which they will now be appointed, than if they had been merely individual labourers in the ministry. It will be grateful, I doubt not, to their own pious and ingenuous minds, ever to remember, that their revered father instructed them in the Oriental Languages for a high, a sacred purpose; and that he himself, though not a Missionary, defended and exalted the missionary name and character in India."

Mr. Brown being Senior Chaplain of the Honourable Company in Bengal, his proper church was that of the Presidency, called St. John's, or the New Church. But, desirous, so far as was in his power, of fulfilling the duties of a Missionary Preacher also, he instituted public worship, gratuitously, for the Native Christians and the lower orders of the people generally, at the Old, or Mission Church, which is private property. On a marble in the chancel of this church, is the following Inscription:

TO THE POOR

The Gospel was preached in this Church,
By the Rev. David Brown,

During a Period of
25 Years.

Home Proceedings.

SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
Archdeacon Middleton's Charge to:
Rev. C. A. Jacobi,

THE Rev. C. A. Jacobi, being about to proceed as one of the Society's Missionaries to India, a Meeting was held on the 23d of March last, when a Charge

was delivered to him by the Rev. T. F. Middleton, D.D. Archdeacon of Huntingdon.

We shall give a brief abstract of this able and learned Address.

"Amidst all the darkness," says Dr. Middleton, "which still envelopes the Heathen World, the superstitions of Hindostan are calculated to excite, in a peculiar degree, emotions of pity and horror. Very far removed from a state of barbarism, retaining even the vestiges of ancient science and refinement, gifted with faculties which culture might elevate to the proudest eminences of intellectual attainment, mild in their nature, and humane in their deportment, the Hindoos present the most lamentable spectacle of religious depravation, and serve to demonstrate how weak and wretched is human nature in its most favoured circumstances, unblessed with a knowledge of the true God, and of His

sonable service."

rea

"To dissipate the darkness of the Heathen World-to instruct mankind in the ways and in the will of God and to unfold to them the mysteties of Redemption," was the work of Apostles, and is that of Missionaries: and "in such a work God will be with" his servants.

Dr. Middleton admits, that the progress of Christianity in India has not been such as might have been expected, considering at how early a period the name of Christ was carried to its shores: he laments the extraordinary inattention shewn to the Syrian Christians; and censures the spirit and tendency of the proceedings of the Romish Church in the propagation of its faith, and its unjustifiable conduct in violating the freedom and vitiating" the purity of the primitive and happy Syro-Indian Church," and

in establishing the Inquisition at Goa with all its horrors-now, at length, happily abolished, through the benevolent interference of the British Government; and thrown open to public view, with all its secret cells and chambers.

"But if the Church of Rome," says the Archdeacon, "from its spirit and the tendency of its proceedings, was little adapted to the diffusion of Christianity, we should also consider how inadequate have been the efforts of Protestants." And " the lives of the bulk of European Christians have counteracted, and in great measure defeated, the most zealous labours" of those who have exerted themselves; while their practice "has been marked by a more than heathen contempt of religious obligations."

"The inveterate prejudices of the Hindoo in behalf of his own superstitions-the deep impression made on his imagination by the appalling spectacles and thrilling rites of his own faith-the loss of caste, which is among the most alarming punishments ever devised in social ordinances-and the singular policy of our Indian Government, in refusing to patronize native converts to Christianity-these are powerful obstacles in the way of the Gospel.

"Notwithstanding," however, "every discouragement, the Word of God is found to prevail, and the number of Native Christians to increase ; a recent estimate makes them amount to 900,000.”

"The Society has now five ordained native converts in its service, and it is from the labours of such men that the most favourable results are to be expected. They are the instruments by which, under the guidance of God, His holy Faith will find its way to the hearts of the heathens," who "have

lately shewn a more than ordinary readiness to be instructed."

On the progress which has lately been made in Hindoo Literature being likely to lead to the happiest consequences, Dr. Middleton makes the following remarks:

There are two distinct views, in which the benefit presents itself to our observation: it promises to furnish us with the means of proving to the unconverted Hindu how widely his practice differs from the precepts even of his own religion; and it will enable us to shew him, -how much of the genuine doctrines of his religion is but a corruption of Divine Truth as contained in the Volume of the Christian Scriptures. With regard to the former of these points, it is now well known, that the enormities practised by the Hindus are wholly unauthorised, or but faintly countenanced, in their sacred writings; of which, however, a profound ignorance has generally prevailed. If of the four great castes only one is admitted to the reading of the Vedas, and another is permitted only to hear them read, while the other two, by far the most numerous, may have only the Sastras or Commentary read to them, it cannot be matter of just surprise, even had the fountain been more pure, that the stream should have been exceedingly corrupted in its progress. But in truth, even the Brahmins themselves seem not generally to have known the real doctrines of their religion, except from tradition; and it is a singular fact, that their reluctance to communicate the contents of their sacred books 'had never been overcome till within these few years. We are told, that the 'Emperor Akbart, in the plenitude of his power, could not obtain what is now freely granted to the curiosity of every British Inquirer. Let us hope, that this surprising change of sentiment is destined to some important purpose. The advocate for Christianity will now be able to Jay open the weakness of the Hindu Superstition by shewing that its most exceptionable practices have not even the sanction of its own Founders; that they are merely acts of will-worship; that they have originated Crawford's Sketches, vol. I. p. 129.

✦ Butler's Horse Biblicæ, vol. 1. p. 167.

in ignorance and error; and that they are utterly irreconcileable with that purer morality, and those sublime conceptions of the Deity, which it cannot be denied that the Vedas occasionally develope.-But it is not the negative argument alone, which the Christian Missionary is now enabled to employ: he will further observe, that much of what is really inculcated in the Hindu sacred books bears a strong, though disfigured, resemblance to the leading doctrines of the Gospel. For some time it has been known that their most ancient writings maintain the Unity of God in Three Persons; and various Incarnations of these Persons, especially of Vishnu, or the second in the Triad, are believed to have taken place: but more recent inquiries have brought to light further and very important particulars respecting this subject. It appears that the expectation of some mighty Deliverer prevailed long before the coming of Christ, even among the Hindus. We are told, that in the Puranas, the Earth complains of her being ready to sink beneath the accumulated iniquities of mankind; while Vishnu comforts her, promising to put an end to the tyranny of the demons: that for this purpose he would be incarnated; and the followers of Buddha unanimously declare, that this Incarnation in the womb of a virgin was predicted at least a thousand years before it came to pass*. The Hindus maintain, that these prophecies were fulfilled in the person of Chrishna, in like manner as many of the Samaritans, to elude the prophecies respecting Christ, explained them of Joshuat. It may reasonably be hoped, that as the genuine doctrines and traditions of Hinduisin shall be more fully ascertained, they will furnish positive and direct arguments, by which the Hindus may be brought to know the only true God, and Jesus, whom lle hath sent.

After stating some other encouraging circumstances, the Archdeacon addresses to Mr. Jacobi the following excellent counsel:

The field of knowledge, which the East throws open to an ardent and excursive mind, is so delightful, that care must be taken to restrain curiosity within the bounds of usefulness. Without the languages of the + Ibid, p. 34. Asiat. Researches,vol, X. p. 27.