standing in an idol temple, and that this immense multitude of rational and immortal creatures, capable of superior joys, were, in the very act of worship, perpetrating a crime of high treason against the God of heaven, while they themselves believed they were performing an act of merit; excited ideas and feelings in my mind, which time can never obliterate."

The vast empire of China, misnamed the Celestial Empire, is given up to the vilest idolatry. Idols are encountered at every step, not merely in the temples, but in the houses, and even in the vessels, where a part of the forecastle is consecrated to them, as the most honorable place. The idol is dressed and adorned with a splendor proportioned to the wealth of the captain of the vessel, and daily receives an offering, composed of flesh and fruits, together with the smoke of perfumes. Besides this regular service, the captain makes a solemn sacrifice to his wooden deity, on all important occasions; as, for instance, in passing from one river into another, or in time of tempest, or when the sails flap idly in a calm. The Chinese have likewise a practice of deifying their dead ancestors, and of prostrating themselves before the monumental tablets which are erected to their memory. Yet they appear to have no real veneration for any of their idols; nor do they hesitate to profane the temples, by smoking their pipes and taking refreshments, and even by gambling within the consecrated precincts. The priests are shameless impostors. They practise the mountebank sciences of astrology, divination, necromancy, and animal magnetism, and keep for sale a liquid, which, they pretend, will confer immortality on those who drink it.

Tortures of various kinds, burning, and burying alive are considered religious duties among the pagans.

The festival of Juggernaut is annually held on the sea coast of Orissa, where there is a celebrated temple, and an idol of the god. The idol is a carved block of wood, with a frightful visage, painted black, and a distended mouth of a bloody color. He is dressed in gorgeous apparel, and his appellation is one of the numerous names of Vishnu, the preserving power of the universe, according to the theology of the Bramins. On festival days, the throne of the idol is placed upon a stupendous moveable tower, about sixty feet in height, resting on wheels, which indent the ground deeply as they turn slowly under the ponderous machine. He is accompanied by two other idols, his brother Balaram, and his sister Shubudra, of a white and yellow color, each on a separate tower, and sitting on thrones of nearly an equal height. Attached to the principal tower, are six ropes, of the length and size of a ship's cable, by which the people draw it along. The priests and attendants are stationed around the throne on the car; and occasionally address the worshippers in libidinous songs and gestures. temple and sides of the car are covered emblems, in large and durable sculpture. the characteristics of the idol's worship. along, devotees, throwing themselves under

Both the walls of the with the most indecent Obscenity and blood are

As the tower moves the wheels, are crush

ed to death; and such acts are hailed with the acclamations of the multitude as the most acceptable sacrifices. A body of prostitutes are maintained in the temple for the use of the worshippers; and various other systematic indecencies, which will not admit of description, form a part of the service. A number of sacred bulls are kept in the place, which are generally fed with vegetables from the hands of the pilgrims; but from the scarcity of the vegetation, are commonly seen walking about, and eating the fresh ordure of the worshipping crowds. In the temple also, is preserved a bone of Krishna, which is considered as a most venerable and precious relic, and which few persons are allowed to see.

The following is an account of the burning of a Gentoo woman, on the funeral pile of her deceased husband: "We found," says M. Stavorinus, "the body of the deceased lying upon a couch, covered with a piece of white cotton, and strewed with betel-leaves. The woman, who was to be the victim, sat upon the couch, with her face turned to that of the deceased. She was richly adorned, and held a little green branch in her right hand, with which she drove away the flies from the body. She seemed like one buried in the most profound meditation, yet betrayed no signs of fear. Many of her relations attended upon her, who, at stated intervals, struck up various kinds of music.

"The pile was made by driving green bamboo stakes into the earth, between which was first laid fire-wood, very dry and combustible; upon this was put a quantity of dry straw, or reeds, besmeared with grease: this was done alternately, till the pile was five feet in height, and the whole was then strewed with rosin finely powdered. A white cotton sheet, which had been washed in the Ganges, was then spread over the pile, and the whole was ready for the reception of the victim.

“The widow was now admonished by a priest, that it was time to begin the rites. She was then, surrounded by women, who offered her betel, and besought her to supplicate favors for them when she joined her husband in the presence of Ram, or their highest god; and, above all, that she would salute their deceased friends whom she might meet in the celestial mansions.

"In the mean time, the body of the husband was taken and washed in the river. The woman was also led to the Ganges for ablution, where she divested herself of all her ornaments. Her head was covered with a piece of silk, and a cloth was tied round her body, in which the priests put some parched rice.

"She then took a farewell of her friends, and was conducted by two of her female relations to the pile. When she came to it, she scattered flowers and parched rice upon the spectators, and put some into the mouth of the corpse. Two priests next led her three times round it, while she threw rice among the bystanders, who gathered it up with great eagerness. The last time she went round, she placed a little earthen burning lamp to each of the four corners of the pile, then laid herself down on the right side, next to the body, which she embraced with both her arms, a piece of

white cotton was spread over them both, they were bound together with two easy bandages, and a quantity of fire-wood, straw, and rosin, was laid upon them. In the last place, her nearest relations, to whom, on the banks of the river, she had given her nose-jewels, came with a burning torch, and set the straw on fire, and in a moment the whole was in a flame. The noise of the drums, and the shouts of the spectators, were such, that the shrieks of the unfortunate woman, if she uttered any, could not have been heard."

Instances are related of women eighty years of age or upwards, perishing in this manner. One case is mentioned, by Mr. Ward, of a Brahmun who had married upwards of a hundred wives; thirtyseven of whom were burnt with him. The pile was kept burning for three days, and when one or more of them arrived, they threw themselves into the blazing fire.

The pagans worship an immense variety of idols, both animate and inanimate, and very frequently make to themselves gods of objects that are contemptible even among brutes. In Hindoo the monkey is a celebrated god. A few years since, the Rajah of Nudeeya expended $50,000, in celebrating the marriage of a pair of those mischievous creatures, with all the parade and solemnity of a Hindoo wedding.

Acccording to the best accounts that can be obtained from missionaries and others, the number of Pagans, in different countries, exceeds half the population of the globe.

Considerable attempts have been made of late years, for the enlightening of the heathen; and there is every reason to believe good has been done. From the aspect of Scripture prophecy, we are led to expect that the kingdoms of the heathen at large shall be brought to the light of the gospel, Matt. 24: 14. Isa. 60. Ps. 22: 28, 29.-2: 7, 8. It has been much disputed whether it be possible that the heathen should be saved without the knowledge of the gospel; some have absolutely denied it, upon the authority of those texts which universally require faith in Christ; but to this it is answered, that those texts regard only such to whom the gospel comes, and are capable of understanding the contents of it. The truth, says Dr. Doddridge, seems to be this: that none of the heathen will be condemned for not believing the gospel, but they are liable to condemnation for the breach of God's natural law: nevertheless, if there be any of them in whom there is a prevailing love to the Divine Being, there seems reason to believe that, for the sake of Christ, though to them unknown, they may be accepted by God; and so much the rather, as the ancient Jews, and even the apostles, during the time of our Saviour's abode on earth, seem to have had but little notion of those doctrines, which those who deny the salvability of the heathen are most apt to imagine. Rom. 2: 10-22. Acts 10: 34, 35. Matt. 8: 11, 12. Grove, Watts, Saurin, and the immortal Newton, favor the same opinion; the latter of whom thus observes: "If we suppose a heathen brought to a sense of his misery; to a conviction that he cannot be happy without the favour of the great Lord of the world; to a feeling of

PANTHEISTS. PEDOBAPTISTS.

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guilt, and desire of mercy, and that, though he has no explicit knowledge of a Saviour, he directs the cry of his heart to the unknown Supreme, to have mercy upon him; who will prove that such views and desires can arise in the heart of a sinner, without the energy of that Spirit which Jesus is exalted to bestow? Who will take upon him to say, that his blood has not sufficient efficacy to redeem to God a sinner who is thus disposed, though he have never heard of his name? Or who has a warrant to affirm, that the supposition I have made is in the nature of things impossible to be realized ?"

"That there exists beings, one or many, powerful above the human race, is a proposition," says lord Kaimes, "universally admitted as true in all ages and among all nations. I boldly call it universal, notwithstanding what is reported of some gross savages; for reports that contradict what is acknowledged to be general among men, require able vouchers. Among many savage tribes there are no words but for objects of external sense; is it surprising that such people are incapable of expressing their religious perceptions, or any perception of internal sense? The conviction that men have of superior powers, in every country where there are words to express it, is so well vouched, that, in fair reasoning, it ought to be taken for granted among the few tribes where language is deficient." The same ingenious author shows, with great strength of reasoning, that the operations of nature and the government of this world, which to us loudly proclaim the existence of a Deity, are not sufficient to account for the universal belief of superior beings among savage tribes. He is, therefore, of opinion that this universality of conviction, can spring only from the image of Deity stamped upon the mind of every human being, the ignorant equal with the learned. This, he thinks, may be termed the sense of Deity.

PANTHEISTS,

A sort of atheistical philosophers, who consider the universe as an immense animal,

"Whose body nature is, and God the soul."

PEDOBAPTISTS,

Are those who practise the baptism of children without regard to personal faith.

Pedobaptists, in common with all others, claim for their practice an apostolical origin. And although they differ much in theological opinions in forms of church government, and modes of worship, yet they all adopt substantially the same mode of reasoning in their defence of pedobaptism. Their main arguments in favor

of infants as suitable subjects for baptism, may be reduced to the four following heads, viz:

1. The Abrahamic Covenant, with the inferences deducible from the supposed identity of that covenant, with the covenant of grace.

2. The baptism of households; in which it is inferred some infants must have been included.

3. The testimony of the Fathers.

4. The universal practice of the Christian world for many hundred years. Some depend more, and other less, upon each of these arguments.

In answer to the objection that no mention is made in the New Testament of infants being received into the church; they reply, that there was no need of its being mentioned, as their membership had been established under the law, and had never been repealed under the gospel. The dictates of nature, say they, in parental feelings; the verdict of reason in favor of their privileges; the language of prophecy respecting the children of the gospel church; the evidence of children being sharers of the seals of grace, in common with their parents for the space of 4000 years, all concur in favor of the pedobaptist opinion.

Pedobaptists generally administer the baptismal rite by sprinkling or pouring, but the Greek church in all its branches, whether in the frozen regions of Siberia, or in the torrid zone, practise trine immersion. All Pedopaptists require of adults who seek for baptism, a personal profession of their faith; and so far agree with the Baptists. They also, with the Baptists, allow immersion to be valid baptism; but in opposition to them, the Baptists deny that any other mode of administering this rite is valid. See Exod. 14: 22. Isa. 44: 3. Matt. 3: 11.-19: 13. Mark 7: 4. Acts 2: 39.19: 2, 5. Rom. 4: 11.-11: 17. 1 Cor. 7: 14.-10: 2. chap. 2. Heb. 9: 10, 13, 14.

Eph.

The term Pedobaptist is derived from two Greek words, pais, a child, and baptismos, baptism. This mode of baptism is practised by nearly the whole Christian world, except the Baptists and Friends.

PELAGIANS,

A denomination, which arose in the fifth century; so called from Pelagius, a monk, who looked upon the doctrines, which were commonly received, concerning the original corruption of human nature, and the necessity of divine grace to enlighten the understanding and purify the heart, as prejudicial to the progress of holiness and virtue, and tending to establish mankind in a presumptuous and fatal security. He maintained the following doctrines :

I. That the sins of our first parents were imputed to them only, and not to their posterity; and that we derive no corruption from their fall; but are born as pure and unspotted, as Adam came out of the forming hand of his Creator.