or any thing by which they or their inhabitants may be injured.

But besides these idols, the people of Tonquin worship the heavens, with the sun, moon, and stars, the four cardinal points, and the centre of the earth. When they worship the north, they dress themselves in black, and their tables, altars, sacrificing instruments, and indeed every thing they use are of that 'dismal colour. When they worship towards the east, they are dressed in green; when to the south, in scarlet; when to the west, in white; and yellow when to the centre of the earth. They likewise worship the meanest things on earth, as will appear from the following ridiculous circumstance:

Some fishermen having one day seen a billet of wood thrown on shore, believed that it was inhabited by the soul of some great person; they lifted it into the boat and carried it home, where it was worshipped, and temples were erected to its memory and honour. They traced its genealogy, and found that this log was no less a personage than the daughter of one of the emperors of China. This pious princess had thrown herself into the sea, in order to bestow.her royal benedictions on the people of Tonquin, and to accomplish her good intention without being discovered, she metamorphosed herself into wooden billet. Daola, one of their idols, presides over travellers, and indeed they have their titulary gods for the protection of every thing.

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The Tonquinese, have as many pagods, or temples, as they have country houses, and each of those has at least two priests to offer up sacrifices, but some have upwards of forty, and all these are supported by the bounty of the people. They profess much humility, never begging for relief, nor do they accept of any thing besides what is absolutely necessary. If they have any thing to spare, they give it away to the poor, and maintain several widows and children out of their own collections; a noble example for those of the purest religion to copy after.

They have grand festivals on the first and fifteenth of every moon; but, besides, they observe several holy days in memory of the dead. In the sixth month, they celebrate the festival of their idol, Tham-no, who is the preserver of their corn, in the same manner as the Greeks believed that Ceres was. In all solemn festivals they perfume their idols, and illuminate their altars. They believe in the art of divination, and nothing of importance is undertaken without first consulting the magicians, who compose their looks and gestures in the most artful manner, in order to procure the respect of those who consult them. Before he attempts to answer any of the questions proposed to him, he opens a book in a very formal manner, containing circles, characters, and whimsical figures, and then demands the age of the person who comes to consult him. He then tosses

up into the air, two or three small pieces of brass, with characters on one side only, and if the sides with the characters fall towards the ground, then it is considered as a bad omen; but if they turn up, they denote some degree of success. If there are only two pieces, and if they fall the reverse of each other, it is considered as an indication of something very successful. For the most part, these magicians are so very artful, that they can throw the pieces so as to give hope to the person who makes the application; a practice. common among the ancient

heathens.

In this country, there are witches who pretend to have a familiar acquaintance with the devil, and that, by his assistance, they can reveal what are the conditions of the souls of particular persons in the other world. These witches pretend to conjure up the souls of deceased persons, by the sound of a drum, and they have the art to counterfeit a strange voice, which the people believe is the soul speaking to them. These fortune-tellers, who appear to be arrant impostors, devote their own children to the devil, and they teach them to throw themselves into seemingly strong convulsions, to make the people believe they are possessed.

When a man is taken sick, they ascribe his malady to the first devil who entered into his thoughts. An attempt is then made to appease the devil, by sacrifices; but if they don't succeed, they have recourse to compulsion. The friends of the sick man

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take up arms, and surround the house, in order to drive the devil out of his quarters, and they believe that when he is driven out, he is confined, close corked up in a bottle of water. When it is imagined that the sick man's disorder is occasioned by the malice of the ghost of one of his dead relations, the magician uses several charms to conjure the spirit to him, and when he has laid hold on him, he puts him up in another bottle, and places him beside the devil. There they are both confined for ever, if the patient dies, but if he recovers the magician suffers them to escape. From this part of their ridiculous superstition, it is evident, that although in many respects they believe in the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, yet they consider it as some way material; for if the soul is not material, it could not be confined by matter, or which is all one, corked up in a bottle.

When one of the natives of Tonquin returns home from a journey, in which he has met with some singular deliverance; or when any of them return home sick, wounded, or indisposed, they carry the upper garments of the persons to a cross way, and hang them upon a pole, then they offer seven little balls of rice to the genius, or titulary god of the place, after which the balls are eaten by the persons in whose favour they were offered up. This prac

tice was much attended to by the ancient Greeks, who believed that some of their gods presided over the highways, in order to protect travellers. They have a very remarkable way of celebrating the an niversary of their birth-days, particularly that of the king's, of which the following is a faithful ac

count:

Seven days before the festival, the chief musicians repair to the palace, and form a choir of vocal and instrumental music, which continues till the feast commences. Several of the bonzes, or priests, assemble, and they begin with the chief priest's pronouncing several prayers, and then conjures the king's soul in the following words to inform his body: "Let the three souls of our monarch," says he, with an audible voice," assemble together, and make one soul to animate his body." After that, they cast lots with two pieces of brass, and when they think the souls are arrived, the chief bonze fastens them to the end of a stick, for the three souls to perch upon. At the same time they inform the king, that in a short time he must go to receive his soul, and prepare a lodging for it. The king then pulls off the clothes he has on, and having dressed himself in every thing new, ascends a magnificent throne, while two thousand soldiers, as many horses, and twelve elephants, are ordered to conduct his soul.

This numerous retinue conducts the soul to the throne, where the king receives it, as one risen from the dead. All his courtiers congratulate him on his resurrection, and the festival continues seven days. This is, perhaps, one of the most remarkable festivals in the world, and probably took its rise from a notion, that on the annual return of birth-days, new souls, endued with the most sublime virtues, come to reside in the body.

On the first day of the new year, every housekeeper erects a long pole before his door, and fixes a basket to the top of it, embellished all round with fine piper, gilt and painted. The reason for this ceremony is, the Tonquinese believe that the painted paper has the power to drive away the evil spirit, but were they to neglect so necessary an article in their religion, the evil spirit would torment them during the whole remainder of the year. On the last day of the year, all those who have had any disputes are reconciled, and they begin the new year in a state of friendship. In marriages, they must have the consent of their parents, if they are alive, but if they are dead, then they must apply to the nearest relations, and the marriage engagements must be signed, and confirmed before the judge, or governor of the place. They may marry as many wives as they please, but if they cannot support them from being a burthen to the community, then they are liable to pay a fine. On the evening of the

wedding-day, the relations of the bride conduct her home to the house of the bridegroom, where the first thing she does is to go into the kitchen and kiss the hearth, after which she prostrates herself on the ground to acknowledge her humility and obedience to her husband.

The entertainments at their marriages generally last nine days, unless the parties are extremely poor, and then three days are considered as sufficient.The law permits a man to put away his wife, but this privilege is not granted to the woman, and if a woman procures a divorce, it is attended with many difficulties. When a woman is found guilty of adultery, she is turned out into an inclosure among elephants, where she generally starves, but for the same crime, the man can compound by paying a fine.The ceremony of a divorce in Tonquin, has something in it very novel to Europeans. When a man is inclined to put away his wife, he takes the sticks which they used at their meals, instead of forks, and breaking them in twain, each party takes one half, and wraps it carefully up in a piece of silk stuff; after which the man is obliged to return his wife all the money he received with her, and give security that he will take care of all the children they had while they cohabited together.

The clothes they wear at their funerals are always white, but no part of them must be silk. A father or a mother mourns for a child twenty-seven months; widows wear mourning for their husbands three years; but a husband mourns no longer for his wife, than he thinks proper. Brothers and sisters, mourn for one another one whole year. The lowest sorts of the people commemorate their deceased relations, and their ceremonies are according to the nature of their circumstances. For such as have done great things to serve the public, they erect altars and temples, on which they offer sacrifices, and they even celebrate the memories of such as have raised disturbances, fomented rebellions, and trampled on the laws; but this is not done for their honour, but to hold them out as objects of detestation, to all those who shall live in future ages.

But nothing can exceed the funeral rites of their kings in splendor and pomp they even exceed imagination. They first embalm the body, and then exposes it on a bed of state for sixty-five days together, during all which time he is attended and served with as much splendour as if he was really alive, and the victuals, as soon as conveyed away from him, are given to the priests, and to the poor. Every one of his subjects is obliged to appear in mourning. All the officers of state are obliged to remain in mourning three years, nor are any public games allowed during the mourning, except such as are common when a king mounts the throne, in the room of his predecessor. The dishes served up at

the new king's coronation, are all várnished black, and he cuts off his hair, and covers his head with a straw hat. All the great officers of state do the same, and three bells are kept tolling incessantly, from the death of a king, till his body. is put on board a galley, in order to be interred among his

ancestors.

On the sixty-sixth day after the death of the king, all things being prepared for his interment, by a proper officer appointed for that purpose, the procession begins, and the ground is strewed with flowers. The procession continues sixteen days, and at every quarter of a league, they make a halt near some huts erected for the purpose of supplying the people and horses with provisions, and with fire to light their pipes. Two gentlemen of the king's chamber march in the front, and as they go along they proclaim the king's name, with all his pompous titles; each of them carries a mace in his hand, the head of which has a lighted torch in it, and twelve gentlemen of the king's galleys draw a mausoleum after them.

Next comes the grand master of the horse, attended by two pages, who are followed by twelve sumpter horses, richly caparisoned, and led by pages, walking two and two. The elephants come next in the following order: the first four are mounted by standard bearers, the next four have castles on their backs, filled with soldiers, and the last four have cages on their backs; these cages are made of latticework, finely gilded and glazed. The car, or chariot, which contains the mausoleum, in which the king's body is deposited, advances next, and is drawn by twelve stags, each of whom is led by one of the captains of the life-guards.

The new king, with his brothers, and all the princes of the blood, walk behind the car, dressed in long white robes, with straw hats on their heads; and they are followed by the princesses, with the king's musicians; and each princess has two ladies to wait on her. These princesses carry each a handfal of the provisions that are to be used at the entertainment. The four principal governors of the provinces follow the ladies, each carrying a staff on his shoulder, and a purse at his waist, filled with gold and the richest perfumes. In these purses are contained the presents which are to be given to the deceased king, in order to defray his expences into the other world. The governors are followed by eight coaches, loaded with ingots of gold, bars of silver, cloth of tissue, and the richest silks, from a persuasion, that the deceased is to carry all these along with him.

The procession is closed by all the nobility and persons of rank, some on foot, and some on horseback; and as soon as they arrive at the brink of the river, there is a galley to receive the king's body, with many others to attend it. In the first of the

two which immediately follow the corpse, are such of the great men of the kingdom who have consented to be buried along with their sovereign; and in the other, which is closely shut up, are the favourite court ladies, who have submitted to the same fate. The other galleys are transports, to carry all sorts of necessary provisions, with equipages and treasures. All these galleys are towed from one creek to another, till they come to the most solitary place they can find, and the most difficult of access; for no persons are to know where the king and his illustrious victims are buried, except six eunuchs, who are sworn to secrecy in the most solemn manner.

When they come to the place appointed for thefuneral service to be performed, several of the priests, who are indiscriminately named Bouzes, Bramins, or Talapoins, approach, dressed in their white robes, and repeat several prayers. After this they sing hymns, while those who have voluntarily consented to die with their king, are employed in washing themselves, and preparing for their passage into the other world. The priests attend the funeral pile upon which the king's body is laid, and on piles inclosed, built of wood, are the nobles, the ladies, elephants, horses, and treasures Fire being set to the piles, the priests sing several hymns, and as soon as the whole is reduced to ashes, there is a deep pit made, and the contents are thrown into it; but no monument is erected in the place, lest the ashes of the dead should be disturbed.

It would be impossible to hear the cries of those. victims without horror, were we not, at the same time, to consider how strongly prejudice operates on the minds of men, in favour of some particular sort of superstition, which has been in a manner deified by its great antiquity. But to this we may add, that the priests take care to employ so many musicians during the burning of the funeral pile, that the cries of the sufferers are drowned.

It was a just remark of the celebrated Paschal, that in all ages and nations, men are more attentive to false than to true religion. Whence does this contradiction arise? The answer is obvious: God hath made man upright, but he hath sought out many inventions. In nothing does the corruption of human nature appear more conspicuous, than in the regard men pay to false religion, while they consider that which is really pure as unworthy of their notice. This general accusation will not, however, hold good in all its parts, when applied to the heathens we have been writing of. They never heard the joyful sound of the gospel; they never saw the pure simplicity of Christian worship, nor did they ever hear the perfections of the divine attributes explained. It is true, they have the same law of nature, by which all the heathen world will be judged, yet we find how meanly they have degraded

it; but let us consider that whatever punishment the Almighty may inflict on them hereafter, yet dreadful will be the condition of those nominal Christians, who, having the means of grace put into

their hands, and the hope of glory presented to them, forget their God and their Redeemer, and trample upon all his mercies.

THE kingdom of Cochin-China is situated without the Ganges, and the religion of the natives differs but little from what we have already described in Tonquin. They are gross idolaters, and worship the meanest reptiles, and even inanimate things. The first article of their religion consists in paying adoration to the souls of those who, in this life, were distinguished for some meritorious action, and their temples are adorned with their images. These images are artfully placed, some being high and others low, much in the same manner as the pipes of an organ. This is done to point out the merits of the persons, and, according to the height of the image, the degrees of worship are regulated, for those who are short are not to be treated with so much respect as those who are tall.

Between each range of these images, there is a dark opening, but no person can see how far it reaches. This their priests say, is the place where the eternal invisible God resides, and that he cannot be seen by the human eye. Being asked by a Jesuit why they erected images, seeing they believed in one true God? they answered, that they did not set up the images as makers of heaven and earth, but they kept them to put them in memory of the virtues of great men, who could hear their prayers, and intercede with God for them. Through the whole of the country there are such a number of pagods, and in each of them several different idols, that one would be apt to imagine every family had two or three for themselves; but this is of great advantage to the priests, who are constantly employed in acts of devotion, in sacrifices, and other offices in those temples.

Such of the Cochin-Chinese as live near the mountains, have preserved a greater purity in their worship, for they have no temples crowded with idols, but offer up their sacrifices on hills, or in groves, under the canopy of the heavens, and they pay great respect to the memory of the dead.

The natives of Cambodia, are, in many respects, like those of Siam, for they adore the soul of the universe as the true God. They have a celebrated temple at Oneo, in this kingdom, and to it devotees resort from many parts of the east; and the priests

who officiate in it, pretend to give answers to the most difficult questions proposed to them. There are different orders of these priests, but all of them are distinguished by their dress. Some of them make a vow of poverty, and live only on the charity of well-disposed persons, while others who chuse to accept of salaries, spend great part of their time in visiting the sick, and healing, by magic, different sorts of diseases. Some go from place to place, instructing the ignorant, and in doing all sorts of good offices to those who want their assistance. The medicines they give to their patients are extremely simple, and they are so nourishing, that they want no other sort of subsistence until they recover. When they think a patient is incurable, they tell him so, and desire him not to load himself with medicines; butwhen they think there are any hopes of recovery, then they bid him not despair, as they have a medicine will cure him, and recover him to his former state of health. They accordingly administer their medicines, which they always carry along with them, and if the patient recovers, the priests are highly. honoured; but if he dies, then his death is imputed to the anger of the gods, for some secret crime. There is but little difference between the natives of Cochin-China, and those of Cambodia, nor indeed between them and those we have already described, concerning their marriages and funerals.Both admit a plurality of wives, and both tolerate divorces. They observe the same rules of consanguinity in their marriages as are prescribed in the law of Moses, and what we Christians practise.-Indeed they have many other customs resembling. those of the Jews; which may serve to shew, that there was no great difference between the inhabi-tants of ancient nations concerning their religious rites and ceremonies.

If a man dies, the nearest male relation unmarried,, is to take the widow to wife, and in case either of the parties refuse to comply with this established! custom, or rather law, then the offending party is fined in such a sum as he is seldom ever able to pay. Both men and women are punished in the same manner for adultery, and that is exposing them to the elephants; for they believe, that if they turn them

out into a field where these creatures are grazing, such is their sagacity, that they will tread upon them till they are dead. It is certain, that an untamed elephant will tread upon any person who comes in his way, but he is so easily tamed, that there cannot be any great difficulty for these delinquents to screen themselves from him, and take shelter in some other part of the country.

We shall now proceed to describe their funeral rites and ceremonies, which, in some things, are nearly allied to those of their neighbours; but in other respects, rather more simple, and bearing greater marks of antiquity.

When a person lies at the point of death, all his male relations and friends crowd around his bed, with drawn scimitars and sabres, which they brandish around the patient, in order to drive away such evil spirits as they imagine are hovering around him, to seize his soul the moment it departs from his body. When a person of distinction dies, the priests, who are likewise the physicians, hold a consultation concerning the nature of the disorder, and when they think they have found it, they discover what evil spirit it was that inflicted it, and in the most formal manner, they condemn him to everlasting flames.But, according to their notions, while they revenge themselves on the evil spirit, another is preparing to take away the life of one of the deceased's relations.

When the devil enters into the body of the next person who is to die in the family, the priests are sent for, and when they have been sometime in conversation with the patient, they give him a sleeping draught, which, for at least one day, deprives him of his senses. During the whole of that time they remain with him, and when the use of his senses and reason returns, the relations of the deceased are called in; then the priests tell them that the person who lies sick saw the soul of the deceased, and points out, in a distinct manner, how he is employed, and in what state he is. This is a very artful trick, and serves to establish the power of the priests, while it darkens the understandings of the people, and keeps their minds in a state of subjection.

When a person's funeral is to be celebrated, an entertainment is provided, and all the relations, friends, and neighbours, are invited; and on such Occasions they invoke the souls of their departed ancestors, praying them once more to return.

The third day of the feast, the body is carried to a stage erected before the door of the house, and the priests sing and pray around it, at the same time sprinkling it all over with consecrated water. The richest perfumes that can be procured are put into the mouth, and the body is laid in a wooden coffin, but not covered with a lid; then the procession begins in the following manner:

The male relations of the deceased walk first,

after them follow the priests, singing a sort of litany, or rather different sorts of litanies; next the coffin is carried by some of the neighbours of the deceased, and the procession is closed by the women, dressed in white, and veiled, making the most hideous lamentations. When they arrive at the funeral pile, which is commonly in a desert place, near the banks of a river, or sometimes in a wood, the priests renew their singing, which continues about an hour, after which the body is a second time perfumed and sprinkled, and being laid on the pile, all the relations, one after another, touch it out of respect, and each repeats a short prayer for the repose of his soul; the priests then set fire to the pile, and they, with the relations, wait till it is consumed. The ashes are then buried in a grave dug for that purpose, except a few small bones, which the widow picks up, and puts into an earthen urn, mixed with flowers. These she carries home as the precious remains of her husband, and deposits them near her house. Sometimes they are put up in a pagod, and it frequently happens, that if the relations are rich, then they build and endow a temple for the purpose.

Consistent with the nature of this work, which is to comprehend the whole body of divinity, whether historical, theological, or practical, we have already taken notice of some of the leading principles under different heads, and throughout the remainder shall continue to do the same. It is remarkable, that in all the nations we have litherto treated of, some rites and ceremonies are used with respect to marriage, and although it may appear that some of these are ridiculous enough, yet their uni versality points out their antiquity. But where shall we look for their antiquity; Is it to be found among the heathens? The answer is obvious, nor can there be any dispute concerning it. The heathens differ from each other in the nature of marrying, and yet there is no nation that we can hear of, where celibacy is established as a principle of religion. To understand this in a proper manner, we must have recourse to the sacred scriptures, where we read, that when God had finished the greatest part of the creation, he made man, aud afterwards he formed the woman to be a help-mate for him.It seems to have been the design of the Almighty, that men and women, as husbands and wives, should live in peace and society together; that they should be mutual assistants to each other; that they should propagate their species; and that they should, by the highest act of generosity, educate their children in the principles of virtue and religion. All this was appointed, that the government of this world should be conducted in a regular manner, aud that when societies were formed, men might know the relation they stood in to each other, and to God