ENCOURAGEMENTS ON THE BULLOM SHORE.

11

God I want now, if He will receive me." "Yes, He is willing to receive you," I said, "as He does all who came to Him, for He casts out none." "I trust in him alone," was his reply. "I find my idols can do me no good now, and they cannot save my soul. I shall throw them all away. "Give them to me," I said, "that I may be confident you have parted with them, and I shall destroy them myself." He consented, and went home, after receiving further instruction. It was not long after he left that his wife came and told me that her husband was fully resolved to give me his idols just then, if I could go for them. The matter, in my view, required haste, lest he might alter his mind. Away to his house I went, accompanied by Mrs. Boston. He provided seats for us, went in to his chamber, and, returning, brought a bag which contained the idols, and sat down. Then, looking at me, he said, "These are the country-fashion, I told you, I had. In my blind state I used to consult them, and they answered my purpose then very well. I amassed money by them, and so worshipped and sacrificed cows, goats, and fowls to them, but I knew nothing. Thank God, I know now that He alone is to be worshipped. When I was taken from my country, I was placed with the unhappy and unfortunate slaves who were murdered in Dahomey's land. I was ordered out one morning to the place of execution, but had my life given me again. Surely it was the great God who effected my preservation then, as he has protected me from many other dangers." Then, reaching his hand, he delivered me the bag, the contents of which were found to be stones of different descriptions, besides cowries, and other foolish things. "I want the idols no more," he said; "throw them away. God alone is sufficient for me. I shall praise his name, and give the glory to Him, for enabling me to part with these things. The Shango which I left at the place I was working at I shall send for and give you. I don't want any thing of the sort again. I want you to wash me. Put water on my head, &c." All who were present felt thankful, and regarded him with wonder, as a brand plucked from the burning. I endeavoured then to lead him to Christ as the Saviour; urged upon him the duty of constant and persevering prayer for the Holy Spirit's assistance; and, kneeling down, I offered prayer, in which he heartily united, with sighs and tears. Since then, though sickly and very weak, being an aged man of more than threescore years and ten, yet he embraces every opportunity of attending the means of grace, excepting when his pains are too severe. He gave me no rest about his baptism, assured me that he looked to Christ for pardon and salvation, and desired to know Him. I gave him to understand that, after further instruction, and his sincerity tested, his baptism will not be delayed. On Sunday, the 6th of August, he was seriously ill. I found him very poorly when I went to see him at his request. "I have no hope of living long," he said, "and my only desire is to be baptized before I die." Accordingly, on Sunday, the 13th inst., having instructed him, during the intervening days, on the nature and principles of that rite, I baptized him in the forenoon service, in the presence of the congregation of 105 persons.

Another remarkable case is that of John Brown. He, too, was a stiff and gross idolater, who was often spoken to during my four years' residence here, but all was in vain. Once he was prevailed on to attend

12

ENCOURAGEMENTS ON THE BULLOM SHORE.

church, but he did so only for a while. Another time he gave attendance at divine service, but his object was, not to pray for himself, as he never felt a need for it; but it was for his son, who was a profligate young man, and died without hope, ignorantly thinking that his prayers could effect his release from a state of punishment for his sins, in the unseen world, and a transmigration into that of happiness and bliss. In my visits, when he was afterwards laid up, I tried to persuade him to repose confidence in God, to cast away his worthless Ifa, and receive Christ as his Saviour. On the 27th of July I spoke to him most seriously on the point of his salvation. At first he denied worshipping any thing besides God, and said afterwards, "If God help me, and raise me up again, I shall cast away my idols, and serve Him only." "It is certain," I replied, "that God can help, and is willing to save your soul, if you believe in Him; but whether you will be raised up again from this sick-bed, or no, is very uncertain; therefore you should attend to this business now." "That is true," he said. "I shall, in the course of two or three days, send to fetch the idols from town, and destroy them." I read to him the passage, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." After explaining the same, I knelt down and prayed. He was lying all the while, but in the midst of prayer he sat up, reached his hand, and brought his idols near. As soon as I was up from my knees, he gave me his Ifa and Orisha, and said, "Go and throw them away. The word that you read moved my heart, so that I could resist no longer." On my next visit he said, "Oh, what sweet words you told me the other day! I thought upon them over and over. I wish I was well and young, I would have gone to school to learn, and read them for myself: however, come always, and teach me about God; I like to hear of what Christ has done for me." Many were surprised to hear this from him, considering how opposed he was to religion, and what bitter things often escaped his lips against its professors. Truly the Lord can make a lion to become a lamb, and raise up of stones, faithful children. "It is not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord." This poor man died ten days after his idols were given up. Within this interval there was a marked change observed in him. He called for family prayers, which he never did before. He confessed his former wickednesses, and owned he did them in ignorance, and asked for mercy; and, a few moments before he resigned his breath, was found praying, after which he spoke no more. With longing eyes look up to the Lord for fresh grace and renewed strength; seeing that, whilst we raise up our grateful hearts for what He has done, we have need to plead still more earnestly for the much which remains to be done; and for this we humbly crave the prayers of all Christ's faithful servants, that further blessings may rest upon us, and attend his work, both here, and in all the world, so that King Messiah may reign triumphantly, and "all flesh see the salvation of the Lord."

Amen.

I

wwwww

Feb. 1866.]

THE MALA PEOPLE.

OUR readers may remember that mention has been made from time to time of the Mala caste of the Telugu people, in connexion with our Telugu Mission, founded by the Rev. R. T. Noble and the Rev. Henry Fox in 1841. Mr. Fox closed his seven years of fruitful labour on the

C

GROUP OF MALA FEMALES. (From a Photograph.)

16th October 1848, and now the sad tidings have reached us that his devoted fellow-labourer also has finished his course with joy on the 16th of the same month in 1855. But there is no close to the work they begun. Deepening and widening, it has spread through the teeming population of the rich and well-watered deltas of the Godaveri and Krishna rivers, and inland to the wild tribes of the Kois, scattered among the hills and forests.

While the sons of proud and wealthy Brahmins and Mohammedans have been passing under Mr. Noble's teaching and training in the Masulipatam school, and have entered upon public life mostly in the employ of our Government-as refined in manners, as intelligent, as much practically influenced by Christianity as most of our own youths from Harrow or from Rugby, and we fear we may add, in many instances, better instructed in Scripture-the lower classes have flocked to our vernacular schools, and there have had the loving care of our other Missionaries, Messrs. Sharkey, Darling, and Alexander.

Of these lower classes, the largest and most important section is that called, in Telugu, Mala. They correspond with the Parayers (Pariahs) of the Tamil and the Hollayar of the Canarese nations. They are considered by those above them as below all caste. In the Hindu rules of architecture it is laid down that their dwellings ought to be two krossa, or 4000 yards, from the town. And to this day, though these rules are little studied, their round huts, with low mud walls about four feet high, and peaked thatched roofs like extinguishers, often overrun with gourds or pumpkins, are seen closely grouped together at a respectful distance from the town or village, each of which has usually its Malapalli, or Mala hamlet.

But though thus despised, and too often hardly used, the Malas are the right-hand of the farmer. They are strong, well-made, handy people, and, both men and women, always ready for rough and heavy work. Besides out-door labour, most of them in the Guntoor and Masulipatam districts are also able to weave. Their rude, coarse looms are worked indoors, the mud floor of the hut being scooped out, so that the weaver, who sits upon the ground, may stretch his legs under the beam, and work the treadle with his foot As they spin their own yarn and weave their own cloth, often, too, growing their own cotton, they are usually better dressed than those of the same class in other parts of the country. The Mala cloth of the Palnad district of Guntoor, though coarse, is generally prized for its warmth and for its wearing qualities.

After what has been said, our readers will be prepared to learn that, as a body, the Malas have been entirely without education. Here and there, one in a village or district has learnt to read and to know a little of their so-called religious books and songs, in order to act as a pujari, or priest. Their religion consists in little more than, at certain seasons, offering sacrifices of fowls, goats, or sheep, and, on great occasions, such as an outbreak of cholera or small-pox, buffaloes, to the village goddess, who is identified by the upper castes, righly or wrongtly with their own goddess Kali, or Durga, the wife of Shiva. These are usually times of much excitement, accompanied by libations, or, rather, potations of arrack, the Indian gin.

The first movement among the Mala tribe in the centre of the Telugu country appears to have commenced about the same time as the Mission at Masulipatam, though connected with it only in the all-arranging provi dence of God.

In the Palnad district of Guntoor, in the year 1843, one of their pujaris, who had received a tract through a Christian native servant, was led to visit an American Lutheran Missionary, who had shortly before commenced to labour in that locality. This man was eager for instruction in the Scriptures, and it was soon found, just as had been the case before among the Shanars in Tinnevelly, that there was a general desire among the tribe for schools and Missionaries, with a favourable disposition towards Christianity, unchecked by any dread of those sacrifices of position and family ties which so fearfully keep back Hindus of the upper classes. There had, indeed, been a still earlier preparation, such as it was, for in the very heart of the Palnad was a village of Romanists, the fruit of one of the former Jesuit Missions, and some of these were able to read printed books.

As means would admit, teachers were sent to one village after another. A shed was given or built, to serve as a schoolroom: the people agreed to send their children, to give up idol worship, to keep Sunday as a day of rest, to meet then to hear the Bible read, and to follow the teaching of the Missionaries as well as they could. In this way the little mustard-seed was dropped in about fifteen villages, and in the course of the next ten years some 200 souls were baptized.

From the Palnad the desire for Christian teaching spread among the Malas of Cuddapa, the next Telugu district on the west, and there it was met, in the first instance, by the London Missionaries, and, at a later period, by a chaplain of the Additional Clergy Society, through whom the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel were induced to send a Missionary there.

And, lastly, the same feeling after the true God manifested itself north of the Krishna, in the Masulipatam district, where Mr. Darling, our Missionary at Bezwara, was applied to by the head of a Mala family, who had heard of the true religion through his fellows in Guntoor, and who, receiving instruction with all readiness of mind, was shortly after baptized with his whole house.

We now present our readers with a sketch from a photograph of a little group of Mala females, from the Mission school at Guntoor, taken a few years ago. The three to the rear are married, and one of them shows, in her expression, that she has been taught that wisdom which "maketh the face to shine," and softens every feature with its own gentleness. Our readers, we think, will easily recognise the Christian, as we have done again and again ourselves in India, where the very countenance, of the female especially has been at once the indication to us of the gracious working of the Gospel. And, in fact, the total change of which this poor degraded race has been shown to be capable, through Christian teaching and the purifying effect of faith in the heart, is the best confutation of the lying account of creation given by the sacred books of the Brahmins, and of the still more wicked theories of some falsely-called scientific Englishmen of our own time, who, rather than