I have often referred to the Khonds in the hills of Orissa, who, till the horrid practice was stopped by British interference, enticed children from the plains, fed them well, treated them kindly, and then on a fixed day murdered them, tore limb from limb, and scattered the bleeding fragments over the fields as an offering to the Land Goddess to secure an abundant harvest. I have asked, "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.