This was the appointed season for prayer: abuot 150 persons were present. Many arrived from the country stations, some at 10, others at 12 o'clock, on the preceding evening. Here our souls were refreshed, while we pleaded for "the glorious liberty of the sons of God." At the close of this meeting the country members joined those of the town in making arrangements for the second breakfast. At eleven o'clock we held another service, our congregation was very good, and they gave me their attention while I preached from Ex. xii. 26, "What mean ye by this service?" The religious services of the day being concluded, our friends actively applied themselves again to the necessary arrangements for the second breakfast, which was contemplated by them with delighted feelings. fixed, "Freedom;" both ingeniously wrought in flowers by Mr. Howell. At three o'clock, about 160 persons sat down at the respective tables; among our guests was T. Thomson, Esq., senior magistrate of St. Thomas in the East. The cloth being removed, two of the children from our day-school were introduced; the first was a promising lad of colour. I examined him on the historical and physical geography of Jamaica. He repeated also the parable of the prodigal son. This youth was followed by a little girl who repeated the 84th Psalm. After dinner we sang, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," and separated. I cannot close this paper without noticing the pleasing example which the negro set the European, leaving his home on the preceding evening to be in time for the worship of God in public at four o'clock on the following morning. I had only to ask their attendance, and they came. Oh, that such regard for the means of grace possessed every church in the land of my birth! Then the empire of Satan would be broken up, his captives would be free, and even Madagascar, now stained with the blood of the saints, would acknowledge a Saviour's reign! Then numbers of dear young men would come forward to the help of the Lord, the coffers of the rich would be opened, their money would be consecrated to the God of Missions, and a song of universal praise would burst forth from every land! FOUR PATHS. Our new school-room and master's house were so far completed as to furnish excellent accommodation for our repast, which in fact may be regarded as an opening of the new building. On the area of the whole edifice we laid out five tables; that at the head was twenty-six feet long, to which four others were placed at right angles, each thirty feet in length. The decoration of the room was formed with cocoa boughs, studded with the blossoms of the oleander, acacia, lisonia, belladonna, and of the laurestina. At the head of the room was a motto, "Fear God, honour the Queen;" and at the foot thereof, another was pre The Rev. W. G. Barrett, in a letter dated 15th of August, gives the following notice of the deeply interesting event now under notice : According to previous arrangement the children of the school assembled at nine o'clock, when they were examined in their various exercises, and some rewarded with medals. A hymn was then sung, and after a few words of commendation they marched out of the school-room to a booth erected in the chapel yard, to await the distribution of the buns. Previous to this the children belonging to Brixton-hill school (43 in number) came in walking in pairs, and headed by their teacher. Having thus all assembled, they were arranged by Mr. Milne up each side of the booth, and after another hymn 250 buns were given away to the children of the daily, sabbath, and mountain-station schools. Really this was the most interesting sight I have seen in Jamaica; and I said several times, I would give almost any thing for those who manifest such interest in the progress of negro education to have witnessed the laughing faces, and decent dresses of this noble "picanninny gang." A moment's rest, and the services of the day commenced; though the Baptist Cha pel, a mile hence, was opened and crowded, I was obliged to send all the children out of the chapel and school room to accommodate the assembly of adults. Of course many were strangers, to whom the 1st of August is more precious than the Sabbath. I preached from Psalm xvi. 6, "The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yes, I have a goodly heritage." I observed that this was probably the language of David, who here rejoices in that portion of the promised land which belonged to his tribe, as possessing peculiar advantages, and calling for special gratitude. It was easy to prove to them that they had a goodly heritage, and that their present condition demanded hearty and unfeigned thanks to the Giver of such blessings. To excite within them such feelings as David had when he thus devoutly praised the Lord while acknowledging his favours, I bid them consider three things: 1. The unhappy condition of that portion of Africa from which all their ancestors, and many of themselves were torn. 2. Their own most deplorable and recent condition in this country. 3. Their present circumstances and prospects; and the means by which so complete a change had been accomplished. I then concluded by giving them such plain advice as I knew all would understand, and as I thought suited to the celebration of the first anniversary of freedom. The collection, with free-will offerings, was I nearly 50%. This first part of the day's services was concluded about two o'clock. We had arranged to have a dinner together. The stewards immediately after service chose eight waiters, and the table was very tastefully laid out, and furnished with every proof of hospitality. Upwards of 150 sat down to the excellent repast, which was furnished by the people. Nothing could exceed the order and decency of the whole. Not one approached the table till the bell rang; then all quietly seated themselves; and when I tapped the table with the handle of my knife, all rose, and we sung, It was very gratifying to witness several of those who had once held slaves, sitting down side by side with their former apprentices; all declared it was the happiest day they ever saw. After the dinner we planted a cocoa-nut tree, the emblem of liberty. This has been pulled up since by some of the gentlemen in the neighbourhood; we have replanted it, and, as one of the people remarked, "they pull up we tree-but them can't take away we August." In the evening a meeting of the two congregations was held in the adjoining Baptist chapel, and thus ended the happiest day I have spent in Jamaica. FEMALE EDUCATION IN THE EAST. THOUGH the measure of success that has attended the partial efforts hitherto made in this peculiarly difficult department of Missionary labour in the East, may be truly said to indicate the day of small things, yet it seems admitted that sufficient has been accomplished to show that the undertaking is far from bearing a hopeless character with reference to its final result. Exclusive of the preaching of the Gospel, probably no other branch of effort exceeds it in importance at the present time. So long as the debasing trammels by which the female mind in oriental countries has been for ages held in bondage remain unbroken, and women are excluded from their just and natural position in society, it seems almost vain to expect that the influences of our holy religion can duly expand. Viewed in this way the cause of female education in the East assumes an aspect of paramount importance; and all by whom it is actively espoused and supported must be regarded as effectually contributing to the furtherance of the glory and kingdom of Christ. From the lively interest which for some time past has been manifested among the friends of the Redeemer at home in this rising cause, we have much pleasure in offering for perusal the subjoined communications on the subject which are amongst the latest that have reached us. Writing from Pinang, in December last, Mrs. Davies, the wife of one of our brethren at that station, observes : It is not necessary that I should say any thing on the degradation with which the female is treated, and in which she is held in this as well as in every part of the heathen world, as it has been so repeatedly done by persons much more capable than I am of drawing the picture to the life. At home and on paper it may be a picture, but here it is a sad living reality. For Chinese girls we opened some few months ago, a school with five little child ren; our number has since increased to 13, and after the Chinese holidays, which will take place in about eight weeks, we have a fair prospect of a considerable addition, so we shall not fail for want of scholars; at least so it appears now. These 13 immortal beings are entirely separated from their parents, and not allowed to leave the premises but for a few hours every Saturday. They are fed and partly clothed by us, and as it would not be practicable to take the little girls into our own house, having already twenty boys, we are obliged to hire a house for them near to our own, and a school-mistress to teach them English, reading, writing, sewing, &c. Such a school is therefore comparatively expensive, (and without the increased assistance of the Society, and of friends, we shall not be able to carry it on,) and we should be very sorry to relinquish it after a commencement much more favourable than we anticipated, for we cannot but hope that it may tend to advance the females not only in the social scale, but to make them partakers of the blessing of being “new creatures in Christ Jesus." In the midst of our discouragements and apprehensions (for to render schools for Chinese children efficient, is not indeed an easy matter,) we often think thus :-Between the age of six and twelve, impressions were made upon our own minds that will never be effaced,-these children we think are susceptible of the like impressions. If, therefore, in such an institution we can so place these children, as at all to deprive them of the domination of home, to afford them the opportunity of witnessing Christian habits by attending family worship and the services of the house of God, we cannot but hope that impressions if not similar to what we ourselves received, yet favourable to the cause of truth, may be made on their minds; I mean independently of all direct instruction that may be given them. But should we be able to give them a knowledge of the true God, and of his Son Jesus Christ, we cannot but hope that when they grow up they will not hide from their children what they have learnt, that the generation to come may know them, that the child. ren that shall be born shall arise and declare them to their children. I must close, however, by begging an interest in the prayers of the Society and our friends, offering our sincere thanks to the Directors; to my kind relatives and friends at Sidmouth and Sidbury, Devon; to the Society for promoting Female education in the East; to Mrs. Glyde, Bradford, York. shire; to a lady who signed herself L. E. I.; to relatives and friends belonging to Cravenstreet Chapel, London; and others, for their liberal contributions towards our schools. Our grateful acknowledgments are due also to the congregational church at Great Torrington, Devon, formerly under the pastoral care of Mr. Davies; to a lady in Dorsetshire, per Rev. R. Knill; and others, for remembering Pinang. Our highly esteemed and much beloved friends, Mr. and Mrs. Dyer, contribute very largely towards the support of our schools, and their kindness to us we would ever desire to remember with gratitude. Mrs. Beighton, at the same station, writes as follows, in relation to an inte resting school of Malay girls which she has succeeded in establishing. Having adverted in grateful terms to the disposal by sale of various valuable articles presented by friends in this country for the benefit of the school, she observes: In a former letter I mentioned our native girls' school, in the Compound, and that we had taken five girls under our roof. The funds which have now been received will be applied to the support of these girls. I began to be afraid that we should not be able to keep these poor children, but the assistance now received has given me fresh encouragement, and will last for some months to come. We shall feel grateful for any small donations, or a box of useful articles for sale, such as ready-made frocks or baby linen, scissors, needles, thread, or chintz. We are in great want of a few spelling-books, reward books, and some Scripture pictures for our Sabbath and native school; the latter would be very useful and interesting to the native girls. We still have many discouragements in getting females to attend school regularly. The parents consider us under great obliga tion to them for sending their girls. I hope, however, that as they must perceive the improvement in the conduct of their children, they may value the instruction given. Pray for us, that the good seed may bring forth an abundant harvest in the Lord's own time. SINGAPORE. In a letter lately received from the brethren at this station, Rev. A. and J. Stronach, a brief allusion is also made to the same subject. Referring to some statements contained in a communication addressed to them by the Directors, they remark : We notice what you say as to the female Malay boarding-school, which you will have learnt ere this, Mrs. John Stronach has got established. We are happy to state that before your letter arrived, a circular and subscription list, describing the circumstances of the school, had been sent round, and the consequence was that the Hon. the Resident Councillor, Mr. Church, presented a donation of 30 dollars; W.D. Shaw, Esq., مام the Sheriff, 10 dollars; A. L. Johnstone, Esq., a merchant, 10 dollars; and other gentlemen, military and mercantile, subscribed smaller sums; and in all 125 dollars were given. We trust that friends in England will help us by sending out articles for sale; and we would humbly suggest that a request to this effect might be ma le public. Of course we shall not apply to the Society for funds except in the last extremity. There are now eight girls entirely clothed, fed, and educated, and we hope the number will increase as the Institution becomes better known to native parents. CALCUTTA. At some of the stations in the north of India, female schools have also been established; and the latest accounts of their progress, though of a mingled character, are by no means devoid of encouragement. To the appended extracts of a letter from the Rev. John Campbell, of the Calcutta Mission, we gladly invite the attention of those friends who feel more particularly interested in the subject now under notice. From the practical and comprehensive views embraced in this communication, the pains evidently taken to convey distinct and correct impressions on the topic to which it relates, and the portion of interesting intelligence which it combines, we cordially recommend it as deserving a close and careful perusal. As the subject of female education is exeiting so much interest in England, I had long since determined to state my views regarding it; and I feel the greater liberty in doing this, as Mrs. Campbell has had the sole management of the girls' school in connexion with our Society in Calcutta, since our arrival in the country. Much misapprehension on this subject prevails, I suspect, in England. India is not yet in such a state of advancement as to warrant sanguine hopes of much being effected by female schools. Not that I would discourage any well directed efforts; the work is advancing slowly indeed, but steadily. On an extensive scale, however, little or nothing can be done at present. The Ladies' Female School Society, of which Mrs. Campbell is Secretary, has tried every plan deemed worthy of experiment, but I am sorry to say with little success. The plan which they now pursue, and which has been in operation for several years, is, I think, the best, and the only one likely to be efficient in the present state of society in India. All their day schools for heathen children have been abandoned, from a conviction of their inefficiency, and their funds are devoted to the female orphan school, which is constantly superintended by Mrs. Campbell and her sister Miss Smart. This school is intended for the children of native Christians, and orphans. The children reside on our premises, and are separated from native influence. The extent of their Scriptural knowledge and Christian demeanour are encouraging; they are, in fact, much in the same position as in a religious boarding school in England. The influence of a Christian education is easily seen in their altered habits and conduct; and it will, I trust, become still more apparent when they shall have become the parents of a future and more intelligent race of native Christians. The number of children in this and similar institutions is small, and consequently their influence must be limited, but the labour bestowed has been already crowned with success, and I hope a richer harvest is yet in store. These remarks I apply not merely to the school conducted by Mrs. Campbell, but to others of a similar nature. The heathen dayschools for girls, I believe to be a failure, and the funds and labour bestowed on them almost thrown away. I have been led to this conclusion from experience, for we have repeatedly tried that plan, and from our experience we could neither recommend nor encourage it. A short account of the state of things, and of the manner in which such schools are conducted, will, perhaps, be more satisfactory, and furnish data upon which you may form your own opinion. 1. It is well known that Oriental females are seldom seen without doors; but to no country is this remark more applicable than to Bengal. The higher and middling classes of females never appear in public, and all are alike denied the use of books. From the ancient works of the Hindoos, we learn that it was not always so. Some of their ladies were distinguished for their acquirements in science and philosophy. The manners of the people, in this respect, are entirely changed, particularly since the Mohammedan invasion; and it is probable that the rapacity and licentiousness of the Moslems first induced the Hindoos to shut up their wives and daughters to protect them from insult. But whatever may be the causes which brought about this change, it is a fact that now no respectable female is ever seen, except by some rare accident. The natives are not only careful to exclude their females from society; their religious prejudices are also opposed to their education. It is no recommendation to a woman that she is able to read. Intelligent natives who have received a European education lament this state of things, but dare not yet break through it, such is the influence of popular prejudice; until the men, therefore, are enlightened, and are influenced by the principles of the Gospel, which alone can make them superior to every prejudice, I see no prospect of enlightening the females.* It ought to be remembered that the natives of this country are not only heathens, but in regard to their prejudices on the subject of female education, differing from all other nations among whom Missionaries labour. The custom of excluding their females from society, and of keeping them in ignorance, is associated with the strongest passions of the Hindoo. Their jealousy, their sense of honour, shame, and propriety, and their religious prejudices, all combine to oppose every effort to educate their females. Not only the respectable natives, but even the common mechanics of Bengal (as far as I have been able to ascertain) will not send their female children to any school. 2. The prejudices of the natives against female education being so strong, very few even of the lowest classes will send their daughters to school, unless they are paid for so doing. We frequently tried to form a heathen day-school in connexion with the Institution, but we did not succeed because we opposed the system of hiring children; owing to this and other objections, we abandoned the attempt. It is true, that by dint of rewards, &c. &c., a number of low children may be collected, but the good effected is far from being commensurate to the labour and funds expended. A short account of the system generally pursued will illustrate this fact. A number of heathen women, called Hurkarus, are employed to collect children. They go about from house to house, among those classes to whom the rewards their children receive are an object, and by giving a few pice they succeed in collecting a number of children. These remain in school about three hours per day, the rest of their time is spent at home, when they never look at a book. As these Hurkarus are often paid according to the number of children they bring, it is their interest to collect as many as possible; but although we thus succeed in keeping up our numbers, it frequently happens that the individuals are not the same; those we have to-day may not be present to-morrow; but the aggregate is pretty nearly the same. Hence it is that little progress is made, and how this evil can be cured I know not. 3. The children are not allowed to remain in school sufficiently long to allow their characters to be formed by their education. They are withdrawn before they are well capable of appreciating moral and religious instruction, particularly as that instruction is so wofully counteracted by the bad example of home: add to this the poverty of their parents, in consequence of which the children are sent as soon as possible to any employment that promises a better remuneration than the few pice received in school. Hence the majority of them leave before they are able to read the Scriptures, and many of them before they can read at all. I believe that I cannot be contradicted when I state it as a fact, that out of every 200 girls who leave these schools, there are not above 20 who can read the Scriptures. But if it be inquired how many even of these 20 read the Scriptures at home, or when they leave school, I fear the number will be found small indeed. 4. Although these children did attend regularly, and long enough to be able to read, &c., yet they would have no influence upon society. As already stated, they are (especially in Calcutta) the children of the lowest classes, such as Mathers and Moochies (sweepers and cobblers.) I doubt the propriety of educating the females of this class of people while the males are uneducated, for be it remembered that the fathers, brothers, and other male relatives of these girls, are almost the only class of natives who are entirely uneducated. Lads from all other classes attend our schools. Now, if the only educated females in Bengal were to be found among that class, the male portion of which are above all others most ignorant, would not this be a strange anomaly? The system of girls' day-schools as at present pursued, (and I know not how the evil can be mended,) is radically wrong; I could not therefore either recommend or encourage them. It is in our boarding schools alone that any good can be done. But as the natives are beginning to bestir themselves on the subject of female education, I hope the time is not far distant when we shall see many of them willing to send their daughters to us. Whenever that happy state of feeling exists, we shall be ready to receive them. But until then, I As an encouragement to the friends of Female education, I may mention that the subject is beginning to be agitated among the more respectable natives of Calcutta. The young men taught in our schools are beginning to teach their female relatives privately at home. This promises to become general. I frequently endeavour to impress the lads of my school with the importance of this subject, promising to assist them with books, &c., if they will teach their female friends at home. I hope a great change will soon be effected by these and other educated young men. |