Gungadass was not an ordinary man. He had been a Brahmin of high caste, and, though poor, was very respectably connected. Long had he been convinced of the truth of Christianity; but the tie of family and caste had kept him from making an open profession of his belief: for full twenty months he hesitated; but, having at the close of this period been brought by sickness to the borders of the grave, he vowed, that if God would spare him, he would own His Name for ever and ever.

And God did spare him. On being restored, he communicated his intention, to his family and friends, of following the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by renouncing Caste and submitting to Baptism. All were filled with grief. All entreated him to desist. But, the constraining principle of the love of Christ being in his heart, he was enabled to withstand them. The contest was arduous. He had every thing in this world to lose, and nothing to gain. Had not the grace of God operated powerfully within him, it is impossible he could have sustained the conflict.

Having assembled his family and friends around him for the last time, and partaken with them his last meal, he rose up, fully declaring to them his intention to repair to the stream, which was more than a mile distant, to put on Christ. Force they could not use, and force they did not seem inclined to use; but in entreaties they were not sparing. They rose up with him: and, going after him, implored him to return, or at least to delay a little longer; assuring him, that if he would do so, they would all shortly become Christians with him.

But the vows of the Lord were upon him, and he could not stay. Turning round, he addressed them with much earnestness and affection, saying, that he Dec. 1830.

The multitude, ranged on the banks of the sacred Ganges, were about to witness what had never been seen in that part of the country before. Thousands of Natives had immersed themselves in that very spot, in days that were gone; and in the name of their gods had supposed that they had washed away their sins: but now they were to hear at its side a New Name-they were to behold a new immersion-they were to see the very waters of their holy stream employed for the first time in destroying the Caste-they were to look upon one of their high priests renouncing the whole system of their Idolatry. The sight seemed to overpower them. They stood in almost breathless wonder. The power of God was upon them, to keep them still; and, though they hated what was before them, they had not the least strength to oppose it.

After the singing of a Hymn, and the offering up of Prayer, the Minister of Christ, in company with the Priest of Brahma, walked slowly down into the water. The solemn words, "I baptize thee, in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," were uttered, and the immersion was performed.

No sooner had the Brahmin emerged from the stream, than the Natives seemed to be seized with consternation. They cried out, that the glory of their land was 3 U

gone. The two sons beat their breasts, and, weeping, exclaimed that their father was dead. His kindred forsook him; and even the wife of his youth, and his lovely family, ceased to know him.

Thus, though in his native land and place, he became a perfect stranger; and though death had not entered within his dwelling, he was bereaved of a wife and five beautiful children in one day. With a heart yearning after them, he ventured, shortly after, to send a present to one of his sons; but it was instantly dashed to the ground with contempt. He sometimes met them in the streets; but they turned away their heads from him, and, to the agony of his heart, forbore to call him Father.

He himself, however, sustained all with the meekness of Christ. When any reviled, he reviled not again; when any cursed, he blessed; and when any did evil, he endeavoured, to the utmost of his power, to do good.

For seven years did Gungadass hold on his Christian Way; declaring among his benighted Countrymen, as he went along, the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God. No sacred thread now hung over his shoulder-no mark of Idolatry was painted on his forehead: but the Holy Book was continually in his hand; and his countenance was always exhibiting the placidity of one who had obtained peace and the hope of immortality through an all-sufficient Saviour. Numerous were the scoffs which he had to endure; and scoffs, too, from those who formerly would have thought it an honour to fall down at his feet, and be permitted to drink the water in which they had been washed: but, by his increasing meekness, the anger of the many was in time subdued, and the hatred of not a few was turned into respect.

In the mean while, also, his wife and two of his children returned to him: a friend had taken them all under his protection; and Gungadass's circumstances in the world were altogether becoming more comfortable. The astonishment at his conversion had ceased. Several others had followed his steps. He had, it is true, been degraded in the eyes of the people to the rank of a Soodra, and had lost the friendship of his Brahminical Connections: but he had obtained the rank of a son of God and an heir of heaven, and had found the friendship of Christ and His people. A society even from among his own Countrymen was forming around him; the little one was

He was per

becoming a thousand; and he was beginning to see the truth of that text-hard for him to see before And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the Gospel's, but he shall receive a hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come life everlasting. But his end drew near. mitted to see the commencement only of the new era to his native city; but he had seen that of which none of his ancestors had ever heard: he had seen the Lord's Christ: he had seen the front of the triumphal car of the Son of God, in its progress from the West: he had seen some of the people subdued at its side. In himself, he had seen the first link of the Brahminical chain of Caste irrecoverably broken. And he felt assured, that the Saviour would go on conquering and to conquer, until ALL His enemies should be made His footstool. He could therefore say, as was said at the commencement of a glorious age in the land of Judea, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant deport in peace, according to thy word! for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people-a light to lighten the Hindoos, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Gilchrist, just previous to going on a journey, had heard Gungadass deliver to some of his Countrymen one of the most solemn Addresses which had probably ever been made: his countenance wore the air of deep seriousness; and, though in perfect health, yet there was a certain unearthliness about him that indicated a speedy flight to the supernal regions.

A fever, which it baffled all efforts to subdue, seized him: it raged with almost unremitting violence; and, as in the East a very few days effect either a speedy cure or a speedy dissolution, he soon felt that the hand of Death was upon him. Summoning his wife to the side of his cot, he calmly announced to her that his hour of departure was come; and, having earnestly entreated her to cleave to the Saviour as to one who would never leave nor forsake her, and having recommended her to give up her little boy (the other child having died some time before) to Gilchrist, he turned his face to the wall of his humble cottage. He had now closed with the world. He had delivered his last requests, and given his last ex

hortations. With God alone he now wished to converse, and to commune with Him he immediately began. Folding his hands, he engaged in silent prayer. What were the last accents of his soul none can tell; but serenity dwelt on his countenance. Not a sigh was heard, nor a struggle seen. In this attitude of prayer he, unobserved by those around him, breathed his spirit into the hands of his faithful Creator. They waited some time, and no motion was perceptible. They approached him, and, lo! to their astonishment, they beheld that his soul had fled.

It was a peaceful death, and such as all would like to die. Calmness had been evinced through all the proceedings of his Christian Life; and calmness marked his latter end.

He was evidently a man of no common order among his Countrymen. He had given the most unequivocal proofs of a real conversion to God: he had shewn that Christ was dearer to him than all the world besides. Shame in following the Saviour he seems never to have known in the face of all mankind, he dared to be singular. From the day on which he embraced Christianity, the Bible was his constant companion: he was never to be seen abroad without it, under his arm he was always ready to declare its sacred contents, and every day he was doing so. And he was never heard, amidst the accumulation of his sorrows, to express regret that he had renounced Caste, forsaken all, and taken up the Cross-a Cross, indeed, it was to him; but Christ enabled him to bear it.

The little Christian Band were filled with sorrow; but they sorrowed not as those without hope. Mrs. Elrington, with her accustomed benevolence, provided a coffin and grave-clothes; and all cheerfully united in taking up his body and committing it to the dust," in sure and certain hope of a blessed resurrection."

Hindoos are generally burned, instead of being buried; and the sight is horribly disgusting. Frequently poor or parsimonious, the friends provide wood just sufficient only to singe the body; and, leaving it on the plain, or on the banks of the river, it is instantly beset by vultures and other carnivorous animals, and eaten piece-meal. The smell is sometimes dreadful: and oftentimes the bodies are strewed so thickly on the shore and in the waters of the Ganges, that foreigners suffer exceedingly from this circumstance, as well as from the sight: it is not at all

unusual for them to find one or more dead bodies lying alongside their boats; and, opposite to large cities and towns, it is sometimes impossible to approach the bank or to halt for any length of time, objects of this sort being so painfully offensive.

Another very distressing annoyance to foreigners travelling on the Ganges is the number of persons who are to be seen dying along its sides. No sooner, in Bengal, is a man thought to be near his end, than he is hurried away to the edge of the holy stream, that he may breathe his last beside its waters. Many of these are not actually dying: but, as the loss of caste is attendant upon their recovering after this step has been taken, the friends keep them exposed to the scorching sun of the day and the killing damps of the night; and often are they seen putting them up to the chin in the water, pouring it into their mouths, and even choking them with mud and sand. These are not spectacles to be seen once a-year; but they are the every-day, nay, the hourly scenes of the Lower Provinces of Hindoostan.

It is, therefore, exceedingly interesting to see a Hindoo-Christian Burial. In the little Settlement where Gilchrist resided, this ceremony was conducted in a very pleasing manner. While the Minister or some of his foreign friends superintended every thing, the whole was executed by the little Native Christian Band themselves. After laying the body in the coffin, they all sat decently around it; and, having sung some of their plaintive Hymns, a portion of Scripture was read, an Address suitable to the occasion made, and Prayer offered up.

The hour of interment having arrived, the body was respectfully carried to the grave, or conveyed thither on a new kind of hearse which was made for the purpose. The whole company followed, every countenance shewing that they were engaged in a serious work. The Funeral Service having been solemnly performed, which generally consisted in reading another portion of Scripture, in delivering another short Address, and sometimes in singing another Hymn, the body was lowered into the grave, and covered up. All waited until the turf was laid on; and then retiring, generally assembled in parties to pray.

The whole of this was such a novel sight among Hindoos, that it attracted great attention. There was no noiseno bustle. There was nothing like the