would have recanted when he was offered his life; but when he saw that his friend was dead, he resigned himself to grief and remorse. He travelled from place to place, seeking rest and finding none. At last he thought he would visit India. He accordingly came to Madras about five years ago. Soon after his arrival he was appointed by the English government a Mufti, or expounder of Mahometan law; his great learning, and respectable station in his own country, rendering him eminently qualified for that office. And now the period of his own conversion drew near. While he was at Visagapatam, in the Northern Circars, exercising his professional duties, Providence brought in his way a New Testament in Arabic. He read it with deep thought, the Koran lying before him. He compared them together, and at length the truth of the word of God tell on his mind, as he expressed it, like a flood of light. Soon afterwards he proceeded to Madras, a journey of three hundred miles, to seek Christian baptism; and having made a public confession of his faith, he was baptized by the Rev. Dr. Kerr, in the English church at that place, by the name of Nathaniel, in the twenty-seventh year of his age. Being now desirous to devote his future life to the glory of God, he resigned his secular employ, and came by invitation to Bengal, where

66

he is now engaged in translating the Scriptures into the Persian language. This work hath not hitherto been executed, for want of a translator of sufficient ability. The Persian is an important language in the East, being the general language of Western Asia, particularly among the higher classes, and is understood from Calcutta to Damascus. But the great work which occupies the attention of this noble Arabian, is the promulgation of the Gospel among his own countrymen; and from the present fluctuations of religious opinion in Arabia, he is sanguine in his hopes of success. His first work is entitled, (Neama Besharatin lil Arabi,) Happy News for Arabia;' written in the Nabuttee, or common dialect of the country. It contains an eloquent and argumentative elucidation of the truth of the Gospel, with copious authorities admitted by the Mahometans themselves, and particularly by the Wahabians. And prefixed to it, is an account of the conversion of the author, and an appeal to the members of his well known family in Arabia, for the truth of the facts.

66

The following circumstance in the history of Sabat ought not to have been omitted. When his family in Arabia had heard that he had followed the example of Abdallah, and become a Christian, they despatched his brother to India, (a voyage of two months,) to assassinate him.

While Sabat was sitting in his house at Vesagapatam, his brother presented himself, in the disguise of a Faqueer, or beggar, having a dagger concealed under his mantle. He rushed on Sabat, and wounded him. But Sabat seized his arm, and his servants came to his assistance. He then recognized his brother. The assassin would have become the victim of public justice, but Sabat interceded for his brother, and sent him home in peace, with letters and presents to his mother's house in Arabia."

Instances like those already presented, might be added to the number given-but enough has been collected to establish the object of this chapter. It is beyond question true, that an individual or a sect, who wishes to disseminate religious views, will effect that desire most rapidly, by pursuing, through good or evil report, through opposition and persecution, a uniform course of kindness and charity. Even error can be more thoroughly scattered when conjoined with kindness, than truth can when con joined with oppression and persecution. And to this, I will add, what appears to me an unquestionable proposition, viz., that the individuals or sects who are harsh and uncharitable in advancing their peculiar views; who strive to enforce those views upon others, in an unkind and violent mode; are not only unwise, but are

positive enemies to the Saviour; since his cause is never so endangered as when its professed followers become persecutors. The true guide and light for professed Christians, when propagating what they consider religious truth, are contained in the expressive direction of the apostle Paul-"SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE."

CHAPTER XI.

KINDNESS AND PUNISHMENT.

"Her weeds to robes of glory turn,
Her looks with kindling radiance burn,
And from her lips these accents steal,

God smites to bless, he wounds to heal."

There is a point, however, concerning the law of kindness, where some perplexity arises, and much doubt exists. Many people associate with the idea of a uniform practice of kindness, the absence of pain, the putting aside all restraints upon evil, and the sufferance of offenders, without attempting to check them, otherwise than by a mild word. This is a mistake. The law of kindness has no affinity to lawlessness. It indeed pre-supposes the absence of all crueltybut it does not pre-suppose the absence of proper punishment for sin, or necessary check upon the transgressor. Kindness often dictates the application of pain, as frequent cases of the amputation of limbs to save the lives of sufferers, fully prove. The parent who neglects to restrain and correct his children, is as unkind as