No. 291. HEATHENISM. BY REV. H. B. HOOKER. PUBLISHED BY THE * AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, NO. 150 NASSAD-STREETj NEW-YORK. D. Fans haw, Printer. 2 HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. FROM THE APPEAL OF DR. SCUDDER, MISSIONARY AT CEYLON. The state of the heathen world urges upon us the great duty of spreading the Gospel. If degradation, pollution, and every species of crime which can be enumerated, are calls for us to engage in this work, we have such calls. The very nature of their religion forbids any other state of things. The characters of their gods are as debased as is possible to conceive. Bramha, who is called the creator, betrayed a criminal passion to his own daughter, and was deprived by Siva of the privilege of being worshipped, for his lying. Vishnu, the preserver, was an adulterer, a thief, and a liar. Pie was cursed by Paruvathe, the wife of Siva, for lying, and by her changed into a snake. Siva’s adulte¬ ries are numbered by thousands. A modest person will not even dare mention the particulars of them. Many of the images which are worshipped, are of the most indecent kind. Hindoo women frequently make representations of it with clay, and fall down before it. In many places, the sculptured images on the outside, as well as within' their temples, represent males and females in the most indecent attitudes. Belonging to the temples are dancing girls, sup¬ ported by the revenues of the temple, wholly or in part, and are common to all. One part of their daily business is to dance before the idols, at which time they sing the most filthy songs, and exhibit the most lascivious gestures. Their dress is often so thin as not to deserve the name of clothing. During the festivals at their temples, their joy keeps pace with the number of these dancers and the gross obscenity of their songs. It is not uncommon for brahmins, at such times, to mix with the multitude, and select the finest women they meet, and demand them of their relatives in the name of the idol. Their demand, though often rejected, is often complied with. Plusbands deliver up their wives, and fathers their daughters. They become the wives of the gods, or in other words, the prostitutes of the brahmins. Their public processions are of a piece with other things. Men, entirely naked, dance before the idol in open day, and in the public streets. The celebrated Abbe De Bois, a Roman Catholic Sec page 3 of cover. No. 291. No. 291. HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. The object of these pages is to present the moral condi¬ tion of the Heathen, and the motives for sending them the glorious Gospel. The facts are from the most authentic sources, chiefly from eye witnesses; and the subject is pre¬ sented with the devout hope that such compassion for the miserable and perishing may be awakened as will rouse to ardent prayer and more active benevolence. I. Extent of Heathenism. More than half the earth’s surface is covered with moral darkness. Almost the whole of the vast regions of Asia and of Africa, extensive portions of North and South Ame¬ rica, together with numerous islands of the sea, belong to the empire of paganism. In its deplorable darkness are enveloped, according to the best authority, not less than 500,000,000 of the human race; and these regions embrace many of the fairest portions of the globe. Nature is no where seen in more lovely attire, and has been no where more lavish of her bounties. In grandeur and beauty of scenery, in fertility of soil, in variety of useful productions, they are exceeded by none on earth. Let the eye of Chris¬ tian benevolence run to and fro through this immense em¬ pire of darkness. Truly the harvest is great! IL Absurdities of Heathenism in respect to the Deity and divine ivorship. 1. Objects of worship. —More than 200,000,000 of our race, embracing China and contiguous countries, are Budd¬ hists, worshipping a great variety of imaginary deities, paying homage to the spirits of departed ancestors, and to Yol. 10 B 2 2 HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. [30 innumerable idols. More than 50,000,000 are worshippers of the Grand Lama, a deified human being. More than 100,000,000, including Hindostan and regions adjacent, are worshippers of the deity under three forms, Brahma, Yish- na, and Siva, with numberless subordinate deities. The millions inhabiting the various Asiatic and Pacific islands worship an endless variety of false gods, represented by images in every variety of monstrous and disgusting forms. In different pagan nations various animals receive divine honors, as the cow in India, various reptiles in South Af¬ rica, the shark among the natives of the Pacific isles, and the crow among natives of the North West coast. The lu- minaries of heaven are also deified, as are rivers, and trees, and departed souls of men, and malignant demons! 2. Their religious rites evince the greatest degrada¬ tion .—In some regions they are attended with excessive cruelties. “ The shark,” says Rev. Mr. Ellis, “ was for¬ merly worshipped in the South Sea islands. On the occasion of worship, the priests sallied forth, and wherever a com¬ pany of persons were assembled, a rope with a noose was suddenly and unexpectedly thrown among them, and the first person taken in the snare, man, woman, or child, was strangled, cut in pieces, and thrown into the sea, to be de¬ voured by the shark.” Dr. Buchanan writes: “ The horrid solemnities of Jug- gernaut continue. Yesterday a woman devoted herself to the idol. The wheel did not kill her instantaneously, as is generally the case, but she died in a few hours. This morn¬ ing as I passed ‘ the place of skulls ’ nothing remained but her bones.” Religious rites in some regions are most disgusting. “ The car of the chief Hindoo idol,” says Dr. Buchanan, “ moved on a little way and then stopped. A boy of about twelve years was then brought forth to attempt something yet more lascivious, if peradventure the god would move. The child perfected the praise of his idol with such ardent 31 ] HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. 3 expression and gesture that the god was pleased, and the multitude emitting a sensual yell o’f delight, urged the car along.” The Hindoo gods are represented as examples of every kind of licentiousness, and as pleased with corres¬ pondent rites of worship. Their images and the sculpture of their temples are spectacles of impurity. The whole idol system exerts a most debasing and demoralizing influence upon the mind. What a contrast between paganism and revelation on the grand point, the character of God and the way of acceptance with him! III. The Heathen have no correct views of a future state. This is another affecting feature of their moral degrada¬ tion. The Chinese and the Hindoos (and theirs is the faith of more than half the Heathen world) believe in the transmigration of the soul , or its passage after death from the present body to some other; the good to nobler, the bad to viler bodies. These views involve a mere animal exist¬ ence after death, and rewards and punishments correspond¬ ing to such an existence. Various African and Indian tribes suppose the future state a sort of continuance of the pre¬ sent, involving similar wants, and perils, and circumstances. Accordingly the grave of the Indian receives also his dress, arms, &c. Retribution to the good will consist of cloudless skies, unfailing verdure and abundant game, with all the luxuries of sensual appetite while the wicked are to endure all the torments of ungratified desire in barren lands, abounding with wild beasts and venomous serpents, and darkened with storms and tempests. Without greater par¬ ticularity on this subject, it may suffice to say, that while we find no pagan nation destitute of some idea of a future state, we find none whose views are not mingled with extrava¬ gant absurdities. While they have been unable to resist the impression of a future life, they have given to a cor¬ rupt and disordered fancy the privilege of drawing such a picture as she pleased. 4 HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. [32 In respect to character , moral debasement is the univer- sal tendency of heathen views of futurity. An anticipated sensual paradise countenances the baser appetites, while the fierce and malignant passions are enflamed by the supposed future rewards of success in war or schemes of revenge. Instead of awing the transgressor’s mind and repressing evil deeds, the reverse is the melancholy fact. And on hap* piness their influence is no less disastrous. By bloody sa¬ crifices of human victims, by unbounded indulgence of hate¬ ful lusts and malignant passions, countenanced and encou¬ raged as these are by absurd views of a future world, the sum of human misery has been vastly increased. How be¬ neficent the hand that bestows that Gospel which brings 4 ‘ life and immortality to light,” which sets truly before the benighted pagan’s mind the things that shall be hereafter! IV. Vice and crime among the Heathen . Under the influence of polluting and debasing views of the Deity and divine worship, of incorrect apprehensions of a future world, and the grinding oppression of despotic rulers, iniquity bursts forth in heathen countries in prodi¬ gious luxuriance. Our limits forbid a survey of the great sea of pagan wickedness. The united voice of all who have dwelt among the heathen proclaims that none but those ac¬ tually present to behold them can have any idea of what revolting scenes of depravity are every day witnessed. Those upon the spot declare, the awful picture of heathen abominations, drawn in the first chapter of Romans, is es¬ sentially the state of heathenism as developed before their eyes. Vice bursts over all control, and rolls its waves of corruption on every side. The whole idol system, all over the earth, is full of ahominations : it carries its deluded vic¬ tims down to such a frightful depth of shameless pollution as renders details too revolting to be endured. 33 ] HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. V. The miseries of the Heathen are very great.- 1. Despotic governments produce incalculable misery. The arm of oppression often strips men in an hour of the gains of years, thus plunging families, sometimes whole districts, into the depths of poverty and misery. Capricious and sanguinary laws stretch the rod of terror over the en¬ slaved and trembling subject. Property, liberty, or life, must be surrendered at the caprice of a tyrant. 2. Religious customs inflict great miseries. It has ever been a favorite pagan notion that suffering was pleasing to the Deity. This is often voluntary, inflicted by deluded de¬ votees upon themselves. The flesh is cut or pierced with sharp instruments, tortured by fire, or emaciated by absti¬ nence from food. A most miserable death is often the con¬ sequence of this infatuation. Some cast themselves upon iron spikes which inflict deadly wounds ; others bury them¬ selves alive in the earth; others sink themselves with heavy Stones to the bottom of the ocean ; others throw themselves beneath the wheels of idol cars. The funeral pile in India was a dreadful specimen of self-inflicted misery. “ In the year 1799, twenty-two females,” says the Lon¬ don Christian Observer, “ were burnt alive with the dead body of Unutio, a Brahmin. The fire was kept burning three days ! When one or more arrived,,the ceremonies were gone through with, and they threw themselves upon the blazing fire! On the first day three were burned; on the second and third days nineteen more.” “ Another Brahmin died near Serampore, who had married forty women; all but eigh¬ teen had died before him. On this occasion a fire extending ten or twelve yards in length was prepared, into which the remaining eighteen threw themselves, leaving more than forty children.” In the Bengal Presidency in nine years, from 1815 to 1824, the number of suttees (cases of burning as above) was 5,997, The sufferings by pilgrimages in India are immense. More than 300,000 persons have been known to visit a fa- 6 HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. [34 vorite idol in a single year. By disease and want a fright¬ ful havoc of life is occasioned. The London Missionary Re¬ gister gives the following facts from an eye-witness : “ The poor pilgrims are to be seen in every direction dead, or in the agonies of death; lying by fives, tens and twenties; and in some parts there were hundreds to be seen in one place.” “ I saw one poor creature who was partly eaten, though alive; the crows made an incision in the back, and were pulling at the wound when I came up. The poor creature feeling the torment, moved his head and shoulders for a mo¬ ment ; the birds flew up, but immediately returned and re¬ commenced their meal. ” 3. Their miseries are multiplied by the want of natural affection. This principle is weakened, and it seems in some cases totally destroyed. The infirmities of declining life, instead of being soothed by filial tenderness, are the occasion of cruel abandonment; or death is hastened by bloody wea¬ pons. “ Sometimes, tired of waiting on him, the South Sea native would pierce his aged and unsuspecting father with a spear. Sometimes the children would pretend they were carrying their father to bathe, when they would throw him into a grave previously prepared, stifle his cries, and put an end to his life by throwing large stones upon him.” Ellis’ Account. Infanticide has prevailed in almost every heathen coun¬ try. “ Hundreds of helpless children,” says Mr. Kingsbu¬ ry, “ have been murdered among the Choctaws. Sometimes the mother digs a grave and buries her child alive as soon as it is born; sometimes she puts it to death by stamping on its breast, by strangling, or knocking it on the head.” “ A Hindoo woman cast hejr child, between three and four years old, into the Ganges, as an offering to the god¬ dess. The little creature made its way to a raft of bamboos that happened to be floating by, and seizing one end of it was drilled along, crying to its unnatural parent for help. She perceiving from the shore the danger of the child’s es- 351 HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. 7 caping, plunged into the water, tore away its hold, broke its neck, and hurled its life-warm corpse into the middle of the current, by which it was soon drifted out of sight,” Tyerman and Bennett’s Journal. 4. Heathen wars are cruel .—War is horrid enough un¬ der all the mitigations of civilized life; but in pagan lands it is carried, on with terrible ferocity. Scarcely could un¬ chained demons, bursting from their abodes beneath, make more horrid exhibitions of malignant passions. “ The bar¬ barity of wars in the South Sea islands,” says Rev. Mr. Ellis, “ was dreadful. Here a warrior might be seen tossing little children and infants into the air, and catching them upon the point of his spear, where they expired in agonies. There another might be seen dragging in savage triumph five or six lifeless children by a cord, which had been passed suc¬ cessively through their heads from ear to ear. Yonder, ail covered with gore, another might be seen scooping with his hands the blood from the gushing trunk of his decapi¬ tated foe and drinking it with hideous exultation.” 5. Their sorrows are multiplied by indifference to each other's woes. The most hard-hearted selfishness is generated by heathenism. The sick languish unattended; the poor perish by cruel neglect, or direct acts of inhumanity. “ As we passed, we saw' a poor man lying dead among the heaps of grain. He had just picked up a few' husks of peas and grain, which it appears he had been attempting to eat, but was too far gone. Not a single man in the market w T ould give this poor creature one handful of wdieat to save his life.” Christian Observer. “ Every Hindoo,” says Dr. Ward, “ in the hour of death is hurried to the side of the Ganges, or some sacred river, where he is exposed to the burning sun by day and the dews and cold by night. Just before the soul quits the body he is immersed to the middle in the stream, wfhile his rela¬ tions stand around him tormenting him in these last mo¬ ments with superstitious rites, and increasing an hundred fold the pains of dying. Very often when recovery might 8 HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. [36 be hoped for, these barbarous rites bring on premature death.” 6. Sense of insecurity is a great source of misery. Every thing dear in the present world, friends, property, liberty and life, are in constant jeopardy from the rapacity of des¬ pots. The storm may burst at any moment, taking every thing dear at a single stroke, or repeat its visit, emptying the vials of wrath, drop by drop. The effects of supersti¬ tion in this respect, especially in Africa, are appalling. “ When one of the royal family dies, human blood must flow as an offering to the gods. On these occasions tho princes rush out, seize the first person they meet, and drag him in for sacrifice. While this season lasts, therefore, it is with trembling steps that any one crosses his threshold; and when compelled to uG sc, he rushes along with the ut¬ most speed, avoiding every moment the murderous grasp that WOuld Consign him to death. Discov. and Adv. in Africa. 7. “ Unrestrained indulgence of the passions multiplies the woes of the heathen. The horrid passion of revenge has turned into an utter desolation rich and populous provinces. Disease, the curse of unbridled lust, had made the most dreadful havoc on several of the South Sea islands when they were first visited by missionaries. Intemperance, an importation from Christian countries, has frightfully aug¬ mented pagan wretchedness. Envy, and jealousy, and ma¬ lice, and remorseless covetousness, contribute also to swell the tide which sends its bitter waters through a large portion of the scenes of social and domestic life. 8. The miseries of females. —Humanity weeps at the me¬ lancholy picture of their degradation and wretchedness. “ I would to God,” said a South American Indian mother, “ that my mother by my death had prevented the distresses I endure. What kindness can we show to our female chil¬ dren equal to that of relieving them by death from such oppression, a thousand times more bitter than death? I say again, would to God my mother had put me under ground the moment I was born.” Ceoil , 8 „ iM . Scrmol . 87 ] HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. 9 “ Hindoo females,” says the Abbe Dubois, “ are in faxt used as mere animals. The men regard them as slaves, and treat them on all occasions with severity and contempt. The object for which an Hindoo marries is not to gain a companion to aid him in enduring the ills of life, hut a slave to hear children and he subservient to his rule.” “ The Chinese peasant,” says Malte Brun, “ yokes his wife and his ass together to his plough.” And Mrs. Judson writes, “ So far from receiving those delicate attentions which render happy the conjugal state, and which distin¬ guish civilized from heathen countries, the wife receives the appellation, my servant , or my dog , and is allowed to partake of what her lordly brutal husband is pleased to give her at the conclusion of his own repast.” 9. Savage customs. —The system of caste in India is one of the greatest scourges which ever afflicted human nature. It is repugnant to every feeling of justice and humanity, and binds a most grievous burden upon millions of the hu¬ man family. The Taboo system of the Pacific islands was a kindred work of darkness, inflicting a cruel death upon all that broke its absurd enactments. The system of ordeals, or trials of accused persons by fire, water, poison, exposure to wild beasts, &c. is a perfect mockery of justice, and a vast arena of cruelty and misery. 10. Anxieties and forebodings respecting a future state. The vices and crimes .of the heathen are so many and so odious, and so contrary to reason and conscience, the law written on their hearts, so destructive to the body and pol¬ luting to the mind, and their modes of appeasing the Deity so utterly and manifestly absurd, there cannot but be appre¬ hensions for the future. It is said of the natives of the South Sea islands, that in their dying agonies they would often cry to their attendants, “ There, there stand the demons watching for my spirit! O guard its exit; O preserve it from their grasp !” We cannot doubt that there are painful fore¬ bodings in the minds of millions as they contemplate the unknown future; these are whisperings of an immortali- HORRORS OF HEATH EX ISM. 10 [38 ty; there is conscious guilt, there is consequently anxiety and alarm! “ Their sorrows shall he multiplied that hasten after ano¬ ther god.” We have given a mere outline, a drop or two of a great ocean. The cry of heathen degradation and wretch¬ edness is an “ exceeding bitter cry;” it is like the voice of many waters; it calls for the alleviating influence of that Gospel whose inviting voice is, “ Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden , and I will give you rest. VI. Prospects of the Heathen for eternity. 1. Throughout the Old Testament the character of the heathen is described as excessively wicked and most deep¬ ly offensive to God. He reproves them in the severest lan¬ guage. He warns his people, in every form of solemn ad¬ monition, against following their examples, and punishes them with severity when they imitate the heathen. He chastises pagan nations in the most terrible manner, as¬ signing their wickedness as the reason. Witness the utter desolation of Sodom, Babylon, Tyre, Edom, and Moab. These terrible facts show that God views heathen abomina¬ tions as inexcusable. They carried their pollutions with them to the grave, dying as they lived, leaving not a shadow of reason for believing their moral characters altered, and consequently giving melancholy assurance of their having no part “ in the resurrection of the just.” 2. The New Testament describes in the plainest lan guage the character of those who cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. The vices which involve this exclusion are such as these: “ idolatry, uncleanness, lasciviousness, hatred, en- vyings, wrath, malice, strife, seditions, covetousness, drunk¬ enness, murders, revellings,” &c. Those exposed to eter¬ nal wrath are also designated as “ covenant breakers, in¬ ventors of evil things, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, whose throat is an open sepulchre, under whose tongues is the poison of asps, whose mouth is full of cursing 39 ] HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. 11 and bitterness, whose feet are swift to shed blood, who have no fear of God before their eyes.” All testimony respect¬ ing the heathen proclaims that they live and die in just the moral condition here described. They do just such things, and have pleasure in them that do them. The inference is, that they inherit “ that wrath which is revealed from heaven.” 3. But we have express declarations upon this point. Rom. 2:8. “ But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile .” Thus the heathen are as certainly exposed to perdition as any other class of sinners; no exception is made in their favor. Moral character is the ground upon which destiny is settled, and a miserable retribution will follow guilt wherever found. Again, Romans 2 : 12, “ For as many as have sinned without law, (i. e. without knowledge of re¬ velation,) shall perish without law,” not by being judged by the requirements of revelation, but for not following the light they did enjoy. Nothing can be plainer than that the heathen may sin unto perdition, though unenlightened by revelation. 4. Upon no principle but the one now advocated can we account for the conduct of the apostles toward the heathen. Their earnest warnings, made “ day and night with tears,” their agonizing prayers, their cheerful endurance of every species of reproach and suffering while preaching to the heathen, their renunciation of every temporal advantage, and their cheerful surrender of life to any horrid form of death rather than abandon their work ; all this is plain and consistent on the supposition of wrath to come, and incon¬ sistent and inexplicable on any other. They were men full of the Holy Ghost. The certainty of sure perdition to im¬ penitent heathen accounts for their conduct. They acted like madmen on any other principle. 5. The position now taken is confirmed by a scriptural 12 HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. [40 view of the character of God, and the nature of the heavenly world . God is glorious in holiness, and the character, em¬ ployments and pleasures of the heavenly inhabitants are represented as at the farthest possible distance fromi every thing that defileth. With such a God, and in such a hea¬ ven, can such persons dwell as the Bible describes the heathen to be, and as we know them to be 1 Can the idol¬ ater, the reveller, the effeminate, the adulterer, the impla¬ cable, the unmerciful enter there ? But this is the charac¬ ter of the heathen; they carry their abominations to their dying beds, and sink in death with all their pollutions upon them. Do not the heathen then “ awake to shame and everlasting contempt ?” If life, to probation’s last hour, be spent in guilt and pollution, can we believe it will be succeeded by a happy immortality ? To the apology, that they worship God according to the best of their knowledge, and are therefore in no danger of perdition; I reply, 1. The word of God expresSfy denirs this sllsdgcd igno** ranee, declaring that the works of nature display such evi¬ dences of the being and attributes of God, that there is no palliation of the guilt of idol worship. “ For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen , being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse; because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,” &c. Rom. 1 : 20, 21. “ Who, knowing the judgment of God, (that they which commit such things are worthy of death,) not only do the same, but have plea¬ sure in them that do them.” Rom. 1 : 32. The works of nature pour as much light now upon pagan minds respect¬ ing the character and will of God as they did when these passages were written, and the inference of their inexcusa- bleness is as just now as it was then. 2. But facts show their apology has no ground. Twi¬ light is not noon-day, but it may, nevertheless, be sufficient to show which is the right and which the wrong path. 41] HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. 13 The leading principles of the moral law have never yet been entirely effaced amid all the darkness and depravity of the world. “ At a very early age I was employed,” con¬ fesses a distinguished pagan, “ by my father to perform various offices in an idol temple. I hardly remember the time when my mind was not exercised on the folly of idola¬ try. These idols, I thought, were made only by the hand of man, can move from one place to another only by man, and, whether treated well or ill, are unconscious of either. So affected was I once by these considerations, that, instead of placing the idols according to custom, I threw them from their pedestals and left them with their faces in the dust.” Miss. Register. It cannot be doubted that in the minds of millions there is more or less conviction of their folly and wickedness; but as their religious systems give full sway to those pas¬ sions whose indulgence constitutes their chief happiness, they willingly stifle conviction, and permit themselves to be borne away by the current. It is no position of ours, that no jpagan ever gropes his way to God. At the same time, with Scripture principles before us on the one hand, and the character of the heathen on the other, the conviction cannot be resisted, that the great body of them “ go away into everlasting punishment.” Let there be no misapprehension on another point. They do not perish for rejecting Christ. How shall they reject one of whom they have never heard? They are con¬ demned for not following the light they do enjoy. Their voluntary wickedness, their utter moral unfitness for hea¬ ven, and that alonp, is the ground of their exclusion. If any thing can be proved from the word of God, it can be proved that the great body of the heathen are not saved. This is indeed a startling and awful conclusion : but it can¬ not be avoided. And it would seem that, in view of such facts, all Christendom would be filled with the deepest compassion; that throughout all its coasts would be heard tho cry, Let us hasten to the perishing nations with that HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. 14 glorious Gospel which is the “wisdom of God and the power of God unto salvation.” VII. Motives for sending the Gospel to the Heathen . 1. The Gospel is the grand and only remedy for their ivants .—It meets them all. It is “ a light to lighten the Gentiles.” It reveals the true character of Jehovah, un¬ folds the way of acceptance through a Mediator, commu¬ nicates all the great truths respecting a coming world need¬ ful for man to know, explains and enforces the duties of man in the present life, and moreover is accompanied, wherever it is proclaimed, hy those gracious influences of the Holy Ghost hy which men are “born again,” “pass from death unto life,” are filled with the love of God, are taught to deny every worldly lust, to lead lives of humility, meekness, patience, and active benevolence; and by which they are qualified for a holy and happy immortality. And the Gospel is the only means by which these glorious re¬ sults can be accomplished. Its Author’s name is the only one under heaven given among men whereby they can be saved. The Gospel is the light of life; therefore are we bound to send it to every benighted region. 2. The triumphs it has already icon urge its universal diffusion. Within thirty years it has driven idolatry from more than twenty islands of the sea. “ It has so tamed the ferocity of numerous savage tribes that they have beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. It has broken in pieces some of the most iron- hearted despotisms that have ever scourged our race. It has erected hundreds of temples to the living God, and from them is now pouring on the surrounding darkness the glo¬ rious liofht of truth. It has raised whole communities from the most disgusting, brutal and miserable degradation, to intelligence, sobriety, social order, and domestic happiness. It has exerted its sanctifying power over thousands, inspir¬ ing hatred of sin and the love and practice of holiness. It 43 ] HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. 15 has furnished the miserable with precious consolations, and the dying with triumphant hopes.” Labor therefore has not been spent for naught. Here is a loud appeal to scatter the good seed with an unsparing hand. The moral artil¬ lery of the Gospel has never been faithfnlly used without a triumph. Let the sound thereof go out to the ends of the world. Let it peal on every human ear. 3. The facilities with which we are furnished for 'prose - cuting this work urge us forward .—No age has enjoyed so many. Christian enterprise has already lit the lamp of life on the borders of the principal heathen kingdoms. From these positions light may be sent in every direction through the surrounding darkness. The benevolent heart can make its choice in what region of the shadow of death it would diffuse the glad tidings. By a thousand channels we can pour the waters of salvation on dry and thirsty lands. And in such arrangements of Providence is found the earnest remonstrance, “ Why stand ye here all the day idle?” 4. The present attitude of the pagan world powerfully appeals to us on their behalf —The long slumbers of moral death begin to be broken. As here and there a ray of light has penetrated the thick darkness, the spirit of inquiry has been roused. The superstitions of an hundred generations are shaken. They seem sinking under the mighty mass of their own corruptions. The mind, so long debased and benighted, as if the burden could be endured no longer, is looking round for some supply of its immortal wants. The glimmerings of the true light have shown the heathen the frightful reality of their own degradation and wretched¬ ness. “ Come over and help us,” is the cry which is wax¬ ing louder and louder from different regions of the pagan world. How affecting the spectacle of benighted nations asking for the bread of life! Who can withstand such an appeal ? A most solemn responsibility rests upon those who hear it. A motive to exertion is thus presented which can¬ not be resisted without deep guilt. Whose heart can refuse the fervent prayer; whose hand deny the generous offering? 16 HORRORS OF HEATHENISM. [44 5. I urge one more motive, and it is an imperative one, the last command of our Lord Jesus Christ. He knew the darkness, the pollutions, the miseries and the dangers of the heathen. He knew his Gospel was their only remedy. He knew, too, all the objections which enmity, unbelief, cove¬ tousness, or lukewarmness could make to its diffusion. But he makes no reservation. “ Go, preach the Gospel to every creature.” Traverse every sea; penetrate every benighted island and continent; preach it in every language; let every creature hear its glad tidings. No evasion is possible; none can be made which would not justify violation of any other divine precept. There stands the imperative injunc¬ tion before the eyes of all Christians; uttered last, that it might be remembered longest; uttered as the closing act of the Savior’s mission on earth, that nothing should be want¬ ing to its solemnity. And that precept does hind, if divine authority can impose obligation, it does bind those who have the Gospel, to send it through the world. Reader, the claims of the heathen are before you. You cannot now refuse them the aid Providence enables you to give, and be guiltless of their blood.x If you harden your heart under the affecting appeals of pagan miseries, “ doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it?” Surrender your mind to the influence of Christian benevolence. By fervent prayer, by every needed sacrifice of time, and property, and influence, bear your part in the blessed enterprise of pour¬ ing the light of salvation on a benighted world. END. II0RR0R3 OF HEATHENISM. 3 priest, who spent many years in the Mysore country, says,, “ I have never beheld an Indian procession without its pre¬ senting me with an image of hell" As might he expected, the minds of men, women, and children become polluted to such a degree that they carry the pernicious lessons of their temples and festivals into all the walks of private life. As children are conversant with such scenes from their early childhood, and as no pains are taken by their parents to curb their passions, they of course soon show their degeneracy. Fornication is very common among them. Adultery is pre¬ valent to a surprising degree. “ A chaste woman, faithful to her husband, is scarcely to be found among the millions of Hindoos.” Vast numbers of married men keep concubines. If a climax be wanting to this horrid picture, it will be found at one of their ceremonies, always held at night, in which there is a promiscuous intercourse among the sexes. Brah¬ mins and pariahs, husbands and wives, in a word, all classes and descriptions of people degrade themselves to a level with irrational animals. The husband who may see his wife in the arms of another, can make no resistance at this time. The religion I have now described, must necessarily be a prolific source of every species of crime. In addition to those already mentioned, that of prematurely destroying illegiti¬ mate children is common. In Bengal, it was represented to the late Mr. Ward that the number thus destroyed could not be less than ten thousand a month. To the dishonesty of this people there are no bounds. I have never seen a man, who is not under the influence of Christianity, whose word I would trust. Perjury prevails to such a degree, that I have no doubt I could hire a hundred of them for a shilling, to testify to any falsehood. “Pooree,” says a Hindoo, “is the heaven of the Hindoos, yet there the practices of mankind are adultery, theft, lies, murder of the innocent, whoremongery, disobedience and abuse of parents, defiling of mothers, defiling of sisters, defiling of daughters. Such is the religion of Juggernaut.” The temple of Juggernaut is resorted to by people from the farthest parts of Hindoostan. It takes a year for such to complete their pilgrimage. “It is no uncommon occur¬ rence to see the miserable, worn-out pilgrim, with a pa¬ tience and fortitude worthy of a better cause, bind their soli¬ tary, tattered garments round their lacerated feet, and go groaning along, with bending back and tottering step, and No. 291. 20 pages.] HORRORS OF heathenism. emaciated frame, and dull and sunken eyes, from day to day, and week to week, until they obtain the object of their pain¬ ful toils, a view of Juggernaut.” “Such is the great mor¬ tality among these pilgrims, that a Hindoo of property always makes his will before he sets out on the journey, and takes a most affecting farewell of his disconsolate rela¬ tions.” If Christianity was to extend its influence no far¬ ther than this world, it would be worth all the sacrifice Christians could make of their time and money, to send it to the East, in order to prevent the distressing bodily afflic¬ tions poor idolaters undergo. How much more then, when they look down upon the world o f wo which awaits them the moment they die, should they be exerted to use their utmost endeavors to send them the Gospel! O, where are the bowels of Christians, that they yearn no more over them! In view of these facts, we shall all doubtless he ready to exclaim, that if any thing more can be done for the heathen, it must he done. Nothing can withstand its force. Armies disappear before it, as the morning cloud and early dew be¬ fore the scorching sun. 2 Chron. 19. Prison-doors fly open, and chains are hurst “ as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire.” Acts, 12. How soon was the ever-blessed God overcome (I speak it with adoring reve¬ rence) by the prayers of his servant Moses. Though his justice was provoked to the highest degree, and called for the destruction of his people, he could do nothing to them as long as he (who was the type of Christ) stood between him and them. With the incense of our Redeemer’s blood in our hands, will any one say that we are less able to pre¬ vail with God to stay the plague which is abroad among the nations, than Moses was to ward off the threatened curse? No. 291.