been translated into English by two eminent Sanscrit scholars, viz., the late Professor H. H. Wilson and Professor Max Müller. It contains hymns and prayers setting forth the religious ideas of the ancient Hindoos. Scholars who have mastered the book assert that it is comparatively pure, and quite free from the disgusting abominations of modern Hindooism. The gods of the Rig-Veda are personifications of the objects and powers of nature. Agni is the god of fire. Indra, the god of the firmament. Maruts, the god of the storms. Varuna, the god of the waters, clouds, &c. To these ideal gods-the creations of a glowing imagination-they offered their hymns of praise and presented their sacrifices. Their worship was Pantheistic, but not Idolatrous in the modern acceptation of the word. I believe the most ancient book on which the colossal system of Hindooism professes to be built contains no reference to Sutteeism burning of widows-the system of Caste in its present form, or the offering up of human sacrifices.

-

But in course of time the seeds and germs of idolatry contained in this earliest form of religious life in India developed. The tendency of the religious instinct in the soul when not nurtured and strengthened by divine truth, is to become more and more depraved and degraded. Brahmanism furnishes a proof of this statement. Their worship in its earliest forms was comparatively pure, but as time advanced it became debased, and outrageously corrupt in its practices.

Human nature inevitably corrupts everything it comes into contact with. It corrupts the religion of Jesus Christ; no wonder it should corrupt a religion sprung from the human soul. At an early period selfish men began to refine upon, and elaborate these primitive and rudimentary materials. The priests succeeded in constructing a system of metaphysical philosophy. They elaborated a Theogony first, and a Cosmogony afterwards, both of which were to serve their own selfish ends. The Indian mind has always been favourable to metaphysical abstraction, and speculation. The Chinese are materialists and utilitarians. The Hindoos are metaphysicians and spiritualists.

The second stage of their religion is not pantheistic, but metaphysical and idolatrous. They succeeded in detaching the religious element from the objects

of nature, and merging it into a metaphysical realm. They originate the conception of an eternal and universal Spirit. He is before all things. Once He dwelt alone, wrapt up in His own spiritual essence, slumbering in a state of torpid unconsciousness. At length He wakens up, is conscious of solitude, yearns for company. He then brings forth three other beings, each of whom becomes subsequently a god-Brahma, the god of Creation; Vishnu, the god of Preservation; Siva, the god of Destruction. The impersonal and poetic gods of the most ancient Hindoos have now given way to gods who have a personal form. Each one has a character. of the new gods has a wife; and from this prolific Hindoo triad have sprung an innumerable offspring, so that India now is full of gods.

Each

But this was not all. From the construction of a Theogony the priests went on to construct a Cosmogony which should support their claims. Brahma, the personal god, who sprang from Brahm, the impalpable and indefinable Essence, is regarded as a secondary fountain of creative power. From him or through him flows the visible universe. The human race comes into existence in the following order:

The first class Brahmans spring from his head.

The second class, Kshatriyas, spring from his breast.

The third class, Vaisyas, spring from his belly.

The fourth class, Súdras, spring from his feet.

This is the theory of creation as propounded in the Brahmanical philosophy. The Brahman, of course, is at the top of society; the nobles and princes come next. Church and State was acted in India before ever it was dreamed of in England. The farmers and tradesmen come next. The menials, labourers, come last. They are at the bottom of the ladder. They were made to be kicked. Of course this form of society, having, according to the Brahmans, a diyine origin, must never be violated. A place for everybody, and everybody in his place, is the maxim of the dominant priest. Let the inferiors do their duty to their superiors, and all will go on well. This has always been the language of Church and State in England, Italy, and India.

Society thus founded becomes a huge

and mighty piece of machinery to be worked by the cunning and knavery of priestcraft for its own aggrandizement and advantage.

Now you must imagine that such a state of things as this would ultimately work its own ruin. Selfishness, like some trees, grows until it becomes rotten at the core, and then collapses. Selfishness cannot in the nature of things become eternal. After the Brahmanic machinery had been at work nearly a thousand years, a reaction in society set in. The priest-ridden people became uneasy and restless. The yoke of oppression was felt to be galling. People began to question the theory of creation as propounded in the Brahmanic philosophy. The State began to feel that there must have been a little trickery in the Church.

He

In the sixth century before Christ the ideas and dissatisfaction which had been floating in society found a centre and an exponent in one of the most remarkable men that India has ever seen. A prince was born of a noble family. He belonged to the Kshatriya or second class of Hindoo society. His mother died soon after his birth. He was brought up by his aunt. He was afterwards committed to Brahmans for instruction. He was initiated into the Brahmanic philosophy and indoctrinated into the ceremonial of the Brahmanic religion. His opening mind, however, became dissatisfied with the existing state of things. He began to reason, doubt, and question. was moody, thoughtful, and melancholy. The name of this young man Sakya-Muni, otherwise called Buddha. Buddha, however, is a descriptive title, and not a proper name. It means the Enlightened. It has now become applied as the proper name of SakyaMuni. Having entered into the fulness of a thoughtful manhood, Buddha began to give expression to his thoughts. He gathered around him devoted and earnest disciples. He found society ripe for a religious revolution. Buddha was the Luther of his age. His success was immense. With the axe of a fearless logic he struck at the root of Brahmanism.

was

He denied the divine origin of caste. He denied the current theory of creation.

He rejected with disdain Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva.

He rejected the idea of an hereditary and indelible priesthood.

He proclaimed liberty, equality, fraternity.

He proclaimed war against both the Brahmanic Philosophy, and against the Brahmanic religion. Buddha became the founder of a new religion. He was the Keshub Chunder Sen of ancient India. Buddha's religion was opposed in its great essential elements to Brahmanisın. The creation groaning and travailing with pain together was ever before his mind. This life, he says, is full of grief and wretchedness. Sorrow, like a dark shadow, overhangs the world. Pain and misery are inscribed on the face of society. Man's business is to free himself from these material influences which are the vehicles of so much pain and grief. If to be is misery, not to be is felicity. This was one of the fundamental doctrines of Buddha. He developed his religion and philosophy into a system, and this system is contained in the Tripitika (three baskets), the Bible of the Buddhists. It is the highest ambition of the Buddhist to enter Nirvana. Nirvana is said to mean blowing out, extinction, although this meaning has been questioned, but not on sufficient grounds. Buddhism, therefore, is the religion of negation, evaporation, annihilation. The religion of the Brahman is all centrethe religion of the Buddhist is all circumference. The former is involution, the latter is evolution. The highest ambition of the Brahman is to be absorbed into Brahm-the highest ambition of the Buddhist is to evaporate into nonentity.

Buddhism, the Protestantism of ancient India, soon made rapid advancement. The struggle was hard; but Buddha was too much for Brahma, and in the third century before Christ Buddhism got the victory. King Asoka-the Constantine of India-took it under his patronage, and it became the state religion of India. It continued in India altogether for one thousand years, when a reaction came. In the sixth century, A.D., Brahmanism revived, gathered up its strength, and drove the Buddhists from the land. Buddhism has never regained its power in India. Leaving the land of its birth, this religion found a home in Tibet, China, and especially Ceylon, where it flourishes at the present day. The followers of Buddha are very numerous-their religion has the majority of worshippers among all the religions of the world. While Brahmanism numbers only 13 per cent. of

the world's inhabitants, Buddhism numbers 31 per cent.

His

It may seem strange to some that such a religion should have lasted so long, and gained so many followers-but you must remember the character of the man who founded it. He exercised self-denial. He laid aside his princely robes. character was unstained. He was amiable and thoughtful. He was the powerful and attractive centre of a population who had been irritated and oppressed by the galling yoke of Brahmanism. His moral precepts were in advance in morality of the precepts of the religion in which he was brought up. The ten commandments imposed on his disciples have points of comparison with the ten commandments delivered to Moses.

There are in them some of the elements of a pure morality. A morality having its roots deep down in the moral instincts of the human soul.

The Buddhists have always propagated their doctrines by preaching. The following sentences are among the preserved utterances of their great founder: "Not the failures of others, nor their sins of commission or omission, but his own misdeeds and negligences should the sage take notice of." "Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him who does not act accordingly."

It is to the undermining and overthrow of these gigantic systems of religious belief that the Christian Church in this country has directed its attention. Nothing but a divine and irreversible command from the King of kings could have warranted any body of men to take this step.

What, then, do we propose to substitute for these ancient, and to the Hindoos and other Eastern nations, timehonoured systems of religious faith. Our answer is, Christianity. But will Christianity be an improvement on the systems of faith which already exist? Our answer is, Yes! Christianity is infinitely superior to these forms of worship which we have already sketched. We may compare Christianity with these systems in its centre, its spirit, and its scope. We have already seen that the centre of Brahmanism is Brahm, an impalpable, undefinable essence.

He may

be said to be without consciousness and without character. He is a creature of the human intellect-the reflective shadow of a Brahman's own soul ex

panded and elaborated till it is supposed to fill infinity.

Buddhism, as a system, has no definite centre. It is a world built upon hypothesis. It is the baseless fabric of a vision. It has no objective and personal God. It conceives of God as an infinite intelligence diffused through humanity, and the man who has most intelligence is most like the Deity, and therefore most worthy to sustain the character of priest.

Now look at the centre of Christianity. It is the Christ of the living God-the same Person being both God and man. Christ is clearly set forth in the Scriptures as possessing the attributes and performing the functions of God. In the beginning He was with God, and was God. He was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God. By Him were all things created. He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. His arm supports the world. His throne is the throne of heaven.

He He attracts

But then He is man as well as God. As Divine He has married himself to our nature. In our manhood He is one with us. He sympathizes with us. He knows our temptations. pities us. He pardons us. us to Himself. His Majesty inspires homage His mercy inspires hope. Here is a centre worthy of confidence, admiration, and love.

Consider, again, the spirit of Christianity. The spirit of Brahmanism is essentially selfish-all its machinery turns on selfish principles-the glorification of the priest constitutes the essence of the system. Buddhism has a higher aim, but the system is cold, it cannot rise above its origin, which is the human mind. The spirit of the Gospel is Love. It places the centre of human life not in the love of self, but in the love of Christ, the Son of God. Christ Himself is the pattern example of His own religion. Benevolence is the very breath of Christianity. Self-denial is the corner-stone on which the temple of the Christian life is built-"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," is one of the main principles of the religion of Christ. It proclaims the original and fundamental equality of the human race. It puts down a dominating priestcraft by making all its disciples priests and kings to God.

Take again the scope, or design, of Christianity, and its superiority will be seen. Brahmanism is the religion of a

race. It is confined within certain geographical limits. It is founded on a fourfold division of the human family. Caste is the strength and bulwark of Brahmanism. Destroy caste, and you will shake Hindooism in its foundations. This division of society is artificial and not natural. It is a device of priestcraft and not an ordination of God. Brahmanism must ever remain a religion of a race. Buddhism, with its dreary negations, evaporations, and annihilations, never can be the religion of those who aspire after immortality and eternal life.

Christianity comes in as the religion of the world. It has its origin in God, who loves the world. It has its pattern in a Redeemer who died for the world. It is diffused by a Spirit who shall convince the world of sin. It enjoins the dissemination of a gospel which is to be preached to every creature throughout the world. Christianity is a world-wide religion, or it is nothing. It holds within itself the expanding germs of a universal blessing. The purpose of God is, that it shall be preached and established throughout the world.

Let us grasp with a firm hold this glorious purpose of a beneficent God. Let us pray for its accomplishment. Let us preach for its accomplishment. Let us give of our means for its accomplishment. Let us put forth all our efforts and resources for its accomplishment. This being done, the divine goodness shall then be magnified-the divine mercy shall be exalted-salvation, like showers of blessing, shall break upon the nations,

and the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.*

HELP FOR THE MISSION.

OUR friends will rejoice to learn that at a recent Committee Meeting held at the Baxter Gate School Room, Loughborough, it was determined at once to recruit the Mission by sending out a brother already qualified to occupy the place vacant by Mr. Miller's temporary removal from India. In accordance with this resolution the Committee have accepted the services of the Rev. W. Bailey, and arranged that he should proceed to India by the overland route in August. It is most important that at least another brother should ac

company him. Cannot the money be

raised?

ARRIVAL OF MRS. J. O. GOADBY. OUR widowed sister, Mrs. J. O. Goadby, and four of her children, landed at the East India Docks per the "Shannon," from Calcutta, on Saturday May 14th. Mrs. Goadby was seriously ill on the voyage, and at one time her life was despaired of. We are thankful to learn that her health has improved, but she is still extremely weak. We would bespeak a tender interest in the prayers of our friends on her behalf.

*In the preparation of this article the following works have been consulted:Max Müller's Lectures on the Science of Language. 1st Series.

Chips from a German Workshop.
2 vols.

Lecture on the Stratification of
Language.

Lecture on Buddhist Nihilism. Hardwick's Christ and other Masters. 2 vols. Maurice's Lectures on the Religions of the World.

AT the period when the transaction here recorded took place, the Jews, to whom the oracles of God were given, had been banished from their own country one hundred and fortythree years, and had been residing among people speaking a foreign language. This is expressly said (Isaiah xxxiii. 19 and xxxvi. 2) to be a deeper speech "than they could perceive, and a stammering tongue which they could not understand." It was Aramaic, or, as we call it, Syriac. At Babylon, however, they soon learned it. Half of the Book of Daniel is written in this tongue. (Daniel ii. 4 to end of vii.) Becoming accustomed to this foreign language, they forgot their own; and therefore on their return to Judea they could not understand Moses and the Prophets without a translation; which, accordingly, Ezra and his coadjutors gave them, as recorded in the above passage.

It is to be presumed that our people generally, and General Baptists particularly, however piously and reverently attached to their Bibles, know very well that the Jewish authors of those sacred books did not write them in English, especially in modern English, and that therefore we can only have the divine word in a translation. That translation ought, on every account, to be the best possible.

The present authorized version was made by command of king James I., about two hundred and sixty years ago. It was to be avowedly an improvement on several translations which had preceded it.

To John Wickliffe, parish priest of Lutterworth, belongs the honour of giving this nation the first English Bible. We owe him, and his magnanimous defender, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, unlimited gratitude. It was published

VOL. LXXII-NEW SERIES, No. 7.