Page:Who is God in China.djvu/26

 1that, as upon a raft, our passage through life. Unless, indeed, some one could discover a safer and less dangerous conveyance,, or, better still, some divine Word." The state of even such men among the heathen, is well told by the Buddhist, (Kah-gyur. vol. ii. Rgyatch. c. xiii.), who compares

—the ignorant state of beings in this world to "bees buzzing inside a glass vase."

Yet, amid the gloom that surrounds them, some of those poor creatures "feel after God, if haply they may find Him; for, in truth, He is not far from them." We well remember a certain festival of Doorga, in Bengal. We were standing with a venerable Brahman, by the sacred stream, on which images of the goddess were carried in boats with great pomp, and then thrown into the river, amid the shouts of the multitude. We pointed to one of them, and said to our learned friend: "Dwija! behold your gods! You see them first made with hands, and then cast into the river." He made a significant gesture, and replied in his own sacred tongue: " "What is that, Sir? What! a doll, straw, wood, or anything else you like. It is all very well for stupid folks, but assuredly not for the wise." And then he quoted, with great emphasis, these