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200 hanks thread; 59 pords palm wood; 37 pd. 8lb. oil;

324 boxes tobacco.

In attempting to dispose of these in St. Petersburg, he went to a merchant with whom he had formerly had dealings, and told him that he had, in a singular way, come into possession of a great number of pocket handkerchiefs, of which he wished to dispose; but they could not agree about the price. In the course of a second conversation on the subject, at the house of the holder, the latter told him how he had procured them, and showed him a few of the tracts which were lying near him. "Well," said the merchant, Ivan Stepanitch by name, "that is just like you foreigners; you are always doing good in some way or other. I had no idea that such books as these were published in Russia; and as for the Bible, it has long been my treasure-a look at it does my heart good. If I am joyful, I have only to open it, and I find fresh cause for rejoicing; and if I am sad, I have only to open it, and I find comfort. I will tell you what I will do; I will relieve you of the whole of the handkerchiefs; and I will give you more for them than you ask. You ask 35 kopecks; I am bound by contract to furnish them to government at 40 kopecks. For these I shall give you the price I myself receive."

Thus are friends raised up, as they are required, to assist in carrying on the work of the Lord. And will not friends of religion in England do more to get tracts sold and distributed at those fairs, &c., which are held in our native land, where no such difficulties are to be encountered as had to be surmounted by the individual referred to above?

Reader, if you will not condescend to sell, keep a supply of tracts beside you to give away as opportunities present themselves. Another person in Russia, who has done much for the sale of tracts, went lately to market to purchase two pounds of butter. When weighed, the shopkeeper demanded payment for three pounds: "I require only two pounds," said the person referred to; but as the shopkeeper wished him to take it all, he consented; but as he had only taken money for a smaller quantity, desired him to send it home, when he would pay for it. After some demur, this was agreed to. It was brought, and the money paid; when a request for a trifle for arrack money was preferred. The request was refused; but the merchant, producing two tracts which he had in his pocket, gave these to the man on condition that he would read them. They were entitled, "Sin no trifle," and "The Liar is a fool."

Scarcely had a quarter of an hour passed when the bell again rung. It was the shop

keeper wishing to see the merchant. The latter went to him, demanding, "What do you want?" "I have brought you the price of one pound of butter." "Why?" "I only weighed two pounds, but as you did not look at the weights, I charged you the price of three pounds: I did so; but on my return from your house, I began to read the books you gave me; but I had scarcely read a line when conscience told me I had acted dishonestly; and before I got to the foot of the page, I determined to return you your money. This is the way we constantly do; a person comes for three pounds, we give him two pounds, and charge for three. Another comes for two pounds, we give him a pound and a half. Another for one pound, and we give him three quarters; but I see that this is sinful, and I am resolved, with the help of God, that I will do so no more; for now I see that sin is no trifle." The good that may be accomplished by a single tract, who can calculate! J. C. B.

MADAGASCAR.

THE MARTYR OF MADAGASCAR.

A Hymn composed on reading the melancholy intelligence recently received from that Island.

BY THE REV. W. H. COOPER, OF DUBLIN.

Ye hills of Madagascar

Have heard the secret sigh
Of many a pious asker

Of blessings from on high:
Amidst your forest mazes,
Where spies might not intrude,
The chorus of their praises
Has cheer'd your solitude.
The moon-lit congregation

Has breath'd the fervent prayer,
And heard of Christ's salvation,
And sung his glories there:
There, God's own book perusing,
Some holy pilgrims trod,
And, wrapp'd in heav'nly musing,
Held fellowship with God.
Farewell! this blest seclusion,

The wolf the fold has spy'd,
And now in wild confusion

The flock is scatter'd wide,
In cruel bondage groaning

Beneath the oppressor's rod;
Yet heaven will hear their moaning,
Their record is with God.
The blood of thy first martyr

Is purple on thy plain,
But blest was her departure,

And death to her was gain;
Her spirit rests in glory

Beyond the reach of foes,
And earth shall hear the story
Of her triumphant close.

The Christian world shall waken,
From lethargy profound:
The pow'rs of darkness shaken,
Shall totter to the ground.
And thine enslav'd condition,
Dark isle of Afric's sea,
Shall rouse one loud petition
Till God shall set thee free.

Oh! be thy sons forgiven

Their blind and cruel deeds, Although this blood with Heaven

For righteous vengeance pleads: May Christ's own blood bedew thee, And wash thy stains away,

And Christ's own Spirit through thee Diffuse the light of day.

ANOTHER.

In Madagascar's pagan land

A proto-martyr see;

Lo! foremost of the Christian band
Was Rafa-ra-vavy.

A cruel edict of the Queen

Would extirpate the saints; But yet a little band is seen,

Whose courage never faints. Secluded on a chosen hill,

They meet for praise and prayer; Faith, hope, and love, their bosoms fill,

And God delights to hear.

This little company afraid
Of sin, but not of pain,

Resolv'd e'en when they were betray'd
To pray to God again.
Imprisonment and bonds shall fail

To turn the steady soul

From Him who shed his blood to heal

And make the wounded whole.
An honour'd female's heart was set
To keep the sacred day;
When with a chosen few she met

To read God's word and pray.
Deceiv'd by those who heard her pray,
Her favour'd slaves engage
Their righteous mistress to betray
To persecution's rage.

How glorious was the martyr's death!
She meekly kiss'd the rod;
And for her foes, with her last breath,
Implor'd the love of God!

ANOTHER.

"Not accepting deliverance."-Heb. xi. 35.
Bless'd are the sufferers who endure
Affliction in the Saviour's name;
To them eternal life is sure,

Tho' for the truth they suffer shame.
They bare their bosoms to the dart
Of persecution's utmost rage;
The balm of Gilead heals the smart,
And doth their sharpest griefs assuage.

They buy the truth and sell it not,
Foretastes of bliss to them are given;
Deliv'rance would be dearly bought
From stripes on earth, by loss of heaven.
From Jesus they will not depart,
To free themselves from bonds or death;
His name, engrav'n on their heart,
They publish with their dying breath.
They're not dismayed by Satan's power,
In Christ the Lord is all their trust;
Their faith awaits the promis'd hour
When they shall triumph o'er the dust.

MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN.

Ye heralds of the Lord,

Go in the Saviour's name;
Proclaim throughout the world,

By whom salvation came.

Let the whole earth his grace receive,
Bid all mankind his truth believe.
Go to the frozen sea,

Go to the torrid zone;
To Christ let sinners flee,
And trust in him alone.
Bid the whole, &c.

Around this earthly ball

The joyful tidings bear;
Proclaim his name to all,

Bid the whole earth draw near.

Let the whole, &c.

By grace divine subdued,
Behold, the rich and poor,
The learned and the rude

Shall knock at mercy's door.

Let the whole, &c.

On blind idolaters,
Groping in nature's night,
The morning star confers
A salutary light.

Let the whole, &c.

The Gentile and the Jew

Shall join with one accord
To own his doctrines true,
And honour Christ the Lord.
Let the whole, &c.

In all your conflicts, know
Your God is with you still-
He will his grace bestow,

And strength to do his will.
Let the whole, &c.

Lay your commission down

Not till your work is done;
Then go, receive your crown

From God's eternal Son.

There join your brethren gone before, And praise the Lord for evermore.

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HUMAN SACRIFICES IN GOOMSUR. THE incorruptible seed of Divine truth has long been scattered over many a dark region in the East, and the results have been as various, and, to no small extent, VOL. XVI.

N

as valuable and decided as in any other part of the great field of Christian Missions. But there yet remain large portions of India, amid the cheerless depths of whose moral gloom the light of the everlasting Gospel has never yet appeared, or, at best, has only shed a faint, unsteady ray.

The district of Goomsur, forming the north-western extremity of the Northern Circars, at some distance from the Society's Station of Vizagapatam, maintains in this respect a melancholy pre-eminence. The state of its native inhabitants indicates an urgent necessity for attempts to plant among them the Gospel of the Redeemer; and, from a consideration of the most recent intelligence which has been received, representing scenes of torture and bloodshed in connexion with the religious rites of the people which have never been exceeded in any quarter of the world, the Directors feel that as soon as circumstances will permit, Missionary operations in that country should be commenced. The intelligence referred to was published in a Madras paper at the commencement of last year; and our brother, the Rev. W. H. Drew, by whom it has been transmitted to this country, considers the thrilling statements which it embraces fully entitled to belief. They are as follow:

"Miria Pooja, or human sacrifice, takes place in Goomsur once a year, in one or other of the confederate Mootas* in succession. The victims are stolen from the low country, or brought from some other distant part, and sold to those mootas where the sacrifices are offered if children, they are kept until they attain a proper age. The cruel ceremony is thus performed.

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"When the appointed day arrives, the Khoondst assemble from all parts of the country, dressed in their finery; some with bear-skins thrown over their shoulders, others with the tails of peacocks flowing behind them, and the long-winding feather of the jungle cork waving on their heads. Thus decked out, they dance, leap, and revel, beating drums, and playing on an instrument not unlike in sound to the Highland pipe. Soon after noon the Jani, or presiding priest, with the aid of his assistants, fastens the unfortunate victim to a strong post, firmly fixed into the ground; and then, standing erect, the living sacrifice suffers the unutterable torture (humanity shudders at the recital) of having the flesh cut off from his bones in small pieces by the knives of the savage crowd, who rush on him and contend with each other for a portion of the gory and quivering substance. Great value is attached to the first morsel thus severed from the victim's body, for it is supposed to possess superior virtues, and a proportionate eagerness is evinced to acquire it.

"In Guddapore, another and equally cruel sacrifice frequently precedes the one already described. A trench seven feet long is dug, along which the human victim is suspended alive, the neck and heels being fastened with ropes to stakes firmly fixed at each end of the excavation, so that to prevent strangulation he is compelled to support himself by extending his hands over each side of his grave. "The presiding priest, Jani, after performing some ceremonies in honour of the goddess Manekisiri, takes an axe and inflicts six cuts at equal distances from the back of the neck to the feet, repeating the numbers one, two, &c., as he proceeds, Rondi, Rendi, Moonjii, Nalgi, Chingi, Lajgi, and at the seventh, Argi, decapitates the victim-the body falls into the pit, and is covered with earth; after which the hellish orgies first described are enacted.

"Women are sacrificed as well as men; and since the arrival of the troops in the Khoond country, a female found her way into the Collector's camp, at Patringia, with fetters on her legs. She had escaped during the confusion of an attack by our men on the Wulsa (hiding-place) of the people who had charge of her,

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and related that she had been sold by her brother!! to a Mootikoo of one of the Patringia Mootas for the purpose of being sacrificed. I need not say that she was instantly released, and that she abjured all further connexion with her people.""

It cannot be supposed that any object is sought by the recital of such horrifying events as the foregoing, except more deeply to impress upon the minds of Christians the value of the privileges which they possess; the sorrows, the sufferings, and the cruelties connected with heathenism; the fact that there is no sure remedy for these great evils but the humanising and healing influences of the Gospel of the Son of God; together with the powerful obligations under which all, who bear his name and enjoy his salvation, are placed, to communicate to the heathen, by all the means in their power, the blessings with which they are so richly favoured.

Mr. Drew, impressed with similar reflections, observes in reference to the above painful occurrences:

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"Such is the state of this portion of the inhabitants of India in the nineteenth century. I have every reason to believe the account to be true. There is no need to attempt to exaggerate such scenes. Here are melancholy and revolting proofs that the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.' The idolatry of the Hindus, not content with merely having such fruits, has made them sacred, and brought them into the worship of God, insulting his purity by the obscenity of its rites, and denying his love by their cruelty. O Christians, who live in the midst of all the blessings of favoured England, look on these scenes of misery and debasement; contrast them with your own happy condition; remember through whose sufferings and death your privileges have come to you, and remember, also, that He who sent his messages of love to you, bids you go into all nations and proclaim them to every creature. O remember the dignity and blessedness to which the Gospel of Jesus could raise these miserable slaves of Satan, and be stirred up to new zeal in the glorious cause of Missions ; pray more fervently, labour more earnestly, and live more self-denyingly, that the period may be hastened when all men shall be blessed in Christ, and all nations shall call him blessed."

CALCUTTA MISSION.

In the following Report from our devoted brother, the Rev. A. F. Lacroix, numerous features of interest are brought to view in connexion with the Society's operations at the above important Mission. The efforts in progress there to extend the knowledge of the English language among the native inhabitants, and to prepare, by a suitable course of instruction, a number of intelligent young men, natives of the country, to labour as Christian teachers in the Bengal Presidency, will be regarded as peculiarly encouraging, and replete with the promise of future good to this part of India. Impressions of the character, value, and claims of the Christian religion appear to multiply and strengthen in the native mind; and, although there is yet little decided and positive evidence that many of those, for whom the Missionaries of Christ are anxiously praying and labouring, have passed from death unto life, no doubt can be felt that the Gospel is gradually striking deeper and deeper into the moral soil of India. Of this more emphatic proof could not be found than that which is involved in the statements and reasonings of its enemies, as exemplified at the close of the subjoined Re

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