tude refrained from violence, suffering the pilgrims to proceed, till they came opposite the great pagoda. Here I saw that a company of Bramhuns, having been warned of the approach of the pilgrims, came out from the court of the pagoda, (led by him who had formerly been the teacher of Nazareenee,) and called upon the mob, in the name of their idols, to seize the Christians, and deliver them up to the punishment of their apostacy: "For they," said the Bramhuns, “have forsaken the gods of our fathers, and the Hindoo faith, and have joined themselves to the Christian prophet." Then they cursed the pilgrims and their God in the name of their debtas; and horrible were the blasphemies which proceeded from their lips. On hearing the voices of the Bramhuns, the mob now became possessed with a cruel and furious zeal; when suddenly seizing the pilgrims, and dragging them along the pavement, they drew them before the great gates of the pagoda. There, bringing them before a monstrous figure of him who had been the guardian deity of Nazareenee, painted on the wall, the Bramhun, his former teacher, directed them to cast their pilgrims' garments and sacred book at the feet of this figure; commanding

them at the same time to deny Christ in the face of all the assembly, under pain of imprisonment, torments, and death.

Then answered the old pilgrim, meekly, "How can we deny the Saviour who died for us upon the cross? God forbid that we should do any such thing." With that the Bramhuns and the mob becoming more and more enraged, they dragged the pilgrims into a spacious area, at the back of the pagoda. There they publicly scourged them: after which they cast them, more dead than alive, into a horrible dungeon, where they left them for a season.

Now the pilgrims lay upon the damp ground at the bottom of the dungeon a long while, their bodies being exhausted with the pain of the scourging. But after a time the old man said to Nazareenee, "Is it not written, my brother, Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.'" (Matt. v. 11, 12.)

The pilgrims then began to pray; and they

continued earnestly calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ till evening. Now this was a solemn festival night among the Hindoos: and, behold, at sun-set they illuminated the great pagoda, and all the buildings thereof, with lamps; sprinkling holy water and sacred flowers upon the pavement of the temple, and decorating their idols with garlands. At an early hour of the evening the people assembled with all manner of musical instruments in the courts of the temple; where they filled the air with the harsh blasts of their horns, the shrill tones of their violins and dulcimers, and the discordant clinking of their shells and cymbals, still beating time with their tum-tums to the idolatrous dance; while the mob, intoxicated with bang, repeated the ten thousand names of their gods, or danced before their idols. In the midst of this tumultuous scene, the Bramhuns gave orders that the pilgrims should be brought before the people, and placed upon a scaffold in the midst of the area; when having enjoined silence to the assembly, the chief Bramhun examined the pilgrims.

"Wilt

And first the old man was questioned. thou," said the chief Bramhun, "deny Christ?"