Morning journal and courier., 1885-02-13
Relic Worship.
he1Ao " "OfSn1P.
From c. F. Gordon Cumming, in the British Quar-
terly Review.1

lFrom c. F. Gordon Cumming in the British Quar-
terly Review.1
In the lonely forest depths we note from
| afar the summit of some huge dome of solid
brickwork, and on a nearer approach find
it surrounded by some wonderfully cary
ed stone pillars and stairs, and everything to
prove how unsparingly human labor has been
| lavished upon it Z; and then we learn that all
this honor is bestowed on the collar bone, CT
some other portion of Buddhist saint. But
as to the reputed tooth of Buddha himself,
its history, and the wars which have been
fought for the honor of its custody would fill
q volume Even at the present day tho wor-
ship of the tooth is strikingly picturesque
scene, with surroundings of priceless, quaint,
ecclesiastical jewels, and other temple prop
critics, yellow-robed priests, gorgeously attir-
ed Cingalese mobiles, richly caparisoned ele-
phants, and graceful pilgrims, male and fe-
male, approaching in crowds, each bearing an
Offering of fragrant flowers carried high above
the head, to be laid in alteration before the
Holy Tooth. Gifts of more permanent value
are not lacking, though the offering Of costly
jewels is less frequent than of yore Far
away to the north, among the mountains of
Thibet, Buddhist relic worship takes another
form. On the death of good Llama whose
sanctity may allow reason to believe that he
has attained to the Buddha-hood or some ap-
proach to that exalted perfection, his body is
burned by his priestly brethren /; and the
ashes, being mingled with clay are worked
up into balls and then formed into sacred
medallions, which are preserved in the tenn
pies with reverent care. All this seems nat
ural enough, when we regard it as part Of the
system of false creed. But when we 1ecol-
lect how strangely similar to this is the prac-
tice of two great branches of the Christian
fhttrp f1,.a( Il
fail.to perceive that here is something which
we are wholly at loss to reconcile with the
simple teaching of Christianity as inculcated
by its founder. When we think of the hy
dra-headed martyrs whose heads, hair, limbs,
fingers, even toe nails are treasured as price
less relics in SO many different churches-of
the miracles supposed to have been wrought
by them-of the toilsome pilgrimages under
taken by the devout to enable them to wor-
ship and present their offerings before the
shrine SO richly endowed, and to claim the in
tercession of the dead and when we know
that all this is going Oh around US at the pres
eHt day, We feel that in no sense can ancestor
worship be said to have died out among US
Looking back to the days of Constantine, we
learn that the veneration of relics was carried
to such pitch that it was solelpnly decreed
in council that all affairs beneath which none
were found shonld be demolished, as e
church without relics could not be consecra-
ECU. AAu eTe! LA tLle present uttJ tne Cnafcn
OF Rome requires that some holy tooth, hair
or nail shall, on the conservation of every
new church, be carried in solemn procession
by the priests to the altar, and therein, in a
duly prepared niche, shall be deposited by
the Bishop, (who stands mitreless to receive
that precious reliquary, and who may posi-
bly, hope that his own bones may some day
receive similar honor) Having duly offered
incense, he anoints the covering stone with
holy oil, and SO seals the relic tomb, while
solemn anthems rise and prayers are duly
said