The Sun.
London, England, 1823-10-31 00:00:00

IDOL WORSHIP.

The Transactions of the Literary Society of
Bombay contains a paper, by Sir Jomsethee
coeval on the Hindoo festival of Durah, the ce-
remonies of which were attended by a mystery
of great wickedness. It was not uncommon on
these occasions to immolate human victims on the
altar of one of their goddesses ; and upon en-
quiring of a Brahmin as to the truth of the re-
port, Sir Jot's:MALCOLM was assured that his •10
formation was perfectly correct, and moreover
that the unhappy persons who were selected as
sin-offerings to the sanguinary divinity were
usually closely connected with the individualS
whose hands deprived them of life. Thepard"
culars relative to this horrible sacrifice were col*,
municated to Sir JOHN MALCOLM nearly 114
follows :—The Brahmins of the tribe Kurradee
were formerly accustomed to immolate yearly a
young Brahmin to Kula Dewary, an infernal
goddess. This deity is supposed to delight ttt
human blood, and is usually represented with
three fiery eyes, and covered with red flowers;
holding in one hand a sword, and in the other a
battle-axe. The prayers of her " votaries are
offered to her during the first nine days of the
Dusrah feast, and in the evening of the tenthlial
a grand repast is prepared, to which the 'whole
family is invited. An intoxicating drug is se'
cretly mixed with the food of the intended
victim, who, in many cases, is a stranger, whom
the master of the house has for several !months--
perhaps years—treated with the greatest kind-
ness and attention, and sometimes, to lull suspi-
cion, gives him his daughter in marriage. As soon,
as the poisonous and intoxicating drug operates,
the master of the house, unattended, takes the
devoted person into the temple, leads him three'
times round the idol, and, on his prostrating him'
self before it, takes this opportunity to cut his
throat. ile. collects with the greatest care the
blood in a small bowl, which he first applies t°
the lips of the ferocious goddess, and theft
sprinkles it over her body ; and a hole having
been dug at the feet of the idol, he de"
posits the corpse in it with the greatest care, in
order to prevent discovery. After the perpetra-
tion of this horrid act, the Kurradee Brahmin
returns to his family, and spends the night in
mirth and revelry, convinced that by his praise'
worthy act he has propitiated the favour of the
blood-thirsty deity for 12 years. On the Mou.
ing of the following day the corpse is taken frog/
the hole, into which it has been thrown ; and the
idol is laid aside till next Dusrah,'when a similar
sacrifice is made. The discontinuance of thiS
barbarous superstition was occasioned by the
knowledge of a very revolting case having heels
conveyed to the Peishwa of the district some:
time before Poona was added to the British dome'
nions; who suppressed immediately this ordere,t
the Brahmins, or at least forbade the exercise et
their detestable rites within the limits of his go-
yerinnent.

ORroIN OF T 111: Itt.):>l. LIM SAT.ENcy. ita\
a league from Noyon is the charming village of.
Salency, famous for the ceremony of " La Rosei''
to which it owes all the virtues that adorn its in-
habitants. St. M6dart, who was born lierela
the fifth century, instituted this festival, and ifft;
a fief, still called de la Rose, to defray the 0'
pences. The most virtuous of Salency'smaidens,
judged so by twelve elders of the parish, was t()
receive, on the Bth of June, 25 lives, and a char
let of roses. No candidate was admitted vri'°se
parents were not irreproachable; and no othr
claim was admitted but eighteen years of a viri
tuous and unblemished life. The descendants
those who saw the origin of this pleasing instr°:
tion still dwell on this happy spot ; for nif
strangers are ever admitted, and no maid °
Salency ever married with a stranger.

METEOROLOGICAL JOURNAL•

1Y R. BANCKS.

PHILOSOPHICAL INBTIIIISIP.NTMHIK3I
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meter.
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Oct. 17 44 52 144 29.6 PO! . cow.
18 47 153' 47 .66 .02 Rain 00,
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Mara fallen

in the ab

lore r

.ight days.

BIRTHS. 'tile AL''.
At Vest Alvington Vicarage, Devon, the LAY ,
Edward Edgell, of a son. potigc
At Chester, on the 16th inst. the Lady of Major
of a son. „....

--
AI A RR IE D. gi°
to
Ott Satunlay last, Mr. Gill, sureon, of bodn°lll,olFP
Mullen, eldest daughter of the late Sir. T. Bunco) ulh"
10" .
of Bury.
On Monday last, at Moulton, near Newmarket, "Do' !0'
Moss, linen-draper, of ALlstone Field, Staffordshire,
Hannah Brittain, of the former place. ise.t e
Ort the 23d inst. Mr. Francis John BlakevsoljeitOr',:oll,
with, to Sarah, eldest daughter of the Reli. Cleorge
Wood Norton, Norfolk.
,:
DIED. - tiliiit
ofwh AitctitlePbaer cityi
isul e
dlt lil t te ryld9mt l ir
severalgt li
y,t4:aat:s it
ri
i withe
well as to the general satisfaction. of the inhabitants in ~,,
.1 ,
he represented. pritV
Lately, at Drontheirn, in Norway, Lieutenant-Of ~, 0
Seyoenrsttehdet2,
BCothminiilsatnd,err;aiinl-celiief of the northern dutleirir"- :::
army, and Governor of the, city of Drontheim. ,e 90
On the 29th inst., Mrs. Ann Barnard, relict off To, i, f,
li-(4)g°l\liellbt:cfilreFrderisatin(tl(LeLi'll:ll.Vo'i'lc;r
John Barnard, of College-street, Westminster, aged OF
y, the youngest
B. B h'
U"dge, Bridg.e.StXe ^t Southwark. , ~..stre`
hi,;o2iniththeyltt.h inst., John 'Sparks, Esq., of St. inil"
ior.lef.!
-Ow Friday last, after two days Mlles's, ..oils,'
aged 66, popti
it ateheson, formerly a surgeon at Lynn.. Ott l's ,ith °of ir
yniine. were interred, rigre,eably to his request. I`sol,o,
honours, .at St. Nicholas' chapel, followed "by '11.70 it
tn"Onli; with-the regalia of the different lodggs4'''

ttht
frinted anti Published for the PROPRISTOTIS' S.
Orricu. 112, Strand, by J. B. CAUST4tI'