deed have its use. It may, from local circumstances, be better adapted to some situations, and to some societies, than any other mode of church government would be. Let those who approve it, adopt it. They have a right to follow the dictates of their understandings in this instance: christianity is a law of liberty: but let them not impose upon the consciences of others, an institution of human wisdom as an ordinance of Christ.

"Further, if religious worship is regarded by any number of Christians as a business in which all ostentation is to be carefully avoided, and a modest simplicity is to be chiefly consulted; if under these impressions they form themselves into distinct societies, holding, indeed, communion with, but acknowledging no dependence upon, any other individual or society of Christians whatever; if they appoint their own officers and teachers, either from their own body, or from some approved school of learning, and place of previous education; and if they settle all the rituals of worship and forms of discipline amongst themselves, without recourse to any foreign arbitration: they have a right, as the disciples of Christ, standing fast in the liberty with which he has made them free, to act according to their own judgment and discretion in the case; and to pursue their own schemes without molestation, while they keep within the limits of the public peace. This seems to have been the original constitution of the apostolic churches, and was no doubt well adapted to the infant state of the Christian cominunity; though it cannot be inferred that it was the intention of the founder of the Christian faith, that this simple form of ecclesiastical polity should be obligatory upon all the professors of the Christian religion to the end of time.

Upon the whole, therefore, where any particular form of ecclesiastical discipline is not imposed as of divine authority, but simply proposed as a matter of expedience, I freely confess, that it would not with me be an argument of sufficient weight, to induce a separation from a national church: and the same observation is equally applicable to the use of unexceptionable liturgics, and public forms of prayer."

Mr. B. therefore justly considers the proper ground of dissent to be diversity of sentiment, with regard to the object of worship. The text is taken from 2 Cor. vi. 16, 18. And a well-composed prayer, used at the conclusion of the service, is annexed to the discourse.

ART. LXVI. The Difficulties and Sup prts of a Gospel-Minister; and the Duties incumbent on a Christian Church: Charge. By JouN RYLAND, D. D.:

a

and a Sermon. By JAMES HINTON} delivered November 17, 1802, at the Or dination of Thomas Cole, A. M. to the Pastoral Care of the Baptist Church at Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire, 8vo. pp. 53.

THESE services are composed in the strain usually adopted on such occasions. Plainness and seriousness were the prevailing features by which they are distinguished, and to many they will undoubtedly be as acceptable in the form they here assume, as they were to those who were present at their perform

ance.

ART. LXVII. A Sermon preached in the Chapel of Gosport, on Sunday the 14th of February 1802, being the yearly Meeting of the Children educated at the Charity Schools in the Town of Gosport. By EDMUND POULTER, M. A. Prebendary of Winchester. 8vo. pp. 40.

charity in his text, 1 Cor. xiii. 13 accordTHE preacher in interpreting the word ing to its vulgar acceptation, passes a high encomium, first upon charity in general, and secondly, upon that particular mode of it which is employed in providing instruction for the children of the poor. In a discourse, upon the whole well written, we were surprized to meet with the following passage: "If the rich, instead of rising with the occasion, sucenemies to the enriching of our language cumb under it," &c. p. 27. We are no by words drawn Romano fonte, when it can be done without offending the genius of our own tongue; but we must enter our protest against all such words as that before us, which is no less unnecessary, than displeasing to an ear of the least taste and discrimination.

ART. LXVIII. St. Paul no Arian; or the End of the Mediatorial Kingdom: a Sermon preached on Sunday, the 25th of April 1802, in the Church of the United Parishes of St. Bennet, Gracechurch, and St. Leonard, Eastcheap. By the Rev. JOHN WHITE MIDDLETON, M. A. Sve. pp. 19.

IF this discourse was intended to be a public testimony to the preacher's zeal for orthodoxy, and his contempt, if not hatred, of all those who cannot believe every article in his creed; the object is certainly obtained: but if it was des

signed to afford an exhibition of his ta lents, as an able interpreter of scripture, or of his prowess as a well-armed cham

pion against the assaults of heresy, the attempt has completely failed. tali auxilio.

"The learned and pious author," it is justly said in the preface, "examines in this work the characters of charity, as they are enumerated in the thirteenth chapter of the first epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians: and he unfolds them in so untried, so new, and so clear a manner; that the reader is at a loss, whether more to admire the abundance of instructions contained in this book, or the sublimity of the thoughts and the nobleness of the style."

The following passage, while it serves 25 a specimen of this work, may convey some useful instruction:

"There are people whose outward conduct seems to be perfectly irreproachable, and whose exactness in the observance of all rites and ceremonies prescribed is so strict, that they may be proposed as models to others worthy of their imitation. But these so exact and punctual people are not always sufficiently fortified and guarded against a very dangerous temptation, which makes them look on all the slips of others as considerable faults, and on all their defects as

unpardonable erimes. They observe every thing, and take particular notice of every thing. The least flaw raises their quickest

attention; and the smallest omission or oversight is immediately followed by their censure, either public or private. But it is to such St. Austin addresses his discourse on the 130th psalm, wherein he informs them, that they are themselves intolerable, whenever they cease to bear with others. Now toleras! saith he to them. How! do you take offence at every thing! Does every thing provoke you! Quis te tolerabit? with whom then will it be possible for you to live? And who will be able to hear a temper so averse to all mankind? a man so full of himself? so nicely difficult in dealing with others, so sharp-sighted in discovering the failings of his brethren, and so ready to pass a sentence upon them? 2uis te toler abit? A disposition thus opposite to pa tience and gentleness, is rather the result of pride, than of true zeal. Real virtue is never attended with this severity and rigour,"

ART. LXX. A circumstantial Narrative of the Stranding of a Margate Corn Hey, near the Village of Reculver, on the 7th of February 1802: written with a Design to improve a Catastrophe, as awful as it is unparalleled in the Maritime Annals of that Neighbourhood. Second Edition, with Additions. 12mo. pp. 47.

The intention of this little tract is de

serving of praise-we are sorry that it is not in our power to say the same of its execution.

WHAT missions have you undertaken to convert the heathen? is one of the questions which the Catholic asks the Protestant; and to this no satisfactory answer can be returned. As with the Romanists zeal fermented into per secution, so with us toleration has become indifference; they, in their ardour for the salvation of souls, perpetrated the most dreadful enormities that disgrace the history of man; we, with an apathy which religion does not sanction, and cannot excuse, behold the idolatrous crimes of nations whom we command, and make no effort to prevent them.

But, says the philosophist, if salvation be possible out of the pale of the church, wherefore propagate Christianity? Be cause the moral institutes of Christianity are calculated to produce the greatest possible good, individual and general; Lecause it would root out polygamy, with its whole train of evils; because it would abolish human sacrifices, infanticide, and practices of self-torture; because it is a system best adapted for our happiness here as well as hereafter.

When the Portugueze had opened an immediate intercourse with India, a Jesuit of Navarre, whose spiritual con

quests are little less wonderful than the victories of Albuquerque or of Castro, began his missionary career. This was Francisco Xavier, one of Loyola's earliest disciples, since canonized and entitled the Apostle of the East. The converts whom he made within the line of the Portugueze territories, were probably influenced by the power of their European masters, and tempted by the hope of temporal and immediate advantage. These motives could not have operated in the distant regions which Xavier visited. The success with which he preached in Japan must have been the effect of his own personal exertions, and it required an obstinate and difficult war of forty years to extirpate from that country the seeds which he had sown. The effects of the Jesuit missions in the east have now almost wholly disappeared. The few descendants of their converts, who continue to profess Christianity, are despised by their countrymen, and not respected by the Europeans. We have succeeded to the empire of the Portugueze, and if they injured themselves by a zeal which was blind to their own interest, we are secure from any danger arising from that cause! They refused millions for an ape's tooth; if there were a demand for this article now, we should have manufac tories of ape's teeth at Birmingham.

A sect of dissenters, neither numer ous like the Methodists, nor powerful by 'their opulence like the Quakers, have undertaken to preach the gospel in Hindostan, a duty shamefully neglected by the church of England. This enterprize originated in an extraordinary man, who unites cool prudence and persevering talents to the zeal of an apostle. William Carey, till the age of 24, worked as a shoemaker. His religious disposition induced him to study the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages; in these he instrusted himself, and has since become master of the Dutch, French, Portugueze, Bengalee, and Sanscrit. He is now settled in India, as a missionary, where he has translated the Bible into the Bengalee dialect, and printed it himself. This is a work of such magnitude, and such importance, that the origin and progress of the mission, where it has been executed, deserves to be minutely recorded.

At a meeting of Baptist ministers at Clipstone, in Northamptonshire, in 1791,

Carey proposed the question "whether it were not practicable, and our bounden duty, to attempt somewhat toward spreading the gospel in the heathen world?" "He was desired to draw up his thoughts on the subject, and publish them. Accordingly, in the beginning of the following year, he published "An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens; in which the religious state of the different nations of the world, the success of former undertakings, and the practicability of further undertak ings, are considered." There is nothing enthusiastic or declamatory in this pam phlet. After sketching the history of former conversions, and attempts at conversion, he draws out tables of the religious state of the world, and sums up the result thus:-"The inhabitants of the world, according to this calcula tion, amount to about 731,000,000; 420,000,000 of whom are still in Pagan darkness; 130,000,000 the followers of Mahomet; 100,000,000 Catholics; 44,000,000 Protestants; 30,000,000 of the Greek and Armenian churches; and, perhaps, 7,000,000 of Jews. It must, undoubtedly, strike every consi derate mind, what a vast proportion of the sons of Adam there is who yet remain in the most deplorable state of heathen darkness, without any means of knowing the true God, except what are afforded them by the works of Nature, and utterly destitute of the knowledge of the gospel of Christ, or of any means of obtaining it. In many of these countries they have no written language, consequently no Bible, and are only led by the most childish customs and traditions. Such, for instance, are all the middle and back parts of North America, the inland parts of South America, the South Sea Islands, New Holland, New Zealand, New Guinea, and I may add Great Tartary, Siberia, Samojedia, and the other parts of Asia contiguous to the Frozen Sea: the greatest part of Africa, the island of Madagascar, and many places beside. In many of these parts also they are cannibals, feeding upon the flesh of their slain enemies with the greatest brutality and eagerness. The truth of this was ascertained beyond a doubt, by the late eminent navigator Cook, of the New Zealanders, and some of the inhabitants of the western coast of America. Hu

man sacrifices are also very frequently offered, so that scarce a week elapses without instances of this kind. They are in general poor, barbarous, naked Pagans, as destitute of civilization as they are of true religion."

It is, indeed, a melancholy consideration, to reflect, within how small a circle the comforts and advantages of civilized society are included! Carey's book produced a considerable effect; by the world it was scarcely heard of, but it circulated among the members of his own society. He preached to them also upon "lengthening our cords, and strengthening our stakes;" and pressed upon them the expediency of expecting great things, and attempting great things. At the ministers' meeting at Kettering, in October 1792, an association was formed, under the title of the Particular Baptist Society, for propagating the gospel among the Heathen, and 131. 2s. 6d. subscribed as the commencement of a fund for converting the natives of Hindostan !

At this period Carey opened a correspondence with Mr. Thomas, who had been a surgeon of an Indiaman, and was now endeavouring to establish a fund in London for a mission to Bengal. By his own account he had been greatly troubled in mind, but a state of faith and religious hope had succeeded this struggle. He had found a few "serious people" on his first visit to India. On his return to England he was baptised, and then went out a second time in the same capacity, and remained in the country to learn the language, and preach the gospel. What he related of the disposition of the natives was encouraging; many were in the habit of reading the Bible, for they had Matthew, Mark, James, some part of Genesis, and the Psalms, with part of the prophecies, in Bengalee manuscript. A Bramin, by name Mohun Chund, had been one of his hearers, and had talked with him on the subject: one day he asked the preacher this question, "Sir, when a man prays to God, how many days is it before he gets an answer?" Mr. Thomas's conversation so impressed him, that he neglected the ceremonies of his own religion, and was in danger of losing cast, the worst disgrace, and

heaviest calamity, that can befal a Hindoo.

When two of equal cast meet toge ther, it is a ceremony of friendship for the master of the house to offer the visi tor his hookah: when Mohun Chund did this to Parbotee, a Bramin of higher rank than himself, Parbotee emptied the water out of it, an action which was to precede the loss of cast. Chund was exceedingly alarmed at this, but to his infinite surprise he was roused up at two o'clock the following morning by this very Parbotee, who had been terrified in a dream, and came to him to hear the gospel. The effects of this dream were visible on his body and mind for several days. Mr. Thomas was called in to him, and has recorded some very strik ing and affecting expressions of this Bramin in prayer. performed the rites. of the Ganges, I called this good. I worshipped wood and stone, I called this good. I heard the shasters of men that are all false and vain; I called this good. Lord! I am a most wretched creature to this day: I know nothingnothing! Save me, oh, save me! Give, give, O Lord, give me to know Hell what? Heaven what? Without the blood of Christ I shall never be saved; without the flesh of Christ I shall never live; Lord what is the meaning of this? I know not what it is. How can I get the blood of Christ? Oh, teach me; I will do any thing thou sayest. Cast, what? Home, what? Friends, what? Life, what? What is any thing? All is nothing but thee!"

Besides Parbotee, Mr. Thomas had converted Ram Ram Boshoo, one of the writer cast, who had been his teacher in the language.

Thomas remained five years and a half in the country. On his return to England he brought with him a letter from Parbotee and Boshoo, to one of the Baptist ministers, requesting him to send ootum* people into the country, to preach the gospel, and translate the word. "Oh, great sir!" say they, in this letter, "though we thought that many nations had many kinds of shasters, yet in the country of the English we thought there was no shaster at all, for concerning sin and holiness those who are here have no judgment at all. We

P

have even thought that they were not men, but a kind of other creatures, like devourers." With this extraordinary invitation Mr. Thomas brought information that a mission to Bengal would be neither expensive nor dangerous. He himself had, by his preaching, offended many Hindoos of considerable authority, yet he lived within a mile of them, in a lonely house, with his windows and doors wide open all night, without sword or firearms, and free from the smallest apprehension of danger. For eighteen shillings a missionary might build an excellent house, with mud walls and straw covering. Near Malda, where he had resided, hogs, deer, and sheep, were half-a-crown each, and thirty fowls sold for the same price. Europeans who will have splendid luxuries must pay dearly for them, but men, who both by wisdom and principle were temperate and frugal, would find Bengal a cheap

country.

In consequence of this information, Mr. Thomas was engaged by the society as a missionary, and Carey prepared to accompany him. Cheap as the country is, the stipend allowed to them was rather adapted to the funds of the association than the wants of the missionaries; both went out with families, and they were allowed 1501. yearly between them; but 201. was added to Carey's portion in consideration of his larger household. 401. was allowed for the expence of a munshee, or teacher of the language. Afarewel sermon was preached to them by Andrew Fuller, the wellknown Calvinist, who said to them, with that quaint application of scriptural language so common among sectaries, Does Christ ride forth as on a white horse, in righteousness judging and making war? Ye are called, like the rest of the armies of heaven, to follow him on white horses, that India may be conquered by his truth."

When the missionaries arrived at Calcutta, they found that Ram Boshoo, the interpreter, had returned to his idolatry. The poor wretch, after Thomas's departure, had been deserted by the English, and persecuted by his own countrymen. The natives gathered in bodies, and threw dust in the air as he passed along the streets; he was seized with a flux and fever: "In this state I had nothing," said he, "to support myself or my family, a relation offered to

save me from perishing for want of necessaries, on condition of my bowing to the idol. I knew that the Roman Catholic Christians worshipped idols; I thought they might be commanded to honour images in some part of the Bible which I had not seen." The missionaries took a few acres at Hashnabad, about forty miles east of Calcutta. An English gentleman generously offered them his house, till their own was finished, the walls of which were to be mats fastened to wooden posts, and the roof formed of bamboos, and thatched. The interpreter, though he had thus fallen off, was still a useful friend, and expressed his inclination to be a Christian. He spoke of the missionaries in such a manner as to induce 4 or 500 families to resolve upon coming to reside near them. European protection was, perhaps, a strong inducement, for that country had been almost deserted on account of the tygers, as the natives do not fear them when Europeans are near with fire arms. They both wrote in high spirits to the society; they had begun the translation, and Thomas expressed his joy that he was so near a flock of black sheep. With this information the society concluded the first number of their periodical accounts.

The missionaries, as might have been expected, were soon embarrassed for money, and Thomas took a house at Calcutta, designing to practise surgery. Fortunately at this time an Englishman, who was his friend, had begun to erect two manufactories, and he invited the two preachers to superintend them. This offer they immediately accepted. The situation of their new residence was in the district of Dinagepore, not very far from the frontiers of Tibet. The two manufactories were sixteen miles apart. Upon this they wrote to inform the society that they could subsist without further assistance, and to request that what had been designed for their wants might be appropriated to some other mission. They resolved also each to educate twelve children, six Hindoo, the other six Mahomedan, for seven years, and to provide them with meat, clothing, and lodging. The translation was in hand, and they sent over specimens of the Bengalee letter, that types might be cast in England. Carey had lost one of his children by a disease, the effect of the climate. It was with difficulty that