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deness , it might be brought to the ground by the sling of some Goliath , Mr . B . might hope , with the aid of Ms learned anonymous friend , to restore the splendid arch , by only following * a few steps farther the smooth
and airy plan of castle-builders . The stars in ancient times were thought to be gods . This was not the opinion of the ignorant only , but of the gravest philosophers ; of Plato , of Aristotle and Cicero , &c , and the same notion
doubtless prevailed since the origin of idolatry antecedently to the days of Moses . As these aerial gods , like nightly sentinels , go round the globe , and have their eye on every part of it , H was natural to conclude , that they influenced the destinies of its
inhabitants . Hence the doctrine of astrology , a doctrine which enabled the selfish and cunning to bind in iron chains the souls and bodies of a great portion of mankind , from the earliest &ges almost to the present . Moses ,
by a few words , dissolves this perniekms system , and blows it into air as wit | i a potent , spell . < c And he made the star 3 ; " as if lie had said , The stars are not gods , but the works of God ; they are not made for our use ,
nor do they influence our happiness ; arid though they are well calculated to enlarge our ideas of the great Creator , they ought not to be themselves objects of our dread or reverence . " BEiN DAVID .
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Cursory Remarks on the Island Borneo , fyc . ( Concluded from p . 16 ' . ) ~ B 3 EFORE a missionary entered JlK their country , it would be necessary to get acquainted with one of the chiefs , and if he followed the example
of St . Paul , to " become all things to all men , " he would , perhaps , see it proper , or , at least , expedient , to go through the ceremony of fraternization with surf * chief . This ceremony being curious , I shall here describe it .
The chief with his foliowrer& being assembled on the day appointed , a young cock chicken is killed at sun ? rising , twwL roasted while some rice is being boiled , by fuel of a . peculiar .-kind of teehted \ frbod , during which , an / old wan ( selected to act the priest oh the
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occasion ) keeps ehaunting a string of sentences in a language which he tfoeg not understand ; proSftWy , ~« R ureecation borrowed from Hindoo ceremonies . About 11 o ' clock in the forenoon , the chief and his adopted brother are placed side by side , at the upper part of an elliptic circle , formed by the attendants . The aforesai d old man brings the victuals , and places it before the parties , and also two glasses , containing palm wine : he then
takes a small dagger , and lifts up the skin of the right shoulder of one of the ; parties , takes thence a large drop of blood , and puts into the glass destined for the other , and also takes a drop of blood similarly from the other and puts into the other glass , which
they immediately drink off , amidst Ihe huzzas of the attendants ; the victuals are then eaten by the new-made brothers from off the same dish , and a keep-sake , such as a ring or tiger ' s tooth , or such like , is exchanged as a token , as also their daggers . The attendants then retire to their own
houses to feast , and the chief thenceforth must be considered and treated in every respect as a brother , and he will not fail to act the part of one in every respect . The conduct of the Arab
missionaries who propagated Mahometanism in the Malayan Archipelago , should be held in view by the Christian messenger . They did not profess to be solely teachers of a new religion , but merchants and traders who took the
native surplus produce from off their hands , and brought in return , conveniences and elegant articles much more valuable , at least in their estimation , while the increase in their comforts or gratifications , taught the natives to view them rather in the light of benefactors , than innovators or
monopolists . Their principal obligation , however , viz ., the extension of Islamism , was never lost sight off ; and the result was , what any rational person would have anticipated from such priujent conduct , rapid and ex tensive
conversion V and it was not till they acquired political power * and bega » t ° employ' it for the purpose of enforcing : the compulsory tenets of thrirjj ' ltgion , that convci < si < to » 1 ^* ' » il ^ P ^^; ^ Tbe Aborigines are atfSt ^ TIyjtf * 1 ' a very favourable state for fhe frecefl-
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fJ 8 Cursohj Remarks on the hland $ ^ rhe& ' .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1822, page 98, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2509/page/34/
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