Earlier text: SINCERITYQuestion Corner.
By Editor
"If ye will inquire, inquire ye." "But avoid foolish questions." [From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries as may be sent us. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. Let the questions be short and pointed, and such as may be answered in limited space. The questions will be numbered continuously.] For explanation of the latter text see SIGNS OF THE TIMES No. 25, question No. 138, page 392. Luke 11: 24-26 reads as follows:— "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I come out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself: and they enter in, and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."
It was no doubt spoken in regard to the Jewish people. They had, as a people, been cleansed from their wickedness through the goodness of God, but instead of being filled with the fruits of righteousness by faith, their house had been left empty. They had swept and garnished it by their own high professions and formalities and their outward works of humility and righteousness; they were like whited sepulchers, which appear beautiful outward, but, not having invited the Lord to take his dwelling with them, they had left themselves just where the evil spirit could return with sevenfold power, as it did in their rejection of Jesus Christ. It was true of them in the time of our Saviour. Under the powerful influence and preaching of John, many, no doubt, turned for a while from their sins, but instead of receiving Christ, whom John preached, the heart was left empty, and Satan came in and took the place which should have been occupied by Christ, and the nation went on from bad to worse, till it crucified its Lord. It is just as true as regards individuals. Sometimes the grace of the Lord comes to a man and casts out of him the demon of some habit, breaks the chain of some iniquity. Of course the angel of evil that has led him in the habit before is here represented as going through forsaken places seeking rest but finding none, and finally says, "I will go back to the one from whence I was cast out;" he comes back; he finds the individual free from the bondage of habit, but he has not accepted Him who relieved him from the bondage. The man stands in his own strength, and man's strength against Satan is nothing, and so the unclean spirit comes into the empty house with seven others, and they enter in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So it is, and so it will be, with every individual who seeks to free himself without Christ. In order that we may not only be released but kept we must have Christ dwelling within. We must grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 143. BACKSLIDING AND THE PRODIGAL SON.
Kindly explain Heb. 6: 4-6, and also the parable of the prodigal son. In Heb. 6: 4-6 it seems impossible for the backslider to return, but the prodigal son seems to have returned, and was received by his father. For a brief explanation of Heb. 6: 4-6 see question No. 138, on page 392 of No. 25 of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. That scripture does not imply that the individual cannot return, but that he will not return. It says that "it is impossible to renew them;" that is, no outward inducement of friends will bring them back to God. The desire to return is gone. The parable of the prodigal son is too plain to need explanation. Any soul, it matters not who he may be, that longs to return to his Father's house may return and find welcome, just the same as the younger son, who had wasted his substance, found welcome with his earthly father. Every desire which the backslider has to come back to his Father's house is but the echo of the pleading voice of the Spirit of God. Every longing for the good which is to be found alone in Christ, is born of the love by which God calls the backslider to return. And God is as much more willing to receive us than the earthly father was to receive his son as heaven is higher than the earth. Isa. 55: 7-9. Read the description of backslidden Judah and Israel in Jer. 2 and 3, and then read Jer. 3: 22, "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." And again, Jer. 4: 1, "If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me." In fact, the record of all God's dealings with his people shows that he "delighteth in mercy," and that there is nothing he longs for so much as to have the backslider and the sinner come to him. He says, "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why wilt ye die, O house of Israel?" Eze. 33: 11. If we will but come as did the prodigal, saying, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son," yet with simple faith in God's goodness, the Lord will receive us. 144. CHRIST ON THE CROSS.
Did the wrath of God, and man, and Satan all meet on our Saviour as he hung upon the cross or was it we that "esteemed him smitten of God, and afflicted"? Was he not that same beloved Son at his darkest hour as he was at his baptism? • Christ bore our sins in his own body on the tree, as the apostle declares. 1 Peter 2: 24. See also Isa. 53: 4, 5, 6, 11. God made him to be sin for us, and therefore he bore the consequence of sin, which is death. In this sense only did the wrath of God rest upon him. Of course it was Satan's hope that he might be destroyed, and so it was the hope of Satan's agents, wicked men. The prophet, speaking for the Jews at the time of the crucifixion, says, "We did esteem him smitten of God and afflicted," but he was not so because of his own sins, but because he bore our sins; and he was indeed the same beloved Son when he hung upon the cross and the horrors and darkness of death were around him as he was at his baptism and his transfiguration. The crucifixion was but the culmination of all that he did for man. He humiliated himself for man, even unto death. Death was the climax of all. But in it all he was submissive to God's will, and in it all God regarded him with the most tender favor. It was our sins which he bore for us, and which hid from Jesus, through his humanity, the Father's face, and caused him to cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Sometimes an overwhelming sense of our own sins brings the same feelings to us, but that does not mean that God has forsaken us. 145. SEEING GOD FACE TO FACE.
Please show the harmony between the statement made in Ex. 33: 20, that no man should see God's face and live, and that in Num. 14: 14, which declares that the Lord is seen face to face. The passage in Ex. 33: 20 has reference to God and his ineffable glory. Moses pleads, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory," and Jehovah answers, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee," but "thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me, and live." That is, no man in his mortal, sinful condition could look upon his face and live. It was for this very reason that God manifested himself in his Son. That Son took upon himself the form of a servant, and, while the character of God was in him, yet the glory of that character was veiled in the position which he assumed; in the ancient times, in the form of an angel; after his incarnation, in the form of a man. As an angel Jacob looked upon him (Gen. 32: 30), and so also did others; but as the all-glorious Deity no man could nor can behold him until he stands complete in God's image. And there is this distinction made between God the Father and God the Son. No man has beheld the Father; the Son alone reveals him. Matt. 11: 27. So when the Son comes in all the glory of the Father, the wicked will not be able to behold that glory, but will perish in its presence. FARMER PRITCHARD took little Tommy, four years old, with no father or mother, from the poorhouse on trial. "He's bright," said the farmer, "but I don't know whether he's honest; that's the thing on my mind." Tommy had been there a week—one week of sunshine—when the black cloud came. Farmer Pritchard had a cough at night, and on the bureau near the head of the bed he kept a few gum drops, which he could reach out and get to soothe his throat. One forenoon, chancing to go into the bedroom, his eye fell on the little paper bag, and he saw there was not a gum drop left. "Tommy has been here," he said. "I know there were five or six there when I went to bed last night, and I did not take one. Tommy, look here. Have you been getting my gum drops?" Tommy, who was playing in the door, looked up brightly, and said:— "Did you take them, Lucy?" asked the farmer, turning to his wife. Mrs. Pritchard had not touched them, and her heart sank as she said so, for who was10left there to do it but little Tommy? Her husband's face grew grave. "Tommy," said he, "you need not be afraid of the truth. Did you take the gum drops?" "No, I didn't," replied Tommy. "Oh, yes, you did, Tommy! Now tell the truth." "This is bad, very bad indeed," said Mr. Pritchard sternly. "This is what I have been afraid of." "O Tommy," pleaded Mrs. Pritchard, "if you took them, do say so." "If he took them," repeated her husband. "Why, it's clear as daylight." Tommy had been running in and out all the morning. But Tommy denied, although the farmer commanded and his wife implored. Mr. Pritchard's face grew ominous. "I'll give you till noon to tell the truth," he said, "and then if you don't confess, why, I'll have nothing to do with a boy who lies. We'll ride back to the poor farm this afternoon." "O Joseph," said Mrs. Pritchard, following her husband into the entry, "he is little. Give him one more trial." "Lucy," he said firmly, "when a youngster tells a falsehood like that with so calm a face, he is ready to tell a dozen. I tell you it's in the blood. I'll have nothing to do with a boy that lies." He went out to his work, and Mrs. Pritchard returned to Tommy and talked with him a long while very kindly and persuasively, but all to no effect. He replied that he had not touched the gum drops. At noon Farmer Pritchard went into the house, and they had dinner. After dinner he called Tommy. "Tommy," he asked, "did you take the gum drops?" "No, I didn't," said Tommy. "Very well," said the farmer, "my horse is harnessed. Lucy, put the boy's cap on. I shall carry him back to the poorhouse, because he will not tell the truth." "I don't want to go back," said Tommy; but still he denied taking the gum drops. Mr. Pritchard told his wife to get the boy ready. She cried as she brought out his little coat and cap and put them on. But Tommy did not cry. He comprehended that an injustice was done, and he knit his baby brow, and held his little lips tight. He was lifted into the wagon. He thought of the cold house to which he was returning, the helpless old women, the jeering boys, the nights of terror,—all these he thought of, when, with pale face and blue lips, he was taken down from the wagon and went up to the poorhouse. Farmer Pritchard watched him as he went up the steps. He went in. The master came out for an explanation. It was given, and the farmer drove away. The farmer laid a fresh stock of gum drops on the bureau that night, and thought grimly that these were safe. He retired early, but his sleep was broken. Mrs. Pritchard could not sleep at all. The tears stole through her eyelids long after the candle was out. She was thinking of the little boy, perhaps cowering in his cold bed with terror. Suddenly a curious, small sound attracted her attention. It was repeated again and again, and now and then there was a tiny rustle of the paper. The sound came from the bureau. She listened, and her heart beat with excitement. She knew the sound. "Joseph!" she whispered, "Joseph!" "What, Lucy?" said her husband. He, too, had been lying awake. "Did you hear that noise, Joseph? It's mice." "It's mice, Joseph, and they're after your gum drops." "O Lucy!" groaned Farmer Pritchard upon his pillow. It flashed upon him instantly. He, and not Tommy, was the sinner. The noise stopped. The little depredators were frightened, but soon began again; and a rare feast they made. It seemed as if the night would never end. The farmer heard every hour the clock struck, and at five o'clock he got up and made a fire in the kitchen. His wife arose at the same time and began to get breakfast. "I won't wait for breakfast," he said. "You can have it ready when we get back. I'll harness and start now." In a few moments the wheels rolled over the frosty ground, and away drove Mr. Pritchard in the morning starlight. Mrs. Pritchard brought out the child's top and primer, and made the kitchen look its cheerfulest. Then she got breakfast. She baked potatoes, and fried chicken, and made fritters. She put the nicest syrup on the table, and a plate of jellies and tarts. She laid Tommy's knife and fork in their place, and set up his chair. The sun had risen, and the bright beams fell across the table. As they drove into the yard, they stopped at the door, and the wondering, smiling little Tommy was lifted down in Mrs. Pritchard's eager arms. She held him very tight. "Lucy, let's have breakfast now," said the farmer. "He's our boy now, Lucy. He's never going away again." Do not be too ready to trust or distrust children. Remember this story, and the little mice who took the gum drops.—Selected. “Be discreet about all things, and so render it unnecessary to be mysterious about any.” TRUE LOVE BEGINS AT HOME.
By T. R. Williamson
A group of ladies once, in great old Rome,
Showed each to each her wealth of jewels rare;
And one there was within whose humble home
No jewels were, but wealth of love was there.
So when they asked where her bright treasures were,
She pointed to her children at her side,
And gently said, "These are my treasures fair,"
And smiled upon them with a mother's pride. Home is the door whence our best blessings flow;
And they who, like that Roman dame of old,
Prize home's wealth first, they best can feel and know
How to reach kindly hands into the cold
Of this great world, and call the wanderer back,
And bear God's message far across the seas,
Where Arabs cower in the simoon's track,
Or billows harden in the Arctic breeze. True love begins at home. The children dear,
Whom God has sent to cheer my earthly way,
Clasp tendril hands about my nature here,
And link me fast to others far away. What easy lessons God gives first to learn!
Love father, mother, sister, brother, friend,
And wife and children; then may we discern
To love our neighbors to the great earth's end. True love begins at home, and, reaching thence,
Twines sympathetic arms round all our race,
And fills our interval of time and sense
With airs from heaven, its native dwelling-place. Love's royal banner floats above our heads;
Beneath its folds majestic do we rest.
Home's window-star its radiance outward sheds,—
Come in, lone heart, be thou a welcome guest. Swing back, ye cloudy curtains, from the skies,
And let me see the architecture fine
Of those transparent palaces that rise
Where crystal streets in wondrous brilliance shine. But little like them can I hope to build,
And yet in meek resemblance I would raise
A home with their transmitted luster filled,
Whose walls shall echo to Immanuel's praise. For home shall be a type of that above,
Like Israel's desert temple long ago,
Built of the same grand masonry of love
As that bright dwelling-place to which we go.
—T. R. Williamson. IN our correspondence and exchanges we notice that there is not a single article of food, however simple and harmless, but is condemned as unwholesome by somebody. Nuts are objected to as indigestible; rice and all cereal foods because of the starch they contain; pepper, salt, spices, and pickles of all sorts, are stimulating; milk, butter, and cheese are objected to as animal productions, etc.; fruit is objected to for its acidity; so that if we were to listen to all our correspondents, we could never publish a recipe, because there is not one that does not contain some of the articles objected to by somebody. All can give, of course, a scientific reason for their condemnation. The truth is all food is injurious when taken in excess of the requirement of our nature, and causes unpleasant symptoms, and hence is condemned. We remember a countryman who, being unusually flush with money, thought he would indulge in the luxury of pickles like rich people; he bought a quart of pickles and ate all at one meal; the effect was a fit of indigestion. Another man who almost lived on oatmeal porridge was afflicted with water brash; of course he now condemns oatmeal, and his doctors do the same. Now, by using a due amount of common sense and avoiding excesses, a person may partake in moderation of an agreeable variety of food and not be dyspeptic. It is always safe to take less than the appetite craves and take only such food as produces agreeable symptoms when taken slowly and in moderation.—Food, Home, and Garden. The facts in the case are stated in "Johnson's Alphabet of First Things in Canada." The ship was the Royal William. She was built at the Cove, Quebec, in the winter of 1830-31, and during the season of 1832-33 plied between Quebec and Halifax. In the latter season she was sent to London, and there chartered by the Portuguese Government to transport troops intended for the late Dom Pedro to Brazil. Returning to London, she was sold to the Spanish Government, by the latter converted into a cruiser, and employed against Don Carlos in the civil war of 1836, thus being the first steamer to fire a hostile shot. There is still another curious fact that may have been overlooked—the troops withdrawn from Canada upon the close of the American war of 1812-15, for the purpose of joining the army intended to crush Napoleon after his return from Elba, were transported down the St. Lawrence by a Canadian steamer. This was probably the first occasion on which a steam vessel was used for purposes of military transport. Canada, therefore, not only furnished the world with the first steam war vessel, but she almost certainly provided the first steam troop ship as well.—New York World. A young man in a dry goods store in Boston was endeavoring to sell a customer some goods. He had a quantity on hand which he much desired to dispose of, as they were not of the freshest style, and the man seemed inclined to take them. When the goods had been examined, and the bargain was about to be concluded, the customer inquired:— "Are these goods the latest style?" The young man hesitated. He wanted to sell the goods, and it appeared evident that if he said they were the latest style the man would take them. But he could not tell a lie, and he replied:— "They are not the latest style of goods, but they are a very good style." The man looked at him, examined some other goods of a later style, and said:— "I will take those of the older style, and some of the new also. Your honesty in stating the facts will fasten me to this place." The man not only sold his goods and kept a good conscience, but he also retained a customer, whom he might never have seen again if he had not spoken to him the exact truth. There is no permanent gain in falsehood and deception. Righteousness and truth are a sure foundation.—Safeguard. THE Massachusetts bureau of labor statistics have carefully analyzed the crimes committed in the county in which Boston is located, for one year. The total number covered by the investigation were 16,897. Of these 12,289, or 72 per cent., were for distinctively rum offenses. Of the other 4,608, 2,097, or 45 per cent., were committed while under the influence of liquor; 1,918, or 42 per cent., formed the intent while under the influence of liquor. In 1,804 cases, or 39 per cent., the conditions of the crime were induced by the drinking habits of the criminal, and in 821 cases, or 17 per cent., by the drinking habits of others; 1,918, or 41 per cent., were moderate drinkers; 1,317, or 28 per cent., were excessive drinkers; 1,158, or 25 per cent., were total abstainers. This shows a total of 84 per cent. due directly to the influence of drink. It will be found that the percentage elsewhere will not vary much from this.—Selected. IMAGINARY REMEDY.—One of the most common errors is that whisky is good for colds. In four cases out of five the cold is not affected by the taking of the whisky, either for good or evil, and in the fifth case the influence is evil; so said one of the most celebrated physicians, himself not a total abstainer. Persons may take whisky and get well of colds, and they may never touch it and recover as soon.—Christian Advocate. THE FAITH AND WORKS OF THE VAISHNAVAS.
By Rev. J. R. Broadhead
THE first glance at the possible ways to heaven in Hinduism is very confusing, but as the "gods many and lords many" may all be traced up to the three main ideas enshrined in the trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, so their tangled paths to heaven may be resolved into three main roads. The first road is the way of knowledge. This is a straight gate, for, according to one Veda, "The way to the knowledge of God is as difficult as the passage over the sharp edge of a razor." This is the way for the wise, for him who can sit still and think on God till the bonds of love and duty, the claims of wife, child, home, and country, fall off like fetters from the soul; and still to sit and think till the heart be dead to all desire, to passion, to self, to all the things of time and sense. "When bodily disguises are dissolved,
The perfect saint becomes completely blended
With the one soul, as water blends with water,
As air unites with air, as fire with fire." Another main road is the way of works. This is the way for the guilty, for the soul convinced of sin and in earnest for salvation, for the awakened conscience, that would avert the wrath of God by sacrifice, and store up merit by painful pilgrimages, cruel penances, and self-inflicted tortures. The god of this cult is the gloomy Siva, the stern, vengeful destroyer, clad in a tiger's skin, adorned with a necklace of skulls, assuming the form of an ascetic sitting in the ashes of the cremation ghat, with matted hair and bloodshot eyes, performing impossible austerities. His wife, Parviti, under the form of Kali, is the black goddess of Bengal, who delights in blood and the sacrifice of young children. The third way is the way of devotion. This is the broad way to heaven for the common herd, who have not the wisdom to think their souls free unto God, nor the earnestness to slay sin and self by works of merit earned by bodily pain and suffering. The lord of these pilgrims, and of this road, is Vishnu, "preserver of the universe," "the protector of the world," "the supreme man," "made of money." The method by which Vishnu became as honey to the depraved taste of the Hindu palate was by his being born as Krishna—the most genial and human of all the gods. The god who is afar off, sitting aloof, "void of qualities," becomes translated, by incarnation, into the common speech of the people, full of love for human beings, full of pity for human woes, born in a village home, playmate with village children, wanton lover of countless milkmaids, fearless champion of bewitched peasants. But to bring the thought of God within the range of man's mind, and to endear the nature of God to the affections of his heart without degrading the ideas of his divine majesty and holiness, is a work beyond unaided human skill. So Krishna was made not only in the likeness of man, but was deified human lust—the most profligate and shameless of all the creations of man's unbridled fancy. He is a god within the sphere of human love and interest, but he is the mirror of the human heart in its intensest depravity and vileness. The revolt of the Hindu mind from the cold negations of Buddhism on the one hand, and the pitiless Sivite doctrine of works through physical suffering on the other, was greatly assisted by a famous devotee of Krishna named Chaitanya, who was born in 1485, two years after Luther. Chaitanya was a native of a Bengal village not far from Calcutta. After having filled his mind with the Sri Bagavat, the book of Krishna, he went forth to his life work to preach the "riches of Krishna's love." He had fits of devotion, in which he fell on the ground, rolled in the dust, wept, laughed, and danced in turns. He soon gathered bands of disciples of both sexes, who spent whole nights together, singing the praises of Krishna and his mistresses, at which the god himself is said to have appeared, and by a miracle divested all the dancing devotees of their garments. The modern Vaishnavas of Bengal are the disciples of Chaitanya, nursed on his mania, fed on the doctrine of love, which takes the ardor of sexual passion as its highest symbol. Hence the worship of Vishnu, modified to human need in the incarnation of Krishna, quickened in the example and devotion of Chaitanya, has become the fountain head of a religion whose streams are lewdness and sensuality. One of the many carnivals of this popular religious sect of Vaishnavas is held every year among the mango groves of Ghosepara, a village some thirty miles from Calcutta. Special trains are run from distant parts, many walk on foot or jolt along in bullock carts across the plains, making a concourse of twenty thousand people, most of whom spend three days and nights under the trees. To the usual follies and frivolities of a great fair are added the mystic rites of the erotic worship. A magnet of such quality could not fail to draw a mass of the lowest and meanest of mankind. The dregs of the Calcutta slums, the outcasts and abandoned from the higher castes of Hinduism, the frail and fallen widows from the village homes, the sorcerers with their charms and witchcraft, the gamblers with their tables and cards, the harlots with their musicians, the priests with their fetiches, were all elements in a crowd that drove the mind into recollection of the abominations of ancient Babylon, and the description that Gibbon gives of the groves of Daphne. One of the most painful sights is the little knot of sick folk lying on the ground, or crouching round a holy friar who has the reputation of working miracles. Another saint is supposed to have special power over dumb spirits. He is trying his art on a timid little maiden of some seven years, who trembles with fear under his exorcisms. Here one of the bands is celebrating the ek mon, a kind of sacramental rite in which the man is sitting in a posture of abstraction, while his female disciples prostrate themselves in worship before him. Then they put rice and sweetmeats into his mouth, and he in turn puts a few grains of boiled rice into each of their mouths, and they thus show that they are of one mind in love to their god and in their love to each other. Mother Shuchi is the presiding goddess of the neighboring tank, and rejoices in the name of the "Sea of Snow," where women guilty of unwomanly sins are bathing in its muddy water in the hope of forgiveness. Close by is a representative of Shuchi Ma, receiving the tithes of the year's earnings of shame, which the poor fallen ones are bringing her, with every mark of reverence and devotion, after their ablutions. The sacred pomegranate tree, which grows on the bank of the filthy pool, is also held in high veneration for its healing properties. To eat even the dirt near its root is said to cure many complaints. So many bits of earth are eaten that a great hole is now formed at the root of the tree. The leaves of the tree wrapped up in little tubes of iron or silver and worn on the arms as armlets, are also considered sure safeguards against sickness. These precious properties have their money value to the families who own the temple and the tank. In the temple area sat three or four fat Bengali priests on a raised dais, reclining on big pillows, while they lazily puffed away at their silver-tipped hookahs, receiving the tribute of the deluded souls, who passed through in crowds, eager to offer their silver and copper to the first object that demands their devotion. As darkness closed in over the scene, thousands of Christian tracts had been distributed; many portions of Scripture had been sold; the band of preachers and singers had worn themselves out in proclaiming Jesus Christ as the only true Saviour of men. The indecencies of daylight were bad enough, but the orgies of the night were indescribable. In this religion love, modesty, and purity have no place; its worshipers have become vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart darkened, "wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves."—Condensed from Work and Workers. THE EVERYDAY RELIGION OF A SIVITE.
By Rev. W. M. Walton
BY REV. W. M. WALTON, OF INDIA. THERE are five or more kinds of Sivites in India, namely, the ordinary Sivite, the Upathasa Sivite, the linga or Siva-puja Sivite, the temple Sivite, and the educated Sivite. He rises early in the morning, washes the members of his body, and daubs ashes on the forehead, neck, and chest, uttering the name of the god Siva, Siva. Then he goes forth to his daily work. When he retires to his bed or mat in the evening, he invokes some of his gods, and occasionally, if he has time, utters the names of all the gods within the bounds of his knowledge. He is more Catholic than those of the other classes, for he hesitates not to pray even to the Roman Catholic saints. Some of this class make vows to Madoo St. Anna, Puthumadam, and others. He has a tutelary god who is supposed to reside in his compound. In times of sickness or prosperity he presents to it cocoanuts, rice, fruit, and flowers. He also, at stated times, offers to the spirits of the dead such things as they enjoyed while on earth. He has weekly, fortnightly, monthly, and yearly fasts in honor of certain planets, his dead parents, and the tutelary gods and goddesses. In short, he does not confine himself to one god or to one mode of worship, lest he may be found displeasing other gods and guilty of rejecting other creeds. Hence, he will be a Christian, too, provided his other forms of worship and his other gods are not interfered with.412 He is a little higher than the ordinary Sivites, being taken from among them and taught certain unintelligible prayers, which must be repeated every day before he takes his first meal. He is required to use the sacred ashes in the form of three stripes, and to extend them to the arms, back, and knees. He is not necessarily a vegetarian, except when required to read sacred books or sing sacred songs in temples on festive occasions. He is prohibited from eating anything that has been presented to the inferior gods or devils, and to the spirits of the dead. This rule, however, is not very strictly kept. THE LINGA OR SIVA-PUJA SIVITE.
He is higher than the Upathasa Sivite, must be a vegetarian, and worships the linga, an indecent symbol of Siva and his wife. A room in the house is set apart for this worship. Puja is performed daily before his meal, and he does not eat again until after the puja of the following day. He occasionally adorns his head, neck, and arms with garlands of nut beads, to the end of which is attached a linga of Siva. He is believed to be a terror to the devils, and to escape epidemics. All the famous temples are occupied by the Brahmans, who exercise very great influence over the people, rich and poor alike. The plan of a temple and its services, with the exception of the idols and puranas, are very similar to that of the Jewish temple at Jerusalem. Several of these temples are endowed; hence, morning and evening, puja is daily performed. The temple Sivite is one who worships in the temple every day before taking his first meal. The fish and flesh eaters are allowed to stand outside the temple, the vegetarian in the inner court, the linga Sivite still further in, the Brahmans in the sanctum, and the officiating Brahman in the holy of holies during incense time. He is indifferent about religion. He neither believes in Sivaism or Christianity, but leads a life of accommodation. To a Sivite he is a Sivite; to a Christian he is a Christian. He believes in the existence of God, but he has no fixed rule of faith or practice. He performs ceremonies as national customs, which he cannot neglect without making trouble at home. He observes festive days as social entertainments, and rubs ashes to add to the beauty of his intelligent countenance.—Missionary Notices. THE FAITH I WANT.
By Robert M. Offord
I WANT a faith that will not falter
When deepest shadows fall,
That changing seasons cannot alter,
That 'mid the wildest tempest dwells in peace,
With calmness waits the raging storm's surcease,
And sings its way through all. I WANT a faith that, ever resting
On God alone for strength,
May, shock of battle boldly breasting,
Fear not the force of e'en unnumbered foes,
But fight till their retreating ranks disclose
The victory won at length. I WANT a faith which, when kept waiting
For gift it seeks in prayer,
May, by its own anticipating,
Though human reason deems the hope in vain,
Possess the joy it covets, nor complain,
Though God may long forbear. I WANT a faith whose steady luster
Shall shed its cheering rays
Where sorrows do most thickly cluster;
Whose shining radiance will the brighter grow
As earthly tapers lose their feeble glow,
And life seems lost in maze.