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energy. Hitherto I have made my youth and insignificance an excuse for sloth and imbecility: now let me have a character, and act boldly for God.

"19th.-Went on shore. Waited on the Governor, and was kindly accommodated with a room at the Government-House.

21st.-Talked to the Governor about what we had been doing at Bengal, and begged that he would interest himself, and procure as all the information he could about the Native Christians: this he promised to do. At Bombay, there are twenty thousand Christians; at Salsette, twenty-one thousand; and at this place, there are forty-one thousand, using the Máhratta language.

"22d.-At the Courier press saw the Malayalim New Testament in print, as far as the 11th of John. "24th.-Preached at the Bombay Church.

"March 5.-Feeroz, a Parsee, who is considered as the most learned man here, called to converse about religion. He spoke Persian, and seemed familiar with Arabic. He began with saying that no one religion had more evidences of its truth than another, for that all the miracles of the respective founders depended upon tradition.-This I denied. He acknowledged that the writer of the Zendavesta was not contemporary with Zoroaster. After disputing and raising objections, he was left without an answer, but continued to cavil. 'Why (said he) did the Magi see the star in the East, and none else? from what part of the East did they come? and how was it possible that their King should come to Jerusalem in seven days?" The last piece of information he had from the Armenians. I asked him, Whether he had any thoughts of changing his religion?' He replied, with a contemptuous smile, No: every man is safe in his own religion.' I asked him, 'What sinners must do to obtain pardon?' Repent,' said he. I asked, Would repentance satisfy a creditor or a judge?? Why, is it not said in the Gospel,' rejoined he, that we must repent?" I replied, ' It cannot be proved from

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the Gospel, that repentance alone is sufficient, or good works, or both.' Where then is the glory of salvation?' he said. I replied, The Atonement of Christ." All this (said he) I know: but so the Mahometans say, that Hosyn was an atonement for the sins of men He then began to criticise the translations which he saw on the table, and wondered why they were not made in such Persian as was now in use. He looked at the beginning of the 8th of Romans, in the Bartlett Buildings' Arabic Testament, but could gather no meaning at all from it.

"6th-He called again, and he gave me some account of his own people. He said that they considered the term Magi and Guebr as terms of reproach, and that their proper name was Musdyasni; that no books were written in their most ancient language, namely, the Pahlavee, but Zoroaster's twenty-one; of these twenty-one, only two remain. He showed me some of a poem which he is writing; the subject is the conquest of India by the English; the title, Georgiad. He is certainly an ingenious man, and possesses one of the most agreeable qualities a disputant can possess, which is patience; he never interrupted me, and if I rudely interrupted him, he was silent in a moment.

"7th.-Mahomed Jan, a very young man, son of Mehdee Ali Khan, Lord Wellesley's Envoy to Persia, called. I should not have thought him worth arguing with, he seemed such a boy; but his fluency in Persian pleased me so much, that I was glad to hear him speak; he was, besides, familiar with all the arguments the Mouluwees usually bring forward; moreover, I thought that perhaps his youthful mind might be more open to conviction than that of the hoary Moollahs. "9th.-Visited the Elephanta Island.

"10th.-(Sunday. This morning Feeroz called before church. He said that their order of priesthood consisted in the descendants of Zoroaster, and were called Mobid; that four times a month they assembled viz. the 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th; strangers not allow

ed to see the sacred fire, though,' said the old man, significantly, I think there is nothing unlawful in it, but the common people do.' He began to profess himself a Deist, In our religion (said he) they believe as Zoroaster taught, that the heavens and earth were made; but I believe no such thing."

"16th.-Walked at night with a respectable Jew of Bussorah, whose name was Ezra: he knew next to nothing.

"25th. Embarked on board the Benares, Captain Sealy, who, in company with the Prince of Wales, Captain Hepbourne, was ordered to cruise in the Persian Gulf. against the Arab pirates. We got under weigh immediately, and were outside the land before night.

30th.-The European part of the ship's crew, consisting of forty-five sailors and twelve artillery men, were assembled on the quarter-deck for Divine Service. I wondered to see so many of the seaman inattentive: I afterward found that most of them were foreigners, French, Spanish, Portuguese, &c. We had prayers in the cabin every night. In the afternoon I used to read to a sick man below, and two or three others would come to hear.

"April 14. (Easter Sunday)-Came in sight of the Persian coast, near Tiz, in Meebran.

"21st.-Anchored at Muscat, in Arabia.

"23d.-Went on shore with the Captain, to the Indian broker's, at whose house we met the Vizier, by appointment. There was an unimportant conference, at which I assisted as interpreter. The Sultan was a few miles off, fighting with the Wechabites.

"24th.-Went with our English party, two Armenians, and an Arab soldier, to see a garden; there was nothing very wonderful in the garden, but a little green in this frightful wilderness was, no doubt, to the Arab a great curiosity. His African slave argued with me for Mahomed, and did not know how to let me go, he was so interested in the business.

"25th.-The Arab soldier and his slave came on board to take leave. They asked to see the Gospel. The instant I gave them a copy in Arabic, the poor boy began to read, and carried it off as a great prize, which I trust he will find it to be. This night warped out of the Cove, and got under weigh. I had not a night's rest from the day we entered it.

26th.-Came in sight of the Persian shore again. "28th. (Sunday)-At anchor in Jasques Bay, which the artillery officer surveyed. Captain Hepbourne brought his crew to church. Went on board his ship to see two Armenian young men, who informed me of the conversion of Mirza Ishmael, son of the Shehool Islam, of Isfahan, who was gone to Bombay for baptism.

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May 7th.-Finished a work in which I have been engaged a fortnight, a new arrangement of all the Hebrew roots, classing them according to the last letter, the last but one, &c.

"20th.-After a troublesome North-wester, we have now a fair wind, carrying us gently to Bushire. "22d.-Landed at Bushire."

In his journey from Bushire to Shiraz, it was not merely the ordinary inconveniences of travelling in Persia which Mr. Martyn had to combat.-So intense was the heat of the sun in the month of June, as to endanger his life; a peril of which he had no previous apprehension: though with so great an object before him, he would have been warranted in knowingly incurring great danger towards the attainment of his pur

pose.

Seventeen days elapsed before he reached Shiraz, after landing at Bushire; of these eight were consumed in preparation for travelling, and the remainder in accomplishing his journey. The whole period is embraced, and the very interesting events of it are recorded in the following letter to Mr. Corrie.

"A few days after my letter to you from Muscat, we sailed for the Gulf, and continued cruising a month, generally in sight of Persia or Arabia, sometimes of

both. On the 22d of May we landed at Bushire, and took up our lodging with Mr.***. We were now in a new situation. Mrs. *** and her sister, both Arme'nians, spoke nothing but Persian at table; the servants and children the same. One day a party of Armenian ladies came to kiss my hand-the usual mark of respect shown to their own priests; I was engaged at the time, but they begged to have it explained, that they had not been deficient in their duty. The Armenian priest was as dull as they usually are. He sent for me one Sunday evening, to come to church; though he was ministering when I entered, he came out, and brought me within the rails of the altar; and at the time of incense, CENSED me four times, while the others were honoured with only one fling of the censer; this the old man begged me afterward to notice.

But though his civility was well meant, I could hardly prevail upon myself to thank him for it. It was due, he said, to a Padre: thus we provide for the honour of our order, not contented with that degree of respect which really belongs to us. Walking afterward with him by the sea-shore, I tried to engage him in a conversation respecting the awful importance of our office, but nothing could be more vapid and inane than his remarks.

"One day we called on the Governor, a Persian Khan: he was very particular in his attentions, seated me in his own seat, and then sat by my side. After the usual salutations and inquiries, the calean (hooka) was introduced, then coffee in china cups placed within silver ones, then calean, then some rose-water syrup, then calean. As there were long intervals often, in which naught was heard but the gurgling of the calean, I looked around with some anxiety for something to discourse upon, and observing, the windows to be of stained glass, I began to question him about the art of colouring glass, observing, that the modern Europeans were inferior to the ancient in the manufacture of that article. He expressed his surprise that Europeans, who were so skilful in making watches, should

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