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PROMISING INDICATIONS IN INDIA.
By one of the Calcutta Committee
I solicit your indulgence, while I comply
with the cell made upon roe to state the re
suit of the observations which I have made ,
during my residence in Bengal.
For six years I have travelled annually
3000 miles. 1 have, therefore, enjoyed
many opportunities of visiting your Mission I
ary EMablishments in that part of India;
and 8 a member of your Calcutta Corres
ponding Committee, I have made it my stu
dv to become familiar with the labours of
your Missionaries : and it affords roe on-;
speakable satisfaction to be able to state I
that they are zealously employed in doing
all in their power to winsouls to Christ—that I
they display a consistent Christian Walk—
and that they are blessings to the country
in which they dwell.
This Meeting will naturally wish to
know the visible progress made in the great
work of evangelizing the Heathen. lam
of opinion that the best interests of this
Society require much caution on this sub
ject. i ~at no one may be misled when I
state my firm belief that the labours of this
Society nave been attended with much ben
efit to India, I must be understood as com
paring its present state with what it was
twenty five years ago. The Heathen Pa
rents, who would have then been offended
at the offer of a Bible or of any insiruction,
are now contented that your Missionaries
should teach their Children out of the Ora
cles of God. I have seen young brahmins
reading the Bible in your schools; and have
heard them reply to questions put to them,
in a manner which shows that they not only
remember but understand what they read.
A spirit of inquiry, formerly unknown, ha-,
by the blessing of the Almighty, spread it
self over the land ; and many are now dp
sirous of learning what is contained in the
Sacred Books of Europeans. A degree of
confidence is now reposed in Christians,
which formerly would not have been cred
ited: and not only are the sons of Hindoo*
Bent to yoor Mission SchooD,but their daugh
ters also are sent to be instructed by the
wives of tbp Missionaries! I have seen that
highly-gifted lady, Mrs. Wilson, “iirro inded
Ly her numerous Female -chnlavs; and
want of funds i the only impediment to the
-increase of their numbers.— This is the
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our
eyes.
I have heard magistrates observe, that a
marked difference is perceptible respecting
the Brahmins. They formerly entered
Courts of Justice—noisy, insolent, over
bearing—demanding the utmost delerence
to their testimony, whoever might be the
witDes9 on the other side, and ready to con
tradict the representations of these men:
but now the frown of a Brahmin is no lon
ger formidable, and their falsehoods are of
ten exposed.
I have often beard that question propo?
ed, V,’ e.ner ‘he lir-ht of the Gospel could
correct ihe moial turpitude of the Hindoos;
or n hether breaking the iron sway of Brah
ma would not sink tnem still lower in the
scale of society : but this meeting knows
that the grace of God in the heart of a Hin
doo will lead to holiness of life. I have
seen the trial made. 1 have met with com
munities of Native Converts; and I hwe j
been odd by Magistrates, that those proses I
sing Chri*:i nity within their districts were
marked by their peaceable & quiet demean
our; not a single instance bail occurred of
their being prosecuted in Courts of Justice,
while they complained of nobody ; and, to
myself, men of this description have expres
sed themselve* truly grateful that the glad
tidings of the Gospel had been communica
ted te them.
But I must remind you, My Lord, that
these are but gleams of light in the midst
of the spiritual darkness ! India still calls
on you to redouble your-efforts, in sending!
labourers to dig up the fallow-ground.
It has been staled, erroneously, that the
worship of Jnggernant has decreased. It
is but Iwo years since, that I saw at least
one hundred thousand persons worshipping
that idol. I saw the dead lying in the
roads and the fields end jackal* and dogs
collecl-d in vast numbers, devouring the
victims of that hideous superstition. If this
assembly could behold such a sight, how
would it stimulate them to redouble their
exertions to communicate to the Hindoos
the glad .idings of great joy.
WESLEY AN METHODISTS.
A writer in the London Christian Guardi
an say-. “ that Methodim has arisen, it i
well known, from small beginnings to a
system of colossal stature, with a rapid’ty
which its most sanguine friends could not
have ao'icipated. It boasts at present of
363 circuits, 774 preachers, and 241,437
members in connexion in Great Britain and
Ireland, exclusive of the immense numbers
of stated and occasional hearers and young
persons not yet enrolled in their society,
fits chapels rival or exceed in splendour, if
not in number, those of any other denomi
nation ; its conductors are continually form
ing fresh plaDg and anticipating new
triumphs; and the whole system is proceed
ing whh a ripidity and success which neces
sarily attracts the observation and serious
consideration of the religions world.” A
member of the above society, Mr. Mark
Robmsoi., who appears to be on intimate
terms with the most distinguished British
Methodists, has written a pamphlet addres
sed to the Superintendent of the Hull Cir
cuit, in which he appears to have taken the
same stand in favour of a lay representa
tion in their Conferences, &c. that was ad
vocated by some <>f the members of Ihe
American Conference at their late meeting
in Baltimore. We believe, notwitbstand
•ing all that has been said on this subjoct,
that the great body of British and Ameri
can Methodists are oppo-ed to aoy radical
•change in their discipline; for under this
discipline they have increased more rapid
ly than any other denomination in the same
period of time. South. Intel.
PARAPHRASE
On the 1 2th Chapter of Ecclesiastes—l to 7v.
! Man is composed ol two parts; a rational
| soul and an orgauical body. He holds a
middle rank between the natural and spir
i itual world, and partakes of both His soul,
I resembling the world from which it has
derived its origin, is immortal ; bat his bo
dy, like the world from which it sprang, is
perishable. The seeds of dissolution and
’ decay are implanted in it, and every hour,
hastens its ruin. In spite of art and med-
J icine—in spite of precaution and care,
“ the evil days will come, and the years
draw nigh, when we shall say, we havp no
pleasure in them.” The pains and infirm
ities to which human life is incident, will
folloyv each other in rapid succession, as
“ the clouds return after the rain,” hiding
the bright luminaries of heaven, and con- j
cealiog the soures of light and joy. The ;
hands, those once vigilant “ keepers of the
house,” noiv grow paralylick,shall tremble;
“ and the strong men,” those firm and able
columns, which have so long supported the
cumbrous weight of the body, “shall fail,”
and ultimately sink under their burden.
The teeth, the external 11 grinders” of the
food, “shallcease because they are few,”j
and the work of mastication be imperfectly
performed. Dimness shall veil the organs )
of sight, when “ those that look out of the ;
windows shall be darkened.” “ The doors” I
or valves, “ shall be shut in the streets” or \
alleys of the hody, when the digestive or
gans become impaired or weakened, and.
“the sound of ihe” internal “ grinding is
low.” “ Tired nature’s sweet restorer,” j
if he visit the eyelids of age, will speedily
remove again “and he will rise when the
voice of the lark proclaims the approach j
of day.” “ All the daughters of musick j
shall he brought low” — he shall no more j
delight in singing men and singing women.
Fearfulness and timidity will predominate
in his mind—“he shall be afraid of that
which is high, and fear shall be in the way.”
His head, like the “almond tree” when it
is in full bloom, shall be conspicuous in the
congregation—the sure prognostick of ap
proaching death. He who like the “grass
hopper” in the morning of life was active
and vigorous, is now a “burden” to himself;
and the organs of sense being vitiated and
impaired, “ desire and appetite shall fail.”
“ The silvercord,” the spinal marrow, with
tne numerous ramifications of nerves divid
ed from it, shall be relaxed and lose its
tone—“the golden bowl,” the receptacle,
of the brain, “ shall be broken”—the ves
sels by which the blood is carried back to
the heart for a fresh supply “shall be bro
ken at the fountain,” and “ the wheel,” or
instrument of circulation, which is employ
ed for the purpose of throwing the blood
to the extremities of the body, shall be
“broken at the cistern.” “Then shall
the dust return to the earth as it was; and
the spin =hall return to God who gave it.”
Then shall thi 3 curious piece of mechanism,
so wonderfull wrought, and so highly fin
ished, mingle with its original, and the lib
erated soul shall associate with departed
spirits in the invisible world. Let us learn
from hence to bestow on each part of our
] composition that portion of care and atten
! tion which they claim at our hands.
From the Trenton Emporium.
HE DIED.
In these two short bot comprehensive
words, we read the consummation of the
brief history of man—man whose life is like
a vapor; who appears a moment and then
vanishes away. Thus terminates the ca
reer of the Conqueror ! he comes forth in
the proud resources of his mind, marshal
ling his legions for the storm,and stirring up
|as with the breath of the whirlwind, the
hot spirit of desolating war: convulsing so
ciety : sapping the foundations of civil or
der; shaking the thrones, and kindoms of
the world, and opening the flood gates of
sorrow on mankind, that he may gather
round him a little tinsel grandeur, and asso
ciate hi® name with terror. A little space,
auti in the corner of an obscure print we
read— he died. The troubling waves bis
spirit had invoked are still, and men con
template what he was, and is, with a kind
of contemptuous wonder. The man whose
soul is wrapped up in ambition , toils bis lit
tle hour for fame, and gains, if fortunate,
the sum of his wishes; we hear his name
sounded abroad, and on the next breath
trembles the words, he died. —Then he
who calmly reasons, feels the small worth
of titles and applauses that eud in this.
The rich, the poor; the grave, the gay:
ihe imbecile, the wise; the free-man and
the slave ; all conclude the chapter thus.
But it is when death strikes near us and his
arrows reach our bosoms, that we feel the
force of those expressive monosyllables.
He Died , is written against the name of a
relative, or a companion; and then we
know that the form, the face, the every
feature with which we have been familiar
is hid away from our mortal vision forever
—that the voice we heard so oftpn and so
gladly, we shall hear no more—that the
mind which could charm in its develop
ment of power and knowledge is no longer
a tenant of the earth, and the heart that
loved us will not beat again while one sand
remains in the hour glass of time, or the
pillars of the world remain Unshaken. We
seem lo approach nearer to the vail that
screens from our view ihe hidden empire
of death—we ask ourselves, whither at this
moment is the spirit o ( f the departed? the
involuntary answer is, where we shall
shortly be. Strange that when death
spreads among us his visible token daily ;
when he strikes so often in the social circle,
and spares neither at the fireside, nor at
the festive board, we should live in so much
seemiug forgetfulness of bis existence.
Well hath it been said—■
“ Man sleeps, and man alone, man whose
fate,
Fate irreversible, entire, extreme,
Endless, hair hung, breeie shaken, o’er the G nlf,
A moment trembles, drops, and man for whom j
All else is in alarm ; mau the sole cause
Os this surrounding storm —and yet he sleeps
As the storm rock’d to rest.”
ROM AN CATHOLICK SUPERSTITION.
From a late Tour on the Continent.
At every lamp through Ihe streets of
Courtray Rn image of ihe Virgin is suspend
ed. There is not a Protestant in the town.
In England, we have liitle idea of the state
of things in Catholick Europe ; ihere is a
darkness that may be felt. A priest gravely
shewed us a nail and several pieces ol the
wood of the cross; the -ponge m which lh*-
vinegar was offered to our Saviour; a part
of ihe girdle of our Lord; a link of the
chain with which St. Peter was martyred;
an arm and some of the hair of John the
Baptist; a tooth of St. Thomas; some
| bones of Simeon, &c. I asked the priest
if all these were matters of faith. He re
plied, “ No, but they rested on the most un
doubted historical evidence.”— JV. B. This
was during the last year!
Anecdote of an Indian Preacher.
While Mr. Kirkland was a Missionary to
the Ooeidas, being unwell, he was unable to
| preach on the afternoon of a certain Sab
: bath, and told good Peter, one of the head
; men of the Oneidas, that be must address
j the congregation. Peter modestly and re
! luctantly consented. After a few words of
introduction, he began a discourse on the
character of the Saviour. “ What, my
’ brethren,” said be, “ aie the views which
jyou form of the character of Jesus? You
1 will tell me, that he proved this to be his
character by the nature of the mirucles
; which he wrought. All these, you will
| say, were kind in the extreme. He creat
ed bread to feed thousands who were ready
to perish. He raised to life the son of a
poor woman who was a widow, and to whom
his labours were necessary for her support
in old age. Are these, then, your only
views of the Saviour? I tell you, they are
lame. When Jesus came into our world,
be threw his blanket around him, but the
Goo veas within ” Tbi I bad from Mr.
Kirkland himself. [Dwight's Travels.
THE GOOD MAN’S FIRMNESS.
Two in-tances of Col Davenport’s firm
ness deserve to be mentioned: the 19th of
May, 1780, was a remarkable dark day ;
caDdles were lighted in many bouses, the
birds were silent and disappeared, and the
fowls retired toroot; the Legislature of
Connecticut was then in session at Hartford:
a very general opinion prevailed that the
day ot Judgement was at hand; the House
of Representatives being unable to transact
business adjourned; a proposal to adjourn
the Council was under consideration ; when
the opinion of Col. Davenport was asked,
he answered, “ I am against the adjourn
ment : the day of judgement is either ap
proaching, or it is not; if it is not there is
no cause for an adjournment; if it is, I
choose to be found doing my duty. I wish,
therefore, that candles may be brought.”
Tbe other iogiance took place at Danbury,
at the Court of Common Pleas, of which he
wa9 chief justice. This venerable mao, af
ter he was struck with death, heard a con
siderable part of a trial—gave the charge
to the jury, and took notice of an article in
the testimony which bad escaped the atten
tion of the counsel on both sides. He then
retired from the bench, and was soon after
found dead in bis bed. Ib.
KINDAR BURIAL SERVICE.
During the funeral ceremony, which is
solemn and affecting, the Brahmins address
the respective elements in words to the fol
lowing purport.
O Earth ! to thee we commend our
brother: of thee he was formed, by thee
he was sostained, and unto thee he now re
turns.
O Fire ! thou hast claimed our brother:
duriDg life he subsisted by thy influence in
nature; to thee we commit hi body, thou
emblem of purity. May his spirit be purifi
ed on entering anew state of existence.
O Air! while the breath of life continu
ed, our brother respired by thee : his last
breath is now departed : to thee we yield
him.
O Water! thou didst contribute to the’
life of our brother: thou wast one of his
sustaining elements. His remains are now
dispersed : receive thy share of him, who
has now taken an everlasting flight.
CATHOLICKS. No. 111.
The good people of South Carolina and
Georgia had heard very little on the sub
ject of Roman Catholick peculiarities and
controversies previous to the arrival of
Bishop England, who it seems, was appoint
ed by the authority of his church, to the
charge of this southern section of the Uni
ted States. In the zeal which this gentle
man felt for propagating the ancieut faith
of his order, he has visited most of our
towns and villages, and ha 9 preached with
a rhetorick not le9s bold, than surprising,
the doctrines of the Catholick Church.
He has certainly exhibited a commendable
industry, and in the judgement of some, not
a little learning, in his attempts to secure
from inveterate odium many of tbe tenets
of the Romish Church. As to his diligence
there can be no doubt; but there must be
some regret at the needless waste of so
much pains; though it is true, “that in at
tempting to wash an Ethiopian white, noth
) ing is lost but labour and soap.” As to tbe
learning of the Right Rev. Gentleman, many
and rational dqubts do and will exist; un
less!mileeil, the denial of historical facts,
bold assertions, where contradiction is no’
expected, the idle parade of much logick
i to prove a small design, and the perplexing
intricacies of extemporaneous repetition,
caD be called learning But the Bishop
has found out, that muddy water looks
deep, and therefore he ceases not to cast
forth upon his hearers the muddy jargon of
a Jesuitical logick. To shew that Ido not
charge him unjustly, I shall recur to the
assertion which I heard him make respect
ing the dncirine of Transubstantialiou; —
and the substance of his declaration was,
that this doctrine b-d uever been question
ed from the lime of the Apostles up to the
tenth century. It vva9 essential to his ar
gument to shew the absence of controver
sy, inasmuch as nothing less than universal
consent can prove a Catholick doctrine.
Now, I can prove from authorities taken
from the first and best ages of ihe Church,
Ist—That this doctrine was not then belie
ved, and 2d—lt can be shewn that is was
questioned long before the tenth age. Tur
tullian says, Adversus Marcionera. I. 4, c.40
“The bread being taken and distributed to
his disciples, Christ made it bis body, say
ing, This is mv body, that is, the figure of
my body.” Why do the Catholick Doctor
hate Tertullian so much ? The same thing
is affirmed by JustiD Martyr in his dialogue
with Typho the Jew. The bread of the
Eucharist was a figure which Christ the Lord
commanded in remembrance of his passion
Origen, alluding to the bread and the cup,
calls them the images of the body and blood
of Christ In his Evangelical Demonstra
tion, book l,c. 1, Eusebios says, That Christ
gave to his disciples the symbols of divine
economy , commanding the image and type of
his own body to be made. St. Gregory Na
zianzeo, Orat. 2, in Fuse, speaks so directly
on this doctrine, that it might itself be to
ken to confute the error of after ages—
“ Now we shall be partakers of the Fascha l
Supper, but still in figure, though, more
■ clear thau in the olu law. For the legal
Passover, (I will not be afraid to speak it)
was a more obscure figure of a figure.”
St. Chrysostom affirms—Before the bread
is sanctified, we name it bread, but divine
grace sanctity mg it by means of the priest,
it is freed from the name of bread, but it is
esteemed worthy to be called the Lard’s
body, although the nature of bread remains
in it. St. Austin on the 98th Psalm, intro
duces Christ thu9 speaking to his disciples—
“ You are not to eat this body which you
see, or to drink that blood which my cruci
fiers shall pour forth. I have commended
to you a 9acrameot, which being spiritually
understood, shall quicken you.” And
again—“ Christ brought them to a banquet
in which he commended to bis disciples the
figure of his body and blood ; for, he did
not hesitate to say this is my body, when he
gave the sign of his body. That which by
all men is called a sacrifice, is the sign of
the true sacrifice, in which the flesh of
Christ after his assumption is celebrated by
the sacrament of remembrances.” I. 10,
con. Faust. Thus we see that up to the
time of Austin this doctrine was not admit
ted, at least, by that learned and eloquent
Father, whose authority in such a question
must be in itself of no mean import. But,
secondly, do not Scotus, in his fourth book
of divine sentences, and Biel in bis 40th
Lecture, and Fisher, Bishop of Rochester,
cap. l,contr. Babyl captiv. all expressly de
clare, that the doctrine of Transubstantiation
is not expressed in the canon of the Scriptures?
It is well known to readers of ecclesiastical
history, that this doctrine never obtained as
an article of faith till the Lateran Council in
the time of Pope Innocent 111. more than
seven hundred years after Christ, and yet
long before the tenth century. Durandus,
a very famous Doctor of the Romish
Church, and a good Catholick, publickly
maintained, A. D. MCCXX. Secund. Buchol
that even after consecra'ion, the very matter
of bread remained. Said Alphonsus A Cas
tro, DeTransubstantiatione in Corpus Chris
ti rara est antiquis Scriptoribus mentio. De
haeres. lib 8, verbum lndulgentia—“There
is seldom mention made in the ancient wri
ters of transubstantiating the bread into
Christ’s body.” He might have said there
is no mention; and this “ seldom” or ‘rare’
of bis, may fairly be considered as equiva
lent to a negative, for in truth the senti- j
ment was as great a stanger to antiquity, as
it is to reasoD and common sense. A doc
trine so at variance with tbe spnses, could
not be proved by a miracle; because the
senses must necessarily preside as judges,
both in the case of the doctrine, and in (he 1
case of the miracle ; and if these judges are
obliged to abjure the exercise of their pro
per discernment in (he case of the doctrine,
they may be required to make a similar!
abjuration in the case of tbe miracle, and ;
thus the absurdity of the doctrine would
annul the validity of the miracle. Hence it,
is idle to harass antiquity about a matter j
which a hundred miracles could not demon
strate, I should not be thus explicit and
pointed, did not the occasion require it.
The Right Rev. Gentleman whom I have
already named, ha made such bold and in
solent demand- upon ur credulity in behiif
of his Church, that it would be treason
against the truth to allow sni h pretensions
to pass without a merited rebuke. Had he
confined his efforts to the correction of
abuses in his own Church, and exerted his
gifts i-i the discussion and recommendation
of Christian principles and Christian moral
ity, I should not have considered it my busi
ness to notice his views, or his preaching.
But since he has enme out in the most hum
bling representations of the Protestant part
of our Christian communities, treating us
without distinction as the merest dolts in
knowledge, it seemed certainly time to re
mind him, that whatever might be our ig
norance on matters of polemical divinity
among Roman Catholicks, there is no great
reason to apprehend that wisdom will die
with him. R \TIO.
v isit of la Fayette to the fe
male SEMINARY AT TROY, N.Y.
On arriving at the gate of the institution,
an arbour of evergreen, which, like Jonah’s
gourd, sprang up in a night, was found to
‘ xlend the whole distance to the building,
which is about 200 feet. At the entrance
of ths arbour, was the following inscrip
tion :—“ America commands her Daughters
to welcome their Deliverer, La Fayette.”
At this place, the General was met by the
Committee of Arrangements, and Mrs. Col.
Pawling pronounced the following address,
—which, * usual, received a brief and per
tinent reply:
Respected and Dear Sir —The ladies of
Troy are much gratified in meeting the il
lustrious and early benefactor of their be
loved country, and through me, tender to
you, Sir, their most affectionate respect and
cordial welcome to our now peaceful aud
happy land.
The ladies are also grateful, in being able
to present, in the pupils of the adjoining
seminary, a living tes- im:>nv of the blessings
conferred bv that independence, which von,
Sir, contributed so essentially ‘o establish,
and in which our sex enjoy so permanent a
share.
Permit me sir, the pleasure of introduc
ing yon to the principal and a-M-tant teach
ers of the Troy Female Seminary, an insti
intion which we consider an honour lo our
city aod i untry.
On entPi :-g the institution, the General
was presented to Mrs. Willard, he princi
pal, and afterwards the pupil- were present
ed by her, for which purpose they were
arrang'd in two lines along top hall leading
directly from the arbour. Two of the pu
pils, daughters of the Gnvernours of Ver
mont and Michigan, then advanced and pre
sented the following lines, entitled “La
Favette’9 Welcome.” and written for tbe
occasion by the principal :
And art thou, then, dear Hero come?
And do our eyes behold the man
Who nerv’d his arm and bared his breast
For U 9, ere yet nnr life began?
For us and for our native laud,
Thy youthful valour dared the war;
And now in winter of thine age,
Thous’t come and left thy lov’d ones far.
Then deep and dear thy welcome be ;
Nor think thy daughters far from thee :
Columbia’s daughters, lo ! we bend,
And claim to call thee Father, Friend.
But was’t our country’s rights alone
lmpell’d Fayette to Freedom’s van ?
No! ’twas the love of human kind—
It was the sacred cause of man—
It was benevolence sublime,
Like that which sways the Eternal mind !
And, benefactor of the world,
He shed his blood for all mankind !
Then deep and Hear thy welcome be ;
Nor think thy daughters far from thee !
Daughters of human kind, we bend,
And claim to call thee Father, Friend !
These lines were after wards, by pameu-
Inr request, sung with great sweetness and
pathos, by Miss Eliza Smith, of Worcester,
Mass., in the choruses of which the young
ladies generally joined, and the whole was
executed with much effect. The general
was much iiffecipd, and at the close of the
singing, with eyes suffused in tear*, he said
—“ I cannot express what I feel on this oc
casion; but will you, Madam, present me
with three copies of those lines, to be given
by me, as from you, to my three daughters.”
It i wholly unnecessary to add that the re
quest wa complied with. A copy of Mrs.
Willard’-Treatise upon Female Education,
elegantly bound, was then presented to him
by Jane Lincoln, a little miss six years old.
The General then retired, and was con
ducted by the committee of arrangements
back, through the arbour, along the sides
of which the pupils* had formed themselves
in close order, to the number, we should
supposp, of about 200. It was a most in
teresting spectacle, thrilling the soul with
delightful anticipations,
Gen La Fayette mentioned in his an
swer to one of the addresses, that but little
more than forty years ago, he lodged in
Troy, in the only house that it contained
—and that was but an indifferent one. And
what, he said, must be his astonishment at
finding this once desolate and solitary place,
now the site of a large, and beautiful aod
flourishing city, composed of splendid hou
ses, and wearing all the evidences of an ex
tensive trade, and great commercial pros
perity. The town, he said, seemed lo have
sprung op by enchantment.
The visit of the General, to Troy, short
!as it was, afforded him great satisfaction.
;He talked much about it, and frequently
spoke of bis visit to the Seminary as one of
‘ the most interesting and delightful moments
j of his life.
1 [JY. Y. Spectator.