if for a constant memorial to mankind that "without shedding of blood, there is no remis "sion of sin." Heb. ix. 22.

4. The influence of the Divine SPIRIT on the minds of men. In the most ancient writings of the Hindoos, some of which have been published, it is asserted that "the divine spirit or light of holy knowledge" influenced the minds of men. And the man who is the subject of such influence is called "the man twice born." Many chapters are devoted to the duties, character, and virtues of "the man twice born."

Other doctrines might be illustrated by similar analogies. The characters of the Mosaic ceremonial law pervade the whole system of the Hindoo ritual and worship. Now, if these analogies were merely partial or accidental, they would be less important: but they are not accidental, as every man who is erudite in the holy Scriptures, and in oriental mythology, well knows. They are general and systematic. Has it ever been alleged that the Light of Nature could teach such doctrines as those which we have above enumerated. Some of them are contrary to the Light of Nature. Every where in the East there appears to be a counterfeit of the true doctrine. The inhabitants have lost sight of the only true God, and they apply their tradi

tional notions, to false Gods. These doctrines are unquestionably relics of the first faith of the earth; they bear the strong characters of God's primary revelation to man, which neither the power of man, nor time itself, hath been able to destroy: but which have endured from age to age, like the works of nature, the moon and stars, which God hath created, incorruptible.

ECCLESIASTICAL ESTABLISHMENT

FOR

BRITISH INDIA.

BEFORE the Author left India, he published a "Memoir of the Expediency of an Ecclesias"tical Establishment for our Empire in the East." The design of that work was first suggested to him by Dr. Porteus, late Bishop of London, who had attentively surveyed the state of our dominions in Asia; and he was encouraged by subsequent communications with the Marquis

Wellesley, to endeavour to lead the attention of the nation to the subject. That publication has now been five years before the public; and many volumes have been written on the various subjects which it contains; but he does not know that any objection has been made to the principle of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for Christians in India. An attempt has been made indeed to divert the attention from the true object, and, instead of considering it as an establishment for Christians, to set it forth as an establishment for instructing the Hindoos. But the instruction of the Hindoos is entirely a distinct consideration, as was carefully noted in the Memoir. At the end of the first part is the following paragraph :

“It will be remembered, that nothing which "has been observed is intended to imply that any peculiar provision should be made imme

diately for the instruction of the natives. Any expensive establishment of this kind,

however becoming our national character, or "obligatory on our principles, cannot possibly "be organized to efficient purpose, without the "aid of a local Church. Let us first establish "our own religion amongst ourselves, and our "Asiatic subjects will soon benefit by it. When

once our national Church shall have been "confirmed in India, the members of that Church

"will be the best qualified to advise the state, as to the means by which, from time to time, "the civilization of the natives may be pro"moted."*

An Ecclesiastical Establishment would yet be necessary for British India, if there were not a Mahomedan or Hindoo in the land. For, besides the thousands of British Christians, who live and die in that country, there are hundreds of thousands of native Christians, who are at this moment" as sheep without a shepherd;" and who are not insensible to their destitute estate, but supplicate our countenance and protection. Surely the measure cannot be contemplated by the Legislature, for a moment, without perceiving its absolute propriety, on the common principles of justice and humanity.

In regard to the other subject, the instruction of the Hindoos, many different opinions have been delivered in the volumes alluded to, the most prominent of which are the two following; First, that Hinduism is, upon the whole, as good as Christianity, and that therefore conversion to Christianity is not necessary. This deserves no reply. The second opinion is, that it is indeed a

* Memoir, p. 20.

sacred duty to convert the

Hindoos, but that we must not do it by force. With this opinion the Author perfectly coincides. To convert men by any other means than those of persuasion, is a practice fit only for the Inquisition, and completely at variance with the tenor of every page which he has written. The means of conversion, which he has recommended, are those which are appointed in the Holy Scriptures, namely, "Preaching, and the Word of God." The first and present means are the translation of the word of God into the various languages; and the next are the labours of teachers and preachers.

The Author is not, nor has he ever been, the advocate for force and personal injury toward the Hindoos. No: he pleads the cause of humanity. The object of his Work, and of his Researches, has been to deliver the people of Hindoostan from painful and sanguinary rites; to rescue the devoted victim from the wheels of Moloch's Tower; to snatch the tender infant from the jaws of the alligator; to save the aged parent from premature death in the Ganges; to extinguish the flames of the female sacrifice, and to "cause the widow's heart to sing for joy."

Another object of his Work has been, to shew, that while the feelings of the Christian are pain