three convents on Mount Zion, a large one and a small one in the city, and another a little without Zion gate, where, it is believed, stood the house of Caiaphas, where Jesus was arraigned, and where Peter denied him. The Copts, Syrians, and Abysinians have also each a small convent. The houses are of stone, most of them low and irregular, with flat roofs or terraces, in the middle of which usually rises a small dome. The windows are small, and those toward the street have usually strong iron grates for defence, and then fine wooden grates to prevent the women from being seen by those who pass. The streets are narrow, and most of them irregular. There are but few gardens in the city.

Jerusalem is seen to best advantage from Mount Olivet. We however see most of the city from the terrace of the convent where we lodge. The Temple is seen to the best advantage from the terrace of the Governor's house. Here you see, not a single mosque, but a collection of mosques and oratories. The two principal buildings are called el Aksa and el Sahhara. Around them the vacant area is covered with green grass, interspersed with paved walks and trees, which furnish an agreeable shade to the loitering Turk. Ali Bey has given a good description of the Temple, and its various buildings, and of the foolish opinions of the Turks concerning them.

MISSION IN CEYLON.

NATURE OF HEATHENISM.

Extracts from the Journal of Gabriel

Tissera, a Native Preacher.

THE journal, from which the following notices are taken, was transmitted to us not long since, and inserted in the Appendix to the last Report of the Prudential Committee. The author of it is a young man, now about twenty-one years of age, who has assisted our missionaries, first as an interpreter, and since as a licensed preacher of the Gospel. A finely written letter from him to Dr. Worcester, in which he gave an account of his conversion, was published, as some of our readers may recollect, at pp. 282-286 of the Herald, vol. 16. Respecting the aid which Gabriel received in the composition of that letter, and which we naturally wish to know, Mr. Meigs, in an accompanying letter, wrote as follows:-"You will be able to judge with tolerable accuracy the progress which Gabriel has made in the English language, after reading his letter. After he had written it

once, I corrected some of the obvious mistakes, and suggested a few alterations and additions. With this exception you may be assured, that both the sentiments and phraIndeed he unseology are entirely his own. derstands the grammar of the English language very well, but lacks experience in composition. It is extremely difficult for a native of the East to acquire a correct English idiom. He, however, has made very considerable advances towards the attainment of it."

The letter was written more than four years since; and, as the composition of it is scarcely, if at all, inferior to that of the journal, and as the journal was written subsequently to the letter, it may fairly be presumed, and we believe, that the sentiments and phraseology are as much his own in the latter case as they are in the former. Probably the journal received scarcely any emendations from the hand of another. It came to us in his own beautiful hand-writing, and we sent it to the printer, with only two or three verbal corrections, and a small increase of punctuation.

We have been thus particular in our prefa. tory statements, that our readers may come to satisfactory conclusions with respect to the proficiency and promise of this young native preacher; and especially, that those, who are educating youths in Ceylon, may be encouraged to perseverance, when they perceive, in the specimen before them, so much inducement to educate liberally the natives of that. country.

We ought to state, however, in justice to Gabriel, that scarcely any of the following paragraphs stand in connexion, in the journal, as it was written, and as it stands in the Appendix to the Report. Referring those, who desire to read the journal at length, and the extracts which we have made in their respective connexions, to that Appendix; we have here, for the sake of brevity, and of a better effect, selected the most important illustrations of Heathenism, and arranged them under appropriate heads. They will be found to contain a considerable variety of information.

Pagan Notions of God.

I went to a barber's house, where I was lieard by the widow of a man who died of the cholera four days before this interview. There were also the brother of the deceased and some others present. When I told them that we do not worship idols,

but worship the only living and true God, the woman said with great surprise, "Ha! it is the white people's God." "No," I answered, "God is a God of the black people, as well as of the white." They said that the great God, whom we worship, made the demi-gods, who are worshipped by the heathen. I replied, that I did not believe that there were any demi-gods. They then added, "We worship the idols named Varraven, Pattacaaly, &c.; and these we see with our eyes; but you tell us that God is a Spirit. How then can we worship a Spirit, seeing we cannot perceive a Spirit with our eyes?" They were sincere in what they said. For they have been so much in the habit of paying homage to idols, that they think a spiritual being could not be worshipped, because by worship they mean rather the external attitude of worship, than that adoration which proceeds from the heart. have no idea of a spiritual being. They say, that if God has not a body, he could not create any thing:-A spirit cannot create matter. For their religion teaches, that the universe is created by Brahma, who is not a spirit, but has a body with four faces.

They

A woman asked, "If you believe God is a Spirit, why do you speak of him in the masculine gender, and not in the neuter?" She further said, that she could make her offerings to her idols, but she could not make them to the true God, for she could not see him. I told her that God sees her, though she cannot see God, and that he requires her heart rather than her property. She said that when she suffers any temporal evil, such as the sickness of her cattle, &c. she applies to her idols, and they relieve her. She added, that such relief cannot be obtained from the God whom I preach, because he is not to be seen that she might pray to him. This should lead Christians to pray for these people, for they are strangers to God, and to the blessings of the Gospel. Nay, they ascribe the very events of the providence of God to stupid idols and imaginary deities.

I next happened to go to a very pleasant family. They expressed their gratitude for our attendance on them when one in the family was attacked with the cholera four years ago. After speaking a few words to them, I repeated the first and second commandments to shew them the sin and folly of idolatry. As soon as I repeated the first words of the first commandment, (which in the Tamul translation is "me" "before me," &c.) one of the women was struck with admiring astonishment, and said in a transport of joy, "Hear, hear! God speaks!" The reason was, that she had never heard in her life any passage in which God speaks to man,

putting himself in the first person, and that she could not but admire and wonder, when she heard that the Almighty ever condescended to address himself immediately to man. For, as far as I know, there is no instance in the heathen religion of Siven's [pronounced Siv' ven] addressing man, enjoining any moral duty upon him. I say Siven's, because he is next to the supreme god, being, as it were, his agent. For the supreme god, according to the heathen, is a spirit. But he does nothing, and attends to nothing, and every thing which he is to do is done by Siven. Likewise he is not worshipped so much as Siven; and they do not make any image to represent him, because he is a spirit. But Siven [the same as Siva in some parts of India,] as well as all the other gods, has a body. This idea of the supreme god, which the heathen have, will serve to illustrate what they tell me concerning the God of the Christians. "You say God is a Spirit," they tell me, "but a spirit cannot create any thing. So we say our supreme god, who is a spirit, did not create any thing. For in order to create matter the creator must have a body." They also say, that nothing would have been created, if Siven had not had his wife. For their religion teaches them that though Brahma was the creator, yet he did not succeed in creating worlds till Siven joined himself to his wife. It is worthy of notice, that the heathen believe that the supreme god, above spoken of, has no moral affections; to wit, he hates none, and loves none. He has neither love to any thing nor hatred. All the other gods, as the heathens believe, are possessed of these affections; but only the supreme god is, as they say, free from these passions or affections.

Views of the Nature of Holiness.

Though every reasonable man must see at once, that it would be a great imperfection in an intelligent being to be destitute of moral affections, yet the heathen think the holiness of their supreme god consists in this want of moral affections. I often talk to them about the absurdity of this opinion, but they do not appear to be convinced of their error. It is on the same principle, that they consider hermits as the most holy of men. They say that there are, or there were, hermits in some remote parts of India, who eat nothing but dry leaves, who are exposed to heat in the day, and cold in the night, having their hair entangled and their nails growing to a prodigious size, for want of attention to comb the one and prune the other. In short they are described to be very much like Nebuchadnezza when he was driven

from men; except that the former are not deprived of their reason, but, as the heathens believe, voluntarily undergo all these sufferings, and are totally engaged in meditating upon, and praying to God. It is supposed, that these hermits live in the wilderness, generally sitting in a steady, motionless posture, having their eyes shut, and their hands in the attitude of prayer. I presume it is believed, that these do not even sleep in the night, but have their mind every moment absorbed in deep profound meditation. This they are supposed to do for many hundred years; for they suppose that these great men live several hundred years. This is what is meant by penance in the above journal. It is said, these sufferings are undergone, not with a view to atone for sin, but in order to go to heaven; for they believe that the hermit who suffers all this, does not deserve it, but suffers it simply to move Siven with pity towards him, who, by these unmerited sufferings, is intreated to take the poor sufferer to heaven, which is the object of the penance. It is evident that many of the above circumstances of the hermit cannot be true; but I introduce the story to shew that the sufferings and the meditation above spoken of, as well as the stoical indifference which the hermits are said to manifest, are considered to be the sum of holiness by the heathen. And they have the same idea of the holiness of their supreme god, as shewn above, namely, an indifference to pleasure or sorrow, and a total want of love, hatred, and similar other feelings. May the time soon come, when they shall have a clearer knowledge of the character of GOD.

Views of the Nature of Sin.

When I told the women in the last mentioned family that they were sinners, they said, "We have never sinned." They were not insincere in saying this, for the heathen have no correct idea of sin. This

brings to my mind something that occurred at Changany the other day, namely, Just as soon as I told some women that they as well as myself and all others were sinners, they interrupted me by exclaiming "Righteous-righteous we are. Hell we never shall see; but heaven-heaven-heaven we shall have when we die. Yea hell to

us will never be; but always heaven we shall have." They uttered these words very loud and with much feeling. I spent some time in order to convince them of their sinfulness, but came away apparently without success. The heathen often think that they are righteous, and in the way to heaven, or some unknown happiness after death.

Spoke to a man and his family. He said

"I am no sinner;" which led me to shew him if I could that he was a sinner. But after all he did not appear convinced of his sinfulness. It is a common opinion with the heathens, that if they had ever sinned, their good works would have atoned for those sins. They even think that often their good works are greater than their sin. They therefore believe that these good works will not only be an equivalent to their sins, but will also lay God under obligation to reward them with happiness after death.

In my way home, I spoke to a woman who was cutting grass. But she said, "What! Am I a sinner? See here; what better deed can I do in the world? For I am going to feed a cow. They think that there is great merit in giving grass and water to cows. Many think that simply this will procure them happiness after death, because the cow is sacred to some of their deities.

Views of Justification.

When I told the hearers that in order to be saved they must repent and believe in the Savior, one of them said, "Yes, but what must I do in order to be saved?" meaning what meritorious work he must do. He meant to say that in his religion he used to do some external ceremonies, and he wished to know what similar ceremony he must do if he should embrace the Christian religion. The idea of salvation by works, is almost inseparable from the mind of a heathen. They have no conception of salvation through free grace. Nor do they have any idea of a Redeemer. I met with a brahmin and entered into conversation with him. He mentioned means of atoning for sin-such as building temples and rest-houses, and digging wells for the accommodation of strangers. But there are very few who can afford to build temples. There are some who build resthouses and dig wells for the use of strangers or travellers; but even those that do the latter kind of "meritorious works," as the heathens call it, bear but a small proportion to the body of the people, because even these works cost considerable money, though not so much as building temples. So that the good works [or works of righteousness] which the generality of the people boast of, are but of very little value; for they cost much less than any of the works above-mentioned. All that they mean when they speak of their good works, is, giving a little money for the services in the temple, some rice to brahmins, and sometimes to strangers, and some other little things similar to these. They think that even giving a little water to a man or

a cow is meritorious, and as such will be || rewarded after death. I know that a certain rich man in the district employs a laborer every day on purpose to give water to travellers.-The people generally suppose that they cannot obtain happiness after death without first getting property. For otherwise they could not give alms, and do other good works, which, as the heathen religion teaches, is the way to obtain that happiness.

A respectable old woman heard me with her family. She said that she is not a sinner, for she is of the Vellalla cast, and that || as the Vellallas cultivate the ground for the benefit of men, they thus atone for their sins, and also work out righteousness for themselves. She also repeated a verse which was addressed to the supreme god, and which she believed to be of so great a virtue, that it would certainly save her soul if repeated at her death.

In this season the heathen of both sexes go to their temples to hear their Pooranas, or sacred books read. Many would not come to the mission premises, fearing that

that would defile them and render them unfit to hear the book, or rather that it would undo the righteousness which they have, as they think, already wrought by hearing it. For the heathen believe that simply hearing the Canda-pooranam will carry their souls to heaven.

A man after hearing me said, "Give me a plan how to work out my salvation." He was not content with my telling him, that he must repent and believe in the Savior. Nor was he any more satisfied when I explained to him what repentance and faith were, and who Jesus Christ was. He said, "What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" The people often tell me that merely the affections of the heart, as repentance, faith, &c. are not sufficient for salvation, but there must be some external work which must be done before we can be saved. And they sometimes solicit me with importunity to tell them what that good work is which they must do. These people do not commonly use the phrase "to be saved," or any like it; but they speak of "getting heaven." By this it is evident that they have no idea of their awful condition as sinners. They have no conception of salvation by a Redeemer. woman who had heard me on a former occasion refused to hear now, saying, "What is the use of hearing you without doing good works?" They are quite offended with me when I tell them that good works cannot save us. When I began to talk to another woman the first one said again, "Do not talk to her, for she has done a great deal of meritorious work, and therefore needs not hear what you say, she having already secured happiness after death."

A

Probably the latter had given some money for the ceremonies in the temples and had done several other deeds similar to this. And this is all the meritorious work which has secured happiness after death.

Notions of a Future State.

I say happiness after death, because they believe that the soul transmigrates, and is born in a happy or miserable state according to the deeds done in the present state; and when thus born it lives in that body till death, and then leaves it and is born again, and so on. Thus the souls continue to be born again and again; and the only way of ceasing to be so born is by doing penance, when they are at once taken to heaven whence they never come out. But as to doing what the heathen mean by penance, there is none in the district that do it; only they say that there are some in some distant countries, but it is doubtful. They also believe that there is a hell, but they do not think that the punishment there is eternal, but longer or shorter, according to the magnitude of the sin. They believe that the souls were never created, but existed eternally; they think that only our bodies were created, but the souls were in some manner brought to live in them.

(To be continued.)

MISSION AMONG THE CHEROKEES.

BRAINERD.

FROM the journal kept at this station we select the following notices:

A church was organized at Hightower on the 12th of October last, consisting of six persons belonging to the mission family. Three natives were also received as candidates for baptism.

Oct. 15. Brother John Arch returned from a circuitous tour, which he has been to the eastern extremity of the nation, and visited his relatives, and many of his former acquaintances. He finds a very pleasing change since he travelled in these dark regions a year ago. Then he found multitudes who had never heard of a Savior, and almost all quietly pursuing the old way. Now, in every cabin which he visited, they were inquiring with becoming seriousness. He says that all the Cherokees in these parts are now prepared to receive missionaries; and he wishes to go and spend one year on the Arkansaw, in hope that they also may be prepared. He returned by way of Newtown, and spent the last Sabbath with the Council.