distinct establishments of barracks, schools and hospitals, and for which the wisdom of government had designated two resident ministers. While in the other Mofussil provinces, some of the most important stations are addressing to me, almost daily, their earnest (and, unhappily, their unavailing) applications for that comfort and instruction which, in our own country, is accessible to all.

"This is a state of things, beyond a doubt, sufficiently lamentable. It presents the revolting spectacle of a nation almost without a priesthood to the Romanists who dwell among us, and to the surrounding heathen. It has a tendency to increase itself and its own evils by oppressing and overpowering the strength of those labourers who still continue in the vineyard. And it excludes, in the worst and most effectual manner, from the teaching and ordinances of our religion, the daily increasing multitude of our countrymen and their descendants, of whom by far the greater part are still ardently attached to the faith and worship of their fathers." pp. 4, 5.

If there be one thing more than another which demands the watch. ful care, and vigorous efforts of those who are anxious for the safety and prosperity of our Eastern possessions, it is, to secure an adequate supply of truly Christian chaplains, to preserve the British youth who are yearly sent out to occupy important stations in India, and to fill up the gaps which premature death is perpetually making in the ranks of those already stationed there, from becoming the prey of infidels, or relaxing into a state of indifferentism to all religion, more fatal, perhaps, than the gross idolatry with which they are surrounded. Much, indeed, has lately been done, and beneficial have been the results of this increased attention; but the deficiency still is great and if we would have the blessing of God on our commercial transactions in India, or hope long to retain our possession of it, we must remember the principles on which the Supreme Being invariably acts: "Them that honour me, I will honour; but them that despise me, shall be lightly esteemed." Whatever may be the result of the deliberations of parliament on the subject of the Company's Charter, it is earnestly to be

hoped that the interests of religion in India will have a prominent place in their discussions. The voice of the Christian community should be raised on this topic, that our legislature, even if indifferent, may be constrained to listen to it. Besides

an augmentation of chaplains, a bishop is urgently required at each of the presidencies. Three victims have already fallen martyrs to over exertion in the burning climate of India; and we tremble for that beloved and excellent prelate who now holds the reins of that enormous diocese.

The description which Bishop Heber gives of the difficulties, qualifications, and encouragements of an Indian chaplain is most important, as our readers may infer from the extracts which have already appeared in our pages.

The bishop next addresses the Indian missionaries, and nothing can exceed the paternal affection with which he treats them. "It is," says he, "with no common thankfulness to God, that I see the episcopal chair of Calcutta now first surrounded by those who are missionaries themselves, as well as by those who are engaged in the important office of educating youth for the future service of missions." He then proceeds to notice the opposition which, from various quarters, had arisen to their labours; and among the rest, he dwells with peculiar force and much enlargement on the then recent publication of the Abbé Dubois; who, after long labouring, as he stated, with great zeal for many years in the South of India to convert the heathen, had not the least success; and who not only denied that any conversions had been achieved by any other missionary, but gave his opinion, grounded on protracted and indefatigable efforts, that no conversion is possible! The bishop exposed, with great effect, the improbability that any such labours as those in which the Romanist had engaged, should produce any change

of heart, as they were never directed to this object, but merely to effect a transition from one mode of idolatry to another, too nearly allied to the former for it to be apparent to a heathen that he would be materially benefited by the exchange. He then beautifully set forth the effect which might be expected from the use of other arms, and directed to a nobler purpose: and, lastly, in contradiction to the statements of the Abbé, appealed to thousands of instances of conversion to the faith of the Gospel which had already taken place. See the passage in our pages, as above.

But we have dwelt longer on this admirableCharge than is compatible with the attention due to the following sermons. We scarcely know which most to admire, -the affectionate heart from which it flowed, the fervent piety which gives it its unction, the sound principles which lie at its foundation, the comprehension of its views, the wisdom of its counsels, the point of its animadversions, the candour of its strictures, or the simplicity and fidelity of the whole. Like the bishop's other writings, it perhaps displays an excess of classic allusion and poetic imagery, more in keeping with the writer's elegant mind, than consistent with the general idea of an episcopal charge.

In forming an estimate of the sermons before us, we must not only bring them to the standard of Evangelical doctrine, but consider the circumstances under which they were delivered: for, while nothing can justify the least departure from "the truth as it is in Jesus," the character and station of an audience require a variety, both of style and of argument: and the Christian minister who should adopt an invariable mode of preaching in every place and to every congregation, would act somewhat after the manner of a tradesman, who should offer all classes of society goods of the same quality and workmanship. The materials are the same, but

they must be wrought up so as to meet every varied exigency of mankind. Bishop Heber exhibits an excellent example of this commonsense philosophy. He has given us, in the Charge just noticed, the character of an Indian audience; and never, in the whole range of these discourses, does he seem to have lost sight of it. In speaking of the requisite qualities of an Indian chaplain, among other particulars, he states, that "he must be a scholar, and a man of cultivated mind; for, in many of his hearers he will meet with a degree of knowledge and refinement, which a parochial minister in England does not often encounter; and a spirit sometimes of fastidious and even sceptical criticism, which the society, the habits, and perhaps the very climate, of India, has a natural tendency to engender." (p. 7.) Accordingly, the bishop always appears as a man of a highly cultivated mind: and his discourses are equally adapted, in style and manner, to arrest the fastidious, and, in matter and argument, to convince the gainsayer. He addresses the heart, not only directly, but also through the medium of the understanding; and if any of his hearers went away unaffected or sceptical, the cause must be sought for in the mysterious action and reaction of depraved feelings or a perverted mind, and not in any defect of the preacher's argument or mode of conveying the truth.

The first sermon is an argument in support of the truth of Christi anity, drawn from the character and preaching of John the Baptist. It is founded on John i. 20: "He confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ." The reasoning is powerful, and the conclusion well supported: and, considered as one of those independent and separate evidences which go to prove the Divine mission of the Saviour, and the truth of our holy religion, it is highly valuable. We cannot, however, conclude our brief notice

of this sermon, without hesitating as to one of the inferences drawn from a particular fact. His lordship, after stating that many nations beside the Jews were in expectation of some great Personage appearing about the time of our Lord's advent, says,

"The subject is important in many respects, not only as, so far as it extends, a confirmation of Christianity, but as presumptive evidence (when coupled with the prophecy of Balaam, the epiphany of the Persian Magi, and the many circumstances in the Brahminical creed which strangely border on our own), that the coming of Christ was more widely made known, and the manifestation of the Spirit less limited in ancient times than Jews and Christians are apt to believe; and that the mercies of God through his Son, as they were intended for all, so they were made effectual to many, for whom, in the midst of their heathen darkness, our human wisdom would be at a loss to provide security." p. 37.

Now, without entering upon the mysterious question of the state of those to whom the Gospel, in its distinctive features, has never been made known, we cannot but think that the confused and limited notions which these traditions imply, are far too circumscribed to afford any "presumptive evidence," one way or the other, respecting the salvation of the heathen. We have but one answer to all such questions, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" "Strive thou to enter in at the strait gate."

The second is an elaborate discourse on the difficult text, 1 John v. 6-8. The opening of this sermon is striking and eloquent; and what is far better, it contains a luminous development of the fundamental doctrines of our holy religion, and beautifully illustrates the master influence which they exercise over the Christian, in giving him" the victory that overcometh the world." The controverted clause in the text, of the three Heavenly Witnesses, the bishop avoids discussing, as being rather "illustrative and ornamental," than essentially necessary to "the main purpose and connexion of the Apostle's arguCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 338.

ment." "The number and unity of the celestial witnesses," he adds, "are only alluded to on account of their analogy, in these particulars, with the triple and accordant evidence of the Spirit, the water, and the blood.' It is to these last three," continues the bishop, "and to the testimony which they bear, that I am anxious to direct your attention; and, in so doing, it shall be my endeavour, first, to ascertain what doctrine it is for which St. John is here contending; secondly, who those witnesses are which he describes as effectually supporting it; and, thirdly, in what manner it becomes us to lay their testimony to heart." The main object, however, of the discourse is to shew what that "peculiarity is which St. John asserts of Christ, and to which he represents these three (the Spirit, the water, and the blood) as witnesses." After shewing that a Jew, familiar with the use of water and blood in the sacrifices under the law, must have necessarily connected these terms, if he had met with them in any of the prophetic writings, with an atoning sacrifice, he thus concludes his argument:

"If, then, a Jew had found it written in some of his ancient Prophets that the Messiah whom he looked for was to come by water and by blood,' he would naturally suppose that these expressions referred to some great atonement which the Messiah was to offer up for the sins of His people. And, if he were induced, from other arguments and from the greatness of our Saviour's miracles, to acknowledge which should come, I know not how he that our Lord was, indeed, the Messiah could have reconciled the type and antitype any otherwise than by supposing that the whole ministry and death of Jesus was one mighty sacrifice for men; that, as a necessary preparation for this sacrifice, He was baptized by John in the river Jordan; that the sacrifice was accomplished when He poured out his own blood for us on Calvary; and that from his dead side the Father Almighty thought fit to cause water to flow, in token that the expiation was accepted and entire, and that from Him alone who had atoned for our sins by His blood were we to seek for and to receive that purity of life whereof water is the expressive symbol.

"But that meaning which a Jew would P

cinian notion that repentance is all that God requires for the forgiveness of sins; for if the death of Christ were intended only to purchase for us the power of repenting, and our consequent acceptance with God, then, if any thing else could have given such a power (the influence, for instance, of the Holy Spirit on the heart), it would have answered all the purposes of Christ's death, and rendered it superfluous. It is needless to say, that this is neither the doctrine of the atonement, nor Bishop Heber's construction of it. Every where, except in this solitary passage, does he view it as a sacrifice for sin, and as answering under the Christian dispensation, as the antitype to the type, to all the benefits received under the Old-Testament economy, from the sacrifices of the law. We notice this inadvertency, to prevent the bishop's authority being wrested to the support of an opinion most alien from his mind.

We may also express a doubt as to the accuracy of another expression in the passage already quoted. "The whole ministry and death of Christ," says the bishop," was one mighty sacrifice for men." The sacrifice of Christ, we conceive, must be restricted to his death on the cross. This, and this only, was the expiation for transgression. The previous life of Jesus Christ, his baptism, and his perfect holiness, were essential to his becoming a suitable victim, "the Lamb without spot," "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world;" but they were no part of the sacrifice, and are not to be considered, in connexion with his death, as forming one concrete act for the atonement of sin.

Passing over the third and fourth sermons, as offering no particular points for observation, we proceed to the fifth, which is on the Law and the Gospel, from Gal. iii. 19: "Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added, because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to

The

whom the promise was made." In this discourse the bishop attempts to shew that the Law of Moses, both moral and ritual, was intended only for a temporary object, "until the Seed should come;" and that from that period, not only were its ceremonies superseded, but its precepts lost their sanction, and ceased to be even a rule of conduct. bishop's argument may be thus abridged. The Epistle to the Galatians is generally misunderstood. It is thought that the drift of the Apostle's argument is to convince the Jews, that justification cannot be obtained by their obedience to the moral law. The Jews, generally speaking, never imagined that it could. Their error consisted in supposing that their obedience to the ceremonial law would procure a pardon for the breach of its moral precepts, without any regard being had, in these performances, to the great Sacrifice, of which those ordained by Moses were only a type: and it was to correct this mistake, and to convince them that salvation was only to be had by faith in the atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, that St. Paul wrote this Epistle and to shew that a man might be saved" without the deeds of the law" of Moses, he states the case of Abraham, who was justified and accounted righteous before the giving of that law. "But to this argument a natural objection was raised. If the law be unnecessary, why was it given at all?" To this, the text is a reply: "It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made." This answer implies two facts: first, the law was, in some way or other, called for by the transgressions of mankind; and secondly, it was called for only until the coming of Christ. These two points the bishop undertakes to explain; and in reference to the first of them, he says, "There are three respects in which it may be said that the law was thus appointed" (namely, "because of trans