ked, "Ought these people to walk in
the ways of their fathers?" To this question I have never received an
affirmative reply.

We have reminded the people their fathers were as prone to err as we
are; that we ought to weigh in the scales of truth and justice what they
did, in order to the imitation of them when right and the forsaking of
them when wrong. If they were with us, provided they were really wise,
they would wish us to embrace the good of which they knew nothing, but
which was now presented for their acceptance. With all their regard for
their fathers, there were things unknown to them--as, for instance, the
potato for food, and the railway carriage for travelling. If the potato
was good for the body, as many of them showed they thought by partaking
of it, might not our religion be good for the soul? If they resorted in
crowds to the railway carriages even when going on pilgrimage to their
sacred places, if in their earthly travels they found these carriages so
serviceable, might they not find the religion of Christ, if candidly
considered, the best vehicle for carrying them to heaven? We have much
sympathy with the feeling of reverence for ancestors, but they are not
entitled to tyrannize over their descendants. We tell them we do not
wish them to leave their father's house, but to return to it; not to
leave the husband, but to return to the true husband.

[Sidenote: WORSHIP OF GOD UNDER MATERIAL FORMS.]

At first sight the worship carried on at Benares seems so absurd that
one wonders how a reasonable being can say anything in its defence. Many
years ago I had a visit from an English gentleman who was travelling
through India, and he expressed his surprise we had such limited success
in turning the people from worshipping such ugly misshapen stones. He
evidently thought that by quoting some of the passages of Scripture in
which the wickedness and folly of idol-worship are exposed, he could
silence idol-worshippers, and secure their speedy conversion to the
living God. If he had come into contact with the people he would not
have found their conversion such an easy matter. I have never met a
Hindu who would allow he worshipped the material objects before which he
bowed down. However illiterate he may be, he is ready to maintain that
he worships the god represented by the image, and who is actually
dwelling in it in a mysterious manner, after some sacred words have been
uttered over it.

We are often told i