THE Brahmins, according to the Hindu system, are the chief amongst men, having sprung from the mouth of Brahma. To the Brahmin alone it appertained to read the Vedas, or sacred books, while the inferior castes

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THE BRAHMINS.

[JULY, might not even touch them. Thus he was to be the sole depositary of religious knowledge, and from his lips alone might the people learn. Yet if he was thus placed in the position of a ruling priest, to whom the people were to be submissively obedient, he was himself to be the slave of the ritual which he was bounden to observe daily. It is scarcely possible to conceive how minute and burdensome this is. His first duty in the morning, when he rises from sleep, is to clean his teeth, a duty so sacred, that to omit this would be to lose the benefit of all other rites which he might observe throughout the day. He must use for this purpose a proper twig of the racemiferous fig-tree, repeating to himself a prayer to Soma, the king of herbs and plants, that he would cleanse his mouth with glory and good auspices, that he may eat abundant food. The twig must be carefully thrown away in some clean place. Then the Brahmin has to wash. He is to choose a stream rather than stagnant water; a river than a brook; a holy stream before a vulgar river; and, above all, the Ganges. If this be beyond his reach, he is to invoke it-“O Ganga, hear my prayers: for my sake be included in this small quantity of water." Standing in the water, he is to sip it, repeating certain sacred texts. Sprinkling some before him, he is then to throw the water eight times on the crown of his head, on the earth, towards the sky; again towards the sky, on the earth, on the crown of his head; and, lastly, on the ground. Prayers are to be repeated as this is being done, consisting of foolish rhapsodies.

And yet it is true our day should begin with ablution and end with the same. As we rise from sleep to apply ourselves to the duties of the day, we should use that which cleanses the soul-and which the waters of the Ganges never could do-washes away sin, the blood of Christ, which, applied by faith, cleanses from all sin.

The fourth duty of the Brahmin is to worship the rising sun, and this must be done after a prescribed form of ceremonial. Applying himself to the water, which he is carefully to sip, he has then to dispose himself to meditation, realizing as the most edifying of subjects, Brahma with four faces and a red complexion; Vishnu with four arms and a black complexion; and Siva with five faces and a white complexion. These and other preparatory rites, too tedious to describe, but which the Brahmin has to observe, being attended to, the sun is worshipped, an oblation being presented, consisting of tila, flowers, barley, water, and red sandalwood, in a clean copper vessel, and various prayers and invocations being repeated, such as, "salutation to the sun, the cause of day, the mighty luminary, the foe of darkness, the destroyer of every sin," &c.

So much for the morning-quite enough, we should think, for the day. But, with slight alterations, he has to go through the same forms at noon, and again at evening.

Not even at the eating of his meals is he free from this yoke of ceremonies. His plate must be placed before him on a clean spot of ground, which has been wiped and smoothed in a triangular form. Before he begins to eat, he must move his hand round his plate, and then trace a sacred circle around his person, to insulate himself, lest some one approach him, and he be contaminated. He must then consecrate the food by making five oblations of it to Brahma and the gods; he must sip and

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swallow water, repress his breath, wet both his eyes, and then he may

eat.

Among the Brahmins there are several degrees or orders. Of old they were wont to be supported by the contributions of the other castes, but this source of supply is greatly diminishing, and the Brahmins, like other people, are learning the lesson, which their forefathers so desired to eschew, that if a man will eat he must work.

THE VALUE OF TRUE CONVERTS IN A MISSION.

THE most powerful argument in favour of Christianity is that which appears in the practical good effected thereby in men's character and conduct. In this respect it is like a medicine. Let only the cures which a medicine has wrought be pointed out, and more will be done to commend it to popular use than a thousand advertisements. And Christianity is a medicine provided in God's mercy for a sin-sick race. If its healing influences are not more widely diffused, it is not because its power to heal is limited, but because men are indisposed to use it. They do not believe in its efficacy. They prefer to employ vain expedients of their own. This is a great difficulty which Missionaries have to contend with in heathen lands. With the prophet of old, they are often compelled to exclaim, "Lord, who hath believed our report?" When genuine converts, therefore, are granted them, men who not only profess, but live out Christianity, the help thus afforded is beyond measure great. When the heathen see a man whom they once knew to be evil, carried away by strong passions, and yielding himself unresistingly to their power, pursuing a different course, giving up his old vices, and successfully resisting his old temptations; when they see one from amongst themselves rising superior to those evil influences to which they find themselves unhappily enslaved, and acting as they know that they cannot do, then are they led to ask, What is this? what secret power is this? what has so changed him? And when the man himself does not hesitate to confess his indebtedness to the Gospel, and that it is faith in Jesus which has made him a new creature, then do men begin to think that the Gospel is a reality, and the conviction gains ground that the new religion which the Missionaries preach is that alone which can satisfy the great need of their nature. It is a high attainment when Christianity has progressed so far as to be enabled to present to the world around these living epistles known and read of all men. Miracles, its first credentials, have ceased; but these more than supply their place. It is this which makes the first converts in a Mission so important. They are won under the most disadvantageous circumstances. Such first-fruits are the most difficult of attainment, and therefore, when they are won, are most valuable, provided they be genuine; else, if, with the name of Christian, the

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THE VALUE OF TRUE CONVERTS IN A MISSION.

[JULY,

old heathen ways are retained, the injury which is inflicted upon the Gospel is not to be calculated. Hence, in a Mission, the need of great circumspection as to those who are first admitted to baptism, that they be genuine converts. Better to wait until such results be yielded, than, by our impatient adoption of what is unreliable and unsatisfactory, inflict a permanent injury on the entire work.

The following fact, communicated to us by the Rev. C. B. Leupolt, of Benares, will illustrate the preceding observations

We have just had a triumph, if I may say so. In April last, one of our native Christians took the contract of a market-place here in Benares, offering to pay Government 13,000 rupees annually for the same; that was 3000 rupees more than the former contractor paid. He obtained the chauk, or market-place. During the rains he lost, i. e. he paid Government a large sum above his income, but these losses are made up during the cold weather. Things went on very well. He paid 800 rupees, the regular instalment, when, towards the middle of last week, a native lawyer met Barnaby in the city, and asked him whether he was aware of what was taking place in the court-that the Collector had issued orders to stop his contract, and to make a new agreement with some one else. He replied, "No, I have had no intimation of it; but why should my contract be taken from me? I paid these four months nearly 2000 rupees out of my own pocket, and now, as the time of profit has arrived, why should I be turned out? This would be unjust." "Just or unjust," the native said, "the order will be finally given to-day." And the order was given; and the next day the town crier was sent through Benares to give notice that the Thika of Barnabas Christian was at an end, and tenders were invited for a new arrangement. The reasons assigned were, that Barnabas Christian was ruining the chauk, so that the place was being deserted by the people. I could scarcely believe that an English Collector would break a contract, like Barnabas's, with Government, without going to the chauk to see whether his information was correct. Well, the people of the chauk heard of it. I told Barnabas to ask the people to sign a paper, stating their views on these two points, for I knew the whole was untrue. About 150 signed at once their names, stating that they had never had a better contractor than Barnabas, and that the chauk had never been more prosperous. The day after, twenty of the most respectable grain-dealers went to court of their own accord, and wanted to know the reason for the Collector's order. The Collector gave his two reasons. To the first point they replied that they had never had a more considerate and honest contractor than Barnabas. Every previous contractor had taken something more than Government allowed, but Barnabas had not. Every man of the chauk would bear witness to this. As to his ruining the chauk, that was equally untrue, for the chauk had never prospered more than now. The Collector called his daroga. He stated he had heard the people say that Barnabas was oppressing the people, &c. The Collector gave him a lecture, and finally went to see and to inquire on the spot. The end was, he asked Barnabas whether he would take the contract for four years more. He replied,

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"No, not for the large amount of 13,000 rupees; but if the Collector was willing to reduce the amount, he would. The Collector at once issued the order that Barnabas was to have the contract for four additional years, this year at 13,000 rupees, and the next four years for 2000 rupees less. The order was written out. It was worded, "That Barnabas Christian was to have the contract for this year for 13,000 rupees, and next year, if no one gave more, for 11,000 rupees." Stop!" the Collector called out; "this is not what I told you. You write, that Barnabas Christian is to have the chauk this year for 13,000 rupees, and the four succeeding years for 11,000 rupees, profit or loss being his;" adding, "I have made full inquiries, and I find he has given too much."

This will give joy to hundreds of people. This is the first tribute paid by the Hindus to Christian honesty and Christian conduct, and the first battle Hindus fought for a native Christian.

When Barnabas took the chauk, or rather gang-Bisheiswar Gang (gang is a market-place where grain and vegetables are sold), I told him that he must behave so that we at all times might be able to say, in our preaching, "If you want to know how a Christian acts, go to Bisheiswar Gang and see." He acted up to this injunction, and the Lord took his part and saved him.

LIGHT AMIDST DARKNESS.

THE Chipewyans of North America are accustomed to light a fire at night on a newly-made grave. They think, as they do so, that light is thus thrown on the path of the deceased, to guide his footsteps as he journeys onward to a new home. Very touching it is to see the Indian squaw, in the solitude of the night, alone by her husband's grave, tending the fire which she has lighted. Alas! it only lights up the gloom just so much as to show how dense it is.

the

Yet there is a reality of which this may be regarded as the symbol. The Gospel of Christ can give hope when all seems hopeless it consoles in sickness, supports in bereavement, and irradiates even the darkness of the tomb. On the graves where repose remains of those who have gone to sleep in Jesus it kindles a light which is never extinguished-it is the promise of the resurrection. Friends need not fear to visit the graves where that light is burning: there is no room there for the sorrow which has no hope.

Accounts from America serve to illustrate the consolatory power that there is in the Gospel. Sad scenes have been going forward in that land; battle-fields stained with blood, where thousands and tens of thousands of human lives have been sacrificed. There have fallen, not only the man in the prime of life, but the inexperienced youth, whose bodily and mental powers were alike in their immaturity.

Yet even here, where mighty hosts have met and struggled, leaving behind them the harvest which death has reaped, Christianity has come in to cheer the heart of the dying man with messages of mercy from heaven, and to drop its balm into the