantages, he might have made a great statesman. He was very fond of property, and of commerce as the means of obtaining it. Towards the close of life his avarice became more intense, as is generally the case with avaricious men, in all parts of the world. He hoarded Spanish dollars, and almost every kind of personal property, which was not immediately perishable. He had large stone warehouses filled with dry-goods, axes, hoes, fire-arms and other instruments of defence and offence. He had a fort, with guns mounted, and sentinels regularly on duty. He owned three brigs, a schooner, and several small craft. His control over the persons and property of his subjects was absolute. To maintain this control, it was a part of his policy to keep them poor and dependant, and to exercise his power continually. To his chiefs he granted certain privileges. One of them named Krimakoo, was always called his prime minister by the English and Americans, and was by them nicknamed Billy Pitt. He is described by all as being an able, intelligent, and faithful agent. The principal queen is also said to be a shrewd sensible woman, and to have exerted great influence. The late king was also high priest, an office which he assumed many years ago, to obtain and secure his political authority. He was very strict in the performance of his sacerdotal functions, though it is supposed that the ceremonies of his religion. were perfectly unintelligible even to the natives, and that he had no sort of confidence himself in the system.

Tamaahmaah was a strong athletic man till near the close of life, when he became quite emaciated, and died of a gradual decay. He was apprehensive of his approaching dissolution, appointed his only remaining son to succeed him, established his chiefs in their accustomed privileges, associated Billy Pitt and the principal queen with the young prince as advisers, and left the world without any fear that the succession would be disturbed. His subjects made a great lamentation over him, and many of them have these words tattooed, that is, pricked into the skin of

It has been spelt Tamaahmaah, Tamaamaha and Tamahama; and is generally pronounced by sea captains Tam-ma-am-ma, with the accent on the first and third syllables; and the vowels and consonants as in the two first syllables of the word tamarind.

their arms and breasts with indelible ink, in large Roman letters: OUR GREAT AND GOOD KING TAMAAHMAAH DIED MAY 8, 1819. The age of the old king is supposed to have been about 70; the young king is about 23. His name is Reeo-reco, and he has assumed that of his father.

The preceding facts are stated as introductory to others of a much more interesting nature, and which seem to have a most auspicious bearing on the mission, which left our shores attended by so many prayers, and has been the object of so much affectionate solicitude.

Early in the month of November, the young king, (who had himself been inducted into the office of high-priest before his father's death, with a view to preserve his political influence,) came to the resolution to destroy the whole system of idolatry. It is supposed that this was done with full deliberation, with the consent of all who had any voice in the government, and without any opposition from the people. With respect to these transactions, we have the most explicit statements from two eye witnesses, masters of vessels, who have long been conversant with these islands, captain Blair, and captain Clark, both of Boston. When the resolution was taken, orders were issued to set the buildings and inclosures, consecrated to idolatry, on fire; and while the flames were raging, the idols were thrown down, stripped of the cloth hung over them, and cast into the fire; and, what is still. more marvellous, the whole taboo system was destroyed the same day. The sacred buildings were, some of them, thirty feet square; the sides were formed by posts 12 or 14 feet high, stuck into the ground, and the intervals filled with dry grass. The roofs were steep, and thatched with grass, in such a manner as to defend from rain. The morais, or sacred inclosures, were formed by a sort of fence, and were places, where human sacrifices were formerly practised. Before these inclosures stood the idols, from 3 to 14 feet high, the upper part being carved into a hideous resem-blance of the human face.

The taboo system was that, which was perpetually used to interdict certain kinds of food, the doing of certain things on cer-tain days, &c. &c.; in short to forbid whatever the king wished. not to be done. On some subjects the taboo was in constant opcration, and had been, very probably, for thousands of years. It forbade women and men to eat together or to eat food cooked by the same fire. Certain kinds of food were utterly forbidden to the women; particularly pork and plantains, two very important articles in those islands. At the new moon, full, and quarters, when the king was in the morai, performing the various inummeries of idolatry, it was forbidden to women to go on the water.

Every breach of the taboo exposed the delinquent to the punishment of death. But so well was the system understood by the peo ple, and so great was the dread of transgression, that the taboo laws

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