Northern Times. — 1859-09-01 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND 'NOOKHAWKING 'UNION.  The first annual report of 'this askoxitition has come into our hands, and we find 'the aecotutt it gives of the proceedings of the Union, clurin..!the,past year, has been highly encouraging. The dbjeens' 'to:adopt such means, through arrangements with book-hankers, as may secure a supply of healthy literature to the labouring classes in the lurid districts, in order to replace, if possible, that,lame circulation of pernicious bodks and publications which is now going on all over the country. As it has been well observed, " the craving low knowledge must be satisfied, and if it be not .provided with wholesome food, it will turn to that which is unwholesone, and for which, unhappily, it will not have far to go. A multitude of irreligious and immoral, or, to say the least, unprofitable publications, are 'circulated among the people. To do, therefore, what we can to supersede them by others of a religious and moral tendency (though not, generally speaking of an exclusively religious character), by publications which will blend instruction with entertainment, and so almost insensibly enlist their readers on the side of virtue, instead of vice, must needs be an exercise of true wisdom and benevolence." Such, we find, is the excellent purpose of this Book-Hawking Union, whose patron, it is gratiffing to Observe, is His Royal Highness the Prince Consort ; and among whose presidents are the archbishops, several of the bishops, and others of the most estimable of our nobility. We are glad to perceive that South Lancashire has its committee-man, in the person of Patrick Hunter, Esq., of this town ; and that a Book-Hawking Society, in connection with the Union, is in operation in this division, of the county. We cannot but think that such a society might find a most useful field for cultivation in Liverpool, as well as in the rural districts of the country around. At any rate, the Union itself is well deserving of public support, as an agency by means of which a vast amount of practical good may, undoubtedly, be done amongst the humbler class of the people.  MASSACRE OF CHRISTIANS IN BORNEO  The Pao. says :—" A telegraphic despatch has announced, on the faith of advises received via Batavia, that a 'general massacre of the Christians took place on May 24, in the Dutch portion of the island of Borneo. That island, the largest in the world after New Holland, is peopled by a great variety of races. The Dutch possessions there comprise eighteen states, of which one only, the Kingdom of Pontianak, founded about the middle of the eighteenth century by an Arab named Abdul-Rachinan, professes the Mahometan religion. It is not on that territory, but in the empire Succadana, where the Javanese religion prevails, that the massacre in question occurred. The inhabitants of Suceadana adore Diouta, the great artificer of the world ; also the shades of their ancestors ; and, lastly, certain birds, from which they draw auguries. The horrible massacre they have committed has a political, not a religious cause. It cannot be imputed to the influence of pilgrims from Mecca, who, in addition to the consideratims above mentioned, are too remote from the Island of Borneo to affect the Mussulmans residing there. Besides, the last intelligence from the Red Sea states that the holy cities are perfectly tranquil, and .that not the least appearance of agitation had been perceived among the pilgrims. The new authorities appointed by the Sultan show equal firmness and moderation, and the recurrence of the scenes of.Djedda is most improbable. The struggle in which Abaallah Pacha is now engaged against the western tribes has nothing to do with religion. The Bedwins, against whom he is now in arms, are wandering tribes, whose sole object is plunder. Being hard pressed, they have just abandoned the town of Yambo, after sacking it and murdering all the inhabitants who would not give up their property. The Turkish authorities seem determined to extirpate these savage hordes."