felf-examination formed conftituent it probably haftened his conclufion; at which he had no fooner arrived, than the countenances of his auditors brightened, and they congratulated one another on their being emanci pated from the fatigue of this tirefome ceremony. Had I never penetrated farther into the character of thefe Chriftians, I fhould have confidered them as beings altogether incapable of a ferious and profound attention to the performance of any religious duty ;: but a deeper inveftigation convinced me of the contrary, and that in the performance of fuch ceremonies as they deemed of real importance, these trifling people could evince a degree of affiduity and perfeverance, that would have done honour to a Sanee affee*. parts. Alas! how grofsly has his fimplicity been impofed upon. It is indeed obferved as a holiday by the lower cafts, and spent by fome of the induftrious orders of mechanics in the innocent amusement of walking in the fields, accompanied by their wives and children. By thofe of lefs fober manners, it is employed in the indulgence of gluttony, and the most de praved intemperance. By the higher cafts, it is altogether unohferved, except as a day particularly propitious to the purpose of travelling. A felect number, from all the different cafts, occafionally amufe themselves by attending, for an hour or two, on the mornings of that day, at certain large buildings, called churches; a practice which they doubtless continue in conformity to fome ancient custom, the The rites to which I allude, may, origin of which is now forgotten, in my opinion, eafily be traced to the though the practice continues to be facred inftitutions of the beloved of partially obferved. Curiofity once Brahma; the nation which is the pure led me into one of the churches, fountain of all human wisdom. where a young man dreffed in white began the performance of the ceremony. Had it not been for the careleffness of his manner, I fhould have been tempted to believe that he was engaged in offering prayers to the Deity; and fo far as the extreme rapidity of his utterance would permit me to judge, fome things he faid fo plainly alluded to a future ftate of existence, that one, lefs truly informed than I was, might have been led into a belief that fome fuch notions had actually been entertained among them. The ceremonies of this day. were concluded by an elderly prieft, in a black robe, who read, in a languid and monotonous tone, from a fmail book, which he held in his hand, a fort of exhortation; the truths contained in which, feemed equally indifferent to himself and to his audience. Nor did the little attention that was paid to his difcourfe feem to give him any offence, or to impel him to fpeak in a more energetic manner; though To the intelligent mind of the noble rajah, it is well known how our great ancestors, incomparable in wis dom, ordained fuch myftical repre fentations of the fuperior intelligences; as it is not lawful for any but the me holy and learned of the bramins to explore. The most pious of the facred caft, after purifying themselves from worldly thoughts by years of abiti-" nence, spent in the filence of falemn groves, are, by much application, and unwearied ftudy, enabled to perceive the true meaning of thofe reprefentations hewn in the ftupendous rock, or carved in the lofty walls of ancient edifices, which, to the eyes of the vulgar, appear uncouth images of ftone. And it is doubtlefs from this wife example of our ancient bramins, that the priests of all religions have learned the art of concealing the fimplicity of truth, under the dark and impenetrable cloud of fymbolical mystery, which none but they themfelves can fully explain. The know * A religious reclufe, ledge of the vulgar is the death of zeal. But deep is the reverence of ignorance. It It was not then, from the people engaged in the rites I mention, that I could expect information concerning them but I had a better instructor in the depth of my own fagacity, which foon taught me, that the object of their most serious devotion was strictly analogous to the fymbols of our Dewtah, not indeed cut in the folid rock of gloomy caverns; not hewn on the walls of facred temples; but, correfpondent to the trifling genius of thefe filly people, painted upon fmall flips of ftiff paper! Neither is the manner in which thefe devotions are performed exactly fimilar to ours. is not neceffary that thofe devotees fhould perform the feven ablutions; neither do they rub their bodies with earth; neither do they cover their heads with cow-dung; and, inftead of folemn proftration before thefe painted objects of their idolatry, they take them familiarly into their hands, and tofs them one after another upon a table covered with green cloth; turn them up and down, sometimes gazing upon them with momentary admiration, as they lie proftrate on the middle of the table; then again, feizing them with holy ardour, they turn them haftily upon their faces. And to this Poojah of idols, termed cards, do the major part of the people devote their time; facrificing every enjoyment of life, as well as every domeftic duty, to the performance of this fingular devotion. It is faid, that it is incumbent only on a "profeffed hermit urterly to renounce his paffions, and worldly pur • Worship. fuits: but that it is fufficient for a domeftic character to refrain from their abufe." The zeal for the Poojah of cards infpires a more exalted degree of felf-denial: I have known it lead its ardent votaries to exclude the foulenlivening rays of the golden fun, in the finest evenings of their fhort-lived fummer; and while the nightingale warbled its tale of love to the liftening rofe, and all the beauties of nature glowed around them, I have beheld them turn from the temptation with heroic firmness, and placing themfelves at the altars of their idols, remain immoveably fixed in that devotion, which abforbed the powers of their foul. Little as I am inclined to coincide with the opinion of the rajah, relative to the fuperiority of the females of Europe in any other particular, I must confefs, that in their unwearied affiduity to the Poojah of cards, they evince a degree of conftancy fcarcely exceeded by a pious Yogeet in the act of penance. The languor, fo vifible in the countenances of the people affembled in the church, was never to be ob ferved during the performance of this more important ceremony. Here, even the very prieft loft the apathy which had there fo ftrongly marked his countenance. The attention of his fellow worshippers was no longer a matter of indifference to him. zeal was kindled into fervour, and broke forth into the feverity of reproach against a female who fat oppofite to him, for exhibiting some tranfient mark of negligence in the performance of the duty in which the was now engaged.' His An order of religious Reclufes, remarkable for the rigorous performance of the penitential duties, efteemed by the Hindoos fo effentially neceflary toward the advance ment of their happiness in a future ftate. The voluntary penances undertaken by these pious Yogeee, are frequently fo fevere as to excite an equal degree of astonishment and horror. Sir, REFLECTIONS ON GAMING. To the Editor of the Univerfal Magazine. The following plain and primitive, but truly excellent Letter, lately fell inty my Hands. It appears to have been written, half a Century ago, by a venerable Clergyman in the Country to his Patron, a young Baronet in Town. As the Vice which the good Man fo ftrongly inveighs againft, is not less prevalent, nor lefe deftrudlive, at this Period than it was then, I trust that this Letter may be productive of good Effects, if cafually taken up and perused by any of your Readers, who may have unfortunately imbibed a Propenfity to Gaming, before they are involved, beyond Recovery, in these fatal Calamities, of which our domestic Annals afford but too numerous Inftances. I am, Sir, &c. DEAR SIR CHARLES, Y OU will forgive an old friend, who has troubled you, now and then, with fomething like advice, if he fhould do fo once more, now there feems to be particular occafion for it. You fay, in your last, that you are two thousand pounds the poorer this year, for play. I am forry to hear it, with all my heart, for we people in the country look upon two thousand pounds as a very ferious matter; and had I not known you fo well, I fhould have been much furprifed to find, that you could write fo gaily, on lofing fuch a vaft fum as that. I know you gentlemen of the town look on gaming only as an idle and weak thing at the worft; but I have long confidered it as one of the greateft fins I know of. You will forgive an old parson for ufing a word which, they tell me, is almoft grown out of fashion. Will you give me leave to tell you why I look on gaming as fo very wicked a thing it is, because I think it may make a very bad man of a very good one. I know your temper very well, and am fure, that, naturally, you were much inclined to do good, and very defirous to have a good name in the world. You were of a sweet difpofition from a boy; and I have seen you give fixpence to a poor old man, when OBSERVER. you had not twopence more left in your pocket. How then can you go on to be fo fond of a thing, that may, in time, render you unwife, inglori ous, ungenerous, unmerciful, and unjutt? I know you will laugh, and say, I am preaching to you. Well, that, you know, is my profeflion; and I fhall never be ashamed of it. But how does play do all the things I have been talking of? Why, if you please, I will tell you; and that in a few words too, though I am fo old a man.. ་ Any one's manners must be tinged a good deal with the company he keeps. Now the groom-porter's itfelf, as I take it, is not a place to learn much wisdom in. The loweft fort of gamefters are as weak men (take them out of cards and dice) as ever I met with; and a man who games much will be apt, fometimes, to fall in even with thefe, rather than ftand out; and, confequently, into converfations that are far enough from being improving. As to reputation, the character of a gamefter will certainly be allowed to be one of the worst in the world; and though the world is fo bad, there never yet was a man in it generally efteemed for being a gamefter, that 1 know of. If there has, things have grown worfe fince I was laft in town; 190 which was at king George the firft's coronation. I beg you to recollect, (for I know your good difpofition) how often you have been willing to relieve some worthy perfon, whom you faw in difbrefs, and could not do it, becaufe the dice had run against you a night or two before. In each of thefe in you ftances, it was the dice that made When an income is made too little for any gentleman, by play, his poor tenants in the country must be driven the harder to pay in their rents when wanted; and the rents in general must be racked as high as poffible, to fupply the annual demands of the gamang-table; and both thefe, I fear, of ten in a manner that may be too fairly called unmerciful. Where gaming fwallows up good part of an income, as gaming debts must be paid first, most other debts will be fuffered to ftand too long. The true value of money in trade confifts a good deal in the circulation of its and if tradefmen's debts are of long continuance, there must be an injuftice fomewhere. Either they charge no more than they should to a quick payer, and then you are unjust to them, in keeping them out of their money o long; or they will charge you more than the proper value of the goods, and then you are the occafion of injuftice to yourself. So that all the things that I faid, I think, are true; but the point, I own, which grieves me moft is, that fo excellent a turn of mind, as I know to be in you, fhould be rendered of no effect by fuch pitiful means. I have just been computing, what a vast deal of good you might have done the laft year past; all which you have let flip out of your hands, without adding any thing either to your character or your happiness. I fhall juft tranfcribe the account I have been making, and then be your very humble fervant. To apprenticing out the two men To the clothing and schooling To apprenticing out 14 boys Loan to poor tradesmen, with- each To officers children, left in 1 £ 40 105 100 100 200 150. 200 250 To a decayed gentleman of 300 birth and merit To a gentlewoman, whofe fa- 300 255 every time you looked it over, to confider how far you had gone, in one year, toward making fo many worthy diftreffed perfons happy for their whole life! What have you, in the stead of this, but the mortification -I will fay no more, but leave you to fill it up yourself. Think of it a little, good fir Charles, if it be poffible for you to fit down and think.I have always loved you as if you were my own fon. You gave me my living, and have been ever good to me; and I could, methinks, give it all up again, to have the world speak well of you all round, as they do in molt things already. When I hear any thing good of you, it is the comfort of my gray hairs; and when I hear any thing ill, I feel it here at my heart. If you should happen to fend me word, "this time twelvemonth, that you had difpofed of only half the overplus of your income, in doing good, inftead of facrificing it all in this wretchod way, I verily believe is would comfort me fo much, that it would add two or three years to the declining life of, dear fir Charles, your most faithful and obliged humble fervant to command, RICHARD CRAWLEY. GLEANING S. THE prefent worthy bishop of Llandaff attempted many years ago to prove, and we think fatisfactorily, that the numerous charitable institutions for the fick and poor, owe their erection entirely to the fpirit of the gospel. Hiftory, fays he, it is true, is chiefly employed in exploring the caufes which bring on revolutions in communities, in exhibiting bloody accounts of the martial atchievments of different nations, in afcertaining the characters of fuch individuals as either tyranny and ambition, or an honest regard for the liberties of mankind, and the interefts of fociety, have rendered illuftrious in their age and country. The virtues of private life, the civil conftitutions and internal politics of ftates, are feldom thought important enough to be enlarged on; or they are paffed over as matters univerfally known; yet had any charitable intitutions, fimilar to our hofpitals, existed in ancient times, we cannot doubt but they would at least have been incidentally mentioned. HABIT, according to Dr. Reid, differs from inftine not in its nature but in its origin, the latter appearing perfect at once, the former being gradually acquired. Habit, he defines a facility of doing a thing, and a prone nefs to do it, acquired by doing it frequently. Every art furnishes inftances both of the powers of habit, and of their utility, and none more than the commoneft of all arts, the art of fpeaking. What is faid on this laft point is highly amufing. • The art of a good speaker, if it were not more common, would appear more wonderful, than that a man fhould dance blindfold amid a thousand burning ploughshares without being burnt.' W.thout instinct a child would not live to become a man, and without habit, a man would continue a child in power and understanding through life. THE inefficacy of pofitive laws to regulate the conduct of mankind is well expreffed by Dr. Johnfon, in a fermon he wrote for Dr. Taylor.— No man can invade the property, of difturb the quiet of his neighbour, without fubjecting himself to penalties, and fuffering in proportion to the injuries he has offered. But cruelty and pride, oppreffion and partiality, may tyrannize in private families without controul; meeknefs may be trampled upon, and piety infulted, without any appeal, but to confcience and to heaven. A thousand methods of torture may be invented, a thousand acts of unkindnefs, or difregard, may be committed, a thousand innocent gra |