proofs of the truth of it, we would be apt to doubt | whether snch a body of people ever existed in the world.

These regular Bramins are a set of men, who, under pretensions to the most superior sanctity, inflict on themselves the most severe corporeal punishments, believing that this will obtain the favour and approbation of their gods. Some of them make a solemn vow to walk with a square grate, or collar of iron round their necks, weighing twenty-four pounds, nor is to be removed, either day or night, till such time as they have procured, by begging, as much money as will build an hospital.

Others of them erect a pole, almost in the form of a gibbet, to which they tie themselves, and swing over a slow fire, during the space of a whole hour, taking care to have the fire constantly fed with fuel. This is done in honour of an idol, called Eswara, who is believed to have great rewards to bestow in a future state, on all such as chearfully submit to austere rites of that nature.

A third sort get themselves chained to the foot of a tree, and remain in that position during the rest of their lives, being supplied with herbs and a bottle of water daily, from the neighbouring villages; for the people consider them as beings, far superior to common mortals.

A fourth sort walk in pairs together, carrying heavy iron chains, one end of which are fixed to their legs, and the other to their shoulders. Some have nails struck through the soles of their shoes, and notwithstanding the severity of the pain, they will often walk with them several days together.

The inhabitants of all nations in the universe believe in the necessity of an atonement for sin, before men can be justified by the supreme Being; and although very unworthy notions have been formed concerning the existence of such an essential point in religion, yet it does not follow that the principle itself is false. Nay it rather proves the contrary, for there is something in every man's conscience which points out to him that he has offended God, and that some atonement must be made, either by himself or by another. Now these heathens in India believe, that an atonement has been made for their sins, and they are to have the choice of enjoying the benefit of it on two conditions: either they are to visit several holy cities at a vast distance from each other; or secondly, they are declared to be absolved, in consequence of their repeating the names of their gods twenty-four times every day. Such as visit the holy places, offer up a sacrifice; and on the tail of the victim is written the name of the penitent, with the nature of his offence. ` This

No. 3.

practice seems to have been universal in ancient times; it was so among the Greeks, the Romans, the Carthagenians, and the Jews; and the prophet Isaiah alludes to it, when he says of Christ, "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." Isaiah liii. 4.

The Bramins believe, that there are in heaven five different states or degrees of glory,, to which the souls of virtuous persons are conveyed after death. The first of these mansions is called Xoarcam, where the king of the gods resides, with a great number of wives and concubines. The second is Vaicundam; and there Vixnu resides with his wives, and a certain bird, somewhat like a hawk, upon which he rides as on a horse. The Bramins teach, that all the virtuous followers of Vixnu go into this habitation when they die, and where their natures are changed, so as to resemble that of their god.

The third mansion is Cailasam, and this they believe to be a very high mountain of silver, situated towards the north, and inhabited by Rutrem, with his wife and all his concubines, and a bull upon which he rides. The Bramins teach, that all the worshippers of Rutrem go to this place when they die, where they are for ever happy in beholding the countenance of their god. Some are employed in cooling him with fans, others in holding gold spitting-boxes to him, some in holding lighted torches during the night, and others in bringing him whatever necessaries he wants.

The fourth mansion of glory is called Brumalogam; and there Bruma resies with his wife Sarassua li, attended by a large swan, on which he rides abroad; for this god is said to be much addicted to travelling.

Above all these, is the fifth seat of glory, where the first principic of all things resides. All those who have lived the most innocent and exemplary lives, are wafted hither after death, where they are for ever united to their god.

With respect to hell, the Indians believe that it is situated at a vast distance below this world, and that there is a president in it called Yhamadar, who has a secretary, named Xitragupten; who, during the life of a man, writes down all his good or bad actions, and presents his memorial to the president,. the moment the soul of the deceased comes before him. This infernal president is said to be very just and equitable, and distributes rewards and punishments, according to merits or demerits. Some souls are, according to their notions, sent back to inhabit other bodies in this world, while others are tormented in the most cruel manner in hell. If a dyS

ing

ing person takes hold of a cow by the tail, and the Braman pours a little water into his hand, and receives a small sum of money; then when he comes to cross the dreadful fiery river, which separates earth from eternity, the cow will, by his laying hold of her tail, carry him safe over.

It is considered as incumbent upon all those who would be considered as faithful Bramins, to go frequently on pilgrimages to the temples of their gods; and when they arrive, they are enjoined to perform several penances of a very austere nature. Some of them slash themselves in the most unmerciful manner with knives, to make an atonement for their crimes, imagining that will be the utmost satisfaction to their gods. Others confine themselves in cages, which are placed on the top of a pole, and the penitent, having no room to turn himself, is tortured with the most excruciating pain. In his sight are placed the figures of two idols, whom he is obliged to adore all the time he remains in that painful situation. Some are to spend their whole time in feeding birds, it being generally imagined that souls reside in them. Some plunge themselves into the Ganges, in hopes of being devoured by crocodiles; and others murder themselves at the altars of their gods.

Great part of their religious services consists in dancing, a practice of very great antiquity. In their temples, the men and women dance together, using the most indecent postures, which serves as a stimulation to all manner of debauchery; but this is exactly consistent with the notions they form of the attributes of their idols. They adore serpents in the most religious manner, because they believe them to be inhabited by departed spirits, and they foretel great success in consequence of meeting them on a journey. Many of their children are named after particular sorts of serpents; and when they find adders in their houses, they offer them milk, and beg of them to depart in peace; but when the reptiles do not obey, they send for all the Bramins in the neighbourhood, who offer up prayers to their gods to take them away; it being contrary to their law to do them any injury.

When they pitch upon a field where they intend to build a pagod or temple, they turn a cow loose in it towards evening, leaving her to range at large till the morning. As soon as the sun rises, they search narrowly around the field to discover the place where the cow laid herself down, and on that spot they erect their temple.

In all their temples, cow's dung is spread over the floor, for they have such a veneration for that animal, that in all their sacrifices they pour some of

fits milk on their altars. Their priests, like the heathen Greeks and Romans, pretend that their gods have oracles, by which they can foretel future events, and this notion is believed by the people. When several persons have been suspected of steal-' ing any thing, but the guilty cannot be fixed on,' the priests write the names on different pieces of paper, and lay them down before the altar in a circular form, after which they invoke the oracle, and withdraw having locked the doors, that no person can get in. When they return, and find any of the papers removed, that person whose name is upon it, is declared to be the criminal. It is common for their priests when they address their oracles, to feign themselves in convulsion fits, and remain in seemingly great agonies some hours. Then after some groans, they stand up and tell the people what was revealed to them by the oracle.

They observe several festivals, particularly a sort of carnival which lasts several days; during which they assemble in vast crouds together, and dance to all such tunes as they are acquainted with. The Bramins attend in their garments, having their heads covered with something like horns standing upright. This feast lasts twenty-four days, and besides it they have a feast of eleven days each month. They are on these feasts to eat only a handful of beans, pease, or fruits, with about a spoonful of milk, and this they must take towards the evening.

With respect to learning among the Bramins, it consists in teaching the pupils a language named Hanscrit, which not being known among the lower orders of the people, may be considered as the learned languages are to the Europeans. The book written in this language is called holy, and is exactly the same to them as the bible is to us. The Bramins say, that this book contains the first language ever spoken in the world; yet although it is acknowledged to be of very great antiquity, it cannot, by any means, reach so far back as the time of Moses.

Having made themselves masters of this work, which is extremely difficult, because they have no good grammar, they next proceed to study the Purnance, which is a sort of commentary upon it, containing many things that have been handed down by tradition.

As there are different sects among the Bramins in religion, so they have six sects of philosophers, and one of these is considered in the same manner as we do atheists. They have no skill in anatomy, and as to their tables of astronomy and chronology, they are not worth mentioning. When the moon is eclipsed, they believe she is fighting with a black

ugly

Some have supposed them to be a colony from ancient Egypt, because of their religious rites and ceremonies, being in many respects the same; but this is altogether improbable, when we consider the vast distance there is between Egypt and China. Similiarity of religious sentiments is no proof; for in ancient times there were but few differences among idolators, concerning the nature of worship; some of them were more gross than others, but all of them were bad enough.

Eusebius says, that Christianity was first preached to the Indians, by St. Thomas the apostle; and the Jesuits say, that there are still some temains of it in China, at least that they have a traditional account; but if ever that apostle was in China, and preached the gospel, it was either rejected or not much remembered afterwards. At present, and for many years, the Chinese have been gross idolaters, and pay divine honours to many gods, particularly to Fo or Foe, who for his great and illustrious actions, was deified and worshipped above a thousand years before Christ's incarnation.

The account the Chinese give of this Foe is, that he was born in that part of their empire which they call Chung tien Cho, and that he was the son of a king, that his mother, while she was with child of him, dreamed that she had swallowed an elephant. As soon as he was born, he stood upright, and walked seven paces, pointing with one hand to heaven, and with the other to the earth, uttering, at the same time, the following words, "There is none in heaven, or on earth, that ought to be adored but myself." When he was only turned of seventeen, he married three wives; and two years afterwards retired to a solitatry place, where he put himself under the direction of four philosophers; under their tuition, he learned all they could teach him, and at thirty, being divinely inspired, he considered himself as a god. He soon after began to work the most wonderful miracles, of which the Chinese relate a great number, and they have whole volumes giving an account of them. He is said to have, in the compass of a few years, gained over to his notions eighty thousand disciples, whom he sent to teach his doctrines throughout the empire of China. Ten of those disciples were of a much higher rank than the others, and it is said, that they published upwards of five thousand volumes of their master's works. Finding himself near death, he told his disciples, that till that moment he had concealed the truth of his doctrine, but now he would make it public to thein, "Learn then (said he) that the principle of all things is emptiness and nothing; from

nothing all things proceeded, and into nothing all wil return, and this is the end of all our hopes.'

However, some of his disciples adhered to what he had formerly taught them, and the doctrine they now teach is directly opposite to Atheism. The rest of his disciples abode by this impostor's dying words, which laid the foundation of many of those ridiculous ceremonies which now prevail in China,

Many stories were told after his death, namely, that he had been born eight thousand times, that his soul had passed through the bodies of many different animals, and that he had appeared in the shape of an ape, an elephant, a dragon, &c. In consequênce of these ridiculous stories, all those animals through which his soul was said to have passed, were afterwards worshipped as gods.

In every province in China, there are temples erected on monuments, where the people go in pilgrimage to worship, and some of these are held in greater esteem than others. When these pilgrims arrive at the foot of the mountains, they kneel down, and do so at every step as they ascend. During the whole of the procession, they sing hymns in honour of Foe; but as there are two sects among them, violent enemies to each other, so it often happens that they quarrel before they reach the temple. The first doctrine taught by Foe, is called the Exterior, and consists of some very good rules of morality, namely, that there is a great difference between good and evil, and that there are rewards and punishments in a future state: That the god Foe, was born to save the world and expiate the sins of men, that there are five precepts to be observed, namely, that no living creature is to be killed; not to steal any thing from another; to abstain from all sorts of impurity; the fourth prohibited lying; and the fifth forbad the drinking of wine. forbad the drinking of wine. To these they added the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and this is still believed by the generality of the people.

With respect to the interior doctrine, very few are suffered to be made acquainted with its mysteries. It is the same as that taught by Foe, in the last moments of his life, and which some of his disciples have endeavoured to propagate. As was said before, they teach that nothing is the principle of all things. That beings differ only according to their shapes and qualities; and, that in order to become like the first quality, we must accustom ourselves to do nothing, and to desire nothing, to see nothing, and to think of nothing. That all holiness consists in being reduced to one original nothing, when all the faculties of the soul shall be dissolved. They add further, that when a man has once attained to this happy

state,

state, he will be perfect without being in want of any thing.

Some of those who pretend to knowledge among the Chinese, have embraced this stupid senseless system of atheism, and among others the emperor Kao Isong resigned his crown to his son, that he might have an opportunity of studying it in order to be like the god Foe.

Another of the Chinese idols is called Chim Hoam, and always worshipped as the guardian of cities. There is an ordinance in China, that all public magistrates, when they enter upon office, shall go in procession to the temple of this idol, and sacrifice to him candles, perfumes, wine, flowers, and the flesh of different animals. This ceremony they are likewise to repeat twice every year, upon pain of incurring the emperor's displeasure, and being suspended from their offices. And when they take possession of their places, they are obliged to swear, before this idol, that they will do justice to every man, otherwise they are to be severely punished.

Chines, is a name given to a great number of idols in China, which are not in the shape of any living creature, but as temples built in the form of a pyramid. The Pagans have such a veneration for these idols, or rather pyramids, that when they purchase a slave, they carry him before one of them, and pray that if he shall desert the service of his master, that he may be devoured by tygers. This keeps the poor wretches in much awe, for although they are often cruelly treated, yet they are afraid to run away.

In the province of Takien, near the walls of the city of Fohieu, is one of those chines nine story high. It is built in the form of an octagon, and its perpendicular height is nine hundred cubits. It is adorned with several curious figures, and the whole of the outside is faced with porcelain. There is at every colonade of marble, surrounded by an iron balustrade, which gives the whole a most splendid appearance, and on the top is a gilt idol.

story a

The Chinese, like the ancient Greeks and Romans, have gods whom they imagine superintend all their public affairs, each having his own department. Thus Ti-Can' is considered as the supreme director of their treasures, and who conducts the dispensing of their riches. His image is placed on a very high altar, with a crown on his head and a scepter in his hand, the whole being gilt over; so that it makes a glorious appearance when the sun shines.

most

Eight images, as his attendants, stand around him, all dressed and decorated in the same manner; and on the walls of the temple are displayed the punishments of the damned in bell. Above the idol is inscribed in letters of gold, "He who shall humble

No. 4.

himself, and say his prayers a thousand times before me, shall be delivered from these torments."

Ram, a god much worshipped by the people of China, is greatly esteemed by those of a lower rank. It is said that while on earth, he was a noted persecutor, and made so many converts to the doctrines of transmigration, that, after his death, he was honoured as a god. It is further added, that he passed through no less than four-score thousand transmigrations, in the last of which he appeared under the shape of a white elephant, and by that symbol he is now worshipped in all his temples. It is generally believed, that he was one of the chief disciples of Foe, in the exterior form of doctrine, because all his followers profess those sentiments. His temples are for the most part in the country, and the sacrifices offered up to him consist of the fruits of the earth, milk, vegetables, and such other things as. the seasons will produce.

As all ancient heroes were deified among the heathens, so the Chinese tell us that Quante-Cong, their first prince and law-giver, was, for his great actions, made a god. He was the first who introduced among them the fashion of wearing decent apparel; for before his time they were accustomed to go almost naked. He brought them under some sort of a regal form of government, and prevailed upon them to build towns and cities. For this reason, in all the temples dedicated to him, he is represented under a most gigantic form, and sitting on a table, with a taper placed before him. On the table several books are placed, and behind him stands his attendant Linchevu, in appearance equally as formidable as himself.

Cang-y is worshipped among the Chinese as the god of the lower heavens, and it is believed by them that he has the power of life and death. He has always three ministering spirits to attend him; the first of whom sends down rain to refresh and nourish the earth; the second is the god of the sea, to whom all their navigators make vows, and perform them upon their return honíe; and the third presides over births, and is called the god of war. It is probable that some ancient. astronomer among the Chinese was, and still is, worshipped under this name, especially when we find him represented as the god of

the lower heavens.