ANCIENT AND MODERN TRAVELLERS.-THE LAKE OF RANCO. exclusive pages of the societies' transactions ;-the world, except as influenced by the learned few, is none the wiser, none the better: with stores of knowledge locked in the national cabinets, it remains an ignorant world still. Now the result of this state of things, though "the proper study of mankind is man," is popular ignorance. From this ignorance proceeds the apathy of the world and the lukewarmness of the church towards Christian missions, and generally towards all philanthropic institutions-which, if truth be told, are rather tolerated through the media of good dinners, and good speeches, than supported with the zeal which owes its birth to knowledge and its continuance to affection. Such being the state of the case, and we firmly | believe it is not exaggerated, a great necessity is apparent for some engine that may be rendered effective in gathering up and presenting to the eyes of all who are willing to read as they run, the scattered fragments of knowledge that lie in their path, serving rather to render their road rougher | than more pleasant: for some friendly organ which whilst affording fresh stores of knowledge, and much of a character that would not, probably, come before the eyes even of the wealthy and well-read in any other shape, shall never cease to point their attention to the real uses of such knowledge, and to remind them of the sacred duty which they owe to their brother man; a duty which cannot be faithfully discharged unless they clear their minds of the dust of prejudice, and store them with the results of a careful study of facts, not specious fictions. Such an engine, and such a warning voice, is the "JOURNAL OF CIVILIZATION." Vast stores of most curious facts affecting the condition of society, both at home and abroad, lie hidden, buried in ponderous public documents, and yet more interesting private collections opened for our use. From these; from works native and foreign, from their cost almost inaccessible; from correspondence, that most valuable means of obtaining knowledge, and from every other possible source, so much may be drawn as to deeply interest the statist, the manufacturer, the trader, and the merchant, the man of science and the philosopher, as well as the Christian philanthropist. The one great principle on which all our labours are based is, that all attempts at civilization not founded on the gospel must and will be ineffectual. The facts which we shall adduce in support of this principle will fully bear us out ; and as a corollary, we intend to prove that an extended civilization, far and near, is necessary to the well-being of the world in every point of view social, political, and commercial. In short, we plead the cause of missionaries versus Mandevilles and Munchausensof Truth versus Fiction-of Civilization versus Barbarism-of CHRISTIANITY versus Ignorance. We trust our clients will have no cause to be ashamed of their advocate.-E. THE LAKE OF RANCO. 79 My attention was soon drawn to some of the peculiar features of the lake we were approaching; the bold mountains which environ its banks now occasionally appeared through the openings in the forest. Having understood at the house where we had passed the night, that Neggiman, the chief, was absent on a visit to Arique, we continued our route early on the following morning, still passing through a forest of high trees, until we reached another cluster of houses, among which was that of the chief. Some of these houses I entered, but hastened forward to the brow of a rising ground, in order to enjoy a full view of the lake, of which I had only hitherto caught detached glimpses. We were standing on its western border; an extensive sheet of water lay before us, probably about fifty miles in circumference. Eight islands of different sizes, some mere rocks, appeared in the centre; one of them, which gives name to the lake, is inhabited, and about two miles in length. With so many remarkable features, all blended and heightened by the interchange of wood and water, and the occasional flitting of clouds under a brilliant sky, it would be needless to say that it was beautiful; but there were other and not less interesting objects for contemplation. From the same spot the scattered houses of Vutronway (the name of this Indian village), with their several patches for cultivation, although half embossed in copses and indigenous apple-groves, were visible; the abodes of accountable human beings, but unto whom as yet the saving truths of the incorruptible gospel had not been made known! All without, every object that met the eye, seemed to speak its great Creator's praise; but he, for whose enjoyment all these beauties were arrayed, had not yet learned one song of thanksgiving to Him who crowneth the year with his goodness. In the earnest hope that it might please the Lord to permit us to enter upon some work for his glory in this place, I first made application to the chief's eldest son, and afterwards entered into a conditional agreement with a native called Calfupang, who resided at the very foot of the knoll, which commanded the view I have described, to let his house to me, until a more suitable one could be erected.-Captain Gardiner's Visit to the Indians of Chili. ARTISANS OF FORMER DAYS. AT Colchester, in 1296 and 1301, a carpenter's stock was valued at a shilling, and consisted of five tools. Other tradesmen were almost as poor; but a tanner's stock, if there is no mistake, was worth £9. 7s. 10d., more than ten times any other. Tanners were principal tradesmen, the chief part of their dress being made of leather. VII. Then in a moment, to my view James Montgomery. DAILY LABOURS OF A PAWNEE SHE rises an hour before daybreak, packs up the dried meat, the corn, and other bales, strikes the tent, loads and saddles all the horses and mules, and at dawn the march commences; they generally go from twelve to fifteen miles before their midday halt; the husband rides; some animals are loaded, many run loose; she travels on foot, carrying on her back either a child or a package of a considerable size; in one hand a bundle or can of water, with the other leading one or two packhorses. On arriving at the camping-place, she unpacks the animals and proceeds to pitch the tent or lodge as before described. But in order to appreciate the extreme labour of this apparently simple operation, it must be borne in mind, that she has to force eight or ten poles, sharpened at the point, into ground baked nearly as hard as brick by a vertical sun, they requiring to be driven nearly six inches deep by the mere strength of her arms, as she is not assisted by the use of any ironpointed instrument, or any mallet. As soon as the tent is pitched and arranged, she goes in search of wood and water; the latter is generally within half a mile of the camping-place selected, but the former, I can positively affirm from my own observation, she frequently has to seek and carry on her back three or four miles. From mingled commiseration and curiosity, I once or twice raised these wood-bundles thus brought in, and am afraid to hazard a conjecture as to its weight, but I feel confident that any London porter would charge high for an extra load, if he was desired to carry one of them half-a-mile: she then proceeds to light the fire, cut up the meat, and pound the corn, for which latter purpose she is obliged to use a heavy club, round at the extremity, and a mortar hollowed by herself from the trunk of a walnut tree. As soon as the meal is finished, she has to strike the tent, reload the horses, and the whole foregoing work has to be repeated, except that the afternoon walk is generally not more than eight or nine miles. Hon. C. Murray. Norman Peasants, in the Church of St. Wandrille, doing Homage to the Statues of St. Mien and other Saints. IMAGE-WORSHIP. An account has recently gone the round of the newspapers, of a ship-launch at Blackwall; the figure-head of the vessel consisted of a bust of our greatest naval commander, Nelson. Several young midshipmen were on board, who, overcome by recollections of his achievements with which history had supplied them, went forward, embraced, and kissed the figure with every symptom of honest, unaffected enthusiasm. This act resembled the hero-worship of the classical ancients, and reminds us of those feelings to arouse which Romanists adorn their churches with effigies of the Virgin, the Saviour, and the Saints. A controversial author at the end of the seventeenth century, when hot war had been waged by the puritans against all graven images, writes thus in their defence and in explanation of their uses and influence :-"It is the professed doctrine and practice of the Church of Rome to have the pictures and images of holy things and passages both in PART II-NO. VI. houses and churches for the instruction of the ignorant in the knowledge of the history of both the Old and the New Testament; that so they may be acquainted with the sacred persons of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, and be informed of the wonderful works wrought by God in man's creation and redemption." This indeed was, in the dark ages, an easy and most obvious experiment of instructing the people, when reading was a notable accomplishment; just as picture-Bibles were till lately put into the hands of young persons. These graphic and graven representations of events and persons were substitutes for the more difficult but more just and rational method of enlightening the minds and cultivating the intellects of mankind by teaching them to read, and so to learn the historical records of the Old and the precepts of the New Testament from the Bible itself. But the appeals of the Romish Church having been always made more to credulity than to reason, the general spread of knowledge was discouraged and learning strictly confined to the clergy. Thus, the reasoning powers suppressed and the intellects fettered, the stimulant of palpable and visible objects was resorted to, so that-continues the same defender of the Catholic ritual-" the Church of Rome teaches that the images of Christ &c. ought to be kept especially in churches, and due honour and veneration given them*; not for that any divinity or virtue is believed to be in them for which they are to be worshipped, but because the honour shown to them is referred to the prototype or things represented by them; so that by the images we kiss and before which we kneel, we adore Christ and reverence his saints whom the said images represent+." That the introduction of pictorial and carved emblems into churches originated in such an expedient as we have described, and not in any warrant or command to be found in the Scriptures, there can be no question. It appears from the practice of the Church recorded by the earlier fathers, that Christians during the first three centuries after Christ and the greater part of the fourth neither worshipped images nor used them in worship; and the defenders of the practice allege merely a decree, said to have been made in a council held by the apostles at Antioch, commanding the faithful that they may not err about the object of their worship, to make images of Christ. But the existence of such a decree cannot be proved, nor was it mentioned till seven hundred years after the apostolic times, when the disputes about image-worship commenced. The Scriptures themselves, so far from affording any passage that by the utmost ingenuity could be interpreted to favour this species of idolatry, expressly forbids it in many places §. But looking at the use of images as a means for the instruction and an aid to the devotion of the ignorant as a substitute in point of fact for wholesome book instruction-the effort is commonly circumstances corroborative of this shall be presently cited. The different kinds of representative imagery used in the Romish Church may be divided into three classes-Paintings, Calvaries or sculptured tableaux of the crucifixion, and detached statues of the Saviour and the Saints. The former being too refined for the mass, it became necessary to present such emblematic objects to the lower classes as came within the range of their less cultivated ideas; and hence we see in almost every Catholic cathedral wooden figures carved as large as life to represent the crucifixion: and while it is possible these may be on a level with the taste of the people for whom they are provided, yet they produce a contrary, a revolting effect upon educated minds. They are composed of the cross and a figure of the Redeemer nailed to it; huge clots of red paint drop over the face and pour out of the side; which a pseudo centurion is piercing with a real spear. The Virgin and Martha sometimes occupy one corner, amidst rocks of jagged wood; the whole painted to imitate nature, and at the back of the group there is a scene such as is used in theatres. This description applies particularly to the Calvaries in the Cathedral at St. Omer and to that of St. Roch in Paris, both which we have seen. Sometimes Calvaries occupy an entire building or chapel, constructed expressly for them. The most imposing of these is at Antwerp. Then come the separate figures of the Virgin and other saints, with the shrines which surround them. To these devotees repair, and after reading the prescribed aves, kiss them and pass to others to whom that particular day is sacred, or according to the particular affliction they may be suffering; for as the pagans had their gods who were supposed to order certain events, so the Romish calendar consists of saints for every specialty-there are -even our Mother of Hate." Mr. Trollope in his "Summer in Brittany" mentions one of these last shrines to which devotees secretly repair, and implore the malediction of the Almighty upon their enemies! vain to teach the people to draw a nice distinction" our Mother of Victory," "our Mother of Joy," &c. between worshipping the thing itself, and making it aid in the worship of the incomprehensible or beatified Spirit it represents. This distinction is so difficult to be drawn, especially by the untutored mind, that whatever the intents and purposes of the Church might be, it is much to be feared that the more ignorant Romish devotees, even of the present day, attribute supernatural powers to the insensible images which they kiss and worship. Some *The eighth article of the Romish formulary of faith enjoins the subscriber to declare:-"I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, of the mother of God, and also of other saints, ought to be had and retained, and that due honour and veneration are to be given to them." In old churches some parts of the sculptured saints are completely obliterated by the constant kissing and embracing they have been for ages subjected to; in others the portions of the figure within reach of the worshipper are worn down quite smooth, and exhibit as fine a polish as if they had come from the hands of a lapidary. Perpetual dropping, it is said, will wear away a stone; per Discourse on the Use of Images in the Church of Rome.petual kissing seems to have the same effect. London, 1687. A good summary of these controversies may be found in a pamphlet which the one we have already quoted professed to answer, entitled "A Discourse concerning the Nature of Idolatry." § Exodus, chap. xx. ver. 4 and 5, and chap. xxxii. Levit. chap. xxvi. ver. 1. Psalm xcvii. 7. &c. &c. This fact shows at once the effect of discouraging education among the ignorant, for as in the absence of it, these theatrical tableaux may have the desired effect upon their passions, so, were they properly enlightened, such exhibitions would be looked upon with aversion It is not only to the images of Saints that this | This act is clearly an ancient innovation on the sort of labial homage is paid; their relics also re- formulæ of the Romish service, which is still toleceive similar honours. A recent and intelligent rated; for it is not universally practised. The idea traveller details such a scene in a church at Bras- that by any physical act a peculiar sanctity can be pars in Brittany. "During the whole morning," he communicated to persons or things, is one of the says, "the church was crowded. No service was first and most obvious superstitions which takes performed, but a priest was unceasingly engaged in possession of a mind but half awakened to the exexposing some relic to the adoration of the people. istence of a Deity. "If," said a Bechuana chief to It was contained in a little silver box in one of the Robert Moffat, "you eat your books, we would sides of which was a small round piece of glass more easily believe what you tell us they conwhich the people kissed; the priest after every tain." Some of the Mohammedans entertain kiss wiped the glass with a napkin, and each de- the same notion; and to charm away any sickness votee concluded the ceremony by dropping a piece or disease, write certain verses of the Koran on of money into a plate carried round to receive the the inner surface of a bowl or cup, and having contributions of the faithful*." poured in some water, stir it until the writing is quite washed off; the water with the sacred words thus infused in it is then drunk by the patient. We must now record our promised instances which support the painful notion that among multitudes of adherents to the Romish creed the To effect the same object, Roman Catholics have honour shown to images is not always "referred recourse to votive offerings, presented to figures of to prototypes or things represented by them." St. Antoine, whose influence is supposed to cure Since the destruction of sacred edifices which took all diseases. A deformed litnb, a carious tooth, or place during the great French Revolution, many of any member afflicted with pain, is modelled in the churches in France are not fully supplied with wax, and hung up on waxed threads, either upon images, and consequently the fragments of statues, the statue, or at its shrine. On one occasion, while the architectural ornaments of ecclesiastical build- examining a collection of such mimic deformities ings, and indeed any form which might bear the in the church of Berques, near Dunkirk, we beheld smallest resemblance to that of a saint or virgin, is an old peasant approach the shrine of St. Antoine set up and bowed down to. Of a great monastic and hang upon it the model of a crooked leg, beestablishment at St. Wandrille, for instance, only longing to her daughter. She informed us that the church and several small ruins of the struc- when the leg became straight, she would cause ture remain. A few summers since we visited another imitation of it to be moulded, and would the chapel, and having satisfied our curiosity suspend it beside the deformed one, in honour of within it, observed, in an outhouse, an altar the wonder-working saint. At Antwerp, we saw figure of Christ as dead, which had been evidently a much larger collection of such objects. The in the first instance ill-executed, but was now saint was covered with them in every part: a more rendered hideous by the fractured condition of the heterogeneous assemblage can hardly be conceived, features. The huge blood-marks were more than wry necks, dolls' heads (to cure the headache), usually exaggerated, and the whole figure pre-breasts, arms, toes, fingers-in short, almost every sented a revolting object. While gazing upon it, a woman bearing in her arms a young child came to kiss it, and after having done so, placed the infant before it to do the like. The child recoiled in affright, but the inflexible devotee insisted on its performing an act of love towards an object which had awakened its utmost dread. How could that child refer the act to any spiritual prototype? And if it could, what notion would it possess of the Redeemer, from so terrific a representative ? Besides the kissing and embracing we have mentioned, it is the practice, particularly in the South of France and in Belgium, to stroke certain images with the hand, and also to pass a prayer-book over the surface of one, while other worshippers kneel before it, and a priest recites a homily contained in the particular page thus used,—as is represented in the annexed engraving. A superior efficacy is supposed to be communicated to the prayer by its contact with the figure at the time of being uttered. * See "A Summer in Brittany," by Mr. Trollope, vol. ii. p. 225. part of the human body that was to be, and had been cured, are there congregated. At other shrines, votive offerings of a more sightly and costly character are deposited, particularly at that of the Holy Virgin; consisting of jewels, valuable dresses, and other expensive articles. But image-worship is not confined to churches. At the corner of almost every street in Belgium a figure is erected, which is never passed without an act of adoration; and when the procession of the host or consecrated wafer parades along, every good Catholic, regardless of any state of weather, never fails to kneel down and mutter an ave. Such is the image-worship observed in the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in the South of France and in Belgium. It offers a great obstacle to an enlightened state of Christianity, and consequently to the end it is our especial purpose to promote and advocate-Civilization. W. * Moffat's Sermon, preached before the London Missionary Society. + Lane's Modern Egyptians, chap. xi. |