^bbe Dubois' State of 



niatic degradation of the great body of 

 tilt' people; and (lio consequent dis- 

 grace and prostration of the country, 

 for purposes the most selfish and 

 corri>pt. 



'I'here is not, in tlic history of any na- 

 tion, an inslance of a more profligate 

 and delcstahiu conspiracy, than tiiat of 

 the Orangemen of Ireland. Most poli- 

 tical associations that we know of liave 

 professed to Lave views cnihracing the 

 general interests of the country, and ex- 

 tending to the mass of the jjeople. The 

 objects of this Society were purely and 

 professedly selfish. And of this, tlieir 

 disgrace and opprobrium, they were in 

 the habit of making a guilty and dis- 

 gusting parade. It belongs fortunately 

 to human nature to be sensible of its 

 shame, and to seek to conceal tlic filth 

 of its degrading propensilies. But, 

 when it happens that crowds concur 

 in the indulgence of some base passion, 

 and lentl each other a guilty counte- 

 nance, then are we condemned to see all 

 the decencies of human nature cast 

 aside, and the world is shocked at the 

 display of a hardened and shameless 

 effiontery, — the parade of wickedness 

 and folly glorying in disgrace ! 



The orgies of this Association were as 

 odious as its principle. Its periodical 

 exhibitions were commemorations of 

 deadly feuds, — of defeat and ruin in- 

 flicted upon many thousands of fami- 

 lies and individuals; the ancestors of 

 tiiese exiiiliitors, or tliose of their coun- 

 trymen. We can luiderstand the com- 

 memoration of AYaterloo, or Salamanca ; 

 or, und"r Bonaparte, the celebration of 

 Austerlifz, or Marengo. These were all 

 national triumphs. But the civil wars 

 of France, or of England, furnished no 

 subject of perpetual commemoration to 

 either of these nations. II' those nations 

 have not escaped the guilt and misery of 

 civil conflict, yet they have never stooped 

 In the degradation of festivities to per- 

 petuate the memorj of their discords. 



COUrORATIONS. 



While the public slinnbers and is 

 careless, it is the nature of corporations 

 to be wiikeful and busy, in increasing 

 their power. C(ir|)orate bodies sleep 

 not ; tliey possess the secret of perpetual 

 motion, and discover in their unceasing 

 and insensible cncroacliments an en- 

 ergy and sagacity ptciiliar to themselves. 

 Through their representatives in par- 

 liament, and other means, they procure 

 acts of the legislature, which pass, 

 almost as of course, and almost without 

 notice ; whi(di, with moro than the 



Monthly Mao. No. 384. 



Christianity in India. 633 



magic of the Arabian lamp, can build 

 up in an hour the beautiful and en- 

 chanting machinery of innumerable 

 boards, commissioners, and trustees, 

 furnished with the fascinating power of 

 taxation. 



It is surprising what burdens and 

 abuse the public is able to endure ; but 

 the abuses which are every where inhe- 

 rent in corporations are greatly aggra- 

 vated in Ireland. Here they arc not 

 merely pestilent masses of politic'd cor- 

 ruption, but they are also the poisoned 

 sonicrsof religious rancoiu". Corpora- 

 tions in Ireland may be as corrupt as 

 possible, but they must be Protestant. 

 This very necessity adds greatly to the 

 corruption, as it narrows still more the 

 corporate circle, and makes an exclu- 

 sion within exclusion. In England, 

 corporations, tlierel'ore, are not so cor- 

 rupt as in the other country, where 

 much of the material which ought to go 

 to their composition is Catholic. 



LETTERS 



ON THE 



STATE OF CHRISTIANITY 



INDIA; 



IN WHICH 



THE CONVERSION OF THE HINDOOS IS 

 CONSIDERED AS IMPRACTICABLE. 



By the ABBt J. A. DUBOIS, 



Missionary in Mysore, Autliorof the Description of 



the P.'ople of Iniliii. 



Qva. 9s. 



[This is a work whicli cannot fail to interest 

 the whole Christian world. Tlie Abhe 

 Dubois, after a mission of thirty years, 

 is bettor qualified than any man living, 

 to give a decisive opinion upon these 

 snbjtets, and he has given it in no mea- 

 sured lan^uajte, as our readers will per- 

 ceive. Great impositions must have 

 been practised on this subject, andmucli 

 vindication is called for. It seems impos- 

 sible to doubt the circumstances stated 

 by this author, and thereibie inucli mo- 

 ney will liencctoi ward be saved in useless 

 subscriptions. The Abb6's opinions are 

 the result of thirty years' observation.] 



QUESTION OF CONVERSION. 



Tllli; (piestion to be considerc*! may 

 be reduced to these two points: 

 rirst, Is there a possibility of making 

 real converts to Christiiniity among tho 

 ntitives in India? Secondly, Are tho 

 means employed for that purpose ; and, 

 above all, the translation of the Holy 

 Scriptures into the idioms of the coini- 

 try, likely to conduce to this desirable 

 object? 



4M To 



