Koolwantee, are represented to have performed the sacrifice of Suttee are extremely improbable; and, if proved, they would, from their illegality, take the several cases out of the predicament of the sacrifice of suttee, and reduce them to simple suicides. In the case of Mussumaut Chowrassee, the court remark that the father of the deceased husband was summoned before the magistrate, and for not giving timely information at the Thannah, was confined without labour or irons for three months. The court are concerned at being again compelled to witness the practice of an irregularity which has repeatedly met their animadversion. The magistrate will be called on to explain by what rule or authority he considered himself competent to take criminal cognisance of the omission to furnish timely information. SHAHABAD. In this district, there would appear to have occurred thirty-nine female sacrifices during the past year (increase 20), of which twelve were perform ed according to the rite of Anoomurun, and twenty-seven according to that of Sahamurun; among those of the former class, the Court observe that, in the case of Mussumaut Uştoornoo, the ceremony was clearly illegal, the widow being of the Brahminical tribe, and having burnt herself eight days after the death of her husband; but the acting Magistrate has noticed the illegality, and has observed that the sacrifice was completed before the police could reach the spot, and that the ceremony was subsequently ascertained to have been regularly and legally performed in all respects, except as to the period of cremation. In the case of Mussumaut Baila, which is another instance of Anoomurun, the sacrifice would appear to have been illegal, inasmuch as the widow having had an opportunity of burning herself with the corpse, and on the funeral pile of her husband, was not at liberty subsequently to ascend another pile. In the case of Mussumaut Loungee, the Court conclude that the widow who performed the rite of Anoomurun was in possession of the turban, sandal, or other relic of her deceased husband, when the law requires that the rite in question should be performed. There would seem also in this instance to have been another point of illegality unnoticed. The Magistrates were informed by a circular order from the Nizamut Adawlut, dated the 25th of June 1817, that it had been held by the Pundits, that a woman who being absent from her husband at the time of his death, does not perform the rite of Anoomurun immediately on becoming acquainted with that event, cannot be considered a Patibrata, or devoted to her lord, and is not at liberty to burn herself at any subsequent period. Also that a woman who being present at the time of her husband's death, and unrestrained by a legal impediment, omits the act of Suhumurun (burning with the body of the deceased,) cannot be considered a Patibrata, or devoted to her lord, and is not at liberty to burn herself at any subsequent period. In the instance of Mussumaut Loungee, it is not stated whether she was along with, or absent from, her husband at the time of his death; but it is extremely improbable that she should have been uninformed of that event until after the lapse of ten years. The same remark applies to the case of Mussumaut Chanda, who is stated to have burnt herself four years after her husband's death; and it applies also with greater force to the case of Mussumaut Khooshhalee, who is represented as having burnt herself twenty years subsequently to the decease of her husband. In the case of Mussumaut Rutchlee, a Brahmince aged fourteen, who burnt herself along with the turban of the person to whom she was betrothed, but not married, the Court observe that the nearest relation, who set fire to the pile, has been committed to take his trial before the Court of Circuit; but the Court conclude, that, independently of the illegality of the transaction, it must have been ascertained from the investigation made by the Magistrate, that the sacrifice was not altogether voluntary, so as to in out the knowledge of any one, twelve years after the death of her husband. Ramdeal Oojah, father Auchrauj Oojah, deceased was summoned before the magistrate, and for not giving timely information at the Thannah, he was confined, without labour or irons, for three months. Toorunt Loll, brother of Juggurnauth Singh, deceased, states that Mussumaut Koolwantee, on receiving the information of the death of her husband, (who died at Shurhur) wished voluntarily to burn herself with the turban of her deceased husband, and that when he had, the rest of her friends would not give her any assistance, but sent information to the Thannah; that she began to expostulate with them, when a blaze of fire broke out in her clothes by itself, on which they supplied required wood. + The husband of the widow who died on his way home from Benares; the widow immediately on hearing his death burnt herself; but the ceremony was performed, which was conducted agreeably to the Shaster, before information was sent to the police. duce him to consider the commitment of BAREILLY DIVISION. (No cases of interest or marked peculia rity occur in the Report on this Division.) BENARES DIVISION. Banda-(Increase 4.)-The Court observe with regret, that in four out of the five cases of Suttee reported to have occurred, the relations of the deceased were fined by the Magistrate for not sending previous information to the Thannah, and in two of the cases the Chokeedars were punished. This is not the first instance in which the Court have been called on to reprehend the practice in question. They desire that the fines levied in these instances be immediately restored, and that the Magistrate be instructed to refrain in future from the exercise of a power which is altogether unauthorised. The Court by no means intend to express an opinion, that intentional omission to communicate information relative to intended sacrifices on the part of those whose special duty it may be to communicate such information to the police officers is not punishable, or that those who may have been proved to have prevented the communication of such information are not fit objects of punishment; but the Magistrate has clearly no authority to punish the relations of a deceased Suttee for the mere circumstance of their having omitted to acquaint the police officers with her intention. Ghazeepore.-More instances of illegal Suttee appear to have occurred in this than in any other district, and out of thirty-five Suttees reported, twenty-six are stated to have occurred before the arrival of the police. Those which appear to have been illegal on the score of non-age, are the cases of Mussumaut Mungunnee, aged twelve, of Mussumaut Deo Kullee, aged fifteen, of Mussumaut Gurundhee, aged twelve. In the latter instance, there was another legal disability to the sacrifice, which was conducted by the rite of Anoomurun, the deceased having been a Brahminee. It does not appear for what offence the relations of Mussumaut Gurundhee have been committed to take their trial before the Court of Circuit; for although, from the circumstance of her non-age, and of her belonging to the Brahminical tribe, she was not legally competent to perform the sacrifice of Anoomurum, yet it is not stated that her act was involuntary, or that her relations had recourse to violence or other improper means. INFANT SCHOOL SOCIETY. 709 THE formation of this Society was noticed in our number for August. The fol. lowing particulars of its plan and objects have been published by the Committee: "The Infant-School Society has been formed to promote the establishment of schools, or rather asylums, for the children of the poor, before the age at which they employment, or at which they may be reare capable of engaging in any profitable ceived into other schools. The proper objects of the Society's care, therefore, are children of both sexes, from two to six years of age. Children of this age generally prove, during the working hours of the day, a heavy incumbrance on parents who One of the Society's objects is to lighten are obliged to toil hard for a subsistence. the pressure of this inconvenience, and to leave the parents, and particularly the mo ther, more fully at liberty to pursue some gainful occupation for the common benefit themselves of the advantage of this kind of of the family. So convinced are the poor relief, that in numerous instances Dames' blished, in which ten, twenty, or thirty inSchools, as they are called, have been estawoman, by whom they are shut up, perfants are placed under the care of an old haps in a close apartment, in order to be kept out of harm's way' while the parents tion parents are willing to pay from twoare at work. And for this accommodaThe children are left with the dame, and pence to four-pence a-week for each child. in most cases, of the dinner hour, (until remain under her care, (with the exception, the evening. Schools, which shall be capable of receivIt is now proposed to form Infant ing from 200 to 300 infants, and which, while they secure the same relief to parents, shall be made subservient to many other purposes, important not only to the childparents, and to the community at large. ren themselves, but through them to their The plan is, in the first place, to provide dry, and, if possible, a large play-ground an airy and spacious apartment, with a properly selected master and mistress, these attached to it, where, under the eye of a infants may pass the hours during which their parents are at work; and, in the second place, to render this receptacle not ment, but a school for the acquisition or a place of irksome restraint and confinehabits of cleanliness and decorum, of cheerful and ready subordination, of courtesy, kindness, forbearance, and of abstinence from every thing impure or profane; a ainusement, of intellectual improvement scene, in short, at once of activity and and moral discipline. In what degree it has been found possible to attain these ends, those only can adequately comprehend who have seen in actual operation the system which it is now proposed to extend more widely. If the period of mere infancy is less fitted, comparatively speaking, for intellectual progress, yet curiosity is even then sufficiently active to enable the superintendant of such an establishment to convey much useful knowledge to his pupils, by means which are calculated to call forth, without oppressing, their faculties. No parent, for example, can be ignorant of the effect produced by pictures, whether of animate or inanimate objects, in engaging the attention and developing the faculties even of very young children. And this is only one of the many modes by which ideas may be communicated to infants, without the necessity either of resorting to any harsh expedients, or of imposing any strain on their faculties. "But these first years of life are still more valuable with a view to the formation of the temper and moral character of the future man. No doubt can be entertained, both of the susceptibility of right impressions which belongs to the earliest age, and of the unhappy permanence of those vicious or selfish propensities, and of those peevish or violent tempers, which are then too often contracted, and which, when suffered to expand, lead in after-life to domestic misery, to profligacy,-and to crime. To counteract such propensities, and to prevent the growth of such tempers, is the prime object of the proposed plan; and it is with a view to this object, that the whole frame and discipline of infant schools ought to be regulated. The incidental acquisi tion of useful knowledge, which cannot fail to accompany this course of early tuition, though in itself a circumstance of mean value, is but of small account, in comparison with those habits of self-government, and with those feelings of mutual kindness, which form the characteristic tendencies, and indeed the grand recommendation, of the whole system. "In this point of view it is a matter of the highest importance to select superintendants for those schools, who have learned to govern their own tempers; who unite firmness and decision of character, with mildness, patience, forbearance, and kindness of disposition; who are not liable to be moved, either to vehemence, or to peevishness, sharpness, or ill-humour, by the way wardness of the children, or by the various difficulties of their task ;-whose tone and manner, as well as feelings, shall be uniformly those of parental affection; and who shall be disposed, from a sense of duty, to exercise constant vigilance in mark ing, and gently counteracting, every instance the children may exhibit of insubor. dination or disobedience towards their teachers, or of fretfulness, selfishness, unkindness, or violence in their intercourse with each other, and especially in their hours of play, which, at that age, must ne cessarily occupy by far the largest portion of their time. The qualities here stated to be requisite in the masters and mistresses, may deter many benevolent persons from attempting to institute infant schools, under an apprehension that it may prove extremely difficult, if not impossible, to procure suitable instructors; but we are happy to learn, that the past experience of the Infant School Committee tends to obviate this ground of hesitation and discouragement. Hitherto individuals have easily been engaged to fill these important offices, whose conduct has been perfectly satisfactory; and the Committee see no reason to despair of finding an increasing supply of such superintendants proportioned to the demand for them. "The Committee, however, are deeply sensible, and they wish to impress this sentiment on all who may undertake to form infant schools, that it is by instilling into the infant mind the principles of religion, that the effects even of the most perfect discipline can be rendered permanent, and that those higher ends can be secured for which man is formed, and which infinitely transcend in importance all the temporal advantages, great as they are, to be derived from education. To produce, therefore, in the minds of the children, feelings of reverence and gratitude towards their Creator and Redeemer; to impress upon them a sense of their moral responsibility; to convey to them a knowledge of the leading truths of revealed religion; and to familiarize them with the bright examples of piety and benevolence which the Scriptures furnish, ought to form leading features of the system of instruction pursued in these infant schools. "It would be difficult duly to estimate the effects on society, and, amongst many others, the diminution of private vice and of public delinquency, which, under the Divine blessing, must follow the general adoption and steady prosecution of such a system of infant training. At present we behold the streets, and lanes, and alleys of the metropolis, and other large towns and villages, crowded with squalid children, left, in utter neglect, to wallow in filth, to contract disease, and to acquire babits of idleness, violence, and vice. Almost the first language which many of them learn to lisp, is that of impurity and pro faneness. Almost the first science in which many of them are instructed, is that of depredation. Abroad, they are exposed to every vicious seduction; at home, they too often suffer from the caprice or violence of parents incapable of instructing their ignorance, whose poverty makes them discontented and irritable, and who feel the very presence of their children to be a drawback on their efforts to earn a subsistence. From such a course of education what can be expected but a proficiency in vicious propensities and criminal practices ;-what, in short, but that mass of juvenile delinquency which, in the present day, we have been forced to witness, and to deplore? "But if we contrast with this state of things the effect which may be anticipated from the general establishment of infant schools, conducted on the principles which have now been developed, what heart but must exult in the prospect? Let those who regard such expectations as visionary, only take the pains of personally and minutely inspecting those receptacles for infants which have been already formed at Walthamstow, Whitechapel, Vincent Square, Westminster, Blackfriars, Brighton, Bristol, and Liverpool. Let them view the children, clean, healthy, joyous; giving free scope to their buoyant spirits; their very plays made subservient to the correction of bad and the growth of good dispositions; and the happiness they manifestly enjoy employed as the means of training them in habits of prompt and cheerful obedience, of mutual kindness, of unceasing activity, of purity and decorum. Again, let them watch the return of these children to their homes at noon and at night, and witness the pleasurable sensations with which they are received, so different from the scowling looks and harsh tones with which their teasing importunities and interruptions, during the hours of labour, are apt to be met. And let them, moreover, contemplate the striking reaction of the improved manners and habits of the infants on the older branches of the family. Let them view and consider all this, and they will no longer doubt the beneficial influence of the proposed institution. "We are persuaded that no further motives will be wanting to induce our readers zealously to promote the establishment of such schools, wherever they may be needed, within the sphere of their influence; and with that view to assist in carrying into effect the special object for which this Society has been formed, which is, to establish, in some central part of the metropolis, an infant school which may exemplify the principles now explained; and which, while it dispenses its benefits to the adjoining population, may also serve as a model of VOL. XXIII. NO. X. imitation with respect to its mechanism, and as a seminary for training and qualifying masters and mistresses to form and superintend similar institutions. In the mean time, and until sufficient funds shall have been obtained for accomplishing this object, the Committee have resolved to accept the liberal offer of Mr. Joseph Wilson, to employ his infant school inQuaker Street, Spitalfields, for teaching the mechanical parts of the system to such masters or mistresses as may be sent thither for instruction; applications for which purpose may be addressed to Mr. James P. Greaves, at Quaker Street Spitalfields. The Committee have engaged Mr. Wilderspin, of the Spitalfields infant school, to go into the country, at the request of any person intending to open a school according to the method now in practice." NEW SOUTH WALES. THE last letters from this colony convey a curious specimen of the exertions made by our Colonial Proconsuls, and their minions, in the breasts of those whom the beauty and to create division, and inspire angry feelings salubrity of the country and climate, or the prospects of commercial advantage, may induce to seek their countenance and who at present form an important class protection." The Scotch Presbyterians, among the settlers, in our Australasian dominions, having formed the design of erecting a Presbyterian church at Sydney, and having previously consulted in private Governor, himself a Presbyterian, by whom the opinion of Sir Thomas Brisbane, the no objection whatever was made, appointed most respectable free settlers, to wait upon a deputation, consisting of some of the public consent to the same. the Governor, pro forma, to obtain his The Address, of which the following is a copy, will no doubt appear to our readers all that was necessary in an affair of this kind, and seem to merit at least a sensible and civil reply. Mr. Secretary Goulburn, the Governor's factotum, appears, however, to have thought otherwise; for his Reply, which we have subjoined to the Address, tion of a flippant and conceited school-boy, would seem rather to be the first producthan of the man of business or the gentle man. To his Excellency Major-General Sir Thomas Brisbane, K. C. B. Captain- May it please your Excellency, fully to represent to your Excellency, that for some time past it has been in contemplation to erect a Presbyterian Church in Sydney, in which the ordinances of religion shall be dispensed according to the institutions of the church of Scotland. Your Excellency is aware that the number of Presbyterians is at present very considerable, and is increasing daily in these colonies; but that the benefit of religious instruction, according to the customs of their church, have, until lately, been inaccessi ble to them. Educated in the faith of their forfefathers, and cherishing in this country the predilections of their earlier days, they find, with concern, that no opportunity is afforded them of following that form of worship which they have been taught to reverence and consider as best; and they are either necessitated to conform to the services of a church, whose ritual is quite different, or are deprived of the administration of the public ordinances of religion altogether. For these reasons, it is proposed to form a church in this capital, in communion with the Church of Scotland; and we therefore, with due deference, solicit your Excellency's concurrence in our views; and, as the object is one of public utility, and could not be easily effected by the contributions of private individuals, without the aid of Government, we entreat that your Excellency will be pleased to grant us such assistance as will enable us to carry it into effect; and we found our hopes of support from your Excellency on the following grounds : provinces of British America, where the Roman Catholic religion is established, it assigns salaries for the support of Presbyterian ministers. In those districts in which Scottish emigrants have settled, and in each of the Presidencies of British India, it supports a clergyman of the church of Scotland. 3. In this colony, in which it is so much the object of government to instruct the people to fear God and honour the king, it cannot be a matter of indifference to your Excellency, whether the Presbyterian part of the community shall be supplied with the means of religious instruction. By confirming them in their attachment to the institutions of their ancestors, it will be an additional inducement to maintain the practice of those virtues which were taught them in their fathers' land. Finally. The liberal support which your Excellency has afforded the Roman Catholics of this colony, in the erection of their chapel, inspires us with the hope that your Excellency will be graciously pleased to extend the countenance and support of the Colonial Government to those professing the Presbyterian religion.Sydney, Aug. 4, 1823. REPLY. GENTLEMEN-To learn from your Address that," for some time past it has been in contemplation to erect a Presby terian Church in Sydney," gives me great satisfaction. You will find the intention of easy execution, I trust, since the number of Presbyterians in these colonies you state to be "at present very considerable, and increasing daily." Of the church of England, one of the glories is her toleration. If, therefore, there be aught in her ritual, in conforming to which you felt any repugnance, this church would be the first to recommend you to adopt for yourselves the public ordinances which, in your opinion, might tend the most to glorify religion. It is on this principle that the British Government has liberally encouraged Presbyterianism in the many countries enumerated in your Address. It is on the same principle that she has afforded in this colony pastors of their own persuasion to our Roman Catholic brethren; and, it was in furtherance of this view, that the Colonial Government deemed it advisable to lend her support in the erection of a Catholic chapel. You state the hopes of your present Address to be founded upon this precedent; but, before you had touched upon |