to the object of his heart's desire. At this time a grievous famine prevailed throughout the Carnatic, in consequence of the floods which had inundated the country; and in the general distress, the Native Government of Tanjore, apprehending extensive robberies of grain, sent a detachment of soldiers to the vicinity of Tranquebar, to protect the produce of the fields. Rajanaiken had the command of this company; and not long after his arrival he met with another Romanist, who was reading to a party of men an address of the Protestant Missionaries on the subject of alms-giving. Rajanaiken prevailed on the man to sell him the book, which, he said, he had received from the German priests at Tranquebar, remarking that they differed from their own priests in several respects, but especially in refusing to worship the Virgin Mary. This report was fuel to the ardent mind of Rajanaiken, whose curiosity was instantly awakened to know what these priests taught, resolving to ascertain, if possible, on which side the truth lay. He therefore requested to be informed how he could purchase more books of this description, and obtain access to the said priests. The man undertook to write to them for him, and procure what he wanted; but he withheld the answers that he received from Tranquebar, and made Rajanaiken pay him for the books sent gratuitously as for his own use. At length, detecting the man's imposture, he wrote himself, first to the bookbinder of the Mission, and then to the Missionaries, who immediately answered his letter in terms of encouragement; sent him, at his request, their larger Catechism, together with a copy of the New Testament and part of the Old; and accompanied their present with some brief directions how to read the sacred Scriptures for his improvement, assuring him that he might by diligent searching discover Christ in every part. Shortly after the receipt of this letter, he set off, in company with two of his brethren, for Tranquebar, in order to spend the Lord's day there, and to request the Missionaries to explain some doubtful questions which he had prepared to submit to them. Their ready solution of his difficulties gave him such satisfaction, and he was so pleased with all he heard and saw whilst with them, that he avowed to the bookbinder his conviction that the Missionaries and their flock were possessed of the true religion. After this he invited the Missionaries to his tent, to discourse with him on the subject that lay nearest his heart; and they soon became so interested in each other as frequently to sup together, and sometimes they kept up their discourse to a late hour of the night. In the exercise of his office, Rajanaiken had frequent opportunities to show his gratitude to his teachers in temporal matters. Though they required no favour at his hands for themselves, yet their people, some of whom were very poor, stood much in need of his protection, which he was glad to afford them for their pastors' sake. He remained at this post about a month; and when the time drew near for him to return home, he requested the Missionaries to admit him to the Lord's Supper; but, instead of immediately complying with his request, they advised him first diligently to inquire into the nature of the ordinance, and to examine the difference between the Protestants' and Romanists' interpretation of it, lest he should afterwards be distressed at the thought of having been led into error. They admonished him also to remember, that when he had taken this sacrament at their hands, he must consider himself a member of their church. This faithful counsel he was ready to adopt; and, after leaving Tranquebar, he continued to correspond with the Missionaries, submitting to them his remaining difficulties, and obtaining from them full information upon all the subjects in which he still required to be instructed. As his eyes became more and more open to the errors of the Roman Church, he laboured diligently to impart to his countrymen the scriptural knowledge that he had himself received; and his instructions were rendered effectual to the conviction of three Hindu soldiers, whom he soon after took to Tranquebar, to be taught more perfectly the way of salvation. Under the Missionaries' tuition they received the fundamental truths of the Gospel, and in due time were baptized. The wife of one of them soon followed his example; but another was not yet so happy. The parents of his wife, being much opposed to her forsaking their gods, demanded her dismissal, and took her home with them. Her heart, however, was with her husband, and, we may hope, with her Saviour; for in a few months her parents became more reconciled to her conversion, and allowed her to accompany her husband to the Missionaries, who admitted her into the church of Christ. Under the teaching of Rajanaiken, a Romish catechist, named Surappen, of Cumaramangalam, in the kingdom of Tanjore, became convinced of the errors of his own church, and of the truth of the Gospel. He then sent his son, Sattianaden, to Tranquebar, in company with one of the converted soldiers just mentioned, with a letter for the Missionaries. Rajanaiken had previously advised them to send their faithful assistant, Aaron, to learn more particularly the circumstances of the country, and also the mind of the people, in order to ascertain what probability there might be of success. They provided him with a packet of books for distribution, and also with a letter to the prince, Telunguraja, soliciting his protection. The prince answered their letter in terms of encouragement, assuring them of his continued friendship, and inviting them to visit him next year at a place about a day's journey from Tanjore, for the purpose of conferring together as to the best mode of proceeding. Meanwhile, Surappen was very active in his own village, and gathered several heathen together in his church, regardless of the severe threats of the Romish Missionaries, who at length anathematized and then excommunicated him. His son, also, Sattianaden, was no less zealous for the truth; and about the end of the year he took sixteen converts to Tranquebar, to be baptized. One of the men had been a Hindu devotee. After this, Sattianaden became so useful to the Missionaries in propagating the Gospel, that they did not hesitate to engage him in the service of the Mission, appointing him catechist over the little church which he had been the means of collecting. But before they dismissed him to his post, they devoted much time to his preparation, instructing him for several hours every day in the duties of a catechist; and in the beginning of the next year he was regularly set apart for the work. On his return home, he attended scrupulously to the instructions he had received, prepared the catechumens whom he had collected for baptism, and went to Tranquebar, from time to time, for further instruction as difficulties arose. These proceedings greatly enraged the priests against Surappen, the father of Sattianaden; and so vehemently did they press the old man to return to their communion, that he at last yielded to their importunity. But the son remained unshaken by the example of the father's apostasy. He laboured diligently in the midst of much persecution; and his instructions were rendered effectual to the conversion, among others, of a leading Romanist in the neighbourhood. This man had received several books from him, and was prevailed upon to visit the Missionaries at Tranquebar, in order to learn more accurately the difference between the two churches. The investigation having satisfied him that the pure faith of the Gospel was with the Protestants, he embraced their creed without further hesitation. This, and other instances of success attending the labours of Sattianaden, increased the wrath of the priests against him. But it were tedious to relate all their malevolence and plots to dishearten this faithful catechist, and to turn his little flock from the faith. Their efforts proved, however, of no avail. Rajanaiken, shortly after his return to Tanjore, joined the army of the Prince of Marawar, who sent him on duty to Ramnad. While there, he improved every opportunity to diffuse the knowledge of Christianity: he also circulated a printed account of the Tranquebar Mission, both in the camp and through the surrounding country. These publications fell into the hands of some Romanists among the Mara wars and in the adjoining province of Madura, several of whom were convinced of the truth of what they read. Among these were two non-commissioned officers, who paid great attention to the Gospel; and so extensive was the effect produced, that the Roman catechists here, also, began to be alarmed for their church. The success which had attended his labours in the cause of Christ induced Rajanaiken, after consulting his friends, to resolve to quit the army, and devote himself entirely to the service of the Lord. He counted the cost, and was prepared to renounce all for Christ's sake. Rajanaiken was growing in years; but there does not yet seem to have been any diminution of his zeal in the Saviour's cause. He was still faithful and active, preaching the "pure Gospel of Christ" in the kingdom of Tanjore; and he was honoured with great success, even among the Romanists, many of whom saw at last that they were wrong in opposing him, became convinced of their errors, embraced the truth as it is in Jesus, abjured Popery, and joined the true church. In one of his reports, in 1747, he attributes this favourable change in one place to the influence of a friend in authority. He says:-"The Lord has cut short the persecution of the Romanists in Tanjore. The governor of the town, who had continually stirred them up against our converts, was discharged from his office. The person who now fills the post is a well-meaning man, with whom I have long been on very friendly terms. With the Mohammedans I have had much success lately, though chiefly among the lower classes." He diligently availed himself of these improved circumstances for the benefit of the people, not knowing how long they might last. The Missionaries describe him at this time as cheerfully attending to his ministerial duties, and reading the Scriptures very diligently, to qualify himself more and more for his sacred office. This faithful servant of Christ laboured equally among the Mohammedans, the Romanists, and the Heathen for more than forty-four years with distinguished success, and was honoured to be called home suddenly to heaven immediately from a congregation to which he had been ministering. In the character and career of Rajanaiken are seen some of the fruits of Ziegenbaly's labours; and, also, the methods pursued by Beschi for the defence of his cause and the suppression of the truth. Rajanaiken's father was murdered while endeavouring to save one of his sons from the hands of Romish persecutors; his family estate was confiscated and alienated; he narrowly escaped the weapons of Romish assassins: but he made no reprisals, except that of testifying "the Gospel of the grace of God." This account of one of the early converts of the Tranquebar Mission, whose conversion was instrumentally owing to the translation effected by Ziegenbalg, has been abridged from Hough's "History of Christianity in India." SELECT LITERARY NOTICES. [The insertion of any article in this list is not to be considered as pledging us to the approbation of its contents, unless it be accompanied by some express notice of our favourable opinion. Nor is the omission of any such notice to be regarded as indicating a contrary opinion; as our limits, and other reasons, impose on us the necessity of selection and brevity.] The Threshold of Revelation: or, some Inquiry into the Province and true Character of the first Chapter of Genesis. By the Rev. W. S. Lewis, M.A., Incumbent of Trinity Church, Ripon, and formerly Chaplain of Trinity College, Cambridge. Author of "Landmarks of Faith," "Preaching to the Unconverted," &c. London: Rivingtons.-It has been plausibly asserted and maintained, that geology and the first chapter of Genesis do not agree together; but we venture to affirm that the word and works of the Creator, when rightly understood, do not contradict one another; and we welcome any contribution in support of this truth as not without use to the believer, the inquirer, and the objector. The little work of Mr. Lewis is not a premature attempt to reconcile the statements in the first chapter of the book of Genesis with the present imperfect knowledge of geology, nor a reply to all the objections which have been raised on the question. His object is of a more important character; namely, to institute a careful and independent investigation into the true purpose and province of all revelation, and especially of the early portion of the Book of Genesis; and to show the exact nature of the connexion between Holy Scripture and the discoveries of science. The Scriptures are a collection of the most remarkable writings in the world, and claim an authority above all other writings. They profess to contain communications from the Creator of the world to His human creation on subjects relating to their present well-being and their future destiny. These writings, in successive ages of the world, have been received as Divine by the leading races of mankind. They have revolutionized human society, wherever free scope has been allowed them; and they have created a tone of morality unknown before in the social life of heathendom. They have, moreover, the testimony of the experience of thousands in successive generations, that these writings are no cunningly devised fable, but a light sure and certain to guide the inquirer in the way to everlasting life. These facts afford a strong presumption in favour of the claim of the Scriptures, as containing communications from God to man; and the argument of Mr. Lewis proceeds on the assumption-Suppose the Scriptures to be what they profess to be in reference to their main objects; and then examine them and test their truth on this view. Mr. Lewis thus illustrates his method of procedure : "It is well known that the now familiar scientific principle of universal gravitation was suggested originally by the motion of bodies on the earth. When repeated observation of the same and similar motions had confirmed the original suggestion, and when a great number of facts had been collected bearing testimony in its favour, this was considered sufficient prima facie evidence for advancing it to the higher rank of a deliberate hypothesis or assumption. The next step was to apply this assumption as a test of itself. Calculations were accordingly instituted, many of them of a singularly complex and recondite character, as to the effects which ought to ensue-supposing, that is, this assumed principle of universal gravitation to be sound in connexion with the shapes and masses, and greater and minor movements, of the heavenly bodies. Then these movements as calculated on this supposition, and the same movements as actually observed and recorded, were compared with one another. The issue we all know. The two were found most surprisingly and minutely to agree; the things that ought to have been, and the things that actually were, turned out almost uniformly identical; and the further the comparison was instituted, and the more these became known on both sides, the more consentient they were found. In this way, therefore, the assumption became finally (and very reasonably, too) to be regarded as established; and was assigned that conspicuous place held ever since. All of us can underamong scientific certainties which it has stand this method of reasoning; and all who do so, will acknowledge readily, that it is indisputable and conclusive. similar reasoning, we say, then, as far as may be, be applied to the Bible." Let In this way he proceeds to ascertain how far the statements in the first chapter of Genesis appear worthy of the great Author to whom the assumption attributes them; how far they harmonize with the other successive Scriptures; and how far they agree, or are meant to agree, with the language of His works. He next enters into the consideration of the details of what the first chapter of Genesis teaches concerning God and concerning man, and how far this teaching is supported and confirmed by the rest of Scripture. Many curious and surprising coincidences arise in the course of the examination, of such a nature and character as to preclude the possibility of design or collusion. In the second part is considered what connexions may exist between the early portion of the book of Genesis and the discoveries and conclusions of modern science; how |