240 miles, the hairs of his body are as long as a palm-tree, his voice is as loud as thunder, his eyes send out flames of fire, the noise of his breathing is like a roaring tempest, etc. His conduct towards them corresponds to his terrible appearance. Inquiry is made respecting their actions, etc., in life, and they are then driven from his court to suffer each his merited punishment in the different hells.—No wonder that the Hindus have a great dread of death.

Much is said in the Shastras of the future punishment of the wicked. One Puran says there are 100,000 different places or hells, in which punishments of different kinds and in different degrees are inflicted. Some of these hells are described:- One is a hell of utter darkness; another of utter darkness and horrid animals; another of burning oil; another of burning metal; in another the wicked are continually eaten by worms and other reptiles; in another they are tormented by redhot instruments and weapons applied to different parts of the body, etc. The punishments which are inflicted for particular crimes, as murder, adultery, stealing, perjury, etc., are described, and more horrible punishments cannot be conceived. For instance, "He who disregards the Vedas and brahmins is to be punished in a hell of burning metal for 3,500,000 years." "The brahmin, brahminee, brahmacharee, vaishna, or king, who drinks spirits, shall be thrown into pans of liquid fire."

It is not uncommon to see Hindu lecturers with long pieces of cloth upon which are delineated in glowing colors, the pleasures to be enjoyed in the different heavens as the reward of virtuous actions, and the punishments to be inflicted in the different hells for particular crimes. The preacher delivers a lecture on the future state of the good and of the bad, unrolling these cloths and illustrating his statements and enforcing his exhortations by exhibiting and explaining these delineations. Such lectures are interesting to the people and produce a strong effect on their feelings.

THE TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS.

Metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, is a prominent doctrine of the Hindu religion. The Shastras teach that

the spirits of all mankind were among the things which were created several millions of years ago, and that they have ever since existed in some state or place in the universe. So the spirit of every human being has been in existence for several millions of years. But in what state, or where he has existed, what good or evil he has done, what happiness he has enjoyed, or what misery he has endured, no one knows, for no remembrance of any previous existence ever remains from one birth to another. After death and the judgment, the reward of the good actions having been enjoyed, and the punishment of the bad actions having been endured, - or, as some say, the excess of the good above the bad having been enjoyed, or the excess of the evil above the good having been suffered, as the character of each person may be, the spirit returns again to the earth for a new birth.* Some of the Purans say, and such appears to be the general opinion, that each spirit must go through a great number of births, (some say 8,400,000,) before it again assumes a human form. During this long period it may exist in minerals and vegetables, (for the Hindus believe these substances are sentient beings,) or in insects, or reptiles, or fishes, or fowls, or animals, till the cycle shall be completed for it again to assume or enter a human form.

The sacred books inform us what some of these births will be. "Sinners of the first degree, having passed through terrible rigors of torture in hell for a very long period, are then condemned to the following births: The slayer of a brahmin must enter, according to the circumstances of his crime, the body of a dog, a boar, an ass, a camel, a bull, a goat, a sheep, a stag, or a bird. A brahmin who has drunk spirituous liquor, shall exist in the form of a worm, or an insect, or a moth, or a fly feeding on ordure, or a ravenous animal. If a man steal corn, he shall be born a rat. If he steal milk, he shall exist in the form of a crow. If a man censures his spiritual guide, he shall be born

* Some Purans say that each spirit after hearing its sentence from Yama, wanders about the earth an ærial being or ghost for one year, and then takes a body suited to his future condition, whether he is to ascend into the heavens to the gods, or to suffer in hell, or to enter at once into another body. But we are not to look for consistency in works which contain so much that is unreasonable, absurd, and utterly incredible.

an ass; if he defame him, he shall be born a dog; if he use his things without leave, he shall be born a worm. If a man violates the bed of his natural or spiritual father, he shall migrate a hundred times into forms of grass, or of shrubs, or creeping and twining plants, of vultures, and of tigers, and other carnivorous animals. If a man steal the gold of a priest, he shall pass a thousand times into the bodies of spiders, of reptiles, and snakes, of crocodiles, and other monsters living in the water, or of demons living on blood." "As far as vital souls, addicted to sensuality, indulge themselves in forbidden pleasures, even to the same degree shall the acuteness of their senses be raised in their future bodies, that they may endure analogous pains. They shall first have sensations of agony as in tanusra, or utter darkness, and in other places of horror. Multifarious tortures await them; they shall be mangled by ravens and owls; they shall swallow cakes boiling hot; they shall walk over burning sands, and shall feel the pangs of being baked like the vessel of a potter. They shall assume the form of beasts and reptiles, continually miserable, and suffer alternate afflictions from extremities of cold and of heat, surrounded with terrors of various kinds. More than once shall they lie in different wombs, and after agonizing births be condemned to severe captivity, and to servile attendance on creatures like themselves. Then shall follow separations from kindred and friends; forced residence with the wicked; painful gains and ruinous losses of wealth; friendships hardly acquired, and at length changed into enmities. Old age without resource, diseases attended with anguish, pangs of innumerable sorts, and lastly unconquerable death." One chapter in Menu, contains 266 specifications of crimes, penances, and expiations, but more instances of what the Hindus expect and dread in the future state need not be given.

This doctrine of previous and future births, appears to have been devised or assumed to account for the different state and circumstances in which people are born, for the perverse disposition some persons appear naturally to possess, for the prosperity, success, and happiness some bad men enjoy, and for the misfortunes, losses, and afflictions of some good men. The only

*

* Menu says, "Men are born stupid, dumb, blind, deaf, and deformed, to be despised by the good, according to the various actions they have performed.

way they saw of reconciling these things with the justice of God and his providence over the human family, was in the supposition or belief that the causes of these things were laid in some former state of existence, and that the consequences of others would be realized in some state after death. This opinion has in various ways an unhappy influence upon the conduct and character of the Hindus. The actions of the former states or births, are believed to determine the events of the present state of existence, and so this life is the destiny of the past,-is fixed beyond human control, or divine interference. This opinion is a kind of fatalism, and in some respects, of the worst kind, because while it regards things as existing and events as occurring necessarily, it makes them the consequence of actions in a previous state. If any are born blind or deformed, or become blind, or diseased, or are afflicted in any way, or suffer losses and calamities, these things are ascribed to sins committed in some former state, and this opinion that such persons are only suffering the merited consequences of their own bad conduct diminishes, if it does not destroy sympathy with and pity towards them in their afflictions. I have heard Hindus of reputed sanctity speak thus to persons suffering from blindness, leprosy, etc. And such opinions and sayings are not limited to afflictions, misfortunes, and losses, which come in the course of divine providence. These opinions are often expressed concerning wicked conduct and its punishment, that such sinful actions and the punishments to be suffered for them, are only the necessary conse

Penance must therefore invariably be performed to make expiation, since they who have not expiated their sins, will again spring to birth with disgraceful marks."

This opinion existed in India as early as the reign of Solomon in Jerusalem, and it was taught by Pythagoras, in Greece, some centuries before the Christian era. So it must have become well known to the Jews, and probably suggested to the disciples the inquiry they made of our Saviour on seeing a man who was blind from his birth, namely, "Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him." John 9: 1-3. That is, this man's natural blindness, or his being born blind was not owing to any sin which he or his parents had committed. The disciples must have referred to the man's having committed sin in some previous state, and so as a punishment for it he was born blind.

quence of former sinful actions. Such opinions are regarded as an excuse for sins in the feelings of those who commit them, and in the view of others concerning them. So also in respect to prosperity. If any one is seen to have remarkable success in any kind of business, it is ascribed to the merit of actions performed in a previous birth. Such is the common sentiment. Such opinions have a natural tendency to prevent all gratitude and thankfulness to any divine being for any favors or blessings. They also prevent any sense of guilt and penitence for sin, as well as feelings of shame when suffering punishment for sinful actions. They invest the affairs of this life with a kind of fatality, and produce feelings of indifference and despondency. And what can be a more gloomy and degrading view of the future world than the prospect of passing through millions of births of different kinds of animals, or of any kind of animals, and after attaining one human birth to pursue the same cycle again? And this is the prospect and the hope that brahminism presents to its votaries.*

* The Hindus show their faith in this doctrine of the transmigration of souls by their works. The early European travellers in India mention seeing in Surat and Broach, institutions for the relief and support of old animals, as horses, cows, etc. These institutions, with the decline of the commerce and manufactures of those cities also declined, and not unlikely they have become extinct. But Bombay, which has succeeded those cities in the commerce of western India, contains a similar monument of the faith and piety of the same class of the people. Motechund Amichund, a wealthy merchant, commenced an institution similar to those above mentioned, by giving a large and valuable piece of land with buildings upon it for this purpose. His family and a large circle of friends engaged heartily in the cause. Large accommodations and conveniences were provided. The superintendence of the institution was assumed by a committee of management, and it has been in vigorous operation for many years. Horses and cattle of all kinds which have become old or maimed and are of no further use, sheep, goats, dogs, etc., are admitted, and well supported. Some of these are removed from time to time to a branch institution in the country, where the expense of supporting them is less than it is in the city. I often visited this institution, generally in company with friends who were strangers in the city and wished to see it, and having become acquainted with some persons connected with it, I several times made inquiries concerning the expenses and was told that they varied from 50 to 100 dollars per day, a sum which did not appear large in view of the extent of the institution and the number of creatures supported in it.