scale of reason, they denied the existence of a God.

At the age of eleven, I went to sea. The change of scene, from pious society to that in which I heard nothing but God's name taken in vain, cursing, swearing, and all the wickedness a floating hell contains (for they are nothing better,) at first alarmed me, and filled me with so much horror, that, had not shame deterred me, I should certainly have relinquished the profession.

These scenes, however, soon became familiar. After several voyages to and from America, Portugal, and Russia, I left England for India; and then commenced, without restraint or reluctance, my ma career. At the age of seventeen, left without a friend either to controul or advise, I pursued my own inclinations. My first trip was to -, where I was soon initiated into every scene of vice; here I took a deep draught of the polluted stream, and drank in iniquity like water; here every serious idea was banished, and every conviction of conscience smothered, by scenes of drunkenness and debauchery; and here I said unto God, Depart from me, I desire not the knowledge of thy ways.' Oaths and imprecations flowed from my mouth like muddy water from a polInted fountain. Suffice it to say, here my conscience became scared as with a hot iron. To dress an oath in a new garb, to invent new imprecations, and pour them on my fellowcreatures, was to me delightfuloaths, the relation of which would make you, as it does me, shudder, I was going to add, and atheism itself blush.

After remaining some time at this place, Providence directed my steps to Calcutta, and soon after to Europe, where I had an opportunity of spending six days with my parents and serious relations. You will naturally ask, how I conducted myself during my stay with them. As Satan himself may be transformed into an angel of light, I became a hypocrite for six days, and with wonderful dex

terity suppressed all improper language, adapted my conversation to theirs, accompanied them constantly to chapel, joined in their family de-. votions; and appeared almost a christian. But Plymouth received me as I had left it, the garb of hypocrisy was left behind, and my real character resumed.

As you are now acquainted, from the preceding statement, with my character, I shall not take up your time in describing the scenes at Plymouth, but leave you to judge what was to be expected from such principles, in a sea-port town. I shall, therefore, return to India, only observing, that, having on our pas sage put into the island of St. Jago, I was for a short time aroused from my lethargy by two memorable dreams, which I will here omnit, and once more carry you to whither I soon after went, to command a ship I had building there. Finding none of my old companions in vice, and but one or two Europeans, I found such a void, that it brought on a fever and the hypocondria, the latter to such an extreme that I had actually determined on terminating an existence no longer sufferable. The arrival of a friend at this juncture, who, knowing the cause of my disorder, took steps to remove it, was the mean Providence used to recover me from such a dreadful state, but not from my des perate career. Having quitted this place, I returned to --, where my mind began to look for some resting place. My acquaintances of the Masonic order, earnestly urged me to join their society, and become a member of the institution. As it appeared adapted to my situation, I became a Mason, and traversed the various steps up to what is styled the Royal Arch degree; but here I made a pause. The insignia of the next step deterred me from going any farther, and I refused it, lest in taking it I should advance too far to recede. I had long obliterated the name of our blessed Redeemer from my creed, and I found

Masonry, as far as I had gone, consistent with my ideas; but I was, as I before said, deterred from going farther, judging that the jewel worn by this order related to our Saviour, or his religion: and, as I was, with peculiar hardness of heart, determined to have no connection with any thing relative to him or his, I refused taking the degree, although assured by my acquaintances, that the cross with the serpent entwined round it, as worn by the order, had no allusion to our Saviour or the Christian religion. So invetirate was I against every thing that had even the appearence of Christianity, that all their persuasions and assertions could not make me embrace an order, the insignia of which were emblematic of our Saviour's death. Soon after this, I became disgusted with Masonry: I heard a great deal of charity, but saw little; it appeared to me to consist chiefly in a few donations to some benevolent institutions, wherein the charity of the individual was not perceptible. Temperance was extolled as a great Masonic virtue'; but it appeared to me, she was an unwelcome guest longer than the lodge was assembled, after which, the whole that remained of her was her picture in the Lodge. I now quitted Masonry, and remained a confirmed deist, abhorring every thing that bordered on Christianity. In this state, I sailed from

to

and arrived at where I met new companions, and new scenes were now opened. Being disappointed in my expectations at this place, I undertook an excursion My companions were perfect atheists: they had extracts from Voltaire, and other writers of his principles, Paine's Age of Reason, and a numerous selection of sayings, adapted to win others to their way of thinking. These were suitable to my ideas; I wished all they said true, and used exertions to believe it so. The bible was ridiculed, as a set of cunningly devised fables;' our blessed Lord, as an impostor; the apostle Paul, as a diabolical by

pocrite, who had seduced his master's daughter (from whence they had this story I know not); and the other apostles, as a set of vagabonds. In the state in which my mind then was, you may judge of the effect these things had. They almost won me over to their sentiments, and eertainly succeeded, except in the denial of a God. This I could 'not attain to; I could never lie down at night without addressing a prayer to the deity, but it was immaterial to me under what form, Jehovah, Jove, or Lord.' I was equally as particular with a female companion, in making her address herself to her pagan deity, as I was in praying to the Supreme; so that I cannot say I embraced their atheistical principles, although, as I observed before, all my conduct was of that nature, that one who really believed there was a God could hardly have been guilty of such actions as I was. It appears, I rather wished there was no God; for, by admitting one, I became au accountable creature, and then my actions rose up in judgment against me; but the recollection was soon stifled in wine or amusements. I was at length released from these companions, and fell in with a professed deist, with whom I lived, and found his principles congenial with my own.

Our conversation was generally, when alone, on the absurdity of the Christian religion. Paine's Age of Reason was studied, and extolled as irrefutable. I had read in the Critical Review of attempts to answer this book; but the reviewers that I read did not admit them as at all refuting it. At length I fell in with a young man who informed me that the Bishop of Llandaff had refuted the whole, and that Paine and his Age of Keason ought to be burnt together. This staggered my faith in his principles; but I had settled my mind into complete deism, had corrected my morals, and, being by all my friends esteemed a moral character, a long calm ensued, and I thought all was safe. I acted honestly to all, had compassion on the

kelpless, and gave my mite where distress called for it; and, by such actions, I justified myself before Him who hath said,' In his sight no flesh can be justified.' At this period, I first went to hear Mr. Carey, at Serampore. As I entered, he gave out the hymn, Sinner, O why so thoughtless grown,' &c.-words that came with some force to my mind; but, as I did not go with any intention of being attentive, the hymn passed over: nor do I recollect the text; for I was so thoroughly determined not to be led away, that I endeavoured to turn a deaf ear to all that was said, till he touched on the depravity of the human heart. I thought he sunk us too low; but, after describing several characters, and drawing inferences which I thought very applicable to myself, he asked what people of this description meant to do if his doctrine were true. I really did not know what they were to do, except fly to that Redeemer I had with such inveteracy rejected. However, such was the effect of these few words, that I, who swore as it were mechanically, never uttered another oath, and became determined to seek him whom I had so long despised: yet the thought seemed almost presumptuous; for how could I expect he would love one who had so determinedly hated him? And here I did that which many others have done. I endeavoured to recommend myself to God by my own good works, by flying from those sins I had so long cherished, and by a determination to make myself better and more acceptable in his sight, and thus erecting a righteousness of my own, and making the righteousness of Christ of no effect. But I trust this fabric has fallen; the more I became acquainted with his holy word, the more the building tottered. For by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.'* Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in

Christ Jesus,' Not of works, lest any man should boast.' These, and similar passages, cut up all dependence on self-righteousness; and I trust I was brought to see the necessity of following our Redeemer in his own way, and earnestly to implore him to receive me as I was, relying on his promise, that he would in no wise cast out those who came to him, though their sins were as scarlet, but that he would make them white as snow; and, through his divine assistance, I hope to run with patience the race set before me.”

Substance of the Speech of Charles Marsh, Esq. in a Committee of the House of Commons, July the 1st. 1813, in support of The Amendment moved by Sir Thomas Sutton, Bart, on the Clause in the East-India Bill, "enacting further facilities to persons to go out to India for religious purposes." Is. THIS is one of those celebrated speeches produced by the application to Parliament for leave to send Missionaries to India. It is said in the advertisement to have made a great impression when delivered. Mr. Marsh may congratulate himself with being the most powerful advocate of Juggernauth in the British House of Commons; and should "the god" be able to choose his own officers, who knows but the british Senator may be made collector general of the revenues derived from his worshippers or superintendant of the amusements in the interior of his Tentple.

:

This Speech is another awful proof that the carnal mind is enmity against God. Mr. Marsh cannot mention the friends of Christianity without using opprobrious epithets and abusive language. The Baptist Missionaries of course come in for their full share of his contemptible scurrility. Our readers shall judge for themselves.

"And are the Missionaries, whom this Bill is to let loose upon India, fit engines to accomplish the greatest revolution that has yet taken place

in the history of the world? With what weapons will they descend into the contest with the acute intelligent Hindoo, prepared to defend his religion by reasonings drawn from the resources of a keen and enlightened casuistry, and wielded with all the vigour of a sharp and exercised intellect? Will these people, crawling from the holes and caverns of their original destinations, apostates from the loom and the anvil, and renegades from the lowest handicraft employments, be a match for the cool and sedate controversies they will have to encounter? Should the Brahmins condescend to enter into the arena against the maimed and crippled gladiators that presume to grapple with their faith, what can be apprehended but the disgrace and discomfiture of whole hosts of tubpreachers in the conflict ?"

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This "keen and enlightened casuistry," acute intelligence" and "vigour of a sharp and exercised intellect," are all gratuitous; they cut a pretty figure from the mouth of an orator, but there are no such things in India. The human intellect is there on a level with the moral feeling; both are degraded and disgraced by puerilities which had they existed in a christian society would have called forth all the sarcasm and contempt this gentleman could muster up against them-but the Hindoos not believing in the christian revelation, his bosom owns a kindred feeling, and he treats them with a brother's kindness. Admiting the origin of the Missionaries to have been low, and that they were originally mechanicks, what has that to do with their talents, their literature, or their success? We were a little struck with the strange inadvertence of Mr. Marsh mentioning the loom, as it will doubtless lead some people to think of his own origin! They may conclude that he reproached his father's honest calling!

For our parts we have been in the habit of connecting meanness and degradation with vicious actions, and

uot with secular employments and honest callings. Had Mr. Marsh, for instance, been able to prove that our Missionaries in the pursuit even of laudable objects, had contracted debts which they could not discharge, or were arrested for demands which they could not answer, this might have fixed an odium upon their characters and have affected their reputation; but these are charges which do not apply to THEM!

The following is a fine piece of enthusiastic rant about the purity and happiness which distinguish the Hindoos, and which he fears may be destroyed by Christianity!

"When I turn to her philosophers, lawyers, and moralists, who have left the oracles of political and ethical wisdom, to restrain the passions and to awe the vices which disturb the commonwealth; when L look at the peaceful alliances of families, guarded and secured by the houshold virtues; when I see amongst a cheerful and well ordered society the benignant and softening influences of religion and morality; a system of manners, founded on a mild and polished obeisance, and preserving the surface of social life smooth and unruffled-I cannot hear without surprize, mingled with horror, of sending out Baptists and Anabaptists to civilize or convert such a people, at hazard of disturbing institutions, which appear to have hitherto been the means ordained by Providence of making them virtuous and happy."

The religion of this virtuous and happy people includes the immolations of widows, the destruction of female infants-burying persons alive-self-destruction under the wheels of Juggernauth! and daily prostitution in the temples of their gods-are these "benignant and softening influences?" Are these "the institutious ordained by Providence to make them virtuous and happy? Of what materials is that mau's mind constructed who cannot hear of a design to convert such a people to cluistianity "without sur