ers, that the Rev. A. F. Le Gros, a native of Switzerland, accompanied by two native teachers, proceeded to the Mauritius for the purpose of diffusing a knowledge of Christianity amongst the Bengalee emigrants and the slaves. The authorities refused him permission to land and prosecute his labours; first, because they disapproved of his object, and, secondly, because he was not a British but a Swiss subject. He acted upon the letter of their instructions, and proceeded at once to Britain, in order that he might lay his case before the colonial authorities. We predicted at the time, without laying any special claim to foresight, that which has actually occurred-he has obtained permission to return, accompanied by other missionaries, to labour unfettered at the Mauritius. Lord Glenelg may be somnambulent, but we suspect the authorities at the Cape and Mauritius would wish that his slumbers were both more potent and long continued. If he does sleep, it is neither in his mental vigour nor love of equity, nor are his sarcasm or contempt of such playing the tyrant and despot, as the powers that be in these colonies have displayed, in a dormant condition. Our prayer is that, with all his faults, such a one may long continue to preside over the interests of the colonies of Great Britain ! TREATMENT OF THE NATIVES. "The natives of India possess both mental and physical sensibilities."-Ourselves. It is not often that we quote ourselves, but in this instance we are obliged to do so, as in the whole course of reading we have never met with a single sentence which conveys the sentiment at the head of this paragraph; but although it is not found in any author, it is nevertheless perfectly true. It may appear strange that we should have either to make the assertion or substantiate the fact, but we suspect the almost universal practice of abusing and ill-treating the natives may account for the total absence of any such sentiment as the one referred to on the subject of native sensibility. The fact is, our consciousness of superiority, combined with the servility of the natives, has induced us to adopt a line of conduct and modes of expression highly objectionable and reprehensible. It is true, the natives are generally slow and oft perfidious; but may not our treatment of them lead them to the latter at least; for, from what European employées should we obtain the same amount of labour and attention as from them? or, indeed, what European would render us service at all under the treatment they oft experience at our hands? They render us good service in many respects, and serve us ill in others; the good service is forgotten, and they receive as their reward, often their discharge, accompanied with abuse, anger, and blows. Their mistakes often arise rather from our ignorance of their language and habits, from our peevishness, induced by disease and other causes, than either their vices or folly; and so habitual does this carping become, that we often censure when we should praise, and are silent when we should commend. This renders them, as it would any servants, quite indifferent; they care not whether they please or no, and their only study becomes how much they shall pilfer, and how much annoy a master, who never seeks their good, but always his own comfort at their sole expense. We have seen the kind but strict system, and the harsh and blustering plan tried; the former with as much success as we could expect with such a people in such a condition, and the latter utterly fail. In fact, we fear that much of the bad conduct of the servant is to be traced to the harsh and ungenerous conduct of the master. It is well for us that the natives are as pusillanimous as they are, or they might resent to our cost the conduct we pursue to them. Let us reflect on the low esteem it must give them of us and of our faith, and how it must tend to render our very government odious in their sight. The Dutch lost their influence by their tyranny. We upbraid America with her harshness to her slaveslet us look at home. We boast of our magnanimity and generosity; let us display it, but not in trampling on the poor degraded and conquered Bengalee. We have translated some of the words in common use amongst English gentlemen towards their servants, the appropriateness of the vocabulary, as applicable to rational beings, will, we trust, commend itself to all, and insure its universal adoption; for it would be especially delightful to hear our ministers, wives, daughters, and children, speaking in language which must be deemed appropriate by us, as it is always on our lips. Súr, pig; harámzáda, a person of bad birth; gadha, ass; pági, worthless; baurá, stupid. These are the most respectable of the class-many there are which are perfectly untranslatable in the Calcutta Christian Observer. We close our remarks with the motto with which they commence, entreating all to remember, that "The natives of India possess both mental and physical sensibilities." CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. The horrid cruelties practised by the Hindoos towards their domestic animals must have struck every resident in India. How frequently do we see poor beasts of burden groaning under the influence of oppressive burdens, in the mid-day sun, with loathsome wounds, exposed to the action of the atmosphere, the attacks of insects, and not unfrequently to the lash of the rude driver! It is a sight oft to be witnessed, but not without making every well-regulated mind revolt. We merely select this instance; it is but an example of the general line of treatment adopted by the natives toward the brute creation. This is a subject demanding the attention of the legislature, and one which might certainly come within the scope of their labours, without interfering with the religious prejudices of the people; for it can be no offence, either to Hindoo or Mussulman, to make him respect the ox and the cow, as it is almost the deity of the one, and the food of the other! We commend it to the attention of our code framers. A slight fine imposed on persons convicted of maltreating dumb animals would be a sufficient check to the practice. THE MISSIONARY MAGAZINE AND CHRONICLE, RELATING CHIEFLY TO THE MISSIONS OF The London Missionary Society. SUBSCRIPTIONS and DONATIONS in aid of the Funds of this Society will be thankfully received by the Treasurer or Secretaries, at the Mission House, Blomfield-street, Finsbury, and by Messrs. Hankey, the Society's Bankers, 7, Fenchurch-street, London; in Edinburgh, by Mr. George Yule, Broughton Hall; in Glasgow, by Mr. Risk, 9, Cochranestreet; and in Dublin, by Messrs. J. D. La Touche and Co., or at 7, Lower Abbey-street. THE present situation of the negroes in the British Colonies of the West Indies unfolds a spectacle of surpassing interest to every friend of religion and humanity. Another great change in the external condition of these our brethren has been accomplished, and they are now placed in circumstances which admit of their unlimited social and moral advancement. The negro now stands erect, in the full possession of personal freedom; the yoke of slavery no longer holds him under its debasing and benumbing influence; and if, in addition to the benefits to be VOL. XVI. 20 derived from the new relations on which he has entered as a man and a British subject, he also becomes a partaker of the imperishable blessings of religion: then, but not until then, will he possess all that his best friends ever desired or sought on his behalf. No person who has paid attention to the great subject of negro emancipation, or watched the progress of a cause so important in its bearings on the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom in the world, can be unacquainted with its history since the 1st of August, 1834, when absolute slavery was declared by an Act of the Imperial Legislature to have ceased for ever in the British Dominions, and the modified system of negro apprenticeship was introduced into the colonies as a preliminary to the unqualified freedom of the coloured labourers. The act referred to provided for the liberation of the non-prædial apprentices on the 1st of August, 1838, but their number was small compared with that of the prædial labourers, whose release from compulsory servitude was nevertheless to be protracted until 1840. This arrangement lay open to most serious objections from the beginning, and subsequent events having served at once to confirm and multiply them, the friends of the negroes were gradually led to the conclusion, that the retention of one class of apprentices in a state of deeply oppressive bondage for a period of two years after every other class was made free, would be utterly at variance with the claims both of justice and humanity, and equally incompatible with the true interests of the colonies in which this unjust, unequal, and unnecessary mode of treatment was to be adopted. To the motives arising from these considerations are to be ascribed the great public movements made since the commencement of the present year, to obtain the simultaneous enfranchisement of the prædial and non-prædial apprentices. The British Legislature refused to exert its power in favour of the measure; but the influence of public opinion emanating from this country, was felt and acknowledged in that part of the world where the captive waited to be unbound, and there the work of mercy was commenced, and has, it is believed, been completed. The termination of the apprenticeship on the 1st of August was resolved upon by the Jamaica House of Assembly, early in June; this act was preceded and fol lowed by similar measures in nearly all the lesser colonies; and there is a strong presumption, that it has likewise been imitated in the extensive colony of British Guiana. The negroes have been pronounced worthy of freedom from quarters whence such a declaration could have been least expected; and among those who have long espoused their cause, a cheering persuasion is felt that their future conduct will be such as to justify that opinion. All of them have been prepared by their past sufferings to value the boon which has been bestowed; and many, owing to the moral and religious instruction they have received, are also in a state duly to improve it. The London Missionary Society has united its efforts with those of kindred institutions, to render the possession of freedom a substantial and lasting blessing to the negro; and, in harmony with the results which might be expected to flow from such labours, several of the Society's devoted Missionaries in Jamaica, and in British Guiana, have communicated the pleasing information, that the native churches and congregations under their care intended to set apart the 1st of August, as a day of solemn thanksgiving and devout acknowledgment unto God, for the great mercy they were about to receive. At home the religious celebration of the day among the various bodies of Christians has been al most universal, We trust it has been accompanied by an adequate sense of the increased responsibility in which the new and critical situation of the negroes has involved us. If slavery, on the one hand, so paralyses the soul, as to render it almost incapable of religion; freedom, on the other, requires to be placed under the salutary influences which religion only can provide, in order that it may prove a blessing to its possessor. Vigorous exertions must therefore be made to repair the deep injuries which have been inflicted by the nation on this long-degraded race of men, to secure what has already been accomplished in their favour, and to promote by all suitable means, their elevation in the scale of society, and the advancement of their spiritual and eternal interests. Among the means of usefulness now in operation, we present the following notice of the Mission School on the west coast in Demerara. The station designated Ebenezer Chapel, situated on the west coast of the Demerara River, was commenced in 1814. Our brother, Mr. Scott, arrived at the station in January, 1832, and at that time the negroes and their children who attended for instruction on the Sabbath numbered about 250. The efforts commenced by his predecessors in Sabbath-school instruction, were vigorously pursued by Mr. Scott, assisted by Mrs. Scott, who was eminently qualified for the delightful office she sustained. Shortly after their entrance upon the work, Mr. Scott was enabled to make this pleasing statement :-" The elementary truths of Christianity, and the outlines of Scripture history, are as well understood amongst our scholars, as in most schools in Great Britain. Our success in this department of our work calls forth our gratitude to the Father of mercies, as we trust it will in the minds of the Directors, and our Christian friends generally." In March, 1835, an infant-school, containing at first 25 children, was established by Mrs. Scott, who, until within a few months of her lamented decease, pursued those labours on behalf of the young, the value of which, as well as the devotedness with which they were discharged, are held by many in lasting remembrance. Mr. and Mrs. Murkland, to whom the charge of the schools is now committed, arrived at the station in June, 1837, and have continued to fulfil this important duty with exemplary zeal and assiduity. In addition to the infant and Sabbathschools before noticed, two other schools have been established, namely, a dayschool, and an evening-school; and the number at present receiving instruction in these schools is, collectively, about 500. The day-school contains about 125 boys, whose general progress in knowledge, and especially their moral and religious improvement, are highly satisfactory. In connexion with this school, the gratifying circumstance depicted on the preceding page has been communicated by Mr. Murkland. His Excellency the late Governor of the Colony, Sir James Carmichael Smyth, whose death will long be a subject of deep regret to every friend of the negro race, is represented in the performance of one of those acts of benevolence for which he was so eminently distinguished. The Mission schools received a large measure of his favourable regard. He often visited them personally, and encouraged the parents and children by thus publicly showing the importance he attached to education. Towards the close of last year, the day-school at Ebenezer School was favoured by a visit from his Excellency, when the pleasing scene occurred, which is thus described by Mr. Murkland : "The Governor, Sir J. C. Smyth, visited the school on the morning of the 28th of December, 1837. He examined the children in reading, writing, geography, and catechised them on the Lord's prayer; after which he heard them repeat and sing several hymns. At the close of the examination, which lasted about an hour, he presented ten of the monitors with handsome medals; one side of the medal represented a boy in the attitude of prayer, encircled with the well-known words, Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth;' his own address was inscribed upon the other. The Governor himself attached the medals to their |