vinces of the island, where, as I have already observed, during the late disturbances, he has rendered the British Government several important services. May his life be long preserved for the service of the gospel! And may his heart ever esteem it his greatest happiness to become in any way, subservient to the glory of God in the salvation of his heathen countrymen!

Amen.

A letter, which he himself wrote, a few days before his departure from Colombo, to our Missionary Committee in London, (See Missionary Intelligence in our October Number, page 785,) gives a plain unvarnished representation of him. To this I beg to make reference; and shall only add the following translation* of an essay or sermon, which he wrote shortly after h baptism on the subject of Christianity. It is addressed to his heathen countrymen, and to the heathen in general, and is entitled, "The Demonstration of the Truth of the Christian Religion, and the Creation explained.”

TRANSLATION, &c.

It is reasonable to believe that there must be one God, who created the world, and all the creatures, and all other things which are therein. Should a person, on his entrance into a wilderness, destitute of human beings, behold an artificial edifice there, he would think within himself, "This edifice, which is extremely artificial, and which bears evident marks of harmony and design in its construction, must have been the work of some most skilful person." He would not attribute it to chance. Thus, in like manner, the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the stars, and all that in them is, as they form one harmonious and glorious system, and exhibit the utmost contrivance and skill in their formation, must have been the workmanship of some great and elevated Divine Being. It is unreasonable to attribute them to chance; as it would be also to suppose that they had been made by men, or devils, or inferior deities, as it is in the books of the Budhist religion. Allowing these beings to have had an existence, of which we have no proof at all, still how could they have formed works so superior to themselves?

Therefore it is becoming a reasonable man to believe what is said on this point in the book of the Christian religion, that all these things were created by a true, eternal Supreme Being,

*For this translation we are indebted to the kindness of Mr. Philipsz, the third Maha Modelier, and Principal Interpreter to the Honourable the Supreme Court of Judicature in Ceylon, a much respected native Chief, of sterling Christian principles; from whom, and from his colleague, Mr. Dias, another much respected native Chief, we have received many kind attentions, which I am happy to have this opportunity of acknowledging.

Lord of all the worlds; and believing this, it is obvious that there is one most true God.

It is, on the contrary, quite unreasonable to believe, according to the Budhist religion, that the existence of all these things is by chance; and besides, in this respect neither is the Budhist faith any more consistent with itself than it is with right reason. For if it be true that the existence of all things is by chance, as it affirms, how then can it be that some things have been created, by the deities, which it also maintains; therefore, that is not to be believed which is stated in the book Dharrmadda Jataka, and several other books of the Budhist religion, that palaces, places of bliss, celestial worlds, &c. &c. have been created by the deities, and by Budhu. If it be true, on the one hand, that these things have been created by the deities, and by Budhu, it cannot be true, on the other hand, that the existence of all things is by chance. So that one part of the Budhist system contradicts another part of the same. It is easy, therefore, for men of understanding to perceive, that this representation is not a true one.

Some, who have no understanding, will say, that if all these things have been created by God, has any one ever seen him? Is it possible to believe in a being that was never seen? In answer to this, we say, and let our sober judgment decide on the propriety of the reasoning, a man does not see his own soul: but is he, on that account, to believe that he has NO SOUL? It is plain and obvious that there is in man a living soul, or spirit, which is distinct from the body, which is invisible, and not to be perceived, and which exists within us wonderfully and mysteriously. And, if it is by our spirits, which thus so mysteriously exist within us, that all the actions of our bodies are caused to be done; consequently, it is perfectly reasonable and proper to believe that there is a mysterious SACRED SPIRIT, the actuating Soul of universal nature, the invisible but Divine source of every good motion, of every good thingOUR GOD!

Who is this SACRED MYSTERIOUS SPIRIT, who hath created all things? It is obvious to men of understanding that he is the SUPREME BEING, all powerful most merciful, high, and gracious. It appears, from the creation of all things, that he is high and all-powerful; and that he is most merciful unto all, may be seen in that he has appointed his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer many miseries and death, for our redemption, who cheerfully laid down his life to raise us to his kingdom. Let all men adore THIS GOD-THIS SAVIOUR.

There is but one God, who created all this. It is unreasonable to believe, as is taught in the Budhist religion, that there are many deities or Gods. For if it be not the case that there

is one Supreme Divine Being only, who governs all things, and controls all events, how could the world and all things be made to remain in the same harmonious state; all the various parts of the creation contributing as much to the general comfort as to the general glory and beauty of the whole. If there were many deities presiding over the world, would there not be a frequent danger of interruption to the general course of events, from their differing opinions and jarring interests? Supposing the God of the sun were to refuse to let the sun shine by day; or the God of the moon cover that luminary with darkness by night, what would be the condition of mankind? Therefore, there are not many Gods, but one, who is the Supreme Governor and God of the whole world.

As the Supreme Being is one, so ought his doctrine, and worship, and service to be one and the same, among all his rational creatures. This is reasonable. So that the people who avoid the Christian religion, which is revealed by that GREAT BEING for the salvation of the whole human race, and who believe in different other religions, by the misleadings of the devil, will surely suffer great miseries if they do not obtain the mercy of God. Let us consider, if a man is subject in this world to various punishments, who does not obey the law of the sovereign of his country, notwithstanding he may be at the same time obedient to subordinate authorities, how is it possible to express the guilt, and condemnation, and punishment that will be in both this world and the next, upon those who adhere to religions that are merely of human invention, and neglect and transgress the authorised laws of that Supreme God, who is the only Sovereign of both worlds! The soul of a superior is of the same substance as that of the inferior. The place they obtain in heaven is the same. So that the same religion may be suitable alike to all men, whatever their nation, or language, or character may be. Likewise all the principal objects in the world are in their nature simple, single, and uncompounded. We have one sun and one moon; God is one, and the soul of man is one. Therefore, it is consistent with reason, that there should be one sacred religion for the salvation of the world, which is the most sacred Christianity.

Besides, the Christian Scriptures, even the law which was given to Moses, by God, and which Moses himself wrote and promulgated in the world, very many ages since, from that time until this day continues invariably and unchangeably the same; without change, without alteration, without corruption, without uncertain mixtures of superstitious tradition. The sacred books of the other religions are not so. On the contrary, the books of some of those religions were written some centuries after the death of the several authors of such religions. Can we won

der, then, at finding in those books so much error and so many fables? many of them so unsuitable to the purity of a Divine Being, and the dignity of a religion such as would become an immortal creature, not to say a rational creature. It is plain that men of understanding will not believe that those books are Holy Scriptures.

Therefore, those who do not profess the Holy Christianity, in which there is no doubt and uncertainty, and do profess the other uncertain and fruitless religions, which will never bring them eternal salvation, are like unto those who, leaving the highway through which one enters into a city, are wandering about in the suburbs thereof, having no certain resting place; and like those foolish and misguided children who call their nurse their mother, leaving their mother who brought theu into the world; and like those who distribute the fruit of a goodly tree among the people passing along in the road, and who give none to him who planted the kernal, and had taken care of the tree till it bare fruit; and even as those who do not regard the orders of their own lawful king, and submit themselves zealously to those of hostile kings. Such persons, therefore, notwithstanding they may be acquainted with all sciences, and may be practically perfect in all things charitable, and extremely liberal, will surely hereafter undergo unspeakable miseries, and shall be doomed to inherit the curse of the foolish, the ungrateful, and the rebellious.

And, moreover, if any person, though he may be rich to the extent of all his desires, and adorned with every greatness of family dignity, yet if he disobey the law of the king of the country, he will be subject to all the punishment due to his disobedient and rebellious conduct, and will never be promoted to any station of honour under his Sovereign, whom he has offended and contemned; so, in like manner, he who professes religion merely from temporal motives will never be promoted to the favour of God, nor be raised to enjoy the felicities of heaven. Therefore he who expects to triumph in the next world, must labour more for the salvation of his soul than for the means of temporal life.

It is possible that some of the natives of my country may imagine, that I have acquired a great fortune by submitting to the direction of the Sovereign of the country; yet men who are capable of judging on the subject will not imagine so; they will consider, that the fact of my having already forsaken all my own fortune, which was not inconsiderable, as is well known, is of itself a sufficient proof that I have become a Christian not for motives of temporal gain, but for the salvation of my soul.

But, my dear friends, do not think that I count myself to have lost any happiness or comfort, by becoming a Christian. Even at present I have every thing in sufficiency and abundance; and my faith in God, will, I trust, be constant till the end of my life, whatsoever want it shall please him that I may feel. My Lord, the Saviour, should he cause me to endure any need, will make greater my happiness in both worlds. Of this we have an instance in the Sacred Writings of the Christian religion. We learn therefrom that satan, having obtained leave from God, to make trial of the faith and holiness of a man whose name was Job, one who was very rich, and feared God daily in his mind, in a great degree; satan destroyed his children, and all his riches, and brought upon him great bodily pains, and various troubles and distresses; but his sincere faith and religiousness failed him not; and as he suffered with patience and submission, and did hold fast his integrity even unto the end of his trials; the Lord bestowed upon him again double and treble of all his former riches and affluence, with children. Therefore, my friends, of intelligence, think not that it is impossible that a sincerely religious man should meet with troubles in this world; but, remember, that the eternal God our Saviour will never forsake such a man, neither in this world nor in the world to come.

With respect to the bliss of a future world, the insufficient religion which I have by the mercy of God forsaken, gives no security whatever, even to the most virtuous. For as it denies the existence of one GREAT SUPREME, to whom can it direct us to look for the bestowment of that bliss which the immortal soul pants after, when it shall have done with the cares and employments of this transitory life? The Budhist system of faith teaches that the obtaining of a happy or unhappy state shall not be the result of any Divine arbitration or decision upon our character, but that it shall be in the mere course of events. Where is the security for this? This is the same as to say, that a workman labouring without any connection with any master shall obtain his wages merely as the natural effect of the work done. How small an inducement would this be to any workman to exert himself, unless he knew the master he had to serve, and had full confidence that his toil would be certainly rewarded by him?

In the Christian religion it is not so. There is in it both certainty and security. It instructs and assures us, that there is in existence a SUPREME BEING, the Lord of the worlds, who will, for the sake of JESUS CHRIST, forgive the sins of those who turn to him with a true faith and repentance; and that to those who obey, submit, serve, and continually worship him, to the end of their days, he will surely, through the merits of Christ