polluted with the mutilated carcases of men, women, and children, whose blood has ascended into heaven to testify against the murderous and infidel rulers of an infidel country. Previous to this period of French history, the population of France, though far from being religious, always manifested some slight degree of respect for the day set apart by the all-wise Disposer of events for rest, humiliation, and thanksgiving. But no De sooner had the scaffold been stained with the To enumerate the one thousandth part of the dreadful atrocities committed by the French people, during the remaining years of the republic, would be impossible, and, if possible, our space would not permit us. But that the rising generation may have some slight idea how a country is governed where infidels alone guide the helm, and what the inhabitants of a country have to expect when they not only forget, but openly insult and vilify, the great Author of their being; we state, for the information of all those who have not already consulted the records of French history, from 1790 to 1815, that, from the period when all religion was banished the country, crimes never surpassed for enormity, were daily committed in Paris and various other parts of France; and by men no less notorious for their sanguinary despotism, than their total want of all principle, moral or religious; by men who openly denied the existence of a supreme Governor of the world, and whose profligacy was never exceeded by that of any other men in the most profligate nation on the face of the earth. That from the death of the monster Robespierre to the abdication of Napoleon Buonaparte, murders, and other serious crimes, we e lessened, but that the morals of the great mass of the people remained unchanged. That though the people had laid aside the republican, and put on the imperial garb, they had not laid aside the garb of infidelity, and assumed that of true religion. That there was no change for the better as regards religion, the most ample proofs stared the allies in the face at every turn of their path towards the capital. In the shops of the playing-card manufacturers, the watchmakers, the booksellers, the printsellers, and in the baskets of the female itinerant dealers in small wares, thousands of the most clear and damning proofs that could be desired were visible, that in the breasts of the population, nothing in the shape of moral or religious principle could possibly exist. In fact, that from the palace to the cottage, vice and immorality reigned supreme. But it was in the camp where the most loathing and sickening sights of human depravity were observed. To the shame of the superior officers of the French army, it must be recorded, that on the backs of the playing cards, figures were but too frequently found of so disgusting a description, as to make every man, possessed of one particle of virtuous feeling, turn from them with horror, and to wish themselves removed ten thousand miles from that country whose rulers could for a moment tolerate a nuisance of so degrading a nature. In pursuing this course, the French rulers appear to have kept steadily in view the conduct of an Asiatic monarch considerably more than 2,000 years ago. Soon after the conquest of Lydia by Cyrus the Great, the inhabitants, instigated by Pactyas, to whom Cyrus had intrusted the charge of the treasure found at Sardis, raised the standard of rebellion. On receiving the unwelcome intelligence, the Persian monarch instantly resolved to reduce the Lydians to obedience, sell them for slaves, and blot out their country from the map of Asia. But the intentions of Cyrus were no sooner known to Croesus, than he entreated the conqueror to wreak his vengeance on Pactyas alone, and rather than sell the Lydians, to deprive them of their arms, to encourage luxury and debauchery amongst all classes, to cause their children to be instructed in such trades only, as were best calculated to corrupt their youthful minds, and incline them to lead idle and indolent lives. The advice being strictly acted upon, the Lydians, in a few years, became the most abandoned and dissolute people on the face of the earth. The advice of the ex-king of Lydia was such, as might be expected to proceed from a person of his selfish and avaricious disposition. Had the evils it produced, however, terminated with his mortal career, succeeding generations would have had much cause for rejoicing. But unfortunately, the success which attended his advice was too conspicuous and alluring not to find admirers and imitators. In every age, therefore, from that of Cyrus to the present, and in every country, the conduct pursued by that monarch towards the Lydians, has been imitated in a greater or lesser degree by every succeeding race of conquerors or others usurping the sovereign power. But in no nation, either in ancient or modern times, has the diabolical system been more thoroughly acted upon than in France, during the late revolutionary war, as has been already shown; and what was the result? For purposes known only to the Almighty Governor of the universe, the arms of France were, for a time, permitted to move from victory to victory, until their leader could place one foot on the shores of the Mediterranean, and the other on the banks of the Moskwa. The cup of Divine wrath being however at length full, the day of retribution arrived. In the years 1812, 1813, 1814, and 1815, the infidel legions every where met with discomfiture and disgrace, until they were driven, not within their own frontier only, but twice from their capital; their idol chief twice expelled from a throne he had usurped, and the northern provinces of their country placed under the military occupation of the arms of Great Britain and her allies. Such, fellow-countrymen, was the issue of the French revolutionary war. Behold, then, the reward of the infidel, the rebel, the regicide! Take warning by the fate which overtook the actors and abettors in infidelity's revolutionary tragedy; and should ever an attempt be made by infidel or revolutionary writers, to turn you from the paths of religion, virtue, fidelity, and honour, to those of infidelity, immorality, disloyalty, and dishonour, by promises of advancement, or threats of punishment; turn round upon the viper, and, with the firmness of a man determined not to deviate from those paths which alone lead to honour and happiness, say, "Curse on the wretch, who'er he be, Since the year 1815, a slight reaction for the better, as regards religion, may have taken place in France. But is Publicola prepared to prove that, the moral or religious feelings of the people of that country, can be compared to our own happy church-going people? Reckless as he is in some things, we are certain he will not attempt the proof; facts are stubborn things, and the facts regarding the religion of the French people are so well attested, that they cannot be in the least affected by the bare assertion of any champion of infidelity, whatever his rank or profession may be, for, as the following will show, assertions, however positively made, particularly when coming from that source, are not always to be received as Gospel truths. "The most highly subsidized ally that England ever had," says Publicola, in a recent letter, 66 I was that determined hater, and perpetual mocker of Christianity, Frederick the Great, of Prussia. Washington was an equal despiser of Christianity, and 66 yet he was merciful and benignant to a proverb." What object the writer could have had in view in dragging the hero of the Seven Years' war forward as he has done, we cannot even guess, for, by his own showing, Frederick was an infidel, and consequently, his sanguinary disposition could not possibly be the result of an over-drugged dose of Christianity. And with regard to the American warrior, Publicola is still more unfortunate, for by a document in our possession, signed George Washington," we are enabled to give a direct negative to his assertion that Washington was an infidel. We do not wish to bear too hard upon him, but we cannot help stating it as our opinion, that Publicola must have written the sentence, either in entire ignorance of the subject on which he fancied he was enlightening his readers, or with the view of drawing largely on their gullibility. Proof, however, being at all times preferable to assertion, we shall, without further remark, permit George Washington to speak for himself. Extract from the "Manifesto of America, by George Washington, Esq., Commander-inchief of the forces of the United States, in answer to General Burgoyne's proclamation, issued at Putnam Creek, June 29th, 1777. "In our consciousness of Christianity, we pray, in all humility, for peace and goodwill among men, and we invite all nations to mutual friendship and brotherly love. These truly Christian objects, we conceive, are only to be attained by Christian means. We, therefore, do not draw the unsparing sword of hireling cruelty, nor sharpen the savage knife of the Indian, nor denounce anathemas of devastation, famine, and every concomitant horror. But harassed as we are by unrelenting persecution, obliged by every tie to repel violence by force, urged by selfpreservation to exert the strength with which Providence hath armed us, to defend our natural rights against the aggressor, we appeal to the hearts of mankind for the justice of our cause. Its event we submit to Him who speaks the fate of nations, in humble confidence that as His omniscient eye taketh note of the sparrow that falleth to the ground, so He will not withdraw His confidence from a people who humbly array themselves under His banner in defence of the noblest principle with which He hath adorned humanity. (Signed) "GEORGE WASHINGTON, in the name, and on the behalf, of the army of the United States of America. "Continental camp, Middlebrook, July 19th, 1777." Now, Publicola must be prepared to prove either that Washington was a consummate hypocrite, or confess, he was a member of the Christian church. If he fails in his proof, he will of course stand convicted before the world as having wilfully, or ignorantly, libelled the memory of that great man. If wilfully, who, of all the supporters of the "Dispatch,' be he atheist, deist, or unitarian, would then be Publicola ? If ignorantly, his efforts in the cause of infidelity, will no longer be a source of uneasiness to the lover of all that is great and good, in our glorious constitution in church and state; as his ignorance in matters of history must point him out to the proprietors of the "Dispatch," or any other periodical, as a person totally unfit for the part assigned him in that weekly paper. In either case, his character will sustain a severe shock, and by the same pen, which has for a long time been employed in rousing the worst passions of the human heart, against the Christian religion, and to increase the hatred of the working classes for royalty, and their love of republicanism. He may continue to indulge the readers of the "Dispatch" with weekly tales of fiction, and, as on this occasion, endeavour to palm them on the unthinking portion of the people as historical facts; but with the moral, the religious, and thinking portion of the com munity, his letters or essays will, as formerly, be treated as rabid pieces of infidelity, and republicanism, written by desire of the grim chief of pandemonium, to allure the youth and illiterate of the land, from the paths of virtue and religion, to become the inmates of that region, where we are assured, by one who cannot lie, "there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." THE COLONIES. We look upon the colonial possessions of the British empire, as the title deeds by which she holds her rank and position as the first among the nations of the earth, and without which, she would sink into less importance than even Spain, in the great political balance of power. Viewing our colonial possessions in this light, we would strive by every means in our power, to strengthen these national bulwarks, the pillars on which the greatness and glory of the British empire rest. Too little attention has ever been paid to the welfare of these most important portions of the British dominions; and amidst the strife and clamour of party feeling at home, the advancement of our colonial interests has been entirely lost sight of. If, instead of labouring to discover how we are to open our ports to foreign goods, without prejudice to our colonial or home interests, we would but turn a little of our attention, as to how far the colonies might be made, not merely the recipients of a portion of our crowded population, and markets for our goods, but in what ratio they each and all might be made the depôts, from whence we might derive our various supplies of corn, sugar, cotton, rice, tobacco, and other commodities, we should then discover that, within ourselves, there exists relief, without need of application to the friendly feelings of foreign states. It is the only true method of relieving the present distress, so fearfully augmenting in every district throughout the kingdom. We rejoice to hear that government is contemplating emigration on an extensive scale; but unless with this, a new commercial code be framed, on a liberal scale, we fear all efforts for the relief of trade will be unavailing. But, to proceed with the subject more immediately in hand, we intend examining the respective interests of the various colonies as regards their religious, political, commercial, and social government. To the first of these we shall this month turn our attention; and it is the one which has been least attended to of any. Let us turn our eyes towards India-that colossal empire, in the bosom of which riches incalculable are hid, but which we are deprived of, from the restrictions and tyrannic rules laid down and enforced upon the natives. The Indian government has ever been more pagan than Christian; and it is an undeniable fact, that pagans have had favours bestowed upon them which have been withheld from Christian natives only on account of their creed; in fact, a premium has ever been held out to the native to continue in his idolatry, whilst every possible hindrance and annoyance has been invariably put in the way of those who have attempted the conversion of the natives. Many will think this a singular circumstance, and be desirous to learn the reason of this extraordinary predilection for paganism, so strangely manifested by the Supreme Government. The acts of that government furnish us with a ready reply. It was simply a desire to keep the native ignorant of the advantages reaped by his labour and toils, and to prevent that scrutiny which has ever been the dread of evil doers. Yes, the East Indian government knew, that when the Hindoo became enlightened, when the dawn of Christianity broke in upon his benighted soul, he would become a new man, that the knowledge with which Christianity would endow him would be a powerful obstacle to the exercise of nabob tyranny; and systematic plunder could be no longer carried on with impunity; for from a Christian Hindoo free press would spring forth, the terror and the scourge of despots. It was their interest, therefore, their wish, even at the expense of millions of souls, to keep the people ignorant, to hold them down by the fetters of superstition-more powerful than those of iron; and thus it is, that whilst in those colonies where all restraint upon religion was removed, the cross has been mighty and prevailed. In India the salvation of the cross has made trifling progress, owing to the opposition offered it by the Supreme Government, which has long been renowned for "the heavy blows and great discouragement "it has given to the cause of Christian truth. Are not the feelings of a Christian people shocked, when they hear of the attendance of British troops, as a guard of honour, to a wooden image, the bloody idol of Juggernauth? And that should any of those troops refuse through conscience to attend, they are punished for military disobedience ! Can such a system be allowed to remain in force within the sanctum of liberty, the British dominions? Are the Directors of the East India Company, still to say, what shall or shall not be, in regard to the most extensive and valuable portion of our colonial empire? Do we exhibit less anxiety concerning the liberty and conversion of India, than for any other portion of the empire ?-we trust not; and if so, let us turn our attention seriously to the subject, and employ those measures which shall be most effective in the overthrow of that tyranny, exercised by India's government on the minds of the people. Calcutta papers, of a late date, gave a most deplorable account of the celebration of the Juggernauth festival in June last. Upwards of 150,000 natives attended the disgusting exhibition; and the rites were performed with more than ordinary pomp and splendour. Many Europeans were present, and their eagerness to view the spectacle impressed the natives with the idea, that they also believed in the divinity of their hideous idol. The fearful results of the festival were more than usually demoralizing; the lovely town of Pooree was a living sepulchre; cholera, death, and pestilence reigned triumphant. Its hospitals presented scenes which the strongest nerves shrank from; the dead were turned out every twenty-four hours; starvation, nakedness, and disease mingled in the crowded streets with mortality. The roads leading to the town were actually blocked up in many places with dead bodies, while the vultures feeding upon them, presented a scene which no pen can describe. The abolition of the pilgrim-tax seems to have greatly augmented the evils of this horrid festival. All which lie at the door of the Indian government, who, by monthly contributions towards its support, supplies it with the means of existence, which, otherwise it could not have. We consider ourselves, therefore, justified in ascribing the enormous loss of life, and destruction of property which it occasions, to the utter want of Christian principle in the hearts of India's rulers. The monthly payments which the Juggernauth establishment receives from the Supreme Government, are the very sinews of its strength. It is idle-it is worse than folly in the Indian government to say they do not support idolatry in India, while they make such large payments towards the support of the most debasing and disgusting of Indian superstitions. The moral as well as the material support which is thus given to Juggernauth, by the European rulers, has a most powerful influence in encouraging the natives to continue its worship. It is astonishing that, setting aside all religious feelings, the festival has not been put down upon mere police grounds, as the murders, robberies, and other crimes, its continual attendants, are beyond calculation. But even this circumstance does not appear of sufficient force to cause the breaking up of this beastly meeting: the love of paganism, alias money, and good-will of the idolators, having too firm a hold in the minds of the so called Christian governors. The Indian government hesitates to withdraw its monthly payment, on the ground that it is in possession of the lands formerly held by the priests of the idol. On any other point, we never understood that the honourable punctiliousness here displayed, has been allowed in a single instance to interfere with the wishes of the Supreme Government; but the will being wanting, honour is made the scape-goat. But at all events, if the consequence of such possession be, that it is to encourage and support idolatry, then it becomes the bounden duty of the Indian government to free the British nation from participation in so heinous a crime, and to resign the lands held on so criminal a condition. The recommendation that the Juggernauth festival should no longer receive support or encouragement of any description from the Indian government, will, of course, be opposed by all the ingenuity which self-interest can devise. We shall, no doubt, have most alarming prognostications of the danger of interfering with native prejudice, and warnings of the frail tenure by which we hold British India. Do we ever listen to such warnings and dismal dreamings-for they are nothing better-when we hear by every overland mail of the further extension of that mighty empire? Do we see in its enlargement, the slender cords by which it is bound to us? or in the increasing greatness of its power, the visible signs of inward decay? Most assuredly not. Dreams and warnings are mocked and laughed at when conquest is before us; and only let us ask, are they to have a firmer hold of us when the greatest of all conquests, the most important to India and ourselves, the conquest of native prejudice, is to be achieved? Away with such idle nothings; the mere dreamings of the miser; the terror of tyrants. India has been physically conquered; her inhabitants lie at our feet, prostrate in the dust of servitude and deplorable ignorance. Another victory is to be achieved, one that will crown with eternal laurels the brows of the victors; one, that will last while eternity rolls its never ending ages; one, that shall cause the glorious intelligences of the heavens to shout for joy; the conversion of the native, and the overthrow of paganism and superstition. Then might nations be jealous of us; then might envy mark the countenance of every foreigner at the glorious name of Britain; her name would be a talisman in every tyrant's soul, and kingdom; and whilst her armies would march through conquered cities, her religion and laws, the forerunners of liberty, would for ever bless those whom she conquered by the sword. But further, if these fears, wholly imaginary, as we believe them to be, are to prevail, when is the regeneration of the natives of India to commence ? Our power in India If, is based on the superiority of our government over that of its Mohammedan and Hindoo rulers; and just in proportion as we benefit the people, will our substantial power and moral influence over them increase. then, the Supreme Government will only devote its energies to the development of the resources of its territories, and to the material improvement of its subjects, any submission to idolatry may be easily dispensed with. Let the evils of the land tenure be removed; the land tax cease to act as a check on cultivation; civil justice speedily and honestly administered; criminal justice brought into every village; the police cease to be more oppressive than the robbers, and become guilt-repressive agents; then no disastrous consequences may be apprehended, in severing the connexion which Indian rulers have formed, between Christianity and the most repulsive and brutal idolatry. The celebrated Dr. Hook, vicar of Leeds, some time ago declared, that if ever God saw fit, in his wisdom, to punish us for our crimes, one of the greatest with which we would be chargeable, would be, our neglect of the conversion of India. It is, indeed, a sin which lies heavily against us. God has evidently given India to us, that we might show forth his glory and the manifest greatness of his love, in the preaching of Christ, throughout the plains and valleys of Hindoostan. But, instead of such being the result of India's being a colony to this sea-girt isle, her rulers have, by every means in their power, sought the promotion of their own glory and their own aggrandizement; actually forbidding Christ to be preached to the natives! But thanks be to God, this is no longer the case; the doors have at length been opened; and we rejoice to hear of the spreading of the glad news of salvation throughout the fertile plains of India. And now that the time is come, we earnestly trust, that the Lord will send his blessing on their efforts, and make all tend to his everlasting glory, and the eternal saving of their souls! The co-operation of the two church establishments of Scotland and England, being of importance to the colonies, and regarding as we do these churches to be equally the religion of the land, it does appear to us unjustifiable to grant lands and endowments in the colonies, to one church, and not to the other. But such is the case in Canada. The Episcopalian church is bolstered up with lands and endowments, and wealthy bishoprics founded, whilst the slightest assistance is refused to the church of Scotland. When the subject was broached in the House of Lords, the Bishop of Exeter expressed a doubt, as to whether the sister establishment was really a church or not. How it would astonish his Reverence, were he to see her Majesty enter a Presbyterian church; which she must do in Scotland, as her Majesty is a presbyterian in Scotland, and has presbyterian chaplains to attend her, and is as much a member of the Scottish church as she is of the Episcopalian. But regarding the church establishment in the colonies, we know for fact, that in many districts of the Canadas, and in Nova Scotia, and other parts of the British American possessions, there are few, if any, episcopalians, the population being almost entirely of the Scotch church. But yet we see in these very districts endowed episcopalian clergymen, and not the shadow of one of that faith to which the people bclongs. They are, therefore, forced into the arms of episcopacy, much against their will; and we have no doubt but that Bishop Philpotts knew well, that, if the Scottish church carried her point, that many of his apostolic |