and Holy Ghost-those principles which recognize the mediation of the Son, and the renewing and sanctify ing influences of the Holy Ghost, as the source of all good. This verse, then, does not dictate the unchristian idea of bringing meritorious innocence to purchase accept ance with God. It puts in the mouth of the worshipper the pious resolution to apply to his soul, by true and lively, i. e. operative faith, cherished through grace, the cleansing blood of atonement; that thus justified freely, he may be accounted righteous befere God, and accepted through his Advoeate with the Father, This faith working by love, is produced and maintain ed by the influences of the Holy Spirit, improved by the proper direction of his moral agency; and acceptable not for its own merit-for in its highest excellence it will be very imperfectbut through the merits of Christ; not as the price of acceptance with the Father-for the GREAT ATONEMENT is the only sufficient price-but as a condition on which God has been pleased to promise that the full benefit of the atonement shall be enjoyed, and which can be successful only through the meritorious intercession of Christ. Deepest humility, then, warmest gratitude, and liveliest faith are the dispositions naturally excited when the Christian makes the resolution now considered-a resolution which he regards in the double light of a bounden duty, and an exalted privilege. Most interesting and appropriate is this resolution, when a new temple is consecrated to our God, and another altar set up at which the dovotions of his people are to be offered. And very interesting and appropriate is it whenever the Christian is about to approach the holy table. Let him remember, he must bring purity of heart; a qualification which can be attained only by the improvement of Divine grace to the cherishing of faith work ing by love, and thus to the perform ing of the condition on which the blood of the everlasting covenant will be applied to the cleansing of the soul from sin. PRESBYTER PAROCHIALIS. Letter to a young Lady at the Outset of a Religious Life. (From the Christian Guardian for Aug. 1819.) As your mind becomes more enlightened in the knowledge of divine things, I am sure you will ever find fresh cause to wonder at the goodness of God. The contemplation of his character is a theme of never-ending delight; and in proportion as we discover our own worthlessness and guilt, we shall likewise have the brighter manifestations of his unspeakable excellence. And it is most profitable to cultivate such inquiries; for, the more we are impressed with the infinite holiness and purity of God, our hatred to sin will increase. This, again, directly leads to the promotion of genuine humility, and lively gratitude, and unfeigned piety. We are humbled to the dust when we think of " the rock from whence we are hewn;" that we are the apostate children of apostate parents: still more so when we feel the awful aggravation of our guilt, in having wilfully forsaken and estranged ourselves from a God, whose peculiar characteristic is love; a God, who, in spite of all our rebellions against his authority, and all our violations of his law, and all our contempt of his gracious warnings, is yet ready to extend his merciful forgiveness, and to restore his lost favour to every penitent and returning sinner. I have often considered the following passage from the prophecies of Isaiah, as a most engag ing and encouraging delineation of Divine goodness: "Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you; and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you." The most hardened and abandoned criminal is often melted into tenderness by the, compassionate sympathy of the person whom he has offended. He not only humbly confesses his guilt, but is overwhelmed with grateful, joyful surprise. So it frequently happens, when the sinner, convinced of his guilt, first discovers that the great God against whom he has been offending all his life long, is actually waiting that he may be gracious; and is exalted on a throne of mercy, as it were, for the very purpose of dispensing the blessings of forgiveness. "The goodness of God leads him to repentance:" and then, with the most affectionate humility, at once he leaves off his rebellion, enlists himself into the service of so kind a Master, and, with the newly converted Paul, exclaims, "Lord, what wouldest thou have me to do?" This devoted attachment kindles into acts of open and decided piety. He feels his unspeakable obligations to redeeming love; and these obligations are ever acquiring fresh strength, as he grows in a more thorough knowledge of the "desperate wickedness" of his own heart: he loves much, because much has been forgiven. his dispensations, especially in reference to yourself. It will expand your mind with the most sacred delight. It will, unconsciously, cultivate a spirit of prayer and devotion; and in thus holding communion with God, you will experience that "fulness of joy," which nothing earthly can bestow. But, alas! methinks I can anticipate your lamentations. Are you not desirous of telling me, that through the deceitfulness of sin, you are often beguiled of your privileges, and robbed of those spiritual comforts for which your soul pants? It is your wish to love God from every consideration, but especially because he commended his love towards you, in that, while you were a sinner, Christ died for I doubt not but the workings of you. It is your wish to live in comyour own experience have some cor- munion with your God, and to follow respondence with those I have de- after that holiness without which no scribed. You have now been happily man shall see his face. But your imled to flee from the wrath to come, aginations are full of vanity, and your and to embrace Christ crucified as all best endeavours after heavenly medi your salvation. But on the retrospect tation are interrupted and marred by of former years, does it not strike you the frequent intrusion of evil thoughts. with amazement, that God did not All this may be true enough in your "cut you down as a cumberer of the case; for I firmly believe it accords ground ?" that he did not inflict the with the experience even of the most awful curse which your unceasing advanced Christian. But allow me provocations had so justly incurred? to say, that while you thus groan unthat he persevered so long in a course der the burden of remaining corrup of tender forbearance? and, above all, tion, and are grieved on account of that at last he should fix upon you as a your natural aversion to what is good, special object of his clemency, and you have reason to bless God for makpluck you as a brand from the burning you feel your proneness to evil, ing?" You must ascribe all the change and teaching you that your entire dein your condition-the condemnation pendence must be on his promised from which you are rescued, and the grace. At the same time that you blessings to which you are exalted-confess and mourn over your imperto the free, unsought, and unmerited love of God in Christ Jesus. O, my friend! let the range of your meditations often run in this direction. It will take eternity itself to unfold the manifold wisdom, and the matchless love of God, in the redemption of your soul; but, O begin the work at present, and let the beginning and the ending of your reflections and your praises be, "Hear what the Lord hath done for me." Delight yourself in the Lord. It is, indeed, an interesting employment to think on the glories of his person, the excellencies of his character, and the wisdom of all VOL.III. fections, are you not powerfully affected with a sense of the Divine longsuffering, in bearing with them, and in even sympathizing with you under them; and in the readiness with which our gracious God condescends to help the infirmities, and supply all the wants of his people? In short, as you grow in grace, you will always find growing cause to humble yourself on account of your manifold shortcomings, and to exalt the Saviour for the riches of his grace and love, so freely, so suitably, and so abundantly conferred. This is the tendency of the whole Gospel dispensation. The 47 sinner is nothing, and can do nothing. Christ Jesus is all and all. The blessings which he died to purchase, and now for ever lives to bestow, are inestimable in their nature, infinite in their extent, and eternal in their dura. tion. O, amazing boon! And these blessings are offered without money and without price. They are a gift, a free gift; the gift of the great eternal God to the creatures of his own formation; the gift of the heavenly Father to children, who are unconsciously upheld by his power, and fed by his bounty, and loaded with his benefits from day to day. What condescension! what love! And yet, strange to tell, both the Giver and the gift are alike despised by blinded, degraded, ungrateful man! This is a most affecting and humiliat ing view of human nature, But is it not a just one? We cannot look around us without perceiving innumerable proofs of its truth. Nor can even the renewed mind of a Christian free itself from the sad accusation of undervaluing that great salvation, which nothing could accomplish but the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. How then shall those escape who despise the proffered mercy? Solemn considera tion! But study you, my dear young friend, to keep yourself in the love of God. Live habitually under the influence of your own unworthiness, and of his unspeakable goodness. God is love it is your duty to love him in return with all your heart and soul. See that you never forget what he has done to save you from everlasting perdition, and to raise you to glory, and honour, and immortality. Remember the infinite obligations under which you are laid; and let it be your constant aim to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments; to serve him with a willing mind; to glorify him with your body and your spirit, which are his. Nor will you ever find that this is a hard service. the contrary, the nearer you live to God, you will enjoy the larger measure of that " peace which passeth all understanding." FIDELIS. On Hindoo Superstitions and Cruelties. (From the Missionary Register for July, 1819.) VOLUNTARY TORMENT. We shall extract a passage on this subject from the Abbé Dubois' "Description of the People of India" (4to. London, 1817, pp. 413-416.) It is our wish to make our readers acqainted with the cruel superstitions under which their Indian fellow-subjects are held in bondage, that, commiserating their wretchedness, they may pray and labour for their emancipation from the tyranny of that Evil Spirit, who hath his dwelling among the Heathen, and exults in the follies and cruelties which mark his reign. "Vows, which are absolved by suffering mutilation in various ways, or by enduring bodily torments, are very common among the Hindoos. They are generally undertaken on occasions of disease, or any other danger, from which they suppose they can be deli vered by their efficacy. "One of the most common consists in stamping, upon the shoulders, chest, and other parts of the body, with a redhot iron, certain marks, to represent the armour of their gods; the impressions of which are never effaced, but are accounted sacred, and are ostentatiously displayed as marks of distinction. "A practice very common among the devotees consists in laying themselves at their whole length on the ground, and rolling, in that posture, all round the temples, or before the cars on which the idols are placed in solemn processions. On such occasions, it is curious to see the numbers of enthusiasts who roll in that manner before the car, over the roads and streets, during the whole of the procession; regardless of the stones, thorns, and other impediments, which they encounter in their progress, and by which they are mangled all over. It is in this class of enthusiasts that some individuals are found, so completely inspired by the demon of a barbarous fanaticism, or seduced by the first incitements of a delirious glow, that they roll themselves under the car on which the idols are drawn, and are voluntarily crushed under the wheels. The surrounding crowd of enthusiasts, so far from trying to prevent this act of devotion, loudly applaud the zeal of the victims, and exalt them among the gods. "One of the severest tests to which the devotees of India are accustomed to expose themselves, is that which they call in many places Chidi Mari.' The name arises from this species of self infliction being generally practised in honour of the Goddess Mariamma (or Marima,) one of the most wicked and sanguinary of all that are adored in India. At many temples, consecrated to this cruel divinity, a sort of gibbet is erected, with a pulley at the arm, through which a line passes with a sharp hook at the end. Those who have vowed to undergo the rough trial of 'Chidi Mari' place themselves under the gibbet; from which the rope and iron-hook are let down. Then, after benumbing the flesh of the middle of the back of the votary, by rubbing it very roughly, they fix the hook into it; and, giving play to the other end of the string, they hoist up to the top of the gibbet the wretch thus suspended by the muscles of the back. After swinging in the air for two or three minutes, he is let down again; and, the hook be ing unfixed, he is dressed with proper medicines for his wound, and is dismissed in triumph. "Another well known proof of devotion, to which many oblige themselves by vow, in cases of illness or other troubles, consists in walking, or rather running over burning coals. When this is to be performed, they begin by kindling a blazing fire; and, when the flames expire, and all the fuel is reduced to cinders, the votaries commence their race, from the midst of a puddle of earth and water, which has been previously prepared for the purpose; running quickly over the glowing embers, till they reach another puddle of the same kind on the other side of the fire. But notwithstanding this precaution, those who have a tender skin cannot fail to be grievously burnt. "Others, who are unfit for the race, in place of going through the fire, take a cloth well moistened with water, which they put over their head and shoulders, and lift up a chafing-dish filled with live embers, which they discharge over their heads. This is called the Fire Bath. 6 "Another species of torture submitted to, in the fulfilment of vows, is to pierce the cheeks, through and through, with a wire of silver or other metal, fixed in such a manner that the mouth cannot be opened without extreme pain. This operation is called locking the mouth;' and is often protracted through the whole day. While under this disci pline, the votary repairs to the temple which he has come to visit, and pays homage to the god; or walks about, with ostentation, among the admiring throng. There are several temples frequented by this species of votaries; and numbers of devotees, of both sexes, are there seen, with their jaws thus perforated through the teeth, and their mouths completely locked. "I once met a fanatic of this sort, in the streets, who had both his lips pierced through and through with two long nails, which crossed each other, so that the point of the one reached to the right eye, and that of the other to the left. He had just undergone this cruel operation, at the gate of a temple consecrated to the goddess Mari-amma; and, when I saw him, the blood was still trickling from the wounds. He walked in that state for a long time in the streets, surrounded by a crowd of admirers; many of whom brought him alms, in money or goods, which were received by the persons who attended him. "There are a great many other sorts of torture and bodily pains, thus voluntarily inflicted by the Hindoos, with the view of rendering their gods propitious. Each devotee chooses the sort which is suggested by an imagination heated with barbarous fanaticism; and, still more frequently, by the desire of acquiring a name, and becoming conspicuous among the people. "Some make a vow to cut out their tongues; and acquit themselves of their vow, by coolly executing it with their own hands. The custom is, when they have separated the half, or any other portion of that organ, at the door of the temple, to put it on a cocoa-shell, and offer it, on their knees, at the shrine of the deity. "This disposition of the Hindoos, to bind themselves by vows to painful or costly works in honour of their gods, is visible in all unpleasant circumstances that befal them, but particularly in disease. There is heardly a Hindoo who, in that case, does not take a vow to perform something or other when he recovers. The rich make vows to celebrate festivals at certain temples. Those less opulent offer, at the Pagoda, a cow, a buffalo, pieces of cloth, or trinkets of gold and silver. Those who are affected with any disorder of the eyes, mouth, ears, or any other outward organ, vow to their idols a corresponding resemblance of it in silver or gold. 66 Among the innumerable sorts of Vows practised by either sex, the following, which is very common in all parts of the Peninsula, appears to me so curious as to deserve notice. It consists in the offering of their hair and their nails to the idol. It is well known, that the men in India have the custom of frequently shaving the head, and allowing only a single tuft to grow on the crown. Those who have taken the vow, suffer their hair and nails to grow for a long space of time; and, when the day of fulfilment arrives, they go to the Pagoda, and have their head shaved and their nails pared, which they offer up to the divinity whom they worship. This practice is nearly peculiar to men, and is held to be one of the most acceptable of all others to the gods. "In concluding our remarks on the vows of the Hindoos, it may be proper to observe, that all such as relate to painful operations of the nature above described, with many others that are attended with bodily suffering, are always declined by the Brahmins, who leave the merit of them to the Soodras; and those of the latter class, who practise them, are for the most part fanatical sectaries of Vishnoo or Siva, particularly of Vishnoo, who aspire by that method to the public admiration, rather than tò do honour to the gods by such barbarous and ridiculous works." On the foregoing, several reflections naturally suggest themselves. We have here some among innume. rable characteristics of religion without a knowledge of revelation. When the modern philosopher, born and educated under the unavoidable influence of Christian faith and morals, pretends to give the result of his own reflection, in a system of religion, as that of reason and of nature; the truly philosophic mind will hesitate before it admits the justice of the claim. It will look for a true picture of religion without revelation, to times and places destitute of the latter. It will natu rally conclude, that they who are brought up in a Christian country cannot but have their views of religion more or less influenced by that system which prevails all around them, is incorporated with every social and civil connexion, and, in a greater or less degree, governs the habits and manners of society. Admitting their honesty, it cannot but believe that they will, at least involuntarily, be biassed by these circumstances. When, then, as in all reason he should, the true philosopher looks to those who knew not, and those who know not, revelation, for the religion that can be formed without it,-what presents itself? The above extract exhibits a fair specimen. Every new account from the benighted region whence those humiliating narrations have been brought, adds further, and still further confirmation of the evidence they afford. Does he plead the want of intellectual improvement as the source of these pitiable superstitions? Let him select his own portion of ancient or modern times, and make his own choice of the community ignorant of revelation-take times and places in which the human mind exhibited the highest cultivation of heathen philosophy. What, then, was the prevailing religion? What the religion |