is said to be "the testimony of one who is himself labouring faithfully among the Hindus:"* There is evidently, on the whole, a great work going on in this country, and much is done by missionaries in India; but, so far as I have had opportunity of seeing, I am constrained to say, that the bulwarks of Satan still stand amazingly fast and firm, and that an Almighty power alone is sufficient to shake them. Discouragements, trials, and disappointments attend us on every side; and, indeed, if we were not enabled, by the grace of God, to believe firmly in all his promises, we should sometimes not know what to say or what to think of our work. Here we have to realize an Abrahamic faith, because we are not permitted to see much. The indifference toward the salvation of their souls and religious concerns, which these Hindoos manifest, is incredible; and persons, who have not lived among them, can hardly form any idea of it. Money is their god; and all their endeavours and exertions tend to the acquisition of riches. They are constantly meditating how to deceive. The sensuality which prevails among them is beyond conception; and the foolishness of their worship and religious services is an utter disgrace and shame to a reasonable being. Such are the people among whom we live! It is not uncommon, and I have heard it this very evening when we were riding through the town, that the people hiss at us, crying out, in mockery, the name of our Blessed Saviour. With respect to the number who are really converted, we have, in the first place, little distinct information as to their rank and condition in life. This defect in the reports of the several missionary societies is properly adverted to, in more places than one of Mr. Lushington's work. It gives currency to the assertions of the enemies to missions, who allege that these converts are mostly of the lowest castes, who have only temporal views in changing their creed. As to the character which the natives acquire upon conversion, we have unfortunately recorded evidence of a very unfavourable nature, in the occurrences at Serampore, from which establishment some converts were expelled, owing to the apprehension of the missionaries, that the drunken and immoral habits of those men would corrupt their pagan servants! We own, too, that we are somewhat struck with what Capt. Seely states he observed at Chunar, which is an important missionary station, and the residence of the celebrated William Bowley, a church missionary : Chunar is one of the principal stations of the missionaries, where they have a large church and regular worship. At this place there are a few natives who profess to be converts; and a more squalid, dirty, and drunken set I never saw, even among the Pariahs;-worthy companions truly of the Europeans! In a journey of upwards of 800 miles, which I performed six years ago, I halted at this station; and it was the only place where I met with insult and neglect: the natives were, in fact, horribly demoralized. In my route I passed through some of the wildest, and, at that time, disturbed parts of Revah and Jubbulpore, without an escort; but positively I met with no interruption or annoyance. At Chunar I was not only cheated, but could get neither coolies nor guides. † Too ardent and extravagant expectation is probably indulged of the effects of the slight tincture of Christian knowledge which the lower classes imbibe at the schools so liberally planted and encouraged. It has been fondly imagined, says Mr. Lushington, that because a pupil can read and explain some chapters of the New Testament, a most essential barrier of opposition has been broken through. But" their consenting to learn to read in the New Testament is no irrefragable * Missionary Register for January 1825, p. 50. Asialie Journ. VOL. XXI. No. 124. 3 M Voice from India, 1824, p. 166. irrefragable evidence of their prejudice against the Christian religion being diminished. It only marks more clearly to what extent the inferior classes will go, with the view of acquiring a species of knowledge so essential in their estimation, to their success in life."* As a proof that the missionaries sometimes rely upon too slender grounds in presuming the conversion of their pupils, we quote, from the Journals of Messrs. Schmid and Rhenius, the following passages, out of a multitude of others, relating to their native seminarists, some of them boys of tender age.+ I had a long conversation with K. on the spirit of servitude and the spirit of adoption, and on the difference of the dispensations of Moses and of Christ. He is quite entangled in the spirit of bondage: he fully experiences that fear hath torment.‡ S, a little boy, came, for the first time, to speak concerning his soul. In our halfyearly report of the examination of the seminarists, we were obliged to characterize him as a quarrelsome little fellow. He now complained to me, that, whenever others offend him in any wise, he is always inclined to BEAT THEM: such a free confession of a fault is, doubtless, a token for good; a proof, that the Holy Spirit is active in the soul. expressed a great desire to speak with the people about divine things, by the grace of the Holy Spirit: he formerly was one of the worst of lads. Certainly the Lord's work is apparent in him. Z, who was lately received, has stolen some money. Although there was every reason to suspect him to be the thief, he denied it, and we could not find proofs to convict him. While we were secretly endeavouring to find clear proofs, he brought the money of his own accord; and said, that he had been praying, and, during prayer, had felt a strong desire to confess, whatever might be the consequences. What else, but the grace of the Gospel, could have produced such a resolution? We make no comment upon the unsatisfactory, not to say erroneous, deductions in the aforegoing passages. That education, in a popular sense, is the means whereby Christianity can be diffused throughout India, is our firm belief; but its fruit must not be looked for thus hastily. Mr. Lushington judiciously observes, that “to be effectual in enlightening the human mind, and liberating it from the shackles of debasing and enslaving prejudices, education must apparently commence nearer to the top of society, and its progress be downwards." The cement of the artfully compacted fabric of Hindu institutions and manners must first be dissolved ere we propose Christianity, and the only solvent is education. But slow and difficult indeed will be its progress if we labour only upon the lower classes, whose circumstances do not permit them to acquire more than the elements of knowledge, and who are in subjection to the higher; and unless we endeavour to impart knowledge where it can be better appreciated, where there is leisure and inclination to cultivate inquiry, and ability to apply the results it leads to. A steady perseverance in prudent plans for the latter object will establish a foundation which even a political revolution will not destroy, and upon which after ages may erect a vast superstructure. *History, p. 218. + Missionary Register for November 1825. The distinction of type, in this and the succeeding quotations, is exactly conformable to the original. THE THE INSURRECTION IN JAVA. To the Editor of the Asiatic Journal. SIR: Very exaggerated accounts have of late appeared in some of the periodical prints regarding the insurrection on Java, gathered partly from the loose statements and hurried expressions of familiar correspondence, partly from the hearsay reports of captains of ships that had touched at Batavia, or who had spoken other ships that had so touched, and perhaps in some cases swelled out by the personal views or national prejudices of the parties. As these highly-coloured sketches may excite unfounded apprehensions in the minds of persons at a distance, who have no means of judging of their probability, especially those having relatives and friends in that colony, or whose affairs may be connected with its commerce, it is possible that a correct outline of the real circumstances, drawn from an authentic source, may not be without interest at this moment; this belief induces me to address you on the present occasion, and to offer the following for insertion in the next number of your valuable publication. In August last, two native chiefs, guardians of the Sultan of Djocjocarta (a minor), secretly absented themselves from that court, and retired with their followers to the mountainous districts in the interior of the country, where they collected a large party of armed men, and raised the standard of revolt. Almost all the European troops were at that time absent from Java, being employed on distant expeditions, partly at Macassar, under Major-General Van Geen, partly at Borneo and other islands; this rendered it advisable to act, for a time, only on the defensive, as in all wars between Europeans and natives it is the policy of the former to do, until regular and decisive opera-. tions are practicable, rather than to risk the failure of partial attacks with inadequate forces; it was therefore resolved, as the districts belonging to Government were not concerned in the rebellion, to await the return of the Macassar expedition, then soon expected,* to commence offensive operations. In the mean time, the insurgents, taking advantage of these circumstances, gained a considerable augmentation of numbers, and made frequent inroads into the Government provinces; these, however, were nothing more than the predatory incursions of an armed mob, such as, in former times, the people on the borders of England and Scotland committed on each other's territories, and such as, at this day, not unfrequently happen in British India; no European town or station was attacked, nor was any permanent advantage gained by the rebels; yet these forays have been exaggerated by persons who could not ascertain, or would not believe, the real position of affairs, into a magnitude, from which nothing less was to be anticipated than that "the European population would be driven into the ocean!”‡ In an article that appeared in the Asiatic Journal for January (page 98), headed "The Insurgents," extracted, I believe, from a foreign paper, mention is made of a "Raja of Soloo" as being among them, and as having seized an escort of Government treasure on its way through the country; this prince is indebted, not only for so rich a windfall, but even for his royal existence, to *See Asiatic Journal for January, page 97. + Asiatic Journal for February, page 242. As lately in Cutch. some some generous letter-writer, some colonial Warwick, who by a stroke of his pen has made a king, and given to airy nothing A local habitation and a name, for there is no Raja of Soloo on Java. If the Susunan of Surakarta, or Emperor of Solo, as he is sometimes called, be the person alluded to, the statement is a wilful misrepresentation, for the princes of that court have taken no share whatever in the insurrection, but, on the contrary, placed their armed followers at the disposal of the European authorities; this was also done by the princes of Madura, and the Prang Widono (an independent military chief of great influence), and furnishes, by-the-bye, a proof that the insurrection was a partial one, and not a general and combined rising of the native princes and population against the European Government, as it has been attempted to make it appear. An extract of a letter from Batavia, published in the Asiatic Journal for February (page 242), begins, "The Javanese are in a general state of insurrection, particularly in the southward and middle districts;" now the fact is, that in the southward and middle districts only, being those still under native government, had any insurrection taken place, and even here the principal chiefs and a great number of others remained faithful: to term it general, therefore, is at best an exaggeration: none of the districts immediately belonging to the European territory took any share in the revolt, not even those of Cheribon and Bantam, which have been often disturbed on former occasions; on the contrary, all these provinces remained perfectly quiet, with the exception of the plundering visits before noticed, made by the insurgents on some of the nearest and most exposed points, where there was no force to keep them in awe. The few European troops remaining at Batavia were sent to the defence of those districts to the eastward which were the most liable to attack from the insurgents; as a natural consequence, the European inhabitants, agreeably to former custom, were called upon to enrol themselves in a town militia, or local volunteer corps, which had been long relieved from actual service, but on the present occasion was re-embodied, as a measure of precaution, to preserve the peace of the metropolis, and to protect the property of the inhabitants, but not to be sent against the rebels. A similar measure was adopted at Samarang; but it appears that here an unfortunate departure from the defensive system took place, by which some valuable lives were lost; a small irregular force of 200 or 250 men, Europeans and natives, marched from that place to check, as is supposed, the progress of the insurgents, who were said to be advancing. Among this party were some of the volunteers alluded to, and of these about twenty-five were mounted, to serve as cavalry if occasion offered. They found the rebels in much greater force (10,000 or 12,000 it is said), and in a more formidable position, than they had expected, yet they rashly advanced to the attack; the wild war-shouts of the enemy frightened the untrained horses, and they plunged into the rice-fields on each side of the road, where, being impeded by the mud, their brave but imprudent riders were put to death, unable to defend themselves against an overwhelming superiority of numbers: about twelve were killed in this manner, the remainder retreated in safety. However deeply this calamitous result is to be lamented, it would seem that the sufferers, who were high-spirited young men, but totally inexperienced in war, provoked it by their needless temerity. This occurred early in September, and must be the expedition adverted to in the Asiatic Journal for February (page 242). In this instance the rebels were the party attacked, and they repulsed the attack successfully, as might have been expected, with a superiority of force in the proportion of forty or fifty to one. This did not, however, embolden them to execute their threatened attack on Samarang, from which town they were then not far distant, and where there were few, if any, regular troops. It is true they attacked Djocjocarta (the seat of one of the native governments), but even here they were driven back with great loss. On the 15th September a part of the insurgents were attacked and defeated by the Government forces under Lieut. General De Kock, the commander-inchief; indeed, it is understood they did not wait on this occasion for the shock of the troops, but fled in all directions after a few vollies of musquetry. On the 25th September a junction took place near Djocjocarta, between General De Kock and General Van Geen, who had in the meantime returned from Macassar with a part of the expedition; offensive operations were now concerted and prepared, and it is understood were in progress of successful execution, when the last accounts left Batavia-no official particulars have been received of the result; but it is known, generally, that the Netherlands troops were always victorious-that the Government territories remained in tranquillity, and that the early dispersion of the insurgents was confidently looked for, as they had already been defeated with great loss. It is probable, therefore, that the insurrection will have been subdued long ere this, and followed by the annexation of those native provinces which were concerned in it to the Netherlands possessions in the east; for such, as history proves, has usually been the result of similar disturbances in India, which, however they may for a time affect the local tranquillity, create partial difficulties, and alarm those who have no personal knowledge of the country, eventually conduce to weaken the native, and strengthen the European power and influence, which latter thus becomes more firmly established, and more widely extended, by the operation of the very causes that at first may appear to menace its overthrow. London, February 1826. I am, &c. A LATE RESIDENT ON JAVA. Note.-It appears from the last accounts received from Batavia (dated November 8), which have been published in the Netherlands papers, that little progress has yet been made in extinguishing the revolt.-Ed. |
