jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you." And it is a well known fact, my love, that go to whatever part of the world we can, we trace some semblance or remains of the Levitical law.

But, Mamma, you said these natives were amenable, not by the Levitical law, but by the law of nature, and that it said so in the Scriptures.

Paul says, in his 2d chapter of Romans:"When the Gentiles, (meaning all people who are not Jews,) which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel."

So you see, my dear child, how plain the Scrip tures are on all these points.

But, my dear Mamma, may not this inclination to sin, be owing to their evil nature? How can God then condemn them?

There are two sins, my love, one original, arising out of our nature, the other from the actual working of our own wishes. One is original sin, therefore; the other actual, self sin. For original sin Christ

died; so that we can lay nothing to the charge of God, for he has washed that sin away by his own blood. He will not condemn us for this unavoidable taint in our nature; for, says Paul, in the 5th chap. of Romans," If by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men (no exception, my love) unto justification of life." Besides, John says, in his first Epistle, 2d chapter: "And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Consequently Christ is our propitiation for original sin, and we shall only be condemned for what we actually commit: shewing how urgent is the call on all Christian communities to send out preachers to these poor natives, to tell them of this great propitiation. And that makes no distinction between persons; for Paul beautifully exclaims, in the 11th chap. of Romans: "For God hath concluded them in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches," is the exclamation of Paul, as he communicates this act of grace, “"both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judg

ments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor ? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him are all things. To whom be glory for ever. Amen. It is therefore to be hoped, my child, that idolatry and sin will soon be removed from the poor Asiatics.

What is idolatry, Mamma?

Truth, simple and unadorned, is not possessed of charms powerful enough to captivate the heart of man in his present corrupt and degenerate state. And although the appearances of nature are of every day's occurrence, and objects, actions, and events succeed each other with every revolution of the sun, yet they are, from their familiarity, void of interest to gratify, or to excite man to admire. The bias of human nature has been, therefore, to associate itself with its own littleness, and its own evil; so that even to this day, the legislator, the philosopher, the wise, the theologist, and the poet, each in his turn has employed fable and fiction, and personified their own views by erecting a god over every passion of the heart, and every object of the universe. This is idolatry, my love. The commencement of idolatry, my sweet child, may be traced, when the authentic tradition (which is the Holy Bible)

of the origin of the universe was for a short period lost, and subsequently when the blessed word was adulterated by man's own inventions. It is indisputable, that the world originally only worshipped one true God; but the sinful will of man operated upon his own evil heart: they were not in a state to comprehend a holy God. How could a people opposite in every thought, conscious of their own igno◄ rance, and of their own impurity, comprehend an infinite, perfect Being, the supreme eternal Majesty of heaven? Finding, therefore, their natures so opposite to holiness, they personified every passion with a god; so they had the god of love, the god of war, the god of intemperance, the god of hatred, of malice, of jealousy, of lust; and thus, my love, they actually worshipped their own vices: and to make this horrible idolatry complete, they finally worshipped Satan. But as their iniquities and transgressions increased, they could not exactly comprehend their invisible gods. They therefere determined to make gods out of wood and stone, and out of gold and silver: and, as if they were determined to exhibit the deformity of their own sinful natures, they formed their gods of the most horrible figures conceivable : some are in the shape of monkeys, others have elephant's trunks: some in the shape of cows, rams, goats, cats, serpents, and

other figures, having many arms and hands, and every kind of deformed animal and brute conceivable. This, my dear child, is idolatry, which prevails throughout India to this day. At this melancholy scene the prophet exclaims:

"The heart is deceitful above all things,

And desperately wicked: who can know it?
I the Lord search the heart; I try the reins,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
And according to the fruit of his doings.
To whom will ye liken God?

Or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

The workman melteth a graven image,

And the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold,

And casteth silver chains.

He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation
Chooseth a tree that will not rot:

He seeketh unto him a cunning workman

To prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.

Have

ye not known? have ye not heard?

Hath it not been told you from the beginning?

Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,

And the inhabitations are as grasshoppers;

That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain,

And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;
That bringeth the princes to nothing:

He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity:
Yea, they shall not be planted;

Yea, they shall not be sown ;