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REVIEW OF RELIGIOUS PUBLICATIONS.

Periodical Accounts relative to the Baptist Missionary Society, No. XI. 8vo, Is.

We have mentioned lately (in om Magazine for April) some enin the couraging circumstances mission of our Baptist brethren; and we have read, with much pleasure, the details in the present Number of their publication; the contents of which are as follows:

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1. Extracts from Mr. Marshman's Journal (addressed to Dr. Ryland.) The most remarkable circumstance here related, is the following: About forty years ago, a man, by birth a cow-keeper, pretended to great sanctity, and to cure diseases by the Choron Amreeta, or " Immortal Water of his Feet." He is succeeded by his son Ram Dulol, who pretends to work the same miracles; and is so liberally supported by his devotees, that he lives in the style of a Rajah,― in a stately mansion, and surrounded with wealth and luxury. With this impostor they had an interesting conversation. His most distinguishing tenets are, "That cast is nothing, the debtahs nothing, the brahmans nothing;" yet his disciples comply with all the forms of superstition (which they call Outward Work); and maintain the horrid notion, that God, dwelling in us, is the author of all our sins. This man and his followers were much pressed to receive Bengalee Testaments; but in vain. However, as their principles tend to weaken the established superstitions, they are so far favourable to the propagation of the gospel. Of the manner in which the Missionaries attempt this, we have an interesting account in the following extract from this Journal, by Mr. Marshman:

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"May 16, Lord's Day. Going out in the afternoon to Chatterah, I asked Kemol the brahman, Whether he would like to accompany me? He complied with great readiness. I was the more pleased with this, as Chaucrah is the residence of his wile, and her family; "the governing

branch of which had, a few days before, forbidden him the house, on account of his attachment to the gospel. We accordingly went to the village, attended with Petumbur senior, .expecting our usual reception there,contempt and ridicule. We walked slowly along the street till we came to a shop where a brahman was sithim. I accosted him, "Well, brahman, ting, with large heaps of cowries before you seem to have a deal of money before you Money is a good thing for this world; but for the other world we want something more." "Oh,' said he, "I want nothing but money! If I have that, I can secure my eternal welfare." "How?"

By doing holiness, and making offerings God is so poor as to need your money? to God.' "And do you suppose that No, brother; the God of the whole earth can need nothing from you. You may corrupt an earthly judge; but in the great day, when God will judge all men accord ing to their works, you will find him in corruptible; neither will he regard any name; sooders, brahmans, gooroos, and debtahs will then receive according to their deserts. Where will Seeb the adulterer, and Creeshnoo the liar, then appear? and that day? Now God calls upon you to what will you, their worshippers, do in receive mercy, through his Son, whom he gave up to death for sinners"-By this time a large crowd was gathered round us, to whom I turned, and amplified the above ideas. Kemol was, in the mean time, in the crowd, answering the questions put to him, with "Hear, weigh in your minds, judge." Petumbur, who was by me, being poticed by one of them as busy in explaining and persuading, was accosted with, with, and take the cast of the Mleech's >' He replied, "I have been many years among you; but I found weither love, truth, nor compassion. What is a man without these? I heard of this great word; I came, I examined, and have found substance."-This brought on a great deal of abuse, which Petumbur took very pa tiently; and, at last, he completely si lenced this railing brahman, with, "Is

Who are you? A Hindoo? What! eat

anger a fruit of holiness, or of sin?" After spending a few moments in prayer, and distributing papers, we departed.

"In our way home, another brahman attacked Petumbur on his eating with us. He replied, "Nothing which God has made for food is forbidden; and what en ters a man defiles him not: anger, rage, and lying make a man sinful.” The max

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was so cut down with this reply, that he went off in a rage. Not having taken Pe tumbur with me before, I could not help being pleased and thankful on such an oc casion, to observe an old venerable Hindoo defending the truth with so much propriety and spirit."

Extracts from Mr. Ward's Journal.

"Serampore, April 10, 1802.-This day the people have been going about with ropes and canes in their sides, swords thro' their tongues, &c. I heard of two devices which were new to me: →→ One man thrust the stail of his umbrella through his tongue, and held it thus over his head as he walked and danced along. Another man had two dreadful snakes put through the skin of his arms, their heads being in his hands; but he suffered them to bite him shockingly. Their poisonous teeth, however, were cut out. I also heard of one man who fell upon a sword, and cut himself dreadfully.

"April 12. A brahman, who has been here once or twice before, and who lives with Dulol, the famous leader of the new sect, came again to-day. He says that Dulol sent him to get baptized first; that Dulol will follow, and bring with him 100,000 of his disciples! We suspect the whole to be a tale of deception. This brahman talked of having been convinced of fin, and of taking refuge in Jesus Chrift. He was very talkative; but Kemol made him a little more slow."

After these Journals, follow two Letters from Mr. Carey and Mr. Marshman to Mr. Fuller,-and the official Letter from the Missionaries to the Society; in the latter of which we have a list of the number baptized: being thirteen natives, and four Europeans; beside eight natives, constant hearers, and several children growing up.

After this, we have several other Letters, full of piety and intelligence, which must rejoice the heart of every friend to the Missionary cause; and from two of Mr. Carey's letters we extract the following very interesting passages :

"Calcutta, August 31, 1802.-A most encouraging circumstance has lately occurred, and which has much strengthened our hands. About three months ago, three Mussulmans came from a distance to hear the gospel, and requested that one of us would pay them a visit; which we promised to do after the rainy season, when the passages by water would be open. About six weeks since, one of them, de

puted by the rest, came again, to conduct any of us who could go. Brother Marshman was the only one who could undertake so long a journey; and a better could not have been chosen for the purpose. He therefore went; and took with him Petumbur Mittre and Pharut. The place where they live is in the district of Jessore, near the river Isamutv. Brother Marshman, on his arrival, found about 200 persons who have, for several years, rejected cast. They are Mussulmans and Hindous, formerly of various casts They were con vinced of the folly and wickedness of both the Hindoo and Mussulman faith, but confessed that they were ignorant of what was right; and hearing of us, they were very Brother desirous of knowing the gospel.

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Marshman's reception among them exceeded all expectation. Many were gathered together, ready to hear the word when he arrived, having had previous notice; and they heard the word with a kind of pleasure and eagerness seldom seen in this country. They desired us to write to them, and to visit them, promising to visit us when they can. In short, a hopeful prospect presents itself. In returning home, Brother Marshman got intelligence of another body of Hindoo Dissenters, whom he determined to visit. He did so ; and found that at another place, about a day's journey nearer home than the place he had visited, there are at least 2000 persons who have publicly renounced their cast. They received him with great pleasure, and were desirous of seeing him again."

"The late opening in the eastern part of the country, more than balances all our distresses. They have a society of up wards of 200 persons, who have rejected all worship of idols, and all honour to Mahomet; and, what is more, they reject of the vices which other natives many practise with an unblushing countenance. Since they have known us, the whole body of this people have received the Bible asthe word of God: they meet together to read it, and to pray; and intend to erect a place for themselves, where they can meet for worship. They now also call themselves Christians, and esteem us as their brethren.

We really hope that some of them are trully converted; and indeed all of them, whom I have seen, appear to be seriously inclined. I trust they will cre long have a gospel - church formed among them. I was surprized to see with what facility they could turn to any place of Scripture: they did not seem to be more at a loss to find a passage, than a person would, who had been accustomed to the Bible all his days. The do trine of the Trinity is pe culiarly abhorred by Mussulinans; and these people held a council, which lasted three days, to consider whether this dec

trine could be admitted or not. It ended with an universal acknowledgement of it; yet, leaving it as a mystery, in the same manner as Christians do in general.

From the continuation of Mr.

Marshman's Journal, with much pleasure we add the following short

extract:

Nov. 11. We hear that Mr. Gericke, a missionary on the coast of Malabar (ap pointed by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge) has been a journey into the Mysore country, and near to Cape Cormerin. Whole villages, it seems, have agreed to throw their idols out of their temples, and fit them up for the worship of the true God. It is said he preaches almost day and night; and has baptized more than eight hundred. people.

The great importance of these extracts must be our apology for their length; we are desirous to give the most extended circulation to good news from so far a country; and can assure our Christian readers, that the whole accounts will highly graify them in the perusal.

Periodical Accounts relating to the Missions of the Church of the United Brethren, No. XXXVI. 8vo, 15. Though this be the 36th No. of the Brethren's accounts, it is the

fourth only which has been printed for general circulation; the former publications being confined to subscribers to the mission. The contents of this Number are as follows:

1. A Diary of the Mission at Hoop, on the Corentyn. This cou tains many pleasing particulars; yet the mission has suffered greatly from the small pox. Query, Would it not be a great blessing if the vaccine inoculation could be so far extended?

2.

Diary of the Mission among the free Negroes at Bombay, in Surinam; from which we extract the following remarkable instance of a guardian Providence:

On the 14th brother Mehr went with our own negroes to the Prapraba-creek, a voyage of two hours, to prepare some cedar-planks, cut two months ago, and conwey them hither. They returned on the 17th, in very rainy weather, but in good health; and only complained that, during , the nights, the bats had attacked and bit them. On the 19th, they set out again to

finish their work, and took a live tortoise with them, which they meant to kill, and make a good meal of in the wood. Having tied this creature so fast to one of the posts of their hut, that it could not possibly disengage itself and escape, the negroes went to a place about an English mile off, to get some fish. They do this by means of a species of wood, which is cut small, worked into powder, and strewed upon the water. The poison contained in it stupifies the fishes, and causes them soon to appear as dead, swimming on the surface. Brother Mehr was meanwhile employed with the cedar-planks, till overcome with fatigue, he lay down in the shade, near the tortoise, and slept about an hour. During this time, a tyger came to the place, tore the tortoise off the pole, and dragged it into the wood; brother Mehr remaining fast asleep, on awaking and perceiving what had happened, he was much alarmed, and thanked the Lord for the gracious preservation of his life, while in the power of such an animal. He adds, however, that it was a lesson to him to be more cautious in future in so dangerous a situation. The negroes soon arrived, and brought so large a quantity of fish, that they could not consume them all; and the tortoise was not missed. On the 22d, they returned home with their cargo of planks, and a fish called Haymar, one of the largest and best fithes in this country weighing zolb.

example of sweet Christian simpli To this we add the following city and piety:

Aug.3. In the evening-meeting, the fourth and fifth chapters of the second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians were read and expounded. After it was over, John Arabini, Joshua and Andrew, our oldest ne groe brethren, sat down on the bench be

fore our house, and immediately entered upon a spiritual conversation. Brother Wietz sat down by them, and heard them, with tears of gratitude, thanking the Lord for what he has done in the hearts of some of this most idolatrous nation. It may not be unpleasant to our readers to see a part of their simple conversation inserted,

able what our Saviour made of such a man John Arabini said, "It is inconceiv

as Paul was before his conversion: what a teacher he became, though he had been the greatest persecutor of Jesus and the believers; and how he could write such things as we have just now been hearing in the church. And what has not our Saviour done for us! I was the leader at every dance and merriment, as you all know. You also know, that, as heathen, we indulged in every abomination, a

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gluttony, and drunkenness. I was the chief drummer; and you,Joshua, and you, Andrew, were the chief singers and noisemakers. Our women and children danced with us; and thus we spent whole nights in every kind of profaneness and wild uproar. We also carved idols in wood, or formed them of clay; consecrated then, put victuals and drink before then, com. mended ourselves to their protection, and fell down with our children prostrate before them, addressing them with great earnestness, and mentioning to them our de. sires and wants, which, however, only regarded earthly enjoyments. We thought we were doing right; but were worshipping the Devil. And yet God had mercy upon us. He would not that we should be lost eternally." The other two brethren confirmed all this, and exclaimed, —“ O, merciful Lord! receive a thousand thanks and eternal praises, that thou hast sent teachers unto us, or we should have yet been in the same darkness." John added, "Which of us then thought, that we should be one day sitting on this bench, singing unto the Lord?" He then began to sing several verses, treating of the unmerited grace of Jesus. This loud singing brought more brethren, and sisters, and children together, who stood around us. Andrew said, "Our Saviour sweated bloody sweat in the Mount of Olives for us. He has delivered us from sin and eternal judgment. O, let us love him with our whole hearts, and no more grieve him as we have done! O, hɔw I mourn that I am still so far behind!" John then began to sing the verses:

"Thy blood so dear and precious, Love made thee shed for me," &c.

Andrew then gave out some more verses; and the conversation continued afterwards for a long while upon the fall of man and his redemption through Christ Jesus.

No. 3, 4, and 5, are Letters from the free negro, Christian Grego, from Antigua, and from Bavian's Kloof; all which will be read with much pleasure by those who love our Lord Jesus, and wish good success to the Missionary Work.

The last article contains various accounts, from which we extract only the concluding paragraph.

6.The number of brethren and sisters em.

ployed in the missions of the brethren, in
various parts of the world, towards the
close of the year 1802, is as follows:
In the Danish West India islands, in
six settlements,
three ditto,

Za Greenland,

XI.

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On the whole, we also cordially recommend this Number to the pe rusal of our readers; and if a Gazette, which relates a signal victory, tho' at the expence of thousands of lives, be read with avidity and pleasure, with how much interest ought we to read the bloodless victories of the gospel, as detailed in the Missionary Accounts of the United Brethren, the Baptist Society, and the Missionary Society in London ? The latter publication, being nearly formed into a volume, is intended for review in our next Number.

The Poor Man's Commentary on the book of Genesis, by the Rev. Dr. Hawker, 12mo, price is.

THE idea of publishing a Commentary on the Bible for the Poor, and in so cheap a form, certainly does honour to the benevolence, as well as the judgment of Dr. Hawker. The poor man who, either by his own industry, or the benevolence of a friend, possesses that inestimable treasure, a Bible, and who is anxious to understand its sacred contents, and compare spiritual things with spiritual, will feel many obligations to this popular Writer, whose plan comprizes the following interesting particulars:First, An introduction to every book, and a table of contents to each chapter. 2. References to other passages of Scripture, by way of il fustration; with occasional eluci. dations and remarks. 3. Reflec tions at the close of each chapter, by way of improvement.

It was said of two celebrated 16 commentators, Cocceius and Gro S s

tius, that the one found Christ every where, and the other no where, Dr Hawker is of the former school, and Jesus is the name which he every where "delights to honour :" so much so, that we fear, in some instances, he has overlooked the primary and literal sense, to introduce allegories, which can hardly be justified. He writes, however, with great modesty; and the general design is so good, and its tendency so excellent, that we earnestly hope the author will be spared to prosecute his design, and that it may be a standing blessing to the church, especially its poorer members.

A Collection of Hymns from various thors, intended as a Supplement to Dr. Watts's Psalms and Hymns. By G. Burder, ninth edition, enlarged and improved, pott 32mo, Is. 6d. bound. Demy 24mo, fine paper, with a portrait, 25. bound.

The sale of eight preceding and considerable editions, sufficiently expresses the public opinion on the utility of this Supplement to the. labours of Dr. Watts, which supplies the various subjects and metres wanted in his psalms and hymnns, without burthening congregations with an expensive volume. In this edition the work is increased, by about fifty additional hymns, chiefly as the editor informs us, on the grand topic of redeeming love.

We are authorised to add, that, as the former edition has been some

time out of print, this is the only

one now extant with the editor's

knowledge, or which is published under his inspection.

A Probationary Sermon, preached in the chapel of the Lock Hospital, Dec. 12th 1802. By the Rev. W. B.

Williams.

8vo. 15.

"The author's idea of a probationary sermon is, that it should contain a faithful outline of the preacher's sentiments, especially, if there are any points, on which an after-declaration of them may be at tended with disappointment, if not dissatisfaction. He also apprehends, that such a discourse thould be studiously plain, in order that his fu

ture endeavours may always exceed, rather than fall short of his present exertions. Under these impressions the substance of the following pages was delivered ;" and the sermon is now reprinted at the desire of several governors." Of the discourse itself, we can say no less than that it fully answers the author's ideas of what it should be; and we might add, much exceeds the modesty of its pretensions.

Pardon of Sin in the Blood of Jesus: a Sermon preached in Philadelphia. By J. M. Mason, of New York, 8v0. 15.

A few copies only of this disCourse having been imported from New York, gives us another oppor. tunity of paying a tribute of respect "to the talents of the author, whom we have repeatedly had occasion to commend. The manly eloquence and energy of this discourse have been admired by those literary characters who dislike its evangelical doctrines.

LITERARY NOTICES.

THREE Volumes of the Posthu. mous Works of the late Dr. H. Hunter (containing Sermons, Lectures, &c.) with his Life, are in the press. long engaged in a general History of Mr. James, of Bristol, has been the Baptist Congregations in Bris tol, which he is preparing to publish by subscription. The following recommendation is subjoined to the Dissenters in the reign of Charles II. proposals. "The sufferings of the descendants. The above work will, cannot fail to be interesting to their we suppose, contain more informatilates to the city and neighbourhood on on that subject (especially as it rehath hitherto appeared. We thereof Bristol) than any thing which fore heartily unite in recommending it to the attention of the public." Signed by Dr. Ryland, Messrs Jay, Bicheno, Fuller, Hall, Wilks, Hey, Estlin, Lowel, Knight, Palmer,

and Button.

Mr. Jefferson, of Basingstoke, hath also issued proposals for a small volume of Poems and Essays on Sacred, Moral, and Literary Subjects, to be published by subscription.

[Our Monthly List of Publisations is unavoidably deferred.]

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