Self-tortures of the Hindoos

Chapter XVI.

The Suttee, or Burning of Widows

CHAPTER XVII.

The revengeful Nature of the Hindoo Religion

CHAPTER XVIII.

The Deception of the Hindoos

CHAPTER XIX.

Superstition of the Hindoos

CHAPTER XX.

Burmah, China, etc., etc.

CHAPTER XXI.

The duty of Praying and Contributing for the Spread of the Gospel

CHAPTER XXII.

Personal Labors among the Heathen

CHAPTER XXIII.

Success of the Gospel in India and Ceylon

DR. SCUDDER'S

TALES FOR LITTLE READERS,

ABOUT THE HEATHEN.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL REMARKS

My dear children--When I was a little boy, my dear mother taught me,
with the exception of the last line, the following prayer:

"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take;
And this I ask for Jesus' sake."

Though I am now more than fifty years old, I often like to say this
prayer before I go to sleep. Have you ever learned it, my dear
children? If you have not, I hope that you will learn it _now_; and I
hope, too, that when you say your other prayers at night, you will also
say this. I think that you would be glad to see how this prayer looks in
the Tamul language--the language in which I am now preaching the Gospel,
and in which I hope that some of you will hereafter tell the heathen of
the Saviour. The following is a translation of it:

[Illustration: The Lord's Prayer in Tamul]

I wish that all the little heathen children knew this prayer; but their
fathers and mothers do not teach it to them. Their fathers and mothers
teach them to pray to gods of gold, or brass, or stone. They take them,
while they are very young, to their temples, and teach them to put up
their hands before an idol, and say, "Swammie." Swammie means Lord. As
idolatry is the root of all sin, these children, as you may suppose, in
early life become very wicked. They disobey their parents, speak bad
words, call ill names, swear, steal, and tell lies. They also throw
themselves on the ground in anger, and in their rage they tear their
hair, or throw dirt over their heads, and do many other wicked things.

Let me give you an instance, to show you how they will speak bad words.
A few months ago, a little girl about twelve years of age was brought to
me, with two tumors in her back. To cut them out, I had to make an
incision about eight inches in length; and as