Before this house on a table were spread out all kinds of provisions—a little pig roasted, whole chickens, ducks, &c., &c. The heads of these all pointed toward the place where the woman sat. It is, by the way, a Chinese custom, to point the head of an animal, cooked, at the guest to whom you wish to show honor.
Outside and over the door of the house, and extending across the whole front, was an elaborate framework of bamboo, covered with gilt paper. This was supposed to represent the grounds before the house, and there were dozens of little figures, all representing the lady’s retainers—some as soldiers, runners, tradesmen, &c. And why all these things? For the comfort and use of the spirit in hell, to mitigate her torments by providing her with comforts. All these things cost about $40 or $50.
In another room, the ceremonies in connection with this were performed. Here was a table covered with priestly symbols, food, liquor, candles, and peculiar priestly appliances. About the table stood three Buddhist priests, and sitting on benches were four men with drum, cymbals and horns. For two days nearly they kept up incessantly the most fearful din, reading and howling at the top of the voice. Every now and then, the priests would perform a sort of dance. On the walls were hung large pictures of the torments practised in hell—most hideous pictures of pulling out men’s tongues and eyes, and tortures you would hardly think men capable of imagining. The little children of the dead woman were there, clothed in coarse sack-cloth, and kept busy taking part in the ceremonies, directed by the priests. In the place where the house was they would come in and bow down to the ground several times to their mother. The father stood by, looking on like one troubled and ashamed of the horrid nuisance, as he evidently thought it to be. In the morning, the whole thing was taken out and set on fire, and thus spirited away to the spiritual regions for the use of the poor woman.—From Presbyterian Record, Canada.
RECEIPTS
FOR AUGUST, 1880.
| NEW HAMPSHIRE, $338.02. | |
| Antrim. Individuals, for Mag. | 15.00 |
| Claremont. Cong. Ch. and Soc., $38.35; Mrs.E. L. Goddard, $30, to const. herself L. M. | 68.35 |
| Concord. Alma J. Herbert, $3.50; Others,$1.50; “A Widow,” $5 | 10.00 |
| East Jaffrey. Eliza A. Parker | 20.00 |
| Goffstown. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 50.61 |
| Hebron. Rev. J. B. C. | 1.00 |
| Henniker. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 20.00 |
| Hinsdale. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 5.43 |
| Keene. First Cong. Sab. Sch. | 35.50 |
| Lebanon. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 8.00 |
| Orford. “A Friend” | 5.00 |
| Pembroke. Cong. Ch., $26.47; Mrs. Mary W.Thompson, $5; Prof. Isaac Walker, $5 | 36.47 |
| Rochester. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 18.11 |
| Stoddard. Rev. B. Southworth | 10.00 |
| Winchester. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 34.55 |
| VERMONT, $1,124.79. | |
| Barnet. “A Friend” | 3.00 |
| Bridport. Cong. Sab. Sch. | 6.50 |
| Charlotte. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 76.50 |
| Chelsea. Estate of Dea. Samuel Douglass,by Edward Douglass, Ex. | 750.00 |
| Coventry. Mrs. S. P. Cowles | 5.00 |
| Cornwall. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 29.78 |
| Georgia. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 10.00 |
| Greensborough. Cong. Ch. and Soc., $2.50;Rev. Moses Patten and family, $15 | 17.50 |
| Middlebury. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 20.44 |
| Newbury. Mrs. E. F. | 1.00 |
| Saint Albans. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 86.34 |
| Shelburn. “A Friend,” adl. to const. J. K.Davis, L. M. | 15.00 |
| Springfield. Cong. Ch. by Rev. T. M. Boss | 15.00 |
| Swanton. Ladies’ “Home Circle” of Cong.Ch. | 5.00 |
| Thetford. John Lord (aged 98) | 2.00 |
| Waterbury. Cong. Ch. and Soc. to const.Burton H. Humphrey, L. M. | 30.00 |
| Wells River. George Leslie | 5.00 |
| West Enosburgh. H. Fassett | 5.00 |
| Westford. Cong. Ch. and Soc. | 8.00 |
| West Westminster. Cong. Ch. and Soc.,$26.46, and Sab. Sch. $7.27 | 33.73 |