and school-mafters at Tranquebar. His conversion to Chrif tianity caufed a great commotion among the Heathens; but now all is quiet again.

1

We have begun to fet up fome manufactures, which we hope may prove beneficial to the main work we are carrying on. We look upon our youth as a flock or nursery, from whence in time plentiful fupplies may be drawn, for enriching our Malabar church with fuch members as will prove a glory and ornament to the Chriftian profeffion. It is true, there are but few of the grown Heathens that are willing to be baptized: and yet there is always a concourse of people attending our fermons, and other parts of divine fervice and many undoubtedly return with ftrong convictions left upon their minds. All this gives me a fair profpect of getting a larger door of the word. fet open.

At the entrance of this year, I wrote, by way of a letter, a fort of general invitation to all the Malabar Heathens, and. laid down therein the most fubftantial points of the Chriftian faith. Many copies, both of this letter, and of some of the gospels lately translated, have been given away to the Heathens. I have passed through maný populous towns and villages in my way hither, and every where declared the gospel of Chrift to the Heathens I met with.

I have alfo been at fort St. David, where I had the honour to acquaint the governor, and the whole English council, with the design we were engaged in. I must needs say, the English have showed me much civility, and expreffed no fmall fatis faction.

In our way hither, we lodged feveral times with Bramins, who entertained us kindly, and with great attention ‘hearkened to what we delivered about the means of falvation. Yefterday I arrived in this town, and was kindly received; both by the governor and other gentlemen that are here fettled. I defign to stay a month here, in order to preach the gospel to fuch Heathens as are scattered hereabouts. This is truly a town' conveniently

conveniently fituate for planting the Chriftian religion among the Heathens; if the English, who own it, would but join in the fame defign, intended for the common good, and the welfare of the Pagan world.

But then fuch perfons must be pitched upon as, with a generous refignation, are ready to confecrate, themselves entirely to the fervice of thefe deluded Pagans. For, fuch as int the miniftration of fpiritual things are hurried on by base and finifter ends, and come over to gather up fome rarieties in the Heathen world, or to purchase a few uncertain riches, and fo turn half-merchants at laft: thefe, I fay, would do no good among the Eastern nations, who commonly eftimate the Chrif tian religion by the life and conduct that shines in its professors.

If Chriftian princes and states would but lay to heart the prefent ftate of the Heathens in these parts, great things might be both attempted, and, under the gracious influence of the Lord, happily brought about at this time. There is ftore of promises in divine writ, tending to a more univerfal display of the gospel of Chrift. These muft be laid hold on as the true bafis and ground work of all our endeavours in this caufe. The Roman-catholic miffionaries have made a wonderful progress, and continue to over-run the Eastern countries. But fince their chief defign is, to make, profelytes to a party only, the fouls that fall under their management, are left in the utmost ignorance, without receiving fo much as a real tincture of inward piety, or of a faving converfion to God. At this rate, they go aftray like loft fheep, and remain altogether strangers to the grand myfteries of falvation. Nor do their priests take the leaft pains to train them up to a competent knowledge of divine things; but fuppofe they have fufficiently answered the character of a miffionary, when the Heathens have learnt to perform the external and customary, formalities of the church of Rome.

**

IT

THOUGHTS

on

SUICIDE.

T is a melancholy confideration, that there is no country in Europe, or perhaps in the habitable world, where the horrid crime of self-murder is fo common as it is in England! One reafon of this may be, that the English in general are more ungodly and more impatient than other nations. Indeed we have laws against it, and officers with juries are appointed, to enquire into every fact of the kind. And thefe are to give in their verdict upon oath, whether the felf-murderer was fane or infane? If he is brought in infane, he is excufed, and the law does not affect him. By this means it is totally eluded; for the juries conflantly bring him in infane. So the law is not of the leaft effect, though the farce of a trial flill continues.

This morning I asked a coroner, "Sir, did you ever know a jury bring in the deceased Felo de fe? He answered, “No Sir: and 'tis pity they should " What then is the law good for? If all felf-murderers are mad, what need of any trial concerning them?

But his plain our ancestors did not think fo, or thofe laws had never been made. It is true, every self-murderer is mad in fome fenfe, but not in that fenfe which the law intends. This fact does not prove him mad in the eye of the law: the queftion is, was he mad in other refpects? If not, every juror is perjured who does not bring him in Felo de fe.

But how can this vile abufe of the law be prevented, and this execrable crime effectually difcouraged?

By a very eafy method. We read in antient history, that at a certain period, many of the women in Sparta murdered themselves. This fury increasing, a law was made, that the body of every woman that killed herself, should be exposed naked in the freets. The fury ceafed at once.

Only

Only let a law be made and rigorously executed, That the

body of every self-murderer, lord or peasant, shall be hanged in chains, and the English fury will ceafe at once.

Liverpool, April 8. 1790.

J. W.

A Conjecture concerning the Peopling of AMERICA.

[By the Rev. Alexander Catcott, M. A.]

"HAT America was peopled after the flood is plain, from

THAT

the inhabitants thereof having the knowledge of that event. And fince the tradition of the flood was univerfally fpread throughout that vast tract of land, and acknowledged by the several nations thereof to have been delivered down to them from the highest antiquity, we may reasonably fuppose, that it was peopled foon after the deluge; whilst the knowledge of the fact was fresh and lively upon the minds of the original inhabitants. Again, when this part of the world was first difcovered by the Europeans, the inhabitants were found ignorant of the art of writing with letters, and could record things only in the antient hieroglyphical way, by signs and emblems; hence it feems also evident that it was peopled very early.

This will further appear from their ignorance of the art of working iron into useful tools or warlike weapons, till the method was discovered to them by the Spaniards. For, though there is plenty of iron ore in America, yet the ancient inhabitants were ignorant of the ufe which the Afiatics and Europeans make of it; and inftead thereof ufed fhells, bones, or generally hard ftones, which with immenfe labour and trouble they fhaped by grinding or whetting into the utenfils or weapons they wanted.

The art of manufacturing iron was known before the flood (Gen. iv. 22.) yet it feems to have been loft foon after. Now, fince the Americans had no other tools or weapons but fuch as were formed out of ftone, &c. it is evident, they departed

from

from us before the working of iron was in practice after the flood; for, had they ever known this ufeful art, it is not pro bable they would have loft it any more than ourselves; and fince we have retained it for these several ages back, even from time immemorial, it is certain that the Americans departed from us before that time.

Another confideration, which may be brought in favour of the early peopling of America, is, that the inhabitants were ignorant of that noble and ufeful ftructure, the arch, and even of building with morter or any kind of cement; and yet their edifices confifted of ftones great beyond imagination; and thefe flones were fo artificially wrought and placed upon one another, that in many places their joinings were not vifible. "And that which is moft ftrange (fays Acofta,) these ftones not being cut nor squared to join, but contrariwise very un equal one with another, both in form and greatness, yet did they join them together without any cement, after an incredible manner: all this was done by the force of men, who endured their labour with an invincible patience.".

Certainly if they had known the use of morter or cement, they would never have taken such a tedious method as this. Now the firft poft diluvian account we have of cement being ufed in building was at the tower of Babel (Gen. xi.) but as this, in all probability, was that pitchy substance called Asphaltos, with which that country particularly abounds; fo, unlefs the Americans had difcovered a fubftance of a fimilar nature in their new land, they could not think of making use of any other, and would be as much at a loss for what we now call morter, as if they had never heard of any think like it. Indeed we cannot conclude from hence, that they departed from us before the building of Babel; but only before the general use of morter or cement ; and even this was very early, as the remains of the oldeft buildings in the world, fuch as the pyramids of Egypt, &c. edify, in which the morter is visible at this day.

The