advice and instructions, and to acknowledge the influence oi that power we possess by our superiority in religion, morality, and a better knowledge of the arts of Government. Let then all those British officers now in these parts but duly feel the deep responsibility attaching to them as professors of the purest morality, and as servants and representatives of a civilized Government, ever anxious to promote to its utmost the happiness and comfort and enlightenment of all its dependents-let them feel that upon their every act and every word depends the suppression of this and every other revolting practice-let them ever retain in their minds a due sense of the vast power and influence which they possess for working good to the thousands around them, and they will not fail in the speedy accomplishment of the high object of their blameless ambition. I trust they will hold me excused for attempting to dictate to their superior talents, conduct, judgment, and experience. I have here briefly stated the results of my experience, and the course which I have myself observed in regard to the subject of this letter. My object in writing it has been rather to draw their attention, and awaken their zeal, in the cause of humanity and civilization, than to recommend to imitation my own example, feeling well assured, if they will but give their best consideration to the subject, that their own judgment, and their individual tastes, will point out to them a course to themselves more agreeable, and still more effectual, and perhaps still less objectionable, than that which I have followed and presumed to recommend or suggest. AN OFFICER IN POLITICAL EMPLOY IN MALWA; AND LATE IN RAJPUTHANA. Málwá, November 25, 1834. II.-Additional Memoranda regarding the Karens, of Burmah. [The information regarding the Karens, which is contained in our Nos, for Nov. 1833, and May, 1834, has excited so much interest, that we have been repeatedly requested to publish any further particulars with which we might become acquainted. In order to meet the wishes of our correspondents, we now present them with the following extracts from a paper published in the Madras Missionary Register, No. I., and entitled "Notices of some recent discoveries, relative to the Karens in the Burman Empire." As the greater part of this paper consists of the information we have already published, what we now extract must not be regarded merely by itself, but as a supplement to the papers referred to, and in this view we are persuaded it will be deemed worthy of perusal by most of our readers, as well as particularly interesting by the correspondents to whom we have above referred. We shortly anticipate further information respecting the Karens, from an intelligent Missionary engaged in seeking their salvation, and shall not fail to give it insertion as soon as received.-ED.] The sufferings and heroic Christian fortitude of Mrs. Judson, with the patient labour and devoted piety of her husband, have made the Burman Mission an object of deep interest to the Christian Church. This inter est has been heightened by the great success which has been vouchsafed to their efforts and those of their coadjutors. The recent discovery of the Karens has given it yet additional interest, which is further heightened by the simplicity of character of this people, their preservation from idolatry though surrounded with idolaters, their preparedness for the reception of foreign teachers, the readiness with which they have received instruction, the sincerity with which a considerable number have in a short space of time turned to the Lord, and especially by the great probability that they are the descendants of the Jewish nation. Mr. Mason (an American Missionary) has been employed for some time in collecting fragments of their traditions, which bear the strongest mark of a Hebrew origin. They have no written record of their traditions; for until their language was reduced to writing by Mr. Wade (one of the Missionaries), they had no written language. Their traditions have therefore been handed down from father to son in the shape of commands, and were commonly sung at the funerals of their old men. It appears that this practice is fast passing into disuse; that their fragments are gradually thinning; and that there are very few Karens to be found who can remember even the fragments "The father no longer gathers here copied. Mr. Mason beautifully says, his children around the fount to teach them the commands of their ancestors; no longer do they sing at the graves of their elders the songs their fathers sung; nothing now is remembered but a few disconnected pieces, which, like the last glimmerings of day, are just sufficient to discover the fading landscape." There appears no reason to imagine that these fragments are not the traditions of their own ancestors. No traces of Roman Catholic Missionaries having been among them can be found, but on the contrary they have no acquaintance with the doctrine of the Cross, which such missionaries must have communicated to them. Additional evidence of the Hebrew origin of this people is furnished by their dress, which is said to correspond in a great measure with the Jewish. It seems that the cast and features are also Jewish, resembling those of the white Jews of Bombay. The kindness of a friend enables us to furnish our readers with the following fragments. A full account will probably be hereafter published by Mr. Mason; meanwhile we shall from time to time give such information concerning them as we may be able to obtain. Every Christian must espe cially rejoice in the encouraging prospect of their speedy conversion to Christianity; 200 have already appeared as the first fruits of faithful Missionary labours. May the Lord continue to bless their efforts, until the whole people become by faith, the children of believing Abraham. . The following traditions are of two kinds, the one in verse, and the other in prose; the latter in the form of commands from a parent to his children. 1.-Traditions of scripture facts.—God is denominated the great Ku-tra, or the great Lord-the great Pu, or great ancestor, from Pu, a grandfather and " Yuwah.” "O my children and grand-children, the earth is the treading place of the feet of God, and heaven is the place where he sits; he sees all things, and we are manifest to him." In the following passage, God is represented as saying, that after having created the world, he will destroy it in three generations; but men reply, that they are not able to endure this, and beg that they may have every variety of suffering that now exists, but that the world may not be burnt; to which request it is understood God acceded. "I have created the great earth, But in three generations I will burn it up; Angels.-The Karens believe that there are beings in heaven who never sinned, and that they are employed in executing God's purposes. "The sons of heaven are holy, They lean against the silver seat of God; The beings whom God employs to execute his purposes, Satan.-The Karens say that if a person died in ancient time, he came to life again after a short time, indicated, as in the following extract, by the plantain leaf becoming yellow;-Satan however brought sin into the world, and that men did not rise to life again. "The dead rose again when the plantain was yellow, But Satan produced sin; The dead rose to life, when the plantain was yellow, But Satan introduced sin; You have committed adultery against God, Hence in this state you are corrupt.' Of woman.-The Karens believe that woman was originally made from one of man's ribs, and have the popular idea among them that a man has one rib less on one side than on the other. "O children and grand-children! woman at first was a rib of man, therefore women ought to obey men in all things." Destruction of the world.-The Karens believe that the world will be destroyed by fire, and several brief allusions to this occur in their poetry, of which the following is a specimen : "The waters will rise, and the world-destroying flame will burst forth, And must not men then watch? Polygamy." O children and grand-children! If you have one wife, lust not after another female or male; for God at the beginning created only two." Swearing." O children and grand-children! do not curse or use imprecations, and do not scold. If you curse or use imprecations, they will return on yourselves." Alms." O children and grand-children! give food and drink to the poor, and by so doing you will obtain mercy yourselves." Doing good to all men.-" O children and grand-children! according to your abilities, relieve the distresses of all men. If you do good to others, you will not go unrewarded, for others will make like returns to you.' Idleness." O children and grand-children! while in this state here on earth, labour diligently, that you may not become slaves, and when persons visit you, have food and drink to give them." Intemperance.“ O children and grand-children! do not be guilty of excess in eating and drinking. Be not intemperate, but take that which is proper only." If we Obedience to kings.- O children and grand-children! obey the orders of kings, for kings in former times obeyed the commands of God. do not obey them, they will kill us." Earthly mindedness." O children and grand-children! do not covet the good things of this world, for when you die, you cannot carry away the things that are on earth." "O children and grand-children! do not desire to be great men and possess authority. Great men sin exceedingly, and when they die, go to hell." Anger. "O children and grand-children! never get angry. If we are angry with others, God is angry with us. The Righteous One looks down from heaven upon us. The person who looks upon the great and small, the vile and the wicked, children and youth, without anger, and gives them food and drink, he shall be established unchangeably.' Forbearance and humility.—" O children and grand-children! though a person persecute you with deceit, anger, and revenge; though he strike you, thump you, beat you, do not return him evil: if you return him evil, you derive no advantage thereby. Then with the heart forbear, and speak to him respectful words: by doing this, you will not go unrewarded." "The man who, without anger, endures all with humility, shall be established unchangeably; for by doing thus the advantages of meritorious qualities are his." Love to enemies." O children and grand-children! If a person injures you, let him do what he wishes, and bear all the sufferings he brings upon you with humility. If an enemy persecute you, love him with the heart. On account of our having sinned against God from the beginning, we ought to suffer." How to act when one cheek is struck.-" O children and grand-children! If a person strike you on the face, he does not strike you on the face, he only strikes on the floor. Therefore, if a person strike you on one cheek, give him the other to strike." The restoration to power of the Karen nation.—In the first and third line of the following couplets, the degraded state of the Karens is intended to be represented, and in the second and fourth, the salvation which God will procure for them. "The worm eats the branch of the Pyeu tree, The sufferings and exaltation of the Deliverer.-It appears, when the Karens dwelt on the Selwyn river, they murdered a stranger by cutting off his head. This individual they have singularly enough, in a modern song, associated with their Saviour, who is to bring them to their promised land; if they be Jews, this is remarkably applicable to them, and our Lord, whom they crucified. "Kay-kay-na was a persecuted sufferer; When the Sufferer arrives, he will reveal the head city; They persecuted the sufferer exceedingly, But when the sufferer arrives, the excellent city will be revealed." "The sufferer of ancient times wicked men persecuted, But now the sufferer is possessed of glorious power; The sufferer of ancient times bad men persecuted, But now the sufferer is possessed of great power. Persecute not a sufferer, For the feet of a sufferer are near; Call not a sufferer by that name, For the feet of a sufferer are near; When the sufferer comes, The land will be happy as the murmur of the breeze; When the sufferer comes, All men will be happy; When the sufferer comes with happiness to the country, It will be happiness like that of monarchs." Their expectation of future instructors.-They have had a strong confidence for ages, that teachers would be sent among them to teach the true religion, as will appear from the following fragment: "The children and grand-children had obstinate ears, The children and grand-children had crooked ears, III.-Christianity and the late Rebellion at Ceylon. In a letter which we lately received from a zealous Friend of Education in the Upper Provinces, he intimated, that although he highly approved of Missionaries introducing Christianity into their schools, he thought it, at the same time, both inexpedient and dangerous for political officers like himself to give any direct and open countenance to such efforts-that in the first case, such a line of procedure would naturally be expected by the natives; while in the other, it must be considered an infringement of the toleration which Government professed, and "would probably lead to rebellion, like that which had arisen in Ceylon, from the countenance given to Christianity by the European authorities in that island." We were old enough to recollect, that 21 years ago, when the rebellion at Vellore had been imputed by some to the Missionaries who were then engaged in the field, the charge had been most triumphantly refuted by the late Andrew Fuller and his associates, when they successfully pleaded for the insertion of a clause in the East India Company's charter then under discussion, permitting Christian Missionaries of all denominations to proceed to India. This and similar instances, in which Christianity had been tried and proven blameless, led us to pronounce with confidence, that of any hand in exciting the late rebellion at Kandy, alluded to by our friend, it would be found completely innocent. Still it appeared most desirable to ascertain the truth, and with this view, we determined to extract the substance of the charge, and forward it to an intelligent friend on the spot, to pronounce, with greater knowledge of facts than we could expect to have in Calcutta, on its truth, or the contrary. We did so, and now furnish our readers with the result, in the following extract from a letter dated Colombo, Nov. 6th, 1834. |