The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-07-25 00:00:00

HINDOO SUPERSTITIONS.

At the annual meeting ash, Dublin Auxiliary to the London
Missionary Snciety, held in Dublin on Tutxday last, the her. 31r.
Item, Missionary from Bsilary, in India, related the following
carious circumstance connected with the religious notions of the
indite* :

" The 11 inthwis." he observed. "differed in their moral character
from other people: they considered all animals as Chars customs,
and locked on those persons who eat of the flesh of animals as can-
nibals. They know no difference between the spirit of a brute,
which gne.h downwards. and the spirit of a roan which gneth up-
wards. They consider the sun and moon to be heroes, and they
think thunder is the grumbling of the Oods. They have thirty
millions of idols. and their idols are exposed for sale in the public
streets: you will see in the market-place baskets of fruit anti
baskets of gods alike exposed for sale. The time the Ilindons
devote to the adoration nightie idols ought to make Christiar.s bit sl
for themselves. Some of their processions hold front five o'clock
In the afternoon until three o'clock the next morning; and there
are frequently twenty thousand persona in those processions,
carrying these idols, with dancing and songs, from street to trete .
They also go to considerable expense, and a Ilindoo temr le ire.
quently receives °Wirings which amount in value to the sum of
20,000/. yearly. Such are their everts that many of them impale
themselves alive on soikes, drown themselves in rivers, and bury
tlemselres alive. It is net an uncommon thing for an Hiudno to
ran a knife throueh his tongue, which he lets hang out of his
mouth, with the knife sticking in IL They sometimes toast then.
Elves before a large fire, or carry fire on their ben heads ; aid
tb:se extraordinary acts they commit for the purpenti of •,ipearing
the anger of some of their gods, which they had themselves
made. It appears. by s calculation winch had been made, that in
every four boors a !Undo° woman is burned. A Prince of the
llindoo tribe, who died Istely in India, had eighteen wines, and
they were all burned on the dead body of the Prince, together with
the child of one of them. The Ilindoos hail gods for every kind
of vice: thus, those who lived by plunder had a god who would
unction it. Me of their gods who sanction stealing. wits
rrpremnted with a pound of butter in one hand and a pot of milk
in the other. Another of their ends was represented as a monkey,
▪ d another as half bird and half man."

- ...... ..._...
illtre the Rev. Gentleman exhibited some specimens of the idols
of tbe Ilindoos: they resembled very small wooden mys.l
A Ninth* once mentioned to tbe Rev. speaker, that he read.
lreted perfectly well when he (the Hind lc) was an old cow, and
that he even remenihned the marks he had in his ear. I'e
044 d that in pave good milk when he wax a cow, ar.d that
that was the reason of his being changcd into a man. The
Rev. Gentleman itivanced the case of the conversion of a native
pinion woman, who was by trade a weaver: and also the conversion
of tbe father, sister, and mother of this woman, who all. subse-
quently, became holy followers of Christ. lie also mentioned the
fact of a gentleman who is resident there. expending the entire
of hin income, which is two hundred pounds a month, in forward.
ing the object of the 3lissionary Society, in establishing and sup.
portirg native schools, Lid having preachen appointed in the dif.
fermi prisons.