Secondly. The native stupidity of the Hindoos. The Hindoos are said to have such a deficiency in physical power, and such an imbecility of mind, as render them timid and abject in the extreme, and passive enough to receive any vicious impression. Apathy of mind is perhaps the chief negative virtue, of which they can boast. Nothing but what is monstrous can excite them. Hence those wild extravagances, and amazing exploits, in the histories of their gods, compared with which, the miracles of Christianity, in their view, dwindle in insignificance. Hence the difficulty a missionary finds in awakening their attention to the doctrines and duties of Christianity. And hence too, the ten thousand interruptions they occasion him in the midst of his discourse, bý proposing, with all the gravity due to more serious subjects, questions no less trifling than the following:"How many times the size of the ant is an elephant?”–

Thirdly. The system of casts. The population of India is divided into four grand tribes, or orders, which are denominated casts. When any person has been guilty of neglecting or violating the immoral law of his religion, he then becomes an outcast from his tribe, and is subjected to a species of excommunication, which conveys to the mind of a Hindoo a sensation of vileness it is impossible for words to express. One, who has lost cast, is held in utter abomination.

From the four principal divisions, an immense number of subdivisions is derived, which may be called professional classes. Every individual is bound by law to follow the profession of his ancestors. In no case, can the son renounce the cast of his father, or take up a different profession. He would as soon think of changing the nature of a beast, as his own occupation or religion.

This distinction of cast, and this restriction to particular employments, while they blot out every generous and benevolent feeling of the soul, and exclude from the mind even the wish for exertion, are to be regarded as a grand obstacle to the moral and intellectual improvement of India.

Fourthly. The Bramhunical system. The Bramhuns being the only persons, who are allowed to read and explain the sacred books, have, of course, acquired an ascendency, which has the sanction of long established custom. No wonder, then, the Bramhuns vehemently oppose that Gospel, which is designed to terminate forever their authority, pleasures, means of support, and all they hold dear in the present or future world.

Fifthly. The system of religion. The horrid and bloody rites of the religion of Bramha, indurate the heart, and render the understanding inaccessible to moral instruction Its numerous holidays, of which upwards of an hundred are recorded in the Hindoo calendar, perpetuate the spirit of superstition, make its inhuman practices familiar; and in this manner increase its malignity. Besides, it is in perfect accordance with all the propensities of a depraved heart. The shocking immoralities of the Hindoos are the fruits of their principles; and their principles are the fruits of their depravity. Here is action and reaction. Their character shaped by their religion, and their religion modified to correspond with their character. Hence we find no morality in their books; no morality in the examples or

instructions of their priests; none in their 330,000,000 gods; nor any thing in a single branch of their mythology, which does not tend infinitely more to debase than to elevate their character. When the crowd assemble before the temple, it is to enter upon orgies, which destroy every vestige of moral feeling, and which excite to every outrage upon virtue. Their objects of worship are themselves monsters of vice; all their religious institutions sanctify vice, and bear away the whole population of India into the very vortex of depravity and ruin. Their religion is indeed their calamity, for, like the great dragon of the Apocalypse, it casts forth a flood of impiety and corruption; and, like him, stands terrible in opposition to the holy influ ence of the Gospel.

Lastly. The doctrine of fate. It is an article of the Hindoo creed, that they are mere machines, and, of course, not accountable for their actions. This idea of fatality extends to a future life, and fixes their eternal destiny without any concern of theirs. Nearly allied to this, and equally pernicious, is the doctrine of transmigration, which teaches the Hindoos to consider all their crimes and calamities as having a necessary connexion with the circumstances of their existence in a previous state.

To fasten guilt on such consciences, is, therefore, next to impossible; and, even should the missionary succeed in this, it will be of but little avail as to an application of the blood of atonement, so long as the waters of the Ganges have a supposed efficacy to wash out the deepest stains.

G.

MISCELLANEOUS.

EXTRACTS FROM DR. DWIGHT'S SERMON ON THE FINAL JUDGMENT from 2 Peter iii, 10.

[AFTER an appropriate introduction, in which is given a brief exposition of some texts in which the Sabbath is called the day which the Lord hath made, and the reasons of its being thus named, the author proeeeds as follows:]

"But the day mentioned in the text, is his day, in a still higher and more solemn sense. It is selected from all the days of time, as the Sabbath is from those of the week.

"It is the final Day; the period of this earthly system; the dying-day of this great world; on which its last groans will be heard, its knell sounded through the Universe, and its obsequies celebrated with the most awful pomp, and supreme, as well as melancholy, grandeur.

"It is the day of universal judgment; on which the personal concerns of angels, and of men, will be brought to the last trial, before the Judge of the quick and dead, and irreversibly settled for eternity.

"It is the day on which the Mystery will be finished. All the wonderful, and perplexing, events of Providence towards this world will, at this time, be explained to the full conviction, of the assembled Universe; so that God will appear just, when he judges, and clear, when he condemns. The secrets of the human heart, the mazes of Providence, and

the wonders of the divine character, displayed in these events, will be unfolded in such a manner, as to stop every mouth, and murmur forever.

"It is the Day on which the Catastrophe of this earthly system will arrive. The piot immensely great, and wonderful, comprising innumerable important scenes, and an endless variety of actions, will now be unravelled. The Theatre is a World; the duration of the action is Time; the Actors are all the millions of the race of Adam; the Subject is Redemption; the Hero is the Messiah; the End is the final triumph of Virtue, and the irrevocable overthrow of Sin. The Catastrophe, on this day will be completed, and disclosed; and all the efforts, windings, and intricacies, find their termination. "IT IS DONE," will be proclaimed by the divine Herald to the Universe; and the curtain will be drawn forever.

"It is the Day, on which Christ will be glorified. In this world he appeared as a man, humbled, persecuted, suffering, dying, nailed to the cross, and buried in the grave. Now He will descend from Heaven with the glory of his Father; and will come, to be admired by all them that believe, with wonder and reverence, inexpressible. No more the Babe of Bethlehem; no more a prisoner before a human judge; no more an expiring victim on the cross; no more a lifeless corpse in the sepulchre; He will sit upon the throne of the Universe, invested with the sceptre of infinite dominion. He will judge both angels and men; dispose of all nations at his pleasure; and open, and shut, both Heaven and Hell. Eternity, to all beings, will now be suspended on his nod; and life and death, which will know no end, will be conveyed by his voice. All beings will be as nothing before him, and will be justly counted unto him as less than nothing, and vanity. He will speak; and it will be done: he will command; and it will stand forever.

On this Day, He will glorify his justice, in the sight of the Universe. He will show, beyond doubt, to the consciences of impenitent beings, that their ruin was derived from themselves; and that their sin is just as evil and odions as he has declared it to be in the Scriptures; and that it is equitably punished with everlasting destruction from his presence, and the glory of his power.

On this Day, He will glorify his kindness in the deliverance of all his followers from guilt and perdition. His compassion to this ruined world; his overflowing mercy to them, who believed in him, chose him as their Savior, and obeyed his voice; will now be manifested with supreme, and eternal splendor. The Universe will perceive that he chose them as his own, with perfect propriety: while they, with astonishment and rapture, will remember the love, with which he loved them, and gave himself for them; the tenderness, with which he preserved them from temptations and enemies; the affection, with which he still bears them on his heart; and the Divine promises, which, while they lived in the present world, conveyed to them immortal life, and are now to be fulfilled in a manner, which no eye hath seen, and no mind conceived. "On this Day, Ile will glorify his Omniscience. He will show, that from the beginning he hath searched the hearts, and tried the reins, of the children of men. The sins which they have committed, the virtues which they have exercised, the motives by which they have been gov

erned, and the rewards which will constitute an equitable retribution for their various conduct, he will set in the light of his countenance; as objects, intended to be clearly seen, are placed by ourselves in the sun beams. It will then appear, that he knew all his works from the beginning; and is that ocean of Knowledge whence innumerable streams have flowed, and will forever flow, to his intelligent creatures.

"On this Day, He will glorify his immutability. Now he will clearly discover that he is Jesus Christ: the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. Truth, the moral immutability of his character, will be found to have been the only language of his Word; of his law, his promises, and his threatenings; of the system of redemption, and of the terms, on which it is proffered to man. Of course, the Universe will distinctly see how wisely his followers have trusted in him,-how foolishly sinners have refused to believe his declarations.

"Finally, On this Day. He will glorify his Power. The most awful and convincing evidence will be furnished that he has the keys of Death, and of Hades. Iteaven, at his command. will open all its infinite blessings, to the eternal enjoyment of his children; and the doors of Hell, at his bidding, will close on its guilty and miserable inhabitants. None will be able to stay his hand, or dare to say unto him, What doest thou? From his face the Heavens and the earth will flee away; and at his word, new heavens and a new earth, wherein righteousness shall dwell for ever, will spring up in their stead.

This awful Day will come as a thief in the night. A thief comes in the hour of peace and security; when the house is defenceless, and the family buried in sleep. The first notice of his arrival is the sound of his breaking up, or the noise of his ravages. He comes, also, unexpectedly: he comes ouly to invade, distress, and destroy. In this unexpected, and dreadful manner, will the Day of the Lord come.

"Mankind, according to the representation of St. John, will, at the period which precedes the final judgment, be sunk in degeneracy and pollution. The glorious effects of the Millennium will have ceased; and the world returned to a degeneracy, like that, which existed immediately before the deluge. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, will have regained their full dominion over the human race; and Religion prepared her final flight to her native heaven. Strong in their numbers, their power, and their pride; sunk in sense, and profli- gacy; and burning with intense hatred to God and his children; the nations, who are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, will be gathered together to battle, against the Christians remaining in the world; will go up on the breadth of the earth; and compass the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. Exulting in the fullest confidence of their final extinction, this army of scoffers will exclaim with triumphant insolence, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the Fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. In this night of stupidity and sin, this season of spiritual slumber, the final Day, will arrive. In a moment it will burst on the astonished world; break the last sleep with alarm and terror; and strip guilty men of all their beloved enjoyments, and all their fond hopes of future good.”

[The Preacher next describes the circumstances, which attend the sound of the last trumpet, and the voice of the Archangel;-the division of the vast assembly; the descent of the Divine Savior;-the triumphant shout of the innumerable company;-the ascent of the redeemed;-and the pronunciation of the final sentence; glowing, solemn, and scriptural language, and closes the body of the discourse as follows:]

"When the trial is ended, the final allotments of Angels and men are determined, flaming fire from the presence of the Judge will kindle this great world with an universal conflagration. All the works of man; his palaces, towers, and temples; his villages, towns, and cities; his wonderful displays of art; his haughty piles of grandeur; and his vast labors of defence, and dominion; will be lighted up in a single blaze, and vanish from the creation.

Nor will the desolation be limited to the works of men. The earth, on which they stand; the hills and mountains, the vallies and plains; the lakes, the rivers, and the ocean; will all in a moment become one blazing ruin. The very elements, of which they are com-. posed, will melt with fervent heat; and the world itself, so long the seat of sin and sorrow, be finally destroyed.

"The visible heavens, in the mean time, will catch the flame. Above, beneath, around, a vast concave of fire will encircle this dissolving globe; and with a great noise, an awful sound filling the universe, both the inferior heavens and the earth, will flee away from the face of him that sitteth on the throne; and no place be found for them any more.

From this scene of destruction, the Judge, together with all his happy followers; the angels, who have faithfully ministered to him, and the saints, who have loved and believed in him; will ascend to the Heaven of heavens, where he will present them before his Father, as his own friends and children, the crown and reward of all his labors in the work of Redemption. By him they will be approved, accepted, and blessed, forever.

The wicked, at the same time, will descend to the regions of woe; and begin, and pursue, the melancholy journey of their future being, in an unceasing course of sin, and sorrow, forever."

[We select the following reflections, as peculiarly worthy of repeated perusal.]

2. "What an illustrious proof is here furnished of the Deity of Christ! This glorious Person informs us, that the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. On this awful day, the wonderful commission will be executed. On this day, the Son will be seated upon the throne of the Universe, and hold the sceptre of infinite dominion. On this Day, He will show, that all authority, in heaven, and in earth, is in his possession; that he searches the hearts, and tries the reins, of all intelligent beings; and that their endless destiny is suspended on his pleasure. No other specimen of the divine agency, no other exhibition of the divine character, will in glory and greatness be equal to this: none, I mean, of which the tidings have reached the present world. Omniscience will never be so displayed. There will never be so awful, or affecting, a display of Omnipotence. Wisdom, Justice, Goodness, and Truth, will never be so divinely VOL. XV.

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