language well deserves to be called, " a new birth :”—he will, if a true Christian," be born again of the Spirit of God," renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil-crucify the flesh, with its affections and lusts-pass from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Under the genuine influence of Christian principles, he will set his affections on things above, and not on things on the earth; and habitually, as the great business, and most important end of life, "follow after holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." By becoming a Christian, he will become a better father, a better husband, a better subject, a better friend, and will uniformly endeavour, as the fruit of his religion, to discharge, in the fear of God, all the duties of public, social, and domestic life.

Here then we have the moral effect of the two systems (i. e. Hindooism and Christianity)-brought into comparison with each other: and as a candid enquirer after truth, I must say, that whilst I am, by the moral change which Christianity always effects upon those who receive it in truth and sincerity, convinced and confirmed in the belief of its divine authority; so, on the other hand, I am constrained, not only on account of its producing no good moral effect upon its votaries, but also from a variety of other reasons, constrained to avow my utter disbelief of the divine authority of Hindooism; because in whatever way I view it, I can see nothing which appears to me worthy of, or which in any respect harmonizes with, the glorious and exalted character of its professed Author.

SECTION 4.

The Characters most in repute umong the Hindoos. The assertion which I have made, that Hindooism proposes no perfection of character, and contains no principles calculated to produce any good moral effect, will, I apprehend, be contradicted by many of the advocates of that religion. They will deny my position by asserting, that it not only requires perfection of character, but that

many who have attained to this perfection are to be found amongst the Hindoos. But, on enquiring where the characters possessed of these high attainments are to be found, I shall be pointed to the ascetics-to the men who have renounced the comforts of civil and domestic lifewho have retired into woods and uninhabitated parts of the earth, and by inuring themselves to a variety of pains, enduring privations, &c. live in the constant mortification of their earthly affections.

In reference to the supposed perfection of these ascetics, I reply, that the man who courageously meets his foe, who stands his ground in the day of battle, and comes off a conqueror, is undoubtedly more to be applauded than the man who runs away. Now the world is this enemy of the human race—an enemy which men must ever be conflicting with, during the period of their residence on earth: but these Hindoo ascetics, instead of standing their ground, and endeavouring to overcome this common foe, cowardly run away from him. Instead, therefore, of looking upon these as perfect characters, I rather look upon them as wicked* beyond the ordinary class of men. We are all members of one great family, and required by God, each of us in our proper station, to perform our individual duty, by assisting and benefitting our fellowcreatures to the utmost of our power. These Hindoo ascetics, however, seem to overlook this important end of their existence, because by their manner of life they place themselves in such circumstances, as to be unable to perform any social or relative duty whatsoever. Such

* I allude to the wickedness of which these men are guilty, in separating themselves from the habitations of civil society, which is undoubtedly a breach of the second commandment, which says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." It is also an act of rebellion against God's instituted order of government in the natural world. To this also I might add the actual wickedness of which many of them (notwithstanding their apparent sanctity) are guilty. A Hindoo ascetic in the Upper Provinces, who has been for many years in high repute, was lately detected in having several women secreted, by whom he has had a large family of children, in his professed state of seclusion and celibacy.

a man's father or brother's house may be on fire-his nearest and dearest relations may be dying for want of food or medicine, or a thousand other calamities may have befallen them, and they may perish for want of that assistance which, merely from the habits of life which he has adopted, he is unable to afford them. In short, if such a man have any merit, it is only negative-it is merely the goodness of a stock or a stone: he can neither be a good subject, a good son, a good friend, nor any thing else; but is in fact a piece of mere useless lumber in the world, from whom no person whatever can possibly derive the least benefit. It is undoubtedly the duty of all men to mortify their earthly affections and sinful inclinations, because God has commanded it. If, however, it be requisite thus to retire from the world in order to accomplish this, then it is the duty of all men (as all are sinners) thus to retire, and forsake the habitations of civil society. But what, I ask, would be the effect which would result from the universal adoption of such a line of conduct? Business of course would in this case cease to be carried oncultivation of the ground could no longer be continuedall the common avocations of life must cease, and the human race, as the necessary consequence, must shortly become extinct.

Contrast then for a moment this destructive system with the means inculcated in the Bible, and adopted by the Christian, for the mortification of his carnal propensities and sensual affections. The Christian, instead of running away from the face of his enemy, the world, and neglecting, like the Hindoo ascetics, the duties of social and civilized life, stands his ground-engages in the conflictwatches and prays, according to the Saviour's command, (Mark xiv. 38.) and through the strength of divine grace gains a complete victory over it. He is in the world, and not of the world: he loves not the world, neither the things that are in the world. He possesses a faith which enables him to overcome the world (1 John v. 4.), which purifies his heart (Acts xv. 9.), works by love (Gal. v. 6.),

and so far as he is under its influence, enables him to cleanse himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God, (2 Cor. vii. 1.)

In short, he crucifies the flesh, with the affections and lusts, and reduces to practice that long list of moral precepts previously quoted from the Bible: he moulds his conduct, and endeavours to regulate his affections, according to the rules there laid down; and never satisfied with present attainments, presses uniformly forward towards that entire perfection which the Bible requires. 1 leave, therefore, the candid reader to judge whether this perfection in every spiritual and moral excellence—a perfection which comports with the due performance of every relative and social duty—or whether that perfection (if it deserve to be so called) which consists in abandoning our fellow-creatures to misery and want, and in neglecting all the ordinary avocations of life, is the most rational; and which of the two is the most worthy of God to command, and of men's endeavours to attain : and in this way, by instituting a comparison between the Bible and the Hindoo Shasters, considering them as respectively inculcating these opposite principles, he will be able to form his own opinion of the weight which ought to be attached to the evidence by which their respective claims to divine authority are supported.

SECTION 5.

General concluding Remarks on the internal Evidences.

Having brought forward that impregnable body of moral evidence which to my own mind is a satisfactory confirmation of the truth and divine authority of the Christian Scriptures, I shall now proceed, and with four general remarks bring this part of the subject to a conclusion.

1. A candid reader of the Bible will ever be ready to acknowledge, that it is a work so excellent and complete, that it is every way worthy of its divine Author: in short,

whilst imperfection characterizes all the works of men, it is no where to be found in the Bible. Now if this superior and excellent book be not of divine authority, then it of course follows that it must be the work of men; and according to this supposition, we must come to this absurd, unreasonable, and blasphemous conclusion, that men, whilst they are infinitely inferior to God in every other respect, have nevertheless equalled him in this, i. e. they have made a Shaster which it is impossible to improve upon a Shaster which is in every respect so superior and perfect, that God himself, we may almost venture to assert, could not add to its utility, beauty, or excellence.

2. I have before given a short view of the purity and excellency of the precepts which the Bible contains, and stated at length the beneficial effect produced by it upon the moral character of thousands who have received it, and submitted to its instructions. How then, I ask, can such excellent fruits be accounted for as having attended the reception of the Bible, if it be false? It professes to be a revelation from Deity; but if this be not true, and its claims cannot be substantiated, it then follows, as a natural consequence, that it has originated in forgery, deception, and lies, which no reasonable man can possibly believe, because it is utterly impossible to reconcile this supposition with the superlatively beneficial effects which have universally resulted from its circulation in the world. "A good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and an evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit." Let the Bible, therefore, be brought to this, as the test of its truth; and in the application of this principle, by the fruit which it has produced, both the excellency of its nature, and the divinity of its origin, must necessarily be acknowledged.

3. The authors of the Bible must have been either good or bad men but nothing can be more unreasonable and contradictory than to associate them with the latter, because their work is in every respect so utterly contrary to the general productions of such characters; that is, bad men could never have written a book which condemns