SUWARROW SURNAMED THE BUTCHER.

WHILE the Russians were at war with the Turks, "the town of Ismuilow had resisted seven months; in November, Potemkin ordered Suwarrow to take it at all events. He marched with the greatest celerity, notwithstanding the rigor of the season. On the third day after his arrival, he assembled his soldiers, and said to them, 'No quarter, provisions are dear!' The attack was made; the Russians were twice repulsed; the third time they penetrated into the town-into the houses-into the mosques, and put all to the sword. Twenty thousand Turks perished on that day, and occasioned the Russian General to be surnamed The Butcher."

Biographie Moderne-Article Suwarrow.

Here we may contemplate the genuine effects of a military education, and a life devoted to war. By such feats Suwarrow acquired military fame. His enemies might surname him "The Butcher;" but his ferocious deeds were blazoned as glorious in the Russian empire, and perhaps through the greater part of Europe.

"No quarter, provisions are dear!" What should be thought of the monster, who, for such a reason, could order the indiscriminate butchery of twenty thousand people-men, women, and children! Perhaps, however, Suwarrow was not by nature more ferocious or inhuman than a Penn or a Howard. He possessed great fortitude, energy, and activity of character, and so did they. Had due care been taken in his education, to imbue his mind with humane and benevolent sentiments, he might have been renowned as a Philanthropist, and not as a military "Butcher." The same may be said of all the renowned conquerors and butchers of our race.

A military education, and the glory which has been given. to war achievements, will account for the military destruction which has filled every quarter of the globe with "mourning, lamentation, and wo." Yet such is the blindness of men, even in this enlightened age, that myriads are trained from their youth to be destroyers of their fellow men! Perhaps a number of the energetic young men in our military schools, though naturally of amiable dispositions, may hereafter become Suwarrows in ferocity and guilt; and, when about to engage in battle, they may exclaim to their soldiers, "No quarter, provisions are dear!" They, too, may boast of their twenty thousand slain !

Let Christian parents, who are educating their sons for war, but anticipate the possibility of such results, and what must be their feelings! Do I hear the mother exclaim-Is my son a dog, that he should become such a monster! Perhaps, my friend, there was a time when Suwarrow's mother had as much confidence in her son as you have in yours; but this did not save him from being "surnamed The Butcher." It may be unknown to you, yet it may be a fact, that, your son has already advanced so far in a military education. that he would deem it an honor to kill a companion in a duel, though this might deprive two affectionate parents of an only son, fill them with deep distress, and bring them down with sorrow to the grave. If such things are done by him in his youth, he may at no very distant period be surnamed Suwarrow.

REMARKABLE FACTS RELATING TO THE SOCIETY ISLANDS.

IN the "Appendix

Appendix" to a "Journal of a Tour around Hawaii, the largest of the Sandwich Islands," we have a remarkable account of what has occurred in the Society Islands, given by the Rev. Mr. Ellis, who bad been for six years a missionary among the people of those islands, and who recently visited our New England States. The following paragraphs are an abridgment of his account.

FORMER CHARACTER AND CONDITION OF THE INHABITANTS.

Their Domestic and Social State. For domestic happiness, their language contained not a symbol of it. Of it they had not an idea. Infants were murdered without reluctance, and without remorse; and generally by their parents or other near relations. The elder missionaries believed, that two thirds of the children were thus sent from the world, by the hand of violence in the morning of life.

If parents were cruel to their children, children were also cruel to their parents. When the parent was old, decrepit, sick, and helpless, they would sometimes build a booth not far from the house, place him in it, give him a small portion of provisions, and never go near him again. Of course he soon died.

There was no mutual confidence. No man knew whom to trust; for the fountains of domestic and social affection were poisoned, and the rights of others were disregarded.

Indeed human life was held as of little value. Many died by open violence; many by secret poison. It was even a general opinion among the natives, that none died a natural death!

Their government was in the highest degree despotic and tyrannical. The king of the Islands, and the chiefs of the several districts, had full power over the property and lives of their vassals.

Their wars were carried on both by sea and land. Their custom by sea was as follows: Forty or fifty large canoes, lashed together with strong cords, so that none might desert, and filled with warriors, were rowed out to meet as many more, prepared in a similar manner for the contest. As the two parties approached, the battle was begun with slings and stones; when they came nearer, spears and javelins were used; and when they closed, they fought with clubs. In many cases, the vanquished party has been wholly destroyed, the victor carrying the work of death from one end of the line to the other. Their wars on land were even more bloody; for besides making all possible slaughter of the vanquished on the field of contest, and relentlessly pursuing the fugitives for weeks and months among the mountains; a reserved party of the victors, as soon as the battle was decided, rushed upon the defenceless villagers, and carried promiscuous slaughter among the women and children, the sick and aged; or, if any were spared, it was for slavery, or for immolation upon the altars of the gods. The barbarity of these wars was dreadful. Here, a warrior might be seen tossing little children and infants into the air, and catching them on the point of his spear, where they expired in agonies. There, another might be seen dragging in savage triumph, five or six lifeless children, by a cord, which had been passed successively through their heads, from ear to ear. Yonder, all covered with gore, another might be seen scooping with his hands, the blood from the gushingtrunk of his decapitated foe, and drinking it with hideous exultation. These wars were frequent. Scarcely a year passed with

out one or more.

Their Religion. The only controlling principle, in their religion, was fear. Their gods were confessedly evil, revengeful, and cruel.

PRESENT CHARACTER AND CONDITION OF THE INHABITANTS.

Their domestic and social state has undergone a radical change. Children are not only suffered to live, but are cherished with great tenderness, and nurtured with pious solicitude and care; and domestic happiness is well understood, and generally enjoyed, in all the islands.

To a considerable extent, the inhabitants have been gathered into villages, for the sake of the regular preaching of the Gospel. No less than twelve thousand, out of twenty thousand inhabitants, can read the word of God intelligibly; considerable portions of which have been translated, printed, and circulated; and three thousand children and adults are now in the schools.

Their government has received a salutary modification. It has been defined and limited by a constitution, and exists in the mildest patriarchal form.

Their wars are ended. The weapons of war are neglected and are perishing. Instead of guns, and powder, and ball, they seek for implements of husbandry, for clothing, for domestic utensils, for means of growing in knowledge and in grace.

Their religion is peaceful and holy. It teaches to cultivate the virtues of penitence, and charity, and faith; to seek the happiness of each other, and of all men; to set lightly by the world ; to lay up treasure in heaven; to be holy, harmless, undefiled. By this religion the whole population is much influenced, though it is by no means presumed that all are truly pious.

The opinion formerly entertained by these Islanders of their gods, as "evil, revengeful, and cruel," may account for their horrid cruelties one to another. It can hardly be expected of any people, that they will aspire to be better than the gods they adore. Since these people were taught that God is love, and that he requires all his children to love one another, their wars have ceased, and they now live in amity. Such must be the natural effect of truly and understandingly embracing the Gospel.

How then are we to account for the innumerable wars of Christian nations? They have not been faithfully instructed respecting the character of God, and the nature of his precepts. The ministers of religion have suffered the people to believe, that war is the road to glory,-that God can look down with complacency and see his children bravely hazard their lives in shedding each other's blood,—that it is the duty of subjects to engage in war at the mere word of their rulers, however deluded or wicked they may be,-and that those who lose their lives in battle, may expect heaven and eternal life for their horrid butcheries! Hence, on each side of a contest, appeals are made to God for the justice of the cause-prayers for aid in the work of murder, and praises when success is granted. Had ministers duly understood the subject, and been truly faithful in showing the inconsistency of war with the character of God, and the requirements of the Gospel, it would have been impossible for war to have retained its popularity in Christendom. And should all the ministers of the various denominations unite for the object, and make due exertions, the abolition of war in Christendom might be effected in twenty years.

ADMONITORY JUBILEE.

IN A. D. 1572-"On Sunday, 24th of August, St. Bartholomew's day, the horrible plot for exterminating the Protestants was executed. Seven hundred houses were pillaged, and five thousand persons perished in Paris." "The rage for slaughter spread from Paris to the Provinces; and, according to Sully, the number of Protestants massacred during eight days, over all the kingdom, amounted to seventy thousand !"

"For this horrible achievement a Jubilee was appointed at Paris, and solemn thanks was rendered to God, as though the sacrifice had been acceptable to him.

"This massacre of the Protestants was considered as a fit subject of joy and triumph at Rome. The Pope and Cardinals instantly repaired to St. Mark's, to thank God for so great a favor conferred on the See of Rome, and appointed a Jubilee over the whole Christian world for the slaughter of the heretics of France."-Memoir of the French Protestants, see p. 8 to 16.

In view of these facts we may remark the change and progress of public opinion. When the dreadful slaughter of the Protestants of France occurred, such was the state of public opinion, that the event was deemed so glorious as to demand a universal Jubilee throughout the Christian world. But in this age perhaps no event recorded in history is thought of with more universal disapprobation and horror, not only by Protestants, but by Catholics. It is now seen that the King of France-all who combined with him in the sanguinary plot-the Pope, the Cardinals, and all who exulted in that scene of murder, must have been under the influence of strong delusions.

These considerations should excite the people of all nations and all classes to be very cautious, in respect to engaging in sanguinary feats, or celebrating deeds of human slaughter.In our age nothing has been more popular, or more celebrated, than the destructive enterprises of war. Each country has justified its own wars, and exulted in its successes, as though war had been "the chief end of man," and the work of manslaughter the delight of heaven, and the glory of human nature. But we have seen that public opinion has been changed in regard to the massacre of the French Protestants; it may change in regard to public war; and those wars in which each nation has long gloried, may hereafter be viewed as the effects of popular delusion-be classed with the slaughter of St. Bartholomew's day, and other scenes proVol. IV. No. 9.

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