ce. He
pointed to the spot where goats and buffaloes were offered in sacrifice,
and he claimed that this offering was made in expiation of sin. Such an
explanation of Hindu sacrifices is altogether futile. The sense of guilt
is so dull in Hinduism, that sin is little more than external and
physical impurity, and may be simply failure to conform to a prescribed
act of ceremonial worship. The true meaning of sacrifice for sin has, in
India, been derived solely from Christian preaching. This particular
student had many an opportunity to hear such preaching, and the
knowledge of atonement which he tried to mix with his Hindu theology was
probably gained from missionary sources. It was an illustration of the
incidental and indirect ways in which Christian missions are permeating
these Oriental lands, and are forcing these old religions to adopt some
of the fundamental ideas of Christianity. These ideas are misunderstood
and misstated, so that they become in large part forms of error. But
notwithstanding, they may pave the way for a fuller knowledge of the
truth, and for the entrance of Christ into the heart and into the life.

VI

CALCUTTA, DARJEELING, AND BENARES

Calcutta is the largest city of India. It numbers more than a million
inhabitants, of whom 600,000 are Hindus, 300,000 are Mohammedans, and
less than 100,000 are Christians. The name of the city is derived from
Kali, the goddess-wife of Siva, the Destroyer; and her temple is one of
the most filthy and disgusting in all India. In this temple I saw one of
its many priestesses cutting into bits the flesh and entrails of a goat,
which had been offered in sacrifice, in order that the poorest worshiper
might have for his farthing something bloody to present at the altar. It
was the altar of a fierce, cruel, and lustful goddess, whose black and
ugly image could be dimly seen within the shrine. A stalwart priest
followed me with hand outstretched for a contribution. It was a novel
sensation to hear him utter, in excellent English and with seeming
reverence, the words, "the great goddess Kali," as if no one could doubt
her power. It reminded me of "the great goddess Diana," whom all Asia
and the whole world once worshiped, but whose temple is now an
indistinguishable heap of ruins. The worship of a goddess so vengeful
and sensual as Kali throughout India, a worship both of lust and of
fear, shows how ineradicable is the religious instinct, but how
perverted it m