The missionary. (Mt. Zion, Hancock County, Ga.) 1819-182?, April 22, 1822, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

No. 46. Vol. 111. EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY NATHAN S. S. BEMAN $ CO. i The. Terms of “The Missionary” are Three ( )ollars a year if paid in advance, or within sixty :ays from the time of subscribing; or Three Hol ms uid Fifty Cents at the end of the year. .iVo'subscr.iption will be received for a short- ‘ r time than one year, and no paper discontinued jntil all arrearages are paid. Advertisements will be inserted, by the iquare, at 62 1-2 cents for the first insertion ; and or every subsequent insertion 43 f-4 cents. Those who furnish standing advertisements for the year, shall be entitled to a deduction of one quarter of the amount from the above rates. All Communications and Letters relating ♦o the Office, will be directed to N. S. S. Beman tc Cos. and whether enclosing money or not, must come POST PAID: Should any neglect to do this they will be charged with the postage. Printing for Publick Officers and others will be doipe on the most liberal terms. J ww.vw\, AGENTS FOR THIS PAPER. AUGUSTA, J. & H. Ely. ’ COLUMBIA, J.Bynom.Esq.PM.ColumbiaC.H. GREENESBOROUGH, A. H. Scott. SPARTA, Cyprian Wilcox. HARTFORD, Pulaski, G.B.Gardiner Esq.PM. PO WE ETON, S. Duggar, Esq. P M. CLINTON. j Jones Cos. J. W. Carrington. SAFANNAH, S. C. & J. Schenck. ALFORD'S P.O. Greene, C. Alford, Esq. PM. ABBFAILLE,\s7c.) Rev. If. Reid. SANDOVER, Abbeville, S. C Maj. U. Hill. MARION, Twiggs, ‘ S. Williams, Esq. PM. JEFFERSON, Jackson, Rev. E. L'harr. LIBERTY-HALL, Morgan, C. Allen, Esq. IVA TKINSFILL E, Clark, 11. W. Soovell. Esq. P. M RICEBORO', Liberty, Win. Baker, Esq. V M. GRANTS FILLS, Greene, Samuel Finley. PENDLETON, S.C. Joseph Grisham, Esq. PM. DANIELS FILL E, Madison, J.Long, Esq. PM. ERFINSFILLE, Rutherford. N. C. Rev. Hugh Quin. ATHENS, Clirke, B. B. Peck. LtNCOLNTON,Lincoln,Veter Lamar,Esq. PM. SPARTANBURGH, S.C. J.Brannon,Esq. PM. MILLEOGEFILLE, Leonard Perkins. ELBERTON, George Inskeep, Esq. P M. LOUISFILLE, Jeff'n, John Bostwick,Esq.PM. MALLORYSFILLE, Wilkes, . Charles R. G reen.’ WAYNESBORO', Samuel Sturges, Esq. P M LAURENS, S. C. Archibald \ oung, Esq. WRIGIITSBOTtO', Q. L. C. Franklin, Esq. MONTICELLO. Greene D. Brantley, Esq.P .VI. CARNF.SFILLE, Henry Freeman, Esq. P. M. SALEM, Clark, Raleigh Green, Esq. P. M. MADISON, Morgan, William Bamly. DARIEN, Allen Smith, Esq. P. M. FROM THE BOSTON RECORDER. PRESENT STATE OF THE JEWS. 1. Their condition in the several countries where they are scattered. Small colonies of Jews are found through out most parts of Eastern Asia. The one at Cochin, consisting of two hundred fami lies, i? supposed to be the largest. A list, comprising sixty-lire of these colonies, was presented by4he Cochin Jews to Dr. Buc hanan. Repcecting their numbers, litlie ‘is known :—in British India, they are es timated at sixteen .thousand. The black Je vrW* upposed to he the most numerous, are regarded as impure by their while brethren, and are compelled to worship in separate Synagogues. The white Jews, engaged almost; exclusively in mercantile pursuits, are constantly passing from colony to colony ; and by means of them, an easy, quick? and regular communication is kept up between the several colonies. They are more learned, and far less bigoted, than their brethren in the west. They generally understand the Hebrew, and ma ny of them speak it. Among them are men of intelligence, who are well acqnaint- the history of nations. Manuscript •cojpies of the law are found in most of their Synagogues, and several of these were, by Dr. Buchanan, sent to % . England, together /with a New-Testarnent in Jlebre*w. This translation was made “by a Jew, with the express design of refuting the Chrislian re ligion. After many execrations, some of wlyich he inserted in the margin, he was forced to yield to its evidence, and became a Christian. About seven hundred Jews are found in she vicinity of Bombay. Their children, one hundred and fifty in number, are col lected by our Missionaries into three schools, and placed under Jewish teachers. The Missionaries have weekly lectures, designed specially for the Jews ; which are well attended. I In the provinces of Cashmire and Afgha nistan, near the Indus, are many who ac knowledge themselves Jews, and who have mnd£ great sacrifices for the sake of their religion. Mary more, it is supposed, have yielded to the power of the reigning religion. So much do the Jewish manners and customs prevail in these provinces, that many have regarded the inhabitants as principally of Jewish origin. Jews are numerous in the countries near the Caspian. In twelve of the principal town in are found more than twelve thousand families. Many of these ~ pass from place to place, for purposes of trade:—numbers are settled down as agri- “ cullorists. They are poor and ignorant; —ibey have neither Synagogue nor Levite, and of the rites of their fathers, circumcis ion, and abstinence from swine flesh, are all which remain. Absurd and superstitious legends constitute the substance of their re ligion; *nd to these they listen with an at- THE MISSIONARY. tentidh which few Christians give to divine truth. lo Arabia, not a few of the Jews have embraced the Mahometan faith; many however, in spite of persecution, retain the religion of their fathers. They reside chiefly in the southern part, where they have many Synagogues. They are here, as in all Mahometan countries, held in uni versal contempt; never suffered to reside within the walls of any city ; are oppres sively taxed for the privilege of enjoying religious worship; and are ignorant, com pared with their brethren in Protestant, or even in Calholick countries. They carry on an extensive commerce with their breth ren in India, and produce the best artists in Arabia. A number of separate tribes are found on the highlands north east of Medina, which, in consequence of being surrounded by the desert, have for centuries maintain ed their independence. The Jews in the Turkish Empire, are estimated at one million. They have a chief of their own nation, whose power is greater than was that of the Greek Patri arch. Most of the mercantile business is carried on by them, but where the Greek merchants resort, they lose the trade, and where the Armenian comes, both Jew and Greek are compelled to retire. Hence the Jews in Constantinople,—seventy-five thousand in number, —are in extreme erty: In Palestine they are comparatively few ; and in consequence of the united op pression of the Turk and the Arab, they live in the most abject misery. At Jerusa lem, are three thousand Jews, many of whom are Priests. They collect an annu al tribute of their brethren in other coun tries, to the amount of half a million of dollars. This is paid very cheerfully, as all Jews feel a deep interest in having pub lick worship maintained at Jerusalem. The government of Austria is extremely jealous of all attempts to enlighten its Jew , ish subjects. This system will long retain seventy-five thousand Jews in ignorance and bondage. Poland has for ages been denominated ilbe Jewish Paradise. It is the seat of their literature, —the country where most of their Rabbis receive their education. Here they possess an influence and respec tability, which they nowhere else etfjoy- Tbe Rabbis and Scribes exercise over their brethren, almost unlimited sway. They constitute the supreme Judges in matters civil and religious. The Polish Jews have little landed property, but they possess the trade, and the gold of the country. The produce passes through sheir Hands; —the principal mills, the toll gates, the ferries, and the taverns of the country*are tbeir3. They are self-righteous, and pharisaiCal, lo an extreme. Their number is half a million. In the Russian Empire* are two millions, —they’ are generally poor and ignorant, and multitudes in these respects fall below the slaves. Alexander is:using every effort to meliorate their condition. In 1805, he admitted them to the privileges of ihe schools and college? throughout his Em pire. He invites, protects, and assists Mis sionaries to labour among his Jewish sub jects. All Magistrates are required to see (bat converted Jews are protected. To rescue them from want, a tract of land was set apart in 1817, and made free to Jewish converts of every nation. This colony is exempt from taxes, every honest employ ment, except selling spirituous liquors, is permitted, and each unites with whatever denomination of Christians he pleases. WheTre are the exploits of the Macedonian Alexander, which exhibits greatness like this ? In Prussia, are seventy-five thousand Jews. A few years since, and cruel laws doomed most of them to perpetual celiba cy; the happy few, whose high privilege it was to enter the marriage state, must re quite, the favour by furnishing their cup boards with porcelain,—the refuse of the Royal Manufactory, These laws were re voked in 1809. In 1812 they were pre sented with anew constitution, which guar antees to them all the privileges of citizens. In Sweden, also, they have of late obtain ed considerable privileges. In Denmiftk, they have long been rank ed as men, and have produced many dis tinguished characters. Their system of education Hs rapidly improving, and the ex ertions of Jewish parents to educate their tfliildren, are now seconded by (heir Chris tianneighbours. At Copenhagen they have a free school well endowed. Some of the German Princes are exert ing themselves in favour of their Jew ish subjects. In a few instances, they have compelled towns to make good damages done by the mob. But in most of the free towns, they are oppressively taxed for the privilege of a residence. The thousands in Frankfort, are by night shut up in a sin gle lane, and by day excluded from the side walks. The German Jews are beginning lo prize education, and to establish schools for themselves; popular prejudice forbid ding their children to mingle with Christian children in their pqidick schools. The most refined generally regard their religion as mere ceremonies, useful chiefly in re straining the vulgar; and multitudes of them reject both the Talmud and the law GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE G.QSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE.— Jesus Christ. MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK CO. GA.) MONDAY, APRIL 22, 1822. and settle down in deism. There are two hundred thousand German Jews. In Holland,are sixty thousand Jews; mo3t of whom reside at Amsterdam. They are honest, industrious, affluent, polished, and enlightened. Many are learned* and to these the world is indebted for some valua ble discoveries; but however meritorious, they are excluded from all literary associa tions. Few of them are artisans, as cus tom excludes them from the work shops. A Royal Edict, in 1817, required them to educate their children in the knowledge of the Jewish Scriptures.- Christians are ex tensively aiding them in this design, and much good is evidently resulting. The sixteen thousand Jews in England, enjoy every privilege enjoyed by dissen ters. The Portuguese Jews here,"as in other countries, are brokers ;md merchants of respectability. The German Jews, in this country, are more numerous, and are generally poor.and dishonest. In 1791, the Je*s of France, after a long series of persecutions, obtained the rights of citizens. The late Emperour befriend ed them, and many of them were found, not only in the rapks, but among the offi cers of his army. Great efforts have been made to turn their attention from trade to honest labour. Consequently, numbers are now engaging in agriculture and mechani cal employments, and others are pursuing the various sciences with success. No Jew is permitted to enter Spain or Portugal. Yet there are many in these countries;—they pass for zealous Catlio iicks, and fill the most sacred deparments of the Romish Priesthood, still practising in secret Mosaick rite; a dissimulation countenanced by the Talmud. Jews reside in most of the large towns in Italy. Many of them are literary men; — some, poets. In Leghorn, are fifteen thousand; one third ol the whole popnla.- tion,—Thty have a separate part of the city ; are heavily taxed ; yet accumulate wealth, having the trade in their hands. In the Barbary States are half a million of Jews. The condition and character of that unhappy people, is in no country more truly deplorable. They are liable at any moment to be deprived of their possessions. From the Moors and Arabs, they suffer ev ery idignity; yet they suffer patiently they date not defend themselves, In child hood they are inured to the insults and blows of other children ; and under these, they are not suffered even to complain. When the Moor of rank approaches, the Jew uncovering his feet, must stand in an inclining postnre, by the way side, till the Moor passes by. Most of them abandon themselves to beastly pleasure, and others seek in accumulation of wealth, a solace for their woes. Multitudes are wretched from extreme poverty :—intemperaßce characterizes the whole. Polygamy adds to the degradation and the misery of the women ; they are at any time divorced at the will of the husband. Among the Bar bary Jews, are enterprising merchants, who possess nearly the whole trade of the country, and accumulate immense treas ures. Many, to escape persecution, have embraced Mahometanism Numbers are found in the mountains of Morocco, who engage in laborious pursuits. The Jews in Egypt, are numerous and powerful. They farm air the revenues, and by this employment have acquired in fluence and reputation. They close their offices during the Christain Sabbath, which prevents all transportation ofgoods on that day. The Jews of Abyssinia enjoy much tran quillity ; they have lost the Hebrew, but have translations of their Scriptures, writ- ten by the Abyssinian Christians. AtTombnctoo, Sansarding, and most of thp large towns in the interioqr of Africa, Jewish merchants are found. Notwith standing their wealth the uncultivated Af rican looks upon them vvith contempt. Even here they cannot escape persecution. In the United States are three thousand Jews. They are found principally in New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Charleston, and Savannah. They are-admitted to all the rights of freemen. Commerce is their employment; they are possessed of con siderable wealth, and have little intercourse with Christians, except in the way of busi ness. Yet the fault seems not to he theirs, for they are pleased with every mark of attention. (To be continued.) EDUCATION'. fn the State of New York tha number of chil dren educated in the short space of seven years, in the common schools, has inoreased from 140,- 000 to upwards 0f330,000. In the year 1821, as ananv as 332,870 children Were taught. There are in the state 6835 school districts, hieing an increase of about 300 since last year ; the number ofchildren reported between 5 and 15 years of age is 349,258 ; and the. proportion be tween that number and tbo=e educated in common schools, is as 32 to 35. The ddiole is not proba bly less than 375,000 receiving publick instruction in the state during the last year —being more than one fourth part of the population of the state, Gturgiim. GRATITUDE. There are minds sb impatient of inferiority, that their gratitude is a species of revenge ; and they- return benefits, not because recompense is a pleasure, but because obligation is a pain. CONDITION OF WOMEN IN INDIA. Extracted from a Reviewofthe Rev. Mr. Ward’s “Farewell Letters.” From the Christiati Observer. The sixth letter is on the state of females in Hindostan. On this subject, Mr. Ward has already addressed the British publick. And how strong is tfie claim established by such statements on the minds of women living under the geoial influence of the Gospel! The condition of the Hindoo fe male is, from first to test, degraded and miserable. It is stated by the autjjor, that even the birth of a female is, oo account of the expenses of her education, and other causes, considered as a calamity in the fam ily of an Hindoo. Hence, her first encoun ter is with the frowns of those who are nat ural guardians. In the tribe of the Raj poots, all the female infants are without ceremony put to death ; and when one pa rent had ventured for a time to deviate from the established practice, the resent ment of his tribe at length compelled him to propitiate their anger “by the butchery of his child. Not a single school for girls exists all over the country; and they live therefore for the first twelve years of their existence in a stale of the most unbroken vacuity and listlessness, The female Is then perhaps betrothed, without her con sent, to some youth she has never seen; and, should the boy die even before they are brought together, she is considered as his widow, and is expected to be burnt on his funeral pile for, as every widow is for bidden to marry, she often becomes a prey to the seducer, and ends a life of sensuality, by a premature death of wretchedness and guilt. In some cases, fifty young wotnen are crammed into the harem of one Bramin. Mr. Ward thus continues the description of their wretched condition.— “ Supposing, however, that the Hindoo female is happily married, she remains a prisoner and a slave in ti e house of her husband. She knows nothing of the advan tages of a liberal intercourse with mankind. She is not permitted to speak to a person of the other sex, if she belong to a respec table family, except to old men very near ly al(ied in blood: she retires at the ap pearance of a male guest. She never eats with her husband, but partakes of what he leaves. She receives no benefit from books, nor from society; and though the Hindoos do not affirm, with some Mahome tans, that females have no souls, they treat them as though this was their belief. What companions for their husbands—what mothers these ! Yes, it is not females alone who are the sufferers ; while such is the mental condition of the. sex, of how much happiness must husbands, children, and so ciety at large -be deprived! What must be the state of where female mind, and are things un known ! “This vacuity of thought, these habits of indolence, and this total want of informa tion, of principles, and of society, leave the Hindoo female an easy prey to seduction, and the devoted slave of superstition. Faithfulness to marriage vows is almost un known in India; and where the manners of the East allow of it, the females manifest a more enthusiastick attachment to the su perstitions of the country than even the men. The religious mendicants, the priests, and the publick shows preserve an overwhelming influence over the femal mind. Many become mendicants; and some undertake tong pilgrimages. In short, the power of superstition over the female in India has no parallel in any other country. “ In what other part of the world could sixteen females be found, in a state of per fect health, plunging with one consent in to a watery grave, under a religious im pulse ? The progress of this extraordinary immolation, ns described by Captain , a spectator, exhibits a determination in the work of self-murder which is most extraor dinary. These sixteen females, accompa nied by as many priests, went in boats on the river opposite Allahabad, and proceed ed to the spot where the Ganges and the Jumna, two sacred rivers, unite their puri fying streams. Each victim had a large earthen pan slung over each shoulder. Sbe descended over the side of the boat in to the river, and was then held up by a priest till she had filled the pans from the river, when the priest let go his hold, and the pans dragged her to the bottom. And thus died, amidst the applauses of the spec tators, and assisted by the priests of the country', sixteen females, as a single offer ing to the demon of destruction. They died under the firm persuasion that this was Ihe direct way to heaven ! The priests enjoyed the. scene, and spoke of it lo their friends, as a pleasant morning gambol. We have here no weepers; no remonstrants; no youth interposing to save them lo soci ety. They go dawn to the bottom, as loose stones which have no adhesion lo the quarry, as creatures for which society has no use. Nor must you suppose, my dear friesd, that this is a solitary instance : these immolations are so common, that they ex cite very little anxiety indeed at Allahabad, * “ TB** lowest oriler* of females alone arc seen in numbers in the street?,” * Prior $ s 3 ’ so P r - Min - 0T ’ l * 3,00 in advance.S and beyond that city they are scarcely mentioned.” The following account of the barning of widows, more precise than any we have seen, will be perused with horrour by our readers. “ The funeral pile consists of *. quantity of faggots laid on the earth, rising in height about three feet from the ground, about lour feet wide, and six feet in length. Af ter the female hag declared her resolution to * eat fire,* as the peopfe call it, she loaves her house for the last time, accom panied by her children, relations and a few neighbours. She proceeds to the river, where a priest attends upon her, and where certain ceremonies are performed, aefcom panied with ablutions. These over, she comes up to to the pile, tvhich may be ten yards from the brink of the rivoc. She walks round the pile severaL times, scatter ing parched corn, &c. as she goes round, and at length lays herself down on the pile iy the dead body, laying her arm over it. The cords having been laid across the pile, and under the dead body, with these cords the dead body and the living body are ®ow tied fast together. A large quantity of fag gots are then laid upon the bodies, and two levers are brought over the pile to press down the widow, and prevent her from escaping when the flames begin to scorch her. Her eldest son, averting his face, with a lighted torch in his hand, then sets fire to the- pile. The drums are im mediately sounded, which, with the shouts of the mob, effectually Jfown the shrieks of the widow surrounded by the flames.” Mr. Ward describes the “ burying alive” of the widow v.'Uh the same exactness; but we will not now shock the feelings of our readers with the recital. And it is happily the. less necessary, as the doubts of the publick as to the numbers destroyed by these processes are now set to rest for ev er by the official documents placed before parliament; from which it appears that, in Bengal alone, not less than eight hund red were burned within one year. * HINDOO SUPERSTITION. The seventh letter is dedicated to the general cruelty, of the Hindoo superstition. On this point it is the less essential for uS to enter, as it has again and again been ex posed in our volumes. We shall give a single extract, however, partly on account of the fact it contains, and partly on account of the reflection founded upon it. “ Every Hindoo, in the hour of death, is hurried to the side of the Ganges, or some, other sacred river, if nea*eoough to one of these rivers, where he is laid, i lt*> ago nies of death, exposed to the burning sun by day, and to the dens and c<M of the. night. The water of the river is poured plentifully down him, if he can swallow it; and his brea9t, forehead, and arms, are be smeared with the mud of the river (for the very mud of the Ganges is supposed to have purifyfcg properties.) Just before the soul quits the body, he is laid on the earth, and then immersed up to the middle in the stream, while his relations stand around him, tormenting him in these his last mo ments with superstitious rites, aDd increas ing a hundred fold the pains of dying. Very often, where recovery might be rea sonably hoped for, these barbarous rites bring on premature death. It is pretty certain, that many private murders, using these rites, are perpetrated. How differ ent the hopes, how strikingly different the exit, of a dying Christian ! Wbat a blessed contrast to all this, (he deaths of Pitumbur, Futik, and of Rughoo !” In the eighth letter, the author enters as niinutely’ rs the grossness of the subject will allow him to do, on the sensualities of the Hindoos; sensualities which, though long disputed, are now so universally ad mitted and reprobated as not to require fur ther notice or castigation from us. The ninth letter respects the fruitless and painful anxiety of the Hindoos as to a fu ture stale. Ignorant as they are of the na ture of their future condition, such is the anxiety on that point infused into the heart hy its original frauier, that a vast propor tion of their superstitious practices evident ly point to the end of securing themselves against its possible risks and penalties. Tire following delineation of the modes adopted to attain this object is presented to ns by Sir. Ward. “1. Here is a man entering on a pil grimage so fuM of perils and hardships, that he makes his will before he leaves his fam ily. He expects to travel a thousand miles perhaps on foot, and to he absent more than twelve months, begging his way there and home again. Ask him why he encoun ters all these terrors, and he will tell yotf that his salvation requires i(. 2. Under that tree sits a man repeating the name of his guardian deity, counting the repetitions by his head-roll. Me employs a part of each day in this work, which he intends to continue till death. 3. Ask all these men aud women the reasons for their incessant ablutions in the Ganges, and they will tell you that it is to wash away their sins. 4. Here is a poor .man brought in a litter, in the very agonies of death, that he may uot die wilbout receiving the benefit of the Ganges. Another man is seen‘throwing one of the hopes of his deceased relation in to the river, that at least, he may not be