imposture, he produced an old dirty parchment, in which he had forged in the Deva Nagree, a deed showing that the Brahmins of Rome were of much older date than those in India, and the Jesuits of Rome descended in a direct line from Brahma himself. It is even narrated, by one of his own order, Father Jouvenci, that when the smoky parchment was questioned by some of the Hindoos, Nobili declared upon oath, before an assembly of the Brahmins of Madura, that he derived, really and truly, his origin from the god Brahma himself. By such means, we are informed, he gained over to his system twelve eminent Brahmins; and multitudes, by their instrumentality, were influenced to adhere to his instructions. In letters written from the scene of action, they boast of having baptized thousands in each year, while they assure their correspondents that they were not precipitate in the admission of candidates to this initiatory rite, and assert, that the noviciates, after their reception, lived like angels, rather than like men.

Such, then, was the apparatus employed for setting up the Romish cross among the myriads of India, while the same course was pursued in other eastern countries: but this was not all; secular power was added to fraud, and the fires of persecution were lighted up, when the alliance of temporal power gave security to the incendiaries themselves. Hence, we read, the former glory and sad reverses of Udiamper. This was formerly the residence of Baliarte, king of the Christians; and here is the

Syrian church at which archbishop Menezes, from Goa, convened the synod of the Syrian clergy in 1559, when he burned the Syriac and Chaldaic books. The Syrians report, that while the flames ascended, he went round the church in procession, chanting a song of triumph. Ruthless Goth! A fit instrument to usher in the reign of superstition, and to extend the kingdom of darkness! The ultimate consummation of their plans has been, that, in the year 1810, the members of the Roman Catholic communion amounted in India to about seven hundred thousand; in China, Tunquin, Cochin China, and Siam, according to their own reports, to five hundred and eighty-five thousand. In the latter countries, their ecclesiastical corps numbered two hundred and thirty-one native priests, forty-three European missionaries, seven apostolic vicars, and fourteen bishops; while in India, these emissaries of Rome might be estimated at three thousand priests, and twelve or fourteen bishops, who divided the lordship of the poor, misguided, and ignorant people; besides various orders of monks, and other regular ecclesiastics, Carmelites, Capuchins, Augustinians, and Jesuits, who, as locusts, which go forth to eat up and destroy, are in India, as in every country over which they wander, opposers of that which is good.

I was inclined to put many interrogatories to my Indian friend, concerning the character and influence which this people maintain; and his benevolent disposition, true Protestant feeling, and frequent opportunities of observing, in remote, as well as in more public places, furnished him with many facilities; so that he was able to describe truly what representation they give of the doctrines of the Cross, and what means were attainable for ameliorating their condition, and removing the stigma, the reproach of their corruptions, from the name and cause of Jesus. For it is but too true, that the papacy, from whose ministers the wounded and inquiring spirits of aroused Brahmins and other Hindoos can derive no satisfaction, is spread as a mock gospel, as a foe to the truth in the East; and is, next to the wicked lives of professors, the most perplexing and dangerous to the half-informed minds. It is evident that the Indian papist can still give himself to such miserable expedients as were at first resorted to for the propagation of their system; and it is ascertained that they will cheerfully admit the votaries of heathen abomination to a share in their own miserable pageantry, and can the next day actually return the sad compliment by a willing and kindred homage to the dead and sordid gods of old Indian idolatry.

There are many of the Roman Catholics of Madras descendants of the first Portuguese invaders, degenerated, no doubt, from the primitive stock, but perhaps not more so than the inhabitants of the mother country in corresponding circumstances. They are generally in the lower stations of society, and are employed as writers or subordinate clerks in government and in merchants'

offices, as mere transcribers. They are ignorant, and unambitious of mental improvement; they speak a corrupted dialect of the Portuguese language among themselves, but have generally some knowledge of English; they are extremely fond of display, and of imitating the frivolous amusements and costume of the gayer English. In this presidency they are excluded from the army, as are all Christians, and often from the most subordinate civil appointments: though the same restriction does not extend to half-caste Mohammedans, some of whom have been known to rise to the rank of commissioned officers, subidar or jemidar, in the Madras cavalry. The Portuguese were not allowed to farm ground, nor hold a plough. Some of them have attained wealth and respectability notwithstanding, rising from the lowest ranks of society to be esteemed while living, and affectionately regretted when removed from the intercourse of their friends. An old merchant of Madras, whose history I received, was a case in point. He arrived at a cantonment of British troops as a helpless and unfriended youth, without even a name, a stranger to all who dwelt there; no parent to watch over him, and no instructor to guide him. The camp or the garrison presents a truly fictitious state of society, and often yields so much the more a ready and wide field for enterprise and advancement. Here his first employment was, from necessity, of the humblest description; he procured a scanty subsistence, but he was steady; besides energy, decision, and application, he recommended himself by a readiness to serve, and a good-humoured compliance with the wishes of his superiors. He obtained friends, and found means of attaining improvement. He was known to every one by his serviceableness, and acquired a local cognomen equivalent to John of the Mount. He went with indefatigable industry through a succession of servile employments, but aspired to a higher than a menial station; he obtained a knowledge of letters and accounts; he gathered a little money, and employed it in traffic; he speedily, but cautiously, turned his first gains to second advantages. According to his means he could not be deemed parsimonious, yet his stock increased, and with it, his influence was augmented. He finally rose to affluence and respect. He was numbered among the members of the Romish com munity, but the ghostly influence of the priest over him was partial indeed; he was a singular exception to the bigotry and intolerance of his religion. His purse was open to every generous work, and his hand liberally followed the motions of benevolence: education was promoted by his aid; he contributed to institutions for this purpose when living, and bequeathed resources to be enjoyed after his death, by purely protestant establishments. He was the friend of the indigent -he was the patron of the deserving; he promoted merit, and exhibited a nobleness of mind, which rose superior to the influence of his early life; and when he died, such was the esteem in which he