LETTER FROM MRS. WILKINSON. Berhampore, April 27th, 1854. MY DEAR SISTER BUCKLEY, -I am sure you will be greatly grieved at the sad in telligence I have this month to communicate. Within the last few days we have had to experience the loss of our house and nearly all it eontained by fire, the destruction did not end there, I grieve to say our chapel and four or five of the native christians' houses have also been consumedThe fire originated in the lines of the 18th regiment, that had been built at the back of our mission premises. At the time when this spot was chosen by the sepoys, as a location for their families, (some 700 persons or more) we saw the danger, and used means to prevent the land being granted to them; remonstrance was made both to the officers commanding the regiment and to the collector of the district, but the only advantage gained by the appeals made to the authorities was that the location was placed a few yards more distant from our houses than was at first intended; but alas! alas! our worst fears have been more than realized. You know how furious and how hot the winds are here at this season, and the bamboos, ceiling cloths, and thatch of our houses are almost as combustible as gunpowder. The hot wind had for some days been more terrific, and blew in a direct line from the houses of the families to our mission premises. The fire broke out at noon; Mr. Wilkinson perceived it, and said, "O dear, there is fire again in those lines, and the wind is so high I fear we are in danger." He ran out to give orders to the man who was on the top of the houses with water, when the alarm was given that our thatch had caught. The flames spread with most furious rapidity. Literally ran over the thatch with the rapidity of lightning, and in a few minutes the house was enveloped in flames, so that it would have been death to enter. I am sure I do not know how Mr. Wilkinson did it, but he seemed to have unusual nerve at the moment. He tumbled his heavy "bedup," or desk out at the window, which contained our available rupees, and many valuable papers, beloning to our church and mission affairs, but his manuscripts were not there and were all consumed. A small chest of drawers of my own was got out, half a camp table, a chair or two, and a writing table. Somebody snatched off some of the bed clothes and pillows, and a few articles of clothing which happened to be lying about, but our beds, furniture, books, drawers, trunks, clothes of every description, with our household furniture, were consumed. The brass and metal things in the houses were literally reduced to a cinder. You can have no idea of the awful scene. In a few minutes it was known all over that the "Padre's house" was on fire, and people rushed from all quarters to our assistance, but it would have been death to enter the house. The girls' premises escaped, and our outhouses. Through mercy no lives were lost except a few animals in the christian village. We The loss to our dear people we hope soon to repair, but the loss of our chapel, house, and all our property, we feel to be very heavy. The residents here have manifested great sympathy for us. One lady in the midst of the fire brought her conveyance to take me from the awful scene, another kind friend took in our brother and sister Bailey. We were in great fear that their house would also take fire from its nearness to ours. Mr. Wilkinson did not even save a change of clothes, but with true English feeling the residents graciously supplied our present necessities. Our dear friends at Cuttack have expressed much sympathy and have despatched a cooley with what they call "Job's earring of gold." I am thankful that our minds have been so far sustained. are still with the kind friends who gave us shelter on the day of the fire. Mr. Wilkinson and Mr. Bailey have again written to the magistrates entreating the removal of the lines, on the ground of what we have suffered; indeed if they are not we could feel very little safety either for ourselves or our dear people; but surely they will not be so cruel as to refuse. It is the opinion of Captain Mac Viccar, and other friends, that we may get the people removed, but very doubtful if government will do anything else in the case. At present we all go down to Gopalpore for a time, for our hearts sicken as we look upon the sad scene of desolation, and feel that the labours and earnings of years have been thus suddenly destroyed. First of all Mr. Wilkinson says he should like to see the chapel up again—but I must say farewell. Pray for us; and with much love from us both, I remain, yours affectionately, C. WILKINSON. LETTER FROM REV. W. BAILEY. Gopalpore, April 26th, 1854. MY DEAR BROTHER BUCKLEY.-It has often been our lot to convey to each other pleasing intelligence, and I could devoutly wish that I were able to do so in this instance ; but the scene sometimes must be changed. You will be deeply grieved to learn that on Monday, 17th inst., the house of our dear brother Wilkinson, with all it contained, (with the exception of a few papers, and a few trifling pieces of furniture) was entirely destroyed by fire. Our chapel, too, with all its furniture, and four christian houses, with nearly all they contained, were destroyed by the same devouring element. You will be anxious to know all the particulars, therefore I will enter into detail:You will remember the encamping ground at the back of the mission premises; on this land the families of the 18th regiment Madras Native Infantry have been located during the absence of the regiment at Burmah. Soon as ever we heard of the application for the site in question, we wrote to the collector of Ganjam, earnestly entreating that the application for the land might not be entertained. Herewith is a copy of our letter, and the collector's answer; To C. P. Onslow, Esq., Collector, &c., Ganjam. SIR,-We, the undersigned, missionaries at Berhampore, have the honour to bring to your notice the following case. Having been informed that the land immediately adjoining the mission premises at Berhampore has been applied for by the sepoys proceeding to Burmah, as a location for their families who are to be left in this neighbourhood, we beg respectfully to lay before you our reasons why their application should not be entertained. 1. The land in question immediately adjoins the mission houses and orphan asylums. We fear, therefore, should the location for the families be there, it will ever after be the site of a permanent village, and both ourselves and the children in the schools will be greatly inconvenienced thereby. 2. As with the utmost care we find it difficult to preserve the health of the orphans under our charge, we fear having several thousand persons located in our immediate neighbourhood would greatly increase the liability to cholera, and other epidemics, especially as during this most unhealthy season of the year the wind will blow directly over their lines to our premises, which must be a great nuisance and fruitful source of disease. It also appears to us that the hospital being in a line with and near our houses, it would seriously affect the healthiness of that locality as a place of recovery. 3. The families of sepoys are notorious for their carelessness of fire, as the frequent occurrence of fire in the lines testifies. On this account our property, which consists principally of thatched buildings, would be in danger, and we should be in continual fear We have moreover been informed by the officer commanding, that the sepoys themselves have already selected a very suitable piece of ground for the purpose, in another part of the town, which has been applied for and obtained. We therefore believe that withholding your consent to their application for the land near our houses will be no disadvantage to the people, while it will save us from much annoyance and anxiety, and probably from being ultimately obliged to abandon our houses, which would involve us in much difficulty and expense, which we are not prepared to meet, as our buildings are all private property. We therefore earnestly beg you will take these reasons into consideration, and direct the sepoys to be satisfied with the land they in the first instance selected. We have the honour to be, &c., (Signed) H. WILKINSON. W. BAILEY. Berhampore, Jan. 9th, 1854. To the Rev. Messrs. H. Wilkinson and GENTLEMEN.-I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 9th inst., requesting me to interfere to prevent certain land in the vicinity of your premises at Berhampore from being allotted for the residence of the families of the sepoys of the 18th regiment. I am constrained to state in reply that I valid objections to the occupation of the cannot recognize in your arguments any land in the manner in question. In the not contiguous to your premises, but is first place I beg to observe that it is separated from them by a space of two hundred yards. Secondly, it is in the nature of things that towns should increase, and I submit that great inconvenience would arise were the principle to be admitted that their extension in any particular direction was to depend on the convenience of present residents. allude, I beg to state that it is not suffiIn regard to the other site to which you ciently capacious. Greatly regretting that I am unable to meet your wishes, I have the honour to be, &c., Ganjam District, Collector's Cataheny, (Signed), C. P. ONSLOW, Collector. Chitterpore, 13th Jan., 1854. Our worst fears have been more than realized. The small pox has been prevalent in the lines for two or three months, and a very considerable number have died; and then the proverbial immorality of the young recruits has kept us in constant fear; | missionaries in Orissa, but that they were and since the high winds have set in, we have had no less than five fires. On Monday, about 2 p.m., the alarm of fire was again given. Though we had water ready and stood waiting to extinguish the first spark that might come near our buildings, still all our efforts were unavailing. The thatch was old and dry from the intense heat, and in a moment the whole roof was one general blaze. Sister Wilkinson ran over to our house, but we were in the greatest state of alarm, expecting every moment our own house to take fire. We tumbled our furniture into the compound as quickly as we could, and watered the thatch, and through mercy our house was saved. Brother Wilkinson's loss is irreparable; the labour of his youthful days is all gone; his books, with the exception of Bagster's Bible, Cruden's Concordance, and Johnson's Dictionary, all consumed; furniture, wardrobe, and many other very useful things, which he had collected, all gone; our beautiful little sanctuary a heap of ruins, not a vestige of a chair or form can be seen. The christian houses that were burnt belonged to Denabundhoo, Kumbhoo (from Cuttack), Sarnesh, a weaver, and Tama. The fire was so intense that they one and all had to run for their lives. The poor cats that were sleeping unconcerned at the time the fire occurred, nimble as they are, had not time to escape, and were burned to death. I never saw anything so awful; had it occurred in the night, lives must have been lost-it would have been almost impossible for any one to have escaped. We are thankful that it took place in the day time, and that no one has received any personal injury. Our dear brother and sister have borne their loss with great fortitude, while all their property was being consumed. Brother W. said, "this, after all, is not like the loss of a child. We shall rise above this." Our native christian friends have lost a great deal-Tama, everything; but the spirit they have manifested has been beyond all praise; there has been no repining, but a calm resignation to the will of God. They have all said over and over again, that they would not have cared about their own loss, but the thought that their pastor and teacher had lost everything was too painful for them. I have referred to Tama and Kumbhoo, native preachers; now what think you did they consider their greatest loss ?-their lectures that they had received at the Orissa mission academy, and their sermons. You will be pleased to hear this, as some of the lectures were delivered by yourself. Tama said that he had been in the habit for years of taking notes of sermons, and that he had many outlines delivered by all the all destroyed. On the Monday night we had to seek shelter amongst comparative strangers; we went to the mess house, with a Mrs. Captain Wyndham and family, who had left her house through fright, and were kindly entertained by a Captain Nicholls, and brother and sister Wilkinson went to a Captain Phillips'. You are aware of sister W's. critical position, being near her confinement, and fears were entertained for her, but through mercy she has been preserved. I cannot speak positively about the estimate of loss sustained by all parties, but I fear it will not fall far short of £600. I know it is a very difficult thing to get money in England, but this is truly a case which ought to command sympathy and attention. I feel sure that it will; and as this will reach you at the right time to make a public appeal I hope something will be done. As soon as the intelligence reached Russell Kondah, a Captain Johnstone (a good man), unsolicited, sent round a circular, and in a quarter of an hour it was returned with 110 C.R. subscribed. Among the subscribers was Mr. Macdonald, whom I think you know, for 20 C.R., but on the following morning he sent a boy with 100 C.R. (£10), saying that in the list of subscriptions his name might be put down for 20 C.R., and the remaining 80 as from a friend. Captain Johnstone said he could not very well give money, but he had a horse for which he gave 130 C.R. (£13), which he would give to or sell for Mr. Wilkinson, and appropriate the proceeds of sale. We shall make an appeal to the residents in Berhampore and neighbour. hood, and Cuttack, Madras, and Calcutta. The officers and ladies in Berhampore have been very kind, and have assisted brother and sister Wilkinson in the way of gar ments considerably. We are now trying to get these lines away. We have written again to the collector; still it is by no means certain that we shall succeed. If we remain we must have our buildings tiled, which will involve us in considerable expense; or be compelled to remove to some other place; this altogether is a trial of patience. Still we feel that we have a never-failing source of consolation, "The Lord is our refuge and strength, a present help in time of trouble. In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Brother and sister Wilkinson (April 27,) have come down to Gopalpoor, and we are all staying in Miss C's house, [Miss C. has left this part of the country for a time] they are both well, and seem almost as cheerful as ever. I have no other particulars to communicate; we feel anxious at times as to the unsettled state of Europe. War seems inevitable; in India we are now at peace; the electric telegraph will be in operation in a few days from Calcutta to Bombay; the new Post office regulations are to come into operation on the 1st June; then letters weighing 1 tola will be 2 annas, tola 1 anna, tola anna, without reference to distance throughout all India. This will be a great boon, but we are going backward in many other respects. We can get no publications now; the Peninsular and Oriental company will not bring them,* and the screw steam ships are to be discontinued; so we shall have to wait four or five months for our periodicals. We have heard that Major Dobbie of the 30th is dead. [By the last mail but one we read the painful intelligence of Mrs. Packer's decease-Mrs. Bailey's mother-she died suddenly.] Thus one by one our friends are passing away, and our time will come too. May we live and act with the solemnities of eternity in prospect. But I must close love to sister Buckley, in which my dear wife joins. I am, Your affectionate brother, W. BAILEY. Our readers will have perused the above details with painful interest, and we doubt not will feel the propriety of doing something special for the relief of our missionary friends. In our notice of the Association, (written before these papers were received) we recommended special collections to be made in the month of August for this purpose; Mr. Buckley advocates subscriptions. *An alteration has since been made, according to the papers, and the periodicals will be sent by the steamers.-J. B. It is matter of indifference which mode may be adopted, or whether they are combined, (the latter perhaps might be preferable, as public collections give an opportunity to all to contribute a trifle) but what is done should be prompt and generous, if we would cheer our suffering friends. We defer to the opinion of our brethren in Orissa as to the improbability of the Government affording any compensation for this loss: but we wish to record our opinion, that, as the fire was occasioned by their own sepoys, whose location had been at first the subject of remonstrance, the Government ought to refund every farthing of the damage. However that may be, we trust a new location will be found for the soldiers by the Government or that our brethren will obtain a new site for their chapel and premises. To be exposed to fire and pestilence, two of the greatest plagues of men, is most certainly an evil against which, in any future arrangements all due precautions should be taken. The calamity may be turned into a blessing, if the interest awakened by it shall stimulate our friends to be more devoted to the missionary enterprize. The fire at Serampore, sometime about 1817, was a means of great good in the Baptist mission in this respect. Our late friend, Rev. James Peggs, in alluding to it, and to its consequences, once called it, a "blessed blaze." May this, and all our trials be overruled for good!-ED. MEMOIR OF BONAMALLEE. BY THE LATE REV. C. LACEY. BONAMALLEE appears to have been one of the most lovely converts ever gathered to Christ in India. In him was seen how completely a Hindoo may be brought under the sanctifying and elevating influence of the blessed Gospel. His memoir furnishes various instructive lessons on christian missions. It shows what rich encouragement there is for Missionary labours. In the earlier part it displays the sad condition of a Hindoo idolater awakened to some concern about his soul, but knowing nothing of the way of life. You see him a weary wanderer after rest the dupe of one deceiver and then of another, still seeking peace and finding none. Bless God that you enjoy the light of the Gospel, and pity, pray for, and help those who like Bonamallee once, have it not. Bonamallee was of a respectable caste; he lost his father when about four years old, but grew up an industrious young man, and as far as Hindooism would allow, very amiable in disposition. He married young, and obtained support for himself and family by cultivating the ground, and by a hackery, with which he travelled on the great Juggernaut road, carrying merchandize, or weary pilgrims; all along the above named line of road he was extensively known and much respected. About the age of twenty-one he commen. ced his religious course. The first devotee or religious teacher to whom he attached himself is named Manderadass. This ascetic professes to be an incarnation of Vishnoo, or the "true Juggernaut." He affects to despise all idols, and teaches his disciples to do the same; giving out that himself is a living personification of the deity. and disciples by Gunga Dhor, to the great surprise and delight of the whole congregation. Sunderadass expressed his delight in many emphatic sentences, and floods of light seemed to be poured into the dark minds of his people. "See, my children," said he "the truth of what I have been telling you, about the immediate passing away of the age of darkness, and the commencement of the age of truth." This reading of the "Dos-agya" conveyed to the mind of Bonamallee, and to several of his fellow disciples, a knowledge of the law of God! They were in a great measure pre they had renounced idolatry, and were feeling after something better-the knowledge and worship of the true God. The first effect thereof was joy, almost inexpressible joy, particularly as this discovery stood connected with the coming of what they called the age of light and truth. For a time he continued very popular; and, among thousands of worshippers, Bonamallee was not the least zealous and devoted. At this time he was much taken with the works of Achortdass, another pre-pared for the discovery. For many years tended reformer. He read and studied them with great diligence; and erected a choura or stage, upon which he spent some time daily, reading the devotee's poems and prophecies, and explaining them to others who admired them, or wished to understand their doctrines. For a period of five years did Bonamallee devote himself to the service of Manderadass. He spent much time in listening to his instructions, and singing hymns in praise of Brahma, with his fellow disciples. Nor did he spare his little income, but freely parted with what he had for the maintenance of his Gooroo. On every visit he made, he car. ried cocoa nuts, beetle nuts, rice, pulse, sugar, and other necessary articles and sometimes contributed money. He be lieved that he received all his present good by, means of his sadhu or saint, and he thought his future hopes depended on him. Towards the end of five years from the commencement of the period when Bonamallee attached himself to Manderadass, he began to be disgusted with the saint in consequence of hearing him utter much foul and angry abuse, without any just occasion. Bonamallee accompanied his friend to the residence of Sunderadass, and there he promised obedience to his new instructor, and was initiated into his discipleship. He remained on his first visit for a period of fifteen days, daily listening to the wise sayings of Sunderadass, till he became thoroughly captivated by his moral precepts, his wit, and sarcasm. Among other things, this ascetic succeeded in inducing Bonamallee to believe that the age of darkness and sin was just about to pass away, and the age of truth and holiness to set in. While the disciples were being entertained with these pleasant visions, Radhoo ar. rived from Cuttack, bringing with him a copy of a little tract, ealled the "Dos-agya," or "Ten Commandments;" being Watts's Catechism, translated into Oryah. Radhoo laid the tract at his teacher's feet, and it was read aloud in the presence of teacher Bonamallee however, with several others, soon began to feel that what, on its first discovery, filled them with joy and gladness, began to work death in their minds, death to their hopes, and death to their selfrighteousness. The more clearly they perceived the nature and extent of the law, and the more closely they examined themselves by it, or rather, the more closely the law applied itself to them, to their hearts, their consciences, and their conduct, the more clearly were their sin, guilt, and condemnation discovered to them. "Have I kept this good law? and have you, brother, kept this holy law?" were questions they began to ask each other and themselves; and every mouth was stopped, and they felt themselves guilty in the sight of God. A painful and ever-increasing apprehension of future punishment began to succeed to their joys. The law had been so far their schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. Bonamallee participated in these sentiments and exercises. That which he thought would bring life, he found to bring light indeed-but also fear, condemnation, and death. His mind became heavily burdened with a sense of sin-with the danger of impending and everlasting death. In process of time every word of the precious little book was read and studied with a care proportioned to the interest it had excited in his mind; and he met with the name of him who suffered an expiatory death for human transgression, and who can alone save sinners "from the curse of the law, being made a curse for them." But Bonamallee did not speedily comprehend the glorious plan of human redemption, for that plan was a subject upon which Sunderadass either could not or would not, give his people any instruction. He proclaimed himself a Christ, and so he |