give a dipping or immersion" is a burlesque translation, being contrary to the English idiom, and the word in Marat'ha merely having the sense of the simple verb to dip, immerse, as the above compound verbs merely signify to abuse, to answer,

to assist.'

In respect to the instance in which the word owl is said to be used instead of the word dove, after stating some very strong improbabilities that Dr. Carey (who, by the way, is a distinguished naturalist, as well as philologist,) could have made and have persisted for years in such a mistake, Mr. Greenfield adverts to the three different styles which are employed in the extensive country where the Marat'ha is spoken, and expresses his opinion, which he sustains with satisfactory reasons, that the word in question may in one of those styles signify an owl, and yet in another a dove.

Mr. Greenfield shows, that in the instance next alleged, the remarks of the writer in the Asiatic Journal betray a disregard of Marat'ha idiom; and that if fairly translated from the Marat'ha into English, it would be, Behold the young sheep of God,' or 'the lamb of God.' He also observes, that'similar paraphases are not uncommon in the oriental languages, and are frequently and preferably employed even though those languages may possess single words to express the same idea.' And as to the assertion, that one of the words employed is not a Marat'ha word, he remarks, that it is quite as good as a great portion of words in that language; such as the words corresponding to anxiety, sense, a sleeve, reputation, peopled, great, noble, and a thousand others.'

We come now to the 'strange assemblage of words' purporting to be a translation from the Marat'ha version of the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th verses of the first chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. Mr. Greenfield gives the Marat'ha words with a literal interlinear version; and the following, he declares, is according to the English idiom and collocation of words'; 'Having made choice of us in him before the laying of the foundation of the world, that we should be pure and blameless before him with love; for that purpose having bestowed all spiritual blessings in heavenly things through Christ, he hath made us possessed of blessings, and by this grace hath made us accepted in the beloved person, for the praise of the glory of that grace of him, who hath before appointed us that we should obtain adoption to himself, according to the pleasure of his own mind through Jesus Christ, blessed be he the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In which beloved we obtain freedom, that is, deliverance from sin, through his blood, by the great riches of his grace.'

He then adds; This is a true representation of the Marat'ha text.' In commenting upon the version of this passage presented by the Asiatic Journal, he mentions several words, the meaning of which the writer in the Journal has quite misapprehended.

In other instances, Mr. Greenfield's defence of the Marat'ha version is equally satisfactory; and we cannot resist the impression, that great injustice has been done to Dr. Carey, and that very erroneous representations have been made of the translations on which he has been occupied. And as the statements in the Asiatic Journal respecting the Marat'ha New Testament have so clearly been shown to be groundless, it seems to us the dictate of candor that we at least suspend our judgment on the unfavorable representations concerning the labors of the Serampore missionaries, contained in the Correspondence relative to the Prospects of Christianity in India.'

6

Mr. Greenfield also notices the assertion in the Asiatic Journal, that the Serampore Marat'ha New Testament is quite unintelligible to all persons whose native dialect is Marat'ha.' After exhibiting many and powerful considerations against this assertion, he introduces the testimony of Rung-nath, chief Moonshe or Pundit in the Marat'ha language, to the Honorable East India Company. I have received,' he says, the copy of the Scriptures. The Holy Book, which you have translated into the Marat'ha language is cORRECT. All the MARAT'HAS WILL UNDERSTAND IT; of this there is no doubt.'

Mr. Greenfield concludes his pamphlet with the following paragraph; Having thus fairly and fully examined all the charges advanced by the writer of the critique against the Marat'ha Version, the reader will now be convinced, that they have been founded in ignorance and error, if not, in some cases, in wilful and deliberate misrepresentation. It has clearly appeared, that his reasoning is illogical, his statements false, and his retranslations decidedly erroneous; while the whole has been mixed up with the grossest inconsistencies and the most palpable contradictions. Mistaking assumptions for arguments and assertions for proofs, he threw into the scale the weight of his "name" and " reputation," and persuaded himself that his readers would concur in his condemnation of the Serampore missionaries. They have, however, proved light as gossamer before the breeze. Truth, like the morning sun, has rolled away the foul mists of error, and discovered to our view the river of the water of life, full, deep, and clear, flowing in the pure channel of the Marat'ha. Human passions and prejudices have not discolored its waters, nor imparted a dele

terious quality to its fertilizing stream; and we may hence expect that in due season it will cause the wilderness and the solitary place to be glad, and the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose.'

Since many of the readers of the Christian Examiner have probably been led to form an incorrect opinion on this subject, the editors, we are confident, will deem it but an act of justice to insert the present communication.

Yours with Christian love,

Newton, June 2, 1831.

IRAH CHASE,

H. J. RIPLEY.

ART. IX. On the Formation of the Christian Character. Addressed to those who are seeking to lead a Religious Life. By HENRY WARE, Jun., Professor of Pulpit Eloquence and the Pastoral Care in Harvard University. Boston: Gray & Bowen. Cambridge: Hilliard & Brown. 1831. 18mo. pp. 176.

THE design of this little work may at once be understood from its title, and from the description of readers to whom it is addressed. We hope that this will be found to be a numerous class; and that there are many who will welcome, and, what is more to the author's purpose, will faithfully peruse it. Nor is there any reasonable doubt of this. The eagerness with which good practical works are sought; the demand, which, as they inform us, whose interest or whose professional calling leads them to observe, is continually made for serious devotional books, warrants the belief, that amidst all the worldliness and indifference of heart, with which religion has to contend, as with its deadliest, because least open, enemies, there are yet many who are seeking to lead a religious life.' Among them will be found, it is true, very various degrees of earnestness. There may be, and there will be, great want of consistency in the pursuit. They may have reason to reproach themselves with infirmity, and even sin; with

broken purposes, and faltering steps; with hearts yet lingering upon vanities, and prayers returning void. Yet of these there are not a few, who will gladly consider themselves as addressed in this book; and will thank the author for his acceptable we hope it may prove successful-effort, to guide and encourage them in the Christian life.

We hold the community to be debtors to every writer, who wisely and seriously sets before his fellow-creatures the great objects of religion. And, at first view, considering only the profuse multiplication of books on topics, nearly or remotely connected with religion, we should be ready to suppose, that there could be no deficiency of this sort. То the printing of sermons, of tracts, and theological treatises, there seems indeed to be no end. But, after all, it is surprising how few are exactly adapted to the state of the inquiring Christian; of one who is earnestly desiring to know what he shall do to obtain everlasting life. And hence it comes to pass, that from ministers, in the course of pastoral duty, consulting the various wants of their parishioners, and from private Christians, supplying their own, we hear frequent complaints, that they cannot find what they seek.

Not that books upon most practical subjects are not written; but that they are not written as they should be. They are either too long, or too dry; they want spirit, or they want truth; they are too doctrinal, or they are too cold; they are too fruitful of speculation, or, what to a sincere inquirer is no less an evil, they are chargeable with overstatement, with exaggerated, and, therefore, false exhibitions of truth and duty. Of many also, in other respects excellent, it must be said, that while they propose a particular topic, whether doctrine, precept, or ordinance, they fail of presenting it with the clearness, directness, or earnestness essential to their success.

Nor are these objections suggested by an unreasonable or a capricious taste. In looking over some of the best productions of this class, which have obtained a good reputation in the religious world, we see at once how much remains to be desired and to be performed. That celebrated work of Dr. Doddridge, The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul,' has unquestionable merits; and we do not wonder at the estimation in which it was held by Dr. Watts, to whose request it owed its existence,' or by the Christian

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world at large, to whom it has been made known by many translations. But it is impossible to adopt it, on the whole, as a Christian manual. The same must be said of that farfamed and justly famed work, Law's Serious Call'; in which, however, so much of certain exterior exercises is required, as, for example, the singing of hymns, the noon-tide and other periodical devotions, that few, but those whose dwelling is with monks, or who have withdrawn from the busy intercourse of the world, would find themselves able to perform it. As to Taylor's Holy Living and Dying,' and his 'Life of Christ,' it would be difficult to commend too much the genius or the spirit that pervade them; showing, as is said by one who understood, because he partook of his fine gifts, the 'fancy of a poet, the eloquence of an orator, the wisdom of a philosopher, the sagacity of a prophet, the reason of an angel, and the piety of a saint.' Yet are there passages in Taylor which no one can praise, and some which even modesty might hesitate to repeat.*

Few works of this class have been more generally known, even down to the present day, than the practical writings of Baxter; embracing, as they do, a great variety of useful matter, and supplying a Directory' for the whole Christian life. But even with the abridgments they have undergone, to meet the taste and patience of an age, that has long since discarded folios and silenced preachers of a second hour, the diffuseness, repetitions, want of exact method, and vain attempts at embracing in each every essential point, are faults in the best of them; in the Saints' Everlasting Rest,' the Call to the Unconverted,' and the Dying Thoughts,' which all their fine genius, and deep piety, and solemn exhibitions of the 'powers of the world to come,' cannot redeem. The same is true, to a greater or less extent, of most of the celebrated

* We would gladly do something more than barely notice among these old practical works, that celebrated collection, The Whole Duty of Man, including the Gentleman's Calling, Ladies' Calling, Art of Contentment, and Christian's Birth-Right.' The author of this incomparable work,' as it has been called, has never been fully ascertained. It has been ascribed, in turn, to Archbishop Sterne, to Dr. Hammond, to Bishop Fell, who edited all the books under this name, and, especially, and with most reason, to the Lady Dorothy Packington. The inquiry excited nearly as much interest in the religious world in its day, as did a few years ago the authorship of the novels of the 'Great Unknown.' For an interesting article on the subject, see The Monthly Anthology, for April, 1811.