2. That all sin is consumed and taken away by the repetition of the name of God. This delusion embraces the whole popula tion. 3. That their created gods are to be worshipped. One of these is an infamous character. He is renowned for licentiousness, and his festivals are abominable. 4. Another part of the popular religion is the worship of the image of a monkey. To him offerings are made, and prayers are presented, by Brahmans appointed for that purpose. It has been objected that primitive Hindooism was more pure, and that it deified only the five elements of Air, Earth, Water, Fire, and Space. But is there not as great stupidity in this, as in the other? Can a stone be a God? 5. Another branch of their religion consists in obscenity, and in abominations so detestable as not to be stated to a Christian audience, and at which a European can scarcely look. It is a religious rite to bring these things with shouts of applause into their temples. There are the most abominable paintings upon the image of one of their goddesses, which is publicly exhibited for a whole month. I have been obliged to close my window-shutters; and to seek for my children that I might remove them to a distant apartment. As lust and cruelty constituted the religion of the ancient Greeks and Romans, so is it in India. The cruelty of the Gentoo religion appears in suspension upon two hooks; in the piercing of the tongue by a sharp instrument, and drawing a snake through it; in the devotees throwing themselves from elevated places upon knives; in pilgrims perishing in the hot months by the road side; and in their throwing themselves, in order to insure future happiness, under the wheels of the chariot of Juggernaut. 6. To this add, that human sacrifices formed a part of the ancient religion of the Hindoos; and that even now mothers drown their children as an act of religion. They lead the child into the water, and encourage it to go forward till it perishes. 7. The burning of widows. Our God is the husband of the widow, and the father of the fatherless. By way of trial, she first burns her finger to a cinder; she then bathes in the Ganges, walks round the pile, and throws herself by the side of her husband. She is then tied to him; the son kindles the pile; and loud vociferations drown her cries. 8. The burying of widows alive. The widow sits in a large grave; the husband is laid on her knee; and those who are present trample in the earth. If we go to China, the god of that country is an ancient Indian deity. This religion embraces also the Burman empire, and Ceylon. If to these we add Mahomet, no less than 400 millions are included. And of these, one generation after VOL. IV. another, unless they are rescued through the instrumentality of Divine Revelation from the power of Satan, inevitably perish. My dear friends, it is only to excite your gratitude for your present privileges, that I say, Your own idolatrous ancestors equalled the Hindoos in cruelty. Numbers of infants were by them burnt to death. How ought these proofs of the power of Satan to excite your gratitude? Your religion is a religion of benevolence. Your Saviour became poor, that you might be made rich. What ye would that men should do to you, do ye to them. Would you not, if you were in their circumstances, wish messengers to come to you? Then go to them. Christ came to seek and to save them that were lost. He did not wait for any remarkable occasion, before he came to us. Farther; remember that your Saviour is the Saviour of the ends of the earth. Do ye wish him to be crowned Lord of all; and can you rest whilst your fellow-passengers are sinking into destruction? I offered you this morning, at Queen street chapel,* some encouragements; namely, the numerous translations, converts, schools, and societies, in India. But our principal hope is in God himself. If you exalt man, God may permit you to see how little man can effect. Use every means which he has appointed; but rely upon Him, and he will cause the walls of Jericho to fall down. What an act of folly would it have been for the Jewish priests to have disputed, which of the ram's horns contributed most to the taking of that city! Improvement. 1. Pity 60 millions of your fellow-subjects, who are under the power of Satan. 2. Pray for them, that God would pour out his Spirit. Salvation is "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." Their prejudices are indeed great; but the same power which introduced Christianity into this country, and which has regenerated every believer in it, is able to rescue these idolaters from the power of Satan. 3. You cannot go yourselves, but you can encourage those who do go; and you, as well as they, can be workers together with God. Permit me now to ask you, 1. Have you reflected how much the glory of God, and the honour of the Redeemer, are concerned in this undertaking? Certainly he cannot have formed a proper estimate upon this subject, who contributes only five shillings when he should have given five pounds. 2. Have you considered what each soul is worth? At the close of the late war, you made a generous subscription for the *At the Annual Meeting of the Baptist Itinerant and British Missionary Society. suffering Germans; but in the present instance, 60 millions of your fellow-subjects are perishing everlastingly. 3. Have you considered what each soul cost our Lord Jesus Christ? Conclusion. Ought you not then to feel the greatest gratitude to God for the unspeakable blessings which he has conferred upon you, whilst he has left so many millions to perish, having no hope, and without God in the world? IMPROVEMENT OF AFFLICTION, EXEMPLIFIED IN THE CASE OF SIR, THE following sketch of the last years of the life of P. W. will, I hope, be acceptable and profitable to many readers of your Magazine. I am not in possession of facts to form a regular narrative of his life. I saw him only twice, and received only a few short letters from him, which respected chiefly his complaints. But the discernment and good sense, which his manner of expressing himself indicated, greatly interested This, along with the testimony which all who knew him gave of the excellence of his Christian character, induced me to examine a few papers which he left. Previous to his illness, he had little time for writing, and the few notes that he then wrote contain nothing remarkable, except the expression of his solicitude to conduct himself in all things becoming the Gospel. He lived a few miles distant from Edinburgh; was son of a day-labourer, or farmer's servant; had a very limited education; and spent the few days of his health in the same occupations with those of his father. That his affliction found him in possession of Christian principles, is evident, from a brief review of his day of suffering, which he wrote a short time before his death. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations. No temptation hath taken you, but such as are common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able to bear.-Because man hath sinned, therefore he suffers, and suffers in a variety of ways, in mind, in body, character, family, and estate, and in such a number of ways, that I believe only experience can develope. Afflictions, however, befal alike the good and the bad; witness Job's case; see also Eccles. ix. 1, 2.; and it is only from the effect they have on us, that we can know whether we profit by them or not. 2 Chron. xxviii. 22, 23. Isa. i. 5. Rev. xvi. 10, 11. Psalm cxix. 67. Jer xxxi. 18, 19. Heb. xii. 10. From these scriptures it appears, that while the sinner goeth on in his trespasses, the righteous turn to him that smites. Afflictions, however, have been the happy means of turning many from the error of their ways. My afflictions have been chiefly of a bodily nature. I recollect of having about eleven or twelve years good health. But when about twenty-three years' old, in the spring of 1811, a disease made its appearance in my right foot. Various remedies were applied without effect. In autumn it assumed a worse appearance; and I was informed, that nothing short of amputation could be resorted to with much hope of success. During the whole of 1812, I was in anxious suspense; still getting worse, and I was looking forward to dissolution speedily approaching. In the month of June 1813, I had a visit from my Pastor, who advised me to submit to the decision of medical men. After various consultations, I was taken to the Royal Infirmary. On the 29th July my foot was amputated. I was weak, and much emaciated; my recovery, however, was rapid; for I was exactly four weeks in the Hospital. I was flattering myself with again enjoyin the days of health; but my hopes were soon blasted for in October a tumour appeared on my left hand, and by the month of June 1814, I was confined to my bed or chair. Thus I am at this date, July 11. 1814, a poor, infirm, emaciated and debilitated creature. My afflictions, though thus protracted and increased, have been far from that severity under which many of my fellow-sinners suffer for as yet I have neither been pined with sickness, nor chastened with strong pain. I have had, through the kind providence of God, every alleviation which I could possibly have, either from medical advice, or the care of my friends. Bless the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all his benefits! 66 July 29. 1814. It is just twelve months this day since my foot was amputated. I had not indeed thought to have seen so many days in the land of the living. But, through the tender mercy and patience of God, I yet live, though in the midst of trouble. However, from what I feel in my body, my days are certainly concluding fast. Surely it is a serious thing to die. Some may be disposed to ask, What supports your mind in the view of such an awful change? I answer, "Hopeless should I be, Blest Revelation, were it not for thee! Hail glorious Gospel! heavenly Light, whereby He was a member of the Congregational Church, College Street. "O how suitable to my case is the salvation offered in the Gospel! It is not a partial salvation; it is complete and everlasting. The Saviour is no less a personage than God himself in my nature." He finishes this brief review of his afflictions thus abruptly, probably from mere exhaustion of body, while it is obvious his soul was greatly elevated by the noblest objects that can occupy the mind of an intelligent being. But that the Gospel produced this salutary influence on his spirit, from the very commencement of his affliction, will be more manifest from an extract of a letter to a friend, Jan. 9. 1811.-" As to temporal circumstances, I am very well; and in respect of my present affliction, it is my duty to cast my burden on the Lord. I learn from Scripture, that man who is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble-that I must drink of the cup of adversity-that it is the appointment of God, that through much tribulation his people must enter the kingdom. But it is the privilege of the Christian soldier to wield the shield of faith, with which he shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the devil, and ward off the sling-stones of tribulation which pelt him from every quarter. May I not then triumph under all my afflictions, if I consider that they come from God, whatever be the instrument ? • Thou hast chastened me, and I was chastened; thou hast afflicted me in faithfulness." I learn also, that they are for our good: • He chasteneth for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.' They are for the exercise of grace; for, when watered with the dew of heaven, they bring forth patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope strong confidence and sweet dependance on that God, whose love is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. All the heirs of glory are brought up in the school of the cross: shall I then despise the discipline of Heaven, from which none is exempted, no not the Son of God? Once more, I observe, that from the words of the Psalmist, afflictions appear, when sanctified, to be noble antidotes and preservatives against sin: Ere I was afflicted I strayed; but now I keep thy word.' I only request, that in your addresses to Him who is the Physician of much value, you may remember me, who am yours.-P. S. By the same conveyance you may let me know the situation of the church at K- With this church he had occasionally fellowship, and of course felt particular interest in the prosperity of all her members. The friend to whom he wrote all his letters which I have seen, was one of them, and was in the same situation of life with himself. He appears to have, at a comparatively early stage of his disease, considered that its termination would prove fatal. But |