578 



MISSIONS. 



Missions.^ spects ornamental to it. Serampore, a Danish settle- 

 ^~ "Y"'' ment about fifteen miles from Calcutta, was the grand . 

 seat of this mission ; but within these few years, nu- 

 merous branches have been established in different 

 parts of the country, which promise to contribute es- 

 sentially to the extension of Christianity among the 

 Hindoos. The grand work, however, for which the 

 Baptist Missionaries are distinguished, is the transla- 

 tion of the scriptures into the languages of the East. 

 Here they are without a parallel, either in ancient or 

 modern times. Under the superintendence chiefly of 

 one individual, Dr. Carey, the scriptures are translating 

 into upwards of FORTY different languages. The whole 

 Bible has already been published in the Sungskrit, the 

 Bengalee, the Orissa, the Hindee, and the Mahratta; 

 and the New Testament in the Chinese, the Shikh, the 

 Telinga, the Kunkuna, the Affghan, the Assamese, the 

 Mooltanee, the Kurnata, and the Guzerattee. Besides 

 translating the scriptures into so many languages, Drs. 

 Carey and Marshman have published many works of 

 a literary nature, which form a stupendous monument 

 of their talents, and diligence, and zeal, and which 

 will be of essential service to their successors, in learn- 

 ing the languages, the principles, and the manners of 

 the natives, and thus may be of important use in ad- 

 vancing Christianity in the East. Dr. Carey is professor 

 of the Sungskrit, Bengalee, and Mahratta languages, 

 in the College of Fort William, and, with singular dis- 

 interestedness, devotes his salary, amounting to about 

 1500 a-year, to the funds of the mission. Two others 

 of the missionaries, Marshman and Ward, contribute 

 nearly an equal sum annually to missionary purposes. 

 Within less than twenty years, the missionaries them- 

 selves have devoted upwards of FIFTY THOUSAND 

 POUNDS to the objects of the mission. 



Within these few years, the London Missionary So- 

 ciety, the Church Missionary Society, the Methodist 

 Missionary Society, and the American Board for Foreign 

 Missions, have all directed their attention to Hindostan, 

 and have established numerous stations in that exten- 

 sive and interesting country. Hitherto no particular 

 succesa has crowned their labours ; but the measures 

 they are pursuing promise silently to sap the founda- 

 tions of Hindooism, and to pave the way for the esta- 

 blishment of Christianity. Among these we may par- 

 ticularly notice the extensive scale on which the edu- 

 cation of the young is conducted. This is an_object 

 to which the missionaries direct much of their atten- 

 tion, and their exertions promise to be attended with 

 the most favourable results. In some of the schools 

 the scriptures are employed as a school-book, with- 

 out the natives making any objection to them, or if 

 prejudices against them existed at first, they soon 

 subsided. In others they are not used, lest this should 

 excite opposition among the natives, and defeat the 

 whole plan. The teachers are generally Hindoos, some 

 of them Brahmins, but it is necessary to maintain a 

 strict superintendence over them, as without this they 

 are sure to neglect their duty. The number of schools 

 connected with the different missionary stations in India 

 amount to about 300, in which are educated upwards 

 of EIGHTEEN THOUSAND children. 



Ceylon. About the middle of the 17th century the Dutch in- 



troduced the Protestant faith into the island of Ceylon ; 

 but unfortunately the measures they employed for its 

 propagation were in some respects extremely reprehen- 

 sible. Besides settling ministers, and establishing an 

 extensive system of schools on the island, they issued a 



proclamation, ordaining that no native should be raised Mission* 

 to the rank of a modeliar, or admitted to any employ. 'Y"" 

 ment under government, unless he subscribed the Hel- 

 vetic Confession of Faith, and professed himself a mem- 

 ber of the reformed church. In consequence of this 

 absurd and impolitic order, vast numbers of the Cinga- 

 lese abandoned the religion of their ancestors, and em- 

 braced the faith of their conquerors. Even in 1801 

 the native Protestant Christians in Ceylon still amount- 

 ed to upwards of 342,000, according to the general re- 

 turn in the ecclesiastical department; but in 1813 there 

 were only, according to a similar return, about 146,000. 

 The fact is, that a large proportion of those who are 

 called Christians are in reality heathens; for though 

 they have been baptised in their infancy, they are to- 

 tally ignorant of the principles of the gospel, and are 

 worshippers of the idol Buddhu. Not a few avow 

 themselves both Christians and Buddhists, and are 

 willing to be sworn as either the one or the other in a 

 court of justice. 



Within these few years a considerable number of 

 missionaries of various denominations have settled in 

 Ceylon, and have been patronised in the most liberal 

 manner by the British government. Among these the 

 Methodists have been singularly distinguished by their 

 activity and zeal. In 1819 they had formed no fewer 

 than thirteen or fourteen missionary stations in different 

 parts of the island ; and in the schools which they had 

 established there were 4484 children, of whom several 

 hundreds were girls ; a circumstance which is the more 

 interesting, as in Ceylon, females, notwithstanding their 

 great importance in society, were in general excluded 

 from the blessings of education. 



To Java, Amboyna, Sumatra, Timor, Celebes, For- Java, &c 

 mosa, and others of the eastern islands, on which they 

 established themselves, the Dutch in the 17th cen- 

 tury sent ministers to convert the inhabitants to the 

 Christian faith. Vast multitudes of the natives, as in 

 Ceylon, submitted to baptism ; but most of them, we 

 suspect, might nearly as well have retained the religion 

 of their ancestors. In Java alone the number of Chris- 

 tians was upwards of 100,000; and in the Molucca 

 Islands there are still probably not fewer than 40,000; 

 but for many years past they have been much neglect- 

 ed, and are now in a great measure destitute of the 

 means of religious instruction. Several missionaries, 

 however, have of late been sent from Holland to these 

 islands, and editions of the scriptures in Malay are 

 preparing for the use of the inhabitants. 



In 1807, the Rev. Robert Morrison was sent by the Chinai 

 London Missionary Society to Macao, with a particular 

 view to the translation of the Holy Scriptures into the 

 Chinese language. In learning the language he had to 

 make it as much a matter of secrecy as if he had been 

 plotting the overthrow of the government : the persons 

 who assisted him trembled for their own safety should 

 they be discovered. In January 1814 he published the 

 New Testament, part of it translated by himself, and 

 part of it taken from a valuable MS. in the British Mu- 

 seum, a transcript of which he carried with him from 

 England. He now proceeded with a translation of the 

 Old Testament, and it is expected that it will soon be 

 completed. Besides these works, Dr. Morrison pub- 

 lished several others, chiefly of a philological nature, 

 with the view of assisting the future student in ac- 

 quiring the Chinese language. In April 1815, the Malacca. 

 Rev. William Mylne, who had been sent out to assist 

 him in his labours, proceeded to Malacca with the view 



