eatables ready
cooked, beautiful bunches of flowers, articles of raiment, &c. The
amount of offerings here is very great. Stone vases, some of which will
hold fifty or sixty gallons, stand round the pagoda, into which the
devotees carefully lay their leafy plates of rice, plantain, cakes, &c.
As these are successively filled, appointed persons empty them into
their vessels, carefully assorting the various kinds. The beautiful
flowers remain all night and are swept out in the morning. No one ever
objected however to my gathering them at pleasure. A gift once deposited
is no more regarded by the worshipper." "I could not but feel as I gazed
upon the rich landscape and bright heavens, and marked the joy of the
young men and maidens as they passed on, that he who has so long
forborne with them, will in his abundant mercy, give them pastors after
his own heart, who shall feed them with knowledge and understanding."

After reading this description, who can wonder at the difficulty of
turning this semi-barbarous people from a religion of such a gorgeous
and imposing ceremonial, and of such perfect congeniality with the
unhumbled heart, to the spiritual, self-denying, pride-abasing
doctrines of the cross?

Mrs. Judson in a letter to a friend, mentions the splendor and
costliness of some of the religious offerings, one of which cost three
thousand tickals, or twelve hundred dollars. After a description of the
pagoda and its worshippers, she says: "The ground on which the pagoda is
situated, commands a view of the surrounding country, which presents one
of the most beautiful landscapes in nature. The polished spires of the
pagodas, glistening among the trees at a distance, appear like the
steeples of meeting-houses in our American seaports. The verdant
appearance of the country, the hills and valleys, ponds and rivers, the
banks of which are covered with cattle and fields of rice; each in turn
attract the eye, and cause the beholder to exclaim, "Was this delightful
country made to be the residence of idolaters?" ... Oh my friend, scenes
like these, productive of feelings so various and so opposite, do
notwithstanding, fire the soul with an unconquerable desire to rescue
this people from destruction, and lead them to the Rock that is higher
than they."

* * * * *

Under date of January 18, 1818, Mrs. Judson writes that they still live
quietly, unmolested by government, and that they receive much