reception, he looks implicitly to the Author of that Word to give it effect. Were the heart of the Hindoo harder, and his prejudices more inveterate than they really are, Jehovah hath declared, "Is not My Word like as a fire; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" or, were his mind more opaque than it confessedly is, yet the entrance of that Word giveth light: and He who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, can shine into every heart, " to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." In this confidence, every Missionary, who knows and performs his duty, will continue to plant and water; leaving it with the Almighty, in His own time, to give the increase.

St. Paul affirms, that we are saved by Grace, through faith: (Eph. ii. 8.) And the Abbé Dubois admits, that "Faith, and other supernatural virtues, are merely a gratuitous gift from God, which He bestows on whom He pleases, when He pleases, and on what conditions He pleases :" (p. 110.) But it never seems to enter into his own contemplation, or that of his Brethren, that God may bestow these graces on the poor Hindoo! He says, again, that "after the coming of Christ, the True Religion was promulgated all over the

world; and had such extraordinary successes, amidst every kind of discouragement and contradiction, that it is quite impossible to account for it, but by the supernatural and invisible interference and assistance of the Divine Agent, who alone was able to overcome the otherwise insuperable obstacles that opposed its progress, and to extend its empire over so large a proportion of mankind :" (pp. 106, 107.) And is not the same Divine Agency capable of overcoming "the obstacles" that in India also oppose themselves to the progress of the truth, how "insuperable" soever they may appear to human calculation? Surely it is! The Abbé Dubois himself will not reply in the negative. Indeed, that agency must be exerted in the conversion of every individual soul to God, whatever be his nation, superstitions, or sins. It is Divine Grace alone that can silence "those passions and prejudices which impede the march of Truth" (p. 92); enable the mind to comprehend, or dispose the heart to love it; and thus bring the whole man into a state of willing subjection to the Prince of Peace. And I contend, that the truth, when applied by the Spirit of God, will convert the Hindoo, who is the subject of that operation, as readily as the professor of any other Creed.

This is enough for the Christian Missionary. He has the promise of his Lord, that with this faith he shall accomplish things otherwise impracticable: (Matt. xvii. 20.) He, therefore, who labours for the Conversion of the Hindoos, with this confidence in God to prosper his endeavours, cannot be, as M. Dubois more than insinuates, a "deluded victim:" (p. 120.) He feels his duties to be "trying" and "arduous" (p. 80); but, instead of deserting his post in despair, he will adopt the noble sentiments which appear at one time to have supported the Abbé's own mind.

In such discouraging circumstances, without any apparent human means to improve the Cause of Christianity in this country, there only remains to the persons of our profession to look up with calmness and resignation to Him who holds in His hands the hearts of men, changes them when he pleases, and is able, even of stones, to raise up Children to Abraham, when the time appointed by Him for the purpose arrives. In these deplorable times, in which Scepticism and Immorality threaten to overwhelm every nation and every condition, it only remains to us to weep, between the porch and the altar, over the iniquities of the people; to water the sanctuary with our tears; to

bewail, like Jeremiah, the general corruption; to edify the people by our lessons and examples; to look to the Father of Mercies to pray to Him to bring about better times, to spare His people, and not give His heritage to reproach: and, if our interposition cannot stem the torrent, and our altars are finally to be overthrown by the sacrilegious hands of Modern Philosophy, let us have, as our last resource, resolution and fortitude enough to stand by them to the last, and allow ourselves to be crushed down, and buried under their ruins:" (pp. 84, 85.)

This is worthy of the Missionary Cause! And though the Spirit that dictated these resolutions seems to have forsaken the bosom of the man who penned them, I pray that it may rest upon the heart of every one that now labours to propagate the Gospel through distant lands. Then, though many fall "victims" to the Cause, it will not be under a "delusion"; for they will both toil and suffer cheerfully, for His sake, who sacrificed Himself as an Expiatory Victim for the recovery of an Apostate World; and under every suffering, every privation, every discouragement, they will be animated by the Saviour's promise Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or

mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My Name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life:" (Matt. xix. 29.) The infidel calls this delusion: but I am arguing with a professed Minister of Christianity; and I challenge him to prove, how it is possible to make too great a sacrifice for our Lord Jesus Christ; and how the man who even lays down his life for the Redeemer's sake, can, upon Christian principles, be called a "deluded victim!"

While, however, the power and promise of God, and the design of the Gospel Covenant, justify the assertion that the Hindoos may, and ultimately will, be converted to the Christian Faith, my conclusion is fortified by the actual commencement of the work of Divine Grace in Hindoostan,

I will not dwell upon the Native Congregations-amounting to about One Hundred and Sixty!-assembled by the Baptist, the Church, the Methodist, the London, the Scottish, and the American, Missionary Societies, in different parts of India, since they do not consist entirely of Christians. I will, however, state, that those Societies can enumerate nearly Three Thousand Converts*, who have renounced all their superstitions, have

These are exclusive of the Converts in South Travancore, of whom the Abbé speaks so contemptuously.