discouraged to find that you have no goodness, no worthiness, no righteousness of your own to plead ;-did you possess any of these he would not receive you." See Sermons, pp. 42, 49, 121, 125, 129.

It must not be concluded from such specimens, that this volume is destitute of anything which would tend to produce and cherish virtue. So far from it that the author's standard of christian practice is very high, and he enforces obedience to the precepts of Jesus with great eloquence and zeal. No. The system of opinions he adopted taught him this exceptionable language on the subject of morality. But this system was not heeded always. We should look for no enforcement of morals after such a disparaging account of their value before God. Yet are we here as in all similar works furnished with the requisite injunctions to that good life, which seemed to be so lightly regarded.

CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA.

In the vast and populous region of Hindostan, a country distinguished for its antiquity and its singular civil institutions, and no less badly distinguished by the prevalence of a degrading and bloody system of idolatry, events have lately occurred, which give encouragement to the benevolent Christian, that a way is now opened for the successful introduction of the mild and humane religion of Jesus; a religion, which, it is believed, will here, as elsewhere, abolish the impure and cruel rites of a barbarous superstition, and fill the inhabitants of that extensive land with a true knowledge of God and with a sincere love of their brethren.

Within a few years, there has risen up among this peculiar people a distinguished Reformer; a man, who has viewed with the eye of patriotic benevolence the intellectual darkness and moral degradation in which the great mass of his countrymen are involved, and who has entered upon the great and meritorious work of enlightening and regenerating them; a man, whose public and benevolent spirit is sustained by mental powers and acquisitions of the highest character; a man who, in that remote land, a land which we have been in the habit of regarding as the privileged and undisputed seat of barbarism and ignorance, cut off, in a great degree, by the circumstances of his birth and nation, from those facilities of intellectual improvement with which individuals in civilized and christian countries are furnished; this man, under such unfavorable circumstances, has, notwithstanding, made advances in knowledge, and exhibited proofs of intellectual power that would confer honor upon any man living, no matter what may have been his advantages, or how great be his attainments. Chiefly by his own exertion and industry, he has made himself acquainted with the principal languages and with the literature of ancient and of modern times. The history, the politics, the religion, the science, the learning of every important nation at the present day are as familiar to this wise man of the East, as they are to any individual of European descent. His knowledge seems to correspond to the vastness of his mind, and to have been gleaned from every field, no matter how remote or how difficult of access.

I do not fear the charge of extravagance, or of overrating the capacity and acquirements of this learned

Brahmin. The charge, I am sure, will be preferred by none who have investigated the subject and read his various productions in law, theology, and morals, all written in the English language, and with a purity and power rarely attained by any individual to whom the language is not his native tongue. For myself, I must say, that when I read these numerous writings, abounding with such evident marks of extensive knowledge, of profound research, of sound judgment, and of close and powerful reasoning, and then reflect that all this proceeded from the mind and the pen of a Hindoo, the fact appears to me little less than a miracle; and I am involuntarily led to bless God that he has raised up so eminent a witness and servant in the midst of a benighted and idolatrous race. I rejoice that the greatest mind in the East, a mind of which any nation or any age might have just reason to be proud, has ranged itself on the side of humanity and truth, and taken an active part in the great cause of human improvement and happiness.

Do you ask, what the great Indian Reformer has hitherto done for the cause of humanity and truth? I answer, that he has been long and earnestly engaged, and not without success, in attempting to abolish that cruel custom which compels the Hindoo widow to immolate herself upon the funeral pile of her deceased husband. By the force of authority and argument, he has endeavored to show, that this horrible enormity is not enjoined by the ancient religious codes or civil institutions of the land. He has appeared as the advocate of the rights of the females of his country, and for this service alone, deserves a high place among the friends and the benefactors of

our race.

But the labors of this benevolent and accomplished man did not stop here. Among a people who for ages had believed and worshipped many gods, he comes forward, alone, and with an intrepid spirit proclaims the unity and supremacy of the Deity, and maintains that He alone is the object of worship. Among a nation of idolaters, he fearlessly sends forth his treatise" against the idolatry of all religions." The motives and feelings which led him to engage in this work are thus expressed in his writings.

"My constant reflections," he says, "on the inconvenient, or rather injurious rites, introduced by the peculiar practice of Hindoo idolatry, which, more than any other Pagan worship, destroys the texture of society, together with compassion for my countrymen, have compelled me to use every possible effort to awaken them from their dream of error; and, by making them acquainted with the scriptures, enable them to contemplate, with true devotion, the unity and omnipresence of nature's God. By taking the path which conscience and sincerity direct, I, born a Brahmin, have exposed myself to the complainings and reproaches even of some of my relations, whose prejudices are strong, and whose temporal advantage depends upon the present system. But these, however accumulated, I can tranquilly bear; trusting that a day will arrive when my humble endeavors will be viewed with justice-perhaps acknowledged with gratitude. At any rate, whatever men may say, I cannot be deprived of this consolation: my motives are acceptable to that Being, who beholds in secret, and compensates openly."

In the preface to one of his tracts, after observing

upon the superiority of the moral to the physical powers of man, and intimating that sorrow and remorse can scarcely fail, sooner or later, to be the portion of him who is conscious of having neglected opportunities of rendering benefit to his fellow creatures, he again adverts to his own case in the following terms: “From considerations like these it has been, that I, (although born a Brahmin, and instructed in my youth in all the principles of that sect,) being thoroughly convinced of the lamentable errors of my countrymen, have been stimulated to employ every means in my power to improve their minds, and lead them to the knowledge of a purer system of morality. Living constantly amongst Hindoos of different sects and professions, I have had ample opportunities of observing the superstitious puerilities into which they have been thrown by their self-interested guides; who, in defiance of the law as well as of common sense, have succeeded but too well in conducting them to the temple of idolatry; and while they hide from their view the true substance of morality, have infused into their simple hearts a weak attachment for its mere shadow." After enumerating some of the evils arising from the existing theory and practice of Hindooism, and noticing the encouragement held out by it to every species of immorality and crime, he thus proceeds: "My reflections upon these solemn truths have been most painful for many years. I have never ceased to contemplate, with the strongest feelings of regret, the obstinate adherence of my countrymen to their fatal system of idolatry, enduring, for the sake of propitiating their supposed deities, the violation of every humane and social feeling; and this, in various instances, but more especially