In the present chapter, some of the statements alluded to will be brought forward, and their inaccuracy rendered apparent, by the application of the plain proposition to which allusion has been made.

The writer will begin by noticing the author's representation, that the Hindoos will never be prevailed upon to embrace the Gospel, on account of the great persecution to which they would become exposed, were they to profess the Christian faith. "In fact," says he, "how can our holy religion prosper amidst so many insurmountable obstacles? A person who embraces it becomes a proscribed and outlawed man; he loses at once all that can attach him to life. A husband, a father is forthwith forsaken and deserted by his own wife and children, who obstinately refuse to have any further intercourse with their degraded relative. A son is unmercifully driven out of his paternal mansion, and entirely deserted by those who gave him birth.

By embracing the Christian religion, therefore, a Hindoo loses his all. Relations, kindred, friends all desert him. Goods, possessions,

inheritance, all disappear!

"Where is the man, furnished with a sufficient stock of cynical fortitude, to be able to bear such severe trials?"—(pp. 13, 14.)

In the above quotation, it seems as though the

author had entirely forgotten the existence of God's power and grace, and the ample sufficiency of His blessing to render the greatest privations and inflictions supportable; and then not finding in human nature enough of cynical fortitude to administer adequate support under such appalling trials, he deems it impossible for any man to submit to them.

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I apprehend it will be plain to every Christian reader, that the author here, as well as in other parts of his book, is maintaining an argument utterly at variance with the principle alluded to. The Lord Jesus Christ said to his servant Paul, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness;" and Paul wrote in consequence to the Corinthian Church, "Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak then am I strong.'

The well-informed reader will not require me to consume his time or my own, by a long detail of the vast number of agonizing martyrdoms submitted to by multitudes of persons, influenced and supported by the grace of God. One quotation. from the inspired volume may suffice. "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that

they might obtain a better resurrection; and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonments. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented, (of whom the world was not worthy). They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

I apprehend that no further note or comment will be requisite to show how very far the Abbé has departed from the principle which is laid down in the Sacred Scriptures, and which in its operation, effectually supported the Apostle Paul and the flock of Christ in times of persecution and martyrdom. The reader will plainly perceive the futility of the argument, drawn from the inadequacy of cynical fortitude, when there is such ample provision in the blessing and grace of God.

The author of the Letters states that the Hindoos are dissimilar to any other nation now existing or that ever did exist, and consequently, that from the conversion of any other people whatever, we cannot infer the possibility of converting the Hindoos. He devotes many pages to this view of the subject. The substance of his argument is contained in the following quotations:

"In no country was the struggle so desperate; in none had it to deal with a people so completely

priest-ridden; in none had it to oppose a system of cunning and priestcraft so deeply laid, and so well calculated to baffle all the attempts of that divine religion to gain a solid footing; but, above all, in no country had it to encounter any difficulty resembling that baneful division of the people into castes, which (whatever may be its advantages in other respects) has always proved, and will ever. prove, an insurmountable bar to its progress. (p. 97.) "Let us also consider the wide difference which exists, in many other respects, between the Hindoos and the other nations of the world, and let this consideration teach us not to be misled in this matter by precedents, or by arguments à pari, or à fortiori.” (p. 98.)

God said to Abraham "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" The Abbé's argument virtually gives a reply--Yes; the conversion of a Hindoo, especially of a Bramin, is a thing too hard for him. The truth is, that if the chains which hold the Hindoos were twice as numerous and as powerful, as in fact they are, the simple principle, that with God all things are possible, renders their conversion practicable; and his blessing on the means appointed by himself, and employed by his servants, is abundantly sufficient to reduce the Hindoos, as well as any other nation in the world, to the "obedience of faith."

The author argues, that further efforts to evangelize India should be abandoned, because the time of conversion has passed away, and, under existing circumstances, there remains no possibility to bring it back." (p. 42.) This argument is now also easily refuted. The ready solution is, that God still exists, and is yet able, by blessing the labours of his servants, to convert the inhabitants of India, whenever he thinks fit so to do.

He says,

The author is sceptical whether real success has attended the efforts, not only of Roman Catholic, but of Protestant Missionaries likewise. "Respecting the new Missionaries of several sects, who have of late years made their appearance in the country, you may rest assured, as far as my information on the subject goes, that notwithstanding the pompous reports made by several among them, all their endeavours to make converts have till now proved abortive, and that their successes are only to be seen on paper.' (p. 21.) The Abbé's scepticism may be accounted for, by noticing how much he loses sight of the efficacy of God's grace, and the power of the Almighty to crown the efforts of his servants with success. Scepticism is the necessary result of an abstract meditation on the inability of the merely human agent. The antidote to this suspicion and hesitation, is a firm belief and steady contempla