of their own idols, and the scandal of religion, go about the country like impostors as they are, and pretend to foretel events, beyond the power or comprehension of any human capacity. Some of these wretches pretend to instruct women how to have children, a proof of which the author has in his possession, committed to him by a learned German who resided above two years in the interior parts of China, but the particulars are too obscene to be mentioned. Others of them pretend to sell the wind and air, and these always go in couples together. One of them with a very grave and demure countenance, carrying on his shoulder a bag in which his airy goods are deposited, and out of which at a certain price, he delivers to the credulous, as large a quantity as they can afford to purchase. In his left hand, he carries a hammer, with which he strikes the ground three times, in order to make the genius of the wind appear; and if credit is to be given to these impostors, the wind will appear in a certain number of days borne on the wings of a bird.

Another of their tricks is to consult domestic idols, for, as was said before, every house has its god. In such cases, the juggler takes two little sticks and ties them fast together with a thread, and having made the most humble supplications to the domestic idol, they throw the sticks down before it, in full assurance that their petitions will be graciously heard and answered. As one side of each of the sticks is flat and if by accident they happen to fall on the flat side, they then expostulate with the god, and proceed to try a second experiment. If, on the second repetition they prove again unsuccessful, they have recourse from words to blows, and knock the idol two or three times about the head, to teach him to be more propitious for the future.

However, they are seldom discouraged, for they continue throwing the stick till they fall in a proper position, and the greater trouble they are put to, they impute it to the obstinacy of the god. For this juggling trick they receive some money from the credulous, who are vain enough to believe them; just in the same manner as our fortune tellers do in Europe. To treat these villains with contempt, or to refuse them at least something, would be considered as sacrilege, for they are authorized by the priests, in order to keep the people in a state of ig

norance.

There are in China many female devotees, who observe the strictest austerities; and father Le Compte gives us an account of one of them, which is very extraordinary. The Jesuit had often been told of her piety, and therefore he thought her a proper object to be converted to the Christian reli

gion. Being introduced to her, he found, that besides observing the austerities of the sect to which she belonged, she had not tasted animal food for the space of forty years. She was by profession, one of those who delighted in long prayers, and a member of a society that belongs to a temple frequented by pilgrims from all parts of the empire. These pilgrims, upon their arrival at the foot of the mountain upon which the temple is built, fall down on their knees and crawl up to the top. Le Compte found this woman too much wedded to her own opinions, to embrace his religion, so that he was obliged to leave her a heathen, in the same deplorable state as he found her.

Polygamy is tolerated in China among all ranks of people, but the woman first married is considered as superior to the others. The Chinese are so jealous of their wives, that they will not permit them to be seen by any besides themselves; even their own relations are denied admittance to their apartments, unless the husband is along with them. Indeed their apartments are contrived in such a manner, that they cannot be seen by any one, and when they are indulged to go abroad, it is in a close carriage, hidden from every one.

In the article of marriage, neither parties are permitted to consult their own inclinations, but the match is made up, either by the relations, or by old women employed for that purpose, and who make a trade of it. The wedding day being fixed, the bride is carried in a sedan, followed by the bridegroom and their relations. The bride brings no other portion besides her wedding garments, a few other clothes, and some houshold furniture; for in China. the men give money for their wives, instead of receiving it with them. The bridegroom attends the bride to his own door, when he opens the sedan, which before was shut up, and conducting her into a private apartment, recommends her to the care of several women, who have come to attend the wedding, and who spend the day in feasting and rejoicing, while the bridegroom does the same among his maie friends and acquaintance.

As the bridegroom is never permitted to see the bride whom he has purchased, till he opens the chair, so if he finds himself deceived with respect to her beauty, he immediately shuts it, and dismisses her home to her relations, chusing rather to lose the purchase-money, than to marry one whom he cannot love.

The solemnization of the marriage is always preceded by three days mourning, during which time, all the relations abstain from every sort of amusement. The reason assigned for this practice is, the

Chinese

Chinese look upon the marriages of their children as a presage of their own deaths. The purchase and sale of wives are much more common among the lower sorts of people, than among those of an elevated rank; for the latter always take care to have one lawful wife, and to treat her in a manner becoming the rank in which she was brought up.

The day after marriage, the bridegroom and bride, or rather the new married couple, repair to the next temple, where they offer up sacrifices to one of their gods, and have their names enrolled among those of their ancestors. Then the priest bestows upon them the solemn benedictions, and declares that nothing can part them till death.

When one of the princesses of the blood royal is to be married, twelve young men of high rank, are brought into an apartment in the palace where they can be seen by her, although they cannot see her. They are ordered to walk round the apartment while she surveys them, when she makes choice of two, who are presented to the emperor, and he nominates whom he thinks proper. This is perhaps a much better, and more rational way of disposing of a daughter than that of the European fathers of prin cesses, concluding marriages, without giving their daughters an opportunity of so much as seeing the object of their affections. A woman who cannot pick a husband out of twelve lovers, must be nice in her choice indeed!

When a Chinese dies, an altar is immediately erected in some particular room of the house, which for the most part, is hung with mourning. The image of the deceased is laid upon the altar, and the corpse behind it, in a coffin. Every one who approaches it, is to pay his compliments of condolence, and bow his knee four times before the image; but previous to these kneelings, they offer up their perfumes. If the deceased has any children, they stand around the coffin, dressed in deep mourning; and his wives and relations, weep aloud with the female mourners, who are hired, and, who stand concealed behind a curtain. When the body is laid in the coffin, the mouth is filled with as much corn, rice, silver and gold, as circumstances will admit of; nails and scissars, tied up in purses, are likewise put into the coffin, in order that the deceased may cut his nails as often as he pleases.

The day on which the funeral is to be solemnized, all the relations and friends of the deceased meet together at the house of the deceased, dressed in mourning, who, together with the priests, form the funeral procession, which is attended by the images of men, women, tygers, elephants, and various other sorts of creatures, which are to be burnt, in memory

of the deceased, and for the repose of his soul. The priests who are to make a funeral panygeric walk behind the procession. In the front, several persons walk with brazen censers on their shoulders. The children of the deceased walk immediately behind the corpse on foot, leaning on sticks, as an expression of sorrow and concern. After the children, come the wives and the more distant relations of the deceased, in a close litter. Handfuls of red sand are thrown upon the coffin, during the procession, which is a symbol of the body's returning again to its native earth. Musicians, playing the most melancholy tunes, walk in the midst of the procession till they come to the place where the corpse is to be interred, which is always without the city in an open field, set apart for that purpose. The body is laid in the ground, and the priest pronounces a funeral oration, after which all the mourners return home.

Such was the ancient, and such is the modern state of religion in China, and upon an impartial consideration, we shall find much to commend and much to blame. The deists have represented the Chinese religion as the most perfect in the universe, but upon a strict enquiry, it appears to be a system of barbarism and heathenism. That they are well acquainted with some of the fine arts, cannot be denied; but their religion is of such a nature, that unless some reformation takes place in their system, they will remain as they have hitherto done, a people secluded from the rest of the world; and indeed out of the way of improvement. To deduce any other inferences is altogether unnecessary; for those who know the value of the blessings they enjoy'under the gospel, where life and immortality are brought to light, will look with an eye of pity on the highly reputed natives of China, and wish those people to share with them in happiness.

Before we dismiss this article concerning China, it may not be improper to say something concerning burying-grounds, especially as the right understanding of that subject will serve to remove some prejudices which too many labour under. a

The ancient Greeks never suffered a dead body to be buried within the walls of their cities: they had fields appropriated for that purpose, at a considerable distance, and at the public expence.

The primitive Christians could not bury their dead within towns or cities, for they being subjects of the Roman emperors, were obliged to comply with all their edicts, in things of a civil nature; it therefore remains for us to enquire at what time, and for what reason this practice first took place? So far as ecclesiastical history will direct us, it

seems

seems to have been towards the middle of the fifth century, owing to the veneration the Christians had for the remains of the martyrs. Those they picked up and piled round their churches; and others, who were professing Christians, desired to have their bodies interred near the remains of those who had laid down their lives for the truth. Superstition was then beginning to gain ground in the Christian. church, and the less than non-essentials of religion were considered as of a greater importance than the articles of faith and duty, upon which man's salvation depends. Corrupt priests found it conduced towards promoting the dignity of their characters, and considerable emoluments arose from it, in consequence of the fees that were paid. This practice has continued ever since in the church of Rome; and we have several instances in the reign of Henry the eighth, of people having been committed to prison, where they died miserably for no other reason but that of refusing to pay money for the funeral

rites.

Some of the greatest men, both in the last and the present age, have earnestly wished, that fees for the burying of the dead had been long since abolished, especially in protestant churches; but we wish for reformation long before it takes place. However, with respect to things of a religious nature, they are not what we have at present in view; instead of them we look towards utility, and the promoting of public safety.

Whatever may be the consequences of burying bodies in church yards, certainly the practice of interring them in churches must be of a very pernicious nature. In Italy, the smell arising from the corrupted bodies, often interrupts the devotions; nor need we be much surprized if the plague, or some such epidemical distemper, was to break out in the country. In the original judgement pronounced upon our first parents, we find the words, "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return;" but such is the vanity, such the pride of mortals, that they cannot bear the thoughts of their near relations being consigned to the silent grave. Like the Egyptians of old, they would have them kept above the ground; but alas! they cannot preserve them from corruption. Nay, it will, and frequently does happen, that the churches in which they are buried, fall to the ground, and the author of this work has seen whole cart loads of dead bodies taken in their coffins from vaults, and thrown down in a promiscuous heap in the fields.

Would it not, therefore, be much better to have a field purchased at the public expence, near every town and city, to deposit the dead bodies of our

No. 4

dearest relations? Surely it would; but here we must state a particular objection: .

Those who stand up in defence of the burying of dead bodies in church-yards, being fairly beaten out of all the assistance they vainly imagined to procure from the Greck and Roman historians, have had recourse to what they call a natural principle. They tell us, that men desired to have their remains deposited near the spot where they offered up their prayers and praises to the divine Being. In proof of this, they produce the practice of the ancient Druids, who buried their relations near the confines of their temples. temples. Plausible as this objection may seem, yet it will not require much force of argument to over

throw it.

The temples of the Druids were piles of stones, set up in a circular form, far from towns and cities, and the bodies being buried deep in the earth, no evil consequences could arise from a noxious smell; but many of our burying grounds are in the most conspicuous parts of our cities, and thousands of coffins with their mortal contents, are left above ground, to the disgrace of humanity and civil polity. But allowing the argument to hold good, let it be granted that the Druids did so, what has Christians to do with it? Life and immortality being now brought to light by the gospel, we have an assurance that our bodies will be raised at the general resurrection, and then what does it signify to us where they were deposited. It is nothing to the Christian whether his body is cast into the sea, or laid up in a monument of Parian marble, whether it is trodden under the feet of men, who are a disgrace to humanity, or enshrined behind the altar of a cathedral church. That respect should be shewn to the ashes of the dead, is certainly consistent with all those grand ideas we form of the divine benevolence; because man is the image of his divine Maker; but that it should be exercised at the expence of the living, is contrary to moral justice and

common sense.

From the whole, we may draw the following conclusions. First, that it is our duty to deposit the dead bodies of our fellow creatures in a decent manner. Secondly, that to lay their dead bodies in vaults above ground, is contrary to the original order of God. order of God. Thirdly, that the having burying grounds in towns and cities, may be attended with very dangerous consequences; and lastly, that it is the duty of the state to have common burying grounds in every part of the nation, and that no fees should be exacted from those who are unable

indulgent god had compassion on him, and danced, and the sun, moon, and stars danced along with him. During this celestial movement, a chain of gold dropped from either the sun or the god, and the place has been ever since called Cydambaran. It was also in memory of this remarkable transaction, that the image of the god was changed from that of an ape to a pole, thereby intimating, that all religious worship should reach up towards heaven, that human affections should be placed on things above.

At Samorin, a considerable city, is a hapel, and in it is a statue seated on the throne, and young children are sacrificed to it. It is made of brass, and when heated from a furnace underneath the altar, the child is thrown into its mouth and consumed. There are certain days set apart for the worship of this idol, and he is washed in consecrated water, every morning, by the Bramins. Flowers are scattered upon the altars, during the sacrifices; and they steep some herbs in the blood of a cock, which are afterwards thrown into a censer, with a large quantity of frankincense, and with this they perfume the idol. During the whole of the ceremony, the priest tinkles a little bell to animate the people in their devotions, a practice common in many heathen

nations.

The first part of the sacrifice, namely, that of destroying an innocent child being over, the priest cuts the throat of a cock, with a silver knife, dipped in the blood of a hen, and holds the cock with the knife over a chaffin dish, in the middle of the altar. The altar is pompously illuminated by wax tapers, and at the close of the sacrifice, the priest takes a handful of corn, and walks backwards from the altar, keeping his eyes stedfastly fixed upon it. When he comes to the middle of the chapel, he throws the corn over his head, and returning to the altar again, removes every thing from it.

There is a pagod near Naugracut, a considerable city between Indus and the Ganges, and in it is an idol, which the Bramins honour, by cutting off part of their tongues. This, however, is but done once during their lives, and it is reckoned the highest act of devotion they can perform, and such as submit to it are considered as saints.

pure

It is remarkable what veneration these people have for the river Ganges; in it they wash, out of devotion, and often throw into it, as offerings, pieces of gold and silver. Vast numbers of pilgrims are continually visiting this celebrated river, and while they bathe in it, they hold a short straw between their fingers. The pilgrims having washed themselves with great ceremony, are received by the Bramins, who conduct them to a pagod, where they

offer some money and rice. During these ceremonies, the pilgrims repeat several prayers, and every one is said to have his sins forgiven, when he has been washed in the Ganges.

Quilacara, a celebrated town on the borders of the Indies, is remarkable for a Jubilee, celebrated there once in twelve years. On the morning of the festival, the rajah of the place, who is both sovereign high priest, and civil governor, mounts a scaffold; and, having stripped himself naked, is washed all over by his attendants. He then makes an oration to the people; telling them, that he is to offer up himself, a free-will offering to the gods. The people shout applause, when the rajah pulls out a sharp knife, and cuts off his nose, lips, and ears, and presents them to his idols, and he closes the ceremony, by cutting his throat.

Horrid as this ceremony may appear to us, yet there are others more barbarous still; and in the same province. Some of their devotees go in scores together, to visit the most celebrated temples, and, standing before their altars, cut off their flesh by piece-meal; using the following words; "Thus do I mortify myself for the "sake of my God." When they can endure the torment no longer, they say, "Out of love to thee, O my god, do I offer up myself, a chearful sacrifice!" Then they stab themselves, and their bodies are immediately reduced to ashes. These precious ashes are sold by the priests for a considerable sum, to the deluded people, and are considered as preservatives against all sorts of diseases. During the month of May, these people observe a remarkable ceremony; and it is at the time when the pilgrims come to bathe in the Ganges. They erect a pile of cow dung, on which they put several baskets of rice, with herbs, roots, and all such vegetables as can be procured. To the whole is added a quantity of butter, and several piles of wood, which they set fire to; and during the time it is burning, they pretend to discover what sort of a harvest will ensue.

In Visapour, at seed-time, they have a festival, which they celebrate in the following manner. The priests lop off all the branches of one of their tallest trees, except those at the top, and with these lopped branches, march in grand procession, singing hymns, attended by a vast concourse of people, to one of their pagods, where they rest before the gate, and salute the idol. The people repeat loud acclamations, and walk three times round the temple, and the archpriest digs a hole in the ground, and pours into it some water brought from the Ganges, mixed with the urine of cows. In this hole, the branches of the tree are fixed, and while the fire is consuming them,

the