The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1893, Page 34

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34

He seemed to be about twenty-one years of
age, and was worn out with his efforts to move

Who are those men whom you see in our | along.

picture cutting and torturing themselves inj He was asked how far he had come in that

such a horrible ‘manner? They are Hindoo | manner.

Fakirs. And who are the Hindoo Fakirs?.| ‘‘Seven hundred and fifty miles!’’ he re-
* They are a class of people among the heathen | plied.

in India who torture their bodies that they} ‘‘How long have you been on the way?”

may please their gods and obtain forgiveness} ‘‘About eight months.”’

of sin. ‘‘ Where are you going?”

The poor heathen in India know not the! ‘‘To Juggernaut’s temple.”’
true God nor the way to
heayen. They therefore tor-
ture themselves in many
ways, in order to suffer for
their sins and gain the favor
of their gods.

The cruel custom of driv-
ing an iron hook into the back
and then swinging on the
hook was formerly practiced
by many Hindoos. Recently
this cruel custom was again
witnessed at different places.
When theEnglish officers told
the victims of this horrible
superstition not to do so, one
of them said he had lost three
of his children and a goddess
had come to him in the night
and ordered him to swing
himself on the iron hook in
order to appease the wrath
of god and to save his other
two children from death.

A few months ago an aged
Hindoo; with heavy chains
fastened to his body, came
to a railroad station to take
the train. His chains were
so heavy that the conductor
would not take him as a pas-
senger but only as freight.

By the burning sun the iron
: chains had been so heated @
5 that the old man had to be

: sprinkled with water, in order
to save him from dying at
the station.

ae Missionaries in India have
me related many stories of self-
torture practiced in that heathen country.| ‘‘Whatdo you expect from all the pain and
Bows A young man left his home to visit 2 famous| exertion which you endure?’’
iat _ idol temple. It was hundreds of miles from| ‘‘Almost everything; particularly that here-
_ where he lived. He did not ride or walk, | by my sins shall all be forgiven.”” © -
it nor did he ever rise upon his feet; but he} The missionary told him of Jesus Christ,
Es measured his way by his own body. Hejand that He died to take away our sins, and
rested on his knees, then he stretched his/| that if he would believe in Him, he would at
hands forward along the ground, and so drew| once find the blessings he wanted. He looked
his body onward. Every time he moved a/up with surprise, when a number of wicked
_ length he beat his forehead three times against | priests came around and urged him to pro-
‘the ground. A missionary saw him and called|ceed; and on he went, dragging himself along
on him to stop; he did not notice what was| beneath a burning sun. .
Said, but continued on his way. The mis-/ Another missionary writes of a boy, ten
_ Sionary then stood in his path and stopped | years of age, who began torturing himself by
him. He looked up,-his lips moving in prayer|lying on thorns and pebbles. After this he
‘his god in a low, gr umbling tone of voice. | shut himself in a cell for twelve years, where

Self- Torture.

be

HINDOO FAKIRS.

) years.

The Lutheran Pioneer.
SPEC

the vermin gnawed his flesh; then he lay on
a bed of spikes, on which he was drawn around
the country thousands of miles, for thirty-five
Everywhere the people honored him
asa god. Sometimes, in the cold season, he
caused water to be poured on his head, night
and day; and in hot weather logs of wood
were kept burning around him to make his

| sufferings the greater.

Another man held his arms over his head till
they withered away, and the blood no longer
flowed in them. Others haye
sat with their legs crossed
under them till their limbs be-
came useless; or have hung
themselves by their legs from
the trees; or have lived a
long time in a river with the
water up to their shoulders ;
or have placed themselves to
be scorched by small fires, or
thrust knives through their
hands; or practiced many
other cruel modes of self-
torture on their bodies.

Poor deluded people! Sa-
tan indeed leads them captive
at his will; and Satan is a
murderer from the beginning.
How thankful ought we to be
that God has made known to
us the Gospel of Jesus, in
whom we have redemption
through His blood, namely
the forgiveness of sins! And
how zealous ought we to be
to bring this Gospel to those
that are stillsitting in heathen
darkness and misery and
know not the Saviour who
came into this world, ‘‘that
through death He might de-
stroy him that had the power
of death, that is, the devil;
and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bond-
age.’’

— + eae -

Did You Lose It?

A little five-year-old, who had listened to a

sermon on giving to the Lord, was soon there-
after given two pennies, and resolved that one
should be the Lord’s and that the other should
go for candy. She put them in her pocket
and went out to play, and in her romps one
of the pennies was lost. On her return to the
house she exclaimed: ‘‘O mamma, I’ve lost
the Lord’s penny!’’ Whose penny do: you
lose when one is missing?
eee

Many a coffin is covered with roses by hands
that never before gave its occupant anything
but thorns. ;