The National Register. — London, England, 1821-01-07 00:00:00

r ot 1 . . .I.o' I .16 4 ,. LETTER FROM THE REV. W. W. WISSIONADY IX INDIA. TO THE LADIES OT AAA> *.H.: ILITODOH. There are Hi olostsan 78,000,090 of your sex who can .zither read nor write; and 30,01xywei o f these are British suojects. In every country out ameliorated by Christianity toe state of woman has always been ccccc st dell mode; but the Hiodou legislators have absoluteiy made I ten. acquisition of the knowledge of letters a curse, and they are by a positive prohibition denied all access to their Scriptures. Wing Live; degraded even by their sacred writings, women in India are in a state of ignorance and superstition, wine' has no parallel in the hist my of tribes the most savage and harba . A liaise is despised as soon as site is she conies into the world amidst the frowns of her parents and friends, disappointed that the child is not a boy. Every mother aoiong the tribe of Bajpoots puts her female child to death as soon as burn. While I was in Beoml I was i.lftollieti of the case of a itajpoot who had spared one of li•s daughters, and she lived till die attained the age when India girls are marriageable. A girl in the house of a Rajpoot was, but ,so extraordinary a circumstance that no parent chose to permit his son to marry her. The father then became alarmed for her chastity and the honour of his family, and he, there fore, took her aside one day, and with a hatchet cut her to pieces! These are the circumstances into which your sex enter into life in British In childhood and youth they have ro education, no cultivation of any kind wh•itever. There is not a single girrsachoul all India; and the mother being herself entirely milettered, and being the devoted victim of a dark and cruel superstition, is utterly incapable or int. praying her chili'. The first days of the girl are, there fore, spent id an inanity which prepares her for a life doomed to be town in stye 11l i l hes and vice. In the age or compsrative childhood she is united marriage without soy knowledge of or having ever seen her husband: when they meet together for the first time.they are but id together for life. Thousands who are thus married in a state of childhood, lose their hus bands without having ever lived with them, sod are doomed to a life of widowhodd; for the law forbids them to re-marry. Parents in sonic cases marry 50 or 60 daughters to one Brandiun, dial the family may be raised to honour by a marriage relation to this walk These females never live with the husband, but in the houses of their own parents, or they leave the houses in which they have been thus sacrificed for the su r posed honour of the family, and enter the abodes of infamy and ruin. Supp sing the female, however, to hate been united to a person who really becomes attached to her; what a mother without the knowledge of the alphabet!--. wholly unacquainted with mankind, and with all the emplopitems -,f females in a civilized country; linable either o• make, to mend, or to wash the clothes of her household! She never SOS to eat with her husband, but prep. res is food, waits upon him, aril partakes .4 what ti: 'cites. If a friend of the other sex calls upon her hi slia•!tl, she retires. She is veiled, or I:9Cs in a covered Pala (min if site leaves the house. never mixesin public companies. She derives nn knowledge from toe other sex, except from the stories C. which she may Es en from he ;notch of a religious inetidicant. She is, i • fact, a were animal kept for burden or for slang ier n the !souse of her husband. A case lately occuoed in Caleitia of a girl being horn alive on the funeral pile with the dead body of the youth with whom she was that day to have been married. You will be prepared now, Ladies, to expect that sue:. a system of mental dark••ess will have rendered the sex in tes.lia the devoted vie aof idolatry: and such victims no other country, !i•rw ver savage, now-ver bedighted,caie boast. What must .•e the state of the female mind Vso`2 ,, Mil. lions are found throwing the children of their vows into the sea, w;teti a guard of Hinduo soldiers are occessary to prevent trios ICIS throwing their living ehild.t• into the jaws of the alligators these mothers statalitig and vratc'..i. , g the au ineal while it crushes the lades, tears the flesh, and drinks the blood of their own offspring! How deplorable the condition of your sex, when super sti.ion tints extinguishes every sensibility of the female, and every feeling of the mother, and makes her more savage than the tiger which howls in the forest, which always spares and cherishes its own offspring. At the calls of superstition, many females immolate themselves by a voluntary death in the *acted rivers of India. A friend of mine, at the junction of the Jumna and the (kluges, at Allahabad, in one morning, saw, Irons his own window, 16 females, with pans tit water fastened to their sides, sink themselves in the river, a few bubbles of air arising only to the surface of the water after they were gone down. The drow • gof so many kittens in England would excite more horror here than the drowning of 16 of your own sex in India! But horrors still deeper are connected with the state of female society in India. The English magistrates in the presidency of Bengal, in their annual olhcial returns to the Calcutta peer ttttt ern, state, that in the year 1817 (three years ago) 706 women, widows, were either burnt alive or buried alive with the dead bodies of their bus bands, w that part of Britian India. is there any thing like tins in the whole records of tittle? Hate firs like these, and so numerous, ever facets kindled any where else on earth—or graves like these ever beets opened Two females roasted ahivecvery day its one part of British India alone! At non-day, and in the presence of ti •rous spectators, the poor widow, ensnared and drawn to the Nueva pile, is tied to the dead body, • fagots by • levers, and burnt • .fisted by her own set fire to • which mother on her ipport of •••••••• • +l . ••• • . :AO m• THE NATIONAL REGISTER have witnessed many such spectacles, had they not beets too much (or my feelings. Otter widows are buried alive : here the female takes the dead body 1111011 her knee, as she sits in the centre of a .Ice ; • grave, and her children and relations, who have prepared the grave, throw in the earth aru►nmhlter: two of these desceatl into the grave and trample the earth with their feet around the body of the widow. She sits an unremon strating spectator of the process : the earth rises higher and higher around her; at length it reaches the head, when the remaining earth is thtown with haste upon her, and those children and relations mount the grave, and tran► t de upon the head of the expiring victim! 0 ye British mothers, ye British widows! to whom shall these desolate beings look ? In whose ears shall these thousands of orphans cry—loosing lather and mo- ther in one day—if not to you? Where shall we Rol— lo what corner of this miserable world, full of the in habitants .if cruelty, shall we find female society like this ?—widows and orphans like these ? Seventy-five millions in this state of ignorance! Say how long, ye who never saw a tear hut ye wiped away—a wound, but ye attempted to heal it—a human sufferer, but ye poured consolation into his heart—how long shall these fires burn? these graves be opened ? The appeal my fair countrywomen, is to you, to every female in Britain.— Government may do much to put an end to these immo lations; but, without the co ication of knowledge, these fires can never be wholly quenched, rust can your sex in India ever rise to that state to which Ovine ' Pro' V idence has destined them. Don't despair. The victims are nittneruus : hut on that account shall the life-blmt not leave the shore,— There can hardly be a ih,sery, connected with human existence, which the pity and the zeal of British females, under the blessing of ProVidence, is not able to remove; and if this dreadful case be properly felt in every town of the united kingdom, these lama must shortly cease for ever. Schools must be commenced; k nowledge must be communicated: and then the Hindoo female will lie behind none of her sex in the charms which adorn the female character; in no mental elevation to which the highest rank of British females have attained. Other triumphs of humanity may have been gained by our Howard., our Clarksons. our Wilberforees ; but this emancipation of the females arid widows of British In dia mug be the work of the British fair. FROM TUESDAY NIGLIT'S G.IZETTE. BANKIItiPTS. G. A. T. Itraggenkate, Little Eattcheap. merchant. Solicitor. Mr. Wilton. Devonshire Street. Ilishopegate Street. R. Reynolds, Shobrooke. Devonshire, tanner. Sofa. Meow. Ilurd and Johnson. Temple. R. Hardin:A. Liverpool, meiv.diant. So'a. /leers. Atllingtos and Gregory. Bedford Row. W. Fwrin. Shiffnal. Salop. tailor. Solt. Memo. William and Willie, Lioadn's J. Jr;•iginun, grocer. Solt. Me- a. Long and Co. G: aj'a J. and .1. t.ii.ntliat. Hamrick upon Tweid, mereln.nts. Solo. deltic td Co. Temple. W. El:,;e. 1 - oekthire. ewn merchant. Soh. Mann. t'. y, Tz wide. It. • 7'. i'ltl V. •Pr l.t at:Nubs and M'ideomba. So—..• ^ .ru. • vit. Sol. Mr. Sergi ant's Inn. W. s• • - Cur - ;zl.l. l 'e.ta orks'•ire, dealer in cattle. Sul. Mr. V. + 7 -• e e litlion Garden. U. t ewith Not .1 ""ca iltsper. Vs. Meant Bell 11.,ti.:ek, Dors Clitevi. 1 a ti G. Welh. 'i*". oak . M. liey:!rl and Ogle. Lord Mayor's Cum , itIeNIIS. Jan. 27, C. Edwards, G.su:,+ Square. furrier-27. T. Moto. field, IC:7gann upon Thames, violater-27. G. Hadley. Greenwich, draper-27. A. F. Kemp. Austinfriars. merchant -27. R. and IL Townend. Mitre Court. Fenchurch Street, mer chants-2', B. Snowden, Harrow on the Hill, grocer-2/. J. Woods, jun. Forties. baker-24, J. Welch, Atmsworth, Lan: ratilre, axton cloth manufacturer-IM, J. Hockey, Llangtun. Alonmoathalii .e, fanner-30, T. Damon. Manchester, victualler J. Holt, Manchester, dyer—Feb. UU, W. Thomas, Great St. Tho.nev Anostle, agent. CERTIFICATES to be grated Jan. 2S. H. Hay. Newcastle Street, Strand, printer—J. Lovell. Yea Wharf, Lambeth, stuns merchant—W. Fretnow. Great Yu mouth, chytnitt—J. Imbrie, Ilucklersbury, wat.thOuseman. HOMEWARD BOUND Slum—The following let tar has been addressed to Mr. John Bennett, the Secretary at Lloyd's by onler of the At!iniralty:— (COPY.) " Admiralty Office, Jan. I. " Sll,—liating laid before my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty your letter of this day's date, stating, that in consequence of the cut and north-east gales, which bare prevailed daring the last week, many homeward bound ves sels are prevented from getting into port, amid having been at sea some time may he in want of water and provisions, and assistance from the severity of the weather, mind expressing the request of the Cmansittee for inamigilig the nth tors of Lloyd's that some ships of oar may ise ordered out with sop plies for the relief of the trade; lam commanded by their Lordships to acquaint roe, fur the inforianilion of the Com mittee, that directions are given to the Admirals command. ing at Portienout:i, Plymouth, and Cork, to send oat any of their cruisers that they tan get at for the above impose. " I am, etc. (Signed) J. W. CItOKEIL " Mr. John Bennett, jun., Lloyd's." A most respectable meeting was held on Thursday at Lambeth, for the purpose of congeatulating the Queen, addressing thz King, and petitioning the House of Commons. It appears from the speech of Mr. Schultes that the act of striking her Majesty's name out the Liturgy will shortly become cogniza ble before a jury of Englishmen ; such an intention hail been hinted at some time ago, and we are glad to find it true. We shall not repeat our former ar guments on this subject, or quote the legs' authori ties advanced by this gentleman in support of his opinion, that every clergyman who so omits her Ma. jesty's name is liable to a prosecution. . - pressed down on the fagots by strong levers, and alive, her se:remits among the flames being drown shouts and music. Amidst the speciaitors is lieu a so. her first born, who, tremendous idea! has set lily ',regress of the flames • it sue 10 Collblllike il.e tit ing mother to ashes, the n woo led hum nom her breast, and dantlled hint knees, and who ..itee looked top to I as the sup' the .1C16911 1 / 44 fla . ss of hert•elf awl his (Ales. Not: sects Limt: widows this, b alive, and could , RhFl 'llit 0 On Monday night the 1.....ti10tt Workhouse, part of wh:cli has been vatitz..l r , r the use of the Subs cribers to the Fu..d fur the llot selms Poor, wrs opened for the reccption of the wretched. The Committee had suet early to tie (lay for the puroose of superintending some oecessary alterations in the %Vorkliouse fur the Amn itmlatior. t:le Homeless. While tine Committee were employed its the new arraogemeitts, a al :dication was nude by Mrs. Fry, who has had a v' v great increase of unfortunates upon her list, to the i i ., :etors, to permit the adroi-sion of such females as —ight ;le ilischuged front the prisons its which she .•ispenses her charities. The application was accompanied by ass assurai.ce that the Governors, in granting such a oerinission, would act tip to the spirit of the Act of Parliament foe the Regulation of the House. The subject is to undergo • date con sideration. It has been determined by . the Committee, that the cases of applicants for admission shall undergo the strictest immediate exa • Atm that can be made, and that none shall be received who have a distinct legal claim upon any itarish. The object the Committee profess is the saving from starvation, or the fatal effects of an exposure to the cold, those who have no recogni zable claim to parochial relief; the existing opinion, that parishes relieve all, tieing the most dangerous that cast be entertained; furnishing an adequate apology to the affluent for withholding the requisite aid, and repre seining all beggars as nuisances amid lazy wretches, who would not apply for relief where law gave them a right to demand it. It has not escaped the notice of the benevolent men who thus " go about doing good," that eases are con tiitually occurring in the metropolis different from those which omenr in the country, and for which a dilferentior rather an additional mode of relief is necessary; that in the country, even its large towns, people have a know ledge of each other, and distress never rises to that fright ful height so often to be seen in perishing sojourners in the streets of London. . _ . Menders are to be appointed from the Committee to scour the markets and pent-houses of the metropolis nightly, in search of fit objects tOr the notice of the Committee. Many a young man comes up to London cull of exioccutitms, and with little or no money, and that unless he can get immediate employ, he is already h a lf itil d i tne—.that toys bred up in London without any means o. heelihontl, and, its oittn ha t ivens, of dissolute parents, are iu a still worse condition, and servants out of place are not notch berer off. Tl'e remedy this deplorable situation of a great part of tin u tnitikition of Loudon for a time, will be the object of the S.iciety which is thus rearing its head amongst the most suoilitite 'munitions that have distinguished he national character of Britain. 1 t is true that one hordrethh put of the misery which exists—of the misery w!ticti is nut to be seen in the streets, but which lingers through shame, or sickness, er despair, in a garret, is not known to those who are able aril willing to relieve it. Utifortdttately the benevoleut and charita ble have almost as notch difficulty to break through forms anti conic at the unt:apvy, and know their real wants, as the wretched have to come at them. It is necessary to state, th. t during the period when shelter was Worded last winter Its the poor in Mr. Hicks's warehouse, in London Wall, 1,592 persons were relies , . ern; and that the expense incurred was little mote tban upon an average, Ds. each individual. The Committee oh last year ascertained, that there at all times persons in the inetrolitilis in want of nightly shelter. Several of the gentlemen who posed that Committee, amongst whom were Messrs. Gault!, Ware, Stattsfield, and Hyde, traversed the several districts, and humid the accustomed haunts ef the miserable deserted by their former occu pants. They visited also different watch-houses, and conversed wish night constables, patrois, and others in different partsof the tom., who all concurred in opinion that a vast improvement was discernible in the state of the streets during the night, since the ope • gof the Refuge for the Houseless, and the Committee felt them selves warranted in asserting, that toe Asylum bath not only afforded relief to many industrious and deserviug persons, at a period when their warring' were snore than usually severe, bust that it had also in no inconsi derable degree le:vetted the opportunity for, and the temptation to, the commission of crime. MONUMENT TO THE LATE Ktist3.—The commence ment of the New Year is to be distinguished by an act of public justice to the memory of a Sovereign, whose reign must always be ranked as one of the most eventful in the British annals, and of whose virtues there is, we believe, but one opinion among men of all parties and classes—we mean his late revered Majesty, George 111. The plan of an appropriate mottuniental giotope, to be executed in bronze, and erected in some public place, in commemoration of his Majesty, has been submitted by an eminent artist to the principal members of the Royal Family, and several of the Nobility, most distinguished for their taste in the Fine Arts. It has met with the MOM flattering approbation, and a Com aaa ittee of Noble. men and Gentlemen has been formed, with the saner 00 of the highest authority, and tinder the i 1111 l wdiate pa trorage of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, to carry the plan into immediate execution. Christmas morning, as the Rev. Thomas Hogan, Parish Priest of New.mstle, was vesting himself in order to celebrate first Mass, at eight o'clock, and the Chapel crowded to excess, one of the galleries suddenly gave way and fell ! The scene of conster station which followed can be better conceived than described—nothing was to be beard but the cries of those in danger, and the lamentations of others outside, Coe the safety of their children and friends ; but by the singular instance of the protecting hand of Providence not a single individual was seriously injured.