ping at the shrines of these deities, and imploring the above and other worldly favours from their hands; bbut few there were who, in their devotions, applied for any thing which had not respect to the enjoyments of this life. .m Je to smo -19 The Bramhun then, being about to depart, informed Goonah Purist that he must choose one of these gods for the peculiar object of his adoration. Moreover, he directed him to take a string of beads, and, counting by these, to repeat the name of that deity, at the same time fixing his mind on the form of the idol, without which, he assured him that this zacts of repeating the name would be inefficacious. "The name of God," added the Bramhun, "is like fire, by which all sins are consumed." He also directed him to perform certain acts of praise; assuring him, that, by praise, a person may obtain from the gods, all of whom are fond of flattery, whatsoever the desires: and having prescribed unto him certain -other ceremonies and forms of prayer, to be repeatred bone hundred thousand times, he departed for a while, leaving Goonah Purist in the courts of the temple...

elleSo Goonah Purist did as the Bramhun had directed him. He chose out one of the debtas before whom to pay his adoration; he repeated his name millions of times, together with his hundred thousand prayers, to which he even added many more; so that he exceeded what had been required of him. He brought offerings of all he possessed, even of the most rich and valuable things, and laid them before his debta: he brought daily presents of clarified butter, flowers, and perfumes, and kept a lamp burning perpetually before the divinity: yet he found no relief from his burden, which seemed, on the contrary, to press more heavily upon him, while the plague of his leprosy became more and more -tormenting. And behold, as he lay upon the pave

ment before his idol, he began to reason thus with himself:

"There is a God, the creator of all things, this my teacher confesses,-and, if we may judge of him by his works, he must be an infinitely wise and holy God. I have fallen, by my sins and uncleanness, under the displeasure of this God. I cannot make myself clean; and whether these can effect that cleansing, whom I now prostrate adore, does not yet appear. What person do I see, who enters the courts of these temples, who is benefited by the gods whom he serves? Do not all the worshippers of these idols remain the same after having devoted themselves days, yea, months, to these debtas? Whom have they healed? whom have they cleansed? From what my teacher himself confesses, from what I see recorded against them upon the walls of their temples, these gods are themselves grievous sinners, they are themselves polluted with their own crimes,-how, then, can they cleanse me from mine? Can the murderer absolve me from murder? Can the adulterer purify me from my adulteries? Can the thief set me free from my dishonesties? No! I require a mediator who is himself without spot or blemish. He that would

cleanse me, must be clean himself." Here Goonah Purist broke out into bitter cries and lamentations, which continued until the Bramhun once more came unto him.

Then I listened to what his teacher should say unto him: and behold, he enquired of him, wherefore he continued to cry? and whether he had not found relief from the performance of the prescribed ceremonies and devotions?

In reply to which, Goonah Purist ventured to express his feelings to the Bramhun, and to confess his doubts whether the gods, to whom he had been recommended, were able to save him.

Then was the Bramhun exceedingly angry with him, and told him that he believed Nurruck was written upon his destiny; or, perhaps, that he was doomed to undergo many miserable births, to appear again on earth, in the body of some abject slave, some abominable beast, or some viler reptile.

22 Then was the poor man exceedingly terrified; and behold, he kissed and embraced the feet of the Bramhun, imploring his pity.

I then saw that the Bramhun raised him up, saying, that he was now convinced that he was an enormous sinner, and that, unless he submitted to expiate these sins by very severe sufferings before death, he would be fed with red hot balls, or thrown into pits filled with devouring worms and insects, in Yumaluya, the place of torments, which lies in the southern parts of the earth, where the King of Death holds his court.

Then said the poor man, for he was much frightened, "I am willing to endure any thing, however grievous to flesh and blood, rather than any longer endure the terrors of my present situation: this burden on my back will, I feel, sink me down into the lowest pit of hell, unless I find the means of deliverance from it before I depart this life: and the leprosy on my body becomes more and more intolerable to me from day to day."

"As I before remarked," said the Bramhun, "this pollution of which you complain is occasioned solely by your union with the matter of which your body is formed; and deliverance from it can only be obtained by the entire subjugation of the passions."

Goonah Purist then enquired of the Bramhun, in what manner this could be done.

"You have tried the common forms of devo

tion," replied the Bramhun, " and hitherto without effect. I now recommend some severe bodily mortification." riod teds to

"I am willing," said Goonah Purist, " to undergo any mortification, however severe; for no bodily pain, to which I can be condemned, can equal the mental horrors which I have endured for some time past."

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I saw, then, that the Bramhun caused Goonah Purist to arise, and follow him; and behold, he led him from the courts of the temple, and from the more frequented parts of the city, to that which was more thinly inhabited. And there I saw that the Bramhun caused his afflicted disciple to put on iron sandals, stuck thick with blunted spikes, which cruelly tortured him as he walked. Moreover, he took his garments from him, and clad him in a coarse blanket of hair; commanding him to go on pilgrimage to a certain temple, where he should assuredly find that which he sought, even deliverance from his sins. So the Brambun departed, and the pilgrim, having received directions for the journey, hastened on his way as rapidly as his infirmities would admit.

After a while, I looked again at Goonah Purist, and behold, he came to a place where was an innumerable company of pilgrims, with whom he presently united himself. And behold, these pilgrims were, for the most part, very filthy and hateful in their appearance: some being without clothes, and others bedaubed with mud and mire, which brought to my mind these words of Scripture, And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter. (Ezek. xxii. 28.) And, as they went along, they mingled in idolatrous dances and obscene ceremonies; intoxicating themselves with spirituous liquors, which they drank from human sculls, exhaling the fumes of inebriating herbs;

while they made the air to resound with their abominable songs. Thus they came, at length,

into the recesses of that horrible wilderness, in which stands the City of the Wrath of God,-a land, where was no grass, or green herb, or fountain of water; and there I beheld such sights as made my blood to freeze within me. In one place a number of miserable creatures, aspiring to superior merit, and coveting the praise of men, were undergoing, and compelling others to endure, all manner of tortures: while many in a different part, were performing bloody and gloomy ceremonies and observances, by which the rites of the dead were violated. In a certain temple, dark and foul within, there lay before the shrine of some frightful idol, the headless trunk of a man, who had been sacrificed to the senseless image: while on another out-stretched corse, before a different idol, there sat a devotee performing his impure devotions. Among the rest, I saw a man who had stood fixed in one posture for many revolving months, sometimes exposed to the burning rays and scorching winds of mid-day suns and sultry deserts; and, at other times, to the violent rains and unwholesome damps of the wintry season. His beard and nails were grown to an enormous length, his limbs were parched and shrivelled, and his cadaverous countenance was more than half hid by his matted locks, in which the birds of the air had built their nests. And not far off there appeared another exposing himself to the heat of seven slow fires.

There were others who allowed themselves the liberty of moving from place to place; but each had some distorted limb, or some monstrous deformity. Many of these had their arms fixed above their heads, the hands of which being immoveably clasped, the nails had grown through the palms. Others wore artificial hair down to their feet, which,