Persia.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

Ar p. 360 of our last Volume, some notices appear of the state of Mahomedanism in Shirâz: as the Letter from which these notices were extracted has since been printed more at large in the Appendix to the Nineteenth Report of the Calcutta Auxiliary, we subjoin some further extracts, as authentic information relative to Persia is always interesting. The Letter is from Mr. Martyrus M. David, an Armenian Gentleman of Shirâz; and is dated March 3, 1829.

Spirit of Inquiry among the Persians.

It must afford unmixed gratification to every true Christian, to learn the vast extent of spiritual good which has been bestowed on mankind, by the united efforts of the Bible Societies established in various Christian Kingdoms. Persia must be considered to be but half enlightened by Scriptural Truth, in consequence of there being a Persian Translation of the New Testament only. Though Mahomedan Law forbids the followers of the Koran to read Religious Books of a different Creed, the Persians of this place pay very little attention to the interdiction of their Legislator. This, of

course, must not be understood of the general mass of the people: a great number of them have come to a right sense of the mental darkness with which they are surrounded, and manifest great desire of walking in that luminous path which leads to God and Salvation: despotism, nevertheless, checks in their breasts the growth of Religious Truth; and a dread of incurring the displeasure of their Spiritual Rulers compels them to disavow with their mouths that to which they assent in their hearts. To this circumstance is attributable the existence of various Sects in Shirâz, of which I will give you a brief account.

Sectaries in Shiraz.

There are in this place Four principal Sectaries, known under the appellations of the Dervish, Sofi, Aref, and Ashugh Aref; the first more numerous and influential than either of the other three. Dissentions exist between these and the faithful followers of Mahomed, who look upon the former as heretics and depraved members of their commu

nity. The doctrines of the faithful Mussulmans are ridiculed by the Sectaries, in writings, the perusal of which is strongly prohibited by the Mollahs: the latter prevent their congregations from associating with their opponents, lest they become infected with their heretical opinions. It is not my intention to give you

here a detailed account of the causes followers of Mahomed: suffice it to say. which have created a schism among the that the Sectaries have no separate Places of Worship or Religious Assemblies; and are so indiscriminately connected with true Mussulmans, that you can very often find in a large family a Dervish, a Sofi, an Aref, an Ashugh Aref, and a Mussulman. Offer of a Learned Mahomedan to translate

the Old Testament into Persian.

A Mollah, Mahomed, of high literary attainments, has translated into Persian some portions of the Bible: excited by the fame of his learning and piety, I thought it of interest to cultivate his acquaintance. He enjoys the dignity of a Peshnamaz" in one of the principal mosques of the city, and is held in great estimation by his countrymen. Being presented with some of his Translations, I compared them with our Bible, and found material difference between them: the division of verses, and the construction of the persons and tenses of verbs, view of rendering the style both elegant were not properly attended to, with a and perspicuous. The Translator was struck with astonishment at my disapprobation of the differences which were pointed out to him in his work. convinced him of the impropriety of introducing elegance and sublimity in the translation of Religious Works, by deviating from the fidelity of the text. Notwithstanding this, he still persists in the opinion, that, in Translations, a strict adherence to the original renders the style both insipid and inelegant. It appears that he is fully sensible of the absurdity of the Mahomedan Religion; but cannot overcome the conviction that Mahomed was an inspired person, in consequence of the peculiarly sublime style of the Korân, in which his doctrines are embodied: I in vain endeavoured to persuade him that Divine Truth does not consist in the elegance of expressions or sublimity of language.

I soon

Knowing that there is not a Translation of the Bible in Persian, I desired him to attempt at supplying this desideratum. He readily acquiesced in my

proposition; and, as a proof of the interest which he seems to feel in the diffusion of the truth of the Scriptures among his countrymen, he soon produced a Version of the Book of Jonah from the Arabic Text: great pains were taken to render it as near to the original as possible the Translator, however, was not satisfied with his performance; alleging, that by a strict adherence to the text, the beauty of the language was necessarily destroyed. In order to convince me of the difference that exists between a close and free translation, he wrote anew the very Book of Jonah, in a style peculiarly adapted to the Persian Language. The latter production was said, by competent judges, to be far superior to the former, by reason of the beauty of its style, though it is materially different from the Armenian Version. I inclose herein both his performances; and have to request that you will be pleased to present them to the Bible Association of Calcutta. Should they think the labour of my Persian Friend worthy of encou ragement, and come to the resolution of having an entire Translation of the Bible in Persian, they can communicate their intention to me through your medium. Mollah Mahomed is a man of profound erudition, and naturally shrewd and eloquent. He is greatly esteemed here, for his extraordinary conversancy with the Arabic and Persian Languages. He will have no objection to go round to Calcutta, provided sufficient encouragements be held out to him by the Society for his services.

China.

LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

THE Directors have lately circulated the following summary view of the Grounds of Hope and Motives for Prayer with regard to China.

China, that object of wonder and pity to Christians-China, one of the fairest portions of the globe; the most ancient; the most populous; the best skilled in the management of human nature, of any country under heaven-China is full of dumb idols-is estranged from the True God, and hates and persecutes the Name of Jesus." (Printed Circular published by Dr. Morrison in 1823.)

What Christian, indeed, can contemplate the vast population of that country (amounting to one hundred and fifty

millions of souls) enveloped in moral darkness-rejecting and despising the Revelation given of God to enlighten, and bless, and save the human race-without feeling compassion for those idolatrous multitudes, and pouring out earnest supplications for their evangelization ?

The later communications received by the Society from China add nothing to the facts previously in our possession, as to the state of the Chinese Mission; but it is the opinion of some abroad, who are not inattentive observers of what from time to time transpires affecting the progress of Christianity in the nations bordering on the Indian Archipelago, that Divine Providence is opening a way for the Gospel into China and many of the surrounding countries.

With such a prospect, how animating must be the reflection, that the Bible has been translated and printed in the Chinese Tongue! This important preparatory work having been accomplished, the Voice of Providence seems, as it were, to be heard at the Gates of the "Celestial Empire," demanding admittance for the Messsengers of the Cross. Whether any, and what, political movements and changes may intervene, in the course of the Divine Administration, before that Voice shall be obeyed and a door of entrance be opened, is known to Him alone who seeth the end from the beginning. In the mean time, it is consoling and encouraging to know, that the Bible has been for ten years circulating in different parts of China, even to the very heart of the Empire; as well as among the Chinese Settlers in many of the Islands of the Indian Ocean-that the Chinese, as described by Dr. Morrison, are a READING PEOPLE that the Scriptures and Chinese Tracts are read by considerable numbers of that people—and that the inquiries for books by Chinese, who in the junks visit the Islands or Settlements of the Indian Seas where Missions have

been established, continue from year to year without intermission, and are constantly met.

Nor should we omit, on this occasion, to remind our readers that a few Natives of China have, during the above-mentioned period, as well as previously, em

* Prior to the commencement of that period, upward of 100,000 copies of various Publications in Chi. nese, including portions of the Scriptures, had been dispersed among the Chinese Settlers in the Islands of the Indian Archipelago, and among Chinese on board trading-vessels by whom they were conveyed into China Proper.

braced the Christian Faith. Separated from the multitudes of their idolatrous countrymen, they have stood as witnesses for God, to testify the truth of the Gospel, and to cheer the heart and enliven the expectations of the Missionary; one of whom has lately, through the medium of the press, boldly come forward in defence of the Gospel-informing his countrymen at large that the Bible has been translated and published in their own language-calling upon them to peruse it-pointing out to them the necessity of a Saviour and proving that Christ has made an all-sufficient atonement for sin, for the salvation of the world.

The few Chinese Converts, to whom we have now referred, will, we trust, prove as the first drops of abundant approaching showers: but, whether this hope be strictly realized or not, we know assuredly that the time will at length arrive, when the pretended divinitiesFUH, TAOU and TEEN-CHOO, and YIN and YANG, and KWAN-YIN, shall cease to receive the homage of idolatrous wor ship-when Confucius shall be seated in his proper place, among the uninspired sages of antiquity-the supreme Chief of the Empire no longer assume blasphemous titles, as appendages of his imperial dignity; or his subjects impiously speak of him in terms implying that "He is God Almighty to them :" but when the chief ruler and all his subjects throughout the Chinese Empire shall unitedly render the glory, and the honour, and the majesty to the True God, who made the heavens and the earth, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation to generation.

While we express the fervent hope that the Directors will be enabled, by the liberality of the members and friends of the Society, to avail itself of such openings as may from time to time present themselves for the prosecution of the Chinese Mission on an extensive scale, adopting the language of Dr. Morrison, we would further express our "trust that the spiritual warfare against Satan's Empire in those parts of the world will never be relinquished till it be overthrown; and the millions enthralled by idolatry, and superstition, or atheism, be emancipated, and become citizens of the kingdom of God's dear Son." (Letter of Dr. Morrison to the Directors, dated July 5, 1822.)—“I remember Britain-what she was, and what she now is, in respect to religion. It is not three hundred years March, 1831.

since National Authority said that the Bible should not be read openly in any church (by the people), nor privately by the poor. I remember this, and cherish hope for China. Tyndale, while he was tying to the stake, said with a fervent and loud voice, Lord, open the King of England's eyes!' and his prayer seems to have been heard and answered. Let us be as fervent in a similar petition in reference to the Sovereign of the Chinese Empire. In the Apostle's words I conclude this Letter: Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you.” (Letter of Dr. Morrison, on the Completion of the Chinese Translation of the Scriptures, dated Nov. 25, 1819.)

In concurrence with the pious invitation of our laborious and devoted Brother, may all the Members of the Society, and Christians in all nations, unite their supplications for the prosperity of his benevolent efforts, and those of such as labour with him in the same cause, and that the Word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified in China, as it is in Britain and other favoured countries of the earth.

Mr. Abeel, Missionary at Canton from the American Seamen's Friend Society, writes, in reference to this subject:

obstructions are removed and the Gospel One fact is encouraging: when the gains access, it must have a speedy and wide circulation. There is no moral power in China to confront it. The religion of the Empire is baseless. The fabric already totters. Nothing supports it, but a vast scaffold of ignorance, which

can withstand no shock; and, when it yields, must bury the whole in one common grave.

Mr. Abeel thus bears

Testimony to the Character of the Convert, Leangafa.

Dr. Morrison sent for us to meet Leangafa at his house. As is generally known, he is the first-fruits of the Mission to China; and if the promise respecting the Jews be applicable to the Chinese, and the multitude composing the lump be individually as holy as the first-fruits, what a rich and glorious harvest may be expected from these uttermost parts of the earth! Since his conversion, he has been greatly persecuted, and is daily counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name. Active in the hazardous service of his X

The de

Master, he has been seized, imprisoned, spoiled of his goods, and scourged. Undaunted in his duty, his daily business is to teach and preach Jesus Christ from house to house. He appears to possess the spirit of a martyr; and is prepared, if necessary, to meet his fate. light, which he expressed in welcoming Missionaries to his benighted country, was equally animating to us, in meeting one in whom appeared so distinctly the image of the Saviour. He read the Tenth Chapter of Luke in Chinese; and explained, with much propriety, the Parable of the Harvest and the Labourers.

Endia within the Ganges.

Fearful Instances of Hindoo Falsehood. THE characteristic deceitfulness of the Hindoos has been often stated in our pages. A fearful illustration

of this national crime occurred on three trials, which took place last summer in Calcutta, for alleged murder, or intention to murder. The particulars will be found, at large, at pp. 57-69 of the Asiatic Journal for February, with remarks on these trials at pp. 147, 148: some of these remarks we subjoin :

·

There are few occasions, when Natives of India, of the humble classes, appear as witnesses in a British Court of Justice at either of the Presidencies (more particularly at Calcutta and Madras), on which perjury on their part is not apparent or presumable; the effect of which is, either to place the life or property of an innocent individual in jeopardy, or to allow a real criminal to escape the penalty of the law through the reluctance of a jury to convict on doubtful testimony.

The cases which have given rise to these reflections, however, are of a peculiarly distressing character; inasmuch as they are not of the ordinary class, where Native swears against Native, in order to wreak upon each other a grudge of malice and revenge: but the objects of the prosecutions are Europeans; and it is scarcely possible to conceive, in one of the cases especially, a motive on the part of the Native Witnesses, for resentment or animosity toward the accused person, much less for endeavouring to bring him to an ignominious end by a

most atrocious conspiracy backed by the blackest perjury.

The first of these three trials was that of Lieut. Campbell for throwing Frederick Paschaud into a well: and on this trial it is remarked

The Native Servants of the deceased

distinctly depose that Mr. Paschaud was deliberately thrown into the well by his brother-in-law. "He took him by the legs," say two of the witnesses," and threw him into the well." This is not a mere isolated fact respecting which the Native Witnesses might have been mistaken the general tenor of their evidence is to strengthen and confirm the presumption, that the act was a deliberate murder, and that Lieut. Campbell attempted to escape after he had perpetrated it. If the clear testimony of the respectable European Witnesses, added to the improbability of the alleged crime, were not sufficient to reconcile a jury to a verdict of acquittal, the contradictions in the evidence of the Native Witnesses would, alone, disable a jury from con

victing. It is impossible to read the report of the trial without being persuaded that the charge was utterly false: yet, what could have been the inducement to

it? was it sportive perjury?

Of the second trial, which was that of Messrs. Cole, Mackenzie, and Oram, for shooting at Bungoolah, a Native, it is said

In this case, a motive is, indeed, not absolutely wanting; and were the Na

tive Character less stained with the crime of falsehood, it is probable that the accused, or one of them, might have been convicted of a capital offence. But here again the material discrepancies in the testimony of the witnesses for the prosecution-added to the evidence for the defence, given by two persons who were present, perhaps parties in the affray, and which is irreconcileable with any thing but a presumption of intentional falsehood on the part of the Native Witnesses-render the innocence of the accused at least much more probable than their guilt.

The third trial was that of George Yonge for the murder of Richard Aimes: on this it is remarked

The other prosecution is of a nature even more appalling than either of the foregoing. In this case, we find a variety of witnesses-the servants and con

nexions of the supposed murdered man, the servants of the alleged murderer, and individuals apparently unconnected with either party-deposing, clearly, distinctly, and unequivocally, to facts which exclude all possibility of supposed mistake or misapprehension. There cannot have been a charge of this particular nature demonstrated by so perfect a chain of proof (saving the absence of the corpse of the murdered man) as that by which the crime appears to be brought home to George Yonge. Yet, on the face of the evidence, there are discrepancies and inconsistencies, although not of much importance where no reason exists to suspect perjury-slight variations between witnesses being held to confirm rather than impeach their testimony-nevertheless, with the daily experience of the proneness of the Natives to judicial falsehood, no jury could conscientiously find a verdict of GUILTY where they occur in the testimony of such witnesses. Thus, then, either an extensive conspiracy, than which none more diabolical stains the judicial records of any civilized country, has been organized, with astonishing art and dexterity, against an innocent person; or a wretch, blackened with a crime of unspeakable enormity, has escaped the law, and been cast loose upon the world in which he is unfit' to live, because a British Jury cannot trust the direct testimony of Native Eyewitnesses. The dilemma is, on either side, truly frightful.

Such occurrences as these afford too strong a confirmation of the heavy accusation brought by Mr. Mill against the Hindoos-which ought to be limited, in its general form, to the Bengalese "The vice of falsehood they carry to a height almost unexampled among other races of men: judicial mendacity is more than common -it is almost universal."

We have no pleasure in recording

these fearful evidences of the ruined state of mankind; but they should serve to rouse those to exertion who have been indifferent to the propagation of the Gospel among the Hindoos, and to quicken those in their labours who are already engaged in this benevolent design.

BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

THE Report of the Calcutta Auxiliary contains the following narrative of a

Dicusssion between a Native Preacher

and a Learned Mahomedan. Some months ago, a very-learned Molwee, from the Upper Provinces, on his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca, visited Calcutta, as a Public Teacher; and was accustomed to expound the Korân, as Christians do the Scriptures, to crowds of respectable Mussulmans. the place where the Molwee had been One day, our Native Brother passed delivering his Lectures to a large assembly, apparently about 300; when many of the hearers (who were supposed to have derived virtue from the hearing of the Korân) were each in succession, at the request of a spectator, breathing on a cup of water, intended to be drunk by a sick friend, for his recovery. Mingling with the crowd, and being, from his dress and habits, supposed to be a Mussulman, the cup was offered to him; when he declined to breathe on it, and gently told the bearer he did not practise such foolish ceremonies. It was immediately interrogated why he did not follow the conjectured who he was; and, on being general practice, he said he was a CHRISTIAN. This intelligence was soon conveyed to the Molwee, who was as polite as he was learned; and he immediately beckoned our Brother to the front of the spectators, to discourse with him, on Christianity, before them.

The Native Preacher, who is of very prepossessing appearance and manners, then respectfully advanced; and was asked why he had left the Religion of Mahomed, and joined the ranks of the Infidels. In replying to this question, he referred to the truths which he had found in the New Testament; when the Molwee assured him, that if he believed that, he must also believe in Mahomed, for Christ spoke of him as his Sucthis could be proved, he would again becessor in office. Our Brother replied, If

come a Mussulman; but that the evi

dence must be produced by his opponent. The Molwee replied: "If you will come, and bring with you a New Testament in Arabic or Persian, I will immediately convince you." Being requested to mention the time, he named three days afterward, and informed his audience of the appointment.

Punctual to his engagement, the Native Christian appeared with an Arabic and a Hindoostanee Testament; and, on being recognised by those present, and invited to commence the discussion, he