Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-11-07
';rHE HABIFA1f1IoN. or cRrELTY.

THE HABITATION. OF CRUELTY.
The present. state of Feejee is deplora-
Bile in thesextreme, Notwithstanding the
numerous ,triumphs of the gospel there.
A. few incidents given in the Wesleyan
Missionary; Notices by the eyewitness,
illustrate the signal condition of the is>
landers ,-... ......--
Strangling of widows has engaged our
frequent attention, and called forth our
utmost energies: Six or eight women
have been directly saved from this inhu-
man practice by our interposition, and
several others indirectly and principally
by the influence of what we have done.
Some of these have subsequently, lOtuted.
These scenes require no ordinary promp=
titude and sacrifice. We have to adopt
the Feejecan national custom of present
ing property when requesting favor, and
hitherto to each life has involved the ex
pense of about FL.
But sometimes our Interference is pre-
vented, and sometimes it is spurned and
Intellectual. y few months ago man
died in hoathen town within a mile CT
ours. Mr.. Malvern and at once has
tened 10 the abode of death but the peo-
plu fearing our arrival, and having heard
Of our success in other quarters, had al
ready strangled the widow. We entered
the house there were the husband and
wife both sleeping in death. We exam
incd the woman's body but the last spark
OF life was cxlinguished.
e" All and there stood the son Of those
now dead, who with lendish expression
lifted up his hands and told that by those
his mother had died:
All y WAS our language, " this is
seen in heaven ; this will not be forgotten
in heaven lis punishment will follow"
4 few weeks afterwards | stood BY an
open grave in that town. had gone i'll
pursuit. of the widow of young man
brought home IL corpse from war. Her
friends had cpusigu~l her to Our care,
and she had escaped from us. l stood
by the open grave. that might witness
the ceremony Of IL hcathcn burial the
corpse was brou5 hit ont snroudcd in mats;
bullet had pierced The brain. l looked
upon the dead, l recognised the features,
il was too, mAtricidc
All p l exclaimed, rs the corpse was
lain i'll its resting place, "LiI we not speak
The truth when We said. " His sin was
seen in heaven its punishment would
follow 90
Several women have, in spite Of our cf-
forts, been slran~led ; and wherever there
is son, ne is chosen TO be the principal
agent in the murdcr of his mother
Within my own knowledge father has,
with his own hands, sGtfocated (by chO-
king or gngging) his own daughter who
. .;,,I- I Inv l,l
corpse of Il warrior, painted and black
cncl as if Tor war, the club lying by his
brother, cnquircd the cause OF his
death. The reply from that brother was.
- lie WAS very Ill and l suifocated him. "
Inlaniicilc Is written on another page
of f'Vcjccau lie. | wish to con!ire my H.
IustraIruns as much as possible to cases
that bear directly upon the point, and
that have passed under the immediate
notice Of myself or other missionaries, or
credible intormanr4. Nothing do l state
Cn incrc rumur.
\ woman brought me Il child who,
from want oi proper treatment, vas near
ly dead. l uulrEouk TO prescribe ior 1t,
If lhc mother would reside for time in
the house Of one Of the servants, so that
it met with proper attention. Ny treat
ment WAS successful; the disease WAS
subdued, The child could again run about,
talk and eat in day or two the mother
could have returned to her friends but
maternal patience was exhausted, and one
night She suifocated it. y man was in
formed that his wife had given birth to a
daughter. Fearing OF its sex he at once
directed it to be Sirangled. Again, fc>
male child was spared for months its
death was then resolved upon by the pa
rents. They dug deep hole in the "a
tre of the earthen floor Of their house, ~
the father flung into the grave his helpVs
and innocent babe. He then cast some
heavy stones with violence upon it, and
filled up the grave with earth.--
These inhumau parents still occupy that
house. The daily tread over the decay
ing remains of their murdered child. Such
is Fecjee in the present day.
NJ TIrOp Il Il Governor