Chapter 21

The following is an account of the burning of a Gentoo woman, on the funeral pile of her deceased husband:—“We found,” says M. Stavorinus, “the body of the deceased lying upon a couch, covered with a piece of white cotton, and strewed with betel leaves. The woman, who was to be the victim, sat upon the couch, with her face turned to that of the deceased. She was richly adorned, and held a little green branch in her right hand, with which she drove away the flies from the body. She seemed like one buried in the most profound meditation, yet betrayed no signs of fear. Many of her relations attended upon her, who, at stated intervals, struck up various kinds of music.

“The pile was made by driving green bamboo stakes into the earth, between which was first laid fire-wood, very dry and combustible; upon this was put a quantity of dry straw, or reeds, besmeared with grease: this was done alternately, till the pile was five feet in height; and the whole was then strewed with rosin, finely powdered. A white cotton sheet, which had been washed in the Ganges, was then spread over the pile, and the whole was ready for the reception of the victim.

“The widow was now admonished, by a priest, that it was time to begin the rites. She was then surrounded by women, who offered her betel, and besought her to supplicate favors for them when she joined her husband in the presence of Ram, or their highest god, and, above all, that she would salute their deceased friends whom she might meet in the celestial mansions.

“In the mean time, the body of the husband was taken and washed in the river. The woman was also led to the Ganges for ablution, where she divested herself of all her ornaments. Her head was covered with a piece of silk, and a cloth was tied round her body, in which the priests put some parched rice.

“She then took a farewell of her friends, and was conducted by two of her female relations to the pile. When she came to it, she scattered flowers and parched rice upon the spectators, and put some into the mouth of the corpse. Two priests next led her three times round it, while she threw rice among the bystanders, who gathered it up with great eagerness. The last time she went round, she placed a little earthen burning lamp to each of the four corners of the pile, then laid herself down on the right side, next to the body, which she embraced with both her arms; a piece of white cotton was spread over them both; they were bound together with two easy bandages, and a quantity of fire-wood, straw, and rosin, was laid upon them. In the last place, her nearest relations, to whom, on the banks of the river, she had given her nose-jewels, came with a burning torch, and set the straw on fire, and in a moment the whole was in a flame. The noise of the drums, and the shouts of the spectators, were such that the shrieks of the unfortunate woman, if she uttered any, could not have been heard.”

Instances are related of women eighty years of age, or upwards, perishing in this manner. One case is mentioned, by Mr. Ward, of a Bramin who had married upwards of a hundred wives, thirty-seven of whom were burnt with him. The pile was kept burning for _three days_, and when one or more of them arrived, they threw themselves into the _blazing fire_.

The Pagans worship an immense variety of idols, both animate and inanimate, and very frequently make to themselves gods of objects that are contemptible even among brutes. In Hindoo, the _monkey_ is a celebrated god. A few years since, the rajah of Nudeeya expended $50,000 in celebrating the marriage of a pair of those mischievous creatures, with all the parade and solemnity of a Hindoo wedding.

A Bramin of superior understanding gave Mr. Ward the following _confession of faith_, as the present belief of the philosophical Hindoos, concerning the nature of God, viz.:—“God is invisible, independent, ever-living, glorious, uncorrupt, all-wise, the ever-blessed, the almighty; his perfections are indescribable and past finding out; he rules over all, supports all, destroys all, and remains after the destruction of all; there is none like him; he is silence; he is free from passion, from birth, &c., and from increase and decrease, from fatigue, the need of refreshment, &c. He possesses the power of infinite diminution and lightness, and is the soul of all.

“He created, and then entered into, all things, in which he exists in two ways, untouched by matter, and receiving the fruits of practice. He now assumes visible forms for the sake of engaging the minds of mankind. The different gods are parts of God, though his essence remains undiminished, as rays of light leave the sun his undiminished splendor. He created the gods to perform those things in the government of the world, of which man was incapable. Some gods are parts of other gods, and there are deities of still inferior powers. If it be asked why God himself does not govern the world, the answer is, that it might subject him to exposure, and he chooses to be concealed: he therefore governs by the gods, who are emanations from the one God, possessing a portion of his power: he who worships the gods as the one God, substantially worships God. The gods are helpful to men in all human affairs, but they are not friendly to those who seek final absorption, being jealous lest, instead of attaining absorption, they should become gods, and rival them.

“Religious ceremonies procure a fund of merit to the performer, which raises him in every future birth, and at length advances him to heaven, where he enjoys happiness for a limited period, or carries him towards final absorption. A person may sink to earth again by crimes committed in heaven. The joys of heaven arise only from the gratification of the senses. A person raised to heaven is considered as a god.

“When the following lines of Pope were read to a learned Bramin, he started from his seat, begged a copy of them, and declared the author must have been a Hindoo:—

“All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body Nature is, and God the soul; ... Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees, Lives through all life, extends through all extent, Spreads undivided, operates unspent.”

“Such are the best views of the best of men among the Hindoos. Such a mixture of truth and error, of sense and folly, do they believe and teach.”

According to the best accounts that can be obtained from missionaries and others, the number of Pagans, in different countries, exceeds half the population of the globe.

Considerable attempts have been made, of late years, for the enlightening of the heathen; and there is every reason to believe good has been done. From the aspect of Scripture prophecy, we are led to expect that the kingdoms of the heathen at large shall be brought to the light of the gospel. (Matt. 24:14, Isa. 60, Ps. 22:28, 29; 2:7, 8.) It has been much disputed whether it be possible that the heathen should be saved without the knowledge of the gospel; some have absolutely denied it, upon the authority of those texts which universally require faith in Christ; but to this it is answered, that those texts regard only such to whom the gospel comes, and are capable of understanding the contents of it. “The truth,” says Dr. Doddridge, “seems to be this—that none of the heathen will be condemned for not believing the gospel, but they are liable to condemnation for the breach of God’s natural law: nevertheless, if there be any of them in whom there is a prevailing love to the Divine Being, there seems reason to believe that, for the _sake_ of Christ, though to them unknown, they may be accepted by God; and so much the rather, as the ancient Jews, and even the apostles, during the time of our Savior’s abode on earth, seem to have had but little notion of those doctrines, which those who deny the salvability of the heathen are most apt to imagine.” (Rom. 2:10-22, Acts 10:34, 35. Matt. 8:11, 12.) Grove, Watts, Saurin, and the immortal Newton, favor the same opinion; the latter of whom thus observes: “If we suppose a heathen brought to a sense of his misery; to a conviction that he cannot be happy without the favor of the great Lord of the world; to a feeling of guilt, and desire of mercy; and that, though he has no explicit knowledge of a Savior, he directs the cry of his heart to the unknown Supreme, to have mercy upon him,—who will prove that such views and desires can arise in the heart of a sinner, without the energy of that Spirit which Jesus is exalted to bestow? Who will take upon him to say that his blood has not sufficient efficacy to redeem to God a sinner who is thus disposed, though he have never heard of his name? Or who has a warrant to affirm that the supposition I have made is in the nature of things impossible to be realized?”

“That there exist beings, one or many, powerful above the human race, is a proposition,” says Lord Kaimes, “universally admitted as true in all ages and among all nations. I boldly call it _universal_, notwithstanding what is reported of some gross savages; for reports that contradict what is acknowledged to be general among men, require able vouchers. Among many savage tribes there are no words but for objects of external sense: is it surprising that such people are incapable of expressing their religious perceptions, or any perception of internal sense? The conviction that men have of superior powers, in every country where there are words to express it, is so well vouched, that, in fair reasoning, it ought to be taken for granted among the few tribes where language is deficient.” The same ingenious author shows, with great strength of reasoning, that the operations of nature and the government of this world, which to us loudly proclaim the existence of a Deity, are not sufficient to account for the universal belief of superior beings among savage tribes. He is, therefore, of opinion that this universality of conviction can spring only from the image of Deity stamped upon the mind of every human being, the ignorant equally with the learned. This, he thinks, may be termed the _sense of Deity_.

SATANIANS.

A branch of the Messalians, who appeared about the year 390. It is said, among other things, that they believed the devil to be extremely powerful, and that it was much wiser to respect and adore than to curse him.

ABELIANS, OR ABELONIANS.

A sect which arose in the diocese of Hippo, in Africa, in the fifth century. They regulated marriage after the example of Abel, who, they pretended, was married, but lived in a state of continence: they therefore allowed each man to marry one woman, but enjoined them to live in the same state. To keep up the sect, when a man and woman entered into this society, they adopted a boy and a girl, who were to inherit their goods, and to marry upon the same terms of not having children, but of adopting two of different sexes.

SUPRALAPSARIANS.

Persons who hold that God, without any regard to the good or evil works of men, has resolved, by an eternal decree, _supra lapsum_, antecedently to any knowledge of the fall of Adam, and independently of it, to save some and reject others; or, in other words, that God intended to glorify his justice in the condemnation of some, as well as his mercy in the salvation of others, and, for that purpose, decreed that Adam should necessarily fall.

DANCERS.

A sect which sprung up, about 1373, in Flanders, and places about. It was their custom all of a sudden to fall a-dancing, and, holding each other’s hands, to continue thereat, till, being suffocated with the extraordinary violence, they fell down breathless together. During these intervals of vehement agitation, they pretended to be favored with wonderful visions. Like the Whippers, they roved from place to place, begging their victuals, holding their secret assemblies, and treating the priesthood and worship of the church with the utmost contempt.

EPICUREANS.

The disciples of Epicurus, who flourished about A. M. 3700. This sect maintained that the world was formed not by God, nor with any design, but by the fortuitous concourse of atoms. They denied that God governs the world, or in the least condescends to interfere with creatures below; they denied the immortality of the soul, and the existence of angels; they maintained that happiness consisted in pleasure; but some of them placed this pleasure in the tranquillity and joy of the mind, arising from the practice of moral virtue, and which is thought by some to have been the true principle of Epicurus: others understood him in the gross sense, and placed all their happiness in corporeal pleasure. When Paul was at Athens, he had conferences with the Epicurean philosophers. (Acts 17:18) The word _Epicurean_ is used, at present, for an indolent, effeminate, and voluptuous person, who only consults his private and particular pleasure.

SKEPTICS.

The word _Skeptic_ properly signifies considerative and inquisitive, or one who is always weighing reasons on one side or the other, without ever deciding between them. The word is applied to an ancient sect of philosophers founded by Pyrrho, who denied the real existence of all qualities in bodies, except those which are essential to primary atoms, and referred every thing else to the perceptions of the mind produced by external objects; in other words, to appearance and opinion. In modern times, the word has been applied to Deists, or those who doubt of the truth and authenticity of the sacred Scriptures.

WICKLIFFITES.

The followers of the famous John Wickliffe, called “the first reformer,” who was born in Yorkshire, in the year 1324. He attacked the jurisdiction of the pope and the bishops. He was for this twice summoned to a council at Lambeth, to give an account of his doctrines, but, being countenanced by the duke of Lancaster, was both times dismissed without condemnation. Wickliffe, therefore, continued to spread his new principles, as usual, adding to them doctrines still more alarming; by which he drew after him a great number of disciples. Upon this, William Courtney, archbishop of Canterbury, called another council in 1382, which condemned 24 propositions of Wickliffe and his disciples, and obtained a declaration of Richard II. against all who should preach them; but while these proceedings were agitating, Wickliffe died at Lutterworth, leaving many works behind him for the establishment of his doctrines. He was buried in his own church, at Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, where his bones were suffered to rest in peace till the year 1428, when, by an order from the pope, they were taken up and burnt. Wickliffe was doubtless a very extraordinary man, considering the times in which he lived. He discovered the absurdities and impositions of the church of Rome, and had the honesty and resolution to promulgate his opinions, which a little more support would probably have enabled him to establish: they were evidently the foundation of the subsequent reformation.

DIGGERS.

A denomination which sprung up in Germany, in the fifteenth century; so called because they dug their assemblies under ground, in caves and forests. They derided the church, its ministers, and sacraments.

ZUINGLIANS.

A branch of the Reformers, so called from Zuinglius, a noted divine of Switzerland. His chief difference from Luther was concerning the eucharist. He maintained that the bread and wine were only _significations_ of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, whereas Luther believed in _consubstantiation_.

SEEKERS.

A denomination which arose in the year 1645. They derived their name from their maintaining that the true church ministry, Scripture, and ordinances, were lost, for which they were seeking. They taught that the Scriptures were uncertain; that present miracles were necessary to faith; that our ministry is without authority; and that our worship and ordinances are unnecessary or vain.

WILHELMINIANS.

A denomination in the 13th century, so called from Wilhelmina, a Bohemian woman, who resided in the territory of Milan. She persuaded a large number that the Holy Ghost was become incarnate in her person, for the salvation of a great part of mankind. According to her doctrines, none were saved by the blood of Jesus but true and pious Christians, while the Jews, Saracens, and unworthy Christians, were to obtain salvation through the Holy Spirit which dwelt in her, and that, in consequence thereof, all which happened in Christ during his appearance upon earth in the human nature, was to be exactly renewed in her person, or rather in that of the Holy Ghost, which was united to her.

NON-RESISTANTS.

This is a name assumed by those who believe in the inviolability of human life, and whose motto is, RESIST NOT EVIL,—that is, by the use of carnal weapons or brute force. They cannot properly be called a religious sect, in the common acceptation of that term, and they repudiate the title; for they differ very widely among themselves in their religious speculations, and have no forms, ordinances, creed, church, or community. Some of them belong to almost every religious persuasion, while others refuse to be connected with any denomination, and to be called by any sectarian name. Like the friends of negro emancipation, or of total abstinence from all intoxicating substances, their eyes are fastened upon a common object, and their hearts united together by a common principle; and whatever calls for the violation of that principle, or for the sacrifice of that object, they feel in duty bound to reject.

In the autumn of 1838, an association was formed in Boston, called the “NEW ENGLAND NON-RESISTANCE SOCIETY,” the principles of which are comprehensively imbodied in the second article of its constitution, as follows:—

“The members of this society agree in opinion that no man, or body of men, however constituted, or by whatever name called, have the right to take the life of man as a penalty for transgression; that no one, who professes to have the Spirit of Christ, can consistently sue a man at law for redress of injuries, or thrust any evil-doer into prison, or fill any office in which he would come under obligation to execute penal enactments, or take any part in the military service, or acknowledge allegiance to any human government, or justify any man in fighting in defence of property, liberty, life, or religion; that he cannot engage in or countenance any plot or effort to revolutionize, or change, by physical violence, any government, however corrupt or oppressive; that he will obey ‘the powers that be,’ except in those cases in which they bid him violate his conscience—and then, rather than to resist, he will meekly submit to the penalty of disobedience; and that, while he will cheerfully endure all things for Christ’s sake, without cherishing even the desire to inflict injury upon his persecutors, yet he will be bold and uncompromising for God, in bearing his testimony against sin, in high places and in low places, until righteousness and peace shall reign in all the earth, and there shall be none to molest or make afraid.”

On the same occasion, a DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS was adopted, in which the views of Non-Resistants are set forth in the following positive and argumentative form:—

“We cannot acknowledge allegiance to any human government; neither can we oppose any such government by a resort to physical force. We recognize but one KING and LAWGIVER, one JUDGE and RULER of mankind. We are bound by the laws of a kingdom which is not of this world; the subjects of which are forbidden to fight; in which MERCY and TRUTH are met together, and RIGHTEOUSNESS and PEACE have kissed each other; which has no state lines, no national partitions, no geographical boundaries; in which there is no distinction of rank, or division of caste, or inequality of sex; the officers of which are PEACE, its exactors RIGHTEOUSNESS, its walls SALVATION, and its gates PRAISE; and which is destined to break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms.

“Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity only as we love all other lands. The interests, rights, liberties of American citizens, are no more dear to us than are those of the whole human race. Hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism, to revenge any national insult or injury. The PRINCE OF PEACE, under whose stainless banner we rally, came not to destroy, but to save, even the worst of enemies. He has left us an example, that we should follow his steps. GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT, WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.

“We conceive that, if a nation has no right to defend itself against foreign enemies, or to punish its invaders, no individual possesses that right in his own case. The unit cannot be of greater importance than the aggregate. If one man may take life, to obtain or defend his rights, the same license must necessarily be granted to communities, states, and nations. If _he_ may use a dagger or a pistol, _they_ may employ cannon, bomb-shells, land and naval forces. The means of self-preservation must be in proportion to the magnitude of interests at stake, and the number of lives exposed to destruction. But if a rapacious and bloodthirsty soldiery, thronging these shores from abroad, with intent to commit rapine and destroy life, may not be resisted by the people or magistracy, then ought no resistance to be offered to domestic troublers of the public peace, or of private security. No obligations can rest upon Americans to regard foreigners as more sacred in their persons than themselves, or to give them a monopoly of wrong-doing with impunity.

“The dogma, that all the governments of the world are approvingly ordained of God, and that THE POWERS THAT BE, in the United States, in Russia, in Turkey, are in accordance with his will, is not less absurd than impious. It makes the impartial Author of human freedom and equality unequal and tyrannical. It cannot be affirmed that THE POWERS THAT BE, in any nation, are actuated by the spirit, or guided by the example, of Christ, in the treatment of enemies; therefore they cannot be agreeable to the will of God; and, therefore, their overthrow, by a spiritual regeneration of their subjects, is inevitable.

“We register our testimony, not only against all wars, whether offensive or defensive, but all preparations for war; against every naval ship, every arsenal, every fortification; against the militia system and a standing army; against all military chieftains and soldiers; against all monuments commemorative of victory over a foreign foe, all trophies won in battle, all celebrations in honor of military or naval exploits; against all appropriations for the defence of a nation by force and arms, on the part of any legislative body; against every edict of government requiring of its subjects military service. Hence we deem it unlawful to bear arms, or to hold a military office.

“As every human government is upheld by physical strength, and its laws are enforced virtually at the point of the bayonet, we cannot hold any office which imposes upon its incumbent the obligation to compel men to do right, on pain of imprisonment or death. We therefore voluntarily exclude ourselves from every legislative and judicial body, and repudiate all human politics, worldly honors, and stations of authority. If _we_ cannot occupy a seat in the legislature, or on the bench, neither can we elect _others_ to act as our substitutes in any such capacity.

“It follows that we cannot sue any man at law, to compel him by force to restore any thing which he may have wrongfully taken from us or others; but, if he has seized our coat, we shall surrender up our cloak rather than subject him to punishment.