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worship, if once the shame can be surmounted?

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happiness of having to worship only an inanimate object, can only be appreciated by those who have felt the torment arising from the idea of a Living One, which they could not completely banish after every effort, nor even prevent its intruding on them in the most unbridled indulgence of their passions, destroying all their peace with," for all these things God will bring thee to judgment." Instead of this, to have nothing to fear but a river, a stone, ora log!-to be able in the vilest scenes of debauchery to say, "the log sees me not," or while contriving the deepest plans of falsehood and fraud, of revenge and murder, to feel assured, "that river knows not my thoughts;" the security, the quiet opportunity which this affords for planning and perpetrating every act of lewdness, and fraud, and revenge, which the voice of society forbids not, society composed wholly of individuals actuated by such feelings, to those who love iniquity invests a dead god with inexpressible charms.

Should our Author add, "But they consider Shiva or Vishnoo as living;" we reply, that this does not in the least alter the case; for he himself says in his "Description," (p. 424,) "Every excess of debauchery or libertinism is countenanced by the irregular lives of their gods." If this be fact, should a man realize the log as representing Shiva or Vishnoo, he may still say, "Why should I feel afraid? These love such deeds of uncleanness, and fraud, and murder; and were they to reprove me, I

'could retort on them far worse deeds of their own." This is enjoyment, which, to be duly appreciated, must be felt, and felt after the dreadful horrors which have remaned from the idea of a living, a holy God, left by a Christian education on a heart wishing to follow "the desires of the flesh and the mind."

Our Author therefore, instead of adducing the hardest, has adduced the easiest of all things. The only difficulty is in sufficiently blinding the mind, which is soon done when the mind itself wishes to be blinded. It is true, that the open assumption of the name of the Hindoo god is somewhat disreputable; but even this has been done when the mind was decided, as well as sincere. But this is not always a sine qua non. It satisfies its grand director, the god of this world, if only the heart be given to this system of idolatry and vice. If this be done, a man may retain the name of a Mussulman, or a Christian, and should he prefer it, even that of a Christian missionary. Sure of his affections, the author of the system reckons on him as one of his faithful friends, particularly should one of those dreadful struggles arise between light and darkness, which threaten the permanent existence of the system, and make his throne quake to its foundation.

Our Author takes much credit to himself (p. 137) that he has not laid aside, "what some Europeans term the prejudices of education;" and that when he compares the majestic simplicity, &c. of the Scriptures with the heap of impertinent, obscure and obscene tales contained in the Pooranas and legends of the Hindoos, and their extravagant, barbarous, and in many instances horrid worship," the Christian religion alone appears to him stamped with the seal of divinity." If so, we ask him, can any thing excuse his guilt in coolly leaving them to perish in believing these absurd and obscene tales, and in practising this "barbarous, and horrid worship," without having given them in their own language a single Copy of those Scriptures he professes so to admire? Has he ever weighed the extent of the apostolic declaration, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doth it not, to him IT IS SIN ?"

He now closes his discussion by informing his readers, (p. 139) that he "was induced to enter into so many details by the consideration that elucidations on this interesting subject by a person of his profession and experience, might prove of some advantage to the public!" In what way? They have been misled by statements published of late at home by persons who took on themselves to treat of matters with which they were scarcely at all, or but very imperfectly acquainted. What have these said? This is not mentioned, but "one would think in hearing them that these fields,” are white already unto harvest. What a pity when he has thus had the meanness to scatter such dark and ambiguous hints, that his "cynical fortitude" had not been equal to mentioning the name, that the public might have known against whom to guard. But this was not safe. It is probable, as they have been the longest in the field, that he alludes to Reports made by the Serampore missionaries; and had he here mentioned them by name, he could not have vapored about his superior experience in this kind of sacred militia, engaged for so long a time in this "holy warfare;" nor would he have been allowed to insinuate his doubts of the truth of these Reports he is pleased to term "pompous and all-promising" without being called on to substantiate the truth of such insinuations. The Serampore missionaries have already shewn to what his veteran experience amounts. He is the physician who has lost every patient he attempted to cure, and has now left the country declaring the disease to be perfectly incur. able! Such is the conclusion of his Third letter dated Nov. 16th, 1816.

CHAPTER VII.

The Abbé Dubois's Fourth Letter examined, containing his "Vindication of the Hindoos."

The Four remaining letters of our Author are of a later date. The earliest of them (his Fourth) is dated from his Mata near Seringapatam, the 15th of Dec. 1820. The next two mention no place; but they bear date the 1st of October, and the 11th of June, 1821. The last of these, which merely relates to his emendation of the Canada version of Genesis," has been noticed already. The only two then remaining to be noticed arc, the Fourth and the Fifth, which together contain sixty-three printed pages; and are entitled "Vindication of the Hindoos, both males and females, in answer to the attacks made upon both by the Reverend

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These two letters are unhappy for our Author, as they represent him in a light totally different from that in which he appears in the former three. They in reality describe him as an infidel in disguise; and they must have such a retrospective effect on his missionary character, that it would be kind to him to consider them as the work of some infidel enemy to missions with whom he has become acquainted in England. Indeed the style of them differs so much from that of his former letters, and incidents are mentioned which are so little applicable to himself, that a discerning reader can scarcely believe they are written by him. Thus in the first of them, said to be written " from his Mata near Seringapatam 15th Dec. 1820," we find the following passage;

* The Seventh, which is dated 22d November, 1821, contains only Three printed pages.

(p. 151,)" Our good ancestors, who, with perhaps a little less learning than their offspring, had much more good sense, never thought of improving the condition of the pagan nations, by intruding the Bible among them." Now who were our Abbé's "good ancestors" thus laden with good sense? Those who dragooned the poor protestants out of France at the revocation of the edict of Nantes ? or those who a century before planned the massacre of St. Bartholomew; and burnt the Lutherans in the streets of Paris with their bibles hanging round their necks? If they were these, it is no wonder that they "never thought of intruding the Bible among pagan nations," while they were burning men for reading it at home! While the origin of these two letters, is so doubtful however, as our Author has made their contents his own, justice requires that he should reap all the benefit which may arise from the operation on his character of the sentiments they avow. In examining them we shall treat them precisely as though written by himself.

The first of these two letters, is addressed to "Major W. C. at Calcutta. Its real object is, so to vindicate the Hindoos from the charge of vice, as to shew that they need not Christianity." This is highly ominous to our Author's character. Was he not a missionary for thirty years? and is he now convinced that all this was folly? and that no success was needed; as the Hindoos' present system of idolatry is sufficient to secure their present and eternal welfare? If he thought thus while a missionary, his mission was a farce, as well as his complaint of want of success. If he did not, he has since changed his mind, and is now become the friend of idolatry; and all his zeal against the "new reformers," who delight in representing the Hindoos under the blackest and most odious colors, is just what we might

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