quently deep emotion, are manifest, while solemn appeals are being presented to the conscience. Nor has it ended here: decided spiritual good has been accomplished: five persons have made a public profession by baptism since the beginning of April last. One now stands proposed; and others appear to be on the eve of declaring themselves. While I have cause to thank God and take courage, I am truly and prayerfully anxious to witness larger accessions to the church of Jesus Christ. The church which now num bers forty members, appears at present united and peaceful; and may nothing ever transpire to disturb that concord which prevails. Our sabbath school continues well sustained, notwithstanding the attempts in this direction of the adverse sect. The daily school requires the pecuniary help which I cannot command at present. I hope the liberality of some kind friend will prevent the abandonment of this important effort. The enlargement of our school room which will now accommodate seventy children or adults, through the Christian liberality of the friends at Coventry, Leamington, and in this neighbourhood is nearly paid for, £46 are collected, £5 more will clear all. I have visited and preached at the two stations connected with Dunchurch. I am received and heard with apparent interest, and I hope profit; added to which I have visited and circulated tracts in other villages between us and Leamington. Many villages in that direction truly require home missionary effort. Ignorance of gospel truth prevails to a fearful extent: much selfdenying effort requires to be put forth by our town churches on their behalf. If acceptable supplies could be obtained for Dunchurch, I should rejoice to preach more frequently to those hundreds and thousands who are perishing in ignorance and sin. Through the great kindness of Mr. W. J. Cross of Bristol, hundreds of religious tracts and other publications have been, and still are, circulated. May these silent yet faithful messengers communicate the light of truth into the dark minds of many. J. W. WEBB. Donations and Subscriptions will be gratefully received on behalf of the Society, by the Treasurer, J. R. BOUSFIELD, Esq., 126, Houndsditch; or by the Secretary, THE REV. STEPHEN J. DAVIS, 33, MOORGATE STREET, LONDON. Much trouble will be saved, both to the Secretary and his correspondents, if, in making payments by Post Office orders, they will give his name as above; or, at any rate, advise him of the name they have communicated to the Post-office authorities. J. HADDON, FRINTER, CASTLE STREET, FINSBURY, LONDON. THE BAPTIST MAGAZINE. FEBRUARY, 1852. THE INFLUENCE OF MODERN MISSIONS ON EDUCATION AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE LIFE OF W. H. PEARCE. BY EDWARD BEAN UNDERHILL, ESQ. ABOUT the year 1813 might often be seen a youth, somewhat short of stature, with a thin, pale, placid countenance, lit up by an eye of no ordinary brilliancy and intelligence, pacing the broad and open street of Oxford which yet bears the memorials of the martyrdoms of Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley. He would be on his way to daily labour at the University Press, the business of which was then carried on in a handsome building still known as the Clarendon. Under the paternal superintendence of that man of God, the late Samuel Collingwood, Esq., a man alike eminent for his virtues, his piety, his scholarly attainments, and his skill as a printer, and in a school of printing which boasts of Wynkyn de Worde as one of its founders, was the orphan William Pearce generously trained in the art and mystery of typography. The teacher had an apt scholar. And the teachings and manipulations of those years of toil have borne a rich harvest on the plains of Bengal. VOL. XV.-FOURTH SERIES. In Oxford too were learnt those lessons of momentous interest,-the worth of the soul, and the preciousness of the Saviour, that led to a simple and holy act of consecration, by which from that day forth William Pearce was the Lord'sHis to serve and obey, till death ended the service on the field appointed for its exercise. Yet lingers in the mind of one most dear to the lecturer the recollection of that holy devotedness which animated the soul of the youthful Pearce. Often as they wended their way together to some dark village, to enrich its poor children with the knowledge of Christ's salvation, have they turned aside, under the hawthorn hedge to commune with each other and with God. Fervent were the breathings of his lips, meet expression of the ardent love for God and man that burnt in the bosom of the youthful offerer. A few years pass away. The broad expanse of the ocean divides him from those early scenes of preparation. The K in a little hut of mat and bamboo, thatched with straw, in a suburb of Calcutta, may be found the pupil of the Clarendon, before his case of type, a rough wooden second-hand press by his side, commencing the work of illumining the darkened mind of India. On the 3rd of September, 1818, the first form was ready for the press. It consisted of two little Bengali tracts, the one entitled "Good Counsel;" the other was a small collection of hymns adapted for divine worship in the vernacular language of the people. Six thousand copies were printed. The hand of God has led him to India, and | garden, or shady grove, or a shed open on every side, was the usual gathering place of the pupils. The teacher sitting cross-legged on the spotted skin of the antelope, or the striped integument of the tiger, or on a mat of palm leaves, with grave and reverend aspect, would direct their studies. The ages of the children ranged from five years to twelve. The alphabet was of course the first lesson to be learnt. This important element of knowledge was acquired by the child while seated on the mud or earthern floor before his master. With a stick, or for want of one his finger, he would fashion as directed the form of the letter, in the dust or sand that was strewed upon the ground. Perfect in this rough acquirement, a palm leaf would now form his writing book, and with a stylus or reed the characters would be traced on its soft surface; and lastly a green plantain-leaf received the more perfect letters that increased skill could form. In due course words would follow letters, and sentences words, till the pupil could indite with tolerable facility the copies or short sentences that fell from his teacher's lips. diligent hand of this one of the earliest of Bengali printers completed by the 26th of the same month an edition of three thousand copies of another tract, and so urgent had become the orders crowding in upon him that a second press was bought. Rapidly the work advanced. Presses and fonts of type were multiplied. No part of the needful materials was wanting. The excellent and gifted Lawson cut the matrices and cast the letters. In twenty years, the two founts of type had increased to sixty-two, in eleven of the chief languages and dialects of India; while instead of one rickety wooden press, seven iron presses scattered through the length and breadth of the land, scriptures, tracts, religious books, and elementary school works, for the illumination and salvation of the myriads of Bengali idolaters. The value of the work thus entered upon, and sustained till death by the devoted Pearce, can justly be estimated only as we understand the intellectual condition in which at the period of his early labours the people of Bengal were found. Education, indeed, was by no means wholly neglected by the native population. In every village might be found a school, in which were taught the rudiments of knowledge. Some As the child could bear it, he was instructed in the mysteries that were supposed to lurk under the literal forms he traced on his palm-leaf book. One vowel was said to be an astonishing letter; bright as the shell of Vishnu; full of the three gods, and of the five souls. A certain consonant was endowed with mysterious beauty. Its curve, resembling the hook used in guiding the elephant, was like ten million flashes of lightning; the vacant space contained in it, was brilliant as ten million moons. The virtues of another letter were transcendent. By its power the captive could be set free. Wealth and holiness flowed from its bosom. It was the root of all letters, and the mother of all the gods. In the upper angle dwelt the wife of Brahma, in the middle the spouse of Vishnu, while the lower angle encased the jewel of Shiva's life, his partner Rudri. Much, too, depended on the instrument of penmanship. He who used a copper pen would enjoy undecaying splendour; a gold pen assured prosperity; but a wooden pen was prolific in children, grandchildren, and wealth. From the first the pupils were taught the manners suitable for their station. Reverence for parents was strongly inculcated. From the cradle the child learnt to address his father as "My Lord;" his mother as "My Lady." As he entered the door of his parent's house, a profound bow would express his awe; while if they had returned from a visit or a journey, he would welcome them to their home with prostration at their feet, and taking the dust from the sandaled or uncovered foot sprinkle it on his head. able holy books or shastras, became the unceasing study. The reading of the scholars consisted chiefly of fables and legends of the gods, taken from the shasters, with poetical epitomes of the two great Sanscrit poems, the Ramayuna and the Mahabharata. The titles of a few of the books used will sufficiently indicate their character. Thus one is entitled the "History of the Descent of Ganga." Another is the "Exploits of Krishna,"-exploits that disgrace humanity even by their recital, and defile the imagination and heart with their impurities. Many of these books possessed drawings, which with all their uncouthness and vulgarity sufficed to suggest the most disgusting images in the minds of their readers. One of the best children's books is called the "Shishubodhak," or Child's Instructor. It has a picture alphabet, with an ornamental border to every page, and is sold for twopence. Its contents are an alphabet, a treatise on arithmetic and mensuration, rules for poetry, directions for letter writing, an invocation to the Ganges, some tales of the gods, and a hundred and eight golden verses, or slokas, in Sanscrit as well as Bengali. Thus, with the rudest elements of learning, the young Bengali was initiated into all the obscene mysteries of Hindoo worship, taught to despise other countries, and to wash in the Ganges as the remedy for the foulest crimes. Order in the school was kept with the aid of monitors,-the monitorial system as known in this country having its origin in the native schools of India. The Bengali schoolmasters punished with a cane, or a rod made of a branch of a tree. The truant was generally compelled to stand on one leg, holding in each hand a brick, or his arms were stretched out till fatigue compelled him to drop them. The school began early in the morning and lasted till nine or ten. After partaking of a meal at In arithmetic the Hindoos had made home, the scholars would return about no inconsiderable advance. By them three, and remain till dusk. The the decimal notation was invented, and master's fee was small. A penny a much excellence was attained even in month and a day's provision would pay algebra. Twice a day, with their the first year's schooling; but at an monitors at their head, would the advanced stage, fourpence, or even classes stand before their teacher to eight pence, a month would be required. repeat the numerical tables, and during The subjects of instruction were read- school hours write on their palm leaves ing, writing, arithmetic, and geography, the strokes by which the numbers were But among the Brahmins a more expressed. They next committed to extensive course was pursued; the memory an addition table, and then Sanscrit language, with their innumer-wrote easy sums in the various rules. Their system of geography was altogether false, and based on their mythology. Mount Meru was the centre of the world,- -a lofty mountain of a conical shape, the sides composed of precious stones, and the top a terrestrial paradise. Seven belts of land, each divided from the other by a separate sea, surrounded in concentric circles the mountain centre. The first sea was of salt water and surrounded the belt in which India lay, the other seas were of milk, wine, sugar-cane juice, &c. The divisions of their own country were imperfectly described and known, and all beyond was plunged in utter darkness; and no wonder, for the world was said to be 3000 millions of miles in extent. the six things beneficial to life." Again: "A wife is requisite for the purpose of having a son; a son is requisite for the purpose of offering funeral cakes; a friend is requisite for assistance in time of need; but wealth is requisite for all purposes." "Possessing plenty of eatables, a good appetite, a handsome wife, a liberal heart and property, are the sure indications of the meritorious actions of man in his former life." Gambling was an early acquisition. In this respect the children but imitated their elders, who at times of full moon sit up all night and play at dice, in order to obtain the favour of the goddess of wealth. Indeed every vice is sanctified by becoming the favourite worship of some one or more of their innumerable deities, and the children are even encouraged to imitate in their play the horrid rites and obscene practices which form the templeservice in honour of their gods. Thus at an early age the children ripen fast in iniquity; they enter boldly and with encouragement the paths of impurity, in which conscience is no check, and social habits are no preservative. Well, indeed, might a brahmin confess and affirm the truthfulness of the delineation of the manners of his own countrymen, as he one day read in Bengali the first chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans. Idolatry is inculcated at the earliest The character of the natural philosophy taught may be gathered from a few examples propounded in their sacred books. Serpents are said to have proceeded from the tears of Brahma, shed on his being vexed at not producing a second creation by his penances. They are said moreover to hear through their eyes, and to have their feet under their skin. Diamonds are produced from the sun's rays; at least a poetical conception if not a true one. The sun forms the right eye of Siva and the moon his left. Dew-drops fall down from the moon. Mountains in former days had wings and flew about; but the wings were clipt in consequence of mountains some-stage of education. Every school-house, times pitching on cities, and destroying them. or grove, has a statue of the obscene Lingam, springing in cylindrical form The education of the people was, for from a basin representing Yoni. By its the most part, in the hands of the side are rude images of Ganesa and Brahmins. They taught not only Saraswati, the god and goddess of learnidolatry but vice of every kind. Their ing and eloquence. These are commonly morality was chiefly drawn from the set up in the vestibule of the school. ethical poems of Chanak. The follow- As they enter, the scholars turn their ing sayings are favourable speci- eyes upon the images, and raising their mens of their teaching. "Fresh hands towards heaven worship the gods meat, soft rice newly prepared, living as they pass, saying, "Adoration to thee, with young women, fresh clarified thou true master!" or, "May you be butter, warm milk, and tepid water, are worshipped." Their religious education |