and it can scarcely be expected, that in dialects as yet so little cultivated, there should be found all those terms in divinity which the Greek language furnished in such abundance. Many phrases and terms therefore must be created for the occasion, or accommodated as nearly as possible; and hence though a term may be uncouth, if we would express the idea it must still be retained until a better can be found. Important service will therefore be rendered by any gentleman's suggesting terms or phrases more adequate, or better understood, in the room of any which may appear objectionable, as by this method a number may be brought forward from which a selection may be made to the highest advantage. And it may be hoped, that by this course, should those who are best able, thus kindly contribute their aid, the various versions of the Scriptures in the languages of India, may ultimately be brought to a considerable degree of perfection.*

XIV. Dig-durshuna, No. V.

No. V of the Dig-durshuna, the Monthly Publication in Bengalee, will contain, 1. A continuation of the General View of History, containing the History of the Western World from the division of the Empire to the present time.-2. A concise view of the present state and population of the world and the various Religions professed, with an average of the number of persons attached to each.-3. On the cause of Thunder and Lightning, -4. An account of the manner of taking whales.--5. Brief History of the chief cities in Bengal.-6. Anecdotes from History, illustrative of particu. lar virtues.

** Of this or any of the former Numbers of the Dig-durshuna, Five copies o English paper may be had for a Rupee, for the sake of distribution among native attendants and neighbours, by any gentleman who may favor the Editors of the "Friend of India" with a line on the subject.

* Should any gentleman request a copy of the Pushtoo, or the Kunkun version of the New Testament, it shall be cheerfully sent by Dawk Bangy (Postage being paid,) to any part of India.

THE FRIEND OF INDIA.

No. V.

WE now proceed with our former plan of giving an account of the Institutions which have been formed within the Presidency of Fort William with a view to the welfare of India, by the allevi. ation and removal of corporal suffering, or, which is far more im. portant, the removal of that ignorance which nourishes depravity of mind, and originates innumerable miseries. The next which comes in the order of time, is that generally termed the Benevolent Institution, or, The Institution for the Instruction of Indigent Christian Children.

The first step in this Institution was taken by a collection being made for this object, Dec. 25, 1809, at the Lall-Bazar Cha, pel, after a sermon on the subject by Dr. Marshman, one of the pastors of that congregation. The following were the views which determined the Managers of the Institution to attempt originating it, and to persevere till it should be accomplished.

It was considered that there were throughout the country a very considerable number of children who bore the Christian name, chiefly the descendants of those who formerly embraced Christi anity; who not being constantly taught to read the Holy Scrip tures in any language, had in point of literature sunk below their Hindoo and Mussulman neighbours: they were of course instruct-. ed in their vernacular written character, and in that degree of knowledge which belonged to their respective casts and professions; while these, Christian by name, but completely unused to the study of the Holy Scriptures, the medium through which knowledge is preserved and nourished among the lower classes in every Christian country, had gradually sunk below their heathen

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neighbours; and having no motive for learning their multifarious alphabet, although they habitually spoke their language, and in general no means of acquiring the Roman character, nor the knowledge of any language they could identify therein, if they made the acquisition, they in reality grew up unacquainted with any alphabet, and while bearing the Christian name, they were, though in the midst of civilized life, nearly as ignorant of literature as the roving tribes of the desert.

But if equally ignorant with these savage tribes, they were not equally free from vice. Into all the vices which are included in the dregs of civilized life, their situation naturally led them. Habits were insensibly formed which no ray of light directed, and no pangs of conscience in any degree restrained, and which were of course the reverse of almost every thing moral.

In this state the question was, how to meet the circumstances of these children without doing them real injury. To take them out of their proper circle and from under the care of their parents, while it promised an apparent good, might have entailed on them real evil. What school could have received them all? and what funds have fed and clothed them? And further, impregnated as the minds of many of them were with the seeds of every vice, was it certain that, where hundreds herded together, vice would not in general have been propagated rather than habits of virtue ? Besides, how were they to be provided for when grown up? What influence could have sufficed to procure situations for them which would have been received without discontent?—or which indeed could have secured them the comforts of life, after being accustomed to different diet and clothing for years, and in reality raised to a new sphere of life? Amidst all the wretchedness of their situation, still the seasoning given them by poverty and hardship was invaluable as to future life; and their having no patronage on which to depend beyond the slender influence of their parents, or possibly their own endeavors, at least freed them from the pangs of disappointment, while it rendered them willing to accept the lowest employ which held out a prospect of support,

and urged them to use their utmost exertions to preserve it when once obtained. Hence it was foreseen that any plan of instruction which should deprive them of these advantages, would scarcely be a boon to them viewed on the largest scale. It was therefore supposed that a School, which on the new system of education should enable one Master to instruct a number hitherto supposed incapable of obtaining instruction from one man, should impart a knowledge of writing and figures, and open the way for the Sacred Scriptures to be read in both the Roman and the Bengalee characters,should create no more interference with religious opinion than merely resulted from the perusal of the Scriptures, leave every child as completely under the parent's influence and controul as before, and therefore diminish no exertions as to future prospects in life, nor habituate in the least to a different kind of food and clothing, might be the means of good as far as it could be imparted, and of good alloyed with evil in as small a degree as possible.

The plan was acted upon early in the year 1810. Mr. Henry Peacock, who had filled with satisfaction to the Committee of Management the place of fourth Master in the Upper Orphan School at Kidderpore, was intrusted with the care of the infant Institution, and discharged his duty to the full satisfaction of both the parents of the children, and the Managers. In about a year, the number of children exceeding a hundred, it was found necessary to think of a larger room than a private house afforded: upon which, as the Institution was much in debt, the Mana gers purchased premises in the Lall-Bazar and erected a spaci ous room at their own risk, letting it to the Institution at a moderate monthly rent. The generosity of the public has been such however, that on the purchase of the whole of the premises for the Institution, there now remains a debt of only three thousand Rupees.

The benefits of the Institution have since been extended to Serampore, to Dacca, and this year to Chittagong.

These schools have already sent for thnearly a thousand Chris

tian children, instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, in different degrees, and capable of perusing the Scriptures in the Bengalee or the English languages, without their being taken at all out of their former sphere of life, (any farther than their employment at school kept them from scenes of idleness and vice) and therefore without their previous means of providing for themselves being diminished. Of these some have doubtless resigned themselves again to idleness and want; but in the case of many others, the degree of learning they have acquired has operated as a spur to further exertion, and has opened their way to useful life. The number of children in all the schools supported by the Institution at present, somewhat exceeds Four Hundred; and the Institution at the date of the last Report, was about Three Thousand Rupees in debt. Farther enlargement would be superfluous, as the Seventh Report of the Institution has been so recently published.

11. The European Female Orphan Asylum.

We now come to an Institution agreeing with that just menti. oned in its principle, but differing from it in the objects it embraces and the support it affords them. In the former, to have taken its objects out of their sphere, would in general have insured to them future misery and want; while the immediate object of this Institution is to rescue its objects from misery and destruction by taking them wholly out of their former situation, and educating them from the earliest dawn of reason in a course of virtuous industry. The propriety of this will be easily seen when it is recollected that these are European Female Orphans exposed to all the misery and danger which are inseparable from such being reared in a barrack. The Institution owes its origin to the philanthropic exertions of Mrs. Thomason, lady of the Rev. T. Thomason, who began it in July 1815, and to whose indefatigable exertions it is chiefly indebted for its present flourishing state. The necessity of such an Institution, and the reasons for its formation,