of mankind upon earth; and being made gradually sensible of our depraved and miserable circumstances, I began to reflect on the nature of God, and to reason upon his attributes. Nor was it long before I became convinced, by the force of reason, that he who had power and wisdom sufficient to make the heavens and the earth, must, in all respects, be a perfect being: perfectly holy, just, wise, and good; omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

"By contemplating these perfections of the Deity, I became more and more sensible of my own depravity; and have been hence led to cry, in bitter agony and anguish of mind, 'How shall I, who am utterly unclean and abominable, a rebel from my birth, a lover of self rather than a lover of God, how shall I dare to appear before my Creator? And yet appear I must, on being summoned away by death from this mortal state: when I shall assuredly be sentenced to eternal misery; unless, before that time, I find some way of atoning for my sins, and cleansing myself from this my corruption."

Then I saw that Goonah Purist broke out afresh into bitter cries and lamentations; which the Bramin interrupted, beseeching him to arise, and saying, "Be comforted, my son; your case is not different from that of other men. Your present degraded and polluted state proceeds from that portion of matter to which your soul, which is a part of the divine Spirit, is united. Your deliverance from the influence of this material substance may be obtained in several ways: either by separation from human society; by the practice of bodily austerities; by entire abstraction of mind; or, by the observance of devotional duties."

When Goonah Purist heard these words of the Bramin, which seemed to afford him some prospect of relief, he arose, and professed himself willing to become his disciple. I saw then, that the Bramin sat down under the shade of a tree, and Goonah Purist took his place opposite to him, while they discoursed in the following manner :

"You seem," said the Bramin, "to have lived, hitherto, in the most profound ignorance, being scarcely acquainted with the name of the Supreme Being, upon whose nature you nevertheless pretend to reason."

Goonah Purist, with his eyes fixed on the ground,

confessed the ignorance with which he was charged, and professed his desire of instruction.

"The Supreme Deity," replied the Bramin, "is Brumhu. Brumhu and life are one. Every kind of matter is without life. That which is created, has no inherent life; therefore, all life is the Creator, or Brumhu. He is the soul of the world; and that which animates your body is only an emanation from the Divinity. Brumhu is everlasting, unchangeable; the world, which is his work, is subject to change and decay."

My reason tells me," replied Goonah Purist, "that my spirit, soul, and body are the work of God; and, in that sense, an emanation from God. But, I feel myself to be a distinct being; and so far am I from existing, in every sense, as a part of the Supreme Being, that I have hitherto lived in enmity to him, an alien from him, and capable of an everlasting separation from his presence."

The Bramin answered, "When the soul takes its mortal birth, it is separated from God, the source of happiness, and remains a miserable wanderer through various births and states, till it regain its place in the divine essence. But when, on its return from these wanderings, the soul is again absorbed in the divine nature; this is the utmost happiness to which we can aspire. This is the happiness after which, in holy aspirations, the yogee devotes his life, in perfect abstraction from all objects of sense."

"Then," replied Goonah Purist, "we are to understand, that, when the soul is restored to the Divinity, from whence it emanated, all self-consciousness is gone?"

"Our holy books," said the Bramin, "teach us that it is so. The deliverance of the soul from the world, and its absorption into the divine nature, constitute the highest happiness of which we can form any conception; and, if not obtained in one birth, are to be sought through every future transmigration till obtained."

"According to this doctrine," replied Goonah Purist, "it would be better for the human race had it never existed since it appears, that the most holy persons, after having endured the severest penalties, and submitted to the utmost acts of self-torment, do at last merely reach a state, in which they are as if they had never been."

"Cease," said the Bramin, "from this profane lan

guage. Do you despise that state of absorption for which the holy yogees endure torments unspeakable, subduing every passion, and living in perfect abstraction from every sense? But you are as yet, I see, incapable of estimating the sanctity and happiness of that man, to whom gold, iron, and stones are the same; who is the same in friendship and in hatred, in honour and dishonour, in cold and in heat, in pain and in pleasure."

"Have patience with me," replied Goonah Purist: "I have chosen you for my instructor, and I am willing to be led by you; yea, I am willing to drink the water in which your feet have been bathed. I beg you to speak further to me on the nature of the Supreme Being."

The Bramin then proceeded to describe Brumhu, the Supreme Being, in that state of repose, in which he is imagined to remain during the revolution of ages; being destitute of ideas or intelligence, and fixed in a state of undisturbed tranquillity; from which, after certain long intervals, he awakes to the work of creation. He spoke, also, of the various destinies which are impressed upon souls as soon as they are united to matter; and of the qualities or indications of the mind, by which those who come into life under the influence of an evil destiny may be known from those who are born under happier auspices.

I saw, then, as the Bramin continued to speak, that Goonah Purist became more and more dejected; he folded his arms and sat with his eyes bent downward, attentively and eagerly hearkening for some word of comfort to a sinful soul standing in need of salvation; but, in all the words of the Bramin he found not as yet any thing which might lead him to that which he needed, to wit, primarily, justification, or a means by which he might reasonably hope for emancipation from the punishment of his sins; and, secondly, sanctification, or a means by which his polluted nature might be rendered pure.

At length, he thus addressed the Bramin: "By what you have hitherto said, I am to understand that all religious duties have the same end, even such an absorption in the Supreme Being as produces an entire exemption from all the pains and sorrows to which we are liable in our separate state. You also intimated, in the beginning of our conversation, that there were several

ways by which this end might be attained: either by separation from human society, bodily austerities, abstraction of mind, or the observance of devotional duties. I am willing, as I before said, to be led by you. Point out to me what I ought to do, and you will, I trust, find in me a faithful disciple."

The Bramin answered, "God is to be obtained by him who maketh God alone the object of his works. The yogee who, in the deep solitudes of the desert, devotes the day to meditation upon God; and the devotee who observes, with scrupulous nicety, the appointed hours of prayer; do both perform one duty, and will obtain the self-same end-provided that each alike perform the duties of life, quitting all interest in them, and placing his desires upon Brumhu, the Supreme; not being tainted by sin, but remaining, like the leaf of the lotus, unaffected by the waters."

"It is then, to Brumhu, the Supreme Being," returned Goonah Purist, "that I must address my devotions?"

"I would have you to understand," replied the Bramin, "that the one God is never worshipped by us as a mere spiritual being, but always as united to matter. The universe is full of the Divine Majesty; therefore, whatever creature partakes more largely and especially of the divine energy, that creature is rightly considered as a fit object of our adoration. It is written in one of our holy books," continued the Bramin, "that when Brumhu resolved to create, he divided himself into separate portions of animal life. The principal of these were Shivu, Vishnoo, and Brumhu: and from these three superior deities, an infinite number of inferior deities, worshipped by us, have derived their origin. These deities are personifications of certain qualities of the Supreme Being: as they appear in the works of creation, the government of the world, and the work of destruction. And of these we have formed certain images, in order to fix the mind of the worshipper, and to assist him in forming suitable ideas of their attributes and splendour."

"But," said Goonah Purist, can these deities save me from the effects of my sins? I feel like one on whom the sentence of death has already passed; and I am looking for one who is not only willing, but able to save me."

"We believe that each of these inferior deities, or debtas, has the power," replied the Bramin, "to save his votaries from eternal misery, provided they exercise an unshaken confidence in him. But, if they are desirous of possessing any earthly good, they must apply to that god whose particular province it is to bestow it.

"But let us employ no more time in conversation. I have, surely, said enough to make you comprehend the nature of that religion, which I perceive, by your dress and appearance, was the religion of your forefathers. Follow me, and I will provide you with a speedy deliverance from the burden of your past sins, and will also point out to you a way by which you may be purified from the plague of your leprosy."

So the Bramin led the way, and Goonah Purist followed him slowly, for he went like one heavily burdened, till he came to the side of a fair large river, by which stood many sacred buildings, from each of which a flight of stone steps descended into the water. The ushwuttu, or Indian fig-tree, grew on each side of these steps, affording a thick shade to many pilgrims, who paid their devotions beneath its wide-spreading branches.

"That holy stream," said the Bramin, addressing Goonah Purist, "is called Gunga. She is a goddess, the daughter of Mount Himavut; and he who thinks upon her, though he may be eight hundred miles distant from her sacred streams at the time, is delivered from all sin and is entitled to heaven. There are," continued the Bramin, "three million five hundred thousand holy places belonging to Gunga; and the person who looks on her, or bathes in her waters, will obtain thereby all the fruit which might accrue from visiting all those sacred places.

"There is no sin, however grievous," proceeded he, "even the sin of killing of a cow, or a Bramin, or of drinking ardent liquors, which may not be washed away by the waters of the Gunga."

The Bramin then directed Goonah Purist to bring offerings of fruit, rice, cloth, sweetmeats, garlands of flowers, sesamum, and clarified butter, to the river; which, after various ceremonies and addresses to several gods, including the inhabitants of the waters, namely, the fish, the tortoises, the frogs, the water-snakes, the leeches, the snails, the shell-fish, &c. were thrown into the river. Other ceremonies followed; after which, the