tian and a Rogue shall sound as synonymous in the ear of a prejudiced European”—What, I ask, does he mean by deploring this, when he can himself use such strong, such unmeasured terms, to bring the most sincere and devout Native Christian, as well as the most abandoned outcast, under this very suspicion and contempt?

I leave him to extricate himself from these dilemmas as he may, while I proceed to affirm, that his charge is not applicable to the Native Protestants. I have proved the integrity of some others I know, who have held places of trust under Europeans, and fulfilled their duties to the satisfaction of their employers: and nothing can be more satisfactory than the testimony borne by the Serampore Missionaries to the character of several in their service*.

I can give an instance of a Heathen, also, who knew how to appreciate their character. When I was at Tanjore, in 1821, the Rajah† of that Fort was gone on a Pilgrimage to Benares, attended by a retinue of Brahmins and others.-Whom did he select for his purse

* Vindicia Seramporianæ, pp. 49, 50.-See also pp. 24, 25. + This is the Heathen Prince who some years ago gave an endowment of land, producing an annual revenue of 500 pagodas, towards the support of the Protestant Mission in his dominions.

bearer on the journey?—I was informed, by a Gentleman there, that a Native Protestant was appointed by him to this responsible office!

But, supposing the Protestants, as a body, deserved one-half of the reproach which M. Dubois so unsparingly heaps upon them, they would at least prove this point, in opposition to his assertions, that the Hindoos may be weaned from their idolatrous practices. Though he will not allow that the 23,000 Protestants in India have attained to Christian perfection, yet, since not one of them is allowed to retain any Pagan Superstitions, he can no longer maintain his position, that their prejudices &c. are "insurmountable."

If he object to this conclusion, that they are persons from the lowest castes, and that therefore they had less to relinquish than those in the higher ranks of society, I reply, that many of them are from the most respectable castes. I myself am acquainted with. several Moodalyars and Pillays, and I know of some Brahmins. These, though they form the minority of Native Christians, are more than enough to support my argument, in favour of the possibility of converting the Hindoos. But even were the assertion, that all the Native Protestants are from the lowest castes, correct, it would not form an objec

tion against my position; for the Abbé himself admits, that "the low-born Pariah” is tenacious of" the childish distinction of the Right and Left Hand," lays "much stress" upon it, and considers it " the most honourable distinction of his tribe;" and says, that if you try to persuade him to lay aside that distinction, as "wholly incompatible with the first duties imposed upon him by the Christian Religion," "your lectures, your instructions, your expostulations, on such subjects, will be of no avail; and your Christians will continue the slaves of their Anti-Christian prejudices and customs: "(pp. 64, 65.). This, we are to conclude, is the experience of himself and other Jesuit Missionaries: and any one who has read with candour the description, given in these pages, of the means which they have employed to convert the Hindoos, or to establish them in the faith when converted, will not be surprised at their failure. But Protestant Missionaries have met with better success. I could have shewn the Abbé, when in India, some devout Pariah Christians, who have entirely renounced "the childish distinction of Right and Left Hand,' and are leading exemplary lives. Indeed, I know not the Pariah Protestant that has not renounced that distinction: and though all

the 23,000 Native Protestants in India were of that low caste-(they form, however, the minority of the 4000 in Tinnevelly!)—they would still furnish ample grounds for my conclusion, that the Protestants have found it possible to convert the Hindoos to the faith of Jesus Christ.

Still, however, my argument requires not so great a number of Converts for its support. I have no occasion to endeavour to prove, that they are all real Christians, and the subjects of Divine Grace. There is no Congregation, and perhaps there never has been, of which this can be said: the tares and the wheat have always grown together. My object is to shew, that the work of Grace is begun in India: and this I have done already, in the characters given of several Native Teachers employed in various parts of that country. I will affirm of several, with whom I am intimately acquainted, that, as far as one human being can judge of the heart of another, (and "by their fruits ye shall know them,") I have met with "sincere and undisguised Christians."-I will detain the Reader with only two or three proofs of this, in addition to what has been already stated.

In 1821, when travelling from Tanjore to Tranquebar, I was stopped, about midnight,

at Combaconum, and conducted to a building where refreshments were prepared for me. I soon found that the person who was paying me such attention was a Native Protestant, named Pakeyanaden, the English Interpreter of the Court at that Station-a man of respectable abilities, and who, but for his Christian profession, would, I have no doubt, rise to the highest post a Native can fill.

After I had finished my repast, he conducted me to his house, where his family were waiting to receive me. After some conversation, and being joined by several other persons, we united together in singing a Hymn, reading the Scriptures, and Prayer, in the Tamul Language. This was the first time I had joined in the devotions of a Native Christian Family at their own house, and I could not but express my approbation to my host. But he replied, that this was nothing new; that they always commenced and closed the day in the same manner; and that on that evening they had deferred their devotions to that late hour, in expectation of my arrival.

Europeans, who view only the surface of Native Society in the East, contend that the Missionaries are doing nothing amongst the Hindoos. But what will be said to this instance, of a small company of Christians, in