There are certain offences which, when committed cut off all hope that the offender will ever be restored to his caste.  For instance, should he eat the flesh of the cow, no presents which he might make, nor any fines which lie might be disposed to pay, no, not even the punchakaryam itself, would be of any avail for his restoration or purification.

I will make a remark here, which I might have made before.  It is, that in Christian countries, there is a spirit of pride which much resembles the spirit of caste.  Many are to be found who are very proud that they have descended from rich and honorable ancestors, and who look down, almost with disdain, upon those in other situations.  I need hardly tell you that this is a very wicked spirit, and entirely opposed to the spirit of the Gospel.  No matter what may be our high thoughts of ourselves, we appear but very low in the sight of Him who created us.  We are all sinners, and, as such, are offensive in his sight.  If we would go to heaven, the first thing which we have to do, is to humble ourselves for the pride of our hearts, and become as little children before him.  We must have that spirit of which the apostle speaks, when he says, “Let each esteem others better than themselves.”  With a humble spirit we may approach a holy God, with the assurance that he will, for Christ’s sake, forgive all our sins.

CHAPTER IX.

HINDOO TEMPLES—­CARS—­PROCESSION OF IDOLS.

My dear Children—­I will proceed to give you a description of the Hindoo temples.  These are very numerous.  One is to be found in almost every village.  They are to be found, also, in out-of-the-way places, distant from villages, in woods, on the banks and in the middle of rivers; but, above all, on mountains and steep rocks.

This latter practice, of building temples on mountains, is very ancient.  The Israelites were accustomed to choose a mountain when they offered up their sacrifices to the Lord.  Solomon, before the building of the temple, chose Mount Gibeon on which to offer his burnt-offerings; and when the ten tribes separated themselves, in the reign of Jeroboam, they built their altars on the mountain of Samaria.  This practice may have come from the circumstance, that Noah offered to God a great sacrifice of thanks on one of the highest mountains of Armenia.  Probably Mount Ararat continued long to be remembered, by him and his descendants, as the scene of their deliverance.

Besides the temples of the idols, there are various objects of worship, made of earth and stone.  Some of the idols are carved.  Some consist merely of the rough stone.  These are to be seen on the high-roads, at the entrance into villages, and, above all, under lofty trees.  Some of these are covered; but generally they are exposed in the open air.