ciple, instructs him in Sungskrit, whether pure or corrupt, in the current language of the country, or by any other means.' "Amongst foreigners, those Europeans who believe God to be in every sense ONE, and worship HIM ALONE in spirit, and who extend their benevolence to man as the highest service to God, should be regarded by us with affection, on the ground of the object of their worship being the same as ours. We should feel no reluctance to co-operate with them in religious matters, merely because they consider Jesus Christ as the Messenger of God and their Spiritual Teacher; for oneness in the object of worship and sameness of religious practice should produce attachment between the worshipers. 66 Amongst Europeans, those who believe Jesus Christ to be God himself, and conceive him to be possessed of a particular form, and maintain Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be one God, should not be treated in an unfriendly manner. On the contrary, we should act towards them in the same manner as we act towards those of our countrymen who, without forming any external image, meditate upon Ram and other supposed incarnations, and believe in their unity. "Again, those amongst Europeans who believing Jesus Christ to be the Supreme Being, moreover construct various images of him, should not be hated. On the contrary, it becomes us to act towards those Europeans in the same manner as we act towards such as believe Ram, &c., to be incarnations of God, and form external images of them. For, the religious principles of the two last-mentioned sects of foreigners are one and the same with those of the two similar sects among Hindoos, although they are clothed in a different garb. "When any belonging to the second and third classes of Europeans endeavour to make converts of us, the believers in the only living and true God, even then we should feel no resentment towards them, but rather compassion, on account of their blindness to the errors into which they themselves have fallen. Since it is almost impossible, as every day's experience teaches us, for men when possessed of wealth and power, to perceive their own defects." Rammohun Roy and Edinburgh Magazine. [As every thing relating to Rammohun Roy is interesting to our readers, we extract from the Edinburgh Magazine (Constable's) for September, the following account of him, drawn up apparently by a personal friend. Some parts of this cominunication contain only what has been already before the public in our pages, but as it bears an authentic shape, we judge it best to preserve it entire. The letter is followed in the Edinburgh Magazine by some remarks which we cannot but regard as discreditable to the editors of that work. So much inconsistency and unacquaintedness with the subject is rarely to be met with in any one paper in any magazine of the present day. The writer first states his opinion that such persons as Rammohun Roy "are the most appropriate, if not the only instruments," by which Christianity can be introduced into India; and then he expresses his deep regret that the reformer "in his eagerness to fly to the greatest possible distance from idolatry, should have passed into the opposite extreme, and embraced Unitarianism." Would then the Editor have had the convert stop somewhere within the confines of idolatry? He says, indeed, that Unitarianism "strips Christianity of all its distinctive doctrines, and is, in fact, nothing else but natural religion masked," &c.; not knowing, we dare say, that Unitarians believe in the divine mission of Christ, in the resurrection of the dead and in a future state of righteous recompence. But, he adds, that "Unitarianism has invariably gravitated to scepticism," and therefore concludes, in opposition to his previous judgment of the sole fitness of such persons as Rammohun Roy to introduce Christianity into India, that "it would be better that Christianity should never find its way in the world at all, than that a form of it should predominate, which dispenses with the miraculous evidence of its divine origin," &c. Yet this very "form" of Christian doctrine, thus strangely misrepresented, he proceeds to exhibit to his readers in an extract of three pages from Rammohun Roy's "Second Appeal," designed to prove the natural inferiority of the Son to the Father." To save his consistency, he premises that his object in selecting the passage is "merely to exemplify the manner in which the learned Bengalee handles his subject;" and to re-assure any Scotsmen who may be afflicted with doubts in consequence of reading Rammohun Roy's argument, he says with marvellous simplicity, with regard to the doctrine it proposes to establish, Bishop Horsley, and, subsequently, Professor Porson," (yes, reader, Professor Porson!) "have already taken from under it every prop by which it was, or can be upholden." Is it possible that "Orthodoxy" in Scotland can depend upon such learning and such logic for its preservation? ED.] "MR. EDITOR, 66 "TH "Rammohun Roy was by birth a Brahmun, the highest dignity in Indian society; but being, from an early age, accustomed to be near Europeans, he saw the advantage, and availed himself of the opportunity, of becoming master of the English language, to which he afterwards added Latin and Hebrew. With the Arabic, Persic and Sungscrit tongues, together with the several vernacular dialects of Hindoostan, he is perfectly familiar. "His proficiency in English is best shewn by the style of his composition, as the powers of his mind are by the force of his reasonings, which have been declared, by one of the ablest judges living, to be stronger and clearer than any thing yet produced on the side of the question which he has espoused. "From what period we are to date his renunciation of the Brahinunical Holy Mysteries, or Secular Privileges and Honours, is not ascertained; but he has for many years been observed to take an active solicitude in spreading through small tracts in the native languages, portions of the Vedas and Shastrus, which oppose Idolatry, and the cruel and unauthorised devotion of widows to death on the funeral piles of their husbands. The Bible, however, has been his favourite study; and there are few, perhaps, who retain more accurately, or comprehend more clearly, its important contents. He is conversant, too, with the works of most of our celebrated divines; and, by his Lordship's own invitation, had some particular conferences with the late learned Bishop of Calcutta, on the subject of the Christian religion; and though he was not convinced by the Bishop's opinions and persuasions, he was wont to speak of the Right Reverend Prelate's erudition, piety and urbanity, in terms of respect and admiration. It is a well known fact, that the Rev. Mr. Adams, [Adam,] sent out by the London* Baptist Missionary Society to Calcutta, for the express purpose of converting Rammohun Roy to the tenets of his sect, was himself converted, and still continues a disciple of Christian Unitarianism, through the arguments employed, and the perusal of the authors recommended by the redoubted ExBrahinun; being at present the officiating minister in a Unitarian chapel in Calcutta, built by a subscription raised by Rammohun Roy and his friends. Yet such is the humility and generosity of Rammohun Roy's sentiments, that he never makes mention, much less a boast of this triumph, ardently supplicating God to render religion destructive of differences and dislike between man and man, and conducive to the peace and union of mankind.' (Vide Appeal to the Christian Public, p. 32.) To the diffusion *The epithet London is not used by this Society as any part of its denomination. ED. M. R. of useful knowledge and science, the freedom of the press, and civil and religious liberty, he is a firm, but rational friend. Of this, a note which he addressed to the author of the present outline, without the slightest aid or preparation, bears decisive evidence. "The note in question, which we shall here insert, was a reply to a gentleman who lately saw him in Calcutta, and relates to the institution of a Native Subscription School which that gentleman had originated high up the country, but which, after a promising commencement, was blighted, though not destroyed, by the ingenious subtleties and engrossing selfishness of priestcraft, conscious of its own unrighteous usurpations, and which, in India, as elsewhere, is eager to denounce and resist every step towards intellectual improvement, or the correction of superstition. in India. shall not fail to avail himself of it, should Providence enable him to visit that land in which, and which alone, he places his hope for either civil or religious liberty R. R. with a visit; he is a nice young man, possessed of good abilities. R. R. has the pleasure of sending a few copies of his publications, and three numbers of the Brahmunical Magazine, the production of a friend, of which he begs acceptance. † -'s Moonshee favoured "R. R. fervently wishes a speedy and agreeable voyage, and the enjoyment of the company of his friends in England. February 15, 1823." 666 "Referring to his design to visit Europe." +"List of Rammohun Roy's publications, referred to in his note of February 15, 1822. 1 Translation of the Ishopanishad, one of the Chapters of the Jajur Veda, establishing the Unity and Incomprehensibility of the Supreme Being; and that his worship alone can lead to Eternal Beatitude. 1 Ditto of the Cena Upanishad, one of the Chapters of the same Veda. 1 Ditto of the Vedant, or Resolution of all the Veds, the most celebrated and revered work of Brahmunical Theology, establishing the Unity of the Supreme Being, and that he alone is the Object of Propitiation and Worship. 1 Translation of the Monduk-Opunishud of the Uthurvu-Ved. 1 Ditto of the Kuth-Opunishud of the Ujoor-Ved. 2 Defence of Hindoo Theism, in Reply to an Attack of an Advocate for Idolatry at Madras. 2 Translation of Two Conferences between an Advocate and an Opponent of the Practice of "Burning Widows alive." 1 Brief Remarks regarding Modern Encroachments on the Ancient Rights of Females, according to the Hindoo Law of Inheritance. 1 The Precepts of Jesus, the Guide to Peace and Happiness, extracted from the Books of the New Testament, ascribed to the Four Evangelists. With Translations into Sungscrit and Bengalee. 2 Appeals to the Christian Public, in Defence of the Precepts of Jesus. 3 Brahmunical Magazines. The Missionary and the Brahmun. By a Friend and Countryman of Rammohun Roy, connected by interests, religion or language?' are Memoir of the late Rev. John Fleming, of Craigs, Minister of Colinton. (From the Edinburgh Magazine, for duelaide SADY "For the recent commencement of the Bengalee and Persian newspapers in Calcutta much, if not all, is if not all, to Rammohun Roy's patronage and exertions; and many of the best articles published in them are ascribed to his pen. His argumentative talents of the first order, and are aided by a remarkable memory, exceeding patience, and the gentlest temper. He cherishes a grateful sense of the vast and various blessings Great Britain has communicated to his country, formerly a ready prey to the lusts of tyrants, the rapine of banditti, and the desolations of civil war; whilst he is, at the same time, fully yet candidly alive to the imperfections in the British Government of India, more attributable, he conceives, to the negligence or incompetence of its servants, than to the system itself. The endearing private virtues and inappreciable public qualifications of the Marquis of Hastings, as a soldier, a statesman and a citizen, he greatly admires, and distinctly acknowledges; for he considers his eventful and glorious administration as having conferred immediately, more benefits, and, consequently, more happiness and prosperity, on Hindoostan, than was ever done before. He has long had an intention of visiting Europe, solely to enlarge his knowledge and experience, and gratify a laudable curiosity; but it is at present unknown when he will be able to carry his scheme into execution. His age may be, perhaps, forty-five; in person, he is tall and stout, with a most intelligent, pleasing and commanding countenance. He possesses a very handsome private fortune, the greater portion of which is devoted to useful or charitable purposes; one-third of his income, it is said, being assigned to his relations, another third employed in works of benevolence, and only the remaining third reserved for his personal expenses." "He is partial to the society and conversation of English gentlemen, counting in the list of his particular and intimate friends, many of the first wealth and respectability in Bengal." [We borrow this memoir from the work here named, not only because the subject of it, as an enlightened and liberal divine, is entitled to some record in the Monthly Repository, but also because we wish not that our reinarks on the preceding extract should leave an impression upon our readers unfavourable to the Northern periodical, which is evidently a compilation by very different hands, and which reckons amongst its contributors some the most distinguished friends to truth and freedom in Scotland. ED.] " "THE however limited the sphere of HERE are few individuals, their actions, whose lives may not be come an object of interest, when they are fairly and truly delineated. If a man has been gifted by nature with talents or abilities which have been obscured by indolence, we may learn from it the duty of exertion; if he has been actively and usefully benevolent, the good may profit by his example.ow goole od bobing rede The Rev. John Fleming, the subject of the present memoir, was born on the 31st of August, 1750, at the farm-house of Craigs, in the parish of Bathgate, West Lothian. His father was an industrious farmer, who, to his paternal property of Craigs, added another farm in the same parish, called Torbane: he died while Mr. Fleming was a boy, and left him the owner of these two farms, which, at that period, though now very much increased in value, produced a yearly rent of little more than fifty pounds sterling. The mother of Mr. Fleming, who appears to have been a person of great merit, was left a widow, with another son and daughter; and on this limited income, she not only educated her family respectably, but added to the commonstock by her own industry. At Mr. Fleming commenced his education at the parish-school at Bath gate. In his fourteenth year, he entered the University of Edinburgh, Here he gave early promise of becoming an excellent Latin scholar; he also made considerable progress in the Greek language, which he continued to cultivate during the rest of his life, by the reading of Homer and the Greek Testament; but the Latin classics, and the philosophy of ancient Rome, were the favourite objects of his study. "Having been originally destined for the clerical office, on the completion of the prescribed course of study at the University, he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Linlith gow. "By the early decease of his father, the management of the small property to which he succeeded devolved upon him; and not having any immediate view to preferment in the Church, he turned his attention, in a great degree, to the improvement of his paternal estate. His natural sagacity, and superior education, soon led him to perceive that the state of agriculture in his native parish was capable of great improvement; and he lost no time in making himself acquainted with the best modes of draining and enclosing, and the other farming operations, which of late years have added so much to the wealth and resources of the country. At this period, he often guided the plough, worked with his own hand in the labours of agriculture, and devoted himself with great enthusiasm to the cultivation of this primitive science and at a later period of life, it was his constant maxim, that to make two blades of grass, or corn, spring up, where one only had formerly grown, was conferring a solid benefit on the community. "The success of his farming operations soon induced his neighbours, in defiance of their peculiar prejudices, to adopt his improvements, and attracted also the attention of the great landholders of the county. At this time, and in the midst of these occupations, he was the friend and patron of merit, so far as his limited opportunities permitted, and was looked up to as a sound adviser, in those cases of difficulty or distress which occurred among the poor around him, or within the sphere of his influence. He was also frequently referred to as an arbiter in the disputes which occurred among his neighbours, in their domestic as well as their agricultural concerns; and from the solid judgment and benevolence of his character, with his knowledge of rural affairs, he was well qualified for the discharge of this duty. "Ten or twelve years of Mr. Fleming's life were passed in this obscure, though useful manner; and this interval afforded him, also, that leisure for reading and reflection, which were afterwards so conspicuous in the acquirements of his mind. Now, however, a new occupation opened to him, which promised more lucrative employment than that of the mere cultivator of his paternal acres. About the year 1786, he became factor for Neil, Earl of Roseberry, and his residence was transferred to that nobleman's estate of Barnbougle, near Queensferry. There he spent some years, and had the opportunity, under his Lordship's tuition, of acquiring much knowledge of the world and of actual business, being employed alternately as farmer, merchant, accountant or lawyer, as the case, required. This trust he executed with great judgment and fidelity, and in the course of it, he had many opportunities of bringing forward deserving men as farmers or overseers, greatly to the benefit both of the proprietors and the country. "His situation in life was now, however, to be more permanently fixed; for in the year 1789 he was presented by the Earl of Roseberry to the Church of Primrose, or Cairnton, in the Presbytery of Dalkeith, situated about ten miles south of Edinburgh, where he officiated as pastor for a period of fifteen years. "In the discharge of his ministerial duties, Mr. Fleming was distinguished by exemplary diligence; and his interest for the welfare of his parishioners was not exclusively confined to their spiritual concerns, but extended also to their worldly comfort and prosperity. In this respect the Scottish Clergy are pre-eminent, and cannot be too much commended. They have the advantage of holding a rank highly respectable in the society of which they are members, with the rare addition of not being too far removed from the middle and lower ranks, to prevent their being useful to both, by their advice or assistance, in the common affairs of life. Mr. Fleming, therefore, did not hesitate to apply his extensive knowledge to the discharge of every duty which he |